Gazzaniga 6 Clyne 7 Fonte 7 Yoshida 6 - Thought he actually played quite well today and was very composed. Just a shame he was caught out. Shaw 7 - Very good full debut against some tough wingers in Hernandez and Routledge Cork 10 MOTM - Welcome back! Like a brand new player and didn't look out of place at all! Schneiderlin 8 Ramirez 6 - Good first half and was unlucky not to maybe score and did a good free kick. I felt in the second half he just wasn't bothered about tracking back an even NA had a shout at him to get back several times Puncheon 7 Lambert 7 Lallana 8 Subs: Fox 6 Reasons coming up....
Cork and Schneiderlin were very good today. I thought Puncheon was very bright too. Yoshida played well for most of the game...
Eh, Fox wasn't that bad, I thought. Not usually a massive fan of his, but he supported well and kept his cool.
Cork was good and thought the midfield looked more organized with him in it. Hardly a "10," however. 8 maybe more like. Puncheon is working hard and with his speed and skills he can look threatening at times, but I still think it's time to give Mayuka a look. Can't say anything really bad about his performance today, but just think we've seen what he's got at this point and what he's got isn't good enough to keep Saints up. Gazzaniga gets a 5 at best because he looked a little shaky to me even before that mistake, and that mistake was a horrible one as well. Don't mind sticking with him at this point because I think he'll improve and he looks okay as far as talent, with excellent distribution (technically at least). But he lacks command and confidence in the area and again, and it must be pointed out that he cost Saints the game.
puncheon was very impressive in my opinion. Great to see Cork back. Even better to see him last the full 90
Lambert wasn't that good today imo, he needs to be on the bench for a few games. So he would get a 6 for me.
Gazzaniga 5 - Didn't really have to do anything, and looked very unassured in the small stuff he did do, thought his distribution was poor aswell. Clyne 7 - Defended well and helped Punch out a lot with his overlapping runs, really think he is destined to become a great player Fonte 6 - Decent, didn't make any errors and didn't stand out, just what you want from your CB Yoshida 6 - Should have cleared Gazzaniga's pass first time, but apart from that thought he played well. Partnership with Fonte I think is pretty good. Shaw 7 - Great debut from a 17 year old, didn't look out of place at all Cork 8 - This is the player I thought we have been missing. Really solid centre midfielder who offers great protection to the back line Schneiderlin 7 - Took his goal well and his overall performance was decent Lallana 8 - Definite dive in the first half which probably was the reason he didn't get the foul in the 2nd, thought he was bright throughout and looked threatening Ramirez 7 - Still not match fit imo and hasn't settled into the side yet, could see his class in spells during the game, but he lost the ball a fair bit aswell Puncheon 7 - Decent if a little unspectacular shift from Punch, nothing more to say really Lambert 7 - Held the ball up well, but think he needs to stay in the box more as our main goal threat Fox 6 - Didn't really do anything wrong, but didn't do anything to merit more than a 6 imo
I just feel he isn't the Lambert of old, he seems to be off form. And he should have scored, but ended up blasting it wide..
Gazzaniga - 5 - Didn't have much to do all game and then with a little help from Yoshida gifted them a goal. Disappointing, but still a promising young player and should continue between the sticks for me. Clyne - 7 - Continues to impress me, his speed and strong tackling ability have made him our best defensive player so far by a mile, but also showed some improved positioning and cut out a couple of vital passes. Also usually quick and incisive going forward. Fonte - 7 - Thought he was pretty good throughout, Swansea created very little, a lot due to their own poor play but got to give some credit to the defence. Yoshida - 5 - Have to rate him down for not having the awareness to hoof away Gazza's pass to him, but he was put in a very tough position by his keeper. Thought he was decent other than that horrible moment. Shaw - 7 - Promising debut, looked good defensively, quick, pressured and tackled well, didn't contribute a great deal going forward, but in our current situation I couldn't give less of a toss about that. Schneiderlin - 8 - Took the goal very well and calmly, other than that was a fairly typical performance, wasn't quite as efficient with the ball as I like him to be, but overall a good game. Cork - 7 - Not a very flashy performance but a good one, didn't give the ball away much, just kept the team ticking, didn't really contribute much else at either end of the pitch though. Happy he's back, think overall Davis is probably the better player but happy to have Cork in the team with him having a bit more of a defensive edge than Davis. Lallana - 8 - Always looked to be the player who would do it for us, in a very dangerous mood, and did well when he got back too. Really REALLY don't like to see our players dive, and he never did a Suarez and just flat out faked contact, but he definitely went down easily a couple of times which I never like seeing players do, and in the end that may have clouded the referees judgement in not giving what looked like a stonewall penalty. Not that that is any excuse for the ref in who in my eyes looked like he had an absolute shocker. Maybe MoTD will show otherwise but we'll see. Ramirez - 6 - Disappointing from Gaston, still not completely match fit which affected his performance, but I felt he played very well up to a point, that point usually being around the edge of the box. Missed a couple of simple balls to slide Lambert into brilliant goal scoring areas, and also had a few good opportunities himself to score. Still think he showed that he has quality but we needed a cutting edge today, and he is the player who we really need to and really should have delivered that, but didn't. Puncheon - 7 - Usually a critic of Punch but thought it was one of his better games, still a few moment where he worked himself into bad positions and then killed off moves, but mostly thought he was good and direct/ Lambert - 8 - Thought he dominated the aerial duel well and his knock-downs were a constant danger, in general was very good in build-up but unfortunately was not at the end of enough when we rely on him a lot for goals, but a lot of that was mostly due to him not being serviced when he had got into good positions.
