Burnley v Aston Villa - Player Ratings

[claretspice]

Regarding Benson, it really depends on how Kompany wants to set this team up. You watch Newcastle and you've got Trippier breaking his neck to support Almiron every time he gets the ball. Don't think Roberts is going to be doing that in this system.

First half of last season we played a more pragmatic set up and Roberts played a more normal full back role. Kompany has fashioned a squad and has to maximise it. For my money today that'd have been better done by deploying Berge as a double pivot, allowing Roberts to play a more conventional right back role and therefore liberate Benson to play a less rigid role with an overlap option outside, and playing Brownhill instead of Amdouni to stiffen midfield and strengthen the press. We set ourselves up to fail today.

[Dark Cloud]

Trafford 5 (first goal?)
Roberts 6
Al Dakil 6 (-1 for lunge which ultimately cost the third goal!)
O'Shea 6
Delcroix 5
Cullen 6
Benson 5
Amdouni 6
Koleosho 6
Foster 8 (needs a foil, but definitely got lots of potential!)

JBG 6
Redmond 5
Ramsey 6

We're too easy to score against and that's got to change or we're buggered! We're ok in possession and we actually look well capable of hurting teams, but if you're a totally soft touch at the back you're going to get thoroughly pumped in this league! Ironically at 1-2 we were the better team and in the ascendency, but yet again we make a ridiculously daft challenge and seconds later it's 3 and it's all over! We're enthusiastic and absolutely full of running and endeavour and with that line up we'd absolutely **** the championship, but the PL is a totally different animal unfortunately!!!

[superdimitri]

Trafford 6
Roberts 7
O'Shea 6
Al-Dakhil 4
Delcroix 4
Cullen 5
Berge 5
Benson 5
Amdouni 5
Koleosho 5
Foster 7
Gudmundsson 6
Redmond 5
Ramsey 5

[DycheAlmighty]

Trafford 5 (-1 for his indecision for the first)
Roberts 5
Al Dakhil 5
O'Shea 6
Decroiux 6 (5 in the first, 7 at cb)
Cullen 6
Berge 6
Benson 5
Koloesho 6 (lost his liveliness after the first 25 mins, shame)
Amdouni 5 (got lost a bit today, might have suited us more the play a Brownhill to help out when they'd played through the lines)
Foster 7*
Gudmundson 7
Redmond 6
Ramsey 5 (struggled to get involved but did make some lovely runs that weren't picked)

It's gonna take time to the gel. Personally I think a Cork and Cullen in midfield or Brownhill to link would have helped us deal with them. The defence were in massive trouble every time they got through the lines. Beyer a big miss.

[CrosspoolClarets]

Trafford 6 - hesitancy for first goal after the heavy touch was a bad error, he needs to play to get experience and made 2-3 big saves but has made several errors in pre season and in season so it is harsh on Muric, in fact, a better word is wrong

Roberts 5 - struggled and unclear why he didn’t do more in midfield in the first half when that is our style, didn’t really support Benson in the way Maatsen supported Zaroury last year

Al-Dakhil 5 - another big mistake, as young players do, this one may have cost us the game, allowed a top player to get away from him when he would only have got a yellow

O'Shea 5 - steady but unspectacular and I’m not seeing where he improves on Ekdal

Delcroix 6 - started slow but at LB his confidence improved and he made a couple of very classy interventions on the rapid Diaby before improving further at LCB in the second half and nearly scored, looking a snip by the end and a positive

Cullen 5 - overrun first half and needs a partner in there, this Roberts thing may work as second half we had them rattled so he had begun to get a foothold, undecided if he is too slow and small for that role, class player though

Berge 6 - better more forward in second half, some fans hate his loping style but they would think Ya Ya Toure was a carthorse, Berge is a good player and was a key force in our best spell but was outnumbered as was Cullen in the first half

Benson 5 - one fantastic cross but they doubled up on him and he had no help from fullback which I thought was a tactical error, some say he doesn’t track back but neither did Diaby in a similar role, the full back needs a major engine in these modern teams, the wingers get back less

Amdouni 6 - great feet and good passing, but was well marshalled

Koleosho 8 - tempted to call it an error to put an 18 year old on one wing against the best team in the world then the other wing against a top 7 PL side, but he looked so mature, great eye for a through ball, a bit raw but has played more minutes in 2 games than the rest of his career put together so it is frightening how good he could be

Foster 8 - superb, hunger, power, pace, tempo, and a super finish. He looks like a player.

