Ratings:
Cooper 6/10 – Caught a few headers and then right on the edge of his area for another – which looked close to being handball? Kicked a few out which he seems to most games. The goal he has no chance with. After the break not sure he had anything to do – a few shots went wide. His handling was fine all night.
Ogbene 5.5/10 - Actually did at least look a threat in terms of putting in a few crosses and trying to get down that side first half but still made some poor decisions also. Defensively he did not always get in the right areas and we had gaps when they attacked. 2nd half did not see as much of him from an attacking point of view I felt but helped out more the other way.
McCallum 5/10 – Did not carry on the performance from Saturday and was relatively quiet I felt tonight. A few bits of link play but he did take the corner that led to the leveller. Burrows did really well when he came on and I do expect him to return at the start Friday but McCallum has done ok for a trio of starts.
McGuiness 6/10 – Won a few headers but also got away with a fell pulls too in the first half and almost seemed too tight – the other defenders were guilty of being too far off! He did improve as the game went on and seemed to win his battles more as they went more and more direct with long throws and balls into the box. He has been relatively steady in the last few games and maybe our best defender recent weeks?
Tanganga 5.5/10 – Ok and involved in two of our big attacking moments. Nearly scored with the hooked finish and then headed back for the equaliser. Not sure he has quite pushed on since his superb debut but I do not think the position suits him myself? He had a few loose touches and the lad De Neve had so much space between him and Ogbene. However, he stuck at his task and despite a few daft fouls, he is always aggressive and wanting to get in front of his man which I commend.
Mee 5.5/10 – Real struggle I thought for him tonight in the first half and worst he has been. He lost Ohashi constantly and seemed half asleep when the ball came through over his shoulder. They had a few chances long before they scored and on the goal was nowhere near his man – it was his man and he just lost him. He did improve after the break and became more composed and started to nip in and win things and looked more himself/composed.
Peck 6/10 – Ok performance. Nothing remarkable but he improved as the game went on. First half he seemed to be safe when he had it and felt they had too much time in the middle. Improved after the break and got amongst it and involved in a few skirmishes – which was more like the Peck we saw last season. Not sure he passed it forward much all game but did pick up some loose balls and helped us manage the game as it progressed.
Soumare 7/10 – Started with a few loose touches and seemed a bit ill disciplined (roaming around) but got better and better as the game went on. Started to get his foot in, made more progressive passes and just was more involved. The goal he forced and then had a few other attacking moments where he moved forward with the ball. Seemed to look like he belonged. Still raw but there was some glimpses of real promise tonight.
O’Hare 7/10 – His performance was again totally different first half to second. To begin with, he was on the left, the ball got away from him and he struggled to have much impact – other than the run and shot towards the end of the half. Second half he was more central and was able to get into the game more, helped press and ensure they did not get out and of course involved in the second. A lovely weighted pass that was perfect for Burrows to come onto. Overall, thought his energy and work rate really helped us massively turn it around.
Cannon 1.5/10 – The mark may seem harsh perhaps but he barely touched the ball, did not really move and just not even a nuisance. Granted the formation (with Ings seemingly behind him and O’Hare on the left) did not help and he was isolated but he has to actually move or try and anticipate. He had one decent run where he was found but his shot was weak but that was more like it. We looked much better when he came off. I think if he does play (not sure anyone wishes he would?) then you would want him in a two at least? I am not sure I would have him anywhere near the side – I would prefer likes of One or Marsh to him and his confidence seems rock bottom. I just hope Wilder does not keep playing and playing him – almost stubbornly – like he did with Brewster. No co-incidence we improved when he went off.
Ings 4/10 – He played in a sort of deeper role but it did not work. He had the one good run early on where he sort of bumbled through but after this, we saw little of him. Looked slow and tried to flick the ball rather than getting hold of it. We did not have any real threat in open play (except the O’Hare chance which he helped onto Ogbene). We improved hugely when him and Cannon left the field as we had O’Hare central and Brooks/Burrows as legitimate wide threats.
Subs -
Campbell 7/10 – Thought he looked much more like the player we saw last season in terms of his work rate and forcing defenders back. He held it up and physically did not give the defenders any time. The second goal comes from his play (he was fouled) and then of course he scores the third with a good run and finish. Even outside these moments, he just looked more himself and I thought that we played off him well too.
Brooks 6.5/10 – Like the other subs that came on around the hour mark, he contributed really well. He worked back defensively but also did show moments gong the other way. The ball for the third was sublime. Looked quite composed when he had it. Do wonder if he is better as an impact sub as seems to often struggle when he starts but him being fresh against tiring players seems to work better?
