benitez to blame 619

I'm not sure the midfield is the main problem, although Alonsos and Sissokos poor form has been pretty surprising. Alonso in particular is too casual and too nonchalant on the ball, and how many counter attacking opportunities he has created this season I will not know.

Sissoko's pbutting is back to where it was before the eye incident. He is still a great tackler, but he needs to sort out his pbutting. We can't have two central midfielders who can't pbutt the ball.

I agree. I think he had a very good game against Galatasaray, and our problems towards the end of that match was not because of him playing in the middle - it was mainly because of our left side lacking cover and Aurelio being caught out (again and again). As it is now I'd much rather have Sissoko and Gerrard in the middle.

He is in danger of getting there, but there is still a chance to do something about that.

That's a very strange way of looking at today's non-free kick ... I agree, though, that Reina does not instill confidence. His kicking is very lacking, and there's just something very hesitant about him that I can't put my finger on.

Had a horrible game today. Really bad. Seems like he wanted to hide under his mother's skirt.

He's a LOT better than Pennant, though, so I'd rather play him on the right for the next few matches.

Having said that, we haven't really played badly! Look at the stats for the Everton, Chelsea and Bolton games, and you will see that many of the goals come up as a result of personal errors and the central defence lacking coordination. We have had HUGE chances in all those three games, and let's NOT forget that we have been playing against our arch-rival, the PL winner of the last two years, and a team (Bolton) that only lost to Chelsea and United at home last season ...

I realize we won't win the league this year (three losses in four away matches does not a championship side make), but I still think things can happen for us.

I notice Chelsea is struggling against Villa right now (1-1), and that Arsenal is only drawing away against Charlton (1-1). Yes, I know Chelsea will nick it in the end, and that Henry will probably get one for Arsenal, but there seems to be few easy games anymore.