Reply With QuoteAnyway ratings…
Henderson 5/10 – Not convincing at all. No command of his box. Looks a line keeper to me. Not a lot of chance in some ways with the two goals from corners but he is rooted to his line. Made a decent save early on but then third he was all over the place. Not the best of starts at all but not helped by indecision in front. Blackman gave us a real presence; he has not done that at all so far.
Baldock 5.5/10 – Kept going at least and felt he tried to get forward but his defending was suspect at times and he too was guilty of ball watching. The third goal he was nowhere to be seen and should have intercepted the cross. At times he gets into good areas but he has no idea what to do when he does; either firing a ball at a defender or just running down blind alleys.
Stevens 4/10 – Had a rotten first half I felt and was all at sea down the left side as they attacked at will down here. He was poor in the first chance they had and they had a few other opportunities down this side. He did get better second half, ironically in a back four but his crossing and final ball was pretty hopeless again. He stopped even crossing at the end, so shot was his confidence. Needs a rest but not sure who you bring in – the kid I watched at Hallam is nowhere near ready – Norrington Davies and Lafferty is even worse than Stevens in my opinion.
Egan 4/10 – Brought in to be the big unit that wins key headers, stops us conceding soft goals and set play goals. We concede 2 in 10 minutes to lose the game. He completely lost Flint on the 2nd goal and lost him 3 or 4 other times tonight when he could have scored more. On the ball he looks ungainly and clumsy. Whatever we paid for him, it looks too much at the moment but hoping he will come good but his starts has been wretched.
O’Connell 4.5/10 – Not much better than Egan – the only thing that saves him from similar marks to the rest of the defence, is not that sure any goals were directly his fault. He too was guilty of ball watching at times and looks like he is carrying extra weight; does not have same acceleration he has had in years past and also not winning headers like he used to. Hope the interest is not unsettling him. The sliced cross right at the end summed things up for United.
Basham 4.5/10 – Another clumsy kind of performance where on the ball he dithered and defensively took ages to react to dangers. Felt the two front lads were first to everything in that first half. He looked laboured Saturday and this continued tonight but at least he showed some heart second half and got stuck in – sure he got booked but showed some fight at least.
Fleck 4/10 – He was awful tonight – one of his worst games in a United shirt. Looks overweight and seems to be just drifting out of games. He has played as an almost winger the first two games rather than central and he does not play well with Lundstram and Evans at all. He needs to be given the ball from midfield so he can run with it but those two go back, sideways and safe all the time. However, he has to do much better and get into games. Even when he had it, he gave it away or telegraphed it. Needs to improve.
Lundstram 4/10 – Shocking. Not sure where he was playing or what his role was. He gave it away so many times early on and then when he did keep it, played this soft tip, tappy balls that put people under pressure. Ended up on the right wing and that was an adventure. Given the hook at half time. One of the slowest, most unathletic players I have seen play for United at this level of football. He has not improved much at all since we signed him. Just not sure he is good enough for this level sadly. You need to have some pace or athleticism or if you don’t have those, got to be good on the ball, be able to find passes, run at players. He does none of those things. A lower league player for me.
Evans 4/10 – As above. He easily could have been hooked. Did not quite hide as much as Lundstram and had a few chances second half which were embarrassing when he actually got there – a shot miles over and one where he tackled himself. However, I want to look at where we lost the game – the first 20 minutes and if he got stuck in, pressed, closed down or worked hard? He did none of these things and as Swansea did, they just walked through our midfield. When he finally got on the ball (it was 3-0 at this stage and he had barely kicked it – neither had the rest of our midfield) he just played it safe. He does not like to pass forward or run with it. If he does not even want to carry it more than 5 yards, teams will just sit off him. This slows our play right down. Another one that was blowing after 15 minutes. How unfit are some of our players? Been criticised for my thoughts on Evans, but like with Lundstram struggle to see what he offers to us to improve us. Our record in games that him and Lundstram have started has been awful.
Clarke 3/10 – Lucky to get 2. Did not work hard, barely held it up, looked disinterested and then missed 2 or was it 3 open goals. A performance that makes you worry if last seasons mid-season (as it was pretty much a third of the season where he got all the goals) was just a freak purple patch and we should have taken the money off Villa. He has looked like the Leon Clarke most of us remember from the rest of his career; the opening 2 games. Needs to be taken out of the side for me as we have nothing up front – the defence is rightly getting panned and so is the midfield but we have to defend from the front and he is not chasing, closing down, holding it up. Nothing.
McGoldrick 5/10 – Thought he tried hard even though nothing came off. His control and touch were not great and he did not link with Clarke but he did put a lot of effort in. He is a player that should be used as a bit part; not a starter; but hope we do not end up playing him a lot like we did with Donaldson.
Subs:
Woodburn 7/10 – Our joint best player with Duffy. Came on, showed some skill, ran at them a bit and put the ball of the match in for Clarke. He was good and showed some promise. The only bright spot really of an awful night and has to start Saturday. Sod midfield solidity or getting overran Wilder, we are bottom of the league and look awful. We can’t look any worse if him and Duff play. The midfield we currently have is offering the defence zero protection anyway.
Duffy 7/10 – As with Woodburn, played well and got on the ball and wanted to make things happen. He did more in a minute than Evans, Lundstram and Fleck did in 90 minutes between them. Has to play Saturday. Sod formations or defensive shape. Play him and Woodburn just off Clarke or Sharp.
Leonard – Won a few tackles and at least passed forward. He has not done great in the games he has played but barely played so far. I have seen enough of Evans and Lundstram to suggest they are not the answer. Let’s give this lad a go. He may be crap but we need to see why we chased him for so long.
Boro – Better than us.
I’m at QPR. My away record is appalling recent seasons so you can blame me. Report will be up Sunday morning.
United, United, bottom of the league. Night, night.
