Ratings v Watford

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,820]

Krul 6.0: Two goals conceded which he couldn't do much about. I think they were Watford's only shots on target, so didn't have a save to make aside from those goals.

Aarons 5.5: A slightly disappointing performance. Wasn't to blame for either goal but didn't make any important interventions and didn't offer much threat going forward.

Tettey 5.0: Diving in and missing everything put the defence under pressure for the second goal and they were unable to recover. It dragged Godfrey across and left Lewis to cover Gray. Didn't really look comfortable against Watford's mobile attackers.

Godfrey 6.0: Defensive positioning was a bit better today as he didn't give his attacker room in the box, apart from when he had to make a late block to deny in the first half. Not the most culpable of the back four but he wasn't at his best either.

Lewis 5.5: Appeared to lose possession too often at times, although he did push forward into good positions on a few occasions and his long range strike was probably the closest we came in the second half.

Trybull 5.0: Didn't really do a lot tonight in a defending or attacking sense. Doesn't seem to make as many interceptions as Tettey and isn't as mobile as I imagine Amadou would be in there. 

McLean 5.5: Another who'll be looking over his shoulder with Vrancic available. Showed some positive intent and got forward into some good positions but did concede possession too easily.

Buendia 4.5: Conceded possession in a bad area for Watford's first and also lost possession for the second- although there was ample time for his team-mates to recover it. Didn't threaten in attack either.

Stiepermann 5.5: Used his physicality well and played a couple of nice through balls, but was unable to make a telling contribution.

Hernandez 6.5: The only bright spark. Everything good went through him in the first half and although the final ball was lacking more often than not, his dribbling was by far the most dangerous weapon. Faded in the second half though, but probably isn't match fit yet.

Pukki 5.0: Nothing went right for him tonight. His movement was good as usual, but his first touch and his shooting weren't as sharp as they usually are. Lacking service and confidence.

Subs:

Cantwell 5.5: Started brightly with some nice passes and his movement was good, but his delivery from set pieces in particular was very poor. 

Drmic 5.5: Drew the foul for the red card but offered nothing else. Carried an injury for the final ten minutes which affected his mobility, but seemed invisible.

Vrancic N/A

[Aggy 755]

Possibly a bit harsh on Hernandez. He was a threat, possibly a 7. The rest about right.

[king canary 7,604]

Godfrey deserves some of the blame for the opener too. Suicidal for him to go trying to take on a player in the left wing position.

[Hairy Canary 699]

2 minutes ago, king canary said:

Godfrey deserves some of the blame for the opener too. Suicidal for him to go trying to take on a player in the left wing position.

Buendia takes all of the blame for the first goal for me.

 

[BroadstairsR 2,163]

Buendia is my culprit. He seemed to have learned nothing from his lapses against Brighton.

His attempt at being too clever put us on the back foot within minutes.

 

We were all set for a Newcastle-style start and suddenly all was lost.

Why is the little man such a slow learner?

City fans rightly rate him highly, but he seems to rate himself even higher.

[hogesar 9,658]

22 minutes ago, Hairy Canary said:

Buendia takes all of the blame for the first goal for me.

 

Well, quite, a ridiculous thing to try and do in our current situation.

But we had plenty of opportunity to do something about it. Still dont understand what Trybull thought jogging alongside his player not putting pressure or a challenge in was going to do.

If your attacking player does something that stupid and you cant recover, make a cynical foul for crying out loud. Watford done it to us countless times and it disrupted our rhythm and prevented us having a shot on goal on numerous occasions.

[Hairy Canary 699]

8 hours ago, hogesar said:

Well, quite, a ridiculous thing to try and do in our current situation.

But we had plenty of opportunity to do something about it. Still dont understand what Trybull thought jogging alongside his player not putting pressure or a challenge in was going to do.

If your attacking player does something that stupid and you cant recover, make a cynical foul for crying out loud. Watford done it to us countless times and it disrupted our rhythm and prevented us having a shot on goal on numerous occasions.

All fair points Hoggy.

I see the goal as very similar to Onel's against Man United. The united player loses the ball a similar distance from goal as Buendia did, with all the play ahead of him, to a fast direct player who still had plenty to do to score. Looking back at that goal I guess you could say the united defence could have done better but it's a no win situation. Fast player running at you. Lack of cover. Options left and right so whatever decision you make can be played around. The player who lost the ball and good play from the attacker resulted in the goal.

bit harsh to criticise the covering players personally.

Bloody miserable this morning so forgive the moan.

 

[Indy 3,297]

9 hours ago, hogesar said:

Well, quite, a ridiculous thing to try and do in our current situation.

But we had plenty of opportunity to do something about it. Still dont understand what Trybull thought jogging alongside his player not putting pressure or a challenge in was going to do.

If your attacking player does something that stupid and you cant recover, make a cynical foul for crying out loud. Watford done it to us countless times and it disrupted our rhythm and prevented us having a shot on goal on numerous occasions.

Yep, Trybull and McClean never broke up any attacking threat, but kept dropping too deep into the back four, we never had a midfield two protecting the back four. Definitely should have gone and stopped the player at any cost outside the box took a foul and a card if necessary, not just dropped so deep into the box scared to make a challenge.

as for the ratings, all bar Trybull & Steipermann are too high both very poor never in the game, Hernandez was our only threat all game.

[ZLF 274]

For Onel i felt it was  generally good build up play getting him into the right position prior to a poor cross or over dribbling - great cross for kennys header though - need more of that.    faded in the second half 6-6.5 about right for me.

 

It was a poor team goal - godfrey too far forward and the positive of emi covering the space left behind the error was at the most basic, he was absolutely the main cause - but there was still 40 yards to the goal and two players failed to lay a glove on delefueo which also played a part.