Crystal Palace co-chairman Steve Browett has insisted that talented youngster Wilfried Zaha is not for sale.
The skilful attacker has been heavily linked with a move to Arsenal, who are reported to have identified the prospect as a potential replacement for Theo Walcott, who may leave north London after his contract expires next summer.
With Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City all linked with a move for Zaha in the press of late also, it looked as though the Championship side could lose their prize asset.
However, Browett has eased fans’ worries by stating that the Eagles would not consider selling Zaha to one of the Premier League big boys.
“I can assure you that Wilfried is not ‘for sale’,” the chief commented on a fan’s forum, published in The Guardian.
“We hope that he’ll be playing Premier League football next season. For us. Even if that doesn’t happen, he’s only 19 and still learning his trade in surroundings where he is comfortable and happy. He’s on a five-year contract and we really don’t need the money.
“The four of us bought the club so that we could enjoy watching Palace play football, not to cash in as soon as the moneybags clubs come waving their cheque books. I hope that’s clear enough.
“PS – and if he [Zaha] keeps developing the way he has so far you’ll be reading plenty more rubbish in the Sunday papers,” he concluded.
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Zaha has scored four goals in his last two games, and has represented England at under-21 level four times.
Being a Coventry fan I know all about how hard it is to find a decent striker. All clubs have their striker issues but we as a club have found it harder than most since our relegation from the Premier League. We have needed someone who not only has the ability to finish but the ability to do it on a consistent basis.
We have seen a long list of strikers come and go in that time with all them ultimately failing in what a striker is brought in to do. These strikers have come to the club in differing circumstances with some costing considerable amounts of money to others who have began life at the club as trialists from foreign leagues.
Names that come to mind here are Freddy Eastwood and Michael Mifsud and we all know where they have both ended up now. We have searched far and wide for the right man to lead the Skyblues from the front but have ultimately failed in every case.
There has in the past couple of years been one exception to this in the form of Marlon King. His arrival at the club was surrounded in controversy after his release from prison. Many questioned the club over this decision but in football terms at least it was a fantastic move for the club. He kept his head down and worked hard to get his fitness back up to scratch and then quickly became not only the first name on City’s team sheet but would easily have been one of the first names on any Championships team sheet.
He may not of been a role model off the pitch but he was every managers dream on it. He not only had the quality to keep him a step above the rest but he had one of the best work rates in the squad.
He arrived at the club in controversial circumstances and in the end left in the same manner. Arguments, miscommunication and contract lengths all played a part and he eventually left and joined Birmingham with Coventry not getting a penny for him and left ruing their mistakes.
This is still in my opinion one of the clubs biggest mistakes and I still think we should have done everything we could to keep him at the club and maybe we would still be a Championship club now and not a League One club. This is in the past now though and it is time to look at the present.
We currently have a striker within our team that again stands head and shoulders above the rest of the squad. His name of course is David McGoldrick. He has been in prolific scoring form in the early part of the season with 9 goals from 15 appearances after his deflected goal bound effort against York has now been officially awarded to him. Whilst his scoring record is clearly an impressive one, he has impressed me with his work rate and in many ways reminds me of the afore mentioned Marlon King.
There is of course though as with everything to do with Coventry City a massive downside in that he is not our player and is currently only at the club on loan until January. This brings about the question that every Coventry fan wants the answer too and that is will he be at the club past January and going forward.
There are so many mitigating factors in this that it is currently impossible to say for sure. First off his parent club Nottingham Forest may want to hold onto him as he could end up being an asset for their squad. They do already have four other good strikers though including Billy Sharp and Dexter Blackstock. They are also doing quite well in the league so may not want to upset the team by bringing McGoldrick back into the fold. These are factors that are in our favour or at least in favour of McGoldrick leaving Forest in January along with the fact that he will be out of contract in the summer.
Another problem we are clearly going to have is competition from other clubs if he is made available by Forest. Clubs with bigger budgets will be interested especially if he keeps up the kind of form he is currently showing. Financially we are always going to struggle to compete and that maybe the stumbling block which ultimately ends any hope of landing Mcgoldrick permanently.
