Monday, April 2

Ten things we learned against Reading

James Tomkins is not a midfielder. A great defender, but not mobile enough to play midfield against top class opposition like Reading.

Abdoulaye Faye was rushed back too quickly after suffering concussion and had a rare poor game.

We go to pieces when Mark Noble is not in midfield.

Julien Faubert is not a right back, as we saw under Zola. Better going forward than O’Brien, but still not a natural defender.  

Kevin Nolan is showing signs of improvement, setting up the first goal and late on almost creating one for Maynard. But he would be better played further forward.

Three games in a week looked too much for Gary O’Neil, who has done well to recover from a career-threatening injury.

Carlton Cole can still threaten for 45 minutes, scoring and having one off the line in the first half, but isn’t fit enough or trusted enough to play 90 minutes consistently for us. And we need a one-time England forward to score more than ten goals a season.

Sam Baldock needs to complete 90 minutes. Today’s Sun points out he hasn’t completed 90 minutes since November. Play him until he gets a goal and then his confidence will return.

Henri Lansbury or Jack Collison should replace the injured Mark Noble and not James Tomkins.

We lack a leader when we are chasing games. Southampton would surely have battered a team if they had pulled it back to 3-2.

2 comments:

matt said...

All is not entirely lost, but Mark Noble being out for the rest of the season is a huge blow to our chances of winning at least 5 of the remaining 6 games...And to put it into context, even if we do that, and draw the other one, it may not be enough....

Pencil in the dates for your diary - 7.45pm on May 3 (away), 4.30pm on Bank Holiday Monday, May 7 and then, perhaps, Saturday May 19 at 3pm (Wembley)....

Pete May said...

Can't see us diking it without Nobes. Will Lansbury finally come good? Brighton here we come!