- This topic has 5 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 13 years, 5 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Having seen the second half today on a dodgy stream (my Iraqi’s not the best but they thought Gary Caldwell was playing and got Figoera mixed up with Stam), I’m allowing myself grounds for cautious optimism. We all know the negatives (one up front is never going to work with lightweights like Di Santo and Boselli; inexperienced coaching staff; players out of position) but here are the positives. Feel free to add any more; let’s pretend the glass is half full for one night only.
1. Al Habsi: inspires far more confidence in our back four than Kirkland.
2. Alcaraz. Looks assured despite playing alongside a different centre half every week. His runs into midfield can really open things up.
3. Thomas and Diame: we’re finally seeing flashes of what these two are capable of. Good runs from Diame, tough tackling from Thomas.
4. The subs’ bench. Always got a few options there. Not full of wasters like Koumas.
5. General team spirit: they get stuck in; they genuinely look like they care. We don’t fold like we did last season.
6. The percentage game. We generally have more possession and pass more accurately than our opposition. And Watson’s as good a free kick/corner taker as we’ve had in recent years.
7. N’Zogbia. He’s brilliant. And, really, after his antics in the summer, I was expecting a reluctant, sulky half-season from him.
I’m not saying we’ll stay up. I still think that Martinez is out of his depth, and Whelan’s taking a big risk trying to survive at this level with kids (this system would be fine with Bramble, Cattermole and Heskey in the mix), But I’m marginally happier than I was on Tuesday night. What d’us reckon?
I hope we get Koumas back in January so he can replace Ben Watson and James McCarthy in the team when needed.
He doesn’t even start for Cardiff either :!:
The main positive from me would be that we came from behind twice to get something from the game. Been a while since that has happened.
Having seen the second half today on a dodgy stream (my Iraqi’s not the best but they thought Gary Caldwell was playing and got Figoera mixed up with Stam), I’m allowing myself grounds for cautious optimism. We all know the negatives (one up front is never going to work with lightweights like Di Santo and Boselli; inexperienced coaching staff; players out of position) but here are the positives. Feel free to add any more; let’s pretend the glass is half full for one night only.1. Al Habsi: inspires far more confidence in our back four than Kirkland.
2. Alcaraz. Looks assured despite playing alongside a different centre half every week. His runs into midfield can really open things up.
3. Thomas and Diame: we’re finally seeing flashes of what these two are capable of. Good runs from Diame, tough tackling from Thomas.
4. The subs’ bench. Always got a few options there. Not full of wasters like Koumas.
5. General team spirit: they get stuck in; they genuinely look like they care. We don’t fold like we did last season.
6. The percentage game. We generally have more possession and pass more accurately than our opposition. And Watson’s as good a free kick/corner taker as we’ve had in recent years.
7. N’Zogbia. He’s brilliant. And, really, after his antics in the summer, I was expecting a reluctant, sulky half-season from him.
I’m not saying we’ll stay up. I still think that Martinez is out of his depth, and Whelan’s taking a big risk trying to survive at this level with kids (this system would be fine with Bramble, Cattermole and Heskey in the mix), But I’m marginally happier than I was on Tuesday night. What d’us reckon?
And yet after all those Martinez esq positives we are still in the bottom 3 and going down
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
