Burnley v Portsmouth v Player Ratings

[ClaretTony]

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

[jdrobbo]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 6
Worrall 6
Esteve 6
Pires 4
Koleosho 6
Cullen 5
Brownhill 6
Anthony 5
Hannibal 7*
Foster 4

Sarmiento 7
Fleming 6
Laurent 7

[sjb]

Trafford 6
Egan Riley 6
Worrall 6
Esteve 6
Pires 7
Cullen 6
Brownhill 7*
Hannibal 5
Koleosho 7
Foster 6
Anthony 6

Flemming 5
Laurent 7
Sarmiento 7

[Goliath]

Trafford 6 - Got away with another one.
Egan-Riley 4 - Feels like the Cotterill days when he had Duff or Sinclair at right back
Worrall 6 - he is what he is but it's a definite downgrade from the players we've had there for the last 2 years.
Esteve 8
Pires 4 - I'm beginning to think he isn't very good, especially on the ball.
Koleosho 5
Cullen 6 - Shows for the ball and keeps it moving. Vital
Brownhill 6
Anthony 4 He doesn't offer much threar
Hannibal 6
Foster 5

Sarmiento 7
Fleming 5
Laurent 6

[BurnleyFC]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 6
Worrall 5
Esteve 7
Pires 6
Koleosho 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 8*
Anthony 5
Hannibal 6
Foster 5

Sarmiento 8
Fleming 6
Laurent 6

[MeeActon1]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 5
Worrall 5 - slow in mind and body
Esteve 6
Pires 6
Koleosho 5
Cullen 5
Brownhill 6
Anthony 5
Hannibal 5
Foster 3 - abysmal performance and attitude.

Sarmiento 6
Fleming 5
Laurent 5

[Buxtonclaret]

Trafford 6
Egan Riley 6
Worrall 5
Esteve 7
Pires 7

Cullen 6
Brownhill 7
Hannibal 6
Koleosho 6
Foster 5
Anthony 6

Flemming 6
Laurent 7
Sarmiento 7

[Stalbansclaret]

Wow…. I thought Pires was really good today !!!!
Maybe I’m losing it ! Second half he was constantly involved and got forward well
Trafford 7
Pires 8
Esteve 7
Worrall 7
Egan-Riley 6
Brownhill 6
Cullen 6
Hannibal 6
Foster 5
Anthony 5
Koleosho 6

Sarmiento 8 tigerish as well as skilful
Fleming 6

[RVclaret]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 6
Worrall 7
Esteve 7
Pires 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 7
Hannibal 5
Koleosho 6
Anthony 6
Foster 6

Flemming 7
Sarmiento 8*
Laurent 7

[fungus_the_bogeyman]

Trafford 6
Egan Riley 5
Pires 5 (absolutely awful first half but improved immeasurably second)
Worrall 6
Esteve 6
Cullen 5
Brownhill 7
Anthony 5
Koleosho 5
Hannibal 7
Foster 4

Sarmiento 8*
Laurent 8
Flemming 6

Subs changed the game.

[FCBurnley]

Trafford 5
ER 6
Worrall 6 but sets a slow tempo from the back
Esteve 7
Pires 5
Koleosho 6
Cullen 5 fit ?
Brownhill 8 did what captains do
Anthony 5
Hannibal 6
Foster 4

Sarmiento 7 made a difference
Flemming 7 should have started
Laurent 7 made a difference

[HahaYeah]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 6
Worrall 7
Esteve 7
Pires 7
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Hannibal 6
Koleosho 6
Anthony 6
Foster 5

Subs:
Flemming 6
Sarmiento 7
Laurent na
Rodriguez na

[Hedontplayforyou]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 6 - got better towards the end of the game and battled hard, he’s got the determination hope he develops.
Worrall 6 - too slow on the ball and teams will let him have it as a result.
Esteve 6
Pires 6 - gave his all , needs to learn, some things look brilliant and some abysmal .
Cullen 5 - for his standards he wasn’t at it for me.
Brownhill 6 - goal boosted his rating.
Hannibal 5 - still getting to know his teammates and system.
Anthony 4 - don’t remember anything of note today.
Koleosho 6 - not great but worked hard.
Foster 4 - poor when playing against a deep defence . Has tk improve link up play massively .

