It would be imprudent to take all these comments too seriously, but some supporters are already concerned about the frailty of our defence.
In the comments section of the TWTD website, immediately after our 0-3 defeat to Millwall at Portman Road, some fans began to vent their frustrations. Help said I appreciate this is a work in progress and more players to arrive. But still conceding from set-pieces and not closing the opposition down.
He makes a valid point. We have had the close season to get this right, and although there has been an influx of new players and many more have found the door, our defence has not changed greatly. If we forget about James Wilson’s departure, who else has left our back-line?
Toto Nsiala is still very much a part of manager Paul Cook’s plans it seems and so too is Luke Woolfenden and Kane Vincent-Young. The only new additions to our backline are goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky and centre-back Goerge Edmundson who has not been in action so far. Janoi Donacien appears to be back in Cook’s good books, and of course, Myles Kenlock is still with us.
I am quite sure our manager will not be happy with the goals we have conceded in pre-season friendlies, but he must endeavour to get this right before the Morecambe visit on Saturday. Is it a case of players forgetting what has been drummed into them – or is there still something wrong with what we do on a training field?
I think George Edmundson will be a great addition but we need more. It is the one area of the team that makes me worried, and I am not the only one. Bobby Bell commented, I know it’s only a friendly but we only have a week before the serious stuff so I would have hoped for some encouraging signs. The defence is still very poor.
It is just four days to kick-off and I just hope our manager can sort it out at the back before our new season commences. It is unlikely we will get any more players in between now and then, and even if we did, we would not have enough time to change our approach. Cook will have to make do with what he’s got, and let’s hope we can keep things tight at the back in the meantime.
It’s been no secret for a long time that our defence has been woeful – therefore that should have been made a priority surely?
Yes, Gary, you are absolutely right. I am baffled as to why this has not been fully addressed. We leak far too many goals from set-pieces, and it looks as if we will continue to, unless we have a change of personnel. George Edmundson won’t play at the weekend either, so we will have to rely on what we have got.