If by some miracle we can overcome this issue and compete financially then it is down to whether McGoldrick thinks Coventry is the right place for him to be. We as a club need to make sure that we are in a position which is appealing to him as a player, so in other words we need to be moving up the table quickly so that come January it will look like a promotion push is a realistic possibility.
He clearly enjoys playing here as any player does at any club if they are performing well. I would imagine he would like to continue that and I do believe that if everything was right in terms of money and promotion ambitions then he would have no hesitation in joining us permanently.
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This is a big ask though for Coventry as a club, with something always seemingly going wrong. It would be a huge signing for the club though and one that might bring more fans back. It would be a statement of intent from the club that we are going to go for it this season.
He is a player we need, he is a player we all want but whether he is a player who will become a permanent member of the squad we will have to wait and see. I for one am really hoping he will as he is invaluable to this team and without him questions will be raised on who could be the man to step up and fill his scoring boots. Personally I’m not sure anyone that we either currently have or that is in our price range actually could.
West Ham are still waiting to find out the full damage done to three injured stars who had to pull out of yesterday’s win over Newcastle.
George McCartney seems to be the most serious case, after coming off with an injury to his groin. Matt Jarvis suffered a tight thigh and Yossi Benayoun injured his knee after him and Jonas Gutierrez got involved in a tackle which also sidelined him.
Sam Allardyce, following the match, said: “We don’t play until next Monday so we hope that’s enough time. George is probably the most serious because it looks like he has pulled a groin muscle.”
Ricardo Vaz Te, Alou Diarra and Jack Collyson are already out due to long-term injury, and he will surely be hoping he does not have to add three more players to the list of such serious injuries.
He said to West Ham’s official website: “The three injuries and three changes we had to make never detracted from the performance, which was even more pleasing. Obviously it’s disappointing when we get the injuries but to see three players come on and still perform was pleasing. It’s a good job we’ve got Guy Demel, Gary O’Neil and Modibo Maiga back as the bench has been lightweight recently. It shows how important substitutes are as you have to have a strong bench in this league. “
West Ham play Stoke in a Premier League clash next Monday.
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West Ham won yesterday’s game 1-0. Former Newcastle player Kevin Nolan scored the winner in the first half.
Although it’s hard to see anything resembling a silver lining emanating out of the loss of Gareth Bale to injury for Tottenham Hotspur, not everyone involved with the club will necessarily be cursing the Welshman’s loss.
If you’re Gylfi Sigurdsson in fact, you’d imagine it’d be quite the opposite.
While it’s hard to imagine the Icelandic international punching the air with delight to see the side’s talismanic figure sidelines with a hamstring injury, Bale’s loss has in some ways, opened up a desperately needed door for Sigurdsson.
The ex-Swansea man’s struggles at White Hart Lane since his summer switch from Hoffenheim seem to be growing in prominence with every passing game. While he’s not necessarily been granted the game time he’s needed to play himself into form, the longer his lack of meaningful contribution has gone on, the harsher the skepticism has become.
But although it may have only been a fleeting glimpse, Spurs fans were finally treated to a dashing of magic from Sigurdsson during last weekend’s 3-0 win away at Fulham.
Released down the left-hand side, where he’d filled in for the departed Bale, Sigurdsson burst into the box, dropped a shoulder and nearly left Philippe Senderos on his backside, as he cut back for Jermain Defoe to finish from 10 yards. Although he’s netted in both the League Cup and Europa League for Spurs, that wonderful bit of skill was perhaps his best contribution of the season so far.
Supporters have of course, had seldom to pick from in terms of best bits from the Sigurdsson box of tricks this season. While he was starting games under Andre Villas-Boas at the start of the season, a whole 90 minutes on the pitch have been hard to come by. In fact, that’s only come once, in the 4-2 home defeat to Chelsea back in October.
While he has had fleeting opportunities to start, you can’t help but feel a lack of a run in the Premier League hasn’t helped his cause. With Clint Dempsey taking favour in the central role of Villas-Boas’ attacking trio next to Bale and Aaron Lennon either side, that starting place has looked hard to come by. With Dempsey beginning to repay the time invested in him by the Portuguese, Sigurdsson has been left somewhat in the cold.
