2 Points Lost - A long read

[Spur]

I'm sorry, but I must've been watching a different game yesterday. As I've said I've been ripped to shreds for saying so elsewhere.

I've read so many people saying that players such as Keane, Pavlyuchenko, even Corluka having good games, when they just didn't, not at all.

Yesterday was another example of what could've been.

There was little movement up front, numerous times BAE gets down the wing and there's no-one there for him. Lennon got Clichy booked and never run at him again. Pav offered very little in any way shape or form, and yet people are saying 'we lost our edge after he came off' - we had no ****ing edge anyway!

We were playing ten men for God's sake. Only Tottenham make a big deal out of having a man extra.

Arsenal were terrible. They gave the ball away more than we did and that's saying something. There was one instance yesterday that sums up how much we gave the ball away, and this was overshadowed by the gigantic frame and remarkable tackling of Wilson Palacios. It was the instance when he threw himself into three consecutive tackles and won all three of them. He was immense yesterday, one of two players fully deserving of praise. CC being the other.

The thing with Pavvy, I like him, he seems like a sound bloke, but he's extremely unorthodox in practically everything he does. No doubt he deserves time - albeit something we're sharply running out of - to learn the language etc. But he is very unorthodox and extremely enigmatic. He'll do one great thing and follow it up with tripping on a banana skin. Although yesterday we only saw the latter rather than the former.

I was calling for three subs yesterday, Chim, Bent and Huddlestone on for Charlie, Pav and Jenas. Jenas had another 'meh' game. He did put in a good cross first half though, but surprise, surprise we had no one attacking it. And aside from that cracking pass for Modric toward the end he delivered little but ten yard passes to Charlie and Dawson.

I expected Keane to be showing out wide for Luka ALOT. He never. He occupied almost the same blade of grass that Pavvy did. No real running about, no real dropping back. Only a bit of arm waving.

Woodgate and Dawson did well, a couple of iffy moments but little to worry about. They were well protected by Wilson even when he went forward he'd get back. Another thing on Jenas is his heading. He doesn't even try. He jumps like a fish out of water without any real effort.

We dominated possession, we controlled the ball with ease. But did we dominate the game? We were crowded out when in possession, the one key to closing our attacking play, and forced to switch wings that would inevitably end in a failed move. Real chances were limited, limited to being out wide and far out, the ones that did present themselves were squandered in unacceptable fashion.

How people are actually happy with the result and performance is beyond me. We played against ten men who were doing poorly, struggling to get two passes together and still almost lost but for a superb save from CC. Add to that the Alex Song chance (what a let off that was) and we're square on great chances really.

People are saying we play like that and we're alright. We're safe. But we've seen the odd good performance this year and they've been followed up with rubbish. Most definitely two points dropped yesterday. If we can't beat a ten man team then we must be in trouble.

I had a text from a mate as soon as they went down to ten. "If you don't win now you're down". I disagreed but could see the reasoning. And judging not only on the result but on the performance we are fighting a battle that we could very well lose.

A loss against Hull and I'm devoid of any hope. The only saving grace we may have is that there could very well be three teams down there who are worse than we are.

[Ginola's Son]

I agree with you pricipally about our football

You always take a point against Arsenal, wherever, however...

But yeah, a win was badly needed, for sheer points required, and for the morale booster a north london derby victory brings....

The football was bad yesterday, we had a free man available to roam, only he didn't, the passing was boring and monotone, Arsenal could have had nine and we wouldn't have scored. Bringing on Bent was a mistake cos he's sorely limited at bringing down air-balls...which is all thats ever given to him. Taraabt did a lovely pass to put Modric in at the death...but a minute earlier an even better pass would have seen a sure goal

The football was sorely lacking yesterday. But my god, Wilson was brilliant.

[MiloMinderbinder]

Tarrabt should have gone left to Keane instead of right to Modric. Not a real criticism but had he done so I am confident we'd have won.

I wonder if in light of the obvious lack of width on the left, Bale should be deployed there in tandem with BAE, either that or we will have to scrap wide players and have a three man central mid with Modric behind the strikers.

[Spur]

Tarrabt should have gone left to Keane instead of right to Modric. Not a real criticism but had he done so I am confident we'd have won.

I wonder if in light of the obvious lack of width on the left, Bale should be deployed there in tandem with BAE, either that or we will have to scrap wide players and have a three man central mid with Modric behind the strikers.

He moans about having an unbalanced squad but we could easily send out a balanced team.

