Given Uncharacteristically uncertain today. Punching when he could catch, kicking straight into Johan Elmander's back, not quite organising as he good: a rare bad night for Shay. 5
Zabaleta Flawless at the back and tried to go forward, even if he misses the natural pace and thrust of Bridge. Didn't even give away too many silly free-kicks, which made a nice change. 6
Touré Not too assured at the back, looking unwilling to attack the ball with as much vigour as he used to. How he did not concede a penalty for his bringing down Elmander in the box I don't know. Went off with a knee injury. 5
Kompany No big mistakes but one or two slight errors of control almost put us under pressure. Generally he was strong up against two big centre forwards and he's always excellent in the air. 6
Bridge His substitution suggests he is not fully fit yet but he was excellent in the first half, pushing forward and providing both options and supply for Gareth Barry and the forwards. He looks fully focussed too. 7
de Jong Perhaps he did not boss Wilshere and Lee with quite as much authority as he might. They had too much space in front of our back four, when de Jong could have been snapping their ankles. But he was assured in his passing and tackling, and looks compatible with Vieira. 6
Vieira Generally quiet, not as quick as he used to be and sometimes slow on the ball. But he managed the full 95 minutes and produced a delightful ball for Adebayor's goal - there's certainly more to come. 6
Barry His best performance for a while. He moved the ball quickly and cleverly, even if he did go rather missing early in the second half. Filled in at left-back for a brief period too. 7
Tévez I think he's coming out of his purple patch. There was a lot of running and energy but little end product today, compared to a similar fixture against Blackburn recently. Got very lucky with his penalty - outfoxed by Jaaskelainen, and nine times out of ten that wouldn't have gone in. Still 15 in 15 though. 6
Adebayor A quiet game until his goal: taking the ball out of the air, he swivelled and smashed it into the net - a move of real class. After that he was very lively, running on and off the ball and pinning Bolton back. 7
Johnson A genuinely exciting home debut. He started in the hole but drifted onto the right wing, where he created all that we did well, running at defenders with good pace but exceptional footwork and balance. He won Tévez's penalty and continued to be our best player after the break. A very promising start. 8
Subs:
Lescott Came on for Kolo and added a touch of calm to our defence, doing the simple things well. 6
SWP Lively, if not always fully in control, he allowed us to change shape and push back at Bolton when we were under pressure. 6
Sylvinho Too late to mark n/a
3 comments:
Am I the only one who thought that we gave the ball away much too cheaply today, particularly in the 2nd half?
The midfield diamond will work well away to teams like Chelsea who will try and play their way through mf but is not suited to teams who will try and bypass the midfield. The bottomline is we do not need Veira, DeJong and Barry all in the starting lineup at home to mid-table and lower table teams. We were sloppy in possession and a better team would have punished us.
Veira in particular was underwhelming and with the exception of his assist to Adebayor, the game completely passed him by in the 2nd half. He gave the ball away needlessly one too many times for a player of his experience.
3 points aside another unconvincing performance.
6 for Vieira! Good grief the man is so off the pace it's cruel to play him.
Come on it wasn't THAT bad was it?
Clean sheet. Three points.
Thank you very much.
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