Match Ratings Ratings vs Crystal Palace

[Wick3d]

VDV was excellent, but my favourite was Vicario. I can't fault many of the players though.

I've never seen a team play like Palace did today, though, they went 1 down and then 2 down, yet they were still standing off us, casually letting us pass the ball around the back. Truly bizarre.

 

[pangtong]

VDV was like prime Alderweireld tonight. Just felt so comfortable whenever he had to mop up.

 

[kd2000]

I thought VDV was MOTM. Sarr was great too.
Actually wasn't overly impressed with Madison today. His 'play' was ok, but seemed like there was too much pissing and moaning from him

 

[HodisGawd]

We have players playing so well they seem irreplaceable, which is scary!

If MVdV, Maddison or Vicario are out you can't imagine anyone filling their boots, they are that good.

 

[Wick3d]

I thought VDV was MOTM. Sarr was great too.
Actually wasn't overly impressed with Madison today. His 'play' was ok, but seemed like there was too much pissing and moaning from him

There was a moment in the first half where he should have played it to Son; easy tap in if he did it. Somehow he cocked it up, very unlike him! He still put in a good game, and he was involved in both our goals.

 

[HNIM]

It’s at a point now where an opponent will get in behind with a clear path to goal and I think “no problem, Mickey’s got this”. And so far he has. Every single time.

 

[Gilzean at the near post]

Sarr for me. Romero and VdV not far behind.
Great promise by BJ on his cameo

 

[Finchyid]

Don't understand this at all, he fluffed two passes, both of which should have led to goals.

Even Son went crazy at him.

Great pass for the 2nd goal and he generally played well, but VDV was much better imo. Immense is the word I would use.

Sorry he was best player on pitch, 1st half our play was better with his passing and speed of play. VDV was good but honestly Sarr was stand out

 

[Mr Pink]

VDV was exceptional - MOTM

Sarr a very close second, outstanding for most of that second half (bar that one sloppy pass that would of put Son in for the third)

 

[DenverSpur]

Sarr for me for that cross field pass that led to the second goal and his non stop running in the second half. Man that boy has an engine.
VDV runs him a very close second. Cleaned up everything. I’m

 

[cooperman]

Sarr for me for that cross field pass that led to the second goal and his non stop running in the second half. Man that boy has an engine.
VDV runs him a very close second. Cleaned up everything. I’m

speechless?

 

[leffe186]

VDV was excellent, but my favourite was Vicario. I can't fault many of the players though.

I've never seen a team play like Palace did today, though, they went 1 down and then 2 down, yet they were still standing off us, casually letting us pass the ball around the back. Truly bizarre.

Somebody mentioned it in the post-match analysis - maybe Carragher? They said that the issue Palace have is that they cannot switch things up mid-game. The way they play is grimly effective and probably a good approach against us but there is no real plan B. Standing off us does mean that we aren’t sucking them in and playing around them, but if you’re losing it looks a bit pathetic.

It’s sometimes frustrating when you get a ref like that that clearly doesn’t want to book players. It’s at least consistent for both teams, but the problem is that when one team’s tactic is to deliberately spoil and foul from the front then it ends up dramatically favouring them. Every single thing Jordan Ayew did when we had the ball near him was a foul. Every single thing. Will Hughes and Edouard weren’t much better. It’s frustrating when you see the oppo repeatedly plant their studs into your Achilles and (a) the ref just “has a word” and (b) you get social media comments about Spurs players rolling around in feigned agony. We hopefully got lucky and didn’t pick up any injuries from it, but VDV in particular took a beating.

Anyway.

As a whole I thought everyone kinda did what they always do, which is both good and bad:

Vicario - 8.5 - Made his regulation crucial early saves, which are even more important against this Palace. Usual brilliant attitude, usual competence on the floor. Such an important player.

Steve-O - 7 - Maybe a bit harsh. I just thought his distribution wasn’t as good as usual. It did seem like they were very worried by our right side and focused on that. Porro’s always going to look a bit exposed at times because that’s just the way we play, and you could balance his error for the goal against that fantastic bit of defensive recovery right at the death that I think stopped an equaliser.
Romero - 8.5 - the usual. Immense. I loved that bit of play between him and Vicario and how much it wound the Palace fans up. I imagine this is what it felt like to be a Liverpool fan in the 70s/early 80s when they would just knock it around at the back to waste time and take the sting out of the game - made even worse by Clemence just being able to pick up the ball.
VDV - 9 - Everyone’s said it all already. I’d add that the only reason he wasn’t able to repeatedly bring the ball out of defence was because Palace were systematically fouling him (and anyone else who beat a player). “Rolls-Royce” is a cliché, but still true.
Davies - 7 - was really interesting watching him as he’s just a solid, model professional and in the system he does exactly what he’s told - no more, no less. You could clearly see in him the sort of movements Ange asks for in his full-backs. He did OK, but seemed a little off the pace which is not a surprise in the least.

