Player ratings vs Charlton

[Meade's Ball]

Kuszczak - i didn't think he'd let that one and he didn't. Always ready. A thorough professional. 8
Calderon - wanted a goal and sadly missed one of the chances of the game. Played reasonably overall even if that winger had him chasing back at full pelt. 7
Bridge - i love this guy. Doesn't stop working. When losing the ball he ran back 30 yards or so and snatched possession back. My man of the match. 9
Greer - Charlton worked hard up front and harrassed more than i would say Leicester will. he did ok. Not a great performance, but ok. 6.
Upson - his passing has improved enormously and held his own for the most part. 7.
Bridders - early booking, but still generally outmuscled the uninspired. 8
David - has a terrible habit of corners at the first defenders' head. He's a deadball specialist and i want more from him from the corner flag. A little anonymous. 6
Buckers - barely had a touch in the second half until around the 75th minute. Something is still amiss with him, but i love it when he's involved. Terrible headed miss. 7
Kaz - 12 shots, 31 crosses. No end result. A day in which he seemed to be jetlagged come the second half and repeated the same moves again and again without making something happen. An offday, it seemed, and i wish we had an attack on both sides instead of going one way for such a spell. 6
Vicente - a magician and wizard. I love to see him play. I wish he'd play passes quicker at times, thinking once he has the ball he'll run and things will always happen off of that. The only player who can weight a dinked pass like he did for Kaz though and i couldn't believe he didn't lash that last chance him, breaking the fingers of Hamer. 7
Ulloa - disappeared for times in the game and looked ruddy tired after a serious shift on Saturday. Still, he has the range to be an unbelievable talent and had moments of the sublime. 7

It's a game we should have won with relative ease. I think of Calde's miss and Bucker's and the minutes that past in which we swamped them in their box, each shot smashing against half-broken flung bodies. But a point is a point and there'll be games where we look a little jaded. Hopefully back on form on Saturday putting those chances away early to bruise the fractured egos up against us.

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Kuczszak 8 Safe and good

Calderon 6 Got in some great attacking positions but missed the target.
Greer 4 I don't want to see the ball played constantly sideways in the dying minutes. Lacked leadership
Upson 6 Caught the Greer crab play but overall does attempt to play in a forwards motion
Bridge 6 Vicente got in his way

Bridcutt 7 ok
Lopez 4 Was he playing?
Vicente 5 very rusty and compacted play too often.
Buckley 4 Off form again. Needs to join the girl guides to toughen up. Somehow sponsors MOM-yeah right!
LuaLua 5 Beating your man once,twice, thrice doesn't make you a good winger.delivery does

Ulloa 7 Even with soooooooo many apparently attacking players around him he appeared isolated.

I go with all this. Spot on, I think.

 

[Vatican Citys No.2 Keeper]

Kuz-7.5
Calde-7
Greer-6
Upson-7
Bridge-8 MOTM
Bridcutt-7
Spanish Dave-6.5
Vicente-7
Buckley-6
Ulloa-7
Kaz-4.

 

[Austrian Gull]

Kuszczak 7 - fantastic save when called upon
Calde 7 - always willing to get forward
Bridge 7 - ditto
Greer 5 - dodgy distribution
Upson 6 - fairly solid
Buckley 6 - not given enough possession. Tried hard but not a lot came off for him
Bridcutt 7 - dependable as ever
Lopez 5 - anonymous
Vicente 6 - a brilliant shot, some good passes but not always effective
Lua Lua 5 - so frustrating. So much possession, so little end product. Should have been hooked for Orlandi.
Ulloa 7 - some sublime control, I like his attitude.

 

[Rugrat]

PIG aside nobody did much to be proud of, poor all round.

Maybe they were friggin freezing like me. A team of brass monkeys would have struggled in that

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Kuszczak 7 - great save towards the end
Calderon 7
Bridge 6
Upson 6
Greer 5 - jittery in possession
Bridcutt 7
Lopez 5 - anon.
Vicente 5
Buckley 6 -
KLL 7 - final product poor, tracking back excellent.
Ulloa 7 - flitted in and out and starved of service, but looked sound in possession when he came deep.

