Burnley v Preston - Player Ratings

[Jakubs Tash]

Trafford 5

Humphreys 5
Egan-Riley 5
Esteve 7
Pires 5

Cullen 6
Brownhill 5
Hannibal 5

Koleosho 4
Anthony 4
Foster 4

Fleming 5
Roberts 5

I have no idea what the identity of this team is and how they’re supposed to be playing. There are no obvious patterns and it’s very frustrating to watch. One shot on target today is abysmal.

We’ve basically had to watch the same game three times in 7 days (all against bang average championship teams) and it’s been incredibly dull.

[JohnMcGreal]

Trafford 5
Humphreys 4
Egan-Riley 6
Estève 8
Pires 5
Cullen 5
Brownhill 4
Anthony 4
Hannibal 5
Koleosho 4
Foster 4

Roberts 6

Once again we looked absolutely hopeless in the final third. Lucky to come away with a point.

That's our two Lancashire derbies done and dusted at home. Very disappointed that we've failed to win either of them.

[quoonbeatz]

This was pretty woeful. An away team intent on stopping and spoiling at every opportunity, a ridiculously weak referee who has no interest in controlling the game and a home team with practically no ideas going forward.

Trafford 6 nothing of significance to do

Humphreys 5 fine defensively but terrible in possession - not his fault of course

Egan-Riley 7 fine but a moronic booking

Esteve 8 a cut above anyone else on the pitch

Pires 5 one good ball a game isn’t enough

Cullen 5 no wonder he goes backwards given the dearth of options in front of him

Brownhill 5 he’d be better further forward in place of

Hannibal 6 who was our best of our central 3 today despite hardly being in the centre. Does well often to turn in there but also guilty of being too casual and he hasn’t got a creativity in him at all. I’d have left him on.

Koleosho 3 hopefully the hype machine around him will calm down now because he’s not going to live up to it. Really poor today.

Anthony 5 had a shot

Foster 6 lots of work and a stupid booking. Zero goal threat as we don’t play to his strengths and we don’t get anyone up and around him.

Roberts 6 good to have him back


The manager still gets more time for me but there has to be some improvement soon. We have better players than most of the teams in this league and it’s up to him to get the best from them. Not getting beat is always a good thing but the demands are higher and rightly so.

[Overseascricketer]

Trafford- 6. Back to flapping at some and so slow at times to get us going

Humphrey’s- 4. Had to sub him off. Today was the day you could tell he was a left footed cb being forced to play at rb.
CJ- 7. Steady Eddie. Gets stuck in and tries to get us going.
Esteve- 8. Man of the match. Do I need to say anymore?
Pires- 6. Does some things really well and then other things really poorly.

Cullen- 7. Tries really hard to get us going but no support from anyone else in the midfield.
Brownhill- 4. Goes missing in games far too often. Struggle to see how he is keeping his place over Laurent at the moment.
Hannibal- 5. Tries really hard to get on the ball and showed some nice touches. Not effective in the system he is playing in.

Anthony- 5. Does the boy tackle? But had some good touches in that first half.
Koleosho- 3. I find myself getting more and more frustrated as the season goes on. I’ve never seen a winger try and beat 4 men every single time he has the ball. Gives it away far too much. If only we had a winger who we could replace him with

Foster- 5. Lots of effort but him playing with his back to goal does not work at this level.

Flemming- 6. Threw himself about and tried to get us moving
Roberts- 6. Much better with him at right back
Sarmiento- 6. Looks to do too much with the ball
Laurent- 7. Gets stuck in moves the ball and looks to do everything a cm should be doing. Has to start against Sheff wed for his physicality

[dandeclaret]

Trafford 6 - Slow distribution
Humphries 5 - square peg
Estève 7 - very good
ER 6 - effective, but slow on the ball
Pires 5 - looks clumsy
Cullen 5 - anonymous
Brownhill 5 - can’t turn out, can’t pass
Hannibal 6 - worked hard, decent feet, not a 10
Koleosho 4 - Tasmanian devil
Anthony 4 - have we re- signed Junior Stanislas? Limited pace, no trick
Foster 4 - isolated, not a lone striker

Flemming 4 - did he touch the ball?
Roberts 6 - made a difference

Lack tempo, lacked a passer in midfield, forwards too eager to get on tbenoreston back line which played into their hands. A solid, but uninspiring performance

[Colburn_Claret]

I have no idea what the identity of this team is and how they’re supposed to be playing. There are no obvious patterns and it’s very frustrating to watch. One shot on target today is abysmal.

