Please leave ratings for all players who have played 20 mins or more.


Scoring is from 3 to 10 as follows:

10 - Out of this World
9 - Excellent
8 - Very Good
7 -Good
6 - Average
5 - Below Par
4 - Poor
3 - Abysmal

Trafford 6
Roberts 6
Esteve 7
Humphreys 7
Lucas Pires 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Laurent 6
Anthony 6
Sarmiento 7
Flemming 5

Rodriguez 5
Koleosho 5

Trafford 8
Roberts 6
Esteve 7
Humphreys 7
Lucas Pires 5
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Laurent 6
Anthony 5
Sarmiento 8
Flemming 4

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 5

Trafford 7
Roberts 6
Esteve 7
Humphreys 7
Lucas Pires 4
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Laurent 6
Anthony 4
Sarmiento 7
Flemming 4

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 5

Trafford 6 - one decent save
Roberts 6 - poor crosses
Esteve 7
Humphreys 8 - playing in his natural position. Brings pace with the ball
Lucas Pires 5 - horrible delivery
Cullen 6 - offers nil forward
Brownhill 5 - blah
Laurent 5 - blah
Anthony 4 - so soft and can’t beat a man
Sarmiento 7 our only spark
Flemming 4 poor. Disappointing since onboarding

Rodriguez 5
Koleosho 6

Never done one so quick after the match!

From Live TV.

Trafford - 7 - Solid. One good one on one save. Short passing good, long passing futile.

Roberts - 5 - Started his feud with Adams early for no reason I could see. Getting more ****** off with him each game. Generally his play was OK defensively but not much to do. In attack limited.

Humphreys - 6 - Didn’t let us down but a bit slow in recycling the ball. He’s clearly a good footballer but not sure he is ready for this role yet. Surely Worrall or Ekdal would be better options.

Esteve - 8 - MoM - Easily our best player. Practically faultless.

Pires - 6 - Not much to do defensively and disappointingly little effect in attack.

Laurent - 6 - Got the ball up field when he could and broke up play well.

Cullen - 7 - Not up to his usual standard of effectiveness but our best midfield hope.

Brownhill - 6 - Started off well but seemed to have less effect on the game later.

Anthony - 5 - Mostly ineffective.

Flemming - 4 - Completely ineffective. Maybe not his fault but why does Parker persist with trying him when it has never worked. Surprised he came back on after half-time.

Sarmiento - 6 - Tries hard but seems mostly flatters to deceive.

Subs:

Rodriguez - 5 - Tried hard but little effect.

Koleosho - 6 - Some effect but clearly unable to break through the Derby defence.

Not on long enough:

Hountondji - 5 offered little.

Very frustrating after the higher standards we have shown lately but credit to Derby - they came with a plan and it worked.

For long periods in the first half they pressed us high and we struggled to deal with it. We found it difficult to play out in our usual way and ended up using long balls which had no effect. Occasionally with some sharp interplay we managed to break through this high press into space but unfortunately we did not have the ability to finish off.

In the second half derby got deeper and deeper but now we couldn’t get any decent goes at goal. Indeed Derby came closest to a winner.

A thoroughly disappointing evening.

Trafford - 6 - nothing to do

Roberts - 7 - good game
Humphreys - 7 - good game
Esteve - 7 - good game
Pires - 6 - solid

Cullen - 6 - solid
Brownhill - 6 - solid
Laurent - 6 - solid

Anthony - 4 - poor - really poor
Flemming - 3 - absolutely shite - he’s garbage
Sarmiento - 7* - our only attacking hope

Jay - 5 - at least brings shape to the side

Trafford 8
Roberts 7
Humphreys 7
Esteve 7
Pires 5
Cullen 7
Brownhill 6
Laurent 6
Sarmiento 7
Anthony 3
Flemming 3

Koleosho 7
Rodriguez 6

Trafford 8. MOM. Made 1 save Won us 2 points
Roberts 5
Estève 6
Humphreys 5
Pires 3
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Laurent 5
Anthony 3
Flemming 3
Sarmiento 7

