Match Ratings VS NEC

[General Levy]

Your ratings

 

[ChRiStOpHe]

Gomes - 7
Commanded his area like a motherbitch

Gunter - 7
Did well, although got caught for a pace a few times

Bale - 6
Still doesn't look right to me :-(

Woodgate - 8
Great game from Woody

Dawson - 7
Did well for the most part

Huddlestone - 6
Not a great game from Hudd

Zokora - 6
Didn't think Zoko had a great game either

O'Hara - 7
Best of the starting 4 midfielders for me. Got his goal and worked well

Bentley - 6
Another quiet game from Dave :-(

Bent - 5
His worst game for a while. Full of running but nothing else

Campbell - 6
Not a great performance, but worked well

Lennon - 6
Did a decent job late on

Obika - #
Not enough time

Mason - #
Not enough time

 

[themanwhofellasleep]

Gomes - 7 - best game in ages. He didn't have a lot to do, he did it all well
Gunter - 6.5 - good
Woodgate - 7 - a few well-timed challenges
Dawson - 6.5 - solid
Bale - 6.5 - good going forward but finds himself out of position a lot
Bentley - 6 - saw a lot of the ball early on but didn't do much with it. He dwells on the ball for so long at times
Zokora - 6.5 - same as ever
Huddlestone - 5.5 - I love the Hudd, but he had a poor game. Tried a long ball every ten seconds and they mostly went to the opposition
O'Hara - 7.5 - industrious, passed well and scored the goal. MOM
Campbell - 6.5 - some good touches but didn't do much else
Bent - 6.5 - at times was very static but tested their keeper with a good header

Overall, we were solid but our midfield couldn't seem to keep hold of the ball for more than about 3 seconds. It was one of those forgettable games. We won but otherwise nothing of note happened.

 

[SpurSince57]

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.

 

[General Levy]

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:

 

[DC_Boy]

I went MOTM for woody - but o'hara has a strong claim too -

good/v.good from gunter daws and gomes as well

 

[guy]

Very average performance, kinda expected with the amount of changes though.

Bale at least showed some of his good attacking qualities, probably the best game he's played all season (not hard to beat his other performances tho)

The back 5 all played well (7s all round)
Ohara MOTM with 7.5, rest of the MF all 6
bent and Campbell both quiet, 6s

Good to see two young'uns getting a run out!

The 3 points was all that mattered tonight

 

[snake1]

Obika, obviously.


Nah, O'Hara for me.

 

[SpurSince57]

'bout time you posted some match ratings me ole son:hump:

Why duplicate what others have posted?

I completely agree with themanwhofellasleep.

 

[stemark44]

It was an awful game to watch from our perspective,we were pretty poor and they were not much better.Apart from O'Hara,our midfield was shocking and our forward players especially Bent were just as bad.
Thank God Gomes had a decent game.

GOMES - 7 Did everything asked of him!
GUNTER - 6.5 Played pretty well.
WOODGATE - 7 Some really timely tackles!
DAWSON - 6.5 Played a solid game.
BALE - 5 Still in poor form and becoming a worry!
BENTLEY - 5 DITTO!
HUDDLESTONE - 5 Far too many over the top balls and not much else.
ZOKORA - 5 Hardly knew he was on the pitch.
O'HARA - 8 MOM and easily our best midfielder and striker tonight.
BENT - 4 Its nights like this that really make me think.WTF?
CAMPBELL - 5 Ran around and fouled a lot!
LENNON - 5 No impact.

 

[liberty]

Dawson was dodgy on a few occasions. I'm surprised some of you ranked him above a 5.

 

[jimmyh]

did not play that because we did not have too but this is a good sign because a few weeks ago we could have lost this game ety

 

[garyhopkins]

I felt that they did a tidy job against a workmanlike team. It was good to see Gomes collecting crosses with composure, Woody and Daws showing genuine solidity as we were pressed near the end, and the two Welsh backs charging up the field. In the middle O'Hara was our most enterprising although Bentley did produce at least two very good balls into the box and an exquisite set-up to Bale for the goal. Unfortunately just when I was getting to like his performance Gunter lays the ball off to him and he's not there. Sometimes he looks slow or idle. Not much else to say, Frazier ran his socks off as usual, Obika looked a little overwhelmed and young Mason looked, well, young. I was gutted for him that his game ended, almost as soon as it started, as he was really looking for the ball in his brief cameo.

Gomes 7, Bale 7, Gunter 7, Dawson 7, Woody 7.5, O'Hara 7, The Hudd 6, Zokora 6, Bentley 6.5, Campbell 6.5, Bent 6.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Haven't seen any stats for this one but would guess about three shots on target between the us and them. I think we accidently stumbled into the only side in europe that has more limted striker options than us. Had they had a decent striker or two they may have actually put the finishing touch to some of their passing football. Thank fuck they didn't though and we ground our way to a narrow victory. I think we need to file this one under "job done" probably. We didn't play great football and again seemed to struggle to put three passes together. Huddlestone once again proving the folly of putting him into a 4 man midfield. Bent once again proving how pointless he is and Bentley was, well, Bentleyesque. Ratings:

Gomes 6.5 - Not a great deal to do but was faultless.

Gunter 6.5 - Steady if unspectacular.

Dawson 6.5 - Charged out and missed a couple but apart from that was good.

Woodgate 7 - Good game. Would love to see provide more of a vocal rudder.

Bale 6.75 - Steady, good overlapp for the goal.

Bentley 6.5 - Good ball for goal, lookedquite bright first half but faded.

