This does, of course, presume that this is how he will be employed. Personally, I think this could work very well in our favour. I cannot imagine that there is a defender in the world who would fancy a fit and pumped-up Lennon running at him for the last 20 mins of a game. It'll come down, though, to whether or not Lennon will be happy to play such a role, and if he is prepared to adapt his game to it. I truly hope so.
I don't think it will be quite as cut and dry as that. I see him being used like defoe, in cups, rotation and sub roles. I would throw him straight back in now as the team looks more balanced with two wide players opening things up for Pauleen, Beast and Lewis. He has also proven himself at all levels for the club and doesn't deserve to be ousted by Lamela, Chadli or Siggy just yet. Siggy has added nothing except goals, and the other two are still bedding in.
So far this season only one of the wide men has truly impressed - Townsend. Pretty much making it impossible to drop him at the moment. Therefore leaving a space for Lennon, Chadli, Lamela and Gylfi to fight it out for. Gylfi and Chadli have got a few goals between them but have failed to do much else for the team where as Lamela has yet to really make an impact. I don't see why as of right now, our first choice wingers can't be Townsend and Lennon, pace and skill in abundance, Lennon has the greater team ethic and will look to create more so than score where as Townsend will do his best to give full backs a headache and get a few shots off in the hope of bagging a goal or two. One thing with Lennon is every time we've questioned his starting role due to a new arrival (Gio, Bentley etc) he's always come out on top and it's now upto Lamela, Chadli and Sig to prevent that. In the long run I do expect/ hope that Lamela will reach his potential and thus making it a case of either Townsend/ Lennon/ Chadli or Gylfi becoming the other winger in the side but as of right now, Lennon should go straight into the starting XI when he's fully fit in my opinion.
I wonder if for a lot of home games a 4-2-3-1 formation could work : GK Back four Capoue/Sandro Paulinho Flank Eriksen Flank Soldado Flank = from Lennon/Townsend/Lamela/Chadli For away games (like yesterday) , having the option to run the opposition into the ground for the last 20 odd mins with Lennon is good.
Hi SOS, Just to follow your post i'd be happy to have Lennon, Townsend and Lamela fighting it out in the way utd have Valencia, Nani and Young. (plus Zaha and Januzag or however you spell it) I am very sceptical Chadli will make it, and more so Gylfi - not because I don't like him, but because he is not particularly good at any one thing. His passing is ok but not particularly quick or threatening, speed ok but not dangerous, he's not all that solid defensively in the way Lennon and Townsend are. So imo I really see him getting relegated quite quickly once Lamela and Lennon are back up to speed.
Totally agree. Sigurdsson's starting to become a bit of a Bent, if he doesn't score he does f- all. Chadli and Lamela haven't exactly been knocking on the door in their (very) early performances either. Lennon's proven quality and adds a great defensive aspect too, I'd like to see him comeback into the starting line up as soon as he's fully fit.
Lennon has to play left side currently if fit because we are playing with a make-shift left back and Lennon, as we all know, is pretty awesome at tracking back and helping. With Rose in the team Soldado would be rubbing his hands at the thought of Rose+Townsend and Walker+Lennon providing for him.
I suspect neither 'The Wizzkid' nor 'Defoe' will be happy to keep the bench warm, this season. I say this because there is the little matter of the World Cup Brazil to play for at the end of it. Surely they would both prefer to be playing.
I think they have the choice of starting for a midtable side or being on the bench for us. Neither are good enough to be a certain starter in a side challenging for top 4
I think we are stronger going forward and defending with lennon playing so see him being a starter if fit
We challenged last year for top four and Lennon was a leading player, not to mention each season under Redknapp with Lennon. Also I remember last year alot of posters said Townsend isn't going to make it with us. Now after a few games Townsend is a superstar and Lennon is suddenly nothing more then a sub. Don't get me wrong I rate Townsend and followed his progress at QPR but it was only last year he was said not to be good enough. Lennon can force his way back into the team as Townsend is currently on a great run yet he isn't going to do a Bale, so I'm expecting him to drop off in form and Lennon is a superb pro who offers more then Siggy overall plus currently is one of the few players with years of Pl experience which we will need.
I agree with the consensus that Lennon should be back in straight away. He has been a pivotal player for us and we have always been weakened by his absence. I have a lot of confidence in him and still think he offers more as a 'team' player than Townsend atm. It is for the 'new' players to force their way into the team, Lennon is part of the furniture for me, at least until our refurb is more mature.
At least lennon and townsend can swap though. if they do, we've then got 2 actual wingers. For me, Lennon would be of more use on the left over 90 mins than Gylfi, even he's not completely ideal. I think Soldado is desperate for someone like Lennon. The "wing" play so far has made very difficult for soldado. If it wasn't for his hard work which we witnessed again yesterday, you'd wonder how on earth he'd be in the game. something needs to change in order for us to get the best out of him. IMO, that means creating more balance by dropping Sig. Lennon and Townsend looks the best combination to me so far, with everything else considered.
Alway's liked Lennon and i think he should start,he can play L/W as he proved last season when swapping wings with Bale
At the moment, and ironically enough, Lennon, Holtby and Townsend look like our best "3"--so they should play. I think and hope I saw some movement towards a quicker buildup against Villa, which I thought, again, ended Townsend's and Soldado's goal droughts. I'd like to see us continue to speed up our play, since Lennon, Townsend and Soldado should all benefit. We'll give up a few more chances but it's a good trade, I think. I think we'll have a genuinely good cutting edge if we don't keep waiting for the other team to get their bus parked.
What do you mean by that Boss - he isn't going to do a Bale. Do you mean score 20+ goals? I'm quite sure his form is largely down to his excellent work rate, technique and fantastic dribbling which I find hard to believe will suddenly drop off. In fact the only thing I can see is his shooting accuracy improving. If he continues to have 4-5 shots per game cutting in, or from central positions he will soon find his range as Bale did and could be a real asset if we have a winger adding 15 league goals a year. Im aware i'm being slightly hopefull with that estimate, but so many of his shots a missing by tiny margins surely some of them will start to go in on a regular basis?!
i'm still not totally convinced by Townsend. Overall i still think Lennon is the better player, but Townsend is on form. Form is temporary and class is permanent, I'm not knocking Townie at all but at the moment i can't tell if its form or class. I hope its class because it would be brilliant to have another Spurs academy product flourishing in the first team. Or even more ideally.
Another - who are the others? I think it is difficult to say who is better. I think Andros has more to his game, better dribbling and crossing and more likely to get goals, which imo means he has the potential to be much better. Lennon has never scored or assisted as much as he should have imo, though just having him on the pitch has always been a massive plus.
