Match Ratings v Man Utd XI

Hoolahan? Youlahan! · July 25, 2009

Went down to watch the lads in Lower Barclay today, I''d rate them as follows.

Alnwick 6- Saved a dodgy penalty but distribution looked a bit iffy, where''s Theoklitos?

Otsemobor 5- Same old Semmy is all I can say, we need a new RB that''s for sure, so lazy, he did his job for the most part but was docile.

Lappin 7- Simon had a fairly good game, some very nice passing play and very assured even when asked to step in at left wing when Wes went off (why?)

Doherty 7- The Doc did all that was asked of him, until he gave away a penalty, luckily they seemed to have a Jamie in disguise among their ranks and was thwarted by Alnwick.

Askou 7- Very controlled and composed with his head, not afraid to pass out of defence and found the HEAD of Cureton with a peach of a ball.

Tudur Jones 7- As we know, he''s a big lad, feared he could be a bit dopey but looked very composed indeed, was always putting his foot in and is more of a Clingan replacement than Gill, and also came very close with an excellent powered down header which was only saved by the trailing leg of Heaton. Expect to see more of those at corners.

WLY 7- Still got the deft touches, but no pace, combined well with the ineffectual Otsemobor before being subbed off.

Adeyemi 8 (MOM)- For a young lad, an absolute powerhouse, great passing, got amongst the Utd lads and scored a sweet one, and then nearly scored another with a rather epic scissorkick.

Martin 8- Chris was very unlucky not to score, chased every ball and was halted twice by last gasp defending from the Utd centre halves, combined well with Wes and Lappin.

Cureton 7- Jamie looked like he was ready to die for the cause and even in a friendly did everything in his power to win the game for us, came close a couple of times but on his clearest chance, got cold feet in the box and was outmuscled.

Hoolahan 8- Great skills and looked very assured, if he can show his preseason form in League One and maintain fitness, hes a player of the season contender for sure, always looking forward and never backward, the anti-Fotheringham if you will.

Subs:

Nelson 8- Im overusing the word composed, but Nelson truly embodies it and I am convinced that even if we sign Askou and use Nelson as cover for Askou and Doc we can be sure that if the situation arises he can more than do a job.

Drury 7- Adam did all that he was asked to do, and again people overlook him for the leftback position but he can more than handle himself as he has proven and will be an excellent mentor for Wiggins.

Gill 7- Showed good distribution but at times seemed a little uncommitted to the challenge. Nearly floated a sweet one past Heaton but it just flashed wide.

Whaley 6.5- Would have merited a 7 on his pure pace and commitment, in an attacking sense hes everything Semmy should be, but was not fed enough of the ball to impress.

Spillane 7- Barely noticed he was on the pitch, the key attribute of a good defender, surely a better right-back candidate than Otsemobor?

Holt 6.5- Not enough time to really judge, although won a couple of good headers, would have liked to see him with his shooting boots on but 10 mins in preseason isnt really enough.

Bright 7- Kris won the majority of headers that he was asked to, had no bloody idea who he was until I read the MB upon returning home, but could well be the targetman we are after as he looks very strong and an impressive goalscoring record.

Just like to place on record how much I loved the "You all come from Yarmouth" chants to the plastic Utd fans, not a Mancunian accent in earshot I can assure you.

Only negative from today was that we didn''t tonk the bastards.

HY

Captain Holt · July 25, 2009

Otsemobor was good, Hoolahan was excellent and Cureton is an excuse for a professional footballer!

Captain Holt · July 25, 2009

And Paul McHeavy was not a 7.

NCFC_Edward · July 25, 2009

I thought Semmy was better than a 5, and that Nelson was no way an 8.

Lewie - Holt Our Saviour · July 25, 2009

McVeigh did well today:McVeigh - 8 Did well today, nice passing and nice control!Cureton - 5.5 Not his best game, he had plenty of descnet chances which he wasted! Played good at times.Martin - 8 Did well he seemed up for the fight and quite a dangerous player D:OTJ -7 Looked strong and gave out some good passes and defending.Gill - 6 didn''t really do that well today did some descent tackeling but gave away some sloppy passesSemmy - 4 as usually useless, didn''t make a tackle all game! Did one good block though! No sense of threat when attacking.Holt - 7 didn''t see much of him today but hedid ok when he came on.Bright - 6 looked ok today, had one descent header which was saved.Adeyemi - 8 (MOM) Very good today, 2 ver good strikes with some strong defender in with it!Lappin - 7 Not his best game but looked ok today.Whaley - 6 First corner he put a terrible ball in although it may of been a pass to the front postHoolahan - 8 almost man of the match today, played very well showing allot of attacking potentialDrury - 7 Did well in his position I believe today :PAlnwick - 5 Marshall in disguise?? Terrible kicks but did save a penalty (:Askou - 8 Very good in the air and showed good poise sign him up gunny!Doc - 8 Same as Askou although he did throw out a couple dodgy passes ;)Nelson - 6.5 Did ok today but not looking like he would be posed in our strongest teamSpillane - Did he play?Played

very well in the first half which lead to us being 1-0 up, second half

once hoolahan, Mcveigh & the doc came off manure started to dominate

The_Logitian · July 25, 2009

agree with those ratings apart from Cureton, he still cant hit the bloody target! How hard can it be? Looking forward to seeing Martin paired with someone else, Holt or McDonald.

