Joe Jacobson defending....
Is woeful at times. Why on earth does he constantly let players run at him and back pedal instead of fronting the attacker up and getting a tackle in. So many times this season he has let this happen which allows attackers a free run into our box causing mayhem.
On a positive note, how nice was it to see Jones ( their keeper ) whining like a baby as we were wasting time over celebrating our goal, especially considering how much time HE had spent time wasting...his speed at kicks increased by 100% when they went a goal down. Dirty cheating time wasting bunch were Stevenage and thoroughly deserved to get beat, and we are much better at wasting time than they are.....
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I thought Jacobson had a good game today...but then again Cambridge away is still fresh in the mind
If you rush into an attacking player who is stronger and faster than you, you leave yourself wide open to being taken out of the game, especially at a high line. An attacking pacey winger will run past Jacobson and then be free to run into the middle and have a potential 1on1 situation. If you back pedal you give time for other players to cover behind you, and you slow the pace down, leaving less room behind you for an attacking threat.
You'd find most defenders doing this when someone is attacking them head on. Central defenders, Pierre and Stewart for example, can push into these central attacking players as they usually have their back to goal.
How many times as JJ backing off led to a goal? Whilst it might be frustrating, as an ex full back, I can understand waiting for the right moment and not diving in.
Also our full backs are left out on islands for a lot of the game with little help in front
Well Righty I was an inside forward (showing my age here ) and played at County level. He never dives in because he never gets close enough!! Getting tight on attacker imho is essential, and he doesn't do it often enough.
Up to a point I agree with MBS's assessment and I think that is why he has never played at a higher level. However he is a solid and reliable player at this level.
@ MBS. Strewth. Did you think Bobby Moore should have closed Jairzinho down earlier in 1970?
I agree he isn't the best defensive left back. But he brings plenty of other qualities to the team that make up for it.
When JJ had Woody (the 2014/5 version) in front of him he was guarded defensively and looked stronger. Similarly when Sido had PCH in front of him. However both our fb's suffer from lack of regular partner in front of them and get exposed accordingly.
Saying that JJ would be one of the first names on my team sheet every week.
I think this is incredibly harsh.
For a guy who isn't necessarily the quickest or the biggest, the timing of JJ's tackles and headers is generally superb.
The number of times he comes out with the ball in 50/50 situations is testament to the solid defender that he is.
Let alone what he offers at the other end of the pitch in dead ball situations.
Reading between the lines it would also appear that the club are having to manage his back condition, hence why he sometimes drops out of the odd midweek match.
He's the best left back we've ever had
Honestly, if you can't appreciate how good he is you perhaps shouldn't pass comment
I think Jacobson oozes class. A fine footballing brain, great positioning, mostly excellent dead balls. If he had pace as well he'd be two divisions higher. As it is, should we go up, he'd probably be the player I'd be most confident of in taking the step up.
Totally disagree with MBS. JJ reminds me of Dennis Irwin - steady, reliable and unspectactular defensively but gets the job done.
Jacobson is an impeccably cool defender. The real strength of our back four is the fact that all of them have nerves of steel, a calm head, and only stick a foot out when the moment is right.
In my (admittedly limited) opinion, the bigger issue is the amount of balls that go uncontested in wide areas in the middle third of the pitch, especially from set pieces (both offensive and defensive).
This often leaves the full backs facing a player who already has the ball under control and has had chance to get their head up. An isolated full back is always going to be left in a lose/lose situation. If he goes tight, he is allowing the inside pass and the plausible one/two while backing off gives the attacker chance to run at them. I would think it is to the credit of the majority of the full backs that have played this season that it hasn't been a bigger issue.
Its a sad day when someone becomes critical of JJ.......wow.
I think JJ does exactly the right thing by backing off and holding up the attacking winger. I hear people in the crowd screaming at him all the time to "get at him" and "tackle him", but commit himself and the chances are the winger will either skip past him, or he'll give away a free kick or penalty. I've not much playing experience, but I've always understood 'Don't commit yourself' to pretty much be the 1st rule of defending?
I do think he struggles up against a pacey right winger, but then he isn't going to have everything at League 2, and which defenders don't struggle when up against quality opposition (except Pierre of course).
I think defensively I'd rather have Bell or Vinnicombe, but with his set piece ability I'd agree that he is the best Wycombe left back that I've ever seen.
I'm sorry, Vinnicombe isn't in the same league as Jacobson
This is all based on him having a tricky opponent yesterday. Happens to all full backs. Anyway, looks like @MBS is in a very small minority here.
Let's not forget that he was part of a defence that kept a clean sheet yesterday.
Really good to see all the support for JJ. Heartening to read.
He's a top drawer player for us. Probably the best left back we've had in years. Great delivery from set pieces and part of one of the best defences stat wise we've had
I don't understand where the questioning of his ability has come from, he's been one of our most consistent players ever since he signed for us.
Best LB we've had for years and some of us are still not happy? Did we not have the best away defensive record in the entire top four divisions last season? Was JJ not an ever present in that defence? We certainly aren't doing so badly, defensively this season either. The public never cease to amaze me.
It's only really @MBS complaining and to be fair to him his county level inside forward experience clearly puts his view ahead of the pack.
In all seriousness though we are lucky to have JJ and it's really heartening to read how many supporters feel the same. This thread started with an outrageous view but has turned out to be a good thread
Joe is clearly the best left back we've had for many a year, though there are occasions where he keeps backing off even though there is cover to intercept the attacker if he tried to take it around Joe jf he made a challenge.
He's adept at patiently waiting for the right time to make a perfectly timed challenge, though this also leaves him vulnerable to backing off too much and allowing the opposition winger an easy run down the wing, or even at goal.
Before this sounds like I'm slagging him off, defending is a team game, and 99% of the time a tackle is made because of the hard work off-the-ball by team mates as much as the player who actually takes the ball off the opposition. While Joe is backing off, we need another defender to get into a position to cover the most dangerous area(s) the opposition player could exploit.
JJ is by far the best left back we have had in my 25 years of watching Wycombe.
JJ is quality. His only real weakness is lack of that little bit of pace. Having said that he is not exactly slow either. Not bad for a free transfer/agent.
I would be very happy if we stick with the same back five for the rest of the season.
And, with one exception it seems, so say all of us @Rolo. Personable, bright and with a wider perspective on life than yer average footballers. All round good egg. Long may he play for Wycombe Wanderers!
Although there is the odd slip, in my opinion, JJ avoids hacking in and keeps them busy on the touchline quite a long way from the action so the centre backs can regroup.
I, too, find it frustrating at times. I'm fairly sure it directly led to McGurk's winner against us at Burton last season. Beyond that I can't really remember it being too costly though.