Burnley Player Ratings

[acooling08]

Kasper, Morgan - 7

De Laet - 6

Knockaert - 8

Everybody else - 5

Poor show tonight, but its the result that matters.

[AlphaMaleFox]

Wes 'Sol Sol Bamba' Morgan

[Dan LCFC]

Schmeichel - 6. Not bad. Can't really blame him for goal.

De Laet - 6. His run in the first half was superb, love him going forward but there's work to do defensively.

Morgan - 8. This bloke's class. He's such a rock.

St Ledger - 7. Not a huge fan of his but he was pretty good tonight IMO.

Konchesky - 6. Not a bad game.

Knockaert - 8. The lad really is our most FLAIR player in years, his attitude is superb and he'll definitely play in the top flight, such a tricky player who is a genuine pleasure to watch.

James - 6. Steady display. He's a pretty quiet player often but he's not too shabby, he'll get better.

Drinkwater - 7. Started poorly but steadily improved. I really do rate this lad.

Marshall - 5. Nothing happened for him.

Nugent - 7. Nuge of last year tonight. Much more like it.

Vardy - 6. Thought apart from his goal he was pretty shit, but he's won us the game so fair play.

Subs

Thought all subs were awful. Futacs not really on long enough.

[Alf Bentley]

Schmeichel 7 Couple of crucial saves

De Laet 6.5 Good going forward

Morgan 8 Authoritative

St. Ledger 7 Solid

Konchesky 6.5 Competent

Marshall 6 Contributed

Drinkwater 5 Hurried, lacked creativity

James 6 Competent

Knockaert 8 Excellent passing & 1st touch - v. promising

Nugent 6.5 Signs of improvement

Vardy 5.5 Contributed, but needs to be greedier

Subs: Waghorn showed flickers; Dyer & Futacs kept possession & contributed to team

[indierich06]

All these 8's that people keep giving out to our players gives the impression that we played well tonight! We did not.

We got the win and from all accounts, we had a good game. There have been a few games this season where we've dominated and lost, I'm just glad to see we're making the King Power a fortress - 9pts out of 9ts at home is a fantastic home record. We need to keep that up and improve our away results - note I said results, I don't care how we get them, just that we get them - and then watch us fly up the table.

[Simo86]

Schmeichel 8 - Match winning save at the end, if it wasn't for him, a draw was a definite.

De Laet 6 - Attacked incredibly well, defensively sometimes he was as bad as Peltier

St Ledger 8 - Dominated Paterson, some great defensive clearances, few stray passes

Morgan 8 - One back header mistake, apart from that dominated yet again, what a captain

Konchesky 7 - Much better than Sunday, but was at fault for the goal getting caught out of position

Marshall 5 - Worst player on the pitch tonight, did bugger all

Drinkwater 6 - Not the best in my opinion, gave balls away, and held onto it for too long

James 6 - Reasonable performance, but unspectacular

Knockaert 8 - Absolute quality this lad, gave 100% from start to finish

Vardy 7 - Much better second half, lively but first touch still letting him down

Nugent 6 - Not the best performance, but improved in second half

Dyer - N/A

Waghorn 5 - Well that trip when clean through was pretty special

Futacs - N/A

Not his fault at all, Paterson got away from St Ledger to cut the ball back. Konchesky was marking his winger (like he should be). Konch gave more of a chase after the ball than Ledge did, and nearly got back to him

[Mack]

Schmeichel - 7 A trademark Schmeichel display. Full of enthusiasm and some very good saves.

De Laet - 7 Nothing wrong here today. Works hard up and down the flank.

Morgan - 8 The man holding our brittle defence together with calm and ability.

St Ledger - 6 Industrial no frills as you expect from him. If Whitbread is fit then I don't understand his selection.

Konchesky - 6.5 Nothing wrong here, nothing to pick out as very good either.

Knockaert - 7 Highly talented player who can be brilliant one minute and stupid the next. Needs to learn to pay attention when the duller side of the game needs doing. Argues too much at times. Creative in attack.

James - 5 I don't understand his selection. He is a nothing player who makes the odd tackle and does little / nothing going forward. James picked over Danns? Not for me.

Drinkwater - 6 Looked like he would fill Wellens boots pre season but since the campaign has started he has wilted back to where he was last season. He's not looking like the player we hoped he would be thus far this term.

