Tough loss today. Although Swansea deserved a point IMHO, it was the manner of the defeat which was the hardest. Similar feeling to that experienced when we lost to Wigan at home when we were relegated. Here are my thoughts/rating for the players: Green (9) Superb today. Some great reaction saves and looked steady. Not sure if it was a red card offence in the first half, will wait till MOTD. Ally impressed with him lately, keeping McCarthy at bay. Distribution could be improved. Hill (8) good game throughout and kept Dyer quite. Thought his pace would be exposed by Dyer, but didn't. Put in some good crosses and was way more effective than Traore. Can see him organising the back 4. Caulker (8) Good game. Confident in the air. Couple of times was exposed with the through passing. Dunne (9) Rock solid. Super calm. Won everything in the air and showed how to deal with big/faster strikers using his positioning. Isla (8) Quiet at times, but showed a good connection with Vargas. Good work rate moving forwards. Fer (9) MOTM. Showed some classic Dutch skills. Confident and effective. Thunderbolt of a goal. Henry (8) Unsung hero today. Worked hard and was safe with the ball. Barton (7) would have been higher except for a dreadful first 20 mins. Much better second half and own lots of tackles. Passing improved as was delivery of set pieces. Vargas (7) reminds me of Mackie the way he keeps running after balls. Not much in the way of end product. Zamora (8) what a handful. Brilliant with back to goal and holding the ball up. Shame he can't play 90 mins as I believe we would have won if we could have kept him on. Austin (6) the lad looked tired and showed signs of dejection today. Couple of games without a goal. Think he should be rested for FA cup game. Going to be disappointed with not scoring at the end. Just my thoughts. Feel free to comment or not. Happy new year!!!