We’ve basically had to watch the same game three times in 7 days (all against bang average championship teams) and it’s been incredibly dull.

This

[AlargeClaret]

Trafford -6 -nowt to do for the Cumbrian Cat
Humphreys - 5 out of position and out of sorts
Egan-Riley - 6 steady enough and nice recovery from the double barrelled manc.
Esteve - 7 ( mom) smooth operating from the slick Frenchman
Pires - 6 improved 1st half from the Brazilian Ray Deakin
Anthony - 5 linked well with Pires 1st half but a lack of end product from the Hackney flyer .
Cullen - 6- steady as she goes for the Irish terrier
Brownhill - 5 sluggish afternoon and not the jug eared battler of old .
Hannibal - 5 he certainly offers something , broke play up ,but a bit scrappy from the wild man .
Koleosho - 4 bad day at the office for the American trickster
Foster - 5 -bit lazy? (imo) neither is he quick enough , poor hold up play , and more needed from the twinkle toed Sowetan.

Roberts - 6 lively half from the Welsh firebrand.

[Leyland Claret]

Trafford - 5 Absolutely nowt to do but the amount of time he wastes with the ball at his feet is frustrating.
Humphreys - 5 Not his best game. Control and passing was definitely off today.
Egan-Riley - 4 Gives me kittens every time he has the ball at his feet. Slower than a tax rebate.
Esteve - 8 This lad just looks pure quality. Bailed out CJER on a couple of occasions
Pires - 4 I don’t know where they found this lad but he looks like he’s just been picked by someone who saw him for a couple of minutes on Copacabana beach.
Koleosho - 5 Don’t know why he keeps trying to come inside and running into trouble. Attack the full back especially as that man was Brady who can’t defend and is a walking yellow card.
Cullen - 4 What has happened to the JC that used to unpick defences. Totally crab like and slowing us right down.
Brownhill - 4 Totally devoid of anything that try to progress us up the pitch. The invisible man.
Anthony - 5 Huff and puff but no real quality. The only one though that got a shot on target today.
Hannibal - 4 Runs around a lot, doesn’t mark anyone, loses the ball on regular occasions and I don’t even think he knows what position he’s supposed to be playing.
Foster - 3 I understand strikers feed off chances but this man is just not a striker. He doesn’t have the instinct. If he played like he moaned and feigned injury we’d have a player but he’s just not very good.

Roberts - 6 Made more forward forays than BH but still struggled to make anything happen.
Flemming - 5 Not enough time to get into the game.

I get we are still a work in progress but, apart from Steve, there is a distinct lack of quality in the squad. How on earth we are up the top end of the table is a mystery to me because we are a poor team.

[Silkyskills1]

JT - 6
Humphreys - 5
Egan-Riley - 5
Esteve - 8
Pires - 5
Anthony - 4
Cullen - 6
Brownhill - 6
Hannibal - 5
Koleosho - 4
Foster - 3

Roberts - 6

Dross today and should be beating teams like PNE at home. Need some players back from injury asap so we can see the back of Egan-Riley and a new striker in January.

Unfair. That sounds like you are singling him out for our inability to score a goal. Meanwhile, he's helped the defence to 3 clean sheets on the bounce. Why him?

[Enola Gay]

Trafford (6) - Nothing wrong with his goalkeeping and his distribution wasn't any worse than anyone else's.
Humphries (5) - Not a full back, and it showed.
Estève (7) - Levels above everyone else on the pitch.
Egan-Riley (5) - He'd be fifth choice CB even if we only had four
Pires (5) - That game against Luton seems an awful long time ago, doesn't it?
Cullen (5) - Making a pretty good case for Josh Laurent to start.
Brownhill (5) - Not on it today.
Hannibal (6) - Got half of their midfield on yellows with his ability to turn, so naturally we subbed him off...
Koleosho (5) - PNE created an infinite supply of blind alleys for him and he found every one.
Anthony (5) - Held on doggedly to his hard-won spot on the periphery of the game.
Foster (5) - Looked as poor as you'd expect in a system seemingly wilfully designed to get nothing out of him.

