Chappers was absolutely outstanding last night, so much energy, hard in the tackle and everything went through him. Definately deserves to keep his place in the team, and deserved his standing ovation.
Unfortunately he is likely to drop out should Lallana be fit for Saturday. Hammond, Cork and Schneiderlin are all ahead of him in the CM position.
I cant see Cork returning in his place. Hammond and Lallana if fit will play, but then it could well be Chaplow and Guly. The fact that our midfield does a lot of running means that it is good we can rotate when we have 3 games in 7 days.
Chaplow is our fastest centre midfielder, hence the reason he has been deployed on the wing on a number of occasions. He also naturally cuts inside to link up with the attack, much like Lallana does. I'm starting to think, he's more of a backup for Lallana rather than a backup for the centre midfielders. He has certainly been given the 'Lallana role' in the last few matches that's for sure.
He was outstanding I must agree. I always get the feeling he's likely to get sent off though for some reason. Guly was very quiet last night and if he needs a break then Chappers could easily take his role on the right.
I would like to see Guly playing up top, he would add some competition for Lambert and Connolly. As you say Chappers on the right would be great.
Not necessarily tom, it depends on how Adkins assesses Reading. Chaplow had a pretty good game at Derby even if his control let him down at times. I would never have started a match this season without Cork and when I saw that we had neither him or Lallana playing last night, I feared for the worst. But if I thought Nigel was great before, he can do absolutely no wrong in my eyes now. He saw that West Ham are physical in midfield and that Cork would most likely be muscled out of it. His tactics were spot on, Chaplow played a blinder and could easily get the nod ahead of either Hammond or Schneiderlin even if Lallana returns to the side.
Agreed. He was everywhere in the first half. Ran out of steam a bit in the second but hardly suprising the amount of running he was doing. That two footed challenge in the centre circle though
I still think that Chaplow will drop out if Lallana starts just because of the strength of our midfield. I would start in CM with Hammond and Cork with Lallana or Chaplow on the left
I think Cork was certainly come back at the weekend - Adkins has done the same thing twice with Hammond, and brought him straight back in the next game, so I see no reason why he wouldn't do the same with Cork. Morgan will presumably drop out. I agree though that Chaplow has done enough to retain his place, so if Lallana is fit enough to return then I think Guly might get the night off with Chaplow switching to the right-flank. The only thing that might play on Adkins' mind is that 3 days after Reading is the Carling Cup game. Chaplow would presumably be in his minds to start that - not to mention that he'd like to allow the likes of Hammond and Cork a night off before the Boro-Posh home double-header - but I'm not sure he'd want Chaplow starting 3 games in 8 days.
Don't think it was two footed but it certainly didn't look pretty, thought he was going to walk!!! NA had him subbed within minutes.
No one knows what players Adkins is going to select, he is brave enough to leave players such as Cork and Hammond on the bench and not risk Lallana even though he's itching to play. It shows how much depth we have in midfield.
Chappers is a useful player to have in the squad very versatile not to mention a tough tackler in midfield.
There are sooo many options for Adkins for this weekend. Personally, if Lallana is back then Chaplow will drop to the bench, he was brilliant yesterday and as previously mentioned ran out of steam. I think he's a great impact sub because he has so much energy!! Honestly, I think Cork is class but Hammond was brilliant yesterday breaking down West Ham and Schneiderlin was even better. Ran the midfield and just like the goal against Derby started many of the moves with his pin point passing. Cork to the bench? Its a toughy and I love Cork but not sure if he will start. I guess we will have to wait and see at 5 on saturday!
chaplow should be ahead of cork in the CM order on last nights performance, jack didnt look as good as he usually does last night.
Heh, he played less than 15 minutes...that's a little too short an evaluation period to use to drop someone who has been one of our best players all year.
Cork played 15 mins as a right mid. He is a CM and kept getting dragged in. Chaplow for me was MoM, quality performance last night. Also Guly quiet? he was quality again for the most part last night. His defensive qualities are very important to the team. He is very Viera-esque in the way he hunts down players and chases back.
