P'boro Player Ratings

[MGLCFC]

Does he have that extra gear when it comes to pace? I noticed on more than one occasion that he seemed a bit one paced. Some nice touches and a few decent balls into the box, will be interesting to see how he develops.

He's has had 20 minutes of Championship football - did anyone see some of Marshall's early performances (Brighton, he was awful, but only played 20 minutes)

[Jimmy]

I was go glad lloyd started instead of Knocky today. He deserves a chance.

he's had 4 years here how many chances does he need

[fleckneymike]

He's has had 20 minutes of Championship football - did anyone see some of Marshall's early performances (Brighton, he was awful, but only played 20 minutes)

Don't get me wrong I liked some of what I saw I just noticed that he didn't seem to have a change of gear when attempting to go past his man. He may well have one and have demonstrated it against Sunderland but I didn't see it today.

[Bryn]

Schmeichel 7 - Rarely called upon and made the saves required, some monstrous kicks, a couple of iffy kicks still went firmly into a Leicester players area of the pitch. Confident and focused.

de Laet 7.5 - Impressive display. Robust defending, bags of energy, always willing to go forward and a couple of useful crosses. Looks a consumate professional and unflappable defender on that display, my first impression is that he will be quite consistent.

Morgan 8 - Solid as a rock and a well taken goal to my eyes, I couldn't tell if there was a foul from where I was. Looks a lot more in control than he did with his various centre back partners last year.

Moore 6.5 - Hardly tested, was able to showcase his reasonable pace, strength and technique, but a few moments of mild pressure in the second half bore fruit for Peterborough. Not a long term option in this position, but still a creditable display and Morgan can look after him for now.

Konchesky 7 - Same old reliable Konchesky, running to the last minute, always available, caught the eye a little less than RDL.

Marshall 7 - Always tricky but I thought their left back had the measure of him, seemed to have a good understanding of where Marshall wanted to be. But he was involved and he has a decent bit of variety in his play, will always be a threat.

James 6 - Looked off the pace to me, I thought their midfield was firmly in control in the first half. Mitigation given by Pearson in that he was ill, fair enough, but why start an unfit player when we've got Danns and King on the bench?

Drinkwater 7.5 - One or two wayward passes but that's to be expected when so many are attempted, he was everywhere today, strong in the tackle, kept the ball moving in spite of a glaring lack of motion in our attack first half, and when King got in there on the same wavelength the engine started purring.

Dyer 6.5 - Always willing, always does his dirty work, but my he lacks finesse.

Vardy 7.5 - Great movement, great first touch, a real grafter and he made his mark with that fabulous bit of work down the left to tee up King's drive. Very impressive and I found myself really wanting to see him on the ball. He seems comfortable dropping off or hanging on the shoulder and that evokes that word again; variety, a variety so glaringly absent last season. His technique isn't the greatest, his finishing is a bit rough, but he's used to having much less time and far inferior defenders, and he showed adaptation within the space of this game. Also, loves a bit sliding tackle.

Beckford 7 - Put a shift in today, needs to marry that to creating more chances but he got on the ball, won a lot of headers, played some nice balls into dangerous positions.

Subs

King 8 - Quite possibly man of the match for his cameo. We were so much more in control with him next to Drinkwater, unerringly accurate passes, breaking up their play and getting forward and a sumptuous finish. That's Andy King at his best. This is a big season for him, he's got plenty of competition and he's at that age where he'll fall by the wayside if he doesn't up his game. Needs to play this well consistently, get in the team and stay there. I get the feeling he's up against James, with Drinkwater competing with Danns, and on this display he's better than the former United man.

Knockaert 7 - Tricky, hard working, remains to be seen if he has any significant final product but he contributed to keeping our momentum up.

Nugent 7 - Effective in the short time he had.

[bigneville]

Schmeichel - 7 - Couple of good stops in the second half. Solid.

Da Laet - 7 - Keeps it very simple. Showed good pace going forward. Solid.

Morgan - 8 - Lead the team well, positioning is excellent. Rewarded with a goal.

Moore - 7.5 - Handled home league debut very well. Dealt with everything thrown at him. Has a bright future ahead.

Konchesky - 7.5 - You know what your going to get from Konch and it was a good solid performance from him today.

Marshall - 7 - Looked to create at all opportunities. A bit greedy at times, but his set piece delivery was generally good.

