Sometimes you have to credit the opposition their tactics. Newcastle came with a plan and they applied it excellently.
Here are my ratings:
Schmeichel: 7 - Interesting seeing him play the ball with his feet more. So far so good, to the extent where I wonder why he hasn't done it more before.
Ricardo: 6 - Again useful going forward but again exposed too much defensively. Too often there was a gap to exploit down our right hand side.
Morgan: 8 - Had an entertaining battle with Rondon and got the best of it, winning back possession a number of times. Wasn't his fault that the others struggled to use it.
Maguire: 7 - Solid at the back; I would have liked to see him use his range of passing a bit more.
Chilwell: 6 - Made some great runs but also made some mistakes. Tiring after a long and largely successful personal season.
Gray: 6 - Started brightly and looked really on it, then disappeared. Nullified.
Tielemans: 8 - Adapted and found more space as the game went on. Kept us on the move but ultimately wasn't helped enough by his teammates. My choice for our MOTM.
Ndidi: 5 - Isolated in possession by Newcastle and had a poor game as a result. Lacked the confidence to play forward passes between the lines and ended up knocking the ball to defenders most of the time. Lacks range in his passing and this was exploited by Newcastle's tactics.
Maddison: 6 - Struggled to get into the game and didn't show enough composure as a result.
Barnes: 5 - Made the occasional good dart but looked rather lost in general to me. I wonder whether his confidence is starting to wane a little through lack of goals.
Vardy: 5 - Got chances but missed them. Not a good day for him.
Iheanacho: 5 - Showed willing but couldn't get into the game at all, either on the wing or up front later on.
Mendy: 7 - Brought on for being more comfortable passing than Ndidi; helped a little.
Albrighton: n/a - Whipped a few crosses in but Maguire should probably have been moved up to provide a decent target.
Worth noting the Newcastle support tonight, which was excellent and made a real difference. Our players often looked hurried and pressured as a result, and I'm sure those fans made a difference. The goal itself was probably a little lucky as it wasn't a great contact, but Newcastle probably earned that luck on balance. For our players, hopefully it was a learning experience.
Player ratings vs. Newcastle
posted on 13/4/19
For me, the best thing to come out of a disappointing evening was the return of Marc Albrighton. It will be interesting to see whether he gets the nod ahead of Barnes or Gray in the next game. Personally I hope he does. UTF
posted on 14/4/19
comment by The_Dungeon_Master (U4830)
posted 22 hours, 35 minutes ago
I think you’re completely wrong on Morgan, Nuneaton. I almost gave him MOTM myself. The goal was his only half-error, and that owed more to Ricardo’s defending at right back.
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I don't see how I can be completely wrong on Morgan when you admit he was at least partly to blame for us losing the match. I agree that Ricardo was culpable too (he shouldn't be playing at RB), also Gray could have done better. But in the end it was Morgan who allowed himself to get beaten in the air by a much smaller player, which is a crime of the highest order for a CB.
Going forward he shouldn't be captain or first choice pick, he needs to be eased out of the team. That's nothing to do with how good he is at present, more that he's getting older, isn't going to be around for much longer and we need to be working towards the future.
posted on 14/4/19
"Going forward he shouldn't be captain or first choice pick, he needs to be eased out of the team. That's nothing to do with how good he is at present, more that he's getting older, isn't going to be around for much longer and we need to be working towards the future."
I don't think anyone is denying that, even BR talked about it with Morgan's contract extension but there's no denying either that Morgan has also found a new lease of life under BR and will be very good squad cover, he had his place Friday on merit after the last few games.
posted on 14/4/19
I don’t think there was loads he could do about it actually. When the ball gets whipped in bang above your head you can’t get as much of a jump as the guy running in. His positioning was fine; it was just an inch-perfect cross.
And I don’t know what more you wanted from him on the ball. Ndidi was the biggest problem on that front due to losing confidence early on then being afraid to play tight forward passes.
posted on 14/4/19
I agree with the majority here. In a game where you’d be hard pressed to name a MOM - Morgan probably did as well as anyone.
Morgan’s been very good the last few games, but he’ll never be the quickest and never have the best ball playing ability. This is why I think he sometimes gets unfairly singled out. The strange thing is I always think he looks better with Evans alongside him and Maguire too looks better with Evans alongside him - I’ve not quite worked out why that is yet.
FFS,
I know what you mean about Barnes. Far too often in the 2nd half he gave Chilwell no outlet ball which, as we know, Chilwell doesn’t need any extra invitation to struggle to create in the final 3rd. I’ve not convinced yet that Barnes will be any better than Gray. It’s just we’ve had a long time to be unconvinced by Gray whereas Barnes deserves some leeway while he’s learning. I’d have Albrighton back in over either of them.
posted on 14/4/19
comment by The_Dungeon_Master (U4830)
posted 8 hours, 21 minutes ago
I don’t think there was loads he could do about it actually. When the ball gets whipped in bang above your head you can’t get as much of a jump as the guy running in. His positioning was fine; it was just an inch-perfect cross.
And I don’t know what more you wanted from him on the ball. Ndidi was the biggest problem on that front due to losing confidence early on then being afraid to play tight forward passes.
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I'm sticking with what I've said, if Evans had been there i don't think that goal gets scored and we don't lose. It doesn't matter about how good or otherwise he was for the rest of the match, that poor awareness lost us the game. That's harsh I'll admit but it's my opinion, we've lost because of that mistake so there's no way he can get MoM.
posted on 15/4/19
DM/Nuneaton,
I suggest a compromise:
Just downgrade Morgan's score to a 6.5.
posted on 15/4/19
It's on the verge of going up to a 7.5 out of spite.
posted on 15/4/19
comment by Jobyfox (U4183)
posted 37 minutes ago
DM/Nuneaton,
I suggest a compromise:
Just downgrade Morgan's score to a 6.5.
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Suits me.
posted on 15/4/19
Right, you asked for it.