Defensive frailties need addressing

Last updated : 19 October 2009 By Bladesmadeditor

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Middlesbrough, Watford and Derby are the trio who were unable to break through the Blades rearguard, but with no disrespect, mediocre Championship sides have been shipping goals past the Blades like no one's business.

Kevin Blackwell's troops have conceded 14 goals in the last six games. Three against Coventry, Ipswich and most recently Scunthorpe, two in shape of Sheffield Wednesday and Swansea and one against Doncaster. In only one of those games United came out triumphant and that was versus Sheffield Wednesday when goals from Jamie Ward, Darius Henderson and a Lewis Buxton settled the score-line.
(OG of course).

Mark Bunn has been heavily criticised for his lack of shot-stopping lately. Even Saturday's stunning strike from Grant McCann was followed by criticism from some the fans. Matt Kilgallon has looked disinterested since he broke silence on the latest situation regarding his contract talks at the Lane. According to the former Leeds man, no contract has been put on the table by the club. Kilgallon was unarguably at fault for Scunthorpe United's third goal; he was later substituted.

Has the departure of Kyle Naughton heavily had a negative impact on the back-line for the current campaign? Maybe so, despite the talented Kyle Walker deputising the right-back position. Andy Taylor hasn't quite settled in just yet, express many Unitedites. Meanwhile, Jordan Stewart has only appeared three time, once as a sub'. Chris Morgan, despite a few naive incidents on Saturday, has been a rock as always and hasn't put much wrong, but despite a few positive highlights about the defence, goals are still going in the wrong net too many times.

Kevin Blackwell, a former 'keeper himself of course, needs to quickly work on the fragile defence. High-flying Blackpool are next up at a chilly Bloomfield Road. The Seasiders are bound to be a tough nut to crack. They have already shown Newcastle United what they can do when they won 2:1 last month.