James - 6 - Quiet game for Matty. Really struggled to stamp his authority on the midfield.

Drinkwater - 8 - Controlled the game for us. Looked very trim and fit. This guy is a Premiership footballer in the making.

Dyer - 7 - Huffed and puffed. Showed glimpses of quality followed by a woeful final product. Decent.

Vardy - 7.5 - Chased lost causes and generally caused the Peterborough back line problems. Snatched at chances but understandable on home debut.

Beckford - 7 - Showed glimpses of real quality, and worked well for the cause. Didn't take his big chance in the 1st half.

Subs

King - 7.5 - Made an impact. Took goal very well and kept things simple in midfield. Looked a bit like the Kingy of two seasons ago.

Knockeart - 7 - Loves a stepover and a trick. Flashy and exciting. Made a positive impact and give the team a lift. Seems everyone knows this boy could be special.

Nugent - 6.5 - Didn't really get a chance to have a major impact, but typical hard-working performance from Nuge.

MOTM - Drinkwater

[Thracian]

Does he have that extra gear when it comes to pace? I noticed on more than one occasion that he seemed a bit one paced.

It seemed that way to me too but he could perhaps make it easier for himself by not dwelling on the ball so often. I know Vardy is a different type of player but he puts doubt in opponents' mind by running at people one time and giving a one-touch pass the next. Knockaert seemed to fuss with the ball on every occasion and opponents came to expect it.

[Finnegan]

It seemed that way to me too but he could perhaps make it easier for himself by not dwelling on the ball so often. I know Vardy is a different type of player but he puts doubt in opponents' mind by running at people one time and giving a one-touch pass the next. Knockaert seemed to fuss with the ball on every occasion and opponents came to expect it.

He'll learn after the first few Championship defenders go straight through him.

But I'm sorry, he delivered more quality balls and retained possession in the twenty odd minutes he was on than Dyer did all game before him.

As I've said plenty of times before, I like Dyer, I like what his pace and his direct running does to the lesser defenses at this level and I really think he has a role to play here as long as we're in this league. It's just that he's consistently wasteful and he was at his wasteful best yesterday, hilarious shots, awful passes, non-existent crosses. Knockaert may like to do one too many step overs but he gets crosses in, I sit right above the corner he was attacking and I only saw him lose the ball twice and both times he was part of winning it back nearly instantly.

He finds his team mates with passes if he can't push forward and he can actually deliver a pretty good cross. He perhaps does need to pick the pace of his play up, yes, but I'm sure he'll learn and settle once he's been given a chance to grow here but in the mean time I personally think he's been more effective than Lloyd when he's been on the pitch. The tricks and skills might look like they're just for show but numerous times against both P'borough and Sunderland he genuinely beat his man with them.

[Simmo86]

Agree Finners

Also can't remember the last time I saw a Leicester attacker put a defender on his arse with trickery.

[artursteppe]

What's this "New foreign player" syndrome? . Knockaert might have a terrific season but there was no way he was more dangerous than Dyer today. He was all show and not much substance. Reminded me of Djiziri. Hopefully he'll hone his talent more effectively over time but today his extra touches slowed us down and created little of note. The big plus was that he offered another kind of option, another weapon to call on.

Major differences between Knockaert and Dyer, the frenchman can cross a ball, Dyer cannot, Knockaert has two feet, Dyer just about manages a left foot. From a previous post of yours, which is completely in keeping with your unfortunate inability to accurately assess performances, Drinkwater ran the show from midfield.

[MGLCFC]

Major differences between Knockaert and Dyer, the frenchman can cross a ball, Dyer cannot, Knockaert has two feet, Dyer just about manages a left foot. From a previous post of yours, which is completely in keeping with your unfortunate inability to accurately assess performances, Drinkwater ran the show from midfield.

Totally agree - could be a major player this season

[Thracian]

He'll learn after the first few Championship defenders go straight through him.

But I'm sorry, he delivered more quality balls and retained possession in the twenty odd minutes he was on than Dyer did all game before him.

As I've said plenty of times before, I like Dyer, I like what his pace and his direct running does to the lesser defenses at this level and I really think he has a role to play here as long as we're in this league. It's just that he's consistently wasteful and he was at his wasteful best yesterday, hilarious shots, awful passes, non-existent crosses. Knockaert may like to do one too many step overs but he gets crosses in, I sit right above the corner he was attacking and I only saw him lose the ball twice and both times he was part of winning it back nearly instantly.