Koleosho 7
Jay Rod 5

We can’t play with 8 men

Trafford 7 - Saved us with that one on one save. Doesn't have a lot to do, but does it well.
Roberts 6
Esteve 7
Humphreys 7
Lucas Pires 5 - The amount of times he tries to do far too much on the edge of the box and loses it.
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Laurent 6
Anthony 5 - So sloppy tonight and was given the ball in some good positions, only to mess it up.
Sarmiento 7 - Faded towards the end, but first half he was very good and constantly trying to make things happen.
Flemming 5 - Offered absolutely zero.

Rodriguez 6 - at least put himself about and also chased someone halfway back across the pitch and won the ball.
Koleosho 6 - We looked brighter when he was on, should have maybe done a bit better with his one on one.

Trafford 8 - top save
Roberts 6 - not as inventive as of late
Humphreys 7 - solid
Esteve 6 - sound but his progressive play is limited
Pires 4 - had the space tonight and did absolutely nothing
Cullen 5 - took too many touches per pass
Brownhill 4 - another struggle for JB in this type of game
Laurent 5 - offered nothing, shouldn’t have started
Anthony 4 - miles off it, looked a diff player
Sarmiento 8* - source of creativity, let down by final action
Flemming 4 - start him in a 2 for gods sake

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 6 - should score I think

Trafford 7 - solid saves, claims and distribution.
Roberts 7 - got up the pitch and distributed well
Pires 3 - woeful from start to finish, weak corners, poor crosses and decision making
Humphries 6 - was too often on his wrong foot and should have been at left back given our surplus of right footed CBs, one of many Parker errors tonight
Esteve 7 - accomplished and even got forward
Cullen 7 - ticked it over, not his fault there was no quality ahead of him
Laurent 4 - didn’t really make anything happen and should have been hooked at HT
Brownhill 6 - lively but doesn’t have that really creative final ball
Sarmiento 7 - the game quickens when he gets the ball, faded later on
Anthony 4 - terrible in almost every way, he gets an extra mark for not hiding
Flemming 4 - I feel for him, we flew him in on deadline day but won’t play him in his own position despite the glaring need for it

Rodriguez 6 - made more things happen

Parker 1 - the last month I have been persuaded he is a manager I’d like here for the longer term. Boro was simply two players not making a simple pass (though I did not like the attackers being taken off for midfielders). Tonight was worse, a sign he hasn’t learnt, and I suspect that is personality and mindset (and thus won’t improve). The team selection made my heart sink, how his football brain can visualise that lineup winning is beyond me. It was as though we were playing Man City away, two authentic attackers starting and both of those were arguably out of position. By the time he got the team right (by accident) it was too little, too late.

So I’m despondent. The points thrown away by wilful negativity will probably cost us promotion if we believe the bookies. Game winners left on the bench against minnows. Inexplicable. It may be, and I hope it is, that our amazing defence wins us promotion. I’ll applaud it if it does, but this is paid entertainment, and there was nothing entertaining about tonight. Scotty, I’m afraid, needs to be given a nudge that this isn't acceptable. Apologies for the moan.

On the plus side, at least I rightly chose not to make the long drive and sacrificed my tickets.

Trafford- 6. Had nothing to do. Decent save from Yates which was going wide anyway.
Pires- 6. Takes too many touches on the ball.
Esteve- 6. Solid enough.
Humphreys- 6. As above, but doesn’t release the ball quick enough.
Roberts- 6. Made a number of underlapping runs in the first half which weren’t acted on.
Cullen- 7. Busy.
Laurent- 6. Meh.
Brownhill- 6. Meh.
Anthony- 4. Infuriating tonight. Didn’t take a man on. Didn’t put a decent ball in. Didn’t look up for it from about 5 mins in.
Sarmiento- 7*. At least tried to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Two poor passes to Flemming and Koleosho which in played better could’ve resulted in a goal.
Flemming- 5. Ineffective but played out of position.

