Zonal marking

[nsno-chris]

Mad how it worked last year but now we need to spend £200m to rectify it

I thought the tactical genius could easily resolve a system that was one of the best last year

 

[gianthogweed]

The same with the aimless throw ins just chucking them down the line and hope for the best can we not just throw it to one of our players

 

[anton66]

Any chance Rondon could reach the danger zone?

 

[Joey66]

Six goals this season from set peices conceded .........

 

[Nymzee]

Carry on this rate we’ll concede 29 goals from set pieces alone over the season. Belting stuff.

 

[NathDogg]

Never been a fan of it, doesn't work and gives decent chances up even with good defenders doing it relatively well. Feels overly complicated to me - most footballers are thick as mince, just let them have a player to pick up and man mark.

Carlos's/Davide's hybrid system from last season was prob the best we've had for a while but that's well in the bin now.

 

[TheBigIguana]

3 easy goals conceded in the last 2 games off corners.... Does anyone really rate this method ??

Every single good club does it. Every single one. So answer your own question.

What I'll never understand is why it is always a system failure when you zonally mark. The system was absolutely fine today if Godfrey doesn't make mistakes. But it is never about individuals with this. I don't really get it.

 

[Khalekan]

An addiction to Zonal Marking was what cost Marco his job.

It will cost Raffles his job as well.

 

[degsy]

3 easy goals conceded in the last 2 games off corners.... Does anyone really rate this method ??

I did hear that Benitez was a fan and iirc, the rs were whinging about that towards the end of his tenure.
That and persisting with players, just took us sooner to get there.
I will check with my rs brother in law to confirm.
If this was his 2nd season not his first then his 'doomsday clock' would have just ticked another minute to midnight

 

[degsy]

An addiction to Zonal Marking was what cost Marco his job.

It will cost Raffles his job as well.

This.
Edit; not strictly true, his addiction to doing it badly cost him.
Attack the ball few, that's all Kucka did...its all you need to do attacking or defending.

 

[Gilbert..]

An addiction to Zonal Marking was what cost Marco his job.

It will cost Raffles his job as well.

Who can forget Millwall in the cup.
They quite clearly knew silva played it. So they just stuck the big 6ft5 centre half on the edge of the box to have a running jump at our static zonal markers.
It was so school boyish defending and naivety it beggared belief a paid professional on the touch line just let it continue.
And i think sometimes thats what zonal marking is. To me it always gives the opposition the edge.
Saying that. If you just have dozy switch off defenders it doesnt matter what you play..

 

[MikeH72]

The culpability lies with thick players thinking that simply standing in their allocated zones is doing their job. You actually have to move when the ball comes into the box lads, not wait for it to land on your head.

 

[welshtoffee]

An absolute joke, we should scrap zonal asap and get back to basic defending. Even a Sunday league team would love to play us at the moment due to us looking like we will concede everytime we have to defend a set piece. Benitez must be a complete and utter tool to not see that !!

 

[gazzaa2]

I’ve often wondered whether it’s the system getting unfair criticism. Plenty of teams concede loads of goals from set pieces that go man to man, and some of the best Real Madrid, Chelsea etc. teams went zonal and I assume could defend set pieces (maybe that was their weakness, not sure). Maybe a mix of both is sensible. Have your best header of the ball free to attack anything, have a first man doing that space, stick someone penalty spot ish and go big for big everywhere else.

However, I think you’ve got to have the players to do it if you’re zonal marking. Big difference between Ramos, Carvalho, Pepe etc. and our lot of absolute jokers. And maybe the top quality players saved a bad system.

In short, it’s obviously not working for us.

Benitez is too dogmatic. He's took over a team who were very good last season at defending balls into the box and with tons of practice due to conceding pressure.

Why mess with it at least until you've signed your own defenders?

 

[lancs blue]

Makes you wonder what they do in training. Whilst Davies has his pedicure the others must be down the pub