this was my point exactly when some of us were tying to console ourselves with that fact that we had so much possession..we still lost and converted 1 chance so to me it suggests that we are clueless in the final third..not something to take lightly as you rightly point out NSS
Lennon was good, created a lot moving between wings. Think you are being hard on Walker, his defending this year has been top class, much to my surprise, and 1 poor game (alright 2, but he was injured) doesn't make him poor.
True, he was about our only threat. He did get a few runs at them. But no Bale seemed to slow down our whole game. As I say, no VDV, and Modric ineffectual, where he was played, and we seemed to be desperately short of creative ideas.
Sorry PNP, but I personally do not have any faith left in Nico to perform at the required level: yesterday when he came on he again looked slow and lethargic - as he has done on many recent occasions. I was a big fan of his and at one time thought he would be a top player for us and I know that he hasn't played as much as he would have liked, but he just doesn't seem to have the skills/pace/commitment necessary for the next step up. Trouble is, we hardly have a raft of creative options once you take VDV, Bale and Mods out of the equation.
I didn't mean that he was poor overall, Harry. I still think he's an exciting prospect for us. However, he did have a poor game yesterday. He really does have to learn that you can't switch off for even one second when players like Rooney are around you.
Fair enough . Just wanted to say that his defending this year has pleasantly surprised me. Really strong against top forwards, I think he will be absolutely top class.
I didn't think that he was given an opportunity to get into the game. He had 10 minutes left to do anything, we were 3-0 down and Redknapp still managed to switch him over halfway through the short period that he got on the pitch. Played 4 minutes on the left, then the rest on the right. He still hasn't been given an opportunity to fill in for van der Vaart, for some reason, though two of our best performances this season have come with him in the side. Against both Liverpool and Newcastle he was asked to fill Lennon's boots on the right and he did so very capably, in my opinion. Redknapp's decision to start him on the right in a counter-attacking strategy against Arsenal was suicide though, so dropping him yesterday because of it was a mistake, for me.
I know where you are coming from and acknowledge the 2 games referred to. I also accept that putting him on with 10 mins to go is hardly either giving him a chance or likely to boost his confidence. However, it is just that he looks 'off the pace' these days even when he gets a better chance: Stevenage being a prime example (27 mins). Harry's handling of Nico surprises me. He either sees him as a valuable squad member - in which case he needs to give him a fair to evens chance to prove his worth. 6 PL games is hardly going to do that. Either that, or we should offload and replace......
Redknapp only seems to trust a very select group of players though unfortunately, Relayer. Our starting XI plus Cudicini, Dawson, Livemore and perhaps Saha and Defoe. He doesn't like to rotate if he can avoid doing so.
If we'd started with Nico, we'd have gone in at HT more than 1-0 down. Wouldn't have mattered which side either, Nani or Young would have run him ragged...not difficult!. No, the MF we started with were the most energetic available and I'm afraid that was the tactic of choice. It worked because they basically never had a sniff in open play 1st half, and there's not a hope in hell of anyone convincing me Krancjar's inclusion would have made things better.
