Nik, Dougie was no more a pedestrain last night than Moussa and no-one is calling for the same kind of punishment for him. Honestly, I firmly believe the figure I quoted fpr Clarke is correct, and Dougie is way, way, WAY behind that.
I completely agree with you about Moussa. I like him as a player but he is off form at the moment and was part of the problem in the misuse of Freedman by his colleagues. Francis and Moussa in particular kept giving long high balls for Freedman to chase when we know that he needs the ball on the floor, ideally in front of him. Freedman got really fed up at one point and took to gesturing at Moussa to indicate the ball that was needed. Moussa first touch was good when the ball was punted up to him on the left but was very wasteful in possession.
Ratings:
Mildenhall: 9 Our player of the season so far IMHO. Looked in control throughout. I am surprised that someone blamed him for the goal - he and Barrett were on their own. Gets down so quickly for a big man - great save in the first half. Good distribution too.
Herd: 7 OK, he did get caught out positionally a couple of times but I was really pleased with him. He showed that he should be the corner taker of choice from the right, bending the ball in with his left foot. He puts much more pace on the ball than Moussa or Francis. Good free kicks too. I didn't think his throw-ins were as good as usual but he is well balanced when he runs at players.
Barrett: 8 I thought he did really well. He is often criticised for committing himself too early in defence but he was the only one who saw the danger for MK Donut's first goal - unfortunately, he ended up outnumbered. He ran well from deep too. I was particularly impressed with his captaincy when he got Grant away from Puncheon avoiding a likely second yellow.
Francis: 6.5 I understand why Tilly played him in central defense (extra height) but the constant chopping and changing in this position worries me and caused us major problems in the first hour. I think it was Francis' missed tackle that was largely responsible for the first goal. As I've already said, he kept launching long balls for Freedman as soon as he got the ball. However, he improved and got to grips with their attack rather well later on.
Grant: 7 Played well on the whole, reading the game effectively as usual although he was at fault for the goal, coming inside and missing his man.
Moussa: 5 See above
Christophe: 7 Did pretty well - worked really hard. I was so sorry that the goal was an o.g. - it's goals from midfield that we have been missing this season and he weighed in with a fair few last year. Won the pen as well.
Macca: 7 I am surprised that he has received so much criticism today. I thought he was the major reason why we got to grips with the midfield. His shooting is a problem but no one knows it more than him. He was visibly extremely cross with himself when he missed the better of the two chances he got.
Laurent: 8 Exciting to watch, repeatedly turning Lewington. I loved the moment where he took the ball from Scannell, who was dithering, and ran straight through their defense. As others have said, he must work on his final ball.
Barnard: 7 Didn't get much of the ball but forced several throw-ins in good positions by hounding their right back. Seems to have got faster. Showed incredible composure as usual on the pen.
Freedman: 6 Didn't get much of a sniff really. Put in a lovely ball for Barnard, who was just offside, and then got in a great position on the right wing when the referee missed the opportunity for a clear advantage and called the ball back. As I've said, we are not playing to his strengths.
Scannell: 6 Brought some much-needed pace to the front line and pushed them back. He MUST improve his awareness though - he missed another great chance for a one-two with Laurent because his head was down.
I love last minute goals - what a feeling at the end!