Rank bad tonight. Feels like a real step back after the past 2/3 weeks. Parker got the starting 11 wrong. No urgency. Too many pointless touches on the ball. Too many passes slightly behind a player that kills momentum. Same poor decision making in the final 3rd.

Trafford 7
Roberts 6
Esteve 7
Humphries 7
Pires 6
Cullen 8*
Brownhill 5
Laurent 5
Sarmiento 6
Anthony 4
Flemming 3

Jay 5
Koleosho 5

Woeful going forward. Final ball non-existent again. Clueless at how to breakdown a low block.

Trafford 8
Roberts 6
Esteve 8
Humphreys 6
Pires 4
Cullen 6
Brownhill 5
Laurent 6
Anthony 4
Sarmiento 8
Flemming 3

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 6

Flemming looks really unfit.

Disappointing result - Parker really needs to put square pegs in square holes up front.

Trafford 7
Roberts 6
Esteve 8
Humphreys 8
Lucas Pires 6
Cullen 7
Brownhill 6
Laurent 6
Anthony 5
Sarmiento 8
Flemming 5

Rodriguez 5
Koleosho 7

Trafford 6
Roberts 6
Esteve 7
Humphreys 7
Lucas Pires 7
Cullen 5
Brownhill 5
Laurent 5
Anthony 3 - Absolutely awful.
Sarmiento 7
Flemming 3

Rodriguez 4
Koleosho 6

Trafford 7
Roberts 6
Humphreys 8
Estève 6
Pires 3
Cullen 6
Laurent 5
Anthony 4
Brownhill 6
Sarmiento 6
Flemming 3

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 6

Trafford 8 thought his passing was good and a good save in the one on one
Roberts 6
Humphreys 8 this guy looks the biz
Estève 6 standard performance
Pires 3 get him off corners
Cullen 6
Laurent 6 looked strong getting forward
Anthony 4 gave the ball away too many times by trying too much
Brownhill 6
Sarmiento 6
Flemming 3 worst performance I can remember in years. Did absolutely nothing, didn't even look like he wanted the ball

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 6

Trafford 6
Roberts 6
Esteve 7
Humphreys 7
Pires 5
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Laurent 5
Anthony 4
Sarmiento 7 mom
Flemming 4

Rodriguez 5
Koleosho 6

Boring as hell. Far too cautious at home. No attacking threat at all.

From tv
Trafford 7 nothing to do
Roberts 6 signs of petulance again
Humphreys 7 good game
Esteve 8 as usual
Pires 4 couldn’t pass to. Burnley shirt to save his life
Laurent 5 too slow even for the Championship
Brownhill 5 another game when he didn’t look interested
Cullen 7 did is normal job
Anthony 3 give me strength, lazy, chicken, lethargic. How he starts every game, only Parker knows
Sarmiento 8 mom our only forward player who tried in the first half
Flemming 4 you can see by his body language he his not happy playing in this role

Jayrod 6 made a difference
Koleosho 7 his best game for a long while, he kept it simple

Parker has to take the blame for that starting eleven and the tactics. It was slow, turgid, boring and I hate to say gutless going forward. We improved when Jayrod and Koleosho came on but Parker has got to get these players playing with more fire and desire because that display was abject.

Trafford 7
Roberts 7
Humphreys 7
Esteve 6
Pires 6
Cullen 7
Brownhill 6
Laurent 6
Anthony 5
Sarmiento 7
Flemming 4

Desperate for a striker and a right winger. Left back would be nice too.

Trafford 7*
Roberts 6
Esteve 7
Humphreys 6
Lucas Pires 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Laurent 6
Anthony 4
Sarmiento 7
Flemming 4

Rodriguez 5
Koleosho 5

Absolute shite.

