He is so fast on his feet for a keeper. He is incredibly mobile . He made a vital punch at one point from a corner as well
It was a long loop, I'll give you that. It went straight up a looong way and then came straight down. Ba was challenging him, but you've got to back a 6ft 5 keeper to claim that ball 999/1000, he didn't have to sprint out and jump over bodies to claim it, he had plenty of time to watch it come down to him. If Ba was allowed to use his hands... different matter! And even if he did get wrestled out of the way, these days if a goalie is touched it's a foul, so he probably would have been bailed out. Then again, with that ref... Who knows?
Yeah it wasn't much of a challenge from the striker. He obviously knew it would be a foul if he challenged hard for it, was just hoping for a fumble.
I also think you are forgetting the automatic 1 point deduction he is receiving on the basis of dodgy haircut. I waived mine this week on the basis of good performance.
I'd have to pause it on a video to be sure. Most people think no daylight is onside which of course it's not. if a part of his body with which he is legally able to play the ball is beyond the defender he's off. Potentially just having his knee cap past the last man was off. Might not have been. I don't know. It was very close. Which is why the goal should have been awarded. for me benefit of doubt should go with attacker. perhaps it depends on the individual linesman whether benefit of doubt goes with attacker or defenders
I bet Nigel has all sharp objects removed from the dressing room. I want to snip it off sitting at home on my sofa...must require great self control in the dressing room not to leap on him and chew it off with your teeth.
Puncheon was the star of the show in my eyes, closely followed by Cork. When those two are full throttle it raises the tempo of the whole team. When that happens there won't be many teams that can control us. To a man we were awesome. I know this may sound a bit strange but i think our defense is happier playing at a quick pace. When its slowed, down mistakes happen.
To those giving Gazzaniga a 7, picture the match had he not produced the phenomenal save to keep out Cisse's header in the second half. That goal would have completely swung momentum in Newcastle's favour and we could have seen a very different result. If a striker has an average game except for one match-winning wonder-strike we would all be giving him solid 10s so keep that in mind maybe? Also, if you think Rickie's performance was a 7 today then you clearly do not understand the ridiculously important role he plays for this team.
The front four of Lambert, Lallana, Punceon and Ramirez were all great, but for me Ramirez in particular was immense. His dribbling, passing and creativity were top notch, his first touch was much improved compared to recent games but what impressed me most was his willingness to get stuck in and press to win possession. Certainly MoM in my view, I'm surprised more on here don't agree. When he went off and Adkins gave him a pat on the back I'm pretty sure I saw him say the simple words "Thank you".
I feel sorry for J Rod. He sat on the bench twiddling his thumbs, finally gets the nod 15 mins too late to replace an injured Lambert and then has a smashing goal wrongly chalked off. Krul was in fine form all day and J Rod beat him with ease. Confidence is a powerful weapon.
I wouldn't. If he played a reasonable game with a big error, and then scored a 30 yarder, I would probably give him a 7 or at most an 8. I went through the same thought process with Gazza, and initially had him down as an 8, purely because of his great save and because I was happy for him, but when I weighed up his game as a whole I changed my mind and gave him a 7. To be honest I don't understand the fuss, it's not like people are giving him 4s or 5s and slating him, 7 is a good rating and shows people think he had a good game. Indeed, I felt for him big time. I think if the linesman didn't cruelly disallow that we might have seen him start against Norwich, give Rickie a bit of a rest and keep him ready and raring for his one-man-show at Anfield. We still might.
7 is a total joke mate. You've scored all the outfield players higher that started. He made a world class stop from the header. He stopped a free header happening because he had the presence of mind to come off his line to punch in the pouring rain. He made a one on one save. Some keepers would have let in 3 goals there. He recovered his own mistake..no one should be drilling it to him in heavy rain as it is..especially not at the goal. if they want to drill it it shouldn't be going into the goal. it meant he had to take a touch and then clear it. Put under unnecessary pressure several times with back passes that were predominately too firm and one time too weak. No necessary at all in heavy rain. You haven't down rated Yoshida and Shaw for that I take. The conditions were shocking for keeping and he plays like that and you rate the other 10 players higher. All I can do is laugh here.
Gazza has made two good saves in his premier league career he played his best game yesterday but for mine was the worst southampton player on the pitch. WHo else made a potentially lethal mistake? It doesn't matter how good at stopping the ball you are if you continually put the team in a position where they can concede you are not a good goalkeeper. We are lucky that gazza's clearance bobbled straight up into the air, if it had of landed away from him we could have conceded. Gazza had a good game all in all but making the same mistake two games later is quite stupid, the lad has talent and will improve but that doesn't change the fact that he is error prone. The one on one was hit at him and every goalkeeper in the league would have saved it, the header was a great save and shows his raw ability. I still think Gazza is technically weak and needs massive improvement on his decisions and positioning. He was great once we were winning but I doubt he would be better than Boruc against teams that are better than us.
Some of you would rather let in goals and have the keeper look calm doing it. Boruc or Davis would not have kept a clean sheet yesterday
I'll put it down to lack of understanding of the goalkeeper's role and what it's actually like being a goalkeeper. Anyone that thinks Gazzaniga was our worst player yesterday is clueless as far as I'm concerned.
He made one very good save, he made one bad mistake. Putting that numerically, my average rating is a 6, other than those two moments he did some decent work but nothing worthy of going up or down a rating in my eyes, a pretty good punch but one he should be making, and then a couple of saves which were pretty much straight at him. I will give him a +2 for the big save, taking him to 8, and a -1 for the mistake, giving him a 7. You would not expect him to make that save, it was fantastic, you would also expect him to not dwell on the ball and then kick it into an opposition player... I will reiterate that I don't understand why this is such a source of controversy. For one, more people have rated him 7 or below, than have rated him higher than that. and you were the only person to give him a 9. And 7 is not a bad rating, it is indicative of a good performance, no-one has particularly criticised him or said he had a bad game. I'd understand a fuss being made if people were giving him 4s and slating him when he deserved a 7 or 8... But quibbling to such a degree over a difference of one or two in rating I don't understand.