His subs yesterday were poor, again.

[jrio]

Good piece, Spur, agree with just about all of it. If we can't get a win at home against a 10 man Arse missing Adebayor, Walcott, and Fabregas, then I don't see us ever beating them under Wenger. They re-organised well, but we should have been pummelling them, like our lives depended on it.

There do seem to be at least 3 teams worse than us - WBA, Boro and Stoke. What we need to do is pick up some points in away games, or it's going to be a real struggle. I thought we were now top of the league for failing to score at home, but Bolton are one above us(7 to our 6).

[MiloMinderbinder]

He moans about having an unbalanced squad but we could easily send out a balanced team.

His subs yesterday were poor, again.

Agreed, but he obviously does not trust Bale in the slightest, thus leaving only BAE at leftback and forcing Modric to provide some sort of body on the left mid.

Why he didn't take Lennon off for Tarrabt earlier I don't know. It was fairly obvious that AT's ability to run at players would unhinge the Arsenal backline and provide space for others to work in. I thought his subbing of Charlie for Gimponda was forced as Charlies was having a mare. Pav for Bent was the right move, but he forgot that Bent, whilst having the attributes to play in the channels suffers from being perenially poor (his tocuh that went for a goalkick made me cry), Pav was doing nothing, although there was little to choose between him and pointy shouty Keane.

[peterc]

Totally agree we lost two points, I also think that Corluka should have been subbed earlier. As regards to the usual JJ slagging off, I thought he had an average game. Don't think that Zokora, O'Hara or Huddlestone would have done any better.

[Spur]

Totally agree we lost two points, I also think that Corluka should have been subbed earlier. As regards to the usual JJ slagging off, I thought he had an average game. Don't think that Zokora, O'Hara or Huddlestone would have made any better.

Despite Huddlestone's obvious limitations I thought that he could have provided the unlock we needed. There was a tremendous amount of space toward the end that he would've been able to utilise for releasing a pass.

Adel came on and made two of the simplest runs you're ever likely to see. Both came courtesy of CC showing him where to go with the throws. We should've buried both of those. He should've gone with someone on the left and kept Lennon on. The space was out wide and we weren't using it properly. We would've stretched the Arsenal back four at the end had we had a left and right winger on. Instead we had neither, and any breaks went down the middle.

Still, that's no excuse for not slotting away the two chances we had.

[mjbmedia]

totally agree we threw 2 points away . IMO we were crap against 10 men. didnt move, didnt use the space, yes Wilson was good but lets see that extend over 10 games before we cream our pants ffs
Id have subbed Keane instead of Pav as at least Pav was holding it up a bit and then Bent would have been bought more into it, no point asking Bent to hold it up much, thats not his game.
Harry was torn between going for three points and settling for one while hoping to nick it, kind of understandable in our position .

[MarlowSpurs]

How people are actually happy with the result and performance is beyond me.



I wasn't, I actually came away from watching the game with a sickening feeling like we had just lost

[irishspur]

Charlie picked up a knock which was why he was subbed but he had a poor game as it was. Hudd should have come on for JJ in the last 20 mins his killer passes would have unlocked them.

[hastingsyid]

I'm sorry, but I must've been watching a different game yesterday. As I've said I've been ripped to shreds for saying so elsewhere.

I've read so many people saying that players such as Keane, Pavlyuchenko, even Corluka having good games, when they just didn't, not at all.

Yesterday was another example of what could've been.

There was little movement up front, numerous times BAE gets down the wing and there's no-one there for him. Lennon got Clichy booked and never run at him again. Pav offered very little in any way shape or form, and yet people are saying 'we lost our edge after he came off' - we had no ****ing edge anyway!

We were playing ten men for God's sake. Only Tottenham make a big deal out of having a man extra.

Arsenal were terrible. They gave the ball away more than we did and that's saying something. There was one instance yesterday that sums up how much we gave the ball away, and this was overshadowed by the gigantic frame and remarkable tackling of Wilson Palacios. It was the instance when he threw himself into three consecutive tackles and won all three of them. He was immense yesterday, one of two players fully deserving of praise. CC being the other.

The thing with Pavvy, I like him, he seems like a sound bloke, but he's extremely unorthodox in practically everything he does. No doubt he deserves time - albeit something we're sharply running out of - to learn the language etc. But he is very unorthodox and extremely enigmatic. He'll do one great thing and follow it up with tripping on a banana skin. Although yesterday we only saw the latter rather than the former.

