We need to keep Neville in the side for his leadership qualities. He's lost the midfield anchor position to Fellaini, so it'll have to be right back, even though I'd like to see Coleman given a run there. I think that Heitinga could be another Jagielka once he settles in properly. His distribution is better than Jags and he had a goalscoring record in Holland to match Lescott. Hopefully we'll start to see that part of his game emerge before too long. Baines is the only option at left back. He's not getting forward as well as he did last season and he needs to work on closing wingers down quicker to prevent crosses coming in.
Neville-Jagielka-Heitinga-Baines
Distin hasn't impressed me at all and I can see him leaving in the summer. He'd quite possibly be fifth choice centre back behind Jagielka, Heitinga, Yobo and Senderos and I can't see him settling for that at this stage of his career. Hopefully having to fight for his place will sharpen Yobo up mentally. It remains to be seen what Senderos can offer us. As he's out of contract in the summer, we're effectively getting him on a free now. I can't really see Moyes carrying four senior centre backs in the squad given that we need to be mindful of our wage bill. We may sign him up and move him quickly on for a profit. Seeing as Arsenal have struggled to find a buyer for him over the last 18 months, we may well simply release him instead.
Duffy looks like a good player. He read the game well and was calm and composed during his Europa League outing. If Rindaroy comes in as cover for Baines then we haven't got a bad squad of defenders at our disposal.
Howard certainly needs some competition for his place and hopefully Mucha will provide it. Compared to the form that he showed last season, Tim has had a very disappointing year. Admittedly he hasn't been helped by his defence but, having set a club clean sheet record last term, he has failed to live up to those standards during this campaign. I think I heard in the commentary yesterday that we've managed only 3 shut outs in 33 games. I rarely remember Howard being featured in tv highlights for making saves this season and I can't think of that many Man of the Match awards that he's won.
