Match ratings against man u

[Rossi22]

Too many people playing FM. We dominated Manchester United, a team the equivalent of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Champions elect of the EPL. I'd give all of the them an 8, and that's only cause we didn't win, could have been 9's.

Come on Guys what did you expect ffs!

What does FM have to do with it?

I just don't think we were that good individually but it was a good team performance. Lennon 8, the rest 6 or thereabouts, overall team performance 8. I'm not sure how that works but that's how I saw it.

 

[Spur of the moment]

Strange one this, we played extremely well and dominated the best team in the country, but only a few players worthy of any great praise IMO.



Lloris - 5 - Hardly anything to do apart from the goal, which he conceded at his near post

Walker - 6 - Reasonably solid, but lost RVP for the goal

Dawson - 7 - Very good in defence, but loses a mark for a few careless passes

Caulker - 6 - Also pretty solid, but should have given away a penalty so loses a mark too

Naughton - 5 - Wasn't having a good game, a few careless passes and lost Cleverly for the goal

Lennon - 9 - How has he only won once against Man Utd? Another outstanding performance against them, full of energy and they really struggled to deal with his pace. He created numerous chances and got the assist in the last minute. MOTM

Dembele - 8 - Who said he'd be worse without Sandro? Solid first half, absolutely bossed the second. Great show.

Parker - 7 - Lots of industry, hard work and an eagerness to get forward. Lack of technical ability let him down in the final third though.

Bale - 6 - Struggled for time and space on the ball but managed to come close with a couple of decent efforts on goal

Dempsey - 6 - Had been quite frustrated him with him, as despite his work rate, he'd missed some good chances, was slowing our play down too much in the final third and was showing a lack of creativity. I wanted him to come off for Sigurdsson. But, once again, he was in the right place at the right time against Man Utd to win us the points. The finish was better than he was given credit for, as he got it in the corner when it was coming at him at pace and there were men on the line, not as easy as it looked.

Defoe - 5 - This is Jermain Defoe in the second half of a season. Should have scored that chance Rio blocked and was largely ineffective for much of the game

Subs:

Assou-Ekotto - 4 - Very rusty, too many hoofed balls upfield with no aim or purpose which is something I cannot forgive. Would have been even lower if it hadn't been for the cross that led to the goal

Huddlestone - 6 - Little time but made some good passes

AVB - 8 - Good job from him yesterday. A team performance greater than the sum of its parts is always a good thing. BAE played badly but the substitution gave us additional width and was correct as Naughton was having a bad game. Bringing off Parker for Huddlestone was a big gamble as we didn't have a proper DM on the pitch, but his extra creativity helped keep the pressure on Utd who eventually cracked. I would have slagged him off for not taking of Dempsey for Sigurdsson, as we could have done with Gylfi's creativity in the final third to unlock the stubborn Man Utd defence, but with Dempsey's last minute goal his decision was justified (partly). Good show.

Re Dawson:

You sure about that? I can recall only one rank bad pass but this was counterbalanced by several surprisingly accurate long range efforts early on. I believe Dawson's passing has been steadily improving in recent games. Maybe his reputation is such that it now takes just one tinkle-poor pass to colour our overall judgement?

 

[southstand1882]

Re Dawson:

You sure about that? I can recall only one rank bad pass but this was counterbalanced by several surprisingly accurate long range efforts early on. I believe Dawson's passing has been steadily improving in recent games. Maybe his reputation is such that it now takes just one tinkle-poor pass to colour our overall judgement?

This

Michael is a beautiful passer of the ball for a centre half. One of the best in the premier league.

But I've noticed rampant knee-jerking when one goes astray.

 

[Rossi22]

29/36 completed passes.

 

[Pirate55]

My ratings are very positive as a reward for the team effort. I thought we we fantastic today. We missed Sandro but we never gave up, we kept our cool, we kept serious at the back aswell.

And we were unlucky not to score before. Defoe should have had two or three today.

Agree with this. Points out the desperate need for another striker. We have created gazillions of chances in the last few games and Defoe and Ade between them have missed a hatful. Must be our top priority in the window. Well done lads - a great performance and deserved at least a draw if not a win against the champions elect.

