Emre Can't defend

[J C]

I know this goes against popular opinion, big clubs like Juventus are circling and many fans are hailing Can as our best midfielder…
He comes across well in interviews and chips in with the occasional bit of brilliance, but he frustrates me in one area of his game… arguably the most important for the position he plays… Defending, in particular tracking runners from midfield.
Time and time again this season I’ve found Can to be far too complacent in moves that left our defence overloaded. There’s two problems here in my opinion, firstly he is not very good at reading the game and taking up the best positions, and secondly he doesn’t seem to have the physical ability(or the desire) to keep up with the runs of the opposition.

For a while I put it down to me just being harsh, I haven’t watched all the games this season, you don’t get the full story from highlights and I’ve seen other fans heap praise on Can… But I watched all 90 last night and seeing the same pattern emerge as we concede 3 to West Brom, I decided to investigate a bit deeper and the stats are shocking:

In the 17 EPL games Emre Can has started this season we’ve conceded 26 goals. In the 7 games he didn’t we’ve conceded 3…
Sure you’d expect some random variance but that’s a huge difference, and I don’t think it can be written off as entirely coincidence. I think the lad is simply not equipped with the right tools for the job. I’d even rather see Bobby Firmino (who we’ve seen track runners all the way from the other end of the pitch) in that position than Emre Can.

Anyway just wanted to put my views out there about Emre Can’s defending, at the moment he’s the weakest link in our defence in my opinion. On the plus side, it seems Klopp already has this sorted although we’ll need to wait till the summer for Naby Keita to get here.

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[Nike19]

It seems to me we’re approaching our style of play and direction on the pitch back-to-front.

There’s a natural emphasis to attack, which is of course a fundamental aspect.

But the saying goes, all great teams essentially are built from the back.

Judging on the evidence of last night, the body language otherwise spells nemesis and not wanting to be there when it comes to defensive duties. All of us collectively treat this as a confrontation rather than embracing it with panache.

Largely this comes from the GK. Be it Karius or Mignolet, over a course of ‘a’ season, neither combined will cut it. That must change fundamentally.

A lot of the time, there’s simply no looking up and communicating on who is doing what.

Which brings me on to say, I really can’t see vividly the distinction in positional play. For instance, we need a guy to play in front and protect the back 4, clearly. So is it Can, or is it Wijn?

Ox-laid for him started should be the driving force in the midfield area automatically.

These roles on individual players need to be made clear from the off. We don’t need a box to box if there’s supposedly full-backs in place over-lapping the flanks.

Rodriguez had a field day strolling if anything like a knife through butter. Our defence was just feeble and effortless. People make a point of being bullied, but I’ve seen on evidence, it really doesn’t take a great deal to rattle us.

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[sean the sailor]

Jc, agree. How many times has can let someone run off him? He never tracks the runner and never reacts to the 2nd ball at corners

He can be brilliant and has a everything to be a great midfielder but he’s just not aware of what’s going on around him. How the feck is he captain ? It’s crazy when he could be going

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[Chelsea.man]

Before we jump to his back, did we ask ourselves that if Emre Can is a defensive midfielder or a box to box midfielder?

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[Nike19]

Bit unclear, but I think Emre was brought in as a long-term shoe-horn for Lucas Leiva.

I tried to convey this in my reply yesterday as I’m not sure whether we need to implement a box-to-box strategy in the first place. What good has it really done as far as Emre goes?

I’ve only ever seen Can score that goal against Chelsea in his first season and then last season against Watford. His best position is sitting in front of the back 4 pushing towards the centre circle which is something we already have in Jordan Henderson.

Collectively only Milner is the best fit as a direct link to support and protect the back 4. Can, Henderson and Wijn just aren’t wired up that way.

Serie A may suit Can better because of the slowness of their tempo in style of play. We on the other hand need to get hold of Kieta, scrap the box-to-box position and implement 2 holding midfields – perhaps promote Van Dijk to that position.

Bring in a couple of more top quality defenders not to mention a top quality Keeper and then, only then we’ll see a drastic change.

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[Chelsea.man]

I saw Emre Can going in to the box many times every-game. but that front trio plus Coutinho has been taking all the plaudits. and you know some players aren’t prolific even though they go in a good position. Emre Can is at best a no 8 for me. he isn’t an out and out defensive minded midfielder.

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[Nike19]

Spot on C/Man.

Can isn’t defensive-minded as much as the comparison of Milner. This is quite simply down to experience, reading of the game and ability in protecting his defence.

How?

By reading ‘A’ situation and providing a ‘shield’ so should one of our defenders make a mistake, Can is there to pick up the pieces.

We’ve had a lot of instances with second-balls quite frankly not picked up by anyone quick enough.

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[Anonymous]

J C, 100% agree. I’m not too bothered about the discussion on whether he’s a DM or whatever else. Klopp doesn’t play with a DM and Can is the closest thing that we have to one but it’s all moot anyway because even if we’re playing him as a CM, he must have a lot stronger defensive abilities and instincts than he shows. I once thought Can would be a top class player but over the last year he’s really proving me wrong there. He’s been showing his ass to Juve the whole time, we don’t need these distractions and really should have shown him the door 6-12 months ago.

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