arsenal v az alkmaar - player ratings

[kel varnsen]

Song - 8 Has become a real force to be reckoned with in the middle.

Tell that to Holmann(sp?) who had many free runs at our defence last night. Song was average at best. Not doing his job effectively in terms of screening the back 4 and vacates the space far too often.

As I've said a billion times, on the ball Song is doing pretty well (though was sloppy last night) but off the ball leaves alot to be desired.

How hard is it to sit deep when we are protecting a lead. Very annoying and will cost us later unless we are more compact as a unit. Denilson, return soon!

song's doing decently, but he does everything far too slow. he holds on to the ball too long and he isn't quick enough off the ball. as a result for instance, he seems to always be under pressure when receiving the ball in central midfield. if you compare him (unfairly of course) to cesc, rosicky, nasri, arshavin etc the difference is staggering. they, unlike song, look like they have plenty of time on the ball.

unless he can become more agressive, more mobile and sharpen his passing, i don't think he has a future at dm for us.

 

[TomasCR]

When you're slow and not mobile enough on the ball, it's important to have the ability to cover the ball by your body well and that's what Song has so he doesn't lose many balls in the middle of the pitch, fortunately.

 

[Feet]

I was there and I totally didn't notice Diaby give an 8+ performance. Perhaps I have a mental block for him now...

I must pay attention more.

 

[General]

One of the oddities about Song is that despite his stature, he sometimes surrenders ground in the physical battles far too easily and appears to lose his footing quite a lot. He still has a tin in his hear when executing his role, whether it's vacating his position too quickly, dwelling on the ball for too long or easily crossing over into attacking territory with no one covering. The back five are still getting exposed from the centre (not entirely his fault) and it was inevitable we were going to ship at least one goal with that clown of a keeper between the sticks. I still think he’s our best option in midfield (and I include those on the sidelines) but complacency is unquestionably starting to creep into his game. If you decided early on that you didn’t like the cut of his jib, irrespective of the visible improvements in his game, then you aren’t going to like him now.

 

[banduan]

I was there and I totally didn't notice Diaby give an 8+ performance.

he didn't on my stream

 

[ricky1985]

Almunia - 7. One great save, one dodgy mistake cancel each other out, and he was fine in everyhting else he did.

Eboue - 5. Caught at the far post too many times, and indecisive and wasteful going forward. Thank God Wenger only plays him in games he knows we're gonna steamroller the opposition in.

Gallas - 9. Out of all the games played over the 2 nights of the Champions League, Gallas is the best around at the moment.

Vermaelen - 8. Had the 6'5" Pele for breakfast.

Gibbs - 7. Good all-round performance, but is still yet to get really comfortable playing in the first team. Give him a few games and he'll improve out of all recognition.

Song - 7. Difficult for him to get the balance right in his pressing and sitting, when he's trying to figure out exactly what Diaby will do from one minute to the next. It was this confusion that led to the space in front of the back four.

Fabregas - 8. Second goal was awesome, as was he.

Diaby - 7. Took his goal well, and improved markedly after we went 3-0 up. Still gave the ball away too often, and alot of our attacking moves broke down because of his hesitance. His positioning is still soooo bad defensively.

Nasri - 7. Awesome goal, and some touches of real class, but was otherwise relatively quiet.

Arshavin - 8. Looked a threat every time he got the ball. Where are those that said he couldn't pass?

van Persie - 7. Sunday stroll for Robin. Did as little as he had to, should be nice and fresh for Saturday.

Subs

Ramsey - no real impact.

Rosicky - buzzed around without doing much.

Eduardo - impressive back-heel.

 

[Gurgen]

Almunia 5
Eboue 6
Gallas 7
Vermaelen 7
Gibbs 5
Song 7
Diaby 7
Fabregas 9
Nasri 7
RvP 7
Arshavin 9

 

[MAK 14]

Almunia 6.5
Eboue 6
Gallas 7.5
Vermaelen 7.5
Gibbs 67
Song 8
Cesc 9
Diaby 8
Arshavin 8
Nasri 7.5
RVP 7

Ramsey 7
Eduardo 7
Rosicky 6.5

 

[Clrnc]

Song - 8 Has become a real force to be reckoned with in the middle.

