Monday 10 May 2010

West Ham player ratings

Fulop Presumably his last game for MCFC, but he will leave with our best wishes after another competent performance. Made a few routine saves and one brave one at the feet of Ilan. Badly let down by the back four for the goal. 7

Zabaleta Caught out by Luis Boa Morte for the goal but other than that he was exceptional. West Ham's narrow 4-1-4-1 offered us space down both flanks, and Zabaleta advanced with unusual freedom. He even got into goal-scoring position once or twice, missing a great chance late in the first half. Threw himself into everything, taking a few hits along the way. As ever, shunted around the pitch later on: twenty minutes or so at left back, three minutes on the right wing. 7

Touré Never looked too comfortable up against a fairly patchy Carlton Cole, he was turned more often than he ought to be and was left footed by Diamanti for West Ham's goal. Guillhermo Franco gave him an equally difficult time. 5

Kompany Another excellent performance from the most gifted defender at the club. I don't think there are many other centre-backs in the Premier League as comfortable bringing the ball from the back as Kompany is. Won almost every challenge in the air and on the ground. 7

Sylvinho It sounds as if this was a goodbye game for Sylvinho. Shuttled willingly up and down the left, linking well with Wright-Phillips and putting in a good cross or two. Some fairly wild shooting in the second half. 6

Johnson Our best attacking outlet, again. With no Bellamy or Carlos Tévez on the pitch our gameplan seemed to be getting the ball to him quickly, isolating him against Daprela. He ran into good positions, put in some fine crosses - including one with his weaker foot for our goal - and could have won us a penalty. I fear an embryonic reputation for going down easily might have counted against him. 8

De Jong Overmanned in midfield a few times, he did fairly well stemming the West Ham attacks with some of his patented tackles. Clearly playing with confidence he impressed with a few neat touches and turns, trying to help the attacks once or twice. 6

Vieira I fear his performance against Villa was the exception that proves the rule: he was back to his sluggish 35 year old self yesterday. Embarrassed by Scott Parker's energy a few times, he did not give de Jong enough assistance at times. One or two lovely passes though. Future in doubt but I'd give him a 60% chance of staying. 5

SWP A delight for City fans to see him back in the side, he replaced Bellamy playing from the left - which will also have impressed Franco Baldini. He is quite well suited to the role, with his ability to wriggle through small spaces and a better football brain than some give him credit for. He linked very well with Sylvinho and the strikers, and scored with an uncharacteristic header. His first Premier League goal since November, which says much about his season. 7

Adebayor A performance to sum up his season. Some moments of real quality: outpacing Daprela down our left wing, some touches and movements that not many other strikers could replicate. But some poor finishes and bizarre decisions showed us his other side. 6

RSC A surprise inclusion, he did not do himself much credit given the rumours of a summer clear-out. He looked off the pace, almost static and unable to hold up the ball or bring team-mates into play. It was like a Berbatov or Ibrahimovic off-day but without the potential for occasional moments of brilliance. 4

Subs: Tévez Got the whole stadium going when he came on, and gave us a bit of energy up front. Had our best chance of the second half but Green was too quick for him. 6

Richards A few minutes at right back towards the end. Make a few good surges down the flank. 6

Cunningham Too late to mark n/a

1 comment:

Miss Crump said...

http://crumbsofcrump.blogspot.com/2010/04/panties-up-expectations-down.html