He finds his team mates with passes if he can't push forward and he can actually deliver a pretty good cross. He perhaps does need to pick the pace of his play up, yes, but I'm sure he'll learn and settle once he's been given a chance to grow here but in the mean time I personally think he's been more effective than Lloyd when he's been on the pitch. The tricks and skills might look like they're just for show but numerous times against both P'borough and Sunderland he genuinely beat his man with them.

Knockaert might have retained possession but the time he spent dawdling and dancing on the ball cramped the space, stifled the move and too often left us lost in a cul-de-sac. If he delivered any notable crosses from open play, I can't remember them although that's not to say I'd necessarily doubt his ability.

As mentioned elsewhere it won't be long before Knockeart gets a good clattering because, unlike Dyer, he's a relatively static target.

I don't think Dyer's the greatest crosser but that's partly because the ball's in the danger zone before any of his colleagues can react to meet it - a point glaringly emphasised at least once against Posh and many times last season.

What pleased me most about Knockaert was the number of times he got on the ball and tried to make something happen.

That, together with the introduction of others, helped our team show a little more collective energy which should surely be worth a point or two over the season.

There also seems to be fewer glaring positional weaknesses and Knockaert aids that because, as you say, he shows a willingness to work when he loses the ball and that is beginning to be a constant throughout the side now.

Another plus is our quality on the bench. Having the likes of Knockaert, Nugent and King coming on as replacements pointed to a significant strength in depth that might prove vital over the season.

[MGLCFC]

Knockaert might have retained possession but the time he spent dawdling and dancing on the ball cramped the space, stifled the move and too often left us lost in a cul-de-sac. If he delivered any notable crosses from open play, I can't remember them although that's not to say I'd necessarily doubt his ability.

As mentioned elsewhere it won't be long before Knockeart gets a good clattering because, unlike Dyer, he's a relatively static target.

I don't think Dyer's the greatest crosser but that's partly because the ball's in the danger zone before any of his colleagues can react to meet it - a point glaringly emphasised at least once against Posh and many times last season.

What pleased me most about Knockaert was the number of times he got on the ball and tried to make something happen.

That, together with the introduction of others, helped our team show a little more collective energy which should surely be worth a point or two over the season.

There also seems to be fewer glaring positional weaknesses and Knockaert aids that because, as you say, he shows a willingness to work when he loses the ball and that is beginning to be a constant throughout the side now.

Another plus is our quality on the bench. Having the likes of Knockaert, Nugent and King coming on as replacements pointed to a significant strength in depth that might prove vital over the season.

And that's his problem, he doesn't look up and just hits the ball into the box. Both Knockaert and Marshall deliver quality balls into the box that strikers can get to. Dyer blasted the ball across the face of goal yesterday, not even Usain Bolt would have got on the end of it. Beating a player for pace is only useful, if something materialises at the end of it and unfortunately for Lloyd this rarely happens. Added to woeful shooting and one footedness, he is very limited.

[Thracian]

Major differences between Knockaert and Dyer, the frenchman can cross a ball, Dyer cannot, Knockaert has two feet, Dyer just about manages a left foot. From a previous post of yours, which is completely in keeping with your unfortunate inability to accurately assess performances, Drinkwater ran the show from midfield.

I gave Drinkwater a respectable 7 for his performance which I saw as functional rather than pivotal. If anyone "ran the show" I'd say Kingy was most effective by feeding the ball so fast and so accurately to ensure our second half domination was maintained and by scoring the goal which sealed the match.

[Thracian]

And that's his problem, he doesn't look up and just hits the ball into the box. Both Knockaert and Marshall deliver quality balls into the box that strikers can get to. Dyer blasted the ball across the face of goal yesterday, not even Usain Bolt would have got on the end of it. Beating a player for pace is only useful, if something materialises at the end of it and unfortunately for Lloyd this rarely happens. Added to woeful shooting and one footedness, he is very limited.