 

[nevergoagain]

Kuszczak 7 - Nothing much to do, but great save at the end showed his class
Calderon 7 - Decent enough at the back, made some good challenges/interceptions. Missed 2 great chances
Greer 5 - Great walking it out from the back, any pass over 10/15 yards is hit and miss as to whether it will go to our player or not.
Upson 6 - Commanding in the air at the back, really like how he's settled in. Can see him struggling to overcome his desire to play it long a lot of the time.
Bridge 6 - Didn't see much of him going forward with Kaz in front of him until late on, a few lazy passes could have cost us.
Buckley 5 - Anonymous for large periods, crossing woeful at times.
David lopez 5 - Hardly noticed him
Vicente 5 - poor game, was well shackled but gave it away far too many times.
Lualua 7 - Can't fault his effort, was everywhere. Just a shame his final ball was shocking most of the night.
Bridcutt 7 - Solid as always, without Hammond/Crofts beside him there was a big gap in the middle whenever he got dragged wide. Great block in the 2nd half.
Ulloa 8 - Gets better and better, great touch & willing runner. No decent chances but not his fault. My MoM.

Disappointed with the performance considering this is pretty much our best XI. We knew what Charlton would do and we couldn't break them down. No lack of effort from anyone but no real spark to the play and some lazy/poor passing at times. Far too many balls played too short or to a man who already has someone covering him. Pitch looked difficult.

 

[BUTTERBALL]

Kusczack 7 - very little to do but alert to make a great save near the end
Calde 7 - got forward well, missed a great chance in the first
Upson 6 - solid but passing not great
Greer 6 - good defensively, but would like to see him using his long passing range
Bridge 7 - solid and defended well, still has some pace
Bridcutt 7 - blocked a certain goal
Vicente 6 - not quite his usual self, suspect a bit lacking in fitness but some nice touches including a sublime pass to KLL
Lopez 6 - quiet first half but really came into it last 20 mins with some great passes
Buckley 6 - would have been a 5 but last 20 mins he was good. Should have scored.
Ulloa 7 - worked very hard, keeper turned late shot onto bar
KLL 6 - some really good wing play but end product lacking, particularly his shooting

No MOM as I did not feel there was an outstanding performance. As for Buckley as sponsors man of the match, the silence said it all, what do they know about football?

 

[Silk]

Kusczack - 7
Calderon - 7
Greer - 6
Upson - 6 some suicidal passing and mix-up between him and Kusczack could have cost us
Bridge - 8
Bridders - 8
Lopez - 6 had an off day
Vicente - 7 some sublime stuff at times, but no end product
LuaLua - 5 poor crossing, terrible shooting
Buckley - 6 good stuff late second half but missing for much of the first
Ulloa - 8 my MOM Gus has unearthed a gem, great all round game, top class centre forward.

 

[El Turi]

Kuszczak 7

Calderon 6
Greer 5
Upson 5
Bridge 6

Bridcutt 5
Lopez 4
Vicente 6

Buckley 6
Lua Lua 6

Ulloa 8

Too many players had off days unfortunately.

 

[bhawoddy]

koosh 7
calderon 6 - tried hard, but missed a great opportunity
Bridge 8 - excellent again. easily MOM
Upson 7 - pretty solid, won everything in the air.
Greer 5 - poor tonight,
lopez 6 - not hisbest game but still some decent passing from time to time.
Vicente 7 - Tried to open them up and some lovely passes.
Buckely 4 - not the same player he was. lost his pace and confidence.
bridcutt 7 - standard game for him. broke the play well and passed to a stripe shirt
Lua Lua 5 - beat his man 75% of the time but delivered woeful crosses. Shooting was miles off. Poor
Ulloa 6 - some great footwork at times but looked knackered. wasnt able to get into decent positions in the box

 

[MattBackHome]

Some bizzarrely high rating for Bridge going on here. I thought he looked sloppy.

