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Ratings v WBA

Mulletperm

Mulletperm

Mauricio Taricco
Friedel - 8. Kept us in it on more than one occasion.

Walker - 6. Decent going forward in the first half, nullified by Lennon switching in the second
Gallas - 7. Done well.
Vert - 8. Classy performance. Roughed up by Lukaku but handled it well. One King-like last ditch tackle
BAE - 5. Shoddy. Good strike for the goal, but constant ****-ups nearly cost us.

Sandro - 7. Done very well covering the back 4 and getting forward occasionally.
VdV - 7. Some of his passing was sublime I thought. Tired a bit in the 2nd.
Livermore - 6. Decent, but nothing special really. Surprised he didn't go off instead of Sandro.

Bale - 7. Unplayable first half, went on his 'Ronaldo' thing in the 2nd and our shape went to brick. STICK TO THE LEFT FFS!
Defoe - 6. Tried hard and the few shots he had were straight at their keeper.
Lennon - 6. Linked up well with Walker in the first half, but very quiet second.

Subs:
Sig' - 6. Couple of good runs, but was surprised at VdV going off
Adebayor - 5. Nothing really. Looked rusty.
Jenas - 5. Did he play that backpace to Friedel??
 
Friedel - 8
Walker - 4
Vertonghen - 7
Gallas 2
Ekotto - 2

Lennon - 1
Sandro - 7
Livermore - 6
Bale - 7

VDV - 6
Defoe - 0.5
Ade - 4
 
Thought Bale, Lennon, Rafa and Verts all looked good.

The Sandro - Livermore pairing just doesnt work - need a creative CM desperately

Also need to start Ade rather than 'shoot on sight' Defoe
 
Friedel - 6 - come off your fudging line and claim some of the crosses

BAE - 5 - shockorama deluxe
Walker - 6 ok
Verts - 7 - solid debut
Gallas - 6 - nothing wrong

VdV - 7 - quality passing and link-up play throughout - no fudging clue why he was taken off
Sandro - 7 - kept going
Livermore - 7 - kept going, had a good game
Lennon - 6 - isolated at times

Bale - 7 - constant threat throughout
Defoe - 5 - selfish, limited, predictable

Ade - 5 - no impact
Jenas - 5 - no impact
Sigurdsson - 6 - some good movement
 
It's simple. Defoe needs to go and Livermore is just a poor Sandro (not slagging, Sandro is amazing, but they are very VERY similar players).

Modric and Ade from the start and we'd have destroyed them. We need to do some serious business this week. GHod levy is a **** sometimes.

Lloris, Mouthino, Willian and Leandro and we'll be awesome.
 
Gallas was awful, Lukaku had the beating of him every time through both pace and power. Ekotto was equally woeful
 
Friedel - 7 - Good saves but perhaps could have stopped the goal by coming off his line

Walker - 7 - Very dangerous in the first half especially, good performance
Gallas - 7 - Solid
Vertonghen - 5 - Good on the ball, but a few careless mistakes
Assou-Ekotto - 6 - Did well to get his shot away, but a few sloppy mistakes at the back too

Livermore - 7 - Tidy passing, good pressing
Sandro - 7 - Also very good, didn't understand why he went off
VdV - 7 - Excellent passing, we went on the back foot as soon as he came off

Lennon - 6 - Full of energy, but didn't do much especially in the second half
Defoe - 5 - Worked hard, but is never going to be able to play as a lone striker in a game against opposition defending deep
Bale - 7 - Very dangerous in the first half, anonymous in the second

Subs:

Adebayor - 6 - No major impact, but provided the physical presence up front that Defoe didn't
Sigurdsson - 6 - Meh
Jenas - 0 - Did he touch the ball?
 
AdamB said:
Thought Bale, Lennon, Rafa and Verts all looked good.

The Sandro - Livermore pairing just doesnt work - need a creative CM desperately

Also need to start Ade rather than 'shoot on sight' Defoe
Click to expand...

I agree with this. If I was VDV i'd be very frustrated right now. Was even more baffling to take him off considering we lacked Modric and had Sandro/Livermore in centre. Defoe tried hard, but bit to headless chicken at times albeit in a system not geared to his talents. Hopefully by next week it is Sandro alongside a Modric replacement, Ade will be fitter and we have better attacking options. Other slight concern in CB. Gallas legs went after half time.
 
