We looked jaded, tired even, too many players getting their first taste 
of a premiership christmas/new year fixture list.
Vassell works hard but there's no quality to make the effort worthwhile.
  Considering Ireland has just had a three match break he should have 
been the most energetic out there, he was a passenger, he did no more 
work than the others.
Corluka is very comfortable on the ball but he doesn't have the mobility 
of a proper midfielder so i hope Sven can bring in someone who is sort 
of a younger Hamann or an older more experienced Johnson.
Still, i'll take top of the group behind the CL places, it's going to 
take some keeping hold of mind.
I heard Sven say that Castillo won't be available for the game at 
Newcastle( which isn't on tv) because.................

  wait for it.............

there will be no one in the FA offices to process his registration on 
1st Jan because it's a bank holiday. 4Fuxake

-- 

  Elanoo!!

  Elano Indeed

Don't disagree with any of that - particularly about Vassell who is patently 
unsuited to the lone striker role. In midfield, I think Michael Johnson's 
return will help a lot - and he's still young and improving. For my money, 
we really lack a quality right winger, and I'd love to see one signed in the 
transfer window. Otherwise, the team probably needs a bit of stability to 
improve - with players like Gelson and Geovanni still lacking pitch time.

Anyway, we got a point holding off a very expensive team packed with 
ability, so it is a positive result - a point gained!

Happy New Year!

"madMental"  wrote in message 
news:fl9bte$71k$1@news.datemas.de...
> We looked jaded, tired even, too many players getting their first taste of 
> a premiership christmas/new year fixture list.

We've been looking like that since the Boro game. There have been a few 
moments since then, but Boro was our last flair performance IMO. One good 
thing about yesterday was the back 4, who were superb. We've been leaking 
sloppy goals all season, but that looks fixed now. That's a great foundation 
to build on.

> Vassell works hard but there's no quality to make the effort worthwhile.

Give the lad a break! He's up there on his own. Whenever he got the ball he 
was surrounded by 3 world-class defenders. No-one can cope with those odds 
unless they get a lucky break. Watch Vassell, his technical ability is up 
there with the best and he's rarely getting caught offside these days.

>  Considering Ireland has just had a three match break he should have been 
> the most energetic out there, he was a passenger, he did no more work than 
> the others.

There were /loads/ of times yesterday that Ireland was out on the wing, 
completely unmarked, waving for the ball. He was ignored/unnoticed and some 
great opportunities went begging. That is why he was a passenger.

> Corluka is very comfortable on the ball but he doesn't have the mobility 
> of a proper midfielder so i hope Sven can bring in someone who is sort of 
> a younger Hamann or an older more experienced Johnson.
> Still, i'll take top of the group behind the CL places, it's going to take 
> some keeping hold of mind.

> I heard Sven say that Castillo won't be available for the game at 
> Newcastle( which isn't on tv) because.................
>
>  wait for it.............
>
> there will be no one in the FA offices to process his registration on 1st 
> Jan because it's a bank holiday. 4Fuxake

But the match is 7:45pm on the 2nd? That gives the FA one whole day. You'd 
think that would be sufficient?

Registration has to be completed by 5pm the day previously for a player 
to be available to play.
Given that there's only a month for player movements is it too much to 
expect that the FA would be open for business right from the start.
-- 

  Elanoo!!

  Elano Indeed

Chas laid this down on his screen :
> "madMental"  wrote in message 
> news:fl9bte$71k$1@news.datemas.de...
>> We looked jaded, tired even, too many players getting their first taste of 
>> a premiership christmas/new year fixture list.
>
> We've been looking like that since the Boro game. There have been a few 
> moments since then, but Boro was our last flair performance IMO. One good 
> thing about yesterday was the back 4, who were superb. We've been leaking 
> sloppy goals all season, but that looks fixed now. That's a great foundation 
> to build on.
>
I agree some of the players look very tired, Petrov had a good game by 
normal standards but not by his.  The back four was stretched for the 
first 25 minutes with Kewell standing out on the wing trying to pull 
Onouha out of position.  That was fixed by asking Ireland to drop back 
level with Onouha making it a back five which was why we were so 
defensive for most of the game.

>> Vassell works hard but there's no quality to make the effort worthwhile.
>
> Give the lad a break! He's up there on his own. Whenever he got the ball he 
> was surrounded by 3 world-class defenders. No-one can cope with those odds 
> unless they get a lucky break. Watch Vassell, his technical ability is up 
> there with the best and he's rarely getting caught offside these days.
>
I agree Vassell had an excellent game and I just wish when Bianchi had 
been brought on we had held Vassell up alongside him.  Fernandes could 
have gone on the wing and at the risk of beong over-run with Bianchi 
and Vassell up front we might have pushed Liverpool back.  At 
set-pieces we had all eleven players behind the ball which meant no 
outlet.

>>  Considering Ireland has just had a three match break he should have been 
>> the most energetic out there, he was a passenger, he did no more work than 
>> the others.
>
> There were /loads/ of times yesterday that Ireland was out on the wing, 
> completely unmarked, waving for the ball. He was ignored/unnoticed and some 
> great opportunities went begging. That is why he was a passenger.
>
Agreed,  And also his defensive duties supporting Onouha meant he 
struggled to get forward quickly.  Our over-all speed from back to 
front was slow.

>> Corluka is very comfortable on the ball but he doesn't have the mobility of 
>> a proper midfielder so i hope Sven can bring in someone who is sort of a 
>> younger Hamann or an older more experienced Johnson.
>> Still, i'll take top of the group behind the CL places, it's going to take 
>> some keeping hold of mind.
>
I am sure Corluka will drop back into defence once Johnson is back fit. 
 He is good on the ball but I would still prefer a more natural 
midfielder in that position. It will be a shame for Onouha who will be 
the one giving way but he has shown what he can do.

>> I heard Sven say that Castillo won't be available for the game at 
>> Newcastle( which isn't on tv) because.................
>>
>>  wait for it.............
>>
>> there will be no one in the FA offices to process his registration on 1st 
>> Jan because it's a bank holiday. 4Fuxake
>
> But the match is 7:45pm on the 2nd? That gives the FA one whole day. You'd 
> think that would be sufficient?

This is an irrelevant point, It is the same for all teams and surely 
the club knew this before the signing.  We have signed him for a period 
of time and not just one game.  We have a squad of players available 
and we have to pick our side from that squad.  Castillo's omission from 
the squad IMO isn't a big problem.

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