Couldn't have put it better myself SOS. I think a part of the thinking in 'rushing' Jan back was the worry that Dier might have picked up a yellow and missed 2 games suspended. There's no way Poch would risk Mason/Bentaleb/Carroll next to Dembele when every point is crucial; I would imagine Toby will be used in DM if and when Dier does pick up that suspension (which thankfully can now only be 1 game) and Kev will play next to Jan. It's also important not to underestimate the psychological advantage of having Jan on the pitch. He's our oldest and most experienced outfield player (at the ripe old age of 28 ) and, like Toby, is cool as f*ck. You could see the calming influence spread through that back line, and as a result Walker and Rose gave utterly immense displays (aside for the moment when Walker lost his footing near the byline and lay on the turf looking thoroughly confused as the ball went our for a corner!). Having spent most of the Winter slating Eriksen, I have to say that I am delighted with the way he is finishing off the season. He is at the heart of every good move we put together and showed his ingenuity yesterday by constantly drifting deep and wide to pick up pockets of space in between their lines (by contrast, Alli struggled badly to do this but will get better at it with experience). His cross for Alli was world class and the vision for his cushioned backwards header to Rose for our third demonstrated that when he's in the mood, he plays the game like a chess grandmaster. I agreed with Interim's comments on MOTD last night - this is probably our strongest starting XI. Looking at it like that, I guess it is really hard to point to any one area and label it as 'needing improvement'. None of those players have hit their peak yet and will come back next year even stronger. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that we should just use the summer to sort out the peripheries of the squad and just let this group settle in the same way that Ranieri allowed his 11 to settle.
I am a big fan of Lamela, also. I don't think that we would have drawn with Liverpool with him in the team. Interestingly, on MOTD Sherwood said nobody at the club worked harder than him, even when nothing seemed to go right for him. His head never dropped and finally it seems that he's got it. Missing that header could have done for some. He came out in the second half and to my mind, was superb. He tackled ferociously (but fairly which I'll admit is not always the case), his dead ball delivery was wonderful and the strike for the goal was as good a hit as you could want. You don't see De Gea beaten all ends up too often but that strike was perfect, along the ground, swerving and venomous. I see him getting better again next season. His natural talent is possibly the best in the squad. He obviously had confidence issues but his performances in Europe point at what he can become domestically. 10 goals so far this season isn't bad but I'd be hoping for 15 next season. He still has lifeless eyes, like a doll's eyes...
I can't remember him heading in a single goal, which underlies your point. The only ball which found its way from the top half of Lamela's body into the goal was a debatable hand ball that hit his shoulder. Right foot/heading practice wouldn't go amiss. He should talk to that Sunderland player who managed to do both in a split second rather than put a shot on target yesterday. Nevertheless: clearly our best RM at this point.
To lose 2 games and draw 1 from the last 5 would not be choking (even if Spurs gained an equivalent number) .
Lamela kinda reminds of our past center forward John Duncan ( always liked him.) A West Ham fan once suggested that Duncan played in wellington boots.Lamela runs just like him!
1 goal in every 2 games. Great in the air. If only injuries hadn't taken their toll. Him and Alfie Conn up front, marvellous.
Are you sure about the one game suspension? I think the amnesty now means he won't be suspended even if he gets another booking.
Yeah Eriksen's form over the past 5-6 weeks has been reminiscent of his form over the previous two seasons, great to see him back to his best and agree on the cross for Alli, it was inch perfect. I'd also agree with the pundits, for the first time in a few years our first XI is pretty obvious, I think 99% of us would pick the same XI of Hugo, Walker, Toby, Jan, Rose, Dier, Dembele, Lamela, Eriksen, Alli and Kane providing all were fit. There really isn't much of an improvement to be made on that side and most are yet to even hit their prime, only Hugo, Toby, Jan and Mousa are the ones I'd say that are in their best years and so all that's really needed in the Summer is a few tweaks to the squad, with the primary focus being a back up for Kane and then secondary being one for Dier (unless Poch can groom Nabs into it), anything else would then just be a bonus in my eyes because I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better player to fit into our starting XI that's affordable and attainable. Some of our lads are really making cases for themselves to be put into that "top class" bracket of player, how many strikers in Europe are better than Kane? I don't think you'd find 10 better. Same applies to Dier and Hugo at DM and GK respectively. Has there even been a better performing CB than Toby this season?! Eriksen, despite being what we'd consider as below par for parts of the campaign, has still out-shined an abundance of number 10's on the continent. I think we're getting to a stage now where our players are usually performing so well that we're probably not even appreciating that when they're having an off-day, they're still contributing more than what most others could! It's a nice problem, eh?
Kane has now scored 20+ PL goals in consecutive seasons. In the last decade, only Tevez/RVP/Suarez have done that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_top_Premier_League_goal_scorers_by_season
8 more points and we've set a new record for that too. Would be lovely to completely smash it with 15 more points to get a nice round 80.
Regardless of the PL title fight, I want the boys to now set themselves the following minimum targets : - 76 pts in total - GD in the 40s - GA in the 20s
The stat's a bit unfair on Sergio Aguero, who has been the best PL striker in the past few seasons. 17 in 23 in an injury hit season in 2013/14 26 in 33 last season 18 in 25 this season (also injury hit) so 20 again still looks likely But for injury, it would certainly have been three in a row.
