He had the best pass completion percentage after Guly (Who made 6 passes), and Puncheon (Who made 30), whilst making the second most passes with 60, after Schneiderlin who made 64. And he was only tackled once, only midfield or attacking player who wasn't dispossessed at all was Schneiderlin. So don't quite know where you're getting that haha! Schneiderlin, Puncheon, Lambert all probably had better games than him but he was still very solid.
Davis misplaced 4 passes all game and was only dispossessed once, what game were you watching? Anyway: K.Davis - 6 - Saved a penalty, and made some decent saves, but distribution was poor and he was at fault for the chance that led to the pen. Clyne - 7 - I thought he defended well and linked up with Punch brilliantly, unlucky to slip for the first United goal. Fonte - 6 - Sloppy in the last 10 minutes however he made some good headed clearances to stop United getting in on goal. Hooiveld - 6 - Same as Fonte really, however really stupid decision for the penalty. Fox - 4 - Stood off Valencia far too much, didn't really possess a threat going forward either, can't recall a cross finding a man. Ward-Prowse - 7 - Looked like he'd been playing PL football for years, really composed on the ball and rarely gave it away. Schneiderlin - 8 - Dominated Kagawa and was just fantastic passing the ball, even scored a goal! S.Davis - 6 - Rarely gave the ball away in midfield and put himself about in midfield, linked well with JWP. Puncheon - 8 - Linked up superbly with Clyne and put some dangerous balls into the box, only misplaced 2 passes all game. Lallana - 7 - Looked so much better out on the wing, looked dangerous coming in from the left and passed accurately too. Lambert - 7 - Got his goal, won a few headers, we looked a lot better with him in the team, such an influential player. Subs: Not enough time on the pitch to comment.
Davis - 8 - No chance on any of the goals and penalty save. Sick of Kelvin taking blame for awful defending. Clyne - 4 - all over the place defensively at times.. (although he got forward a lot on the overlap when has he ever hit a half decent cross? whenever he gets the ball in advanced positions he loses it. IMO Richardson would be more solid defensively and has a much better cross..) Fonte - 4 - no marking on the corner should have picked up van persie Hoovield - 4 - stupid tackle should have got a red hasn't learnt his lesson Fox - 3 - no marking at all dreadful. thought it might be harsh to score below 4 but **** it Schneiderlin - 10 - Amazing display capped it with a goal Ward-Prowse - 8 Davis - 7 Lallana - 8 Puncheon - 9.5 Lambert - 9 ---- Guly - terrible made us worse defensively and on attack - what is Guly doing on the 2nd?? He is responsible for not helping Rodriguez and pressing man u to stop the cross. Rodriguez - chased everything. on the 2nd goal outnumbered 2 vs 1 on the wing and tried to get a block in (where was everyone?) Mayuka - Could have chased more but no service Nigel- Huge mistake taking Puncheon off (as well as Lallana and Lambert). Meant we were offering nothing in attack. Davis and Ward-Prowse were knackered at the end.
Just watched a replay of the first Van P goal, and it would appear that Foxy 'lost' Valencia initially and then didn't close him down to prevent the cross, even then if Clyne hadn't slipped it could have been prevented.
Wow! Clyne - Roy Hodgson went to see wellbeck play - he saw him get substituted. Nani didn't get on thenoutside of him once. Defensively he was good - I'll give you the lack of crossing comment thouhgh. Guly making us poor defensively? ... Dad? Is that you? He didn't give the ball away and got back to help Clyne in the short time he was on. Subsitutions? If you read most the player ratings and match thread, a lot of people comment how knackered Adam, Punch and Rickie were. That's why they were taken off. Agreed Davis and JWP were too, but who would you have put in CM?
A lot of harsh comments here. we just played the best team in the UK over the past 2 decades!!! So I'll say everybody gets a 10..............except for Fox who yet again shows he is not good enough. It's a toss up between playing an inexperienced Shaw or an experienced Fox however.....one of them will improve and the other?????? I'll let you complete that.
K.Davis - 4 - Some good stops but some terrifying distribution straight to their strikers. Clyne - 5 - Slipped for the first goal other than that ok. Fonte - 6 - Played ok Hooiveld - 6 - Played ok, gave away a pen that was more Davies fault. Fox - 4 - Doesn't look like he can keep up. Schneiderlin - 7 - Good solid performance, robbed them for our first goal. Ward-Prowse - 7 - Good. S.Davis - 7 - Another good performance, so far our best signing for this year. Puncheon - 7 - Played well put in good cross for the first goal. Lallana - 6 - Gave the ball away far too often Lambert - 8 - Gave the United defence problems. Shouldn't have been substituted in my eyes.
