Match ratings and other thoughts.

Ruddy 7- Commanded his box well and made two good saves but was let down by his defence (Garrido?) who failed to cover the rebound from the one that led to the second Swansea goal. If he parries the ball back out towards the penalty spot it's a mistake but he parried it where you would want him to.

Whittaker 8- Excellent going forward all game, tidy with his passing at the back and scored a great goal while also getting a spawny assist. Minimised his usual defensive errors to just a couple which is good for him.

Turner 6- A bit of a mixed bag. Made some good interceptions but was also found ball watching a few too many times. Needs to gain a bit more composure for when he has time on the ball at the back.

Martin 7- Made some very crucial block as he did mid-week for Scotland. Definitely not a natural center half but a good reserve to have.

Garrido 5- Very poor positionally, lost his man far too many times with the slightest bit of off the ball movement. I can understand why he was caught out when Everton countered but when sat deep he still struggled. Didn't have a big influence on the game going forward although some of his passing was very good.

E.Bennett 6- Had a very good first half hour and produced one excellent cross for RVW. He also made some clever runs beyond the lone striker and won a couple of free kicks. Faded a bit as an attacking force after that but continued to work hard defensively for the team.

Howson 5- Very tidy in possession at times despite still being very inconsistent with his passing. I'd still prefer to see him higher up the pitch though, he doesn't have good enough defensive qualities to play as a cdm and isn't a good enough passer to play the "Fox role". Would like to see more surging runs from him, can't blame him for that though as he has to work within the system.

BJ 5- Looked well off the pace and gave away some silly free kicks. Passing was poor as usual. Doesn't look the same player without Tettey at his side.

Redmond 6- Showed some real quality in the first half but always lacked an end product. Became less of a factor in the second half.

Hoolahan 6- Much like Redmond, looked very skillful but tried too much while also lacking the vision to take on a better option.

RVW 7- Very quiet at the start but learned very quickly that you can afford to be far more physical in this league. Only really had two chances all game and the first was made a half chance due good positioning from Distin. The header for his goal was exceptional. His hold up play gradually improved throughout the game. Needs better service.

Subs:

Tettey 6- Worked hard without really having long enough to establish himself on the game.

Olsson N/A- Not enough time to assess.

Other thoughts...

I think the system we use is fine, but we seemed to suffer from two issues, having a weakened side and playing a bit too deep.

I would prefer to see Fer and Tettey as a midfield partnership so that we can have a strong shield for the back four while also managing to improve our ball retention in midfield. Johnson is never going to be a good passer and we're at the stage where we need to progress. Playing those two with BJ as cover would allow Howson to compete with Wes, I think this would suit him far more than playing cdm because for me his best quality is making forward runs with and without the ball, playing cdm limits the opportunities he has to do that unfortunately.

Redmond looks promising but he seemed a bit style over substance. I can understand why Hughton chose him and Bennett, because they both have the pace on the break to allow us to play deep, but I would prefer Snodgrass on the left due to his superior end product. Hopefully Redmond only started today because Snoddy was tired from mid-week, although I think Redmond would make a great impact sub against a tiring full back. Hopefully Hughton would give him more than the standard five minutes though.

We also obviously missed Bassong big time, not just for his presence but also for his composure when on the ball at the back. His absence along with Fer and Snoddy would be a valid excuse as to why we sat so deep today, but I'd like to think that we will press higher in home games with a full squad to choose from. Everton are good, but they're not so much better than us (when we have a fully fit first choice XI) that we should be defending for large portions of the game. A point was definitely acceptable and I'll forgive the style of play within the circumstances. Still, regardless of injuries (okay, barring half the squad being out) we must press and attack the weaker/lower half sides at home (some away as well) this season. We have a quality squad, so we mustn?t be afraid to leave spaces in a quest to support our star striker RVW who will be class if we give him enough goal chances, but two a game (like today) is not going to be enough over a full season. .

On a side note I really believe that Garrido is going to have to step it up a notch or two this season because of Olsson's presence. We all know how well Garrido can play based on August to November last year, but he hasn't been close to that level ever since. Olsson also offers us far more pace which will be essential if we continue to play deep. On the other hand I was very pleased with Whittaker?s efforts today. Initially I was worried that he would continue to be an easy opponent for opposition wingers, especially after his performance against England, but he was far more solid than usual. If he can continue to improve that side of his game and add it to his already impressive attacking skills then we will have a very good prem full back.

Regardless, this was a positive start results wise. In the circumstances I think Hughton did well. Hopefully we will be a bit more tenacious next week away at Hull when Fer returns.

Posted By: Common Sense Police, Aug 17, 20:40:35