Jase89 wrote:theHotHead wrote:Meh. All this to save 5-6 goals per season
Would you rather concede or save the 5-6 goals a season? Which in our case in the PL is probably more than 5-6
I would prefer the players knew the basics of defending, wouldn't need a set piece coach then. This zonal defending works a treat in Europe, all I see is shit defending week in week out by every team that does it in the Prem - including the top teams.
If we look at the top defensive performances over a season in the Prem since 2000, the Invincibles conceded 26 goals without zonal, admittedly Chelsea used zonal under Mourinho, Man U never used zonal under SAF I believe (certainly not whilst Gary Neville played for them), in 2008 they conceded 24 goals. Lets look at the goals conceded during subsequent seasons by the champions:
2009/10 - Chelsea 32
2010/11 - Man U 37
2011/12 - Man City 29
2012/13 - Man U 43 (best Man C 34)
2013/14 - Man City 37 (best Chelsea 27 Mourinho pt2)
2014/15 - Chelsea 32
2015/16 - Leicester 36 (best Spurs/Man U 35)
2016/17 - Chelsea 33 (best Spurs 26)
2017/18 - Man City 27
2018/19 - Man City 23 (best Liverpool 22)
2019/20 - Liverpool 33
So you don't think I am cherry picking I will go back 5 seasons to up until the Invincibles season when zonal marking was not prevalent in the Prem:
1998/99 - Man U 37 (best Arsenal 17)
1999/00 - Man U 45 (best Liverpool 30)
2000/01 - Man U 31
2001/02 - Arsenal 36 (best Liverpool 30)
2002/03 - Man U 34
Hmmmm I was hoping for something more conclusive, there were more seasons pre zonal marking where the best defensive performances conceded 30+ goals than I expected.