Elliott Bennett - Superb

[I am a Banana 0]

Brought in by Lambert to be an attacking winger and he had to fill in at RB today and thought he was excellent. I think given the back four as it was and how well Benno played he was my MOTM. Petrov was never given any space in the area and only had 2 shots which were from outside the box.

Experianced Winger vs Unexperianced RB(and prem player in general)

Winner Unexperianced RB

 

WELL DONE BENNO!!

[Downloads 35]

Thought he was incredibly disciplined in his new found role, did a great job, hats off to him.

[Sing Up The River End 0]

Yeah he played really well.

What was also good, was he looked confident in taking players on today when he got the chance to take the ball up the wing.

Brilliant performance all round.

[smooth 113]

Totally agree, to come in when the defence had been totally disrupted and perform with that calmness, great closing, poise. He cut off Davies in the box, he was secure when in defence and went forward at appropriate times.

 

I was very very impressed by bennett, as I was by naughton. This guy really showed his class, reading the game brilliantly. Fantastic performance by both players. I agree wither could have been MOTM

[NeonYellow 4]

Surman played ok too hey??? Glad you changed your signature about him

[I am a Banana 0]

[quote user="NeonYellow"]Surman played ok too hey??? Glad you changed your signature about him[/quote]

He''s no Elliott Bennett though!

[Gingerpele 0]

He''s better....

Surman is becoming as key as Fox and Hoolahan in midfield I think....

[First Wizard 0]

I thought Elliot truely came of age today. [Y]

[BW 0]

Was superb. Remember my Grant Holt for center mid seems laughable now that he has performed upfront but it does show players can play more then one position.

[Fiery Zac 1,042]

[quote user="Gingerpele"]He''s better....

Surman is becoming as key as Fox and Hoolahan in midfield I think....[/quote]

Completely agree, crazy how some people ''misjudged'' him so!

[ZLF 149]

The makeshift back 4 were outstanding today; 3 out of 4 players out of position, and our second (or third?) choice left back with Martin & Naughton doing well in them middle too.

EB was great, discliplined and focused, just shows what a fab team spirit and understanding we have..

[J.Warman 0]

when elliot bennett plays right mid he is better than andrew crofts defensively and alot better going forward than him, i think it is a mystery why andrew crofts ever plays right mid in our diamond.

 

and today when we didnt have johnson and crofts in midfield we actually had some creativity, instead of playing horrible long ball football.

[kick it off 1,886]

I have been a bit disappointed with him this season. He seems to lack a bit of confidence, and despite providing some wonderful assists, has a tendency to be a bit anonymous.

Today he was a totally different player! Absolutely superb, looked full of confidence (which is the only thing missing from him being a very, very good player imo), was disciplined, but gave us a real threat down the right with a few surging runs. If he played like that more consistently then he''d be one of the first names on the team sheet. It''s also good for us to know he can do a job there when called upon, I remember a CW interview where he said he will play wherever the gaffer tells him, he doesnt care where it is... he showed that in spades today and was only just pipped to MOTM by Jacko for me.

[Lets be aving you! 0]

He played RB a few times for Brighton, so not a complete novelty for him.

 

Agree with other posters that he had seemed previously to lack a bit of confidence (unlike Pilks).

 

EB''s defensive capabilities could prove very valuable in the coming games if we keep losing defenders like we did today.

 

 

[Largey24 0]

Naughton is a fantastic footballer - not put a foot wrong since he has been here and gets us out of trouble with his pace when required. If we signed him up permanently it would be a massive coup.

Bennett was brilliant at RB today, as were all of the back 5. Will be tough at Swansea next week - so glad that Ruddy is at the top of his game, so much confidence in him I believe throughout the team, and even the fans now. He is winning them over and deservedly so.

[Yobocop 514]

I wouldn''t start to panic too much re: injuries, today was just one of those days where somehow we ended up without no recognised centre back on the pitch, and the players in my opinion, passed that test with flying colours!

That certainly won''t happen every game, and I''m sure Whitbread and Ayala will be back sooner rather than later....

I think Ward may be given a chance next game, any word why he didn''t make it today? was on the bench v sunderland

[andyc24_uk 57]

I think today showed us two things re. the defence :

1 - Lambert has really instilled something special into this squad when players are performing arguably the best they have all season in a completely unfamiliar position. (Yes, I know that''s not news - but can you imagine a similar situation at other clubs? eg. Man United have Evra and Ferdinand injured first half and Nani or Giggs are asked to go play in defence? Never going to work out like it did with Bennett today.)

2 - We need to buy Kyle Naughton in the summer, whatever the price. If that means we have to spend £4-5 million, so be it. Yes he will probably be expensive - and his value probably goes up every time he sets foot on the pitch the way he''s playing. Yes, we have a very sensible financial structure at the club and we know the perils of spending above our means. But sometimes a player is worth bending the rules for - and I really think Naughton is good enough. If he goes back to Spurs (where he''ll doubtless warm the bench for Walker for the next year) then I really can''t see anyone we could replace him with.

[grantroederdisaster 0]

Elliot Bennett did superb in a foriegn position for him!

 

E Bennett has got something vital for the Premiership - pace and mobility, assets that many in our squad don''t poccess!

 

He hasn''t been a stand out performer but has done some good work thats been unnoticed.

[Gingerpele 0]

Actually grd, I would say we have a lot of hidden pace. The amount of times i''ve seen Holt, Surman or Hoolahan using pace to good effect when counter attacking is astonishing, considering none of them appear to actually have any pace a lot of the time. And Bennett when playing in an attacking role, doesn''t appear to like to run a lot of the time, he just gets involved in passing movements, and I think him as much, if not more than any other overplays things at times. But he is a great crosser, and when he runs he''s got the potential to do something (although see yesterday, twice he ran out at full speed from defence into loads of space, didn''t try and beat the first man, just stopped and passed it inwards, may be what he''s been told to do, but I just think he has the pace to knock the ball past the man and run after it like Hucks did).

Bennett did great at RB yesterday, and has been solid all season, without ever really standing out.

[grantroederdisaster 0]

Holt reminds me alot of Iwan Roberts in that hes deceptively quick especially inside the box and when he gets into full gallop is certainly not slow!

 

Surman can be surprising at times although I maintain that if he had real out and out pace he''d be playing for a top 6 club. Although its not all about pace. Many of our team have got great anticipation and can read whats potentially going to happen and this does compensate for a lack of pace. This is what our team are good at!

 

Anyway one of our best players ever Martin Peters didn''t have pace and I seem to remember a certain Mick Channon doing well without it in the early 80''s!

 

But I will still maintain the biggest improvement in our squad will be players with real pace though I suspect Lambert knows this!