Meslier - 7. Some really important saves and relieved the pressure by coming out quickly and snuffing out through balls. Distribution was poor 2 or 3 times. Ayling - 7. Solid at the back, neat and tidy going forward. Ran his nuts off. Koch - 6. Better from him. Lost Keane early on from a set piece but was otherwise dependable. When Everton did get in behind it was usually his channel. Cooper - 7. Marshalled the defence well. Struggled at times with the Everton attack but had his passing boots on and played some lovely cross field balls to set us off again. Alioski - 8. Like a little terrier. Linked up well with his winger (whichever one it was at the time). Defended well. Dangerous going forward. Should have scored. Phillips - 9. Ran the game. No.1 on the stat board for passes, distance, pass completion. Head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch. Klich - 7. Not at his best. Still good enough to pull a few strings and keep things ticking over for us throughout. Dallas - 7. Mr 7. Unsung hero for the club. Just quietly goes about his job wherever it may be. Harrison - 6. A few quiet games on the bounce for Jack now. Workrate is always there but just need that bit extra with Costa, Poveda and a couple of youngsters waiting on the wings. Raphinha - 8. Oozes class. For a couple of stints during the game he looked like he was just going to drag the boys forward. Got the goal. Had a quiet 30 minutes inbetween his good periods. Bamford - 7. Grafted. As usual he probably should have scored but his hold up play was alot better this week. Looked a real handful and was unlucky. Subs. Poveda - 7. Lively yet again. Created a good chance at the end for Costa. Maybe should have took it in the corner. I'll give him benefit of the doubt there. Costa - 6. Not much time but nearly scored. Rodrigo - 6. Only got a couple of minutes but set up Costa from a Poveda cross with a deft touch.
I thought Alioski was good again. He’s been a real surprise to me. No pace but works hard and been tidy in possession.
Sick of pundits talking about us tiring, when reality shows the opposition fall off as never had to work as hard. Also I know we were crap up front today as Bamford, Harrison at least 3 chances, Alioski, Costa, all missed chances but the pundits were saying we were not scoring enough so may struggle and Everton had 3 better strikers than ours. Well pundits their Brazilian missed at least 3, James missed a couple too. So that game could have been 5-5 and we wouldnt have moaned. We won with another clean sheet and that blasts yet another pundit booboo as the takk about us leaking goals.... well pundits check your stats as Bielsa has had more clean sheets than any other manager in the Premier League or anyone else in English football. 10 points clear of relegation places already. Loving it but jeez its hard work not shouting at the telly non stop.
I've noticed a few rated Alioski in this game, I thought he was average at best myself, certainly no more than a 6 from me. I'd also swap Cooper and Koch scores around, thought Cooper got caught out too many times Cooper 6 Koch 7.5 and Dallas again at best 6 from me he wasn't great Klich also a 6 as he was no better than Harrison
cant find much to argue with those ratings... maybe cooper a touch high. Our Cb’s are still the area that concerns me... they had a lot of chances from not that much attacking opportunity... we’re still dire defending set pieces, but in general we look so much less vulnerable with kp back patrolling the space in front of them.
I've got to admit, I commented earlier in the thread I thought we were looking tired, first time I have noticed it... Sky stats showed Phillips covered the most ground today 11.6km he was also top for most possession, most passes and most accuracy, good to see him back to his best.
Not often I disagree with you Ristac mate but for this match I think you were looking for the negatives rather than concentrating on the positives.
I concede I'm in the minority on that one today, I just felt he huffed and puffed and I agree he gave it 100% and left nothing on the table but was lacking a bit of quality when it was required
Possibly mate, I think it was frustration at the missed chances and I had convinced myself we were going to lose 1-0
I would say though, my ratings our nearer to these, I think Bamford 6 is harsh 7 from me now that's positive Ratings - How Leeds United players fared at Everton | Yorkshire Post
Anyone seen tobyjugs as he's gone missing, hope he hasn't done anything stupid, well apart from buying an Everton season ticket.
I marked Cooper up one due to a couple of absolute pearler cross field passes that were Hoddlesque. Credit where it's due for that. He also smashed the last 10 minutes virtually heading away every cross that Everton threw in. I concur that he got caught a couple of times defensively. Koch was better today but he has a nasty habit of losing his man at set pieces and it could have cost us again today. I don't think he has got his head around man to man marking yet. Cooper was excellent when it counted last 10.
Although we are not the best team in this league and will get beaten quite often, it’s also the case that the way we play means we can potentially beat anyone. We don’t have to rely on beating the bottom clubs to survive.