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We may have to take it on the chin...

Adam456

Well-Known Member
Jul 1, 2005
4,453
3,117
Though we could still announce something this evening, as I mentioned in the O'Hara thread, we may have to take a couple of defeats on the chin on account of the injury situation.

Though we're capable, we would have struggled to beat ManUre as usual (bearing in mind they have the ref in pocket) and would prob at best have drawn with Chelsea away. We're probably looking at losing 1-2 points there if we lose both.

Who could expect we'd have 3 of our best 4 centre backs out at one time ? Plus losing our best attacking midfielder and No1 keeper. I reckon we should stop worrying about cover and have our best go at those two with the players we have and try not to be too dissapointed.

Jenas will be back at some point so we can cover suspensions. Only issue we really have is what if Wilson is out for a while........
 

danielneeds

Kick-Ass
May 5, 2004
24,179
48,764
Dunno what you are talking about, I have seen United play twice this season, they have been relatively poor and I am fully expecting us to give them a really tough game. Kranjcar slots in nicely on the left for Luka, and fingers crossed nobody else gets injured in the internationals and Led or Woody are fit to be selected alongside Bassong.
 

Samson

Well-Known Member
May 14, 2007
1,154
304
Though we could still announce something this evening, as I mentioned in the O'Hara thread, we may have to take a couple of defeats on the chin on account of the injury situation.

Though we're capable, we would have struggled to beat ManUre as usual (bearing in mind they have the ref in pocket) and would prob at best have drawn with Chelsea away. We're probably looking at losing 1-2 points there if we lose both.

Who could expect we'd have 3 of our best 4 centre backs out at one time ? Plus losing our best attacking midfielder and No1 keeper. I reckon we should stop worrying about cover and have our best go at those two with the players we have and try not to be too dissapointed.

Jenas will be back at some point so we can cover suspensions. Only issue we really have is what if Wilson is out for a while........

Man United are going to be pretty weak. If we could get Woodgate fit for that one, it would help. The way Chelsea are playing they look frightening whoever plays. It's more important, I think, that we give two tough displays and get winning again afterwards. We have five should-win games before Arsenal: we should win them.

I agree about Palacios, but isn't the problem that we ideally want a passing holder (an Alonso/Carrick type) who can deputise when Wilson is missing. We don't just want anyone (Zokora (9 million) didn't really work for us there, to put it mildy) and a Scott Brown might cost 10 million. Mightbe bette waiting for a Sandro if he's got the quality. But it does make the O'Hara loan look very strange, I'll admit.
 

hughy

I'm SUPER cereal.
Nov 18, 2007
31,840
56,924
What we have to do is prove to people we're not dependant on one player. Modric being out will not automatically make us lose our next 6 or 7 games untill he returns...
 

danielneeds

Kick-Ass
May 5, 2004
24,179
48,764
What we have to do is prove to people we're not dependant on one player. Modric being out will not automatically make us lose our next 6 or 7 games untill he returns...

He was playing superbly, but also he was only directly involved in 1 of our 11 goals so far. Freekick for Bassong v Liverpool.
 

talkshowhost86

Mod-Moose
Staff
Oct 2, 2004
48,100
47,055
Though we could still announce something this evening, as I mentioned in the O'Hara thread, we may have to take a couple of defeats on the chin on account of the injury situation.

Though we're capable, we would have struggled to beat ManUre as usual (bearing in mind they have the ref in pocket) and would prob at best have drawn with Chelsea away. We're probably looking at losing 1-2 points there if we lose both.

Who could expect we'd have 3 of our best 4 centre backs out at one time ? Plus losing our best attacking midfielder and No1 keeper. I reckon we should stop worrying about cover and have our best go at those two with the players we have and try not to be too dissapointed.

Jenas will be back at some point so we can cover suspensions. Only issue we really have is what if Wilson is out for a while........

If we only lose 1-2 points having lost both games then I think we'll have done pretty well.

Unless you mean we'll get docked 1-2 points if we lose both in which case I'll be a little bit unhappy.
 

