We were cheated and deserved a win, but we've got to be happy with the point. I'm so happy with the lads performance. Ratings - Darlow - 7.5 - Some shakey moments but dealt well under pressure and made some good saves. Anita - 8.5 - Solid and great goal. Lascelles - 8 - Solid apart from a couple of mistakes. Mbemba - 8 - Excellent positioning and defending. Dummett - 7.5 - Quite solid. Townsend - 8 - Great defensive work rate and some great deliveries. Tiote - 9 - Superb. Lots of attacks started from his challenges. Bullied city throughout the game. One of his best performances. Colback - 7 - Good work rate and helped keep us rigid and compact. Sissoko - 8 - Good work rate, good runs, shame that he could score that chance. Caused City problems all night. Perez - 6 - Worked hard defensively, some good dribbling, but not much of a threat to City. Cisse - 6.5 - Did well in the build ups to chances. Good work rate. Good performance. Mitro - 6.5 - Did ok later on. Helped heap pressure on City. Wijnaldum - 7 - Unlucky not to have a goal. His runs caused Mangala problems. Benitez - 9 - Amazing managing. Brilliant man managing and defensive organisation. MOTM - Tiote, followed closely by Anita.
Benitez is our most complete manager in every department since the great SBR. Came with a glowing CV and is starting to turn us into a proper team again. Just hope we have a fighting chance of hanging onto him.
I thought Sissoko did very well tonight, also tracking back a couple of times putting in very important challenges. Townsend too... has qualities. If we could only get Gini Townsend and Sissoko to all play together we'd be in better shape. I think main reason Benitez is going with Cissé over Mitro is Mitro gets roughed up and frustrated after not getting enough service. Cissé does put himself about..not much coming off really he did have a decent flick or two. I thought the commentary was a bit harsh on him. We all know we're lacking a proper center forward and we won't find him before the summer. If we get a draw at Anfield I could see myself hoping again. We still have two absolutely must win games..and possibly get something at Spurs if the title race is decided. However...if it all comes down to the last day..with us staying us..vs Spurs having to win to keep their title hopes alive... sheesh. Really more important now what Arsenal, Everton Stoke and Watford do. If Arsenal plays crap vs the Mackems and Norwich we're dead and burried.
We have a wonderful player in Lascelles. On and off the pitch. Would take him over Colo all ****ing day long.
For me is our best centre half. Chancel Mbemba is steady but the presence of Lascelles is gold dust for us.
Tiote was man of the match, closely followed by Anita and Lascelles, but I think Dummett did extremely well and its very rare I get to say that. Usually the guy is done for pace over the first couple of yards when I saw he was coming up against Navas i thought he would be torn apart, but he stood off when he needed to, challenged at the right times and made all the correct decisions. Townsend was class, he was the one player who didnt stop, he was up and down and I wouldnt be surprised if he racked up the most running distance last night. Liverpool next, Massive tough game, but no Henderson, Origi, Toure or Can, plus they play Everton tonight, so the chances of a red card or added injuries is high. I think they will go strong tonight (Klopp has to for a Derby) and go weak against us due to the Europa League Semi on Thursday Their line up on Saturday against Bournemouth included Ward Gk, Randell, Smith, Ojo, Stewart and Ibe none of which a regular first team players. Yeah they beat Bournemouth., but if we play like last night against a younger team, we should be able to get a draw/win!
Great performance. Probably deserved the win really. Those 2 points would have been massive, not in terms of the table but in terms of applying pressure to the other two. All the more sickening that we are seeing this effort when its all too late. Also you see what Rafa (a manager) is getting out of them instead of McClaren (a coach). Why did we sit on our hands so long? Its clear we only have ourselves to blame from the top down.
Great performance, good result. I'm not totally convinced by Tiote for MOTM. He played well and was important. However, he yet again gave away a stupid free kick within range of goal with 10 minutes to go. Citeh wasted it, but if it had gone in, people would be singing a very different tune. Don't get me wrong, he played well. But he still hasn't eliminated those stupid challenges and as such was merely good, not great.
