My player ratings yesterday

[JackyFulham90]

Schwarzer - 5 - Has been an amazing keeper for us no doubt about that but his mistake for the 1st goal yesterday cost us as we were playing well until that happened, he needs replacing sooner rather than later

Riether - 6 - Feel we missed him when he went off injured, undoubtedly our best right back

Hughes - 6 - Not his best game but then again it must be tough playing next to Senderos

Senderos - 3 - May sound harsh and I don't like to slag off a Fulham player but he is not good enough, he doesn't know how to defend will be glad to see Hangeland return for sure

Riise - 6 - Did decent enough against the pacy Lennon but didn't get forward as much as he usually does

Dejagah - 6 - Quite like Dejagah he has pace and skill and I think will turn out to be a really good signing but he will have to be better than today to keep Duff on the bench

Sidwell - 7 - Never stopped running and breaking up play I thought he had a really good game although he should have done better with his chance in the 2nd half that he scuffed wide

Diarra - 6 - Had a decent game was never going to be easy for our midfield against Dembele but Diarra has a lot of quality and he is better than he showed today

Frei - 5 - Wasn't his greatest performance today, I was one calling for him to start and thought it was a good move by Jol to start him, he was unfortunately off the pace today but let's not forget what a great talent he is

Berbatov - 7 - Is an amazing player but doesn't offer as much in that number 10 role, Ruiz is best in that position we need to find a way of getting Berbatov in the number 9 slot and the goals will flow again

Petric - 6 - Great player but wasn't his best game today had a few chances he should have done better with, I expect to see him make way for Ruiz a week Monday

Subs -

Kelly - 5 - Decent player could tell he has not had many games though

Duff - 6 - Surprised to see him on the bench am sure he will start against Newcastle

Rodallega - 5 - Little time to make an impact

[Lighthouse]

Still not sure how Senderos was a 3. I know many people blame his for the War in Iraq and the collapse of the banks but I watched a pretty good stream and I thought he was ok. Swart was a 3. He not only was so slow for the first goal he was still painting the goal posts for most of the game because he wasn't at the match.

Berbatov was Berbatov but wasn't great. Thought Dejagah had a good game with much effort. Sidwell was the standout man of the match to me. He was everywhere Saturday. Petric is a fine link player. He and Berbatov and fine at linking play. BUT THEY HAD NO FORwARD TO LiNK TO. So what is the point of Petric playing with Berbatov?

Best to remember the game up until Swart dropping his paint brush. Then we can at least pretend we were in with a chance.

[Me-ate-Live, innit??]

I think that first ball was going out until he got Mark changed the direction.
I was surprised the Senderos having learned his craft and Arsenal did not embrace the off -side - trap   

[ron]

I was there to witness the "game of two halves" ...demarcated by Schwarz fumbling a ball that he would take 99 times out of 100. The heads went down, and ,as they say, "there was only going to be one result"

Berbatov still had the lovely touch , but lacked anyone to read his game, (obviously Ruiz)..... Sidwell gave 100 percent but the day belonged to a determined and organised Spurs defence who played a fairly high line and denied us any way through (save for a couple of squandered chances)....and set up some breakaways, in effect two of which led to goals and made a final score that looked like a drubbing.

Where are those who say Hangeland is too old, slow etc.?  It seems it's now open season on Senderos.

[Max Headroom]

I went with a friend who hasn't been for a while and said at alf time he was shocked with how good we were. The goal deflated us and as Ron says only one result....

I am nervously looking down at the moment..... But with Ruiz and hang eland back and th January window upon us things should be fine.

Remember we never replaced dembele and he is so strong defensively he and Sandra snuffed us out.

Sidwell was outstanding in the first half yesterday although drifted out of the game in the second half and of course Berbatov had some outrageous ou he's and flicks but we need him scoring goals, not in midfield

[Burt]

Would agree with the ratings generally, although 3 for Senderos is a bit harsh.

Schwarz is showing signs of a tail off in form, which is worrying.

Shame Riether got taken off, he was looking good until that point. Kelly was OK, but no more than that.

Hughes, Senderos and Riise were pretty solid.

Dejagah impressed and frustrated in equal measure, but has real potential...

Thought Sidwell had a good game, he put in a real shift, never dropped his head.

Diarra was steady, showed class at times.

