Roundup of last weekend’s games
Ireland’s convincing 4-0 win in the first leg of their play-off was well-received by SportsLab’s Ireland fans. Every player in the starting XI received an average rating of 7 or above, with Robbie Keane leading the way with 7.7. An overall rating for the Ireland side of 8.1 from their fans in the SportsLab confirms that this was a strong team performance, completely outclassing Estonia, who were given 3.9 for their efforts by the Ireland supporters.
Gary Speed’s Wales also received 8.1 from the Welsh-supporting SportsLabs respondents for their 4-1 friendly win over Norway. Gareth Bale (8.6) and Craig Bellamy (8.4) were considered the star performers, and the manager’s selection (8.1) and tactics (7.9) received approval from the fans who took our poll.
Scotland fans turned out in force to complete our poll following their 2-1 victory over Cyprus. Kenny Miller’s goal helped him to the top rating of 7.7, but a team rating of 6.6 suggests that fans viewed the performance as unremarkable. Over a third of SportLab’s Scotland fans would have liked to see David Goodwillie start.
England emerged with a 1-0 victory over World Cup winners Spain at Wembley, with Scott Parker’s role in the middle of the park earning him a team-leading rating of 7.9. England fans gave their side 6.9 and Spain 6.6, an indication of how tight the game was.
Midweek fixtures roundup
England’s game with Sweden on Tuesday also finished 1-0 to the home side. Right-back Kyle Walker was named the star performer with a rating of 7.3, and the overall team rating was 6.8.
Ireland’s second leg against Estonia was something of a formality after their 4-0 home win, and a 1-1 draw was played out. Giovanni Trapattoni’s team selection merited another rating of 7.5 from SportsLab’s Ireland supporters. Robbie Keane was star performer again, with a rating of 7.3, as the side received an average of 7.1 from fans, compared to the 5.5 they gave Estonia.
Scroll down to see the full results for each of this week's home nation matches.....
England
Wales
Republic of Ireland
Scotland
Labs Method statement
YouGovLabs research is anecdotal, with polls being open to all panellists who wish to take part. In contrast to YouGov’s Public Opinion polling, YouGovLabs seeks to understand the attitudes of specific subsets of people: sports fans tell us how they feel about sports and music fans tell us how they feel about music, for example. YouGovLabs results are unweighted, and figures reported do not reflect the attitudes of the population as a whole.