Sarmiento 7 - good goal, worked hard when he came on both ways , not afraid to get stuck in either.

Laurent 6 for a short appearance he did well.

[KRBFC]

Trafford 7
Egan Riley 7
Worrall 5 painfully slow at moving his body and even slower at moving the ball
Esteve 7
Pires 8 thought he was very good today, kept the ball really well in tight areas
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Hannibal 6 think he’s out of position, seems to do his best work deeper
Anthony 5
Koleosho 7 he was absolutely everywhere first half trying to
Make something happen on his own
Foster 3 I mean seriously where do we start with the man who can do no wrong? Really peed me off when he turned round screaming at one of his team mates because Foster tried to control a simple pass and it was like he had bowling shoes on. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a striker less threatening than Lyle, he’s technically so far out of his depth it’s quite amazing. Everything is so scruffy, summed up when he tried passing 4 yards to Luca and it went out of play.


Sarmiento 8 excellent goal made a real difference
Flemming 7 I like a lot, clever player, physical with real technical ability.
Laurent 7 really good cameo, looked to get on the ball and move it quicker.

[JohnMcGreal]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 6
Worrall 6
Esteve 6
Pires 6
Koleosho 6
Cullen 5
Brownhill 5
Anthony 5
Hannibal 4
Foster 4

Sarmiento 7
Fleming 6
Laurent 6

[pauliopaulio]

Trafford 6 - Need to see their goal back but apart from that fine.
Egan-Riley 5 - Some ok moments but not a RB
Worrall 5 - +1 for the assist. Early doors but so ponderous on the ball. However whenever he tried an attacking pass he passed it straight to Pompey.
Esteve 6 - Couple of rash attempts to win the ball but managed to recover. Similar to Worrall though - too safe.
Pires 5 - At his best going forward but again played it safe too many times. It feels like that’s the instructions
Koleosho 6 - Took up some good positions but didn’t get the pass. Ran up some blind alleys but at least pushed them back.
Cullen 5 - Safe but we needed to be more on the front foot.
Brownhill 6 - +1 for the goal. Normal energy.
Anthony 6 - Linked up with Pires well. Did ok.
Hannibal 5 - Tried to inject energy.
Foster 5 - Some half chances first half (50p head) but mixed bag.

Sarmiento 8 - +1 for goal. Great energy and goal was like a mirror of a Benson goal from the last EFL season.
Fleming 7 - Injected a bit of passion
Laurent 7 - As above - collected the ball and drove forward. Definitely out of his comfort zone in their half but what we needed.

Overall I thought the subs changed the game. Our passing very safe but as soon as we lose it we look very open.

Feels like we stole 3 points but who cares - UTC

[fidelcastro]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 6
Esteve 8
Worrall 7
Lucas Pires 6
Cullen 7
Brownhill 7
Hannibal 6
Koleosho 6
Anthony 6
Foster 5

Sarmiento 7
Flemming 6

[Bordeauxclaret]

Trafford 7 caught flapping in first half but not much to do
Egan-Riley 5 I’m not sure what his position is but it’s not full back
Worrall 5 involved in both goals but his distribution from the back is so slow and stifles us as a team.
Esteve 6 not as poor as Worrall but needs to realise he can move the ball forward.
Pires 6 improved second half
Cullen 6 not his usual self.
Brownhill 7 gave us a bit of bite and tried to inject some tempo
Hannibal 4 another player where I’m not sure what their position should be. Dreadful for the goal.
Koleosho 6 frustrating distribution mainly but created a few
Anthony 5 not much of note
Foster 4 I thought he was really off it today.

Flemming 7
Sarmiento 8
Laurent 7

Subs made a big difference but we surely need to look at the sep up in home games. I suspect it’s just while he’s trying to get them to gel and it’ll change as the season goes on.
That said we need far more from our forward players.

[maidenover]

Didn’t understand the starting line up today, it seriously lacked creativity. We really need to have Flemming in there against mediocre opposition like this instead of Hannibal.

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 6
Worrall 5
Esteve 6
Pires 7
Koleosho 6
Cullen 5
Brownhill 7
Anthony 5
Hannibal 5
Foster 4 Stop the flicks and tricks. Get hold of the ball and run at them.

