Boruc - 6 - Not particularly to blame for any of the goals, and made a decent save from Chadli. But I felt his now customary uncertain distribution was a factor in their second half steamrolling of us. His inability to find a player meant we couldn't get up the pitch in the second half. I've always lauded Boruc for his all-round goalkeeping ability but he's not the ball-playing 'keeper that's so integral to our style of play. Clyne - 5.5 - Harsh perhaps, but his mistake was quite simply the turning point given how comfortable we were in the half hour leading up to it, and how comparitively meek Spurs were. Fonte - 6 - Actually did fairly well up until their third, and was probably our best defender overall. Lovren - 5 - More worrying than the mistakes for the goals is the way he completely lost his head as a result of them, particularly the second. Regained his composure for the last 20, but it has to go down as his worst performance for us yet. Shaw - 6 - Despite both goals coming from his side, he defended OK, winning a couple of defensive one-on-one's as he always seems to. Didn't excel by any means though, thought he looked unusually timid about getting forward, which is a shame considering how ****e Naughton is. Cork - 6.5 - Like most, great first half, disappointing second half. Was dropping far too deep in the second half, to the point where Ward-Prowse was trying to deal with Bentaleb and Sigurdsson on his own. Still certainly one of our better performances. Ward-Prowse - 6 - Very energetic and willing to press as per, but struggled against the physicality of Tottenham's central midfield and didn't really make any impact when on the ball. Davis - 7 - Same as every week, wins loose balls, always retains possession, and tracks well defensively, what a consistent player. Lallana - 7.5 (MOTM) - I remember when he always used to be knackered after 60, but these days his fitness means he can run for 90 minutes plus, and it makes such a difference. Again demonstrated today how much more confident he is in front of goal this season Rodriguez - 7 - Great finish. If he learned to time his runs he would've had a hat-trick today and he'd be scoring at least 20 goals a season. Wrong decision to bring him off, as we were only going to score on the counter attack and we have no one better suited for those situations than him. Lambert - 6.5 - Today was a perfect example of the good and bad of Rickie. When we're on the front foot, with players running in behind him, his vision and passing ability make him integral and irreplaceable. When we're on the back foot and need some relief, a player to press or hold the ball up, he becomes a liability. I think it's the most important area that needs addressing in the summer. SUBS: Chambers - 6 - Perhaps a little rash which led to him being turned a couple of times, but at least he was trying to get us pressing again Ramirez - 6.5 - Some magnificent touches and one great drive down the right demonstrated what a brilliant player he can be. Just needs more self-belief and minutes. I'd love to see us start him on the left with Rodriguez up front at some point before the end of the season. Gallagher - Got involved straight away and made a decent impact. Probably should've come on 5 minutes earlier as Rickie had been flagging for a while. Pochettino - 6 - Has to establish a Plan B for situations in which we're being attacked and pressed high up the pitch. Should've taken off Lambert instead of Rodriguez
Cheers, Shaw could possibly be higher in retrospect. Also just realised from reading the match thread that Jay came off through injury
Boruc - 6 Clyne - 6 - (Chambers - 6) Fonte - 7 Lovren - 4 Shaw - 7 Cork - 5 Ward-Prowse - 5 S. Davis - 7 Lallana - 7 Rodriguez - 6 - (Gastón - 7.5) Lambert - 6.5
Gaston was 20% better than a player who scored a goal and stretched the Spurs defence on a number of occasions? Don't be silly.
Do agree with a lot of the OP, but I'd give Rickie a solid 7, and take issue with the criticism of him not holding the ball up when things turned against us - he still provided an outlet imo even when we couldn't get out of her own half.
I thought that he impacted the game massively when he came on and actually started to link the final third with the rest of the pitch again, after 30 minutes or so of complete and utter anonymity. Hence why I scored him 'highly', I suppose.
You want to be a tabloid football reporter don't you? Congratulations, with hyperbole like that, you've made it.
Agree with the OP, though Rodriguez was taken off because he was carrying an injury. That's a kinda important point to make.
I know, it's just so disappointing that in our second season back in the Premiership that we aren't in the top three. Bloody eighth, no subsidised away travel and we aren't wearing stripes! FFS! And all I can do is be sarcastic!
Just got back in from the game, my god have Spurs got some horrible fans.....anyway...... Pretty much agree with Pick a Pochet or Two's ratings, just a couple of points. JWP - Worries me a little, I don't think there is enough to his game at the moment. He picks a nice pass and runs around a lot, but he doesn't seem to tackle and can't win anything in the air either. I've never seen him dribble a ball in 2 years, so he can't drive forward from midfield. He just needs something else. Ramirez - Pochettino needs to trust him and give him a run, it's not like it really matters now anyway. Okay he's no Morgan Schneiderlin in midfield, but he's happy to run his socks off making a pest of himself when the other team have the ball, and when he is on it he makes stuff happen, he also seems to have developed an understanding with Lallana and they were clicking nicely. We have a big problem without Morgan, teams play it long to our centre-backs and the ball is bouncing loose into the channel between the Defence and Midfield, only today there was no one to mop it up apart from Spurs players, we were literally teeing the ball up for them over and over again. When this happens you have to have a player sweeping up the 2nd ball, but for 45 mins in the 2nd half we just let them do it over and over again, it's just like the players were all expecting Morgan to do it even though he wasn't even on the pitch.
JWP...think he was taken aside in preseason and encouraged to work on his strength which is deadball situations and passing. These attributes make him an asset in certain situations...but he has to work on the rest of his game. Still young and I have been an admirer, but am beginning to think that perhaps he isn't going to progress to the type of player we need #preparetobeshot
Let's not forget James Ward Prowse is just 19. He's not going to be world class just yet, especially as he's not full developed physically I don't think. He's got the potential to be a top midfielder, especially with his mindset, so it's just a case of giving him time, experience... and patience.
That's what I usually think and I am proud to see him do so well in the England set up, but am just beginning to get a few doubts.
Give him time, this is his step up season. He needs to bulk up is all. I don't get having doubts over a player finding his way in the Prem. Even Shaw has crap games and this is his second season.
