Hugh hands out his points
Fabianski: Three or four very good saves on a day strangely when we were always in charge. Back to his best 7+
Coufal: Didn’t put a foot wrong all afternoon. What a buy he’s been at such cheap dough 8
Balbuena: Nothing spectacular but has become a Hammers Mr Reliable alongside Oggy 7
Ogbonna: Sky’s man of the match. Hard to disagree but I do JUST. Excellent performance 8+
Cresswell: Right up to the recent high level. 7
Rice: Spectacular performance after international duty, Well done Dec 9
Soucek: Fairly anonymous by his usual standards and missed out on one big chance 6+
Fornals: Never stops running and played some nice balls. Tires you out just watching him 7+
Masuaku: Very good performance, spectacular footwork at times 7
Bowen: Nothing changes, Always a seven or eight -some great work on the run and a release valve down right when pressure comes on 8
Haller: Second only to the coolest man on the planet – Rolling Stone Keith Richards. Great goal – zero celebration. Far more involved and if Moyes can adjust game to suit him as he did today the guy can become a real asset 7+
Subs
Lanzini: Little time to impress but did little wrong 5
Noble: Came on a minute from the end presumably to pick up an appearance bonus No rating
I thought the same as you Hugh that Rice just nicked it but both were immense so no problem that Oggy got the award. Would put Bowen at 7+, too many times shot when there was a better pass on, Fornals mirrored that, maybe they have been told by Moyes to be more greedy but they should just play the pass when it is there.
Hmmm. Fornals worked hard but wasn’t at his best. Same for Bowen. Not bad, just not his best. Haller was noticeable on and off the ball.
Rice in a different stratosphere.
I’m not a big fan of Fornals so far but first half I thought was one of his better performances, he fizzled out in the 2nd half unfortunately.
I thought Haller’s first touch was sadly lacking for most of the game, he had plenty of balls played up to his feet, chest etc but he couldn’t hold on to the ball and often just didn’t react quickly enough. It was a nice header which put Soucek in for his chance and obviously the goal was a good strike but I would have Antonio back asap.
Rice superb as usual and everyone else made a positive contribution. I didn’t think a lot of Sheffield Utd, they gave the ball away a lot and looked disjointed at times but that shouldn’t detract from a great 3 points for us. It’s easy to sense our expectations getting higher as the season goes on but the first job is 40 points and see where we are after that. COYI
Although I live in the north west of England I have supported the irons all my life .these are the sort of games they have always lost .it’s refreshing to see a well organized outfit .creswell is reborn and masuaka looks potent going forward and rice would grace most sides to be honest .long may it continue