Romero: 8-Looked very shaky at the start. Beaten for Eriksen's lob that went over. Really grew into it as the match progressed, however. Cut out a few crosses and made a few crucial saves. Thought he flapped at that header from the free when he could have held on, but on watching the replay fisting it was probably the right decision. The save a few seconds later made me feel better about it. Given the circumstances he's probably done as well as anyone expected.
Darmian: 8.5-Could arguably give him a 9. Looked really solid, and made some good runs forward. Noticed just how well he played with the madness when he came off. About as good a debut as you could ask for from a full back, unless you liked Buttner's more! I think it was
@Imran520 who said on the pod that this sort of full back signing is the perfect type, and we saw that today. Confident and assured.
Smalling: 10- To be honest, his rating was going up and up almost each minute at the end there. Didn't expect him to start but relieved that he did. Wouldn't have seen a performance like that from Jones. Almost flawless, without him the best we're getting is a draw.
Blind: 6.5- Poor start. Got nutmegged by Kane early on and I was getting worried. He's fortunate that Smalling compliments his obvious physical issues (height and pace). However, he's an intelligent player, and he was better in the second half. Stepped out a few times to cover the space left by Shaw very well, as I said he might before the game. Don't remember much from him weathering that late storm though. Some good interceptions.
Shaw: 7- Some great moments. Looks leaner and really showed his pace a few times. Lost a point perhaps for getting caught out once or twice. Kane got the ball back off him very easily early on, and near the end Alderweireld went past him with ease. Other than that, played well.
Carrick: 7-Not as imperious as last season, but Spurs did press well which we know he doesn't love. Much like Darmian, we lost a bit of control when he went off. In fairness to him, he made a few important interceptions, and actually pressed their players (!). He's still going to be a key player for us this season.
Schneiderlin: 6- I expected a little more. Early on, he seemed surprised by Spurs pressing, which is strange as you would think he knows what to expect from Pochettino sides. He looked much more comfortable later on, as we grew into the match a little. However, when your fullbacks are playing well and you centre back is as busy as Smalling was, I think you need to look at your centre mids.
Mata: 6.5 Some lovely touches and passes at times, hit one great ball out to Young. However he lost possession terribly too, especially early on. Seemed genuinely energized by the prospect of Ander joining him on the field, and that brought his best spell as could be expected. Surprised he lasted the full 90 minutes. Expected more, as he was so good in this fixture last year. I feel a lot more comfortable with Darmian behind him, and I think they linked up well, but if Pedro comes in he's in trouble.
Memphis: 6- I don't think he's a number 10, at all, so I don't want to be too harsh. I'd like to see how he plays on the left in a 4-3-3. He seems a little one footed sometimes, he did play a lovely ball in to Young near the end of the first half that the latter kind of messed up. I reckon he'll grow into it, but I want to see him out wide where there's a bit more room. One shot in the first half after the Mata free that I remember, and he could have caught it better.
Young: 5- Poor. I know he kind of set up the goal, but he was poor. Putting the own goal aside, I thought Walker looked all too comfortable, Young looked very weak in all of their tussles. A couple of wasteful crosses, and seemed to not realize that he was swinging high balls in to Rooney and Mata at a combined height of about 7 ft 3. When he doesn't have Fellaini to aim at, he struggles, it seems. In fairness to him, he tries which is better than a few years ago, and he had all our shots on target, but it was our only shot and a bad one. Should have done better with the pass from Memphis in the first half. No way was that a dive though.
Rooney: 5- The hilarity of Walker knocking that into his own net covers up just how badly Rooney handled that situation. Didn't get a ton of service, sure, but basically was bailed out from messing up a tap in. Other than that, hit a nothing free into the Stretford End, and went for the spectacular on a nice cut back when, ironically, you could argue he needed to take a touch. Given out striking options right now we need a LOT more from him this season. Hopefully he's just rusty. Got a knee to the head which can't have helped, but he wasn't playing well before that.
Subs:
BFS: 6- I remember him doing one thing really well on the ball, but I forget what it was so maybe wasn't that good. Got booked, gave away another free or two. Still feeling his way into things which is fair enough. You'd hope he'll become a leader for us in panicked moments like late on today. Can't argue with his credentials, and that will give him a certain authority on field.
Herrera: 6.5-Not a whole lot to say, the players who started ahead of him arguably made more of claim for him to start next week than he did. Link up with Mata was good though as always, and his one touch passing in the middle is really important for us. Made the best impact out of all the subs.
Valencia: 4- What a difference having an actual right back makes! Responsible for an awful lot of arse-twitching when he came on. I've always like him, and I have more patience for him than most, I think. Darmian was twice as good as him and he got an 8.5, so I reckon Valencia gets about a 4.
