Does anybody know or heard or read when Lennon will return? Our season could be revitalised if he makes a return against Chelski on Saturday our midfield just doesnt look the same. I'm convinced if he had played last night Stoke would have been a walk in the park. I wont go over old ground of my recent posts of Hoilett etc etc but surely this must be looked at in the summer. without either Lennon or Bale we just dont click just goes to show how good and vital to tyhe team he is.
'Arry said he's not far off but the trouble is he keeps picking up the same injury eachtime he comes back. We're going to really need him for the run in.
Our plan A is to Attack down the wings and so is plan B. I know when Lennon has played we have played well but Lennon has not played every game and we battered newcastle with a 4-4-2 without Lennon, and played well without him earlier in the season. I think the problem is that Lennon is Harry's plan B i.e. swap wings in game with Bale. Lennon also likes to get into the box which Bale doesn't (does Bale shot within the 18 yard box?) so adds an extra person to get a tap in at least or get fouled for a pen. We never seem to have enough people in the box and we like to shot from out side the 18 yard box. A scrambled goal now and again would be nice
Missed him big time. My pre-season team had him on the bench with Sandro playing alongside Parker with Luka in an attack trio with Rafa and Bale behind Ade but he's definitely shown this season when he's played that he's kept Sandro out deservedly. Hope he returns very soon!
I wouldn't say that both plans A & B Are down the wings only. Sure , it's a big asset, and part of our attacking play. But, since we've had Ade to hold the ball up we're perfectly capable of playing through the middle, too. What we lose out on with Lennon missing is the speed with which we can hit opponents, as much as the width.
Our 4-0 against Liverpool and our 5-0 against Newcastle both came without Lennon in the starting XI and with two strikers starting. Perhaps that's the way that we need to play when he's missing?
As PNP has just proved its not about personnel atm, its a mental thing, you can analyze tactics and formations all day long, absolutely futile if the mind isn't right and the squad isn't. Everything was going well till Harry's hat-trick of woe, heart, court case, England. I think its time I said his manner seems to have changed, body language is all wrong. If I can see it, so can the players and thats what it looks like to me at the moment. During our winning streak the team came on to the pitch all smiles and relaxed, its all a bit serious now. In fairness wed. night was the first game after Muamba, it must have been weird for our players to have to run over the same bit of grass he was laid out on. I say this speaking from experience. 3 yrs ago a player for my hometown called Paul Sykes collapsed and wasn't as lucky as Muamba (I use that word with the greatest respect). He was my stepsons strike partner and he said he hated playing toward that end for a few weeks, just because of flashbacks of him laying there in that spot, footballers are human beings, not robots. The above paragraph is not an excuse, just a fact that adds to my point of it being a mental issue, I said it elsewhere, but this week behind the scenes is critical. Harry needs to convince them again...in more ways than one! If we don't turn up at Chelsea, I then may start to have doubts about Harry's interest. However, wed. night did give us a rare injury time goal that salvaged a point, meaning the lads involved had the desire to go on to the final whistle...encouraging, and the platform to build on.