Arsenal v Burnley Match Ratings

[justinmitchell]

Almunia 7

Eboue 7
Verm 7
Tweety 4
Clichy 7

Cesc 7
Denilson 4
Rosicky 7

Walcott 8
Bendtner 7.5
Nasri 8 (MOTM)

Diaby 7.5
Arshavin 7.5
Eduardo NA

Average Al beginning to look like a proper footballer again. I like his quick distribution, it's keeping the game moving and less kicking is always a good thing. Looks like he has confidence again to play that sweeper role - it's important because that was when he looked his best.

Denilson and Tweety don't deserve to make the reserve squad. They're so poor it's stunning. That mistimed leap in the 1st half to allow a shot on target was just crap. And the goal that was conceeded... what the **** was tweety doing!

 

[dutchMasta]

For me, Bendtner missing those chances is akin to say, a winger constantly beating his man, linking up well, but failing in his final ball. Those final balls/goal chances take precedence over link up play/dribbling/etc. and define his overall rating more than anything, imo, and if he failed in taking all of them, then he doesn't deserve a good rating. If he for example, made less runs, or worse runs, resulting in only 1 clear chance for him, but he took it, automatically, it's a better performance for me. If he made plenty of quality runs like today, but it resulted in no goals, either due to the opposition defenders/GK putting in stunning performances or a lack of good service, then it's a good performance too, as he's done his job. But he needs to take responsibility for screwing up when it counted most. And if scoring is what counts most as a striker, and he constantly failed, it should reflect in the ratings. Can easily understand why people are rating him decently though.

 

[fabo]

Almunia.....5.....he kicked a simple ball straight to the edge of our box. Lucky. Also punched a cross right to a Burnley player at 2-1. Bastard.

Eboue.....6....meh.
TV......6.....did OK. Flat-footed for the goal.
Silvestre.....5...garbage footballer.
Clichy.....6.....caught upfield alot.

Cesc....7.....was looking great.
Denilson.....6...so poor defensively. But 2 through-balls created chances.
Nasri....8....ball retention was good. Great ball for Cesc.

Theo.....9....best game in a long time. Big goal and a few crosses on the money for Bendtner.
Bendtner....5....any higher is a joke. He nearly cost us.
Rosicky.....6....decent.

 

[TomasCR]

I still find it hard to believe that some have the courage to give Bendtner a 7 or even more. Sure he got himself into solid occasions and played well but you simply can't afford to waste 5 or 6 clear chances against this pathetic Burnley side without having lower ratings. How many times has it been mentioned that it's striker's job to score a goal? Eduardo has had good games with assists just without goals yet you kept giving him these 5 and 6's. I don't get it and the moronic forced smile on his face when he was being subbed off isn't certainly going to change it. It's not such a big deal but the ratings are laughable. Bendtner ****ed everything up, it's absolutely inacceptable at this level, end of.

 

[alboots101]

why does it bother you?

my rating..3-1.

 

[TomasCR]

It does bother me because it's not fair toward other players. It also bothers me because Bendtner laughed it off on the bench when it was only 2:1 and we were under pressure. He should be lucky to get a 5, not a 7 - just one less than Nasri - who had an excellent game.

 

[alboots101]

oh.

 

[fabo]

Bendtner was horrible.

at saying he was in the right place consistently. In general that's encouraging but for this game specifically, he nearly cost us with his profligacy.

Some of the misses were embarassing really.

 

[MAK 14]

The positions that Bendtner got himself into is the bare minimum you should expect from an Arsenal striker. There's no excuses - he should of put at the very least one of his chances away.

 

[General]

Almunia 5.5 - Still not assertive enough when it matters.
Eboue – 6 Some decent forward runs
Silvestre 5.5 – Has a habit of getting caught out of position but otherwise ok.
Vermaelen 7 – Solid distribution all round
Clichy 7 – Much better than a month ago

Nasri 8 – Intelligent display but still lacks that extra urgency.
Cesc 7.5 – Pulling the strings till injury
Denilson 6 – His presence seemed superfluous but did ok.

Walcott 7.5 – Got it together in the second half.
Rosicky 7.5 – Solid display. Very aggressive and always on the move.
Bendtner 5 – Pure dogsh*t but can’t be faulted for effort. Looked like a Championship striker at times.


Subs
Eddie – 6.5
Diaby -6.5
Arshavin - 7

 

[banduan]

Almunia 7, Good except for one ****-up which he can't be 100% blamed for.

