November Player of the Month

Given the moribund performances we've seen over the last calender month it's virtually impossible to pick out one player who deserves special credit. Four draws, some more respectable than others, all different scorelines, three involving us throwing games away after taking leads, the positives far outweighed by some very obvious negatives.

The draw at Birmingham came on an afternoon to forget, at least the other three saw goals and came with other talking points, at St Andrews, Nigel de Jong's handball and us making 'Chucho' Benitez look like a world-beater aside, not a lot happened. The standout performer that afternoon was obviously Shay Given, which perhaps says something about how poor our defence was. Our passing was especially atrocious, Birmingham bullied us in the midfield and we struggled to even carry out the very basics expected.

On top of that, Roque Santa Cruz was completely alienated in attack, not to mention blatantly unfit, and our more creative players mooched about doing nothing bar having the odd pot-shot from distance. I'd be hard pushed to really identify anyone else as being any better than average, the odd clever pass in behind the defence from Carlos Tevez, or SWP's slightly improved second-half showing, that's about it.

The draw against Burnley was probably the most disappointing of the four, you really shouldn't be dropping points after scoring three times at home. The defence that day, particularly the left side of it, has been ripped to bits in various quarters, most notably on Match of the Day by gran's favourite Alan Hansen. Needless to say our £55m backline was poor beyond description.

Some credit has to go to the players most involved in getting us back into that game. Shaun Wright-Phillips, buoyed by his deflected first-half goal, really upped his work and for parts of the second forty-five gave former team-mate Stephen Jordan a real going over, playing a vital part in Craig Bellamy's goal. Bellamy himself, and Stevie Ireland also both improved after the break, only for us to throw the game away at the other end.

As deflating as chucking away another lead was at Anfield, there were obvious positives in both halves. Defensively, first hour at least, we were quite solid, again ultimately letting ourselves down by clocking off, especially with the second goal, which could so easily have been prevented by any one of half-a-dozen players sticking a leg in at any point. Nigel de Jong also did quite well, really putting himself about, breaking up Liverpool attacks on several different occasions.

The two players who made the difference that day, however, were Stevie Ireland and Carlos Tevez. On going behind, Ireland began to pull the strings, and it was probably the best we've seen of him so far this season. His goal was exquisite, and he once more proved he's key to us performing to our true capabilities. The workrate of Tevez also made a huge difference, no moreso when chasing a lost cause which led to that goal of Ireland's. Shaun Wright-Phillips again proved a bigger danger after the interval, several piercing runs at Insua, as well as getting around Kyrgiakos for the second.

Yesterday's drab affair was certainly lifted by the reemergence of Robinho. Though not match-fit he was involved in several nice moves and always looked a danger cutting in onto his favoured right foot from the left. I personally thought Emmanuel Adebayor had a good first half, somewhat undone by him being virtually absent during the second. Dropping deep and linking up well with Ireland, Tevez and Robinho he caused Hull problems before again going missing, eventually being replaced by Santa Cruz. Joleon Lescott was relatively solid in defence, and SWP deserves a mention for his goal and causing problems later whilst dealing with two markers.

To be perfectly honest, i don't think there's a suitable candidate for any award this month, no-one has performed consistently so i'm sure any pick would be objected by some. Joleon Lescott's began to look a bit more steady over the last two games, Nige has been good in parts, Ireland and Tevez have shown flashes of being able to change games, but you couldn't really say anyone excelled at all.

Shaun Wright-Phillips has attracted criticism over recent weeks, some of it fairly. He's beating his man far less than he used to, his end ball, which was never his strongest point, has also deteriorated, and he generally seems low on confidence. Of the seven goals we've managed in November, though, he's scored or made four, which sort of makes the decision for me. Improvements all round are a must if we're to get a decent return from a tricky December.

November: Shaun Wright-Phillips