Should Aaron have come off?

[basskadet]

Aaron Lennon left the pitch yesterday leaving us with just 10 men & it was from our right-hand side that the opposition scored. After the game, Harry did not appear too pleased with the situation as Aaron demanded he come off despite being told it would leave us a man short.

Now, fair enough if the lad has a big injury, but he was able to walk down the tunnel unaided, so can his ankle really have been that bad?

The Mail points out that he did leave WHL with a protective caste on his ankle & is now a doubt for England's friendly with Brazil on November 14th . . . errr, screw that!! What about the f-ing London Derby???

Of course I am desperate that Aaron is OK & that he makes a speedy recovery, certainly in time to face Arsenal, but, at the same time, I will be p*ssed if it turns out to be nothing more than a knock.

All he had to do was stand there. His presence on the pitch alone would have been enough concern for Whelan that he may not have been pushing as far forward as he was when he scored. With nobody to worry about attacking down our right, Whelan had free rein. Aaron's ankle really cannot have been that bad if he could walk all by himself to the changing rooms, can in it?

I await news on him with mixed feelings . . .

Lennon leaves Harry fuming as Spurs blow big chance

. . . mind you, if Aaron does miss the derby, step up Mr. Bentley, the stage is set for another 40 yarder!!

[Outre]

agreed, if it is just a knock i think it's far too soft..
but until i know more, i'll give him the benefit...

[EliteKiller]

Aaron has never struck me as 'weak' he gets kicked every week and plays on ..... this was just one of those days when whatever we did 'fate' had decided we were going to lose. 63% possession 9 - 1 shots on target in our favor ..... not the sign of a poor performance.
I think 'arry made a mistake not playing JJ, now I know many on this forum don't like the lad but he has been doing a good job as our 'attacking' midfielder, both the Hudd and Palacios are defensive players, I guess 'arry thought (as we all did) that we had enough upfront to win and that keeping a clean sheet by bolstering the midfield would be good .... just didn't happen.

Not good injury news with Woodgate and Lennon now doubtful for next week, Defoe and Modric also out will leave us short .... great time for a shock win me thinks .......

[Berbatov]

the other day I watched 1961 FA cup final and notice that one of Leicester City players had a bad knock early in the game. Since then there were no substitutions allowed the physios came froze it and he played almost to the end (at least another 40 minutes) It was already 2-0 Spurs when he left.

Couldn't our physios just fix him for 15 min and he just sits on the pitch or something. Of course if it is serious that is not an option but I had the impression that nobody checked him...

As for Bentley - I would love to see him score at Emirates again. Maybe this is a destiny?

[spurs2rise]

Should have just got a jab of painkillers and came back on.

Aaron has always seemed a pansy to me.

[stroud_jm]

to support Elitekillers first point- I listened to the first half of the game on PL radio and they said Lennon was the most fouled player in the Premiership thus far. In his defense, his leg did look like it gave out a little in the replay-

I guess ultimately the only person who will know the truth about how bad it hurt is AL himself...nice thought about Bentley, maybe even Gio, anyway, it may be time to further test that squad depth people keep talking about

[kirrieyid]

ok if lennon is injurd then fair play,but ya cant blame him for the goal of loss if we was winnin 2-0 would we of been bothered??palacios stopped when he could have covered beside ekotto.....hopefully it will be a blessin i disguise,bentley certainly has the crossin ability....i'll throw this into the mix.......hutton.....right mid.

[kevfball63]

I was going to reply to this yesterday but the jury is still out = mixed feelings .

[Swanny]

Lets wait until we find out all the facts, all I can say in his defence is that until he went off he was by far our best player, I'm only surprised Crouchy was'nt airlifted off the pitch to hospital he had the sh*te kicked out of him all afternoon

[Roscono3]

We have to wait to see lads! All i will say is that sometimes its got to be best to lose him for 15min than weeks or maybe months.... He could of done far more damage by staying on!

[ParkLaneMal]

Should have just got a jab of painkillers and came back on.

Aaron has always seemed a pansy to me.

Sorry to say it Spurs2rise but that is a stupid comment. All the painkiller would have done is disguise the long term damage being caused if Lennon had continued playing.

If being a pansy is how he skipped around the Stoke defence for 80 odd minutes, then keep skipping Arron.

He was by far our best player yesterday.

[toshenhamhotspur]

should stayed on eveen to stand there

[ParkLaneMal]

should stayed on eveen to stand there

You mean do a Keano

[TAFFSPUR]

You mean do a Keano

Well done Mal,you beat me to it mate,many a true word spoken in jest,our captain is fast becoming a liability and a luxury we can ill afford.Methinks keano has slipped into the comfort zone.Lennon has bags of courage imo,i can't think of a prem player who gets fouled more than him,and limping about on damaged ankle ligaments is hardly gonna serve him or us well in the longterm.This thread would be rendered academic if we had been more clinical in front of goal,we should have been home and dry long before lennon got injured.

[BrumSpur]

I woke up, this morning, thinking about this very issue!!

Have to agree with everything Basskadet said. Last week, I praised Niko when he 'took one for the team' and accepted Harry's decision to substitiute him after JD's sending off, without making a fuss or throwing a strop, because he knew that, ultimately, it was for the greater good of the team to shore things up, defensively.

OK, Aaron took a knock and it was probably sore. But could he have hung around, just for nuisance value and to keep up the numbers? No-one would have expected him to make his usual runs. He could have just hung around the edge of the box and played the ball with his good leg, if the opportunity arose.

I just wonder what was foremost in his mind, when he went off - Tottenham Hotspur or Aaron Lennon? It was a wet and windy Saturday afternoon. He was, without doubt, our best player, while he was on the pitch. Maybe he felt he'd done his bit and could leave the rest of them to it? Was he giving the game up as a 0-0 draw and thinking about making sure he secured his place in the team for the more glamorous games against Everton and A*senal?

Obviously, full judgement is reserved, until we find out the extent of his injury. Out of interest, I wonder what the rest of the team thought about his decision?