Trafford 7
Roberts 7
Esteve 7
Humphreys 7
Pires 6
Cullen 7
Brownhill 6
Laurent 6
Anthony 4 - most moves break down when they get to him
Sarmiento 7*
Flemming 4 wasted

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 7 - good sub appearance

Slow and ponderous throughout

CrosspoolClarets wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 10, 2024 10:10 pm

Parker 1 - the last month I have been persuaded he is a manager I’d like here for the longer term. Boro was simply two players not making a simple pass (though I did not like the attackers being taken off for midfielders). Tonight was worse, a sign he hasn’t learnt, and I suspect that is personality and mindset (and thus won’t improve). The team selection made my heart sink, how his football brain can visualise that lineup winning is beyond me. It was as though we were playing Man City away, two authentic attackers starting and both of those were arguably out of position. By the time he got the team right (by accident) it was too little, too late.

So I’m despondent. The points thrown away by wilful negativity will probably cost us promotion if we believe the bookies. Game winners left on the bench against minnows. Inexplicable. It may be, and I hope it is, that our amazing defence wins us promotion. I’ll applaud it if it does, but this is paid entertainment, and there was nothing entertaining about tonight. Scotty, I’m afraid, needs to be given a nudge that this isn't acceptable. Apologies for the moan.

On the plus side, at least I rightly chose not to make the long drive and sacrificed my tickets.

Do you not think those players on the bench could be due to rotation/limiting minutes as advised by the sports science team?

We just don't have that much quality in the final third.

Trafford - 8 - won us a point

Roberts - 6 fine but his crossing needs to improve

Pires - 4 - not good enough

Esteve- 9 - class

Humphreys - 7 - not a right sided centre back - did okay but how the hell do you give him man of the match when he is playing next to Esteve?

Cullen - 6 - fine

Brownhill -5 - ineffective when we have all of the ball

Laurent - 6 - did okay but isn't a goal threat

Anthony - 4 - wow so bad tonight

Sarmiento - 6 - not as good as he looks - takes the ball back 10 yards with his first touch and let's defenders get back

Flemming - 4 - not good enough - only saving grace is he's not an out and out striker

Koleosho - 6 - looked more of a threat but end product is non existent

Jay - 6 - did alright but no legs

Hountondji - 4 - shocking player technically - might be better just running in behind and shooting

FCBurnley wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 10, 2024 10:10 pm

Trafford 8. MOM. Made 1 save Won us 2 points

An important save, but 2 points??

Hipper wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 10, 2024 10:08 pm

Never done one so quick after the match!

From Live TV.

Trafford - 7 - Solid. One good one on one save. Short passing good, long passing futile.

Roberts - 5 - Started his feud with Adams early for no reason I could see. Getting more ****** off with him each game. Generally his play was OK defensively but not much to do. In attack limited.

Humphreys - 6 - Didn’t let us down but a bit slow in recycling the ball. He’s clearly a good footballer but not sure he is ready for this role yet. Surely Worrall or Ekdal would be better options.

Esteve - 8 - MoM - Easily our best player. Practically faultless.

Pires - 6 - Not much to do defensively and disappointingly little effect in attack.

Laurent - 6 - Got the ball up field when he could and broke up play well.

Cullen - 7 - Not up to his usual standard of effectiveness but our best midfield hope.

Brownhill - 6 - Started off well but seemed to have less effect on the game later.

Anthony - 5 - Mostly ineffective.

Flemming - 4 - Completely ineffective. Maybe not his fault but why does Parker persist with trying him when it has never worked. Surprised he came back on after half-time.

Sarmiento - 6 - Tries hard but seems mostly flatters to deceive.

Subs:

Rodriguez - 5 - Tried hard but little effect.

Koleosho - 6 - Some effect but clearly unable to break through the Derby defence.

Not on long enough:

Hountondji - 5 offered little.

Very frustrating after the higher standards we have shown lately but credit to Derby - they came with a plan and it worked.

