Man of the Match & Player Ratings vs Sunderland (H) - Play-Off Semi Special

[Daizan10]

1 hour ago, trotter said:

NML                   5 No end product - a poor man's JJ

I think a lot of Owls have blue tinted memories of JJ, the man was a wizard in a 1 v 1, but 9/10 crosses/ shots went nowhere near the target. A player with a poor end product is just a JJ. 

[Daizan10]

BPF - 6 

Storey - 6 
Dean - 7 
Hutchinson - 7

Hunt - 6
Johnson - 7
Luongo - 6 

Byers - 6 
Bannan - 7
Windass - 6 

Gregory - 8 MOM

Palmer - 6 
Berahino - 6 
NML - 5
 

[OwlerIT2]

BPF: 6.5

Storey: 5     Very poor for their goal

Hunt: 6. Thought he was quieter than normal 
Dean: 7 - Hope we sign him up 

Hutchinson: 7.5 Warrior and very bad head injury there - he looked like he’d just supped 15 pints as he walked off. Great from the fans singing his name but doubt he will remember.

Johnson: 8 Superb run and cross for our goal. Great left foot. Wish he would have a few long range shots though.

Luongo: 6.5 - He got more forward than Bannan in 2nd half. Was steady.

Byers: 8 - Played well but was in the wars on more than one occasion. Took a bad knock to his knee that slowed him down. 

Bannan: 7.5  Didn’t seem to play as far forward again. Superb defence opening pass for our goal. 

Windass: 6 - Looked knackered in 2nd half until subbed. Not fit.

Gregory: 8 - Great finish, led the line okay.

 

Palmer: 5.5 Thought he could have done better for their goal. Dunno.

Paterson: 5.5 

Mendez-Laing: 5 Didn’t get him on the ball and looked asleep for their goal and didn’t track back until too late.

Berahino: 5.5 

 

still feeling MEH and very down - how many times did we really test their keeper?  It’s been a common theme all season.  
We go again.

Edited May 10, 2022 by OwlerIT2

[victorturner]

15 hours ago, Bez said:

BPF - 6

Poor kicking in the first half.  Better in the second.  Not much to do. 
 

Hunt - 7

Decent enough and got forward.  Goal came from right side when he departed. 
 

Storey - 5

At fault for the goal as he let his man get past him.  Outmuscled but was ok in spells.  
 

Dean - 8

Won almost everything.  Good game and some crunching tackles. 
 

Hutchinson - 6

Hit and miss.  He’s lost a step and time to retire. 
 

Johnson - 7

Defended well and some great crosses including the assist.  Didn’t get at them as much as needed. 
 

Luongo - 6

Off the pace a bit.  Not great passing at crucial moments but came alive in the second half with tackling. 
 

Byers - 6

Mostly anonymous and some poor passes.  
 

Bannan - 7

Gorgeous reverse thru ball before the goal.  Some terrible long balls to no one but grew into the game.  
 

Gregory - 8

Got his goal.  Struggled to hold the ball up but that got better as things went on.  Nice link up play. 
 

Windass - 7

A threat at times but more effective when he drops deep and drives forward.  Didn’t do that enough (tactics?)

 

Palmer - 7

Solid at the back mostly and some good runs forward. 
 

NML - 5

Delays the pass all the time.  Just pass and move Ffs. 
 

Paterson - 7

Needed him on sooner.  His type of game and he put us on the front foot with his physicality. 
 

Berahino - 5

Not enough time tbh but couldn’t make an impact. 
 

Moore - 7

Good tactics but late with the subs. NML for Hunt was a killer.  

On Moore, I did not realise from TV that Palmer was being placed directly into Hutch's place, which I understand to be the case.

I rather assumed that he would play on the right side of the centre back trio so he would be covering their left wing.

 

Clarke attacked where we were weakest with Storey on the right without Hunt to assist him,  a guy who has played rb before being converted into a wing back,  and it was N M-L in Hunt's place. 

