An Assessment of Player Performance v Villa

[tonyoz]

A poor TV picture and no commentary made this more difficult than usual.

An assessment of player performance v Villa 

Each player was judged on the following criteria:

Instance of excellent play                                     *

Instance of decent/good play                              *

Instance of disappointing/poor play                   *

Instance of terrible play                                        *                                                       E&OE

 

 

Ratings

Raya                                *******                                                                       *

Nyambe                          *********                                     ***                       **

Lenihan                           ********************             ******                ***

Mulgrew           ***       *************                              ***                     

Bell                                  *********                                       ****                     **                          

Smallwood₍₆₆₎                 **********                                     ***                     

Evans₍₅₇₎                           ********                                         ***

Bennett             **          ***********                                   ******                            

Dack                   ***        ***********                              

Armstrong₍₇₂₎    *            *******                                            *******           

Graham                     **              ************                                                                      

 

Brereton₍₅₇₎                      ***                                                    ***

Reed₍₆₆₎              *             ********                                         **         

Williams₍₇₂₎                      *                                                         *           

 

 

Highlights and Lowlights

(A justification for the main ratings above)

    1.        Bell is pushed off the ball by Grealish who then keeps the full back at bay as he sweeps down the wing to deliver a cross. A wee bit too long fortunately.

10.      Poor corner by Mulgrew but the ball comes back to him  and after some tricky footwork he delivers a wicked ball to the far post where Dack and Lenihan challenge but it looks to me like the Villa player heads it towards goal and the keeper saves on the line with his legs. The Rovers players claim the ball had crossed the line!

18.      Excellent hold up play by Bennett as he receives the ball, holds off the defender then lays off inside to Smallwood. Yet another challenge by Bennett prevents a clearance on the edge of the Villa box and sets up an attack.

23.      Amazing footwork by Dack from a throw in completely bamboozles 2 Villa defenders but he is outmuscled as he takes his shot and the ball runs through to the goalie.

26.      Another great free kick from the wing by Mulgrew is headed into the net by Dack but it’s ruled offside. Whisker thin margin.

27.      Initially Armstrong does well to take the ball and set off on one of his direct runs at goal. He is dispossessed but Bennett steps in and slides the ball into the box……..Armstrong misses badly but maybe he heard the offside whistle?

28.      Lenihan falls over and the Villa man has a direct run at goal. He seems to stumble as Smallwood comes in to challenge! Strong claims for a penalty go unheeded. Tight call!

29.      Lenihan is unchallenged but gives his clearing header straight to a Villa man. There is a dangerous attack but fortunately someone strays offside.

30.      Blimey! This time Lenihan slices his attempted clearance into the sky and it drops on the edge of the box. After a bit of panic, Bennett does well to put the ball out of play.

31.      Nyambe is turned every which way by the winger who gets in his cross. Raya plucks it from the air.

33.      Rovers chasing shadows here! The cross comes in but Abraham’s header is easily saved by Raya.

36.      Smallwood is done by Grealish. Evans can’t lay a glove on him either as he strolls right across the box. He lays it off but the incoming shot is weak. Scary!

38.      Yet again Bennett’s persistence turns what should have been a simple Villa clearance into an attacking opportunity for Rovers.

43.      Another excellent hold up and lay off by Graham.

47.      A dangerous free kick comes in and Mulgrew’s man heads it on. Fortunately Chester, in a good position, heads over.

51.      Evans wins a brave header but Smallwood miscontrols and that’s all it takes to send Grealish off again! Lenihan comes in with a clumsy challenge but the ball runs to Abraham. Mulgrew gets in a half-tackle but Abraham still manages a weak shot. Raya saves comfortably. Lenihan is booked………..if the ref hadn’t played advantage, Villa would have a kick in a very dangerous position!

53.      A good ball by Smallwood is collected by Bell who attacks. He passes to Armstrong who puts in a great, first-time cross. Graham grazes the crossbar.

54.      Another terrible throw in from Bell goes to a Villa man to set up a dangerous attack. Eventually Abraham’s header flashes past the post!

55.      Abraham holds off Lenihan too easily and feeds Adomah in the box. Twice Nyambe fails to prevent him sending dangerous low crosses acoss the box. Bell fluffs his chance to clear but Armstrong boots it upfield eventually.

