Guzan - 6 (should have done better with the goal) Dawson - 7 (decent performance, looked a little panicky going forward) Chester - 7 (good most of the game, but Scotland had the better of him) Gerrard - 8 (solid as usual) Rosenior - 8 (solid defending with some very good forward runs) Koren - 6 (some good touches, but largely anonymous) Evans - 6 (lost the ball too often, maybe harsh to mark him down, with such little support) Stewart - 7 (caused them some problems, though not enough) Belaid - 6 (great free kick and some good moves, but lost the ball too easily) Fryatt - 6 (Matty's poorest game for us, didn't seem up for it) Mclean - 7 (usual work rate but nothing seemed to come off) Devitt 90+3 - No time to judge Simpson 78 - 9 (looked bright when came on, great goal) Barmby 63 - 8 (Did what Barmby does, they couldn't handle him) We were outplayed for the first half, but were far better in the second, particularly when the substitutions were made, I thought we might well go on to nick all three points. The midfield is the biggest issue, Koren, Belaid and Stewart all have plenty of skill, but they rarely win a ball and it's leaving Evans too much to do on his own. I suspect we'll see Harper in for Stewart at Derby and I also expect Simpson to replace Mclean.
The midfield is far too weak but I would be surprised to see Simpson replacing McLean after 1 sub appearance, although he might bring drop Mclean to midfield and stick Fryatt and Siimpson up front. Not sure who you drop though, Evans/Belaid and Stewart for Simpson and Harper?
id agree with most of those, id go against gerrard this week, usually top notch but i thought this was one of his poorest games, terrible distribution and quite a few mistakes, rosenoir had a 20 minute spell when he just kept blasting it forward and heading it straight to them but other than that was very good, chester had a hard game against scotland but dont think he ever let him into a bad situation which was good. simpson and barmby were definitely needed, id like to see barmby get 60 minutes soon to freshen things up.
