Christmas Jeer!

Leinstersqspur

With 1 point from 9 over the christmas period things didn't go so well for us and you have to ask were the faults lie?

Fulham was a tactical disaster for Harry in my book, playing 4-5-1 at home against a team with a very poor away form we played straight into their hands. Roy set his team out to stifle the ball and we looked like a side who had double helpings of turkey and ham the day before! Every pass was lacksidasical making it easy for them to close us down, we are lucky gomes got the better of AJ in the closing minutes and salvage a point!

The big question for me is who should still be in the squad, who is quality and who is threading water and happy to win the odd carling cup here and there?!

My first move in January would be to ditch JJ, he is the epitimy of or inconsistencies since he arrived, he gives the ball away carelessly and his range of passing and creativity has dwindled since his crowning as Englands brightest star, he seems to lack desire? Get rid!

Bentley must be very unhappy to be stuck on the left, I would get him in the centre over JJ. He is a right footer and oppositions spot this every time the ball is on the left and nab him when he cuts in.

O'Hara should be figuring more, he seemed to be a breadth of fresh air when he arrived on the scene last season and I am surprised he hasn't been more involved under Harry. He also has a good eye for goal too, can anyone remember when JJ last scored for us?

As for the strikers, you cannot deny that all 3 possess fine attributes but neither are front line leaders, which is what they need to be if Modric is to play up off them. Whilst campbell is a talented young fella, his misfortunes against Newcastle prove that he is not a game after game match winner at this stage of his development.

As for the other two, the mind boggles..... Are either of these guys doing enough, maybe they will come good in the new year but I certainly wont be backing them for 1st goalscorer anytime soon....

Alas, hopefully as we all anticipate Harry will have new faces at WHL before we wake on the 1st Jan. The deals may already be done?!

1. Goalscorer - Defoe
2. Centre Half - Upson
3. Left winger - Downing

That'd do me, roll on January!

keane=cock

not sold on downing to be honest.

defoe i would take back no problem as i do believe we need a man to score regularly and he fits the bill.

was never sure on gomez but of late he has come good or at least better than he was!

jenas is underperforming as is bemtley in my opinion. bentleys work rate is great but his delievery especially from set pieces is a let down. i cant understand this as there is no pressure on him which would be the case at the end of run.

i like o hara and would play him more and also big tom huddlestone. pitty he got a knock the other day we will miss his range of passing.

bent started off the season great but has gone off the boil. still dont know about pav and campbell is not a long term answer as he is going back to man u anyway

SuprSi

I quite like the 3 players you've listed, but we all know Defoe ends up offside a lot, and even with Modric feeding him he'd still frustrate. I also think he's quite similar to Bent only that Bent is a better finisher.

JJ - I don't get the guy. He should be an excellent midfielder, but his passing is so crap that he cannot hack it. He has great pace and energy, but he just doesn't contribute enough to the team to deserve his starting place, let alone vice-captaincy. I don't know about Bentley in the middle as he's quite slow, but he might be worth a shot.

I think defensively we're doing quite well of late and Corluka was an excellent purchase. I'd gladly take another centre half, though Dawson has been good any match he's been playing of late, which is good news. We still need a strong midfielder, someone who can get stuck in and play the simple 10 yard passes that Jenas can't manage. At least Zokora can do this.

As for up front, I really don't know what Harry can do. He has a strike-force worth around 30m who can't play together, so he reverts to 5 in the middle which has been spotted by opposing teams and nullified, and we haven't scored anywhere near enough goals as a result. I think we need to revert back to 4-4-2, get that strong midfielder in, and stick Modric in the middle.

I'm also unsure about Downing, but you can't deny that he usually scores a good few goals and would add a nice balance to the team. I'd compare him to a left-footed Bentley.

keane=cock

SuprSi wrote: »

I'm also unsure about Downing, but you can't deny that he usually scores a good few goals and would add a nice balance to the team. I'd compare him to a left-footed Bentley.

over rated and under performing?????:P

i know its cheeky but i hate the way british media build up average players

Wendell Gee

1 defoe
2 dm someone to balance Modric need to look outside prem I reckon.
3 dont need downing- o hara/bale as good.

BOLT

Leinstersqspur wrote: »

My first move in January would be to ditch JJ, he is the epitimy of or inconsistencies since he arrived, he gives the ball away carelessly and his range of passing and creativity has dwindled since his crowning as Englands brightest star, he seems to lack desire? Get rid!

Caught an old Newcastle game on ESPN....guess who gave the ball away cheaply twice in the first couple of minutes of watching....