что же, спрашивается, Вы говорите о Вас сумасшедший человек?
I don’t understand a word of it either. What I do know is that whilst ‘The Emperor’ looked sharp tonight in a hold-up role. However he had plenty of chances to place his name on the scoresheet that went wanting. It’s a bit of a shame really, as the game itself was one of the best examples of a completely end to end football match that you’ll see this season. He had his chances but failed to really make an impact in the way that he would have wanted. For the most part I would give him another run out against Arsenal if possible in the last thirty minutes or so. If there is anything to endear yourself to the yid army it would be scoring the winning goal against the gooners in their back yard, (which of course happens to be ours aswell).
As for the returning kings; it’s safe to say that both Bale and especially Bentley have shown a few things to Harry that will keep him thinking. Bentley offered something different on the right in comparison to Lennon; namely a wide midfielder with a spot on delivery, a more mixed style of distribution and a defensive foil. Everything that was expected of him upon his arrival at the club. It’s fair to say that the lad is odds on to start against the scum at the weekend, and as such will strike fear into the heart of Almunia or Mannone or whoever they’re throwing in between the sticks these days.
Bale is someone I have always touted as an option for the left wing especially. This is mainly due to his defensive hesitance as an out and out left-back as he can put in a shift but only really looks comfortable when he is heading forwards with the ball. Tonight he looked at ease and very much in control of things on the left flank. Definitely looking forward to seeing more of the resurgent talent as a specific left sided midfield option; as well as more than adequate cover at left back.
Gomes again today offered more contradictory evidence for the critics; as though he was only tested intermittently, he made a few saves at very important phases in the match that could have turned the momentum of the match against us. What is important though is that he keeps his cool a bit in relation to his distribution; which would have been more fuel for the pundit’s fire; still think that the ridiculous saves he makes would perhaps go past Cudicini; but maybe he doesn’t inspire as much confidence at times as his italian counterpart.
Our overall performance was pleasing; though we did seem to have many problems in relation to making the most of our chances that were endemic in the weekend performance against Stoke. This is certainly something that we’ll need to work on for the rest of the season, as while it’s fair enough that we’re making many chances and winning games. We really have to learn to be more clinical otherwise in matches against the more challenging teams where we find ourselves bereft of chances. This is the difference between good and great sides; the really great sides always look lethal when they have opportunities whereas it’s safe to say at this stage we’re still missing the bite on the end of our bark.
Oh yeah; we won 2-0.
Ratings -
Gomes – 7.2 – The Octopus needs to sort out his distribution; but otherwise another on song performance from the lovable brazilian.
Assou Ekotto – 6.7 – Looked solid throughout the whole match, never really offered any troubling moments. A solid custodian.
Dawson – 6.6 – Made a few vital tackles and looked good; though perhaps needs a little bit more match practice to truly get back into the swing of things.
Bassong – 6.7 – Reliable and looking to offer Woody and Harry a few sleepless nights.
Hutton – 6.6 – I like the look of Hutton going forward; and he seems to be better and better at putting in the tackles where needed; not as reliable as Corluka defensively but much more threatening going forward.
Bale – 6.7- Seemed to get involved a lot with play and increased the pace of proceedings on the left. This deftness was vastly appreciated and his interplay with the centre mids set up some of the best moves of the match. Happy to see him on a winning side.
Huddlestone – 6.6 – Looked much better than he did against Stoke where he found the physicality was a bit too much for him. Some nice passes today and too his goal well; though may need to look at the weaknesses in his games a bit more.
Palacios – 7.3 – All about the show; and didn’t put a foot wrong the whole time. (Well except from one pass but I think we can forgive him for that). Indispensible.
Bentley – 7.4 – Much improved and offered far more variety on the right hand side than we’re used to. My main gripe with out game is that we find ourselves playing quite linearly with Lennon sometimes. Bentley has now opened his box of tricks. A performance against Arsenal could offer Aaron some food for thought.
Keane – 6.2 – Often looked slightly lost in play; though did find himself with a few chances to take. Won a penalty which solidified the result for us. Perhaps needs to sort his head out still, or perhaps dare I say, is just simply on the way out.
Pavlyuchenko – 6.1 – Good link up play and found himself in the position to take a load of chances on goal. None of which came to fruition unfortunately. Whilst there was a fair amount of pressure on the lad to step up today it can be said that Keane and Crouch will be the favourites to start against Arsenal on Saturday.
