ClaretandHugh’s ratings man Niall McDonald delivers his first verdict of the new campaign
Adrian: No chance with either goal and a magnificent double save kept us in the tie. Not much else to do, which was strange considering the chaos in front of him 6
Antonio: Caught upfield for both their goals and on any number of other occasions. Loses his discipline too easily when things go wrong 1
Reid: Took a Schumacher-esque flattening to win the penalty. Looked tentative 4
Nordtveit: Least uncomfortable of the back four in the first half. Ended up at right-back 5
Byram: Deputised for Cresswell and got stronger as the game progressed 5
Noble: Scored the ‘vital away goal’. Usual endeavour but had little support 6
Kouyate: Found it hard to get control of the midfield tonight. Forced into the back-four for the last 15 mins 4
Obiang: Disappointingly he found himself in a number of unfamiliar attacking positions 4
Feghouli: Finally a few positives!! Decent crosses and corners. Some sharp movement but like Nobes couldn’t find many others on his wavelength 5
Carroll: Showed off a deep tan. Had to do some important defensive work but no opportunity to show his attacking prowess 4
Valencia: Avoided the ball for the first-half. Got involved after the break but didn’t look interested, as per usual 2
Subs:
Quina: Should a 16-yr old be thrown on in this sort of situation? Unfair to judge him on this showing
No wonder we lost with 10 men.Wheres The Ghoul ?? 🙂
Feghouli has to be at least a 7 as does Adrian and imo I would give Byram a 7 for playing really well out of position, your harsh marks of Valencia are a disgrace he put in a shift I would give him a 5. We were rank awful but some of the players deserve credit for giving 100% the rest need a rocket put up them so does the manager for not having the players in condition sufficient to beat what was a very poor team.
I agree with you 32 , Valencia gets a 6 from me !
Bilic gets a 3 ! But I still love him ?
Just a bad day at the office !
4-0 next week ! No prob !
I have a Slovenian mate,he said all week they would give us a good game & could easily turn us over.It seems we may have took them lightly & our fans took them even more lightly!!!!!
****ing joke.Our fans aint heard of a team so they must be ****.I don’t think so!!!!
Am I being to critical – Slaven needs a kick up the backside ?
Since the end of last season he has tried – very badly – to play with wing backs, when we don’t have a right sided wing back.
This mistake caused us to slip from a Champions League qualification position to just making the Europa League by the skin of our teeth.
It also cost us a home result against Man United which knocked us out of the FA Cup.
Now it has probably kicked us out of the Europa League.
What does this same style of play offer us in the Premiership ?
We can have the most skillful players, but if the shape they play is wrong, they still become headless chickens.
I wouldn’t say so Cranham, agree completely with your assessment, things went to pot as soon as Slav started playing Antonio at RB and Reid at right CB, it also coincided with the incidents on the training ground whereby Song was no longer able to play the DM role and Sakho was dropped for his tantrum, good news on that front is that Nordveit looks like he should be able to fill the hole Song left, he actually played well at right CB considering he was left completely exposed. The players we have brought in all look hungry, many of those that had a good season last year with the exception of Noble who tried his best look about 5 yards of the pace, thats a lot to make up in 7 days. What was also bewildering last night was that you could see all the unfit players were blowing and we looked like we could concede more goals but Slav only brought Quina on from the bench, he could have brought either Oxford / Burke and or to give us some fresh legs up top. With the way he played yesterday I would say Carroll would be more use as a centre back than a centre forward, the seasons turn faster than he does and his link up play for me anyway has always been poor.
WE NEED TWO FULLBACKS!! I found myself screaming this for the duration of that game. It is so glaringly obvious that antonio ISNT a rb. If Slav doesnt see it then ultimately he will be the one to pay because we will ship goals wholesale (as we did last night and the tail end of last season when antonio was made to play there) and he will eventually loose his job. i reckon we also need a ball playing cm to link the midfield to the attack and two hungry talented strikers because going forward last night and the tail end of last season we desperatley lacked someone to get our passing going in the middle and steady things when needed, and someone up front who had a little more pace and a bit more of an all round threat than Andy. Final Point: VALENCIA IS ONE OF THE WORST PLAYERS WE HAVE EVER HAD!!! In Slav and the Daves we trust!!
How Adrien does not get a 8 or 9 I don’t know,
And agree with Byram
Slav has not got over his stint as a Pundit,
The owners need to push through some urgent deals LB
Plenty in the championship,
Both the Ayews bring them in with Callerie next week
Then go get a real Target man that will score goals,
Sell AC,Valencia,Sakho,Poyet,Obiang and even Antonio to get what we need,
Pinch Slav hard and tell him to stop being loyal to players that are not producing the goods,
Take Europe seriously now
Thanks Adrien you have kept our hopes alive
As usual bubs lots of good analysis.
However, I wouldn’t even consider selling Antonio, he is the scapegoat, and to give him ‘1’ is an absolute travesty. He had an awful game yes, but he is playing in an alien position for him, for the good of the club because we are still suffering from the ‘Dinosaur era’ (soon to see the sequal in England shirts!) of not promoting young talent, so we have not developed or invested in a good quality RB.Except for recently the acquisition of Byram who looks every bit the part to me.
Valencia is marmite ,looked uninspired and disinterested for the majority of the game, Adrien was good as usual ‘8’ for me.
Without Cresswell to balance the back four we were a shambles at the back.
Obiang is only average and we wont see much of him.
To answer Hugh’s comment about Quina if your good enough then your old enough, the boy looked pacy, keen, full of imagination, but wasn’t given enough time to influence the game.
I would have started Samuelson instead of Valencia and swapped Carroll for
Fletcher after an hour.
Byram has the attributes to become an excellent RB.IF & a big IF our fans give him a chance.Actually I know the majority will having spoken too many.But as per usual m sure the west ham supporting social media clowns will be quick to get on his back.
Never fear Ray.If the OS becomes the Tesco Stadium they are considering putting a Pampers nappie on all seats for the melodramatic amongst our fans who need one to get through a game.The dummy & cuddly toy are still to be negotiated lol
I agree about Byram – was keen to see how he’d do after a proper pre-season, and a bit more exposure to playing at a higher level to the Championship.
I can see he picks up a lot of bookings, but experience will help in that regard. I hope he gets a run in the side this season.