Paulo Gazzaniga - 6, Few nervy moments but did nothing wrong. Nathaniel Clyne - 7, Links up well with Puncheon and got himself in some good positions. Jose Fonte - 7, Solid at the back, did nothing wrong Maya Yoshida - 6, Was doing alright till he cocked up for the goal Luke Shaw - 7, Impressive debut, looked much more a defender than Fox Jason Puncheon - 7, Attacked well, linked up with Clyne Morgan Schneiderlin - 8, Superb display, looks happier with Cork Jack Cork - 8 MOTM, Close call, but an industrious presence in midfield today Adam Lallana - 8, Should have had a penalty, and did very well both attacking and defensively Gaston Ramirez - 6, Lacking match sharpness for me, although a few nice touches Rickie Lambert - 7, Did well up front, but should stop drifting outwards! Danny Fox - 6, Didn't do alot wrong
Gazzaniga- 3 - Ok all game but what on earth is he passing to Yoshida and not going long ? Loses big points for that. Clyne - 9 - Excellent display defensively. Made some vital interceptions. Penalty shout also Fonte - 6 - Did ok but a few worrying moments Yoshida - 3 - Equal blame for the goal loses points for that. Must get rid of that ball immediately Shaw - 6 - Reasonable but switched off at times that could have been costly Cork - 9 - Very good performance, disciplined. Good pressing, good passing. Morgan - 9 - Him and Cork did very well. We deserved a clean sheet but blew it. Grabbed a goal Puncheon - 7 - decent Lallana - 8 - Three penalty shouts. Over-thought things at times Ramirez - 5 - Had a very poor game on the ball as far as I'm concerned. Sorry but he was incredibly wasteful in the final 3rd. Lambert - 9 - Really brilliant at bringing others into the game. Completely dominated Swansea. How we didn't score several goals I'll never know. We deserved to win. How we didn't get a penalty is beyond me
Absolute rubbish. Lambert was very good today. He was amazing in the air and the our best player by miles at bringing others into the game in the final 3rd.
I understand the criticisms of Lambert to a degree. I think he did very well in bringing others in and supporting the team in general, but really he is the man we rely on for goals. Gaston and Lallana can chip in, Puncheon and the centre-mids will get one every now and then, the centre-backs might even get a few from set-pieces, but really he is our only real goalscorer. And since the Villa game he has hasn't been his usual dangerous self and has not often enough been on the end of things. He is the man we want the crosses to be aimed at, he is the man we want with the ball at his feet in the box, and that hasn't happened enough, that's partly due to him not being in those positions and partly due to him not receiving the ball when he is in those positions, but regardless he has not scored in 6 games now, and we have not won any of those 6 games... I don't think that is a coincidence, for all our bad defending in those games. That said, I don't think Rodriguez has been great either although his performances against Spurs and WBA were improved, and Mayuka has looked dangerous but not sure how we would work with him as the focal point, and I don't think we have looked nearly solid enough as a team when playing with two strikers. So for me, Lambert still has to be the lone man up top and we just have to believe that he will start banging a few in soon. And I think he certainly has enough in his game that he can still be a strong part of the team without bagging braces every game, we just need greater support from others.
Morgan man of the match for me just for the goal alone ......I had him at 25-1 to score first LOL. Great to see Luke Shaw on the pitch thought he had a very good game...but the man of the match really should go to Jack Cork great to see him back and what an engine after being out for so long.
If you create nothing for Lambert other than on set pieces it's going to be difficult for him to score. Ramirez had so many chances to play in Lambert and either overran it or tried to pass to someone else. With Lambert stood there arms out asking him why he didn't pass. Ramirez was rubbish today as far as I'm concerned. Lambert hardly ever gets chances to shoot anymore
Cork and Morgan were easily are best players, yes Lambert did good knock ons etc. But Lambert last season would have scored instead of missing.
Gazza and yoshida cannot possible get more than a 5. 4 at best. They cost us three points ffs! Man of the match - Morgan 7
Look at my ratings. I gave those two 9s. I was saying in the final 3rd of the pitch Lambert was our best player by miles at bringing others into the game. I never said he was our best player fullstop by miles
Of course, I acknowledged the same thing both in my post and my ratings, we haven't done particularly well in carving out chances for him, but he also hasn't finished a lot of chances we would expect him to. It's been a bit of both. Personally I don't particularly agree with any major criticisms of Rickie, I was just saying I do understand where they are coming from.
