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Sunday, February 08, 2009

Player analysis and ratings vs Spurs

By 1970’s Gooner

Almunia

Made only mistake which he tends to repeat in many games. His timing and positioning when he comes out for the crosses is suspect. Robbie Keane failed to score luckily enough.

Other than that Almunia was calmness personified. He collected from corners well and took the pressure off his beleagured defenders and crowned a very good performance with a last minute save when Modric was clean through. Just what our players were doing committing themselves to a corner kick the other end is beyond me! 8

Sagna

Kept to his duties well but did not venture forward much. When he did his crosses were not very good often hitting the defender. Yet it was defending that was needed and this he did well. 7

Clichy

I felt that he was not at his best in this game and also during the last few games. He looks tired and Lennon did go past him on some occasions. When Wenger made the switch and put Van Persie in the midfield on the left hand side leaving Bendtner alone up front the team regained its balance and Clichy had more needed support. 6

Gallas

A solid performance. Kept Pauvlichenko in check and was always well positioned to defend with strength and determination. 7

Toure

I felt that he was tentative in his heading especially in the first half. He tends to head the ball almost upwards rather than forward. This tends to put the rest of the defence under pressure because it is anybody’s ball when he does that. He did defend very well in the second half when we were under pressure. I am more in favour of Djourou starting games. 6

Song

One of his better games for Arsenal especially in the second half when he only had to defend and destroy. Broke up a lot of the Spurs attacks and did the job of two men really as his other half in the middle of the pitch was nowhere to be found. 8.5

Denilson

Probably had his worst game for Arsenal. Couldn’t tackle couldn’t pass the ball with any accuracy and couldn’t make any telling contribution at all. Why oh why does Wenger insist with him I will never know. 4

Narsi

Was lively in the first half but faded in the second. He did come in the middle and helped crowd the space up and at least he is not wasteful in possession. 5.5

Eboue

Brainless. He did have a good first 15 minutes running through and creating some dangerous situations but those two yellows were indefensible. 3

Adebayor

Useless. Lethargic. Uninterested. His injury is a blessing in disguise. 4

Robin Van Persie

Quality. The only player that played with determination, commitment and purpose. He also performed quite well when asked to fill in the middle areas of the pitch. 8

Bendtner

He needs to play with more concentration and use his head rather than let his enthusiasm take over. We were after all playing with 10 men. Yet he did combine well with Van Persie and nearly scored with a thunderous shot that Cuddicini parried away. Will Wenger trust him now that Adebayor is out? 6.5

Man of the Match: Song and Almunia are very close but I would give it to Song


17 comments:

JonJon said...

Almunia made some brilliant much needed saves yet Song was just a beast in the midfield - he gets my vote for man of the match!

Anonymous said...

I think your ratings are very much spot on. I agree that Djourou should start together with Gallas and not Toure. He has been woeful since coming back injured from the African's Nations Cup last year. Toure almost gifted Pauvlichenko a goal just before half-time but luckily Gallas covered up for him and Pauvlichenko's shooting was awful.

Did you notice that Song always performs well when we are down to 10 men? I remember that his other excellent performance was at the Emirates stadium against Liverpool when Ade was harshly sent off. He is good at sitting back and breaking down attacks but needs to work on his offensive side.

Anonymous said...

Will Song be playing in the CL match ? If so, someone tell Lloyd Webber that we have found a decent Song for Europe....

Anonymous said...

I thought the team on a whole were great today considering the circumstances, but for me song was top class today, the problem is he tends to have one game like this and the next is pfff, very in consistent, but maybe hell keep consistent from now till the end of the season, and where was vela?? he wud of flourished on the left in this game and rvp11 uofrunt on his own

Anonymous said...

I think sagna deserves much more...

Anonymous said...

Wenger is to blame .... he's defended Eboue once again in the post match saying it was a harsh decision.

I just wish he started saying things like "the boys better grow up soon to be men mentally , else....."

Anonymous said...

Song was excellent second half. Eboue should have played his last game for Arsenal today. He has shown again what a liability he is. We all knew he was going to get sent off after the first stupid booking. Ramsey could have played or Vela on the left and Nasri on the right, more creativity was needed. At least we held out.

Anonymous said...

I reckon Nasri was better than your rating by a large margin. He was one of the only 3 getting forward, but he got back and defended well intercepting Spurs passes and trying to link defense to Attack. I would have given him a 7.

Anonymous said...

I am very glad to see that Song is geting some much deserved credit. He is very underrated. People forget the fact he is so young. I see everyone saying he did very well in breaking play up, which is 100% true, but more credit must be given to his passing, very accurate and always calm!

leon said...

i feel because of the lack depth of the squad players like sagna,clichy,are being played to much are looking a bit tired wenger realy needs to get cover,i would play eboue right back, and i would give gibbs a few games

Anonymous said...

