THE Reds. The Tricky Reds. You arrive wondering where a goal will come from and they score in a minute. You then think they’ll settle down and play and they refuse. At 2-0 and 3-1 up we should have been able to relax, but our defence had other ideas. Well you said you missed 13-14. Here are some numbers with words.
Simon Mignolet: 4
It’s all well and good being a shot stopper, but we aren’t actually allowing many shots on goals. Just guilt edge chances right in front of goal that he refuses to come for.
Emre Can: 4
Poor performance after some good outings. Needs to relish the defending more, and was a bit too casual in defence as well.
Martin Skrtel: 6
I always find it hard to rate Skrtel you know. Give him any score you want.
Mamadou Sakho: 5
Gestede looked to play on him, and he struggled to cope. Did something absolutely bananas on 80. But passed it well all game.
Nathaniel Clyne: 5
Still not convinced he’s a wing back, but can’t fault his work rate.
Alberto Moreno 6
Has been hot and cold all season. So was quite nice to see his 6/10 game. Better delivery.
Lucas Leiva 8
Actually started a little shaky, giving the ball away cheaply twice in the first 10 minutes. But second half he was exceptional. Played Traore particularly well.
James Milner 7
Took his goal really well, and then showed great movement to nearly get another at the start of the second. Great assist for Sturridge, too. Was a bit quiet apart from that. But that is a pretty decent ‘apart from that’. Showed experience at the end.
Philippe Coutinho 6
Still scratching for his form a bit, but if Sturridge’s second didnt leave you dreaming of greater things then you’re dead inside.
Daniel Sturridge 8
Did loads wrong, to be honest, but what he did right won us the game. The first is a beauty that very few in the league can execute. Funny how he starts passing to his strike partner after he scores.
Danny Ings 6
Didn’t really happen for him with the ball, but his work off it can’t be underestimated. Won it back so many times.
SUBS
Joe Allen N/A
Always nice to see him. Lovely fella
[rpfc_recent_posts_from_category meta=”true”]
Pic: David Rawcliffe-Propaganda Photo
A little tough here and there but hard to argue.
Milner MOTM imo. A goal, an assist and just as effective as Lucas at dealing with Traore.
Mig – what was he doing with that punch?
Clyne – better 2nd half going forward
Moreno- looks like he enjoys the position
Can – looked like he was playing in a testimonial
Skrtel – played like a Skrtel
Sakho – can’t he get higher than that?
Milner – covered a lot of ground, good goal
Leiva – Lucas Leader?
Cout – didn’t try as many silly shots today
Ings – how many times did he tackle back?
Studge – just stay in the box please
disagree with Clyne score. 6.5 to 7. joined the sttack.much better with Milner as his side. defended his side of the half perfectly.
Lucas. played like our Lucas that we love. (When he won player of the year under Kenny)
Sakho. i though he could jump??
Can. we need to keep reminding him weekly he is Bankenbauer. (he.might reply he is trying to be Right Back.for the nstiinal.team, or he is the midfielder like whoever).
Mignolet. played like Mignolet. best hair gel, in Hendo’s absence.
Moreno. biggest disappointment was when he didnt join Sturridge dance.
Milner. Played like Milner.of Aston.Villa days.
Sturridge. we missed u whole f**king season and.more. stay fit pls. and pray to supernatural for fitness everytime after scoring.
Ings. he deserves a midweek break now.
Coutinuo. reduced numver of pot shots by half. well done. (numver of shot team took is.also halved). your brain works faster most. let the brain/instinct take over ur feet.
Skertal. the team would be wuite boring without ur presence.
Allen. Mario wont still recognize u in the newly developed facial hair. Time.to.endorse Gillette shaving cream?
BR. give one of 70 houses to Sturridge. his two goals saved ur job and hope save the season. Dont give up. and u start talking.again?? take.less. buy a scotch tape. Well done and keep going.
correction on.Allen: ‘Hicks’ shaving cream, no sponsorship available for Gilliette
well done mr Gibbons looks like we were at same game for once I doff my cap sir!
“Just guilt edge chances”
Its *gilt* edged, as in surrounded with gold.
I just don’t get Moreno, the reason Lucas dealt with Traore is because Moreno totally lost him time & time again. He attacks like a sprinter & gets back like a pensioner
You can’t blame him for not being able to handle Traore. That kid looked like a beast when he came on – I can’t believe how big and strong he is at his age, to go along with the pace that he’s got!
Goals are boss.
Your ratings are gold. Never change.
