Why are we so awful at the back?
Throughout this season we’ve been brilliant on the break, yet dreadful in defence and today we’ve leaked 3 goals against a very average team. Quite frankly, it’s diabolical and needs fixing if we’re to make the next step up.
So, what’s the answer?
Well, the loss of Luis Enrique has been huge and we’ve missed his composure at left back. Neither Flanagan or Cissokho are good enough to cover and it’s shown as our centre backs have been pulled out of position to cover mistakes. I think Flanagan will come good (as a squad player, nothing more) but he’s not left footed, which shows when we push him out to cover for our lack of LBs. Basically, we need to buy a class full back who can play both right and left.
Things haven’t been much better in the middle of the defence either and in the summer we need to ship out one of our centre backs as neither Skrtel or Agger are good enough. Personally, I’d build our defence around Sakho and then bed in another defender with him.
And then there’s Johnson...his form of late has been ok and I rate the lad. However, there’s no way he’s getting another £100k+ a week contract and I’m not convinced he’s going to stay beyond his current deal. Again, in the summer, BR needs to consider his options and decide if he starts looking for a replacement now or waits until Johnson’s deal ends.