Bissouma - 7.5 - I don’t really know how to score Biss sometimes because his baseline is so high. He does so much and is so crucial to what we do but it isn’t always flashy - very Dembele tbh. I do think he was playing slightly within himself because of the yellow card thing which was actually quite impressive, but he also had a couple of losses of concentration.
Sarr - 8.5 - You really saw his value when they finally started to push people forward a bit near the end and he was still running hard enough to exploit the spaces. It also feels like he can only get better which is slightly scary.
Maddison - 8 - like Biss, how do you score him? Biggest issue was the final ball in the first hour or so, and given that they appeared very focused on shutting down our right he had a lot of joy with Richarlison that should probably have led to more in the first half - primarily that one where he blazed over. Then he somewhat fortuitously made the first, and once again brilliantly made the second. The usual.

Kulu - 7 - didn’t get any joy for the longest time because I think they targeted him and Porro. Every time he received the ball the LB was right up his arse, then when he released it the LB immediately scurried back into position. Like Sarr, his engine meant that when space did appear later on he could exploit it.
Richarlison - 7.5 - I always end up scoring him more generously because of his limitations while scoring others lower because they don’t have them. Linked up well with Maddison, worked hard, some good stuff, some exasperating stuff. The usual.
Son - 8 - I was really encouraged by his pace and his stamina today. He covered so much ground pressing players and looking for the ball in the kind of game where you might expect him to disappear. Almost never got space to run in behind anyone (by their design) but still scored a classic clever CF goal and was involved throughout.

Probably going to forget one of the million substitutes:

PEH - 7.5 - he’s so bloody important to us right now.
Emerson Royal - 7.5 - I like that I feel more secure when he comes on even when he’s out of position and he’s surprisingly effective coming forward too.
Brennan Johnson - 7.5 - lovely play for the goal, quick and clever.
Bentancur - NET - loved the response he got. He looked better than could possibly be expected in the circumstances.
Gil - NET - encouraging.

 

[JimmyG2]

5 points clear but other than the 3 points this was one to forget.
Usual suspects played well (Romero and VDV especially...8)
but impressed by Sarr(7+) especially in the 2nd. half.
Gave it to VDV this week, Sorry Cuti.
Vicario's (7+). early save for the second time this week kept us in control.
Maddision and Son had day off 6+) Kulu and Richarlison too.
Son's goal was a peach and involved Johnson who could/ should be a starter soon.
Hojbjerg (6+) fitted in sensibly.
Thought Emerson (7) had a good half too.
Bigger tests to come but with acushion draws are acceptable
against rivals for Champions' league,
Whisper it softly.

Winning when not playing well? Sign of a good team they say.

 

[DannyNZ]

VDV and Romero another strong performance, VDV gets my vote for MOTM he was outstanding. Porro had a good game with telling roles in both goals, caught out for goal even if it should have been ruled out. Davies a fish out of water and rightfully pulled, Emerson played well.

Biss and Maddison toiled but weren’t at their best, speaks volumes for Maddison that he can have a quiet day and contribute to both goals. Sarr was very good, great energy and super ball for the Son goal, fluffed his lines a couple of times otherwise ran VDV close for MOTM.

Kulu and Richy lots of effort but both struggled to impact the game. Son had a quiet game but led the press with enthusiasm and neat run and finish for his goal.

Subs came on and made a difference, PEH, Brendan and Emerson all stepped up. Great to see Bentancur back out on the pitch.

Last words for Vicario, couple of quality saves and dominated his area well, distribution good, just another top performance from him.

 

[Gilzeanking]

One shot on goal...As Ange says it's in the front third that we need to improve.

Gritty performance against some ugly fouling. Romero (9) my MoM..just because he's the best CB in the world he shouldn't be marked with a flawless performance like this as just his norm. VdV (8) great.
So Pleased to see Bents (N/A) back, looked sharp..Emotional welcome back from fans/players at the end..lovely.
First sign for me of Johnson's(7) effectiveness good cameo.
Good stuff overall 2nd half..get Destiny back and it's the big one week Monday.

 

[rsmith]

I went Cuti. He set the tempo for everything we did. When playing out from the back you could see the lack of confidence VdV had when stepping out passing forward. He always looked for the pass to Cuti and it was Cuti who then played the press breaker.