Schneiderlin was superb and Garth Crooks can't even put him in his team of the week. Oh well, the good thing is it is only Garth Crook's opinion......
Davis - 5 - Would have been a 4 were it not for some decent saving and handling. His distribution was awful and he played the defence into trouble on several occasions. Clyne - 6.5 - Apart from the slip, he had a decent game. Didn't let the winger past him. Fonte - 5 - Not challenging Van Persie was a fatal error. Otherwise I'll cut him some slack as Davis was often playing him and Hooiveld into trouble. Hooiveld - 6 - Rash tackle for the penalty, but again Davis played him into trouble, so I'll cut him some slack. Fox - 4 - The less said the better. JWP - 7.5 - Tired towards the end, but looks like a quality player. His midfield play is excellent and a bit of development physically will turn him into a top player. Hopefully Hodgson noticed while watching Wellbeck being useless. Davis - 7 - Played solidly and did little wrong. Schneiderlin - 9 - Capped a storming game with a goal. So good with the ball and well pressed for the first. My MOTM. Puncheon - 8 - Had an excellent game. Great cross for Lambert's goal. Lallana - 7.5 - His end product let him down at times, but his trickery and movement caused them a whole load of problems. Lambert - 8 - He did really well to make himself space against Vidic and Ferdinand. I'm surprised how much joy he got out of them. Well-taken goal and a good cross for the second. Mayuka - 5 - Had very little support, so couldn't get into the game. He's not as big and strong as Lambert, so asking him to win headers and hold the ball up was a bit of a waste of time. Rodriguez - 5.5 - The midfield had run themselves into the ground by the time he came on and they couldn't help him out much. Guly - 5 - Barely noticed him. I'd have hoped that he would have used his strength and good feet to control the ball, slow the game down and relieve some of the pressure. He didn't do this. Adkins - 6.5 - We started the game the right way and dominated for spells. Fergie had the options he needed on the bench, we didn't. It's simply unfortunate that we didn't have Cork or Ramirez available who maybe could have seen the game out for us. Lambert, Lallana and Puncheon were clearly shattered and taking them off was the right call.
Davis - 5 His ball distribution was poor. Left our defence short on a couple of occassions. Takes to long on the ball sometimes in my opinion. JUST CLEAR IT! Clyne - 7 Good link up play with Punch. Made some nice runs at the United defence. Was unfortunate to slip for goal. Give someone like Van Persie that extra yard and he will punish you. Fonte - 6 Resonable game, didnt really put to much of a foot wrong apart from losing RVP on the last goal. Sometimes wish he would go forward instead of back to Davis. Jos - 6 Solid game, silly to challenge like that in your own box. You can't go through a player and not expected to be punished. Fox - 5 Caught out on the ball a couple of times. Took the wrong pass on occassions. Puncheon - 8 (I will be first to admit, never been a JP fan) But yesterday I had to stand and applaud him off the pitch. Got stuck in, linked up well with players, created chances and Lambos goal. Think he will be assest for us in games to come. JWP - 7 Bossed the midfield in first half, you watch him and forget he is only 17. Got a bit lost in the 2nd half when Scholes came on. JWP could be come something special if he keeps this up. Spiderman - 9 my MOTM. Controlled the midfield, wasn't afriad to go in and make a tackle. Won the ball on numerous occasions. Passing was top draw. Did well with his goal nice movement. Watching him off the ball during the match. As soon as someone went up from back he would drop into that position. Davis - 7 Solid game, linked up well with rest of midfield. Lallana - 8 looked nervous in tunnel, took him a while to get into his stride. Once he did though he was quality. Has really taken to premiership. His trickery is just brilliant at times. Lambert- 8 Big Strong, caused Ferdinand & Vidic a headache. Did what he was asked and bullied them. His setup for Morgans goal showed the other side of his game. (Although needs to work on first touch, bit heavy at times). Guly - 3 Didn't really add anything when he came on. Looked lost on the pitch. Mukaya - 4 Could see hadnt really had time to work with squad. Once he knows our style could be a threat up top. Rodriguez - 4 (must have made that much of impact couldnt rememeber who last sub was, had to look it up) Adkins - 6 Can see why he made subs but personally wouldnt have taken all 3 of our best players off. Think I would have let Punch run himself into ground. Was still winning things before he came off. Will learn from each game.
