Kenny-6/7- made a few good saves throughout the game but i think he should have guarded his near post better for Silva's goal, just my view. solid otherwise. Young-7- Good going forward and always makes up the yards going back. Good performance. Ferdinand- 6/7- hmm obviously should have shown dzeko the line for his goal but thats the first thing hes done wrong in a hoops shirt. Could have been braver when trying to get to HH's header from the corner, maybe. Gabbidon-7- Defender i most worry about, but he was generally good today, got the wrong side for Toures header though, but that guys a beast. Traore- 7- Great with SWP down the left and is started to defend really well, quality going forward, but presses too high sometimes. Mackie-7- ran all match long, and runs the channels well also. Just lacks the killer ball sometimes. Barton 7.5- So much better in the central midfield role, tracks back well and also has a great work ethic. Sometimes has a hasty or sloppy touch or pass. Faurlin-9- Exceptional passing, vision, tackling and work rate. MOM all day long for me SWP 8- Causes so many options for us down either flank, needs to be played on the right though. But the understanding between him and Traore works well, does a job defensively as well. Bothroyd-7- Great goal, should have scored a second but at least now hes looking sharp. Much better with another striker alongside. Helguson-8- Won every header and would give any defender a run for their moeny aerially, needs to sort out his finishing at times with his feet. Fantastic though. Warnock-8- tactically superb- game plan worked great. Needed to calm the players down at some points when we were getting done on the counter. Subs: Hill- N/A not enough time to make a difference. Smith-6- Ran the channels well. Puncheon-5- dilly dallies on the ball too much for me Fans- 9 amazing support and atmosphere
Thought Barton played well this evening. However, he was lucky to be on the pitch by the end. A dangerous swipe on Toure in the first half (which luckily Toure avoided) and completely unnecessary and somewhat disgraceful hack on Silva in the second, which brought a yellow card. Obviously football is full of "what ifs", but these two incidents were unnecessary and could easily have ended badly for the team; yes we lost, but we could have potentially lost our captain for 3 games - but that's Barton I guess.
That's his fourth booking of the season - how many before a suspension. Other than the rash tackles I thought he improved as the game went on - almost as if he started to believe in his colleagues. And not having to cover for Adel must have helped. 7.5 fair.
Is it 5 bookings = 1 game ban? Not sure. Obviously tackling a lot runs the risk off being booked. Just thought those two challenges were unnecessary in the context of the game at that particular moment.
I thought Bartons accuracy and delivery at set pieces was pretty much 'on the money' today, it's got progressively better over the last three weeks.
Yes Barton's set-pieces were pretty good this evening. After the Villa game I wrote a piece criticizing Barton's attitude for that game (which I stand by) and thought his comments regarding Tabby were out of line for the captain. However he was all action this evening and did a lot of work which allowed Faurlin to play. So my only criticism tonight would be that he could of shot more on the edge of the box; although if he had and missed i would've slagged him off!!
True 2712 true; there were a couple of other opportunities as well when he could have shot, however. On the whole a very satisfying performance, despite the result.
SWP got 8? SERIOUSLY? Every time he got the ball he cut inside onto his right foot. And each time he got tackled.
Paddy - 7 Will have to watch MOTD before I judge him on the goals. Young - 7 Loads of energy and a solid defender. Gabbidon - 8 Reads the game so well and is pretty quick too. Very good today (We missed him when he was injured!!). Ferdy - 7 Slightly under par compared to his recent performances and looked at fault for the first goal! Traore - 7 Superb going forward and getting better with his defending each game. Needs to improve his final ball!! SWP - 7 Lively throughout. Barton - 8 Best game so far. Faurlin - 9 Class!!! Mackie - 8 High energy and a great 1st half shot that forced Hart into a good save. Bothroyd - 8 Great goal and played well. Possibly should have scored with the header that brushed the post. Helguson - 8.5 Superb target man display and grabbed another goal too. Subs: Hill N/A Smith - 5 Not quite up to this division imo! Puncheon - 5 Definitely not good enough imo!
Yep...fair point....had forgotten that....plus it was one of his poor crosses that went straight to Milner and led to a goal!! I'll amend it to 7. (Still like him though).
On the whole agree about Traore, he's pretty good, great work-rate and good going forward. Agree with the 7.