I was calling for three subs yesterday, Chim, Bent and Huddlestone on for Charlie, Pav and Jenas. Jenas had another 'meh' game. He did put in a good cross first half though, but surprise, surprise we had no one attacking it. And aside from that cracking pass for Modric toward the end he delivered little but ten yard passes to Charlie and Dawson.

I expected Keane to be showing out wide for Luka ALOT. He never. He occupied almost the same blade of grass that Pavvy did. No real running about, no real dropping back. Only a bit of arm waving.

Woodgate and Dawson did well, a couple of iffy moments but little to worry about. They were well protected by Wilson even when he went forward he'd get back. Another thing on Jenas is his heading. He doesn't even try. He jumps like a fish out of water without any real effort.

We dominated possession, we controlled the ball with ease. But did we dominate the game? We were crowded out when in possession, the one key to closing our attacking play, and forced to switch wings that would inevitably end in a failed move. Real chances were limited, limited to being out wide and far out, the ones that did present themselves were squandered in unacceptable fashion.

How people are actually happy with the result and performance is beyond me. We played against ten men who were doing poorly, struggling to get two passes together and still almost lost but for a superb save from CC. Add to that the Alex Song chance (what a let off that was) and we're square on great chances really.

People are saying we play like that and we're alright. We're safe. But we've seen the odd good performance this year and they've been followed up with rubbish. Most definitely two points dropped yesterday. If we can't beat a ten man team then we must be in trouble.

I had a text from a mate as soon as they went down to ten. "If you don't win now you're down". I disagreed but could see the reasoning. And judging not only on the result but on the performance we are fighting a battle that we could very well lose.

A loss against Hull and I'm devoid of any hope. The only saving grace we may have is that there could very well be three teams down there who are worse than we are.

very good post

[wayne wonder]

Is it me or is corluka having an iffy time of it since chimbo came back? he's making more and more mistakes and very cumbersome too and i think he's been one of the better players this season.


As for Jenas........i'm not gonna comment as some people are blinded by their man love for him but he wasn the only culprit i just dont think pav is and wil be up to it regardless of rest a good squad player but i dont expect him to be our main striker next season. I just dont think he can hold the ball up or even win headers i cant believe out of 5 strikers not one can hold the ball up and play it off

Modric is an enigma and we've just not found the right position for him just yet! As for the game we should have won i dont care who they had playing that was a chance to beat them more than any and if they had adebayor on for the full match, fabregas and walcott i think we would have probably ended up losing that.

[LifeTimeYido]

I'm sorry, but I must've been watching a different game yesterday. As I've said I've been ripped to shreds for saying so elsewhere.

I've read so many people saying that players such as Keane, Pavlyuchenko, even Corluka having good games, when they just didn't, not at all.

Yesterday was another example of what could've been.

There was little movement up front, numerous times BAE gets down the wing and there's no-one there for him. Lennon got Clichy booked and never run at him again. Pav offered very little in any way shape or form, and yet people are saying 'we lost our edge after he came off' - we had no ****ing edge anyway!

We were playing ten men for God's sake. Only Tottenham make a big deal out of having a man extra.

Arsenal were terrible. They gave the ball away more than we did and that's saying something. There was one instance yesterday that sums up how much we gave the ball away, and this was overshadowed by the gigantic frame and remarkable tackling of Wilson Palacios. It was the instance when he threw himself into three consecutive tackles and won all three of them. He was immense yesterday, one of two players fully deserving of praise. CC being the other.

The thing with Pavvy, I like him, he seems like a sound bloke, but he's extremely unorthodox in practically everything he does. No doubt he deserves time - albeit something we're sharply running out of - to learn the language etc. But he is very unorthodox and extremely enigmatic. He'll do one great thing and follow it up with tripping on a banana skin. Although yesterday we only saw the latter rather than the former.

I was calling for three subs yesterday, Chim, Bent and Huddlestone on for Charlie, Pav and Jenas. Jenas had another 'meh' game. He did put in a good cross first half though, but surprise, surprise we had no one attacking it. And aside from that cracking pass for Modric toward the end he delivered little but ten yard passes to Charlie and Dawson.

I expected Keane to be showing out wide for Luka ALOT. He never. He occupied almost the same blade of grass that Pavvy did. No real running about, no real dropping back. Only a bit of arm waving.

Woodgate and Dawson did well, a couple of iffy moments but little to worry about. They were well protected by Wilson even when he went forward he'd get back. Another thing on Jenas is his heading. He doesn't even try. He jumps like a fish out of water without any real effort.

