3 Comments

Mysterious absence of midfielder

SongI have one big question following the match this afternoon – where was Alex Song?

Maybe I shouldn’t try to work out the machinations of footballing minds far greater than mind but like most I thought it was a given he would get some much needed game time.

Instead, he sat it out on the bench for the entire 94 minutes despite having seen him thrown into an impossible situation at White Hart Lane last weekend and not looking half bad despite the long lay off.

The player had made it clear in the week that he was going to take things very slowly but isn’t it fair to assume that having had 10 minutes away as a return from injury he might get 20 at home in a match where we needed a bit more creativity as we attempted to break down the Baggies.

It was good to see Antonio get on near the end even though all he did was run around a bit but the absence of Song confused me.

Nobody inside the club we’ve spoken to this evening has a clue why he was left on the bench and all assumed he would get more minutes to help his match fitness.

It’s an odd one – over to you!

 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

3 comments on “Mysterious absence of midfielder

  1. Considering the tactical choices and the forced one with Sakho coming off, it did not seem that odd to me. Everyone was asking for Antonio to get minutes. He got a few. The three subs were used, could not fit Song anymore. I don’t think there is too much to debate about, this is a non issue.

  2. We should have won … We nearly won. We were pushing for the win & all the subs were aimed at improving our attacking threat – and replacing the injured. Song can wait .. How good is that to say.. It proves we have strength in depth. The manager picked the right system today and we played well, should have won & got a bit unlucky.We played so much better than last week. If song doesn’t get on if makes me feel proud of the strength of the squad. I’m confident about the future we will do well this season.

  3. Taking Obiang off was a mistake but if you were going to do that then Song would have been my choice to replace him,
    Watching Song come on last week it might be a bit early after his injury or his head is not in the right place and Slav knows that,
    Moses should have gone with Zarate going wide and when Sakho went either Song or Callum should have been brought on to help Kouyate as this was the turning point in the game when we lost control of the middle,
    But agree with Dainon we were unlucky Hand ball before Lambert shot by Fletcher not picked up,and unlucky OG
    No panic needed,give Jenks a rest play the same 2 in front of the defence,
    Give Moses a rest and Carroll to replace Sakho but hold the ball up not just flicking the ball on all the time,

Comments are closed.