Man Of The Match V Spurs

[MikeO]

 

Current Player of the Year standings....

Fellaini 268

 

Pienaar 161

 

Heitinga 143

 

Osman 135

 

Saha 111

 

Cahill 108

 

Rodwell 94

 

Baines 87

 

Howard 85

 

Bilyaletdinov 82

 

Hibbert 71

 

Coleman 70

 

Donovan 68

 

Distin 42

 

Yakubu 24

 

Duffy 23

 

Yobo 20

 

Neill 15

 

Arteta 11

 

Neville 11

 

João Alves Jô 10

 

Vaughan 8

 

Gosling 6

 

Senderos 4

 

Nash 3

 

Baxter 3

 

Agard 2

 

Jagielka 2

 

Anichebe 1

 

Forshaw 1

 

Akpan 1

 

MOTM winners....

 

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

[inertia8]

going to sleep on this,,, thinkin T howard.. he kept us in the game with saves.. couldn't do much about the first 2 goals.

[Bailey]

I voted for Rodwell. He did a lot of running out there today and got one assist and should have had another. People are debating whether he is a CB or a DM but that performance today was more akin to a Gerrard or Lampard. He got stuck in defensively but he also made some great runs into the box which should have resulted in goals.

 

Other possibles were Yakubu who I thought was brilliant and Im glad he got the goal. He is movement was better (still more to come though) he worked hard, and his close control was exceptional. He brought a lot more people into the game today that Saha ususally does (not a Saha diss btw) but I would prefer it if he stuck to shooting from inside the box!

 

Howard had another great game, Distin did really well IMO, especially when Jags came on. Heitinga had a solid game apart from the 1st goal where he should have done better, and even Neville had a decent 2nd half.

 

Baines was average, Pienaar keeps giving the ball away too much IMO although he still did well, as did Arteta who looks like he is slowly regaining form.

 

IMO Vic did well today (although I imagine a lot of people will disagree). Defensively he was a bit of a liability, and he did look very sluggish as the game went on as he clearly isnt fully fit. However the guy has so much strength and won a lot of balls in the air. It was noticeable than when he went off we werent able to keep hold of the ball for a period of time, until we found another way. On another day a couple of his blocked shots could have nestled into the back of the net, and for a guy that has been out for almost a year I was impressed with his performance. Saying that he still has to get much fitter and work harder.

 

Worst player by far was Donovan. I know even the best can miss sitters and thats not the main reason I thought he was shocking. He consistently lost the ball, his work rate wasnt great (instead of sprinting next to Bale to win the ball back, he merely jogged alongside his to look like he was doing something!) and his genereal attitude was shit. He also took the ball of JV when he was more or less through on goal.

 

Overall it was a fairly even game. They didnt deserve to lose in the 1st half and we didnt deserve to lose in the 2nd half. On another day either side could have scored a couple more but they didnt and we lost. However the 2nd half performance was something to take pride of, and the fact we had 4 of our long term injured players getting a game was an encouraging sign.

 

I also think Moyes has to take some credit for almost turning the game round. No-one came up with the Heitinga swap but it worked a treat. He had a definitive role, and it allowed our other midfielders to play. As Jags gets fitter I imagine he will fill this role more often. Yes Moyes' tactics were crap 1st half but at least he did something about it... for once!

[Blue 250]

Don't know about man of the match, how about man of the 2nd half!

 

I thought Arteta was starting to move around better, that's a good sign in it's self.

 

They all played pretty well 2nd half, from the parts the crap stream allowed me to see, which weren't many........(yet the 1st half was fine ) I'd say Yak was doing more than I'd expected, so I'll give it to him.

[Kohen]

Was between Yak and Heitinga for me, both looked dominant in their respective roles (2nd half of course :| )

 

Gone for Yak in the end, feel as if he deserves a break!

[rubecula]

Poor game all round. Second half was better, but still not that good.

 

I didn't know who to pick so shut my eyes and picked at random.

[coxy051]

Gone for johnny h again soon as he got moved into the midfield are game changed. We just didn't turn up for the first 45 a think we was unlucky not to get a point but we needed a win badly. Cant believe tha sitter Donovan missed he will want to forget about that one quickly!

[Ian C]

Rodwell for me.

[DonKey]

Yak- Worked hard (for a change) and was constantly hounding their defenders.

Howard- Unlucky with the goals. We should've defended them better.

Distin- Some Yoboesque runs from the back and generally defended well.

Heitinga- Or as I prefer to call him, 'the Dutch Destroyer' . Excellent apart from the first goal.

Arteta- Continuing to look sharper with every game.

Vic- Held the ball up well, but again its going to take time to get back into full match fitness.

 

Overall I'm going for the Yak.

[holystove]

Voted for Rodwell. Definitely looks like he's best suited in midfield.

Edited February 28, 2010 by holystove

[Romey 1878]

Yakubu.

[cz.toffee]

Yakubu. Finally a performance we all want to see from him.

[milky71]

Yakubu. Finally a performance we all want to see from him.

he's hardly been given a chance this season

[cz.toffee]

he's hardly been given a chance this season

Yes, because he´s been pretty poor all season.

[milky71]

Yes, because he´s been pretty poor all season.

as well as recovering from a year out with injury as well

[Ian C]

as well as recovering from a year out with injury as well

 

Exactly. Hence why Saha played instead.