For long periods in the first half they pressed us high and we struggled to deal with it. We found it difficult to play out in our usual way and ended up using long balls which had no effect. Occasionally with some sharp interplay we managed to break through this high press into space but unfortunately we did not have the ability to finish off.

In the second half derby got deeper and deeper but now we couldn’t get any decent goes at goal. Indeed Derby came closest to a winner.

A thoroughly disappointing evening.

Agree with a lot you say but saying your getting more ****** off with Roberts game by game is ridiculous ,he won us a point on Friday and has been one of the best players during our last 6 games

Trafford 7
Roberts 7
Humphreys 8 class act
Esteve 7
Pires 7
Brownhill 5
Cullen 7
Laurent 7
Antony 5
Fleming 5
Sarmiento 7

Jay 6
Koleosho 7

In a game like tonight a bit of flair is required & we had no one on the pitch or bench to provide it.
Brownhill, Laurent, Antony & Fleming don't offer anything when we are the dominate team.

Trafford 7
Roberts 6
Humphreys 8
Estève 6
Pires 4
Cullen 6
Laurent 6
Anthony 4
Brownhill 5
Sarmiento 7
Flemming 3

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 6

It’s going to be like this until we bring in some quality up front. It’s painful.

After a decent few weeks this was rank bad management that led to another dull AF evening at the Turf. A baffling starting lineup against a team that was only ever coming here to defend. I think I’ve seen 5 goals at home this season, all in one game.

Trafford - 7 good save 1 on 1, nothing else to do

Roberts - 6

Humphreys 7 assured in a more natural position

Esteve 7 easy street again

Pires 4 awful, Vitinho-esque in that he carries the ball for miles with no idea where he’s going or what he’s going to do with it

Cullen 6 metronome. A very sideways one.

Laurent 5 ok in bits but not really sure why he was playing

Brownhill 6

Sarmiento 7 all over the pitch, carried the ball well and had some good quick touches but debatable whether much of it went anywhere.

Anthony 5

Flemming 4 never been a lone striker, never will be. A ludicrous decision to start him there and even more so to persist with it

Rodriguez 6 effected the game more in 20 than Flemming in 70

Koleosho 5 meh


We’ve been playing very well of late but this was a return to the tedious possession ******** that is largely ruining football as a whole.

Trafford 7
Esteve 7
Humphreys 7
Pires 4
Roberts 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Laurent 5
Anthony 3 …..truly, truly awful tonight
Fleming 4
Sarmiento 7 …until Koleosho came on he was the only hope of us creating anything

Koleosho 7
Jay Rod 5

Trafford - 6

Roberts - 6
Humphreys - 7
Esteve - 7
Pires - 6

Cullen - 6
Brownhill - 5 - maybe should score in the 1st half
Laurent - 5

Anthony - 4 - if Koleosho is dropped due to poor performace then he has to be on notice.
Sarmiento - 8 - the one bright spot. Inventive and drove forward.
Flemming - 4. Enough. You don't need to have an UEFA "A" licence to see he's not a 9.

JR0d - 6 - I appreciated his 60 yard track back
Koleosho - 7 - provided some spark. Maybe can round the keeper near the end?

Leeds have just played Middlesbrough and Derby at home, scored 5 goals and got 6 points. We've played the same two and got one goal and 2 points. That's the difference. Tonight we didn't have a clue how to break them down. Loads of possession without purpose. Their keeper barely tested. If we're honest - they had the better chances 2nd half.

I like Parker but he got it wrong tonight. This thing with Flemming up top. Stop. Square peg in a round hole and I'm baffled why he hasn't figured this out yet. Two points squandered. We're not going to draw our way up.

nil_desperandum wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 10, 2024 10:29 pm

An important save, but 2 points??

My error 1 point. 2 was wishful thinking !

