Match Ratings vs Chelsea

[scat1620]

Crouch 5 - Why did we bring him on? Really poor substitution for me, pretty much gave the game away from this point on imo. I know Harry likes rep of being fearless and adventurous but we needed to get a hold of the ball, bringing on Sandro would've helped far more than Crouch

Odd for me to completely agree with BC, but I think Crouch for Defoe at that point in the game was exactly the right substitute to make at that point in the game (the ball was sticking so little up front that a casual observer might've thought Pav and Defoe were sponsored by Teflon). Unfortunately, I believe Aitch got it wrong by not taking off Pav as well and bringing on Sandro. Like Bus Conductor, I thought that was the double substitution we were crying out for at that point, and we got one half of it but not the other.

 

[Damian99]

It was an individual error that cost us three points but ultimately it was the type of lazy, poorly coached football we have been playing, and played today, our poor in game tactics.

And you have managed how many clubs? :stupid:

Is this the same poorly coached football that saw us come back from two down and beat Arsenal and Liverpool.

I bet you sit there in full tracksuit with BC stitched on it when you're playing football manager on the PC.

How the fuck exactly do you think you are??

 

[Bulletspur]

And you have managed how many clubs? :stupid:



How the fuck exactly do you think you are??

Want to try again?

 

[Bulletspur]

Gomes 6 - I dont blame him entirely for their goal. If he had saved it, it would have been one of many where he had saved us during the game. He had a good game in my opinion.

Hutton 7 - I am getting more comfortable with him on the side. Our best right back at the moment.

Dawson 7 - Not entirely, but I do blame him more for their goal than Gomes. Harsh I know considering he is just coming back after 3 months. But that aside, solid enough but thought he would have struggled more had Drogba started. I gave him an extra 1 for playing as well as he did considering that he only played by default.

Bassong 7 - Complimented Dawson well and was very solid.

BAE 9 - The perfect Storm, nuff said. Just Edged out Palacious as MOM

Lennon 7 - Could have done much better. Seemed not as confident against Chelsea as as he did against Twente. TBH, Cole refused to go in Lennons pocket! Got an extra point for his defending

Palcious 8.5 - The real Wilson turned up today. That back headed clearance aside, very comanding. Loved the way he cleaned up Bassong's mess, then gave him a rollocking!

Modric 8 - Good performance playing against a good midfield which contained a fresh Essein. He (Modric) was all over the pitch and made good chances for our strikers which they missed.

Bale 7.5 - Not as bad as others have made out considering Ferriera super glued himself to him and was triple played by the Chelsea players. My only fustration with Bale was that lat free kick in time added on, he should have passed it in their area where Crouch, Dawson and Bassong had made themselves available.

Pav 6 - He would have got a 5 if he hadnt scored. Contrary to everyone else, I thought he was our poorest player. Especially in the 1st half where his control and awareness was atrocious.

Defoe 7 - Didnt score but he kept Terry and co busy and on their toes. Good lay off for Pav's score, but where I was impressed was his industy in back tracking and helping us to defend.

Subs

Crouch 6 - Did okay but still wondered what did he bring to the table instead of Defoe.

Keane 6 - No impact but did help defend by back tracking.

Sandro - No on long enough to score (excuse the pun)

 

[stevenqoz]

Gomes 6
Hutton 7
Dawson 6.5
Bassong 6
BAE 7
Lennon 6.5
Palacios 7
Modric 8
Bale 6.5
Pav 6.5
Defoe 6.5
Crouch 5.5
Keane 5.5
Harry 5.5 Even with a depleted squad I felt that he again made a major error withdarwing Defoe so early. It took away any fear for Chelsea of a Spurs player getting goalside allowing them to push even further upfield

 

[trevo]

Gomes 6
Hutton 7
Dawson 7 Good to see him back. Read the game well but wasout gunned for Drogba's goal (even if it did look suspiciously like handball).
Bassong 7.5
BAE 7.5
Lennon 7
Palacios 7.5
Modric 8
Bale 7
Pav 6.5
Defoe 6.5
Crouch 5.5
Keane 5.5
Harry 6

 

[dannythomas]

Whatever Gomes did wrong for the goal he also made some brilliant saves and avoided what would have been a demoralising defeat from 1-0 having given away a pen with less than 2 mins of injury time left. For me that penalty save completely atoned for his mistake on the goal. He showed great character . Even if it wasn't the greatest kick in the world he picked the right side and kept it out. People should get off his back.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Almost every player had positives and negatives today, it was just that kind of open end to end game that creates not such perfect individual performances but an entertaining game.

