Town were beaten by Bristol despite an excellent second half display due to a pair of soft goals in the first half that gave our opponents an insurmountable lead. It was a game that was equally frustrating and promising as Town showed many of the consistent themes of this season, such as conceding sloppy goals, failing to finish chances and, on a more positive note, attacking, exciting football.
Here are my player ratings.
Ryan Schofield – 5 out of 10
I might be being a bit harsh but I thought he committed too early for the opener and made it too easy for the Bristol player to ease past him and finish into an open net. The second wasn’t one he could so much about as it was a nice finish. The goals were the only shots on target for Bristol so he didn’t make any other saves but did come off his line smartly a few times to snuff out danger.
Harry Toffolo – 6 out of 10
Made some decent runs down the left flank and is showing signs of building up an understanding with Aarons on the left wing. There were two separate occasions where he had shooting opportunities on his right foot in the box which he failed to convert. While there were other Town players he could have tried to pick out in these situations, I think the bigger issue was not having the composure to finish from good positions but that’s probably why he’s a fullback and not a striker.
Naby Sarr – 5 out of 10
The ball from Kasey Palmer for the second goal was superb but it still should have been dealt with by Sarr. He looked flat footed and slow when the ball went in behind him and was the player most to blame for that goal. He was pretty good otherwise, which isn’t really good enough. You can’t give away a goal and play well in games and that be acceptable. All those nice cross-field passes and runs up field count for little when we were left with a mountain to climb because he let his man get in behind him.
Richard Keogh – 6 out of 10
It’s noticeable that he’s not nearly as mobile as Edmonds-Green on the right side of defence but there were several occasions where his experience helped to avoid those silly mistakes we often make when messing about with the ball at the back. He’s clearly comfortable with the ball at his feet and has a better sense of danger than Town’s other defenders which steadied the ship when we started taking too many silly risks. He also won six aerial duels, more than any other player on the pitch and double the number Sarr managed.
Pipa – 6 out of 10
Did lots of work but it often didn’t quite come off for him. His dribbling lacked the skilful flourishes required to beat a man and often just ran straight into trouble. He looked more like his usual self than in recent games in terms of his movements forward, which I suspect is down to Mbenza being back in the lineup and their ability to swap roles allows him more licence to drift out of position and pop up in unexpected places.
Alex Vallejo – 4 out of 10
Bristol’s opening goal was awful to watch and shouldn’t happen in professional football. Vallejo got sucked towards the ball and left his man unmarked in the middle of the pitch. I know there’s an argument he was offside but the fullbacks looked to be playing him on and I still think the main problem was amateur defending. Like with Sarr, Vallejo had some good moments but it’s hard to celebrate them too much when he cost us a goal. I’d maybe have felt a bit warmer towards him if one of the two shots he took had gone in but he was a little bit unlucky to not score from at least one.
Lewis O’Brien – 7 out of 10
Created the games first meaningful chance with a great slaloming run through the defence that ended in his low shot being pushed onto the post by the keeper. He still has the infuriating habit of passing straight to the opposition under little pressure but he made up for that with some excellent play at other times. This was the best game he’s had in a good while, particularly in the second half where he was a factor in Town’s sustained pressure on Bristol’s defence.
Juninho Bacuna – 8 out of 10
Finished the chance that came his way tidily and could have scored more from the variety of shots he took. This was the best he’s played in a good while and showed that he can be the creative force for Town when we move forward. In the first half he seemed to slow the play down too much and was constantly trying to draw fouls rather than beat his man. In the second half he was far more focussed on attacking the Bristol back line and was a real handful with his movement off the ball and skills on it. His position in the team is most under threat by Holmes arrival and it makes me wonder whether this improved performance was partly due to the competition for places Duane Holmes brings.
Rolando Aarons – 7 out of 10
Mbenza received the assist for Bacuna’s goal but the opportunity only came about because of Aaron’s persistence and skill in the box. I think we’re still in the bedding in phase for Aarons as he’s learning how we play and how he fits into the scheme of things but this was his best performance so far. He offers another way of attacking opponents and looks to get in behind the defence, rather than dropping off to pick up possession. He had a good game against Bristol but I think there’s going to be even more to come from him once he’s fully adapted to our way of playing.
