My ratings:
Saunders - 6: Made some good saves, also made a big mistake for the first goal.
Iraola - 5: Average, seemed to get forward a little more but caught out defensively again.
Hernandez - 4: Poor, why we dropped Facey for him I'll never know.
Mena - 5: Not great, but showed some flashes of quality again. Sold up the river by Hernandez today.
Angelino - 6: Defensively iffy but quality going forward. Nice assist to McNamara.
Pirlo - 6: Pretty good with the ball (as you'd expect) but didn't effect the game nearly as much as you'd want without Poku/Mix.
Jacobson - 4: Offered practically nothing going forwards or backwards.
Calle - 5: Offered pace and width but didn't see enough of the ball.
Grabavoy - 3: If it wasn't for the outcry against his selection, I wouldn't have known he played.
McNamara - 7: Not perfect, but a good hardworking performance topped off with an excellent goal and an assist.
Villa - 6: Poor until the last 20 minutes, where he came alive. Clearly frustrated and should have passed more. Added another goal to his season tally.
Poku, Mix, Lampard - N/A: Didn't get enough time.
Positives from the game:
- Another goal for Villa
- Another great goal for TMac
- Angelino looked good once again
- Mena, despite his flaws, clearly has talent
- Iraola slowly starting to get in to games offensively
- With our best players on the pitch, we can be really dangerous
Negatives:
- Grabavoy
- We still can't defend for shit
- Grabavoy
- Kreis' decision to drop Facey, Poku and Mix for Grabavoy, Hernandez and Jacobson
- Our dumb ass high line against Oduro and Piatti
- Pirlo's set pieces were surprisingly poor
- Playing Lampard that deep is not getting the best out of him, he's a goalscorer, get him near the goal!
- The ref's a *****
- Grabavoy again
A note on "#KreisOut"
There is no way you can sack Kreis now.
He took over a side with no players. He had to bring in an entire squad over the course of a few months.
He has had to play the first 2/3 of the season with only one of his 3 DPs. You can question (I certainly do) his persistence in selecting his RSL veterans Wingert and Grabavoy. I know, to us, it may seem that they have proved nothing and don't deserve a place in the roster, but remember these were key players for Kreis at RSL, where they managed to win the MLS cup. Is it any wonder that he trusts these guys?
And besides, picking a player isn't a sack-able offence. Even if he picked Grabavoy every game for the rest of the season it wouldn't be grounds to fire him, sorry guys.
You can't sack a manager after 1 year having taken up such a difficult job IMO. Give him time, give him a year with all 3 DPs and a more refined roster. If he continues to fail then he'll be done for. The abuse he gets is too much, we don't want to be a trigger happy club sacking managers left, right and centre; that's what Serie A is for. Everyone on here is a manager, but Kreis has credentials. I don't agree with what he's done in the past or what he did today but it's very easy to say these things in hindsight.
And don't accuse me of just defending Kreis. I'm not. His decisions have been, to put it kindly, baffling. He (and we) need to improve ASAP but I have ALWAYS been an advocate of giving managers time. I also think CFG share this view, they've given Pellegrini (Manchester City) and Van't Schip (Melbourne City) time to prove themselves.