Sarmiento 8 MoM. Super goal. Looks more threatening than Anthony on this showing.
Fleming 7 Put himself about well - should have started
Laurent 6

[LincsWoldsClaret]

Trafford 7
Egan-Riley 4 very poor
Worrall 8 great passing in the first half but little movement for him in the second
Esteve 6
Pires 6
Koleosho 8 once again provided all our movement
Cullen 5
Brownhill 7
Anthony 5 lazy
Hannibal 8 high energy
Foster 5 Chris Wood levels of ball control

Sarmiento 8* excellent cameo
Fleming 5 stupid booking
Laurent 7 injected energy

[willsclarets]

Some harsh marks here I think. We weren't great but 3s and 4s for a win. And a game where in the second half we were actually decent in spells. There's some very high expectations here for a team in its infancy.

Trafford 7
Egan Riley 7
Worrall 6
Esteve 7
Pires 7
Cullen 6
Brownhill 7 (+1 goal)
Hannibal 7
Koleosho 6
Anthony 6
Foster 6

Sarmiento 8
Flemming 6
Laurent 7 (what a bit of wingplay too!)

[Casper2]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 6
Esteve 8
Worrall 5
Lucas Pires 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 7
Hannibal 5
Koleosho 5
Anthony 5
Foster 4

Sarmiento 7
Flemming 6

[jlup1980]

Trafford 6 - couple of decent moments. Was nowhere near the ball when they hit the post in the first half though
Egan-Riley 7 - thought he did really well
Worrall 5 - a tugboat, and his passing from the back is awful
Esteve 6 - steady
Pires 7 - he's hit and miss but I actually thought he had a bit of drive, and not many had that today
Koleosho 6 - he's not a right winger, get him back on the left!
Cullen 5 - poor booking, poor day
Brownhill 7 - kept working, captains winner
Anthony 5 - looks good until the moment you think he will pull the trigger... then he turns inside again!
Hannibal 4 - not sure what this lad does yet, he offered less on the ball than Lyle and that's a statement in itself!
Foster 4 - awful, should be his last start for a long time. He's utterly hopeless and the odd sprint now and then doesn't paper over the obvious cracks. He could play every minute of every game this season and he won't get 10 goals. Jay and Fleming offer more.

Sarmiento 7 - nice cameo, lovely goal, positive on the ball
Fleming 6 - he looked a bit lost positionally
Laurent 7 - has to start for Hannibal, just has to!

[IanMcL]

Naff this week. I hate the eternal passing at the back, with no outcome. Boring, boring, boring.

Trafford 6
Egan Riley 6
Worrall 6
Esteve 5 -has he got a forward pass in him?
Pires 7

Cullen 6
Brownhill 8 1 for the goal.
Hannibal 6
Koleosho 6
Foster 6
Anthony 5

Flemming 6
Laurent 6
Sarmiento 7 super goal.

Team 5 no connection between the elements.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Trafford 6
Egan Reilly 6
Worrall 6
Esteve 7
Pires 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Hannibal 6
Foster 6
Kolesho 6
Anthony 6

Sarmiento 7
Fleming 7

First half was one of the dreariest 45 mins on the turf for a long time. Subs gave us a bit of urgency and a good sign winning late without really playing well and for large parts without any real urgency.

[Bosscat]

Trafford 7
Egan Riley 6
Worrall 6
Esteve 7* MotM
Pires 7
Cullen 6
Brownhill 7
Hannibal 6
Koleosho 7
Foster 6
Anthony 6

Flemming 6
Laurent 7
Sarmiento 7

[ervi34]

STARTING ELEVEN:

Trafford 6
Didn't have much to do. Some decent and accurate passes in the first half, one very good punch after their corner, but probably should have done better before they hit the post.

Egan-Riley 5
Should not be starting for us. He tried, but evidently lacks quality.

Worrall 5
Struggled well but made some unnecessary mistakes as the game went on. Still looks very clumsy when in possession.

Esteve 7
Once again, head and shoulders above everyone else. Would have been MOTM if Brownhill didn't have goal and assist.

Pires 6
Decent game. Went forward a lot in the second half.