But with the aforementioned loss of Bale for up to a fortnight, the Icelander has got his foot back in the door in N17. And while some supporters may be slightly alarmed by the notion of Sigurdsson being drafted in for their prized asset, they might in fact be pleasantly surprised by what they might see.
The school of thought when Sigurdsson first signed for Tottenham, was that he appeared to be a natural fit for the No10 like role in the 4-2-3-1. It would be bordering on heresy to supporters to call him a replacement for Rafael van der Vaart. But however you’d like to frame his touted role in this side, the general feeling was that it’d be a central role.
And although he still has time to try and make that role his own at White Hart Lane, from what the small glimpses of excellence that we have seen from Sigurdsson, that might not necessarily be his best fit.
His 20-minute cameo impressing on the left hand side for Spurs against Fulham, wasn’t the first time we’ve seen Sigurdsson prosper in that position. He didn’t quite set the world on fire, but in his one 90 minute Premier League outing for the Lilywhites, he was of the few positives Andre Villas-Boas could take out of the game against Chelsea.
Filling in for the maternity ward-bound Gareth Bale, Sigurdsson looked comfortable receiving the ball down the channel and drifting into the box. It wasn’t the box office pace and the unplayable runs that supporters were used to on the flanks, but Sigurdsson’s craft and guile offered something a little different to the side.
But given the success he had playing for Swansea, it seems strange that many have raised eyebrows at the prospect of Sigurdsson playing down one of the channels. He hardly hugged the touchline in the mould of an Aaron Lennon, but much of his barnstorming success at the Liberty Stadium last term, came from cutting in from the right hand side.
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Given the success Clint Dempsey had performing a very similar task but on the left hand side for Fulham, the temptation will be there to perhaps see the American fill in for Bale during his absence. But with Dempsey now finally looking to settle in his more central role within this team, it’s Sigurdsson who could really benefit from a couple of starts on the left.
The pressure will be on for him to start producing as an attacking outlet if he’s given the nod, especially given the man he’s coming in for, but it could be just what he needs. While he prospered in the 4-3-3 like midfield Villas-Boas deployed at Reading earlier on this term, Sigurdsson has often floundered centrally, looking both unsure and unconfident in the role.
Playing on the left gives him a little more freedom, without the pressures of acting as the focal point between attack and midfield. A little more freedom and a remit to cut inside have done him well in the past.
A left hand sided berth doesn’t bode well for him in terms of a long term outlook given who he’s up against, but for Gylfi Sigurdsson, that might not be as important as simply gaining a bit of confidence in this Tottenham team. If football’s all about taking chances, then Sigurdsson would do well to seize the opportunity, starting tonight against Panathinaikos.
Loic Remy is Newcastle’s preferred transfer target should Demba Ba leave Tyneside in January.
Having failed to agree a new contract with Ba, Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is not willing to leave his squad short in attack, and Marseille striker Remy is now the frontrunner for a transfer to St James’ Park, The Northern Echo reports.
The French international’s earnings would fit in to the club’s strict wage structure and not cost beyond the sort of figures they are looking to spend.
Although the 25-year-old is valued in excess of £13m, Marseille are willing to lower their asking price if an agreement can be reached over a part-exchange deal.
Magpies winger and fellow Frenchman Gabriel Obertan has been touted as the player to form part of any player-plus-cash deal, meaning that Newcastle would have to pay around £10m for Marseille’s talisman.
Remy has won 17 caps for France and scored 27 times in his 68 appearances since moving from Nice two years ago, but he has fallen out of favour at the Stade Velodrome this season.
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In an ideal situation Pardew would successfully convince Ba to sign a new deal at St James’ Park and then focus on investing in other areas, as the Toon’s manager hopes to avoid a repeat of January 2011, when Andy Carroll was sold without being replaced:
“It is a difficult window, but I think we would like to get – definitely – one player in and not lose anybody. It could be that we lose a player, you never know.”
Manchester United defender Chris Smalling is astonished by how quickly Robin van Persie has settled at the club.
