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I think Harry got it wrong to start Pav and Bentley.
Pav couldn't control the ball, has no pace and can't hold it up. Reminded me of a certain Sunderland player again. Good goalscorer but not effective from the off away from home especially. Crouch had been playing well and does a job, I thought before the game he should have started with Eidur and still do.
Bentley was woeful, although not all his fault. His lack of pace is a problem defensively and offensively, on the cover someone plays knock and run and he's out of the game, going forward he can't drive at the opposition. In those cases he needed to use Walker more and didn't give the young lad enough of the ball. Disappointing. Don't see why Kranjcar didn't play, offers a threat running with the ball and also works hard going backwards.
But then again, if you concede within 40 seconds, it does make it more difficult. I'm bored of asking people if they still like Ekotto. He's always been overrated IMO but these days defensively he's as bad as he's ever been. 10 seconds in he gets caught the wrong side, leading to a miskick for the corner. Awful.
Bent is a strange one. Some sort of inferiority complex? Did anyone except Batesey really hate him before yesterday? Now we all do after that celebration. Well done Darren . 'You'll never play for England.'
Rest of the first half we were outbattled and outplayed. Bruce got Campbell running at us, (and he showed pace Ramos never utilised...) and with Palacios not wanting to crash into a tackle with the up and coming games, Modric unable to put his foot on the ball, and Bale in, to be honest, the wrong position again due to our injuries, we could barely string five passes together. Long balls to the left for Bale to head on from every goal kick, free kick by Kaboul was also disappointing.
Last 5 minutes we put two good balls in (and I guess that's what Bentley can do, and Eidur looked unlucky not to get one back. And thank f*** Gomes is a more confident, assured keeper. Completely did Bent with a little shimmy as he ran up, brilliant save.
Second half was a different story. We needed some pace in behind and Defoe got in twice quickly, the first not an assured finish, saved, the second a top effort from an angle, just wide. Gordon didn't move, but that may have been as he knows his angles.
As we'd gone 433, leaving Palacios to do a lot, and our fullbacks bombed on (Bale was again much better when his runs started from deeper), although our passing and moving actually began to resemble that of a decent football side, we were incredibly open. Walker did ok with a gung-ho Kranky in front of him, he has pace to burn, is comfy on the ball, and can run all day. Made tackles, committed players going forward. Does Corluka come back in? Bale had literally no help on that side and whenever we lost the ball we looked like conceding.
But the goal did come after Crouch came on, and as it was after yet another great save from Gomes from the spot, there was some belief we could come back. Modric and Bale had already forced saves from Gordon and we were a much improved side going forward.
Sunderland did well though, using the spaces we had been forced to leave, and I'm not sure why Ferdinand's goal was disallowed. As an aside, their corners were fantastic, and we looked in trouble at every one. That was worrying.
The third looked sensational (less so on TV) and it was game over. Mixed feelings about Gomes' performance, but he stopped Bent hitting a hatrick - twice, so well done. Walker looked promising and could be a real player when we are able to help him when we defend as a team again like we normally do/can. Bale is much better from left back, Kaboul looks a composed defender. Bassong wasn't at the races IMO and Ekotto can do one. I wonder at which point he knew which team he was playing...
Bentley is limited in certain games, it all looks lovely when we're winning but his unnecessary footwork becomes annoying when you're losing. Modric was subdued but used the ball better 2nd half - overall I'm afraid he can't play CM for long periods of seasons, yesterday finished that debate. Palacios looked like he knew what a yellow card would mean, and Krancjar was slightly disappointing but has quality in the final third, a nice assist.
Pav isn't great, good goalscorer but doesn't offer a lot for large portions and loses the ball too easily. Crouch scored but I thought we went long a couple of times when there was space to move the ball wide like we had been. I guess that is the curse of Crouchy, but he got us back into it so I can't complain too much. Some players need to be a little more intelligent when he's on the pitch still, we were getting joy with Bale so why lump it to Crouch every time when we can work the ball wide? Finally, Defoe didn't look 100% fit... and still could have scored.
All in all a very disappointing start obviously, a very poor 1st half overall and that's where the game was lost. Enough chances to make it 2-2, although Sunderland did well tactically (Jones coming on helped them too) and played football in the right areas against an open side. They killed the game and got a cracker to finish it. A difficult team selection for the manager with all the injureis, but we can, (if we see fit, as I have), criticise Harry on the RM and CF selections, as there were other options there. Let's hope we get a few players back though.
Never expected 4th, hoping for a good result to keep us in it and kill off the Goons' title hopes though. It will be difficult. COYS. Comment on this Article HERE. You can register for the forum HERE and the whole thing takes less than a minute.
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