60.      Armstrong puts in a decent cross and Brereton takes it down nicely on his chest and swivels but there’s too many defenders and the ball comes to the edge of the box where Smallwood’s shot is disappointing.

69.      Nice ball by Reed sets up Nyambe for the cross but Graham can only get in a weak, off-target header.

70.      Lenihan slips over again (that’s three I reckon!)…..leading eventually to a shot flashing past the post again…….probably off-target due to a desperate tackle attempt by Reed.

74.      A tenacious run by Reed takes him into the box. He lays it back to Mulgrew on the wing who shows fancy footwork and crosses into the box. Panic erupts and Graham directs the ball towards the goal; Dack flicks it into the net.

83.      A mishit Dack corner bobbles past 3 defenders, put off I think by Mulgrew’s run. Williams tries a shot but it’s blocked. Brereton collects but is tackled and goes down too easily.

91.      Clumsy tackle by Reed gives Villa a free kick 5m outside the box. Raya seems satisfied with the wall but the strike beats him all ends up! (mind you, it was a cracker). I don’t understand why Nyambe was stood 2m away from the rest of the wall…….and he ducks out of the way! I don’t have the multi angle Sky camera analysis unfortunately.

93.      A poor headed clearance falls to Reed on the edge of the box but his shot is well over the top.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 17, 2018 by tonyoz

[Tom]

Great as always.

Inteteresting that we came away gutted but on the balance of the game seeing it broken down like that they had probably the better chances. Abraham should have scored at least one.

[tonyoz]

4 minutes ago, Tom said:

Great as always.

Inteteresting that we came away gutted but on the balance of the game seeing it broken down like that they had probably the better chances. Abraham should have scored at least one.

They were by far the best opposition I've analysed this season. Some very neat players. We played well I reckon.

[mick]

Tony, great job. Fact not fiction. 

[Dreams of 1995]

Good work well done. The first instance of Lenihan "terrible play" though - a tad harsh, it was a slip after all!!

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Very revealing commentary Tony. Keep up the good work.

[Oldgregg86]

Good work

Was looking at it and thinking if you add up the good stars and deduct the red wouldnt that be the best way to see who deserves the mom award ?

 

[blueboy3333]

3 minutes ago, Oldgregg86 said:

Good work

Was looking at it and thinking if you add up the good stars and deduct the red wouldnt that be the best way to see who deserves the mom award ?

 

That would make Lenny MotM and he was trying to claim an assist for a Villa goal for most of the 1st half!

I'd go with 20 points for a dark blue, 5 for a light blue, -5 for an orange, and -20 for a red  ......  Dack wins it from Graham and Mulgrew! 

 

5 hours ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Good work well done. The first instance of Lenihan "terrible play" though - a tad harsh, it was a slip after all!!

True, but it was a slip while fannying around with it!

[tonyoz]

12 hours ago, Dreams of 1995 said:

Good work well done. The first instance of Lenihan "terrible play" though - a tad harsh, it was a slip after all!!

I know what you mean but he slipped three times and two of those almost cost us! That's not acceptable for a top class defender.

 

6 hours ago, Oldgregg86 said:

Good work

Was looking at it and thinking if you add up the good stars and deduct the red wouldnt that be the best way to see who deserves the mom award ?

 

I don't think it's that simple Oldgregg86, as john.leigh pointed out in my Ipswich assessment; defenders tend to get more red stars because of the goal threat that arises from bad errors. Somehow bad shots on goal seem less catastrophic and I tend to downplay it a bit. I've tended to award orange stars unless the player pretty much misses an open goal or stuffs up a one on one. I have been thinking about it though.

 

6 hours ago, blueboy3333 said:

That would make Lenny MotM and he was trying to claim an assist for a Villa goal for most of the 1st half!

I'd go with 20 points for a dark blue, 5 for a light blue, -5 for an orange, and -20 for a red  ......  Dack wins it from Graham and Mulgrew!

Interesting! But apart from that nightmare 5 minutes, Lenihan put in a bigger shift than anyone else (as he usually does!) I just wanted to acknowledge that as I seem to have hammered him on the match comments!