Marshall - 6 Not a spectacular night for the lad but he's 20 and will get tired at times / have more quiet nights. Still did some good things.

Nugent - 7 Lots of running / enthusiasm / effort. The one shoe in player in the front line for me.

Vardy - 5 So far to me he looks like the lower / non league player he was. Scored but was lucky as it looked like a cross that took a huge deflection. Cant even get simple 1-2 passes right at times. I'd play Beckford instead.

Overall last night's performance was not a lot different to the others we have seen of late. Simple defensive errors and a lot of Foxes bluster and passing around mid field but when we get the ball into the final third we most often lose the ball or a poor cross leads to nothing. We were lucky to get the victory in the end but for me the result does not paper over the cracks of what is still a side with serious issues that are unresolved.

Sunday's game against stiffer opposition will give us a better idea if we are moving in the right direction.

In my opinion to sure up the defence and get more forward creation in midfield Whitbread needs to replace St Ledger at the back and Danns should replace James in the middle. With Beckford replacing Vardy in attack. It wont happen though.

[bluesbrothers]

Kasper - 7 Saved our bacon a few times, not least at the death, but otherwise Burnley didn't test him too much.

De Laet - 7.5 Best game for us so far. Some Bamba-esque runs from box to box. Needs to track back faster, but he looked assured.

St Ledger - 6.5 - Lost his man for their goal, otherwise a steady match and gives him a shout to nail down a starting place

Morgan - 8 Re: everyone else - absolute rock, but nearly cost us 2 points!

Konch - 7 Better from our bald bullet! Solid defensive game today, but looked a terror getting forward once Waggy and Dyer came on.

Marshall - 6 Not in the game first half, but once we found our stride he played some gorgeous crosses in.

James - 6 Mr Invisible again first half, then suddenly second half he was our main playmaker. Do that over 90 minutes and you'll be a fan favourite, son.

Drinky - 6.5 Not his greatest game, but a decent center-of-park performance.

Knocky - 7 Our only creative outlet first half - faded in the second, but you've got to love the flamboyant little bugger. Massive player for us this year.

Vardy - 7 Glum first half (notice a theme here?) but ran himself into the ground and - lets pretend he meant it - a cracking goal.

Nugent - 6.5 Picked up a yellow out of frustration, but FINALLY back on the scoresheet! Let's hope the floodgates have opened for both strikers.

SUBS

Dyer - 6 Sexy triangles with Konchesky and Knockaert to keep possesion. Not exactly creative, but his touch looked good and a professional cameo.

Waggy - 6.5 Starting to look vindicated despite the raised eyebrows at his continued selection. Creative in a Second Striker role, and a comedy tumble for the books. Just work on your shooting and you'll be pushing for the starting 11 m'lad.

Futacs - 5.5 Didn't get time to do much, but helped keep the ball up in their half when a long period of injury time beckoned.

[Leicester Lass]

Schmeichel 7 Distrubution a bit wayward. One particularly great save at the end.

De Laet 7 going forward. 5 for his defending.

Morgan 8 Solid. Some great passing out from the back too. MOTM again.

St Ledger 7 Decent return. Was impressed.

Konchesky 6 Much better than previously this season.

Marshall 6 Few long range efforts but otherwise very quiet.

Drinkwater 4 Very, very poor. A few decent forward Runs but was very wasteful in possession.

James 6 Keeps the ball but is just a boring footballer. Barely noticeable but when he's on the ball it goes sideways or backwards. Not a fan so far.

Knockaert 7 Joy to watch at times. Nice to see he's very vocal on the pitch. Few times he was careless in possession and he ran out of steam badly towards the end. Nowhere near the fantastic player some people are claiming he is just yet.

Vardy 5 Lucky goal. Other than that it's looking a big step up from non-league, his all round play is a worry.

Nugent 5 before he scored 7 afterwards, seemed to give him a spring in his step.

Waghorn 5 A few good runs but technically he is woeful. Spectacular trip over his own feet when he was through on goal.

Dyer 6 Offered a good outlet at the end of the game. Annoying how we kept it in the corner at the end when we could easily have scored a third.

Futacs n/a Barely involved.

[chris_lcfc_85]

All these 8's that people keep giving out to our players gives the impression that we played well tonight! We did not.