JBG 7 - improved us and in general I suspect Vincent (who I love) distrusts our old players but is wrong to do so, ditto Jay who was our most threatening player despite only a cameo

Redmond 6 - struggled to get into the game
Ramsey 6 - neat and tidy

I sensed a bit of naivety today from Vincent, I posted a few weeks ago that he isn’t as clever as he thinks he is (but is very clever) and his main weakness will be overthinking. We saw that today. He played 3 of our more inexperienced players out of position, the players at times were struggling knowing what to do. At this level it is chess and Emery is one of the best. No shame in that. I do think though some of our experience needs bringing to bear, Rodriguez, Taylor (I accept he is going), Brownhill, JBG, Cork. These are good players with years of success at this level.

[helmclaret]

Trafford 6 - indecisive for the first goal, looked slow to get down for the third. Doesn’t have Muric’s presence or range of passing. Made some decent saves.

Roberts 6 - looked better on the left, worked hard, look a bit lost at times

O'Shea 6 - thought the centre halves were exposed a bit with Villa’s midfield allowed the freedom of the park.

Al-Dakhil 6 - think we need to decide his best position and give him a run there.

Delcroix 6 - looks tidy on the ball and covered round well on a couple of occasions. Decent enough debut. Not a straightforward game to be handed your debut having just walked through the door

Cullen 5 - needs more structure and support around him. Couldn’t get near Luiz or Kamara for most of the game.

Berge 5 - not sure what his role is? Touch let him down at times. One or two flashes of what he offers going forward.

Benson 5 - one decent cross but Villa clearly knew how to stifle him

Amdouni 5 - I like the look of him when he’s got the ball in the final third. Quieter game than v City… we need to get the ball to him quicker

Koleosho 6 - think he’ll grow every game - looks to be a talent

Foster 8 - strong, pacy, hungry and scored a good goal. Hope he keeps the momentum going.

Gudmundsson 6 - gave us some much needed control

Redmond 6 - saw quite a bit of the ball but didn’t really do anything productive

Ramsey 6 - wasn’t really involved but tidy when he did get the ball

[dougcollins]

Never rated Berge at SUFC and seen nothing that's changed my mind. I'm sure VK knows better though.

[the_magic_rat]

Trafford 7

Roberts 6
Al Dakhil 6
O' Shea 7
Delcroix 6

Cullen 7

Berge 5
Koleosho 7
Benson 6

Amdouni 7
Foster 8 MOM

Gudmundsson 6
Rodriguez 6
Bruun Larsen 6
Redmond 6
Ramsay 6

[PhiladelphiaChris]

Trafford 6
Roberts 6
Al-Dakhil 6
O'Shea 6
Delcroix 6
Cullen 6
Berge 6
Benson 5
Amdouni 6
Koleosho 7
Foster 8

Guðmundsson 7
Redmond 6
Ramsey 6

[strayclaret]

Trafford 5
Roberts 6
O'Shea 6
Al-Dakhil 6
Delcroix 6
Cullen 6
Berge 5
Benson 5
Amdouni 6
Koleosho 6
Foster 7

Gudmundsson 6

[jlup1980]

Trafford 3 - not even close to being a PL keeper
Roberts 6 - ok
O'Shea 6 - did well overall
Al-Dakhil 4 - was dragged out of position and isn't currently good enough to play CB in the PL
Delcroix 5 - dreadful first half, average second
Cullen 5 - poor by his standards
Berge 3 - do we have a 28 day returns policy? Shouldn't be in front of Brownhill in this formation.
Benson 4 - didn't look match fit
Amdouni 5 - chasing shadows but showed glimpses
Koleosho 6 - really bright in spells and our only real threat out wide
Foster 7 - worked hard, scored a goal, looks to be growing as a player

JBG 6 - calm and assured