Player ratings

[WJ99mobile]

I’d probably up Patterson by .5 and downgrade Manga .5

[MacAdder]

See Etheridge got 7.5 in one of the threads on this subject and 8 in this one, my question is why? He had barely anything to do.

For a person who commands much respect for his insightful and in-depth knowledge of the game Bob, this is a very naive question you pose.
Etheridge having little to do?

It seems your idea of a keeper having something to do is based on miraculous saves and umpteen shots stopped.
If we would have got beaten 2 nil with Etheridge making half a dozen saves including a penalty then he might be deserving of a 7.5 or an 8 or even a 9.

A goalkeeper forms part of a defensive unit with the defenders in whatever formation is set up. One cannot wax lyrical about any particular defender, in the case of your blog Morrison who I agree has been immense this season by the way, without giving the mainstay behind him any credit.
Each defender deserves credit (even Bruno although not a wing back)... they kept a clean sheet.

The way Etheridge performed yesterday, keeping his concentration, assured in the air and seemingly anonymous was to be admired.
The communication, position and general confidence a keeper exudes is just as important as a great save as it allows the players in front of him to not have to even think, for example, a back pass in a tricky situation, and concentrate on their own game.

Just referring to your blog, I felt very different from you in that I could not relax until that final whistle.
I must confess I did feel pretty nervy, albeit the last 10 minutes or so.
How many times have we seen accomplished keepers "throw one in" over the years, Peter Enckelmann in the cup final still haunts me!

Out of interest, how many points would you give our number 1?

[Nick]

For a person who commands much respect for his insightful and in-depth knowledge of the game Bob, this is a very naive question you pose.
Etheridge having little to do?

It seems your idea of a keeper having something to do is based on miraculous saves and umpteen shots stopped.
If we would have got beaten 2 nil with Etheridge making half a dozen saves including a penalty then he might be deserving of a 7.5 or an 8 or even a 9.

A goalkeeper forms part of a defensive unit with the defenders in whatever formation is set up. One cannot wax lyrical about any particular defender, in the case of your blog Morrison who I agree has been immense this season by the way, without giving the mainstay behind him any credit.
Each defender deserves credit (even Bruno although not a wing back)... they kept a clean sheet.

The way Etheridge performed yesterday, keeping his concentration, assured in the air and seemingly anonymous was to be admired.
The communication, position and general confidence a keeper exudes is just as important as a great save as it allows the players in front of him to not have to even think, for example, a back pass in a tricky situation, and concentrate on their own game.

Just referring to your blog, I felt very different from you in that I could not relax until that final whistle.
I must confess I did feel pretty nervy, albeit the last 10 minutes or so.
How many times have we seen accomplished keepers "throw one in" over the years, Peter Enckelmann in the cup final still haunts me!

Out of interest, how many points would you give our number 1?

Exactly, to give the keeper 6 out of 10 when he more than played his part in an excellent team performance against a good ‘Boro team is somewhat odd. He did very well, he commanded his area, as has been said by another poster and rarely looked troubled. I guess that because he didn’t feature in one minute and three seconds of match highlights, then that counts against him.

[the other bob wilson]

For a person who commands much respect for his insightful and in-depth knowledge of the game Bob, this is a very naive question you pose.
Etheridge having little to do?

It seems your idea of a keeper having something to do is based on miraculous saves and umpteen shots stopped.
If we would have got beaten 2 nil with Etheridge making half a dozen saves including a penalty then he might be deserving of a 7.5 or an 8 or even a 9.

A goalkeeper forms part of a defensive unit with the defenders in whatever formation is set up. One cannot wax lyrical about any particular defender, in the case of your blog Morrison who I agree has been immense this season by the way, without giving the mainstay behind him any credit.
Each defender deserves credit (even Bruno although not a wing back)... they kept a clean sheet.

The way Etheridge performed yesterday, keeping his concentration, assured in the air and seemingly anonymous was to be admired.
The communication, position and general confidence a keeper exudes is just as important as a great save as it allows the players in front of him to not have to even think, for example, a back pass in a tricky situation, and concentrate on their own game.

Just referring to your blog, I felt very different from you in that I could not relax until that final whistle.
I must confess I did feel pretty nervy, albeit the last 10 minutes or so.
How many times have we seen accomplished keepers "throw one in" over the years, Peter Enckelmann in the cup final still haunts me!

Out of interest, how many points would you give our number 1?

So why wasn't Etheridge getting praise earlier in the season when we had the best defensive record in the league and he was making more saves than he had to yesterday? Surely he was doing all of the things you talk about then and yet there were plenty around who weren't sure about him at that time.

I mentioned earlier that I would have given Etheridge six for yesterday's game - that's not with the intention of being critical of him in any way, but that's what I think someone who is good at what they do should have when they have as easy a game as he did yesterday.