[Albion] The Leicester goal

[Swansman]

In the first picture as the corner was taken there were 7 players inside the six-yard box. 2 more in the penalty area.

In the third as the ball was crossed in after the short corner there were still 4 in the six-yard box with BDB a foot outside.

The four other players were moving toward the ball at that time. Not one of those in the box moved toward any of the Leicester players. Not one. They were ALL watching the ball. All 9 of them.

There were four - FOUR, I say again FOUR - Leicester players standing totally unmarked within shooting or heading distance of the goal, in great goalscoring positions. And not one of our players looking at any of them or moving toward any of them.

A gift. Any of those four Leicester players could have received the ball and scored.

We were asleep. Beaten by cunning foxes.

Is that what zonal marking is?

No, contrary to common belief man marking teams also sometimes concede goals on set pieces or are "caught napping".

 

[Hugo Rune]

As usual, club Captain & NSC darling, Lewis Dunk, gets absolutely zero criticism. It’s all Burn’s fault as usual. Shouldn’t the Captain (a central defender) be making sure that his defence is switched on at this critical point in the game?

 

[SAC]

If it's not the players fault, it must be the manager!

 

[Hugo Rune]

That`s zonal marking for you.

No it’s not because we don’t use zonal marking; we use a hybrid of zonal & man-to-man marking.

 

[Guinness Boy]

As usual, club Captain & NSC darling, Lewis Dunk, gets absolutely zero criticism. It’s all Burn’s fault as usual. Shouldn’t the Captain (a central defender) be making sure that his defence is switched on at this critical point in the game?

Dunk and Walton between them.

A keeper who doesn't organise his defence at a set piece is a keeper who is likely to be beaten from about three yards out by a ball he should have claimed.

 

[Seasider78]

Give me one example and I'll find a player who either lost possession to give the other team the ball, someone who could have closed down someone at some point in the build up, someone who could have been slightly better positioned... there's always something you can do better if you concede a goal.

That is one, very forensic way of looking at the game although I prefer to look goals in a more simple spectrum ranging from ‘wow what a goal not much we could have done about that’ to ‘what a sloppy goal to concede’.

Last nights was definitely on the sloppy side

 

[BN9 BHA]

Near the end of the Liverpool match Webster was tapping the side of his head and shouting something like “stay switched on “
Needed him there at the end last night.

 

[Stato]

In the cold light of day, you have to congratulate the Leicester players on their quick thinking. Everyone raved about Alexander-Arnold doing similar to win a Champions League semi-final a couple of years ago. Their corners had actually been one of our best attacking outlets for most of the evening, so catching us before we set, rather than waiting to pack the box was a good bit of improvisation. I was annoyed at the time, but if we learn from it and don't do the same if we're one up against Villa or Palace in the next couple of games, I'll be thinking that it was a blessing in disguise, saving us from extra time when they looked to be finishing more strongly. Well done Leicester. I hope you draw Man City in the next round.

 

[A1X]

IMHO Walton should come and catch / punch. Sanchez would.

 

[super-seagulls]

That`s zonal marking for you.

Not sure if you are serious or not, but in case you are.
We have conceded a total of five goals in the last 9 games (2 in 6 league games) including Spurs, Liverpool & Man City playing with zonal marking.

Do you genuinely believe we would have conceded fewer goals playing man to man?
Exactly!

 

[schmunk]

Remember when everyone thought this was a BRILLIANT corner to put Liverpool through to the Champions League semi-final...?

Edit: oops, just noticed Stato mentioned it above.

 

[Neville's Breakfast]

When a team gets a corner in the last 30 seconds of a game why would everyone expect them to take their time ? Makes no sense. If they do that the final whistle will blow and they will have lost their chance. Contrary to the assertion in the OP Leicester’s quick corner was entirely rational. No excuses.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Dunk and Walton between them.

A keeper who doesn't organise his defence at a set piece is a keeper who is likely to be beaten from about three yards out by a ball he should have claimed.

Agreed. Someone in the team needs to be leading, watching what Leicester are doing and reacting.

 

[Swansman]

When a team gets a corner in the last 30 seconds of a game why would everyone expect them to take their time ? Makes no sense. If they do that the final whistle will blow and they will have lost their chance. Contrary to the assertion in the OP Leicester’s quick corner was entirely rational. No excuses.

Because its how its usually done? There's a last chance to win the game and little to lose as the final whistle is likely to go immediatly after the situation, so you usually move a lot of players forward. Refs sometimes blow the whistle when it goes out for the final corner but very rarely as you are lining up and moving up players to take it, not sure I've ever seen it happen.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Near the end of the Liverpool match Webster was tapping the side of his head and shouting something like “stay switched on “
Needed him there at the end last night.

Amen.

Him and Lallana do all the talking on the pitch. Neither present.

 

[blue-shifted]

When a team gets a corner in the last 30 seconds of a game why would everyone expect them to take their time ? Makes no sense. If they do that the final whistle will blow and they will have lost their chance. Contrary to the assertion in the OP Leicester’s quick corner was entirely rational. No excuses.

Yes, Leicester were clearly VERY keen to get it done in the 90.

I'm putting it down to the number of games.

Since beating Liverpool, we've shown clear examples of physical and mental tiredness. That goal was an obvious example of the latter

 

[junior]

I blame Brexit.

 

[dazzer6666]

All goals in football are scored from mistakes/sloppyness/poor defending. There is no goal that cant be prevented by someone doing something better. Thats the game.

That’s a daft argument. Could equally apply it to the other end of the pitch - for every attempt on goal that doesn’t result in a goal you can point to where the attacking team could have done better - mistakes/sloppiness/poor attacking. What gives ?

The nature of the flaming of Burn by some on here (not just this thread) is beyond embarrassing. He’s a decent player and didn’t have a bad game (again). He did however switch off, along with several others. Walton is at least equally culpable (was his to claim, and he should be screaming at the defence to get organised), Dunk is supposed to be leading the defence but didn’t react quick enough, Veltman was playing them onside.......the list goes on. It was a poor piece of TEAM play.

 

[Skaville]

I watched it again. What actually happened was Iheanacho went behind the goal to retrieve the ball for the corner. Another ball was used. He then reenters the pitch at the back post but was missed. This was because we weren’t set up properly as the corner was taken quickly, plus we didn’t check the far post again because he was behind the goal and out of view on the initial check.

Annoying, but one of those things. Sneaky George famously exploited a blind spot for us once. This one went against us.

 

[Swansman]

That’s a daft argument. Could equally apply it to the other end of the pitch - for every attempt on goal that doesn’t result in a goal you can point to where the attacking team could have done better - mistakes/sloppiness/poor attacking. What gives ?

Yes. Why is it daft? Like Cruyff said, "football is a game of mistakes".