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Aaron Lennon

He has the same limitation as many attacking players and wingers, he needs to be set up in the right situations to play well. He's not a Silva, Mata or Rooney who will create the space and then exploit it. Nor is he a crossing winger that will just deliver quality crosses even if set up in rather average positions.

Was mentioned by someone in the Bentaleb thread that we should juts play our more solid central midfielder and focus our passing down the flanks, I really couldn't disagree more. Lennon needs players in the centre of the pitch that can move the ball quickly enough so that Lennon can receive the ball when there's space there to be exploited. The relatively slow, ponderous, inaccurate passing from Dembele, Sandro, Paulinho, Walker and Dawson is the death of a player like Lennon I think.

What's great about Lennon is that even if he's not really making it happen in attack he will work hard, put in a shift and be a threat the opponents have to be aware of and so he can create space for others to exploit. But for Lennon to shine we need players in the centre of the pitch capable of making those telling passes, or he's reduced to being a counter attacking threat that usually ends up starting a bit too deep because he's so diligent when we're defending.

He certainly has his limitations, but when used (or is that utilized ;) ) in the right way he's very good. Certainly a good player to have in the squad although I think with his recent form Lamela or Townsend should be given a go when fit and it will be up to Lennon to work his way back into the starting 11 from the bench. He always seems to do better when he has proper competition anyway.

Absolutely.

It is no accident that Lennon has faired better when there have been ball players in central midfield.

People also have short memories, yes Lennon has been off the pace a little in the last two games but before that he has been one of our best and most consistent performers under Sherwood.
 
Absolutely.

It is no accident that Lennon has faired better when there have been ball players in central midfield.

People also have short memories, yes Lennon has been off the pace a little in the last two games but before that he has been one of our best and most consistent performers under Sherwood.

Dam braineclipse stealing my thunder with his best poster ever award. :( (I said the same thing ages ago)

Spot on though. Lennon needs the ball farmed out to him. Carrick, Huddlestone and Modric and even Corluka would find him in the right areas.
 
Dam braineclipse stealing my thunder with his best poster ever award. :( (I said the same thing ages ago)

Spot on though. Lennon needs the ball farmed out to him. Carrick, Huddlestone and Modric and even Corluka would find him in the right areas.

It's time to bully him off the board. He's making us all look bad with his consistently excellent posts ;)
 
Let's focus on Lennon and not make excuses for him. It's not managers, strikers, tactics or formations. Unfortunately it's HIM. If you watch him carefully, he doesn't take up good positions, he too often just stands near an opponent when we have the ball not making himself available for a pass, he doesnt run into space off the ball, he almost never plays a one-two to get himself released, the doesn't take men on on the outside any more, he rarely gets to the byline in games, he almost always now chooses the wrong option, his final ball is invariably poor when he does get in a great position, his crossing is limited in its effectiveness, his shooting is weak and he almost always scuffs the shot, he hardly ever gets in a good position in the box to finish any product coming down the left ( particularly in the Bale days). In his case, the stats do unfortunately tell the tale. His goals and assists record is really poor in recent seasons.

I used to love Lennon too, now I am just almost always disappointed in him.

The irony is that lennon is indeed one of those players that does warrant excuses...much like soldado in that both need supply, only lennon gets involved in other ways when he isnt involved in the game in an attacking sense...soldado just keeps running into alleys that only xavi and iniesta have the keys to

oddly enough lennon sticking close to the opponent and pulling them to the half way line should work in his favour if we had a proper progressive and incisive passer as lennon quick off the mark cant be matched by any other defender in this league

the positions you see him take up, assuming its on the box, are the result of the ball not getting to him quick enough....it wouldnt make sense for lennon to just walk up to a defender and park his ass there like he was on the corner waiting for a trick......he's being tightly marked cause most likely he didnt get the ball quick enough...or because its the first defender in a potential double team....

