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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Player analysis and ratings Vs Spurs


By 1970’s Gooner


A flat performance with a lot of the players playing below par in all areas of the pitch.

As feared the central defensive pairing of Senderos and Djourou was suspect throughout the game and was the weakest link in the Arsenal line up.

In midfield players like Diaby and Denilson were wasteful in possession contributing very little in their respective roles.

And in attack Van Persie was not match fit and therefore could not link up well with Bendtner or be dangerous enough to bother the Spurs defence.

A draw flatters us.


Fabianski

Overall had a good game and made two good saves. Made a couple of mistakes dropping the ball in the box in front of a bunch of players and once his burst out of the area was not fast enough to catch Berbatov. Due to his inexperience in the Premier League I would be worried if Almunia got injured. 6

Hoyte

Steady and reliable. Impressed me a lot when he had to play centre back. In fact he steadied the middle of the defence something that was missing before Djourou was substituted. 7

Traore

A much better game than at Burnley. Was well positioned and strong in his challenges. Lennon was kept mostly quiet which is a very good compliment to pay for Traore. Got forward a lot more in the second half and put in some useful crosses. 7

Senderos

Has not improved this year. I have to say he is probably the only one of the “younger” players that has not added a lot to his play this season. Was out of position again on a few occasions. Played better in the second half. 5

Djourou

Disappointing. The pairing with Senderos did not work. They did not cover for each other and were both rather flat. His mistake on the header he misplaced was not helped by Senderos lack of cover and Keane was through to lay the ball for Jenas to score. I would be worried if Gallas got injured and we had to pair these two in a league game. From tonight’s performance I would prefer Hoyte instead! 5

Gilberto

Played much better today. Was more combative and commanding in the air. His passing was not at its best and he faded a little in the second half. 6

Denilson

One of his worst games for Arsenal. Passing was off, decision making below average and he go caught with the ball too often as Spurs employed the tactic of pressing from the front and not allowing any space for the midfielders to turn with the ball. It was on one such an occasion that he lost the ball in the middle of the field which led to Spurs getting their goal. 4

Diaby

Pass the ball man! Don’t try and show us that you can play football. He ended up slowing the game up every time he got the ball and held it up selfishly. I can’t remember any occasion where he got passed his man on the wing. Contributed very little for the whole. 3.5

Walcott

Tried to be busy and use his pace but he hardly got any joy on the wing as he kept running into opponents. It was only when he ventured in the middle of the Spurs defence to receive a lovely through pass from Eduardo that he actually scored. 6

Bendtner

Busy and got a lot of headers. Dropped back a little bit in between the midfield and the attack but his passing was not at its best. He wasn’t helped by Van Persie’s lack of mobility. Got into a good position to head Walcott’s cross but Cerny saved it. Was more active in the second half. 6

Van Persie

Unfit and therefore less mobile. Was not able to contribute much and rightly substituted for Eduardo for the second half. Still he had to play so that he could get match fit. 5

Eduardo

I think if he had started he would have probably scored. Gave a delightful assist for Walcott’s goal and generally prowled around sniffing for the goal opportunities. Arsenal’s below average play did not help however. 7

Sagna

Came on at half time for Djourou and had a fine game at right back bringing some experience to bear to what was a beleaguered back four prior to that. Ventured forward putting some dangerous crosses. 7


Match Statistics

Arsenal, Tottenham

1, goals, 1
0, 1st half goals, 1
4, Shots on Target, 5
3, shots off target, 5
2, Blocked Shots, 3
4, Corners, 5
16, Fouls,15
0, Offsides, 6
0, Yellow Cards, 0
0, Red Cards, 0
76.3%, Passing Success, 73.8%
30, Tackles, 35
70%, Tackle success, 74.3%
51%, Possession, 49%





12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to disagree with a lot of what you say! You're correct about the pairing of Djourou and Senderos,I still prefer Senderos over him even though he's not that great but still,and you were also correct about Denilson,but in my opinion I disagree with a lot you wrote,but I think Van Persie had a great game after coming back from injury,was very sharp!

Anonymous said...

Also disagree. Gilberto was atrotious. His passing was off? If he knew how to pass this would have been a fair assessment. He was all over the place and seemed to be always stretching for the ball. Gilbrto is a fraud and only shines alongside real class like Cesc or Vieira. Awful. Get rid.