We dominated possession, we controlled the ball with ease. But did we dominate the game? We were crowded out when in possession, the one key to closing our attacking play, and forced to switch wings that would inevitably end in a failed move. Real chances were limited, limited to being out wide and far out, the ones that did present themselves were squandered in unacceptable fashion.

How people are actually happy with the result and performance is beyond me. We played against ten men who were doing poorly, struggling to get two passes together and still almost lost but for a superb save from CC. Add to that the Alex Song chance (what a let off that was) and we're square on great chances really.

People are saying we play like that and we're alright. We're safe. But we've seen the odd good performance this year and they've been followed up with rubbish. Most definitely two points dropped yesterday. If we can't beat a ten man team then we must be in trouble.

I had a text from a mate as soon as they went down to ten. "If you don't win now you're down". I disagreed but could see the reasoning. And judging not only on the result but on the performance we are fighting a battle that we could very well lose.

A loss against Hull and I'm devoid of any hope. The only saving grace we may have is that there could very well be three teams down there who are worse than we are.


I can agree with that matey. Pretty spot on IMO.

[Indianspur]

i Have faith in all the players that started bar jenas at the moment because he hasnt played much recently and i thought bale or even tarrby should have started on the left.

I think all our players have the ability to do well because we payed bloody over 100mill for half our squad and they cant become shite overnight at spurs!

After these sackings of managers, i have come to realise that us fans expect too much too soon!
We have been crap since the carling cup win and if Big phil cant produce miracles neither can harry in 5 months.We have always expected too much i.e top 4 for the last 3 seasons and its not happening and possibly caused Jols sacking.

Even though we have the outstanding players they may take a few more games to gel due to new signings and many players who dont regularly play together.
This season id be happy to scrape past relegation zone.

So rather than say two points lost, id rather see it as a point gained because this season im going to support spurs like were west brom! That way we can get behind the team more and stop any booing like pre-harry!
Also it will stop me having a heart attack at 26!

[Keanoldinho]

Tarrabt should have gone left to Keane instead of right to Modric. Not a real criticism but had he done so I am confident we'd have won.

I wonder if in light of the obvious lack of width on the left, Bale should be deployed there in tandem with BAE, either that or we will have to scrap wide players and have a three man central mid with Modric behind the strikers.


If you watch the replay you'll see Gallas was waiting for the pass to Keano and he would've closed him down as soon as it had been released. Taarabt did the right thing drawing out the fullback then releasing Modric through on goal Modric just bottled it. I was pissed we didn't win them ****s were there for the taking and we let them off the hook bigtime.


here's the highlights if you want to see that opportunity again it's at the end

http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/2065610/

[Shuggie13]

WB Keanoldinho and avatar.

[Shuggie13]

i Have faith in all the players that started bar jenas at the moment because he hasnt played much recently and i thought bale or even tarrby should have started on the left.

I think all our players have the ability to do well because we payed bloody over 100mill for half our squad and they cant become shite overnight at spurs!

After these sackings of managers, i have come to realise that us fans expect too much too soon!
We have been crap since the carling cup win and if Big phil cant produce miracles neither can harry in 5 months.We have always expected too much i.e top 4 for the last 3 seasons and its not happening and possibly caused Jols sacking.

Even though we have the outstanding players they may take a few more games to gel due to new signings and many players who dont regularly play together.
This season id be happy to scrape past relegation zone.

So rather than say two points lost, id rather see it as a point gained because this season im going to support spurs like were west brom! That way we can get behind the team more and stop any booing like pre-harry!
Also it will stop me having a heart attack at 26!

No one would disagree with that. The only problem is we are scrapping in the relegation zone and we are always going to be that little bit more tense that a Chelski Chav.

I think I tend to agree with Spur's original point. 1 point is great at the moment, before the match most of us would have taken a point over none. However the 3 were on offer on Sunday, problably more than in some other matches that we have come away with a draw or loss, and should have been taken

[olly27]

Despite Huddlestone's obvious limitations I thought that he could have provided the unlock we needed. There was a tremendous amount of space toward the end that he would've been able to utilise for releasing a pass.
Adel came on and made two of the simplest runs you're ever likely to see. Both came courtesy of CC showing him where to go with the throws. We should've buried both of those. He should've gone with someone on the left and kept Lennon on. The space was out wide and we weren't using it properly. We would've stretched the Arsenal back four at the end had we had a left and right winger on. Instead we had neither, and any breaks went down the middle.

