Captain
Established Member
Before sinclair makes his run, see who is marking him.
I'm not taking the piss out of song; have no problem with the kid.
I'm not taking the piss out of song; have no problem with the kid.
Captain said:On the longer version, Sinclair is being marked by song and makes a diagonal run away from him.
I'm assuming that we were using man-marking so he was Song's man to follow. If it was a Zonal system then It was Kolo's. We use a combination of both so it's hard to say.
Anyway, doesn't matter who's fault it was really, we were shocking on set-pieces all night.
Gunner4Eva said:Jens Lehmann - 7
Probably should've done better for the City goal, but it was a difficult moment as I'm sure he wasn't 100% sure whether the player ahead of him would've taken it or not. Had to react late.
Ashley Cole - 7
Didn't jet down the left very often as we are used to seeing from him, but was still assured when in possesion. Pressured the City players well and didn't allow many crosses in when one-on-one with a defender.
Sol Campbell - 7
Still got improvement in him, but his performance today was much more convincing than the match against Sunderland. Made an awesome last ditch tackle that I could watch over and over again.
Kolo Toure - 6
Did well but should've stayed with his man at the City corner which resulted in the goal. It was his man which headered the ball into the mixer resulting in their goal. Other than that, a good performance.
Emmanuel Eboue - 7
Did well on the right and gave us his usual runs up the field. Set up Reyes for the match-winning goal and was alright defensively. Has to improve his positioning though.
Gilberto - 7
Did his job and did it well.
Alexandre Song - 7
Was a surprise inclusion for me in the midfield alongside Gilberto, but he did well. Showed us a bit more of an attacking side today and did some good things.
Aliaksandr Hleb - 7
Did some good things, but also did some bad things. Gave away a few passes, which we've come to expect. Once he eliminates this wasteful aspect of his game, will always continue to be inconsistant.
Freddie Ljungberg - 7
Added an extra attacking elemant other than Henry and van Persie and was rewarded with a goal today. A good finish, and was unlucky not to get a second. However other than that, didn't offer much.
Robin van Persie - 6
Doesn't have much of a right foot on him, and with Henry usually comandeering the left hand side of the pitch, leaves him on his weaker side a lot of the time. Probably lacking in confidence a bit, but needs to keep onside and time his runs better.
Thierry Henry - 8
Made some mezmerising runs through-out the match and you just felt he would put in a goal of the year candidate. Unfortunately it didn't happen. 9 times out of 10 when he had possession, he worried the City defence and created two goals when any other striker would've had a shot at goal.
SUBS
Francesc Fabregas - 8
As has been mentioned previously, when he came on, added another aspect to our game. Expected though seeing that Song and Gilberto are both midfielders of the defensive variety.
Jose Antonio Reyes - 8
Proved to be the match-winning substitute in the end. Scored two goals, the first being the better. Good to see an Arsenal player running into the box when so many times we see that same kind of ball run harmlessly across the goal and cleared. Should play there more often.
Robert Pires - 7
Was a part of setting up the match-winning goal goal and was ok after that.
Ricky_AFC said:Generally agree with Gurgen's ratings. Except the bit about Reyes being a left winger. Striker IMO.