Player ratings v Fulham

[One Teddy Maybank]

The classic game of two halves. Doing two sets of scores (out of 5), because the first half really was that bad for me.

Stockdale 4/4 - 8
Bruno 3/3 - 6
Bong 1/3 - 4
Duffy 4/4 - 8
Dunk 5/4 - 9
Knockaert 3/3 - 6
Stephens 2/3 - 5
Sidwell 3/3 - 6
Murphy 3/3 - 6
Baldock 2/5 - 7
Murray 3/4 - 7

Subs
Skalak 5
Norwood 5


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[Deanbha]

Stockdale 9 - shame about his slip for the goal as he was excellent otherwise.
Bruno 7 - an average game by his standards. Didn't get forward as much as he could have.
Duffy 6 - a weak first half, rescued by a much better second. His passing was very poor at times, he was responsible for the goal (again) and his lack of pace leads to us dropping far too deep. Still, he marshalled Martin much better in the second half.
Dunk 8 - generally very good in the second half when others around him lost their heads. Cool, calm and collected throughout.
Bong 7 - not a great first half but much improved second. Attacked very well after the break.
Knockaert 6 - doesn't seem on it at the moment and is being ganged up on by opposition teams. Still capable of magic.
Sidwell 6 - starting to show how much we miss Kayal. A real mixed bag of a performance where he lost the ball regularly, was bypassed at times far too easily, but improved dramatically in the second half to set the tempo with his pressing.
Stephens 7 - cool and calm for the main part.
Murphy 8 - our best player first half. Faded second half but was still an outlet.
Baldock 2 (first half), 9 (second half) - the "it's a game of two halves" cliche was made for Baldock's performance today. And what a second half performance.
Murray 7 - took his goal well, battled well, but was isolated for much of the first half as the team became deeper and deeper.

Skalak 6 - fine when he came on.
Norwood 6 - see above.

The ref 2 - what was he watching?

Weird, I thought Duffy was our best player 1st half.

 

[sussex_guy2k2]

Weird, I thought Duffy was our best player 1st half.

That's fair enough, albeit I don't agree. I think he was the cause of many of our issues first half, as well as being responsible for their goal, but I do think he improved quite drastically second half.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

I'm bemused with the ratings for Bruno and Bong. I thought the bearded magician was really poor throughout. He looked his age today and they had untold joy down our right. Bong had a slow start but really improved.

Thought Bruno was one of the few who made it to average in first half. The winger was tricky and he didn't beat him much, if at all in the first half.

However not venture forward as much as he normally does.

The other issue was their left back was bombing forward and Knockaert was completely ineffective defensively, leaving Bruno 2 on 1.

Bong, sadly was awful, passing was poor, lost most 50/50's. Played far too wide in relation to Dunk leaving a hole, that Fulham exploited.

That was my rationale anyway. All opinions.


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[aolstudios]

Stockdale 9 - buried with any previous Albion keeper
Bruno 5.5
Bong 6.5 - horribly exposed first half
Duffy 7
Dunk 7.5
Knockaert 4 - needs a break
Stephens 5
Sidwell 7 - looking forward to seeing Steve with Kayal
Murphy 7
Baldock 7.5 - superb hit
Murray 7

Skalak 7
Norwood 6

 

[Deanbha]

That's fair enough, albeit I don't agree. I think he was the cause of many of our issues first half, as well as being responsible for their goal, but I do think he improved quite drastically second half.

Would be pretty boring on here if we all agreed on everything

 

[Nixonator]

Excellent footballing point.

There's a list of them that I couldn't be bothered to go through. You say he was at fault for the goal, I thought he did enough to put McDonald off and the header would have been easily gathered by DS if he hadn't slipped.

For the rest of the game he literally won everything that was asked of him in the air, and made 2 vital tackles, both of them crunching which added to the theme of using our physicaility in 2nd half.

Then there a small case of him setting up a clearcut chance for SB that he should have put away to make it 2-1.

These things added up would mean he'd literally have had to turn towards his own goal and punt it in his own net to be judged any less than a 7.