Cullen 5
Doesn't look fit yet.

Hannibal 6
I don't think Parker knows what's his best position/role.

Brownhill 7 MOTM
Didn't do much before the goal, but he's proven many times that he's simply too good for this level.

Koleosho 7
Very energetic.

Anthony 6
Was involved a lot in the first half, but struggled with the final ball.

Foster 5
Very poor. He has shown he has the talent bore, but he looked miles off in most games this season.

SUBS:

Sarmiento 7
Well taken goal.

Laurent 7
Maybe it's too high to give him seven because he didn't play much, but I was really impressed with his short cameo. Put in some tackles, carried the ball well. Wouldn't mind seeing him in the starting lineup next game.

Flemming 6
Didn't really see much of the ball.

MANAGER:

Parker 6
Slow first half, better in the second. Spot on with subs but needs to improve our attacking set-up.

[Luppy]

A score line that masked a generally flat performance against a bottom 6 side come the end of the season

Trafford - 6

Egan-Riley - 7 - thought he did well after a shaky start
Worrall - 5 - backwards, sideways, backwards
Esters - 5 - backwards, sideways, backwards. Given the run around first half by number 15 who offered everything our striker didn’t
Pires - 6 - the odd shaky moment defensively but at least tried making forward passes!

Cullen - 6 - he was ok
Brownhill - 7 - yet another important goal
Hannibal - 4 - staggered he’s got a MOM rating on here. I’m struggling to think of one meaningful moment he had - rightly hooked first. You have to do more than just be the wind up merchant

Koleosho - 6 - yet again we just stopped giving him the ball
Foster - 4 - wow. He won’t get 10 this season if he plays every minute of every game. Offered absolutely nothing and staggering he almost played 90 minutes. Miles off - absolutely miles off
Anthony - 4 - another one well off it today

Sarmiento - 7 - a touch of class with the goal
Flemming - 6 - made some great runs that were generally ignored for a backwards pass
Laurent - not on long enough to mark but how he hasn’t started after the last two games is beyond me. Dominated the midfield when he came on - has to start next game

A special mention for Will Norris who showed he’s still a claret with the winning goal…..

[bfcjg]

Trafford 7 solid again in
Egan Riley 6 not his position but did ok
Worrall 6 organised the defence well.
Esteve 8 quality. MOTM.
Pires 5 wasteful but improved
Cullen 6 looked leggy
Brownhill 76 really worked hard again.
Hannibal 6
Koleosho 6
Foster 4 terrible, hope it's a blip in form.
Anthony 6

Flemming 6
Laurent 7
Sarmiento 8 wow

[helmclaret]

Trafford 6
Egan Reilly 6
Worrall 6
Esteve 7
Pires 6
Cullen 5
Brownhill 6
Hannibal 5
Foster 6
Kolesho 6
Anthony 6

Sarmiento 7
Fleming 7

[JimmyRobbo]

Trafford - 7 - He is rediscovering his confidence. Some excellent passes. Solid use of his hands. A couple of excellent punches. Got away with one too.
Egan-Riley - 6 - Not good enough on the ball to be an attackiing RB but he made a couple of excellent tackles. One where Murphy dived for a pen.
Worrall - 7 - I thought he was good. The type of player you love on your side. His determinatoin got us the winner. He may not be prem level.
Esteve - 7 - The odd imperfection but his usual self.
Pires - 7 - I thought he played very well. Those giving 4s obviously missed the 3 or 4 sublime touches which controlled the ball in dangerous zones.
Koleosho - 8 - Had some lovely moments. Probably the only dangerous player in 1st 45. Worked hard.
Cullen - 6 - OK
Brownhill - 7 - Not at his best but anyone who pulls out a winner when we weren't at our best deserves respect.
Anthony - 6 - Not convinced but he worked back and made an excellent tackle where he came up gimpy.
Hannibal - 7- Lots of nice touches. Tries to move us forwards.
Foster - 5 - Didn't come off, today. Not convinced he can play with his back to goal in that 9 role. Better moving with the ball in front of him.

Sarmiento - 8 - (MOM) Changed the game.
Fleming - 6 - OK
Laurent - 7 - Certainly not to be pushed about. A good sub who helped change the game. Been a good signing. SP seems to know how to use him.

