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The Fighting Cock
Adebayor did a decent job of drifting to the left when Dempsey came inside, giving us an option, and linking play.
Also, as I was impressed by Defoe chasing back at left back last week, I was impressed by Adebayor doing the same this week.
Sandro:
Weaknesses
(Player has no significant weaknesses)
I'll bite on this one
My rating is based on the fact, that he still struggles with the positional part of his defending, which against passing sides is a whole lot of defending. The upside is, that Kyle is a monster when defending against wingers one-on-one. Even Routledge, who's grown into a clever little winger, resorted to giving Kyle a few stepovers and then cutting in looking for a 3-point pass most game and Davies kept a wise distance too.
That's great and a symptom of him most games now.
However his backpost defending is still awful, their RB cross for Routledge in the first half was decent but Kyle was all over the place, doesn't know his zone, didn't know where his winger was, didn't attack the cross either. Shambolic. And that too, unfortunately, is a symptom.
Btw 6 is not a bad rating. It's above average. But no way he was anywhere near fellow defenders Gallas let alone Jan, and he certainly wasn't as good ad Dembélé. So we'll have to disagree on the '2nd best player bit'.
Fair enough, and you explained your reasons well. For me he stopped a lot of their attacks stone dead with some great tackling, and worked hard up and down the line, and offered a fair bit in attack. One of his better performances this season
Oh god
I fucking despair.
I wouldn't know where to start with your evaluation. I hope the needle fell out of your arm whilst you were typing.
I'll bite on this one too.
Defoe was in no way a nightmare to their defence. Chico (who is a good seasoned pro but also slow and rash) and Ashley Williams (who's just distinctly average) had him under complete control in all aspects of play all the bloody game. Defoes 1:1 chance even came from an individual error, not from brilliant Spurs play or just his own hard work.
He ran around a lot, yes. Yet he failed completely to provide an outlet for our midfielders, constantly choosing the wrong runs and constantly running from one marking zone into the other - in fact very often he'd be pissed up waving his arms and frowning when not getting the pass, despite being static, heavily marked and often in the shadow of another Swansea player effectively blocking the pass out. He doesn't have a slightest clue how to find space, at times, unfortunately.
Despite all this running "his bollocks off" his pressing game is really, really poor, and he lacks perception and reading of play to know when to press (e.g. when an opponent needs to look away to recieve a pass or when making a poor first touch) and when to drop back to shut down space (e.g. when a safe playmaker like Britton already has controlled the ball and looks to pick a vertical pass out).
I never played pro, semi pro or just top of my class, but this is really bread and butter regarding pressing football. It worries me deeply, when a player is praised for doing something this basic so very, very wrong.
Btw, Defoe has quality in other regards. Also I do like him and the way he comes across outside the pitch. But all his career he has had a problem with his overal play and specific parts of his strikers play, and I don't feel it's unfair to him to be honest about it.
Most were pot-shots, but being in the box for rebounds is something I do think Defoe is very good at. He also was very good at looking for the 3-4 yards in front of the keeper every time we had a finish on target.
However, Defoe shoots a lot. Even when he should not have. That is what you call decisionmaking, and unfortunately that is where he lacks a bit, yet.
He was very flat by his own standards, but he was also crucial for our play in breaking down the opposition, because he is so very good at finding space even in tight spaces and holding up the ball. And he is proactive, creating plays and chances, not waiting for them to fall to him.
We need that. People talk about our problems breaking down defending teams. Adebayor is a key to that, so much more after we sold VdV and Modric.
Correct. Which a modern striker has to deal with, no discussion.
They are supposed to shift and turn every other monent to constantly find a yard or two for the wall pass, then shift and move again. As opposed to standing between Chico and Williams, in the shadow of Britton, waving your arms when passes elude one. Sorry if harsh, but this point needs to be made.
No. That's just a straw man.
... and that's another straw man.
Neither do I. He is not a poor player. He is just not performing well right now and not responding well to the demands of the system, the formation changes and the way defences play him.
The problem is, that despite having true strikers quality of getting a goal out of nowhere, he is burdened by not contributing much to the team apart from said goals. He is difficult to put in a team, because it has to built around him, and even if you do the goal count is erratic and defences can still shut him down.
If every other footballer needs to adapt, why not strikers generally - and why not Defoe specifically ?
You accuse me of jumping on a bandwagon. I could easily accuse you of being on a different one, but that doesn't get us very far, does it ?
Regards
Jermaine Defoe is in the team for one reason and one reason only: he knows how to score. Sure he works hard but there comes a point when thats not good enough. When he is not scoring, he is harming the team. Someone pointed out earlier that he gave the ball away 9 times off of his first touch. That is not good enough. He does nothing to break down defenses, and shoots when he should pass.
You said earlier that he set up many of our attacks and lead the attack on his own, this simply not true. Adebayor was right with him supporting him and the way Dempsey cut in he was basically playing behind him during attacks. He did nothing to set up attacks, that was all done by Ade, Dempsey, Dembele, Lennon, and Siggy at the end. He is one dimensional and quite frankley, deserved a 5/10. Wasted opportunities, losing possession, bad decision making, all that he did well was that he ran around a lot, which isnt good enough.
Dont get me wrong, I like Jermaine Defoe. He is one of the best finishers in the league and gives us a huge boost because of that. But when he is not scoring goals, saying that he worked hard is not good enough because he does not bring enough else to the table.
I thought Walker was our second best player today, especially defensively. Disappointed with some of the ratings for him
People should look both ways and listen for cars before crossing the road
So, adding the scores so far - three won 'Man of the Match'
And we'd like to see lots of goals against Stoke on Saturday from
:defoe2: and
And it could be a Merry Christmas all round with a proper THIRD in the table,
instead of THIRD equal on points with Chavski.