I also question the choice of our key player's partner upfront. Gregory did not need a dasher and needed a guy he had worked with before. 

 

I haven't worked out whether we needed three centre backs against their one striker but I suspect we had to have three because DM likes wing backs. However, we needed another midfield player rather than the third centre back. Our midfield was struggling in both legs.

[victorturner]

7 hours ago, doubleo said:

Dean and Gregory for me. Midfield 3 all off their game, or not allowed to play it. Lumping it up to Gregory surrounded by 2 giants was ridiculous but seemed our only option at times but there was no one within touching distance for the second ball. Just not good enough.

Suspect our midfieldwas undermanned, and our central defence over manned with Stewart their lone striker. 

[victorturner]

7 hours ago, blueandwhitematt said:

BPF 6 

Distribution was poor but otherwise didn’t have much to do.

 

Storey 6 

Battled away but (unsurprisingly) he’s another L1 defender who is uncomfortable when rolling it round the back. 
 

Dean 7 

Grew into the game. Just a shame we hadn’t got him a bit more match fit. 
 

Hutch 6 

Solid enough but just lacked a little edge. 
 

Hunt 5

Pinned back by the tactics of both managers, couldn’t get into the game. 
 

Johnson 6

Lovely assist but again struggled with the match tactics. 
 

Luongo 4

Looked shattered most of the two games. Maybe wasn’t fit? Sad way to end for a good player. 
 

Byers 5 

Tried to get a bit more involved but game seemed to be happening a yard too quick. 
 

Bannan 6

Suffered due to Luongo and Byers being unable to get the ball to him. One moment of quality created the goal. Looked like a man playing through the pain barrier too. 
 

Windass 5

Rolled the dice with him but looked every bit a player just coming from injury. Tried hard so hard to knock too much. 
 

Gregory 8

A terrific strikers performance, battled hard against tough centre backs, took his goal well, and fed off scraps. We’ll do well to keep him next season. 
 

Subs

Palmer 6

Would have to watch the goal back at some point to see if was at fault, but generally thought he looked solid. 
 

Paterson 7

Good hustle, seemed to open things up a bit more. Should have come on sooner. 
 

NML 4

Shadow of the player he was when signed. Poor decision making at both ends of pitch cost us. 
 

Berahino 5

Not on long enough to really comment. 

Do you mean that the wing backs were under orders not to attack too much?

[victorturner]

2 hours ago, Holmowl said:

Windass isn’t a striker. His partner will always be isolated.

True he's not and partner isolated also partly because he is a solo dasher who excites the crowd but often ignores his team mates. Notable foul mouthed rant at Pelupessy when Joey requested the ball in a scoring position late last season. Knowing Gregory is in a hot streak, we needed someone to support him . DM said he was freshening things but it only worked superficially. 

[blueandwhitematt]

10 minutes ago, victorturner said:

Do you mean that the wing backs were under orders not to attack too much?

Whether explicitly told or not, I thought we were more concerned about being solid and started deeper, than getting up the pitch. Especially first half. Almost like we didn’t want to go a goal down first half.  So we let another 45 ebb away. 
 

To me that looked partially due to Sunderland’s wide players pinning us back, but also partly us letting them and not giving them something to think about and getting higher up ourselves. 

[Holmowl]

Massive thank you to @Emerson Thome for doing these this season.

 

Big part of Owlstalk.

[Screen Door Slams]

BPF    -    6       The score that kinda sums up his season.

 

Storey    -    5    Started really well when he first came , but dropped off quite badly , uncomfortable in possession , I wouldn`t be looking to sign him back.

Dean    -    6.5      Did OK without really standing out.

Hutchinson    -    8     Thought he was immaculate after Fridays horror show , snuffed out everything and it was telling how vulnerable we looked once he went off.

 

Hunt    -    6     Tireless as always , disappointing end product as always , seems to be Moore`s go to whipping boy.