Whilst we werent at our best, this is not correct.

First half, they had 1 shot, we had most of the ball but couldnt break them down as we lacked spark.

Second half, much better again, and should of won more comfortable

Anyway, my ratings:

Schmeichel 8 - High marks for the great save he made towards the end, had little to do before that but kept his concenatration

De Laet 7 - This guy is super at going forward, so fast and can take fullbacks on, not as good defensively but good game tonight

St Ledger 8 - Not his biggest fan but did very well tonight

Morgan 9 - Did everything so well, excellent display and good leader

Konchesky 7 - Steady display, typical Konch as some have said

Marshall 6 - Not his best but still looked lively and can always make something happen

Drinkwater 8 - Surprised at the low marks for Drinky, worked tirelessly and made us tick. Granted gave away a couple of sloppy passes but overall good

James 7 - Steady, did the simple thing well.

Knockaert 8 - Average 1st half, class second half

Vardy 7 - Worked tirelessly, similar to Knocky, average 1st half, better 2nd

Nugent 6 - Average tonight, needs to hold it better but glad he scored

Dyer 6 - Excellent running when he came on, frightening pace but still lacks that final cross or shot on too many occasions

Waghorn 6 - Granted he's still rusty but i thought Waggy did ok, played a bit deeper and did pretty well

Futacs - N/A

[Thracian]

Kasper 8 (Iffy distribution early on but his save at the end was a lone stand, absolutely outstanding and so important it was probably worth the mark on its own).

De Laet 7 (Continued to show a refreshing willingness to get forward - and, again, did so with skill apart from his final ball which just tends to be a bit of an anti-climax. Distribution and defensive work only average against a fairly unambitious team once they'd scored).)

St Ledger 6 (Better, but clearly at fault for the goal but reasonable otherwise in a defence that still seems leaky or uncertain even against modest attacking).

Morgan 6.5 (His mistake that so nearly cost an equaliser spoiled what would have been a goodish game but that's the rub - we do make daft errors at the back and we do concede too often. The bloke always looks better than he acually is to me and there wasn't much organisation when they scored either).

Konchesky 7 (Seemed on his toes and gave a solid all round performance, particularly in the second half.).

Marshall 6 (Always strikes me as a bit over-rated and this was definitely one of his poorer games although he did his bit at times).

James 6 (Grew into the job but I thought we were lacklustre in central midfield generally.).

Drinky 6 (Still too sloppy with his passing, although busy enough, looked much less than incisive).

Knocky 7 (Flamboyant, frustrating and not a lot of end product. Needs to mix up his game more instead of dribbling almost all the time. It would make the defenders job more difficult. Another snag is that his style makes him difficult for his team-mates to read and can easily leave them out of position).

Vardy 8 (Persevered and was finally rewarded a deflected goal but if he hadn't had a crack he couldn't have got lucky. Also won the contested header leading to Nugent's goal so, alogether, a productive return and just what we needed).

Nugent 7 (Needed the goal he got and so did we. Made a decent contribution generally).

SUBS

Dyer 7 (Gave us a bit of buzz and might easily have helped create another goal with his counter-atttacking if we had shown more conviction in the closing stages. We missed him badly in the first half when our attacking threat was decidedly subdued and we could well have paid for our lack of purpose).

Waggy 6 (Always gets one easy chance and so often fluffs it as he did last night. Looked positive enough and certainly disturbed the Burnley defence but he's just so clumsy, unreliable and one-footed).

Futacs 4 (Seemed to simply follow orders and waste time. Can't blame him for that I suppose but a bit more ambition and he might have been involved in another goal for us. As it was we learned nothing apart from the fact that he'll do as he's told which is probably paramount where Pearson's concerned).

[chris_lcfc_85]

Kasper 8 (Iffy distribution early on but his save at the end was a lone stand, absolutely outstanding and so important it was probably worth the mark on its own).

De Laet 7 (Continued to show a refreshing willingness to get forward - and, again, did so with skill apart from his final ball which just tends to be a bit of an anti-climax. Distribution and defensive work only average against a fairly unambitious team once they'd scored).)

St Ledger 6 (Better, but clearly at fault for the goal but reasonable otherwise in a defence that still seems leaky or uncertain even against modest attacking).

