Millwall v Derby County

[DcFc Dyycheee]

Sky Sports News ‏@SkySportsNews2m

Fan charged after running onto pitch during game between Millwall and Derby on Saturday #SSN

[Kristian]

Does anyone that went have any player ratings? From the radio it sounded like all our midfield players had a really good match, but keen to hear about Eustace in particular.

[ariotofmyown]

Does anyone that went have any player ratings? From the radio it sounded like all our midfield players had a really good match, but keen to hear about Eustace in particular.

Me too. After a defeat we get stacks of post analysing all the poor performances and how nige was at fault for each one. Every nigel comment is spun out of context to produce a new angle to moan about.

However, we have one of our best away wins in a long time and hardly any reports and no ratings. Did anyone go to the match? Where are all the posters who don't go to the match but are filling the match thread with full explanation of what went wrong?

[mozza]

Me too. After a defeat we get stacks of post analysing all the poor performances and how nige was at fault for each one. Every nigel comment is spun out of context to produce a new angle to moan about.

However, we have one of our best away wins in a long time and hardly any reports and no ratings. Did anyone go to the match? Where are all the posters who don't go to the match but are filling the match thread with full explanation of what went wrong?

 

Good point , well made , as Boycie would say..

[sage]

Just watched the extended highlights and we could have scored ten, Bryson could have got two hat tricks. Such a dominant performance.   

[Ambitious]

Right, watched the full 90 very closely made notes, blah blah blah...

 

I noted down, good things done well and bad things done wrong by each player and it gave the following results (overall) 125 pieces of good play, and 38 bad. Each point isn't weighted, therefore a good clearance by Buxton, equals a 30 yard bullet by Bryson (these are just indicative though) Buxton made the most good points on the day with 20 whilst Eustace made the most bad points with 7 (he did more good than bad, just to note) 

 

Here are my full ratings anyway;
 

Grant - didn't really have much to do, the goal was just one of them where you have to decide early or get left standing, unfortunately he got stuck in between. Distribution overally good, and significantly contributed to our 5th goal by hitting a dangerous area on the pitch. Rating 7

 

Smith - good footballer, can tell he likes to be involved more centrally than out wide - best piece of play came just before he was brought off down the right hand side with Hughes. Rating 7

 

Forsyth - wasn't overally impressed early doors, but came strong in the last 15 minutes of the first half and carried his good form into the second, distribution was questionable early on, and you find yourself thinking, not again - but as the game grew on seemingly so did his confidence and ended up with a strong performance, first 30 minute cobwebs hinder his score, but not much. Rating 7

 

Keogh - distribution much improved, found at times swinging at things. Notably a ball which he cleared straight back into the middle of the box, solid enough performance with tiny defects. Rating 7

 

Buxton - very strong first half performance where we was more under the coshh and he competed for every single ball and won it more often than not, distribution for the most part was sensible and well planned. He had a rough 10 minutes in the second half soon after the ball which he Eustace and Keogh need to share blame but ultimately it's Buxtons drifting that has allowed the space but finished the last 10 minutes as strong as the first half, their goal aside very good Performance. Rating 8

 

Eustace - bit unsettled first half where he had his name to a few bad marks, and didn't offer anything significant to the team, thought his positioning was a bit poor - second half he was a different player, came out very strong and helped dominate the middle of the pitch, had him down as our weakest player first half but much improved second. Rating 7

 

Bryson - very efficient performance, good movement, intelligent movement and incredible accuracy infront of goals. I don't think you can judge a whole game on goals scored, but he had a lot to his game that deserves credit, especially his decision making (despite one really bad unselfish move) thought he was very good through-out the game, and claimed a match ball to boot, overall performance without the goals warrants an 8, but added with the goals easy. Rating 9 - MOTM

 