Trafford 7
Roberts 6
Humphreys 7
Esteve 7
Pires 4
Cullen 6
Laurent 5
Anthony 3
Brownhill 6
Sarmiento 7
Flemming 4

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 6

Have to do more than that at home. We basically have all the play but it’s exactly where they want it, side to side, and the keeper doesn’t get tested at all. Flemming did nothing but he doesn’t want that role. How about two up top? How about our supposedly tricky wingers getting to the byline and putting a proper ball in, rather than setting it back to Cullen or Roberts on the corner of the box and before long it ends up at the half way line. Have a bloody go.
A set piece that someone other than the baffoon on the sideline has come up with would be good too.

Trafford 7
Roberts 6
Estève 7
Humphreys 8 *
Pires 5
Cullen 6
Brownhill 5
Laurent 5
Anthony 4
Flemming 5
Sarmiento 7

Koleosho 7
Jay Rod 5

Attendance 18813. In Paces dreams !

Trafford 7 - big save
Roberts 6 -average
Pires 4 - human corkscrew
Esteve 7 - not at his best and still a class above
Humprhies 6 - ok not sure why we moved him from left back where he has looked decent.
Cullen 6 ok
Brownhill 5 bright start then faded.
Anthony 3 awful tonight
Fleming 3 woeful yet again.
Sarmiento 7 our only attacking threat but faded badly 2nd half
Laurent 5 off the pace

Subs 6

Another night mostly like watching paint dry. Slow build up, sloppy passing, trying to flick and walk the ball into the net and another inept ref. No wonder there are so many empty seats around the ground.

Trafford 6
Roberts 6
Esteve 7
Humphreys 7*
Lucas Pires 4
Cullen 7
Brownhill 6
Laurent 5
Anthony 4
Sarmiento 6
Flemming 4

Rodriguez 5
Koleosho 6

Trafford 6 (Nothing to do and he did that fine)
Roberts 6 (One or two neat touches )
Esteve 7 (As always - Mr Dependable)
Humphreys 7 (As good as he's played for us)
Lucas Pires 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 7
Laurent 7
Anthony 4 (Confidence is shot at and tonight will do him no good)
Sarmiento 7 * (Looked like he wanted to go forward)
Flemming 5 (Poor service to him)

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 6 (Looked lively for a while)

Very frustrating. We made an average team look almost good. Derby came with a plan and it worked,

J Rod has been great recently but he wants a ******* off from Parker tonight.

It's little wonder we are not scoring when we are getting into positions to deliver the ball in the box and the only player we have that we want chances falling to is over on the right wing or 15 yards into their half trying to orchestrate play.

Jay lad, I love you but Anthony, Sarmiento, Kole, Laurent, Brownhill all want to cut in and play through the middle before struggling to find someone to pass to. We're fine for that, I assure you.

Trafford 7
Roberts 6
Pires 5 though i felt for him a little withthe fact he had noone in front of him for most of the game
Esteve 6
Humphreys 6

Cullen 6
Laurent 5
Brownhill 5

Anthony 3
Sarmiento 6
Flemming 4

Koleosho 6
Jay 6

I firmly place that shambles on Parker. He either doesnt scout teams, or is it really bad at it.

Firstly the fact we were so lopsided with no width on the left narrowed the pitch making it even easier for Derby. secondly selecting those three in centre mid together at home vs a terrible team, thirdly the fact against a slow back line he picked a slow player out of position up top who was never going to stretch the back line, fourthly picking a left footed centre half on the right so most attempts to play out on that side were shut down and we had no switch option either, fifthly watching Anthony play like that and keeping him on as long as he did and finally having no clue on how to change what was going wrong.

Trafford 8
Roberts 6
Esteve 7
Humphreys 8*
Lucas Pires 4
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Laurent 4
Anthony 4
Sarmiento 7
Flemming 4

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 7

Such a mixed bag tonight.

Positives

Trafford made another brilliant save and was again very good with distribution.

Humphreys settled in to his role on the right side of centre, (still not his true position) and was excellent.

Esteve's pace came to the fore when required. Our centre halves were both excellent.

Sarmiento led the way in the first half through pure endeavour, sadly there was no-one on his wavelength.

