what is the answer to our right wing problem. is it when chaplow is fit for him to play there, stevie has been many peoples m.o.m for the last 2 games so is he the option or is he better as an impact player, should punch be given a chance or is a new signing the answer. last 6 games without chaplow (including bristol x2) is w2 d2 l2, before with chaplow was w4 d1 l1.
I'm not a Stevie fan so far, but I'm all for letting him keep playing and improving. His running is unquestionably good and I have faith his final ball will improve.
Agree with this. I remember when he came on in the preseason friendly (vs WBA??) and I was so impressed by his skilfulness and his running. Since then, however, I have been a little underwhelmed. I do appreciate that it takes time for players to get bedded in; but he’s been here half a season now and it appears he is not a first choice player for us [wing or attack]. Even Spiderman seems preferred over De Ridder in this position. So I concur that we need Chaplow back on the right wing.
De Ridder was our best player by a mile on Friday (8 out of 10 performance) and deserves more game time. He started to track back more now and clearly scared the City defence every time he went forward. I am more concerned with Lallana's drop in performance and the fact that our midfield appears to be overun at times. I think we should go 4-5-1 on Monday and have Hammond, Cork and Morgan in the centre, Holmes on the left and DeRidder on the right. Plus tell Lambert to stay central for crying out loud!!!! We do miss Chappers though and he should replace Hammond if fit.
Lallana needs be dropped IMO, not himself so he is not an option, Steve I believe will get better and better with more game time,
this is the sort of game that lallana will work wonders. he has been saving it up over the last couple of performances to un-leash a beast of a performance tomorrow. remember when he was injured last season or the season before, i can't remember, but i can remember that we could string 2 passes together he is a cog in out machine and even if he isn't top of his game he is still vital.
De Ridder is improving, and if he can keep the level of his last 2 games up, he will be my number 1 choice for RM whether Chaplow is fit or not
On the Lallana point I believe we have grown to be able to win without him, he needs to be dropped and have a rest. We beat west ham without him remember?!
The figures showing our results since Chaplow got injured are quite telling. I think Chaplow's endless ability to give 100% also sets the tone for the rest of the team and if we need to change things, De Ridder can always come on as the impact player he has proven to be on quite a few occasions.
