[Albion] Player Ratings - Southampton (H)

[Mo Gosfield]

Ryan 6......Time for a rethink.
Lamptey 6.....Started ok, faded badly, poor second half.
Webster 4.....Simply not good enough for this level. Poor positional sense, can't defend. Thinks he is Beckenbauer, trying to beat 2-3 players on a 40 yard run before inevitably losing the ball....cue....groan....and....." not again "
Dunk 5......Has lost his focus. Without the strength of Duffy alongside him he has lost confidence. Loses his discipline too much. Too many rash challenges. Needs to get his mojo back or we are in serious trouble. ( Alongside Webster, he won't )
Veltman 5...Another non-dominant defender. Lost Westergaard for the goal. Just another ordinary Dutch player that we didn't need.
White 5....I am still waiting for the signs that he is the real deal but not playing him at CB is a waste of everybody's time.
Gross 6...Considering his lack of pace, he did ok and at least tried to create something.
Bissouma 7....Fought every inch of the way and is first name on the team sheet.
March...6. Would have got higher but woeful shooting let him down. Posed threat down flank and looked lively.
Connolly 5....Made my mind up now. Not up to it. Poor first touch. Lacks class.
Welbeck 7...Good first touch. Runs channels superbly. Class player. Wasted alongside Connolly and Maupay.

Subs
Maupay 5....As usual...decent chance and missed it. How many more times. Again, has poor first touch and just needs too many opportunities. I'm afraid he is not the answer.
Trossard 5...As usual...decent chance and missed it. How many more times. Wasteful, luxury player.
Ali J 6.....At least showed some desire. Jury still out for me.

GP...5.....Surely he can see the problems defensively but nothing seems to change. Poor, passive post match interview. Too calm and laid back for my liking.

 

[Shooting Star]

A bit galling to have 4 centre backs in the starting 11 and not have the best one on the night.

Sadly, this is probably the truest post of the day.

 

[BN9 BHA]

Ps how good was Vestergaard?

When are Liverpool going to sign him?

 

[neilbard]

Potter - 3 - Too defensive at home is not working. When the game is slipping away so guilty of freezing like a rabbit in the headlights. Really questioning his motivation of the team now.

This could be a Hughton rating, just saying like.

 

[zefarelly]

Bissouma and Gross played well, Solly not bad

everyone else bang average with the exception of Dunk who is comparitively poor and Ryan who was crap.

Overall Blame for a lacklustre performance and negative result has to go to Pottinker. 3 out of 10. Whilst he has lots of good qualities, grinding out results is not apparent in his skill set. If we could do that in the winnable games, or even the ones we should get a point in, then we could afford to fanny around like some Brazilian dressage team in the other games.

 

[elwheelio]

No outstanding performances. Webster really poor. I don't think Dunk is suited to 3 CBs, he's been average at best this season. White was lost in midfield as Romeu dominated.

 

[amexer]

Penalty was unfortunate but in general Southampton were the better side. Main reason was there defence because ours so often looked all over the place. Main reason out of Dunk,Veltman.Webster and White Potter so reluctant to leave one out so to get round it plays White in midfield.

Ryan 6
Lampty 6 Final ball very poor and was no danger .
Veltman 6
Dunk 6
Webster 5
White 5 Leeds used him midfield in emergency. Potter some reason doesnt see him as one of our best CBs. Shame as not a midfielder
Bissouma 7 Good game but with White didnt seem to know his role. Pity as outstanding last 2 games
Gross 6 He wont be pleased with his shooting efforts. As was outstanding in last 2 games another that suffered because White came in
March 6 Down one for getting wrong side for penalty.
Connelly 3 Contributed nothing and just not up to it. Amazed he can be selected over Maupay,Trossard or Ali
Welbeck 7 With little support did ok. How we miss Lalana

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Ryan 6
Lamptey 6 - Saints played him well
Veltman 6 - Shaky moments
Dunk 6 - did OK
Webster 4 - Really poor
White 5 - he´s been our best defender this season, so of course let´s stick him in midfield
Bissouma 7.5 - Easily our best player
Gross 6 - Prefer him deeper these days
March 6.5 - looked more likely than Lamptey. Did well
Connelly 3 - Awful display. Welbeck was basically playing upfront on his own
Welbeck 7 - Needs help up there.