PS Best of luck to Reading at home tonight
And we'd like to see lots of goals against Stoke on Saturday from
:defoe2: and
And it could be a Merry Christmas all round with a proper THIRD in the table,
instead of THIRD equal on points with Chavski.
PS Best of luck to Reading at home tonight
Here's a stat, based upon multiple opinions throughout the season i.e. match ratings from forum members.
Excluding this game, Defoe has played 21 games this season. A third of his games have been sub-5.5 performances, only equalled by Dempsey, in all the games he has not scored he's never had an average rating higher than the team average and in a couple of games where he has scored he has still had an average rating lower than the team average.
Throughout the season he has one of the highest standard deviations than any other player, i.e. he has no consistency in his ratings, they vary from anything in the 4s to anything in the 8s. His average rating for the season is also below the average of all games played.
He is also our top scorer and with 4 man of the match performances, joint highest with Vertonghen, he also has the highest rating of the season in a single match with 8.70 when he got his hattrick against Maribor.
What this tells me is exactly what has already been said in this thread and others in that he contributes goals and when he doesn't he has not much else to fall back on.
TommyHarmer
any chance of getting your ratings in games as well or is that something that does not interest you for the purposes of these threads?
Excluding this game, Defoe has played 21 games this season. A third of his games have been sub-5.5 performances, only equalled by Dempsey, in all the games he has not scored he's never had an average rating higher than the team average and in a couple of games where he has scored he has still had an average rating lower than the team average.
Throughout the season he has one of the highest standard deviations than any other player, i.e. he has no consistency in his ratings, they vary from anything in the 4s to anything in the 8s. His average rating for the season is also below the average of all games played.
He is also our top scorer and with 4 man of the match performances, joint highest with Vertonghen, he also has the highest rating of the season in a single match with 8.70 when he got his hattrick against Maribor.
What this tells me is exactly what has already been said in this thread and others in that he contributes goals and when he doesn't he has not much else to fall back on.
TommyHarmer
any chance of getting your ratings in games as well or is that something that does not interest you for the purposes of these threads?
Ignorance ?
O where O where am I being ignorance w/ my POV ??
Again, this is a Thread for Match Ratings on Players vs Swansea
Defoe had a poor game.........
Couldn't hold up the ball at all
And missed 2 cupcakes where he was alone on goal.............
Old Man River............isn't it time for your afternoon nap ?
Got ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ?
They have "Through-balls" listed as one of his strengths and "Passing" as one of his weaknesses
Lloris - 8 - Huge punch at the end
Walker - 6 - Incredible shot and good going forward but still unsettled at the back
Gallas - 6 - Decent but could help out Walker better
Vertonghen - 8 - Great goal
Naughton - 7 - Good for a right-footer at left-back
Lennon - 6.5 - Made good runs but little end product
Sandro - 7 - Works well with Dembele
Dembele - 8 - Works well with Sandro
Dempsey - 6 - Didn't do much wrong
Defoe - 6.5 - Made good runs and had some good shots but his finishing was off
Adebayor - 6 - Great hold up play but stayed on the left wing and didn't finish the game
Townsend - 8 - Did a really good job coming on with the game level
Siggy - 6.5 - He is trying and improving; just needs more time
Walker - 6 - Incredible shot and good going forward but still unsettled at the back
Gallas - 6 - Decent but could help out Walker better
Vertonghen - 8 - Great goal
Naughton - 7 - Good for a right-footer at left-back
Lennon - 6.5 - Made good runs but little end product
Sandro - 7 - Works well with Dembele
Dembele - 8 - Works well with Sandro
Dempsey - 6 - Didn't do much wrong
Defoe - 6.5 - Made good runs and had some good shots but his finishing was off
Adebayor - 6 - Great hold up play but stayed on the left wing and didn't finish the game
Townsend - 8 - Did a really good job coming on with the game level
Siggy - 6.5 - He is trying and improving; just needs more time
Lloris - 7.5 - 0 shots on target the whole game but kept concentration
Walker - 7.5 - thought he had a good game both going forward and defending, assist was his
Gallas - 7 - other than being outpaced by Michu for a second and knocking behind for a corner at the end I thought he did what was asked of him, good offside play today
Vertonghen - 8 - let's keep him at centre back
Naughton - 7 - needs a left foot for his style of play
Lennon - 6.5 - did well defensively but want him to run at defenders like Townsend did
Sandro - 7.5 - midfield destroyer
Dembele - 8 - so comfortable on the ball
Dempsey - 6 - not a great contribution today
Defoe - 6.5 - first time in a while I thought he was involved in play and he goes and forgets his shooting boots!
Adebayor - 6 - seems to be struggling, not sure what is going on there
Subs:
Sigurdsson - 7 - lovely through ball to Defoe and was involved in play a lot when he came on
Townsend - 7 - won free kick which led to goal by running at defenders
Walker - 7.5 - thought he had a good game both going forward and defending, assist was his
Gallas - 7 - other than being outpaced by Michu for a second and knocking behind for a corner at the end I thought he did what was asked of him, good offside play today
Vertonghen - 8 - let's keep him at centre back
Naughton - 7 - needs a left foot for his style of play
Lennon - 6.5 - did well defensively but want him to run at defenders like Townsend did
Sandro - 7.5 - midfield destroyer
Dembele - 8 - so comfortable on the ball
Dempsey - 6 - not a great contribution today
Defoe - 6.5 - first time in a while I thought he was involved in play and he goes and forgets his shooting boots!
Adebayor - 6 - seems to be struggling, not sure what is going on there
Subs:
Sigurdsson - 7 - lovely through ball to Defoe and was involved in play a lot when he came on
Townsend - 7 - won free kick which led to goal by running at defenders