Lambert isn't more useful defensively than anyone in the squad..or for that matter even close to anyone for defensive contribution. You are living in a parallel universe to the rest of us here if you think Lambert offers more defensively than the likes of Guly and Rodriguez. Guly for Lambert was a good change. Lambert contributes next to nothing defensively.. Adkins messed up big time taking Puncheon off however..
Look at Kevin Phillips for Blackpool last year, 21 starts, 40 appearances in total and he still managed 16 league goals. Holloway said once in an interview about not starting KP every game because he wants him to start when he's in his best shape and this all comes down to fitness, a similar concern Rickie has. If we want to see the best from Rickie then I think that he should have a lot of sub appearances, that way we won't get performances like against Wigan, Arsenal and Fulham where he struggled to get into the game (yet still plays decent enough!)
Ok guly played ok when he came on but the result would suggest it wasn't a good change. The act of taking lambert off itself has a negative reaction on the saints players and a massive positive reaction to any opposing team. A saints team without lambert means any opposing team doesn't need to defend as much and can push players forward. Subbing lambert itself immediately puts us under more pressure at the back. Do you seriously think the Fulham defenders were worried about guly scoring.
I would yes, however I disagree with parts of your post above this one. If you take what you said in that post, then Lambert would have to stay on every game. A saints team without Lambert means teams have to defend differently. For example, if he had brought Mayuka on then the defenders may have decided to drop further back due to his pace and thus create more space for our midfielders. With Lambert on, the defenders know they can keep a high line as he will never out pace them.
I agree with what your saying not sure I completely agree that lambert is no longer capable of playing 90 minutes once a week.
I think he is capable of 90 minutes, no worries. There are a few saying he isn't, but not me. My reason for me saying about him not staying on every game is simply it allows us another option.
Btw on the defensive thing, Man City kept their first clean sheet of the season on Saturday, so I am sure they will be relieved to know they are staying up. Moral - it's still early days.
Of course. Ricky often provides an outlet because he tends to win everything knocked up to him. But he wasn't doing that yesterday.
Jeez, Rickie has one average game and gets subbed early for tactical reasons and all of a sudden he no longer features in our future plans. The man has been a phenomenon for 3 years now but anybody can have an off day there is nothing more to it than that. I think that he will be around for a few seasons yet as he isn't injury prone and his fitness, by his own admission, has never been better, and he can't lose pace that he never had!
I think this is an interesting thread. It looked like Lambert was struggling when he came off yesterday so I wondered if he had a knock. You can say Guly is better at holding the ball up, which is useful when we are holding a lead & dropping too deep, like against Man U, whereas Rodriguez is much better at running the channels,however as a goalscoring threat he is number one.Lambert is quite good in his own box defending & people say he is not quick but he always finds space in the box or on the edge of it by slowing his run down.
This is almost exactly what I was trying to express, I just didn't do it anywhere near as well. Mayuka for JRod is what I would have done.
Well, your first post is making an original observation and is among the smartest points on this thread (not saying much mind!), well done! And welcome! How? Surely any defensive contribution has to be considered 'defending'?
In all honesty, the only Lambert whose future I fear for is Paul Lambert's of Aston Villa, and frankly, I don't care too much about that either.
The defence will train and train, but Adkins will know that the question is, are they good enough anyway? Recent injuries have revealed how light we are in defence. Expect purchases in January.
