Arsenal v Burnley Match Ratings

[True Gooner]

Silvestre - 5 - On his last legs

On a separate note, this really bothers me. I always thought Silvestre got too much stick last season because of where he used to play prior to joining. For a fourth choice defender he was a fine addition to the squad. He looked decent enough in early Carling cup performances this season too but lately he's been absolutely terrible. It really does look like he's on his last legs to me. And he couldn't have chosed a worse possible time to regress. Just imagine if we have to field him against Porto in mid-week. I think I'll cry.

Yup, it's not about him being ****. He's just old and needs to play at a club that offers plenty of defence in front of the back four.

How good was Vermaelen though? Covered both Eboue and Silvestre! I know it was only Burnley but his anticipation and marking was top class.

 

[M+D]

A surprising amount of 6's for Rosicky imo. Thought he ran and ran today, very tidy in possession with some brilliant moments of skill. Linked up and rotated with Nasri cleverly at times as well. It's great to see him consistently in the squad, a fantastic option to have.

 

[flobaba]

Well, as I've discussed with Klaus above already, I would rather my main striker score 5 goals(which are basically tap ins) than have a decent all round game. If you had him as captain of your fantasy league team, you'd feel the same.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

How good was Vermaelen though? Covered both Eboue and Silvestre!

Love him! There was one moment in the second half where Burnley broke at him with two players and he held off one of them while forcing the other one towards the short line. He then followed that guy instead and put in a blocking tackle that ultimately won him a goalkick. I kept thinking to myself: "Last year that would've been another conceded goal in this team."

 

[True Gooner]

A surprising amount of 6's for Rosicky imo. Thought he ran and ran today, very tidy in possession with some brilliant moments of skill. Linked up and rotated with Nasri cleverly at times as well. It's great to see him consistently in the squad, a fantastic option to have.

How close was the volley early in the second half? From where I was it looked as if he couldn't have caught it any better...

 

[ibby]

He is this to this team what Campbell was to the 2001-2004 team. Absolutely brilliant and hardly ever puts a foot wrong - and when he does, he gets us a goal so it's all cool . What a debut season.

 

[M+D]

A surprising amount of 6's for Rosicky imo. Thought he ran and ran today, very tidy in possession with some brilliant moments of skill. Linked up and rotated with Nasri cleverly at times as well. It's great to see him consistently in the squad, a fantastic option to have.

How close was the volley early in the second half? From where I was it looked as if he couldn't have caught it any better...

Wasn't very far off at all tbf TG, and what a hit it was too.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

He is this to this team what Campbell was to the 2001-2004 team. Absolutely brilliant and hardly ever puts a foot wrong - and when he does, he gets us a goal so it's all cool . What a debut season.

And he's learning from all the best too. He played a full season with Stam at Ajax, for example. I read an interview a while back where he talked about how much he learned from him. And right now he's picking up stuff from the likes of Gallas and Campbell and Silvestre. He couldn't ask for better mentors.

 

[True Gooner]

He is this to this team what Campbell was to the 2001-2004 team. Absolutely brilliant and hardly ever puts a foot wrong - and when he does, he gets us a goal so it's all cool . What a debut season.

And he's learning from all the best too. He played a full season with Stam at Ajax, for example. I read an interview a while back where he talked about how much he learned from him. And right now he's picking up stuff from the likes of Gallas and Campbell and Silvestre. He couldn't ask for better mentors.

That's not all:

At 15, Vermaelen was invited to join Ajax's famous academy and for the next nine years he would work with some of the greatest Dutch internationals: Marco van Basten, Ronald Koeman, Danny Blind, Frank de Boer and Jaap Stam.

"Koeman put me in the first team and then Blind gave me the chance to play regularly, these two guys were very important to me. They taught me a lot of good things. They know what they're talking about – had a lot of experience in playing in this position."

The coaching obviously worked as Vermaelen improved season-on-season, in part modelling his game on Fabio Cannavaro, another centre back lacking height.

You can see it in the way he plays. 8))

 

[ibby]

He is this to this team what Campbell was to the 2001-2004 team. Absolutely brilliant and hardly ever puts a foot wrong - and when he does, he gets us a goal so it's all cool . What a debut season.

And he's learning from all the best too. He played a full season with Stam at Ajax, for example. I read an interview a while back where he talked about how much he learned from him. And right now he's picking up stuff from the likes of Gallas and Campbell and Silvestre. He couldn't ask for better mentors.