Gomes 6 - Would have been about an 8 but for a couple of very dodgy moments. Enough has been said about those, but he made a couple of top class saves, he was distributing quickly and short and made a couple of nice aerial grabs/punches.

Benny 8.5 - I thought he was excellent today. Some great tackles, got up and down well.

Hutton 7 - Worked hard, much better in the second when he didn't have Malouda getting in behind him.

Dawson 7 - Very solid performance for his first game back, dealt with everything in the air, got caught out and beaten by Drogba for the goal, but then I don't think many defenders that aren't called Ledley can win that battle.

Bassong 7 - Also defended well, got caught out of position a couple of times but made a last ditch diving tackle in mid air to get himself out of trouble.

Palacios 8.5 - Thought he was top drawer today. Would have liked to have seen him squeeze a little higher and pull our defence up with him to try to close the huge gap infront of him but dealt with things well anyway and was much more composed before passing today.

Modric 8 - Was a little wasteful with his passing. He made 3 loose passes in the first few minutes but after that it was another great performance from him. He was everywhere, he won double the challenges of any other central midfielder (actually the same amount as Palacios, Essien, Mikel, Ramires and Lampard combined). Defensive side of his game is getting better but still needs to press more.

Lennon 7 - I thought he was looking a handful, some nice flicks etc. His runs at the defenders didn't really come off today, but the Chelsea defenders played well.

Bale 6.5 - Quiet game offensively from Bale, but worked really hard in his tussle with his own personal Portuguese shadow. Was constantly dropping deeper and pulling Ferreira out of position for us to exploit the gap in behind.

Defoe 6.5 - Fairly quiet as well, but was doing well dropping into the pocket on the left. Did well for the goal.

Pav 6.5 - Great goal, got better after the goal, but really did little in the second half.

 

[Damian99]

Dawson 7 - Very solid performance for his first game back, dealt with everything in the air, got caught out and beaten by Drogba for the goal, but then I don't think many defenders that aren't called Ledley can win that battle.

There is a picture in the sun today clearly showing the ball hitting Drgoba's arm, if it doesn't then Dawson heads that way quite comfortable.

 

[EastLondonYid]

Gomes 5...at fault for goal,rash for pen,got 5 for the save...still a top keeper.

Bae..8 ...Top performance.

Bassong..8.5 ..underated how well he has been playing lately.

Dawson..7..did well considering Ist game...on empty in the last 15.

Hutton..6.5..Fit and strong, not really our long term solution for rb..did ok though.

Lennon..6..did very little ,game to forget for him.worked hard though.

Wilson.9..giant today..confidence player,after he made his first couple of good passes,i knew he would be ok...if he starts bad he is awful.


Luka.8.never mind bale being taken from us, the way luka is playing,the barca's of this world will come calling soon.

Bale.6.5 like azza not one of his stand out games,but still worked really hard.

Defoe.5..assist apart,was poor, and i luv the guy,but out of sorts abit today.

pav..5.5 great goal...not much else i can remember.you would think after scoring he would shine, Doesn't have that drive to get 2-3 goals...


Crouch..5..not good enough

keane..5..not good enough

Sandro..5..jury is still out...little time to impress


Last nites game was another we would have lost a few years back, we showed bottle and desire when we were up against it 2nd half.

We are crying out for a top striker, though i think the JD/ VDV partnership will be interesting.

 

[TEESSIDE1]

I hate Assou Ekotto but y'day he was awesome, best I've ever seen him play. There was just the one moment that he hesitated in the box but he cleared it eventually.

Bassong also played very well, as did Dawson on his comeback.

Hutton, hmmm .... poor going forward, some good challenges but very rash at times.

