Our full backs need help

[Glorio]

Hey folks, so our defence, which was relatively solid last season has been leaking goals at an alarming rate.
The individuals in defence have understandably come under intense scrutiny, however, I think a big part of the issue is further up field. One obvious issue is that the CBs don't get much protection from the midfield, however, I've noticed that our full backs are regularly getting overrun trying to mark 2 players at a time as the wide forwards are really not putting committing to helping out on the flanks.

It happened a couple of times when the boys were knackered towards the end of last season and I attributed it to fatigue, it's happening again and teams tend to be using it as a tactic. It appears the opposition wingers go narrow dragging AWB and Shaw in, and the full backs have a free run to the edge of our box. From a purely defensive perspective our fullbacks were hardly and issue last season, this season, they seem to always be caught in no man's land as they're in two minds whether to track the first or the second runner on the overload.


Agree or disagree?

 

[Foxbatt]

It is because Greenwood does not defend at all. Most of the attacks come from his side. It is either instructions or a tactical incompetence. Unless we do a positive press and we really do not press then it is not possible to turn over and utilise that space behind the opposing full backs.

 

[Ekeke]

It is because Greenwood does not defend at all. Most of the attacks come from his side. It is either instructions or a tactical incompetence. Unless we do a positive press and we really do not press then it is not possible to turn over and utilise that space behind the opposing full backs.

He actually does, but not in defensive areas. He's had some good success tackling back and winning the ball high up the pitch at times. But if you are high up the pitch having pressed, its then a long way to get back to defend an overlap. Also because he doesnt hold his position on the right and instead comes inside, when the ball first gets turned over there are obvious gaps on our right side as hes an extra man in the middle. It was exactly the same with Lingard and Mata so it isnt new. Just yet another weakness to playing our "right sided attacker" in an inside role and encouraged to play towards the middle.

These things are where you need great and hard working DMs with mobility and defensive awareness to fill in the spaces, win the ball back or make a foul when need be. Pogba and Matic are not this. It would also help to have a RCB who can fill in at RB as the rest of the defence covers over to fill the spaces. This is something Maguire sometimes does on the left covering Shaw, something Smalling did all the time for Valencia. But Lindelof just leaves the RB space completely open and then when someone steers the ball in from that area our fans blame AWB

 

[wolvored]

Teams have worked out how to play Utd. Its happened in all 3 games and I fear the 6-1 will not be a rarity this season. We lways play the same tactics and Shaw is better going forward than defending, hopefully Telles will be much better. AWB is good one on ones but gets positionally caught out quite a lot. His one on ones seem a last ditch tactic to clear when he dives in. Ole needs to either play 5 at the back so a CD can move either side to support the full back or play an anchor who sits just in front of the defence and can move to support the full back.

 

[Dve]

Hey folks, so our defence, which was relatively solid last season has been leaking goals at an alarming rate.
The individuals in defence have understandably come under intense scrutiny, however, I think a big part of the issue is further up field. One obvious issue is that the CBs don't get much protection from the midfield, however, I've noticed that our full backs are regularly getting overrun trying to mark 2 players at a time as the wide forwards are really not putting committing to helping out on the flanks.

It happened a couple of times when the boys were knackered towards the end of last season and I attributed it to fatigue, it's happening again and teams tend to be using it as a tactic. It appears the opposition wingers go narrow dragging AWB and Shaw in, and the full backs have a free run to the edge of our box. From a purely defensive perspective our fullbacks were hardly and issue last season, this season, they seem to always be caught in no man's land as they're in two minds whether to track the first or the second runner on the overload.


Agree or disagree?

I think Bissaka is supposed to drop into the middle when there are crossers coming in from the other side. You would seek to outnumber your opponent in the middle. Matic and Pogba as CMs work well when we are controlling the position in games, but they do not give the same support for the fullbacks as Fred and McTominay do. You gain some, and lose some. Mata and James are also contributing more defensively than Greenwood. Bissaka is left a bit alone on this side. Maybe play Fred.

 

[crossy1686]

I mean, they're getting on the pitch help, they're just not listening:

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— Twitter API (@user) date

 

[hungrywing]

Hey folks, so our defence, which was relatively solid last season has been leaking goals at an alarming rate.
The individuals in defence have understandably come under intense scrutiny, however, I think a big part of the issue is further up field. One obvious issue is that the CBs don't get much protection from the midfield, however, I've noticed that our full backs are regularly getting overrun trying to mark 2 players at a time as the wide forwards are really not putting committing to helping out on the flanks.

It happened a couple of times when the boys were knackered towards the end of last season and I attributed it to fatigue, it's happening again and teams tend to be using it as a tactic. It appears the opposition wingers go narrow dragging AWB and Shaw in, and the full backs have a free run to the edge of our box. From a purely defensive perspective our fullbacks were hardly and issue last season, this season, they seem to always be caught in no man's land as they're in two minds whether to track the first or the second runner on the overload.


Agree or disagree?

It is because Greenwood does not defend at all. Most of the attacks come from his side. It is either instructions or a tactical incompetence. Unless we do a positive press and we really do not press then it is not possible to turn over and utilise that space behind the opposing full backs.

This dude seems to agree.

https://thebusbybabe.sbnation.com/2...nt=entry&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

 

[He'sRaldo]

If we play wide forwards then the CM's are supposed to help the fullbacks in defence. However with a 4-2-3-1 this ends up being quite hard for 2 CM's to do. So if we're playing with wide forwards (which Rashford and Greenwood are) then a formation like 4-3-3 is better as it gives more midfield coverage and balance.

However if we're playing with wingers then the wingers are supposed to help the fullbacks in defence; in that case the 4-2-3-1 works. The problem is we don't play with wingers. Rashford and Greenwood aren't wingers, especially not in defence, so the formation doesn't really fit them. Or the 2 CM's for that matter.

In essence our 4-2-3-1 fits a lot of square pegs in round holes, thus we're getting exposed.

It would also help if we didn't defend so deep and started our pressure much higher, that way the forward players could be more involved in defence and hopefully our back line wouldn't be exposed so quickly. We'd need to have a much more compact and solid pressure to carry that out.