The game wasn't a beauty. They came to do to us what we did to Leeds. They had no desire to push Trafford and were a very well organised team. You can see why they have such a good away record. We probably deserved a draw at minimum without really looking anything special. I though Pires played much better than most appearances. I am shocked at how some people graded him a 4. Some of his touches calmed situations which would have been real problems with CT.

Most of all, we won without really playing well. That's a very good sign as I think we will still gel together. Wasn't it great scoring the winner in IT after all their game playing? We've got to be happy with how the season has started.

[Vim Fuego]

Trafford 7
Egan-Riley 6
Worrall 7
Esteve 7
Pires 7
Cullen 6
Brownhill 7
Hannibal 6
Koleosho 6
Anthony 6
Foster 6

Flemming 7
Sarmiento 7
Laurent 7

Poor H1. Better H2, managed to break them down eventually. 3 Points. Job done

[Dark Cloud]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 5
Worral 7
Esteve 7
Pires 6
Cullen 6 (and tbf I'm normally a big fan)
Brownhill 8 (+1 for second goal)
Hannibal 6 (ran about ceaselessly, but didn't really impact the game)
Anthony 5
Koleosho 7 (at least he occasionally looked like he might cause Pompey's defence to break into a sweat)
Foster 5 (just a shadow tbh, but in his defence, service wasn't great!)

Sarmiento 8 (his trickery was key against a tiring defence)
Flemming 6

A game which would normally be a draw at best. We were never great, but tbf we did pick up after the initial substitutions. If we're serious about promotion we've got to look far better against these "also ran" teams and yet for long periods Pompey easily controlled us and the game which is worrying! Yes, the dreadful ref didn't help, but he wasn't the reason we were struggling. Too many players look "ok", but not "wow" and that's the difference between the play offs or even mid table and the top two and automatic promotion. I believe (I pray) we can improve once we get settled and bedded in. I'm out in town celebrating the victory, but not a single person I've spoken to thinks we really deserved it!

[RalphCoatesComb]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 6
Worrall 6
Esteve 7
Pires 7
Koleosho 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 7
Anthony 5
Hannibal 5
Foster 5

Sarmiento 8 *
Fleming 7
Laurent 7

[colne-claret]

Trafford - 7 - faster distribution today.
Egan-Riley - 4 - he isn’t a right back and it showed.
Worrall - 6 - not the most progressive defender but not a lot of moment ahead of him.
Esteve - 7
Pires - 5 - better second half but poor in first.
Cullen - 6
Brownhill - 6
Hannibal - 5
Koleosho - 6 - tried but didn’t get the support he needed.
Anthony - 5 - did he beat his man once?
Foster - 5 - I want to like him but I struggle to. So frustrating at times.

Sarmiento - 7 - great finish.

Special mention to Laurent - thought he brought some much needed energy when he came on and drove us forward a bit more.

[KlyBfc]

Trafford 6 not much to do
Egan Riley 6 defended well no real attacking outlet
Pires 5
Worrall 7
Esteve 7
Cullen 7
Hannibal 5
Brownhill 6 (+1 for the goal)
Anthony 5
Koleosho 6
Foster 6

Sarmiento 8
Laurent 7
Flemming 6

I like Hannibal and Brownhill but that did not work today. Both too similar and didnt get anywhere near Foster for nearly an hour to support him or offer a threat in the box. It was too easy and in front of Portsmouth. To be fair to them it did seem a Parker issue as even Flemming looked to play more of an advanced centre mid on the right than an actual ten.
Parker needs to address that formation at home for me. The 4-1-4-1 we looked like we were playing didnt work.

[Elizabeth]

Trafford 6 - steady away, nothing to do
Egan- Riley 6 - dug deep when needed.
Worrall 7 - steady Eddie
Esteve 7- looked comfortable
Pires 7 - kept his shape well
Cullen 6- still building up his sharpness
Brownhill 8 - covered nearly every blade of grass today and a nice black into the corner to use a snooker term
Hannibal 5 - poor today throughout the match. Not much physical presence
Koleosho 6 - couldn't find the spark he needed to overcome their close marking
Anthony 5 - got so much of the ball and kept making the same moves that got nowhere
Foster 5- poor play and poor attitude.

