Friday 1 October 2010

Juventus player ratings

Hart Might have done better for Iaquinta's goal. It was a good hit, and it took a deflection, but it wasn't prohibitively far away from him. That aside he made a good save or two, and hate some famous del Piero free-kicks to deal with. 5

Boateng One half at right back and one at left back in his first start for City. He stood off Iaquinta when he scored his opener, which was a shame. That aside he was good, making some important interceptions but also looking good with the ball at his feet going forward. 6

Kolo Touré Solid for the most part. Not too stretched, but wasn't caught out and tended to keep things simple. 6

Kompany Another excellent performance from our early front-runner for Player of the Season. His positioning was perfect, and he was immaculate with the ball at his feet. There was one moment where he was opened up by Krasić and might have conceded a penalty, but he didn't. 7

Zabaleta Faced up against Krasić who, it's fair to say, saw him coming. He dived in too often, and had he not gone off with a hamstring strain in the second half he might well have picked up a card or two. 5

Yaya Touré Had responsibility for linking midfield to attack, and for the most part he was sluggish in his passing. That said, his assist for Adam Johnson was as precise and imaginative pass as we will see all season from a City player. 6

Vieira This was the perfect game for him, in Europe, at home, and he sat just in front of our back four, always spare. He ought to have dictated the pace of play. But he didn't. His passing just wasn't sharp or astute enough. He took too much time on the ball and slowed down, rather than built up the momentum of our play. It's frustrating as we will need to call on him as the season goes on. 5

Barry Probably our most active midfielder, going forward or out to the left to support when necessary. More effective than Vieira or Yaya in generating some momentum in moves. Hit the post with a headed flick in the first half. 6

A. Johnson Scored his second goal for City, running in from the right, receiving the through past and finishing after jinking past the 'keeper. In that sense it was like his goal for England in Switzerland last month, although with less space to work in. He was probably our most threatening forward, and did look like fooling their left-back at times. 7

Adebayor His first start in a month, as the lone striker. He got a fair bit of service but his rustiness showed; the ball just wouldn't stick. This blunted ours, and we invariably had to build through Tévez, which isn't ideal. Unfortunately when Adebayor is out of nick he looks fairly useless, which isn't always the fairest reflection on his work rate. But he's going to have to show more if he wants a permanent place in the team. 5

Tévez Pushed out to the left, and it led to one of his least effective performances for a while. He tried hard, and isn't actually too bad a left winger, but we did miss him close to the goal. He stuck close to the touchline for the most part - and won a tackle in our half in the build up to Johnson's goal, but it just wasn't his game. Cut inside to fire in a few non-threatening shots. Moved inside later on. 6

Subs:

Boyata Played the second half at right back, and did well. No risky shoulder barges in the box, and he advanced will down the right. He doesn't know what to do with the ball in the final third, but that should come in time. 6

Silva Brought a real change to the performance of the team once he was on. Ghosted into space, demanded the ball and moved it on. Everyone plays better when he's around. 7

Milner Introduced some more energy into midfield, even if there was no real uptick in imagination. n/a

3 comments:

city_slacker said...

I thought Boateng was shocking going forward, he gave the ball away far too easily and was too keen to make the killer pass himself every time, even when it didn't exist let alone being the best option! I'm hoping it was just because he was far too keen to impress on his starting debut after so long out and will settle down (or start nailing every pass, which would be even better), but until that point I fear I'll be screaming at his wastefulness time after time. Hopefully it's soon.

Anonymous said...

Your both way way to harsh on Hart and Boateng.

It was Boatengs first few minutes for City and already your jumping down his throat City-slicker.

Joe Hart was unlucky and Laquinta's goal may have been slow but it was well hit and tricky to deal with, you really need to open your eyes to understand how contact, angles and field surfaces can alter, change the play of a ball.

I give Boateng a 5 for a few minute play as he needs time with his new teammates and more gametime.

I was once a huge Richards fan but City buying Boateng took the disappointment of seeing Richards flop away.

Richards is trying to turn it around but i rate Boateng better.

I give Hart a 7 for having a good game behind a very off defence in the first 20 or so minutes of play.


it seems like you two are going to be extremely, drastically hard to please my friends.

Jeff said...

Sounds like Adebayor's lobbying for a move to Juve.