Ahead of Tettey and Fox is unbelievable, that first twenty five minutes was dire and he was by far the worst player out there send him back to Leeds all he does is lose the ball can't pick a pass to save his life
I can only hope that Tettey wasn't fit enough for a full 90 mins. Either way, if Howson starts against Reading, I'm going to be asking serious questions, because it doesn't take that long to get fit.
If Howson ever starts again I will be asking serious questions, I have supported CH all the way through this season but starting to have doubts now if Michu had been awake today we would have lost 6-2
I said to my son this afternoon that CH takes the safe route. Don't change the team just in case the changes don't work. Laissez Faire it used to be called. Only the brave survive.
Also really can't believe he starts Kamara ahead of Holt, I would have started Holt and Hoolahan Worrying how Kamara continually was out on the wing just like we see Holt this season crap tactics how's he supposed to score from there?
I must admit it seems a bit unfair on Kamara. Lone striker after playing in the Mickey Mouse league is a lot to expect. I'm disappointed he didn't take his clear chance and I don't know if he is the answer because as you say, he is out on the wing half the time.
To be fair Howson is being played out of position, he is an attacking midfielder, and his strength is his movement to get into the box. I would play him there instead of Wes to be honest. Hughton wants us to push the ball out wide and hammer the ball in the box, sort of makes Wes useless and at least Howson could add a body in the box. I don't agree with it but it's logical that it would suit his style of play more. Today wasn't a bad result to be fair, but we need to definitely attack more against Reading and allow more creative freedom.
I was disappointed that we did not win, but I think you have to consider the quality of the opposition as well. It was a fair result. Swansea make it very difficult for the opposition when they are playing well, as they were today. I don't think Tettey was fully match fit. He played 60 minutes in the development squad game on Monday. IMO, had Fox started instead, City would have been overrun and lost the match. Yes, Fox passes well, but his defensive play, by his own admission, is weak. You can afford that risk in the Championship, but not in the PL. I think Tettey will start next week against Arsenal, but I would not pile blame on Howson, as his were not the only passes that went astray. Swansea pass well, but they also anticipate and intercept well, as they did very effectively today. I thought this was a much more positive performance against good opposition.
Whilst I agree that howsons first half was awful, for me at least he was attempting to run forward with the ball at times and in the second half I thought he improved (at least he was more of an influence when we started playing well for 15mins). Personally I would have had Wes and Bennett off after we scored our 2nd as they both looks very tired/injured. Id have moved Kei over to the left, Snoddy to the right, tettey to howsons position and howson into hoolahans position behind BECCHII NOT HOLT! I cant get over people calling for Holt to start. He looks fat, slow, uninterested and agin was lucky to stay on the pitch again today! Thats 3 bookings and stuff all else from him in the last 3 games. Anyway back to Howson, he is only 24 and I believe that he could have a better impact as a more attacking player. Then again...perhaps he is just a championship player? Time will tell if/when (hopefully when) we start playing more attacking next year!
What does Howson contribute defensively though compared to Fox. Howson is an attacking midfielder?, completely disagree RiverEndRick. We are not a team who press players we stand off and keep the solid banks of four. Something Fox is more suited to than an energetic Howson.
This is the problem. In a 4-4-2 or similar, 4-3-3, we'd have fluidity, so if KK drifts wide, Holt or Becchio would still be in an advanced position to profit from through balls/crosses and vice versa. We had that with Holt and Morison last year, so we know it can be done.
I think Fox is just as lightweight in defense tbf Yellow. But his passing from deep is better than Howsons whereas Howson has the potential to be more effective in the final third (bursting into the box etc). Id rest Wes perhaps in favour of Howson behind Becchio. I do think Wes gets too.much stick for.loosing the ball because he rarely has an outlet so he gets caught in possession. He likes 1-2s but today was not given the options. But Hughton should have seen this and push Howson up field with Tettey coming on.
I agree he is lightweight. But probably has better positional awareness and anticipation having played defensive midfield a lot more therefore suits our stand off approach more. I agree about wes too, gets too much stick, he is in a tough position where he will always lose the ball, but if he kept the ball, looked for the simple pass and didn't take the risks he does he wouldn't be half the player he is.
Both Wes and Howson had poor games today but Howson did improve in the second half particularly when he pushed forward - maybe starting him in the hole next week behind Holt or Kamara or Becchio would be a better option than Wes who was just a lost soul today poor fella. The point about Kamara drifting out wide was acute in the second half. We kept lofting balls through the middle late on and the most forward player we had was Snoddy - both KK and Holty were either out left or behind the play - not sure why that was to be honest. Lucky for us Michu left his shooting boots at home today although I though we deserved a draw for our spirited second half display.
Exactly what I was going to say. Would also like Whittaker to at least come on as sub, though I appreciate options were limited due to Bunn's injury. I was speaking to JR himself yesterday and he's looking forward to his run out on Monday!!!!
Because KK was shattered and Holt was too fat to keep up! I saw holt have a go at bassong for bursting forward and bassong replied with what I can only imagine was "well you werent bloody there so I thought id do it!"
howson and wes were poor yesterday, gave the ball away far too much. tettey looked better when he came on (than howson). why he didn't start i don't know.