Everyone 7 except Lloris 6 (maybe could have done better with the goal) Lennon 8 (MotM - great to see him taking men on again) Defoe 5 - not clinical - several decent chances and didnt look like scoring. AVB 8 decent team (dont know why Verts didnt start though) and sensible subs (for a change!!)

 

[Spursalot]

Agree with this. Points out the desperate need for another striker. We have created gazillions of chances in the last few games and Defoe and Ade between them have missed a hatful. Must be our top priority in the window. Well done lads - a great performance and deserved at least a draw if not a win against the champions elect.

Everyone 7 except Lloris 6 (maybe could have done better with the goal) Lennon 8 (MotM - great to see him taking men on again) Defoe 5 - not clinical - several decent chances and didnt look like scoring. AVB 8 decent team (dont know why Verts didnt start though) and sensible subs (for a change!!)

Was ill.

Named on the bench, but he wasn't actually sat there.

 

[Rossi22]

I've watched the goal about a dozen times now and I don't see how Lloris is supposed to be saving that. I think people are taking the phrase "don't get beaten at your near post" too literally.

 

[thfcsteff]

I've watched the goal about a dozen times now and I don't see how Lloris is supposed to be saving that. I think people are taking the phrase "don't get beaten at your near post" too literally.

I looked to see if he could be slagged for leaving a bit too much space at the near post. Looking at RVP's position as he comes in, 9 times out of 10 he puts that header back across goal to the far corner and Lloris' left: any further to the near
St nd that side of the goal s naively left gaping. It was, on reflection, an excellently placed header. I always feel disappointed with any goal conceded on a near post, so in that sense I wasn't delighted. But technically? Not sure how he can be blamed for it, so yes, I agree Rossi.

 

[Mumorn]

If Lloris stands at his near post, van Persie goes across goal and he'd have been slated for poor positioning. Stand in the centre and get beaten at near post, gets slated for poor positioning. Just something that happens in football.

 

[onlyme]

Parker and BAE not match fit but BAE despite errors turned out to be the substitution that won the match. Defoe nearly sneaked a goal but de Gea was alert. Later JD got into a great position and took a touch when he should have shot. I have no problem with strikers missing chances. It's normal. That is not to say that at the time I did not call him a blighter.
I thought Michael was excellent and Caulker looked good. I am biased but I did not think that was a pen. Rooney did the same as Teddy in the Carling Final and kicked Caulker.
How did Carrick get MOTM-he should have been sent off? Lennon MOTM- Dempsey covered 6.21 miles to RVP 6.38. Could and should have won but delighted with the draw.

 

[chicken_badge]

Lloris 7
Walker 6 - lose one for first goal
Dawson 9 - led the back line, let us not underestimate how good our defence was to keep united out like that for most of the match
Caulker 8 - lost one for the pen
Naughton 7 - attacking threat first half stretched United beyond bale
Lennon 9 - MOTM
Parker 8 - big game for him. Perhaps the performance that will impact us most for the rest of the season
Dembele 8 - influential second half, if he was Scholes or Carrick commentators would have been gushing
Bale 7 - second half he looked a real threat, good to see him adapting
Defoe 6 - worked hard as "lone striker" but needs to take the chances
Dempsey 8 - not quite a Stalteri moment but it was close

BAE 7
Huddlestone 4 - for our most gifted player his touch was shocking. Needs a goal

AVB 10 could do no more
Freund 10 passion

Fergie time 3

Points off United 4

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Taking off the Lilywhite tinted specs I thought Carrick was superb for Man U. Lucky to have a couple of key fouls unpunished but he ran their show. Fabulous bit of play in the second half when he looked to hang on to the ball too long, drew the tackle then turned his man and pulled away.

However, Lennons turn before his through ball for Defoe trumped this for me and he ran them ragged. If Sky didn't have a tendency to automatically award MOTM to a player from the "winning" team, and if they had the patience to wait for the final whistle, he would have got it for sure. Ultimately, Lennon had a bigger bearing on the result of the match then Carrick.

