Cech 0/10

Apparently had a nice day out shopping with his wife.

Boswinga 5/10

Not his best day not his worst day. A middle day. Culpable for their goal, apart from that defended well, particularly in the second-half in which he was asked to stay back far more. Disciplined, that's what I'm trying to say. Apart from their goal in which he was, er, undisciplined.

Cole 7/10

I was going to give him eight out of ten but then I realised we were playing Swansea.

Ivanovic 6/10

Made a tackle in the first-half.

Terry 7/10

Watched as Ivanovic made a tackle in the first-half.

Mikel 6/10

Played well. Fuelling rumours he was on drugs.

Ramires 8/10

Runs all day. Literally, all day. It drives his wife mad.

Mereiles 6/10

If you meet a scouser tell them he's the best player you've ever seen.

Torres 5/10

Don't try this with Torres. They won't believe you.

Anelka 5/10

Has there ever been a more frustrating player? Oh yeah, Malouda.

Mata 8/10

What's the matter with Mata? Nothing. He's really quite good.

Subs:

Malouda 7/10

Popped up everywhere. Fuelling rumours he might just give a sh*t.

Drogba 7/10

You can't keep a good man down except when he stays down.

McEachran 7/10

Ten minutes of Josh. Ahh, bliss.

Afraid to say you can't fill Liam's boots too well Davey but at least you show willing.

Nico gets 5 but Mata gets 8? Really??

I think comparing minutes, Nico done a barrel load more!

I thought when Malouda came on, we started attacking much better again.

I've given Mata a bit of stick on the forum this week, I do think he's good, just not the second coming! and definitely didn't play better than Anelka today!

I'd give Mata a 6.5 and Anelka a 7.

Anelka did well on his own up front and that shot which hit the bar, had it gone in would have been goal of the season. Mata was tidy as usual but didn't do a lot other than that assist and looked a bit lightweight. He still has some way to go before we see his best.

And Ramires a 9. What a player!

Edited September 25, 201114 yr by footballoholic

Afraid to say you can't fill Liam's boots too well Davey but at least you show willing.

I generally improve as the season progresses. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Nico gets 5 but Mata gets 8? Really??

In truth, I was being kind to Anelka. Mata may not have had a great game, but along with Ramires, he was the stand-out player, and the only reason he was subbed was with Wednesday in mind, it was certainly no reflection on his performance. He runs around a lot so I think it was wise to save some energy.

Mata enhances our game to a great degree. He has vision, he has skill. I could go on and on. He set up Torres. A nice bit of skill and he was free to set up Ramires for what could have been the first goal. I could go on and on. He is always looking for the ball, always popping up in dangerous places, always a menace, and always clever. He is ambitious in his passing as well as being efficient. He plays for the team. We are a better football team by virtue of his presence.

Anelka? Awful on the right, where he played the majority of the first-half. Wasteful in possession, time and time again. Kept giving the ball away and provided precious little threat. Furthermore, when we had one of our few counter-attacking opportunites that half, he collected the ball in their half and lacked the vision to see the overlapping player on the right, when everyone in the ground was screaming for him to give it. He played it to Mata instead, who was offside. Too many touches as usual, kept going backwards instead of forwards, and slowed things down. It's worth remembering that until we scored the first goal, we were labouring, though we enjoyed the majority of possession. Mata provided the ingenuity. It certainly wasn't coming from our Nic.

Now, I realise he is not a natural wide player, but he has played there a lot, and he shows no signs of improving in that position, despite the odd flicker of hope. There is no cut and thrust when Anelka is out wide, no penetration, no real threat. I'm talking at a consistent level, which is what you need at the top level.

Second-half he played up top, where he wants to play. We were down to ten men and he was more isolated, and he seems to be getting props for that. Not from me. The least we can expect is for him to have movement, to work diligently for the cause, and to contribute. That's the least I expect. In terms of what he gave us, it wasn't a patch on Drogba when he came on. Suddenly we had presence, we had menace, and I know who their defenders would rather face. For a club of our ambitions, Anelka did nothing to dispel his role as a squad player, and I doubt he would make the squad of any of our direct rivals.

He hit the bar with a run and shot. I won't let that distort my view of his game. I have seen him shoot countless times from outside the box and this was a better effort than most. Some will think I'm being harsh. Fair enough. He is not my favourite player. Mentally he is weak in my opinion and he doesn't shoulder responsibility. I'm not a big fan of Mikel but I admit he had a good game. Did Anelka do enough to stake a permanent claim, given the competition? That's what he should be doing.

In terms of their contribution to the game and the result, in terms of their quality, I don't see how anyone can say Mata had less effect.

In truth, I was being kind to Anelka. Mata may not have had a great game, but along with Ramires, he was the stand-out player, and the only reason he was subbed was with Wednesday in mind, it was certainly no reflection on his performance. He runs around a lot so I think it was wise to save some energy.

