I was happy with the lineup last night apart from Lati who I would've put Binks on in place of and Collins who is poor.
Usually as follows
EMC has been great since Lampard gave him a run
Bassette is a horrible little git, who is just the sort of person you want on your team and not against.
Tats, we know what he can do, turn a man inside out and create something from nothing.
Rudi can unlock any team when he wants
Eccles just does well and sprays a lovely ball out Scholes like at times
Sheaf solid
Bidwell - gets forward and gets crosses in
Lati - no thanks
Thomas is maturing some of his defensive runs are astounding but can make silly mistakes
Van the man, his overlap play, crossing and shooting is just what we need.
Last night
EMC looked lost and was on his heels all the time
Bassette is a horrible little git, who is just the sort of person you want on your team and not against. Tired from pressing with no help.
Tats didn't take a single man on and made the simple pass 90% of the time.
Rudi just really poor, some of his corners were shocking
Eccles poor decisions, poor passes
Sheaf didn't exactly fill me with confidence, I don't think we heard a shhhhheeeeeaaaffffff all night.
Bidwell just not his usual attacking self and backed off far too much
Lati - no thanks
Thomas made some brilliant tackles but passing was poor
Van the man couldn't tackle, pass or dribble well all night.
We had an off night all over the pitch, it looked as though they're still all learning the new tactics but had all been told to play safe and not use their natural talents. I would've happily changed anyone on the pitch apart from Bassette last night. I think Lamps made good changes at the right times, I like Torp but Assante and Simms don't seem to have the ability to change a game at the moment. It'll come good I'm sure but it was really frustrating watching good players perform poorly.
You'll all be eating your words about EMC this time next year, there's a quality player in there needing a run of games and a bit of freedom to find his feet at this level.