Haggerdoo · July 25, 2009

Cureton and Semi were shockingly poor

Askou - man of the match by a country mile - Gunny - you MUST sign him up

Chris Martin looked good today

Lewie - Holt Our Saviour · July 25, 2009

haha I loved the yarmouth one too! I liked the guy who sat near me singing "Where has tevez gone?" Although he said it abit much!Seemed very quiet today fans rating: 4Just to verify in the WYL song does it go:"We love you paul McVeigh despite your lack of height,We love you paul mcveigh despite your lack of height,we love you paul mcveigh,Cross one in and we''ll score?"Also another thing that caught my eye was one of the united flags"UTD Kids wife - In that order" Lol??Final point I thought the song "Who the fuck are man utd" Was a song to insult utd? :SIf anyone can help me with all these I would be gratefull! :D

Captain Holt · July 25, 2009

First line is "We love you Paul McVeigh and if it''s quite alright...."

I''ve seen that banner on TV numerous times.

and

Who the F are Man Utd is sung sarcastically.

Paul Spector · July 25, 2009

Otsemobor good?!?!?!? You gotta be kidding me.

The sooner we get rid of that liability the better. IMO the rest of the team is almost sorted now, but we really cannot afford another season with him in the starting XI.

Mister Chops · July 26, 2009

[quote user="Haggerdoo"]

Cureton and Semi were shockingly poor

Askou - man of the match by a country mile - Gunny - you MUST sign him up

Chris Martin looked good today

[/quote]Askou started well but became positionally poor 2nd half and got caught out which would have led to Man U scoring a second, had it not been for Otsemobor sprinting back from halfway and executing a block inside the area.Agree Martin looked decent.Cureton was awful, he had one chance when Adeyemi put him in and he was brushed off the ball by someone 16 years younger than him. How humiliating.Adeyemi was MoM for me, he and Tudur Jones look a good partnership.

City 2nd · July 26, 2009

Hoolahan? Youlahan! wrote the following post at 25/07/2009 8:21 PM:

Went down to watch the lads in Lower Barclay today, I''d rate them as follows

Good report and markings mate, I''d only disagree with Cureton.....I just don''t think he cut it today, and was overshadowed by Martin and the boy Wright. He doesn''t look happy to me and I just wonder about his commitment as he knows he is well down the pecking order......5 for me.

missing in action? · July 26, 2009

i agreed with everything except nelson playing wellhe is slow, gets turned to quickly, doesnt lead a line and was at fault for the goalpile of shit.

Savenell · July 26, 2009

Alnwick 6- Looked ok. Good penalty save from where i was sitting. However he completely didn''t see a Utd player at one point and nearly lost the ball.

Otsemobor 6- Suprised to see him in the other half of the pitch in the first half. Even crashed over the bariers in the Barclay. Good work With McVeigh, still poor at defending.

Lappin 7- Good game. Fairly consistent all the way through. Good crosses in the 1st half even though he was playing at left back. Moved up to LM in second half where i thought he played just as well.

Doherty 7- Gave away a penalty, again, just as well we have other options at the back or else we coud be in trouble at the back again this season. However he did look goodand his strength was vissible gainst the younger Man Utd players.

Askou 7- Very good in my opinion. Played well with both defensive partners in the game. Looks good, would prefer him and Nelson at the back.

Tudur Jones 8 (MOM)- Impressed with OTD today. Very big lad, tall and thin. Didn''t mind sticking his feet in where it hurts and was heavily involved with the attacking and defensive play. Played well with Adeyemi, would like to see more of them in pre season.

McVeigh 6- Looked ok. Linked up well with Otsemobor. Had a few decent crosses. probably needs to improve fitness a little more before he makes a bigger impact.

Adeyemi 8- Great little player. Looks similar to Russel. Only played better. Goal was a well palced shot from edge of area. Second shot was really good, bit too much power though. Looks like a good player for the future and would like to see him make a few apperances throughout the season.

Martin 7- Played ok. Looked a bit scared to shoot sometimes and would rather pass to someone else to take the glory. Must be something to do with all our strikers as this has appened in the past with others on many occasions.

Cureton 6- Still looks light weight. Out muscled by younger people who prbably weigh less than him. Missed a header from a very close range which most people would have scored.

Hoolahan 8- Had a good game yesterday. Had the skills. Skinned a few players on the wing. Looks good considering he has just come back from injury. Hopefully he can stay injury free this season and he''ll be good.

Subs:

Nelson 8- Very good. Could cleary hear him shouting orders at other players and i was in the Jarrold. Looked solid and would prefer him to the Doc at the back.

Drury 7- Looked tidy yesterday. Decent crosses and he linked up well with Lappin.

Gill 6- Looked decent enough. Didn''t really have to much of the ball but when he did have it he kept it and passed it on nicely. Good shot which just went past the post.

Whaley 6- Didn''t really have too many touches on the ball. A few decent crosses hopefully after starting a few games and player for longer he will come good.

Spillane 5- Didn''t make any impact yesterday to be honest. Similar to Gill that when he did have the ball he kept it well and passed it on nicely.

Holt 6- Needed moretime on the pitch. However with only signing the day before and just coming back from injury i can see why he came on as late as he did. Decent headers so hopefully with game time he''ll score a few more.

Bright 5- Didn''t do nothing really. Martin would have done better than him. A few headers but nothing that outshone te be honest. Rather have Maric.

Nuff Said · July 26, 2009

No Cody? Is he still injured?

Savenell · July 26, 2009

I spoke to him before the game. He was walking with a few of his mates and i got his autograph. He seemed very nice and asked what i thought teh score was going to be and stuff. This was at about 2:45 so i presume he dint play coz he was injured. He did pick up an injury in Scotland didn''t he so prehaps Gunny is making him nurse it a bit?

Lewie - Holt Our Saviour · July 26, 2009

[quote user="Savenell"]Alnwick 6- Looked ok. Good penalty save from where i was sitting. However he completely didn''t see a Utd player at one point and nearly lost the ball.