KPTF
New member
In view of the fact that we've conceded the second highest number of goals in the Championship, it's interesting to see that most people's selections for Player of the season & most improved player are defenders (usually Butters, McShane and El-Abd). In addition, it's fair to say that most of the players who have played at Right Back (Hart, Reid and El-Abd) have done a good job there.
So, is the reason we've shipped so many goals due to not sufficiently replacing Harding at LB?
Those who have been tried there (namely Mayo, Reid, Harty (once) and El-Abd) haven't looked at all comfortable there, with El-Abd probably being the strongest/best there? (Lynch has done ok in the handful of games he's been there but I'm looking back at the number of goals we've conceded over the whole season to date and I'm sure he's being lined up to replace Butters as the left sided central defender next season).
Or, is it down to the deterioration in defensive cover from the midfield, particularly the wide players? Last year, we had Hart/Reid and Hammond/Currie(!); this year, we've had the French pair + Jarrett.
I've crunched some comparitive numbers below:-
SEASON 1-O WINS CLEAN SHEETS FAILED TO SCORE
04/05 9 (20%) 11 (24%) 15 (33%)
05/06 2 (6%) 7 (19%) 12 (33%)
It's interesting to see that, despite the assertion that we've missed a decent striker this year, the FTS %'s are identical and the % of Clean Sheets is close-ish. Where we've missed out, is in grinding out the 1-0 wins.
This is probably due to a combination of more attacking flair (a la Carole & Frutos) combined with defensive frailty at left back. Any scout worth their salt would always have noted our problems at full back, hence most teams seem to get their success down this side (Huckerby excepted!).
So, is the reason we've shipped so many goals due to not sufficiently replacing Harding at LB?
Those who have been tried there (namely Mayo, Reid, Harty (once) and El-Abd) haven't looked at all comfortable there, with El-Abd probably being the strongest/best there? (Lynch has done ok in the handful of games he's been there but I'm looking back at the number of goals we've conceded over the whole season to date and I'm sure he's being lined up to replace Butters as the left sided central defender next season).
Or, is it down to the deterioration in defensive cover from the midfield, particularly the wide players? Last year, we had Hart/Reid and Hammond/Currie(!); this year, we've had the French pair + Jarrett.
I've crunched some comparitive numbers below:-
SEASON 1-O WINS CLEAN SHEETS FAILED TO SCORE
04/05 9 (20%) 11 (24%) 15 (33%)
05/06 2 (6%) 7 (19%) 12 (33%)
It's interesting to see that, despite the assertion that we've missed a decent striker this year, the FTS %'s are identical and the % of Clean Sheets is close-ish. Where we've missed out, is in grinding out the 1-0 wins.
This is probably due to a combination of more attacking flair (a la Carole & Frutos) combined with defensive frailty at left back. Any scout worth their salt would always have noted our problems at full back, hence most teams seem to get their success down this side (Huckerby excepted!).