Dyer is perfectly capable of shooting accurately. A couple of weeks attention on the training ground could fix his problems in that direction, no problem. In fact he might be better off using his right foot on occasions because, like Waghorn, he loses balance by trying to hit shots too hard with his stronger foot. Dyer's not limited at all. We just don't get the best from him. Anyone can see where his faults lie when shooting, even from the pre-match warm up.

[Thracian]

And that's his problem, he doesn't look up and just hits the ball into the box. Both Knockaert and Marshall deliver quality balls into the box that strikers can get to. Dyer blasted the ball across the face of goal yesterday, not even Usain Bolt would have got on the end of it. Beating a player for pace is only useful, if something materialises at the end of it and unfortunately for Lloyd this rarely happens. Added to woeful shooting and one footedness, he is very limited.

Just remind me of one quality or productive cross into the box from Knockaert yesterday.

[Thracian]

Totally agree - could be a major player this season

I thought that last season when we went to Southampton and he was so busily influential. But he'll need to find the consistency this season and that might depend on Pearson's astuteness in using the bench and keeping players fresh.

[Number 6]

Same ratings as Thrac but 7 for James. Thought he did a tidy job.

Knockaert looks decent but was consistently having the be repositioned by management and team mates.

Becks work ethic has improved and there was a great knock down to Vardy but think he'll need to do more to keep Nugent out the side (although Nuge didn't look sharp today).

[Daz93]

Schmeichel 7 - Didn't have much to do all game, but pulled off a few good saves when required. Kicks a bit sloppy though.

RDL 7- Solid at the back, good going forward. Put some good crosses in.

Morgan 8 - Brick wall and man of the match. Great head for the goal.

Moore 7.5 - Don't think we'll need another CB. Terrific display from the young lad, although it is only Peterborough.

Konchesky - 7.5 Worked his socks off as usual. Think he'll be even better this season with a more solid defence next to him.

Marshall 6.5 - Largely unspectacular but good set pieces.

Drinkwater 7.5 - Not on the ball in the first half, did too much chasing. But great commanding display in the second.

James 6 - Few wayward passes and got caught on the ball a few times. Decent defensive work though.

Dyer 7 - Always willing to run and looked a threat throughout.

Vardy 8 - Great enthusiasm, tracked everything and harried their defence. Good cross for Kingy's goal.

Beckford 7 - Worked hard, unlucky to be replaced I felt. His attitude is the main positive.

King 7 - Awesome side footed finish to the top corner. Sprayed a few balls about too, hope he's added that to his locker.

Nugent 5 - Nothing to do.

Knockhaert 6 - Bags of skill, didn't get to do much today but will be an exciting watch.

[MGLCFC]

Just remind me of one quality or productive cross into the box from Knockaert yesterday.

The one that Vardy got penalised for - super ball right on the edge of 6 yard box

[MGLCFC]

Dyer is perfectly capable of shooting accurately. A couple of weeks attention on the training ground could fix his problems in that direction, no problem. In fact he might be better off using his right foot on occasions because, like Waghorn, he loses balance by trying to hit shots too hard with his stronger foot. Dyer's not limited at all. We just don't get the best from him. Anyone can see where his faults lie when shooting, even from the pre-match warm up.

If after 4 years at the club he hasn't mastered the art of shooting, using his right foot effectively and driving balls aimlessly across the box, I don't think a couple of weeks on the training ground will put this right. Dyer is limited IMO and is the reason he has never progressed from being a half decent Championship winger. Great pace, but how many goals comes from his great runs. If he just looked up and tried to find his forwards it would be helpful.

[Finnegan]

Just remind me of one quality or productive cross into the box from Knockaert yesterday.

He put in a couple from right in front of me yesterday, both of which gave Peterborough trouble.

[marbelladave]

Ratings.

I thought everyone played reasonably well yesterday, for the first meaningful game anyway.

8's for Morgan, Drinkwater, King and Vardey, 7's for the rest, good start all round.......

Our setup on the other hand.......

[acooling08]

Dyer should be a sprinter, not a footballer.

He reminds me of Elvis Hammond, very quick but the crossing/shooting accuracy of a blind giraffe.

[Tielemans63]

James 7 - Really like this lad, like the way he plays

Just ribbing you Kingfox!

[Jimmy]

the way the midfield played at pace and passed with a purpose yesterday was noticeable with out our so called playmaker from last season. I hope both he, and more importantly, Nigel noticed this and he doesn't get in as soon as he's back