Luton v Burnley - Player Ratings

[Vim Fuego]

Trafford 7
Roberts 8
O’Shea 9
Estève 9
Pires 8
Cullen 8
Brownhill 8
Vitinho 8
Odobert 8
Koleosho 8
Foster 8

Zaroury 6

Excellent stuff. And a great start for Scott Parker

[jdrobbo]

Trafford 7
Roberts 8
O’Shea 9***
Estève 8
Pires 8
Cullen 8
Brownhill 8
Vitinho 8
Odobert 9
Koleosho 8
Foster 9

Zaroury 6

[Luppy]

Trafford - 7 -very little to do. Looked more solid bar one moment

Roberts - 7 - dependable as ever and an assist
O’Shea - 9 -not surprised he was given MOM by Sky - an excellent game
Esteve - 8 - class act
Pires - 8 - great start. 2 assists and a solid game

Cullen - 8 - pulled the strings all night
Brownhill - 9* - thought he was involved in everything good we did and took his goal really well
Vitinho - 8 - one of his best performances for us

Odabert - 8 -took his goal really well
Foster - 7 - a strange one. Thought his hold up play first half was awful. Improved second half and what an assist
Koleosho - 9 - pressed well and caused panic every time he got the ball

Xaroirt - 7 - looked sharp

Early days. May have been a good time to play Luton but we battered them to be fair.

[Papabendi]

I would just like to record for posterity…. The use of “An Elegant Prompter” by Spice.

He wins the Garth Crooks award for flowery writing for this season already. Chapeau squire.

He's definitely up there with Garth Brooks

[THEWELLERNUT70]

Trafford 7
Roberts 8
O’Shea 9
Estève 9
Pires 8
Cullen 8
Brownhill 8
Vitinho 8
Odobert 8
Koleosho 8
Foster 8

Zaroury 6

[ArmchairDetective]

Trafford 6
Roberts 7
O'shea 9
Esteve 8
Pires 7
Cullen 8
Brownhill 8
Vitinho 9
Odobert 7
Koleosho 8
Foster 7

Zaroury 7

[Cirrus_Minor]

From tv

Trafford 7
Roberts
O'Shea 9
Estéve 9
Pires 7
Cullen 8
Brownhill 8
Vitinho 8
Odebert 8
Koleosho 8
Foster 7

Zaroury 7

Luton were poor, but we made them look poor.

[Hibsclaret]

Trafford 7
Roberts 7
O’Shea 9
Esteve 9
Pires 7
Cullen 8
Brownhill 8
Vitinho 9*
Odobert 9
Koleosho 8
Foster 7

Zaroury 7

[sjb]

Trafford 7
Roberts 8
Esteve 9
O'Shea 9
Pires 7
Vitinho 8
Brownhill 9
Cullen 8
Odobert 8
Foster 7
Koleosho 8

Zaroury 7

About as good an away performance as you can get. Mind you judging by some of the marks on here like 5s for Trafford & Foster & a 6 for Esteve, we have a few members of the Flat Earth Society amongst us.

[burnley007]

Trafford 7 So happy to see him play for us. I hope he stays for the journey.
Roberts 8 Wasn't convinced when I saw him on the team sheet, but played really well.
O'Shea 10* Feels like it should be 11, with a +1 for the goal.
Esteve 9 Cannot underestimate how good this kid is, he is a rolls royce. Far too good for the Championship, but will hopefully get back where he belongs withe us.
Pires 8 Great debut, looks perfect for this level, but he would be a concern in the Prem, but tonnes of potential.
Brownhill 9 A beast in midfield.
Cullen 8 Does the dirty work so effectively.
Vitinho 8 Much better performance than I was expecting, played with a smile.
Koleosho 9 Absolute nightmare for their right side of defence. Brilliant attitude.
Odobert 9 Lethal at this level, will score plenty more.
Foster 9 His work rate is excellent, so happy to see him happy, well played Lyle.

Zaroury 7 Did OK.

Parker 10 I gave him pelters on here, but at this rate he is hopefully gonna make me look an absolute whopper!

[burnley007]

About as good an away performance as you can get. Mind you judging by some of the marks on here like 5s for Trafford & Foster & a 6 for Esteve, we have a few members of the Flat Earth Society amongst us.

I was gobsmacked when I saw some of those. People are bonkers.

[Im_not_Robbie_Blake]

Trafford 7
Pires 8
Roberts 7
Esteve 9
O Shea 9
Cullen 7
Brownhill 9
Vitinho 8
Koleosho 8
Odobert 8
Foster 8
Zaroury 7

[Row x]

I was gobsmacked when I saw some of those. People are bonkers.

I've just seen who gave Trafford 5, and having seen his post before the game I must admit I'm surprised by that mark
I thought it would be a 3...

