We were mostly piss poor the first half. Perhaps we were just tired, but the last 3-4 games we've started really shakey and getting caught on the ball. Their goal was really poor from a number of people. I'm happy we won, but sometimes I see worrying signs of what could happen next season when we are playing elite teams week in week out. Lower ratings than normal due to a ****e first half. Ratings - Pope - 6 - Not much to do. Trippier - 7 - Was partly at fault for their goal as their player just completely lost him, but not mostly to blame. He was caught out a few times, so I cannot rate him higher than this. I'll give him a generous 7 because his work was mostly great besides a few hiccups. Great deliveries into the box. Schar - 5 - Caught out a couple of times today. Not terrible but not great either. Botman - 6 Burn - 7 - Solid defending throughout. Mr consistency. Willock - 6 - Good energy 2nd half. Cannot give him higher because that first half was poor. Good runs, good work rate. Bruno - 5.5 - He did make some great challenges and distribute the ball well, but on the ball he was off it today, mainly at fault for their goal. He wasn't terrible or altogether bad, but cannot rate him above this. Caught out too often. Joelinton - 6 - Good energy, work rate. Did nothing special, just worked hard, decent job defensively. Gordon - 5 - Some good runs tbf, just no end product. A tad unlucky not to score but meh. Looks bang average, still pondering why we paid £40m for him. Isak - 9 - Got no service whatsoever in the first half, good move by eddie to move him to the LW, as despite being a CF he's far better than any of our wingers at doing anything in that position. Isak is probably our best player. I'm giving him MOTM, despite Wilsons 2 goals. Isak was insane in the 2nd half. Also I noticed he does do quite a bit of tracking back and winning possession of the ball back. I justify giving him MOTM because his all round impact is definitely the highest out of anyone else. Wilson - 8 - 2 good goals, could have easily had a hatrick. Would give him MOTM normally, but Isak just do so much work and moving him to the wing was the highlight of the match. Murphy - 6 - Good work, was a threat. Almiron - 5.5 - A tad off form, but he still works hard and tracks back.
5.5 for Bruno is extremely, extremely, generous. I think him being Bruno tends to add a point no matter his performance; we are blinded by him being a flashy Brazilian. He was directly responsible for them scoring, he couldnt keep hold of a ball all game. He lost it constantly, passed poorly, missed an open goal, he was dreadful. Gordon getting a 5? He was the only player in the first half who showed any positives and was **** canned, again.
I think Bruno did enough good to warrant 5.5. He doesn't deserve a 6+ rating because of his errors, but what avoided him going below a 5 was some of the defensive challenges he made and some of his passing. He's a great player, but me wonder whether or not buying an actual CDM for that position and moving Bruno to RCM would be beneficial? I think he's been mostly fantastic, and the fact that we haven't won a game without him speaks volumes, but he does have that game every now and then where he gets caught out. But then again I've seen Bruno, Trippier and others make similar errors so it's not just Bruno. Bruno is usually very good at holding onto the ball and winning fouls.
I suppose a 5 is a bit harsh but he only played one half, and despite a few good runs he didn't do much.
That's all well and good, but we are talking about the game today. He was below average, how can you rate others below him when they did their jobs to a similar level as him. It makes no sense.
I only rated Schar below him because I thought his mistakes were not made up for with positives. Schar is just lucky that Southampton are ****e. Bruno, however, make bad mistakes but he also did good things as well. Noticeably good things. I thought he put in a lot of good defensive challenges and also passed the ball about well. Schar was shakey and I didn't notice anything outstanding about his play that made up for it. Gordon's 5 was down to simply having no final ball to his play and also only playing one half.
his crap says are better than most players on their good days. He looks tired but will now get a bit of rest.
Brentford, Villa, Everton, Southampton We're just lucky that Spurs don't start playing until they've conceded either.
I think for a few weeks you can see he's carrying a bit of an issue and playing through it. He's vital to our playing style even when off it. We need someone who can do that job and rotate with him a bit.
Bruno takes a lot of kicking from other teams, it's no surprise that he may have a bit of an off day, I also think that Howe was changing it around a bit first half to see how Gordon would fit in.
