Ashley Westwood - Sold to Burnley

[eamonn]

Yeah, he's just "there", isn't he? Which is fine as long as he doesn't go missing like he was wont to do when him and El Ahmadi worked together.

[SamTheMouse]

Previous he was pretty static, didn't get forward much but didn't track runners either. He's covering a lot more ground this season and playing with more bite, which I suspect may have something to do with a certain Mr Keane.

[PaulWinch again]

Yes his increased mobility this season has added a lot to his and the team's perfomances. He's not letting people run beyond him and he's shielding the defence, whilst also making some intelligent runs forward.

[tommy_boy]

His absence against Arsenal showed how valuable he is to this team. Our whole midfield was lost. I start getting why Lambert values him so high and keep praises him. That calm short simple passing deep in our midfield that he offers in addition to his great workrate and decent defending and covering...... I think he is a key player

[Witton Warrior]

His absence against Arsenal showed how valuable he is to this team. Our whole midfield was lost. I start getting why Lambert values him so high and keep praises him. That calm short simple passing deep in our midfield that he offers in addition to his great workrate and decent defending and covering...... I think he is a key player

The sum of the parts is greater than the whole and all that seems to be the thinking with Lambert...

[Hillbilly]

His absence against Arsenal showed how valuable he is to this team. Our whole midfield was lost. I start getting why Lambert values him so high and keep praises him. That calm short simple passing deep in our midfield that he offers in addition to his great workrate and decent defending and covering...... I think he is a key player

The new Petrov then. We only realised how important he was in the games where he wasn't playing and ultimately when he sadly had to retire.

[Risso]

His absence against Arsenal showed how valuable he is to this team. Our whole midfield was lost. I start getting why Lambert values him so high and keep praises him. That calm short simple passing deep in our midfield that he offers in addition to his great workrate and decent defending and covering...... I think he is a key player

They looked just as lost today against top class opposition as they did against Arsenal, and Westwood was playing.

[Ads]

Poor delivery from him today.

[SoccerHQ]

Cleverley took some decent set pieces last week so would like to see them alternate v City.

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Cleverley took some decent set pieces last week so would like to see them alternate v City.

Agree. Don't want to get into Ashley Young territory insisting he takes everything.

When we finally play teams who haven't spent incredible amounts of money, I think Westwood, Cleverley and Delph will look quite a smart midfield. You could see them passing it quite well at times today.

[Matt Collins]

Yeah I think they're a decent threesome. But they're a bit samey. You need penetration from the two playing with benteke. Weimann and gabby aren't good enough on the ball

[Risso]

Yeah I think they're a decent threesome. But they're a bit samey. You need penetration from the two playing with benteke. Weimann and gabby aren't good enough on the ball

Delph's got a bit of variety in that he can run at players a bit, but none of them exactly create very much or trouble the scorers very often.  Need more quality from the three of them.  OK they didn't cost a gazillion pounds like the Chelsea players, but Delph is now an England player and Cleverley has come from Man U where Ferguson rated him, so I'd expect to see a bit more quality.

[OCD]

Poor delivery from him today.

I thought it was a bit of a mixed bag. Yes, there were some poor deliveries but there were a couple of good set-pieces too like his free kick that Baker headed onto the roof of the net.

[villan from luton]

Good player and think after this little run the midfield will start to flourish, especially when they have something to aim at up front with Benteke coming back.

[ozzjim]

I am willing to give them a few games after this ridiculous run to see how they bed down, but 2-3 times today they played some very neat, fast moving forward football that got us onto the front foot, so I can see it working well. Also, Cleverley did have a a decent eye for goal in his loan spells, so lets see if we can get a bit of that out of him.