Match Day Thread Stoke v Norwich

There were no doubt many reasons behind the celebrations for Barnes's goal but I wonder if he'd earlier had some flak for being slow to react when Iversen pushed the ball out in making that top class save from Sainz's goal-bound shot. His team mates celebrating with him had broad grins on their faces

 

At least you are consistent Robbie....just unfortunately not in a good way.

 

"Loose at times on the ball in the first half. Aimless chip freed Hoever to size up McCallum and Ben Gibson ......."
Not me, Paddy Davitt commenting on his match rating for Núñez. He saw what I saw in that first half. Ended up giving Núñez a 7 overall, along with seven others in the starting eleven. No quarrel with that; he was much improved in the second half.

 

Looked like concussion

 

"Loose at times on the ball in the first half..." is only part of Davitt's rating. The rest is this:

"Aimless chip freed Hoever to size up McCallum and Ben Gibson but his shot slammed a post. The Chilean did thread the ball through for Sargent in the 27th minute, but Sainz’s close range first time shot was saved by Iversen. Then picked out McCallum but the full back miscued his cross. Quick corner routine with Sara saw him produce a first time cross for Barnes, who saw his half-volley blocked at the near post."

Alexander Pope had hard words for those who make partial judgements:

"Causes hindering a true judgement. Pride. Imperfect learning. Judging by parts, and not by the whole.."

Núñez did misplace some passes early on, but he also made some telling passes that could have produced goals and provided a key presence in midfield throughout. His final WhoScored rating was 7.4, hardly that of a player having a poor game.

 

It was worrying, but Sørensen smiled when he finally got up and then went on playing. He had a good game in spite of his recent illness and I can see why Wagner picks him for both his defending and his ability to seemingly effortlessly work the ball out of defence.

 

Kenny's through ball to Sainz

 

Two through balls by Kenny to Sainz led to goals. It doesn't seem fair that Sainz gets the credit for the assists while the main architect of the goals gets nothing. Sainz was very unselfish for Sarges goal, really playing for the team.

 

I was also struck by how Sainz has developed since he arrived. At first, he was very much a solo player looking to score, but now he is much more integrated with the team play. Part of this was his lack of English, but he's been helped a lot by Narcís Pèlach, including a big improvement in his defensive play. The result is a much more complete player who seems to get better with every game and that has contributed to the whole team's improvement.

 

Completely agree (though watching the highlights I notice that he very nearly over hit the pass to Sarge and made it a much harder finish… if we are being really picky!)

 

I think two years ago it is likely Sarge would have missed the target from that pass.