Palacios was very good, 1st time he's played well in a good year or so.

I thought Bale, Lennon, Modric, Defoe and Pava were all quiet.

Gomes, fantastic one moment, Paul Robinson the next. Let's face it, excellent shop stopper in general but way too indecisive at crosses. He's been very worrying this season ... I'd be gk shopping in the summer.

Redknapp - shocking 2nd half tactics. We got overrun in midfield. So he took our only pacey outlet upfront (Defoe) off and brought on the sloth Crouch. This allowed the chelscum defence to push further forward. If he was intent on bringing off Defoe, he should've brought on another midfielder. Keane was a poor decision too, bring on giovani/sandro/bentley but not someone that the chelsea defence will eat for breakfast.

I think we could and should have won the game but poor 2nd half decisions - players/management didn't allow us to maintain the 1st half performance.

Bassong

 

[archiewasking]

After all the time out, Daws MOTM for me. BAE was awesome, Wilson getting back near his best, the rest all battled. Solid team performance against the fired up champions.

 

[StartingPrice]

I thought Modric was disappointing today. Admittedly it's difficult with Defoe and Pav up front as these 2 can become a little isolated. I am big fan of Modric and there were glimpses of his genius but I thought it wasn't one of his better games.

Really? I'm surprised...

I can't believe people thought Modric was disappointing today, and Pav fantastic. Pav had the game he usually has, nice movement, erratic control, WEAK as fuck, lovely classy goal. Before he scored I was spitting chips at the amount of ball he had wasted, after that his confidence really came on, but he still gets eased off the ball time and time again. I'd have given him a 7 certainly, but anything more is wishful thinking.

I'd love to see how much ground Modric covered today, because he was bloody everywhere. After one of the runs forward he looked dead on his feet (about 20 mins left). I thought the game was crying out for Sandro, someone to give Wilson and Modric some support.

TBF I think it is, having conducted a Straw-Trawl through the responses, I think it is a minimal minority who thought Modders was poor.

What Pav does well...blah, blah, blah:grin: I did think he was okay today, well-taken goal, and some nice lay-offs, but he could take a leaf out of JDs book and work on his upper body strength 'cos he is a bit powder-puff at times.

Modric 8 a real silky performance from the little magician. Popping up everwhere, dropping the shoulder and gliding through midfield. Some wonderful touches and he controls the flow of our play so well.

See, Wiener, this is pretty much the display I saw from Modders. And while it is debatable whether BC is right omg: - that there is enough to start an SC war in itself:grin, that he would be more effective higheer up the field - I think when VDV is playing in a 3 man midfield, where he was today is fine - I don't see that anyone would think anything else.

 

[Legend10]

A simply awesome game of football and our whole team played a part.

maybe Gomes apart I don't think anybody in white was poor in what was a game played at a million miles an hour from start to finish.

The 2 CM boys were absolutely immense!

 

[Gilzeanking]

OK a bit pissed during the match , but a few impressions got through .
Certainly we were not overawed by Chelsea , matched them generally but without the right expertise up front..we are always gonna be failing to put this sort of game to bed . Yes , I like BC's concept of these being 'lottery games' I half think he got the phrase off me . Anyway , thats what they are and without VDV its much harder to get our winning number to come up .

All those little bits of forward's imagination missing at crucial moments preventing us scoring , mentioned by BC....VDV has exactly these skills even when playing a quiet game , his loss is tragic .

BAE was back to his best..that 2nd half vs Twente.. must've been a dream 8
Pav what an unbelievable goal from him , I was (drunkenly) stunned .He does something like this once every 5 games or so where he seems to be able to visualize a plan and then carry it out ruthlessly . I remember a month or 2 ago ,him stepping over a pass , which ran to Defoe who passed back and he scored .Suddenly Pav is a great forward..for 10 seconds a month . Pav must be impossible to manage...5.5
Daws welcome back 7 Drogba is a handful and things were tougher when he came on ...odd goal celebration !
Bassong poor man about to go back to 5th CB 7.5
Wilson much better so pleased for him 7.5
Gomes...sorry gotta blame a bit for the goal 5.5

I too wasn't delighted with the subs . Keane coming on looked like pure politics to me . I only want football decisions at my club please .

