Watching the game yesterday it struck me that this is the best that we have played since the first half of last season when we were dominating teams with our possession and the fluidity and variety of attacking options. A year ago, we had a front four of Guly or Chaplow, Connolly or Guly, Lambert, Lallana...these players were interchangeable with their movement and were all a serious goal threat. They were given licence to express themselves by the solid central midfield pair of Cork with Morgan or Hammond who were the engine room that very often would break up the opposition's attacks high up the pitch instead of sitting deep and letting them come on to us. Gaston has come in and is playing the Connolly role and is already showing the understanding with Lallana in particular that he had. Punch has come in and is playing the Guly/Chaplow role and is consistantly playing at a level this season that he had only sporadically shown previously and looks like a £5m plus player now. There are a few reasons why our form has picked up, the influence of Cork returning to the side cannot be overstated and Gaston is now fully fit and settling in more with each match. The back four and Keeper have been unchanged for the last 3 games which cand only help with their understanding and young Luke Shaw is showing a maturity way beyond his years and our left side looks less vunerable now. Continuity and confidence are now the key to future success, Nigel has found the right formula and performances should only get better from now.
