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Levy & Co Missed A Trick

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Good morning.

Far from as bad as it has been. That would be my overall sweeping statement type analysis. Certainly far more positives than negatives so let’s have kick off with the bestest bit.

What a goal. Churlish of some to dismiss such a sensational strike as simply anuvver couple of mil on his transfer fee. The boy has class. Defoe is one dimensional and crucially did not score last night. My argument in support of Pav ends with anyone looks good playing alongside Adebayor.

And so to the Gomes business. Has the rest done him good or is he a man playing well beneath his pay grade due to a bad case of perception? The answer is, ‘We’ll never know.’ He will be sold is my prediction. 

The stand out thought about the back four is that Raging Kaboul looks like someone we could probably massively rely upon in the future. Bassong was horrible and demonstrated why we couldn’t even flog him for buttons in the last window.

Livermore was of course out of position and that showed. But Walker and Rose weren’t up to scratch. The Rubes were a decent enough outfit – and it was only Pav’s goal that separated the two sides – but they were pretty wet when it came to our 18 yard area. Had we been playing someone with fewer competency issues in that dept we would have been undone.

Carroll is drawing plaudits from every quarter. My verdict is that he’s alright. Dos Santos is an accomplished player but didn’t seem to really find his groove last night. Azza Blud gave what has sadly become the norm – yet another – ‘just back from injury’ performance. Dull in the first half, fizzled out in the second.

Sandro was in a similar boat ring rustiness wise, but he looked more resilient and I would expect his next Premiership showing to be better still.

Defoe did little aside from make much of Pav’s unwillingness to pass to him which possibly made me laugh louder than a good Steptoe & Son.  Defoe is one of the most supremely selfish footballers on planet Earth.  He only ever passes if he can’t shoot. Pav outside of the goal didn’t do much himself. My defense of this would be to ask you to take a look at the team behind him.

The attendance was low. A little over 24,000 Client Reference Numbers on the premises and from this figure we must deduct 1,500 freebies for looter victims. Levy & Co missed a trick on the pricing here. They were up against the game being televised on a terrestrial channel, it not being a season ticket game and perhaps the first genuine cold snap of the Autumn.

The reality is that too many players are being fielded in these Europa games that aren’t worth the current price of admission. You want to tell me that these guys are young? Thanks for that information. You want to dispute what they are worth, don’t bother. I base my observation on the fleeing fans at previous games and the gate last night.

These games are of appeal to a slightly different demographic than those who attend Premiership games. And the charge needs to reflect that. The money that the Europa generates is less too, so the model just needs scaling down and a scratch over 20,000 can be pretty easily have seen 10,000 added to the figure.

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196 comments

  • duds says:

    Not sure i completely agree with your points mate. Granted, these players arent world beaters yet, but the Uefa is giving them a chance to prove what they are worth, to prove if they can hack it in our first team.

    it should be obvious to anyone that players play better with better players around them. I.E slotting one or two of the youngsters who look a bit better than just ok into the first team and their game will be up’ed and they will probably shine even further.

    Im not entirely sure what you are expecting from them. This season, being in the Europa, gives us a chance to test out or squad and prepare for the future, something we have neither had the depth or tenacity to do before as a club.

    lets say we get back into the CL next year and at least 2-3 of our younger squad progress enough this year to be considered for the first team next year on a regular basis. We then have options to field the strongest possible team for a CL week night and have proven understudies ready for weekend games who will be able to slot in, un-awed with plenty of first team experience.

    Remember the Arsenal game in the Carling Cup last year – we were shocking. Sandro was shocking. In comparison this year, the same players or same ilk of players are not picking up points in competitive matches against better teams than the arsenal 3rd string we got whooped by around 13 months ago.

    • duds says:

      that should say

      he same players or same ilk of players are picking up points

    • SpurredoninDublin says:

      Got to agree with you. When playing the “kids”, the Arse CC match has to be the benchmark to show the improvement they have made. Though Arse didn’t field a particularly weak side in all fairness.

  • KevtheRev says:

    As I seem to have the playground to myself, I will also add that Defoe, Pav and Crouch let me and Spurs down last season. Crouch has gone, replaced by Ade. Pav is next this January (depending on our Europa exploits), and probably not replaced. Defoe next summer if and only if we get a new manager.

    I have real excitement about our midfield where battles matter most

  • LLL says:

    I used to have a soft spot for Pav too, but lost patience some time ago. It was a good goal, but it was pretty much the first good thing he’s done this season. He’s been invariably close to our least effective player in most of the previous Europa outings, and that’s saying something given the level of teams we’ve been fielding.

    Yes, Defoe is one-dimensional, not news to anyone. But I really can’t see an argument for starting Pav based on one good free kick. Be honest, how many thought it was going to fly to the stands when he lined it up?

    Also think some patience should be shown with Lennon. He hasn’t got going yet and was playing on the left, which has never really worked. I certainly think he is a better option on the right than VDV and we will be a better side when he’s fit.

  • LLL says:

    Agree on Bassong though, he scares the crap out of me. Or specifically, the thought of him lining up for the next few games in the PL does. How long are Willie and Les out for exactly?

  • onedavemackay says:

    The big positive for me was getting a table easily in the Turkish before the match

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