Have we improved defensively or gonna backwards?

[Kevin Mcleod]

V unlucky vs Utd, missed a last min pen vs Palace and hit the bar last min against Sunderland. Whisker away from 3 wins and 3 cleansheets! Our motto last season was build from the back, Burnley looking very solid with a Championship line up (on paper at least). Would Simpson have been any worse then Isla yesterday?

They sound exactly like us with the bad luck, late late missed pen, blatant foul for a goal against, and a 100% pen not given.

[Greg1882]

Defensively we were appalling again yesterday . Caulker and Ferdinand look like headless chickens , isla got torn a new ######## by Moses and traore ain't a premier league left back in a million years but was ironically the best of a bad bunch . We look shambolic and disorganized and players of that experience (ie Ferdinand) should not have to be told how to organize a defense . Must improve , sadly defensively isn't where I thought out issue would be

[QPRDave]

As with a lot of players in football, just because we spend money or buy names doesn't necessarily guarantee success. (As we well know)
Selling Simpson was a mistake. Isla was brought here to play as wb. Doesn't mean he can't defend, but he is better pushing his opposite number backwards, and giving him something to worry about.
It was said at the time of Rio signing that he would be perfect in a 3 but exposed in a 4.
The opposition we face are better than last season obviously, but yeah we are worse at the moment imo

[dogsrrs]

we played an attacking game and gave the defence no cover leaving a gap between m/f , Stoke played on the counter attack and caught us on the wrong foot time and again we have to have a solid centre midfielder to sit in front of the defence to give the c/hs that extra second or 2

[stainrodisalegend]

Dont know how anyone can make such comparisons. Defence now playing against massively better players and are also under hugely more pressure as our midfield cant control games in the prem. that said isla is clearly no conventional right back and we have contrived to name a 25 man squad without a specialist right back just at the time we were abandoning 3-5-2. We have seen Dunne is too slow at this level. Personally for away games i wd have played simpson right back and onouha with rio and caulker in the middle with a conventional left back and so rather than three at the back it was effectively five. But that not now an option.

[jmelanie]

Not that amazing then in reality apart from Utd but agree a lot better than us!

I thought they looked pretty average yesterday. Especially since they were playing the same team we beat a couple of weeks ago.

[IngysFriend]

With the squad we've got at the moment and if we are playing 4 at the back put Ned at right back and play either Hill or Yun left back. Ned has height and pace we are too slow in there and are getting caught out and he would help with that.Lets go back to getting the basics right before thinking we are capable of changing formations at a whim !!!!!