Our defence

[Footy-Vill]

Tel wouldn’t be scoring that goal if had centre backs on pitch similar Wolves and Cunha wouldn’t be scoring if had two centre backs on the pitch.

Delap can be a handful but like to think can keep a clean sheet v Ipswich.
Probably get them against Liverpool and Chelsea instead though!

[Smirker]

Sigh.

[PaulWinch again]

The defence were terrible, but the whole team defensively was atrocious. They didn’t track runners, lost 50/50s, ball watched. That second half was like a relegated side, it was that bad.

[aj2k77]

Is abysmal. Too much ball watching, too easy to get crosses in against, too easy to get across the front of, too easy to win second balls against and too slow to get back when pushing forwards.

All in all in, this season we've been a shambles at the back. I'm sick of seeing Konsa and his mini tantrums.

[KevinGage]

Fucking atrocious

[Demitri_C]

Im literally ok sacking the load of them and getting a new back four in. Only digne  is one i would keep from today

Bogarde is a handy player to keep as cover and garcia keep

[Drummond]

Im literally ok sacking the load of them and getting a new back four in. Only digne  is one i would keep from today

Bogarde is a handy player to keep as cover and garcia keep

Sack the lot of them except for 3 of the 5.

[Richard]

Im literally ok sacking the load of them and getting a new back four in. Only digne  is one i would keep from today

Bogarde is a handy player to keep as cover and garcia keep

Sack the lot of them except for 3 of the 5.

And one is a loanee so basically sack Konsa lol

[PaulWinch again]

The defence were appalling but as I’ve said before it’s not just about the defence or who’s in it. It is a structural/tactical issue across the whole side.

When we lose the ball in midfield it is frightening how exposed we are defensively, every single time.

[Demitri_C]

Im literally ok sacking the load of them and getting a new back four in. Only digne  is one i would keep from today

Bogarde is a handy player to keep as cover and garcia keep

Sack the lot of them except for 3 of the 5.

Are you suggesting we should sack boagrde and digne?

Im literally ok sacking the load of them and getting a new back four in. Only digne  is one i would keep from today

Bogarde is a handy player to keep as cover and garcia keep

Sack the lot of them except for 3 of the 5.

And one is a loanee so basically sack Konsa lol

You can sack him by not making the move permanent  😉

[eamonn]

Mental to think we're probably gonna end-up with more clean sheets in the Champions League than the Premier League this season.

[VillaTim]

The defence were appalling but as I’ve said before it’s not just about the defence or who’s in it. It is a structural/tactical issue across the whole side.

When we lose the ball in midfield it is frightening how exposed we are defensively, every single time.

This hypothesis seems to be gathering credibility. But when Emery first arrived we were super solid defensively so how has he structurally weakened us .

[brontebilly]

Mental to think we're probably gonna end-up with more clean sheets in the Champions League than the Premier League this season.

A lot of those CL group stage games were played at a pedestrian pace, even Carlos looked ok playing the ball out from the back under no pressure. Press our defenders, any combo of them it seems, and they crumble. RBL proved that in about a 20min spell.

That's with Cash & Digne having their best seasons with us. Every centre back we have played this season has been rubbish, Disasi tonight was just like Carlos. Looks the part but bullied in nearly every contest.

Not sure what the answer is. We have gone from pressing hard and a high offside line to a weird low tempo containment game. We look so vulnerable defending counters, even from our own set pieces earlier in the season. Everything about this season has been muddled.

[FatSam]

You can sack him by not making the move permanent  😉

That’s not how ‘sacking’ works.

[Percy McCarthy]

Carlos is horrific. Needs replacing.

And no lengthy post referencing statistics about our defensive line-ups in the last season or two is going to change my mind on that.

Just saw this. Seems weird categorising football results as ‘statistics’. Like, here are tonight’s football statistics: Crystal Palace 4, Aston Villa 1.

But yeah, who cares which defenders keep the most clean sheets and concede the fewest goals? As if that’s in any way relevant to the job.

So… Olsen in, amirite?

All this reminds me of the zonal marking debate years ago. One season, we did it, and conceded one goal from a set piece all season - the best in the country. The next season, with the same players, we opted to man-mark and conceded 28 - the worst in the country.

Cue lots of ‘I don’t care about stats, I prefer man-marking’ posts, along with the classic idiocy ‘I never saw space score a goal’. It might sound ridiculous, but it went on for months. So people putting vibes above conceding fewer goals and keeping more clean sheets is nothing new. But I’ll always want us to concede fewer goals and keep more clean sheets, and no amount of posts will change my mind on that.