It is and (whilst this is stating the obvious) having watched back their goal from last

night illustrates the point.

This is not another attempt to escape goat Russell Martin but I feel its a good example of how the back 4 (or 5) are not yet operating as a unit and they should (and hopefully will in time).

If you watch it back Franke gets drawn out from defence to challenge for a header. he probably should do better with that header but that's not the key point. the key point is that Martin's man then runs across into the space that Franke was previously occupying (i.e. the left sided CB channel) but rather than go with the man Martin checks and holds his position. Franke then has to frantically try and get back to catch the player who has now received the ball and he can't do it.

I must confess that my playing experience is in other sports but I was a defender and in such circumstances I would expect Martin to stay tracking the man he is marking with Franke then dropping back into the space vacated by Martin. Maybe though they do it differently in football or we are employing a deliberate zonal marking system.

Posted By: Jim, Aug 23, 14:36:24