 

[braineclipse]

If Lloris stands at his near post, van Persie goes across goal and he'd have been slated for poor positioning. Stand in the centre and get beaten at near post, gets slated for poor positioning. Just something that happens in football.

I agree fully. RvP made an excellent header, into the corner. It's better to be beaten by one of those than to leave the entire far side of the goal open for an easy header back across.

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Seems that most people are blaming Walker for their goal? But he had a player outside RvP to handle as well, seems to me that Dawson should have been picking up RvP, not Walker. Thought Parker could have gotten closer to Cleverly a bit quicker too. But it's always going to be difficult in those situations where we're not properly organized, both for players to get close to the player out wide and for the defenders to deal with a very good cross, especially up against someone like RvP who has great movement in the box.

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Thought most our team did well. We pretty much outplayed Manu, can't ask for much more.

 

[Robspur12]

I've watched the goal about a dozen times now and I don't see how Lloris is supposed to be saving that. I think people are taking the phrase "don't get beaten at your near post" too literally.

Why do you need to watch it a dozen times? I've seen it twice, its practically point blank range from one of the best strikers in the world who may just have learnt how to place a header. Its not like he let it slip through his hands or dived the wrong way. I could be mistaken but are there any international class goalkeepers or coaches who could seriously question LLoris on his positioning? IMO the first and most serious mistake is from the left full back or winger who should have been tracking Cleverley rather than let him put in such an easy cross. The next one is the collective defensive line who were busy ball watching rather following Van persie

 

[Robspur12]

Brilliant result. Imo it emphasises what Dembele has brought to the team. I feel we are so solid in the middle of the park with him and as such more resilient. In that respect he is an upgrade on what we had with Modric and while his passing may not be as good I think in the long term will be better equiped to deal with teams like Man Utd. I do not believe we would have achieved the same result if Modric was there instead of Dembele. (8-[(Looks for a swift exit from the rotten eggs being thrown his way)

 

[Rorschach]

Why do you need to watch it a dozen times? I've seen it twice, its practically point blank range from one of the best strikers in the world who may just have learnt how to place a header. Its not like he let it slip through his hands or dived the wrong way. I could be mistaken but are there any international class goalkeepers or coaches who could seriously question LLoris on his positioning? IMO the first and most serious mistake is from the left full back or winger who should have been tracking Cleverley rather than let him put in such an easy cross. The next one is the collective defensive line who were busy ball watching rather following Van persie

Walker is becoming a bit of a spacegoat on this site but as you say who was tracking Cleverly? Nobody. He had oodles of time to pick out a cross. Parker was closest but didn't even realise Cleverly was there, and you'd have to think Bale should have been back there considering where he crossed from. I suppose you can over analyse things but the bottom line was that it was a perfect cross and header.

 

[metalgear]

Walker is becoming a bit of a spacegoat on this site but as you say who was tracking Cleverly? Nobody. He had oodles of time to pick out a cross. Parker was closest but didn't even realise Cleverly was there, and you'd have to think Bale should have been back there considering where he crossed from. I suppose you can over analyse things but the bottom line was that it was a perfect cross and header.

yeah this was very apparent - parker went into panic mode and headed straight for the goal mouth to join the 4-5 others already there. he had cleverly in his sights but he made the wrong decision to defend so deep. being a shorty himself he would be more useful waiting for the "second ball" outside the box.

 

[metalgear]

If Lloris stands at his near post, van Persie goes across goal and he'd have been slated for poor positioning. Stand in the centre and get beaten at near post, gets slated for poor positioning. Just something that happens in football.

i've never seen van persie score with his head with such deliberate force and accuracy... sure he met it well but it was a stinging cross to begin with, and judging by Van Persie's reaction, i am inclined to believe that he wasn't expecting exactly that to happen, it could very well have been a fluke.

 

[90291Spur]

29/36 completed passes.

He should be shot!\o/

 

[spasm]

very good team performance. Lennon was outstanding.

 

[Pirate55]

Thanks. That explains that one.