Ratings v Stoke City

[StartingPrice]

To be fair , there was a large group of SCers who liked kaboom first time around . He made a coupla high profile CB mistakes and got a rep for unreliability...but there was a fair amount of realisation here that the man had potential .

His departure was not a delight to all by any means . We spotted the man had something I'd say .

On to ratings , I've just seen the 1st half again and theres plenty of loose stuff ,aimless clearances etc...Not wildly impressed...million miles adrift of Barca and some here rate it as our finest 45 this season .

Kaboul 7 Mods 7.5 Pav 6 Crouch 6.5 VdV 6.5 Bale 7

TBF, I did say 'some Spurs fans were harsh on him" and not "I was a lone voice crying in the Wilderness, a prophet of his unrecognised genius":grin:
There was a noticeably large element on SC, however, who were constantly on his back, and who decried his return to the Lane.

 

[stemark44]

I thought VDV played well yesterday, especially first half. Put in a lot of effort, covered a lot of ground and was very involved. Modric was probably my MOTM, but I think VDV deserves a mention.

Every time I see Kaboul he impresses me. I honestly think he has the potential to be an outstanding CB. He's got the physique, the aggression, he's comfortable bringing the ball out and joining in the attack as well. He is a rare combination of strength, aggression and technique.

I think Kaboul is our best defender and brings Power and Pace to our team.
He would be one of the first names on my team sheet.

 

[Gilzeanking]

TBF, I did say 'some Spurs fans were harsh on him" and not "I was a lone voice crying in the Wilderness, a prophet of his unrecognised genius":grin:
There was a noticeably large element on SC, however, who were constantly on his back, and who decried his return to the Lane.

In his first stint undoubtedly true...but I would argue there was a fair percentage who saw something in the player ,enjoying his ball control and distribution . As you say a coupla high profile blunders did turn the kneejerkers violently against him . I've forgotten about the decriers on his return , I'm sure you're right though.

Anyroad...power and pace someone has mentioned above..which is right ,but I'd add good control and distribution to those qualities....Also he seems to play with a bit of a smile on his face . Very happy we've got him me .

 

[StartingPrice]

In his first stint undoubtedly true...but I would argue there was a fair percentage who saw something in the player ,enjoying his ball control and distribution . As you say a coupla high profile blunders did turn the kneejerkers violently against him . I've forgotten about the decriers on his return , I'm sure you're right though.

Anyroad...power and pace someone has mentioned above..which is right ,but I'd add good control and distribution to those qualities....Also he seems to play with a bit of a smile on his face . Very happy we've got him me .

Character and will-to-win:up:

 

[steve]

A brilliant 1st half (with some errors thrown in) and a lacklustre 2nd. It was amazing Stoke were still in this one by HT.

Our movement and interplay was tremendous at times 1st half, Pav having a good day and Modric, VDV and Bale doing what they do best. Sometimes we had 3 or 4 players all moving to give the ball player options. Huddlestone was mostly good first half, giving us composure on the ball and assisting Crouch for the 3rd. I only recall one crossfield pass going astray to Pennant and I was surprised he kept pace with Etherington only to fluff his lines on the edge of the box when he had the chance to tackle but for some reason didn't.

Both goals were bad ones from our point of view Corluka/Dawson/Huddlestone at fault for the 1st, Bale and anyone near him who didn't call for the 2nd. I wonder if anyone shouted to him man on? We certainly don't communicate enough as a team.

2nd half we went to shit a bit. The movement stopped, from having 3 or 4 players all showing for the ball sometimes we were lucky to have 1, the intensity dropped and we went into our shells. I remember a Stoke corner 2nd half were NONE of our players talked to each other, they wouldn't even look at each other. Captain Dawson did nothing to gee up the players or try to refocus them - I think after mostly losing the battle with Jones he probably didn't feel in a position to do so.

Jones was impressive and consistent performances like that will see him moving onto bigger and better things. They're obviously a limited team but they play to instruction well and have enough physicality to bother the best sides. I was surprised they didn't attack more down our right 2nd half as Corluka was often left exposed by the wandering VDV and I'm surprised HR didn't make some subs to freshen things up. I certainly would've subbed the fading Huddlestone for Sandro and possibly VDV for Jenas to give us better shape and cover for Corluka.

Crouch and Pav were good, Crouch's 2nd goal really was a tremendous header and defensively he was vital 2nd half. Pav moved well, linked well and generally held the ball up well - if he can carry this on he might be the difference between 4th and 5th.
Gomes did well under pressure and Kaboul is a very exciting player in terms of his attributes because he pretty much has it all.