Subs
Sarmiento 9 - the match winner
Fleming 6 - clearly not match fit
Laurent 7 - moved well with the ball to move us up the field

First half we had the appearance of a team that thought they just had to turn up to win. The substitution to bring on Sarmiento was the key to the win.

[Stonehouse]

Only watched online today so how people can give Pires a 4 is a joke Matt Williams was Co commentator today and he reckoned Pires had a cracking and I thought both him and Egan-Riley coped really well.

[Anonymous Claret]

Trafford 7
Egan Riley 6
Worrall 6
Esteve 7
Pires 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 8
Hannibal 6
Koleosho 7
Foster 5
Anthony 6

Flemming 5
Laurent 6
Sarmiento 7

[The Shire Claret]

Some mad heads on here giving low scores for Pires, Trafford and Egan Riley

Trafford 7 - Solid - people saying he got away with one - Pope - Heaton and Muric did very similar things every match - never mentioned - low ballers sort your heads out ….

Egan-Riley 7 - 3rd choice right back for us and would start for most championship sides - more confidence abs won’t knock it out for throw ins

Worrall 7 - just needs to be a little quicker to the pass but got an assist

Esteve 7 - solid

Pires 7 - amazing control of the ball today and great off the ball - don’t know what some people are seeing giving him low scores

Koleosho 7 - double marked but ran his socks off

Cullen 7 - work work work

Brownhill 8 - work work work - amazing off the ball play

Anthony 6 - just lacked a bit of creativity

Hannibal 7

Foster 6 - Such a good player - nothing coming off for him

Sarmiento 7 - super sub - imagine he will replace Anthony at Oxford

Fleming 6 - looked good

Laurent 7 - what a player he is

I hope Pompy stay up … great support and solid team

[claretgilly]

Trafford 6
Egan-Riley 6
Worrall 6
Esteve 8
Pires 6
Cullen 6
Brownhill 7
Hannibal 5
Koleosho 5
Anthony 5
Foster 6

Flemming 7
Sarmiento 7
Laurent 7

A few of the old chaps walking out the Bob Lord declared it rubbish. I thought the 2nd half was good against another set of sh!thouses. 1st half was pretty slow out the traps, but we’re going to get games like that in this league

[Elizabeth]

Only watched online today so how people can give Pires a 4 is a joke Matt Williams was Co commentator today and he reckoned Pires had a cracking and I thought both him and Egan-Riley coped really well.

They did , there is an element of sheep following sheep in the markings

[KlyBfc]

He got a 5 off me because his failure to mark his man properly meant we conceded and said man had a free back post tap in. His erratic touch frustrates me (some times good others trampoline esc) and his failure to pass the ball to Foster when he started his run or when he asked for it meant he ran offside and had his goal dissallowed.

[fatboy47]

That first 55 mins made for grim watching..and much of the last 20 wasnt much better with a weak-as-p1ss referee unable to deal with a time-wasting display on a par with Rotherhams 2 seasons ago.

Trafford..6..got away with one today..had it gone in there'd be the usual lynch mob on here howling for his head on a spike.

CJ...6..Not a full back at this level.

Pires..6 Nowhere near the complete article but there's obvious potential...needs to get basics right.

Esteve..7..solid..hope he stays injury free..

Worral..5..Turgid...its like he thinks and acts in slow motion..if/when Beyer returns we'll become significantly more watchable..he's (worrall) a total non-carrier of the ball.

Kolo..7 almost unique in having a sense of urgency in first half.
Cullen..7 more positional awareness than the other 10 put together..
Brownhill...7..does what he does..top finish.
Anthony..5.. no end product, and in all honesty very little beginning and middle product either.
Hannibal..6 lots of harum-scarum but not much to show for it.
Foster ..6..dreadful first 45, but a 20 minute purple patch where he did a lot of impressive work later on.

Laurent..7...impressed by the way he was up to speed within seconds of coming on...i like him.
Sarm..8.. not sure what more he could have done.

[claretspice]

Very similar to the early games two years ago, although I'm not sure we've quite got the quality in possession of that team.

Trafford - 7 - very little to do but more calmness and less forcing it in possession would help.

