The green shoots of 'The Project' were seen for the first time today!!!
What a reception for Tevez!!!! When Ade put a ball through the defence for Tevez to chase when he first came on, the left-back left him for pace although Tevez was favourite for the ball. Having said that he made a nuisance of himself and we gained a corner.
Tevez was absolutely superb!!! I'm not jumping on any kind of band-waggon, but I carefully watched the measure of his passing and his vision and he has something no-one else in our current squad showed today.
Adebayor was off the pace. Some nice touches at times, but if I hadn't seen him play for Arsenal, I wouldn't have guessed he cost £25m.
Toure was superb and we definitely lost something when he went off.
I can't believe I'm going to type this, but TBH was actually good today!!! His passing was good and his confidence seems to have risen somewhat because he was fully committed in the challenge and trying to boss and organise the defence and rarely put a foot wrong. This was the closest I've seen him to his Bolton form since he was at Bolton!!!
Dunne has to go!!! It was heart in the mounth stuff everytime he came near the ball, and his lack of positional awareness for the Killen goal was typical Dunne!! What effect must this be having on our squad considering he's supposed to be the captain and therefore lead by example!!!
Barry was outstanding! A few stray passes here and there, but he controllled the middle of the park in the 2nd half.
De Jong is finally starting to show some form and this is the 1st match that I've seen him organising the midfield and defence around him. He actually went looking for the ball and was controlling the tempo of the match and was setting up our early attacking patterns by making some well-timed, but crunching tackles and distributing the ball well. With the formation that we're likely to play this season, De Jong playing like this is going to be crucial for us.
Zab was great coming forward, but he still worries me at the back. On numerous occasions we were left with no-one at right-back whilst he jogged back from an attack and he was beaten for pace whilst defending too often for my liking.
Robinho was his usual enigmatic self.... Brilliant one minute, frustrating the next!! A lot of his step overs amounted to nothing and when he loses the ball, why doesn't he attempt to win it back instead of constantly throwing his hands up and pleading with the ref?
Weiss is a star in the making!! He's only small but he certainly knows how to keep the ball and make his dazzling footwork produce dividends. He needs to get his crossing sorted out though, but the same could be said for a lot of others as that was one part of our performance that needs work.
Bridge was solid at the back and creative going forward, he's starting to show his best form at the right time. It was a relief to see this seeing as I can't see an adequate replacement for him from our current squad!!!
SWP played well, his display was nothing special but he did the simple things well.
Ireland has become a more complete midfielder. He was all over the place creating attacks and defending our area. A few stray passes here and there, but as the season draws nearer, he seem to be getting sharper when it matters.
Bellamy was better when Ade came on. He looked a bit isolated in the 1st half, might be something to do with the fact that we had a midget attack to start with!!!
Petrov is also getting up to speed. I can sense the desperation in him not to be overlooked in our revolution which can only benefit the team.
It was good not to see Benjani, Garrido or Etuhu today. If we can lump Dunne in with them and make a decision on TBH's future based on his last 2 performances, I reckon we will finally be on the right track. We still need Left-back cover for Bridge, a right-back, Defensive Midfielder and creative cover for Ireland in my opinion, but Rome wasn't built in a day and we wont be built in 1 transfer window.
Overall it was a promising performance, but no way a top 4 performance. Our defence will collapse under sustained pressure form good Premiership teams. It doesn't look like Lescott will happen so Hughes need to put plan C in action and I wouldn't mind there being a plan D too!! The defence will be our undoing this season unless it is sorted.
Top 4 attack, Top 4 midfield and Bottom 4 defence = Mid-table finish!!!!
We need Lescott!!! In a meeting tonight, Bill Kenwright has told a top MCFC official that they will under no circumstances sell Lescott to a rival for a Top 4 place, so apparently we're having to 'review our options'!!! Tonight, David Moyes has been installed as favourite to succeed Fergie when he retires, lets' see how long his loyalty to Everton lasts when the 'Evil Empire' come calling!!!!
Over to you Joleon!!!!