In what universe is Mignolet held accountable for either of those goals? Jesus, agenda much?
And the ‘agenda’ is what?
You are joking, aren’t you? Even Mignolet’s friends and family don’t have a pro-Mignolet agenda, ffs. What’s wrong with you? Did you miss the deserved shit he took for costing us 2 points last week. He gave the Kop no choice but to get on his back even before that in the first half for blaming Moreno for his own crap kicking.
If I absolutely _had to_ (e.g. was forced to, to save my life) pick ONE player to ‘blame’ for Villa’s goals, I’d pick:
1. Emre Can for the 1st (got completely owned by Gestede)
2. Really nobody; as it’d be my life on the line, I’d pick either Clyne for not stopping the cross (completely unfair choice, but . . .) or Mignolet for not even flailing at the ball in time (again, unfair).
thank goodness, no one balmes BR and FSG for those two goals yet.(nor at my great grandma :)
i won’t blame anyone. will take 3-2 anytime, over 1-0 win. will enjoy the win and share the love.
Can was woefully slack for the first in my opinion, he was marking Gestede and just decided to let him run past him when he thought the others had the situation covered. I would have gone off my nut if someone had done that in a team I was playing in. He must be one of the most frustrating players to manage, great when he is on the ball but doesn’t try hard enough when he is off it.
Actually, just watched it back again and reckon Mingolet’s could have got to it pretty easily. Can still slack though and definitely shouldn’t be taking Mingolet covering it for granted.
I think Mignolet is totally put off by Sakho’s actions in front. Like Gibbo, it looked to me like Sakho more or less ducks out of the way, almost like he thought he’d heard a shout, and this seems to throw Mignolet. Judging by Mignolet’s reaction after the goal, any shout doesn’t look like it came from the keeper, if there was one at all.
But you’re right about Can. If he does his job instead of ball-watching, it doesn’t matter what happens at the near-post, Gestede doesn’t score.
Deffo some holes around today but let’s stay with the positives. Three great finishes, 2 from the best striker around. Maybe he was feeling his way in but he spent too much time coming short and linking up 1st half. Then when he decided to play around the Villa box everything changed. Ings, Milner & Cout all came alive and he could easily had a hat trick. Stay fit Dan, stay fit.
Agree about Leiva. Looked like our captain all day long.
Mignolet (6) never convincing, but he wasn’t a liability
Sakho (6) great performance on the ball, got dominated in the air
Skrtel (6) looks more secure when he isn’t actually responsible for marking anybody. That doesn’t help the team though
Can (5.5) looked like a CM playing at CB/RB. Not a good game, but not as bad as some have made out
Moreno (7) Was an outlet all game and heavily involved in moving the ball forwards
Clyne (6.5) Didn’t impose himself on the game but gave a solid performance
Lucas (8.5) MOTM. The rest did him well and he dominated the midfield
Coutinho (7.5) performed better in the deeper role. Passed more than he shot wastefully, for once
Milner (7) best performance from him for a while playing in a slightly advanced role. Joined the attack effectively
Ings (7.5) was important in leading the press and helping the attack function
Sturridge (8.5) he’s comfortably our best striker, and one of the best around. Made a hell of a lot of a difference to our attacking play
Can you score BR in future too. Out of 87 maybe.
BR score would be:
2. for away win
1. for home win
0. for a draw
-1. for away loss
-2. for home loss
(does.not.matter league, Europa, or cup.matches. and divide by possible full marks. That % will be his annual score.)
if we want to ve more scientific, use a factor of wage bill of the team relative to the top wage bill. (this will be for EPL matches only). and we wiuld get comparable Manager Performance Table.of BPL for 20 teams.
What of a manager gets sacked midway??… (honestly, i.dont.know :)
Funny how much better midfielder Phil Coutinho looks playing in midfield……
Time to give Bogdan a run in goal? Will either give our defenders a keeper they can rely on to command his six-yard box or give Mignolet a required kick up the arse again. Blameless for Gestede’s second goal but look where the ball landed for his first.
Like me, he probably thought Sakho would do a defendery thing and get in the way of the cross instead of ducking out of the way like he did. I think that explains why Mignolet went mental at Sakho after the ball hit the net.
And then Can ball-watching letting Gestede waltz past him.
Mignolet is far from great, but there’s no way he should be copping it for either of those goals.
I’m assuming that Mignolet didn’t call, of course. One explanation for Sakho’s actions would be that Mignolet did call, although the way Mignolet’s chucked a mental once the ball was in the net suggests he didn’t.