He'll be coming out with 'we're down to the bare bones' quote soon:razz:
Good win though, anyone else think that Zoko is stepping up to the plate a bit more?

we did indeed show tremendous character to beat a difficult team on an horrendous pitch

apparently it's our 13th semi final - a record equaller

well done the Spurs

Great to be in the semis again! Hope we get United in the final.

We played very well for the most part, but once again the crossing was sub-standard, almost amateur. I think that our inability to cross a decent ball (most of the time), is losing us points this season more than ever before. How hard can it be?!

he is stepping up to the plate, carrying the plate across a crowded floor then just as he is about to put the plate on the table, oh dear he drops the bastard!

I'm not so sure it's all bad crossing. Sure some are woeful but there were a number of balls into the box last night from Lennon and BAE in particular that were in the right areas. I mean the ball went into the box and neither the keper came or the defenders cleared, it just carried on across. To me that shows two things, 1) a lack of possitioning by our front men - and i see Gus's point about Pav and Bent being too similar the more i see them play and 2) the lack of men in the box from other areas i.e if Lennon is crossing, Jenas and O'Hara should be in or around the box with Pav and Bent. That way the cross finds a target.

Agree with BobbyP - felt that Zoko was MOTM last night.
Ran around with real purpose and the major improvement i have noticed in his game is his passing albeit one mishap last night. He seems less inclined to go for the difficult pass and keep things simple. His energy/athleticism is second to none.
And i have to admit i was his biggest critic during the summer.
Now i'm not saying he should be first choice but on performancs like last night i can see him playing his way back into the team.
I know it was against Watford last night but i have really seen an improvement in his game lateley

good result, good character.............woeful performance. Particularly Pavlova who looked disinterested and failed to hold the ball up consistently. Against a PL side we would have been beaten with that performance.

On a bright note good to see Woodgate was captain even with Jenas in the side......long may that continue in Kings absence.

I was gonna mention that funnily enough. I missed the start of the game, but was pleasantly suprised when I saw Woodgate with the armband on even though Jenas was playing. I hope we'll see some sort of confirmation that Woody is official Vice Captain soon. (Important job at our club with the main captain only playing one in two). I know there's lots of views on Jenas, and I won't get into that as i'm somewhere in the middle on it, but I think one thing everyone can agree on is that he's no captain and this can only be a positive move.

A wins a win and we're getting more wins of late that losses so that's good enough for me. If they start slacking again like last year then I'll start criticising again, just as I did after the Everton debacle.

I'm glad someone has bought this up,because i have notice this problem for a couple of weeks.
Lennons crossing has improved this season but know one seems to be getting on the end of them and known of the midfielders don't seem to be getting in box:bang:

You are never happy are you?! It was a tough game on a difficult pitch, which many PL sides would have lost - We started slowly but then battered them for large spells & knocked the ball around very well given the state of the pitch! Get behind the team!

triffic! :grin:

im sorry but how anyone can think that zokora is a good enough player is beyond me

he fills me with dread whenever he has the ball and all i want is for him to get rid of it

he can run, ill give him that, but this is football, not athletics

and what on earth did he do at the end when he booted the ball out for a goal kick?? o hara could hardly believe it. it was comical. shows no footballing brain whatsoever.

I have never seen anyone with som much energy as Zoko. He just runs and runs and runs, he might not be running anywhere but its still great to see him working hard. We weren't the best last night but got through and that's the main thing. The pitch was poor and Watford didn't allow us to move the ball around well at times. Lennon was good again and yes, his crossing has improved alot. O'Hara was poor IMO, and to be honest, as much as I love to talk the guy up, I have a feeling he is not really up to the standard we are looking for, but we have Harry who gets the best out of average players most of the time.
Woody as captain is doing us wonders. He is far better than Jenas and should be the vice capt from now on.

COYS

Im glad that we won and are in another semi final.

Our third semi in 3 yrs and with 3 different managers, who says change doesn't work!!

With regard to Lennon, his crossing last night was appalling. I hope he develops into the best winger in the world, but at the moment its all speed and not much else. One goal in ten and one cross per half isn't good enough.

Tony Daley, Perry Groves and Franz Carr all spring to mind.

And, indeed, John Chedozie!?

Leave him out of it, if it hadn't been for injuries......

They are quite similar, though. God, he was quick, wasn't he ...

Actually, I may be in the minority, but I happen to think Lennon has been pretty much our most consistently effective player this season. Yes, there are moments of extreme frustration with him, but overall he's doing a good job of terrifying the opposition on a fairly regular basis. And he's working hard, winning a lot more tackles.