Time for a bit of Weiss?

Tomorrow's home game with Sunderland sees Mark Hughes in desperate need of both three points and a good performance in order to keep the whispering masses at bay. The bad defeat at Spurs on Wednesday was certainly the lowest point thus far of a steady yet frustrating season. I wonder whether it might be time for the boss to show a bit of faith in a certain tricky young Slovakian.

It's a tricky call, these things can on occasion backfire, but i think Vlad is a special case, and his inclusion in the side for either of the upcoming home fixtures would certainly boost flagging morale on the terraces. It shouldn't be necessary, of course, but several senior players aren't stepping up and dragging us to victories as they should be doing, so perhaps a sprinkling of the unknown (in first-team terms at least) may help.

Trouble is you're going to upset the applecart whoever makes way, and those most in need of being dropped may be either in front or behind a midfield that wasn't absolutely awful midweek but has struggled for shape and fluidity all season. If pricetags and reputations aren't garnering performances, though, then i'd sooner Hughes picked the side of players he felt were most hungry and eager to fight for the badge.

For all Shaun Wright-Phillips has earned some criticism over the last few weeks his return in terms of both goals and assists are to his credit. Scoring five and playing a key part in a further nine of our notched efforts so far means that even with his confidence not at its highest, assuming he's recovered from the injury that kept him out of the trip to White Hart Lane, he'll play.

Craig Bellamy has to come back in, the boy's got more get-up-and-go in his left shin than most of the others put together. With those being the two most obvious candidates for the wide roles, however, i'd still consider giving Weiss the nod, even if that means Robinho has to make do with a place on the bench, Craig shift upfront, or the midfield needs a real rejig.

I don't think there's much doubt that the side at the minute, or if we're honest for pretty much most of the season, lacks vitality, cutting edge and confidence. Vlad can bring all of those things, and whilst the most important factor, particularly to the manager, are results, i think he'd win more friends by giving the lad a chance than sticking with the same set of players who even the most vehement Hughes In'ers admit aren't doing the business.