Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings

[asajoseph]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

The script was actually quite predictable - bringing the injured Cesc on because nothing else was really happening. That was precisely the scenario our starting XI should have been working to avoid, and they failed to do that.

Apart from that being an absolute load of rubbish, we dominated the second half before and after Cesc went off the pitch. It was you who was saying our midfield would get trounced by their 'Ohh so superior' midfield pre-game though (did their midfield even string two passes together all game?) nice prediction mystic Meg .

~What on earth are you on about?

We barely created anything at all after the first 5 minutes, and it was hard to see where the goal was coming from. That's precisely why Cesc came on in the first place - we were the better team, but didn't look able to break down the Villa defence, which was precisely the problem that I was worried about.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

To be fair, asa, you were worried that our midfield was going to be outperformed and outpassed by Villa as I recall it. That didn't really happen. We dominated them and kept the pressure up throughout the game. I didn't even notice that Milner and Petrov were on the field after a while because they never touched the ball. We had tons of corners, freekicks and opportunities to score but we lacked the cutting edge. That's what Cesc provided when he came on, not chances. We had those already.

 

[qs]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

Over the moon mate, but there were some poor performers out there today.

The script was actually quite predictable - bringing the injured Cesc on because nothing else was really happening. That was precisely the scenario our starting XI should have been working to avoid, and they failed to do that.

Yeah but this was against Villa. Not just without Cesc but also Robin and to a lesser extent the likes of Rosicky, Bendtner and Clichy who would have played. We were the better team throughout, yes some players could have been better, especially the forwards, but it was still a decent performance.

 

[Kain]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

The script was actually quite predictable - bringing the injured Cesc on because nothing else was really happening. That was precisely the scenario our starting XI should have been working to avoid, and they failed to do that.

Apart from that being an absolute load of rubbish, we dominated the second half before and after Cesc went off the pitch. It was you who was saying our midfield would get trounced by their 'Ohh so superior' midfield pre-game though (did their midfield even string two passes together all game?) nice prediction mystic Meg .

~What on earth are you on about?

We barely created anything at all after the first 5 minutes, and it was hard to see where the goal was coming from. That's precisely why Cesc came on in the first place - we were the better team, but didn't look able to break down the Villa defence, which was precisely the problem that I was worried about.

It doesn’t take a genius to work out Arsenal with Cesc is better than Arsenal without Cesc. Making out that we are dogshit in midfield without him in the team is not on though and that’s what you are implying. We always looked better and created far more then Villa, we dominated Villa in every way a team can be dominated, even their long hoof balls that they had to resort to were easily dealt with by the defence, the only team who had nothing happening for them today was the away side.

 

[regele]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

The script was actually quite predictable - bringing the injured Cesc on because nothing else was really happening. That was precisely the scenario our starting XI should have been working to avoid, and they failed to do that.

We were already pressuring them in the second half, Cesc was just the extra gear, we would have scored without him too IMO. Oh and btw what exactly does he have to do to get a 10 in your book, because I don't see what he could have done better today?

Overall your ratings are a bunch of tosh IMO, it was a 3-0 win against one of the best opponents we've met this season, yet judging by those you'd think we've lost at home to Wolves.

 

[True Gooner]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

Cesc was the cutting edge which we needed to break down the best defence in the league prior to today. No shame in that.

 

[AshburtonGhost]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

It doesn’t take a genius to work out Arsenal with Cesc is better than Arsenal without Cesc. Making out that we are dogshit in midfield without him in the team is not on though and that’s what you are implying. We always looked better and created far more then Villa, we dominated Villa in every way a team can be dominated, even their long hoof balls that they had to resort to were easily dealt with by the defence, the only team who had nothing happening for them today was the away side.

And what if Fabregas couldn't come on? If we had drawn 0-0, I guarantee you wouldn't be so happy about 'dominating' the game. The DDS midfield is solid, but it really didn't look like doing a whole lot until Cesc opened the game up.

 

[True Gooner]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

Villa have the best defence in the league. no surprise and no shame we needed Fabregas to open them up.

 

[Kain]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

And what if Fabregas couldn't come on? If we had drawn 0-0, I guarantee you wouldn't be so happy about 'dominating' the game. The DDS midfield is solid, but it really didn't look like doing a whole lot until Cesc opened the game up.

DSD were in total control of the game, the Villa midfield created precisely nothing at all the entire game. Diaby had two stormers in a row, why would the game of ended 0-0 just because Fabregas had not played?

It's more than effective even if some won't admit it, don't mistake the DSD of last season for this seasons.

 

[est]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

I thought this was Denilson's best game for us in the last two seasons. Great positionally, good 1-2 passing to work the way through the Villa midfield and release Diaby and Nasri in the first half, contested physically and won headers(!). Shame that his brillinat display was somewhat overshadowed by Cesc and to some extent Diaby.

Diaby, for me, was immense. His size, strenght and control was too much for Villa to take. Today, he made all the right decisions, never forced his dribbling into blind alleys, passed well and crowned it with a brilliant goal. Keep it up, Big Abou!