 

[WhiteStripe]

Cant be arsed with ratings, but those saying Daws was to blame for the goal are having a laugh and have clearly not watched the replay.

Drogba had his arm and weight on dawsons shoulder, controlled the ball with his arm, and then used the momentum of said arm on shoulder to turn Dawson.

On any other day, 2 fouls, one for the pulling, one for the handball.

Many contendors for MOTM (Palacios, Ekotto, Modric.....), but for Dawson to come back after that amount of time out with fuck all gametime behind him and play as well as he did, he has to get it. Every time I thought "shit, he's gonna struggle here" he was masterful. If anything, he looked more assured that ever!

 

[Wiener]

Really? I'm surprised...

My argument is simple. We weren't very effective in the final third because neither of our 2 strikers provided a good link to our midfield. With our strikers increasingly isolated it was difficult for us to retain possession. Modric is an attacking midfielder and suffered most from our flawed tactics. Therefore I thought Modric was disappointing because he wasn't able to do what he does best, which is to link play between the midfield and our goal scorers. He did well defensively and worked very hard, but that is not his game.

I am surprised that anyone would consider him for MOM, as I thought Ekotto, Dawson and Palacios and possibly Bassong were our strongest performers.

We were on the back foot for much of the second half and failed to capitalise on a number of good counter-attacking opportunities. Not surprisingly we miss VDV, Huddlestone and Jenas. Modric wasn't helped by us playing Defoe and Pavluychenko together. I don't like the combination of these 2 and hope we don't play them together again.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

There is a picture in the sun today clearly showing the ball hitting Drgoba's arm, if it doesn't then Dawson heads that way quite comfortable.

Your unswerving loyalty is touching.

He got his challenge wrong, it's that simple. Even if it doesn't hit Drogba's arm Dawson was at the wrong angle to win the header. It's hardly a hanging offence, defenders aren't ever going to win every challenge in the air.

Is there a picture in the Sun that explains the befuddled look on Dawson's face while he was remembering who he was and where he was, while Drogba was busy drilling the ball home ?

 

[Mr Pink]

Your unswerving loyalty is touching.

He got his challenge wrong, it's that simple. Even if it doesn't hit Drogba's arm Dawson was at the wrong angle to win the header. It's hardly a hanging offence, defenders aren't ever going to win every challenge in the air.

Is there a picture in the Sun that explains the befuddled look on Dawson's face while he was remembering who he was and where he was, while Drogba was busy drilling the ball home ?

To be fair BC, the hand ball is significant even if Dawson was starting to look a little jaded.

 

[phil]

Gomes 5 - At fault for the goal and the penalty. Good save from the penalty but that hardly compensates for conceding it in the first place. Made a few good saves but they were ones keepers would expect to make. Couple of dodgy moments on crosses. I'm sorry but he cost us 2 points yesterday and almost cost us all 3. Not the same keeper as last season.

Hutton 8 - Thought he had one of his best games defensively in a Spurs shirt. A few poor decisions when going forward but otherwise excellent.

Dawson 6.5 - Partly at fault for the goal and off the pace early in the game. Improved as the match progressed (apart from the goal). Good to have him back.

Bassong 7 - Solid game. He does have his faults but his pace is major benefit.

BAE 8 - Excellent performance

Lennon 7 - Troubled Cole throughout but often failed with the final ball.

Palacios 8.5 MoM - We have our Wilson back. Great tenacity and few stray passes. He and Luka dominated the central midfield in the first half despite Chelsea playing 4-5-1.

Modric 8 - Great performance but, just, overshadowed by Wilson as MoM.

Bale 6.5 - Not vintage Bale but Chelsea were doubling up on him.

Pav 6 - Good goal but nothing else

Defoe 7 - Great assist, made a lot of great runs and kept pressing. Surprised that he was taken off so early.

Crouch 5 - Nothing much

Keane 5 - Lots of energetic runs but I'm not sure he actually touched the ball.

Sandro NET