The match was generally quite exciting and I felt we controlled the game through out but, didn't convert the chances we should have. Poch clearly had an eye on Wednesdays game, which I can understand. Its a pity though, I love the FA cup, it will always be ours. We may not have won it since 91 but, we've got that special connection to it. When you see us play in the cup, its always been a bit magic.
Felt we were let down by a few today. Although, Lamela and soldado were fantastic and a few of the others had good games.
It was on odd one really, I think we fell to pieces a bit defensively (obviously) in the second half but, remain potent attacking wise.
Vorm - 7 - made some fantastic saves, if we didn't have lloris, he'd be the best keeper we'd had for a while
Chiriches - 6 (first half) 2 (second half) - worked hard and was decent the first half but second half he was error prone and had an odd moment where he messed up a basic skill move straight after Fazio pulled off a roulette, if we had a better right back in the second half, dare I say we maybe have not conceeded. I like Vlad but, am fast being convinced otherwise.
Kaboul - 4 (first half) - 2 (second half) - he could have cost us two goals in the first half and was generally poor. He kept heading it out whenever he headed the ball even when in acres of space with time on his hands. Personal issues within the squad aside, he should either look at moving to a less physical league as he seems to have lost all his physical prowess due to injury or to retire at the end of his contract as I can't see him getting a pay day at European club unless he undertakes some very rigourous strength training. His footballing intelligence has been questionable throughout his career but at one point it seemed like he'd turned a corner. His injury has ruined his career, I think.
Fazio - first half 6.5 - second half 5. Solid first half with a below par second, nice bit of skill though.
Rose - first half 8 - second half 6. Very impressive in the first half, made some awe-inspiring interceptions that made leicester look like amateurs and was a threat going up the left flank, linking with lamela on occasion. Second half was let down by the rest of defence so I don't know how harsh I should be on him. Would have had a better game alongside vertongen and faz/Dier.
Townsend - 6 - same old same old, looks like he has a spark but wasteful. Penalty was only meaningful contribution. Looked like a threat at times but, flattered to deceive.
Dembele -5- worked hard but was ultimately lacking in passing ability, vision and unfortunately general skill. Looked like he hadn't played in months. Covered well to an extent
Capoue - 4 - same as dembele but, worked less hard.
Lamela - first half 8 - second half 7 - Looked like a bit of a star, anyone who ****ged him off clearly wasn't there. The Leicester team looked afraid of him and I can understand why, maybe if he was a bit greedier at times he would have won us the match. Got 5 or so would be assists and unfairly will get stick due to the result.
Paulinho- first half 7 - second half 5 - in the first half he looked good and was made to look like a star by the combines efforts of soldado and Lamela. Downside to his game in the first half was his surprising lack of a ability in the final third for an attacking midfielder. He also seemed to spend much of the game getting in lamelas way. Either he's clueless or its a chemistry problem. All in all, I was impressed by him in the first half. In the second half, he was back to being a poor player but remained lively and a part of things until the unfortunate arrival of Ade.
Soldado - 8 and my motm - looked more and more confident as the game went on, we all thought he'd score. Linked play and was at time was playing play maker. Him and lamela looked like they were the players we thought they were when we signed them. His hard work will keep him at spurs I hope.
Goals will come eventually, maybe we should switch to 442 with him and Kane at the end of matches.
Subs
Eriksen - 6 -read lamela and soldado, I didn't get why he was bought on for townsend as it unbalanced the team but, he played well as always, looking like he was a class above the majority of our side. Was in awe watching him training, could have made a highlight reel of him, the guy is just ridiculous. Paulinho should have come off as the logical player making way.
Ade -2 - I didn't agree with booing him but, simply put he ruined our attacking game mostly as he slowed down the game. He may be gifted technically and physically when he wants to be but, he is certainly not a particularly intelligent player. When you compare him with soldado, you can see that he's not on the footballing brain wave of soldado, eriksen and lamela. Sold ado should have stayed on.
Kane was anonymous despite off the ball movement, no time to leave any impact so no rating.
Poch - 6 -clearly had an eye on the semi-final which I can understand. Ade was a poor sub and I think he made a few wrong decisions in terms of timing the subs.
Was gutted at the end but, enjoyed the day until them. Felt a bit magic at times.
COYS
