ClaretandHugh ratings man Niall McDonald gives the lads their final marks of the season:
Randolph: Felt he might have done better with their opener. Tipped Adam’s long range effort over the bar to avoid humiliation 5
Tomkins: Took no chances pushing forward. Left exposed for the equaliser and, strangely, subbed near the end 5
Reid: Looked the most comfortable of the central pairing. Less covering to do with Tomkins alongside him today 6
Ogbonna: One vital challenge early in the second half – dreadfully static for the winner 5
Cresswell: Recovered from an injury scare in the opening minutes. Not the usual force in attack today 6
Kouyate: Won the corner that led to our goal with a typical driving run 7
Noble: Middle of the road performance from the skipper. Unexceptional 6
Lanzini: Stepped into Payet’s playmaker role and acquitted himself well. Excellent corners 7
Antonio: Revelled in the freedom of his right wing role. Capped our comfortable first half with a brilliantly taken finish 8
Sakho: Looked very rusty. Missed a good chance then a real sitter. His reaction leaving the field injured can’t have impressed Bilic 5
Carroll: Missed Payet more than anyone out there. A fine mini-season ended trudging down the tunnel injured, again 5
Subs:
It says much when your 3 subs are all players probably making the final appearances for the club…
Valencia: Cross. Free header. Miss. Bemused look. 3
Emenike: Not a left winger for sure but he was stuck out there 2
Moses: Brought on to push Antonio back into defence! Go figure 0
See you on 7th August!!!
Can’t believe we went in at half time only 0-1, Stoke were total sh1te. These last couple of games we have missed so many sitters it blows my mind.
Could explain why we wants a top front man essexclarets.I have noticed some fans bemused by the need for one.It seems so obvious to me we need one,meself I think we are crying out for one.
Whats the matter Cpt Jack?
Not satisfied with with what we have? Well isnt it was a sin to want more?
Yes very clever Muckraker me old son.Comeback when you have finished your Farleys rusks.Smart arse kids like you hard & big on the internet.If you want to be a smartie do yourself a favour,try completing a sentence that make sense me ol’ mucker.
Get a life Muck,wasn’t it you who tried correcting bubs spelling the other week.Do you get a kick out of having a go at pensioners?
We have lacked the killer touch at times to be honest. We will be buying a new striker or two this summer. Valencia has been disappointing & Em does not look a PL player. I can see a fair number going & arriving this summer. Slav will bring in his players & have a complete pre-season to plan. To keep getting better we have to leave some behind. Onwards & upwards 😀
Can’t knock 7th but it’s a shame to end the season looking at what could have been. We need a fit striker more than anything. Also a RB, to stop Antonio being played there. He’s such a threat at right wing and we missed that for a huge chunk of the season when he had to fill in for something like 8 games maybe more?
Also, does anyone know? If Man U win the FA Cup do we go in to the Europa? If so, then do we go straight in to the group stage or do we have to go through the very early starta in pre season qualifying stages again.
Jag we would come in for the third qualifying round,to be played 28th july and 4th august.