StartingPrice

Chief Sardonicus Hyperlip
Feb 13, 2004
32,568
10,280
If you are saying that in the event that we lose the next two league games (ManUre and Chelsea) then we have to take it on the chin - then yes, we will.

I would posit it another way: Firstly, when i saw the fixture list, namely three of the Big Four (irrespective of location of game), and two of the other three games away from the first six, then I would have been more than happy with 9 - 10 points. We have improved on that already, and can still go into the games with freedom of expression and and even a sense of optimism. Now we will discover how deep this squad is, and 'Arry will have them up for it - so even one point from the two games will be a decent return, and we will have got 3 of the 8 hardest games (on paper) out of the way. And, hey, we might actually get a pleasant surprise COYS
 

tippspur59

Well-Known Member
Aug 21, 2006
2,771
2,522
At least we will see what we are really made of in these two games,if Ledders is fit I think we will do well, and as someone else said Man United are not that great I think we could beat them at home,chelsea are flying at the moment so i wouldn't be to sure about that one,a draw would be a great result for us at there place.
 

lishiyo

Still frustrated :(
Aug 24, 2008
2,368
1
I think the Manyoo and Chelski games depend on us getting Gomes, King and hopefully Woody back, I really don't want to see Bassong and Charlie in the center for us again :pray:
 

Adam456

Well-Known Member
Jul 1, 2005
4,453
3,117
He was playing superbly, but also he was only directly involved in 1 of our 11 goals so far. Freekick for Bassong v Liverpool.

Kranjcar will slot in nicely I agree (though whether he'll be quite as effective as Modric so quickly is debatable).

I was more worried about Chalky and Bassong up against Rooney and Berbatov. If we're really lucky Woodgate will make it back but he'd surely have to be training by now to have any chance of being match fit on the 12th.

Oh and ManUre will have that chav Ferdinand back and we know how much better they look defensively when he and Vidic play

My point is that we should not be too dissapointed, indeed philosophical, if we lose

Tottenham Hotspur
7
L King
Groin Strain
no return date



L Modric
Broken Leg
25th Oct 09



Gomes
Thigh Muscle Strain
20th Sep 09



J Jenas
Calf Muscle Strain
12th Sep 09



M Dawson
Achilles Paratendinopathy
no return date



G Bale
Cartilage Knee Injury
12th Sep 09



J Woodgate
Gilmores Groin
12th Sep 09

 

RobinLeonard

Well-Known Member
May 8, 2008
1,142
45
Chelsea look good but still, if I remember correctly these are the times we've met them the last 2 seasons:

Away 07/08 2 - 0 loss
CC 07/08 2 - 1 win
Home 07/08 4 - 4 draw
Away 08/09 1 - 1 draw (8 games 2 points :p)
Home 08/09 1 - 0 win

2 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss. Chelsea should not take any 3 points for granted.
 

claw_diddy

Est.1973
Aug 30, 2005
1,529
0
Good time to play the so-called "top 4", they are still easing themselves back in and haven't established championship winning form yet.

Look at the from of Liverpool, Man Utd & Chelsea in the final third of last season, they were irresistable and fully in their stride. I would be happy with 1-3 points from the next two games, it would still keep us on track for a top 5/6 finish, would be very surprised if we came home with just a pair of bendy bully's.
 

Danners9

Available on a Free Transfer
Mar 30, 2004
13,998
20,756
No defeats, I want us to go unbeaten all season. It's disappointing we've conceded some goals, but I suppose this is real life and not Football Manager.
 

mil1lion

This is the place to be
May 7, 2004
42,333
77,592
We've had players missing in all our games so far and we still won. No reason to go into the next game not looking for a win.
 

Alfieconnman

Ticket seller for the Dome of Doom
Aug 9, 2008
1,142
151
I think we need to let go of the pessimism of previous seasons - whilst still holding on to a sense of reality. Last night on Talksport Stan Collymore stated that he thought that we had the strongest squad, in depth, in the PL and he may well be correct. We now have a winning mentality and should start looking to win every game, home and away, with some degree of confidence. We proved last season that we are able to beat the best and that was with a slightly weaker squad. Barring further crucial injuries I really do feel that we are a genuine top four team, probaly at the expense of the bin dippers.
 

