Arsenal v Blackburn Match Ratings

[ricky1985]

For England he's definitely playing the role of a 'number 9'. Hard to judge how well he does there though because England are always playing crappy teams. Thing is with Rooney I don't think he is quite one or the other, more a 'number 10' for me, but still not a position perfect for him. Robin's definitely more a striker.

 

[True Gooner]

I think van Persie may struggle against top four quality teams. Just an assertion though, I can't back it up with any evidence.

Then again, he had a decent game against United - but I reckon it took a lot out of him coping with the United back line.

 

[ricky1985]

Didn't have a lot of support in that game though, Fabregas was a huge miss. Walcott on the right instead of Eboue would have made a big difference as well.

Robin isn't going to work 'up on his own' like Adebayor could, that will never be him, but with our team he should never have to, not in any game.

Stil, it remains to be seen how this new way of playing will work against the best teams.

 

[kamikaze80]

Theo missed a huge chance too because he took too much time on the ball. :|

was just about to say the same thing. bendtner was great when he came on, looked well up for it.

 

[ricky1985]

All three subs were probably 8/10 for the 20 minutes they were on.

 

[Captain]

Didn't have a lot of support in that game though, Fabregas was a huge miss. Walcott on the right instead of Eboue would have made a big difference as well.

Robin isn't going to work 'up on his own' like Adebayor could, that will never be him, but with our team he should never have to, not in any game.

Stil, it remains to be seen how this new way of playing will work against the best teams.

Can't wait for Chelsea to come to ours.

 

[ricky1985]

You and me both. Lets hope we have the big boys fit and raring to go. It will be a great test.

 

[ricky1985]

VanPersie is a better player than Torres and was always suited to playing as a point man.

I agree. What sort of numbers are you expecting from Robin in the long term?

 

[Captain]

Premiership, he should be looking for 20+ goals. I'm not a fan of assists but in tandem with the goal return and the fact that he takes corners, he should be aiming for 15+ although around the 11-12 mark would seem more realistic.

All competitions, I think it is fair to ask for 20/20 depending how much action he sees in the domestic cups.

 

[ricky1985]

That would be Ronaldo/Messi kind of numbers (theres would more likely read 30 goals/10 asissts). So if he can reach those kinds of figures we'd be talking about virtually the best player in the world.

I think he'll come close.....

 

[True Gooner]

I'm looking at 20 goals 15 assists in all comps at the very least.

 

[ricky1985]

Just looked at Messi's stats from last season; 38 goals, 16 assists. Wow!

6 goals were scored in the Copa del Rey, so 30 goals and 15 assists in the Premier league and the Champions league, would be matching Messi's amazing season last year.

That's a big ask from anyone. I think Fabregas could do it in reverse though (30 assists, 15 goals).

 

[qs]

VanPersie is a better player than Torres and was always suited to playing as a point man.

If you put Torres into our team he'd look Henry good.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

VanPersie is a better player than Torres and was always suited to playing as a point man.

If you put Torres into our team he'd look Henry good.

Yeah. I don't even think Torres is that great but really - van Persie? He's got a _long_ way to go before it's even fair to compare him to Torres, and even then there's an even longer way up to the likes of Messi, Ibrahimovic and Villa. van Persie might end up being remembered as a really good striker, perhaps even as one of the greats at Arsenal, but those guys will go down as the best of their generation. And most of them are still younger than he is. Why do people overhype him so hideously? Three weeks ago he wasn't even good enough to start for us.

 

[True Gooner]

We're not directly comparing van Persie to Torres, Messi or Villa. That would be stupid.

We're just saying that van Persie happens to be very good at playing the role he's asked to do and probably one of the best at linking up midfield to attack with the exception of Ibrahamovic of course.

In terms of pace, goalscoring and general devastation there are at least 7-8 strikers that are better than him but that's not what we're bringing up because if we had the likes of Torres, Villa or Eto'o we'd play a different style of football catered to their strengths rather than using them as a link up player.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Well, sure. The quote I had a problem with was comparing him directly to Torres though. I guess I should have clarified. van Persie is improving at least, and right now he looks the part. That's all that matters to me. If he can perform on this level for a few seasons I'm gonna start regarding him on the same terms as those players. It's fully possible that he can become one of the best strikers in the world, who knows? Less than a month ago most people wanted him replaced with Eduardo or even Bendtner, though. At this very moment there are many who could play the role at least as good as Robin has been doing lately.

... eew. I think I'm starting to sound like Jani. A perfect time to call it a night, in other words!

 

[banduan]

It's actually quite amazing how quickly he has adapted and got his head around playing such a different (and challenging) role.

Thing is he's not playing as a number 9. This team has no number 9s. Wenger is flexible enough to do that.

Now compare with Rooney, a number 10 having to play as a number 9 and, it seems, struggling to adapt.

 

[qs]

Rooneys not struggling to adapt, he finally looks like he's been deployed in a position that suits him best.

 

[Captain]

VanPersie is a better player than Torres and was always suited to playing as a point man.

If you put Torres into our team he'd look Henry good.

Yeah. I don't even think Torres is that great but really - van Persie? He's got a _long_ way to go before it's even fair to compare him to Torres, and even then there's an even longer way up to the likes of Messi, Ibrahimovic and Villa. van Persie might end up being remembered as a really good striker, perhaps even as one of the greats at Arsenal, but those guys will go down as the best of their generation. And most of them are still younger than he is. Why do people overhype him so hideously? Three weeks ago he wasn't even good enough to start for us.

In my opinion, VanPersie is a better player than Torres. Torres is a very good goal scorer and a decent footballer which, to me, doesn't make a great player. He has a very long way to go before he would look Henry good in any team. There's something suspect about the way that he isn't doing anything as great as Henry was doing in his early years and yet the frenchmen took years to get the recognition Torres got after one season (but that's another discussion).

Ibra and Villa will also go down as good strikers, not the best of their generation but it's irrelevent really. Who cares what a player's reputation is.

VanPersie got something like 20/15 last season in a team roundly criticised for lacking offensive bite, he will certainly do better this season.

Forget about overhyping, there's alot of underestimation going on.

 

[law90026]

I'm pretty amazed people are saying Torres isn't that good. Honestly amazed.