by Colin the King » Sat Aug 14, 2010 3:53 pm
Sorry, didn't see this thread until now. Have deleted the other one.
Hart 10- Don't think I've ever given anyone a ten, but it'd be impossible not to for Hart's performance today- absolutely impeccable. The outstretched arm to keep Defoe out early on will be one of the saves of the season, and he just grew from that point. The brilliant shotshopping aside, he was dominant in the air and distribution was good (not his fault that we had no physical presence up front). City's number one, England's number one for the foreseeable, surely. I could forgive Pearce for every other crap signing for this one, what a find.
Richards 4- Easily the weakest link in the side, which is disappointing as he looked to have improved massively in pre-season. His passing was woeful, he afforded Bale far too much space and hardly ever managed to stop a cross from coming in, and kept meandering forward trying to be Maradonna which put us under pressure and upset the whole shape of the side when he lost possession. He's fortunate that the rest of the defence player out of their skin, that's the politest way to put it.
Touré 9- What a turnaround. I had a feeling Yaya coming in might give him a new lease of life and maybe that explains today. He was as quick as he's ever been, cool as a cucumber in possession, dispossessed and pushed their wide men out of the danger areas time and time again (doing a lot of Micah's work) and dealt confidently with balls into the box. Some strong, assured tackling as well and as the game went on you got the feeling he just wouldn't accept being beaten. Basically- his hunger's back.
Kompany 8- Complimented Kolo perfectly. He was excellent in the main, his tackling was impeccably timed and was monstrous in the air and strong, making Defoe look fairly average bar a couple of breakaways. As composed as any defender I know of in possession, short and long passing, never looks under pressure with the ball at his feet and that's an attribute a lot of great defenders lack. A slight concern would be that he can lose concentration once or twice in a game for a couple of seconds, and that couple of seconds can be enough to allow the opposition to capitalise. Fortunately Kolo or Nigel were there to mop up, so it's not a huge problem as long as that ethic is always there.
Kolarov 6- Didn't look hugely troubled by Lennon, but didn't look totally comfortable either. It'll take him time to acclimatise to the Premier League since it's such a step up in pace and intensity from Italy. He showed good acceleration in breaking forward and is disciplined enough (take notes Micah) to get back where he should be. Hope the injury's not too serious so he can get games and experience under his belt quickly. Will be a real asset to us, I'm sure.
de Jong 9- Superb effort is to be expected, but he really did put his body on the line for us today. How many blocks, last second clearances, perfect tackles? He read the game excellently and was relentless in his desire to shut Spurs out. Better in possession, kept it straightforward and didn't give the ball away half as much as he did at times last season. Tenacious, intelligent, a great asset.
Yaya Touré 7- Moments of sublime quality coupled with some horrendous ones, but that's fine and to be expected in his first couple of weeks. You can see his natural ability to calm things down and influence our play, it's only a lack of sharpness I'm sure that's causing the lapses in concentration. To his credit, when he did make a sloppy best tried his level best to recover and often did. Basically, we saw glimpses of inch perfect tackling, excellent forward thinking passes and strength, we'll see those attributes more regularly once he's up to speed, no doubt.
Barry 8- One of the best games he's played for us I reckon. Marked tightly, continuously won the ball and was calm and composed in distributing it. He had a tendency last season to try elaborate, long range passes when there were easier options, he's noticeably improved on that front because every pass was a sensible one today. Can't recall him giving the ball away at all. Covered the left hand side excellently too when Kolarov/Zabs were pushing forward. More of this please.
Wright-Phillips 6- Good intensity, plenty of heart as per usual but lacking in quality. When he did get manage to get to the byeline, he did put in good quality crosses in fairness, but they were few and far between since he was so often dispossessed straight after getting the ball. Should have just struck that chance in the 2nd half, he seemed to think he had all day to pick his spot. He did track well and saved us a couple of times at the back (Hi Micah) but in truth we looked a lot more menacing once Johnson replaced him- that's the benefit of having such a high quality squad. I'm sure Shaun will be back and make some great contributions over the season.
Silva 6- Horribly lacking in sharpness and fitness, and it showed. Having been half way round the world this week I'd have been inclined to start him on the bench but maybe it'll serve to help him acclimatise. He showed moments of pure quality and composure, but all too often lost possession leading to Spurs breaks that could've been costly. Let him put his feet up while we're in Romania and he can treat us to a display in class next Monday night at Eastlands.
Tevez 7- Was tireless in trying to influence things, breaking forward, passing and shooting but it didn't come off. He's short on fitness too and it did show as time went on, and he's a notoriously slow starter so we can probably expect this level of performance for a while, he'll pick up the pace though and will be a nightmare for defenders once he and Silva build an understanding. You can already see glimpses of a great relationship.
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Johnson 7- Menacing and direct, he put Spurs on the backfoot and offered something completely different. We looked much more likely to score once he came on, but delivery was far from perfect if we're being critical. What a great option to have, though.
Zabaleta 8- Shut out Lennon superbly and was all over the pitch covering men and filling in gaps. The ultimate professional.
Adebayor 6- Too late to make any real contribution and no service anyway.
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