To all my follower out there, I’m back.   You may have noticed that I haven’t posted for a while and there is a reason for that.   I’ve concentrated and been preoccupied with writing a book.   And I am proud to announce the book is finished.

A basic premise of the book is to look at the nature of defending and to try and answer the question of why it is that so many goals are conceded when the player scoring the goal is completely unmarked.   But more of this later.

I watched the first episode of Football Dreams: The Academy a new Channel 4 documentary series last night.   It follows Crystal Palace revealing the work that goes in to developing the next generation of footballing talent.

One lad, Bola, age 11 we are told is a left-footed full-back.   Is it right that clubs allow young players to identify with specific positions from such an early age?   They also talk unashamedly in terms of defenders and attackers.   We’re all defenders, and attackers!

A Left-Back in the modern game will need to be able to defend but also to get forward on the overlap, cross balls and feel comfortable in taking players on.   A bit like a Left Winger might do.   In short, the defender needs to equip themselves with a host of attacking qualities.   All this is, should be considered alongside developing the right-hand side of his play.   If it’s not developed from a young age, it is unlikely to be later.   A football education should be about developing the complete footballer.

When it comes to defending, fifty percent of the time you haven’t got the ball.   All teams are seeking a goal scorer, but the other side of the coin is to not concede goals.   Defending.   The skills and development on this side of the game are sometimes not given the same credence.   There is already a whiff of one player developing the wrong attitude as portrayed by the under-12s coach Phil Hingston repeating the message to stay humble.

This may come across as a chilling statistic as it is on the back of goals conceded in the first week of the Premier League which in 2015 saw 67% goals scored were completely unmarked.   2018 64%, 2021 76%.   Analysis of last week’s goals saw a whopping 92% of goals scored were completely unmarked.   Two of these goals were when the defender was making a late lunge for the ball, but even if you discount these it is still 86%.

Get the book!