Player ratings vs Birmingham (h)

[Machiavelli]

Stockdale 7 -- he'll be annoyed about that goal, but I'd rather admire that ball he played to Knockaert in the build up to our second goal
Bruno 10 MotM -- stunning, the understanding he has with Knockaert is just joyous, and those sprints he makes down the touchline
Hunemeier 9 -- also stunning, solid, and delighted for him to get off the mark for us
Dunk 7 -- future England centre back; here's to a quick recovery from the bug
Bong 7 -- solid return
Knockaert 8 -- I think he's also got that bug, but he was determined to sprint it off
Stephens 7 -- bossed it; the most important signing we need to make in the summer; perhaps he's also suffering from that bug
Kayal 7.5 -- back to the form of his first 18 months with us
March 7 -- did some amazing things, but we know he can do much more, probably a future England winger
Hemed 5 -- glad he got that goal, but just got in Murray's way; they didn't entirely convince that they can play alongside one another for a whole game, but a love this guy anyway
Murray 7 -- 20 goals, with six more games to go

Subs:
Tomori 8 -- what a player; let's get him for next season
Murphy 6 -- meh
Norwood 6 -- meh

The ref -10

 

[Petee]

Stockdale 7
Bruno 8
Hunemeier 9 MOTM
Dunk 7.5
Bong 8
Knockaert 8
Stephens 7
Kayal 7.5
March 7
Hemed 7
Murray 8

Tomori 8
Murphy 6
Norwood 6

 

[goldstone]

Stockdale 7. Good game. Looked like a deflection on the goal.
Bruno 8. Great cross for the first goal and a welcome return. However he did waste three opportunities in the first half with overhit passes.
Dunk 8. Playing very well until he went off.
Hunemeir 9. Superb ... and a great goal. MoM.
Bong 8. Played very well for first game back from injury.
Stephens 7. Some very good stuff, but also some of his suicide stuff that creeps into every game. Misplaced passes and losing the ball in dangerous situations. He needs to cut out that weakness in his game.
Kayal 7. Good solid game.
Knockaert 7. Not his best, but some nice stuff along with a tendency to hang onto the ball too long.
March 7. Brilliant at times, but probably didn't get enough of the ball.
Hemed 6. Well taken goal. Prefer Baldock in that role.
Murray 8. Worked so incredibly hard all game. great goal.

Subs:
Tomori 8. Superb display. The guy is everything Akpom isn't.
Norwood 6. OK.
Murphy 6. OK

 

[Triggaaar]

Stockdale 7 -- he'll be annoyed about that goal

It wasn't his fault, took a deflection.

 

[Machiavelli]

It wasn't his fault, took a deflection.

Just saw that on the highlights. It wasn't his fault at all, but that won't stop him blaming himself about it. In case you haven't, check out that highlights video of him on the PotS thread.

 

[Triggaaar]

Just saw that on the highlights. It wasn't his fault at all, but that won't stop him blaming himself about it.

Indeed, but saying it without context suggests it was his fault.

In case you haven't, check out that highlights video of him on the PotS thread.

Will do.

 

[dazzer6666]

Stockdale 7. Good game. Looked like a deflection on the goal.
Bruno 8. Great cross for the first goal and a welcome return. However he did waste three opportunities in the first half with overhit passes.
Dunk 8. Playing very well until he went off.
Hunemeir 9. Superb ... and a great goal. MoM.
Bong 8. Played very well for first game back from injury.
Stephens 7. Some very good stuff, but also some of his suicide stuff that creeps into every game. Misplaced passes and losing the ball in dangerous situations. He needs to cut out that weakness in his game.
Kayal 7. Good solid game.
Knockaert 7. Not his best, but some nice stuff along with a tendency to hang onto the ball too long.
March 7. Brilliant at times, but probably didn't get enough of the ball.
Hemed 6. Well taken goal. Prefer Baldock in that role.
Murray 8. Worked so incredibly hard all game. great goal.

Subs:
Tomori 8. Superb display. The guy is everything Akpom isn't.
Norwood 6. OK.
Murphy 6. OK

Nothing to add to this, agree with all of the above.

