Hughie hands out the marks
Fabianski: Made a couple of extraordinary saves and was in no way to blame for the goals. Top stuff 7+
Coufal: At least this warmed him up nicely for Lyon. Looked rusty defensively at times but – although not at best – offered more going forward 6+
Dawson: Had a tough afternoon and like Cresswell was left watching from a throw in that led to the second goal but the man rarely flinches 6
Zouma: Did ok until injured – fingers crossed he’s ok for the game on Thursday 6
Cresswell: Not one of his best obviously and like Dawson may have some responsibility for that goal 5
Rice: Worked really hard but he’s playing the odd poor ball and getting caught out. Tough to judge against his amazing standards but looked totally cream crackered at the end with a wild shot over the top 6+
Soucek: Everyone knows I love the bloke but should have scored with a header and in general was less than average 5
Bowen: Offered very little by his standards on a day when he was forced to track back rather than move forward 5
Fornals: Plenty of hard running and space finding plus played the some decent passing 7
Lanzini: It was as predictable as day following night he’d be subbed for Benrahma leaving Rice and Soucek outnumbered in midfield. Not one of his best games 5
Antonio: This one up situation will eventually find most strikers out but Mikey with no service on offer was never at the races and if only he had a first touch
Subs
Benrahma: Same old same old. Plenty of runs before being stopped and the odd decent ball in or played off. He’s not our answer 5
Diop Another who looked rusty at times but no serious errors and did his job 6
Vlasic: Looked strong and willing vut like Mikey got no service in that toug as hell one up job 5
Fabianski not to blame for goals? He got beaten at his near post for the first. That’s always a goalkeeper error. Apart from Dawson and zouma I did not see anything better than a 4. I think Antonio needs some time out of the team. And if we are to keep moving forward next season, we need a top class striker, to replace Antonio as first choice.
We were toothless today and I do not blame the players but I do blame Moyes, we have struggled for the most part playing teams who play 5 at the back. I think it is fairly obvious that we need to play 5 at the back too when we play teams who play that system. My second grip with Moyes today is that he fails to see what is actually happening during games. We were just regaining our composure after going 1 down and Lanzini was beginning to drop deep and get on the ball when Moyes decides to take him off, I am not sure how he has failed to see how poorly Soucek was playing, he has failed to see this all season. If we have any intent on winning on Thurs he needs to play Lanzini in with Rice and Fornals just ahead with Benrahma and Bowen wide. Thirdly I have no idea what has happened to Bowen, yes he chips in with important goals but his all round perfiormances are simply not good enough, people calling for him to be in the England squad is a strange one for me, We need Lanzini, Benrahma and Fornals on the pitch from the start on Thursday night and it is time to give Soucek a rest. Delighted to see Coufal back.