King

[Thracian]

He makes few mistakes because he doesn't want the ball most of the time and rarely tries to pick out a meaningful pass. He'd rather pass responsibility to someone else even if it slows the move down. This is annoying as he has the talent to do something with it. This idea that he's actually playing well it's just that you don't notice him is so overused. You notice players who are playing well because they are making significant contributions. Whether it's interceptions (and btw, these don't count if the opposition player just makes a terrible pass and plays it straight to our player who just happened to be standing there), tackles, good passes, goals, etc.

As for his defensive work, I can think of an example of him not doing much, one of their players squared up to him down the right in the second half, he stood off him and let him run at him, made no wortwhile attempt to stop the cross and had some Forest players gambled in the middle it may have been a goal.

If yesterday was a decent performance from him then that's all the more reason to replace him, there are midfielders who do so much more in this league.

We sure miss King most when he's not there. Most recently when he was left out of the starting line-up we went a goal down in the first few minutes, conceded a penalty and were a right mess.

In the last two games since he's had a defensive role and Wellens has started on the bench we've conceded one goal, won at Palace for a change and bossed most of the game at Forest.

As for suggesting King slows the play he's actually the fastest passer in the club. And the most accurate. His passing is restrained now because he's playing in a more defensive role so that, often, if he lost possession we'd be in trouble. Pearson seems to like him in that role and with good reason, because he's so reliable.

In the last 12 games since November 1 we've conceded just 11 goals - near title winning form defensively. But we've not scored or created enough because Wellens and Abe aren't goalscorers, because we've got Beckford misfiring and because we haven't got a natural right-winger nor many goals from the left.

This transfer window is the first chance Pearson's had to fix those few things and, when he does, our results should improve quickly enough, especially if Tunchev/Mills can stay fit and working in tandem.