The Ratings thread... (merged)

[FowlerLeftFoot]

agreed with your post except for the penalty part. it was a crystal clear penalty, any other decision would have been injustice to the beautiful game

[Peter Delvechio]

What's a bamboon? Is it a monkey made out of bamboo?

[ferg]

Sunday Times Player Ratings
(incase anyone is interested)

reina 6
kromkamp 4
hyypia 6
carragher 5
(agger) 4
riise 6
(gonzales) 5
gerrard 7
sissoko 5
zenden 4
aurelio 6
fowler 6
(pennant) 6
bellamy 6

(they gave Phil Jagielka [7] man of the match)

[Rich]

The day after (reflection) Ratings! (Typed while still feeling ****e with a hang-over!)

Reina (6) - Had virtually nothing to do, pretty good distribution as usual and couldn't do anything for the goal.

Kromkamp (4) - Previously I have been impressed with Jan, but on yesterdays performance he isn't LFC quality. Well off the pace and got caught out of position a few times, and didn't provide too much threat going forward.

Carragher (6) - His leaving of the field probably contributed in the goal, was his usual self until leaving the field.

Hyypia (6) - A few too many hoofs, but to be fair the central midfielders didn't help Sami, by continually decided not to want the ball. Unlucky not to score with a good header. Distribution improved after the break when players made themselves available for the shorter pass.

Riise (5) - Looked in agony when he went down.

Gerrard (6) - Quiet first half, player at a higher tempo after the break - personally thought it was a penalty. Still yet to hit his heights, but still very early in the season.

Sissoko (5) - Unfairly booked for a good challange, poor distribution and didn't hold his position well - wasn't helped by having to play along side Zenden.

Zenden (4) - Another poor game from our Dutch "Superstar." Not sure what he brings to the squad - he can't perform on the left and on this performance he can't perform in the centre.

Aurelio (6) - Adapting quickly to the Premiership on that performance. Looked better at LB than LM, played some great balls and hopefully showed a glimmer of what we can expect from his set-pieces with a decent free-kick.

Fowler (5) - Poor game from Robbie, decent penalty mind.

Bellamy (5) - Pretty poor game from Bellamy - didn't get into the game.

Subs:

Agger (5) - Thought he was more to blame for the goal than Aurelio - surely the zonal marking should have Agger alongside Hyypia in the centre of the zone, rather than the tiny Aurelio?! Other than that, he's good on the ball and didn't really put a foot wrong.

Gonzalez (5) - On this performance it might take him a while to get used the premiership. Didn't really show is pace, and didn't beat his man.

Pennant (5) - Didn't have time to get into the game.

Manager:

Benitez (4) - Thought our Rafa made a few mistakes in his team selection - however I predicted Alonso would miss this game weeks ago. Gerrard should have started in the middle with Pennant on the right. He wasn't helped by the injuries, as he couldn't make tactical changes.

Overall, no need to panic! Championships aren't won or lost on the first day!!!

[andyinswinton]

To me, Rafa got it wrong yesterday and I think it was a touch arrogant to go to a side like Sheffield United on the opening day of the season and rotate the team as much as we did when you consider that they would be really up for their return to the top flight.

I said yesterday that I didn't think that Bramhall Lane is the place for Alonso because they are a fairly physical side but if he isn't going to play, we are really lacking some creativity in the midfield; that link player between midfield and attack. There were far too many long balls yesterday from the back especially from Hyypia. It was a throwback to the dark days of Houlliers last season in charge when we looked to play in a pacy Michael Owen.

There were too many poor performances yesterday. Kromkamp, Aurelio, Gonzalez, Zenden in Fowler in particular were very poor. If Peter Crouch had played and played like Fowler, he would have been slated for it.

I know it was day one and we have an important game next week but we are now already 2 points behind Chelsea. We need to be matching them as best as possible and losing two points yesterday is not the way to go about it. I think we have the makings of a great team but the squad isn't as strong as we think. Certainly Zenden as a central midfield player isn't the answer. I just thought yesterday that we got it wrong.

[Rich]

The result showed that we did get it wrong. Zenden should not have been on that pitch!

[Kopite_Colin]

The day after (reflection) Ratings! (Typed while still feeling ****e with a hang-over!)

Reina (6) - Had virtually nothing to do, pretty good distribution as usual and couldn't do anything for the goal.

Kromkamp (4) - Previously I have been impressed with Jan, but on yesterdays performance he isn't LFC quality. Well off the pace and got caught out of position a few times, and didn't provide too much threat going forward.

Carragher (6) - His leaving of the field probably contributed in the goal, was his usual self until leaving the field.

Hyypia (6) - A few too many hoofs, but to be fair the central midfielders didn't help Sami, by continually decided not to want the ball. Unlucky not to score with a good header. Distribution improved after the break when players made themselves available for the shorter pass.

Riise (5) - Looked in agony when he went down.

Gerrard (6) - Quiet first half, player at a higher tempo after the break - personally thought it was a penalty. Still yet to hit his heights, but still very early in the season.

Sissoko (5) - Unfairly booked for a good challange, poor distribution and didn't hold his position well - wasn't helped by having to play along side Zenden.

Zenden (4) - Another poor game from our Dutch "Superstar." Not sure what he brings to the squad - he can't perform on the left and on this performance he can't perform in the centre.

Aurelio (6) - Adapting quickly to the Premiership on that performance. Looked better at LB than LM, played some great balls and hopefully showed a glimmer of what we can expect from his set-pieces with a decent free-kick.

Fowler (5) - Poor game from Robbie, decent penalty mind.

Bellamy (5) - Pretty poor game from Bellamy - didn't get into the game.

Subs:

Agger (5) - Thought he was more to blame for the goal than Aurelio - surely the zonal marking should have Agger alongside Hyypia in the centre of the zone, rather than the tiny Aurelio?! Other than that, he's good on the ball and didn't really put a foot wrong.

Gonzalez (5) - On this performance it might take him a while to get used the premiership. Didn't really show is pace, and didn't beat his man.

Pennant (5) - Didn't have time to get into the game.

Manager:

Benitez (4) - Thought our Rafa had a few mistakes in his team selection - however I predicted Alonso would miss this game weeks ago. Gerrard should have started in the middle with Pennant on the right. He wasn't helped by the injuries, as he couldn't make tactical changes.

Overall, no need to panic! Championships aren't won or lost on the first day!!!

That's a good sensible post. I agree with most of it. Why SG is moved out of position for ANYONE is unfathomable. And why people suddenly think Zenden is a CMer (isn't he now 30?) - why has it taken approx. 10-12 years of top flight and international football for this to suddenly emerge. The reason is - he isn't. He's been played as Left or right winger throughout his career until he went to Boro. The reason for this is he doesn't have the attributes to play as CM to any level. In short, he's a lightweight. I really hope Rafa doesn't get a Houllier-like obessession with this,a nd continue to do it. If we were going to play a "less-than-ideal" player in that position we should have kept Didi.

Fowler shouldn't be starting games as first choice, and Bellamy needs to stay in the middle a little more.

We have 4 wingers in the squad : Pennant, Gonzalez, Kewell and Anderson. If we going to play that way, keep the shape, and play them, so the rest of the team get used to it.