Back To The Classroom For City Players
Last updated : 01 October 2010 By Covsupport News Service /RD
Aidy Boothroyd had his players in the classroom this week to run through the defensive lapses that have led the Sky Blues to concede sloppy and needless goals.
Particular attention was focused on Doncaster's late first half equaliser where Boothroyd worked back from Martin Cranie's free kick through to the goal City conceded.
Cranie was at fault in an earlier game at Swansea when his weak back pass was intercepted and a goal scored.
The 24 year old versatile defender said to the CT: "Some of the goals we have conceded have been down to individual errors really. I wouldn't have said any of the teams have scored great goals against us so if we can eradicate those out of our game then we can push on.
"We were in the seminar room on Wednesday morning going over this week's game and looking at things we can take into the Hull game because we are always looking to improve."
"I don't think we were set out right at the back and maybe because it was coming towards the end of the first half we had too many men forward for our free-kick and it broke on us. We were all over the place in the middle of the pitch and didn't really get tight, so we need to look at closing up games at the end of the first half so we are going in at 1-0 rather than 1-1."
Speaking about the goal Billy Sharp scored for Doncaster late on in the first half, Cranie admitted, "Yes he's got good movement in the box and is a very clever player."
"He hung back on one of the lad's shoulders and just nipped off the back of him and, to be fair, it was a good finish, but if we had done our jobs properly he wouldn't have scored, although we are still debating whether he was off-side, but it was very tight so it would have been hard for the linesman to judge it."
Cranie's versatility has led to him being played in a variety of positions, except for his favoured central defensive role. He has spent most of last season at left back and has started this season in much the same position.
He admitted, "I have got used to it now. I played most of last season at left-back and started this season there so I think I have gradually grown into it and have started to use my left foot more.""I think the two centre backs have been great for us so I can't really say too much. I am just happy to be in the new manager's plans because it has been hard for everyone to force their way into the team and prove themselves again.
"I think he knows I am not a natural left-back but we are quite short in that position so I am just quite happy to be playing at the moment."
Boothroyd explained,
"You can't manage a situation unless you can measure it and everybody is accountable for the position they play in and the job they're supposed to do."It is the defensive errors that have annoyed Boothroyd most and it is the area he has been working with the players to try to eradicate.
"I don't think we've been taken apart this year," he reflected. "We're the only team that's scored in every game so far but we've only kept one clean sheet."
"So we're getting things right at one end of the pitch and now we've got to make sure we get it right at the other end rather than having to rely on Keiren Westwood making wonderful saves."
"It's normally not one thing that leads to a goal against, it's a catalogue of three or four things, so you've got to put it right as a team. When we analyse goals we've conceded we go back to the first mistake, the first error in judgement. Because it's a domino effect, one thing goes wrong so another thing goes wrong and people are out of position."
"Sometimes it's an error with the ball, doing something they're not supposed to do but find themselves doing, and people don't compensate for that. That's what teamwork is about, understanding of space, knowledge of the opposition."
t is because of these slips that Boothroyd has taken his players back into the classroom. He explained, "The most important space on a pitch is between a footballer's ears. If they can deal with all the chaos and stay calm they can take control."
"Like a boxer they can cover up for a little while and then, when the timing is right, come in with the knockout blow. We were a bit like Muhammad Ali against George Foreman at times, but in the end we came out on top."
