Ratings v Stoke

[DubaiSpur]

Friedel gets a 5. If he'd just come out for that ball, rather than stay rooted to his line, it wouldn't have been a goal. I can understand his reluctance to do so, but this is stoke we're playing; take some risks, command your box. It's vital.
Defence gets a 6. Decent job.
Midfield is varied. Bale gets a 5.5. STAY. ON. THE. LEFT. GARETH.
Modric gets a 6.
Parker gets a 6.
Niko gets a 4.
VdV gets a 6.5 (bumped for the goal).

Saha gets a 1. If he hadn't taken that one decent shot in the first half, he'd have gotten a 0.1.

Defoe - 5.
Gio - 5.

Harry - 6 for the team selection, -1, 999, 999, 999, 999 for NOT PUTTING TOGETHER SOME SET PIECE PRACTISE FOR CHRIST'S SAKE

 

[sp61urs]

Time to go Ledley

...you are joking!

 

[ArcspacE]

Friedel - 5 - should have come out for their goal

Walker - 6 - tried
King - 5 - not his best game
Kaboul - 6 - ok
BAE - 7 - MotM

Krunchie - 3 - the sooner this caricature of an overweght footballer leaves the club, the better for all parties involved
VdV - 6 - vital goal
Modric - 5 - sloppy in possession
Parker - 5 - isolated and ineffective

Defoe - 5 - invisible
Saha - 3 - pathetic display from a pathetic signing

Gio - 5 - no time / no impact
Nelsen - 3 - nearly cost us a pen again. Slower than an oil tanker. Shocking player - hope he never has to play as we look like we'll concede every time he's on


Arry - 2. Leaving your most in-form player (Defoe) on the bench again in order to justify the ludicrous signing of Saha has now cost us dearly and possibly Champions League football next year. Not to mention the insistance to play a man-down by inlcuding Kranjcar in the starting 11.

 

[ArnieArdiles]

I'm glad a few of you are pointing out Friedel's reluctance to come out for any high balls ... The ball that bounced off a head/shoulder, looping up into the air, should've seen our goalie going for and getting there, before it was met by the boot of Jerome...But to stay rooted on his goal line was poor ....
I think Gomes would've got blame for that one ...

 

[chicken_badge]

...you are joking!

The signs are there I'm afraid.

Still should have a role at the club, still could have a place in the squad. But no longer should be depended on as first XI and therefore after this season, we need a new captain.

Not kneejerk after one game, it's been the last few.

Sorry Ledley.

 

[mudshark]

Friedel 6
Walker 6
Kaboul 6
King 5
Assou-Ekotto 7
Kranjčar 4
Parker 5
Modrić 6
Bale 7
van der Vaart 7
Saha 4

Defoe 5
Santos 5
Nelsen -

 

[SteveAWOL]

Friedel - 6 - Spectator.
Walker - 6 - Poor crosses.
Kaboul - 6 - Decent shift.
King - 6 - Alright but not the colossus he once was.
Assou-Ekotto - 7 - Delivered probably our best corner all game, made some good runs but largely ignored by Bale.
Kranjcar - 5 - Languid, anonymous.
Parker - 5.5 - Worked hard as always but gave away daft free kick which lead to their goal.
Modric - 6.5 - Good shift in first half and twice came close to scoring, less effective 2nd half and poor corners.
Bale - 7 - Some good runs, unlucky not to score, quality cross to VdV. Wish he'd stop drifting inside so much though.
VdV - 6.5 - Worked hard and scored equaliser but his set-pieces were awful.
Saha - 5 - Tested their keeper once but otherwise dire.

Defoe - 5 - Never got into game.
GDS - 5 - Never got into game.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Friedel - 6 Didn't have anything to do except the goal
Walker - 6 Not his best game
King - 5 His lack of pace has really started to show this season
Kaboul - 6 Did ok against Crouch
Ekotto - 7 Soild
Krancjar - 3 Woeful
Parker - 5 Been off form for a while now worryingly. Looks so limited going forward. Needs to just stay in our half.
Modric - 5 Unsually ineffective
Bale - 7 Great cross for the goal
VDV - 7 One of the only players (along with Friedel) who looked like he gave a fudge!
Saha - 4 Looks like a poor signing now.

Defoe - 5 Didn't do anything worth noting
Dos Santos - 5 Didn't have enough time infleunce the game
Nelsen - 6

 

[Modrical]

Aiite let's get into this:

Friedel - 6. Hardly anything to do.

