Lonergan - 8 two top draw saves. I feel allot more confindetn with him as our number 1 Lees - 6 first goal his fault...when he put his head in his hands he knew that..improved Paddy - 5 off game which is rare for him but remember he was out all last season.... O'dea - 6 solid at CB also like it at the end when he had the ruck... White - 7 i think the best one of the back 4 good going forward and great pace.. Snoddy - 7 decent 2nd half and looked even more a threat swapping sides... Howson - 6 i he looks better in a 5 but he did ok and bossed the midfiled with Clayton Clayton - 9 star man and had Parker in his pocket...snapped all day and great goal Gradel - 6 still not 100% in paches looked amazing poor pen..needs to be consistant McCormack - 6 im not convinced he looks more of a AM or LW... rather than a striker Keogh - 7 ran all day,held the ball up well will do as a short term replacement Becchio Nunez -6 i like him the more i see him..good passer and confident on the ball Sam - 6 did not do much... Larry - 7 tatics spot on... well done.... All from my couch with 3 bottles of San Miguel
Not convinced O'Dea is good enough,& what is it with our CB's kicking with their wrong foot? Kissa did it twice & O'Dea sliced a clearance for a corner when it was easier to clear with his right. Its basic stuff. Just gets me sometimes,these are well paid pros,surely they can clear it upfield with their weaker foot!!
Your being a bit harsh on McCormack, scoring a goal and doing nothing wrong is worth a 7. Also think Howson was a factor in our late comeback along with Clayton.
McCormack is going to hit double figures this season. He's on 2 after 4 games... if he stays injury free he'll have 10 before Somma gets back from injury.
He seems very much a confidence player, and is much better when someone else is up with him. Glad Larry took a risk bringing Howson and Gradel in and keeping McCormack in the side, very positive. His goals for us have been very goal-poacher-ish but he has the technical ability aswell. Top class if he stays on form . Very impressed with Keogh aswell, reminded me of Becchio in League 1, always making a nuisance of himself.
Simon...maybe i am being a bit harsh but not sure he is a striker...... i think he is a bit light weight..and his goal today was on a plate.....but i suppose you have to be there to get them... In terms of howson my comment was he looks better and more confident in a 5 man midfield this was the same last season...he can look a bit lost at times...but he was over shadowed by Clayton who was emense today... Marko reckon you might be right...maybe he will get better and better with games.... time will tell.....
From what we saw early on last season I think we all knew McCormack was a very talented player. Due to never really getting started in terms of playing time he didn't have a great season last season, until the last 2 games where he played brilliantly alongside Paynter. After a poor preseason he's starting to get some confidence together, and playing next to Keogh (and potentially Becchio) is a much more attractive prospect, since they are both more talented than Paynter and generally more useful. Now he's got a bit of confidence, it's showing. He's taking risks with shooting and getting into dangerous areas, showing creative flair and generally making a nuisance of himself. I see great things from McCormack, I said at the end of last season he'd be a big player for us this season and so far he's delivering.
Clayton didn't actually play that much better than Howson. If it had been Howson who put the ball in the net at the end of the game, people would be raving about him. They both did the job of stopping Nolan and Parker getting a grip on the game, keep possession well and sat back a bit to allow Snoddy and Gradel to get forward. SG got his tactics right today. I think the 4-4-2 works much better than when we play the 4-2-3-1. Our team looks more rigid. I think when Becchio's back, we can revert to the lone striker with Howson behind, but this will work until then. McCormack is a quality player though - 5 in his last 7 games.
Yes White's the answer,superb,& Lonnergan is very solid so that's another positive. Think Lees deserves a run in the side as he'll get better the more he plays there & looks a bit on the short side for CB. Paddy had an off day today but is only just getting up to speed so wouldn't write him off yet. O'Dea for me is not the answer,too slow,doesn't win many headers as doesn't seem able to get off the ground. Would much prefer Bromby there. Never seems to do much wrong & yet always gets dropped.
That and we already know what Howson is about, 100% agree. McCormack is a striker he has bags of ability. You watch his finishing when he gets the chance it's top class. I sit near the goal at the front in the kop every game (season ticket holder) and when he's taking shots he puts every single one right into the corner without feel. And his touch, his touch is amazing you can't catch a ball with your hands better than he can with his feet.
Clayton seems to be getting better game by game and while I think he played another blinder today, Howson also played his part with that cross field pass starting the move for our equaliser. Thats as good a pass as you're likely to see all season, and that includes the Premiership. MOT.
Lonergan - 8, some brilliant stops and looked commanding in the box. Lees - 6, at fault for the first goal. Kisnorbo - 2, dreadful, out of position, kept tugging West Ham players, own goal and just woeful. O'Dea - 3, Was he playing? White - 8, full of energy, good tackling and looked up for the game Howson - 4, like O'Dea, didn't really know he was playing, until his last minute shot. Clayton - 9, simply the best player on the field. Full of energy, great positional sense, good running with and off the ball and the goal. Snodgrass - 8, looks to be coming back to his best again. McCormack - 8, full of running to create space, a fighter and scored his goal. The more I see McCormack the more I see why he is highly rated. Keogh - 5, can't trap a ball, failed to find the right position throughout the game, slow and doesn't appear to like running much. Weak shot near the end summed him up. Not convinced about the lad. Gradel - 7, good at times and then quiet at other times, that said, when he gets the ball things tend to happen. Nunez - 5, didn't have time to do much. Sam - 4, same as Nunez.
McCormack is not a striker, he is an attacking player who creates and scores goals, he prefers to come in from the wings.
Keogh tended to get in positions allowing McCormack to get in space. A lot. He's also very strong on the ball, I'm expecting to see more from him.
Generally a pretty good all round performance, I think the weakest Leeds player was Howson... Not many teams are going to come away from West Ham with a point so nice one Leeds.
Were you watching the same game as me? O'Dea was fairly anonomous in a good way, did nothing wrong. Howson was far from spectacular but he and Clayton both bossed the centre of the park, and Keogh was excellent, brilliant flick for our first, had a big hand in our 2nd and never stopped running and chasing "lost" causes. Still, Can't disagree about Clayton .
Agreed howson was probably our worse player on the day and i think howson is our best player although he did the dirty work to allow clayton more time on the ball as i suggested. I think people are being harsh on kissa, had a couple bad moments but apart from that looked good. I also very much liked the look of white, did very well. I was genuinely impressed with our performance and if clayton carries that on, he will be playing for england in the near future for sure. I was so gutted when the own goal went in (paddy shoulda used his left foot, or even just let it hit him). after the goal was the only time clayton went a little but quiet and thats when leeds went quiet. Anyone else think keogh will be keeping becchio out of the team?
