6 free headers in the middle of our box

[Sevens]

In his final season King played 23 times, and up until the training ground injury that finished his career, he played very well. I still maintain that but for that injury we would have finished third.

That's where we disagree. Even before the injury I don't think he was playing at his old level. The defence was ridiculously protected that season by an excellent midfield that shielded them well defensively but kept the ball so well that the defence rarely came under sustained pressure (which is usually the leading cause of mistakes eventually occurring).

I think there are a lot of reasons we failed to finish 3rd, including the fact our team wasn't as good as the three above us. But for me the main factor was Lennon getting injured. Not so much because he was brilliant but because we had no natural replacement. So Redknapp then changed the entire system and moved players around to compensate. I have wondered whether he did this to try and prove to FA bosses he could be tactically flexible. Regardless of why he did it, it was a mistake and our momentum fell away with our balance and we created far less chances. And it was also around that time Adebayor's shooting boots dried up and he missed a fair few sitters.

 

[mattdefoe]

Jan just isn't that super...