Skysports.com's ratings review casts an eagle eye over the player ratings from this weekend.
Skysports.com's ratings review casts an eagle eye over the player ratings from this weekend
Skysports.com's ratings review feature, in its format of heroes and villains, takes a look at the stars and the flops from the latest set of fixtures in the Premier League.
The player ratings awarded by readers and journalists after every match of the season are used to assess the performances of the individuals on show.
It is possible to give your rating on all the players in the Premier League via the player rating tab of each fixture and we will continue to round up the best and the worst in the top flight.
Heroes
Anthony Pilkington
There were question marks about the former Huddersfield player's ability to prove himself in the Premier League. But he has made an excellent start after scoring three goals in just seven outings in England's top flight. Saturday's double came against former Championship rivals Swansea, who cannot be considered an established Premier League force. However, Pilkington's performance still earned a nine from reporter James Pearson, while readers averaged 9.1.
Juan Mata
The Chelsea playmaker is the latest import to take the Premier League by storm. The Spaniard is part of the new direction at Stamford Bridge and is an indication of Andre Villas-Boas' determination to raise the speed of Chelsea's attacking. Mata was key to Saturday evening's win over Everton and our man, Stephen Kihn, decided the former Valencia star merited a nine, with readers not far behind on an average of 8.6.
Cheick Tiote
While the 2-2 draw between Newcastle and Tottenham may not have involved the sort of intricate, stylish football which is currently all the rage, it did not lack the raw energy of the Premier League. The high-octane encounter at St James' Park was perfectly suited to Newcastle's midfield action man, Tiote. He epitomised why he is now arguably Newcastle's most important midfielder with a rating of nine from journalist Jack Woodfield. Readers averaged 8.5.
Villains
Roger Johnson
Wolves' three-game unbeaten run at the start of the season is now a distant memory. Mick McCarthy's men lost their fifth successive Premier League match in Sunday's defeat to West Brom in the Black Country derby and captain Johnson has taken a portion of the blame. Heroes and Villains weekly star Steve Pass awarded a five, while readers were even more damning in averaging 3.7.
Steve Gohouri
From our ratings review veteran, Pass, we are onto Heroes and Villains debutant Subhankar Mondal. Gohouri is the reason. The Wigan defender's performance in the 3-1 defeat to Bolton 'lacked concentration and was sloppy', according to Mondal, who awarded a rating of four. Wigan are on a similar slide to Wolves and readers were even less impressed with Gohouri's display. They averaged a diabolical rating of 2.4.
Adel Taarabt
Hero to villain personified. QPR's superstar from their Championship-winning campaign is now becoming somewhat of a frustration at Loftus Road. Joey Barton has told his new team-mate he needs to live up to his 'genius' tag, but Taarabt is resembling a player who is stropping because he did not get a summer transfer. His substitute performance in Saturday's draw with Blackburn earned a fairly generous six from reporter Hayley Paterson in comparison with a readers' average of three.
