[Albion] Player ratings on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke

[goldstone]

And Enciso was so slow. Very unimpressed. Hope there's better to come.

 

[goldstone]

Dunk must have been awarded MoM by ITV 'cos it was his 400th game. Certainly couldn't have been for his performance.

 

[dazzer6666]

Caceido absolutely superb and by far the pick of the bunch with JPVH just behind. The assist for the goal aside Dunk's passing was woeful, incredibly sloppy. Thought everyone put a shift in even if the quality was not that great.

Good to see us finally eke out a win when we were not exactly firing on all cylinders

Finally ? Did it v Bournemouth a couple of weeks ago. We’ve been a bit off it 4 games in a row……..

 

[JBizzle]

Caceido was the best player on the pitch by a country mile. Bouanotte was a disappointment albeit better than enciso who had a shocker.

Take the 3 points and move on.

I did feel for Enciso. He did have a tough game, but he was up against a decent full back who'd managed Mitoma pretty well and I think our formation had changed with the subs, so Veltman was playing at LB behind him rather than Lamptey which adds a very different dynamic. I had lost track of who was at LB by that point though...

That said, it's a great learning experience for him. Nights like last night will help him develop and become more equipped with the tools to impose himself on teams with a more physical approach.

A cold Tuesday night in Stoke with a team jam-packed of wily, talented but very young South Americans has all the clichéd hallmarks of a brutal 0-1 away defeat, so it's a credit to the team to come away with the win.

 

[Hotchilidog]

Finally ? Did it v Bournemouth a couple of weeks ago. We’ve been a bit off it 4 games in a row……..

ha! That game was so err....memorable I had forgotten about it.

I agree we have been off the boil for a while and we will just have to tough it out until we still start clicking again. I think we are missing Lallana and possibly Colwill a lot more than we thought we would

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Thought the whole team was below normal last night. Steele looked composed and comfortable though - especially as he doesn't get many first team matches. Got to feel a little sorry for him never getting a go in the PL.

Caicedo - think I must have watched a different Caicedo, wasn't overly impressed. Lost the ball a lot but being kicked to bits won't have helped.

Undav - I'm rapidly coming round to my son's verdict, just not good enough. Far too many mistakes, gave the ball away cheaply, poor touches of the ball. really can't see him becoming a regular starter so probably worth shipping on at he end of the season.

 

[sagaman]

Although very young, and having only seen him a few times, may be an idea to loan out Encisco next season. He looks far from ready for the first team.

This is dependent on our strengthening the squad.

The back up front players without Trossard, March and Mitoma look very lightweight at the moment.

Sarmiento looks most ready at the moment and it would be good to see him producing more end product.

 

[nsclurker]

Enciso was *almost* as bad as his new haircut, last night, but think something is up as he seems to have dropped away from serious contention in recent weeks - maybe just me.

My son - who refused to ever slate DJ Jurgen - is the same with Undav. My opinion differs.

 

[joydivisionovengloves]

The thing that gets me is in the past when we played so called bigger clubs they'd sometimes not look that impressive but we'd be undone by a moment of skill.
Thats us now ! We can maybe not be on our top game but blink and we'll do you. It's so good.

 

[casbom]

I thought Van Hecke started a bit slow and gave the ball away cheaply a few times, plus he never passed out to Gross in the first half when he was completely free! That was remedied in the second half and I thought he defended very well.

Sarmiento flatters to deceive for me, he tries to do his Ronaldo tricks but when he does get some space he never put a cross in. The one good bit of footwork was when he spun out of the man marking with the ball and started that attack where we had a gazillion players to their one and still mucked it up.

Undav reminds me a bit of CMS, plenty of running but can't trap a bag of cement. Also we won't talk about his passing!

We were on control but we were a bit lucky that Stoke didn't know where the goal was. All in all it was an ok performance, no injuries and into the next round. Happy days!

 

[Norman Potting]

Who was isaid "...the sign of a good team is that they played badly and still won...."