Burrows 7.5/10 – Cannot argue with a goal and an assist. He got into some great areas and they struggled to pick up. The second was very similar to some of those he scored last year, as he came onto it and picked his spot with his left foot. His cross for the third was excellent too. Looked more energetic, up for the fight and caused them problems constantly after he came on. I expect him to start on Friday night but has to keep these standards up.
Riedewald – Steady enough as we looked to see the game out and picked up a few loose bits and looked fairly composed.
Shackleton – Only on the last few minutes. Ball bounced off him twice back to them. Not a good sign for Matos, that he is being preferred as an option off the bench.
Manager: Wilder 6.5/10 – First half we were flat and his changes to the team in terms of how we played formation wise and those he brought in – did not work. We looked insipid attacking wise but also were loose in possession and they had chances/breaks where we failed to stop crosses. We did improve massively after the break with clearly words spoken and after the subs, upped it even more and went on to win comfortably in the end. We do have to try and put a more complete game together but we have been better in both the 2nd halves of tonight and last Saturday. He will hope we can start better on Friday evening. Credit to him for getting the team to get 2 big wins and hopefully the start of us moving up the table. I hope he does not keep tweaking things but maybe he was worried about 3 games in a week?
Blackburn – I thought they would struggle and think I picked them to go down and they are right where I had them to finish. They started ok but have quickly tailed off. Not sure Ishmail will remain much longer but even though he seems the classic rent-a-Championship manager – slowly they lost their better players. Szmodics left a season ago and then they have lost Travis, Wiemann, Batth, Britton, Dolan and Hyam – all who were experienced pieces that helped them challenge for the playoffs. In terms of replacing them it has been mostly unproved players at this level from overseas and it was always going to be a drop off. They still seem a bit of a mess off the pitch with the Venkys still part of the ownership group. They might stay up but it seems without investment or change, they are going to struggle to remain at this level especially when you have big spending sides coming up like Birmingham and Wrexham. It will be harder for them to stay away from trouble. Wednesday may take one spot but you worry about which other sides they could finish above – Charlton, Oxford and a few others you might be concerned about in terms of the drop – all started better.
They were ok first half and scored a goal that came from throwing bodies forward and had a few other chances like that where they did have men over but made poor choices when well placed. They were ok defensively and not put under any pressure until those two late challenges. Once they got in front, they would have hoped to go on and win their first home game but Ohashi just missed a cross and they then give away a sloppy goal. After this they never really got going again and United were the only team that looked like scoring really. The defence were getting turned and they were struggling as O’Hare, Burrows, Campbell were starting to impose themselves. The second and third both came down their right-hand side as Alebiosu and Miller struggled in the same way we had down the same area with players often spare. Burrows had the run of the park on both these goals. They seemed to run out of ideas – after a few decent moves first half – and long throws and balls pumped into the box became their only real tactic.
Opponent Man of the Match – Ohashi scored but also made a hash of a few too. The lad Gudjohnsen was their main threat as he got into good areas and put a few decent balls in. He was the main threat so glad when he went off.
Opponent Weak link – They were bigging De Neve up but he made some awful choices with the ball and even his assist for the goal was a miskick. I thought that Miller, despite his long throws (which was often just looped so had no power on them to meet) was poor and we really got down his side second half when we had the big moments. Slowly, Peck and Soumare won the midfield battle over Tronstad and Gardner Hickman.
Referee / Officials – David Webb. Reffed us in the Leeds/Burnley defeats at the end of the season but not sure he was at fault for these losses (stupid Anel penalty) and he was very good in the Leeds home game – I typed he was the best ref for ages and let things flow. He also did Watford away last season and going further back the Blackpool 3-3 draw (where both teams lost the plot!). Do recall the Stoke under Hecky when RND was brought down though and he did not give it! I like the fact he keeps his cards away and only books if he has to – the Peck one was harsh but hard to see it was just Gardner Hickman unless you had replays and after the initial push – you can understand him booking both as in a melee it would look like they both came together. No other bookings or other moments of controversy – Cooper seemed just inside his box when he caught it and then he played a very good advantage on the goal when Campbell was fouled. One of the better refs seemingly whenever we have him although very shiny (baby oil?).
Growing up the main Norwegian newspaper used the scale similarly to Deadbat, and on occasions players made Team of the Week with a score of 5. I thought that was strange and was influenced by Match Magazine's ratings in the 90s. They rarely had someone under 5.
