Ruling the Britannia and Boing-ing the Baggies

2 great performances last week. Firstly a tough trip to the Britannia and teh scene of an earlier league defeat for us. Kenny remained true to his word by fielding a very strong lineup. back four of Kelly-Carra-Coates-Agger in midfield Maxi-Lucas-Spearing-Henderson and our main strikeforce upfront of Carrol and Suarez.

We totally dominated the first half. Carroll looked lively, Suarez excelelnt as always. Lucas and Spearing battled hard in the midfield. AAs seems to be the way with us thsi season we dont take our chances and as soon as we present the opposition with a sniff they seem to score. What Seb Coates was doing letting the ball bounce 3 times out wide on the right only he will know. Jon Walters is strong quick and deadly as Coates found out. Outmuscled and then outpaced.A pinpoint cross onto the completly unmarked Kenwyne Jones and we are suddenly a goal down having dominated completely.

Fortunately we didn't let that set-back affect us and were level after 54 minutes with a magnificent strike from Suarez. He had the ball out wide on the right and was faced with Ryan Shotton, he simply knocked the ball through his legs and curled a magnificent shot beyond Begovic into the far corner of the net. The ball had so much late spin on it it actually got tangled in the bottom of the net!. The goals was enough to win Suarez goal of the week on SKY. We continued to look comfortable in a game that became a bit scrappy and if anyone was going to score in normal time it was us.

The largely anonymous Jordan Henderson (too much time spent drifting inside aimlessly) finally made a contribution. For once he was out on the right and his 1st time volleyed cross was pounced on by Suarez to notch up his second of the game with a neat header. If Henderson is suppose to play on the right then he should stay there. Too often he was central when we needed an outlet. His lack of perfrmance so far is all the more galling when this week we see Aquilani running Champions League matches for AC Milan. He cost the same as Henderson and for me is a far superior player. I can only think that his wages are the reason we have loaned him out again because how we can say we dont need or want a player of that quality is amazing.

So a good win under our belt and the Quarter final draw didn't do us any favours. Yet another away tie this time at Chelski. As usual ManUre's ball was heated and they got a soft home tie against Palace. Gooners also got stiched up with a tie against Man City.

Next, the Hawthorns on Saturday night. With Carra injured on Wednesday against Stoke, Agger stepped in to the breach. Henderson started again and poor Dirk is still getting splinters. Martin Kerlly was also unlucky to lose out to Glenn Johnson. I still think Kelly is a better defender and that Johnson would better deployed as a winger. Again we started well and were rewarded with a penalty in the 9th minute. Why Lee Mason didn't give it himself is beyond me, he was only 5-10 yards away. Thankfully the linesman had some balls and gave the penalty. Sure Suarez does go down easily a lot of the time but Jerome Thomas' challenge was poor and clumsy and he clearly hangs his leg out which Suarez runs into. Up stepped Chucky and dispatched it with aplomb. 

We were rarely threatened by the Baggies and got a good 2nd just before the break.Great pass from Suarez to Carroll in acres of space. He had a poor 1st touch but thinkthat actaully helped, it met that Foster thought he could beat him to the ball and it limited Carroll's options. Thankfully he got there first and poked it under the keeper and into the net. The 2nd half was a bit of a damp squib but again we looked more likely.

Swansea on Saturday, a dangerous team to play at home. They have real pace in Sinclair and Dyer and have started to find their scoring touch. I think Brendan Rogers is doing a magnificent job considering the restrictions he is working under. Of the 3 promoted teams they were the ones I fear for most but they have equiped themselves well. Hopefully they are below par or indeed we are on top of our game. We need a big home win to take into the away game at the Bridge next week. Another game I think we can win. Chelski look out of sort at the moment and might not be a bad tme to play them.

So my team for Swansea on Saturday would be:

Pepe
Johnson-Skrtel-Agger-Enrique
Kuyt-Adam-Lucas-Downing
Suarez-Bellamy

I know Kenny will probably opt for Henderson and Carroll over Kuyt and Bellamy but I think they offer us more than the 2 youngsters at the moment.


YNWA

P.S. Congrats to Stevie G and Alex on the birth of their 3rd child Lourdes this week.
Let also hope Stevie's infected ankle gets sorted soon as well, although we seem to be coping quite well without him.