Weaver at Preston

Ormiston_Addick

Having just watched the game on TV one thing definitely stuck out like dogs balls, that being the way Prestons multitude of corners were ALL delivered right under Weavers crossbar with a bunch of Preston players camped right around him putting him under huge pressure.

Clearly, the word is out that Weaver is suspect under the high ball and teams are looking to exploit that as much as they can.

Preston must have had about 10 corners and they were identical in the area of delivery in arriving about three yards out to force Weaver to make a decision and, in all honesty, we were lucky to get away with some of them.

Anyone else a bit concerned about this?

Oggy Red

Their tactic was to obstruct the keeper at corners.

Each time an opponent would back into Weaver with no intention of challenging for the ball as the corner came over, making it difficult for him to collect.

It was obvious on TV replays - should be a given as a foul on the keeper every time.

PeakieRocket

Was worried that he was going to give away a pen or get done for holding onto the ball for too long, when he got involved with their attacker near the end of the game. He should have just kicked it into him and got the free kick, instead he risked giving the game away by being silly. Still, he made some fantastic saves that won us the game.

Henry Irving

Not sure how the word is out that Weaver is "suspect". The defence maybe but not Weaver. As it is the defence is now a lot stronger and I can't believe that a pro clubs scouts haven't noticed that.

How do you know that Preston don't do that every game regardless of who they are playing or that this is the way Irvine likes his teams to play. From memory Preston seemed to get more joy from the corners that were hit further out but I didn't have my heart in my mouth every time they crossed as I did earlier in the season.

Four clean sheets on the bounce. No, strangely I'm not concerned. : - )

SX_Addick

Seems ironic that we're concerned about defence after seven hours or so without conceding (I wish I hadn't just tempted fate like that). I think Weaver is adequate for this league, but he is suspect under pressure in his six yard box. There still seems to be a lack of co-ordination between Weaver and the two centre backs. Individually they seem OK and are getting better so concern is reducing. Hopefully the understanding will continue and they improve.

Red_Pete_in_Dubai

After four clean sheets, we now have the equal second best defensive record in the division. Both us & Wolves have conceded 15 goals in 17 games. Funnily enough, the best record is currently held by Leicester who have only conceded 12 goals in 16 games.

vancouveraddick

[cite]Posted By: Ormiston Addick[/cite]Having just watched the game on TV one thing definitely stuck out like dogs balls, that being the way Prestons multitude of corners were ALL delivered right under Weavers crossbar with a bunch of Preston players camped right around him putting him under huge pressure.

Clearly, the word is out that Weaver is suspect under the high ball and teams are looking to exploit that as much as they can.

Preston must have had about 10 corners and they were identical in the area of delivery in arriving about three yards out to force Weaver to make a decision and, in all honesty, we were lucky to get away with some of them.

Anyone else a bit concerned about this?

I am concerned with the way we defend corners but then I always have been. I think it's something we need to work on as a unit.

I'd say (like Henry) that Preston probably do this at 7 out of 10 corners at least and if it looks like it's working then more. I can't say this for sure though. Other than the odd dodgy corner I thought Weaver was excellent yesterday and of course I was one of those people who thought he was a w*nker because of 7 years ago - typical football fan I suppose.

Ormiston_Addick

Don't misunderstand me Henry, I am not saying that Weaver is not a good keeper but he does, like all keepers, have strengths/weaknesses and whilst he is clearly a terrific shot stopper it is clear that teams fancy their chances against him in the six-yard box in the air.

Maybe Preston do use that corner all the time anyway but I have never seen a team use the same corner routine every single time in a game before and it looked to me like they were targeting him in that area.

Still, he is probably as good a keeper as you are going to get in this league.

Henry Irving

Agreed it's a good tactic and with the height we have in the team I'm surprised we dont use it more. I don't know but I suspect that they do the same to every side they play. At this level power and set pieces are all that some teams have.

bingaddick

[cite]Posted By: Henry Irving[/cite] At this level power and set pieces are all that some teams have.

I make you right Henry.

TEL

I think Weaver has been outstanding lately and made two fantastic saves against PNE

oohaahmortimer

weaver's been great but wtf was he doing when he started charging the player at the end to get out of the way , on another day that petty stupidness might have been punished by a different official... i had my heart in my mouth for a second or two

bingaddick

[cite]Posted By: oohaahmortimer[/cite]weaver's been great but wtf was he doing when he started charging the player at the end to get out of the way , on another day that petty stupidness might have been punished by a different official... i had my heart in my mouth for a second or two

Me too actually - rather bizarre I thought. What we couldn't see was if the Ref had turned away at that point. All rather odd. I'm sure that Pards will have had a quiet word.