Bannan    -   6.5    Gorgeous ball for the goal , but too many overhit passes , gets an extra point for playing whilst clearly not fully fit.

Byers    -    6    Badly misused by Moore , why was he detailed to Pritchard ? , surely that was Luongo`s job.

Luongo    -    5    In all honesty he has been poor this last month and last night was no exception...looked sluggish and off the pace....thanks and farewell for me.

Johnson    -    6.5    Better than of late , good cross for goal . nullified by Neil`s tactics.

 

Gregory    -     7   Received really poor service , goal really ignited him and TBF he was the only one who looked like he might win it for us.

Windass    -    6    Still far from up to speed , but picking him was one of the few things that DM got right as even as rusty as he is  , he still offers more than Berahino, Kamberi, Shodipo , Sow etc etc.

 

Mendez-Laing    -    5    Actually put a couple of good crosses in but he is a winger not a wingback as their goal clearly showed....doesn`t excuse his lack of application though........if we plan on sticking with 3-5-2 then it`s pointless keeping him.

Paterson    -    5    Had no effect , another I would let go.

Berahino    -    5    See above

Palmer    -    5     Same old , same old ,  a below average player who gets enormous amounts of slack cus he is one of our own (f*** me , I`ve done it now , the LP mafia will be after me )

 

OVERALL

 

So f***in frustrating , it wasn`t as if Sunderland were any great shakes but they stifled us.

 

3-5-2 has served us well since the turn of the year but it didn`t work on Friday , and it definitely wasn`t working last night.

 

Neil shoved his two wide men right on our wingbacks forcing us inside , where we proceeded to pass it aimlessly across the back 3 until the inevitable hoof straight down Danny Baath`s throat.

 

For 3 of the 4 "half`s" our midfield sat way too deep and as uncomfortable as it may be to admit we looked toothless and lethargic for the two biggest games of the season..........our lack of urgency and guile even managed to silence a full house until the equalizer , and I,m sorry to all the DM fans but he must take his share of the blame for this............there was no change of shape or gameplan when we were clearly struggling and no sign of any pre-planned set pieces from the numerous corners and free kicks we had.

 

[Bez]

8 hours ago, Bouncing Owl said:

Personally, I thought Ross Stewart won everything against Harlee Dean. I thought storey was our best player until injury time. 

I couldn’t disagree more. 
 

Literally the opposite.  
 

Storey lost a lot of headers.  Dean won all of them. 

[Marc_Degryse]

Not sure how Gregory has run away with MoTM TBH. OK so he executed what could've been a crucial moment in the game for us, but other than that we hardly got him into the game.

 

Thought Luongo was one of the few players that played to their best last night, he was everywhere winning the ball back pressing. He even led a few charges forward at times, got a grip of the midfield a lot better than on Friday.

 

Just really hope that wasn't his last game for us, we have arguably the best midfield three in the division and if we kept them together then automatic promotion is a real possibility next season.

[Arootatat]

For all those that said BPF had not much to do he should have commanded his box and told bannan to leave it and claimed the ball .Myself and all around me voiced the same .

It was a major factor in their goal 

For all his good saves his mistakes this season have cost us dearly. 

 Other than that we are an ageing team and require some good youth in with a spine of experienced players. Our team was thrown together at the start of the season and only just fell short.

 All said and done i have enjoyed this season and am looking forward to next season 

[Pieman]

BPF - 7

Hutchinson - 6

Dean - 7

Storey - 7

 

Johnson - 7

Bannan - 6

Luongo - 5

Byers - 5

Hunt - 5

 

Gregory - 8

Windass - 6

[torryowl]

Storey seems to be getting some flak for the goal but it was some classic wing play by Clarke who's skinned better players than storey in his short career .. ..

[Steve Down South]

Gregory on the night.  I thought his goal showcased Wednesday’s best 3 players this season, with Bannan’s superb pass and Johnson’s cross.  Those 3, Byers, and Dean (if he was interested) would be my starting point for next season, the rest can go for me.

