As we have maintained all along, these are a decent set of players and squad but have been poorly led and managed for too long. Today, against a side that has won 6 of the last 6 at home and are currently heading for top 4 and possibly more, we more than held our own and even had them clamoring for the final whistle. I was very pleased with the performance and the organisation again today and a little disappointed at not getting a point. 2 weeks ago I'd have been happy just not to be thrashed out of sight at The Lane. Thats how much of an effect MoN has had in 2 weeks and I now turn my attention to Wednesday and I reckon a good chance of all 3 points at QPR or at the very least a point if we play like that today. It was a high tempo pressing game where again we lacked quality up front in that final 3rd. Spurs had an embarrassment of riches up front and one of them eventually got through but to be fair, Westwood want the busiest keeper all afternoon. I thought the back 4 were solid and Bramble awesome against Adebayor, with our Keeper showing why he is our number one imo even if Gordon were fit again. O Shea has been slaughtered again by some but I thought this was one of his better games. His distribution could be better certainly but he want poor today imo. Brown was at fault for the pass that led to the goal and it seems that any mistake he makes recently he is getting punished for but on the whole, again I thought he was a good partner for Bramble. In midfield, Vaughan again impressed and so did Larsson (is he one of the best free kick takers in the EPL today? Cant think of too many better) but it was Colback for me that was simply fantastic and our top player by a country mile imo. I reckon we simply have to persist with this kid, as I truly believe he is going to be a cracking footballer for us. Cattermole hasn't a hope in hells chance of getting back into the team if he keeps this up. His work-rate, tackling and possession of the ball were top class and he is always open for the return pass, or gives the man in possession an option. He needs to work on his shooting but he's not alone in that failure to be fair. Sessegnon however showed again why he cant play central forward positions as he is just too weak and easily shoved off the ball. He has to be used wider as this makes him 10 times more effective but that said, he was at the forefront of many of our best attacking moves. Wickham was unlucky to get another injury and I trust it was merely precautionary and even Richo looks happier to be playing a more forward role (even if he hasn't got his shooting boots with him again). Well done lads and we move onto QPR now and I hope a return home with something to show for our endeavour. We now look like a team with belief, structure and a plan A. When that isn't working we have a manager that has a plan B and a plan C. MoN red & white army
Agree with all your points except Colback cest. He was weak link in the side for me. Al about opinions though!
Watched it with some Spurs mates. they reckoned Spurs played poor today, because Bale and Lennon were missing and not supplying anything to the strikers and both Modric and VDV were not playing in their regular position's.
disagree mate..i thought coleback played well today...aint football a funny old game! ..what exactly did coleback not do,,,,,,i thought he was very solid..... now dont get me started on gardner...........taxi to the cottage please!
They did ok, in fact much better than i thought they would do... They seem to finally be getting some team ethics, workrate has gone up, but are lacking any quality. Strange how peoples views differ on certain players...i to thought Colback was poor...
First off 'BDU 76, you haven't got any mates so **** off to a loners forum' Secondly, couldn't agree more Cest. Ok, so we god beat but what a performance we gave, if we play like that in the remnainder of our games we'll be OK. Yes we got beaten but i enjoyed the game immensly even though at times we were under the cosh, we never gave in and kept coming back. Under other regimes we would have crumbled and the heads would have dropped, but not today. If we take that performance to QPR and Everton then we'll come away with the points, no doubts. Bad points. Bendtner isn't the answer we're looking for, we need a goal scorer, and soon. Sess couldn't hit a barn door, put him out wide but at the cost of who? Larsson was fantastic and Ricco put in a solid performance, I wouldn't drop either. I'd be tempted to drop Bendtner for either Ji or give young Noble a shot.
Well I sort of agree but feel the MON factor is blinding a few. Under Bruce I read week after week how he did not have a clue, Sess is not a striker and play 4-4-2, whats changed? I agree that MON has got them better organised and working harder, better motivated and going the right way. I agree that we will be OK and that with a few signings and Campbell back we will enjoy a good second half to the season. All that said I'm afraid Sess is still not a striker and we should be playing 4-4-2 with any two from Bendtner,Wickham,Ji and Noble. Do that on Wednesday and Boxing day and we will score and win, who do we drop to accomodate Sess on the wing, either Oshea or Bardo by moving Richardson back to an overlapping LB.
Just because Martin mails me every week you think I know everything, nee idea mate but I have a pidgeon away so should have news about noon.
It's called man management Syd. Under Bruce we'd have caved in and gone on to get a thrashing. MON looks like he has got the players wanting to play and beleiving in themselves, it showed in yesterdays performance. I was neither a BIB or a BOB but beleive in giving anyone a fair chance to do a job, Bruce had more than his fair share of chances and unfortunatley he didn't get it right and if he hadn't of gone when he did, then we'd be right up **** creek now for sure. Same team, same players, but you can see the transformation MON has made in just 2 games and i for one can't wait to see how far he can take us.
I agree 100%, all I'm saying is that IMO you can never manage Sess to be a striker and 4-4-2 is the way we should be playing to give us a better chance of getting those goals.
Yeh, agreed but at the minute i think MON would find it difficult to drop anyone to accomodate him on thw wing. Ricco worked tirelessly for the team yesterday as did Larsson on the right, i would'nt drop either to accomodate Sess TBH.
Redknapp told Sky Sports: "It was a tough, tough game. We had to make lots of changes today. "We lost Gareth Bale yesterday evening in training, he's got a bit of a sprain in his ankle, then we lost Aaron Lennon so we lost a lot of pace out of our team and that was a problem. "No-one is going to be easy. They came here today and set themselves up well Sunderland. They always looked dangerous on the counter-attacks, so it was always going to be a tough game. Says a lot really.
Cut it out. I thought I was the ONLY Chosen One who gets a personal message after each game. Me & Jose that is One of the most sensible posts I've read recently
Until the end of January Syd, we can't judge Mon's team or formation. He is left with a failed man's team. I don't think much of Ji but would play Noble, however, our new manager can only try to limp through until the end of the year until he can start to put his stamp on events. That said, what he has done with Bruces flops is remarkable inside 2 weeks. There is shape, planning and work ethic and we've won a game and lost one. I really fancy us to take points off QPR on Wednesday and against Everton. That's a statement I couldn't have made 2 weeks ago and that's the major difference he has made.
Seriously though, yesterday was a massive, massive improvement on 3 weeks ago, infact i've never seen us play that well all season, even taking Blackburn into account. We were under pressure from the whistle but we didn't crumble and we got to grips with them and then tried to take the game to them. If we'd had a goal scorer we'd have got something out of that game. Talking to a mate during and after the game we both agreed, it would be difficult to pick a man of the match. As Cest has said, Bramble was a rock and played Adebayor really well, he must have been sick as a chip. Vaughan was brilliant, ran tirelessly and for me, is head and shoulders above Catts. Larsson had a cracking game as did Ricco and Colback. If you backed me into a corner i'd give it to Bramble. We were unlucky, but, the signs are there and we will climb the table. Even in defeat we never heard any lame excuses from the manager. Didn't blame the fans, didn't blame his players, didn't critisise anyone. Instead he was positive and enthusiastic and praised the travelling fans and thanked them for their support. This is a new beginning for SAFC and MON will do what Keane & Bruce have failed to do.
Agree with most of your post but not about Colback unfortunately. He just has no idea going forward (evidence the chance in the 2nd half when he failed to even try to shoot when put through) I also think he goes missing too often in games. Personally, I would play Gardner CM with Vaughan. I thought he did well and tried to get into the Spurs box when he came on It's strange how people watching the same game of football can see different things!! Its all about opinions I suppose.
