I wanted to get Ade thinking he was a lethal scorer, but he's not. What he has been is a very hard-working, key member of the team. While he's missed chances, the team is scoring a lot more, and I think much of that is Ade's hard work and passing. And being one of the leaders in both goals and assists while missing two games isn't too shabby. Watching him catch and tackle other strikers and win headers in midfield makes it very hard for me to say anything critical of him. Other hard-working players like Palacios and Crouch I'll always wish well--except when they're playing Spurs.
At the end of the day, if we're going to play with a mindless goal machine up front, they need to be exceptional at what they do in order to justify their selection - someone like Lineker, Klinsmann, Van Basten or Van Nistelrooy, who will get in excess of 20 goals every season and can bury any chance that comes their way. Pav, on the other hand, may be good for 12-15 goals a season, which doesn't justify a guaranteed starting place. If he is to stay past January, he'll remain in his role as an impact sub who only receives starts in low-priority games.
to the OP.... After this evenings performance, the sooner he departs the better!! His touch was poor, he looked lethargic and the team struggled as a result. Not sure why he was brought on at all......
He lacked service somewhat, but I still don't think that he was the right choice. I said the same against Sunderland, admittedly, but I'd much rather see Kranjcar come on.
Agree about the service to some extent, PNP - but the ball was bouncing off him evy time! Just heard Harry discuss this and it's still not clear why he opted for Pav over Nico, or even Rose would have provided a better balance - and certainly more energy.
I, too, thought it was a big mistake for Harry to bring on Pav for VDV. I would have brought on Livermore.
The general consensus seems to be that he should have brought on anyone but Pav! Could have even brought on Kaboul and pushed Walker up the wing.
All good options!!! Have to say that I was hoping for Kaboul to come on at many times during the 2nd half when the defence looked decidedly creaky - and a tad self- destructive. But maybe I should just give the Chavs more credit for a strong performance.....
Have to agree with most, Pav was the wrong choice to bring on, maybe Harry thought he could repeat the same as Sunderland game. They were dominating the midfield and losing Rafa meant they had more space to play, in hindsight Harry probably should have bought on any of the 3 names mentioned previously.
It wasn't that convincing against S'land, had Pav not netted, he would've been slated. This was a tragic error of misjudgement by Harry, what I want to know is which twat fed him the idea, KB, JJ???
