Seamus Coleman isn't up to it.

[Tubey]

I do like Coleman but, as a team, I think we need to sort things out defensively so that we're not so exposed when he does make mistakes. Mirallas normally goes floating, so there's nobody infront of him, Neville doesn't come across as well as he could and Jags has enough on his hands in the middle. Until we've addressed those issues I think that having such a young and attack-minded fullback leaves us vulnerable.

I understand that (honestly, I understand your tactical thinking there), but I'm not sure if Coleman is responsible for our vulnerabilities at all. We conceded from a free kick and a penalty today - and the penalty was given away when we had a flat bank of four and he simply made a mistake. We're getting swamped through the middle of midfield more than down the opposition left flank.

Having Coleman at right back enabled Mirallas to run inside with the ball and have the outlet on the right flank when needed. And having Coleman on the right flank enabled Naismith to be deep infield when he got his goal today. It's horses for courses.

It looks like people are actively looking for a scapegoat and Coleman is the easiest option. I have a sneaky feeling that if Baines gave away that penalty today then this discussion wouldn't be happening. I've still yet to see someone point out exactly what Coleman did wrong today except the penalty!!!

 

[DualityNSNO]

It's a difficult situation for Seamus to come into. He's quite possibly being told to make use of the space in front of him vacated by Mirallas and it's not in his nature to lump the ball forward aimlessly, so he's being caught out. If we were making better use of his attacking talents and it wasn't costing us goals then I'd pick him every time, but I think we could do with making the position a bit more solid as things stand.

Fair enough, like, I see what you mean.

I still think he's not doing that bad, and it's more or less our CB's that are playing bad though.

 

[chicoazul]

Tell you what though, if you merged Coleman's attacking ability with Hibbert's defensive ability you'd have a world class full back.

We should have a whip round and send them away somewhere romantic for the weekend and hope they mate then.

 

[CahillsCornerFlag]

I love Coleman, the lad is still learning and sure, he's cocked up recently, but Heitinga has been so bad its untrue. If you want a scapegoat, pick the guy who isn't going to improve massively and by all accounts seems likely to go in Jan/Summer.

 

[billycopper]

I understand that (honestly, I understand your tactical thinking there), but I'm not sure if Coleman is responsible for our vulnerabilities at all. We conceded from a free kick and a penalty today - and the penalty was given away when we had a flat bank of four and he simply made a mistake. We're getting swamped through the middle of midfield more than down the opposition left flank.

Having Coleman at right back enabled Mirallas to run inside with the ball and have the outlet on the right flank when needed. And having Coleman on the right flank enabled Naismith to be deep infield when he got his goal today. It's horses for courses.

It looks like people are actively looking for a scapegoat and Coleman is the easiest option. I have a sneaky feeling that if Baines gave away that penalty today then this discussion wouldn't be happening. I've still yet to see someone point out exactly what Coleman did wrong today except the penalty!!!

I think part of our problem is that we send both fullbacks forward at the same time leaving the centrebacks 2v1 with a striker. Ossie is inclined to want to join the attack and Neville can't catch people once they go past him, so we're open to the counter. If we were more compact as a team then Coleman might not find himself in these situations where small mistakes are costing us goals.

At the moment we're short of defensive midfielders, but we have an abundance of centrebacks. I'd like to see Moyes experimenting with the 3-5-2 system that City and Liverpool have employed.

_______________Howard
_______Heitinga Jagielka Distin
Coleman ___________________Baines
_______Mirallas Osman Pienaar
___________Fellaini
__________________Jelavic

Seamus could get forward to his heart's content and we'd have enough bodies back to keep up our rearguard.

 

[billycopper]

Fair enough, like, I see what you mean.

I still think he's not doing that bad, and it's more or less our CB's that are playing bad though.

Every little thing that he does wrong is being punished. If we were defending better as a team his mistakes would get swept up and you'd hardly even notice them.

 

[Gwladys St. Glory]

Think it's a bad idea to write him off in that position...it's not his defending that's really letting him down, it's his decision making at times. The kid's a gamer, I've got faith.

 

[Tubey]

Every little thing that he does wrong is being punished. If we were defending better as a team his mistakes would get swept up and you'd hardly even notice them.

I'm not seeing this... :S

 

[DualityNSNO]

Every little thing that he does wrong is being punished. If we were defending better as a team his mistakes would get swept up and you'd hardly even notice them.

Well you can say the same about Hibbert too though, can't you? He's been awful at times and the thing that's been saving him was some impressive play from the CB's. So it's not only that he makes a little mistake every so often, the CB pairing also isn't working, and I guess that that's the area we need to improve more in, if that makes sense.

 

[degsy]

* sees title of thread dives right in the deepend at P14*

Trouble is neither are Neville and Hibbo

 

[LTblue]

One of the best Right-backs in the prem. Made two brilliant last-ditch tackles today and was a danger attacking throughout. Yeah, he slipped up with Penalty incident, but he's definitely a better option then Hibbert or Neville, he will learn from these things.

 

[ToffeeTyler]

He dropped a big one with the Pen, but I thought he was decent otherwise.

Well said. Hibbo is getting older and although he may be a solid defender we need someone offensive pressure as well, we need to get the ball in the box. From the way things have been going we need a ton of efforts to put one in, so attacking and creating more chances is what we need. I'm not saying Coleman is the answer, but I feel its all we have right now.

 

[billycopper]

I'm not seeing this... :S

Against Fulham he didn't have any options so he knocked the ball ahead of himself hoping that something would open up. Suddenly he's swamped by four white shirts and the ball is in the back of our net. He didn't do a lot wrong other than let himself get caught on the ball in our half. Fulham still had a lot to do and Sidwell managed to stick a leg in front of him from his blind side to compound his initial error. Most of the time he wouldn't have been punished so harshly for that.

 

[billycopper]

Well you can say the same about Hibbert too though, can't you? He's been awful at times and the thing that's been saving him was some impressive play from the CB's. So it's not only that he makes a little mistake every so often, the CB pairing also isn't working, and I guess that that's the area we need to improve more in, if that makes sense.

Hibbo makes plenty of mistakes too but maybe the extra experience is telling. In the Liverpool game for example Hibbert might have tried to nick infront of the man to take the ball as well but I think that he would have taken the man out if he didn't get it to stop him getting in behind.

I suppose it's understandable that Heitinga thought he was a first-team fixture after winning last year's player of the year and it must have unsettled him to find himself third choice again this year. Hopefully a run in the side will restore his confidence and focus.

 

[davek]

Against Fulham he didn't have any options so he knocked the ball ahead of himself hoping that something would open up. Suddenly he's swamped by four white shirts and the ball is in the back of our net. He didn't do a lot wrong other than let himself get caught on the ball in our half. Fulham still had a lot to do and Sidwell managed to stick a leg in front of him from his blind side to compound his initial error. Most of the time he wouldn't have been punished so harshly for that.

People who put that goal down solely to Coleman are touched. The ball had to travel a circuitous route from the halfway line and passed about five other Everton players before it was netted. It's about as logical as blaming Hitler's mum and dad for the second world war.