I thought the core of our defence, the two centre backs and keeper, were excellent. All communicating well and doing well against Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander. Our two full backs, were just plain awful all night. Every single back pass from Zubar was shocking, it even nearly cost us a goal in the first half too and Elokobi just didn't look up to it. Rewind a few weeks to the Chelsea game, they were our best players and that just shows what we desperately need.
Consistency.
Kevin Foley has to come in at right back, but I don't think he will drop Zubar. I wouldn't be surprised if Elokobi is the one dropped and Zubar is shifted to the left. From now on, if we can get the same team week in week out then we can finally get a run of form and push ourselves up the table.
I was disappointed to see Nenad Milijas on the bench, I just hope he was being rested. He's been our best player this season, and hopefully with him and Jamie O'Hara in the side we will be looking at a full strength side.
Kevin Doyle was outstanding, probably our best outfield player. We know about his tireless work rate, and hold up play. He does it every week and it' often goes unnoticed. Yesterday he was at the centre of everything we created. If we can make enough chance for us I;m sure he can get the goals we need.
Hennessey - 8
Zubar - 5
Stearman - 7
Berra - 7
Elokobi - 5
Hammill -7
Jones - 7
Henry - 7
Edwards - 7
Jarvis - 6
Doyle - 8
A West Ham win put us back in bottom place, but we can not afford to panic. We face Manchester United on Saturday, and it would sum us up if we could bounce back and get something out of it.
Jones didn't impress, and loses his place to Milijas. Jarvis-Milijas-O'Hara-Hammill is a very strong midfield (maybe too gung-hoo, I don't know a lot about O'Hara's defensive abilities), at home, and we don't conceive many goals anymore. Some has also claimed that O'Hara is a contender to the left fullback. Personally I think we should continue with Elokobi on the left. We must remember that we played away, and that Bolton is on the upper half of the table, and only a personal mistake did cost us a point, not because we were the "weaker" side. And our newcomers will improve ...
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone think Hunt can play left back?
ReplyDeleteI think you are right, the newcomers will only improve. Hammill looks good, O'Hara was bright. As Louie said, we mustn't panic. We have enough to get out of this..
Yes, I believe he could do a mans work there. He is fast, he is strong, and is a better passer than Elokobi. He lacks experience though, which could cause positional errors, but besides that I would say he could become an excellent fullback also.
ReplyDeleteLet's just face facts here for a second. The team is not good enough and also the manager is also not premier league quality. I'm really sorry to have to say it but that is the truth, just look at the league table and it does not lie. Our whole back four including the reserves are championship level at best. Jones,Henry,Hunt,Edwards also championship. Every striker we have on the books are not good enough non have reached double figures in the prem and non look close. I will support them to the bitter end and remain hopefull but im affraid it's back to the drawing board.
ReplyDeleteI don't think one can judge a team by assessing each player. Look at Norway's national team. Norway is ranked as number 11th best team in the world. Before Drillo took over as a manager, when Hareide was in charge, we were ranked the 40th best team in the world. Some new players has arrived, but most of the players that plays today was also present in the team under Hareide. What does it mean? Most importantly, a team is an unit, individual skills come second.
ReplyDeleteWhat does this mean?
A team is a unit, and if one find the right mix of players, and play in a way that get every bit of the players potential out of them, we can beat everyone. We did beat Man City at home, we can beat everyone, we can survive ...
My first team would look like this:
Hennesy
Zubar/Foley Berra Stearman/Craddock Elokobi
Hammill O'Hara/Foley Milijas Jarvis
Doyle/Fletcher Griffiths/Ebanks Blake
Today I don't think we get the 100% out of the players due to the composition of the team.
Are you in agree'ment then that Mick is not the right man for the job, As he is the person who pick's the team and formation?
ReplyDeleteno matter which way you look at it, this is our best team for 30 years. Our performances against the big teams show this. The problem is we don't seem able to reproduce against the teams around the bottom. the run of games where we beat Man city, Chelsea, Liverpool and Birmingham (ok they are the exception) and lost to west ham, wigan and blackburn sums us up. And Doyle hitting the post followed by Zubar's moment of madness has been the story of our season really. What can we do but keep going? The thing about this team is that every time they get a kick in the teeth (each one, seemingly, worse than the last) they come back stronger.
ReplyDeleteHow many games have we thrown away in the last 10 minutes this season? And there is no sign of it stopping. McCarthy has got to go. If he's not replaced now we will be relegated, it's as simple as that.
ReplyDeleteActually, I think he's experimenting with new combinations all the time. Injuries has been a disturbing factor last season, and the first half of this one. Now, most of the players back he has more options, and it is only a matter of small adjustments he finds the formula. For example, I don't think Fletcher pair up good with Doyle, they're to similar types. I would like to see a player that is a typical spear attacker, that like to make run behind the oppositions defence like Griffiths or Ebanks (or maybe Jarvis).
ReplyDeleteNow that we have Hammill it's got to be 4-5-1/4-3-3 with Hammill and Jarvis linking up with Doyle. Okay, this means 7m fletcher is on the bench but he has to show that he can do the lone man up front job when Doyle is absent (which so far he hasn't)
ReplyDeleteI would switch Zubar to left back if foley is fit too.
I think Hunt played at left back for his previous clubs didn't he? I have to admit he seems to have lost a little pace lately tho (injuries maybe) and I'm not sure he could do it anymore. O'Hara has definitely played left back before but it would be a shame to waste his combative style and excellent passing there. Why didn't we bid for warnock?
ReplyDelete