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Saturday, April 11, 2009

Goals, goals goals. Player Analysis and Ratings Vs Wigan


By 1970’s Gooner

Again it was a game of two halves as it was against Villareal. In the first half it was mistake after mistake. Passes going astray, players stretching to recover as a spirited Wigan sensing this rallied with a strong first half performance.

It was always going to be difficult for Arsenal’s defence as three new players, all youngsters, had to start the game. Djourou in place of Gallas, Gibbs for Clichy and Fabiansky for Almunia.

Wigan exploited Gibbs’s side of the pitch, with Valencia getting the better of the young full back. Nearly all of Wigan’s attacks came from that side.

Fabiansky, who looked unsure all game, looked out of sorts from a corner and it was 1-0 to Wigan.

The referee’s decision not to show a red card to Gibbs was strictly speaking correct as there was Silvestre following up. But the ref could have easily shown a red as Silvestre was a few yards away.

Still this decision helped Arsenal who went in at half time only one nil down. And it was the reprieved Gibbs who cleared off the line when Fabiansky again made the wrong decision and came out for a high ball. Mido beat him to it and the ball was rolling into the goal before Gibbs hooked it out.

In the second half the whole team took the game to Wigan. Song in particular was superb, putting the tackles in, tracking back and distributing well.

Denilson on the other hand couldn’t raise his game and was eventually substituted.

The equaliser came on the 61st minute after an assist from the little Russian demon, Arshavin, who even if on the floor stretched a foot out and passed the ball to the unmarked Walcott who unleashed an unstoppable diagonal shot into the net.


Now it was game on and the substitutions of Denilson and Walcott with Adebayor and Van Persie added more slickness and direct play for Arsenal.

Walcott had a decent game and he did not deserve to be subbed but it seems that Wenger wanted to keep him fresh for Wednesday. Wigan could not keep up with a rampant Arsenal from then on and the goals flowed in like water running off a cliff.

Silvestre scored his second goal for Arsenal (71) when Fabregas rolled the ball into the area slotting it in with his left foot from close range.

Then on the 90th minute Arshavin capitalised on a mistake by Koumas who passed to him rather than to Melchiot. Andrey took his shot from the edge of the area without even looking up or needing a second touch of the ball.

And the fourth came in injury time when the Man of the Match, Alexandre Song, went on a run though Wigan’s midfield and into the area past the static defenders and scoring with ease.

I am worried about Wednesday’s game though. I am worried about Fabiansky but most of all I am worried about Gibbs.

They both looked nervous and made mistakes which could well have been very costly. Villareal is obviously a class above Wigan. They will punish these kind of mistakes.

I would, if Djourou is out (and his injury looked bad) seriously consider bringing Song back into defense and play Silvestre at left back.


Fabiansky

Nervous and made wrong decisions. Not a good sign but let’s hope he improves having got this game out of the way. 4

Sagna

Solid game but not adventurous enough going forward. 6

Gibbs

Nervous and unsure which resulted in mistakes. 4

Toure

At least he looked assured (most of the time). 6

Djourou

Did ok until he was substituted. 6

Silvestre

Needed time to get acclimatised and looked out of sorts until he got it together. Scored the vital second goal. 7

Song

Another wonderful box to box performance. He is definetly turning out as predicted on this site a year and a half ago when we alerted the Arsenal fans to his potential…Scored a fantastic goal in injury time showing how much energy he has. 9

Denilson

A disappointing performance. Couldn’t get his passing going nor his positioning. 5

Fabregas

Still needs games to get his fitness back. He did not dictate the game as we have been used to from the little maestro. Still you can’t keep him down as he made another assist for Arsenal’s vital second goal. 6

Arshavin

Had a quite game but came to life when the big guns came on for Arsenal as he could then get the passes he was looking for. Scored the third goal. 7

Walcott

Looks the real deal this season. He has filled up in the right places which means he can not be pushed off the ball easily and his runs are lightning quick. Scored a spectacular equaliser. 8

Bendtner

Had another of those quite games where not much goes for him. 5

Adebayor (8) and Van Pesrie (6)

Both galvanised Arsenal when they came on especially Adebayor


Fabianski, Sagna, Toure, Djourou (Silvestre 35), Gibbs, Walcott (Adebayor 68), Denilson (Van Persie 63), Song , Arshavin, Fabregas, Bendtner. Subs not used: Szczesny, Nasri, Vela, Eboue. Booked: Gibbs, Van Persie, Song Billong. Goals: Walcott 61, Silvestre 71, Song Billong 90, Arshavin 90.


24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Song is immense! Love him.

carroll said...

in wenger we trust. song is amazing now compared with the criticism he had got last couple of years. wenger once again done the trick

Femi said...

you are so biased toward walcott, apart from his goal he had an awful game along with denilson and nicolas. How you can regarding him as a top player and first team material is beyond me and to give him an 8 for an abject performance shows that he can do no wrong. It is no coincidence that we started playing far better once walcott and denilson left the pitch.

