Toon Paper-Weight Squad Is Not Good Enough!

Last updated : 06 March 2011 By Footy Mad - Editor

Alan Pardew: “When [José] Enrique got injured it unbalanced us a little bit. But you can’t play a game at this level and lose the quality of players that we have today,

"Joey Barton today then we lost [Stephen] Ireland, then Enrique on the pitch – we lost him after a period.

“For all the effort and commitment we put in sometimes that’s just too many players to lose.

"But it was a fantastic effort from the team in terms of the character and the players that were introduced gave absolutely everything without getting anything out of the game.

“I thought that was probably the crucial part of the game, when we took the lead we looked comfortable at that stage and our left side was causing them problems. But we didn’t lock in when we were attacking and got caught twice and then it was going to be an uphill task.

“I think we’ve just genuinely looked at every game as a game that’s winnable for us and we’ll believe that when we go to Stoke. There’s no lack of belief in our camp or any problem that I see today other than the fact that we’ve probably got too many injuries to senior players who are important.”

“We weren’t aware that [Mikel] Arteta would play that side [on the left wing] we just felt that [playing Steven Taylor at right back] would keep us solid and give us a good balance to the team.

"So actually when I saw that selection I thought that probably worked well for us with Danny [Simpson] and Steven [Taylor] up against Baines and Arteta.

“But he caused us problems, he was on his game today, he put in a fantastic performance, Arteta, and it was difficult to contain him. In the end he was still a dominant force and that’s what good players can do to you and I have to say that second half, going up the hill, was a fantastic effort by us and I’m proud of the players for that but that little bit of quality was missing today at times.

“I thought he [Leon Best] was a little bit unlucky with the equaliser that got disallowed, he backed into him, [Phil] Jagielka, and unfortunately Leon put his hands up – I’ve seen the replay – and he’s hardly touched him and he’s gone down.

"I don’t think Jagielka would’ve stopped it if he’d defended it properly so perhaps he was being smart there.

“I’m actually buoyed by Fergie’s [Shane Ferguson’s] performance when he came on, he added a little bit to us and perhaps when Enrique came off I perhaps could have brought him on.

"It was only his youth and the fact that he hasn’t got any experience in a game like that which held me back but he’s got talent and he showed that when he came on.

“So I’m genuinely pleased with the squad players who have performed today but at this level and the form we’ve been in you need your best players on the pitch and unfortunately we didn’t have that today.”