Adam456

Well-Known Member
Jul 1, 2005
4,453
3,117
Agreed Alfieconman our squad is up there with the best but any of the top four would struggle without 3 of their 4 best CBs. ManUre vs Burnley for example
 

InOffMeLeftShin

Night watchman
Admin
Jan 14, 2004
15,104
9,113
Agreed Alfieconman our squad is up there with the best but any of the top four would struggle without 3 of their 4 best CBs. ManUre vs Burnley for example

Yes most sides would get pulverised without 3 or their 4 best centre backs, but then most sides don't have the depth we have. Half the teams in the Premiership would be delighted to have Bassong and Corluka as their first choice centre backs. Yes Corluka has looked poor their the last few games but previously he had looked reasonably assured, if a little slow. I hope Woodie or Ledley are back, but there have been worse defensive pairings.

Personally I think Corluka is just going through one of those patches. I remember a season or so ago people were saying Dawson was dreadful because every time he came in he looked sloppy. After a run of games though he was excellent. Corluka is a pretty good defender, can tackle and is good on the ball. He reads the game pretty well normally, but having shifted into the centre from RB his positioning has been all over the shop and he doesn't have the pace to recover.

If he plays at CB against Utd, I'm sure he will surprise a few and do well. He is still an international defender and is about as good cover as you will find anywhere in the world for 5th choice.

As for the rest of our squad, we have so many different ways to hurt opposition when we are attacking: Defoe, Keane, Pavlyuchenko, Crouch, Modric, Lennon, Kranjcar, Bentley, Dos Santos etc. that we will hopefully be able to still score goals whatever the situation with injuries and that should hopefully help us through some of the more difficult patches in the season (which of course their will be).

We don't have much to lose in the two upcoming games, but I would imagine we are going in full of confidence.
 

RobinLeonard

Well-Known Member
May 8, 2008
1,142
45
Yes most sides would get pulverised without 3 or their 4 best centre backs, but then most sides don't have the depth we have. Half the teams in the Premiership would be delighted to have Bassong and Corluka as their first choice centre backs. Yes Corluka has looked poor their the last few games but previously he had looked reasonably assured, if a little slow. I hope Woodie or Ledley are back, but there have been worse defensive pairings.

Any team with Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate as their first choice central pairing needs very good back up though :razz:. And with Dawson's ruthless, in regard to his own health, way of playing football we really needed a solid back up.
 

InOffMeLeftShin

Night watchman
Admin
Jan 14, 2004
15,104
9,113
Any team with Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate as their first choice central pairing needs very good back up though :razz:. And with Dawson's ruthless, in regard to his own health, way of playing football we really needed a solid back up.

True, but Woodgate hasn't missed that many for us. He has some groin problem right now, but I don't know if that will mean he becomes injury prone again. King is a special situation, he'll be back to his every weekend routine soon enough too.

I'm happy enough with Corluka and Bassong as the backup. Especially when I think that we were relatively close to signing Anton Ferdinand yesterday. Eek
 

kon-spur

Member
Jun 10, 2009
46
0
I think we need to let go of the pessimism of previous seasons - whilst still holding on to a sense of reality. Last night on Talksport Stan Collymore stated that he thought that we had the strongest squad, in depth, in the PL and he may well be correct. We now have a winning mentality and should start looking to win every game, home and away, with some degree of confidence. We proved last season that we are able to beat the best and that was with a slightly weaker squad. Barring further crucial injuries I really do feel that we are a genuine top four team, probaly at the expense of the bin dippers.

That's exactly the mentality we should all have. There is no reason why we can't continue the way we started this year and finished last year. we have a good balanced squad who's joint top even without 3 first teamers(woody, gomes and poss jenas)...
 
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