- Jun 7, 2007
- 4,295
- 9
Your ratings
Can't disagree too much with either of those. The Hudd was disappointing—it should have been a game tailor-made for him, but he didn't provide either Bent or Campbell with much at all.
'bout time you posted some match ratings me ole son:hump:
Gomes 7 - Nice confidence booster for him and another clean sheet. The defence seemed to push out a little more, which has probably been worked on in training, which meant he could come out and claim the ball. Was calling nice and early.
Gunter 7 - Defended pretty well. I liked the way when the left winger for NEC attacked him Gunter made sure he got nice and tight to the line so that there was very little space to beat him on the outside. It meant the ball was always played back into the middle and elimiated a serious final ball from the left.
Dawson 7 - Had a few slightly nervous moments, but in general defended pretty well. He stuck tightly to the big centre forward and took all the hits.
Woodgate 8 - His best game for a while. Stood up and defended on his feet, one outstanding tackle in the box and one occassion where he harried the opposition player from the edge of the box almost to the centre circle stood out. Lead the backline and the team well.
Bale 6.5 - A better game from Bale, got caught out less defensively, but could learn a few things defensively from his welsh mate Gunter. Needs to understand when to tuck in and when to get wide. Got his feet the right way round most of the time, still lead with his shoulder into the tackles and commited to early. Going forward was good.
Huddlestone 5 - Um, not good from Tommy last night. I can't figure out why he was the deepest of the central midfielders last night. In the first half we played with a diamond type formation with the 'quarterback' Huddlestone at the base. This meant he was the last man, where he could be exposed and meant that all of his balls out from the midfield had to be looped long balls. It made even less sense when considering there were very few natural outlets as we had no wide men. I think Harry got the midfield shape wrong, but who am I to question a man who has got 7 wins from 9 games. :grin:
Zokora 6 - Played in front of Huddlestone in a slightly more advanced role to how I would like to see him. He was tidy enough, although I couldn't really figure out his role at all. When he got into more advanced positions he didn't look entirely comfortable.
O'Hara 8 - Seemed to be the most comfortable in his role out of the entire midfield unit. Playing left of centre he put his foot in well and was full of energy. He is confident enough in his own ability to try and a shot, and did well to follow in and get the goal. If he could be a little more disciplined I wouldn't mind seeing him in the role behind Huddlestone, where he could be a terrier and keep his game a little simpler.
Bentley 5.5 - First half he was in that kind of drifting role that Modric is so good at. His touch and vision is not Modric like and so he struggled, particularly when getting the ball centrally. Did better drifting into wider positions, but needs to get his head up far more. The one time he did he played a great ball into Bale which lead to the goal.
Bent 5 - Got very little quality service, but his off the ball movement wasn't particularly great either. Needed to drop off more or hit the channels to try and give Huddlestone an easier ball and force him to not have to play the looped ball which was defended so easily. I don't remember him having a shot on target.
Campbell 5 - Well, he can run, but his touch is quite poor and he was a bit rash. It was probably his poorest performance for us yet. Despite running a lot his movements could have been more effective. Really should have scored at least once.
The subs - None of them really made any impact, but nice to see some of the kids get a run out.
Harry 6 - There are signs that we are working on some things defensively which is positive. It was a completely different defensive unit last night, but they looked well drilled and seemed to have a better understanding. He didn't have much choice with the strikers, but again I think he got the midfield wrong. Huddlestone has looked better playing a little higher up the pitch where his passes are shorter, but more direct and more difficult to read. Not really sure of the reason for changing that but it didn't really work. :shrug: Oh well we got the win and that is what is important.