GrimsbyYid said:
It's simple. Defoe needs to go and Livermore is just a poor Sandro (not slagging, Sandro is amazing, but they are very VERY similar players).

Modric and Ade from the start and we'd have destroyed them. We need to do some serious business this week. GHod levy is a **** sometimes.

Lloris, Mouthino, Willian and Leandro and we'll be awesome.
Click to expand...

I don't think that's true as quite a few times last season we were in games like this and couldn't break teams down. We need a little more craft in the final third, not from CM where Modric played. We need a Mata or Cozorla type. From youtube clips Isco seems to be the kind of player. Lennon and Bale both need space to be at their best, so when we are struggling to find space, we need a different option. I'm unsure if Willian is that from his youtube clips. Dembele could easily be, even though he's been playing superbly in CM, despite his poor stats, he does make things happen in the final third. Basically what we need is a touch more craft and a little less reliance on athletic attacking players. Bale, Lennon, Defoe and Ade or great at stretching games, but VDV is the only attacking player that we have who is can "unlock" a defence. I'm unsure what to make of Sig at the moment.
 
I didn't watch the game but I'd assume VDV came off due to fatigue? As he's only just back from injury, and he doesn't strike me as a natural athelete that could just come back and do 90 minutes the first game he's back.....
 
Friedel - 7. Kept West Brom at bay with two or three very good stops. Was frustratingly stuck on his line a lot though, especially when West Brom played the ball in behind our high line- keeper's meant to come for that, in the system we're playing.

Walker - 6.5. Decent game, nothing particularly good or bad either way.
Gallas - 6.5. See above.
Vertonghen - 7. Goal-saving block on Lukaku late on, and played some fine passes as well as showing some intelligent movement to make interceptions around our box. Good performance.
Benny - 6. Fortunate to get the goal, but was caught out and turned inside out by Fortune on a number of occasions.

Livermore - 6.5. Composed performance. An able terrier in midfield for the most part.
Sandro - 6.5. Showed good distribution and made some great runs down the left and right channels.
VdV - 6.5. Made some great long passes but often looked laboured and somewhat slow. Still clearly not up to speed, but he'll get better.

Lennon - 6.5. Electric running down both flanks, but his finishing when presented with the ball in and around the area let him down a tad.
Bale - 6.5. See above.
Defoe - 5.5. Tried hard, as usual, but offered little by way of a threat up front. Was reduced to taking pot-shots at the goalie from range.

Subs;

Ade - 6.5.Made us look dangerous for about two minutes after he came on. Faded away after the goal, but made some important defensive headers to relieve the pressure.
Siggy - 6.5. Didn't really get into the game much, though West Brom's domination was, and remains the likely cause of that.
Jenas - ? - ?

AVB - 6. Not much more he could have done, really. It's frustrating, not being able to judge him solely on his own merits yet. He's had his hands tied by our transfer situation, and judging him before that's resolved is a bit pointless. But for a transitional period, our play hasn't been all that bad, actually.

Overall, good result.
 
Thoughts from game

- AVB obviously likes the 1 up front play, JD will struggle in the system as 1st half highlighted where we had great possession and some amazing passing all the way from the back to front (Vert has a great release ball on him)

- Funny how people see what they want, thought Livermore had a better game than Sandro, great defensive cover as well as good release ball to JD that JD should have done better with.

- In my view AVB made a system sacrifice to get 2 up front, it hurt our balance (showed how much VDV was contributing), add to that Lukaku really is a handful, he's very much a bully CF.

- Game might have been over at half time if we had started with Ade, so seems the Window dealings have cost us the first two games this season as well.

Guess we will really see if fans will give the new manager some patience, you can see the system, just needs to settle in.
 
SUIYHA said:
Friedel - 7 - Good saves but perhaps could have stopped the goal by coming off his line

Walker - 7 - Very dangerous in the first half especially, good performance
Gallas - 7 - Solid
Vertonghen - 5 - Good on the ball, but a few careless mistakes
Assou-Ekotto - 6 - Did well to get his shot away, but a few sloppy mistakes at the back too

Livermore - 7 - Tidy passing, good pressing
Sandro - 7 - Also very good, didn't understand why he went off
VdV - 7 - Excellent passing, we went on the back foot as soon as he came off

Lennon - 6 - Full of energy, but didn't do much especially in the second half
Defoe - 5 - Worked hard, but is never going to be able to play as a lone striker in a game against opposition defending deep
Bale - 7 - Very dangerous in the first half, anonymous in the second

Subs:

Adebayor - 6 - No major impact, but provided the physical presence up front that Defoe didn't
Sigurdsson - 6 - Meh
Jenas - 0 - Did he touch the ball?
Click to expand...
What fudging game were you watching...

