Of course it is great news to have Green and Tomkins back - I don't trust Almunia at all and Tomkins is, in my opinion our best defender - but the real deficiencies lie further up the field. I know Nolan scored on Monday but what did he offer creatively apart from that? And Faubert? Did he send in one cross all game? And Collison? Did he pass to a player in Claret and Blue all night? Diop? He made one good clearance inside his own six yard box but he was just a lump to get around apart from that. And Noble? Indifferent at best.
Surely Allardyce will start 4-4-2 against Leicester? They arrive low on confidence and without a manager. If Millwall can stick three past them on their own dung heap, then we should be looking to take them apart. Carew and Baldock must be licking their lips in anticipation and after his positive contribution at Brighton, Sears might be worth a try too; although I fancy Allardyce will opt for Faubert and Collison on the flanks.
Doctor Evil is bemoaning the lack of numerical depth in the squad and, ironically, we are short in midfield, the area of the pitch where, a couple of weeks ago, we looked strongest. Injuries to Bentley, Lansbury and Taylor have, however, changed the complexion completely. We urgently need somebody to play on the left of midfield as cover for Taylor and another utility midfield player, but who is available? Diouf. Thank God that option has now been rejected.
The decision to let Stanislas go is perhaps looking a little foolish now although I still think Montano should be recalled and tried. Allardyce is moaning about having to name an 18 year old on the bench at Brighton and that does not bode well for the Academy does it? Leeds started an 18 year old against us and he looked pretty good! Somebody should have a word in Doctor Evil's shell like and point out what West Ham stands for!
So what if Leeds are playing an 18 year old? How is that relevant? Should we try and best them by playing a fourteen year old? Yes that would be a fantastic idea wouldn't it? Then we would be the clever clogs club with the inspirational imagination and bravery to give rediculously young under-ripe players a go in the upper echelons of the second tier of English football.. Young players who aren't good enough should not just be ''given a go'' just because they are young. They need to earn that opportunity. We all like to see a good young player come through the ranks but not all of them are going to be a Bobby Moore. In fact most of what we have produced in recent years have been fairly woeful. So lets just leave the blooding of youngsters to the wisdom of Big Sam shall we?
ReplyDeleteI suppose you would rather we had signed Diouf!
ReplyDeleteThis from Big Sam the other night after the Brighton game.
ReplyDelete“If they want me to play the West Ham way and lose, then I don’t want to be here."
After Dioufgate, it seems the fans do have a voice. So keep blogging about the tactics HF and you might just chase Doctor Evil off, hehe.
;)