There is no escaping the fact that some have pointed out that under Monk we have won only 1 in 7 games, but we shouldn't hide from the fact we have only lost 1 in 4 league games during that time as well. One statistic looks comparable to Laudrups last 10 games in charge, the other seems to indicate a better return based solely on league games. The biggest and probably only criticism of the new manager is his tactical nous or to be more accurate, his inability to understand the basics of using substitutions. From kick off there is little doubt the Swans look a lot more energised but we are seeing inexperience and niaivity during the second half displays, one can only hope that Monk stops being loyal to as many players as he can be which is what one person here has suggested. We all agree there was no place for Lita today and if Bony had to taken off then the only option was Emnes, and similar proposition was presented against Napoli in Rome when Neil Taylor was introduced on to the wing which was a disastrous move. These are mistakes which we can argue caused us massive issues and cost us victory. However there is no escaping that before substitutions are required the team look better, Monk knows his first XI and now he must be ruthless and understand that he cannot give everybody a game. He needs to learn there is deadwood and that our players cannot just be placed into any position and perform well. He has about 10 more games to learn how to use substitutions but ofcourse he needs to show improvement in this department with immediate effect! All in all, I cannot say that Laudrup should have stayed because the team did not look like it was going to survive the season. Monk is far from becoming the next permanent manager but atleast we can see the team performing well even if only for the first half of the Palace game. The team actually looked very good against Napoli for 180 minutes who are a very accomplished squad whilst nobody needs reminding of why Liverpool are 2nd in the league.
For Monk to have named Lita as a sub then to bring him on for our best foreward can only mean he has been excellent in training or there was no one else to pick or it was a mistake ?
Whats wrong with Ngog , admittedly not a goal scoring threat but if the plan was to try and create some chances or to at least hold the ball up then to continually pump high balls up the Lita who against a six foot plus centre half probably wasn't the best option and he looked half interested at best ,perhaps that could be the reason why we're trying to off load him .
So we've worked our way up to "Spirited Draws " with a side order of blunderful subs. Lovely , just ****ing lovely .
Oh come off it, you know for a fact the result against Stoke was a good one - and today, given the form Palace are in and the boys being knackered after Napoli, was not the worst result imaginable. On top of that we drove Liverpool, who are unplayable at the moment, to the brink (they beat Southampton 3-0 away just now, remember that) and beat Cardiff very comfortably. Our next two home games? West Brom and Norwich. If we don't win them, THEN we are seriously down **** creek without a paddle. But today, all things considered, was certainly not the worst or best result we could've got. Enough bollocks please.
Emnes was on the bench, and is a far more accomplished player, it was bloody criminal putting Lita on in front of him, Monk needs to wake up and forget giving everyone a game, he'll not be manager for long with his ridiculous subs!...........
Monk seems to be trying to please everyone , Ash off because he spewed so crack on , Dyer took hell of a knock in the 1st half but didn't want to come off Emnes ready to come on but then swops Bony for Lita ,today was the day we should have kicked on and regardless how Palace have been performing they haven't won more than 2 games away this season and you could see why in the 1st half ,they must have thought they 3rd win was there for them today after 15 minutes into the second half because we didn't change a thing with any positive note .
Monk's scored 5 points in 4 games. Which is the same sort of average that Laudrup was getting. Big difference is though...Monk has nearly a fully fit squad and played Cardiff (H), Palace (H), Stoke (A) and Liverpool (A). We should aim for 6/7 pts from those fixtures. So we are slightly behind from these games.
We wouldn't be behind if we had taken all 3 points today, but Monk can shoulder the blame for that, bringing on Lita instead of Emnes was a disgrace!............
To be fair, I don't think any of us knew about the illness thing. I might disagree with you on some things but I can't blame you for thinking the subs were very, very odd without knowing about this illness people have come down with.
Who's to say that Lita wasn't the least sick player though yankee , reserve judgement till I know better but we had sick troops .
Friend of mine that sits in the West Stand saw Emnes chucking up in the tunnel coming out after half time, and he was in no condition to go on. So it was probably a choice of Lita or Vasquez. Monk might have though that Lita stronger than Vasquez and he could hold the ball up better, how wrong he was.
