If Tony Pulis had AWB, Lindelöf, Maguire, Shaw he would barely let goals in. Ole has spent over £150m on defenders and we still can't defend. I know where the problem is, although people will still be blaming the players. They need coaching. They need a setup. They need clear roles. And yes, they aren't the best in the world individually but defenders rarely have to be if the setup is right. Defending is the easiest part of football.
The biggest (and maybe only) problem is set-pieces. If you ignore the first three matches where we clearly werent ready to play - our defensive record has been quite ok this season. Not great, but certainly not bad. But we had 11 goals against after 3 matches which was absolutely awful - after that - it's 10 in 10 which is among the best in the league.
And if you look at the goals:
Leeds - 1 corner and 1 dream superstrike from Dallas in a wildly open game
Sheffield United - 1 mistake by Henderson and 1 corner
West Ham - 1 corner
Southampton - 1 corner and 1 freekick
Everton - 1 goal from open play by Bernard after we lost an aerial duel prior
Arsenal - 1 penalty
Newcastle - 1 freak own goal
So after the Spurs-game - 6 set-pieces, 1 mega mistake by Henderson and 1 freak owngoal. If we can sort out the problem on set-pieces, our defending could be really good.