Very
Agreeable
Result
Here are some ratings for it.
Schmeichel: 7 - In the action more today than in recent weeks and was a solid presence behind the back 4. I'm not entirely keen with him running half a pitch to argue with the ref at times though, even if he is the captain.
Ricardo: 8 - Tough to rate today because even though he was excellent and exciting in attack throughout the match, it was the man he was tracking and marking who scored the opening goal against us. But then, it was a pinpoint cross and Richarlison isn't exactly small. So I wouldn't argue with differing ratings here.
Evans: 7 - Displayed his usual calmness and strong decision-making at the heart of the defence.
Soyuncu: 6 - Looked in danger of losing his temper at times and was probably fortunate that Graham Scott had left his cards at home. One to learn from in terms of keeping his cool in a match that threatens to get angry.
Chilwell: 7 - Keen runner and decent enough in defence without standing out.
Perez: 6 - Looking more comfortable with the intricate passes and plays that the team is being styled to play, although the match swallowed him up somewhat as it went on. Still a work in progress with regard to belief in himself.
Tielemans: 6 - A mixed bag of fine passes and giving the ball away. Again, someone who can learn from this sort of match for the future.
Ndidi: 8 - Showed better passing today than he has done in the past, and had a good game on that front. Defensively, Everton's tactics tried to studiously avoid him by going wide often on the counter.
Maddison: 6 - Couldn't find those pockets of space between defence and midfield as Everton defended so tightly. Tidy and diligent but generally forced to drop deeper than he wanted in order to get on the ball.
Barnes: 6 - A quiet game interspersed with a few nice moments, which seems to be his niche this season.
Vardy: 7 - Wasn't clinical today, but continued harrying and displaying aggression. Amusing to see L1 encouraging the Everton fans to continue barracking him.
Iheanacho: 9 - Showed as much drive and determination as anyone on the pitch and made a real difference. The difference between this and his appearances last year was striking, and he'll surely get more game time as a result. My choice for our MOTM.
Albrighton: 5 - Got a rapturous welcome, then was effectively a ghost. Might need a little care and attention from the management.
Everton will naturally feel hard done by with the result. In the first half they operated a tight 5-4-1, playing on the counter, and they looked the more dangerous team as a result. They fought hard, determined to put in a shift after the Norwich result last week. However, there was still a big suggestion of glass jaw about them. Before the equaliser, they had held off fairly well. Afterwards, along with tiring generally, the belief drained from them and we started creating a lot more chances. (That and a change of tactics from us contributing as well.)
But ultimately, it's still very difficult to see Silva as anything other than an undead manager right now with the board simply waiting for the right moment to sack him rather than still making the decision.
However, it's hard to feel any sympathy for them today given all the rolling around and timewasting.
Player ratings vs. Everton
posted on 2/12/19
A great read as always Dunge. For me you’ve over-rated Perez and Tielemans. In a tight game like this they need to learn how to affect in more. A similar argument could be levelled at Barnes but his direct running at least gave Everton something to think about.
For me, watching on tv as I could t make the game, Pereira and Ndidi stood out as superb. Personally I would give Ndidi the MOTM as he delivered for 90 minutes, but there’s no denying Nacho was the most effective on the pitch when he was.
As for Albrighton, I have some sympathy for him. He was asked to come on and play left wing back. I mean, no exactly natural for him. But you’re right, he was an absolute ghost!
Amazing game though and gutted I wasn’t there for ‘that’ VAR moment and Nacho’s celebrations.
Everton showed one way to play us yesterday. Sit deep and use width to exploit the space we leave there, especially when our full backs push on. What was most pleasing to see was Rodgers ability to change it up mid game. That tactical switch was the best I’ve seen since Ranieri.
As for Nacho, he’s shown he can link the play really well and he brought Tielemans to life. We really need to be seeing that more from Perez now too. Let’s all hope that Ian pushes on from this, and credit to him and Rodgers for that turnaround.
Brilliant.
posted on 2/12/19
Perez is sooooooo frustrating at times. You can see why the Newcastle fans got sick of him. He can be brilliant one minute and then fluff his lines completely the next. Missed a glorious opportunity yesterday and just loses the ball too often. Not sure if he’s a wide forward or a no.9 or what but Iheanacho was far better when he came on.
posted on 2/12/19
Reasonable assessment as usual Dunge.
Ricardo - remember that you're asking a winger to be something that he isn't - a defender. He makes a much better fist of it than Albrighton would but I wouldn't criticise him too much for losing Richarlison who is a decent attacker once he decides to concentrate on that and not roll around on the floor feigning serious injury.
Schmeichel - needs to stop being 'captain' when he was just wasting time by going to the ref for pointless arguments.
Soyuncu - slightly surprised you didn't mention his mistakes - which you've been expecting from him. Clearly got a bit het up and his performance suffered as a result, he'll hopefully learn from that.
N'didi was very impressive, not just passing and doing the usual defensive work, but also starting to make driving runs; if he continues with this form he'll be mentioned more as the second coming of Vieira for a 'big club'.
Vardy - long may the taunts continue. Eventually opposing fans just might come to realise that prodding a sleeping tiger really isn't a very sensible thing to do.
Ian - astonishing first contribution to the season, looked more like the £25M player we bought rather than the £250k player we saw last year. Hopefully he can continue with the improvement.
Brendan - changed the tactics very successfully. Also seems to have waved his magic wand in regard to Ian. Can't see him staying too long with us before a 'big club' snaps him up.
Everton - I wasn't surprised at all when they came and gave us a very tough game, they have some quality players when they aren't acting as if they've been shot or taking full advantage of weak refereeing. If they continue with that improved performance they should be fine.
posted on 2/12/19
Albrighton: 5 - Got a rapturous welcome, then was effectively a ghost. Might need a little care and attention from the management.
poor guy got 5 mins or so.
posted on 2/12/19
Wild guess time
Rogers worked out that nacho is no a lone striker and needs to be part of a two,
Lots of training equals this result?
posted on 2/12/19
HB - If we'd been winning 2-0 and the game was dead then I might have gone n/a. But it was 1-1 with 10 minutes to go and I wanted to see energy and quick forward passing from him, like we're more used to. Instead he cut a bit of a lonely figure. Perhaps he was uncertain about his role in the formation but we usually see more aggression and positivity from Albrighton, even in a cameo.
Nuneaton - Agreed that there were a few mistakes from Soyuncu, and again I'd put that down to him losing his cool in the face of a team whose antics were annoying him. As for Ricardo, he has played as a winger but he was bought as a marauding right back and that is his true position. Defending will always be a part of his game and whoever plays there has to be judged on that too.
posted on 2/12/19
Albrighton had the ball a few times where you thinking he's guna whip it in, but he didn't, he kept pulling it back to the middle. I guess he'd been asked to do that rather than wanting.?
posted on 2/12/19
comment by HB Fash (U21935)
posted 12 hours, 18 minutes ago
Albrighton: 5 - Got a rapturous welcome, then was effectively a ghost. Might need a little care and attention from the management.
poor guy got 5 mins or so.
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The irony is that Dunge’s favourite Leicester player of all time - was a ghost. So I’m surprised by the low score.