[victorturner]

17 hours ago, blueandwhitematt said:

Whether explicitly told or not, I thought we were more concerned about being solid and started deeper, than getting up the pitch. Especially first half. Almost like we didn’t want to go a goal down first half.  So we let another 45 ebb away. 
 

To me that looked partially due to Sunderland’s wide players pinning us back, but also partly us letting them and not giving them something to think about and getting higher up ourselves. 

Suspect this is right. Always thought wing back is a very demanding position to play,  obviously because you need real ability in going forward and also in defending, and in matches where the opposition has some quality, you get found out. But DM prefers to have them. Ours only look good vs weak opposition or naive managers.
 

In the hurly burly and excitement late in the match and getting ready for extra time, , I did not realise that NM-L was being asked to play that position instead of Hunt. Even when Clarke made his twisting run and cross, I assumed it was Palmer he beat, not Storey . Then I realised N M-L was being criticised for not tracking back as the rwb. He had been put in the wrong position. 

 

Palmer has moved from  emergency cb to being preferred to Dunkley there!

[victorturner]

1 hour ago, torryowl said:

Storey seems to be getting some flak for the goal but it was some classic wing play by Clarke who's skinned better players than storey in his short career .. ..

We can see now that the usual alternative to Hunt at rwb, Palmer, was put into central defence, and NM-L was put on as the rwb , when he does not have the defensive abilities to play that position. Storey was over exposed covering the wing. 

[Owlabroad2001]

The pain has not gone away yet. I’m still gutted at how poorly we played over the two games. It reminded me of Huddersfield all over again.

 

BPF 6 did nothing wrong

Hunt 6 did ok

Storey 5 is totally overrated. No pace , poor with the ball and mostly his fault for the goal

Dean 7 solid as a rock. Need to keep him

Hutchinson 6 a warrior 

Johnson 7 better than first game. Excellent assist

Luongo 6 battled away

Byers 5 did hardly anything again

Bannan 7 what a ball to Johnson. Felt so sorry for him 

Windass 5 looked unfit

Gregory 8 outstanding again. Signing of the season 

 

Palmer 5 partly to blame for the goal

Paterson 5

Berahino 5 awful cross at the end

Mendez-Laing 4 awful positioning 

 

Moore 4 awful tactics in the first leg cost us. Never has a plan B. If he goes in the summer, I won’t be happy but I certainly won’t be upset.

[victorturner]

2 hours ago, Owlabroad2001 said:

The pain has not gone away yet. I’m still gutted at how poorly we played over the two games. It reminded me of Huddersfield all over again.

 

BPF 6 did nothing wrong

Hunt 6 did ok

Storey 5 is totally overrated. No pace , poor with the ball and mostly his fault for the goal

Dean 7 solid as a rock. Need to keep him

Hutchinson 6 a warrior 

Johnson 7 better than first game. Excellent assist

Luongo 6 battled away

Byers 5 did hardly anything again

Bannan 7 what a ball to Johnson. Felt so sorry for him 

Windass 5 looked unfit

Gregory 8 outstanding again. Signing of the season 

 

Palmer 5 partly to blame for the goal

Paterson 5

Berahino 5 awful cross at the end

Mendez-Laing 4 awful positioning 

 

Moore 4 awful tactics in the first leg cost us. Never has a plan B. If he goes in the summer, I won’t be happy but I certainly won’t be upset.

Completely agree that supporters will still be angry and disappointed. If Windass did not look fit, why was he playing? He’s not a partner for our red hot centre forward Gregory in any case.

Storey was left horribly exposed by decision to replace Hunt with N ML whose specialism is running at defences with the ball. I assumed at the time that Palmer was out of position for the goal but he wasn’t. 
 

DM’s liking for trying players in different positions from their own is summed by N ML being used as a striker six weeks ago and now he is a rwb!