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Friday 4 October 2013

Blues v Millwall - Match Ratings

Blues recorded a third consecutive home victory against Millwall, scoring a host of goals in the process. Not only did Blues score a very welcome four goals, they kept a rare clean sheet. This wasn't necessarily due to a solid defensive performance, but more down to Millwall's offensive impotence. Regardless, Blues did play well, here is my opinion on the performances of the players.

Randolph - 7
Spector - 8
Robbo - 7
Burn - 6.5
Murphy - 9 *MOTM*
Adeyemi - 8
Reilly - 8
Burke - 8
Shinnie - 7
Lionel Jesse - 7
Green - 7

Randolph - Randolph had a quiet game,  but he did what he had to do confidently and with minimal fuss. He was quick off his line but didn't really have any saves to make. 

Spector - it seemed a strange decision to play Spector over Caddis, especially at home, but Spector repaid the faith shown in him by Clark. He dealt with the threat of Millwall's top scorer Woolford easily and was comfortable on the ball. A very composed and solid game from Spector. 

Robbo - a typical Robinson performance. Strong in the challenge and commanded the defensive line. His pace was not an issue in the first half due to the lack of movement from Steve Morison, but in the second half it was slightly more of an issue. Still a solid performance from the defender. 

Burn - Dan Burn had a strange game. He had a very calm first half, where he dealt with everything coolly, intercepting every ball and winning every header. In the second half however, he seemed a bit shaky. The half-time change that Millwall made seemed to throw him off, as he made a few mistakes in dangerous positions but, as Millwall were so poor they could not capitalise. All in all, a mixed performance from Burn, but we did keep a clean sheet. 

Murphy - the last few weeks have really shown how much we missed Murphy. Defensively, he might not be brilliant, but going forward, he is probably the best left back in the league. He nearly scored earlier on than his first goal, but he planted his header straight into the arms of the 'keeper. The first goal however was a neat finish from a tight angle, which most strikers would have been happy with. Quite what Murphy was doing there is unclear, but fortunately he was and he opened the scoring. His second goal was a majestic free-kick from just outside the area on the right hand side. Other than that, Murphy had a decent game. He didn't put a foot wrong defensively and offered width when Lionel Jesse cut inside. A well deserved 9. 

Adeyemi - what a signing he has been! Despite a shaky start to his Blues career he has proved to be a very dynamic midfielder with fantastic drive combined with strong tackling. He grabbed his second goal in as many games with a lovely chip over the keeper to top off a strong performance from the box-to-box midfielder. Him and Reilly could be a very important partnership in midfield this season.

Reilly - despite the lack of chances he had at the start of the season, Reilly has shown in the chances he has had why he should be in the team. Whilst Elliott may add more passing ability and a more creative presence, Reilly gives us energy and a tough tackling midfielder who can dominate midfield. His distribution is lacking at times, as it was on Tuesday, but he wins it back so often that this is not too much of an issue. In the first half on Tuesday, he was a contender for MOTM, as he was always in the right place - every second ball came to Reilly. In the second half Millwall responded and maybe got the better of our midfield for a spell, but Irish U21 international Reilly can be pleased with his performance.

Burke - Chris Burke terrorized his full-back all game, as he consistently found space and dribbled at the defender. However, he has a tendency to overrun the ball and only pass when absolutely necessary, which can be very frustrating. He did this a few times on Tuesday, but generally he did get his crosses in eventually. He beat the defender numerous times and put in some very good balls. It was a terrific performance from Burke and one that is almost commonplace for him now.

Shinnie - Shinnie had been forced out the team the last few weeks, as he struggles to fit into the 3-4-3 system, but Clark gave him a chance in a 4-2-3-1 formation off the striker. He had a part to play in the first three goals, supplying the cross for the first, winning the free-kick for the second and having the rebound from his shot turned in. The one problem with Shinniesta is his tendency to drift in and out of games. He often will go 5-10 minutes without touching the ball, but on Tuesday when he had the ball he did well. He was almost non-existent for a lot of the game though, barely getting involved, which is a shame.

Lionel Jesse - Lingard grabbed another goal to continue his bright start at Blues, but he could have had a hat-trick. After winning a contentious penalty, which appeared to have been outside of the box, Lingard took the penalty himself. Unfortunately, he saw his weak penalty saved, which could quite easily have dented his confidence. However, it takes a lot to ruin the confidence of a guy who scored 4 on his debut, as Lingard had a few more chances. He saw his goal-bound header blocked by a defender, but late on scored a header off an almost identical cross from Burke, this time finding the right-hand corner of the net to seal off the game.

Matt Green - Green is well liked by the fans and has started to become an increasingly important player. He may not be the biggest name, or the top goalscorer or even the most talented, but his pace, power and movement have been key to Blues' recent success. It's no coincidence that our run of goals have coincided with him playing. He was relatively quiet on Tuesday, but he created so much space for Burke and Lingard especially, by pulling defenders around and running into space. A good performance, even if he receives no glory from it.

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