[AlargeClaret]

Trafford 7
Pires 8
Roberts 7
Esteve 7
O Shea 8
Cullen 7
Brownhill 7
Vitinho 7
Koleosho 7
Odobert 7
Foster 6

Great start and good alround performances. Suprised how poor Luton really were , though our players are seriously good at this level .

[DAVETHEVICAR]

Trafford 7

Pires. 8
Roberts 7
Esteve 7
O’Shea 9
Cullen 7
Brownhill 8
Vitino 7
Koleosho 7
Odobert 7
Foster 8
Zaroury 7

From TV
A fantastic performance and the manager Scott Parker gets a top 10 score for his set up and press instead of keep playing out from the back and conceding goals for fun

Early days but we have some wonderful players and a fantastic start

[the_magic_rat]

Trafford 6

Roberts 8
O'Shea 9 mom
Esteve 8
Pires 7

Vitinho 9
Cullen 8
Brownhill 9
Koleosho 8

Odobert 8
Foster 8

Zaroury 6

[Newcastleclaret93]

Trafford 7 So happy to see him play for us. I hope he stays for the journey.
Roberts 8 Wasn't convinced when I saw him on the team sheet, but played really well.
O'Shea 10* Feels like it should be 11, with a +1 for the goal.
Esteve 9 Cannot underestimate how good this kid is, he is a rolls royce. Far too good for the Championship, but will hopefully get back where he belongs withe us.
Pires 8 Great debut, looks perfect for this level, but he would be a concern in the Prem, but tonnes of potential.
Brownhill 9 A beast in midfield.
Cullen 8 Does the dirty work so effectively.
Vitinho 8 Much better performance than I was expecting, played with a smile.
Koleosho 9 Absolute nightmare for their right side of defence. Brilliant attitude.
Odobert 9 Lethal at this level, will score plenty more.
Foster 9 His work rate is excellent, so happy to see him happy, well played Lyle.

Zaroury 7 Did OK.

Parker 10 I gave him pelters on here, but at this rate he is hopefully gonna make me look an absolute whopper!

Il have the same as this please.

I would like to say special shout to Foster with arguably the assist of the season. That was truly special to watch

[ecc]

Trafford 6 : Couldn’t do anything for the goal. Got lucky early doors second-half. Obviously instructed to kick long which might possibly change against teams playing deep. Made one or two good punches. Little else to do.
Roberts 6: Showed he wanted to be at TM. Generally good game although he was AWOL for their goal.
Estève 7: First time I’ve seen him play. Apparently 6’ 4” but looks even taller. Impressed me considerably. Composed, determined and only 22. If we keep him and Dara we’ll be winning 90% of balls in the air.
O’Shea 8: Excellent game. His PL experience told. Just hope he stays. Kaminski did very well to stop his shot but wasn’t to be denied.
Pires 8: Extra point as it was his first game. Tenacious, looks like he’ll relish the cut and thrust of the Championship. Two assists thrown in. Well done!
Cullen 7 : Cullenesque. He may not be good enough for the PL but he cuts it in this division. Always busy. Think he got booked for the number of fouls rather than the actual one itself. Forms a good partnership with JB.
Brownhill 8: Got us going with a good run and excellent finish. There’s no shame in not being able to step up into the PL. We need players like Josh to push for promotion.
Vitinho 7: Different league, different player. Could have scored one before he got the fourth. Not sure whether he’ll be playing in that position regularly but he will have pleased SP.
Odobert 7: Just too quick for the second goal. Does tend to drift in and out of the match but will hopefully develop consistency as the season unfolds.
Foster 7: Had a rather thankless task alone against the two CBs. Superb assist which, given it was after 80 minutes and involved a sixty-yard run, shows his commitment to the cause.

Koleosho 7: Frightening pace. Seemed to be cramp at the end. Very promising return after a long layoff.

Zaroury 7: Good to see him back.


I know many won’t agree with me but I do think the result was harsh on Luton. First-half we took the two chances we created without playing overly well. I was nervous when they pulled one back but we pushed for a new goal and had too much for them.
They had quite a few players out and with the money we’ve spent over the last two years we should be able to do well in this division. The “should” is a caveat based on SP’s ability to optimise the potential in the squad. Luton will be in the fight for top six. We won’t win every game and certainly not by three clear goals.

However, SP has done a sterling job in four weeks. In his post-match interview, he spoke about “togetherness”. Togetherness is easy when you’re winning but it’s togetherness through adversity that matters, he said. If he can achieve that we will be a real threat.

[Hipper]

From TV. Actually I recorded it and watched a second time today and it's interesting how some of my original opinions have changed.

