In all fairness, he was fantastic and could do very little about any of the goals (maybe slightly better for the first).
I thought he played alright, does all the basics well. But the fire in him seems to have gone out. He did little wrong, without being spectacular. He did assist the first goal.
On the flip side, i and others around me thought he must have got wind that their were scouts there watching him, as he looked better than he has for a long time
I thought he had a good game and worked hard. His pass to Cole for the first goal was sublime. I have also not been as critical, as many on here, of his performances this season.
I would definitely put Andersen in there instead of Styles, but obviously I have no idea how Diabate & Delaney played and/or if any other wingback played as well as Styles... so my point is pretty much redundant
I thought Styles was excellent last night, also think their keeper was at fault for Cole’s goal, no way should he be done from that angle.
I didn't. I've read some legitimate criticism of him and I guess you're alluding to that. He definitely did pull out of some tackles. But he also played some immaculately weighted and directed passes. Three times in the first half he put Cole through into the same position in the area using what is commonly referred to as a reverse pass (which most professional players just can't do). Cole scored from the first, he crossed it from the second, as he should have done, and he also crossed it from the third, when he should have had another shot, and how Cole was playing I think he would have scored. I would question how committed Styles was, I still think he wants away, but some of his touches were pretty special.
Statistically he wasn't. Second highest pass completion rate. Highest cross completion rate. Created a goal via a sublime pass and almost repeated it. I'm not saying he was challenging Benson for MotM but he was far from our weakest player in my opinion.
Yep, thought Styles was really good on Tuesday (and the second half at Derby). It's vital to get out of the blocks in games like the other night and Callum helped set the tone with that excellent break and pass to set up Cole. Don't understand some of the shirking tackles claims - a number were right in front of me and I've also watched them back. They were nearly all 45:55, 40:60 or worse odds situations and in each case you could see the thought process of, I'm not going to get this even if I go for it but I will probably foul or worse, so the smart move is to stay out and win it back on the pass. Always available, excellent passing, good crossing and gave very little away defensively.
