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Original Dub wrote:Kolarov is doing a great job of getting his amazing crosses in and this is a game that we aren't struggling defensively in on our left, so we're not missing clichy imo.

What we're missing is a poacher.

I honestly believe this is the first game where dzeko would have scored at least two.

When kolarov is playing like this, dezko is always at the end of those crosses.

I don't know of any other player who can cross the ball so accurately with so much pace, so consistently as Kolarov.
Completely takes the defenders out of the equation every time.

With Lampard in there too..

Decent game today, again. maybe the best of a poor bunch.

but can he please just stop crossing with his right foot? does my head in when I see him crossing with his right foot. as that is even more pointless than our corners at the moment. it's just a slow hoofed ball to oppo keeper every single time.

Moonchesteri wrote:Decent game today, again. maybe the best of a poor bunch.

but can he please just stop crossing with his right foot? does my head in when I see him crossing with his right foot. as that is even more pointless than our corners at the moment. it's just a slow hoofed ball to oppo keeper every single time.

He needs to get better at picking his cross, as he's very unlikely to stop doing it given that he's right footed

fantastic again today. MOTM for me.

if he could only be a little more consistent that would be great.

Navas man of match for me today , he ran his socks off (up and down) his assists/final ball are the only thing missing from his game , I hope bony will prove the perfect foil for his efforts.
Clichy is a crucial member of our squad ,especially when up against pace . But given our set piece failings and lack of home grown players I really think we should go for baines in the summer.

chef wrote:But given our set piece failings and lack of home grown players I really think we should go for baines in the summer.

Clichy is homegrown and Baines will be closer to 31 in the Summer. Hardly a solution I think.

chef wrote:Navas man of match for me today , he ran his socks off (up and down) his assists/final ball are the only thing missing from his game , I hope bony will prove the perfect foil for his efforts.
Clichy is a crucial member of our squad ,especially when up against pace . But given our set piece failings and lack of home grown players I really think we should go for baines in the summer.

I'm not sure you can par it off as the 'only thing missing' from his game. That's his job. It's like saying being able to defend is the only thing missing from Nastasic/Lescott/Mangala/Kompany (pick which one you dislike the most!) game. That's their job.

Navas does work his socks off but the majority of the time his delivery is dreadful.

Where I agree with you there, his delivery was great when he first came with two strikers in the box, namely Negredo. As an ex winger myself, he must now look up an think, fuck, there's nobody in the box or busting a gut to get to either the near post or the back post. Fingers crossed Bony becomes a solution for him & us.

Defensively he's great, Zabs must love the cover he gets, unlike Clichy unless James is playing left wing.

Bluedj wrote:Where I agree with you there, his delivery was great when he first came with two strikers in the box, namely Negredo. As an ex winger myself, he must now look up an think, fuck, there's nobody in the box or busting a gut to get to either the near post or the back post. Fingers crossed Bony becomes a solution for him & us.

Defensively he's great, Zabs must love the cover he gets, unlike Clichy unless James is playing left wing.

He's good when running at pace and hitting it first time into the box. But when he gets the ball from a jogging or stationary position he takes so long to get the ball out his feet and allows the defenders to crowd him out. He doesn't seem to be able to make half a yard and swing the ball in.
Admittedly sometimes he has no one to aim at but plenty of times he does and usually hits the first man.
Good, solid squad player but lacks the quality we need in the final third to be a regular starter.

Hazard's cross yesterday would have hit the first man if there had been a first man & if their strikers had been stood in the middle of the box or outside it, like ours usually do, it would have sailed past without a problem.

Navas usually produces 1 or 2 goalscoring crosses per game. When the rags were attheir best & were the best around at crossing, they would try for 90 mins to get 1 ball into the 6 yard box. When it got there, they would tap it into the empty net. They would also try to get in front of the defender at the near post (Solskjaer got half his goals from there) & either score or flick the ball at the keeper & get the rebound. We do neither.

If Navas had played for the rags, he would be an assist machine, irrespective of how many crosses aren't perfect. Having a cf will also possibly give him the option of aerial crosses, which are also a waste of time trying in most cases at the moment.

Clichy btw has produced some of the best crosses this season.

Teds right. Thing I always noticed about rags in thier prime is that the runs into the box were with a purpose. Red nose drilled it into them to expect the ball to hit them every time. In comparison we generally drop off for the cut back every time. It's good when it works but it makes a lot of Navas balls look poor.

what's he done to warrant being dropped for the last 3 (or is it 4 now)?
he was in form and kept Kolarov out for a number of matches and then now Clichy is on the bench. at first i thought it was rotation/rest/injury but Kolarov has started a few in a row now and i don't think Clchy is injured...

phips wrote:what's he done to warrant being dropped for the last 3 (or is it 4 now)?
he was in form and kept Kolarov out for a number of matches and then now Clichy is on the bench. at first i thought it was rotation/rest/injury but Kolarov has started a few in a row now and i don't think Clchy is injured...

Got himself needlessly sent off against Barca just when it looked like we could get something from the game.

Foreverinbluedreams wrote:

phips wrote:what's he done to warrant being dropped for the last 3 (or is it 4 now)?
he was in form and kept Kolarov out for a number of matches and then now Clichy is on the bench. at first i thought it was rotation/rest/injury but Kolarov has started a few in a row now and i don't think Clchy is injured...

Got himself needlessly sent off against Barca just when it looked like we could get something from the game.

ah yes, that's right (totally forgot he played that match). 2 soft ass yellows. but then you'd think he'd play Clichy in the league and rest/protect Kolarov so we at least have 1 left back for the Barca 2nd leg.


but if we're going off Barca performances then Nasri and Kompany shouldn't be in the squad for awhile. maybe they won't be.