8 - lol, your ratings are a joke

Anonymous said...

I also chose Song as my MOTM. Even in the first half when just about everybody was having a poor game he looked like the only bright player,made a couple mistakes as well but was still above his peers. 2nd half was a complete turn around,thought Gibbs got very lucky though, not sure if Silvestre would've caught back up. So on that call I'd say we were lucky,because me personally would've given a red. Now onto Wednesday, hopefully Fabianski can perform like he did last week even though after first half he barely did anything. Defense is looking very shaky without Gallas and Clichy both top quality players any team would miss. If Djourou is out then I'd have Toure and Song at the back.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmux0pTdXhc

gazzap said...

I have not seen the game yet but I dont worry about Fabi. he is a class keeper. he may have had a dodgy game. any player can have an off game. I trust him.
gibbs is a different matter. he was having good games recently but with that type of player, he could be very incocnsistent and suddenly lose form. If gibbs is having a wobble going into a massive week, then we could be in trouble.

However I would not put song at the back. song is brilliant in midfield right now - so why move him? they are different positions. if you have a player dragging the midfield along, you dont take him out of the midfield! Also if you move song, then Den has to play. Den is having his first big wobble of the season. he may need a couple of games off. Silvestre SHOULD be able to cope with his experience. will shall see. I hope JD gets fit soon.

Boris Godunov said...

I'd have to agree with Femi on Walcott here. He was by far (spare the goal) the worst player on the pitch. What's with the stupid grin on his face every time he misses a chance? Someone should explain to him that it's not funny at all. The boy should only be used as a sub for counters when defenses get tired. Song only improved after he realized that he wasn't being substituted, it raised his confidence. Gibbs should be publicly whipped for his performance, it was almost as bad as that of Vidic for ManUre. In this kind of game players should be rated twice (for each half) because in the first they all deserved 1s, just for showing up.

Anonymous said...

I think that cesc should get a higher rating because he got 2 assist ^^

Anonymous said...

gibbs should have been sent off - theres no way that was just a yellow.

obviously delighted with the result and ive heard senna is out so thats even better for us but i would start silvestre ahead of gibbs and fabianski will hopefully be fine

Jamesgillesp said...

if senna is out then that is great news for wednesday.
Hopefully Song will continue his form for the rest of the season, he has the talent - he just needs to show it more sometimes!
Great result and another 3 points!

Anonymous said...

Song probably wont play on wednesday.., He played three games in like in a row., If he was goin to play on the wednesday, Wenger would have taken him off like he did Walcott, Bedntner was stuck out wide for no reason, Arsene should have replaced him wit Eboue

cescfiberglass said...

walcott is over rated. he is an ok player. he would be better used as in impact sub. he has no footballing brain. he is just like clichy, in my opinion. lightning quick, but ut tends to over run the ball sometimes, and he has a terrible final product. his shooting is not THAT good, and he is a terrible passer on the fly. he can't even cross the ball worth shit. him and clichy are similar players i believe, aside from the fact that theo has no defensive skills.

bendtner is awful too. i think we keep him cuz hes a good 4th striker. eduardo is still injured it seems, and vela is not totally ready yet either, so he is good over for RVP and ade. bendtner has been give chance after chance. what confidence boost does he need? the only way hes gonna get that confidence is if he scores. he may have good technical abilities, but if you cant score then what good are you as a striker. you might as well be an alex hleb, stick to the wings. i say sell him if. if we can get 8million or more take it. replace him with a striker who has some accuracy, or better yet use the money elsewhere, we have enough strikers.

Anonymous said...

Quit crucifying our young players. I agree Walcott is over-rated but he's learning. Can make a great asset in the future. Gibbs made mistakes, but I believe a lot of that has to do with playing next to Silvestre [who's posiyional sense is atrocious for an experienced defender]. Song should partner Kolo on Wednesday and keep Gibbs. I've seen Song in central defense and he is pretty good [at least better than whatever option we have at the moment].

Anonymous said...

Fabianski is a great talent at his age. Good response and strength (over five times I saw him trap an very powerful shot with his hands as if the ball is a balloon). Good body for an goal keeper. His weakness is experience and cool mind. He seems so nervous and get too much rush (which we don't see at Almunia because he is an experienced goalie who stood between goal posts in many big games). I don't see anything unusual here. Give him enough time, or just show him the tape of this match to give him a overview of what he should and should not do, I think he will learn from those. He just need a little bit cool in his mind.

Now is there anyone who wants to criticize Wenger about buying Silvestre? With the absence of Gallas and Djourou, is that a good buy to cover for such this kind of situation? He can play at LB, that means we have another choice in case Gibbs can not meet the requirement. With 750.000 pounds, what can you ask for?

I wonder if God has anything related to anti-Arsenalism or not. First, he rusted our attack by taking out many creative talents. When he gives them back, he takes others in defense. GK, one LB, two CBs. In one week. Unbelievable!

