Garry Nelson's Left Foot
Well-known member
Based on watching the game on a stream:
Button 7: I thought that was Button's best game. Yes he didn't have much to do in the way of spectacular goalkeeping but he did everything he had to do well, controlled his box, dealt excellently with Liverpool's corners and gave the defence confidence.
Montoya 6: I'm going against the grain here I think but I'm yet to be fully convinced by Montoya. I'm sure there's more to come from him but yesterday and most games I've seen from him he's the definition of average.
Duffy 7: I loved Liverpool lumping it forward and seeing if one of their front players could beat duffy in the air. Testament to how well we did in the first half.
Dunk 8: I thought he was really good. Dealt with their forwards well, read the game well and stayed calm in possession and under pressure.
Bong 7: One of his best games for a while. Defensively solid and provided as much going forward as he ever has(which admittedly isn't that much...)
Stephens 7: the pick of our midfield trio IMO.
Propper 6: put a shift in but had little influence on the game other than through his hard work.
Gross 5: He's struggled since coming back from injury and this new formation hasn't helped him either. That said, ridiculous penalty aside, I felt that this was one of his better games this season although still some way off the performances we took for granted last year. If Bissouma is knocking on the door of any one's position in the team it's Gross's.
March 6: He did ok. Put in a real shift. Maybe we've been spoilt by the Bruno/Knockaert relationship but there doesn't seem to be a lot of chemistry on our right hand side. There's certainly very little instinctual going on between March and Montoya.
Locadia 6: did alright. It's hard to score high when you're an attacking player in a team that's set up to defend. Was our out ball and looked like he could be threatening...if the opportunity to be threatening ever came his way.
Murray 5: Not his day or game. VVD had no problem with him at all. Murray has bullied a hell of a lot of defenders over the past 18 months but was unable to lay a glove on VVD. Should have done better with that header in the first half.
Subs:
Andone 6: High energy, looked lively.
Knockaert 6: Good energy tried to run at them and ask some questions.
Kayal 6: mostly because he wasn't on for long and did nothing worthy of marking him down.
Hughton has taken some stick for yesterday. A little unjustifiably in my opinion. You can't allow Liverpool space to play in, they'll rip you apart. We need to remember just how good a season they're having. They're on pace to go pretty damn close to matching Man City of last year. A season that most thought it would be a long time before it got matched let alone bettered, yet here they are doing just that or at least going damn close.
I actually enjoyed the first half, watching us deny them space and opportunity, watching them hit long, high balls to Salah and watching time after time as Duffy headed clear or Dunk stepped in controlled it and laid it off to the midfield. The game plan worked perfectly. What ****ed us was a moment of madness in giving away a needless penalty. If we hadn't conceded that penalty and saw out the first 15-20 minutes of the second half we would have had a very different game on our hands.
I understand the frustrations with Hughton's cautiousness and I think the Cardiff and Leicester games are two examples of when it was excessive and unnecessary. Yesterday wasn't one of those occasions.
Button 7: I thought that was Button's best game. Yes he didn't have much to do in the way of spectacular goalkeeping but he did everything he had to do well, controlled his box, dealt excellently with Liverpool's corners and gave the defence confidence.
Montoya 6: I'm going against the grain here I think but I'm yet to be fully convinced by Montoya. I'm sure there's more to come from him but yesterday and most games I've seen from him he's the definition of average.
Duffy 7: I loved Liverpool lumping it forward and seeing if one of their front players could beat duffy in the air. Testament to how well we did in the first half.
Dunk 8: I thought he was really good. Dealt with their forwards well, read the game well and stayed calm in possession and under pressure.
Bong 7: One of his best games for a while. Defensively solid and provided as much going forward as he ever has(which admittedly isn't that much...)
Stephens 7: the pick of our midfield trio IMO.
Propper 6: put a shift in but had little influence on the game other than through his hard work.
Gross 5: He's struggled since coming back from injury and this new formation hasn't helped him either. That said, ridiculous penalty aside, I felt that this was one of his better games this season although still some way off the performances we took for granted last year. If Bissouma is knocking on the door of any one's position in the team it's Gross's.
March 6: He did ok. Put in a real shift. Maybe we've been spoilt by the Bruno/Knockaert relationship but there doesn't seem to be a lot of chemistry on our right hand side. There's certainly very little instinctual going on between March and Montoya.
Locadia 6: did alright. It's hard to score high when you're an attacking player in a team that's set up to defend. Was our out ball and looked like he could be threatening...if the opportunity to be threatening ever came his way.
Murray 5: Not his day or game. VVD had no problem with him at all. Murray has bullied a hell of a lot of defenders over the past 18 months but was unable to lay a glove on VVD. Should have done better with that header in the first half.
Subs:
Andone 6: High energy, looked lively.
Knockaert 6: Good energy tried to run at them and ask some questions.
Kayal 6: mostly because he wasn't on for long and did nothing worthy of marking him down.
Hughton has taken some stick for yesterday. A little unjustifiably in my opinion. You can't allow Liverpool space to play in, they'll rip you apart. We need to remember just how good a season they're having. They're on pace to go pretty damn close to matching Man City of last year. A season that most thought it would be a long time before it got matched let alone bettered, yet here they are doing just that or at least going damn close.
I actually enjoyed the first half, watching us deny them space and opportunity, watching them hit long, high balls to Salah and watching time after time as Duffy headed clear or Dunk stepped in controlled it and laid it off to the midfield. The game plan worked perfectly. What ****ed us was a moment of madness in giving away a needless penalty. If we hadn't conceded that penalty and saw out the first 15-20 minutes of the second half we would have had a very different game on our hands.
I understand the frustrations with Hughton's cautiousness and I think the Cardiff and Leicester games are two examples of when it was excessive and unnecessary. Yesterday wasn't one of those occasions.