Awful game, awful result but take nothing away from Fulham who I hope will go up over numerous other front runners.
Ruddy - 5/10 - Not great, spilled an effort straight at him, punched a cross over his own goal and (purely a personal thought) I don't think he should be getting beaten at his near post for the second goal. Real question marks exist over his place in the team and in particular after the summer.
Bennett - 6/10 - Mixed, his poor clearance straight down the middle put us under pressure again and he was slow to react to the rebound. Not the worst on the pitch.
Coady - 5/10 - Poor game, didn't seem to have the radar he's shown himself to have, I don't hold the 2nd goal against him as we know he can't cope with strong targetmen (think Zohore, the QPR guy and now Mitrovic). Moved to CM and looked average minus the decent ball to Afobe for Jota's open goal miss.
Boly - 6/10 - Mixed also, passing was slightly off and I'm just not convinced he has a real understanding with Douglas. Not the worst on the pitch.
Doherty - 5/10 - Very limited performance minus one decent cross in first half I felt Cav should have been more alert to. Again, real questions over his post-summer future but our lack of options here could be dangerous.
Saiss - 4/10 - Poor, needed to step up following time out of the side with N'diaye and failed to do this. Lost the midfield battle and did not seem as capable as Neves with regard to responding to N'daiye's more expansive game. Last season and his games with N'daiye this season show that he needs a partner who sticks tightly with him in order to flourish.
N'Daiye - 6/10 - Worked hard, doesn't have the radar of Neves but still manfully tried. Saiss should have been off instead of him was my stance at the time and remains so post-match.
Douglas - 5/10 - Similar to Doherty, very limited going forward and below average in defence. Another who has questions post-summer, with Vinagre as an option for LWB however, I would have thought his poor games recently suggest he ought to be dropped.
Costa - 4/10 - Got into 2 good positions to shoot but could never quite pull the trigger. Had the close ball control but never seemed to have the pace (Not sure if it was just me but he looked like he couldn't motor to 100% sprint speed?).Rightly subbed and (probably) rightly dropped for the next game.
Bonatini - 3/10 - Anonymous. We know he isn't a proper forward and comes deep to link the play but with teams slightly wiser I feel it makes our job attacking with him on the pitch slightly more difficult as their defenders know they don't need to follow him and can hold their shape better.
Cav - 7/10 - Manful effort and had 2 shots which caused problems for the keeper. Tried hard but with the rest of the team misfiring it was never going to end well for him.
SUBS
MGW - 4/10 - This score is more of a reflection of the tactical change rather than a dig at him. Looked overwhelmed at CM and the injury to Saiss didn't help. For now, stick him in the front 3.
Jota - 3/10 - Again not a dig on him, but when youre anonymous and miss an open goal then you aren't getting a high score.
Afobe - 5/10 - Slightly more generous as he did well to set up Jota following a good block by the defender. Wasn't as anonymous or overwhelmed as the other two and I thought he looked a bit more direct in this which can only be a good thing.
For reading I personally would go
Norris
Bennett Boly Hause
Graham Ndaiye Coady Vinagre
Jota Afobe Cav
GK - Ruddy has been very poor by his high standards and you have to hold him against those standards, Norris deserves a chance.
Def - More of a case of picking the best options of a bad bunch (Roderick/Batth poor and can't go on the left side)
Mid - Coady simply to plug the gap left by Neves for now because Saiss really does not deserve a chance again and he isn't very good when his partner roams like N'daiye does (not a dig at N'daiye, its just how he plays). Vinagre for Douglas (similar to GK change).
- Graham for Doherty, we've called him back as cover and I feel he deserves a chance. Always looks tricky out wide and has a good cross on him. He also mitigates the loss of Douglas as he is a good set piece taker too.
ST - Costa and bonatini poor so next best options, Jota and Afobe, come in to form the trident with Cav.
