CG1010
Full Member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2012
- Messages
- 3,687
A widely held opinion amongst United fans (including me) is that our defense needs fixing. Especially we need a new commanding CB next season to be competitive. The starting of the season was obviously terrible where we let in 12 goals in 3 games but it was always a case of lack of match fitness and Maguire's head still in Greece. But it is interesting to see the evolution of defensive performance over the course of the season:
From matchday 4-14, we conceded 12 goals in 11 games, which is more of less same as average of 1 goal a game conceded we had in 2019-20. In other words no improvement at all over last season.
However since matchday 15, all the way from 30th December, we have let in only 11 goals in 17 games. That's 0.65 goals per game. Its better than anyone has managed in the PL including City. Basically it is title winning defensive form (if only our attack hadn't gone downhill so rapidly). And I am not including other competitions in this. In Europa league, we didn't let Sociedad score a single goal in two legs and limited AC Milan to 1 goal in two legs. What felt initially like a upturn in form is increasingly becoming much more solid evidence across a meaningful set of matches. It is seeming a bit like second of last season (post-Bruno) where we consistently improved our attacking performances.
What has led to this improvement? One possible reason is Dean Henderson. He has started last 5 PL games where we have conceded only 2 goals. Certainly the likes of Maguire and Lindelof look much less stressed knowing they have a keeper who can help out a bit in terms of claiming crosses etc. Or it could be better defending on set pieces or emergence of Shaw (which Maguire alluded to in the past). Another reason could be Ole prioritising sitting back a bit at the cost of our attacking threat. It certainly feels we are scoring fewer goals in last few months although it could just be due to lack of form of most of our attacking players.
Can we rely on this performance to go into the next season? Given the limited transfer budget, can we afford to ignore buying a new CB and focus on strengthening other areas of the team?
Matchday | Goals against | Matchday | Goals against | Matchday | Goals against | Matchday | Goals against |
1 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 31 | 1 |
2 | 3 | 12 | 2 | 22 | 0 | ||
3 | 6 | 13 | 2 | 23 | 3 | ||
4 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 24 | 1 | ||
5 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 25 | 1 | ||
6 | 1 | 16 | 1 | 26 | 0 | ||
7 | 1 | 17 | 0 | 27 | 0 | ||
8 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 28 | 0 | ||
9 | 2 | 19 | 1 | 29 | 0 | ||
10 | 1 | 20 | 2 | 30 | 1 |
From matchday 4-14, we conceded 12 goals in 11 games, which is more of less same as average of 1 goal a game conceded we had in 2019-20. In other words no improvement at all over last season.
However since matchday 15, all the way from 30th December, we have let in only 11 goals in 17 games. That's 0.65 goals per game. Its better than anyone has managed in the PL including City. Basically it is title winning defensive form (if only our attack hadn't gone downhill so rapidly). And I am not including other competitions in this. In Europa league, we didn't let Sociedad score a single goal in two legs and limited AC Milan to 1 goal in two legs. What felt initially like a upturn in form is increasingly becoming much more solid evidence across a meaningful set of matches. It is seeming a bit like second of last season (post-Bruno) where we consistently improved our attacking performances.
What has led to this improvement? One possible reason is Dean Henderson. He has started last 5 PL games where we have conceded only 2 goals. Certainly the likes of Maguire and Lindelof look much less stressed knowing they have a keeper who can help out a bit in terms of claiming crosses etc. Or it could be better defending on set pieces or emergence of Shaw (which Maguire alluded to in the past). Another reason could be Ole prioritising sitting back a bit at the cost of our attacking threat. It certainly feels we are scoring fewer goals in last few months although it could just be due to lack of form of most of our attacking players.
Can we rely on this performance to go into the next season? Given the limited transfer budget, can we afford to ignore buying a new CB and focus on strengthening other areas of the team?