An Assessment of Player Performance v Middlesborough

[tonyoz]

 

 

An Assessment of Player Performance v Middlesborough

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              ***********                                          

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

Downing             *********************    

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

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

Reed₍₈₄₎                ***********                                          

 Smallwood₍₇₄₎        *******                                                    

Conway₍₆₉₎           **********                                             

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

Graham                        **********

                                                                                                                  

Armstrong₍₆₉₎       *********                                                                           

Rothwell₍₇₄₎           ******                                                                                  

Brereton₍₈₄₎                                                                                                                        

 

Highlights and Lowlights

(A justification for the main ratings above)

 

3.        Boro corner. Mulgrew loses his man and is beaten to the header and Evans is there to hack clear, 2 yards out.

 

8.        Reed, Evans, Smallwood passing it around in midfield but making no progress. Boro’s giants are just tempting them to hit it long. Yep, there it goes and Graham is offside anyway.

 

9.        The ball is poked through to Hugill unmarked, with his back to goal, on the edge of the 6 yard box but Williams gets a meaty challenge in before he is able to turn and shoot. From the corner Graham flicks it away but Mulgrew had lost the dangerous Flint again!

 

13.      Nyambe moves towards the box and squares to Dack who turns and shoots but it’s deflected wide for a corner.

 

16.      Nice lay off by Dack to Evans on the edge of the D but Evans, in a great position,  dithers and is dispossessed. Disappointing ending!

 

18.      Evans looks off the pace as he is left trailing. Fortunately Conway gets back and blocks for a corner.

 

19.      Besic lets Dack dispossess him and there is a clear run on goal. Besic pulls Dack’s shirt and he’s off! Red card.

            Good grief! Mulgrew curls the free kick into the net from 25 yards…….bottom corner, bent round the wall from a central position.

 

33.      Nice corner from Reed and Downing rises well but under pressure from Flint he heads over.

 

36.      Good crossfield ball from Williams finds Nyambe who feeds Reed Just inside the box. He squares to Graham right in front of goal but the defender blocks his shot well. Close but good defending.

 

40.      That’s the third interesting long ball into space down the right wing from Downing. This time it’s a bit too far for Reed but he wins a throw for his persistence. (Nyambe collected the other 2).

 

41.      Evans wins the ball nicely in midfield and Dack sends Graham away into the edge of the box. His firm shot is parried by the keeper straight to the on-rushing Evans in the 6 yard box but he puts it wide!!! It came to him fast but he sliced it.

 

 

 

49.      A Boro long throw causes a bit of panic ping-pong. Evans is too timid with his attempted clearance (not the only one). But there’s a foul and we survive.

 

50.      Good clearing header by Downing takes care of a dangerous cross into the box.

 

51.      Dack sprays a lovely crossfield ball to Conway’s feet. He waits for the on-running Williams who sidesteps his man on the edge of the D and squares the ball beautifully to Dack who’s shot hits the post. It’s cleared.

 

57.      Nice interplay by Conway and Reed in the box and Conway cuts it back for the on-rushing Dack but the defender is strong enough to hold him off. The ball is launched far downfield over the top of the entire defence and Hugill is clear on goal. Mulgrew does brilliantly to get back and get in the critical, perfectly timed challenge; Downing clears.

 

60.      Nice through ball from Smallwood to Graham in the D. He turns and feeds Reed. Reed squares back to Graham but his shot is deflected for a corner. Too many Boro players for a clear shot.

 

61.      Assombalonga scores a great goal from outside the box.

 

68.      The lethargic Evans sucking the momentum out of our play yet again with another backpass.

 

75.      The third foul by Armstrong in the 6 minutes he’s been on the field!

 

77.      Out of the blue……Reed is ambling along centrally about 25 yards out and he decides to have a shot. The goalie parries the firm shot away.

            Downing loses out on a 50-50 in midfield and Boro are away. Nyambe blocks the shot.

 

83.      Evans wins a header in midfield and Dack picks up and holds off 2 men before threading a sublime ball into the box for a fast arriving Armstrong. Instead of burying the ball in the net, he takes a touch and loses control. The defender gets a foot in and it’s a corner.

 

84.      A howler by Downing. He airkicks a simple lobbed ball and the Boro man is free and clear! He lobs it over the outrushing Raya but it’s weak and Downing is back to hack clear. Lucky!

 

87.      Another long throw by Boro causes panic in the box; Raya collects eventually.

 

Edited December 10, 2018 by tonyoz

[Bigdoggsteel]

I thought Evans was very pedestrian in  midfield. He needs to be quicker and snappier when we have an extra man 

Armstrong was shocking 

Edited December 10, 2018 by Bigdoggsteel

[JacknOry]

53 minutes ago, Bigdoggsteel said:

I thought Evans was very pedestrian in  midfield. He needs to be quicker and snappier when we have an extra man 

Armstrong was shocking 

He was, since signing up permanently I have not been impressed with him. I know he is out of position but he should be working harder to understand that role. As a striker anyway, he should already know how to finish and that has been pretty poor this season.

[Bigdoggsteel]

13 minutes ago, JacknOry said:

He was, since signing up permanently I have not been impressed with him. I know he is out of position but he should be working harder to understand that role. As a striker anyway, he should already know how to finish and that has been pretty poor this season.