Morgan 6.5 (His mistake that so nearly cost an equaliser spoiled what would have been a goodish game but that's the rub - we do make daft errors at the back and we do concede too often. The bloke always looks better than he acually is to me and there wasn't much organisation when they scored either).

Konchesky 7 (Seemed on his toes and gave a solid all round performance, particularly in the second half.).

Marshall 6 (Always strikes me as a bit over-rated and this was definitely one of his poorer games although he did his bit at times).

James 6 (Grew into the job but I thought we were lacklustre in central midfield generally.).

Drinky 6 (Still too sloppy with his passing, although busy enough, looked much less than incisive).

Knocky 7 (Flamboyant, frustrating and not a lot of end product. Needs to mix up his game more instead of dribbling almost all the time. It would make the defenders job more difficult. Another snag is that his style makes him difficult for his team-mates to read and can easily leave them out of position).

Vardy 8 (Persevered and was finally rewarded a deflected goal but if he hadn't had a crack he couldn't have got lucky. Also won the contested header leading to Nugent's goal so, alogether, a productive return and just what we needed).

Nugent 7 (Needed the goal he got and so did we. Made a decent contribution generally).

SUBS

Dyer 7 (Gave us a bit of buzz and might easily have helped create another goal with his counter-atttacking if we had shown more conviction in the closing stages. We missed him badly in the first half when our attacking threat was decidedly subdued and we could well have paid for our lack of purpose).

Waggy 6 (Always gets one easy chance and so often fluffs it as he did last night. Looked positive enough and certainly disturbed the Burnley defence but he's just so clumsy, unreliable and one-footed).

Futacs 4 (Seemed to simply follow orders and waste time. Can't blame him for that I suppose but a bit more ambition and he might have been involved in another goal for us. As it was we learned nothing apart from the fact that he'll do as he's told which is probably paramount where Pearson's concerned).

Sorry but these ratings must be from a different game!!!!

How could you give Morgan and SSL less marks than the 2 full backs!!?

Also, with those marks in mind, how can you give Nugent a 7? He was bang average and hold up play wasnt great

Essentially your saying Vardy was the best outfield player. Whilst he worked hard, that is pretty crazy!

[indierich06]

Sorry but these ratings must be from a different game!!!!

How could you give Morgan and SSL less marks than the 2 full backs!!?

Also, with those marks in mind, how can you give Nugent a 7? He was bang average and hold up play wasnt great

Essentially your saying Vardy was the best outfield player. Whilst he worked hard, that is pretty crazy!

HIs opinion, nothing wrong with that.

[kingfox]

Not his fault at all, Paterson got away from St Ledger to cut the ball back. Konchesky was marking his winger (like he should be). Konch gave more of a chase after the ball than Ledge did, and nearly got back to him

Konchesky was out of position and had to track back, St Ledger backed off Konchesky didn't get there in time, and they scored.

But we won so who gives a shit, I gave my ratings and loads of others did the same, sorry for them being slightly different.

[chris_lcfc_85]

HIs opinion, nothing wrong with that.

Yes of course I appreciate that but how we can all be at the same game yet see things alot different....

[Simo86]

Konchesky was out of position and had to track back, St Ledger backed off Konchesky didn't get there in time, and they scored.

But we won so who gives a shit, I gave my ratings and loads of others did the same, sorry for them being slightly different.

Sorry just don't agree. It happened right in front of me and that was my view. Like you said we won so it doesn't really matter

[Harry - LCFC]

We got the win and from all accounts, we had a good game. There have been a few games this season where we've dominated and lost, I'm just glad to see we're making the King Power a fortress - 9pts out of 9ts at home is a fantastic home record. We need to keep that up and improve our away results - note I said results, I don't care how we get them, just that we get them - and then watch us fly up the table.

I agree, I don't mind how the results come either. It just amuses me a little that we were so much better against Blackburn and lost but managed a win yesterday despite putting on a fairly average performance.

I don't really understand why people said we had a good game, I'm sure if Vardy's shot hadn't deflected and gone in then the ratings given out would be a lot lower. A lot of people seem to just look at the scoreline and not really consider how we got to that result.

[Harry - LCFC]

Whilst we werent at our best, this is not correct.

First half, they had 1 shot, we had most of the ball but couldnt break them down as we lacked spark.

