He was superb. For a defender he is so composed on the ball, plays it simple rather than hoofing it down the line (yes Ekotto, I am talking about you) or even rarer for a full back will actually play measured through balls. He was also excellent going forward in a support capacity. He provided excellent width and always seemed to do what was best for the team. No dumb gung ho runs from him. And defensively? Very solid. Despite an obvious lack of agility and pace, he almost always stood up and forced the crosser to pass backwards or cut onto their weaker foot.
For me one of Harry's biggest mistakes was picking Walker and Hutton over him. It's obvious that Harry wants a gung ho style right back (he also had Glen Johnson who is similar to Walker/Hutton but better), but I personally think that when Lennon has a supporting full back he plays a lot better and we look better balanced and more solid.
LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Corluka ambles over to the winger, gets touch-tight - but then, for some reason known only to himself, doesn't even bother to hang a leg out to block the cross which is so obviously about to come in. I just DON'T understand why, as a fullback, you'd bother to get that close ... and then not make an effort to stop the cross from coming in? What does he think he's doing out there then?? ](*,) It's like you're watching the laziest defender in the world, so lazy that he can't even be arsed to hide it. Why be a fudging fullback if you're not gonna try stopping balls coming into the box?
The other seriously amateur flaw in his locker, is how flat-footed he used to be, whenever a set-piece would be floated into the box, usually to the far post. There would be Corluka, flat as fudge - standing jump - and in comes the attacker, attacking the ball. fudge me, it's not rock science! It's like he's chosen a square yard of the pitch to defend, and that's where he's gonna stay, regardless of what's going on around him. THAT is so fudging amateur is embarrassing.
If you're a manager and you're sitting watching your fullback not even make an attempt to block crosses, and no attempt to track the flight of the ball into the box, why the hell would you continue putting a liability like that in the team?? Wake yourself up: he was dropped because management could see that, for some reason, he just couldn't be arsed anymore. I don't know why, but stop embarrassing yourself by harping on about how jizztastic he was in the 08/09 season; we're in 11/12 now chaps,
wake up and smell the coffee.
Corluka provided absolutely zero attacking prowess for us. Each to their own, but I don't see a footballer walking over the half way line, predictably turning inside and hurriedly offloading to a usually marked Lennon as "excellent going forward". I'm not going to deny that Corluka could cross a ball - he could, but don't dress him up as something he isn't, and never will be. The "support" he gave, was just about getting over the half way line. But the problem, is that he was so fudging slow that he couldn't then recover into a defensive role quick enough and we were liable to counterattacks.
All of the above is so blindingly obvious, and it amazes me when I read nonsense on here about Corluka. He's a seriously average footballer, just like the other footballer who used get nonsensical crap posted about him: Jermaine fudging Jenas. Wake up people: these players are crap, not good enough and they never, ever will be.
Raise Your Standards.
