Hugh hands out his marks
Roberto: Ok, I’m about to be howled out of the gaff but this wasn’t all about his mistakes. The geezer was under so much pressure from some horrendous defending that he had no chance. He punched a corner in yes but he also made several top saves. So in fairness I’ll give him four rating than the zero many might expect 4
Fredericks: Struggled like the rest of the back four. No real impact when he did try to get forward 3
Diop: Nightmare really. Barnes and Wood were all too much for him 3
Balbuena: Horrible mistake for the second goal and why is he in the team anyway. Oggy is far better 2
Cresswell: Did fine at front and back – with Snoddy the best of the lot 6
Noble: Off early with an ankle problem No rating
Rice: Just an average day for the defensive midfielder. His England spot could be in doubt 4
Snodgrass: Anything that was worthwhile offensively came from Snoddy – another high energy and tenacious effort 7
Fornals: Yeah ok – I think he was out there 2
Anderson: Much promise going forward – no end product 4
Haller: Gives the impression of of a man realising he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time 3
Subs:
Yarmolenko: No real impact after replacing Noble 3
Lanzini: Looks like he will be out for a long while with shoulder problem – not much show before that 3
Ajeti: One very strong run at the end as we pressed shows there may be more to him than we imagined 3
Ogbonna should never have been dropped
Roberto 4 hahahha. Those top class saves you mention for me are routine stops that he made look more hard work than they were. I cant remember seeing a poorer display from a keeper.
As for the rest of the team they only upped the tempo when we were 3 nil down much like at Newcastle.
Awful decision to give a corner for their first goal however would have never been in question if Roberto caught it rather than weekly punching to edge of box.
Not to mentioned the second he threw the ball out stupidly to balbuena.
Now I’m not solely blaming him the whole teams application looked poor and the tactics again were suspect.
We got rid of soo many players in the summer but didnt really strengthen where we needed. The net spend was low and it’s already starting to show. Sullivan has taken us as far as he can under his ownership we will always be hopeful but that’s all we will ever be.
All this tells me is what I already knew.
1 Fabianski papered over so many huge cracks last season
2 the owners are their own worst enemies when it comes to taking a risk to save a few quid.
3 chickens always come home to roost.
Offer Eddie Howe a salary like Pellegrini’s then let him build again from scratch. The club has a 66k+ stadium at a peppercorn rent. This is a huge advantage over other premiership teams. The club needs new energy from the top. Instead it’s a trio of tired old men.
Why can’t we change formation? We are so predictable. The keeper is obviously not good enough and we gambled that Fabianski wouldn’t get injured. But for the love of god give haller some support. Make the opponents at least think. We are so easy to defend as we dont attack.
We have been having problems in defence for a few years now! No Ginge or Tomkins, no one to offset weakness in the air, to command the penalty area. We are coming up against very tall defenders in opposing teams, and cannot cope. We have to many small players and are getting exploited! and bullied. And we have no answer.
You must build from the back first, not buy half dozen small midfielders.
The manager has to take full responsibility, he has signed players like Fredericks, Wilshere, Fornals, Yarmolenko, Haller. Continues to play players like Cresswell and Noble. Has failed to see we needed to sign a DM and another attacking player with pace. We are in big trouble unless he decides to change the formation and shape of the team to a 3-5-2.
How can anyone give Roberto 4 …. really . A couple of saves you would hope any goalie to make and enough howlers to write a book about . Snodgrass , our least talented player apart from Noble was pick of the bunch because he never stopped running and trying . The rest are a disgrace but 75% of this is down to an abjectly awful manager and team selections .
Yeah I got that wrong mate!
Strangely, I find myself half agreeing with Johnham1. Although I would exempt Haller, Who I believe would prosper in any team that delivers decent ball into or around the box. He’s scored more than Firmino,Jesus, Martial, Son, Lacazette etc. Imagine him in a team with a decent supply line.