Anonymous said...

arshavin is motm. 1 goal and 2 assists!!

Anonymous said...

Arshavin played well despite up against more physical opponents. How he manage to fend off 3 Wigan defenders and slip a nice ball for walcott in the 1st goal is amazing. That's the turning point. At the moment, Arshavin is definitely our best player.

Anonymous said...

gibbs would never been sent off. he is an english ffs! :-p

Anonymous said...

GIBBS HAD A BRILLIANT GAME, YES HE MADE A MISTAKE WHICH NEARLY LED TO HIM BEING SENT OFF.....BUT PLAYING AGAINST VALENCIA "ONE OF THE PLAYERS OF THE SEASON" I THINK HE DID VERY WELL. HE EVEN LOOKED MORE ASSURED WHEN IN POSITION - WHICH HE HASNT LOOKED UP TO NOW!! SONG WAS A COUNTRY MILE AHEAD OF THE OTHER CANDIDATES FOR M.O.M.......I ALWAYS THOUGHT HE PLAYED ASIF HE WAS HALF ASLEEP. THE LAST 2 GAMES HES BEEN IMMENSE!! IF HE KEEPS THIS UP THEN I CANT SEE HIM OUT OF THE SIDE!! FAB HAD A DECENT GAME TOO!

stav said...

Great win, slightly fortunate with the Gibbs incident. Im was a bit dissapointed that we played 4 2 2 1 1 - a bit negative, similar to Liverpool with Mach & Alonso. i would prefer to get Fabrigas on the ball earlier and play two strikers or Nasri / Arshavin off the striker. I think Wenger is practicing for the champions league, with two holding midfielders.

GunnerPete said...

I do like your description of a game but your bias against certain players shines through. My ratings have replaced your, and although IM biased too, but I think mine are more accurate.
My team for Wednesday would include Sagna at CB abd Eboue at right back and Nasri in for Arsharvin. If all OK the same for Chelski but with Arshavin in for Walcott until 55mins then Theo in to go at a tired bunch of overpaid stars.
Fabiansky

Nervous and made wrong decisions.But recovered well 6.5

Sagna

Solid game but not adventurous enough going forward, due to yet another big change in our weakened defence 7

Gibbs

Nervous and unsure which resulted in mistakes early on but recovered very well to save us a couple of times 6.5

Toure

At least he looked assured (most of the time). 7

Djourou

Did ok until he was substituted. 6

Silvestre

Needed time to get acclimatised and looked out of sorts until he got it together. Scored the vital second goal. 7

Song

Another wonderful box to box performance. He is definetly turning out as predicted on this site a year and a half ago when we alerted the Arsenal fans to his potential…Scored a fantastic goal in injury time showing how much energy he has. 9

Denilson

A disappointing performance. Couldn’t get his passing going nor his positioning.Diaby would be better. 5

Fabregas

Still needs games to get his fitness back. He did not dictate the game as we have been used to from the little maestro. Still you can’t keep him down as he made another assist for Arsenal’s vital second goal. 6.5

Arshavin

Had a quite game but came to life when the big guns came on for Arsenal as he could then get the passes he was looking for. Scored the third goal. 7.5

Walcott

Looks the real deal this season. He has filled up in the right places which means he can not be pushed off the ball easily and his runs are lightning quick. Scored a spectacular equaliser. 7

Bendtner

Had another of those quite games where not much goes for him. 5

Adebayor (7) and Van Pesrie (7)

Anonymous said...

You're ratings aren't right. Heres what they should be:
Fabianski 5- apart from their goal what did he do wrong? Promising goalie.
Sagna 6- defensively solid, needs confidence going forward
Toure 7- getting back to his very best
Djourou 7- perfect partner for Toure and was doing well until injury
Gibbs 5- the young man is being played at left back which is not his natural position. It is a good learning curve though, as he must understand his defensive duties when he does play left midfield eventually.
Walcott 7- got the equaliser and will improve now as confidence is key with theo.
Denilson 5- very quiet game and misplaced too many passes.
Song 8- he gets better with every game this season.capped a good performance with a good goal.
Arshavin 7- didn't start well but improved as the game continued.Still, an excellent buy by Arsene.
Fabregas 6- the maestro wasn't at his best and still needs match fitness. Still, created the 2nd goal.
Bendtner 5- poor game from the young striker.When he gets these chances to play he must take advantage and try his best.I didn't see that.
SUBS:
Silvestre 7- did well considering he has just returned from injury.Got the all important 2nd goal.
Adebayor 7- had a good effect on the team.Provided a better threat than bendtner.
Van Persie 7- also had a very good effect after coming on after injury.

Anonymous said...

can't believe you rated sagna above gibbs at least non of gibbs mistakes leaad to a wigan goal..... crap headed clearance to a mido in the front of goal what was he thinking? only thing worse is if he put it in the net himself.

Anonymous said...

silvestre don't deserve this rating
walcot was awfull even he scores,
song, ade and arshavin played really well!!

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