It's still not bad, anyho going off topic.Looking at the previous say 10 Premier league games, we dropped 2 points vs Spurs and Southampton last season and this year lost to Palace and Spurs. So yeah, it's not as consistent as the 10 away wins on the bounce.
This!Many of the issues early on were fitness, they were lacking minutes. Every year we usually have 5-6 friendlies, maybe more, we had 1 this year. Palace had played 6 games before they faced us and spurs had played 11 by the time they played us!
We only conceded a couple of goals more than the champions last season....our entire defence didn't suddenly just become terrible. You can see they're up to speed now, it showed against Newcastle, they barely had a chance against us.
We had a makeshift defense against PSG. But Luke Shaw looks better as a LCB than he does as a LB playing next to Maguire. I didn’t have any worries whatsover about Lindelof, which I normally have several times a game. And Tuanzebe looked like a young but fully seasoned defender.
What happened here? Did everyone raise their game because we were playing Neymar & Mbappe? Did Fred and McT just do an outstanding job at protecting the defense? Is Luke Shaw really better as a LCB? Or is it the absence of an Maguire that actually improved us?
The funniest part is that you aren't even man enough to admit what your post is actually about. But go on, tell us again how this post has nothing to do with hating on MaguireI suggest if you don’t want this to be about Maguire then there’s plenty to talk about in the defensive performance of today. So if I say Luke Shaw played better at LCB than he has sometimes played at LB, does this mean it’s a passive aggressive Luke Shaw Bashing thread?
Or are we fans not allowed to comment what we see because according to you our perfectly normal comments passive-aggressive? Are you a self appointed censor, and are we living in China now?
Pointing out his price does not make it bashing.Do you really need me to explain that to you? The fact you added it later confirmed if it was needed it was a Maguire bashing thread.
The thread is here to exchange opinions. There are many different parts to why we looked good.OP it does seem like you were eluding to maguire being the problem.
The post is about those things that we all saw yesterday that had an impact on our defense being so much better. I haven’t been following Red Cafe this closely, so I didn’t know that there were so many people here sensitive about criticism of Maguire. So I changed the title, to see if we could aviid this becoming about Maguire and to have a more productive discussion. But you snowflakes don’t want Maguire criticised at all, you are over sensitive to that topic. But at the same time you keep bringing Maguire into the center of discussion, so you aren’t really helping your own case here. Not too sMartial.The funniest part is that you aren't even man enough to admit what your post is actually about. But go on, tell us again how this post has nothing to do with hating on Maguire
"You're a snowflake" he says as he whines passive agressively about MaguireThe post is about those things that we all saw yesterday that had an impact on our defense being so much better. I haven’t been following Red Cafe this closely, so I didn’t know that there were so many people here sensitive about criticism of Maguire. So I changed the title, to see if we could aviid this becoming about Maguire and to have a more productive discussion. But you snowflakes don’t want Maguire criticised at all, you are over sensitive to that topic. But at the same time you keep bringing Maguire into the center of discussion, so you aren’t really helping your own case here. Not too sMartial.
Maguire being absent had nothing to do with it, did you watch the game? Did you notice how deep we sat? That we played 5 at the back with two hard-working DM's?We had a makeshift defense against PSG. But Luke Shaw looks better as a LCB than he does as a LB playing next to Maguire. I didn’t have any worries whatsover about Lindelof, which I normally have several times a game. And Tuanzebe looked like a young but fully seasoned defender.
What happened here? Did everyone raise their game because we were playing Neymar & Mbappe? Did Fred and McT just do an outstanding job at protecting the defense? Is Luke Shaw really better as a LCB? Or is it the absence of an Maguire that actually improved us?
Well, that's both true and not true in a sense. We have defended the same way for a long time. We defend with a lot of bodies, and we do very often defend just as deep as against PSG. The difference to me however was that we actually were able to maintain high pressure and a relatively high line. Tuanzebe, Bissaka, Telles Fred and McTominay won a lot of duels due to a closer distance between our players, coming from us keeping a high line without dropping deep too often. I think this is what gave us the possession and edge, and the fact they couldn't break through behind our defence meant their attackers got on the ball too deep to do anything serious 1vs1. The shape was really good, but we had players that were able to win the ball back quickly and over time it kinda suffocated the opposition to a degree.Maguire being absent had nothing to do with it, did you watch the game? Did you notice how deep we sat? That we played 5 at the back with two hard-working DM's?
We don"t have the quality to do it with only 2 defenders and a single DM you're right. We did great and our players worked their socks off but saying that the reason we defended well was Maguires absence is faulty. I'm pretty confident we would gave had a similar game if we switched Maguire with Lindelof.Well, that's both true and not true in a sense. We have defended the same way for a long time. We defend with a lot of bodies, and we do very often defend just as deep as against PSG. The difference to me however was that we actually were able to maintain high pressure and a relatively high line. Tuanzebe, Bissaka, Telles Fred and McTominay won a lot of duels due to a closer distance between our players, coming from us keeping a high line without dropping deep too often. I think this is what gave us the possession and edge, and the fact they couldn't break through behind our defence meant their attackers got on the ball too deep to do anything serious 1vs1. The shape was really good, but we had players that were able to win the ball back quickly and over time it kinda suffocated the opposition to a degree.
I don't think we're able to do this with the Maguire-Lindelof partnership. Lindelof is hopeless in physical duels and 1vs1's out wide, and while Maguire is more aggressive he is slow as shit on the turn and struggle to cover when playing a high line. He needs real cover himself if he is to do that, but I think he can do it if he is allowed to not be the aggressive one, but the one who stays a bit behind everyone else.
Yeah, I don't have any doubts about that. Especially considering they didn't play with a striker. If they had Cavani playing instead of Danilo, you'd want Maguire and not Lindelof in there. It's mostly because of the pace and tenacity of Fred, Tuanzebe, Bissaka and Shaw/Telles, and the physicality of McTominay helped as well. Maguire is a factor if he has quick players around him, and he'll be fine in whatever setup. He just really needs to play quicker passes in the build upWe don"t have the quality to do it with only 2 defenders and a single DM you're right. We did great and our players worked their socks off but saying that the reason we defended well was Maguires absence is faulty. I'm pretty confident we would gave had a similar game if we switched Maguire with Lindelof.
And not do his famous dribbles? No way, where's the fun in that?Yeah, I don't have any doubts about that. Especially considering they didn't play with a striker. If they had Cavani playing instead of Danilo, you'd want Maguire and not Lindelof in there. It's mostly because of the pace and tenacity of Fred, Tuanzebe, Bissaka and Shaw/Telles, and the physicality of McTominay helped as well. Maguire is a factor if he has quick players around him, and he'll be fine in whatever setup. He just really needs to play quicker passes in the build up
Aye good point! Maybe mix it up a bit though.And not do his famous dribbles? No way, where's the fun in that?
You see, when you call someone dumb, you should at least be right. That was an own goal, in wasn't even a forced error.Bit dumb seeing that they got a goal within 90 mins of play today.