Man Of The Match V Portsmouth

[MikeO]

 

Current Player of the Year standings....

Fellaini 268

 

Heitinga 201

 

Pienaar 196

 

Cahill 175

 

Arteta 160

 

Osman 141

 

Saha 111

 

Baines 105

 

Rodwell 101

 

Howard 91

 

Bilyaletdinov 91

 

Hibbert 82

 

Distin 74

 

Donovan 71

 

Coleman 70

 

Anichebe 59

 

Yakubu 54

 

Jagielka 25

 

Duffy 23

 

Yobo 20

 

Neville 15

 

Neill 15

 

João Alves Jô 10

 

Vaughan 8

 

Gosling 6

 

Senderos 4

 

Nash 3

 

Baxter 3

 

Agard 2

 

Forshaw 1

 

Akpan 1

 

MOTM winners....

 

Stoke (A) Victor Anichebe

 

Fulham (H) Victor Anichebe

 

Blackburn (A) Mikel Arteta

 

Aston Villa (A) Tim Cahill

 

West Ham (H) Johnny Heitinga

 

Wolves (A) Steven Pienaar

 

Manchester City (A) Tim Cahill

 

Bolton (H) Mikel Arteta

 

Birmingham (A) Mikel Arteta

 

Hull City (H) Mikel Arteta

 

Tottenham (A) Ayegbeni Yakubu

 

Sporting Lisbon (A) Tim Howard

 

Manchester United (H) Leon Osman

 

Sporting Lisbon (H) Leon Osman

 

Chelsea (H) Landon Donovan

 

Liverpool (A) Johnny Heitinga

 

Wigan (A) Tim Cahill

 

Sunderland (H) Marouane Fellaini

 

Birmingham (H) Steven Pienaar

 

Manchester City (H) Marouane Fellaini

 

Arsenal (A) Marouane Fellaini

 

Carlisle (H) Marouane Fellaini

 

Burnley (H) Steven Pienaar

 

Sunderland (A) Marouane Fellaini

 

Birmingham (A) Leighton Baines

 

BATE Boresov (H)...Shane Duffy

 

Chelsea (A)...Johnny Heitinga

 

Tottenham (H)...Seamus Coleman

 

AEK Athens (A)...Steven Pienaar

 

Liverpool (H)...Marouane Fellaini

 

Hull City (A)...Johnny Heitinga

 

Manchester United (A)...Johnny Heitinga

 

West Ham (A)...Johnny Heitinga

 

Benfica (H)...Marouane Fellaini

 

Aston Villa (H)...Diniyar Bilyaletdinov

 

Tottenham (A)...Tony Hibbert

 

Bolton (A)...Louis Saha

 

Benfica (A)...Sylvain Distin

 

Wolves (H)...Diniyar Bilyaletdinov

 

Stoke City (H)...Johnny Heitinga

 

BATE Borisov (A)...Tony Hibbert

 

Portsmouth (A)...Tim Howard

 

Hull City (A)...Leon Osman

 

Blackburn (H)...Louis Saha

 

AEK Athens (H)...Diniyar Bilyaletdinov

 

Fulham (A)...Sylvain Distin

 

Wigan...(H)...Jack Rodwell

 

Sigma Olomouc (A)...Steven Pienaar

 

Burnley...(A)...Tony Hibbert

 

Sigma Olomouc (H)...Jack Rodwell

 

Arsenal (H)...Steven Pienaar

[Louis]

Most times MOTM winners this season:

 

Johnny Heitinga 7

Marouane Fellaini 7

Steven Pienaar 6

[Ian C]

Going to wait for Mark's take on the lads before I vote.

[CraccerC]

THE SHOE

[marcopaulo]

hibbo! best performance i have ever seen from him especially goin forward! even a little shimmy to get past there left back and a few ventures into the area i almost fell over!

[Romey 1878]

It was between Hibbo and Distin for me, but I gave it to Hibbo because he provided the only bits of entertainment all game long!

[Lowensda]

Honestly i have never felt so excited, as when i genuinely thought Hibbert scored that volley in the top right hand corner...I jumped up so high. Today, Tony was immense, loved it. Johnny made a real difference when he came on though, bit of steel that we've missed since he got injured!! Hibbertoni my MOTM.

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

I agreee with Romey it was a straight chioce between Distin and Hibbo with Hibbo just edging it.

Cant beleive so many people voted for Bily, great goal but apart from that he was awful

[The Beard]

Hibbert for me, his best attacking display for many a year.

[barryj]

What a terrible game! At least this was the last time I make the journey from Milton Keynes for a little while. Gave it to Hibbo as well for his jinking runs down the right and at least 3 shots I recall. His crossing wasn't great though! Once I voted I couldn't believe Distin hasn't got any votes and Bily is in 2nd! Billys goal was superb but once again he'll only do one good thing in a match. He never takes a player on, passes were all over the place and generally looks scared of the ball. However that said I'm glad he scored as it woke me up, otherwise I may still be there now!

[Bailey]

My vote had to go to Hibbert! If he had scored that volley I would have given him player of the season let alone MOM! On a serious note, he was very positive going forward and although some of his decision werent great it was brilliant to see. The more confidence he gets at that end of the pitch the better he will be.

 

The rest of the back 4 and Howard did what they had to do. They all looked solid and although Baines was a bit sloppy with his delivery at times, the ball for Saha early doors was sublime.

 

Osman, Rodwell and Arteta all had decent games. They kept us ticking over although it was to pedestrian at times. I was hoping Rodwell would be left to partner Saha more upfront but unfortunately it didnt really happen, Pompey closed down all the space between midfield and defence meaning none of these players could really find the room to do anything special.

 

Pienaar was sloppy. I dont think he benefitted from Saha being very lazy, as whenever he looked up Saha was always marked which meant he dwelled on the ball too often and got tackled. His distribution got better when Yakubu came on but he was still sloppy.

 

Big Vic was good again IMO. He did a lot of good things, but just lacked that final quality. A couple of the turns he made were top class, unfortunately the shots following werent!

 

Saha was crap. Very dissapointing. I admit his service wasnt great, but he didnt want to close anyone down and he didnt really try and make space with his movement.

 

Yakubu looked very sharp when he came on. Some nice touches and much better link up play than Saha. At home and in game where we should dominate possession I would definitely look at starting Yakubu ahead of Saha. He brings people into the game more, which suits our 5 man midfield. When we are away and need to hoof the ball on occasions Saha is much better in the air, and if teamed with Cahill who both want to work they can put a lot of pressure on the defence.

 

I am surprised Billy has got so many votes. His goal was stunning but he does need to work on his movement out wide. I think he is very good at drifting inside, which could really suit Coleman (if he plays) as he will bomb down the wing, overlap and take a man on. I just wish he would concentrate and give more.

 

We could have absolutely stuffed Pompey on Sunday if we had taken some of our chances. Unfortunately this is our problem right now. Will it improve with a better striker? Maybe, but probably not (Yakubu and Saha are both proven goal scorers). Will a new midfielder help? Maybe, but he would have to have real quality on the ball (which I think Donovan does). Should we play two up top? No, at least not if it involves Cahill in midfield!