Roberts 5 - Not much of an improvement on Humphries.

I'm getting increasingly concerned that this is not a team just waiting to eventually click, rather a team playing exactly to a gameplan that's unlikely to work without a Mitrovic.

I'd expect the last four teams we've played to finish bottom half this season and at times we've looked worryingly passive and inept against all of them, especially today. Just what kind of team are we actually trying to be?

[Blyclaret]

“Slower than a tax rebate” thats a first for me …

[Murger]

Trafford - 6. Dithers too much.
Humphreys - 5. Not a right back.
CJ - 6. Solid enough but again, slow.
Esteve - 8. A class above this league.
Pires - 5. Nope. Poor going both ways.
Brownhill - 5. Dogger.
Cullen - 5. Like Brownhill, but slower.
Koleosho - 4. Running into blind alleys, constantly.
Hannibal - 5. Still not getting him.
Anthony - 5. Does he know how to take a man on?
Foster - 4. A waste of a shirt.


Roberts - 6.
Flemming - 5.

Parker - 4. This lineup isn’t working. His style of play, isn’t working.

[fungus_the_bogeyman]

Trafford 6
Humphries 4
Pires 5
Esteve 8*
Egan-Riley 6
Cullen 5
Brownhill 6
Hannibal 6
Anthony 4
Koleosho 5
Foster 5

Roberts 5

[Ric_C]

Not relly sure what we are trying to do at the moment. We play it short in an attempt to suck the teams in, but we have no real out ball, and the switch ball is hardly ever on either. Play it into Foster and he just loses it. Play it into any of the midfield 3 and they just pass it backwards. Felt sorry for Pires today as everytime he got it there was nothing on for him. We need to sacrifice one of the midfield 3 for another forward runner. Not sure what the answer is at the moment, but even when we were slightly on top, we weren't getting bodies into the box. Where are the goals going to come from in this team? Brownhill seems to be the only player who can hit the ball with any real venom. Also Brownhill and Hannibal are very similar players in my book and shouldn't be playing in the same team.

Parker worries me. He should have made tactical changes after 20 mins as their shape was causing us real problems. We were lucky not to lose tbh. That's 3 terrible halves of football in a row now.

Thank God for Esteve

Trafford 6 - Did one decent save, other than that, was ok
Humphreys 5 - Looks lost at right back
Egan-Riley 5
Esteve 8
Pires 6
Cullen 5 - one of his worst games for us
Brownhill 5
Hannibal 5
Koleosho 4 - Could do with a rest. Tries to do to much. Parker needs to coach him when to make runs in behind, as most of the time he just stands by the touchline not getting involved, then just runs into traffic.
Anthony 5 - Was playing ok on the left, looked lost on the right.
Foster 4 - Needs to grow a pair and get more physical
Fleming 5
Roberts 5

Will give Parker a pass due to all the upheaval, but we need to start seeing improvements after the break, as currently this is awful stuff.

[bfcmik]

Trafford 7
Humphries 5 Tried hard but being out of position didn't work for him.
Estève 7
ER 6
Pires 6
Cullen 4 - worst display I've seen him have for us
Brownhill 4 - ditto
Hannibal 6
Koleosho 3 - very poor
Anthony 3 - (inc 1 for the 1st half shot on goal! The 2 'chicken out of the tackle' just before he was subbed summed up his day)
Foster 3 - Huffed, puffed, couldn't trap the ball, fell over!

Flemming 5
Roberts 6

[fidelcastro]

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

Roberts 6

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Trafford 6
Humprehys 5
Egan -Reilly 5
Esteve 8 class above
Pires 5
Cullen 5
Brownhill 5
Hannibal 7
Anthony 6
Kolesho 4
Foster 4

Roberts 6

Too defensive and too slow. A tough watch. Plus the added bonus of a 10 mile journey home taking over an hour.