 

[ees complicated no?]

Kuczszak 7

Calderon 7
Greer 6
Upson 6
Bridge 7

Bridcutt 7
Lopez 6
Vicente 6
Buckley 7
LuaLua 8

Ulloa 7

 

[Blue Valkyrie]

Kuszczak 8
Bridge 7
Upson 7
Greer 7
Calderon 7
Bridcutt 6
David 6
Buckley 6
Lua Lua 6
Vicente 7
Ulloa 8

 

[Rugrat]

Some bizzarrely high rating for Bridge going on here. I thought he looked sloppy.

Gave the ball away far too much

 

[stss30]

Kuczszak 8 Safe and good

Calderon 6 Got in some great attacking positions but missed the target.
Greer 4 I don't want to see the ball played constantly sideways in the dying minutes. Lacked leadership
Upson 6 Caught the Greer crab play but overall does attempt to play in a forwards motion
Bridge 6 Vicente got in his way

Bridcutt 7 ok
Lopez 4 Was he playing?
Vicente 5 very rusty and compacted play too often.
Buckley 4 Off form again. Needs to join the girl guides to toughen up. Somehow sponsors MOM-yeah right!
LuaLua 5 Beating your man once,twice, thrice doesn't make you a good winger.delivery does

Ulloa 7 Even with soooooooo many apparently attacking players around him he appeared isolated.

Agree with most of that but I'd give Lopez a 5.

 

[rjbseagull]

TK 7- Did what he had to.

Calde 7- Good first half, faded second.
Greer 5- Passing of radar.
Upson 5- As above. Probably his worst game for us.
Bridge 7- Solid

Dave 6- Poor game for him. Couldn't get involed
Bridcutt 7- Standard
Vicente 5- Seemed off the pace. Tried to overcomplicate

Buckley 6- Still not at his best but showing promise
Ulloa 7 MOM- Hold up play and general game excellent
Lua Lua 6- Beat his man, but final ball poor.

 

[goldstone]

Vicente 5? He probably has never got a 5 in his career. Madness. Question? Who played the best three passes tonight, one of them all but gifting Buckley a headed goal.....a 5. Tut tut.

Looks like I'm not the only one. At least three other posters gave him a 5. Making the three best passes does not mean he had an overall good game. Too many times when he had the ball there was no end result; he persisted in passing to KLL in the 2nd half even when he was marked by two players; he seemed to disrupt our normal game by being given the ball far too often when the player in possession could have done better. I was not impressed and would have preferred Orlandi in that role with Vicente on the bench.

 

[JTR938]

Kuczszak 7 - Not much to do
Calderon 7 - Reasonable
Greer 7 - Dependable
Upson 6.5 - Not his best game
Bridge 7 - Looked promising

Bridcutt 8 - Solid as usall
Lopez 6 - Off par today
Vicente 6.5 - marked out of the game
Buckley 7 - not quite back to old self
LuaLua 7 - sussed out very early

Ulloa 8 - not his best game, but always a threat

 

[Bring back Bryan wade!!]

These ratings are spot on IMHO.

Kuszczak 8 - good save late on
Calderon 7 - should have done better with his chance
Greer 5.5 - hoofed the ball aimlessly, and often to Charlton players far too much, on the us side, he played several passes to Calderon, which he doesn't often do.
Upson 6.5
Bridge 7.5
Buckley 6 - I thought Saturday's goal would have given him confidence, but still seems to lack it
David lopez 6.5 - a little quiet
Vicente 7 - not his usual high standard, but some promising moves
Lualua 5.5 - you need to do more than beat your man, or at least not beat him, then stop and let him catch you up as he did frequently in the second half
Bridcutt 6.5
Ulloa 7.5 - good promising play, but seemed to not get crosses he could do anything with, and seemed to be really tired in the last 15mins.