 

[Gabbiano]

Out of the young pretenders, Sarmiento was the best, but keeps trying another trick or another dribble when its not on. Needs to sort out his decision making.

Buonanotte, you could see the talent and the intention, but he was struggling with Stoke roughing them up, and was not quite up to speed. Good signs, patchy execution.

Enciso... well. Beforehand my opinion was consistently something along the lines of "he's raw but you can see there's talent" but that was an absolute stinker. Getting outpaced by the fullback after starting several yards ahead, nearly tackling Welbeck when he was about to shoot, and many misplaced passes. Think he could really do with a loan to a league with just a little less physicality and good pace to the game so he can build up - maybe a mid tier team in Ligue 1?

van Hecke was good in the second half but struggled a little with passing under pressure. Suspect he will not quite make it here if we continue at our current level flirting with Europe, but have a good career at a lower PL club or maybe somewhere like the Bundesliga.

Lamptey I guess not really a pretender as we're all familiar with him now. Good going forward, a bit dodgy at the back. Our system relies on having one fullback that is more defensive and one more attacking. Usually Pervis attacks more and Veltman defends. This time Lamptey attacked more and Gross defended, but it wasnt as natural.

Undav, not great. He is decent at the link up play, but bad at the finishing. Which is odd, because we were all told that was his strength at USG?

 

[jcdenton08]

Out of the young pretenders, Sarmiento was the best, but keeps trying another trick or another dribble when its not on. Needs to sort out his decision making.

Buonanotte, you could see the talent and the intention, but he was struggling with Stoke roughing them up, and was not quite up to speed. Good signs, patchy execution.

Enciso... well. Beforehand my opinion was consistently something along the lines of "he's raw but you can see there's talent" but that was an absolute stinker. Getting outpaced by the fullback after starting several yards ahead, nearly tackling Welbeck when he was about to shoot, and many misplaced passes. Think he could really do with a loan to a league with just a little less physicality and good pace to the game so he can build up - maybe a mid tier team in Ligue 1?

van Hecke was good in the second half but struggled a little with passing under pressure. Suspect he will not quite make it here if we continue at our current level flirting with Europe, but have a good career at a lower PL club or maybe somewhere like the Bundesliga.

Lamptey I guess not really a pretender as we're all familiar with him now. Good going forward, a bit dodgy at the back. Our system relies on having one fullback that is more defensive and one more attacking. Usually Pervis attacks more and Veltman defends. This time Lamptey attacked more and Gross defended, but it wasnt as natural.

Undav, not great. He is decent at the link up play, but bad at the finishing. Which is odd, because we were all told that was his strength at USG?

Outstanding post and some brilliant points made.

 

[Kuipers Supporters Club]

From the Bet365

Steele - 7
Gross - 8
Dunk - 7 (first half was a 5!)
Van Hecke - 8
Lamptey - 7

Caicedo - 8
Mac Allister - 7

Buonanotte - 6
Sarmiento - 6
Mitoma - 6

Ferguson - 7

Welbeck n/a - but should have scored
Undav 4 - gets one more than Enciso for the booking
Enciso 3 - hope he can and must play better
Veltman 6

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Out of the young pretenders, Sarmiento was the best, but keeps trying another trick or another dribble when its not on. Needs to sort out his decision making.

Buonanotte, you could see the talent and the intention, but he was struggling with Stoke roughing them up, and was not quite up to speed. Good signs, patchy execution.

Enciso... well. Beforehand my opinion was consistently something along the lines of "he's raw but you can see there's talent" but that was an absolute stinker. Getting outpaced by the fullback after starting several yards ahead, nearly tackling Welbeck when he was about to shoot, and many misplaced passes. Think he could really do with a loan to a league with just a little less physicality and good pace to the game so he can build up - maybe a mid tier team in Ligue 1?

van Hecke was good in the second half but struggled a little with passing under pressure. Suspect he will not quite make it here if we continue at our current level flirting with Europe, but have a good career at a lower PL club or maybe somewhere like the Bundesliga.