one-twos again require good passers with mental intelligence and good peripherals...right now who is he going to play a one two with? Ade? why is ade at the half way line? or on the flip side...how did lennon get into a position deep in the opposition half to get the one two going? is it before or after walker has brought his defender to where lennon wants to be and has now been forced inside

trust me when i say that if lennon is isolated with his marker...that guy is already writing his obituary...lennon will skin this person alive

there is so much i cold say on this but i suspect you have your mind made up for the time being so maybe its just a case of taking lennon on a game by game basis

next game is everton....i would like to have this to be a lennon watch...and see what we find....most likely i think you'll find that lennon

makes LOADS of runs that cant be found
doesnt give away possesion when on the ball
comes infield to get involved for good reason ,if he isnt getting the ball out wide or making space for walker or trying to be a part of an offensive move. and to be honest it would do him good to learn that new trait.

i thinks its a case of letting actions show the way
 
You're all too nice :)

I'm sure many of my opinions are rehashes of stuff I've read on here and couldn't credit to the source even if I had 3 times the memory I actually have.
 
The irony is that lennon is indeed one of those players that does warrant excuses...much like soldado in that both need supply, only lennon gets involved in other ways when he isnt involved in the game in an attacking sense...soldado just keeps running into alleys that only xavi and iniesta have the keys to

oddly enough lennon sticking close to the opponent and pulling them to the half way line should work in his favour if we had a proper progressive and incisive passer as lennon quick off the mark cant be matched by any other defender in this league

the positions you see him take up, assuming its on the box, are the result of the ball not getting to him quick enough....it wouldnt make sense for lennon to just walk up to a defender and park his ass there like he was on the corner waiting for a trick......he's being tightly marked cause most likely he didnt get the ball quick enough...or because its the first defender in a potential double team....

one-twos again require good passers with mental intelligence and good peripherals...right now who is he going to play a one two with? Ade? why is ade at the half way line? or on the flip side...how did lennon get into a position deep in the opposition half to get the one two going? is it before or after walker has brought his defender to where lennon wants to be and has now been forced inside

trust me when i say that if lennon is isolated with his marker...that guy is already writing his obituary...lennon will skin this person alive

there is so much i cold say on this but i suspect you have your mind made up for the time being so maybe its just a case of taking lennon on a game by game basis

next game is everton....i would like to have this to be a lennon watch...and see what we find....most likely i think you'll find that lennon

makes LOADS of runs that cant be found
doesnt give away possesion when on the ball
comes infield to get involved for good reason ,if he isnt getting the ball out wide or making space for walker or trying to be a part of an offensive move. and to be honest it would do him good to learn that new trait.

i thinks its a case of letting actions show the way

Great post AS. Soldado is another good example you've brought up there. I hope never to see it, (and there's not a chance) but I would imagine Lennon or Soldado running riot in an arsenal team.

"soldado just keeps running into alleys that only xavi and iniesta have the keys to"

That's a great line right there.

The more we analyse our squad the more it becomes apparent how unbalanced we actually are. Players like Lennon and Soldado needed players like Modric, VDV, Carrick even Huddlestone. Progressive incisive passers of the ball.

Imagine:

-----Modric/Busquets------Xavi/Iniesta----------
Lennon---------Lamela--------------Townsend
--------------------Soldado------------------------

We have a solid functional set of centre midfielders who would thrive in a team with playmakers who live further forward like a Silva, Nasri, Ozil, Mata, Willian, Oscar, Hazard, Cazorla where the onus wouldn't be on the likes of Dembele, Sandro or Paulinho to create

------------Sandro-----Dembele------------
--Ozil---------Hazard----------Silva-------
---------------Soldado---------------------

You have to mix one type of midfield set with another set of attacking forwards to get a good blend.

Either of those formations above would be very successful in my mind because everyone would understand their role in the side, be it to destroy or create.
 
He has the same limitation as many attacking players and wingers, he needs to be set up in the right situations to play well. He's not a Silva, Mata or Rooney who will create the space and then exploit it. Nor is he a crossing winger that will just deliver quality crosses even if set up in rather average positions.

Was mentioned by someone in the Bentaleb thread that we should juts play our more solid central midfielder and focus our passing down the flanks, I really couldn't disagree more. Lennon needs players in the centre of the pitch that can move the ball quickly enough so that Lennon can receive the ball when there's space there to be exploited. The relatively slow, ponderous, inaccurate passing from Dembele, Sandro, Paulinho, Walker and Dawson is the death of a player like Lennon I think.

