I'd forgotten about Rose. Yeah he should've come on earlier, his directness and willingness to run at players makes him very dangerous against a player on a yellow. Modric and Lennon were on the same side of the pitch at several points last night which should've flagged up that this just wasn't working. However if you had to take off a centre mid, it would difficult to justify keeping Livermore on but Sandro was on a yellow which made it a risk to keep him on.
Some of Redknapp's recent substitutions have been baffling, Dona. He made the wrong changes against Arsenal and then seemed strangely hesitant to make any yesterday. Rose and Defoe should've been introduced as soon as we went 2-0 down, but no changes were mad for another 20 minutes. Bizarre.
exactly...why send Defoe on when we are 3 down..thats not very encouraging for a striker..then he gets low on confidence for not performing...im sure many of us have played the game at some level or another..and to go onto a pitch with such an enviable task against the champions is one sure fire way to destroy any confidence you have for the immediate future...We lose Bale or Lennon and this squad of ours starts to look frail..we have to pull our players allover the pitch..yet the last time i saw Andros Townsend he had a cracking game for us....but he gets sent out to get match experience 2 leagues lower..i may be wrong but 10 appearences in PL matches will probably do him more good than 15 to 20 in a lower league team..where the play is not as intelligent..we could have done with Townsend starting for Bale i cant think of a better replacement at the club.
I don't think that many areas of our squad are weak, but we've loaned out too many players and Redknapp's loath to trust some of our squad, for some reason. Why move Modric out of position to cover Bale's absence, when we've got Kranjcar and Rose who both play there as their preferred role?
and what i have said about Walker i stand by where i have questioned his positioning...surely HR can see this also? im afraid he had a hand in all 3 of thier goals..yes we can blame his young age ,experience aswell..so why get rid of Corluka? why not grow some balls and try something diffrent...why not play Corluka at right back and push Walker to right mid..shift Lennon on the left..for me thats a better balance than he has had in our last 2 games..but no Hary is not a revolutionary and a tactician...for me i would even have seen this as a positive because the right side will look more solid aswell as maintaining the attacking threat..and as we all know..Corluka brought out the best of Lennon because he didnt run into his space and always played neat passes with him all the way to the oppositions box...ohh but Harry sent him out on loan and now at the business end of the season Walker's lack of experience is showing for us right now..yes he will learn from it and in 2 seasons he will be better..but thats a silly way of seeing it as life does not work 2 seasons down..its a risk...just my not so humble opinion.
because he wasnt getting game time.....yet he would have been a good role model for Walker to see playing in order to brush up his own play..positioning isnt very good for Walker..it was for Corluka...im sure he could have got more games than he did....Walker's mistakes are also from the fact that he is burning out..up n down the right flank..we could have done with Corluka being given more assurances then...but this is a whole new debate...for me the problem remains...Redknapp and tactics...as oppose to Redknapp and man management...it is very important..not something to be overlooked if we are to move onto the next level as far as i can see.
Corluka was crap and disinterested when he did play this season though, Dona. As soon as Walker displaced him he started making noises about moving, rather than getting his head down and forcing his way back into the side. We do need Redknapp to pay more attention to using his squad fully, though. It's one of his biggest weaknesses, in my opinion. We have players capable of doing a very good job for the team, yet they're not trusted to do so when required.
fair play..maybe it is a bad example for me to use..but im glad we all recognise that Harry is to blame for a few things also...and squad rotation and trust is one of them...and this is why i think..this is the begining of our sideways shift..im not saying we will get worse..but i dont think we will get better..even if we purchase Hazard and that Brazilian fella up front..all this will mean is and i can be quoted on it....'Defoe will never get a look in and Lennon will not be starting for us any longer'..even though we all know he is brilliant when on his game..because HR does not have it in him to use change as an imeptus for the rested player...more like he destroys the rested players confidence.
Yes. Unfortunately, Ledley has been less than impressive in our last two games. I wonder if his legs are finally giving out on him? Walker, hopefully, will learn that you can't switch off like that against the top sides. However, eight goals shipped in two games seems to say something isn't right!
i think it could be the over reliance on King....so when he falters the others falter really bad....i think we need a regular centre back pairing ..and that would be Kaboul and Dawson.....they need to build a telepathy that is evident with the top pairings..but King's dilemma has not allowed that...i think one of them 2 can be a Vidic,Kompany kind of presence for us at the back if given the chance to mould.