The Dutchman arrived at Old Trafford from Premier League rivals Arsenal over the summer and has made an instant impact, netting 15 goals in his first 21 appearances.
Smalling hailed the 29-year-old’s start with the Red Devils as all the more surprising due to having a limited pre-season, after signing with the Red Devils in August:
“Obviously he only came in the summer and didn’t have much of a pre-season. But he came straight into the matches and has been such a threat.” He is quoted by The Metro.
“He is putting teams on the back foot and making our job easier at the back.”
Even manager Sir Alex Ferguson revealed his shock at just how easily the £24m arrival has adjusted:
“He has a fantastic record,
“What you are seeing is a player who has come to his mature years.
“Experience is counting for him now. He has the knowledge and ability and last season his form was terrific.
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“Even Arsenal, having had him for a few years, were realising what his best position is. We do the same.”
Van Persie started his career with hometown club Feyenoord, before moving to Arsenal in 2004 for £2.75m
He made almost 200 appearances for the Londoners before switching to United last summer.
In October, Cardiff City visited Portman Road coming away with all three points, thanks to two goals from Heidar Helguson; however, Cardiff had not completed a league double over the Ipswich Town since 1947.
After a successful Christmas period, it was a meeting of two of the Championships in-form teams in what historically is an intriguing and often confounding and confused contest. The Tractor Boys started with their two new signings McGoldrick and Mclean up front meaning former Cardiff City forward and Bluebird favourite Michael Chopra was consigned to a place on the bench.
The pattern of the match was set with long range efforts missing the target, mere flashes of play in a boring lacklustre encounter where The Bluebirds failed to get into top gear, playing for the most part without any fire and passion. Bellamy aside who undoubtedly once again was the star player for The Bluebirds, his work rate earned him many rounds of applause against Ipswich, but in the end he was reduced to trying too hard to make up for some poor performances around him.
Play was stopped whilst Town’s Aaron McLean received treatment and former Bluebird striker and fans favourite Michael Chopra received the nod to warm up, grinning as he did so his grin broadened when he received a very positive reception from the home support and he duly obliged The Bluebird supporters with a quick Ayatollah to a massive cheer from the Home fans, not much else got them excited.
After the restart Bellamy’s continued to hound the Ipswich players forcing them to go as far back as goalkeeper Scott Loach rather than conceding possession to him. City looked comfortable on the ball, without really posing any serious threats, an Aron Gunnarsson long throw was met by City captain Mark Hudson, but the centre back’s header sailed over the bar.
Out of the blue Guirane N’Daw unleashed a raking drive from thirty yards out that ricocheted off Marshall’s right post, giving the home team a warning, that Ipswich were starting to find their way in the game but they were unable to sustain any pressure.
Taylor and Conway combined excellently on the left, Taylor whipping, the ball in toward Gestede, who did well to direct his header toward goal. Loach collected under pressure from Noone, playing the ball directly up field. Ipswich then won a free kick in the centre of the pitch, thirty yards out, but N’Daw drilled it straight at the wall, Mark Hudson’s clearing header was miscued and went backwards, McGoldrick found himself with the ball one-on-one with Marshall, but the chance was at an awkward angle and the Town striker hit the chance wide.
Cardiff then created their best chance so far, Bellamy laid the ball off to Craig Conway who put a low cross in, before ghosting into the box. The ball bounced around as Ipswich failed to clear, it fell again to Conway, who drilled a first time shot over the bar.
Ipswich broke on the counter attack, Turner was penalised for a high foot, and the resulting Ipswich free kick was a well drilled set piece, three players exchanging passes before Lee Martin hit in an out-swinging shot that fell just wide of the Cardiff goal.
It was end to stuff but dull with it the final pass going astray far too often.
An Ipswich throw in deep in their own half was won by Matt Connolly, his hopeful punt forward resulted in the ball finding Conway, who was felled by N’Daw. Whittingham powered the long range free kick toward the near post, it whistled by the post the Ipswich ‘keeper beaten.