Still, that's no excuse for not slotting away the two chances we had.

Totally agree and was gob smacked that Harry didn't opt for Huddlestone..the game was crying out for him. I would of gone for Bale as well, taking lennon (who was struggling with a groin injury) and Jenas off. Could of dropped Hudd in the middle with Wislon and moved Modric out to the right and put Bale on the left.Or Taarabt on the right for Lennon and the Hudd for Jenas. If Harry had believed a bit more we would of won of by a couple I think.

I think this is the problem as well and I think the players sense it. Its all well and good when the manager says we have to mentally tougher and believe in ourselves but when his own actions don't endorse those sentiments its bound to raise doubt amongst the players.

The fact is we were playing against 10 men at home with several of their big players missing - why Harry didn't go for the throat is beyond me.

[wayne wonder]

I was shocked that he didnt bring Bale on or Fat Tom to be honest but hey he's a top top manager as people keep saying :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

[Keanoldinho]

I was shocked that he didnt bring Bale on or Fat Tom to be honest but hey he's a top top manager as people keep saying :thumbdown: :thumbdown:



He didn't need to bring on Hudd or Bale

We created chances to win the game with the changes he made

All Modric had to do was lift the ball over almuniwtf and we'd all have been going mental :cursing:

[Spur]

He didn't need to bring on Hudd or Bale

We created chances to win the game with the changes he made

All Modric had to do was lift the ball over almuniwtf and we'd all have been going mental :cursing:

Two chances at the end weren't due to the subs, they were due to Arsenal.

Had he made effective subs then we would've created more.

[Keanoldinho]

Two chances at the end weren't due to the subs, they were due to Arsenal.

Had he made effective subs then we would've created more.



Taarbat was a sub and his pass gave Modric our best chance of the game

[Spur]

Taarbat was a sub and his pass gave Modric our best chance of the game

Adel ran in a straight line from the goalkeeper.

Not being funny, but just because a sub touched the ball doesn't mean he had a major impact. All credit for those chances goes down to CC. Both times. In fact he was the only reason we got a point out of the game in the end, and not only that but we carried on getting the ball further up the pitch all because of him.

If you wanna talk about AT then we could consider he passed the wrong way and took a snatch shot when passing was the better option. But that's just being picky, because he was a sub.

[Keanoldinho]

Adel ran in a straight line from the goalkeeper.

Not being funny, but just because a sub touched the ball doesn't mean he had a major impact. All credit for those chances goes down to CC. Both times. In fact he was the only reason we got a point out of the game in the end, and not only that but we carried on getting the ball further up the pitch all because of him.

If you wanna talk about AT then we could consider he passed the wrong way and took a snatch shot when passing was the better option. But that's just being picky, because he was a sub.



you wouldn't happen to be a goalkeeper would you :001_rolleyes:

Taarbat played the perfect pass to Modric as Gallas was waiting to close Keano down had he passed it to the left. Taarbat released it at the right time with the right weight on it all Modric had to do was lift it over the keeper and we'd have won.

[Shuggie13]

Who should of been subbed or whether Taarbat was the right sub is not too relevant for me, the starting 11 should have had the ability to win that game once they went to 10 men. Wenger had to worry more about the adjustments than us.

[Spur]

you wouldn't happen to be a goalkeeper would you :001_rolleyes:

Taarbat played the perfect pass to Modric as Gallas was waiting to close Keano down had he passed it to the left. Taarbat released it at the right time with the right weight on it all Modric had to do was lift it over the keeper and we'd have won.

I didn't say otherwise :confused1:

He did nothing more than you'd expect from anyone who can open their eyes and move their feet let alone control or pass a ball. Had he ****ed up those chances he would've deserved to be shot. Instead Luka has that honour.

But this does not change that only credit lies at the man who created the opportunity. Step forward Carlo Cudicini.

[Keanoldinho]

I didn't say otherwise :confused1:

He did nothing more than you'd expect from anyone who can open their eyes and move their feet let alone control or pass a ball. Had he ****ed up those chances he would've deserved to be shot. Instead Luka has that honour.

But this does not change that only credit lies at the man who created the opportunity. Step forward Carlo Cudicini.



That's easy to say but if you put Zokora or JJ in his place odds are the ball wouldn't of got to Modric

[mjbmedia]

its the first time Adel has actually done a decent pass so lets not heap too much pressure on the lad, but maybe we're actually developing someone beyond puberty, that will be a first for a long long time so i wont hold my breath.