Eboue 6, Great going forward but sooooo dodgy at the back
Vermaelen 6, Not one of his best days to be honest
Silvestre 5, Some "FFS Tweety" moments now and then
Clichy 7, Getting better

Denilson 6, Teetering towards a 5, I don't do half ratings but he has concentration issues, which I thought were his strong points last season
Fabregas 7, Great goal and great movement. He really sees things ahead.
Nasri 8, Superb hustling and bustling play, was a bundle of trouble

Rosicky 6, Wasn't one of his better days
Bendtner 6, Needs to stop his misses getting to him. Would have been 5 or 4 if it wasn't so obvious how bad we were without him.
Walcott 8, A fireball of trouble in the second half.

Diaby 6, Solid all round match
Shava 6, Bad miss, good goal- definitely rusty
Eduardo 5, Bad miss, good sort-of assist- overall not great

 

[lagos]

Almunia - 6
Eboue - 7.5
Vermaelen - 7
Silvestre - 6
Clichy - 6
Denilson - 6
Cesc - 7
Nasri - 8
Walcott - 8
Bendtner - 6.5
Rosicky - 7

Diaby - 7
Eduardo - 5
Arshavin - 7

 

[bazza_afc]

Almunia 6

Eboue 7
Vermaelen 6
Silvstre 5
Clichy 7

Denilson 7
Fabregas 7 Diaby 7
Nasri 8

Rosicky 7
Bendtner 4
Walcott 9

 

[yakso]

Almunia 6 - He is actually performing pretty well. A lot less "Blondie" moments.

Eboue 7 - He was decent.
Vermaelen 8 - He was pretty good. Definitely the transfer of the season.
Silvstre 5 - This should be his last season. The most painful player to watch after our goalkeepers.
Clichy 7 - He was okay.

Denilson 7 - Actually I think he over performed in this match :mrgreen: .
Fabregas 8 - Got a goal. He was good until he had to come off.
Nasri 8 - Take over the mantle of our playmaker after cesc got off.

Rosicky 7 - Had some good runs, I would like him to take more long range shots.
Bendtner 4 - He should be doing better than that. A player of his level should be getting a hat-trick with the chances he got. At the very least should have got a goal. If he performs to a similar level in the next match I will be worried.
Walcott 9 - My MOTM. I have been slacking the lad but he created havoc in the Burnley defence. He was able to create a lot of good chances and was actually crossing pretty well for a change. Also scored a nice goal .

Substitutes
Diaby 7 - I am really amazed at how he has been able to turn a page.
Arshavin 7 - Scored a nice goal.
Eduardo 6 - I think he linked up well but the lack of speed was quite apparent. He is currently being outrun of every defender he comes across .

 

[Klaus Daimler]

I still find it hard to believe that some have the courage to give Bendtner a 7 or even more. Sure he got himself into solid occasions and played well but you simply can't afford to waste 5 or 6 clear chances against this pathetic Burnley side without having lower ratings. How many times has it been mentioned that it's striker's job to score a goal? Eduardo has had good games with assists just without goals yet you kept giving him these 5 and 6's.

That's just not true. Feel free to go through old rating threads if you like, but you won't find any inconsistencies there. Generally I've been rating Eduardo highly this season too. I still don't get why people came down so hard on him earlier for fluffing a couple of chances when he clearly improved the team otherwise and contributed to several good results, and the same applies to Bendtner yesterday.

People would do well to stop for a minute and wonder just how it so happened that Bendtner got so many great goal-scoring opportunities to waste to begin with. I think the "if he only knew how to finish he would have scored four or five goals, easily" argument a bit of a copout. Not a lot of strikers score four goals in one game, you know. It's happened eight times in Premier League in the last ten years, and two of them were Henry.

 

[outlaw_member]

For me, Bendtner missing those chances is akin to say, a winger constantly beating his man, linking up well, but failing in his final ball. Those final balls/goal chances take precedence over link up play/dribbling/etc. and define his overall rating more than anything, imo, and if he failed in taking all of them, then he doesn't deserve a good rating. If he for example, made less runs, or worse runs, resulting in only 1 clear chance for him, but he took it, automatically, it's a better performance for me. If he made plenty of quality runs like today, but it resulted in no goals, either due to the opposition defenders/GK putting in stunning performances or a lack of good service, then it's a good performance too, as he's done his job. But he needs to take responsibility for screwing up when it counted most. And if scoring is what counts most as a striker, and he constantly failed, it should reflect in the ratings. Can easily understand why people are rating him decently though.