Hughes - different position to Bryson really, because for me overall Hughes was the best man on the pitch overall, his second half performance was nothing short of incredible - passing, moving and interaction was sublime and allowed others to come into the game, and play off his ability on the ball, created a goal for Bryson (he was credited with an assists for Bennett, but to me looks as if Trotter has made a rash pass back under pressure) the more the crowd got into him, the better he performed. A very unfortunate man not to get MOTM but it's going to be difficult to beat a man with a hat-trick but same rating none-the-less. Rating 9

 

Ward - I thought ward was very busy in the first half, showed a lot of good movements and good things and came off with his head held high. Second half, it just seemed a tad too much for him, brought off early after limited contribution in the second half - but, despite that a very strong showing in the first where he was one of our stronger performers. Rating 7

 

Martin - my player of the month from last season, and he seemed to carry on in a 'similar' vein in terms of his ability, think he didn't get as much of the ball into positions where he wanted them and at times was asked a little too much, the only thing millwall seemed to do was defend against Martin and his game suffered a little bit, still placed bits of nice football but struggled to really get into the game. Rating 6

 

Russell - A clearly frustrated and tormented striker after the game, but he did a lot of really good stuff! Okay, his main job is to get goals, and when your team is 5 goals to the good, and he isn't one of them then people will take notice, but he was a bundle of energy on the front line and early on he looked like he was going to be in for a frustrating afternoon, but as the game went on he came for the ball, helped with the link up play and gave us another dimension. Ultimately he looked like a very sharp, and talented attacking midfielder that was floating - not where we want him, but his performance was very good and finished strongly, was inbetween minds but gave him the benefit of the doubt. Rating 8

 

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I thought first half, especially early on we struggled to get our foot in the game and Millwall came out the blocks strongest, towards the half an hour mark the game was 50/50 and in the last 10 minutes especially we dominated proceedings and never looked back. When I watched the first half an hour, you think there is absolutely no-way we can win 5-1 here, or score 5 goals. I am glad we got our foot in the game, and made a signficant stand to keep it there, which we did.. second half was our game, at our pace using our tactics and our system - manipulated the game from the 35th minute to the last. I think the reason for this was down to the strength of our centre midfielders (bryson, hughes and eustace) who all worked hard and played well.

 

I thought all the subs came on and did well, okay - mason was a bit quiet but he got his goal by shear perseverance and concentration, with a very tidy finish to match. Freeman had a sublime pass for Bryson to finish off his hat-trick and Coutts offered a much more powerful alternative for Ward and they struggled deeply with him.

 

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As for Millwall, well - on ramsplayer you can hear their fans voices and what they're saying. In all honesty, it is quite embarrassing and non-sense but you sort of expect nothing less of a fan of his particular team. Well done to Danny Shittu for going over to the fans during the mad moments and trying to calm things down, thought he had an okay game but his mistakes aren't papered over, they're usually gaping holes and his inability to compete with Buxton lost them the first goal, other than that he did okay in marking Martin. The only player on their team who I could see any tint of ability in was Nicky Bailey who had a frustrating afternoon, but ultimately his own game was playing nice balls over the pitch - combative with our midfielders and lost out more than once, he got really frustrated and it showed.  I will make a mention for Martyn Waghorn who despite being quiet when coming on, might not of noticed for their goal (which he scored) he was also the person that won the ball back for Millwall deep in their half, and the move escalated from that to him scoring, thought that was decent.

 

Overall, that last 60 minutes spread over 90 and I would be happier but it's hard to grumble at a 5-1 win.  

[ariotofmyown]

Right, watched the full 90 very closely made notes, blah blah blah...

