21st March 2005
By Gosport Toon
 Shay
Given
Very little to do throughout the game but whatever he needed
to do he did very well. Excellent save from a long range shot
and generally appeared alert and on his toes as usual. |
7 |
 Stephen
Carr
Provides plenty of energy and enthusiasm down the right hand
side pushing forward to support the midfield and forwards. Worryingly,
for when we play better opposition, he is sometimes caught out
of position and his first touch lets him down at times.
|
7 |
 Andy
O'Brien
Seemed comfortable alongside Boumsong with no signs of any lapse
in concentration. The only criticism was the three or four occasions
he launched long balls that were nowhere near a Toon player,
needlessly giving possession away. Maybe Titus needs to show
him how to do them.
|
7 |
 Jean-Alain
Boumsong
Boumsong was our best defender by a mile, constantly on his
toes and looking to snuff out danger almost even before it had
arrived. Accomplished in the air and on the ground, the only
problem being he loses one or two 50/50 tackles in the game
you'd expect him to win.
|
8 |
 Aaron
Hughes
Similar to O'Brien he seemed to have a reasonably comfortable
game and although he didn't get many tackles in on Lua Lua he
did make him turn back away from goal and pass the ball back
on many occasions. |
7 |
 Lee
Bowyer
Worked hard and had a good effort on goal saved by Ashdown and
was involved in Dyer's goal. However, a la David Batty, he was
too involved in petty skirmishes, particularly with Cisse which
resulted in yet another booking. |
7 |
 Amdy
Faye
Won plenty of possession in the midfield area and played simple
passes to his team mates to allow us to build up attacks on
the Pompey goal. He did a good Makelele-type job for the team
before being subbed in the second half. |
7 |
Nicky
Butt
Very composed but his lack of pace reduces his effectiveness,
especially in any offensive sense. Possibly still getting back
to his best after his injury lay-off. His poor distribution
reminded me of Speed in his final season at SJP. |
6 |
 Laurent
Robert
Put in a few tackles and tried his best to create problems for
the Pompey defence. However, Primus was quickly onto him whenever
he got the ball and Laurent took his fair share of fouls. By
the time he was substituted he was probably quite pleased to
come off.
|
6 |
 Alan
Shearer
Usually at his least effective when up against two or three
tall defenders who are good in the air, and Saturday was no
different. Tried hard but failed to create much for his colleagues
or himself. Probably ready for a bit of well earned Dubai sun
to recharge his batteries.
|
6 |
 Kieron
Dyer
"Roadrunner" was once again a threat to the opposition defence
making darting runs across and through the Pompey backline.
Just a shame he wasn't going through on goal when cynically
brought down by Stefanovic which earned him a yellow card. Plus
another goal to add to his collection. My man of the
match.
|
8 |
Substitutes:
 James
Milner
Provided a bit more defensive steel but didn't inject any additional
attacking thrust down the left wing. |
5 |
 Jermaine
Jenas
Brought a bit of extra pace and energy to the midfield with
one or two surging runs, threatening to open up the Pompey defence
but he lacked the killer pass/shot. |
6 |
 Patrick
Kluivert
A bit unsure as to why PK was only given 5 minutes or so to
make an impression. Worth a try to nick a late winner but lesser
players than PK tend to get angry with their managers when used
in this fashion. Maybe a two week break will bring the best
out of Patrick and he will be the catalyst for at least one
Cup and a move up the League.
|
6 |
The Boss Man:
 Graeme
Souness
He obviously knows which players were fit and those carrying
knocks and strains. Pompey were fighting for points to drag
them away from the relegation abyss and a solid looking team
was selected to counteract their physical approach to the game.
We lost the winning run but stretched the unbeaten record and
once again didn't let more than one goal in. |
7 |
|
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