 

[Albion Dan]

Anyone saying Bong has been poor for a prolonged period is tripping. He's been superb for many games once he got match fitness and was certainly no worse than at least half the team in the first half today.

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[Icy Gull]

I was watching a different game to most of you first half, I thought Baldock was lightweight and dire first half. Great second half though

Dunk, Duffy and Stockdale were the only players who didn't look poor first half IMO.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Anyone saying Bong has been poor for a prolonged period is tripping. He's been superb for many games once he got match fitness and was certainly no worse than at least half the team in the first half today.

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He had a poor start to the season, improved dramatically, I'm sure normal service will be resumed next game. We all have off days.


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[Petee]

Stockdale 7
Bruno 6
Dunk 8 MOTM
Duffy 7.5
Bong 5
Knockaert 6
Stephens 4
Sidwell 6
Murphy 6.5
Murray 6.5
Baldock 7

Skalak 6
Norwood 6 - Most predictable substitution! Was expecting it before we scored in all fairness

 

[The Brighton Buzz]

Stockdale - 8. Mistake for their goal but redeemed himself with 3 quality stops
Bong - 6 Terrible first half but good second half
Bruno - 6 Average game for the skipper
Duffy - 8 Both him and Dunk solid as usual
Dunk - 8 See Duffy

Sidwell - 8 Is holding the midfield together at the moment
Stephens - 5 Poor against Villa and again today
Knocheart - 5 Not happening for him. Poor when losing the ball. Must try and win it back instead of throwing arms in the air.
Murphy - 7 pretty quiet in the first half but improved second half like most others

Baldock - 8 Poor first half but came alive second half
Murray - 8 No service first half, but proved yet again what a quality finisher he is.

Norwood - 6
Skalak - 7

 

[biddles911]

He had a poor start to the season, improved dramatically, I'm sure normal service will be resumed next game. We all have off days.


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Hope you're right. He was poor on his return from injury last season and he's been dire the last two games.

Seems incapable of holding onto the ball and laying it off when challenged and think we've been pretty lucky not to have been punished against both Villa and Fulham accordingly.

Was a great fan of his, pre-injury last season, but he's a very weak link in the defence at the moment. LR would be a much better option when fit.

Team overall has been pretty poor the last two games as Villa and Fulham have pressed us hard from the off and a lot of the time we've just been punting the ball upfield to get out of trouble.

Think we need Kayal back asap....!


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[SeagullofMalaysia]

Hope you're right. He was poor on his return from injury last season and he's been dire the last two games.

Seems incapable of holding onto the ball and laying it off when challenged and think we've been pretty lucky not to have been punished against both Villa and Fulham accordingly.

Was a great fan of his, pre-injury last season, but he's a very weak link in the defence at the moment. LR would be a much better option when fit.

Team overall has been pretty poor the last two games as Villa and Fulham have pressed us hard from the off and a lot of the time we've just been punting the ball upfield to get out of trouble.

Think we need Kayal back asap....!


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How about Pocognoli?

 

[Ninja Elephant]

Stockdale 8 Flapped at a couple of crosses but made a number of top quality saves at crucial times, very good performance.
Bruno 6 Not currently in his top form, if Rosenior were fit there might be some problems for Bruno.
Duffy 8 Thrashed Martin in their personal battle, plus a couple of heroic blocks when it matters. 100% defender.
Dunk 7 A couple of overly ambitious long balls but did what he needed to well.
Bong 5 Overtaken by the quality around him and should be watching Pocognoli by now.
Knockaert 7 Not at his livliest but also not given much service, one incredible dribble in the first half though.
Sidwell 6 Ineffective but hard working as always, scrapped away and put his foot in.
Stephens 5 Probably his worst game I've seen him have for us, sloppy and ineffective.
Murphy 6 Not good and very anonymous. Relies in the game being stretched so he has space.
Baldock 8 Top quality goal and excellent cross for the winner, but those two moment aside, added nothing.
Murray 7 Won headers and took his goal very well but not completely on his game right now.

Subs
Norwood 6 Wasteful once or twice but did put in one good tackle.
Skalak N/A Not on long enough to rate.