[Vino blanco]

From tv and not needing to watch the full replay
Tafford 6 nothing to do
Humphrys 5 not a right back he had to be subbed
CJ 6 ok
Esteve 8 mom make him captain tomorrow
Pires 6 decent in bits
Hannibal 4 I have'nt got a clue what his role is
Brownhill 5 ran about a bit
Cullen 6 totally isolated in midfield
Anthony 3 chicken, hope he doesn't start ever again
Foster 6 He is playing up front totally isolated with a powder puff midfield behind him totall devoid of any support at all
Koleosho 3 waste of space today, he needs dropping or subbing earlier. The coaching team need to sit him down and point out the basics of the game
Roberts 7 made a difference when he came on.
That was a powder puff, gutless display against a spoiling PNE team who knew exactly what they were doing. We were out run, out thought, out muscled and out tacticked by a crap Preston team.
Parker needs to have a complete rethink about his team selection and tactics. Anthony, Koleosho, Hannibal, Brownhill were scared today by a team willing to fight for the cause.....it was men against boys. Very disappointed and frustrated after that bag of sh!te. I really don't want to even listen to the post match interviews an comments.

[Poulton-le-Claret]

Unfair. That sounds like you are singling him out for our inability to score a goal. Meanwhile, he's helped the defence to 3 clean sheets on the bounce. Why him?

Egan Riley? I suppose mostly frustration with injuries, that a bloke who is 7/8th choice CB, is having to play - ranking him behind Esteve, Beyer, Worrall, Ekdal, Egan, Humphreys and Delcroix. Hope he is shipped out once we get any one of the above back.

There are a few others who deserve serious criticism though, Foster being the worst performing player we have at the minute.

[claretgimmer]

rafford 6 Seems to think being cool is more important than being effective when it comes to distribution
Humphries 4 Hapless
Estève 8 The one bright light in an otherwise dark team performance
Egan Riley 5 Defensively ok but distribution woeful
Pires 5 One minute looks good then the next all over the shop, not sure on him
Cullen 5 Expect a lot more from Josh we know he has it
Brownhill 5 Not contributing much at all these days but somehow he is our leading scorer which is worrying
Hannibal 6 Never short of commitment but has to be better with the ball
Koleosho 3 Ran down too many blind alleys, surely the coaching staff can help him better than they do
Anthony 3 No commitment, no effort, no end product, Sariamento should be starting
Foster 4 Worst target man we`ve ever had, poor ball control, not the worlds best finisher can`t hold it up but in fairness we don`t play to his strengths nor does he receive much quality service, not our best option when playing this system and if he is we are in deep do dah

Flemming 5 did more in his short cameo than some that started, has to start
Roberts 5 Not his biggest fan but he has to be better at right back than Bashir

Parker 3 I can only think he doesn`t see what we see because after Tuesdays second half I din`t think we could play that bad again but he picked the same team who then went on to prove we could actually play worse and yet watched for too long IMO before he made any changes, we may be top 3 at the moment but top half will be a struggle come May if these performances persist, Boring, predictable tripe.

[IanMcL]

Trafford 5 - despite little to do, he slowed it down when we needed speed and still had some wayward passes.
Humphreys 4 roasted
Egan-Riley 6
Esteve 8
Pires 7 very good first half. Key passes

Koleosho 5 pass!
Cullen 5
Brownhill 6
Hannibal 6
Anthony 6

Foster 5

Roberts 5
Flemming 5

An awful watch. Will we ever score again?

[CoolClaret]

Trafford 6
Humphreys 5
Estève 8*
Egan-Riley 7
Pires 6
Cullen 5
Brownhill 6
Hannibal 7
Koleosho 4
Anthony 5
Foster 5

Roberts 6

It's games like today where you realise that some of the players we purchased simply aren't as good as the ones that we had last time at this level.

Fortunately, we still have many to come back from injury in positions where we desperately need reinforcements, namely attacking midfield.

Trafford fine, I just noticed on one long ball in the second half when we had a man over his attempt to play the ball to him lacked pace and had a ton of back spin which looped it up in the air - it's those times where Muric can absolutely nail a low stinger for a player to run on to that gave us this etra dimension at this level.

Feel harsh a bit banging the drum against some of our younger players but this is why myself and others were so critical of the weird treatment of many of our 22/23 stars last season, ostracising them and then ultimately losing them - for all of Koleosho's dynamism he isn't as good of a footballer as players like Anass and when we are playing predominantly with the ball, that's when you need footballers that can make correct decisions (more often than not) and comfortably pass/receive/cross the ball with either foot in tight positions... Our wingers are nowhere near what they were the last time at this level.

