My eyes are permanently squinted after reading Ian's
post!!!!
In response to what Ian has brought up,i would like to say just a
few things.
Firstly,my reports are just meant for
information sake and hence i try to windowdress it and leave all
the pin-pointing of mistakes to the teamtalk section.Its solely in
the name of fun.
Secondly,regardless of whether you are playing in the left/right
back role,i personally feel that its alright for you to join the
attack,in fact it gives the team more options.But,being a
defender,you should always bear in mind yr primary role,as THE ROCK
would tell you:"KNOW YR ROLE".If you decide to bring the ball
up,its essential that you know exactly what you are going to do and
not attack blindly.You must be confident that you can add to
the
firepower upfront with moments of brilliance,if not its better to
trust our midfielders and leave the attacking to them.Its better to
release the ball from a distance the moment you see a man is
free,rather than running up to him and passing when you are a metre
away,or worst still,dribble pass yr midfielder,without getting him
involved.
Just take for instance,Roberto Carlos,Lilian Thuram or youngster
O'Shea.....these guys when you do find them moving upwards,they
make sure that they get a pass or cross in from the byline,or for
Carlos,you know he is going to unleash his fearsome shot.Other than
that,they look out for their teamates upfront,and make that
decisive pass or clearance and leave the job to the
midfield/forward department,thats what they are there
for isn't it?
What i'm implying is,as defenders,its not our duty to attack,and we
should only do so if at that point of time,we are almost sure of
how we are going to contribute by pushing upwards.We must have a
rough picture of how the play is going to be,and teamates must also
know of yr pattern of play when you push up,be it overlapping play
or whatever.You have to know what your next move will be,in
short,play smart and dun waste unnecessary energy.Its a must to
release that pass or cross or shot at goal for that matter,because
if the ball is lost halfway,then the defence might get caught,if
you know what i mean.
The next point is regarding drifting to the centre.If you mean
drifting to the centre of midfield,its a big no no but if you are
covering for the centre of defence when the opponent is coming down
the right,then i guess it alright.
The final point about covering....well dun worry too much abt it
because its takes a team effort to do that,you can only do so
much,how are you going to take two players at a time,it takes
discipline and teamwork in that area.A left-back's job would be
mainly to cover his side of defence.As for the midfielders of the
opposing team coming down the centre,its the midfielder's job to
fall back and try to win back the ball or mark them.
All i have said is just my point of view,it does not mean that you
are guilty of any of these...in fact i wanna compliment Ian on his
high workrate and speed(envy...sigh...).Although you push up
often,i must agree with Bara that you do in fact make a
concerted
effort to fall back quickly,and do more often than not,win the ball
back or clear it to safety.
Hope my posts has been of at least some help or answer to yr
questions.