Frazier Campbell – 5 out of 10
He’s become the designated whipping boy for many fans on social media after last night and while I think the criticism is over the top, it’s hard to mount too spirited a defence of him as it was a poor performance. The usual cut and paste write up for Frazier Campbell is that he worked hard but didn’t get any service. On this occasion he actually did get some decent service but didn’t show the killer instinct when the chances came his way (7 shots, 2 on target, 0 goals). While his goal tally isn’t great for this season, he’s already surpassed last season’s return and I think he’s capable of getting a few more too. Obviously it would be nice to buy a quality striker but I can’t see us doing that while Ward continues to be on the books.
Issac Mbenza – 8 out of 10
I think a lot of the improvement in performance in this game from the Millwall game can be attributed to Mbenza coming back into the side. He’s the focal point for many of our attacks and is a real threat from set pieces too with his fizzed in deliveries. Eight out of ten may be a tad generous but he deserves a bump up because of his clever backheel to set up Bacuna for the goal.
Substitutes
Alex Pritchard – 5 out of 10
Didn’t do anything of note despite being on the pitch for 20 minutes when Town were completely dominant.
Kieran Philips – N/A
Only given ten minutes and played alongside Campbell, looked lively but didn’t get many clear cut opportunities. I’d like to see him given a bit more time on the pitch. His height and speed look like they could give us different options when attacking.
Am I first in the queue to respond?
Thank you as ever for your thought-provoking & fair-minded article.
Normally I more or less accept your scores but there are a few today where I’d argue with you – a little generous in some cases and not harsh enough in others.
Schofield inspires no confidence. I’m always waiting for the idiotic. Last night he could certainly have done better with the first goal; we almost had another debacle with him not clearing in time but fortunately the ball ricocheted outside the post rather than inside it; he more than once put his defenders in impossible positions with ridiculous short passes. So it’s a 4 from me. And if we had a decent experienced keeper on the books, Schofield would be binned. But we don’t.
I thought Keogh performed better than a 6. He looked solid and more than once was the ‘last man’ and made the all-important tackle. Worth a 7 or even an 8 from me.
O’Brien & Bacuna are just SO frustrating. As midfield players, their passing should be so much better. O’Brien in particular seems to see a player but forgets to check the colour of his shirt and passes straight to him. It’s a 50:50 chance whether O’Brien has guessed right! But yes, he did look dangerous on some of his runs. I’m not sure about a 7 though. Similarly for Bacuna; he did do some good stuff and at least put the ball in the back of the net, but between times was often careless or too fancy. Definitely not an 8 performance. And , by your own admission, you’ve been generous with Mbenza but great to have him back in the side.
I’m going to be boring and have my usual pop at Campbell. If I say I think your score of 5 is also being generous you’ll know what I think. I’ll be extremely dull & repetitive if I repeat all that’s wrong; we can all see it for ourselves. He had a chance to build a bit of confidence by taking the penalty against Millwall, missed that, and has gone further downhill since. Whilst you can point the finger at Vallejo or Sarr or Schofield for defensive mistakes costing Town the match, with a half-decent central striker we’d have been celebrating a Town victory today even with those defensive errors. That second half performance was fantastic! I haven’t enjoyed a 45 minutes from Town like that for quite a while. And the only thing marring a first-rate effort was the absence of a striker who is either not quick enough to get to a cross before the defender or, on the rare occasions he gets there, just doesn’t look like hitting the target. There must be a better option even with Danny Ward injured yet again. You’re suggesting Phillips. In the tiny bit I’ve seen of him, I’ve seen nothing to impress me but I’d be quite happy to see him given a start even if he only lasts 60 minutes. He doesn’t look like an ‘impact sub’ to me but maybe if he’s given the chance to work his way into a match, something might happen for him.
Despite the defeat (another!) and despite a few pretty dreadful individual performances, as a whole I feel much more optimistic than I did before the match with the Millwall match hanging there in my memory. I hope that 2nd half performance was ‘the real thing’ and not a one-off. It was great stuff to watch at times and left me looking forward to more of where that came from.
