Boruc 6 - Not really called into action and forced off with injury at HT. Clyne 7 - Very solid from Clyne and quite threatening going forward. Yoshida 6 - Solid but scared the **** out of me when he let Torres in and was fortunate referee gave a foul. Hooiveld 7 - Good preformance, good in the air (as you'd expect). Shaw 7 - Shaky start but improved as the match went on - a couple of very good runs going forward. Puncheon 6 - Not really in the game much. Cork - 8 - Very impressed with him today, particularly in the 1st half. Outshone Morgan for me today - a rarity. Morgan -7 Another good outing from the Frenchman - good passing as usual. Davis - 7 Good work in the build up to Jay's goal but his passing did let him down at times and gave the ball away in dangerous areas a couple of times. Rodriguez - 8 His pace was a constant threat. Very weak finish with his first chance but took his goal very well. Lambert 9 MOTM - Lambert at his near best today. Held the ball up well and linked well with other players as usual and a brilliant strike for his goal. Subs K. Davis 8 - Did a fine job considering he hasn't played for ages. Made one brilliant save and kept a clean sheet. Ward-Prowse 6 Fox N/A Ref John Moss - 8. I thought he refereed the game well. Not the biggest name in the refereeing world but one of the best referee's I have seen this season.
Boruc - N/A Davis - 7 Clyne - 7 Yoshida - 7 Hoovield - 6 Shaw - 7 Cork - 8 Schneiderlin - 8 Rodriguez - 8 Davis - 8.5 MOTM Puncheon - 6 Lambert - 8.5 MOTM JWP - 6 Fox - N/A. Joint MOTM.
Boruc - 6 Clyne - 8 Yoshida - 7 Hooiveld - 8 Shaw - 7 Cork - 7 Morgan - 8 Davis - 7 Puncheon - 6 Jay - 8 MOTM Lambert - 8
I've got exactly the same as you, maybe bumping Jay to a 9. Rodriguez is getting better every week, causes havoc when he runs at teams.
You have to give Foxy something, he was brought on to protect Shaw, as a protecting left midfielder he is a different player to Fox the left back without someone protecting him, he used his experience and a lot of nous to help us see the game out, you can't blame him for anything this week.
Agree on Shaw and his shaky 1st half...if Fox had played like that there would be venom from some fans. It was a gentle reminder if needed that the lad is only 17 and will have games like today. Having said that Moses is a dangerous player, Azpilicueta backs up with pace and Hazard is one of the most skilful players I've seen. So he stood up admirably. Cork was great again. Lambert held the ball up like it was a match against Yeovil, but for me it was Jay Rod for MOTM. Buzzed around and a couple of 1st touches brought out audible gasps of delight from the crowd. If only he could finish some of those chances he created for himself.
Was I watching the same game as you guys? I thought Puncheon looked very dangerous the first half and had a couple nice runs. And Clyne had a massive game... in part because he and Puncheon work well together. I guess I could see giving Puncheon a 6 just because he got subbed early, but he played his role well today. Hooieveld gave up a soft goal on that set piece. He may have slipped/been pushed so perhaps we shouldn't be too harsh but Hooieveld and 8 and Puncheon a 6?
Punch was better than a six today Nath Clyne was quality Corkie simply outstanding and a toss up between him, Lambert and Jayrod for MOM. Where are all the "one goal" and Jayrod knockers gone? We have ourselves a little diamond here who is just getting better and better!
Boruc 7 - Couple good claims, didn't have much to do. Clyne 8.5 - Got forward well, his recovery pace at times is surreal, as is his focus when making last-ditch challenges. Always seems to have a foot in the right place, at the right time. Yoshida 7 - Good enough, no real mistakes. Hooiveld 7 - At fault for the goal, solid overall. Shaw 7 - Was placed under a lot of pressure, but overall did enough. Puncheon 6 - Pretty anonymous. Cork 8 - Is there a player in the Prem more fond of allowing the ball to run by him in potentially dangerous situations before coolly passing it back to a defender? No. No there is not. Morgan - 7.5 - His usual self, though his late fouling spree was a concern. Davis 7.5 - Great pass for the goal, though he has a habit of making underweighted passes, causing moves to fizzle, and potentially setting up dangerous counters. Rodriguez 9 MOTM - Quickly becoming one of the more indispensable players in the squad...his directness is the perfect antidote for those moments when we start to dither. Lambert 8.5 - Rickie being Rickie. Subs K. Davis 7.5 - One fantastic save, some less-than-fantastic kicking. Such is life. Ward-Prowse 6.5 - Didn't do much wrong, didn't particularly assert himself, either. Fox 7 - I actually like him being used on the left in situations such as this...so long as the words "Danny Fox, the last line of defense" are not possible.
I don't normally do ratings but I have to say that it's a 10 for MP for me today. He showed an ability to adapt his style that I haven't seen before now. Chelsea really came at us in the second half and I think it is very easy to underestimate the decisions he made. The substitutions we're excellent and his post match interview reveals his thinking ... sides like Chelsea are used to going down and winning it in the 2nd half. Plus Rodriguez was fantastic again, a reminder that it takes a player a little while to settle at a new club.
Rodriguez is showing exactly why we payed £7mill for him. As for Puncheon, he just wasn't in the game that much. I guess ratings will vary depending on where you are sat in the stadium but from where I was he seemed to have a quiet game.
Hes got a few goals lately which is very exciting! The lads almost got it all pace skill vision and movement. I feel the things he needed to work on were being a bit more physical and improving his finishing. If he can bring those aspects up to the rest of his play I think he could easily be an England regular in not too long. Very exciting as hes the type of player who hopefully can grow perfectly along with us so by the time hes in his peak so are we!
I did give Puncheon a 7 to start with. Even pressed post. But then decided that I couldn't justify giving him the same score as Yoshida, Shaw and Cork. And as I wasn't willing to bump them up to 8s, it was Puncheon down to 6. As for Jos, I honestly thought he played really well. Him and Clyne really pushed Jay for MOTM for me.
Exactly. The improvement is there each week and if he continues improving the next few seasons can be huge for him.
My one gripe with Cork is that when he brings the ball forward and it opens up for him he always looks to pass rather than shoot, I think if his shooting had been true he could have given us a two goal cushion. Clyne was very good as were the front two and I thought Steven Davis was excellent again, his appearances are improving as he plays more; like Rodriguez.
We've always had good players, but Mauricio just seems to get that little bit more out of them. They believe in him and have wholeheartedly accepted his more pressing style. Nothing like winning to increase confidence. He has also managed to get more out of Rodriguez by not making him play second fiddle to Rickie. If we thought Rickie was good...I can't wait to see the Rickie/Jay combo next season.