Ya, I didn't like his body language. All players miss chances, but lack of effort cannot be defended. He was brought on to hurt them on the wing. He should have been snapping at players heels and giving everything for the time he was on. Pretty much what Dack and Reed, two better players, were doing all game. Considering it was Boro and he is a Newcastle lad, I have no idea why he looked so petulant at times 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Thanks Tony.

[tonyoz]

I’ve found it hard to take to Armstrong......even in the games where I was loading him with heavy blue stars (6 in one match!) Watching Conway against Wednesday brought it to a head; Armstrong will only ever be a “pretend” winger. He may do excellent things in the build up but invariably the endpiece is lacking in imagination or effectiveness. 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

7 hours ago, tonyoz said:

I’ve found it hard to take to Armstrong......even in the games where I was loading him with heavy blue stars (6 in one match!) Watching Conway against Wednesday brought it to a head; Armstrong will only ever be a “pretend” winger. He may do excellent things in the build up but invariably the endpiece is lacking in imagination or effectiveness. 

Players like Armstrong need to be playing up front on the shoulder of another bigger striker ( Gestede ? )  who can win the flick ons etc. Unfortunately that tactical ship sailed a few years ago and we don't play with two up front any more. Not a lot of teams do. You would be light in midfield and the teams that pack the midfield will over run you..  I had reservations about signing Armstrong because of this fact. He's a bit of a one trick pony, kick and run will only get you so far out on the wing unless you're amazingly rapid.

[roversfan99]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Players like Armstrong need to be playing up front on the shoulder of another bigger striker ( Gestede ? )  who can win the flick ons etc. Unfortunately that tactical ship sailed a few years ago and we don't play with two up front any more. Not a lot of teams do. You would be light in midfield and the teams that pack the midfield will over run you..  I had reservations about signing Armstrong because of this fact. He's a bit of a one trick pony, kick and run will only get you so far out on the wing unless you're amazingly rapid.

Last year he thrived on the wing though, we signed him based on that form. I dont know whats happened to his game, 2 games aside hes been really, really poor and hes not getting the goals he got last season. Maybe the step up has been the problem, maybe a lack of confidence as his goals came in a particularly hot spell last year, either way Rothwell and Palmer deserve a chance before him.

[philipl]

Lack of football brain is sadly almost incurable.  

[BlackburnEnd75]

I take my hope for Adam Armstrong from Josh King. King didn't look a premier league player when he was here (bar the odd cup game), he was played mostly out wide and had similar problems to what Armstrong has  (can't get into games, not a natural winger, poor final ball.) Bournemouth sign him put him up top and now he'd be worth £20 million +

[JacknOry]

15 hours ago, BlackburnEnd75 said:

I take my hope for Adam Armstrong from Josh King. King didn't look a premier league player when he was here (bar the odd cup game), he was played mostly out wide and had similar problems to what Armstrong has  (can't get into games, not a natural winger, poor final ball.) Bournemouth sign him put him up top and now he'd be worth £20 million +

But even King had more to his game than kick and run, he could at least take players on with a bit of skill and had a bit of height.

Its AA's finishing that has really let him down - something that he seemed to have last season. If he could finish he would not be too far behind Dack in terms of goals this season when you consider the chances he has had. That lack of goals highligts his other weaknesses more as nobody would care too much as long as he was knocking in some goals.

 

[BlackburnEnd75]

2 hours ago, JacknOry said:

But even King had more to his game than kick and run, he could at least take players on with a bit of skill and had a bit of height.

Its AA's finishing that has really let him down - something that he seemed to have last season. If he could finish he would not be too far behind Dack in terms of goals this season when you consider the chances he has had. That lack of goals highligts his other weaknesses more as nobody would care too much as long as he was knocking in some goals.

 

I don't remember King scoring many goals for us from the Wing. Armstrong is playing deeper, most of his shots are coming from distance rather than inside the area. I think Armstrong is a decent finisher personally (I Know he's missed a couple earlier this season).

[Oldgregg86]

Im convinced we have a good striker and goalscorer in Armstrong. Granted this season apart from Rotherham where he was excellent on the left he has been poor and his finishing has also let him down but I believe it's down to confidence and lack of faith put in him. I'm not saying he should be in front of graham, I think we can all agree he is the number one striker at the club but Armstrong is a goalscorer, not a winger. Given a chance and a run of games with the backing of the manager he would score goals at this level. I thought he was signed as an alternative to Graham not as a wide man as used in the promotion season

[tonyoz]

Hi guys. Just to let you know......i am on overseas holiday for a month so these posts will be postponed for a while. Thanks for reading.

 

 

Edited December 13, 2018 by tonyoz

[old darwen blue]

Enjoy pal, where are you off to then?

[Stuart]

9 hours ago, tonyoz said:

Hi guys. Just to let you know......i am on overseas holiday for a month so these posts will be postponed for a while. Thanks for reading.

“We’re committed, why aren’t you?”

Just messing mate have a good break. A month’s holiday sounds fantastic!

[philipl]

Have a great holiday- you will be missed.

[tonyoz]

19 hours ago, old darwen blue said:

Enjoy pal, where are you off to then?

Germany first, then UK so i might see you at Ewood! My kids still live in England.

[old darwen blue]

That’ll be a contrast weather wise pal. Have a safe journey.