If we are to persist with wingers then I'd have Flemming as a false 9, Foster on the left & Koleosho on the right (similar to Klopp's Liverpool) but personally I wouldn't play with wingers with this squad.

Two up top, pack midfield and have our width coming from fullback. 4-2-2-2 /4-3-1-2 - similar setup to Ancelotti's Madrid/AC

[Hapag Lloyd]

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

Roberts 6

[helmclaret]

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

Fleming 5
Roberts 6

I hope once Fleming becomes a regular starter and we get Laurent into the midfield to add some steel and presence, performances will pick up.

It’s far too early to start having a go at Parker. He did a preseason with a different squad.

Whether it’s Foster or the set up, we have absolutely no goal threat. Something has to change up top.

On the plus side, points wise we can’t ask for much more. Clean sheets are not to be sniffed at, despite a lot on here writing them off as nothing.

[LincsWoldsClaret]

Trafford 6
Humphreys 5
Egan-Riley 6 appeared to be booked twice by the marvellous ref
Estève 8* different class
Pires 7
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6 football decent, captaincy poor
Anthony 6
Hannibal 7
Koleosho 6
Foster 5

Roberts 6

[strayclaret]

Trafford 6
Humphreys 5
Egan-Riley 6
Estève 8
Pires 6
Cullen 5
Brownhill 5
Anthony 5
Hannibal 6
Koleosho 3 I thought great when he changed position at half time he’ll go on the outside. No he didn’t
Foster 3

Roberts 6
Well I can get to Hull and Sheffield quicker than the Turf.After that load of garbage no chance l’ll save £140

[Dark Cloud]

Trafford 5 (easy sideways distribution, but dangerous and terrible longer pssses)
Humphreys 6 (ok defence, but poor in an attacking mode)
Egan- Riley 6
Esteve 7
Pires 7 (much more offensive than Humphreys and got us on the front foot)
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Hannibal 7
Anthony 6
Koleosho 6
Foster 4

Roberts 5
Sarmiento 5
Others N/A

PNE will finish comfortably mid table just like they have for the past 30? years and on today's showing, so will we! We could have gone top today, but looked far more likely to lose it and after 75 minutes I was begging for the final whistle and happy to take the point!! I'd like to say we had an off day, but I've seen almost every game this season and it's a recurring theme. Dominating possession really isn't a problem, but actually doing anything dangerous with all that ball definitely is. We're slow, ponderous, predictable and lightweight and teams are unashamedly setting up to stifle us and stifle the entire game and we have no answer. PNE out ran, out fought, out thought and out muscled us and they found it all pretty easy to kill the game. I said a few weeks ago (after the Rovers game) we could and would definitely get better. This evening I'm actually not so sure about that. The players are good, but being good doesn't get you into the top two. You've got to be better than that!
PS. The utterly awful refereeing today didn't help, but it's not to blame for us not playing well enough to win.

[RammyClaret61]

From Tv

Trafford 5
Humprehys 4
Egan -Reilly 5
Esteve 7
Pires 5
Cullen 5
Brownhill 6
Hannibal 4
Anthony 4
Kolesho 3
Foster 3

Roberts 5

Absolute dire performance. Not helped by spoiling tactics from them, and an inept referee. But still don’t think we would’ve scored if we were still playing now.

[Blyclaret]

I thought Flemming looked very unfit.

[AfloatinClaret]

...performance. Not helped by spoiling tactics from them...

Why wouldn't they? The vast majority of teams visiting Turf Moor this season are going to be happy with and play for a draw

As for the MOM, I'm in agreement that Esteve was far and away the best current Burnley player on the pitch, but Robbie Brady was superb for PNE.