Almunia was, dare I say it, commanding in this game. He is improving by the week. I agree Gallas was great but you don't give Sagna enough credit. He was quite literally doing the job of two men for close to the last hour of the game.

Song was as good as I have seen him, breaking the play by positional sense (like Gilberto) but personally I felt that Palacios was the boss of midfield.

Overall a good performance. The boys should have developed a bit more confidence to attack the coming run of games where 15 points, as you say, are there for the taking!

Anonymous said...

Gallas and Song are MoM for me, both were outstanding. I thought Sagna and Almunia were great as well. I don't agree with you entirely on Denilson though. He was wasted on the left and he just can't dribble, he always loses the ball. But he made a great number of interceptions and some of them almost created chances. Nasri has improved his defensive side a lot, both in midfield and on the flank, great player.

The downsides today were, apart from shit-kicker Eboue, Clichy and Toure. Gael is just not playing well and Toure is just getting worse and worse by the week. I can't understand how he gets picked over Djourou. Djourou and Gallas looked so solid together and that's the partnership I want.

As for Clichy than he is having a bad dip in form and really needs to be benched for few games. However, he is by far our best LB and we can't lose him. Gibbs is just so far off his standard and still has few years to go before he might become competitive. Wenger has some decisions to make in our full back squad before next season. Will he trust Pedro/Traore/Gibbs as covers (1-2 of them must go for sure) or will he bring in a new player (we were all satisfied with Eboue when Sagna arrived). And at RB, Eboue is a good cover but I don't want brainless shitheads at our club so he needs to go. That leaves us with Gavin Hoyte as a cover and he is not ready so it will be interesting to see.

Anonymous said...

The defence was good but not what a top rated team should have. It would be more fair to say that the opposition was pretty poor in its attacking. They conceded the ball on so many occasions..... Toure did screw up once during the second half when he let somebody (I dont remember who) get past him inside the box. Clichy and Sagna are good and we can trust them to perform well in their roles. It is the CBs that I am skeptical about. Come summer, we need to shop for this position. When our injured players return, I am confident the other areas of the field will be well covered..... Drogba doesn't seem to be too happy at Chelsea. Wonder if we could switch ade for him. Might be the change that both of them need.

Anonymous said...

Get a one way air ticket for Eboue and ask him not to come back. His standard is only good to play for SPUDS.

This clown is really pain in our A*S. With him we are going nowhere and fast becoming the laughing stock in town.

Anonymous said...

thanks a lot at least u agree with all arsenal fan that song played well onlike our friend myles who tried putn him adeBADayo's level

Anonymous said...

Agree mostly tho disagree on nasri and denilson's rating and eboue's. I think ur bein way too generous giving him 3! Tho at the start of the game he actually played well then the same old stupid eboue came out and cost us the game. I try to like him i really do but i just can't. Never has an arsenal player got to me as much as him. Funny i actually thought he was a good player a few years ago what the hell happened since? He cheats, he plays below average and brings this team down yet wenger persists in using him. If it were me he would be nowherer near the arenal team after yesterday he is a disgrace. Also he's apology on arsenal.com is a farce. what a twat. Anyway just wanna comment that song played very well and to be honest gives us an option if he can reproduce that in midfield maybe try the song - diaby partnership for the F.A. cup. Denilson needs a rest. I know some would say that doesn't sound like a good midfield but who knows song sitting back diaby striding forward with a bit of purpose. Hey u never kno. Besides we have ramsey to try if it doesn't work. But anyway Song played well and not to get too carried away but lets hope the boy can continue playi somewhere near the level for the remainder of the season. Almunia gets ripped by a lot of people on these blogs but i rate him. Sometimes he is suspect but yesterday was a solid perforance bar the keane header. Keep coming out for the crosses and commanding like that and we will be fine. 1 last thing the central of defence is startin to actually look solid. Im a big fan of kolo and yes one or two moments he lacked concentration but him and gallas keeping clean sheets playin in the same team together? hey u can't go wrong with that. Tho djourou will want to have something to say about the partnership seeing how he has played. Im sure wenger will give him another shot with either one in the F.A cup. Still Kolo hasn't been his usual self for a while but he is in the team, he is vice captain and we have kept clean sheets. Stop creating over our defence and worry about our lack of goals. Hoepfully the immenent return of eduardo and arshavin (who is unfortunately ineligible to play in the F.A cup) will help create goals. Cannot wait till theo, cesc and rosicky come back what options we will have! come on u gunners!

Anonymous said...

Good blog, I agree with most of your comments, but Denilson although wasnt great, isnt that bad a player. Heres some stats from a fellow Arsenal blogger, almost if not better than Flamini...enjoy!

Comparison of Denilson this season vs Flamini last season:

*stats based on 23 games played
*stats stolen from guardian chalkboard - bad girl!
*tackles won and attempted include ariel challenges, so the numbers are different from those provided by other stats sites.