I noted down, good things done well and bad things done wrong by each player and it gave the following results (overall) 125 pieces of good play, and 38 bad. Each point isn't weighted, therefore a good clearance by Buxton, equals a 30 yard bullet by Bryson (these are just indicative though) Buxton made the most good points on the day with 20 whilst Eustace made the most bad points with 7 (he did more good than bad, just to note)

Here are my full ratings anyway;

Grant - didn't really have much to do, the goal was just one of them where you have to decide early or get left standing, unfortunately he got stuck in between. Distribution overally good, and significantly contributed to our 5th goal by hitting a dangerous area on the pitch. Rating 7

Smith - good footballer, can tell he likes to be involved more centrally than out wide - best piece of play came just before he was brought off down the right hand side with Hughes. Rating 7

Forsyth - wasn't overally impressed early doors, but came strong in the last 15 minutes of the first half and carried his good form into the second, distribution was questionable early on, and you find yourself thinking, not again - but as the game grew on seemingly so did his confidence and ended up with a strong performance, first 30 minute cobwebs hinder his score, but not much. Rating 7

Keogh - distribution much improved, found at times swinging at things. Notably a ball which he cleared straight back into the middle of the box, solid enough performance with tiny defects. Rating 7

Buxton - very strong first half performance where we was more under the coshh and he competed for every single ball and won it more often than not, distribution for the most part was sensible and well planned. He had a rough 10 minutes in the second half soon after the ball which he Eustace and Keogh need to share blame but ultimately it's Buxtons drifting that has allowed the space but finished the last 10 minutes as strong as the first half, their goal aside very good Performance. Rating 8

Eustace - bit unsettled first half where he had his name to a few bad marks, and didn't offer anything significant to the team, thought his positioning was a bit poor - second half he was a different player, came out very strong and helped dominate the middle of the pitch, had him down as our weakest player first half but much improved second. Rating 7

Bryson - very efficient performance, good movement, intelligent movement and incredible accuracy infront of goals. I don't think you can judge a whole game on goals scored, but he had a lot to his game that deserves credit, especially his decision making (despite one really bad unselfish move) thought he was very good through-out the game, and claimed a match ball to boot, overall performance without the goals warrants an 8, but added with the goals easy. Rating 9 - MOTM

Hughes - different position to Bryson really, because for me overall Hughes was the best man on the pitch overall, his second half performance was nothing short of incredible - passing, moving and interaction was sublime and allowed others to come into the game, and play off his ability on the ball, created a goal for Bryson (he was credited with an assists for Bennett, but to me looks as if Trotter has made a rash pass back under pressure) the more the crowd got into him, the better he performed. A very unfortunate man not to get MOTM but it's going to be difficult to beat a man with a hat-trick but same rating none-the-less. Rating 9

Ward - I thought ward was very busy in the first half, showed a lot of good movements and good things and came off with his head held high. Second half, it just seemed a tad too much for him, brought off early after limited contribution in the second half - but, despite that a very strong showing in the first where he was one of our stronger performers. Rating 7

Martin - my player of the month from last season, and he seemed to carry on in a 'similar' vein in terms of his ability, think he didn't get as much of the ball into positions where he wanted them and at times was asked a little too much, the only thing millwall seemed to do was defend against Martin and his game suffered a little bit, still placed bits of nice football but struggled to really get into the game. Rating 6

Russell - A clearly frustrated and tormented striker after the game, but he did a lot of really good stuff! Okay, his main job is to get goals, and when your team is 5 goals to the good, and he isn't one of them then people will take notice, but he was a bundle of energy on the front line and early on he looked like he was going to be in for a frustrating afternoon, but as the game went on he came for the ball, helped with the link up play and gave us another dimension. Ultimately he looked like a very sharp, and talented attacking midfielder that was floating - not where we want him, but his performance was very good and finished strongly, was inbetween minds but gave him the benefit of the doubt. Rating 8

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I thought first half, especially early on we struggled to get our foot in the game and Millwall came out the blocks strongest, towards the half an hour mark the game was 50/50 and in the last 10 minutes especially we dominated proceedings and never looked back. When I watched the first half an hour, you think there is absolutely no-way we can win 5-1 here, or score 5 goals. I am glad we got our foot in the game, and made a signficant stand to keep it there, which we did.. second half was our game, at our pace using our tactics and our system - manipulated the game from the 35th minute to the last. I think the reason for this was down to the strength of our centre midfielders (bryson, hughes and eustace) who all worked hard and played well.