Cardiff made a half time substitution: Joe Mason coming on for Rudy Gestede, but it was Ipswich that had the first chance after the break, a free kick into the far post, but no one made contact with it resulting in Cardiff winning a goal kick. Noone got on the end of Marshall’s kick and played Bellamy through with an intelligent chipped ball, his shot at goal was hoofed away by an Ipswich boot for a throw.
Bellamy’s fantastic work rate again gained Cardiff an opportunity when he chased down a Hudson long ball, beating Ipswich for pace before his low cross was deflected by Ipswich’s Tommy Smith for a corner, but again the final touch was missing and it came to nothing.
Then Ipswich made the Substitution the Bluebird faithful didn’t want to see bringing on: Michael Chopra.
Chopra’s appearance coincided with Ipswich’s best spell of possession, but like City the final ball was missing.
Ipswich brought on Daryl Murphy, while Cardiff changed Tommy Smith on for Craig Noone. Meaning there was now a Tommy Smith on for each team.
Cardiff’s Tommy Smith was playing his first game for over three months, he received a warm round of applause from the home supporters, Bellamy was still all over the pitch racing back sixty yards to dispossess Chopra.
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Conway skipped past two players before driving the ball towards goal, but it was blocked by the Ipswich defence. Cardiff was failing to test Loach in the Tractor Boys’ goal.
Chopra then conceded a free kick twenty yards out for a foul on Conway, to Loach’s left, and Whittingham stood over the ball he let fly his free kick hit the wall, it fell kindly to Conway who crossed to Aron Gunnarsson, but the Icelandic international floated his header just over the crossbar.
Carlos Edwards was allowed to run into the Cardiff box, but his shot was deflected by Turner, Ipswich were in no hurry to take the corner. The delivery was good, it caused Cardiff to flap and panic before Chopra hit it over the bar.
Bradley Orr was booked for a foul on Bellamy, who drilled the free kick in, winning a corner. Cardiff’s number was almost up, maybe this was the last throw of the dice The Cardiff City supporters could only hope, Bellamy took the corner and delivered a sweet ball in, but yet again Cardiff failed to get on the end an Ipswich defender getting the final touch, this time Whittingham took the corner. Loach palmed the ball away, a minute later Town nearly made Cardiff pay; Nouble’s quick feet beat Hudson, but his shot fell wide of the far post, much to the home crowd’s relief. As snow started to fall the referee blew up, for the first goalless encounter this season at Cardiff City Stadium. Boring, lacklustre and frustrating it may have been, but the point ensured that The Bluebirds would stay ten points clear of third placed Leicester.
After five games, Paul Ince has finally managed to pick up three points. The win definitely came right on time too, with fans starting to lose faith and turn against the new manager.
With ‘Pool now sitting in 13th place – higher than when Ince took over – and with any fears of relegation slowly sliding away, it seems a good time to have a look at where Blackpool are heading under ‘The Guv’nor’.
After losing his first game in charge, away to Leeds, Ince set out to steady the ship. He saw what every man and his dog sees when they watch Blackpool – they concede too easily. So after a slightly lucky goalless draw at home to Leicester, he brought in a defender in the shape of Gary MacKenzie.
Signed on loan from MK Dons, the towering centre half looks like a real find at this stage, and although culpable for Watford’s goal on Saturday, he made up for it with a goal at the other end. He can take the ball down with a defter touch than most of the players in front of him, he’s shown good distribution, has been a colossus in the air – winning everything in both boxes – and he is as composed as Wes Hoolahan taking ‘that’ penalty. He looks a fine players and someone who will add some much needed steel to Blackpool’s back line.
A word to the wise to anyone getting too carried away though… Kirk Broadfoot produced some of the worst defensive performances you could wish to see on his debut (and subsequent games), before becoming a trusted player in the backline. MacKenzie’s start could yet turn out to be a misrepresentation of his skills. Maybe he is indeed the ‘useless lump’ some predicted him to be, but if his performances continue, then Blackpool will have bagged another bargain and can no doubt look forwards to having him snatched away by another club in the summer…
Ince has also brought in Marko Futacs who, unlike MacKenzie, came with rave reviews from the seemingly expert Blackpool fans. As yet, however, Ince hasn’t seen fit to give him a real run out, choosing to hand starts to Taylor-Fletcher and then Derbyshire, rather than throwing the new man straight in. He certainly meets the criteria that some fans have been calling for. A big, big lad, with a turn of pace (apparently), it’s easy to see why this signing got some people excited, and he will hopefully start bagging some much needed goals.
