Derby County urged to address surprise Rams issue - it's "concerning for John Eustace" | OneFootball

FLW's Derby County fan pundit is slightly worried about the number of goals they have shipped so far this season

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Derby County have started the season completely differently from how they ended the 2024/25 campaign.

In the 14 games John Eustace managed at Pride Park last season, Derby scored 15 goals and conceded 14. So far, through four league games this term, the Rams have scored seven and conceded 11.

It's been an uncharacteristically open setup by Eustace, who is well-renowned for being a manager whose sides are hard to beat.

And whilst the number of goals the side is scoring is rather exciting, their league-worst defensive record going into the first international break is a cause for concern for Derby fans, especially Shaun Woodward, FLW's Rams fan pundit.

However, he acknowledges that the number of injuries and new signings may have unsettled things slightly to begin the new season.

Derby County fan pundit weighs in on poor defensive record

Through the first month of the season, Derby have conceded goals at a rate of 2.5 per game in all competitions.

Whilst they haven't struggled at getting the ball in the back of the net, their early defensive frailties are something which causes some worries for Woodward.

"The biggest concern for me is the number of goals we are conceding," Woodward told Football League World.

"We've conceded 14 goals in six games in all competitions, and a lot of those goals have been late in games which we were leading in, so game management has been a worry, too.

"Some of the goals we are conceding have been very poor as well, which is unlike us. Last season, we were solid at the back. We didn't score many, but we didn't give many away, either.

"Now, we're more attack-minded, but we're shipping them in at the back."

Derby lost Nat Phillips at the end of last season, following his loan spell ending, and has had to make do with a makeshift back three, which has included new signings and squad players, with Sondre Langas and Curtis Nelson currently out injured.

Woodward feels that once things begin to settle down and those players come back, the Rams should return to their defensive strengths again. However, he hopes that this doesn't detract from the exciting play up top.

"We have the likes of Langas and Nelson to come back when fit, and we haven't had a settled side, so hopefully, once things start to calm down and some of our injured players come back, we'll be tighter at the back, but hopefully that won't affect our ability to attack," he said.

"So, at the moment, the number of goals we're conceding will be concerning for John Eustace, because he's not normally the kind of manager who likes to have a team set up to be quite open, which is what we've been so far."

The international break has come at a good time for John Eustace and Derby County

Derby's performances and results began to improve in the final couple of weeks before the international break, and were a 106th-minute penalty away from taking all three points against Ipswich Town.

Saying that, though, this ongoing international break has come at a good time for Derby and Eustace.

Derby signed 13 players in the recent summer transfer window, and some of those arrivals came either injured or during the first few weeks of the campaign. With a tough Saturday/Tuesday schedule due to EFL Cup action for most of August, it's been difficult to integrate those players into the team.

Now, Eustace has had two weeks with those not on international duty to integrate his style further, whilst also seeing the recovery times of the likes of Langas and Nelson shorten without any games being played.

You'd expect that, once the Derby