Lamptey I guess not really a pretender as we're all familiar with him now. Good going forward, a bit dodgy at the back. Our system relies on having one fullback that is more defensive and one more attacking. Usually Pervis attacks more and Veltman defends. This time Lamptey attacked more and Gross defended, but it wasnt as natural.

Undav, not great. He is decent at the link up play, but bad at the finishing. Which is odd, because we were all told that was his strength at USG?

Re Enciso, have said from the first time I saw him at Reading that he lacked strength and needs a loan. I think Ligue 1 is a great call, and based on what he’s shown so far, maybe his level.

Undav showed he can finish at Boro, and his link up play and hold up play is actually very good. I do take your point though, and I wonder if he can score one whether it will give him confidence and he’ll kick on.

As we stand we remain quite weak up front and reliant on Ferguson. Welbeck really isn’t the answer longer term.

 

[Seagull58]

From t’telly:

Steele - 7 - did everything asked of him, but didn’t always look comfortable doing it

Lamptey - 6 - some good play, sometimes seemed to lack confidence in himself

Dunk - 6 - passing a bit wayward

Van Hecke - 7 - shaky start, grew into the game, were others avoiding passing to him at the start?

Gross - 7 - did a job starting in what is not a preferred position

Macallister - 6 - not a strong game, a bit anonymous

Caicedo- 8 - MotM, despite being kicked about all game

Buonanotte - 6 - I think he will be a player for us, but he’s a bit raw right now. We are down to the bones in terms of squad depth.

Sarmiento- 7 - some good play, seemed bright and hungry, but needs a bit more physicality.

Mitoma - 7 - got the assist, signs of his early swashbuckling form returning.

Ferguson - 7 - got the goal, kept getting in the right positions and good hold up play, not a lot of clear cut chances.

Thought the subs all did a job when they came on, bar Enciso, who started chasing after the ball a couple of times when level with an opponent and then just sort of gave up mid-run. Baffling. Was watching from the telly though, might be being unfair.

Not unfair. He must have had lead boots on. Gross could have given him 5 yards over 25 and still won comfortably.

 

[Seagull58]

No way Dunk justified 7.5. You highlighted sloppy passing and there was loads of it from him especially in the first half. A poor game by his standards. I'd score him 6 max.

Dunk was a rock in the second half. Worth 7 on that half alone, never mind making the goal.

 

[Sarisbury Seagull]

Our general level has dropped in recent weeks and last nights sloppy display was no surprise. The Albion of 5-6 weeks ago would have put this game out of sight, well before the nervy end of last night.
Good marks ( 7 )
Caicedo
Ferguson
Steele
Van Hecke
Above average ( 6.5 )
Mitoma ( assist elevates his mark )
Dunk ( see above )
Average ( 6 )
Gross
Welbeck
Sarmiento
Undav
Lamptey
Mac
Below average ( 5 )
Buonanotte
Veltman
Poor ( 4 )
Enciso

The BIG difference between the Albion of now and 5/6 weeks ago? Lallana.

Huge loss in this team.

 

[Seagull58]

I thought Van Hecke started a bit slow and gave the ball away cheaply a few times, plus he never passed out to Gross in the first half when he was completely free! That was remedied in the second half and I thought he defended very well.

Sarmiento flatters to deceive for me, he tries to do his Ronaldo tricks but when he does get some space he never put a cross in. The one good bit of footwork was when he spun out of the man marking with the ball and started that attack where we had a gazillion players to their one and still mucked it up.

Undav reminds me a bit of CMS, plenty of running but can't trap a bag of cement. Also we won't talk about his passing!

We were on control but we were a bit lucky that Stoke didn't know where the goal was. All in all it was an ok performance, no injuries and into the next round. Happy days!

I feel the same about Undav, but without the wonderful hair. He doesn't look anywhere near good enough, certainly no better than Maupay and maybe worse.

 

[Wardy's twin]

Ferguson almost certainly being load-managed……

Frustratingly yes...no competition from undav and while Wellbeck is a much better player than undav his scoring rate is not brilliant.