leffe186

One of Hudd's problems shown up there.He's rubbish in the air for such a big guy so jumps amateurishly into his man and gives away a silly free kick. Plus, he can be ponderous. Improve those two things and he'd be seriously good.

Weirdly, Jo looked more effective in pre-season. Think he'd have started if they were at home.

Yeah, like everyone says, a proper centre-forward would have made this more interesting. Would probably have left City exposed at the back though, with one less defensive midfielder.

I can't stand this. Convinced they're going to grab one.

Silva could be a brilliant buy. Looks really clever.

That's mainly due to poor Full Backs though. I think I'd be comfortable asking my Full Back to show him down the channel, possibly even risk asking him to attack so Lennon is on the backfoot - though could be risky. I don't think he mixes it up enough to really test a Full Back, if he could really sort his crosses out and have some deep ones now and again he'd be harder to defend as you wouldn't know if you should go tight (stop early deep crosses) or drop off to stop him making his runs. At the moment you pretty much know he's going to run at you and cross from the byline, occasionally he'll cut inside, but he'll run at you. That's right, and he's not super-tricky, but with his pace all he needs is a sniff and he's away. That's why he'll keep players nervous, and with Modric and the Hudd so good at passing the full-back and covering RM/CB can't lose concentration for a second. He's great in a team that uses pace and clever passing - and a clever RB - which is why he hasn't really worked for England yet. But a good FB will pick his game up after 10 minutes and know that he'll just run at him, drop off a little wait for that run, track it, show him down the wing and try to block the cross. Take Bale as an example of the opposite type of winger, in the same game, he's running at his full back, going down the channel then he mixes it up with cutting inside, pulling the FB in (leaving the overlap open). On top of that he'll look up now and again and put in a deep swinging cross to the back post. Richards (who admittedly isn't the best) is having a nightmare trying to mark him, as he can't tell if Bale will sit deep and cross, or run at him. But when Kolarov did that, Lennon accelerated so fast he couldn't get the block in. I think that lead to the first save from Defoe. At the beginning of last season, Lennon was cutting in at times and as a result scored a couple of vital goals. I think that's the reason why we got so excited. He hasn't really got back up to speed after missing most of the season so hopefully that will develop. Good call, only thing I could say towards that is he's a new player to the league and won't be familiar with other player's abilities yet. However, it was one of the first one on ones they had, and I can't remember it happening again, which suggests Kolarov got his anticipiation/positioning sorted on Lennon pretty quickly. I think more that he dropped off and the midfielder doubled-up on him, which gave Bale more space for the rest of the half - and you saw how that worked out. The first time Lennon got the ball in the second half he had three men on him. I think Kolarov did well given that this was his first game in the Prem but Lennon took a lot out of him and that's why he's off.

Ability? His technique, passing, vision is all pretty damn good. Consistency. For every class moment he'll have they'll be 20 s*** ones. Lennon has improved ten-fold. He's my idea of a perfect winger. And yeah, you're right about Huddlestone. If he could sort that out he'd be insane. If I make it as a coach, I'll have to remember not to ask you to become my scout if I need a winger! I don't know, he could be good, but I just can't see it. Perhaps its my dislike of Spurs in general (which has no basis at all other than they're over rated). You think we're over-rated after that first half? You're a tough man to please! Since Redknapp took over, though I think thats more to do with Redknapp, people have been talking as if Spurs have been contenders since the Premier League have started, with a bit of a blip under Ramos! 1st half has been decent, but if you were really a good team you'd have put one of those chances away, despite how good Joe Hart had been. I think City's disorganised s**** has flattered you too. They can't hold onto the ball, which means they can't get settled, which means the defence hasn't had a chance to regroup, so its on a cycle at the moment. I get what you're saying, but the reason they can't hold onto the ball is because we're constantly harrying them, and when we get the ball we have plenty of options. I don't think we've been flattered at all because we've played really well and I don't think City have been particularly bad. We're the reason they can't get settled. The only chance we "should" have put away was probably the Defoe one over the top, on every other one the Spurs guy did pretty much exactly what he should have done. Its not 100% Tottenham's pressure that's contributing to City's really poor 1st half. They have very little movement, which means its harder to find a free man, so players are getting caught on the ball. When they do get space (such as SWP) poor player performance has let them down. I'm not saying Spurs are playing poorly, just not fantastically, and I think its more to do with City playing really badly. City will come out and try to pass the ball for 10 minutes, just set a tempo and try to actually get into the game. Yeah, the game will surely slow down a little soon. That's when their extra midfielder might make a difference.

That's mainly due to poor Full Backs though. I think I'd be comfortable asking my Full Back to show him down the channel, possibly even risk asking him to attack so Lennon is on the backfoot - though could be risky. I don't think he mixes it up enough to really test a Full Back, if he could really sort his crosses out and have some deep ones now and again he'd be harder to defend as you wouldn't know if you should go tight (stop early deep crosses) or drop off to stop him making his runs. At the moment you pretty much know he's going to run at you and cross from the byline, occasionally he'll cut inside, but he'll run at you. That's right, and he's not super-tricky, but with his pace all he needs is a sniff and he's away. That's why he'll keep players nervous, and with Modric and the Hudd so good at passing the full-back and covering RM/CB can't lose concentration for a second. He's great in a team that uses pace and clever passing - and a clever RB - which is why he hasn't really worked for England yet. But a good FB will pick his game up after 10 minutes and know that he'll just run at him, drop off a little wait for that run, track it, show him down the wing and try to block the cross. Take Bale as an example of the opposite type of winger, in the same game, he's running at his full back, going down the channel then he mixes it up with cutting inside, pulling the FB in (leaving the overlap open). On top of that he'll look up now and again and put in a deep swinging cross to the back post. Richards (who admittedly isn't the best) is having a nightmare trying to mark him, as he can't tell if Bale will sit deep and cross, or run at him. But when Kolarov did that, Lennon accelerated so fast he couldn't get the block in. I think that lead to the first save from Defoe. At the beginning of last season, Lennon was cutting in at times and as a result scored a couple of vital goals. I think that's the reason why we got so excited. He hasn't really got back up to speed after missing most of the season so hopefully that will develop.

