An Assessment of Player Performance v Derby

[tonyoz]

'There's a lot more to argue about this time.....but I tried my best!

An assessment of player performance v Derby 

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                           ****************                   '*****                    **

Williams            **          ***********                               *****

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

Smallwood                     *********                                    **********         *

Evans                  **          **********                                  *********

Conway₍₃₁₎                      **                                                    ****                  

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

Palmer₍₅₁₎          *            ******                                            **********    

Armstrong₍₆₃₎    **                **                                                    ****                  

 

 

Graham₍₃₁₎        *            ***********                                 **                             *

Bennett₍₅₁₎        *            **                                                                  

Reed₍₆₃₎                         ***     

 

 Highlights and Lowlights

(A justification for the main ratings above)

5.           Rovers looking OK in the first 5 minutes but now Raya decides to take one touch too many on Williams’ backpass as Nugent closes in. His panicky clearance goes to a Derby man but he can’t make the most of it.

9.           A Rovers attack breaks down and Derby surge forward. Bell can’t get anywhere near Derby’s Bennett and the cross comes in. Lenihan is in no man’s land and Josefzoon heads wide.

10.         Derby pass their way through Rovers defence…..where is Palmer? Bell has too much to do and Williams is too far from his man.  Mount blasts over a glorious chance.

10.         Dack scuffs a long range shot.

13.         Evans slides a nice ball through for Armstrong who drives into the box. Keogh challenges and it looks like a penalty. The ref disagrees.

14.         A lovely long ball cuts through the entire Rovers defence to Nugent. Raya makes the save but Nugent was offside anyway.

16.         Nyambe’s throw is too short and Raya is out of his box as Nugent runs in. Raya miskicks into the crowd.

19.         Terrible free kick by Raya goes for a Derby goal kick!

20.         Good crunching tackle from Williams breaks up a fluid Derby attack.

24.         Excellent challenge by Palmer wins Rovers a goal kick. (don’t do that in the box too often Casey!)

25.         Evans and Smallwood lose the midfield battle; Mount’s shot from distance is deflected over the bar. The corner is missed by everyone and the ball falls in front of goal. Lenihan and Williams both get in good challenges and Palmer hoofs it upfield.

26.         Nyambe is done by the winger and the cross comes in, Bell heads into the D to Mount who’s shot is deflected for another corner! In it comes and Tomori running in at speed gets about a foot higher than anyone else…….but the ball skims off his head. The rebound comes back to him and he performs a bicycle kick from about 3m out. The ball hits Evans on the line and Williams lunges in to prevent the goal. Total panic stations! It’s interesting to re-read the first line of the paragraph to see how it all started!

29.         Bell and Williams are taken apart in another attack as Bogle runs into the box but his shot is well saved by Raya. Conway presents the ball to Derby and they come again. The shot comes in and hits Williams’ backside, more panic and the ball is cleared long to Armstrong but, of course, holding up the ball is not his game! Here they come again!

30.         it’s pretty hard to apportion blame each time as Rovers are all at sea. Bell is done again and Raya tries to take the ball but slides out of his box and has to release! As he hares back to goal, he flings himself horizontal to make another save!

31.         When the ball goes out, Graham comes on for Conway. Palmer fails to get in a challenge as Bogle hits one from outside the box. Raya saves.

40.         A bit quieter now but Bennett runs straight through midfield (Smallwood and Evans had both pushed higher into Derby’s half) and launches a shot that Raya helps round the post.

42.         Bell is dispossessed on the wing but the dangerous attack fizzles out.

45.         Miscontrol by Smallwood leads to another Derby attack but the cross is poor.

46.         Smallwood stands off and the cross comes in, Bell heads clear.

46.         Smallwood, Graham and Dack conspire to allow Derby in again!

47          Yet another poor pass from Evans. Bell is dispossessed again on the wing. Palmer clatters the Derby man for a foul.

48.         Poor clearance by Lenihan ends up with Smallwood fouling the Derby man 25+m out from goal. Here we go again! The wall looks good but Mount smashes the ball over it and hits the bar. Raya was beaten. Nyambe does well to scramble the ball clear and win a throw in in the Derby half.

55.         Bell is rolled by the Derby man but his shot is poor.

58.         A hopeful long ball from Lenihan finds Graham who nods it into Dack’s path as he runs into the box. He takes it round the goalie but he’s forced wide and his shot hits the side netting. He usually scores them!

59.         A lovely ball from Armstrong sends Evans into the box but his shot is very ordinary.

60.         A nice ball from Dack to Armstrong on the edge of the box…..just offside!

61.         More neat play from Derby and Lenihan intercepts well inside the box.

62.         Good grief! Armstrong leaves the winger unmarked, he turns the ball in towards goal. Lenihan can’t get there, Williams tries to chest it, Raya flaps, 2 Derby men throw themselves at the ball, Smallwood makes some kind of contact and the ball ends up in Raya’s arms!

63.         Bell is done again by the Derby man but Williams flies in to block his shot.

65.         Smallwood’s pass is short allowing Derby to charge towards goal. The cross is cut out by Lenihan.

69.         Awful pass by Graham sets up the Derby man for a long shot on goal…….weak effort.

71.         A Graham and Dack interaction allows Graham a shot on goal but it’s weak.

72.         Some neat interplay between Reed and Nyambe sends Reed into the box but his cross is blocked.

74.         Rubbish free kick by Dack.

76.         Nyambe does well to hold off the newly arrived Wilson in the box. Wilson dives claiming a penalty!

86.         Nyambe and Williams fail to deal with Mount's long ball forwards. The ball comes back to Mount and his shot is a metre wide. Eventually the ball reaches Elliot Bennett who unleashes a shot from 30m……..just past the left post!

87.         Poor pass by Lenihan invites more pressure. Fortunately Evans makes a great intervention.

 

 

 

 

                            

Edited September 20, 2018 by tonyoz

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Thanks again matey, not pleasant reading.

[blueboy3333]

Bell was poor and I'm glad someone else was watching the match. I heard him talked about as MofM!

Williams comes out of it well, I thought he played well, as do Evans and Smallwood.  I voted Lenihan MofM, Nyambe a close 2nd. 

Armstrong just wasn't involved at all. 

[Bigdoggsteel]

Could be a crucial point come the end of the season. Watched the highlights there, my God we were under the kosh. It reminded of the time Ireland drew 0-0 in Russia and Richard Dunne got man of the match(they should have given him 2 man of the match awards) , Lenihans performance wasn't quite that legendary, but not far off it! Ireland supporters will know the game I am talking about. 

http://www.the42.ie/richard-dunne-russia-2011-2966611-Sep2016/ 

 

[bazza]

That video is fantastic. Thanks for posting it. Gives me goose pimples watching it.

[old darwen blue]

Hey super Keith at 1:03