Can't agree with that.

The reason Mata was subbed was because he was not offering anything defensively and with ten men we needed that extra protection. Malouda gave us that, in fact he did really well when he came on.

It was absolutley the correct decsion.

Anelka was poor when playing on the right but did well when playing up front on his own.

Malouda was excellent when he came on.

Ashley was brilliant.

Ramires played well and with two goals had to be motm.

Cech 0/10

Apparently had a nice day out shopping with his wife.

Boswinga 5/10

Not his best day not his worst day. A middle day. Culpable for their goal, apart from that defended well, particularly in the second-half in which he was asked to stay back far more. Disciplined, that's what I'm trying to say. Apart from their goal in which he was, er, undisciplined.

Cole 7/10

I was going to give him eight out of ten but then I realised we were playing Swansea.

Ivanovic 6/10

Made a tackle in the first-half.

Terry 7/10

Watched as Ivanovic made a tackle in the first-half.

Mikel 6/10

Played well. Fuelling rumours he was on drugs.

Ramires 8/10

Runs all day. Literally, all day. It drives his wife mad.

Mereiles 6/10

If you meet a scouser tell them he's the best player you've ever seen.

Torres 5/10

Don't try this with Torres. They won't believe you.

Anelka 5/10

Has there ever been a more frustrating player? Oh yeah, Malouda.

Mata 8/10

What's the matter with Mata? Nothing. He's really quite good.

Subs:

Malouda 7/10

Popped up everywhere. Fuelling rumours he might just give a sh*t.

Drogba 7/10

You can't keep a good man down except when he stays down.

McEachran 7/10

Ten minutes of Josh. Ahh, bliss.

Can't disagree with much of that other than I felt Ivan was solid again and derserves a 7.

Have to agree on Anelka. Great player in some games but slows down our play far too much and in home matches against the likes of Swansea his style of play is not what we need.

I'd also like to think if we had kept 11 men on the park, Josh would have come on way before the 83rd minute, otherwise really, what is the point?

I can't understand why people have been so critical of Anelka this season. I've not been around so I'm making that sweeping assumption on reading one post, which I fully expect to validate said judgements.

But he's looked great to me so far, I'll miss him when he leaves if he maintains this level for the whole season. He's annoyed me a lot in the past, but the way he's being utilised at the moment is great if you ask me. He links up with Torres just as well as Mata, has wonderful passing vision and mobility on the ball and has been a great team player. He brings a lot to our attack and that was especially evident when he came on for Lampard at OT.

My MOTM was Ramires for obvious reasons, Torres has convinced me he's back to his best and is close to hitting a vein of rich form and Mata needs to work on his tracking back (Robben used to make those mistakes as well). Stupid tackle and I'm only really annoyed that I wont be able to enjoy his play for 3 games because he got giddy. My only concern is this defending set pieces issue. I honestly thought we had put those demons behind us.

I'm also not sold on holding the high defensive line against powerful sides, especially away from home. I love the way AVB wants us to play, but even though we quite honestly controlled the game at OT, I can see us dropping a lot of points because of teams exploiting the lack of speed in our centre backs - and it wouldn't even take a great side to do that, just pace in strikers.

Can't agree with that.

The reason Mata was subbed was because he was not offering anything defensively and with ten men we needed that extra protection. Malouda gave us that, in fact he did really well when he came on.

It was absolutley the correct decsion.

From a defensive point of view, Malouda was able to give Ashley far more help, and I agree that that was part of the thinking, particularly as Swansea kept hitting the diagonal ball towards our left side. Malouda did well when he came on and he may just benefit from the extra competition. I still say Mata was our second most impressive player, after Ramires, but you're right, his withdrawal may have not just been about Wednesday. The fact is we were down to ten men and two-nil up, and AVB was vindicated in his decision.

I can't understand why people have been so critical of Anelka this season. I've not been around so I'm making that sweeping assumption on reading one post, which I fully expect to validate said judgements.

But he's looked great to me so far, I'll miss him when he leaves if he maintains this level for the whole season. He's annoyed me a lot in the past, but the way he's being utilised at the moment is great if you ask me. He links up with Torres just as well as Mata, has wonderful passing vision and mobility on the ball and has been a great team player. He brings a lot to our attack and that was especially evident when he came on for Lampard at OT.

You should have been here when people were saying we should give him and 35m to Spuds for Modric. He's been our best forward so far in my view.

Intersting that people say that but he has 1 goal in 18 I think, Torres has been gettting destroyed for his lack go goals

Might even be 1 goal in 19 barak. Difference between he and Torres is he has mainly been used as a late sub in those matches and has probably played 1 of them at striker. His overall contribution so far this season has been excellent in my view.