Gallas a 7 and verts a 5. LOL you are clueless
 
Friedel : some cracking saves but cant help feeling he looked laboured/uncomfortable whenever the ball was passed to him. Would like to see again the goal before committing, but get the feeling if he hadnt been so rooted to his line he could have done more.

Walker : Very good, I thought. Provided width, was comfortable in possession and very little got past him down that side.

Gallas : Started well but faded out really badly. Missed Kaboul in some respects today - particularly late on.

Vertonghen : Looked excellent on the ball (some great passes and runs), showed some quality anticipation/positioning. Seems like a pretty clean player. Had his hands full with Long though and got all but broken by Lukaku. Showed character to stand up to the battering but I think will take a little while to really settle in.

Ekotto : Some key blocks and support to the CBs but otherwise pretty poor. Wasnt great on the ball at all and was anonymous for large spells.

Lennon : Worked hard. Had some success going wide but his lack of going direct at goal, anticipating balls into the box and showing real threat showed.

Sandro : Early on was excellent in conjunction with the CBs, ran himself into the ground (as is not uncommon for him) and was less effective through the game. Still had some brilliant moments in winning the ball and breaking forward.

Livermore : Very solid, rounded performance. Good on the ball, good off it. Only real complaint about him is that he isnt Modric, not his fault mind.

VDV : Quietly efficient game. Not a showstopper by any means but kept us ticking over well and was the only source of regular quality passing in our side.

Bale : Brilliant first half, taking on his man and making things happen. Disappeared in the second half as he roamed more.

Defoe : Cant fault his work rate, always gives it everything, and did well in deep areas - but was totally lost in this formation, didnt have the tools to make it work for us and annoyingly shot on sight consistently which was getting him (and us) nowhere.

Subs :

Adebayor : Clearly not match fit. Touch was lose. Even so looked a lot better than Defoe IMO - the system really worked for him (and that was at a time when we werent even playing as well as earlier in the game)

Sigurdsson : Decent delivery, willing to support and get in the box, but generally quiet. Bit of a "nothing" performance from him.

JJ : Did ok I thought. He has shown in the past he can be very good at pressing and giving it simple, could find he has a place in our squad this year.

AVB : Started brilliantly. Ideally wouldnt have started Defoe but cant blame him for it. Team set up was great and worked really really well. Didnt manage to change things at half time, after seeing WBA finish the first half well I would have liked to have seen us come out of the blocks more in the second half. Wasnt impressed with his first two subs at all, felt he tried to rectify it with the third. Team shape went to pot with the 442...

Over all, Brilliant start - loads of potential - clearly a couple of players short and ultimately disappointed we couldnt hold onto our lead.

There is plenty to work with there and IMHO the pre season work has taken shape a lot better than I had expected by this point. First half the team was well organised, the ball holder always had options, it was tactically smart and clearly had a game plan to work too - second half that fell apart to a fair degree. These things will get better in time and with a couple of players, and show that there is still time required for the team to be properly comfortable with the new set up.

EDIT : All in all, performance, manager and many players was a game of two halves
 
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ArcspacE said:
Friedel - 6 - come off your fudging line and claim some of the crosses

BAE - 5 - shockorama deluxe
Walker - 6 ok
Verts - 7 - solid debut
Gallas - 6 - nothing wrong

VdV - 7 - quality passing and link-up play throughout - no fudging clue why he was taken off
Sandro - 7 - kept going
Livermore - 7 - kept going, had a good game
Lennon - 6 - isolated at times

Bale - 7 - constant threat throughout
Defoe - 5 - selfish, limited, predictable

Ade - 5 - no impact
Jenas - 5 - no impact
Sigurdsson - 6 - some good movement
Click to expand...

This cost us at the end. The ball was begging to be caught in the lead up play, he stayed rooted to his line. Some good saves prior to that but times like this make me wonder if AvB will be forced to push for Lloris.
 
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