The best form of defence is attack.

[Desso]

Why oh why do we sit back in the last 15 minutes when we have a lead? We've shown in a number of games now, that we can't  defend adequately when under pressure from large numbers of the opposition. If we play our normal attacking game (not very good admittedly) the opposition would have to keep players in defensive positions to deal with the (minimal) threat. Atkinson is OK normally, but seems to tire quickly when under prolonged pressure, so let's put the pressure on their defence. It can't be worse than what's happening now.

Come on Nigel, change the tactics. You said that fitness isn't the problem.

[Simon bristol]

We can barely keep possession as it is, relying on chris martin to chase down and win long balls whacked up to him isn’t conducive to keeping the ball in the opponent’s half. Without joe williams theres very little fight in midfield which means theres little to stop the ball coming back again when we lose it seeing as he hasnt been fit in 18 months

in short, we are shite, you can blame:

pearson/previous managers/ ashton/ lansdown/ the players/ or a combination of all of these.

[marmite]

We've played this way for a few years now. The difference now is that ALL teams know this and pressure us in the last 20 minutes.  Eleven back for a corner against us, no quick outlet, no pace, constant back passes. We are sitting ducks.

[GrahamC]

It isn’t about sitting back, it is (as said above) retaining possession by accurate passing & defensive concentration, which is down to the whole side.

It isn’t a question of relentless attacking simply to play in the opposition half, it is discipline, organisation & confidence.

[Supersonic Robin]

Obviously it's not always quite as simple as "attack is the best form of defence", but I do agree that we'd really benefit from having some kind of outlet to relieve the pressure. Even just being able to keep the ball for a few minutes would help.

One of the biggest frustrations for me is simply how messy it gets. Even if we can't threaten that much going forward, we can still be solid and manage the game (I remember Mourinho talking a lot about controlling the game whilst out of possession). Unfortunately we fail to do that - we lose composure and it just becomes a bit of a mad panic.

[Southport Red]

34 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

It isn’t about sitting back, it is (as said above) retaining possession by accurate passing & defensive concentration, which is down to the whole side.

It isn’t a question of relentless attacking simply to play in the opposition half, it is discipline, organisation & confidence.

I agree but the first line of defence should be our forwards, when the oppo has the ball in their half our forwards don’t seem all that eager to put pressure on the ball, or try to win it back. 

[Davefevs]

In short, we don’t go deep / defensive on purpose….as others have posted above it happens for numerous reasons.

[Waconda]

6 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

In short, we don’t go deep / defensive on purpose….as others have posted above it happens for numerous reasons.

Yes, and is systematic of a team in our situation.

Not a direct coaching flaw per say.

[Bat Fastard]

We would go a long way to solving our end of game weakness if the forwards came back and helped to stop so many crosses coming into our box.  The out ball to slow forwards is a recipe for creating more pressure on our own defence as the ball then keeps coming back and stays in our half.  Maybe the return of Semenyo will help. His extra strength and pace may well help to stop conceding the ball every time and threaten teams who try to push everyone into a siege on our goal in the last quarter of every game.  

[Major Isewater]

2 hours ago, Supersonic Robin said:

we lose composure and it just becomes a bit of a mad panic.

I think that’s nailed it. 
In our last game we did have a period near the end where we stroked the ball around without too much attacking intent then as soon as we were pressed , panic. 
Bentley kicks it long and it comes straight back . School boy stuff , not becoming of highly paid pros. 

[chinapig]

As others have said, inability to keep the ball is the key factor. I was struck by the following from an interview with Russell Martin I read yesterday:

“You always get people who say ‘possession doesn’t mean you win’, but if you have the ball and you have it a long way from your goal, your chances of conceding become much smaller”

Common sense really but not something we seem to have grasped/ are capable of.

[Davefevs]

9 minutes ago, chinapig said:

“You always get people who say ‘possession doesn’t mean you win’, but if you have the ball and you have it a long way from your goal, your chances of conceding become much smaller”

That is Pep’s mantra too.

Think it also underpins the “pressing” system too….win it back high up the pitch….and that can apply to both passing and direct teams.

[BCFCinNW6]

23 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

That is Pep’s mantra too.

Think it also underpins the “pressing” system too….win it back high up the pitch….and that can apply to both passing and direct teams.

Problem is our attackers have an average age of 72 so a high press after 70 mins is beyond them in terms of stamina! 

 

 

[Davefevs]

Just now, BCFCinNW6 said:

Problem is our attackers have an average age of 72 so a high press after 70 mins is beyond them in terms of stamina! 

 

 

Agree, hence why in an ideal world, with a strong enough bench, Martin can be replaced with energy after 65ish minutes.

[BCFCinNW6]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Agree, hence why in an ideal world, with a strong enough bench, Martin can be replaced with energy after 65ish minutes.

In short - we need Semenyo back pronto! 

I don't envy NP to be honest. It's like trying to paint the Sistine Chapel with a sausage. 

 

[Davefevs]

There is no comeback to that

[Clutton Caveman]

7 hours ago, marmite said:

We've played this way for a few years now. The difference now is that ALL teams know this and pressure us in the last 20 minutes.  Eleven back for a corner against us, no quick outlet, no pace, constant back passes. We are sitting ducks.

11 back for a corner, we get hemmed in for ages with no out ball, they surround our box.

1 fast bloke left up (who is probably not much use for defending) requires them to leave 2 players back with him and we can at least contest the clearance often getting at least a throw in in their half. 

I will never understand 11 back in our box

[Lanterne Rouge]

28 minutes ago, Clutton Caveman said:

11 back for a corner, we get hemmed in for ages with no out ball, they surround our box.

1 fast bloke left up (who is probably not much use for defending) requires them to leave 2 players back with him and we can at least contest the clearance often getting at least a throw in in their half. 

I will never understand 11 back in our box

This has been a real bugbear of mine for many years. About the only time we`ve done it lately was when we had Eliasson and before that, Ivan Sproule. IMO the smallest player should stay up (so Jay at the moment).

[Taylor10]

8 hours ago, Desso said:

Why oh why do we sit back in the last 15 minutes when we have a lead? We've shown in a number of games now, that we can't  defend adequately when under pressure from large numbers of the opposition. If we play our normal attacking game (not very good admittedly) the opposition would have to keep players in defensive positions to deal with the (minimal) threat. Atkinson is OK normally, but seems to tire quickly when under prolonged pressure, so let's put the pressure on their defence. It can't be worse than what's happening now.

Come on Nigel, change the tactics. You said that fitness isn't the problem.

If only it were that simple @Desso

I think we do need to show more attacking intent at home but we quite simply don’t have the technical or tactical ability required to do so consistently.
 

As for sitting back, we don’t have anyone in the team that can dictate the tempo of the game or keep hold of the ball when under pressure. We really do struggle even retaining possession.