Frei had a poor day at the office, but clearly more to come from him as he develops.

Berbatov was the classiest player on the pitch. Oozed quality, creativity and control. Shame no one else in the squad is of the same quality or on the same wavelength. He must surely be wondering what he is doing here.

Petric was OK, created problems occasionally. As commented on already, not sure how well Berba and Petric play together.

[btings]

Schwarzer is starting to go physically.  His main asset at this point is his brain, which is quite sharp.  On the first goal, I also think Schwarzer expected it to go wide, and so he committed late.  It was a mistake in judgement, and when that happens he doesn't the level of athleticism to fall back on that he used to.

I also think he's not handling the ball as confidently this season as he used to, although that was not as evident yesterday as it has been in some other recent weeks.

[epsomraver]

His distribution has been woeful this season, you watch him in the warm up putting ball after ball down the field to his catcher yet once the game starts it all goes to pieces.

[Forever Fulham]

For me, Dejagah was the revelation.  He impressed.  But we have serious issues with our midfield (in my humble opinion).  Little flair or creativity.   Diarra distributes well but he's not about moving up the field enough.  I was going to comment that Mark's goal keeping isn't a problem, that what's missing is defensive toughness in front of him, but that first goal from long range, well, that still bothers me.

[ffc73]

I do not understand why the defence play pass the hot potato and eventually lay the ball back to Schwarzer to wellie the ball up field or into touch.  Frustrates the life out of me.

If we are going to do that we might as well sign a Carroll, Carlton Cole, Kenwyn Jones, Peter Crouch etc in January.  

Alternatively, instead of passing back to our keeper, the defence could practice kicking for touch, aka rugby union style, and at least we could pressure a throw in the opponents defensive third rather than losing the 50:50 punt from Schwarzer

[btings]

I do not understand why the defence play pass the hot potato and eventually lay the ball back to Schwarzer to wellie the ball up field or into touch.  Frustrates the life out of me.

If we are going to do that we might as well sign a Carroll, Carlton Cole, Kenwyn Jones, Peter Crouch etc in January. 

Alternatively, instead of passing back to our keeper, the defence could practice kicking for touch, aka rugby union style, and at least we could pressure a throw in the opponents defensive third rather than losing the 50:50 punt from Schwarzer

Yup, this drives me crazy.  Especially because we are generally pretty poor in the air.

[A Humble Man]

All the three goals came through areas Senderos was supposed to be defending.  If Hangeland had been in the team we would probably have won. 

3 is two high a rating for him.

[HatterDon]

I do not understand why the defence play pass the hot potato and eventually lay the ball back to Schwarzer to wellie the ball up field or into touch.  Frustrates the life out of me.

If we are going to do that we might as well sign a Carroll, Carlton Cole, Kenwyn Jones, Peter Crouch etc in January. 

Alternatively, instead of passing back to our keeper, the defence could practice kicking for touch, aka rugby union style, and at least we could pressure a throw in the opponents defensive third rather than losing the 50:50 punt from Schwarzer

Yup, this drives me crazy.  Especially because we are generally pretty poor in the air.

The simple answer is because this is how Jol wants us to play. Many things are down to players -- attitude, mistakes, judgment -- but tactics and squad makeup is down to the gaffer. If we're upset about lack of depth in our squad and lack of attacking ambition even at home, then we should be upset at Jol.

The amazing thing to me is that he never seems to get any heat. It's always down to the players.

[Snibbo]

All the three goals came through areas Senderos was supposed to be defending.  If Hangeland had been in the team we would probably have won. 

3 is two high a rating for him.

I think that's a bit simplistic. If Hangeland had been left one on one against Sigurdson, he would have been skinned too, especially the way he's been playing this season.  I think you need to include the rest of the defence, especially on our right, and the midfield cover, and of course the keeper, if you really want to slate home blame for the goals.

[MJG]

It would of course have been Hughes in Senderos's position on Saturday, not hangeland.

[A Humble Man]

It would of course have been Hughes in Senderos's position on Saturday, not hangeland.

You are correct and Hughes would have defended properly and produced some tackles and blocks.

[filham]

All the three goals came through areas Senderos was supposed to be defending.  If Hangeland had been in the team we would probably have won. 

3 is two high a rating for him.

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The Times gave a 3 rating to Senderos, really anything less than 3 given to one of our own players is indecent.