Boruc - 9 - That save from Hangeland was quite possibly his best in a Saints shirt yet. The one from the first of the Bent chances was also superb. Contributed to the win as much as any of the goalscorers. Distribution was also much improved, particularly his quick throws to the full backs. Chambers - 7.5 - As consistent as we've come to expect. Wins all his 50/50s on the ground and in the air, never caught out of position. Like Shaw this time last year, just needs to work on his final delivery. Fonte - 7.5 - Solid and composed as ever. Picked out Rodriguez brilliantly with one ball in particular in the first half. Yoshida - 7.5 - Read the game typically well which prevented the supply to Bent's feet. If we do get another CB in summer he'll be unlucky to be fourth choice, as he could walk into other Premier League teams. Shaw - 8 - Fast becoming one of our most dangerous attacking threats, as Poch has essentially converted him into a wing back. I'd be interested to see a heat map of his performance as it seemed like he was in their half more than ours. I'd like to see him take on the full back more often though. Schneiderlin - 8 - Dealt with the physicality of Sidwell and Parker well. Always first to the loose ball in midfield. Typical Morgan performance. Wanyama - 6 - Seemed very unfit, so I suppose Poch is as much to blame as he is for his performance today. Very loose in possession and didn't cover well enough for Shaw which left us exposed down our left side. Hopefully back to his best soon, although he may have to wait a while for his chance. Davis - 7 - Unspectacular but tidy as ever. Helped keep Duff quiet but offered little going forward, although with Jay on the other flank he doesn't really need to. Lallana - 8.5 - His finish took me by surprise, as his lack of ruthlessness has always been my only gripe with his game. One lovely cross to Jay in the first half. Kept quiet in the first half by Sidwell, but took control of the game in the second. Rodriguez - 8 - Slightly wasteful in the first half, although as ever he did well to get into good positions in the first place. Beautiful technique for the goal, he used to score loads like that for Burnley. Lambert - 9 - One goal, two assists, and all on his return from injury. Like Jay and Adam, his finish was superb, and his assist for the third was one for the passes of the season so far. All in front of Woy, too. SUBS: Cork - 8 - His introduction lifted everyone and changed the game. He's in great form Clyne - 8 - Great assist, looked sharp and direct. POCH - 8 - Should've started Cork, but kudos to him for making the change as early as possible. MOTM: Torn between Boruc and Lambert, but BORUC shades it.
Glad to see Yoshida doing well...sometimes players just need a run to get back to form. He's not a Lovren, but not many players are.
No way is Steven Davis a 7, no way. He was magnificent. 9 from me. Thought Fonte was marginally better than Yoshida, and Morgan certainly improved second half when Cork came on.
Yeah I'd argue out of the 4 players I consider to be the midfield who played today (ie not Adam or Jay) that Davis gave the best performance. He's a grafter, comfortable on the ball and does a lot of things that go un-noticed. Like Morgan used to be until he got noticed by the commentators.
Wanyama is a 6 or 6.5 for me. Probably the worst player for us, but not by any means horrible. He's coming back from a break, he got 45 minutes in to help him get his timing and fitness back. We won. I don't really see a problem there. Chambers was the second worst player for me. Didn't make any major mistakes, but just didn't offer enough in attack when we needed it. Probably this wasn't his style of game right now, and he'll only get better. I would say 6.5, but not a big deal. I thought Yoshida played well on an individual level as did Fonte, but their work as a unit was a little sloppy. But I suppose that's to be expected. 7's for both of them. Schneiderlin, Cork and Davis were all 7's for me. Solid games from all three. Lambert will get all the scoresheet ink but Lallana was just as important. Boruc kept us in the game until we could find our feet. Any one of those three for man of the match.
I know this might sound a bit silly in light of a goal and two assists, but I don't think Lambert had a great game today. He was poor for most of the game (up until the first goal really) but provided two moments of quality to supply the goals and had one put on a plate for him by Clyne. In terms of winning the game he was effective, but I think he only started to come into the game when Fulham allowed him a little more space as they had to attack, up until that point Fulham had kept him completely quiet.
I'll give Wanyama a 10 you were right all along and I was wrong. He's a superb player. Also I give Cork a 1 useless t**t.
Can't be too hard on wany- back from injury and a # is not an injury you can do much cardio training with. Chambers is still young and not the finished article. Didn't see the game but sounds like a fantastic team performance. Roll on stoke.... makes me feel kinda ....
That's a very simplistic way of judging a player's performance - we kept a clean sheet, so Yoshida did his job and the whole defence should be free from criticism? I think we expect more from our forwards than just involvement in goals, and I feel other players in the team (Lallana, Shaw, Boruc, perhaps Fonte) performed at consistently high standards throughout the match, and Lambert's general standard was not as high for me.
I'd be happy if Rickie had two assists and a goal every match. I'd excuse any lapses and lost balls...the rest of the team would probably cover for him if we got a 3 goal lead.
To be honest, none of our attacking players got into the game first half. Rickie seems to be an easy target for many at the moment. Still, he was quality for me, and that pass for Jay's goal was sensational. 100 league goals for Saints. Legend.
Just saying, we just had a great win, What do we get? Someone telling us Rickie wasn't good enough, I think that is disingenuous and I think it is out of order, that is my opinion and I have the right to express it.
I can only say from what I got from the first half commentatory from Solent, they said that Fulham had done their homework and were marshalling Rickie very well and he wasn't getting any opportunity to use his skill, second half Rickie had worked out how to get around it, no doubt Poch had coached him well at half time, and he produced the goods, you really can't ask more of a player than that.
Mauricio said that our set up was wrong in the first half for the style that Fulham were playing, but things were changed round for the second half. Good that Boruc kept them at bay, so we could start level.