Hah, I see it in the complete opposite the manner. Personally, the end has never and should never justify the means. A player could be average but score the winning goal but I wouldn't rate him higher than a player who performed very good but failed to convert any of his chances. Scoring a goal takes three seconds, performing throughout the entire match takes 90 minutes.

 

[eye4goal]

Almunia 6.5 Mishandled once but otherwise decent.

Clichy 7.5 Has found form at a crucial time. Crossing has improved too

Vermaelen 8 Rock solid. Good to see him not venturing forward at every opportunity. Especially with Silvestre playing

Silvestre 6.5 A couple of shaky first half clearances aside he was decent

Eboue 7.5 Always involved. Good combination play with Theo and Cesc

Nasri 8 Excellent offensively and defensively. Looks at home in midfield.

Cesc 7 Slow start but was getting better as he went off. Great run for his goal and a cool finish

Walcott 8.5 Gets a half a mark extra for scoring. Best performance of the season. Looks like his season has just started

Rosicky 6.5 A little too fancy at times but his runs opened them up.

Bendtner 5.5 Am not sure he has earned the right to have that big a smile when being substituted. He is not exactly an Henry or a Pires for that matter and the game was far from won.

Denilson 6 Almost forgot he was playing. Alot of his work went unnoticed in covering the gaps others left behind them.

Subs

Diaby 7.5 Very lively. His defensive game has really come on. Like to see him shoot more though

Arshavin 7 Looked rusty, missed a couple of chances and then bang!

Eduardo 5 Tentative. He was put clear but would not put his body between the defender and the ball. He did the same last week against Stoke and fluffed his finish

 

[TomasCR]

That's just not true. Feel free to go through old rating threads if you like, but you won't find any inconsistencies there. Generally I've been rating Eduardo highly this season too. I still don't get why people came down so hard on him earlier for fluffing a couple of chances when he clearly improved the team otherwise and contributed to several good results, and the same applies to Bendtner yesterday.

I knew you would eventually come out to reply to my post, that's why I should have probably added it was not aimed at you because, since I pretty much enjoy reading all your posts, I do know what you think of Eduardo and all the games he has played so far. I was thinking generally. It still doesn't hide the fact that Bendtner was completely wasteful and you, as a striker, simple can't afford that.

People would do well to stop for a minute and wonder just how it so happened that Bendtner got so many great goal-scoring opportunities to waste to begin with. I think the "if he only knew how to finish he would have scored four or five goals, easily" argument a bit of a copout. Not a lot of strikers score four goals in one game, you know. It's happened eight times in Premier League in the last ten years, and two of them were Henry.

I would go that far to say that Bendtner got into these opportunities because we played against the worst PL side over the last couple of months. Seriously, Walcott could have had something like what, 4 assists? Why? Because he made most of Burnley defenders look very silly by beating them all the time and found it very easy to have time to make a solid cross that could have led to a goal had Bendtner not have such a bad day! Bendtner didn't have so many good chances because he was any brilliant, it's just that the other side allowed him to go for them and made him look good. I'm pretty sure they will go down and they will go down for a reason - they're so **** at defending. Bendtner was really bad but I'll get over it.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

It's not just Burnley though. Bendtner gets into those kind of situations all the time. You could argue that he's not a very good goalscorer, just as you could argue that he creates a lot of those opportunities himself. Yeah, it's pretty frustrating to watch someone miss the goal from three yards - especially when it happens two times in the same game. I prefer to look at it from the positive side. Finish ability can always be improved. If he keeps playing like this he'll score a lot of goals in his career simply because he's an intelligent player that reads the game well. I've seen enough of this particular type of striker to feel that I know what I'm talking about. Ignoring the technical difference, a certain Ibrahimovic used to look the exact same way in front of goal.

Besides, it's not like he wasn't involved in the result yesterday. He had a say in both goals we scored before he went off.

 

[TomasCR]

Don't get me wrong Klaus. I don't criticise the player himself as much as I don't like the way he got out of the yesterday's game - so easily. I just didn't agree with the ratings, that's all. He'll always be a starter in my eyes as long as RvP is out but Bendtner just didn't manage it yesterday and I refuse to give him a 7 for being able to get himself into goal scoring opportunities against the worst-defending team in the league. He'll come good later this season, he was just pathetic yesterday. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.