That was just one of his quotes re Lennon from last season and as much as I've slated Avb, he was good for Lennon (and defoe) last season.
I think one AVB's best efforts was getting Defoe to work harder at holding the ball and providing for others as well as looking for goals. AVB seemed to be dazzled by his new riches (new signings) and lost sight of the ball. Instead of adding them in to his working team he threw everthing in the air and ended up with a compulsive shuffle which finally dealt him out of a job.
That's pretty fair. One of the things I liked about yesterday was the flexibility between Ade/Soldado/Eriksen which caused Man U's defence a lot of problems but also made us weaker defensively, especially on the left.
"That was just one of his quotes re Lennon from last season" Which was very astute PR, as Bale had just started to run riot for Spurs (with the ensuing press love-in) .
"One of the things I liked about yesterday was the flexibility between Ade/Soldado/Eriksen which caused Man U's defence a lot of problems but also made us weaker defensively, especially on the left." I noticed last season that Adebayor had a tendency to drift left in AVBs' formations.
That's true, he showed alot of faith in Defoe when we was wondering how we would cope without options upfront and in response Defoe worked hard at his overall game.
Good PR but before Bale run riot Lennon was impressive and PR aside he was right! And it's rare I agree with Avb!
Making sure other players get mentioned in dispatches when the media focus is on one particular player is a sound way to make other players feel good about themselves.
Yes we're aware of this but you can actually praise Lennon without trying to deflect the reasons for the comments when he was in superb form at the time.
"but you can actually praise Lennon without trying to deflect the reasons for the comments when he was in superb form at the time" Yes, AVB could have done it a lot earlier in the season for the right reasons.
Lennon was great yesterday, as were Eriksen and Ade. Made me laugh when Chiriches got man of the match, which commentator picked him? Eriksen on the left reminds me of when Modric was played out there for us, he has clearly no interest in going down the line but he does a good job of covering and it allows him to ghost in field unmarked. I like it
I only saw it once at the time, and not subsequently so I'm not sure I'm remembering this correctly, but toward the end of the first half Smalling gave away a really silly corner, miscontrolled it or similar. But did he handball it at the same time (hence pen)? As I say, can be persuaded otherwise as I haven't seen it since. The BT commentator also mentioned some kind of ludicrous stat about number of games since ManU had a penalty given against them. Anyone remember what was said? For all the slight good fortune of some of those decisions (agreed that MoTD coverage was awful as others have said), I also agree with others that its going to take quite a few seasons of decisions against ManU before there is anything like balance. Funny how decisions against them get so much attention, yet decisions for them are always accepted by the media as par for the course.
Nah, he chested it but it was close to his arm. Really nervy defending from one of the dozen or so players Hodgson thinks is better than Dawson.
I shouldn't be defending Avb yet he openly praised Defoe and Lennon before Bale hit form and reasons aside, if it helps make players feel good about their role at the club then it's good man management which Avb struggled with in the end. Anyway the main point was that Lennon can work in systems other then 442 and Avb used him effectively yet as Spurf mentions once we had the summer influx of players, Avb lost sight of how to get the best out of players and Lennon became an easy target for some supporters as he isn't fully appreciated as a player.
Thanks, I couldn't hear in the pub but there there was a collective "what?!" when Chiriches' name came up. He was most at fault for their goal and whilst he did some good work at times, it was far from a stand out performance.
Given Owen's United bias, perhaps it was a convenient way for him to excuse a sub-standard Man Utd performance, by inflating the quality of our defensive display.
I think he handballed it http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideo...x-against-tottenham-gif/#.UsWAhmzbJKk.twitter
Vlad had a very good game (again), so not that strange. Was a little unfair giving it to Dawson to give to him (kick in the teeth). Ade or Lennon was MOTM though.