Thank You! We finally got a Premiership win under our belts again. But I must admit that for large periods during the first half, I thought, “Oh no, here we go again!” We failed to score in the first half and Sunderland had the best chance of the half early on but were stopped by a brilliant save from Pepe Reina. If Sunderland had gotten that early goal, the game could have been so different.
When I saw the starting lineups and saw that Mascherano would be starting at right back I was in shock! It was Skrtel in that position the previous game and now Mascherano. I think the message is clear for Rafa, he needs to purchase a right back this summer and preferably a world class one: I am think the likes of Alves or Rafina. I then ask myself, where is Stephen Darby? Surely this would be the best opportunity to give the youngster a run in the team as we have no right backs?
But with that said, Mascherano actually had a decent game at right back but I would not like to see him play there often. At left back we started with Insua and it was great to see him back in action. I think he is our best left back and we should stick with him for the rest of the season.
I have never been a fan of Ngog but he got us the first goal yesterday and helped create the second one for Yossi Benayoun. It was a decent performance by Ngog upfront but I still don’t believe he is our answer to backup Torres.
In the end it was a comfortable win for us but we should have been getting results like this versus the Stokes and Everton’s at home.
The promising Darby was injured too…