Are we really good enough?

[FatMan Fat 0]

Today''s match against West ham was just too scary...if they had not committed a comic defensive error we would have lost. Our back four were okay, but Francis did not seem to be in the game as much as he should be...when thay were down to 10 men I would have brought Mullers on.
However it is up front where I thought we were weakest. I love Iwan to bits but he just isn''t good enough any more to spearhead a drive for promotion. Svensson is supposed to be commanding and physical...we have yet to see that part of his game....he was ineffectual again today. What''s the story with McKenzie..if he is good enough he should be playing, so presumably he isn''t good enough in Worthington''s opinion.
The truth is that if we take Hucks out of the lineup we are very mediocre up front indeed. Since Peter Crouch went back to Villa we have loked very lightweight up front. Oh for somebody like Harewood...big, skilfull, physical.
The tension today was almost too much, and I fear that it will be repeated over the next few matches as our forwards (with the exception of Hucks) are shown not to be good enough.

[DumbleDelia is Magic 0]

In answer to your thread Fatman YES WE ARE!!!! This is one game. West Ham are the best side we''ve played for a few weeks and just because they play well people think we can''t hack it. I agree that Roberts wasn''t brilliant but I don''t think we can expect him to play wonderfully every single game. He''s been excellent in the past few weeks and I don''t think we can have a go at him for one performance. As for Francis, I felt he was superb. His work rate was second to none and his tackling was excellent. Sorry if I''m going on but I also disagree with your statement "The truth is that if we take Hucks out of the lineup we are very mediocre up front indeed." We have some excellent strikers at this club. Yes Roberts will never be as consistant as he was, but I don''t think we can judge Svensson yet. He hasn''t played consistantly for a while now and I''m sure he''ll turn into an excellent striker for this club. McKenzie too, I''m sure is a great player. It''s just that he''s currently down the pecking order to Huckerby. We can''t judge McKenzie on 4/5 minutes he gets at the end of games. I''m sure McKenzie is champing at the bit to get a game and when his chance comes he''ll grab it with both arms (or feet!) and prove he is a good acquisition to this football club

[Mook 0]

Svensson was magnificent when he came on, and looks a quality replacement for - as you rightly pointed out - the ineffectual Iwan.

But don''t be so negative - they were rubbish too, and we had enough chances to win the game twice or three times. How many saves did Green make???

[FatMan Fat 0]

I didn''t realise I was being negative...I merely said that the match was scary and that we were fortunate to get a draw.
I went on to question the effectiveness of our strike force. I think it would be true to say that Iwan lost his "edge" last season. He is a great bloke and a great servant of the Club, but is he good enough to spearhead our promotion drive? I dont think so.
I have yet to see Svensson impose himself on opponent''s defences, and I cannot understand why McKenzie is not given more than the odd 5 mins...after all his strike rate is good and we need to know if he CAN hack it.
All of that being said, I truly believe that we would be a better team with someone like Harewood, big/physical/skillful, leading our line. Don''t you?

[Steve White 24]

Sorry Fatman, although I agree with the statement that we will have to strengthen somewhat before next season when (if?) we go up, do not agree with your judgement of some of the players. Although not everything went right for Francis, he worked extremely hard at both ends of the pitch and was involved all the time - I judge him to be one of the players who could do ok in the Prem. Svensson did enough in the 15 mins he was on to show that he should play instead of Robets from the start, in those last 15 mins it looked as if Huckerby had more support - dont know why you think he isn´t too physical, his whole game is based around getting stuck in!

[no1canary 0]

i heard this the other day about england. your best side is not necessarily your best 11. thats with us and mckenzie. he is one of our best eleven but if don''t have a place 4 him then u can''t start him. like engand. lampard, scholes, beckham and gerrard r your best mids but u haven''t got the left or the right sided players so u can''t start all of them if u want a balanced side. if u want your best eleven out every week then u might not get the results u want coz it is not a balanced team. like the bradford and rotherham game.
does anyone else agree with my point?

[Mook 0]

Ok Fatman, maybe you weren''t negative as such, but I really think that West Ham weren''t that special. An entertaining game it was, but they didn''t set my world alight.

As far as Harewood goes, well his goal was terrific but Drury had him in his back pocket for most of the game and he was getting very frustrated. Malky and Flem were tidying up well and personally, I reckon Svensson gives us options that Harewood can''t and alonside Hucks/McKenzie will be a force to be reckoned with.

James, I agree with your point about balance but yesterday against an attack-minded side, we could have played Leon/Svensson up front with Huckerby on a wing and not given too much away. We would have REALLY stretched their awful back line too.