Player Ratings for Shaktar

Well I wasn't expecting a classic last night, but I was expecting a little bit more than that. I was happy to see us giving some of the young players a chance, but it was our defense I was so disgusted with. I have serious doubts about progressing in the competition, we play 3 days after playing Hull, and 3 days before the Carling Cup Final. I expect to see more of the youngsters at the Lane that night, and hopefully we'll win the Cup so we can have a shot in Europe again next year.

Gomes- 4 The words awful, horrific, and a shambles come to mind. It was like a broken record with Gomes, not commanding his area on set pieces, flailing at balls, I thought Tony Parks had started correcting this a little bit. The goal was totally his fault, and though he wasn't really at fault for the second, I want to give him the blame anyway. Expect to see Cudicini in the nets at Hull on Monday night.

Gunter- 6 Didn't play too badly, got caught out a few times, and could have made a better play on the second goal, but he couldn't be blamed too much. I think he and Corluka are a great pairing at right back.

Dawson- 7 Played like a warrior as he usually does, throwing himself at shots, trying to keep the defense together, he could be the player of the season for us honestly, he has given nothing less than his utmost effort every match.

Huddlestone- 5 Center back is not for him. Looked unsure of himself all night, sat on the ball too long in the back, made a couple of decent tackles, but was out of sorts all night. We badly missed Woodgate tonight.

Chimbonda- 4.5 Exactly why I didn't want him coming back to London, maybe we can sell him again in the summer. Not a good defender, plays out of control too much of the time. Makes rash tackles, gets caught upfield too much. I'd even take BAE and Bale over Pascal at left back now.

Zokora- 4.5 I've tried to give Didier the benefit of the doubt since we signed him in 2006. Now I'm with everyone else in wanting him off the pitch. He missed tackles all night, lost possession, made bad passes, and committed a totally needless foul that led to the first goal. There was no way he was getting to that ball, he had cover all around him and still lunged in like a fool. Thank goodness we signed Palacios, he seems like a better version of Zokora now.

Bentley- 6 Not a bad performance, not a stellar one, though hardly anyone had a stellar one. Played hard, made some decent tackles, but his crossing was off the mark. Kind of got lost in the shuffle.

Jenas- 6 A good performance from him. Seems to have a new fire lit under him after the possible transfer in January. Got stuck in, made a few runs, strung some passes together, all in all not bad at all.

Parrett- 6.5 A good debut for the youngster, I was pretty impressed. Showed heart, and a good bit of talent. Made a great run and pass to Bent in the second half, but Bent couldn't make anything of it. Send him out on loan for a few months to get some more experience and he'll be a great player for us.

Dos Santos- 5.5 Totally non-existent last night. I literally forgot he was on the pitch at times. Granted there wasn't a lot moving through to him, but he made little effort to get involved. Probably his best chance to impress Harry, and didn't do that. I was impressed with the shot he had at the end of the first half, our best chance of the night and reminded me he was on the pitch.

Campbell- 6 A workmanlike effort. When you're a lone striker you're going to do a lot of grunt work, holding up the ball, and Campbell did that well. I thought something could have happened when Bent came on because Campbell would be freed up, but no such luck. I think if he got an extended run he'd show us something, but cameo appearances aren't going to help a whole lot.

Bent- 6 Came on and mixed things up. Made an effort, and tried to get a few balls in. Not his worst showing by far, but not his best one either.

Bostock- NA Can't give him a rating, was only on for a few minutes and didn't have a chance to get involved. Is definitely going to be a player though.