Snowball Just reading elsewhere that someone thought this a boring game.
I really enjoyed it. There were plenty of very good performances, a few moments of brilliance,
some moves that were a joy to watch.
Bacuna is classy and should soon establish himself as a starter in midfield. Apart from one moment, he worked hard, tackled back, won loads of ball, was always available, keen to receive the ball and showed lots of vision with almost always the most sensible pass, He fed Popa often (Popa had a great game apart from his finishing). The goal was excellent. Picked up the ball deep in midfield, ghosted through two opponents, carried it to the edge of the box and wellies a great shot into the back of the net. This is a very good player. 8
Popa ran his socks off, was a great outlet. Had he not missed all those chances he'd've got 8.5 from me, but 7.5
Clement showed some fabulous ball skills when he came on as sub. He is going to be an awesome player in a few years, 8
The kid up front worked very hard, but didn't look like he'd ever score. I was so chuffed for him when he finally got a goal. 6
Rinomhota was solid throughout and can step into the first 11 without worries, when needed. 7
The three centre backs did OK throughout up against some big strikers, but we still manage to give away chances after dominating. 6.5s
Gunter was a mixed bag, sometimes OK-to-good, sometimes a bit casual, but overall he was probably a 6.5
Keeper was decent throughout, so I'd go 7
McCleary looked rusty and, I thought, a bit heavy
Millwall looked like a League 1 outfit, but when they went Route 1 it almost came off.
Barrow, Bacuna, Clement show some real class and lovely touches. We still lack "steel" though. At our best we look like we could open up any defence. I expect us to put 5-6 past some team this season
Can you really read anything into an EFL cup fixture in which both teams didn't play their first team? I remember the days when we put 5 goals past a 3rd string Arsenal team (and obviously conceded a few), it didn't mean we could do that in a 'real' game.