I gave him a 6 because he did OK but didn't do anything that stood out. 6 for me is solid. 7 is a good game. 8 is a very good game and 9 or 10 is outstanding.
Watching the extended highlights and Rodriguez, Lambert and Boruc were outstanding. Looks like Shaw is starting to get some license to attack as well, looks handy!
All those times when Rodriguez made runs and got the ball past the defense and looked so dangerous? It was Lambert who delivered the pass.
Judging by the comments maybe I just didn't notice Rickie as much as I should have. I was more focused on Rodriguez as he posed a massive threat with his pace. When Rickie's the lone striker it's easier to focus on him.
I think the thing missing from Rodriguez's game is that he needs to be stronger and not be afraid to lean in with his shoulder more. As soon as the defender gets his shoulder in front of him he seems to give up, a lot of the time he could probably poke the ball on a bit and muscle back in front, he's not a small lad after all. Otherwise an excellent showing from him.
Notice not much has been said about ramirez, I wasnt at the game so I may be wrong but was it yet another example of him being ineffective when playing out wide?
Yeah, I tend to agree about Rodriguez. It's not strength necessarily, but just taking better routes. There were a couple passes today where I thought Rodriguez had the inside track to it but got angled off. I know it's women's soccer and probably no one watches it but Alex Morgan on the US Women's team is a good example. She's fast but not that physically strong but she always takes a great route to the ball and beats players to it when you think she won't just by tracking the flight better, maybe using a little shoulder when necessary, and getting her body in front of defenders and cutting them off. Rodriguez does have a pretty good first touch, which a lot of fast strikers don't and that makes up for some of it... if he actually gets to the ball. If he could just work on the timing of his runs and the angle of his routes a tiny bit he could be really good. Ramirez still isn't on the same page as everyone. He made one really good pass where I think he was expecting Rodriguez to finish a run but he didn't. There was another give and go attempt where he made a backheel and the player wasn't where Ramirez thought he would be and then gave the ball back before Ramirez wanted it. He did give the ball away too frequently, but also got some dodgy passes where it reached him but he was immediately tackled.
Gaston tends to lose possession too much and picks the wrong choice more often than not, but you can see he has huge talent and is learning his trade. Those decisions will improve as he learns more about his teammates and the game over here. Not a worry, but he'll have a few more of these types of game before he really nails it.
I guess that emphasis our need for a winger even further. Apart from lallana and puncheon we have no one that has proven to be capable out wide. Thats what january is for I suppose.
Wow, really? Lambert was our main creative force today and man of the match for me. He got the ball deep and played several magnificent balls into space for Rodriguez to run onto. Seemed to play the 'Ramirez role' today much more effectively than Ramirez often does!
Boruc - 7 Clyne - 6 Yoshida - 6 Hooiveld - 6 Shaw - 7 Puncheon - 7 Schneiderlin - 8 Cork - 7 Ramirez - 5 Rodriguez - 8 Lambert - 8
For me Lambert was great. Almost every move going forward went through him. The flicks to Jay and the passes our were impressive. In was playing a lot of defense too. Today he did not play much of the striker role. More of a distributor and he did that well. Covered lots of ground as well. MOTM for me.
Great from Boruc today. Bar a spillage from a well struck 1st half effort which Yoshida tidied up it was error free. The guy is a proven top class keeper and hopefully this will give him the confidence required in a saints shirt. Hooiveld struggled to clear his lines especially with his right foot & Clyne lingered and got caught on the ball a couple of times. Schneiderlin was head & shoulders the best midfielder on view and his range of passes were on the money. Jay rod was tireless and deserved a goal although you could say only his own composure stopped him.
Yep. Only saw highlights of the 1st half and all of the 2nd, but Rickie was excellent. His distribution was top class. He may not be leading the line in a counter attacking team, playing behind Rodriguez, but my goodness his passing and positioning was brilliant. Quietly, he went about turning defence into attack with brilliantly weighted passing, and one or two of them were too good for the players who were about to receive them. The half I watched live, the commentators were drooling over his contribution - seriously. Not many players would have had the football brain to stop themsleves from retrieving a football off the post when standing in an offside position, either. Rickie is a little bit like Matty - about two seconds in his head in front of everyone else on the pitch. And you have a 99.9% chance of a goal when being awarded a penalty, while he's in the team. In fact, you can pretty much bet the house. Not a 9 or 10, but an easy 8. And most certainly not a 6. EDIT: Oh, and Clyne was RB in MOTD's Team of the Day. And someone elsewhere must have had an immense day at LB, because Luke Shaw was superb.
Boruc - 8 (Very brave and assured saves in the second half) Clyne - 6 Yoshida - 6 Hooiveld - 7 Shaw - 6 (Very assured defending today, but also VERY poor distribution of the ball - 44% pass complete, 0/3 crosses - on this occasion. Probably not helped by Gaston having a poor day at the office) Puncheon - 7 (Close to an 8 if only his crossing had been better) Schneiderlin - 7 Cork - 6 Ramirez - 5 (Would have maybe given him a 6, but for having spent so much money on him. Thought he was very poor today) Rodriguez - 7 (Gave us great movement, and was a great outlet until we started hoofing aimlessly at him with no support from minute 46 onwards) Lambert - 6 (Scored the pen, but otherwise not his best performance. Tried too many Gastonesque flicks and special balls that didn't work and not as good in the air as he has been) Fox - 5 S. Davis - 5 De Ridder - 6 MOTM: Boruc All in all happy with the win, and a 'gutsy' performance for an away win, but if we're honest we can't keep letting teams come at us wave after wave for 45 minutes trying to defend a one goal lead and get away with it. Just delighted it was a team as poor as Villa who couldn't hit a barn door today. Possession was 54% us at HT, but finished 56% them at FT, meaning they had 65% second half to our 35%. Lat
Fair enough MMJ, I was taking them from BBC website. I suppose it's a difficult stat to define with the ball in the air or out of play for a lot of the time, but either way it was definitely in our favour at HT and in theirs at the end. Lat