[wayne wonder]

its the first time Adel has actually done a decent pass so lets not heap too much pressure on the lad, but maybe we're actually developing someone beyond puberty, that will be a first for a long long time so i wont hold my breath.


haha! Adel still thinks he's playing in the streets with his mates with a rush back goalie the boy needs to be reined in a little and learn to pass but without ruining his god given talent

[Shuggie13]

LOL, rush goalie. Maybe that will be the next brainwave by the EPL and Sky, 39th game featuring rush goalie.

[wayne wonder]

LOL, rush goalie. Maybe that will be the next brainwave by the EPL and Sky, 39th game featuring rush goalie.

You can just see it now gomes going to woody your rush goalie im off up the pitch to score haha

[choda]

Totally agree and was gob smacked that Harry didn't opt for Huddlestone..the game was crying out for him. I would of gone for Bale as well, taking lennon (who was struggling with a groin injury) and Jenas off. Could of dropped Hudd in the middle with Wislon and moved Modric out to the right and put Bale on the left.Or Taarabt on the right for Lennon and the Hudd for Jenas. If Harry had believed a bit more we would of won of by a couple I think.

I think this is the problem as well and I think the players sense it. Its all well and good when the manager says we have to mentally tougher and believe in ourselves but when his own actions don't endorse those sentiments its bound to raise doubt amongst the players.

The fact is we were playing against 10 men at home with several of their big players missing - why Harry didn't go for the throat is beyond me.

I think we all thought it was crying out for taking off Jenas is some shape or form for someone with more ability, but playing good teams is also a chess match and even in the back of my mind I was also thinking, 'hey, we are dominating this match, will create chances (which we did), so why change the centre of the pitch, Jenas might be doing f*ck all, but he does fill the spaces with his mobility, unlike Hudd and better than Modric, and he's much more comfortable on the ball than Zokora, unfortunately JoH is injured.'

I'd still have made the change after an hour or so, but these thoughts were also occuring to me just with how things were going. We were the better side throughout due to dominating the middle of the field. Granted Palacious was the overwhelming reason for that.

I think Jenas is a better partner to Palacious than Zokora too, even though I actually like Zokora more (slightly). When Joh is back I'd be going with him there and modric on the left in some games or modric in the centre and Taarabt on the left in others.

The most important thing in all of this is work rate. If we work like that in all games we will be a proper side. ManU and Arsenal are proof that you don't have to have physically huge players throughout, just a team ethic of work and getting stuck in.

We can blame Harry but we created lots of chances throughout and he did make a bold change with Taara in the hole late on, and it paid off, the bottom line is we created a few golden chances and didn't take them. I'd blame Modric's poor efforts more than anyone, even though he had a good game overall, but you have to do better with shooting and putting the ball away than he did.

We need to play Taarabt more often. Match winner.

[gomessi]

I think we all thought it was crying out for taking off Jenas is some shape or form for someone with more ability, but playing good teams is also a chess match and even in the back of my mind I was also thinking, 'hey, we are dominating this match, will create chances (which we did), so why change the centre of the pitch, Jenas might be doing f*ck all, but he does fill the spaces with his mobility, unlike Hudd and better than Modric, and he's much more comfortable on the ball than Zokora, unfortunately JoH is injured.'

I'd still have made the change after an hour or so, but these thoughts were also occuring to me just with how things were going. We were the better side throughout due to dominating the middle of the field. Granted Palacious was the overwhelming reason for that.

I think Jenas is a better partner to Palacious than Zokora too, even though I actually like Zokora more (slightly). When Joh is back I'd be going with him there and modric on the left in some games or modric in the centre and Taarabt on the left in others.

The most important thing in all of this is work rate. If we work like that in all games we will be a proper side. ManU and Arsenal are proof that you don't have to have physically huge players throughout, just a team ethic of work and getting stuck in.

We can blame Harry but we created lots of chances throughout and he did make a bold change with Taara in the hole late on, and it paid off, the bottom line is we created a few golden chances and didn't take them. I'd blame Modric's poor efforts more than anyone, even though he had a good game overall, but you have to do better with shooting and putting the ball away than he did.

We need to play Taarabt more often. Match winner.

I though there ws tonnes of space down the wings so why dont we stick bale left wing and lennon right and palacios and modric in the middle.

Arsenal had a tight 3 and we had 2 players always looking to do stuff down the right but had 0 threat from the left. Modric and palacios would have given the ball to bale and lennon who would have been in acres of space.

Just need to beat hull now.