The 2nd half worried me because we startled to buckle mentally and against a better side may not have got away with it. I can see why HR wants to bring in experience and leadership because we desperately need it if we want to challenge the Man Yoos of this world. Our tendency to drop the intensity in our performances is understandable at times but it happens a bit too much and it's certainly cost us at times this season - here's hoping we hit some form at the right time....

 

[Bus-Conductor]

For the record, I have been very critical of Redknapp lately, but fair play, though I still don't prefer the Hudd/mod CM, the Crouch, Pav changes worked.

 

[Eric_s]

I think Kaboul is our best defender and brings Power and Pace to our team.
He would be one of the first names on my team sheet.

He is also pretty good in the air. Better than dawson in the air, in my opinion.

 

[dav3j]

Gomes 7 - Made some superb saves from their set pieces in the second half, only had a couple of iffy moments where he was too far off his line.
Corluka 7 - Pretty solid performance IMO. Looked like he was still carrying a bit of a niggle and was limping at parts in the second half but played through it.
Kaboul 8 - Bossed the defence. We've really missed him.
Dawson 8 - Another superb game. Commanding and reliable.
BAE 7 - Saw a lot of the ball, coped under pressure, minor criticism, he backed off a little bit too often and got beaten a couple of times.
VdV 7 - I'll admit I was very dubious when I saw he was starting on the right. Think he did pretty well though, looked to be a little less out of puff too.
Huddlestone 7 - Not an overwhelming performance IMO, but after 4 months out he still put in a good shift, chased and closed down well, some nice passes too.
Modric 9 - I never fail to be amazed by this chap. Stoke tried to crowd him out of the game but they just couldn't contain him. Bloody good goal too.
Bale 7 - Got back to defend a little more than usual recently, made some nice moves but nothing mind-blowing. Did give the ball away for their 2nd. Maybe I'm expecting too much!
Pav 6 - Good hold up play, would have liked to have seen him get a few more shots on though. Couldn't seem to play his way into a yard or two of space up front.
Crouch 8 - Made up for Madrid! Best I've seen him in a while, excellent link up play.

 

[cozzo]

Gomes 7 - Made some superb saves from their set pieces in the second half, only had a couple of iffy moments where he was too far off his line.
Corluka 7 - Pretty solid performance IMO. Looked like he was still carrying a bit of a niggle and was limping at parts in the second half but played through it.
Kaboul 8 - Bossed the defence. We've really missed him.
Dawson 8 - Another superb game. Commanding and reliable.
BAE 7 - Saw a lot of the ball, coped under pressure, minor criticism, he backed off a little bit too often and got beaten a couple of times.
VdV 7 - I'll admit I was very dubious when I saw he was starting on the right. Think he did pretty well though, looked to be a little less out of puff too.
Huddlestone 7 - Not an overwhelming performance IMO, but after 4 months out he still put in a good shift, chased and closed down well, some nice passes too.
Modric 9 - I never fail to be amazed by this chap. Stoke tried to crowd him out of the game but they just couldn't contain him. Bloody good goal too.
Bale 7 - Got back to defend a little more than usual recently, made some nice moves but nothing mind-blowing. Did give the ball away for their 2nd. Maybe I'm expecting too much!
Pav 6 - Good hold up play, would have liked to have seen him get a few more shots on though. Couldn't seem to play his way into a yard or two of space up front.
Crouch 8 - Made up for Madrid! Best I've seen him in a while, excellent link up play.

So Pav was your least effective player on the pitch?

 

[dav3j]

So Pav was your least effective player on the pitch?

Well that's what the ratings would suggest isn't it?

I was debating whether he deserved a 7 or not, but I just didn't think he did quite enough. I was in the Park Lane lower so admittedly didn't see very much of what he did in the second half, will have to watch MOTD and have a look. His link up play was very decent in the first half though.

 

[theShiznit]

So Pav was your least effective player on the pitch?

and Crouch did the link up play :duh:

Pav did most of the link up play with his top movement and offering himself coming short, the occasional knock down or feat of juggling is not link up unless you are Arsenal circa 1980 (see Alan Smith, Nial Quinn etc.)

 

[Spurz]

strange how people can watch the same match and view things so differently. I had Daws as the worse and Pav was my MOM. and usually I am critical of Pav lack of interest in the game.

 

[MrWoolley]

Modric - MOTM (again).

Shout out to Pav who I thought had his best game all season.