That’s all Ince has done in the loan market thus far, but it is fair to say he is putting his stamp on the team in other ways. He got rid of the expansive and exciting 4-3-3 formation quicker than you could say “Shoot!” – choosing instead to adopt a 4-4-1-1 set-up with his son playing just behind a striker.
After 4 games without a goal, or even a few shots, it’s fair to say that this change brought nothing if not structure. The players know their jobs, and the defensive unit looks a whole lot safer but, as is the problem with most sides that play the proverbial ‘two banks of four’, the players are too concerned about doing their jobs to make time for an attack. There is no fluidity to the team, no scope for movement, and every attack relies on individual brilliance, or an opposition mistake, to create something. It is a tried and tested way to win a title, but will it work with a team that has been built to pass and move as a fluid unit? Time will tell.
After making the Seasiders a solid, but ultimately boring team, Ince did nothing to endear himself to fans with comments about, what he called, a “stupid gung-ho mentality”. It is worth reminding Mr Ince that although he might feel it is ‘stupid’, this is a style of play that got Blackpool where they were, and won them admirers across the country. It is a style of play that excited everyone, including the players, and it is a style of play that everyone was hoping the club would build upon. So it is fine for you create your own style, bring in whoever you like and use whatever tactics you like, but don’t insult the football that gave everyone at the club their best memories.
Except for a few comments about ‘when I was at Inter Milan’ or some cliched post-match snippets along the lines of ‘good performance, unlucky not to get more’, there isn’t really anything else of significance to report. The players seem to be responding well to him and are starting to fight for each other in games. They all looked delighted with the winner on Saturday and Ince seems to have instilled a bit of team spirit into a side that were lacking in that department. And Ince Jnr. found the net again, something that can only be good news after a mini drought.
All in all, he is doing ok. A lot of Blackpool fans would like to see a more exciting style of football, but for many others this season just needs to end with Blackpool safe and ready to totally rebuild in the summer. It is possible that Ince has decided on a formation that will see the team stay up, before adopting a style more suited to these players next year. Although, it is equally possible that he is from the school of boring English football and, come the summer, will bring in players to fit into a rigid and stifling formation. Who knows?
In the shorter term, a win on Saturday against Peterborough could get people looking upwards rather than downwards, and would put a bit more breathing space between the Tangerines and the drop-zone. With belief slowly creeping back into the side, it would be the ideal time to get back to back wins and get some momentum for the first time since the start of the season.
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It would be nice for Blackpool fans to have a relaxing end to a season actually, having been involved in some form of promotion or relegation battle for almost 7 years running. With a huge squad of players, and a new manager who doesn’t know them, it would be great to finally see some of the fringe or even youth players get a run out for a few games at the end of the campaign.
But they need to take it one step at a time and beat Peterborough first.
For Tottenham Hotspur supporters, there has always been something of a curious fascination behind the general prejudice that the vast majority of Premier League neutrals seem to bestow towards their very own Aaron Lennon.
Aged only 25, the Leeds-born winger has made over 220 top-flight appearances for his club under four different managers, clocked up 21 England caps and travelled to two World Cups in the process.
Throw in 45 showings in European competition – including a Champions League run in which Lennon proved his ability to cut it on the biggest stage of them all – and you get an idea as to the calibre of a player that has been a first team regular at White Hart Lane for near on eight years now.
And over the last two league games, although Spurs fans were hardly surprised what damage the absence of Lennon’s pedigree might do to this the team, his loss has been sorely felt by Andre Villas-Boas’ side. During the league losses against Liverpool and Fulham, as well as the majority of last week’s 4-1 mauling away to Inter Milan, the Lilywhites looked both off-colour and off-balance without their effervescent number seven in tow.
