Tarababt

[BedsFFC]

Went away for weekend, so game past me  by. How did he play and what role? Cheers

[Jack Fulham]

He started on the left and switched with Kasami to go behind Berbatov every so often. He wasn't great but did a few nice flicks and some decent dribbling. Doesn't look match fit yet really.

[fulhamben]

left mid. and no one really did anything going forwards. piss poor free kick again though straight into the wall. (joins a long list of poor free kick takers , riise, hugo and baird but to name a few) tracked back a fair bit. kaca he is not

[rusty shackleford]

He was average but then again so was everyone from an attacking point of view. It would be unfair to judge him from that game. He will likely be much better vs Arsenal if he plays

[Zu-Meister]

could have released a few more passes quicker, but on the whole i thought he did not bad considering the lack of preparation hes had so far in pre season. but i liked the way he worked hard for the team. can only get better. id rather him than ruiz definitely.

[The King]

Don't know, never heard of him.

[jmh]

Per the FourFourTwo Stats Zone app, he completed 27 of 33 passes including 16 of 17 forward, 6 of 8 square, and 16 of 17 backward.  Most notably as far as what he does that's different from other players we have (save maybe for Ruiz), he was successful on 5 of 8 "take-ons" where nobody else on the team attempted more than 2 (Berbatov, Kasami, Briggs).  True to what we've been told to expect, he was a non-factor on defense, registering no tackles, interceptions, blocks or clearances, and losing the one aerial duel he contested.  He was at least not a liability in our end; he attempted just three passes in the defensive third and completed all of them.

[Frankie-Peter Taylor]

JMH just beat me to it! Great minds think alike, eh?

Going forward our best player... Won 2-3 free kicks in decent positions, but as people have said not match fit. Though, considering he was playing at probably 80% the defensive shift he put it was remarkable. Matthew Briggs didn't look exposed.

Some stats:

Successfully took on Sunderland players 5 times out of 8 attempts (highest of both sides).
Recovered the ball twice.
Pass percentage of 82% (27 completed passes out of 33).
Fouled twice.

[jmh]

Fouled twice.

That is to say that he was fouled twice, not that he committed two fouls (as you have to play defense to commit fouls).

[Frankie-Peter Taylor]

Fouled twice.

That is to say that he was fouled twice, not that he committed two fouls (as you have to play defense to commit fouls).

That's what I meant but I was too lazy to type "He was fouled twice"

[Riverside]

Per the FourFourTwo Stats Zone app, he completed 27 of 33 passes including 16 of 17 forward, 6 of 8 square, and 16 of 17 backward.  Most notably as far as what he does that's different from other players we have (save maybe for Ruiz), he was successful on 5 of 8 "take-ons" where nobody else on the team attempted more than 2 (Berbatov, Kasami, Briggs).  True to what we've been told to expect, he was a non-factor on defense, registering no tackles, interceptions, blocks or clearances, and losing the one aerial duel he contested.  He was at least not a liability in our end; he attempted just three passes in the defensive third and completed all of them.

This backs up my view that we need 2 DMs playing .

If we assume Bent will be CF

Behind him we will have a combination / 3 of Berba , Taarabt , Ruiz , Kaca , Kasami ( none of whom can or are interested in defending ) Duff and Dejagah ( these 2 can defend but I think there will never be more than one of the 2 on the pitch at any time )

Have these 3 as attacking is not a problem if we have 2 DMs .

[Lighthouse]

Wasn't fit but worked like a trojan in a position that meant he was always outnumbered and having nobody infront of him. Did very well all things considered.