A victim of his own 'instant-success' with England certainly. So over-hyped is probably spot on - and not entirely his fault. It's his apparent selfishness and poor decision making that worries me, the last 40 yd attempt yesterday being symptomatic. And whilst he is a powerful runner on the ball, he also never entirely seems to be in control of the ball at speed the way that a Bale, Giggs or Ronaldo would be. Not writing the lad off by any means, but he has a lot still to prove and at 23 running out of time to some degree.
I wish I was 22 again, I was still a big kid then. Happy go lucky, live for today and all of that. Very naïve, I believed in Socialism and all of that claptrap in those days.
LOLdado's miss just capped off what has been an amazing debut season for him so far. £26m on this penalty box predator has been truly justified, what a machine. As for Townsend, I think he's a great player to have in the squad but once Lamela and Chadli find their feet and build their confidence, I wouldn't expect him to be a first team regular over those two but a bloody good option to call upon. Like as Roo said when he corrected himself, Townsend is more overhyped than overrated (name one young English lad that isn't overhyped these days), he can definitely play a big part for us. 22 is still very young, many footballers blossom around the years of 24-27 so he's got time to improve the mental part of his game, he needs to acknowledge when to pass/ cross and not always try a Bale-esque wonder strike. The game was painful on the eye overall, if it weren't for Brad we'd have been dead and buried out there, defence was cut open too easily, Rose yet again convinced me that Benny is still miles ahead in terms of current ability at LB, Vertonghen was poor, Naughton won about 1 tackle out 25 versus that Konoplyanka fella and Dawson was ok though his lack of speed is a huge a detriment at times. Midfield weren't too great either and LOLdado was so unlucky with his rasping shot from 4 yards out just going over the bar. I think we can take them at the Lane though, a 1-0 deficit isn't a terrible thing to come back on after taking a mixed squad with mainly squad players.
Steven Caulker. So underrated he's being offered a chance to play for Scotland - yet the utterly overhyped Wes Brown made the 2002 World Cup squad at his age. Being overhyped doesn't mean much if you're at the "wrong" club.
I must admit that part of me is hoping that Cardiff get relegated, so that we can get Caulker back without taking a hit on him.
The aspect I'm finding ironic, re Townsend, is that people like me, Roo ( and others) where saying how Townsend looks a prospect and deserves to be given a chance. Now, the other fans who never rated Townsend when on loan and said he isn't Spurs quality, are now big fans. The reason I've cooled my opinion on Townsend ability, is that he's a good squad player but shoots on sight. I keep hearing he's better then Lennon because he shoots. How many goals has Townsend scored? How many shots does he take each game? At least with Lennon he isn't deluded enough to believe he's Gareth Bale. Townsend will score the odd screamer throughout his career and have games where he runs a full back ragged. There's ability but he's definitely over hyped and needs to take around 20 shots before one hits the target.
Townsend's problem is he is believing all the hype surrounding him and his England performance and goal just exacerbates that situation. He needs to take stock, take a more objective view of his game and realise he has much to learn and improve on. Otherwise, he'll just go through his entire career like many others as a one trick pony who'll never develop or improve their skills. Lennon is guilty of this. Still the same player we bought some 9+ years ago. Run, run…. fall over.
Lennon may be the same player but he's effective. If you remember when he first arrived he made an immediate impact and never faded. He's performed in big games and works for the team. Townsend has nothing to fall back on, no work ethic to use when the tricks aren't working. Lennon at least can say he's been part of teams which have got us somewhere, top four, champions league, so you can't really knock Lennon if he's helped us progress.
I'm not knocking Lennon, just giving my honest opinion of his own personal progress over the past nine years. He does put in a shift and his defensive work never goes unnoticed with me. I just wish his offensive play was more developed. He still does the same runs he did when he first signed and his goal return has always been too low for my liking. He tends to panic shoot in the box, when a calm controlled approach is far more likely to bring a better return. You can't disagree with that surely Boss?
No I agree, he can't strike the ball properly, I've never attempted to talk up his striking as that would be madness! Lennon has a real problem putting his foot through the ball most of the time, he has a strange way of striking the ball but at least he knows his limations. When will Townsend realise his teammates are often looking for a pass instead of wanting to watch him strike the ball into the clouds?
Adam Johnson burst onto the scene similiarly, got into the England setup aswell, got all up himself, then once sussed out has been pretty **** till a few weeks ago. Same thing happened to Walnut early in his career, Sterling, it seems to be a recurring curse! On Andros, he's learnt to be effective at one thing, but really needs to develop noticeably now, the early novelty has worn off. Coaches and defenders have had a good look at him now and seem to have his measure tactically. Took the others a while to adjust to that. They all have one thing in common though, overegged.
Tweet from Soldado. Poor chap is desperate to show he's capable of better as he's being ridiculed, sugar is the latest one, calling him a donkey.
Its hard not to feel sorry for Soldado, he's clearly got talent and goalscoring pedigree and he seems to be a proper professional so I imagine he's livid with himself for this season. I feel that he needs to work harder at being available in the box (perhaps thats easy for someone watching the game to say) as he often drops off deep and wide to link the play, which he sometimes does fantastically well and with great skill but when he's our only striker then it can be counter-productive. Players like Paulinho, Bentaleb and Eriksen should be doing that while he looks to get in the best possible positions in and around the box. Of course its a two-way street, the other players need to find him in the box but that'll eventually happen if he's in there. And that should mean that he won't have to live off 1 or 2 chances per game. When he's paired with Ade it works well because theres still a presence up top. I actually really like them together but 4-4-2 isn't always the best option so I doubt we'll see it very often.
Yes, that sugar, our beloved ex chairman! And Huddlefro, I agree re Soldado. He did look good alongside Adebayor but Soldado is in danger of forgetting what it's like to score from open play! You remember Cisse, arrives at Newcastle, scores sensational goals each week. Now look at him? He's worse then Soldado. Has no ability to even strike the ball. These players become so nervous in front of goal that their legs literally turn to jelly. I'm sure you have had that feeling. It's embarrassing for Soldado but it doesn't help that we have abandoned 442 as while it caused issues in midfield. Soldado needs a partner. Someone to work with up top.
For me the trouble is that Soldado has been working harder to make up for his shortcomings in front of goal, but that he's doing it in the wrong areas of the pitch. If he stuck to playing in and around the box when he's on his own then he might get more than one or two chances per match, and then he might put some away. Working hard is an excellent sign from a player out of form but he's almost trying too hard and while some of his play has been wonderful to watch, he needs to do it in the right place at the right time.
He's getting plenty of chances in the box but the trouble is that most of them he's just trying to smash in. I think it's frustration at his own performances that make him just want to blast a few past the 'keeper to feel better to relieve the frustration. He's not playing well at the moment so like an out of form batsman he should be more concerned with getting his eye in then going for the spectacular.
I levelled the same criticism at Ade last season. He listened and now look at him Its just a shame that AVB hid him for half the season
I'm beginning to think that my "LOLdado, you donkey!" banner, that I've made to unfurl at the Arsenal game, isn't going to do his confidence any good.
