McCarthy - 7 Onouha - 7 Caulker - 6 Dunne - 7 Yun - 8 Isla - 7 Henry - 7 Sandro - 6 Fer - 7 Austin - 7 Zamora - 8 Phillips - 6 Traore - 6 Vargas - 8 Good performances all over but Yun, Zamora and Vargas stood out. Vargas have to get the Man of the Match for his two well taken goals.
I only watched on TV, but I thought Sandro deserved more than a 6 - he seemed to be very combative and busy?
Norway - Pretty much spot on for me... Yun must start from now on - OBZ, Austin and Zamora are a toss up for the starting 2 up front - I wonder on todays showing if Harry might try OBZ and Vargas against Villa with Charlie on the bench? We look weak on the right without Onouha - Isla is evidently better pushing forward, and Phillips still flatters to deceive. (Simpson sale still and *facepalm* moment) Fer should have scored from the pull back... watched that several times and still can't believe he smashed it onto the bar and over - serious lack of composure there from a genuine international of his calibre - could have changed the game. Thought Henry again did a decent job - Sandro took a massive whack - surprised he managed to play on tbh. Caulker and Dunne looked comfortable enough - I think the blend of experience and pace works - first goal was simply due to lack of concentration (Traore?) at the set piece and you can't blame Dunne for trying to clear the ball - even if he is the top OG specialist in PL history! Couhtinio's goal was poor defending - don't blame the keeper who overall had a very good match. If Onouha/Sandro are fit we should start the same back/midfield line - if only to bring some needed stability to the team - only decision is Austin/OBZ/Vargas up front - Barton/Mutch on the bench if fit - they need to be brought back slowly to ensure they don't get injured again. Does anyone know what was up with Green - not even on the bench... is he injured? Sad to hear Harry slate Adel so publicly - looks like relations are irretrievably broken between them.
We looked far better with three at the back than when we switched to four at half time. Fer was poor and hoillett is twice the player that Phillips is.
Commentators I heard said Green got tonsilitis today. Yun did well but no better than Traore has been doing. Niko could have won the game for us today. Seems like his broken toe isn't just a pain killer away from being all right.
Scores look about right to me. I would mark Fer down for his appalling miss from the pull back (I could have scored that one) and the stupid, brainless, ridiculously naïve free kick to four, FOUR, Liverpool players that allowed them to break away quickly and score the winning goal. I said to my son a minute to two before: "Take the draw" but unfortunately the numpty Fer didn't hear me. Impressive debut from McCarthy; OBZ had the best game for us that I can recall (even including Wembley); and Phillips faded from view about 5 minutes after coming on and seems to have some objection in principle to using his speed to cover the opposition breakaways. Very good effort from everyone else.