 

[A1X]

Ryan - 6
Lamptey - 6
Veltman - 3
Dunk - 5
Webster - 3
March - 5
White - 5
Bissouma - 7 MOTM
Gross - 6
Welbeck - 6
Connolly - 3

 

[highflyer]

Was at the game so apologies if I missed something obvious that you armchair pundits saw seven times

Ryan - 6 - did he make a save?
Lamptey - 6 - disappointing. They kept showing him inside and he subsequently looked poor
Webster - 6 - a couple of first half errors that could have been costly
Dunk - 6 - should he have done better for their first. Loved the passion, particularly in the last ten minutes
Veltman - 6 - just looks a bit lightweight to me
March - 6 - fabulous going forward first half, but seemed to get caught the wrong side for that dubious pen
Bissouma- 8 - Clear MOTM. Countless interceptions abd good challenges. Great distribution too
White - 5 - I didn’t notice him at all on the first half. Game seemed to be passing him by. Why play two defensive midfielders at home?
Gross - 7 - looked our best and at times our only creative outlet. Had three half chances that he might have done better with
Connolly - 6 - full of running but didn’t look a goal threat
Welbeck - 6 - started so brightly but faded second half

Maupay - 6
Ali J and Trossard N/A

This feels pretty much spot on to me.
Overall a bunch of very average performances, with Bissouma and Gross the exceptions

The only thing I would add is that with Trossard, Ali J and Maupay on we seemed to liven up, and I wish those subs had come earlier when it was clear we needed to change something.

 

[zefarelly]

This feels pretty much spot on to me.
Overall a bunch of very average performances, with Bissouma and Gross the exceptions

The only thing I would add is that with Trossard, Ali J and Maupay on we seemed to liven up, and I wish those subs had come earlier when it was clear we needed to change something.

I'd like to See Trossard ands Ali J wide with Welbck

Gross deeper with Bissouma maybe

 

[Gwylan]

Overall a bunch of very average performances, with Bissouma and Gross the exceptions

The only thing I would add is that with Trossard, Ali J and Maupay on we seemed to liven up, and I wish those subs had come earlier when it was clear we needed to change something.

Agree with all this - although I thought Welbeck did well until he started tiring.

I was surprised to see so many people have given a N/A to Trossard and Ali J as I thought they both added a bit of sparkle that we'd been lacking. I'm firmly conviced that Trossard is always (or nearly always) better as a sub and should be used more frequently.

 

[Badger Boy]

Ryan 6 - Did what you expect, nothing more or less. Did well to get out of the way of the penalty.
Lamptey 5 - Had the enthusiasm coached out of him.
Veltman 5 - Redundant last night but picked anyway and unlucky to be bumped out of the way for the first goal.
Dunk 5 - No obvious leadership skills other than a loud voice. Needs to be more of a threat again attacking set pieces.
Webster 5 - Also redundant, not needed but can't be dropped.
March 5 - Moronic challenge for the penalty, ran into blind alleys at every opportunity but ran around a lot to keep warm.
White 5 - Seemingly has to play every game and was very good defensively while offering nothing going forward (as you'd expect).
Bissouma 8 - Quality player, probably the only person thriving in this team at the moment.
Gross 6 - Good penalty and a few other nice creative passes but woeful shooting at decent opportunities.
Connolly 4 - Not currently Premier League standard. Not in the game and no threat.
Welbeck 5 - Must be staggered by the stupidity of his team mates and manager.

