by azriahmad » Fri Oct 08, 2004 4:09 am
Good one, Anfieldadorer...you're funny!
Judge, I will try to address your question. It is OK for zonal marking in open play but we should stick to man marking at set peices as our defenders are not adept at defending based on the potential threats during set pieces and are unsure "who should mark where" hence causing the utter confusion at set pieces leading to giving away goals cheaply. While Hyppia and Carra can't be faulted for their efforts and defensive abilities (this case is for Hyppia) but ther are not the Franco Baresi or the Alan Hansen in being superb at anticipating or "reading" the potential threats. I think we don't have these kind of defenders to employ zonal marking religiously at set pieces.
Some defenders are good in the air and at tackling, while some are not good at tackling but compensate by their ability to read the threats early and snuff them out early. Alan Hansen once said that for a defender, he was "hopeless at tackling" and that because of his pace together with his partners, Lawrenson and Gillespie, they were able to play the offside trap further from the penalty box and also relied on anticipating and dealing with potentially dangerous balls earlier. right now, we don't have this kind of defenders.