What's great about Lennon is that even if he's not really making it happen in attack he will work hard, put in a shift and be a threat the opponents have to be aware of and so he can create space for others to exploit. But for Lennon to shine we need players in the centre of the pitch capable of making those telling passes, or he's reduced to being a counter attacking threat that usually ends up starting a bit too deep because he's so diligent when we're defending.

He certainly has his limitations, but when used (or is that utilized ;) ) in the right way he's very good. Certainly a good player to have in the squad although I think with his recent form Lamela or Townsend should be given a go when fit and it will be up to Lennon to work his way back into the starting 11 from the bench. He always seems to do better when he has proper competition anyway.

Yet again the failure to sign Moutinho on deadline day of the summer of 2012 comes back to haunt us, as Lennon and Soldado would've thrived on the service of a midfield maestro of that calibre who has the vision and technique to play those defence splitting through balls. Fingers crossed that Bentaleb proves able to take on that mantle which was vacated by Modric and make our attack one of the most potent in the league once again.
 
Sturridge is not a RW and would have a **** fit if asked to play there permanently.

Just out of curiosity, who is the RW upgrades we would buy to replace Lennon and at what price?


This place kills me, everyone wants to replace Lennon, Soldado, Lamela, Paulinho, Dawson, but not our LB? (who is easily the weakest link in team)

Two of them already play for Spurs so no need to buy.
 
Yet again the failure to sign Moutinho on deadline day of the summer of 2012 comes back to haunt us, as Lennon and Soldado would've thrived on the service of a midfield maestro of that calibre who has the vision and technique to play those defence splitting through balls. Fingers crossed that Bentaleb proves able to take on that mantle which was vacated by Modric and make our attack one of the most potent in the league once again.


For me one of the big 'what if' in the last few seasons. Cant believe we left it to the last minute to try and sign him. Should have been wrapped up before season kick-off let alone 31st August
 
Holtby can thread those eye of the needle passes as can Lamela and likely Eriksen. It's just something a team has to work on and train towards, something we basically never had what with injuries etc
 
He has the same limitation as many attacking players and wingers, he needs to be set up in the right situations to play well. He's not a Silva, Mata or Rooney who will create the space and then exploit it. Nor is he a crossing winger that will just deliver quality crosses even if set up in rather average positions.

Was mentioned by someone in the Bentaleb thread that we should juts play our more solid central midfielder and focus our passing down the flanks, I really couldn't disagree more. Lennon needs players in the centre of the pitch that can move the ball quickly enough so that Lennon can receive the ball when there's space there to be exploited. The relatively slow, ponderous, inaccurate passing from Dembele, Sandro, Paulinho, Walker and Dawson is the death of a player like Lennon I think.

What's great about Lennon is that even if he's not really making it happen in attack he will work hard, put in a shift and be a threat the opponents have to be aware of and so he can create space for others to exploit. But for Lennon to shine we need players in the centre of the pitch capable of making those telling passes, or he's reduced to being a counter attacking threat that usually ends up starting a bit too deep because he's so diligent when we're defending.

He certainly has his limitations, but when used (or is that utilized ;) ) in the right way he's very good. Certainly a good player to have in the squad although I think with his recent form Lamela or Townsend should be given a go when fit and it will be up to Lennon to work his way back into the starting 11 from the bench. He always seems to do better when he has proper competition anyway.

Nail on head job again BE. It's becoming boring just how often you are right =D>
 
Awful yet again today, always on his heels, couldnt pass wind and no anticipation

If he had half a brain, he would think Walcott is out injured if I play well for 10 games I could be on the plane to the WC, but no he is too interested in when he is getting his next tramline in his hair and eyebrow and what club he can act gangster at later

Get rid ASAP, with him and Dawson in he team today it was like playing with 9 men in the 1st half
 
Awful yet again today, always on his heels, couldnt pass wind and no anticipation

If he had half a brain, he would think Walcott is out injured if I play well for 10 games I could be on the plane to the WC, but no he is too interested in when he is getting his next tramline in his hair and eyebrow and what club he can act gangster at later

Get rid ASAP, with him and Dawson in he team today it was like playing with 9 men in the 1st half

Dawson? what?
 
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