Tell that to Holmann(sp?) who had many free runs at our defence last night. Song was average at best. Not doing his job effectively in terms of screening the back 4 and vacates the space far too often.

As I've said a billion times, on the ball Song is doing pretty well (though was sloppy last night) but off the ball leaves alot to be desired.

How hard is it to sit deep when we are protecting a lead. Very annoying and will cost us later unless we are more compact as a unit. Denilson, return soon!

song's doing decently, but he does everything far too slow. he holds on to the ball too long and he isn't quick enough off the ball. as a result for instance, he seems to always be under pressure when receiving the ball in central midfield. if you compare him (unfairly of course) to cesc, rosicky, nasri, arshavin etc the difference is staggering. they, unlike song, look like they have plenty of time on the ball.

unless he can become more agressive, more mobile and sharpen his passing, i don't think he has a future at dm for us.

Beg to differ.

He is actually very quick thinking, you can see on the pitch when he is trapped he turns out of it intelligently and proceed with a good pass. His short passing is efficient down the lines, his long passes are acurately spreaded out. He deals with all the pressure well, defends strongly and is only still 21.

 

[Dennis10]

He is actually very quick thinking, you can see on the pitch when he is trapped he turns out of it intelligently and proceed with a good pass. His short passing is efficient down the lines, his long passes are acurately spreaded out. He deals with all the pressure well, defends strongly and is only still 21.

I agree Song has some talent in dealing elegantly with tight situations, but he seems to get himself into those a little too often. Sure it looks good when the opposition tries to close him down with two or three players, and he turns away one of them with his strength and finds a good offensive pass, but if he were a bit sharper and quicker on the ball he could have done the team the same bit of good without the scare.

 

[banduan]

Song is an ox with mazy dribbles. That's what he is.

 

[Wokich]

Gibbs was mostly-back. Normally on the corners we see Gallas and Chuck Norris head up the middle, but Clichy'll stay back in order to slow down the counter, like an old-style sweeper. Gibbs was more in the defensive midfield position.

It looked to me like the rest of the defense hadn't told him so much what they expected of him. Gibbs or Eboue should have been much further back defensively.

 

[Biggus]

Almunia: 7 - Amazing save followed by an irritating goal. Like I said in the match thread though, I found Ramsey to be the biggest culprit in that situation. If closed down properly Lens basically only had one option and that was to cross the ball, but Ramsey bounced off him like a fly when he tried to tackle him. Al was caught on the wrong foot which was completely understandable.

Al's always caught on the wrong foot as far as the near post is concerned, if its squared it's squared and it's up to a defender to cut it out but technically a goalkeeper should never be beaten at the near post as he's the only one who can cover it- it's his responsibility.
Everybody is celebrating and ignoring the goal conceded (fair enough) but mark my words- Almunia will cost us big time if we get to a final or semi final or in a big league game with a team we'll find it hard to score 4 goals against.

 

[Anzac]

He is actually very quick thinking, you can see on the pitch when he is trapped he turns out of it intelligently and proceed with a good pass. His short passing is efficient down the lines, his long passes are acurately spreaded out. He deals with all the pressure well, defends strongly and is only still 21.

I agree Song has some talent in dealing elegantly with tight situations, but he seems to get himself into those a little too often. Sure it looks good when the opposition tries to close him down with two or three players, and he turns away one of them with his strength and finds a good offensive pass, but if he were a bit sharper and quicker on the ball he could have done the team the same bit of good without the scare.

Song got owned in the 2nd half at OT = too slow, too far forward, dwelled too long on the ball, and ran with the ball into trouble far too often. I still see elements of each in every game, along with getting caught out of position due to the likes of Diaby turning over cheap possession.

Too often Song looks to get forward WITH the attack, as opposed to supplementing behind it.