Nooooo he wasn't! Cork was far better at defending even though he was poor and fox plays left back naturally yet was still woeful!
Sorry, this is one time when Lala was not man of the match, he did lots of good things and was always a danger but made one or two wrong decisions and should have scored, good but not as good as Lambo, apart from his goals, his lay offs, his positioning and holding and setting up were a joy to behold, anyone who said he would not make it in the Championship will have to eat their words.
Kelvin Davis - 5 - Very poor at some points, needs to work on his distribution Jack Cork - 5 - Not a right back at all!! would have preferred dickson there Jose Fonte - 7 - Good as usual Jos Hooiveld - 6.5 - Pretty solid at the back but will improve with time Danny Fox - 6 - Caught out sometimes Adam Lallana - 6 - Good first half, Faded a lot in the second half Morgan Schneiderlin - 6 - Quiet game Dean Hammond - 7 - A few good runs but nothing special Guly - 5 - Fairly poor, apart from the pass in the build up to first goal David Connolly - 6 - Works quite hard upfront Rickie Lambert - 9 - MOM, very Impressive Richard Chaplow - 6 - Average Steve De Ridder - 6 - Needs to start, give him a chance Referee/Linesmen - 2
I think you have got that about right , they werent great today and I cant believe some people gave Lallana man of the match he wasnt at his best today. Lets hope Adkins never plays Cork at RB again felt we missed him in the centre as the Spiderman had a bit of a quiet game to say the least. Can we give the man with the brolly who went for a stroll at the front of Kingsland a 10 out of 10 for the comedy moment of it all .....till a kill joy steward asked him to stop
I thought Fox was decent,good at 60 yard cross field balls which harding simply can't do,think he'll be a cracking player once he's settled in the team.Can't believe some people are criticising Hooiveld,it was his first game in this division after not having much match practice for a while so i thought he done quite well up against the massive miller.Gotta give players more time before we rip them to shreds.
Davis - 6 fantastic save kept us in it Fox - 6 didn't defend well at all, and barely made an impact going foward Hooiveld - 5 looked pretty dodgy when they attacked should have been covering for the two goals Fonte - 6 didn't control the back line, could tell he hadn't played with Hooiveld and cork at the back Cork - 5 really poor, Adkins shouldn't have put him on as right back Lallana - 6/7 very good in the first half, only person making the right runs faded out in the second Schneiderlin - 5/6 had to drop deep very often due to poor defending Hammond - 6 looked a bit lost without cork in the centre with him Guly - 7 very good in the first half, showed a lot of flair but had little support in the second Connoly - 6 showed great anticipation for the passes but had no chance against there big centre backs Lambert - 8 very good, well deserved hat-trick one of the few players who looked like the new what they were doing! De Ridder - 6 should have come on earlier needed the pace on the wing Chaplow - 6 made a few good passes defo should have started WHY?! Was Butterfield not playing?! I think Adkins made a bad choice in playing Hooiveld, should have played Martin, Crok shouldn't have been playing right back. He's our best midfielder, yet he's stuck down on the right!
Cork has played right back before for England under 21s and we know Hammond and Spiderman are good in midfield. He only had one option to play as right back and that was Cork. Sadly he didn't play very well there!
It amazes me how some people on here can say Fox was dreadful as a defender. Have you not been watching Harding for the last couple of years?!! I thought Fox did very well considering it was his full debut and he's only going to get better the more he gets used to everyone else's games. Hooiveld was pretty good IMO. He missed a couple of headers but I think most people would have playing against Ishmael Miller!! I thought he looked comfortable on the ball is his distribution was decent too.
I thought Fox was excellent. I don't understand how anyone can say Fox was poor defensively and then think Harding is solid. Fox's positioning was good, I thought he was giving their right back a lot of space to cross but he still stopped a lot of crosses - something Harding doesn't do. He was excellent on the ball and his delivery from set pieces is brilliant. Hooiveld was ok, he was very good at passing it out from the back but he does lack a touch of pace but I think him and Fonte can create a good partnership for Championship level.
It has been pointed out before that Martin is right footed and not great on the left, if Fonte is injured Martin is the ideal solution.
Anyone who thinks Fox is poor defensively and Harding is solid needs their eyes tested! Some Saints fans really do amaze me! Unbelievable. Davis - 7 - Don't knock him, he made a couple of vital saves today. Cork - 5 - I don't like him at RB. He was great against Leicester there but he wasn't great defensively today. Back to CM when Frazer gets back. Fonte - 6 - Tough game today and did reasonably well. Hooiveld - 6 - Lost a couple of headers but other than that pretty good. Looks comfortable on the ball. Fox - 7 - Good going forward, great balls into the box, marked the correct side of the attacker (something Harding is still yet to learn!) but midfield didn't cover for him enough when going forward. Guly - 7 - Can't do anything right for some! Great in the first half, beautiful pass to Connolly before first goal, just needed a bit more bite in midfield when Chappers came on. Hammond - 7 - Worked extremely hard and ran the midfield well. Schneiderlin - 6 - Exposed Hammond a bit today I think, but his passing was pinpoint as ever. Lallana - 7 - Good in the first half and end of the second half, but missing during the Forest onslaught. Lambert - 10 - Superb! Did everything right today and loved his celebration when he got his hat-trick. Top player! Connolly - 6 - Movement was good in first half and linked up with midfield well, but he was a bit ineffective in the second half I think. Subs: Chaplow - 7 - Added that bite we needed in midfield when he came on. He looks good this season I think. De Ridder - 6 - Did his bit when he came on. He's some player! Referee/linos - 0.5 - Seemed to guess half of the decisions!
I think it's a shame we haven't seen more of De Ridder. Guly and Lallana are playing very well but hopefully Steve will get his chance sooner rather than later.
I think your blinded by your hatred of Harding there mate. Like others were blinded by there love of Lallana who was poor today.
