Monday, February 23, 2009

Player Ratings for Hull City

Not as impressive a game as I might have hoped for, I'm just happy we got three points, and to be honest, beggars can't be choosers. We looked awful in the first half, but in the second half we looked like a real team again. I'm worried about Cudicini now, it seems he got a case of the Gomes hands during the match, but we'll see if this was a one-off. Overall a gritty performance, and I'm relieved with the three points, the next League game is Middlesborough next week, followed by Sunderland, and we need 6 points from those games to really start feeling better.

Player Ratings:

Cudicini- 5 Looked like Gomes on crosses and corners, which worries me to no end. Should have been more forceful coming out on the goal, but saved a couple of crosses in the dying minutes to help seal the game. We knew he wasn't the long-term answer, but this worries me, let's hope it was a one-off.

Corluka- 6 Made a careless play that led to the corner that Hull eventually scored on, but otherwise another solid game from the Croat. Almost opened his account for the club with a header from Luka's cross in the second half. Didn't win as many balls in the air as he usually does, but was solid down the flank.

Woodgate- 8 Harry wants people who play with heart and no one signified that more tonight than Woody. Scored a great goal, he got a great jump and scored his first goal against someone other than Chelsea. Was a rock in defense and was exactly what we needed tonight.

King- 6.5 Ledley's first game in several weeks, and honestly he looked a little rusty. Played well in defense, but was not as sharp as he is usually. He is still the club captain, but didn't lead the team out, which was weird for me.

BAE- 7 I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm starting to come around on him. Got stuck in tonight, made some good passes, and a great cross for Woody's header. Clearly better than Bale in defense now, and he may not be my whipping boy anymore.

Lennon- 7 Great goal off the set piece, it was a flyer. But as much as I love Aaron, he needs to work on his crossing, his service tonight was sub-par at best. The runs he makes, the goals he scores and the energy he brings to the team makes up for his deficiencies in crossing, but still I'd like a winger to cross better.

Palacios- 8 He gave Woody a good run for his money for Man of the Match. Should have opened his account for the club, a great volley that Gardner couldn't have gotten out of the way of. He's exactly what we needed in midfield, a battler and a good distributor of the ball. If he keeps this up, he'll be a 12 million pound bargain.

Jenas- 6.5 Honestly played pretty well, got stuck in and cleared some balls on corners that I wish he would have done against Wigan. Seems to have a new lease on his football life. Still missed a couple of opportunities on volleys in the second half, but passed the ball well and was a credit to the shirt tonight.

Modric- 6.5 I don't like him out on the wing, he's too stifled with his creativity, but it's tough to play 4 in the back, 5 in midfield and 2 up top, isn't it? I think he, Jenas and Palacios would be a great central midfield, but we'd need to go to 3 in the back, or 1 up top, which wasn't working too well for us before. Looked good on corners, was creative, and took free kicks well. A little more consistent and he'll be our best player.

Keane- 6 Worked hard, and really showed his commitment to the cause by defending late on. Had a couple of moments of brilliance, the cross in the second half with his left foot was vintage Robbo, and he had several other moments of looking liking the real Robbo, but yet to open his account for us again, hopefully that will change against Boro next week.

Bent- 6 Played hard, and repaid Harry's faith with the start. Didn't get on the scoresheet, but worked harder than he has in awhile and maybe actually wants to wear the shirt.

Subs:

Pavlyuchenko- 6 Didn't have much in the way of service, so couldn't do too much. Got stuck in late in the game to help kill it off, but I still want to see him scoring more in the Premier League.

Zokora- N/A Wasn't on long enough to get a real rating, was brought on for Lennon to help kill the game off, and did the job.

Dawson- N/A Same as Zokora, not on long enough to get a real rating, replaced the bloody Woodgate and helped kill off the game.


I expect to see another squad against Shakhtar Thursday like we did last week. It will take a lot for us to advance, and I'd love to, but I don't see it happening, let's bleed some more youngsters and prepare for the Carling Cup on Sunday and the run-in to the season against Boro and Sunderland next week.

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