My apologies, should have checked that. Was involved in a lot of the early games though wasn't he? Can't find how many starts but he's been involved in 20 games this season. Has he had only 1 injury? Did he pay through an injury for a while? I can't remember.
Britton started 11League games and was subbed on once . Started 5 of 9 Europa games and started both FA Cup games
4 out of 6 of Laudrup's wins were achieved without Leon starting. Stats !! In isolation looks like they were more effective without him but other factors involved e.g. half of Leon's starts were v top 7 teams.
And by not playing a proper defensive midfield player against WHU is where laudrup got it wrong. Any good Defensive midfield player would have tracked both of Nolans run and made an effort to tackle him. By playing a central defender (Amat) in the centre defensive midfield position is where we went totally wrong, Positionally inexperienced and lost his player twice which cost us 2 goals.
Yeah, it didn't go well...but you can see the reasoning can't you? Hindsight is what makes it look bad. Equally though, with hindsight, it was great that Leon was fully fit and rested for the Cardiff game.
The fact he starts him against our toughest opposition might indicate that he rated him actually. I believe this season, with all our commitments, Laudrup was right to go the horses for courses route....will pay off over the next month.
Horses for courses as you say, Terror, and the need for player rotation. As valuable as Leon is to us, he is not the most robust and, like any other player, needs and benefits from a rest from time to time.
Which is why, for me anyway, Leon should have been saved for the PL games as that is/should have been, the priority for us.
Or not. Laudrup believed and openly said that these games were unwinnable and therefore pretty pointless. He played Leon even less in the games he thought really mattered.
Tiendalli's a funny one as although he was in form last season, as a player he wasn't for me and I was against him joining when the majority of fans wanted him last summer. Now he's public enemy no. 1 when in reality he's just an average player who has lost his good form...there could be many factors why Laudrup played Tiendalli at right-back over Taylor; 1) match fitness 2) I wonder if he too had a clause in his contract regarding starts Or the reason I believe... 3) If Taylor and Davies played regular who do you play left-back when you have a fixture pile up and need to rest your first choice? What happens if one of them gets injured (chances of this increase if they are both in the first team on a regular basis)? You would be facing, possibly, the rest of the season...with us committed in 3 competitions still....with 1 left-back only. Meaning Tiendalli or Jazz would have to play there on occasion, possibly in important games. Tiendalli's best form last season was at right-back and Laudrup was hoping he would regain some form and confidence there in my opinion. Using the squad correctly. Showing faith in your players. Unfortunately on too many occasions (Villa away, West Ham away, Hull at home) the players let him down. The thing about Saturday night was that the boys were being roared on by a passionate crowd and they were working their bollocks off (yes, Monk being recently appointed had something to do with it but they were also playing for themselves)....the crowd should have been loud and passionate and the players should have been professional and worked hard all along. That's how you get through sticky situations and regain your own confidence and the confidence of those around you....not look to blame the boss. Laudrup couldn't have been dealt a worse hand this season but he never looked to blame anyone, he always protected his players and his employers and took responsibility himself....but I guess some need to be shouted at (or need to see someone shouting) rather than follow a good example. There are different types of leadership.
http://www.southwales-eveningpost.c...Swansea-City/story-20594687-detail/story.html PABLO Hernandez insisted he is happy to stay at Swansea City after admitting his disappointment at Michael Laudrup's departure. Laudrup was the man who brought Hernandez to the Liberty in a then club record £5.55 million move 18 months ago. He also played under the Dane, sacked as Swansea manager last week, during a loan spell with Getafe six seasons ago. But despite Laudrup's exit, the winger stressed he wants to remain in South Wales. "It happened very fast. One day we were training with Michael and then he was gone," said Hernandez. "Football is like this, sometimes the change is very fast. This is football. "My relationship with Michael is good because he was my manager in Getafe and for the last year here. "He couldn't come to the training ground to say goodbye so he text me. He wished me good luck for the rest of the season. "I want to play because this has been a hard year for me with a lot of injuries. "In the next few months I want to play well, help the club go up in the table and do well in the Europa League. After that we will see. I am happy here." Hernandez was instrumental in securing Saturday's South Wales derby win over Cardiff after coming on as a half-time substitute. With his first touch, the Spanish international played a pinpoint through ball to Wayne Routledge, who opened the scoring. And after Nathan Dyer had added a second, Hernandez delivered the free-kick that Wilfried Bony headed home for Swansea's third goal. "It was an important win for us because in the table we needed the points and it's Cardiff," said Hernandez. "It was a massive win today and the team is very happy. "This time I started on the bench but I played 45 minutes and I had some luck to make two assists for other players. I am very happy to help the players win the game. "Now we have three difficult games at Stoke, Everton in the FA Cup and then Napoli. "They will not be easy for us so this victory is very important for the confidence because in the last game I think the team lost a little confidence. "This is a massive win and now we look at the next game." Swansea head to Stoke on Wednesday looking to build on Saturday's win, which came after a turbulent week. Garry Monk was named head coach following Laudrup's departure and got his reign off to the perfect start. "It has not been an easy week because there has been so much change," added Hernandez. "On Saturday Garry said it was very important for the club and for the people in Swansea that we won. "All the players needed to concentrate in this game. All the players wanted to play in this game and we did well. "In time we can see the change, but Garry has only been in charge for four training sessions and one game. "All managers are different but the team is the same, the players are the same. "In time we can see the change." \o/ [video=youtube;6Oq0CPXPtHs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Oq0CPXPtHs[/video]
Impressed with the way his English is coming along although hijos de puta would be better than Caaaaaaaaaaaaardiff!
