I’m taking two public acknowledgements from this this week. Adam Richman called me “filth” for revealing he supports 4 clubs, and Tim told ITV4 that a lot of people wanted to stand on his head. Awwh shucks. You guys!
Well, it was a game we could have won. Words I didn’t think I’d be typing this morning.
Tim was of course hugely restricted in who he could field, and he was right to pick the first XI he did. It was a decent enough compromise. If he had opted to mix in more of the Development lads, it may well have facilitated another beating, and done the confidence of those chaps no good at all.
The Benfica goal in the 34th minute probably confirmed to Sherwood that he’d done the right thing. But what he failed to digest was that this Benfica side was a notable downgrade on the one that came to The Lane. By this, I mean they were slightly slower, less aggressive and the less slick.
But it took Tim the entirety of the first half and then another half hour on top of that, before things changed. Please note, my choice of words. Before things changed. Eriksen’s effect was by accident, not design. If it were by design, then why didn’t Tim do it sooner? Tim changed nothing. Eriksen changing the game was Tim’s good fortune.
Oh Harry, you’re so mean. So nasty. Why can’t you… so answer me this: How come that it took a random scenario such as we got last night, before Eriksen was finally played where he plays best, in the middle? You can’t say it was a masterstroke when it clearly happened by quirk of circumstance.
Had Tim been capable of reading the game, he would have introduced Kane and Eriksen after the break.
We were getting by, defensively (we ‘d only conceded one, opposed to three) and as mentioned, Benfica weren’t as full on as they had been. That old cove Jorge had a little tinker; he knew he could afford to, the state of our depleted squad wasn’t a secret.
A manager who knew what he was doing would have sought to test Bayern. Don’t forget, we had seven days of being told repeatedly that we had nothing to lose. There is a difference between keeping your dignity in tact, and failing to engage your footballing brain.
The last quarter of an hour was not just great to watch it was thrilling. With the introduction of the Dane, what we got was an immediate spark that lit Chadli, who had been dropping hints all game he wanted to do something. Eriksen was the fulcrum that had been missing from our attack. Up until then, we had the desire, but not the means to support it.
Benfica had a hectic 12 minutes or so, that could have been a hectic 45 minutes. But we don’t have a manager who’s up to the task.
Yet again, post match we are faced with an ebullient cuckoo. A man so delighted that he hasn’t been humiliated with another 3 or 4 goal mauling, that he can’t control himself and takes a swipe at the manager of the team that beat him. “He was sweating it.”
Yes Tim. But not as much as he would have been had you known what you were doing. Had you introduced Eriksen and Kane sooner, it isn’t unrealistic to believe that Chadli could have been on for a hat trick.
Mentions is dispatches for Nacer Chadli, of course. Aside from behaving like a rapid fire goal machine, he had a really sound game. Those that previously targeted him as a whipping boy need to have a serious look at themselves. Slating any of the 7 new signings in their first really is a petty, pointless exercise.
Siggy is another one that fans appear to be quick to take issue with. Yet he had a good game. He won 4/6 tackles and 3/4 headed duels. He completed 83% of his passes. I’m stat bombing you here, because those are figures of a guy that was a significant player.
Nabil Bentaleb had a bit of a stormer. Without Paulinho or Mousa wrapped round him, we saw a kid who was not just up for the fight, but the graft that was required too.
Kane was a little overshadowed by the more obvious impact of Eriksen, but he’s a player I want to see developed in our Premier League games, not just given the odd cameo. That’s not good enough.
Fryers had another solid performance. He’s another one genuinely worth bringing on.
Rose is as thick as that tin of paint in your garage you didn’t put the lid on properly 5 years ago. Townsend also may well be beyond hope. Anyone daft enough to protest I was being harsh on Tim might want to explain why it took 76 minutes for Tim to notice he wasn’t doing anything helpful.
Kyle Naughton’s face pulling is beginning to grate.
And talking of not doing anything… Azza Blud. The useless little whelk managed to make 12 passes in 94 minutes. Eriksen made 11 in the time he was on. Worse than useless.