===
Flamini (07/0 vs Denilson (08/09)

SP: successful passes
TP: total passes
IN: interceptions
TW: tackles won
TA: tackles attempted
FW: free-kick won
FC: free-kick conceded

Flamini == SP(TP)/IN/TW(TA)/FW(FC)

11/02/2008 Blackburn(H):::65(71)/5/5(6)/2(4)
02/02/2008 ManCity(A):::::57(60)/2/5(6)/1(2)
29/01/2008 Newcastle(H):::38(47)/3/2(3)/0(1)
19/01/2008 Fulham(A)::::::59(62)/2/3(4)/0(1)
12/01/2008 B’ham(H):::::::46(49)/1/3(4)/0(2)
01/01/2008 WestHam(H):::47(52)/3/2(5)/0(3)
29/12/2007 Everton(A):::::30(35)/0/5(8)/2(2)
26/12/2007 Portsmouth(A):37(46)/5/2(8)/2(2)
22/12/2007 Spu*s(H):::::::43(47)/1/0(4)/1(3)
16/12/2007 Chelsea(H):::::33(39)/0/4(6)/0(5)
01/12/2007 Villa(A):::::::::36(39)/1/3(3)/0(0)
12/11/2007 Reading(A)::::80(86)/3/1(4)/1(0)
03/11/2007 ManUtd(H):::::46(48)/2/3(5)/2(1)
28/10/2007 L’pool(A):::::::53(56)/1/4(7)/1(1)
20/10/2007 Bolton(H):::::::55(63)/2/4(7)/1(2)
07/10/2007 Sunderland(H)::53(60)/1/2(4)/0(2)
29/09/2007 WestHam(A)::::35(38)/2/1(3)/3(4)
22/09/2007 Derby(H)::::::::53(54)/0/3(3)/2(0)
15/09/2007 Spu*s(A)::::::::35(40)/2/6(9)/2(1)
02/09/2007 Portsmouth(H)::35(44)/6/10(13)/1(1)
25/08/2007 ManCity(H)::::::49(52)/2/2(2)/0(1)
19/08/2007 Blackburn(A)::::19(25)/2/2(4)/0(5)
12/08/2007 Fulham(H):::::::35(39)/1/2(4)/1(0)

Denilson======= SP(TP)/IN/TW(TA)/FW(FC)
31/01/2009 WestHam(H):::::73(81)/4/2(7)/3(0)
28/01/2009 Everton(A):::::::36(46)/5/2(2)/3(4)
17/01/2009 Hull(A):::::::::::39(45)/1/2(4)/2(2)
10/01/2009 Bolton(H)::::::::94(104)/0/2(3)/ 2(2)
28/12/2008 Portsmouth(H):::61(65)/5/0(0)/3(3)
26/12/2008 Villa(A):::::::::::42(47)/4/5(7)/3(0)
21/12/2008 L’pool(H):::::::::40(46)/4/8(9)/4(2)
13/12/2008 M’boro(A)::::::::33(41)/1/3(4)/1(3)
06/12/2008 Wigan(H)::::::::62(66)/7/4(12)/2(1)
30/11/2008 Chelsea(A)::::::29(39)/6/6(9)/2(3)
22/11/2008 ManCity(A)::::::58(70)/7/3(6)/2(1)
15/11/2008 Villa(H):::::::::::79(82)/3/7(9)/4(2)
08/11/2008 ManUtd(H)::::::::58(61)/5/5(5)/0(3)
01/11/2008 Stoke(A)::::::::::33(38)/1/5(7)/0(0)
29/10/2008 Spu*s(H)::::::::::78(82)/5/5(10)/5(2)
18/10/2008 Everton(H)::::::::67(73)/1/5(8)/2(0)
04/10/2008 Sunderland(A)::::66(72)/1/4(5)/2(1)
27/09/2008 Hull(H)::::::::::::54(61)/2/4(5)/3(1)
20/09/2008 Bolton(A):::::::::57(69)/6/3(4)/1(1)
13/09/2008 Blackburn(A):::::55(62)/2/6(8)/1(4)
30/08/2008 Newcastle(H):::::29(37)/0/5(7)/2(4)
23/08/2008 Fulham(A)::::::::47(55)/4/4(10)/1(1)
16/08/2008 WBA(H):::::::::::69(77)/4/3(6)/0(1)

=======
(1) Pass success ratio
(=successful passes/total passes)
Flamini = 1039/1152*100 = 90.10%
Denilson =1259/1419*100 = 88.72%

(2) Interceptions
Flamini = 47
Denilson = 78
(I made mistake - other stats say 82!)

(3) Tackles won ratio
(=tackles won/total tackles attempted)
Flamini = 74/122*100 = 60.66%
Denilson = 96/147*100 = 65.31%

(4) Free-kicks
Flamini: FK won = 24; FK conceded = 41
Denilson: FK won = 48; FK conceded = 41

Come on Arsenal!!