Diaby is a good player but not a left winger. Left Traore exposed to Lennon(who thankfully has no left foot and the delivery of a parapalegic postman) time and time again. Was also to afraid to get stuck in.

I dispair at Theo. He needs to hit the gym because he's so frail. Even Lee Pyo fancied his chances for most of the game. His goal was very lucky!

Djourou is worse than Senderos. There, I said it!

Anonymous said...

I believe we saw just how inept the pairing of Djourou and Senderos is.......God forbid they should play a half important game for Arsenal.When is Wenger gonna realize we need a third competent Centre back

Anonymous said...

i would prefer that hoyte play center back instead of dojourou and senderos because he had a good game our midfield ooops i mean what midfield tey were run rageed the brazillians in the centere were atroicoius dont they teach how to pass in brazil (Not including eduardo his through ball was sublime)
i feel that our strikers arnet getting any service from dudeilson

Wrighty7 said...

At the end of the day, its 21 games since the Spuds have beaten us. Maybe they deserved too 2nite. They played well and maybe we're lucky to come away with a draw. I'll give them credit. BUT, they still did'nt beat us! We rode our luck but if that is the best Spuds can do, then we are the better for it. Mistakes we made will be rectifed for the second leg.

Anonymous said...

I belive this match just showed us the importance of YOUNG SONG BILONG. Against rovers he was brilliant and i think that senderos and song is a good partnership for the c cup. they are sort of Kolo(Song) and Gallas(Senderos) because song is more of the adventure mann and senderos is always last man

Anonymous said...

We were very lucky in that game...could have easily conceded
3, 4 or more goals.

Spurs were winning all of the physical battles and I think we really missed someone like Diarra and/or Flamini in that game.

We were also giving the ball away cheaply - our passing & movement was simply off, bigtime.

Anonymous said...

Diaby was terrible and needs 2 stop being so greedy, gilberto is passed it and needs to move on, djourou is hopeless if thats how came back from loan bcoz he actually made senderos look good(that says alot),i prefer hoyte at centre bk 2 da both of them 2 b honest, eduardo and bentdner must start 2geva in the second leg and we must replace gilberto wiv diarra(if still here) or flamini thats it!

p.s 21 GAMES AND STILL GOIN!

GOONER4LYF

Anonymous said...

We were lucky but every great team has luck occasionally. News reports are saying we have 4 injured including Phil and Djourou. I guess it could be Gallas/Hoyte on the weekend. Diarra should have been playing I can only surmise his lousy attitude is just pissing AW off. But lets not underestimate the spuds, they have some excelent players and Ramos looks like the best manager they have had in a while.

Anonymous said...

"Gilberto

Played much better today. Was more combative and commanding in the air. His passing was not at its best and he faded a little in the second half. 6"

LOL! Worst player to wear the Arsenal shirt!

Anonymous said...

Maybe the team didn't play that well but they played hard! do u and all the other posters realize that this is our so called second team. oh and i didn't hear the commentators tearing Arsenal to threads as u guys are doing. Arsenal should have lost the more physical battles because Tottenhams FIRST TEAM ought to be more physical and experienced. The team fought and got the draw but that is not good enough for us fans as we want to see the team pass the ball around as if there is no other team on the field, geez! and how on earth do u expect Djourou and sendorous to look comfortable with eachother after ONE MATCH (one injured recently & the other on loan). I have also seen each one of them play great b4. Walcott has been injured a long time and is young but i have seen him be a catalyst for many goals we have scored to draw or win. He will improve if he can only stay injury free (HE WILL BE A STAR!). I do agree with Gilberto, he is no fraud though - maybe old or lacking confidence. Diaby needs to pass more and Denilson may not have been that good but to me both are certain stars.

Dear Arsenal fans it is good to crtique but i feel we go over the top a bit too much! from match to match, c'mon!

and Oh! if a team fails to take their chances to score it is not luck but poor finishing on their part. I don't even think the Walcott goal was as much luck as some would think, a great pass and run. i think we desreved the draw 4 never giving up and we played some beautiful stuff at times (unless i was watching a different match)!

Just my opinion. God Bless!

Anonymous said...

Eduardo would have scored if he started the game instead of Van Persie. Gilberto at least did better coz it was he who skipped past a spurs player beautifully and gave it to Eduardo then to Walcott for the lucky gaol.