Anyone else notice how we looked so much tougher with Sandro back in the side? Even Dawson was getting stuck in, which was great to see. Too often I've felt that there was a bit too much "please, don't hurt me!" about our defenders. I may be completely wrong about this, but with Sandro back in the side, we seemed to take all the best bits of Stoke (the casual violence) and mix it with all the best bits of classic Spurs (great ball play and skills), and become like 'Pool of late 70s. (No wumming, please).
Sandro is, in my opinion, one of the best DM's in the world and you could arguably say that when he's fully fit he may well be the best. I don't hype up Spurs players that high unless I really mean it but the man is a superb reader of the game in all defensive aspects. Relentless, great in the tackle and can play a half decent pass every now and then, not to mention he only likes scoring wonder goals. Great to have the beast back, here's hoping the injuries are behind him.
This should go in your signature. It would save you quite a bit of time. Possibly enough to enjoy an extra cup of tea
Is Vlad excluded from this hiag, its a little harsh on him, no? he's stuck his head in where it hurts lately and isn't worried what pants the opponents are wearing, unlike another defender of ours.
Sure, our defenders do have their moments of bravery. I wouldn't want to give anyone the impression that I'm calling them chicken, or anything like that. But they have been a little bit limp-wristed when they've come up against hard, physical teams. With The Beast playing, every one of our players seems to "man up" a heck of a lot. The casual violence meted out last night was up there with the best English sides down the ages: Leeds (early 70s), 'Pool (late 70s), United (80s and 90s), Wimbledon, etc.
It's a shame he ran out of energy on the 60 minute mark. I too liked the casual violence part of our game. Soldado's elbow was a nice touch. Vert's little kicks and barges paid off in the end. If you can't beat them, play dirty - I'll let Tim use that one after the Chelsea game, the goon game and the Pool game (although I think I've heard it somewhere else... (c) anyway).
I'm sure HIAG must be talking about the Dawson booking. It was a fantastic booking, well worth it. One of those where you initially think "uh oh, red or yellow". Top stuff
Guys, I am referring to all the acts of casual violence that we dished out all over the field, and throughout the entire match. It was the stuff of Champions, harking back to the glory days of English football, when men were men and when the opposition, and especially foreign sides, were there to be kicked, punched, gouged, butted, bitten, stamped on, elbowed, scratched, and mauled. I really could not have asked more from our lads. They played like world class players, last night.
If the back four sees a player like Sandro in front of them dishing out physical messages to the opposition, it filters down and gives the rest of them that impetuous to follow suit. So The Beast is very influential in those instances. A leader in fact. Remember his goal against United? He was pumped up and unsurprisingly, so was the rest of the team in that game. We then went to Old Trafford later on and won. A coincidence? I think not. It gave us the belief that we can beat anyone on our day if our mentality is right. Just need to see more of that in the final 11 league games.
The way our back 4 has been playing recently, Sandro is going to be a very busy boy trying to protect that lot!...
Just watch Charlie Adam get harassed by our entire team, next time we play them. I wouldn't be surprised to see Little Lennon t**t him, too, with The Beast there to egg him on. I'm not condoning out-and-out thuggery - please let me make that crystal. I'm only condoning the kinds of violence that, for example, 'Pool used in the late 70s to win that team "glory."
Sandro's impact is huge. we're a different team when he plays. We're calmer, more organised and more ballsy. top top player.
I said this in another thread, probably the one about Wenger's red cards, but there is a place for a bit of nastiness in a team, as long as its not completely mindless (eg, Adebayor sending off vs Arsenal early on)
That was one of the best bookings I remember. If he didn't get it Dnipro had a player in on the center of goal with plenty of time to pick out a shot. It would have been worth the red.
I've seen a few games suggest Capoue is "near" (or of the same standard) the class of Sandro, never understood how anyone could even dare to suggest Capoue was even near the same class, as Sandro really is on a different level, always has been and if we play a flat back four with full backs who like to attack, and want to give Eriksen or Paulinho the freedom to attack, Sandro is crucial to remaining fairly solid and making sure we have protection. Its unlucky that hes injury prone, lost count of how many injuries he has suffered, but on the flip side because hes injury prone it means foreign clubs who have no doubt scouted him, will shy away from making a bid. Although I hope he makes the world cup squad, even if it draws more attention to him, as he deserves to be playing in Brazil, for his country, on home turf, especially after all the injuries that have stop/started his career.
Sandro, great player, would have him at OT given half the chance but what is going on with his beard?
