Saturday 7 February 2009

City v Boro player ratings

Given Probably the best debut we've seen this season - even better than Kompany v West Ham and Wright-Phillips v Sunderland. Made four fantastic saves, without which we would have lost. Command of the box and distribution (two areas where Hart has more to learn) were also exceptional. 9

Richards Defended well for most of the time, although he was beaten by Downing once or twice. Got into the penalty box a few times - yet to put in a good cross though. 6

Kompany Aerially dominant as ever, and quite good on the ground too (barring one Dunnesque slip up in the second half). Almost scored a nice goal from an early corner. Looks a perfect fit as captain. 7

Onuoha Untroubled by Marlon King, he was strong and successful throughout. Enough to keep Richard Dunne out though? Probably not. 6

Bridge His attacking play was exceptional: linking up with Ireland and Robinho, getting into good positions, passing and crossing with repeated success. Defensively he was comfortable - not being at fault for a goal for the first time since Wigan. 7

de Jong Another strong game: dominant in the tackle and good short passing. Has settled into the Premier League as fast as anyone could have hoped. 7

Zabaleta A bit quieter than in recent weeks, but did not have a particularly difficult job. Some good driving runs from midfield, but his goal against Wigan may have gone to his head: most of them ended with shots whistling over the bar. 6

Ireland His best performance in 2009. Some delightful touches and passes, almost scored a goal or two. A very difficult first half header was almost perfect. 8

Wright-Phillips Worked very hard but struggled to quite produce the necessary quality in the final third. Ran into trouble a few times and didn't quite get his crossing on target. 6

Bellamy His second goal in two home games for City, we got the full benefit of his pace and work-rate today. Took his goal very well: when did we last have a striker who could do that? 8

Robinho Has not played well since the 5-1 against Hull. Nothing he tried today came off, his shooting was weak and passing was never penetrative. Due a big game. 5

Subs

Caicedo Looks increasingly accomplished: used his strength and size to good effect, getting off a few late shots. 7

3 comments:

TPB said...

do you mean Wright-Phillips against Sunderland?

newsoftheblues said...

vastly over rated performance from ireland. His passing isnt the best, the quality of it is below standard, often found bellamy pace made up for poor final touch. His spacial awarness in the final third is dissapointing, failure to pick out players in space. Probably be criticised for having ago at the golden boy. But he wasn't great today!

onouha a 6 for a decent performance, more than dunne has mustered up all season.

pjdemers said...

Looks like Ireland has lost some consistency especially given how he was playing in the first half of the season.

I wonder if he lost moment from his suspension and is still trying to get back up to speed.

I assume Elano comes back into the frame? Let's hope he plays so well as to create more selection headaches for Sparky.