I thought all the subs came on and did well, okay - mason was a bit quiet but he got his goal by shear perseverance and concentration, with a very tidy finish to match. Freeman had a sublime pass for Bryson to finish off his hat-trick and Coutts offered a much more powerful alternative for Ward and they struggled deeply with him.

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As for Millwall, well - on ramsplayer you can hear their fans voices and what they're saying. In all honesty, it is quite embarrassing and non-sense but you sort of expect nothing less of a fan of his particular team. Well done to Danny Shittu for going over to the fans during the mad moments and trying to calm things down, thought he had an okay game but his mistakes aren't papered over, they're usually gaping holes and his inability to compete with Buxton lost them the first goal, other than that he did okay in marking Martin. The only player on their team who I could see any tint of ability in was Nicky Bailey who had a frustrating afternoon, but ultimately his own game was playing nice balls over the pitch - combative with our midfielders and lost out more than once, he got really frustrated and it showed. I will make a mention for Martyn Waghorn who despite being quiet when coming on, might not of noticed for their goal (which he scored) he was also the person that won the ball back for Millwall deep in their half, and the move escalated from that to him scoring, thought that was decent.

Overall, that last 60 minutes spread over 90 and I would be happier but it's hard to grumble at a 5-1 win.

Wow top stuff, great analysis and pretty levelled headed (as usual) after a thumping win. Maybe it's worthwhile to have a single thread with Ambitious reports one after the other for reference?

This forum has been a much more sensible place this year too. Results have helped, as well as the absence of certain posters. Maybe these two things are linked! I think another factor is how stupid the hysterical reaction to the Blackburn draw now looks. Hopefully some people learnt a lesson after that match.

Think Wilkoram deserves some kudos too for making a good attempt debating from a more negative point of view. The old 'everyone has got an opinion' line doesn't really work for me when said opinions border on the ludicrous/trolling. It's been good to read some healthy and balanced debate this season.

[ronnieronalde]

Really enjoyed that write up as usual Ambitious. Very good.

Just a couple more positive things I noticed that I haven't seen posted anywhere yet. The quality of the five goals was very good but in particular.

Jamie Ward for the first. It's 3 quality balls into their box one after other. His free kicks from anywhere inside the other teams half are turning into real threats. He puts a great ball in from 40 yeards out.

Jamie Ward for the second, winning the ball back in our half and playing Martin down the line. Cracking work ethic.

Then.......

Just how good was that fourth goal. Starts from us winning it back, two passes then a brilliant bit of skill from Russell to turn and drive fifty yards. Then we slow it down,Hughes switches if from right to left and back again before Freeman plays a real defence splitting ball to Bryson who smashes home. 11 passes in total but all of them incisive.

Some of our goals already this season have been sensational, and although Bryson's second will rightly get a lot of the plaudits, that fourth goal of ours should be up there as an example of a real team goal.

Doesn't get much better than 5-1 away, the quality of the goals means it's an even better win than I thought.

Don't let me down tonight, 0-0 would do me fine....

[Martyn]

Just how good was that fourth goal. Starts from us winning it back, two passes then a brilliant bit of skill from Russell to turn and drive fifty yards. Then we slow it down,Hughes switches if from right to left and back again before Freeman plays a real defence splitting ball to Bryson who smashes home. 11 passes in total but all of them incisive.

[snip] that fourth goal of ours should be up there as an example of a real team goal.

 

Absolutely, it stood out for me too.  Russell's work to evade those two players and his driving run was excellent.

[ladyram]

Twas on RD this morning that the prat who pushed Nigel has been charged and will appear in court (forgot the actual date, December I think).

Serve him right, he had no sodding business being where he was in the first place.