Town came from behind to snatch a point against Southampton. It wasn’t Town’s best performance but there were some excellent moments too. Here are my player ratings from a performance that had a few highs and lows.
Lössl – 6/10
Was brave to keep going after the kick in the face and made a few good saves. However, he ballsed up with his kicking twice and could easily have gifted Southampton at a goal or two.
Malone – 6/10
He’s a welcome attacking threat but he gets so far forward that we’re exposed at the back. I feel like we’re less solid when he’s on the pitch instead of Löwe. His positional sense isn’t great and he’s not as good a tackler as Löwe.
Schindler – 7/10
Stepped out of defence to try to break play up in midfield and got it wrong a couple of times. Otherwise solid and unlucky to see his early header saved that would otherwise have gone in the top corner.
Zanka – 7/10
His distribution remains a mixed bag but he’s quick and strong at the back. Plus he deserves credit for buying everyone in the away end a drink.
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Hadergjonaj – 8/10
He’s really impressed me in the last two games. Looks decent defensively, gets forward and puts balls in the box at the earliest opportunity. I was surprised to see him subbed for Smith after a good performance.
Mooy – 7/10
It’s hard to give Mooy a mark out of ten sometimes, because he’s so often our best player it’s odd when he isn’t. A below par game for Mooy is still far better than a good game for most others, and that was the case here. He still did the basics well, and his set piece delivery seems to be improving. However, he didn’t dominate the game the way he can.
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Williams – 7/10
Did a good job of filling Hogg’s shoes. He’s not the same kind of tough-tackling midfielder but he’s got a bit more quality on the ball and gets more involved in attacks than Hoggy.
van La Parra – 6/10
Struggled to get going and couldn’t get the better of his fullback. He looked like he was about to do something a few times but it didn’t result in an end product.
Ince – 5/10
I don’t like giving him a poor score because I rate him as a player but his confidence looks to be shot right now. If only he could get the ball to bounce off his bum and go in then he’ll be back on track, but until then he looks like a shadow of the player he was at Derby last season.
Quaner – 6/10
Collin had a good game going forward, he managed to break forward and put early balls into the box. However, he left Charlie Austin unmarked for their goal, drifting away from his man and towards the ball. He made the exact same mistake again later in the match but fortunately, we weren’t punished on that occasion. Town need every player to be switched on for every second they’re on the pitch, Big Col losing concentration when defending a corner gifted Austin an easy goal.
Depoitre – 8/10
Another superb grafting performance from the big man. He works so hard to unsettle opposition defences and regularly nicks the ball off them. His flick-ons were superb yesterday too, but the attacking three behind him didn’t seem to be on his wavelength.
While he was unmarked for his goal, it was still great movement to find the space and an excellent header. He connected well, angled it down, and made certain that the keeper had no chance.
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Substitutes
Smith – 8/10
He came on and immediately made an impact by delivering an inch-perfect cross on to Depoitre’s head for our goal. Wagner now has two rightbacks in good form, which is perfect during the busy Christmas period.
Lolley – 7/10
Looked very lively down the left when he came on. With some doubting his ability to play at this level he at least showed that he can contribute something for Town. I’d like to see him given more minutes on the pitch for Town.
Mounié – 5/10
This was another of those games where Mounié came off the bench and looked disinterested. I have no idea what’s going on with him but his body language was poor. He’s clearly a huge talent, but it looks like he thinks coming on as a sub is beneath him. He should look at how Smith came on and changed the game, rather than trotting around half-heartedly.
Want to read more? Check out my four talking points from the Southampton game.