 

[Japhet]

Somebody mentioned it in the post-match analysis - maybe Carragher? They said that the issue Palace have is that they cannot switch things up mid-game. The way they play is grimly effective and probably a good approach against us but there is no real plan B. Standing off us does mean that we aren’t sucking them in and playing around them, but if you’re losing it looks a bit pathetic.

It’s sometimes frustrating when you get a ref like that that clearly doesn’t want to book players. It’s at least consistent for both teams, but the problem is that when one team’s tactic is to deliberately spoil and foul from the front then it ends up dramatically favouring them. Every single thing Jordan Ayew did when we had the ball near him was a foul. Every single thing. Will Hughes and Edouard weren’t much better. It’s frustrating when you see the oppo repeatedly plant their studs into your Achilles and (a) the ref just “has a word” and (b) you get social media comments about Spurs players rolling around in feigned agony. We hopefully got lucky and didn’t pick up any injuries from it, but VDV in particular took a beating.

Anyway.

As a whole I thought everyone kinda did what they always do, which is both good and bad:

Vicario - 8.5 - Made his regulation crucial early saves, which are even more important against this Palace. Usual brilliant attitude, usual competence on the floor. Such an important player.

Steve-O - 7 - Maybe a bit harsh. I just thought his distribution wasn’t as good as usual. It did seem like they were very worried by our right side and focused on that. Porro’s always going to look a bit exposed at times because that’s just the way we play, and you could balance his error for the goal against that fantastic bit of defensive recovery right at the death that I think stopped an equaliser.
Romero - 8.5 - the usual. Immense. I loved that bit of play between him and Vicario and how much it wound the Palace fans up. I imagine this is what it felt like to be a Liverpool fan in the 70s/early 80s when they would just knock it around at the back to waste time and take the sting out of the game - made even worse by Clemence just being able to pick up the ball.
VDV - 9 - Everyone’s said it all already. I’d add that the only reason he wasn’t able to repeatedly bring the ball out of defence was because Palace were systematically fouling him (and anyone else who beat a player). “Rolls-Royce” is a cliché, but still true.
Davies - 7 - was really interesting watching him as he’s just a solid, model professional and in the system he does exactly what he’s told - no more, no less. You could clearly see in him the sort of movements Ange asks for in his full-backs. He did OK, but seemed a little off the pace which is not a surprise in the least.

Bissouma - 7.5 - I don’t really know how to score Biss sometimes because his baseline is so high. He does so much and is so crucial to what we do but it isn’t always flashy - very Dembele tbh. I do think he was playing slightly within himself because of the yellow card thing which was actually quite impressive, but he also had a couple of losses of concentration.
Sarr - 8.5 - You really saw his value when they finally started to push people forward a bit near the end and he was still running hard enough to exploit the spaces. It also feels like he can only get better which is slightly scary.
Maddison - 8 - like Biss, how do you score him? Biggest issue was the final ball in the first hour or so, and given that they appeared very focused on shutting down our right he had a lot of joy with Richarlison that should probably have led to more in the first half - primarily that one where he blazed over. Then he somewhat fortuitously made the first, and once again brilliantly made the second. The usual.

Kulu - 7 - didn’t get any joy for the longest time because I think they targeted him and Porro. Every time he received the ball the LB was right up his arse, then when he released it the LB immediately scurried back into position. Like Sarr, his engine meant that when space did appear later on he could exploit it.
Richarlison - 7.5 - I always end up scoring him more generously because of his limitations while scoring others lower because they don’t have them. Linked up well with Maddison, worked hard, some good stuff, some exasperating stuff. The usual.
Son - 8 - I was really encouraged by his pace and his stamina today. He covered so much ground pressing players and looking for the ball in the kind of game where you might expect him to disappear. Almost never got space to run in behind anyone (by their design) but still scored a classic clever CF goal and was involved throughout.

Probably going to forget one of the million substitutes:

PEH - 7.5 - he’s so bloody important to us right now.
Emerson Royal - 7.5 - I like that I feel more secure when he comes on even when he’s out of position and he’s surprisingly effective coming forward too.
Brennan Johnson - 7.5 - lovely play for the goal, quick and clever.
Bentancur - NET - loved the response he got. He looked better than could possibly be expected in the circumstances.
Gil - NET - encouraging.

On Bissouma, I'd say he did really well to lock down the midfield and stay well clear of any trouble or cards. He let a couple of things go where he'd normally have a nibble, but he's available for Chelsea which is a huge plus.

Couldn't pick between Micky and Sarr for MOM.

 

[ravo]

VdV and Sarr were both outstanding.