Trafford 7 - Wasn't overworked but looked reasonable apart from the crossbar incident. Some good punches but so-so distribution. Rightly booked for time wasting.
Roberts 8 - Worked well on the right with Vitinho and got forward well at times too. Peach of a pass for the second goal.
Vitinho 9 MoM - Excellent performance all over the pitch - as a second right back, a right winger and finally left back. A goal too plus hit the post.
Esteve 8 - I thought he was the weaker of the two centre backs initially but a second viewing shows I was wrong. He also had to deal with the defensive shortcomings of Pires.
O'Shea 8 - Good solid performance topped with a goal and a smart shot well saved by Kaminski.
Pires 7 - His forward play and free kicks are very good but he was a little lost defensively and sometimes did not control the ball well. Beautifully weighted pass for the first goal. Looks like he will be an exciting player.
Brownhill 8 - Good captain's performance, a quality finish and plugged gaps all over the pitch.
Cullen 8 - As with Brownhill, he filled holes and made himself available. Committed too many fouls for my liking though.
Odobert 8 - Worked hard and used his pace. Good goal although I thought he mis-controlled it before striking home.
Foster 8 - I originally thought he didn't show too much in the first half but he did! Not much worked for him in the central striker role with few opportunities but as a team player he was very good. And of course the recovery and powerful run that set up Vitinho's goal was top quality.
Koleosho 8 - Set the tone for our performance from the kick off with lots of energy, aggression and pace although not much finished product. His move to the wing drawing a player with him created the space for the pass for Brownhill's goal.

Zaroury 7 - Worked away and helped the team over the line as well as some creativity.

Firstly, credit is due to the players of both sides for putting together an enjoyable contest in stifling conditions. I was surprised there was no water break in the first half.

A game of two halves. The first half was utter domination by us, two super goals very well created and energetic aggressive defending all over the pitch. Well worthy of the lead. The second half Luton came more into it but on the whole our defending had the measure of them. However just before their goal we could have gone further ahead. Their goal was poor by us, Vitinho for not competing with Doughty for the header and Roberts not being alert to Chong's movement. That and Trafford in the crossbar incident are the only real criticisms.

There was so much to be pleased about though. The result of course, almost rock solid defence, lots of creativity and neat interplay, the nature of our goals, the energy and aggression, good use of substitutes and flexibility of the players.

A most satisfactory start!

Odobert and Koleosho look like they could be the difference between us being a good side and a really good side. I hope we can keep them at the club, and keep them fit.

[Vino blanco]

From tv and after watching full replay of the game.
Trafford 7 was thinking of a 6 but gave him a 7 because of his post goal celebration. Didn’t have a lot to do but was dodgy on two occasions
Roberts 7 good to have an international right back at right back..
O’Shea 9 plus one for the goal.
Esteve 8 he is going to be something special in this league.
Piers 8 a little bit erratic on occasion but he is big, strong, left footed and can pass a ball
Vitinho 9 amazing what happens when you play a player in his right and best position.
Cullen 8 he did what Cullen does
Brownhill 9 captain courageous, he was everywhere and always talking to the younger, less experienced players.
Odobert 8 seemed to be starting from a deeper position than normal, which led to some great forward runs, including his very well taken goal.
Foster 9 having watched the replay, you see how much effort and work he puts in to hold the front line together. I gave him plus one for his run from our box to theirs setting up Vito’s goal.

Zaroury 7 good to see him back, wanting to play.

Well done to Scott Parker for picking eleven players in their best positions and making them play as a team. Our pace up front will trouble most defences this season. The biggest plus point for me was watching our boys playing with big smiles on their faces.

[Vino blanco]

Missed out Koleosho.... 7 great potential at such a young age. He does need to improve his final ball.

[fatboy47]

Trafford...6 ..one dozy half-arsed attempt at a high take ..didnt cost us..quiet game otherwise
Roberts...7
OShea..8
Esteve...8
Pires...7.. lively and definitely has a trick or two..couple of brainfarts over the 90 too..they'll be worked on.
Vitinho...8..wingback type role suits him..he's earning his keep.
Cullen...8..steely character..quietish game as we by-passed midfield quite often
Brownhill..8..see Cullen..
Kol..7..high octane stuff but really needs a couple of assists to reward all his harum-scarum work.
Odob...7..There's genuine class there..just needs time on the job now.
Foster...8..He's gonna tear a few centre halves a new one if he stays fit. Been pushing iron by the look of it...Dont worry .. he'll fill his boots this year. Pony my arse.

Mass..lively..looked able to influence the game in a cameo role.
Weg..meh..cant judge anything yet.
Anass.7..looked sharper and less afraid than last season.

Parker...pragmatist..shoring up with a 3rd centre half when 3 up and 5 mins left...maybe its time to get serious again.