We've more quality than a lot of teams that have beaten us

Everyone talks about strikers and how bad our defenders are: but as I keep saying, either a whole load of very different players and personalities all keep making the same mistakes as each other, or we are simply not set up defensively to the standard we need. We score plenty. We concede far too many. We get knackered late in the second half (we're way up the first half table; way down the second half table). We can't mark and we don't understand how to defend set pieces. Too often the defender is the wrong side of the striker. Game after game, defender after defender.

I have a load of time for Jerome and, as a man, Cafu, and both have said similar things. If people aren't interested in playing for the shirt then fine - take the shirt off them, apart from midfielders-who-aren't-number-tens we have plenty of options in most positions. But the fitness and defensive coaching have been glaring weaknesses all term. I'm usually last to get on a "manager out" bandwagon because I'm old enough to have seen it all before, but was quite early with the "Neil out" thing.

I really, really want us to win tonight, and win every remaining game, and sneak 6th, and win at Wembley again. That Times article really got under my skin, though, and I'm left feeling that AN is the lowest level at which change is needed.

Gah. Gin.

Posted By: Old Man, Mar 7, 20:12:34