****ing hope he's not picking up stuff from Silvestre!

I was about to say Blind too, especially as he's good on the ball and driving play forward. Vermaelen for me is two defenders rolled in one - he can be the Campbell like defender where he just shuts up shop but he can bring the ball out from defence as good as anyone.

Oh and Cannavaro :worthy Not a bad player to model yourself on.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

f****g hope he's not picking up stuff from Silvestre!

He's picking up the pieces. :wink:

Always struck me as similar to Cannavaro both in style and mentality!

Some neat vision on him too for being a centreback. I was watching a clip of Walcott's goal just now on Arsenalist and, sure enough, it's Vermaelen who starts off the move by picking up the ball at our penalty box, carries it up to the half-way line and plays a long pass to Bendtner who gives it to Walcott who then cuts inside and scores.

 

[arsmile]

Al-7-
Eboue-8- great offensive work
Vermaelen-9- brilliant
Silvestre-6-ok
Clichy-7- getting his form back
Denilson-6
Cesc-8- brilliant finish, worried about the injury
Nasri-9-best player on the pitch I think. I’ve been moaning on for ages about him playing centrally and he excelled there like he does always- particularly when he was playing behind cesc but also when he was doing a cesc impression in the 2nd half
Theo-8- great goal, he is useless, but if he can do that oonce a match it is almost worth keeping him around!
Rosicky-7- good
Nik-6- I was impressed with his attitude today, his head never dropped, and we were much much worse in possession when he went off. He added so very much to our gamre by being a proper CF. But seriously, 5 or 6 tap ins- he wasn’t the only one at it but it really was preposterous
Diaby-7
Arshavin-8- good goal
Eduardo-6- struggled to hold the ball up

 

[ibby]

Also another note on Vermaelen. He's probably the only player in the squad that is universally regarded by all the Arsenal fans and has no 'haters', hell even the folks in the Lobby love him. That is true sentiment to his performances this season.

Vermaelen :worthy

 

[True Gooner]

Also another note on Vermaelen. He's probably the only player in the squad that is universally regarded by all the Arsenal fans and has no 'haters', hell even the folks in the Lobby love him. That is true sentiment to his performances this season.

Vermaelen :worthy

Give it time.

 

[ibby]

Also another note on Vermaelen. He's probably the only player in the squad that is universally regarded by all the Arsenal fans and has no 'haters', hell even the folks in the Lobby love him. That is true sentiment to his performances this season.

Vermaelen :worthy

Give it time.

It's going to happen isn't it.

 

[Lukazan]

Almunia - 6
Eboue - 7
Vermaelen - 7
Silvestre - 6
Clichy - 6
Denilson - 6
Cesc - 7
Nasri - 8
Walcott - 9
Bendtner - 6
Rosicky - 7

Diaby - 7
Eduardo - 5
Arshavin - 7

 

[AshburtonGhost]

Ratings out of 5:

Almunia - 3
Clichy - 4
Silvestre - 2
Vermaelen - 5
Eboue - 4
Nasri - 5
Denilson - 2
Fabregas - 4
Rosicky - 4
Bendtner - 1
Walcott - 4

Diaby - 4
Arshavin - 2
Eduardo - 2

 

[jibber]

Samir and Theo sent a massive up yours to the haters.

Nick shows what we missed, brilliant hold up play with back to goal. Lots of good decisive touches, only a few touches away from being a magnificent performance.

 

[Rain Dance]

A surprising amount of 6's for Rosicky imo. Thought he ran and ran today, very tidy in possession with some brilliant moments of skill. Linked up and rotated with Nasri cleverly at times as well. It's great to see him consistently in the squad, a fantastic option to have.

How close was the volley early in the second half? From where I was it looked as if he couldn't have caught it any better...

Wasn't very far off at all tbf TG, and what a hit it was too.

once he is off, Burnley charged us

 

[AliBabaBrewer]

Also another note on Vermaelen. He's probably the only player in the squad that is universally regarded by all the Arsenal fans and has no 'haters', hell even the folks in the Lobby love him. That is true sentiment to his performances this season.

Vermaelen :worthy

Give it time.

It's going to happen isn't it.

To be fair, whilst I'm severely hoping it won't happen to Vermaelen, the same thing happened for Sagna.

He had a spectactular first season at Arsenal, but seemed to suffer from 'second season syndrome'. Though he's back to be quite good now..