Heeeeeeeeere's the RATINGSSSSS!!!!

[brendan]

*group hug*

Altogether now:

"When you walk..."

Through a storm
Hold your head up high
and don't be afraid of the da..is it dark or dawn?

I'm never sure.
Don't really know the rest.

Sorry.

[singlerider]

Sorry to return to the point of the thread and all . . .

But is anybody else baffled by the slating Xabi has been getting for last night?

He defended fairly well, he picked out Pennant time after time, he set up a goal.

Okay he was a little rusty and by his standards some of the passing was a bit off . . . as in there were a couple of 50 yard passes that missed their man. Oh, and one shocking freekick.

But I thought he had an alright game.

Am I blind?

[brikkis]

Xabi is awesome
If you want to believe what everyone writes in these forums then thats up to you.
What a pass for the second goal eh...

[Shaggy]

Sorry to return to the point of the thread and all . . .

But is anybody else baffled by the slating Xabi has been getting for last night?

He defended fairly well, he picked out Pennant time after time, he set up a goal.

Okay he was a little rusty and by his standards some of the passing was a bit off . . . as in there were a couple of 50 yard passes that missed their man. Oh, and one shocking freekick.

But I thought he had an alright game.

Am I blind?

I'd agree with that. If it was anyone else he'd be getting 7s and 8s for his performance last night, but because it's Xabi, with those rather high standards, some seem to think he was ****.

As you say, he continually found Pennant with his cross-field balls. He played okay I thought. Room for improvement, like, but he did alright.

[dww]

Sorry to return to the point of the thread and all . . .

But is anybody else baffled by the slating Xabi has been getting for last night?

He defended fairly well, he picked out Pennant time after time, he set up a goal.

Okay he was a little rusty and by his standards some of the passing was a bit off . . . as in there were a couple of 50 yard passes that missed their man. Oh, and one shocking freekick.

But I thought he had an alright game.

Am I blind?

I thought he was poor, but only judged against his own standards. But I think he is such a pivotal player for us people worry when he gives the ball away as much as he did last night. I'm sure with a few games under his belt all will be well.

[archimede]

Fully agree... Rafa does not know what to do with Stevie. I am convinced Rafa would be as happy today with the 30mill from Chavski

[Shaggy]

Fully agree... Rafa does not know what to do with Stevie. I am convinced Rafa would be as happy today with the 30mill from Chavski

No chance. He might not quite know how to best utilise him yet, but he knows only too well his worth to the side and certainly wouldn't sell him, IMO.

[singlerider]

I thought he was poor, but only judged against his own standards. But I think he is such a pivotal player for us people worry when he gives the ball away as much as he did last night. I'm sure with a few games under his belt all will be well.

Exactly - he misses a couple of 50 yard passes, gives the ball away once or twice, fluffs one freekick (all of which can be put down to a pre-season lack of sharpness) and suddenly people are giving him 4s!

Perspective people. It's a wonderful thing.

[Howard_lfc]

Exactly - he misses a couple of 50 yard passes, gives the ball away once or twice, fluffs one freekick (all of which can be put down to a pre-season lack of sharpness) and suddenly people are giving him 4s!

Perspective people. It's a wonderful thing.

I'd have subbed him last night. Nothing personal in it - he was off the pace for me. This isn't a slating or anything - just my own personal observation.
I'd have put SG back into midfield and brough crouch on alongside bellamy.

H

[Shaggy]

I'd have subbed him last night. Nothing personal in it - he was off the pace for me. This isn't a slating or anything - just my own personal observation.
I'd have put SG back into midfield and brough crouch on alongside bellamy.

H

That was exactly the sub/tactical switch I was calling for.

[singlerider]

I'd have subbed him last night. Nothing personal in it - he was off the pace for me. This isn't a slating or anything - just my own personal observation.
I'd have put SG back into midfield and brough crouch on alongside bellamy.

H

See, that's fair enough (although you may have regretted it later )

He didn't have the greatest of games last night, I'll admit that, and changing formation to play bigman/littleman combination would've made perfect sense.

It's just these people rating him 5 or lower I don't get. He was a 6 at very worst.

[blacky]

Agreed Brendan. Thought Zenden was brutal. Xabi and JAR looked off the pace but apart from that I was happy enough. Can't read too much into a fixture like that. More positves than negatives from last nights game. Pennant had a MOM game, sissoko was immence in the midfield and Speedy and Bellamy capped their debuts with goals so it's a good starting point to the season.