2018/19 Yerry Mina

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Not that much of a stretch to think that having better defenders will lead to better defending surely?

Yeah but it's one new player

It's hardly going to turn us into world beaters overnight is it?

It'd be lovely to get Mina fit and also get him some game time, but if people think him coming in is going to magically make all our defensive woes go away then they are in for a rude awakening I fear

So long as we have the same system in place we're likely going to ship goals, even with two tall lads in there

Mina will improve things the same way a delicious dollop of vanilla ice cream would improve a cow pat. It'd still be a cow pat though

 

[Brisan123]

Yeah but it's one new player

It's hardly going to turn us into world beaters overnight is it?

It'd be lovely to get Mina fit and also get him some game time, but if people think him coming in is going to magically make all our defensive woes go away then they are in for a rude awakening I fear

So long as we have the same system in place we're likely going to ship goals, even with two tall lads in there

Mina will improve things the same way a delicious dollop of vanilla ice cream would improve a cow pat. It'd still be a cow pat though

Digne Mina and Zouma will be 3 new defenders

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Digne Mina and Zouma will be 3 new defenders

We've played Digne and Zouma together and the defensive issues were still there

I strongly doubt adding Mina is going to drastically improve things

Again, things will be better than they are now, but if people think Mina is going to magically make this problem go away then they are only going to end up disappointed I think

The system is a bad system and needs overhauling

I hope I'm wrong of course

 

[MikeH72]

The reason we're bad in defence is because zonal marking is garbage

I'm not sure what the introduction of one player is supposed to achieve on that front if I'm honest

We weren’t playing zonal marking last season and our defence was still garbage. The reason for that is because our defenders are generally absolutely terrible.

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

We weren’t playing zonal marking last season and our defence was still garbage. The reason for that is because our defenders are generally absolutely terrible.

We've played Wolves, Saints, Rotheram, Bournemouth and Huddersfield

We've conceded seven goals

All from set pieces

That's a clear, obvious pattern

We haven't even played anyone good yet either

All the evidence brings us back to the same conclusion; zonal marking is toss and is costing us points

I don't think adding Yerry Mina into the squad is going to be the magic elixir that fixes everything

I'm not knocking the lad, I actually think he'll be a good player for Everton, but the idea that he's the missing piece of the puzzle that will make the tactical equivalent of cat sick suddenly work like a charm is bewildering to me

I'm not even bashing Silva. It's early days in his reign and I'm holding out hope he'll try a new system. I just think it's putting quite a bit of undue pressure on Mina to expect him to suddenly cure all of our defensive frailties

 

[Brisan123]

We've played Digne and Zouma together and the defensive issues were still there

I strongly doubt adding Mina is going to drastically improve things

Again, things will be better than they are now, but if people think Mina is going to magically make this problem go away then they are only going to end up disappointed I think

The system is a bad system and needs overhauling

I hope I'm wrong of course

They have played one game together
It was Zouma first start and Digne had only come on as sub in a couple of games and started one against Rotherham
Give the lads a chance to play together and get to know each other’s game and the new system
It won’t happen overnight

 

[Lanolin]

Yeah but it's one new player

It's hardly going to turn us into world beaters overnight is it?

It'd be lovely to get Mina fit and also get him some game time, but if people think him coming in is going to magically make all our defensive woes go away then they are in for a rude awakening I fear

So long as we have the same system in place we're likely going to ship goals, even with two tall lads in there

Mina will improve things the same way a delicious dollop of vanilla ice cream would improve a cow pat. It'd still be a cow pat though

Yeah i'm not sure I agree. Hopefully Mina will a) be better than the person he replaces b) complement the other players, meaning we work better as a unit, and c) understand the system better than the person he's replacing, meaning we are less susceptible to our current problems.

I'm not saying he will solve our problems, but it's certainly not outlandish to suggest that he could. Basically, if signing better players doesn't make you better, we might as well just stick with what we've got in future.