Second half, much better again, and should of won more comfortable

No disrespect to Burnley but we shouldn't need to be at our best to beat them and I don't actually consider it that much of an achievement to limit them to one shot.

Going in at half time losing at home to a team that will probably finish in the bottom half strongly suggests a lesser performance to me. Of course, we improved 2nd half but you can't just base your match ratings on the last 45 minutes which some appear to have done.

[chris_lcfc_85]

No disrespect to Burnley but we shouldn't need to be at our best to beat them and I don't actually consider it that much of an achievement to limit them to one shot.

Going in at half time losing at home to a team that will probably finish in the bottom half strongly suggests a lesser performance to me. Of course, we improved 2nd half but you can't just base your match ratings on the last 45 minutes which some appear to have done.

I think your being disrespectful to Burnley. There's no easy games in this league and they have some decent players.

Also, i didnt base my match ratings on just 45 mins. Alot on here gave Knockaert high ratings but i thought he was bang average 1st half as was Vardy

[Guest MattP]

No disrespect to Burnley but we shouldn't need to be at our best to beat them and I don't actually consider it that much of an achievement to limit them to one shot.

Going in at half time losing at home to a team that will probably finish in the bottom half strongly suggests a lesser performance to me. Of course, we improved 2nd half but you can't just base your match ratings on the last 45 minutes which some appear to have done.

It's this attitude that I imagine a lot of our players have had that has led us to mid-table finishes in the last couple of seasons.

[Harry - LCFC]

I think your being disrespectful to Burnley. There's no easy games in this league and they have some decent players.

Also, i didnt base my match ratings on just 45 mins. Alot on here gave Knockaert high ratings but i thought he was bang average 1st half as was Vardy

I know you should take every game seriously but I really hate that phrase, Scunthorpe away 10/11 season was fvcking easy! They were awful and we were miles ahead of them.

Obviously, Burnley are no Scunthorpe but there are some games that I think we can say "we should win that" and when you play mid-table teams at home then you have to be looking for three points. I'd have been disappointed with a draw and I'd like to think everyone else would be too. Anyway, it probably is a good sign that we can win games when not playing at our best (something we didn't do last season).

[MattyFromLE]

No disrespect to Burnley but we shouldn't need to be at our best to beat them and I don't actually consider it that much of an achievement to limit them to one shot.

Going in at half time losing at home to a team that will probably finish in the bottom half strongly suggests a lesser performance to me. Of course, we improved 2nd half but you can't just base your match ratings on the last 45 minutes which some appear to have done.

I disagree, Burnley are a very good side, or at least were. The championship is a very difficult but forgiving league. Hence our 9/10 place jump last night.

[Harry - LCFC]

It's this attitude that I imagine a lot of our players have had that has led us to mid-table finishes in the last couple of seasons.

There's nothing wrong with wanting, and indeed, expecting to win certain games. I hate it when anyone says of another team "they're a good side" when that team is in the bottom half of the table. No! Go out and beat them, not make an excuse.

Would you admit that there are certain games that we probably should win? Burnley at home is one of them I think. Don't get me wrong, you do have to earn the points in any game but I know I'll feel very disappointed if we were to walk away with just a point when we play Ipswich at home.

EDIT: Perhaps I chose my words poorly when I said "we shouldn't need to be at our best to beat them" - of course you have to play reasonably well but I do expect a level of performance where we do enough to earn that result.

[Guest MattP]

There's nothing wrong with wanting, and indeed, expecting to win certain games. I hate it when anyone says of another team "they're a good side" when that team is in the bottom half of the table. No! Go out and beat them, not make an excuse.

Would you admit that there are certain games that we probably should win? Burnley at home is one of them I think. Don't get me wrong, you do have to earn the points in any game but I know I'll feel very disappointed if we were to walk away with just a point when we play Ipswich at home.

Nothing wrong we saying we should win certain games at all.

Saying we shouldn't need to be at our best when we have spent the last 2-3 seasons hanging around mid-table in and around the same position as the team we are playing smacks of arrogance.

[Harry - LCFC]

I disagree, Burnley are a very good side, or at least were. The championship is a very difficult but forgiving league. Hence our 9/10 place jump last night.

Very good? Good enough to finish in the automatic promotion spots? Play-offs maybe? I doubt it. Call me arrogant but I expect us to finish above Burnley this season, we're better than them. Simple.