I missed it. Were Sunderland awful Did we stop Defoe Were we lucky? What did we do well How was Rio How was Matty Phillips & the rest of them This season is going to the wire ! Hold on Can I have a calm review please
We deserved to win..First half we were like a different team to Saturday.Greeno made a save of the season. Two Marty Phillips crosses were converted by Fer and on halftime by Zamora. Fer also hit the post....Bad injury to Fer. Possible ACL...so could be out for season. Barton got his seventh consecutive yellow card Phillips taken off, ? Slight injury replaced by SWP who I think ended up at FB when Doughty came on and looked keen and neat Greeno magnificant hung on at the end. I hid behind the sofa and accidentally drank a bottle of wine and have a headache
Was generally impressed. Barton..well I'd drop him. S.w.p personally wouldn't bother..zarate needs to be told to stop being greedy..in general heading in the right direction. Hull will be a harder test but if we get a result there will believe again we have a chance.
I went and had to sit in amongst the Sunderland fans which was hard work!!!! Green outstanding! First half the pressure we put on Sunderland and the harrying and work off the ball was excellent. I thought Barton had a very good game. Worked his socks off in there. We rode our luck at times. Looked like a penalty on defoe from Caulker but will have to see it on tv. Phillips was very good til he went off. Green m.o.m for me closely followed by Barton for his work rate
Same here - work related invitation from several Sunderland fans I did worry at half time that we couldn't keep up the pressing game but I was wrong. Much more pressure from Sunderland in the second half, but this left us a lot of space to play in. With better use of the ball upfront we could've had more than 2 However, Sunderland were incredibly poor at times, and in the first half really lacked energy, aggression, and the ability to play simple passes. We won't be gifted that sort of freedom in many games! That said we certainty rode our luck at times and only poor finishing by Sunderland, some inspired goalkeeping, and a few dubious reffing decisions stopped us conceding And so to bed in my hotel overlooking Newcastle's ground!
I've never done this before so I'll give it a once off try for a laugh. Green - 8 - (MOTM) Some brilliant saves. Would've given him 9 but his kicking remains awful Isla - 7 - Bombed forward often and linked up well with the wingers Caulker - 7 - Was caught out of position 1st half but worked hard under pressure all night Ferdinand - 7 - Was a steady influence at the back. Can still play football even though his legs are nearly gone Yun - 6 - Sunderland's winger got in behind him a couple of times but otherwise okay M. Phillips - 7 - Great 1st half with two assists. Substituted early in the 2nd Henry - 7 - Doesn't look out of place at this level. Worked hard Barton - 7 - The odd loose pass but covered every blade of grass and made some good tackles Kranjcar - 6 - Looked laboured. Gosh he's slow! Fer - 8 - Best outfield player. Scored one & was an inch away from a second. Injured early 2nd half Zamora - 7 - Passes and knockdowns weren't coming off for him but worked tirelessly and scored a belter SUBS S. Phillips - 5 - Poor Doughty - 6 - Looked tidy in possession. Passed the ball well Zarate - 6 - Can see why Toad Face lost the rag with him. Very greedy. Still looks a decent player though
Fair enough Bobby. But we was playing Sunderland, not Chelsea. And they could easily have scored a few themselves. Its important not to get carried away with one decent performance / result.
Swords my friend. When you travel to the majority of away games after our run then I give them all a 10 out of 10 for last night's improvement. I'm not carried away. Just messing mate. It's always difficult to rate as everyone looks at different parts of the individuals game
Sh*t, sorry Bobby. I just realised you was actually at the match! Watching on a stream obviously don't even come close. If you say they were worth 8's and 9's then I'm with you bro! (Otherwise, do you reckon I could do a number on Clive with my reporting? )
Watching on a very good TV picture, the game was shown live here, I couldn't say anyone that played was anything less than good. Seemed all played out their skins to me. I could fault Green's kicking but his saves were exceptional, Isla seems to watch the ball only defending sometimes, and seemed shocked when it sailed over his head onto the foot of a player he hadn't seen let alone cover as he should have, who luckily blazed over from only a few yards out, but he was good going forward. Doughty played his first ever game for us I think?, but seemed very assured, and was a part of some good passing movements when he came on, same with SWP who showed a few nice touches and played his part in moving the ball in the right direction. Zarate was a threat to them even if nothing much came of it. Kranjcar maybe slow but he calmly directed much of our best fluid midfield play. As Bob said I also thought Barton, Green, Fer and Phillips were all exceptional. The commentator was comparing Phillips to Beckham FFS! But Sunderland were very poor first half, thanks very much!
Think ramsay hit the nail on the head by saying not to over congratulate the players as they are doing what they should be doing anyway. I also like the fact he doesn't look too much into the experience of a player which I totally agree with. Beginning to really like this guy. He's a breath of fresh air.
Nice one Cyril, perhaps an 8 for Bobby, what a fabulous goal (almost a right footed version of his OBZ Wembley goal), he really bust a gut a couple of times running forward to make himself available to receive a forward pass. Yun was certainly not as convincing as in previous games - perhaps he is still carrying a knock, or not match fit? Perhaps next up a condensed match report to provide some competition for Clive, perhaps entitled something like, "White Coat, Black Art - View from the other side of the Gurney" (Over here in Canada an ER doctor airs an interesting weekly piece under that name).
Admittedly I have only seen the extended highlights, but I'd go along with most of those apart from Kranjcar. He looked class to me and actually chased and pressed more than I've ever seen him do. Barton was excellent again. I didn't think SWP was poor, maybe a 6.
