Isn't it striking how Harry is building his team around home based players and the change in fortunes since?
He said something during his post-match Sky interview about bringing in tried and tested players, not unproven nobodies from overseas. I thought it was a knock at Spunky.
[video=youtube;fhWlAKdlQp4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhWlAKdlQp4&feature=youtu.be&a[/video] I wonder if that approach would have worked on some of our former lazy lot of wasters? Bosingwa etc. Possible problem for Watford or Sunderland with all that hot Italian blood flowing?
Its got nothing to do with them being foreigners or not. Its buying the right foreigners, ones who can speak English and not buying so many who speak the same language which will mean cliques will develop. eg Newcastle. All the top teams seem to do well with foreigners.
Ale's foreign. Most of our promotion team were from Britain and Ireland, with some notable exceptions, of course. The wrong types of player were brought in, that's all.
I agree. I posted on another thread that HR was a reluctant Ale supporter. He took against him last year and HR is not one to change his mind. I think Ale would have gone were it not for TF's support.
Absolutely nothing to do with nationality or ability to speak English. It's all about the right attitude. An average player with the right attitude can go a long way. You can't teach a player to have that will to win at all cost. The player either has it or he doesn't. I remember Liverpool years ago went to buy Damien Duff and when he met the manager (think it was Benetiez) all he was interested in was what money he would earn. Over a three hour viewing around Anfield, Duff never once looked for a guarantee of playing, discussed tactics or mentioned his excitement at joining. He just talked money. Needless to say, Liverpool never signed him
It's a squad game. HR didn't have to bring Ale at all if he didn't want too. Who would have thought Ale would be in the starting line-up for the first game? But, overall, HR's picking players he can rely on to get the job done and who are familiar with the Ch, and the type of football played there. Quite a sensible approach, really.
I was debating in my own head before the game today, would we have been relegated if we had: Simpson instead of Boswanker, Barton instead of Mbia, Ned (CB) instead of whoever played there, AJ fit all season, Anyone instead of BZ? And Harry all season. I concluded - NO! Next season, in the PL, we will get it right!
There was no problem for Watford last season, Killy. They got within a hair's breadth of the Promised Land.
Has Ale shown recently the form that made him so important in our championship winning season? I say that because he was far too slow on Tuesday night - did he ever fully recover from that injury at MK Dons?
Come now. Faurlin's been tosh for ages now. The only way he should be allowed back into the team is if he forces Henry from it. And at the moment Henry is doing just fine so it would be ludicrous to change a winning formula.
Henry is a 'Sunday League player'. He has done OK, but any of Faurlin, Derry or Jenas could do as well or, more likely, better. Henry will play because he is 'Arrys man.
That's a good point. That's not. Henry does a very basic job averagely. Second half against Wednesday, Ale was imperious, different league to Henry. But he is currently inconsistent (bit like you Swords), and needs a Henry type (but a better one) next to him. Like Derry, that worked ok, didn't it.