Egan Riley - 5 - defensively fine but uncomfortable in possession and advancing forwards. Slightly surprising on paper that having struggled for game time at Jong PSV last season he's ahead of a right back who was in PSV's first team squad last season (and previously was first choice in a succesful Eredivise side) but the manager sees them in training.

Pires - 7 - our most composed player in the first half although one of many who might have done better for the goal.

Worrall - 6 - exposed for pace a couple of times and did a poor job of defending the near post for the goal, but kept his head nicely to tee up the winner. Not as calm in possession as I'd have hoped.

Esteve - 8 - commanding defensively even if he too didn't pass the ball as well as he might have and was another who might have intervened to stop a ball travelling right across the 6 yard box for the goal.

Cullen - 7 - neat enough in possession but we struggled to get him involved enough.

Brownhill - 6 - took his goal really well but guilty of forcing it a bit previously.

Hannibal - 7 - a couple of moments of quality showed what he's got in his locker and for a time in the first he threatened to take the game by the scruff of the neck, but ultimately he never quite looked comfortable in that free role.

Koleosho- 6 - some good moments and tried to make things happen without quite finding the quality.

Anthony - 5 - one nice snapshot aside, ineffective despite seeing more of the ball in space than most.

Foster - 6 - some glimpses, particularly after half time, but he didn't look comfortable coming short and one occasion aside when he didn't time his run we weren't able to workhim chances to run in behind.

Flemming - 6 - surprisingly rash in his time on the pitch but his movement was good and he provided an alternative focal point that gave Foster more scope to find space.

Sarmiento - 8- lovely reverse Benson to equalise and generally showed a greater ability to work space and deliver a killer ball than Anthony.

Laurent- 6 - good energy but his end product was indifferent and he didn't drop into pockets of space to help us build from deep like Cullen did. Looks to me like ideally he'd be an alternative to Brownhill rather than Cullen.

The first half really lacked spark and structure, although ironically Portsmouth scored just as we'd got on top and begun to impose ourselves. The second followed a similar pattern until the arrival of Flemming and Sarmiento markedly improved our shape, movement and quality in the final third. Flemming will have much more composed performances for us, but he provided an alternative focal point in the attacking third and with both him and Sarmiento comfortable showing short as well as stretching the game, suddenly there was more space for Koleosho and especially Brownhill and Foster. But even then we got suckered into trying to force the game and we conceded both possesion and cheap fouls as a result.

Still lots to do on the training ground, particularly to enable us to play from deep against a press. But whilst we don't quite look so clear in our identity as we did at the same stage 2 years ago, lots of the frustrations are the same. It took us four months to look the finished article so it won't happen overnight now.

[Im_not_Robbie_Blake]

Trafford 7 Had little to do but looked safe as houses
Egon-Riley 8 Gave it everything, particularly when going forward where he linked up well with Koleosho
Worrall 7 Had more touches than any other player in any other match, ever!
Steeeeve 8 His usual dependable self
Pires 7 Won me over at last
Cullen 7
Hannibal 7
Brownhill 9 Outstanding - really positive and strong captaincy when things got a bit nasty
Koleosho 8 Billy Whizz
Anthony 7
Foster 7

Subs – made a big difference
Sarmiento 9
Flemming 8 (He makes so many great forward runs that the rest of the team don’t appear to notice!)
Laurent 8
Jay – just a few mins

[Blyclaret]

For me Foster is not good enough.
Wasn't good enough in Championship when we signed him. Not good enough in premier and now not good enough in the championship again.

[Granny WeatherWax]

Pires 4 ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

[MDWat]

Trafford 7
Egan-Riley 6
Worrall 6
Esteve 8*
Pires 7
Cullen 5
Brownhill 6
Koleosho 6
Hannibal 5
Anthony 6
Foster 5

Sarmiento 7
Flemming 6

[Elizabeth]

For me Foster is not good enough.
Wasn't good enough in Championship when we signed him. Not good enough in premier and now not good enough in the championship again.

I just think he needs a season free of troubles. He started the PL season very well but then it all collapsed for him. I certainly wasn't impressed today by his performance and attitude but I read so often about what he is going through I can't but help wish him luck