He still reacted bloody well to get some of those shots away, Soldado proved how great of a striker/poacher he is with some amazing bits of positioning and strikes. He's pretty unlucky not to have bagged a couple of more goals so far this season, he's been pretty good.
Eriksen was a bit quieter in this game, but still starred. Everyone is (rightfully) banging on about Ozil, but Eriksen is really proving to be a star. The commentators and fans in both of his games so far have had nothing but immense praise for him.
I sat through the whole game and was mostly impressed, it may have been Cardiff but we still played a lot better than we would have in previous seasons. These kinds of games usually kill us in the long run, but we are getting the points when we have to, which is a big step forward and a sure sign that our recruitment is paying off.
I really wasn't expecting us to be doing this well, especially defensively with Walker and Rose/Naughton as our first choice fullbacks. Naughton had a shocker and was singly responsible for Cardiff's three best chances, but otherwise, our midfield simply bosses opposition teams and doesn't allow them that many chances at all. With all these new players still gelling in the team - hence why Lamela isn't starting regularly just yet - we should by rights be struggling, but we aren't, which is phenomenal really.
On Lamela, he looks the goods when he comes on. Methinks once AVB thinks he is fully adjusted and gives him those starts, we will really start to see what he can do. It is hard to make a good impact off the bench when you are the kind of player Lamela is, though he still manages to make a difference, by pretty much taking full responsibility for Paulinho's goal. And by the way, Brazilian back-heels are the best kinds of goals ;-)