Where does Duane Holmes slot into things? I like him best in the Number 10 role but we aren’t really playing with a Number 10. I like Duane Holmes and I’d like to see him established in the team. I suspect he’ll start off on the bench and be used a bit more freely than Carlos has used Pritchard. Then if Bacuna has one of his bad matches, that will be Duane’s chance to make a start and maybe claim the shirt.
Thanks for your article and the response.
For what it’s worth here’s my two penn’orth, probably too late for anyone to notice!
Schofield: has not yet learned his lesson;
Fullbacks: much improved and needed to be;
Centre backs have now played 2 games together, mistakes from an experienced pair should not happen from now;
Midfield; each one of them has a lot to offer when on song, but daft passing should not be one of them, Vallejo probably the most reliable, I like them as a group;
Wingers the pair are easily the best available at the moment, with more to come surely;
Campbell: sadly a liability, he let the team down more than anyone else on the pitch, he’s probably too knackered to take his opportunities when they arise, including the penalty in the last match.
Town weren’t disheartened by a two goal deficit, which was great to see.
Ward was supposed to be the main striker with Campbell sharing the position with Ward. At least Campbell has played. Ward is just an expensive crock. Campbell has played every match and run himself into the ground for Town with very little service. As someone else said, Harry Kane would be pushed to score in this team. All “strikers” are only as good as the creative players around them and there have not been many of them in the Town team recently. It is unfair to criticise Campbell specifically as no-one else at Town is good enough for the first team number 9 and until the penny pinching owners spend some of their millions, Carlos has to make do with what he’s got.
I agree with most of the ratings but would take a point off bacuna he was not at the races first half but much improved second, I also would give Sarr a 4 same as Vallejo neither should be making those type of mistakes with their experiences & cost us the game these type of mistakes are starting to add up for Sarr, The rest I agree with & was pleased with the display especially some of the interchanging it looks like things are getting back on track, I still think we need a striker maybe take a punt on a lower league striker we need back up for Campbell he has run his socks off this season so far & needs a rest I don’t think ward will play much & CC won’t start the young ones
There are a number of comments coming to the defence of Campbell. Totally fair comment that the intention wouldn’t have been to play him all the time; I’m sure Danny Ward doesn’t deliberately get injured but nonetheless he’s been of no help at all to the team or to Campbell. Also totally fair comment that Campbell runs & runs, gives his all.
However, I don’t want my 33yr old centre forward running from left to right and then right to left trying to close down opposition defenders. He rarely gets the ball from all this effort and if it means he’s got nothing left to keep up with the play and get into the box and make life difficult for defenders, then we’ve got this wrong. I’d much prefer to see Campbell coming off the bench and running himself daft for the last 20 minutes when we’re trying to hold on to a lead.
I do have sympathy for Campbell. He can give something to the team but having him as ‘the Duracell bunny’ is pretty pointless.
A striker on loan or throwing Phillips into the starting XI are solutions.
Steven chicken views I totally agree with there were positives from this game but the defending in the first half was not just poor it was woeful no names but they were effective as wax dummies, defenders need to be alive to the situation and get goal side of their forwards
Defence has not been sound since we lost Schindler. We’ve not succeeded in replacing him adequately. Are contract talks taking place?
Why should we expect Campbell to be a prolific scorer.. he never has been anywhere else. We have no-one to replace him (except Danny chuffing Ward) so we need to handle him with kid gloves.
Glad to see Bacuna receiving praise for the things he does well rather than being criticised for trying too hard.
Another minor miracle by Carlos for extracting a good all-round from a squad that is worse than last years.
I agree with you, Gavin, Carlos has done a terrific job with a squad that is weaker than last year’s.
You are also right in saying Campbell should be carefully handled. But that doesn’t mean giving him a brief that involves running himself into the ground every week and coming off the pitch with nothing to show for it. It’s an odd one because Carlos clearly knows what he’s doing, he has no fit/experienced replacement if Campbell is injured or just runs out of energy, so you’d think he’d use Campbell in a more productive way.