What do BBC Sport's player ratings mean?

For some of the biggest football matches we cover, BBC Sport's football reporters will be giving their views on how each player performed using a sliding scale of 1-10. But what does each rating mean? 10 - What a performance. Probably a match-winning display, maybe a wonder goal, hat-trick or something that has set a new record. These will be rare and reserved for the truly outstanding efforts. 9 - Excellent. Probably scored at least one, or created a goal, or produced an outstanding defensive/goalkeeping display. Likely to be the best player out there. 8 - Very good. Heavily involved in the action, one of the best players on the pitch without reaching the above criteria. 7- Quite good. Played their part, did more good things than bad. 6 - Decent. Should have been involved more, maybe missed some easy chances or played some sloppy passes. Maybe could have had more of an impact, but instead a quieter game. 5 - Average. Did nothing to stand out. Was maybe out of position for a goal or a late substitute that did not have time to get involved. 4 - Disappointing. We would have hoped for more. Guilty of losing the ball, missing chances, making defensive errors. 3 - Did more things badly than well. Few positives if any, maybe a goalkeeper or outfield player to blame for some of the goals conceded. 2 - Really poor performance, maybe their team took a hammering, with an error-strewn showing. 1- No positives to note. Made numerous serious errors, probably cost their team the match, likely to get dropped next time. A game to forget. Follow your club with BBC Sport Listen to the latest Football Daily podcast Get football news sent straight to your phone