Ability? His technique, passing, vision is all pretty damn good. Consistency. For every class moment he'll have they'll be 20 s*** ones. Lennon has improved ten-fold. He's my idea of a perfect winger. And yeah, you're right about Huddlestone. If he could sort that out he'd be insane. If I make it as a coach, I'll have to remember not to ask you to become my scout if I need a winger! I don't know, he could be good, but I just can't see it. Perhaps its my dislike of Spurs in general (which has no basis at all other than they're over rated). You think we're over-rated after that first half? You're a tough man to please! Since Redknapp took over, though I think thats more to do with Redknapp, people have been talking as if Spurs have been contenders since the Premier League have started, with a bit of a blip under Ramos! 1st half has been decent, but if you were really a good team you'd have put one of those chances away, despite how good Joe Hart had been. I think City's disorganised s**** has flattered you too. They can't hold onto the ball, which means they can't get settled, which means the defence hasn't had a chance to regroup, so its on a cycle at the moment. I get what you're saying, but the reason they can't hold onto the ball is because we're constantly harrying them, and when we get the ball we have plenty of options. I don't think we've been flattered at all because we've played really well and I don't think City have been particularly bad. We're the reason they can't get settled. The only chance we "should" have put away was probably the Defoe one over the top, on every other one the Spurs guy did pretty much exactly what he should have done.

That's mainly due to poor Full Backs though. I think I'd be comfortable asking my Full Back to show him down the channel, possibly even risk asking him to attack so Lennon is on the backfoot - though could be risky. I don't think he mixes it up enough to really test a Full Back, if he could really sort his crosses out and have some deep ones now and again he'd be harder to defend as you wouldn't know if you should go tight (stop early deep crosses) or drop off to stop him making his runs. At the moment you pretty much know he's going to run at you and cross from the byline, occasionally he'll cut inside, but he'll run at you. That's right, and he's not super-tricky, but with his pace all he needs is a sniff and he's away. That's why he'll keep players nervous, and with Modric and the Hudd so good at passing the full-back and covering RM/CB can't lose concentration for a second. He's great in a team that uses pace and clever passing - and a clever RB - which is why he hasn't really worked for England yet.

Ability? His technique, passing, vision is all pretty damn good. Consistency. For every class moment he'll have they'll be 20 s*** ones. Lennon has improved ten-fold. He's my idea of a perfect winger. And yeah, you're right about Huddlestone. If he could sort that out he'd be insane. If I make it as a coach, I'll have to remember not to ask you to become my scout if I need a winger! I don't know, he could be good, but I just can't see it. Perhaps its my dislike of Spurs in general (which has no basis at all other than they're over rated). You think we're over-rated after that first half? You're a tough man to please!

Main improvement for Lennon has been his tracking back, really, though his crossing and decision-making HAVE improved (honestly). Teams generally have to double-up on him, which leaves the RB exposed to Bale. I'm happy with that.

Tevez is a monster. Can't believe Man U didn't get their chequebook out.

Don't think Man City have defended THAT badly, we've just been able to attack down both wings and they can't put two players on BOTH Lennon and Bale. Many of the chances have come from Crouch putting himself about, and Toure has already shown he can't cope with that. Really really open game though. I'm shitting it, given that we could plausibly have scored six and it's nil nil.

I feel sick of mine.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Shitsticks.

Tevez showing how a clever centre-forward drops off.

Yet we still almost score. Bloody bloody bloody bloody

Bastaaaaaaaaaad!!!

Why don't we just bloody score. Making me nervous.

I think we're definitely in the mix for 4th. Don't think you're as good as those six. I just hope we beat City in the first game. If they get going early I think they'll be pretty damn good. Liverpool will only have a good season if everyone stays fit. It's going to be an almighty pile-up. What do you envisage your starting lineup being tomorrow? Watched City's first choice 11 against Valencia. Not sure your defence will be up to it if King and/or Woodgate are missing. Sorry, been away. I reckon Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, King, Bale, Lennon, Hudd, Palacios, Modric, Crouch, Keane. Some question marks over Defoe, Bale and Corluka (injury). Our midweek game is on Young Boys' astroturf so expect Bassong to start that one.

Mid - 17th, but you're right. He's clearly a bit paranoid about the media having something against his club. I do think that the general (media) feeling is that you'll get mid-table though.

I think we're definitely in the mix for 4th. Don't think you're as good as those six. I just hope we beat City in the first game. If they get going early I think they'll be pretty damn good. Liverpool will only have a good season if everyone stays fit. It's going to be an almighty pile-up.

Well it sounds like quite a few have said Newcastle will stay up... Someone needs to pull all the predictions together. I would say that most of the predictions I've read have you staying up - as does the poll in this thread.