Player Ratings v Liverpool (H)

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This game was won through the efforts of Tiote, Barton, and Carroll. Tiote had to do Campbell's job for him, but both the fullbacks did a solid job in defense (with Enrique much better going forward). Barton was fantastic, and really covered a lot of ground today. Carroll dominated their back line.

ranger won that match in my opinion we were being ripped up until he humilated that defence and reallly put himself about changed the pace and attitude of the game...been saying it for a while he deserves to be ahead of ameobi on the team sheet...although i wonder how he would fair if he started the game

Thought you give Enrique a high mark, which he didn't deserve.

Barton was fantastic and would have got my man of the match, but can understand Carroll getting it

Quote:

DaraghL
ranger won that match in my opinion we were being ripped up until he humilated that defence and reallly put himself about changed the pace and attitude of the game...been saying it for a while he deserves to be ahead of ameobi on the team sheet...although i wonder how he would fair if he started the game

Agree with DaraghL, It was a good performence from him & nearly scored on his first touch, But Barton was the man of the match for me, that delivery was awesome, shame Carroll headed it over instead of the back of the net?

I can now see how we miss these players when they are injured or suspended, we dont really have a decent back up as that proved at WBA

Quote:

DaraghL
ranger won that match in my opinion we were being ripped up until he humilated that defence and reallly put himself about changed the pace and attitude of the game...been saying it for a while he deserves to be ahead of ameobi on the team sheet...although i wonder how he would fair if he started the game

Totally agree. Liverpool didn't turn up and Sholas lack of anything allowed them to grow in confidence.

Rangers pace and determination sent them into meltdown. Several times he won balls he had no right to even be near.

Yeah I think Ranger showed a greater desire than Ameobi to have an impact. Liverpool could not handle his pace and that's what gave us confidence after being second best for the first 15 minutes of the second half. It was a good substitution and it certainly changed the game.

As for Barton, he was superb and if Carroll was not a part of all three goals, I'd have given the man of the match to him but both of them certainly had excellent games.



Wasim's Sport Blog

Toon4life

I said it on another thread that Ranger should start, yes he will have his off days, but then Strolla has so many of them, so he can't do any worse. Plus he is young so will only get better, where I think we have saw the best off Shola

Ranger came in with something to prove and maybe a new manager will give him the fire in the belly to push on and try and stake a claim. Good to throw him in before the window opens and see what he can do, atleast it will give him the confidence.

With the other players back now it will be a good time to test the lad

definitely worth a run out next week at birmingham. it'll be a testing match, but he could give the home defence a few problems on last nights evidence.
i know they often say this and it comes to nought, but the papers i saw today had shola limping off, can anyone add anything to this? i had a poor stream and so didnt see him leave the pitch. if he isnt fit to start i dont see a better option than ranger just now, who should maybe start regardless of shola's condition. send him out for an hour or so in a slightly less high profile match, see what he can bring to the team

we've been hearing for weeks now that shola shouldn't be playing due to fitness levels and injury and obviously Hughton thought a half fit shola was a better option than Ranger/lovehandles and Best and due to this we have seen below par performances from shola who hasn't been able to last a full 90mins!

ranger has shown glimpses of how good he can be over the last few weeks and lovehandles showed against WBA that he still has the ability to be a threat, so why not start ranger/lovehandles see how they get on and if it needs a change bring on shola after 60/70 mins, this will give him a rest get his fitness/injuries sorted and also give valuable experience/playing time to the other strikers!

So far this season, Carroll has 10 goals and 6 assists (according to www.premierleague.com), which puts him tied for 2nd and 5th respectively. No one else in the league can match his 16 goals created total (next highest is Tevez with 10 goals and 4 assists).

Hmmmm,

I hear echoes of people who were saying Nile Ranger should have been shipped of for loan this season to a NPower side?

Funny that eh.......

Quote:

Mighty__Mag
Hmmmm,
I hear echoes of people who were saying Nile Ranger should have been shipped of for loan this season to a NPower side?

Funny that eh.......

have him on my shirt from season we got relegated so safe to say it wasn me

i remember carroll was in the same position and due to sholas injury got his chance and took it with both hands maybe another shola injury could lead to the start of another ruthless striker

I must retract my comments about Ranger that I made last week, I still think he needs to work on his finishing but in all honesty you could say the same about AC, shot success is also only about 20% difference is he's always having a bash at goal.
I digress, Ranger's coming on was the turning point for us because once again we were carrying Shola. Apart from his amazing game against sunderland has he really given us anything this season??
I hate to say it but he has more bad games than decent ones these days and he's a liability at times. Ranger was a breath of fresh air when he came on and after AC's point-blank miss and NR's near miss I started to feel more confident that we would get the second.
I hope he starts against B/ham.