As for Cesc Fabregas, my god! Words can't describe how good this guy can be. What a free-kick! What a finish for the second goal! You can see the progress he's made. Two seasons ago, he rarely finished those one on one with the goalkeeper situations, but now he's totally ruthless. Unstoppable finishes.

 

[AshburtonGhost]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

I didn't say it was a shame, but it didn't look like much at all was going to happen until Fabregas came on. People still seem to be fixated with the notion that 'dominating' the opposition is enough - unfortunately it's not, you have to score goals to win.

 

[AnthonyG]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

And what if Fabregas couldn't come on? If we had drawn 0-0, I guarantee you wouldn't be so happy about 'dominating' the game. The DDS midfield is solid, but it really didn't look like doing a whole lot until Cesc opened the game up.

No worries, Denilson would have buried the FK.

 

[AshburtonGhost]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

And what if Fabregas couldn't come on? If we had drawn 0-0, I guarantee you wouldn't be so happy about 'dominating' the game. The DDS midfield is solid, but it really didn't look like doing a whole lot until Cesc opened the game up.

No worries, Denilson would have buried the FK.

Just like he buried that one in the first half... Straight into the wall...

 

[dave_rwr]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

Individually, I don't even care. As a team, 9.5.

This was a game that we came into and there were a lot of doubters. Villa beat United, Chelsea and Pool, and most people were giving us little to no chance. To come out 3-0 is a huge boost for the team as a whole, and showed that we aren't the little pansies that people often think we are.

My favourite moment of the game, by far, was seeing Vermaelen battle it out with Agbonlahor near the end. The heart in that effort, and the smile on Agbonlahor's face afterward is exactly what I love about this team when we play with heart.

Lovely game to watch.

 

[Kraig]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

Villa have the best defence in the league. no surprise and no shame we needed Fabregas to open them up.

this.

al - 7

sagna - 7
verm - 7
gallas - 7
traore - 7

song - 8

denilson - 6
diaby - 8

nasri - 6
eduardo - 5
shavva - 6

cesc - 10
theo - 7
ramsey - n/a

 

[kel varnsen]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

Almunia 5
Sagna 5
Gallas 7
Vermaelen 7
Traore 7
Diaby 8
Denilson 5
Song 6
Arshavin 6
Nasri 5
Eduardo 5

Walcott 5
Fabregas 10

 

[True Gooner]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

I didn't say it was a shame, but it didn't look like much at all was going to happen until Fabregas came on. People still seem to be fixated with the notion that 'dominating' the opposition is enough - unfortunately it's not, you have to score goals to win.

Uh, okay.

We were the better side before Fabregas.

Villa had only one shot on target.

Villa were under pressure.

Fabregas comes on and adds end product to an already good performance.

No one's saying that 60% possession is the objective but you need some sort of perspective. United, Chelsea and Liverpool have all struggled to break down Villa and relative to that I thought we performed admirably and given that we kept a clean sheet I think a goal would have been coming regardless.

And despite the crucial two goals Villa still didn't afford us too many clear cut chances - that was with Fabregas on the pitch.

 

[kel varnsen]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

I didn't say it was a shame, but it didn't look like much at all was going to happen until Fabregas came on. People still seem to be fixated with the notion that 'dominating' the opposition is enough - unfortunately it's not, you have to score goals to win.

Uh, okay.

We were the better side before Fabregas.

Villa had only one shot on target.

Villa were under pressure.

not by much. we were slightly better than villa and before cesc came on, the match could have gone either way. villa created 2-3 really good chances in the first half and looked sharp on the breaks. fabregas won us this match. of that there is no doubt.

 

[truth_hurts]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

Almunia 6 - didn't have much to do.
Sagna 7.5 - typical solid game, kept both wingers silent.
Gallas 7.5 - bar one lapse very good in both halfs of the pitch.
Vermaelen 8 - Extremelly solid.
Traore 7.5 - fast becoming my favourite left back.
Diaby 8.5 - tormented Villa throughout the game, great goal.
Denilson 7 - typically hard working plus neat and tidy.
Song 7.5 - solid show started great but got a little sloppy late on.
Arshavin 7 - quite a quiet game but looked dangerous on the ball.
Nasri 7 - started sklow but grew into the game.
Eduardo 6.5 - quiet game but found some good positions.

Walcott 7.5 - looked a threat and great assist.
Fabregas 9 - majestic full stop!

 

[True Gooner]

Re: Arsenal vs Aston Villa Match Ratings ^^ (Y)

Kel:

I've watched Villa play United, Chelsea and Liverpool and in nearly all those games they were much better than what they showed today and that was down to our performance than their lack of form.

It wasn't a vintage performance or anything nor am I disputing that Fabregas was the match winner but relative to what I've seen Villa produce I thought that our midfielders and defenders were very, very good. Our front three lacked movement and therein lies the problem - even after Fabregas came on how many chances did our strikers have?

Also, surprised that no one mentioned it but we did a phenomenal job of restricting the number of corners and free kicks Villa had. Credit to the management and defenders for that one. Rob them of the chance of getting their defenders up and you reduce their attacking threat significantly.