Because while the cynics might attribute the bulk of Tottenham’s recent hiccup to Gareth Bale’s inability to dig them out of another hole, the truth is that the men from N17 have been unable to produce any form of real attacking rhythm without the injured Lennon. And to a greater extent, their loss is only proving to the rest of English football what Spurs fans already knew about both his quality and his importance to this side.
Breaking down the wall of scepticism that the wider footballing public seems to possess in regards to Lennon’s ability has often seemed like a tough nut to crack over the years. In fact, now aged 25, you get the impression that some will simply never veer away from their perception of an inconsistent, one trick show-pony. Stereotypes die-hard and Aaron Lennon has found it difficult to shed his label as a limited footballer blessed with unique athletic talent, rather than a well-rounded Premier League component.
At times of course, the diminutive winger has often been his own worst enemy in regards to proving those doubters wrong.
Certainly, if Spurs fans are correct in their opinion that Lennon has a lot more to offer than what the boo-boys make out, then his critics aren’t wrong in parading his inconsistency as a major flaw in design. When the confidence has eeked out of his game and the willingness to take opponents on dwindles, he can sometimes look awfully exposed. As a player who has never possessed much of a craft in front of goal or a real match-winning edge, he does perhaps suffer more than most when the bread-and-butter elements of his game fade away.
But he looks no less exposed when his fortunes fade than most players within this league and while he’ll never rack up a goal count quite as high as say, Arsenal’s Theo Walcott, that doesn’t mean he’s any less important to his team than what the Gunners man is to his.
With four goals and six assists to his name in the Premier League this season, Lennon’s statistics don’t necessarily ooze an air of all-conquering importance. Although while not going quite as far as harnessing Villas-Boas’ claims that stats are ‘useless’, viewing the England-man’s contribution empirically hugely undermines Lennon’s value within this team.
You can’t quantify how much space he’s made as a result of his unrelenting runs down the right hand side and it’s within the frequency and efficiency of those runs that you also discover quite how underrated his positional sense and awareness of space is. He is the key that so often opens the doors for others within this Spurs team without even having the ball.
And when he does, the urban myth about a fabled non-existent end-product is slowly beginning to dissipate. The wayward crosses haven’t been culled just yet, but his delivery is a far more consistent beast than it previously has been.
And when it comes to keeping possession, an Andres Iniesta he may not be, but considering 85% of his 765 passes have safely landed at the desired recipient this season, you begin to understand why he’s proved such a valuable asset within this Villas-Boas incarnation of a Tottenham side.
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Gareth Bale may ultimately be the talisman within this Tottenham team, but Aaron Lennon’s brief absence over the last two league games has given us a stark reminder that the Lilywhites’ hopes of success rest on a lot more than just the Welshman’s shoulders.
Should they wish to qualify for the Champions League and push on within their Europa League campaign, Villas-Boas is going to need the speed, determination and work-ethic that Lennon brings just as much as any howitzer that Bale might provide from now until the end of the season.
If Spurs are perceived to be toothless without Bale in their team, then they almost certainly look anaemic without Lennon in it. Should they look to get their colour back before more telling damage is done to their Premier League campaign, they’re going to need Lennon back as a matter of urgency.
Pablo Aimar believes his Benfica side will beat Chelsea as the current Blues line-up are the weakest for last decade.
The pair are set to meet in the Europa League final on Wednesday in what is sure to be an extremely riveting clash in Amsterdam.
The game represents the Londoners last shot at silverware this season, although their campaign may still be judged to have been a success if they manage to qualify for the Champions League places.
The Blues won the Champions League last year but have struggled at times this term and Aimar is confident his side will emerge victorious in the Dutch capital.
“Since they have inherited a wealthy owner [Abramovich], this is probably the weakest Chelsea team there has been,” he said. “Of course, Chelsea are a big club, but this is not the same team that won the Champions League a year ago. This team got knocked out at the group stages.
“They have not been convincing in Europe or in the Premier League. And it is a team that is not behind the coach [Rafael Benitez]. We can take advantage of the fact they are not at their best and not playing as a team.”
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