Back to Reality

THUD !

Yes I guess so. No matter how you look at it, unless our strikers and attacking midfielders are bang on form, our defence is just incapable of holding out against top teams. I can't quite fathom out why George Daws looks so uncomposed and an accident waiting to happen when Ledders is not beside him. Yet when the two play together he looks solid. So we desperately need reinforcements at center back and to new full backs.

Having said that, we're still Wemberleeeeeee bound. COYS

Lee could have done better with the first goal. He moved his body out of the way.

I don't think Lee was to blame for the first goal - 1. he was being held back by Giggs and 2. that header from George was absolutely awful. We actually looked quite good when George got sent off... but what was he thinking?? I have that down as two George errors.

Very disappointed with Dawson, he is half the player when King isn't alongside him.

We shd've got a draw, we gave them 3 goals and Jenas shd've scored the second chance.

Ramos showed his tactical nous again by changing things at 1-2 down which got us back into the game, only just failing to equalise when We Orange hit the post for us.

Oh well, less fixture congestion I suppose.

And we're still going to WEMBERLEEEEEEEEEE!

It also means there is no chance of facing Arsenal again this season. So we can enjoy bragging rights for several months !!

Shamelessly stolen from BBC Sport... pretty much sums up my feelings about our performance last night. ...




Don't think the scoreline reflected the gameplay and I'm really proud of my team - we are heading very much in the right direction

All in all, can't say I'm too disappointed with the result as I don't think we have the squad to be able to keep up in all the competitions. Lets concentrate on the Final and the UEFA. Score is a bit misleading but this is often the case when teams are chasing a late equaliser. If you remember that Berbs had a header hit off the line and hit the post and Jenious was one on one with the goalkeeper twice, things could have been different.

I think this might be last chance for Daws assuming we pick up some central defender in the next week. Its very strange that he can only play with Leds beside him. I think the reason being that he cant read the game and needs someone telling him where to go and what to do.

Most of our players had their off-day which sums up why we are not able to be one of the top teams yet ie our players are sh@t hot one game and sh@te the next.

Also, can someone tell me what Boatang has that keeps him in the side or a regular sub. He seems to lose the ball on every opportunity that he can and sometimes isnt too far away from getting sent off.

Last comment - Is it time for Robbo to come back?

Agreed Colin. Although I was optimistic when Boateng joined us in the summer, I've quickly changed my mind. He doesn't offer anything particularly special or different in midfield. I guess if it all kicked off one day then he'd probably come in handy 'cos I reckon he's got a good left hook. But obviously Ramos sees something that we don't as our Glorious Leader did try to purchase him for Sevilla last summer. Who knows? I guess that's why I'm idling wasting my time in front of a PC and Juande is picking up a cool 4 Big Ones a year.

Don't think Robbo will make it back in a hurry. Only if Czech Republic's No.2 gets injured will we see England's No.6 return. IMO.

It looks likely that our back four on 24 Feb ce be:

Chimbonda / Hutton - King - Woodgate - Gilberto

Hopefully they can cut out the silly errors that do keep costing us goals.

Re Robbo, I think he'll keep Cerny in, but one more error and it will be Robbo's turn. That's what I liek about Ramos - if you're playing well, you're in the side. f you're not, you're out. Therefore, I don't expect to see Dawson in the side again for a few games, as long as Woodgate signs and isn't injured in his first training session!

Dawson will definetly miss a few games anyway due to his suspension.

So someone will certainly get the chance to shine in his absence. Maybe even Rocha will get a look in.

Janek wrote:

It looks likely that our back four on 24 Feb ce be:

Chimbonda / Hutton - King - Woodgate - Gilberto

Hopefully they can cut out the silly errors that do keep costing us goals.

Re Robbo, I think he'll keep Cerny in, but one more error and it will be Robbo's turn. That's what I liek about Ramos - if you're playing well, you're in the side. f you're not, you're out. Therefore, I don't expect to see Dawson in the side again for a few games, as long as Woodgate signs and isn't injured in his first training session!

Up until that error, Cerny looked quite commanding, certainty more so than Robbo.

DannyBoy wrote:

Dawson will definetly miss a few games anyway due to his suspension.

So someone will certainly get the chance to shine in his absence. Maybe even Rocha will get a look in.

I think Dawson will only have a 1 match ban as the red card wasn't for violent conduct, so he'll miss the Everton game and be back in contention for the Man Utd game next Sat.

I also think Jenas looks far more composed when Ledley is behind him. Certainly not the Jenas we saw against The Arse.

Jenas is the 1 in 4 man.

His next outstanding game is Derby away.

His first one on one was forgivable but he just really fluffed his lines on the second. Apart from that (and it's a big 'that'), he didn't have a bad game. In fact we played well and nearly forced a replay with the Berbatov/Brown shot off the post. I think Jenas now has more of an idea what his role is in the team and he seems more confident which was why I'm really pissed off at his miss!

I'm pretty pleased with the match. We competed away from home against the strongest team in the country for the whole match. One or two minor incidents (Berba on the post, JJ's shot tipped over) could have meant a different score.

If we continue to play like that, we'll beat most teams. Tightening up the defence will make all the difference, and it seems at least Woodgate is coming...

Number 10 wrote:

I'm pretty pleased with the match. We competed away from home against the strongest team in the country for the whole match. One or two minor incidents (Berba on the post, JJ's shot tipped over) could have meant a different score.

If we continue to play like that, we'll beat most teams. Tightening up the defence will make all the difference, and it seems at least Woodgate is coming...

Agree with you, James. We frustrated the opposistion the 1st half. If we could lead them 1 goal during half time (eliminating the error of Daws' awful heading & 1 more goal from Jenas's one-on-one), it would become a different story. The 2nd half was almost destroyed by Daws' "own hand"... (But we nearly tie the game by Berba's post hitting shot)

One point to add... I'm still scratching me head about the subitition of Gunter to replace Lee. Lee was playing very well last nite.

We really need to strengthen our defensive line by adding one or two commanding defenders... But itz only 3 days to go to the end of transfer window. Cant be too optimistic...

To skipper King: Are you get injured again~!?

Well we do have Woodgate now.

And apparently Hutton + Gilberto?