With all our supposed wealth of midfield talent we don't have one player that can pick the ball up in a central area and drive at defenders with it a la Gerry Francis, Gerrard, Robson etc - defenders HATE that. Barton and Carroll never do this yet are always played centrally. Our only player who comes close to having this ability is Phillips but he was wasted on the wing yesterday with no one to cross it to. The one time he did begin a run from a central area it resulted in probably the best chance of the whole game when he put Niko through.
So not only was no one driving on with the ball from midfield but what was the point of us playing with two wingers yesterday with no one in the middle to aim for. Clearly the only way we were ever going to score was by playing through the middle. And yet all we did was play the ball from side to side across the back and across the middle. The times when Hoilett and Phillips did receive it on the wings they were totally impotent out there, so what else could they do with it but just pass it back as there was no point crossing it. Their only other option was to try and dribble with it into the box but all Watford then had to do was double up on them so we'd lose possession again.
The game was crying out for someone to pick the ball up centrally and just drive at them with the ****ing thing. That would have been our only hope of a breakthrough. I kept screaming at Barton and Carroll to do that but to no avail as its just not their game. And the only two players remotely gifted enough in that role are Phillips and Taarabt. Between Redknapp, Bond and Jordan why couldn't any of them see something as blindingly obvious and which their substitutions do NOTHING to address?
So not only was no one driving on with the ball from midfield but what was the point of us playing with two wingers yesterday with no one in the middle to aim for. Clearly the only way we were ever going to score was by playing through the middle. And yet all we did was play the ball from side to side across the back and across the middle. The times when Hoilett and Phillips did receive it on the wings they were totally impotent out there, so what else could they do with it but just pass it back as there was no point crossing it. Their only other option was to try and dribble with it into the box but all Watford then had to do was double up on them so we'd lose possession again.
The game was crying out for someone to pick the ball up centrally and just drive at them with the ****ing thing. That would have been our only hope of a breakthrough. I kept screaming at Barton and Carroll to do that but to no avail as its just not their game. And the only two players remotely gifted enough in that role are Phillips and Taarabt. Between Redknapp, Bond and Jordan why couldn't any of them see something as blindingly obvious and which their substitutions do NOTHING to address?
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