[Elizabeth]

Trafford -6 -nowt to do for the Cumbrian Cat
Humphreys - 5 out of position and out of sorts
Egan-Riley - 6 steady enough and nice recovery from the double barrelled manc.
Esteve - 7 ( mom) smooth operating from the slick Frenchman
Pires - 6 improved 1st half from the Brazilian Ray Deakin
Anthony - 5 linked well with Pires 1st half but a lack of end product from the Hackney flyer .
Cullen - 6- steady as she goes for the Irish terrier
Brownhill - 5 sluggish afternoon and not the jug eared battler of old .
Hannibal - 5 he certainly offers something , broke play up ,but a bit scrappy from the wild man .
Koleosho - 4 bad day at the office for the American trickster
Foster - 5 -bit lazy? (imo) neither is he quick enough , poor hold up play , and more needed from the twinkle toed Sowetan.

Roberts - 6 lively half from the Welsh firebrand.

Enjoyed your slick names. Does Humphreys not get one ?

[JohnMac]

Trafford 6
Humphries 5
Estève 7*
Egan-Ryley 6
Pires 6
Cullen 5
Brownhill 5
Hannibal 7
Koleosho 4
Anthony 5
Foster 4

Flemming 6
Roberts 5

[JimmyRobbo]

I can't see where our goals are coming from.
I thought that at times with the VK championship side, too, so take it for what it's worth!

A number of our players playing in their 2nd best positions. Still, another point and a 4th clean sheet in the last 5 games.

Trafford 7
Humphreys 6 - Looked OK but why is he starting instead of the lad from the Netherlands? Was it to deal with a big side?
Egan-Riley 7 - I thought he did well apart from allowing their man to beat him on the touchline at the end of the 1st 45.
Esteve 8* - MOM
Pires 7 - I like him. I think he will develop to be a very good player.
Cullen 6
Brownhill 6
Hannibal 6
Koleosho 5 - Difficult to be the focal point of attack with nothing to aim at. No wonder he runs into dead ends.
Anthony 5
Foster 6 - As others can see, we're just not using him to his strength.

Subs:
Roberts 6
Flemming 6
Sarmiento n/a
Laurent n/a

[ashtonlongsider]

Trafford 6-Didn't have an awful lot to do.
Humphreys 5-Poor game by his standards and I couldn't understand why he didn't play CB.
Egan-Riley 5-Hit and miss for me.
Estève 8*-Thank goodness we have him.The only player who looked composed and comfortable.
Pires 5-Not sure about this lad to be frank. Positioning at times alarming.
Cullen 6-Better than his CM partner and extra point for having decency to have photo with my grandchild.
Brownhill 4-Very poor game imo.
Anthony 6-Played well in first half but faded in second.
Hannibal 7-I thought he had a very good game. Think him being subbed was to save him getting a red.
Koleosho 4-Frustrating, heavily marked in first half and running up blind alley's in the second.
Foster 4-If he's our main goalscoring outlet, we can forget promotion imo.

Roberts 6-Didn't have a great influence on the game, but in all frankness who did?

[Roosterbooster]

Trafford 7 Made a decent save. Really good cover to get out at one point near the halfway line and nullify a potential 1-on-1. Flapped at one cross and a couple of dodgy passes

Humphreys 5 Sloppy with the ball. I think he will be an excellent CB though
Esteve 8 Nothing new needs to be said
CJER 6 He's OK. Always has a mistake in mind. Played a really decent ball through to Koleosho in 1st half, but generally too slow on the ball
Pires 6 I've seen glimpses of real quality, but at times doesn't look like a footballer. Much better when playing with a winger who likes to come inside and use him on the overlap

Cullen 6 He was bullied. Gone from POY 2 years ago to not even being in my starting XI
Brownhill 6 Ineffective. Didn't drive us forward. Sloppy picking up their midfield. No press
Hannibal 6 I like him, but I have no idea what his role is. Looked to be man marking Koleosho part of the 1st half

Anthony 7 I like him. Partly effective, and at least got us into the box
Koleosho 4 Didn't look interested. Wasn't even looking in the direction of the ball half the time. Can't defend. Doesn't have a scooby about helping out his FB. Doesn't track. Starting position all over the place for attacking runs. Bad touch. No final ball. Doesn't use his runners. Made Brady's afternoon easy. Did very well at running into the opposition though

Foster 5 Two good runs. Good strength. But ineffective. Doesn't work in this system whatsoever (although everyone seems to be struggling in this system)

Roberts 7 Made a difference. Mainly because he appeared in the opposition half, unlike Humphreys
Flemming 7 Hope to see much more. Puts himself about and I can see him being out top scorer by a mile

Sarmiento and Laurent. Not on long enough but both look good enough to start

Parker 3. Fulham and B'mouth fans warned us. The points tally flatters us. We've been outplayed for at least 20 mins in every game this season. And it's getting longer and longer. 1 goal in last 3 games really does reflect our goal threat. Worrying times

[CoolClaret]

Hannibal 6 I like him, but I have no idea what his role is. Looked to be man marking Koleosho part of the 1st half

Right now, I think that Hannibal's role is to win possession high up the pitch and is tasked with doubling up with teammates to win the ball back off a player.

