yellow jumper

yep, was impresssed with his control in there. next big away game will be interesting. credit to zenden too.

bellamy may be struggling because he doesn't get the same spaces to run into as he might have done at his previous clubs. without playing very deep and looking to counter attack i'm not sure we're playing to his exact strengths, although his movement and finishing can surely improve on what he's shown so far. not particularily enamoured with any of the johnson/bent/defoe alternatives. i think we need to look at a better class of strike partner for kuyt if at all possible. for me, pace, power or finishing ability are nothing without an equal measure of touch, awareness and clever movement. they need to be able to threaten in front of a defence as well as behind it, and i'm not sure any of those names do. re: billy clarke. steve froggatt was comparing him to kenny (in style rather than ability, i'd imagine) during 5lives' commentary of the east anglian derby. think we have that player already in kuyt, though.

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one brilliant bit of skill early on. great run and touch for his chance in the first half (pity about the finish). other than that he was poor, but i think he's still carrying a knock.

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his best game of the season last night, i thought. that last ditch tackle was out of the djimi text book. riise on the otherhand was woeful. babbel shone briefly, but more brightly, for me. loved rob jones too.

most "critique(s) of the team's performances" just involve slagging off one player or another, anyway.

of course he's playing for his place. there's a difference between that (a managerial decision) and however many thousands fans getting on his back because he hasn't been playing to his previous world-beating level.

yes. i don't expect miracles from them, i think they deserve a break if things aren't going right. i'd like to see gerrard lighten-up a little, but as far as what he does with a ball is concerned i think it's a bit of a stretch to start laying into him every time he misplaces a pass or doesn't sprint fifty yards to make a tackle.

in terms of what they do on the pitch i'd agree. they've been outstanding for eighteen months, slight slumps in form are understandable and should be more easily forgiven.

gerrard had a decent game.

couldn't give a feck what he calls 'benitez'. could give a feck that he's said on record that the manager's said he'll play him in the middle.

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perrin rotates more than rafa, so le tallec's been in and out of the team. hasn't pulled up any trees as yet.

we go into games looking to control the game. that's what benitez has emphasised from day one. fail to see how that is negative though. we haven't got the personnel to think about going to tough away venues to blow teams away. who does that anyway? really, it's an issue of players - belief and ability in some areas - rather than a problem with tactics. we've looked more expansive this season than at any other time last year away from home, we're just conceding easier. if anything benitez should have taken a more cautious approach yesterday, by shoring up the middle of the park as west ham did so successfully against arsenal last week.

don't believe he's employing negative tactics at all, a 4-4-2 with your right mid given license to roam and a genuine left winger on the other side is hardly conservative. i think arsenal fans would say that we the first club to turn up at the emirates and actually try to play them at football. facts are we basically fold once we concede, and since we're not defending well enough there's obviously a major problem. the manner in which the players have capitulated in our recent away defeats is more disappointing than any quibbles that can be aimed at rafa's team selection, or tactics.

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if he perseveres with gerrard at right mid, i think there's a case for that type of player.

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he's struggled in the prem so far. he doesn't look to have the confidence to take on his man. but he's quick-footed enough and his crossings good enough (or it was whenever i saw him for birmingham) that he should just be able to find a yard and whip it in. agree that he's chipping in too many balls at the moment. strange that he's been moved out onto the left a couple of times, recently, too.

firstly, i agree, it'll be hard to find anyone as rounded as finnan; backwards and forwards. at the weekend, though, i thought spurs showed how you can get at chelsea if you attack their fullbacks. at stamford bridge, particularly after ballack went off, i didn't think finnan and pennant did enough. i think there were one or two decent crosses from finnan in the last ten, and a shot on his left foot before that, but really we could have grabbed something with a bit more intent from those two. pennant was poor in that latter period, but too often he was isolated. on a side note, i don't know if pennant's been told to come in-field to create space for his fullback, but that's what he seems to be doing a lot of the time, often frustratingly. it's also noticeable now how far riise gets forward at home. against bordeaux he was playing ahead of garcia at times. if you're playing gerrard in an inside-right position, a more natural overlapping option wouldn't be a bad thing.

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he's probably just pissed off that ledley king's twice the player he'll ever be.