Sorry folks , it was for games away to West Ham .9 losses and 2 draws in our last 11 visits .Stoke just scored after 20 Seconds against Arsenal
I'll be happy with a point, but if we play like we did against QPR, then three points is a big possibility.
One of the tougher games. Should be a lot of chances both ways, go out and enjoy the moment and play with no fear. Swansea front 4 vs their back 4 looks good!
It was great to see Leon play but we did learn that Ki is the better option in running the engine room now and leon the legend he is has to give way for the younger much stronger Ki. Leon is a good replacement off the bench if needed but not the No1 any more...
Your truly out of your mind dai , Britton had a great game. How can you be such a long time football fan , and not learn anything ...boggles the mind.
Maybe it was too soon coming back for Leon, but I think Shelvey would have been better suited to todays game, though would he have gifted the Hammers with more set pieces?
Are you mad. he was awful and muscled off the ball every tackle...He is past his sell by date to play against the bigger players and should only play in an emergency..
It was his first start of the season Dai. To say he's past his sell by date is mind boggling. With the Xmas games coming fast, Leon will be fresh and up to speed and thus doing what he's always done, and that's prove people wrong.
come on valley he has been great but he is not the player he once was and that is not a slur on him its the reality of where he is today. he can do a job for us against certain sides but not sides who have big players who will run rings around him like we all saw at west ham...
The truth of the matter is that at 32 the number of great games left in Leon's future are going to be fewer and further between. He can add a lot of value on the field but he has to be used smartly and appropriately by Monk, and similarly Leon is going to have apply himself on the field a lot smarter. He is not going to be able to buzz around everywhere and be banged around by bigger, stronger and younger players all in the same game. The same goes for Rangel, also 32. Never known for his speed he is going to have be managed exactly the same way and he is going to have apply whatever football intelligence he has to play a smarter game. The third player we have to consider in a similar vain is Ash, now 30. Not to find replacements for these players at this level is a failure on the football management within the club and I'm not talking about Monk but the whole organization. We should have replacements assuming their roles already in the squad. Note, I'm not saying that these players are done, far from it, but we really should have younger players with a future, as good as if not better on hand, right now. As I have said in another post in another thread recently - this is going to be a transition season for us in many respects.
I wish he would but it comes to us all where we are not as good as we once were Sentimental claptrap wont win us games im afraid and leon is coming to the end of playing at a high level now and he knows it if you listen to him...
I bet after he got the last touch on Carrol's header, he shut his eyes and imagined he was scoring for the Hammers, the roar of the Boleyn and thought what could have been.
Anno Domini catches up with us all as I am finding out with my hill walking. Leon, Angel and Ash have been great for us but I think we have to look at reolacements for Leon and Angel for next season whilst I think Ash has another 2 to 3 left. I appreciate what they have all brought to the club but reality must kick in.