Zokora 6 - OK

Huddlestone 6 - For the umpteenth time I find myself saying you can not play him in a midfield 4. For the umpteenth time I find myself saying that I am still waiting for Huddlestone to take a game by the scruff of the neck. If he's only going to pass like this we might as well have Jenas in there because he'll do that and more. I like Hudd, just really need to see him step up to the plate, just once in a tough game.

Ohara 7 - He's never going to be top drawer but he's a grafter. Good effort tonight, helped Bale.

Campbell 5 - ran around.

Bent 4 - ran.


Footnote:
It was really good to see three kids on the bench. Credit to Redknapp for that.

 

[ziggy]

Gomes - 8

Did well and the ball stuck



Gunter - 7
No problem, great block.

Bale - 6
Hmm , still not quite right, but good ball for the goal

Woodgate - 8
Great game from Woody, crucial interception 2nd half

Dawson - 8
Thought he played really well

Huddlestone - 7
Not a great game from Hudd, but still showed great touches

Zokora - 7
Thought he played well

O'Hara - 8
Great for me
Bentley - 6
Played OK, great pass leading up to the goal, seems like he's trying too hard.

Bent - 5
Needs better service, always full of running.

Campbell - 6
Not a great performance, but worked well

Lennon - 6
Did a decent job late on

Obika - #
Not enough time

Mason

As above

 

[alextheyid]

woody for me...goal saving slide takle...constant solid presence!

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

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.

 

[DarT]

Gomes - 7 - good confident game. Didn't have a lot to do, but he did it all well
Gunter - 5 - Did ok nothing more
Woodgate - 6 - Fairly solid but the odd lapse
Dawson - 6 - Similar to Woody, but did miss a couple of headers that could have caused problems
Bale - 6 - Still a fairly poor perfromance with respect to last years form, but one of his better ones this year, good run and ball for goal
Bentley - 4 - Thought he was fairly anonymous for the first portion of the game, then came into it slightly and then drifted out again, looks slower by the game, and thought he was generally poor.
Zokora - 5 - same as ever good mobility but can't pass or shoot !!
Huddlestone - 5 - Thought he had a poor game with respect to how the pace of the game should have suited him, He should have dictated this game and he didn't. Passing not particularly great and tackling so s
O'Hara - 7 - Worked extremely hard, generally passed well, scored and continued to trouble keeper with long shots. MOM
Campbell - 5 - Worked hard, but was disappointed that his pace didn't not create more trouble for NEC, and can't remember him being too much of a threat.
Bent - 4 - Woefull really. Had one or too ok moments, but generally his movement was poor, his touch and control was appalling, and didn't hold the ball up well.

Result was good, but perfromance was extremely poor, a number of players were very lacklustre, missed the drive and skill of players like Jenas and Modric. The 2 bigest disappointments were Bentley and Bent by a country mile. Bentley is so far from any level of form he almost looked like he played this match in iron boots. Bent is a 20 goal a season striker when the ball is played over the top for him to run onto, but he is a poor player, has a terrible touch, doesn't hold the ball up well and offers little to the team dynamic other than goals. It is strange to say that a 20 goal striker will never play for a team that is successful, but it is true, he needs to learn to offer more than just goals beacuse even when he is scoring it is not enough and when he isn't he might as well not be on the pitch.

But the result was what counted and with that in mind the night was successful.

 

[Evolution]

Gomes - 7
Not overly tested. What he did do, he done well and caught cleanly

Gunter - 6
Not great. He always looked like he was going to give it away when in possesion.

Bale - 6
Some good runs but looks out of form for whatever reason

Woodgate - 9
Solid at the back with a great sliding interception to deny NEC a goal scoring opportunity

Dawson - 7
Was ok. Gotta stop just hoofing it upfield though and show a little more composure on the ball

Huddlestone - 6
So-So. Some good passes made but looked a little static in the centre

Zokora - 6
Same old jackle-n-hyde performance

O'Hara - 8
Done well. Rarely gave the ball away and looked accomplished

Bentley - 6
Faded in and out for most of the game. Crossing was a little dodgy again

Bent - 6
Not bad but looked a little jaded. His first touch especially seemed poor

Campbell - 6
Worked hard but was eased off the ball a little to easily for the most part. Pile on a few pounds son!!!!

Lennon - 7
As always, looked lively and pacey and offered a threat for the short time he was on

Obika - n/a
Not enough time

Mason - n/a
Not enough time

 

[Coyboy]

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.

More of less agree, just a few points. I looked out for the points you made about Bale and didn't see them, as you say he was improved last night. I think he was very good last night and defended well. I completely agree with Zokora and Huddlestone, it was a strange combination. Huddlestone will not be Carrick now and should be played further forward with at least one pivot.

I noticed Gunter get very tight with his man a lot and while this is good, it can be overdone because it creates a lot of space behind him. So if he doesn't take the LM, the ball is played back and then forward into that space, Gunter is exposed and out of position. A few times I saw him and Bale go forward to track men or go into the tackle when they were going nowhere. As BC says, if they had had better forwards we could have been in trouble.

Bent was poor but had one shot on target-the header from Bentley's cross. The frustrating thing is it is not as if he got given the ball, it bounced off him and he started running again. Time after time he kept the ball for twenty odd seconds using strength and control only to give it away or produce a shoddy pass. Fucking annoying but his service from the compromised Huddlestone was limited.

I would say out of the subs Lennon made an impact and Obika was close to scoring. I have heard he is like Defoe but can link up play. I will wait to see that.

And I think Dawson was better than Woodgate. People will remember the excellent tackle by JW late on but do people remember their one shot on goal which Gomes saved? Woodgate jumped for the ball and completely missed it. Other than mistiming a few headers, I thought Dawson was faultless and our best defender. More or less, people have been fair to him here, I just feel had he put in that performance two years ago he would have been lauded more.