by Colin the King » Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:00 am
Given 6- One of the quietest afternoons he's likely to have. Not the best timing either, he must have been frozen solid just standing there for so long! I thought his kicking was better today insofar as he kept it low more often than not. Good to see.
Zabaleta 7- Not the best start, Johnson seemed to be troubling him, especially with one dummy that left him deserted so I'm sure he was relieved to see him go off injured. From then on though he was solid defensively and provided some excellent balls into the box going forward too. Getting better and better on the ball I think.
Boyata 7- Considering this was his first appearance in the first team, I was amazed by how well he dealt with it. Middlesbrough mightn't be the biggest team in the world, but it's a huge leap from youth/reserve football to that level nonetheless. He made a couple of perfectly timed crunching tackles, was good in the air and OK in possession. A little hesitant but that's understandable.
Richards 6- Was doing reasonably well until he went off. One or two breakdowns in communication early doors but he was strong and confident with he ball. Hope he's alright for Wednesday night, we'll need him at the back with no Touré or Lescott available.
Garrido 6- Like Zabs, he was struggling with Johnson. I still maintain that he's a good technical player and has a role to play in our squad but one thing he does lack is pace. He did make good recovery tackles, but they shouldn't have been necessary. He needs to acknowledge that weakness and work around it by holding his position tighter.
de Jong 6- Worked hard and was good off-the-ball in terms of closing down open spaces but undid his own good work by losing the ball on occasions after winning it. He's so effective when he keeps it simple, leave the expansive passing game to Barry and Stevie.
Kompany 9- My choice for Man of the Match. He was absolutely brilliant in the air, I can't think of one ball he didn't win. Early on he seemed to given license to attack from midfield- he's good on the ball and quite quick but probably not good enough for that kind of role. The destructive side of his game is very impressive though. When he switched to defence for the second half he was monstrous- didn't give them an inch, all the while looking after Boyata well and spurring him on.
Weiss 5- I know it's his first start so maybe he deserves some leeway for that, but he just didn't seem to fancy it today. Too many stepovers and silly tricks for my liking that nearly always resulted in losing possession. He needs to keep his head up and play a straightforward game first and foremost. The time to bring out the party tricks is when we're winning 4-0. No end product today.
Sylvinho 6- Didn't have the pace to cause any trouble wide-left, but gave Garrido a bit of protection which Petrov wouldn't have. In the middle of the park he was fairly good, kept things simple and broke up play allowing Barry to push forward. Didn't know he could play there to be honest.
Petrov 7- Had the incision to set us on our way and continued to pop nice balls into feet and across goal. Made some excellent runs into space and unlucky not to score near the end. He's a lazy bugger though as Fidel said, and the problem there is that when things aren't going his way in an attacking sense, he's not much use to the team.
Benjani 6- His first touch was, bar a couple of exceptions, awful and he just didn't look that interested where holding up play/working the channels/chasing lost causes was concerned. Despite all that his finish was great, and it's the reason we're into the next round. Good lad Benji.
Barry 7- What we needed was a calming influence to get the ball down and knock it about, enter Barry. He was excellent in that respect and did his defensive duties well. A couple of needless free kicks given away but the good outweighs the bad for me. He made a difference to our play.
Tevez 6- Looked a little rusty, probably should have finished that first chance off but the others were more difficult. Still, he showed a willingness to get on the ball and create chances that we lacked, and doing so lifted a weight off our shoulders defensively. He's saving the goal(s) for Wednesday!
Bellamy 7- Excellent work defensively within seconds of being on the pitch, frightened them to death with his pace on the counter and had he been a bit more selfish probably would've had a goal to his name. Stretched them at just the right time.