Quote:

DaraghL
i remember carroll was in the same position and due to sholas injury got his chance and took it with both hands maybe another shola injury could lead to the start of another ruthless striker

Yeah thats true, & look what it did for him, I can see Ranger starting to score goals soon,

Quote:

piston26
I digress, Ranger's coming on was the turning point for us because once again we were carrying Shola

And also Campbell, He was pretty awful in both outings now!

campbell looked alot like bramble out there he needs to take more time to get back to match sharpness

I don't agree with Ranger starting. He is still too young and starting matches against PL quality defenders is not going to help him that much at this stage.

He is still a little raw in front of goal but his workrate is phenomenal. I personally think he will spurn more opportunities that he takes at the moment. Much like Carroll was two years ago.

I definitely think he should be the first choice off the bench. But I think Lovehandles should be starting with Carroll. The two big men up front thing is not for me. Too often you see Carroll and Ameobi going for the same ball and Shola doesn't position himself well to run off Carroll's knock downs.

Maybe later in the season Ranger could start a few games when we are safely clear of the relegation zone and looking to build towards next season. :-)

I've been thinking about whether Ranger should start the next game or not. My view on it is that he is still a bit raw but give him the chance. It would send a message to the squad that if you come on and do well, you could start the next game and it brings about competition for places as Ameobi would want to reclaim his place.



Wasim's Sport Blog

Toon4life

the signs are there that ranger is ready to be looked at. on the evidence of his earlier sub appearances this season, he wasnt ready, but we are struggling for options and he has presented us with one at the right time.
he may still fall flat on his face, but the time could be right for him to start his first premier league game, given the other options available for the birmingham match

Quote:

Mighty__Mag
Hmmmm,
I hear echoes of people who were saying Nile Ranger should have been shipped of for loan this season to a NPower side?

Funny that eh.......

I said he should have been loaned out, and I stick to it. Yes he has done great in the Liverpool game and I would start him next game as Strolla has been crap. But loaning the lad out to a championship side may have given him confidence in front of goal. If the likes of Vuckic and Kadar are not going to play they should be loaned out as they need to develop as players.

Not to sure what is going on here recently as everybody is coming back with great hindsight of the rest of us who know nothing about football.

Agree with TTID, he may still benefit from a loan spell. One good sub appearance does not a PL player make; and it seems to be overlooked that while his pace and drive changed the game, he had one great chance, albeit a tough one-and missed the target.

He is, however, exactly the sort of player who could experience a bump under a new manager, as he probably figured he was never getting into CH's starting XI. Seems like an ideal time to give him a run out in a few games, see what he does and decide at the new year whether to loan him or use him more regularly.

Tiote was my MOTM, personally. As bad as Sol was, with Smith in there I think we would have been chasing the game all afternoon. But I do think we had a few legitimate candidates.

Quote:

tunyc
Agree with TTID, he may still benefit from a loan spell. One good sub appearance does not a PL player make; and it seems to be overlooked that while his pace and drive changed the game, he had one great chance, albeit a tough one-and missed the target.
He is, however, exactly the sort of player who could experience a bump under a new manager, as he probably figured he was never getting into CH's starting XI. Seems like an ideal time to give him a run out in a few games, see what he does and decide at the new year whether to loan him or use him more regularly.

Tiote was my MOTM, personally. As bad as Sol was, with Smith in there I think we would have been chasing the game all afternoon. But I do think we had a few legitimate candidates.

i thought hes been very good in every performance hes had to date technically maybe off the pace but the passion and the drive second to none

I understand your enthusiasm for Ranger, and I share it. But he is 19 years old, and he has scored 2 senior goals in 33 appearances (before anyone comments-yes, I know those are virtually all sub appearances). Those are facts. I'm not ripping the guy, in fact I'm very excited about his future. But I do wonder if he's there yet, that's all.

those stats wont change on the bench.
its been pointed out that shola has dipped, injury or not, so if he needs a break the time might be right for ranger to play A GAME OR TWO!
i mentioned regarding kadar on another thread that there are huge numbers of young players who reach the level just below being good enough at the right age but for whatever reason just dont make the final step. the right break at the right time could be enough. it may not work out - the coaches will know if the time is right - but a good game at birmingham may kick nile ranger on as much as twenty games for swindon on loan. if we were fit and firing, dont do it, but we have one win in six and a striker who needs a week or two off. why not try it? we can still loan him next week if it goes badly...

Good point LMK, give Shola a rest and if Ranger doesn't perform in that time he can be loaned out. If he does go out then I think a good championship side is the option and not league 1

Is there an echo in here?