 

[Zezti]

We've played Digne and Zouma together and the defensive issues were still there

I strongly doubt adding Mina is going to drastically improve things

Again, things will be better than they are now, but if people think Mina is going to magically make this problem go away then they are only going to end up disappointed I think

The system is a bad system and needs overhauling

I hope I'm wrong of course

Silva can't be giving up on his preferred tactics a couple months into the job. He has to get our best defence playing together and used to his zonal system. Coaching takes time. It might not come off in the end but a manger can't roll over so quickly.

 

[Tel001]

I think in theory mate, Mina makes a big difference. Having a lad who leaps and is 6 ft 5 is bound to help any team. In a zonal marking side probably more so as you can't (or shouldn't) be able to run him under the ball.

It's probably a bit more complex though. Our issue is we lose a lot of first balls at the near post and we are ill disciplined when it comes to the 2nd ball. We have a zone outside of our 6 yard box 3-6 yards out completely empty. It is symptomatic of a side that everyone is facing the first ball and not holding their positions well enough.

It's strange as Tosun attacks the ball so well in the opponents area but it is quite a different skill. He's a big lad who's good in the air but seems ill suited to that role. We probably need to find a new player in that position. Possibly Mina could do that. It would be unconventional to have your biggest aerial threat in what is a relatively innocuous zone but that is the root of much of our problems.

Alongside that we do have to do better on 2nd balls though. If you the man who's zone is the back post while it's important you shuffle across you shouldn't go past the centre of the goal really. In doing so, in many ways thats a bigger mistake than Tosun missing the first header. You will sometimes lose headers, but you should have no excuse for not keeping shape. I remember playing fullback and coaches would always say you should never go past the goal and in many ways its the same thing. It's a critical zone and in truth had we have kept men in there it's unlikely we'd have conceded at Bournemouth or Southampton and may well have even stopped the Huddersfield goal.

My understanding of zonal is that every player has their zone and attacks the ball if it comes into it? So... saying Mina is front post, that’s his zone, and I’m an opposing player that is 6”4 or whatever, I would just run to the zone that baines, Davies etc are defending. Andecent corner taker should be able to work out where Mina is and bypass him surely.

 

[Tel001]

Silva can't be giving up on his preferred tactics a couple months into the job. He has to get our best defence playing together and used to his zonal system. Coaching takes time. It might not come off in the end but a manger can't roll over so quickly.

Agreed mate, if only we gave bobby more time for his “ not practising corners” or “lack of fitness “ methods to pay dividends.

 

[Lanolin]

My understanding of zonal is that every player has their zone and attacks the ball if it comes into it? So... saying Mina is front post, that’s his zone, and I’m an opposing player that is 6”4 or whatever, I would just run to the zone that baines, Davies etc are defending. Andecent corner taker should be able to work out where Mina is and bypass him surely.

You'd have to be a hell of a lot more than 'decent' at corners to be confident of getting the ball over a jumping 6ft 5 centre half at the near post and back down to a height that someone smaller can head it from 3 or 4 yards behind him.

 

[Baines' left foot]

I see the subject of pure hatred and bile has changed again.

 

[toffeejack]

Would say it was a good achievement but given bale isn't included and dejan Lovren is its obviously a lazy list based almost purely on the world cup.

 

[Zezti]

Agreed mate, if only we gave bobby more time for his “ not practising corners” or “lack of fitness “ methods to pay dividends.

Well he had 3 years to get his methods across. Silva has had about 3 months most of which without his squad. Its a bit soon to be calling for him to change this or that.

 

[Steve0]

My understanding of zonal is that every player has their zone and attacks the ball if it comes into it? So... saying Mina is front post, that’s his zone, and I’m an opposing player that is 6”4 or whatever, I would just run to the zone that baines, Davies etc are defending. Andecent corner taker should be able to work out where Mina is and bypass him surely.

Well that’s the case with man marking as well isn’t it? A decent corner taker would be able to bypass him and cross to who ever Baines is marking.

Easy this football lark isn’t it?