 

[BangaloreGull]

Interesting. I can't really disagree with ratings above other than to say I thought March was very good, including defensively, and to say I thought Norwood looked good when he came on. I agree Tomori was fantastic, BFG was outstanding, Bruno and Bong excellent. BUT, how come we rate everyone so highly when we were shocking in the first half? I think it was probably the formation and the fact that Gardner played very well. If he was not injured I can't imagine why Zola took him off.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

Stockdale 7. Had more to do than on Saturday and he handled it all comfortably. Shame about the goal. Not his fault
Bruno 7.5. Glad to have him back. Great cross for the first goal.
Dunk 7. Looked good up until he went off.
Hunemeier. 8.5 MOM. Stepped up again when Dunk went off. 4th choice? We are blessed with centre backs.
Bong 7.5. Considering he hasn't played for a while a Great first game back.
Knockaert. 7.5. Constant threat.
Stephens 7.5. Strong game from him
Kayal 6.5. For some reason I hardly noticed him.
March 7. Decent enough. Such a shame that he didn't really seize his opportunity
Hemed. 7 Love him. But not his greatest performance.
Murray 8.5. He was on a mission last night. Great performance.

Tomori 8. Didn't miss Dunk. Praise indeed
Norwood 7. Looked keen great delivery from corners
Murphy 6. Not much to go on

Ref. 1 Absolute ****

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Some generous ratings for me. Thought we were poor.

6 - average

Stockdale 6
Bruno 7
Bong 7
Dunk 6
Uwe 8
Knockaert 7
Kayal 5 - looked tired
Stephens 7
March 7
Murray 7
Hemed 5

Tomori 7
Norwood 5 - goal his fault
Murphy 6

Actually looking at mine, I think I've been too generous as well.


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[One Teddy Maybank]

Just saw that on the highlights. It wasn't his fault at all, but that won't stop him blaming himself about it. In case you haven't, check out that highlights video of him on the PotS thread.

Norwood missed his tackle in the build up to their goal. Down to him, rarely wins a 50/50 challenge. Passes well but that's not enough.


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[Machiavelli]

Indeed, but saying it without context suggests it was his fault.
Will do.

PS what's your current view of points total of third placed team?

 

[Machiavelli]

Norwood missed his tackle in the build up to their goal. Down to him, rarely wins a 50/50 challenge. Passes well but that's not enough.


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I think you're being just a tad harsh on his tackling, but only a tad, and beyond that, this is a decent assessment of him.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

I think you're being just a tad harsh on his tackling, but only a tad, and beyond that, this is a decent assessment of him.

[emoji106]I think he'd push Stephens if he could just block tackle, there is nothing wrong with him otherwise.

However, tackling is very much key in his position.

Interested with some of the scores for Kayal, as I felt we lost the midfield at times, as he and Stephens were very square enabling Birmingham to play around them. I attributed it more to Kayal more than Steph s as he seemed to keep the shape better.


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[Wardy's twin]

[emoji106]I think he'd push Stephens if he could just block tackle, there is nothing wrong with him otherwise.

However, tackling is very much key in his position.
Interested with some of the scores for Kayal, as I felt we lost the midfield at times, as he and Stephens were very square enabling Birmingham to play around them. I attributed it more to Kayal more than Steph s as he seemed to keep the shape better.
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I don't think we can play Norwood as one of our central midfielders he is far too light in the tackle , when he loses the ball he cannot win it back. I don't see how he can really fit in a 4 4 2 team , Sidwell is a better option and a lot of problems developed once he came on.
His passing though should be his strength and to utilise that he needs to be played at expense of one of the wingers and I am not sure he is better than any of them BUT should/could be a great tactical option.

I thought Kayal did quite well last night, no worse than most. the whole team's performance was very disjointed especially when compared to Birmingham who were very organised and passed the ball pretty well.

 

[Weststander]

Stockdale 8. assured, always in the right place.
Bruno 6. Some suicidal passing and mistakes in first half hour, probably rusty.
Hunnemaier 9.
Dunk 8. Faultless until injured.
Bong 6. Not yet up to speed which is understandable. Their pacey right wing duo pinned him back.
Kayal 6. Good workrate, but not at his passing best.
Stephens 7.5. Man mountain again and protected Tomori well.
Knockaert. 7.5. They hustled him out of the game in the first half, but couldn't keep it up. Good second half.
March 5. Rusty first half and they crowded him out, passes didn't off. Got a bit better.
Hemed 6.5. Not in the game, but crucial goal.
Murray 8. The striker we've needed for years, does it again. High effective work rate too.