Maupay 6 - Just an inside the box finisher. Didn't create anything for him, so he didn't score.
Jahanbakhsh / Trossard - Not given a reasonable amount of time to impact the game.

Potter 1 - He picked 11 players, including a goalkeeper. He used three subs and didn't bring on Bernardo or Burn (neither have a hope of coming on anyway, but like Alzate they're on the bench for the laughs). Picked 4 CBs and still saw his team concede from a corner. Everyone knows Southampton play a flat 4-4-2 but he did nothing to try and outwit them or outsmart them. His faux intelligence is being seen through by more and more people and his loser attitude means he'll never be more than an also-ran. This is his Premier League chance, singular. At the moment he isn't taking it and he should be taking a long, hard look at himself. He's underperforming in a very significant way and there's no-one to blame but him. He's lucky to have Bloom as a chairman, he's been backed to transform the squad but he's not getting the sum of its parts.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I can’t see another thread so here goes....
6 is average.

Ryan - 6 - didn’t do much wrong, didn’t have much to do actually, distribution was only so so.
Lamptey - 6 - first 20 mins was an 8 but then faded badly, his final ball is not yet consistent enough.
Veltman - 6 - steady, good player.
Dunk - 6 - not at his absolute best tonight but did OK.
Webster - 5 - solid but gave the ball away too often and too cheaply.
March - 6 - minus one for a silly foul (it was not a pen) otherwise I thought he did well, gives us balance.
Bissouma - 8 - MOTM, the best midfielder on the pitch, I fear we won’t keep him much longer.
White - 6 - did ok first half, faded badly second, I was surprised he wasn’t subbed earlier. IMO Potter needs to chose between Veltman and White for RCB.
Gross - 6 - marked up 1 for scoring, was a passenger for too many periods but still looked our most creative.
Welbeck - 6 - worked very hard and very good in the first half, faded.
Connolly - 5 - couldn’t get in the game at all, I was surprised it took GP over an hour to change it.

Maupay - 6 - looked a threat and lively when he came on, which should have been earlier IMO.
Trossard & AJ N/A

Soton are a good team, we matched them for long periods. Unlucky with a ridiculous decision but we don’t help ourselves.

Dunk was below average so a 4 or 5, otherwise I agree. As an aside, they flashed his first half stats up and they were awful, made even worse when they were put alongside Westergaard’s.

 

[Blue3]

I do like reviewing the teams performance it's very cathartic, last night it looked very cold from the comfort of my warm front room, Alan Smith the Sky pundit what a tit, VAR yet again wants to be the centre of attention and I think in this case it got it wrong, we were good for the 1-0 we then went into our shell and you could see 1-1 which I would have thought would have been fair reflection.

Ryan - 5 - Almost nothing to do
Lampity - 6 - I was thinking a cold night he might have been protecting his hamstrings
Webster - 6 - Ex Portsmouth had something to prove did OK
Dunk - 7 - The Captain looked the part showed some passion I think he was impeded for their first by Veltman
Veltman - 6 - Very steady but lost his marker for their first goal then got in the way as Dunk was trying to tidy up
March - 7- Very good game loads of effort really unlucky with the penalty I hate VAR
Bissouma- 8 - Great defending breaking up play distribution only thing missing was a shot
White - 6 - he did OK Yet another player who started out with Southampton we need to get to that level
Gross - 9- MOTM Vision passing a great game in some very fine form atm
Connolly - 6 - Some nice touches lots of running finding space but I don't recall any shots on target
Welbeck - 6 - A couple of good opportunities to score wasted I think he works better with Trossard or Maupay

Maupay - 6 - The Albion came to light with his introduction more urgency but all with no results
Ali J - 5 - I am a fan of Ali but his introduction was to late in which he offered little
Trossard-5 - Same as Ali

GP - Good selection for first half but once Southampton started to make changes we were on the back foot and its GP job to spot that early and then adjust sadly he didn't on this occasion