BAE - 7. Actually one of our best players I thought. Mostly solid defensively and put some good balls in too. Criminally ignored at times by our team. MOTM for me actually.
King - 5.5. Ok, composed in parts, but a couple of worrying lapses. Not Ledley's best game... to go with a couple of eh recent performances. Starting to worry about our mighty King.
Kaboul - 7. Thought Younes had a good game. Won a lot in the air, against a very aerially strong team, dominant on the deck, couple of good bursts offensively.
Walker - 6.5. Very solid defensively. Some excellent bits of skill and runs offensively. Loses a half mark due to his absolutely woeful final ball.

Niko - 5. Didn't do much whatsoever. Couple of decent through balls. Not found enough by team-mates I thought, though./
Parker - 5.5. Pretty decent job defensively.... limited offensively though. Has drive and ambition, but at times in a Jamie O'Hara way, in that he tries things he simply ain't good enough to accomplish. And this is a problem in these types of games. It shows. And when he loses discipline, charging forward (normally giving it away), we're usually wide open to get countered.
Modric - 6. I felt sorry for Luka personally. He was clearly trying so hard to make brick happen but it just... wasn't. Got into some good shooting positions, probably should have done better at times. Passing not as crisp as his norm. Some really sick touches as usual.
Bale - 6. Bizarre game from Bale. He was doing my fudging nut with his roaming, at times we were so CRIMINALLY unbalanced it was unreal, and plain for everyone to see. He also kept ignoring teammates (especially Benny) who were in better positions - it was very selfish at times. Having said all of this.... he was still the player who made the most happen!! Immense cross for the goal - which should tell Bale what he should stick to doing - and couple of excellent shots also.

VDV - 6. Great header for his goal, just the guy you want in that position. Otherwise, marginal influence, at times showed his frustration, some clever runs often not appreciated by team mates, too often played too deep (as per usual).
Saha - 4. Apart from one very good shot... very, very anonymous. Ball bounced off him for fun. Didn't show enough. Gave it away, for fun.

subs: JD - 5. Very little impact.
GDS - 5. As per the above.

Agree with most of these ratings. Stoke being dirty cheating barstewards made it tough for Modric and Parker in the middle, and as good as Parker is for us, when Modric isn't feeding our strikers, i think Parker's attacking limitations are highlighted. Although if Parker didn't slip when closing in on goal in the first half, i would probably be saying different.

VdV also needs to stop giving needless fouls away, especially when going for headers, as they are so obvious and easy for the ref to give. His wasted freekick in the 2nd half was shocking, as were his corners (kudos to the bloke in front of me who celebrated like we scored when a corner beat the first man after the 6th attempt or so as it made me laugh). I also think yesterday shows we need another player who can play on the wing as Kranjcar isn't that player.

Stoke are also a horrible team, other than the 'usual' clubs i dislike, Stoke are definitely up there. Team of thugs with zero class who cheat and play act at every occasion

 

[paxtonwolf]

Pressure was on and it needed a big performance especially as we have been so poor for the last couple of months and our rivals breathing down our necks and we get served up that pile of brick. I wouldnt even bother putting in the effort to rate them. I just hope none of them think at the end of the season that they are too big for us, when they are part of performances like that...

This.

I've said it before, but it really bugs me when I hear, .. Insert Players Name...will leave if we dont finish in the Top 4.

As you rightly say, if we dont finish 3rd or 4th, the players are a massive part of that.

 

[paxtonwolf]

The signs are there I'm afraid.
Still should have a role at the club, still could have a place in the squad. But no longer should be depended on as first XI and therefore after this season, we need a new captain.

Not kneejerk after one game, it's been the last few.

Sorry Ledley.

I am inclined to agree. It was brilliant how he did it, buy earlier this season he was still able to not train and slot into the team and still perform as Ledley does, but recently his performances have began to drop, still decent, but not King-esque of old.
Last night he looked really slow, shaky at times and a shadow of the legend we love. I'm hoping it was just a blip, but in all fairness he isnt a Bionic man and we have to accept eventually he will start to decline, the key is to know when to quit at the right time. I feel it could be Summer 2012, get him on the coaching staff, his experience will be a massive help to the likes of Caulker,Walker,Naughton and even Kaboul I suppose