Defending - Aerial Balls

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Distin has been our most consistent defender after Baines.....I do think Howard fails to instil any confidence as he doesn't command his box, and has a tendency to punch back into play when catching and therefore releasing pressure/keeping possession. A confident, vocal and commanding keeper is even more important when the team are defensively in bad form. For me, a keeper has the massive advantage of always having play in front of him, and a 3ft reach added to a leap gives them a huge advantage over any forward or defender.....fouls are rarely given against a keeper when jumping into a crowd of players so Tim should be bolder in my humble opinion.
 
TH, constantly punching the ball p1sse,s me off no end, why cant he just catch the bleedin thing FFS!!

And its not only him, seems to creep into a lot of keepers (De Gea) game, is it a European thing?
 
I've just had a look at how we set up to defend the Oldham corner and it's really odd.

Baines was on the near post and Coleman marked a man next to Howard.

Jelavic defended the corner side of the 6 yard box and Distin was on the edge of it slightly further back than the 'keeper.

We then had Osman, Neville and Pienaar bunched together around the penalty spot.

Gibson and Jagielka were beyond the far post half way towards the edge of the box.

And Mirallas was stood on the far edge of the box.

The ball went over Jelavic's head. Distin didn't get off the ground and didn't attack the ball, so Smith had the simple task of getting across him. Howard was pinned in by Coleman and didn't even see the ball until it was past him.

Neville and Osman ran back towards their own goal. The principle of zonal marking though is that you don't go backwards, you attack the space in front of you.

Gibson, Jagielka and Pienaar were redundant because they didn't move at all.

I know we didn't have a lot of height in the side and we were missing Fellaini but what kind of crazy set up is that? The corner would have to have been massively overhit to reach Gibson or Jagielka. Even if that was a starting position and they were running towards the ball it makes no sense at all.

The five players between the 6 yard box and the edge of the area were in no position to deal with the first ball and can only have been there to try and block any shots coming in off the second ball. So, besides the fullbacks guarding the goal, we relied on just Jelavic and Distin to deal with the high ball. Why wasn't Jagielka in there? Why are our shorter players (Pienaar and Osman) closer to our goal than taller ones like Gibson and Mirallas? Why are we set up so that defenders have to run back towards their own goal?

It's such a bizarre set up that it was either planned for some unknown reason or the players totally switched off and absent-mindedly lined up in the box.

Given that we have so few tall players it amazes me that Moyes hasn't left Jelavic on even when he's playing badly just to help defend set pieces. It's one of those situations where I really wonder how much thought and preparation goes into our tactics or whether we just send the same team out every week and expect them to do what they've always done.
 
billycopper said:
I've just had a look at how we set up to defend the Oldham corner and it's really odd.

Baines was on the near post and Coleman marked a man next to Howard.

Jelavic defended the corner side of the 6 yard box and Distin was on the edge of it slightly further back than the 'keeper.

We then had Osman, Neville and Pienaar bunched together around the penalty spot.

Gibson and Jagielka were beyond the far post half way towards the edge of the box.

And Mirallas was stood on the far edge of the box.

The ball went over Jelavic's head. Distin didn't get off the ground and didn't attack the ball, so Smith had the simple task of getting across him. Howard was pinned in by Coleman and didn't even see the ball until it was past him.

Neville and Osman ran back towards their own goal. The principle of zonal marking though is that you don't go backwards, you attack the space in front of you.

Gibson, Jagielka and Pienaar were redundant because they didn't move at all.

I know we didn't have a lot of height in the side and we were missing Fellaini but what kind of crazy set up is that? The corner would have to have been massively overhit to reach Gibson or Jagielka. Even if that was a starting position and they were running towards the ball it makes no sense at all.

The five players between the 6 yard box and the edge of the area were in no position to deal with the first ball and can only have been there to try and block any shots coming in off the second ball. So, besides the fullbacks guarding the goal, we relied on just Jelavic and Distin to deal with the high ball. Why wasn't Jagielka in there? Why are our shorter players (Pienaar and Osman) closer to our goal than taller ones like Gibson and Mirallas? Why are we set up so that defenders have to run back towards their own goal?

It's such a bizarre set up that it was either planned for some unknown reason or the players totally switched off and absent-mindedly lined up in the box.

Given that we have so few tall players it amazes me that Moyes hasn't left Jelavic on even when he's playing badly just to help defend set pieces. It's one of those situations where I really wonder how much thought and preparation goes into our tactics or whether we just send the same team out every week and expect them to do what they've always done.
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Good work, Sir. Thought it was weird at the time. A nice description.
 

Azzurri said:
Zonal marking works better than man marking if done properly. Problem is it's hardly ever done properly.
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Having had a close look at the Oldham goal we left a massive gap between Jelavic on the front of the 6 yard area and Distin on the edge. Coleman was with Howard and Baines was on the near post. Everyone else was on the outskirts of the area. I can only presume that Moyes has tried to put a minimum of players in the 6 yard area to give Howard the best chance of claiming the ball. He got himself positioned badly behind Seamus though and couldn't even see it, never mind reach it!
 
We often hear the players saying that Moyes is meticulous with his planning. I do wonder whether they have low expectations though because it's very rare for something from the training ground to present itself on the pitch. Moyes himself has said that "tactics aren't rocket science". The amount of training he's had to go through, you'd think that he'd have an indepth understanding of the game but I suspect that maybe it washes over him and he only picks up the odd thing every know and then. For example, why have we started using zonal marking and why have we done it in such a half-arsed way? When Benitez used it a Liverpool it didn't always work but when it did it was very difficult to beat. In the goal that I've described against Oldham we've given up marking altogether, badly positioned two players and took the rest of the team out of the equation.
 
I think we're a very small and not very physical side. Jelavic, Distin, Fellaini, above 6ft, everyone else below that height and not really very strong.

It not surprise we get bossed by big and strong strikers
 

kenada_blue said:
I think we're a very small and not very physical side. Jelavic, Distin, Fellaini, above 6ft, everyone else below that height and not really very strong.

It not surprise we get bossed by big and strong strikers
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It's true and yet refs usually view us as being the aggressors!
 
billycopper said:
Losing Rodwell and Cahill could be one of the factors why we have conceded more headed goals than any other side in the league. Fer is 6ft 2 and Negredo is 6ft 1, so maybe it is in Moyes' thoughts?
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I know Moyes gets stick for being too defensive but i think going for a striker because of his ability to clear corners is a stretch even for him !
 

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