Koleosho should have been on much earlier instead of Pires and showed glimpses of last season.

Clean Sheet

Still Third

Negatives

Derby played well but we allowed them to do so due to a number of managerial mistakes.

To play Cullen, Laurent and Brownhill against Derby at home defies logic and meant it was always going to be a dificult game to win from the off. It put too much pressure on Anthony as the only genuine outlet with a lkeft back on the other wing.

Pires on the left wing didn't work. He was there to cross but didn't do it. How he was still on at 90 was very surprising.

Flemming looks lost and very low on confidence. Unsurprising as he's not been able to play in his position because we haven't got a striker. Unsure why we didn't start with Jay Rod at 9 and Flemming as the 10?

Laurent was anonymous and just crowded an already packed midfield. Jay Rod should have started instead.

The biggest mistake of all was not rectifying the obvious problems earlier. Laurent and Pires should both have been hooked at half time.

--------------------------

Overall its a point and we move on, but hopefully SP learned something this evening.

That team against Norwich on Sunday will be perfect, not against Derby at home.

Trafford 7 again saved us by standing up well to a one on one.
Roberts 7 his antics might be your cup or tea and they might not but he is always running, finding space and trying to get things going, including getting stuck into his teammates to get them up a bit.
Esteve 7 as usual, solid, though he was outmuscled for that one on one.
Humphreys 6 in this system, we simply cannot have two center backs that can't shift the ball around like CJ, Beyer, Ekdal etc
Lucas Pires 5 poor delivery, poor choices
Cullen 7 always wanting the ball, kept it moving
Brownhill 5 We need more from him than effort.
Laurent 5 Why?
Anthony 4 shirked tackles, couldn't get round his man, poor delivery, poor choices.
Sarmiento 6 pretty link up play and some nice touches but he is mostly all fart and no poo.
Flemming 4. Isnt helped by the lack of supply and it clearly not being his position, but he also isn't helping himself

Rodriguez 5 - see my other post
Koleosho 7 - we immediately looked more threatening. Teams are scared of him and that buys us space.

Nowhere near good enough.

Trafford - 7 - one very good sage and safe enough.

Roberts- 6 - just about OK but too sloppy at times.

Pires - 5 - some nice touches but didn't convert them into anything penetrative. Also had sloppy moments.

Humphreys- 7 - did fine.

Esteve- 7 - did fine.

Cullen - 6 - tried to get us playing and found some nice passes, but another to have uncharacteristically careless moments.

Brownhill- 5 - lots of effort but ultimately ineffective barring one early effort. The more his role is built around him scoring goals, the less he looks like scoring goals.

Laurent - 6 - individually, not bad but the team set up always looked questionable and it didn't work. Inevitably hooked as a result.

Anthony- 5 - well below his best and like Pires, whether by instruction or instinct he passed up far too many crossing opportunities in favour if over complicating the game.

Sarmiento - 6 - started nicely and linked well with Cullen, but his second half influence became intermittent. Missed two very presentable chances.

Flemming - 5 - Square peg in a round hole. Should have scored from a defensive error.

Rodriguez- 5 - marginally more effective than Flemming without ever looking like scoring.

Koleosho- 6 - showed far more intensity and intent than his colleagues had managed. A little unlucky not to score when sent through although if full of confidence he might have done better.

This was a flat performance from the outset, not helped by a flat crowd (perhaps disrupted by the traffic issues) but more particularly hampered by a selection and set up that always looked likely to be better in theory than in practice- and so it proved. Flemming isn't a 9, Brownhill isn't a 10, and Laurent is a potentially very useful pragmatic midfielder but he's not a goalscoring midfielder. Playing those 3 as a centre forward and two sort of inside forwards never seemed likely to work and it didn't.

It was over thought, over complex and left us crying our for a bit more creativity, and someone to occupy three centre halves who found themselves unexpectedly under employed, and to offer a more direct threat in behind.

