I said at the start of December, that if we could take 12 points from the four games over the Xmas period that we'd more than capable of challenging for, not just a top 4 finish, but the league title. Well, with our wins over Sunderland and Norwich and our draw against the Chavs, we've already amassed 7 from 9, and with Swansea next, you've got to fancy us to chalk up another 3. These are the fixtures penned in for our rivals:- Liverpool v Newcastle Man Utd v Blackburn Arsenal v QPR Chelsea v Aston Villa Sunderland v Man City You've got to fancy United to brush aside Blackburn, but all of the others could drop more points.
They'll all be favourites to win their games, but Newcastle could give Liverpool a test and Sunderland look to be improving all the time under O'Neill. Arsenal should beat QPR pretty easily, but Barton will be on the wind-up, so he could make a game of it. Chelsea will defeat Villa easily, as they'll turn up beaten. Man Utd should brush aside Blackburn, with complacency being the main threat there, I think.
Swansea are a better proposition at the Liberty, so we shouldn't presume they'll roll over, plus if we try to pass it into the net Vorm will have a field day with us - but if they play open football we should be able to cause them all manner of problems, so we'll need to be more ruthless in front of goal.
I'm not so sure about Chelsea. Villa are pretty much the same strength as Fulham, at the moment, and the Chavs struggled at times against Fulham. Same with Arsenal, they should have slaughtered Wolves, but didn't; QPR will be a tougher test for them, not least of all because its a London derby match. Yes, I agree, both are favourites to win their games, but to say that there are more chinks in the Chav & Goon armour than at any time in the last seven season is something of an under-statement.
Vorm has been in superb form form for Swansea this year, I think he should be a serious consideration for Friedel's replacement as and when that happens.
Swansea tend to draw a lot and as others have said very hard to beat at home. I would obviously like 3 points but happy with 1.
I think Spurs will have far too much for Swansea to handle based on lasts nights performance, even with their home record and I will be very surprised if you don't come away with all 3 points (QPR nearly did yesterday, and they are not a patch on Spurs). Stop them playing their game, as you did with Norwich and you should be able to pick them off with better finishing (Bale excluded - he knows how to score)
Thai Canary, I think you are right that we can beat Swansea on their own pitch, but we have a lot of players who need a rest (ie Adebayor,Parker, Modric). Will Harry choose this game to rest or maybe the next one v West Brom the momentum is there so..
Defoe in for Adebayor would not be a great problem, he still has what it takes. Replacing Parker and Modric may not be so easy but if those changes were made I think then whoever came in would still be plenty good enough
Defoe still has a hamstring injury not sure when he will return, so all we have is a very disinterested Pav. Livermore can play in Parkers' place or Kranjcar could play in Modrics' but I think that last scenario unlikely. For some reason Harry is reluctant to play some of the second stringers, for these sort of games it seems logical, but that's why he is paid the big money and we just watch.
Hi TC, for me Defoe in for Ade would be a massive problem, far easier to rest one of Parker and Modric. Ade is probably our most irreplacable player, defoe is nowhere as good as him as a line leader. I dont think we need to rest anyone in particular. If the players are ready, play them, if not rest them.
I know Defoe is a different kind of player and cannot lead the line the same but play to his strengths, as pro footballers should be able to, then he will be as equal a handful for any defence
GH10 and I have been recommending last night's formation for weeks now: I thought it worked pretty well. I think I would stick to it and use Defoe and Lennon (when fit) only from the bench when their speed will work well against tiring sides. I would rotate a bit though to keep the players fresh and more importantly to make sure the back-ups are match fit.
It was nice to see Harry finally give some game time to Niko and Rose (although I don't know why he took Benny off).
Benny's played more games than anyonelse this season. Rest Parker as Sandro's been brilliant but we don't really have any great replacements for Adebayor or Modric(Huddlestone's still out, right?) so replace them if we take a comfortable lead but there's no point risking dropping points by changing a winning formula.
Beating Swansea is worth the same number of points as beating ManC. I understand why people want to keep our strongest squad for the (on paper) most difficult matches, but that may not matter so much over the season, unless you think we have a serous chance of winning the title, in which case beating the Manchesters has more importance. I think probably not and we should take it a step at a time, not risking the top 4, or indeed assuming we now have a right to the top 4... plus on paper matches are never quite as obvious as they sound, Swansea are difficult at home.
He's a good shot-stopper, but his distribution is awful. Tim Krul is a much better choice - but he'd cost a hell of a lot more.
We have no Euro football now, resting shouldn't be that necessary, this is probably as busy as it gets for the 1st 11 this season.
Redknapp seemed to suggest that Huddlestone and Dawson were nearing a return after the win against Norwich, YV. Perhaps a run out in the cup might suit them both?
