Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Arsenal player ratings from Sunday.

As promised, ratings are as follows:

Jens, 7: Not the dominant, colossal presence that he was at Old Trafford earlier in the season, and he flapped at a few crosses. Fine subsequent saves made up for this, and he was sound otherwise.

Eboue, 7: The pros and cons were there for all to see. A fabulous, world-class cross for Henry came after a number of embarrassing theatrics. However, he is improving as a defender and I can’t see Wenger buying a new right-back in the summer.

Phil, 7.5: The only defender we have who has a real presence in the air. Watching him win so many headers was a joy. But, not as comfortable on the ball as Djourou, and he was partially responsible for the annoying long-ball stratagem.

Kolo, 7: Quietly solid and booked with unjustifiable alacrity early in the game.

Clichy, 7: Nullified Ronaldo and Giggs. Good going forward, and not over-awed by the occasion. Hopefully he can continue with his current rate of progression. Slightly at fault for the goal.

Hleb,5.5: a poor game by his standards, and seemed to miss Gilberto as an outlet. The occasional pass did come off, but the lack of his usual creation and penetration was a major cause of the regression to long-balls.

Fabregas, 7.5: Kept going for 95 minutes and dominated Scholes in the middle of the park. Not quite at his magisterial best but still the best midfielder on the pitch.

Flamini, 7: Good, solid performance; did enough to suggest he can be a squad player who can come in for the big games and not be the weak link. Best when keeps things simple.

Rosicky, 7: Another player who battled to the end, and was instrumental in both goals after switching to the right. Still acclimatising to the team and the premiership but his class is obvious.

Henry, 7.5: Not a big game player, apparently. Floated about for most of the game, in an occasionally insipid manner, but came good when it mattered. Individually saluting the fans at the end was a lovely touch.

Adey, 8: Didn’t actually threaten in the manner he has in previous matches, but lead the line in a vibrant, physical manner that Arsenal fans haven’t seen for a long time. His hunger is palpable and we will win things with him leading us forward.

Subs

RvP, 7.5: Superb finish for the goal from a difficult angle. His injury is a major blow though, and the absolute best we can hope for is that he’ll be back sometime around the PSV game.

Baptista, 6: not enough time to get into the game. These ten minute cameos are not the way forward for him. Robin’s injury is his opportunity.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

You must be drunk. Fab and Henry at the same level? Henry diserves no more than a 6, and Fab at least an 8 maybe 9.

Anonymous said...

I support Empty Paras. I think he's a top bloke.

Anonymous said...

Senderos shouldn't be a 7.5. He may have been good in the air, but he made a couple of shaky plays at the start of the game and didn't handle the ball with a lot of confidence.

Anonymous said...

I don't think you've taken the windy conditions into account with Jens score - I think that's why he sometimes punched rather than caught balls.

Also I completely disagree that Clichy was at fault for the Man U goal. Having watched it several times now I think the fact that Kolo got his head to the ball, accidently took it straight into Rooney's path where it was not destined to go.

Joe Henderson said...

I think that Fabregas deserves an 8 just like Adey. The both of them worked their asses off. Adey running around picking up the ball for Van der sar, and then pushing Evra back was classic.

Anonymous said...

Jens did what he had to do, at least he got distance on his punches.

A great win, Man United should have played to win becuase sitting back does not suit them at all. Maybe Van Persie's injury will give the Beast a chance.