Sunday 3 February 2008

Player Rankings: Fulham v Aston Villa

Here's how I scored the lads for the match against Aston Villa.

Niemi - 6/10
Didn't have a lot to do but was solid when called upon. Didn't have a chance with the goal.

Konchesky - 6/10
Some shaky moments from our usually dependable left back but grew in stature during the second half.

Hughes - 5/10
A nightmare own goal. Still not sure how he managed to hoof it into his own net but disastrous all the same.

Hangeland - 7/10
Very good home debut by our new giant. Very reassuring to have someone of his size and ability in the heart of defence.

Baird - 5/10
Actually had a pretty good game despite a couple of howlers in the shape of giving the ball away. He certainly doesn't deserve all the abuse that comes his way.

Bullard - 9/10
An awesome display. There wasn't a blade of grass on the pitch that Bully didn't cover. A truly fantastic player who could be the difference between staying up and relegation.

Murphy - 5/10
Very average. Some of his passing was absolutely atrocious today. Still can't really see what he brings to the team.

Dempsey - 6/10
The usual hard, battling performance that we've come to expect from Dempsey who was playing in a more familiar (for him) attacking midfield role.

Andreasen - 8/10
What a find this lad is. He had a fantastic game. Hard tackles and some sweet touches meant his home debut went very well indeed.

Davies - 7/10
Quiet by his standards but a beautiful finish set us on the comeback trail.

Nevland - 7/10
Looks another good player. Clearly a very clever striker who left defenders stranded on a number of occasions. Would do better playing with a striking partner.

Substitutes
McBride - 7/10
It was like he'd never been away. Only on for a short time but won virtually everything in the air.

Kamara - 7/10
He's returned from the Africa Cup of Nations totally re-charged. Today he was full of running and passion, and it was a free kick he won that provided Bully with the chance to grab the winner.

Man of the Match: Jimmy Bullard. It was a good team performance but no-one came close to wrestling this award from Bully.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, I appreciate that the scored the winner and his pass put Davies through for the equalizer, but his overall performance indiates that he's still only about 60-75% of where he'd like to be. Only Murphy generated more incomplete passes, and Bully was wiped out for a lot of the 2nd half. Having said that, I'm not going to argue about your MOTM selection. The man got us THREE against Villa. Who's going to quibble.

I thought Davies and Dempsey turned in masterful performances. I agree with what you say about Andreassen and Hangeland -- especially the latter. All Roy needs to do now is settle on who will partner him back there.

I also agree about Baird. Even in victory, he's the whipping boy. Some Fulham fans just can't understand that left wingers have to beat the right back from time to time. I thought his defending was average to solid, but his distribution was poor.

Speaking of distribution, I think Niemi noticed that it wasn't Warner sitting on the bench. He looked much more lively, and seemed interested in starting counter attacks instead of just holding the ball until everyone had moved upfield.

Overall, the best sustained football from the Whites that I've seen in a very long time. Bring on the 'boro.

general125 said...

If that's Bullard at 70%, I can't wait to see him at 100%. I did notice he was clearly tired at the end of the game, but I thought it was good he stayed in. Especially since he scored the game winner and all.

The plesant suprise was how well our new guys played. Hangeland, Andreassen and Nevland were quite good.