He gets through an absolute sh1t ton of work, just lacking a bit of creative quality needed in the final third.

[vinrogue]

Trafford – 5 distribution too slow and allowed PNE time to organise

Humphreys – 4 looked lost and out of position
CJER – 6
Esteve – 9 – read the danger well, becoming a favourite
Pires -6

Cullen – 5
Brownhill – 5
Hannibal – 5

Anthony – 4 –
Koleosho – 4 –
Foster – 4

[Bosscat]

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

Roberts 5

[Dark Cloud]

Right now, I think that Hannibal's role is to win possession high up the pitch and is tasked with doubling up with teammates to win the ball back off a player.

He gets through an absolute sh1t ton of work, just lacking a bit of creative quality needed in the final third.

Hannibal reminds me of Dean Marney. He's full of running and is incredibly fit. His commitment is unquestionable and he literally gives his all. He's excellent at breaking up play and winning the ball and also at holding onto it as he's extremely strong. Having said all that, he's rarely creative, he doesn't have the ability to open up a well locked defence, he has zero goal threat and adds nothing in the final third. I actually rather like him and I thought he possibly had his best game against PNE, but is he the sort of player who can get us into the top two? I'm not sure.

[ecc]

Trafford 6: Those high balls are still problematical. One or two dodgy kicks but a good save from Robbie Brady’s vicious volley.
Humphreys 6: Solid enough.
Egan-Riley 6: (Would give 6.5). He’s learning and although his “mentor” is but a year older, he’s lucky to be learning from him.

Estève 8: Imperious. Didn’t put a foot wrong. Showed pace. We even had a Beyeresque run in the second-half. I hope it’s the start of something permanent because he could become a top-class libero.
Pires 6: Improving offensively although the cross for the disallowed goal came down his and he had a hard time with Kelser-Hayden.
Cullen 6: Not as good as against Plymouth.
Brownhill 5: He’s just not contributing enough for me. Why doesn’t he go forward more to support Foster?
Koloesho 5: I think his confidence is shot to pieces. Thought he would get hooked early doors but SP kept him on to try to give him the time to get back on track.
Hannibal 7: Getting better by the game. However, he doesn’t get near enough to Foster. Glad to see him not lose it during the melees. Showing signs of self-discipline.
Foster 6: “6” for effort. The fact he had to come deep at times was telling of the lack of service. Desperately needs a goal (and someone up top with him).
Anthony 6: Got credit for effort and our shot on target.

Roberts 6: A natural RB who pushed forward. He needs time to get fit.

Flemming 6: Not on long enough to get into the game. We all hope he’ll be fully fit come Wednesday.


Poor. Until we get someone close to Foster i.e. Flemming or replace him with the latter it’s not going to happen.

I think some of us should treat the other teams in the division because they are NOT rubbish.

[the_magic_rat]

Trafford 5

Humphries 5
Egan-Riley 6
Esteve 8
Pires 6

Koleosho 5
Cullen 6
Brownhill 5
Anthony 5

Hannibal 7
Foster 5

Roberts 6

[Roosterbooster]

Right now, I think that Hannibal's role is to win possession high up the pitch and is tasked with doubling up with teammates to win the ball back off a player.

He gets through an absolute sh1t ton of work, just lacking a bit of creative quality needed in the final third.

Problem was, he was only really ever close to Koleosho when we had the ball. And they were just in each others way. We don't do a very good job winning the ball back high up the pitch. Our press is pretty poor compared to the previous regime. I'm sad to say we didn't miss Hannibal yesterday. Which is a shame, because I really think he offers us something. But that might be in stead of Brownhil, not alongside him. And Brownhill isn't getting dropped