Tomori 8.5. Very good.
Murphy 4. Couldn't get into it against pacey and savvy duo on his wing. Looked small and weak against them.
Norwood 2. Ineffective. Made their midfield look exceptional.

 

[Marshy]

Stockdale 7

Bruno 8
Bong 7

Uwe 8
Tomori 7

Kayal 8
Stephens 6
March 8
Knockaert 6

Hemed 7
Murray 7

 

[Triggaaar]

PS what's your current view of points total of third placed team?

Maybe 85?

 

[8049]

Stockdale - 7. Not much to do but did it well other than the flap at the cross towards the end when we were inviting the pressure
Bruno - 7.5 Looked a little rusty especially in first half but great contribution to the goal and a beautiful piece of control in the second showed his class. Can only get better now he's got a game under his belt
Hunemeier 9.5 Awesome. A couple of great blocks at the back and nearly had two goals.
Dunk - 8.5 Normal great performance. Good positioning, good passing, shame he didn't feel like chancing a 30 yard screamer on his maraud up the pitch in the 1st half
Bong - 7 Looked solid and played well given amount of time out
Knockaert - 7.5 Didn't really get a chance to shine. Always had at least two players on him and he got frustrated.
Stephens - 7 Initially thought he had a poor game as he seemed to give the ball away a lot. However, given how we played once he was off, he must have been doing a lot of good work that I didn't see
Kayal - 7.5 Played well and seemed to be everywhere
March - 8 Great effort for the first goal and should have had a penalty or free kick (couldn't see where foul was). Defensive work was ok. He did seem to drift in and out of the game but that's almost inevitable for a winger. Not 100% convinced he's right to start (think he may be better as an impact sub). However, given he was instrumental in a first minute goal realise that I'm on shaky ground there.
Hemed - 7 A lot of effort. Same problem as always when he plays with Glen as they often seemed to be in the same place.
Murray - 7.5 Oozes experience. Settled nerves with the goal. Same problem as always when he plays with Hemed as they often seemed to be in the same place.

Subs:
Tomori 8.5 - did really well. Read the game brilliantly for such a young player
Murphy 7 - didn't really do much
Norwood 6.5 - not sure what he did/didn't do but we definitely played a lot worse after he came on. May be harsh to blame him exclusively but I don't think it was co-incidental.


One tactical thing I've noticed a few times this season (last night and Cardiff for sure). When we play a team that's set up defensively we often seem to leave a lot of space in the middle of the pitch. The central midfielders either sit deep or wide and leave the centre completely empty. This seems to cut our options moving forward considerably and we revert to the process of knocking back to the centre backs who then spread the ball to the opposite wing until we either lose the ball or craft some space on the flank. My tactical knowledge is limited and I'm not criticising but am wondering if it's an inevitable consequence of a 4-4-2 system or something we should be looking to remediate.

 

[Marshy]

Stockdale 8. assured, always in the right place.
Bruno 6. Some suicidal passing and mistakes in first half hour, probably rusty.
Hunnemaier 9.
Dunk 8. Faultless until injured.
Bong 6. Not yet up to speed which is understandable. Their pacey right wing duo pinned him back.
Kayal 6. Good workrate, but not at his passing best.
Stephens 7.5. Man mountain again and protected Tomori well.
Knockaert. 7.5. They hustled him out of the game in the first half, but couldn't keep it up. Good second half.
March 5. Rusty first half and they crowded him out, passes didn't off. Got a bit better.
Hemed 6.5. Not in the game, but crucial goal.
Murray 8. The striker we've needed for years, does it again. High effective work rate too.

Tomori 8.5. Very good.
Murphy 4. Couldn't get into it against pacey and savvy duo on his wing. Looked small and weak against them.
Norwood 2. Ineffective. Made their midfield look exceptional.

Watching a different game to me....

March was much better than Knockaert
And Kayal much less sloppy than Stephens and his pass for the opening goal exceptional.
Hemed was working his socks off in there also, plus topped it off with a goal.
Even Bong who i always worry about after lay offs was very good in my opinion, up to speed very well