SUIYHA
Scott Parker
Every club will have injury problems during a season, and I think generally we've been quite lucky with injuries as Bale, Modric, Van Der Vaart, Adebayor, Parker, Kaboul, Assou-Ekotto and Friedel, the spine of our team, have all been fit for pretty much the entire season. King's injury problems are a given, but which of our players that has missed sizeable chunks of the season do you think would have made the biggest difference if they'd been around a bit more?
The major absentees have been:
Huddlestone - Hasn't played since August. Could be argued that he wouldn't be first choice, but his long range passing would have offered us something a little different in midfield, also making other formations like 4-3-3 more effective. He is particularly useful when up against stubborn opposition playing with 10 men behind the ball, which we've dropped a lot of points against.
Dawson - Long injury in the first half of the season, then another in March. It's true that his limited appearances included our three heaviest league defeats of the season, but he has been first choice here pretty much whenever he's been fit over the past 3 seasons and when he was around he put in some big performances like against Everton, Liverpool and Saudi Sportswashing Machine. Would certainly have been a useful option to have instead of Nelsen or a barely fit King.
Gallas - Didn't start his season until December and then missed another 10 league games between January and March, during which we conceded 15 goals and took just 12 points. We also lost at home to Norwich without him. When things started going bad, we could really have done with his influence in defence.
Sandro - Hasn't had the long term injury problems like the first three, but he's struggled with niggling injuries throughout the season. It stopped him really hitting form until recently, and we've now seen what a big big player he can be for us.
Lennon - Missed 15 league games completely, and was only fit enough for the bench in a few others. He is one of our main attacking threats and brings balance and width to the side.
Kranjcar - Can't see many people saying him as our biggest loss, but he's still an important player for us to provide cover for our attacking midfielders. He's played a fair bit when fit but he's missed most of the season.
The major absentees have been:
Huddlestone - Hasn't played since August. Could be argued that he wouldn't be first choice, but his long range passing would have offered us something a little different in midfield, also making other formations like 4-3-3 more effective. He is particularly useful when up against stubborn opposition playing with 10 men behind the ball, which we've dropped a lot of points against.
Dawson - Long injury in the first half of the season, then another in March. It's true that his limited appearances included our three heaviest league defeats of the season, but he has been first choice here pretty much whenever he's been fit over the past 3 seasons and when he was around he put in some big performances like against Everton, Liverpool and Saudi Sportswashing Machine. Would certainly have been a useful option to have instead of Nelsen or a barely fit King.
Gallas - Didn't start his season until December and then missed another 10 league games between January and March, during which we conceded 15 goals and took just 12 points. We also lost at home to Norwich without him. When things started going bad, we could really have done with his influence in defence.
Sandro - Hasn't had the long term injury problems like the first three, but he's struggled with niggling injuries throughout the season. It stopped him really hitting form until recently, and we've now seen what a big big player he can be for us.
Lennon - Missed 15 league games completely, and was only fit enough for the bench in a few others. He is one of our main attacking threats and brings balance and width to the side.
Kranjcar - Can't see many people saying him as our biggest loss, but he's still an important player for us to provide cover for our attacking midfielders. He's played a fair bit when fit but he's missed most of the season.
