Our defensive awareness has been chaotic. And we can't nail it down to certain players. When Walker plays he gets roasted. Then the week after he doesn't play and it's Ruben's fault. Ruben steps out and next it's Rico to blame. Collectively as a team we are so weak defensively. We are conceding the same goals week in week out. Quick break down the side, ball in to the box and it results in the opposition scoring. That needs to stop!!
Well stated, as I mentioned prior to the game…and if I can see it, every millionaire PL manager can definitely see it!
One thing that is a problem is that the “Back Four” is rarely the same 4 players from game to game!
Pep needs to find his BEST Back Four, and make a defensive sub or two in the last 1/4 of the game to keep everyone fresh.
Another issue that hurts when we are not playing well is the constant shuffling of the team when we are struggling. We very rarely swap “like for like” and seem to put some one on that moves 3 players to a completely different position for the last 10-30 mins.
Today, it almost worked, because we started to terrorize their RB with alternating forays from Nunes and then Doku, but when we shift everyone around in midfield, we seem to lose shape and poise.
While Pep loves nothing more than a versatile player, when things aren’t going well, STABILITY is usually the foundation from which you rebuild your swagger.