Gentingthereslowly

Something needs to be sorted out between Delph and KEA. Both of them have a tendency to drop really deep which leaves the midfield empty. Having two players perform the same role in more or less the same place is like having one less player.

completely agree, one needs to push up and go with the runners when needed not just sit back

good tracking marc

Delph very neat in possession and minding the ball well

albrighton in no mans land leaving guy in behind...

good play by holman to work an angle for bent eke shot there

should be the end of bale

Albrighton needs to learn to retain possession, nearly cost us there

neither KEA or Delph are picking up anyone, so much space through the centre

3-2 win, Bent X2 and Gabby

Given is shite at penalties, never seen him stop one

agreed, hes very poor

why does albrighton always give away free kicks in dangerous positions...cant stand the guy....braindead

he makes a jump of nearly 3 divisions and people are angry that he isnt Xavi

Dont care where hes come from, its no excuse, he shouldnt be getting 45 mins if hes not ready

So how is he going to get Premier League Experience if he doesn't play? :?

we are in not a position to carry a young kid to get him premiership experience.

What choice to we have?

And where was Herd and Delph, where they injured?

Delph was but not sure about herd...if he wasn't it doesnt strenghten your arguement

Westwood was only centre midfielder on the bench.

My point was if herd wasn't injured and had simply been left out, then its even worse in my eyes that he got 45 given that delph has far more league experience, if he was injured options were slim and far between.

he makes a jump of nearly 3 divisions and people are angry that he isnt Xavi

Dont care where hes come from, its no excuse, he shouldnt be getting 45 mins if hes not ready

So how is he going to get Premier League Experience if he doesn't play? :?

we are in not a position to carry a young kid to get him premiership experience.

What choice to we have?

And where was Herd and Delph, where they injured?

Delph was but not sure about herd...if he wasn't it doesnt strenghten your arguement

he makes a jump of nearly 3 divisions and people are angry that he isnt Xavi

Dont care where hes come from, its no excuse, he shouldnt be getting 45 mins if hes not ready

So how is he going to get Premier League Experience if he doesn't play? :?

Play last 20 mins at two up, play in cup games etc not playing 45 when games are hanging in the balance

he makes a jump of nearly 3 divisions and people are angry that he isnt Xavi

Dont care where hes come from, its no excuse, he shouldnt be getting 45 mins if hes not ready

I have to agree was way off the pace today, didn't trigger the moves off or find any space for himself.

Considering we conceded four its his defensive duties I think he neglected most... amongst others

Big game Tues to get some hope back. Man City will put out a poor team probs against us and if we can get a result there then huge boost before WBA game.

That has to be the quote of the week! Man city haven't got a poor team, even if they fielded half of their reserves and only played Teves up front we would still struggel to score.

Yeah hopefully they'll play their full youth team

I know a lot of strikers who think there job is done once they score a goal, he strikes me as one of these....

saying that, got little to no service in second half... cant take too much blame today

Just had an off day I guess.

Maybe but thought he was our worst against Swansea too,

Hope he doesn't get into a habit of them

I'm sorry I dont rate this guy at the back of the diamond at all, doesn't offer enough protection to back four, constantly going missing...

a ball winner is badly needed here

lightweight, slow, wayward passing....

doesn't look good...and to think i was excited at seeing him play...

oh and tuck your shirt in Ashley

Couldn't agree more... only thing he looks to have added to the squad is reflected in the wage bill regardless of how little hes on...

a lot to learn

It was definitely an injury, no way he would of been replaced... he was the best player in the first half...

Regardless of what people think of Ireland, today showed that if lambert if to continue with this diamond formation, Ireland is an integral part of it.

-He is the link man between midfield and attack... there was simply none with him off

-he forces defenders to sit deeper to pick him up which takes a man out of their attacking options

-he makes clever runs in behind (like the one for bannans volley, holmans misplaced pass to him and the ball in from KEA he miscontrolled)

-Most importantly he harasses the opposition from a position very high up the pitch which makes it very hard for teams to settle on the ball and build from the back

-he trys passes others arn't afraid to try (nearly slipped bent through twice today, on another day these stick and its a goal.

Don't get me wrong, he wasn't excellent today, or even very good but he was the best we had out there, working hard for the team and I feel the role he plays for us, specifically in that formation is seriously under appreciated by a large percentage of the fans.

Guzan 6- Cant fault him for the goals, got little protection

Lichaj 4 - Lost the ball a lot, loads of wrong options in possession, at fault for a goal, left them in behind

Vlaar 6 - Solid first half, over ran in second half, no protection, cant fault him to much

Clark 5 - Similar to above but a bit sloppy in possession

Lowton 5 - Poor but better than Lichaj

KEA 5 - Never got involved, doesnt win the ball, didnt make midfield tick, luxury today

Holman 5- Sloppy, not his usual annoyance to opposition

Bannan 6- Good first half, battled hard, faded in second

Ireland 6.5 - Best player for me in first half, big part in goal, great work rate, some unlucky through balls.

Benteke 6 - Tried hard, nothing stuck, tired badly, poor second half

Bent 6 - Goal aside offered nothing, on borrowed time for me, no service after ireland left though

Westwood 5 - very poor, bad positioning, bad in possession, looked slow

Gabby 5 - Barely touched ball

Bennett5 - no worse than lichaj thats for sure

Lost all momentum when ireland went off, he was forcing their midfielders to sit deeper to pick him up which fragmented their play through midfield, he was harassing them when they had the ball, making good runs in behind and trying forward passes (just a little off but acceptable given building a relationship with Benteke).

Our tactics looked very unassured from the offset. Was it long ball? Was it not?

Im a fan of lambert but a lot of questionable decisions in this game (and im not including Irelands replacement because its surely and injury

westwood adds nothing, average passer, always sideways, cant tackle, not a great engine,

Poor sub from Lambert

that summed up bents season so far for me, not interest, too weak, cant hold up ball...