I get that the squad has injuries and but t present we look less than the sum of our available parts in possession. The decision to buy Flemming and then refuse to use him in the position he excelled in at Millwall, even when it is obvious we lack an additional attacking player on the pitch, is bizarre and is clearly affecting the player's confidence. Even if he amd Rodriguez are judged too similar, it's hard to imagine we'd have been less effective had Hountondji spent a decent length of period on the pitch and he at least showed some pace and a willingness to run the channels and commit defenders when he came on.

Time for a rethink. The number of 0-0 draws at home so far speaks for itself.

Trafford 7
Roberts 6
Esteve 7
Humphreys 7* MotM
Lucas Pires 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Laurent 6
Anthony 6
Sarmiento 7
Flemming 5

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 6

Trafford -7 (probably gained us 2 points)

Roberts -5 offered little to no overlap

Esteve -8. Too good for this league

Humphries -6 did ok but lacks game time in that position, silly passes all the game

Pires - 5 hes a league 2 footballer

Cullen - 6 might as well not played him. Formation wise he just went sideways and backwards against a team wanting him to do that

Brownhill-6 one chance first half. Cant recall a thing he did after that (he’s not a number 10 attacking midfielder ffs)

Laurent -5 some awful late delays on passes what should should have been played earlier. Sign stoke players get stoke outcomes

Sarmiento - 6 I like the positions he takes, he breaks the lines as they like to phrase it, but his final ball is like the rest of the team pretty shite

Anthony - 4 looked like a 13 year old playing against men (made their fat left sided Defender look like maldini?

Flemming -3 unfit , out of position, disinterested, useless. (I hope we don’t have an obligation to buy)

Subs

Jay-6 looked better when he was on although he didn’t move much

Koleosho -6 found dangerous positions but yet again can’t deliver dangerous balls or have a footballing brain to do so.

Hoiutinji- not enough time but we’ve signed an absolute dud.

Trafford - 7 His only save was a good one. Needs more urgency.
Roberts - 6 Not as influential tonight.
Esteve - 7 This lad won’t be here next season.
Humphreys - 6 Not a RCB but did ok.
Pires - 4 A Brazilian that is not very good at football.
Sarmiento - 7 Tried hard but gave the ball away in poor areas.
Brownhill - 5 Mr Invisible was back on show tonight…I think.
Cullen - 5 After a good couple of weeks he regressed tonight.
Laurent - 6 Looks a good player when running with the ball but disappears out of the game too often.
Anthony - 3 Couldn’t beat an egg tonight.
Flemming - 4 He is not a number 9. In a way I feel sorry for him being continually hung out to dry.

Koleosho - 6 Injected a little momentum. Should have done better with his chance.
Jay Rod - 5 Extra point for winning the ball back in the left back area. We are not in a good place if JR is getting lots of minutes.

Just absolutely shocking. This is the dullest football we have played in 2 decades and even then it didn’t seem as bad as this. I understand we have no right to win every game but just look at the teams that have taken a goalless draw from Turf Moor. Even the ones we won 1-0 were very dodgy penalties. Probably a blessing if we don’t go up because, my word, this team in the Prem is ours be slaughtered even more than Kompanys effort. Dull, dull, dull

Trafford 6
Roberts 5
Humphreys 7
Esteve 7*
Pires 5
Cullen 5
Laurent 5
Anthony 4
Brownhill 5
Sarmiento 7
Flemming 4

Trafford 7

Roberts 5
Humphreys 6 Really don’t get all the high marks for him. He was ok defensively but didn’t offer the balance we could have had with a right footed right sided centre half and this had an effect on his quality of distribution.
Esteve 7
Pires 4 Have we ever had a more lightweight footballer?

Cullen 6
Brownhill 5
Laurent 4

Anthony 4
Sarmiento 7
Flemming 4

Rodriguez 6
Koleosho 6

Derby were comfortably the worst team we’ve played this season. Another masterclass from Parker. Dreadful and boring.