Arsenal vs Birmingham player ratings

[ricky1985]

Mannone - 6. Had 3 things to do in the whole match; 1. Catch a high cross, epic failure. 2. Save free-kick, success....Sort of. 3. Save low cross-shot, success....Again sort of. I think it's Almunia time. Must also add his distribution was very good.

Eboue - 7. Was very good in the first half hour when we were running them ragged. Few defensive lapses in the second half, and then some good work when moved further forward.

Gallas - 7. A few slight errors, but was very good once again.

Vermaelen - 7. Same as Gallas. Both centrebacks distribution puts others in this League to shame - it's fantastic!

Gibbs - 7. Started nervously, I think this might have been his first game at the Emirates since that horrible night against United. About half way through the first half he made a great crunching tackle, and the crowd erupted. He was very good from that point on. His intelligent forward passing is light-years ahead of Clichy's. Won't be long until he is a permanent fixture.

Song - 9. Ran the show. Strong as an ox, quick and energetic, perfectly positioned most of the time, great, really great forward passing, great coverage of the marauding defenders, and great skill/composure on the ball - he passed when he was ready and not a second before. He was like a 'in his prime' Gilberto Silva today with added power and skill.

Fabregas - 7. Fairly subdued, and not alot came off for him, but wasn't poor, just not great. Has alot on his mind I'm sure.

Diaby - 8. Totally outshone Fabregas today, and in combination with Song controlled the midfield and dictated everything we did offensively. Also made loads of tackles, and rarely gave the ball away. Nearly scored what would have been a great goal, but Hart made an amazing stop. It's maybe easier to see live, but the power Song and Diaby give us in midfield is immense. They were completely dominant, but they are technically gifted to go along with it. Very impressed.

Walcott - 6. Looked lively early on, then came that disgraceful tackle.

van Persie - 8. Scored a great goal, and led the line with his strength, intelligent movement, and some great touches and passes. He was great in an understated way today.

Rosicky - 7. Awesome in the first 30 minutes, buzzing all over the place, but should have scored 1 of his 3 chances in that time. Dissapeared from the game a little after that, but we dropped our intensity as a team. His class is evident though.

Subs
Arshavin - 6. Hard to rate, he was awful before his goal, but his goal was world class and so timely. One thing that is beyond debate is that his fitness levels are diabolical at the moment.

Sagna - 5. Not a great cameo.

Wilshere - no real impact.

 

[Clrnc]

Mannone 6
Eboue 7
Gallas 7
Vermaelen 7
Gibbs 7
Song 8
Fabregas 7.5
Diaby 8
Walcott 7
Rosicky 7
RvP 7

Subs
Arshavin 6.5
Sagna 6
Wilshere N.A

 

[outlaw_member]

What was disgraceful about the tackle? I know he went in hard but he clearly won the ball.

Mannone 6 - A poor attempt to catch the ball for the conceded goal, but made a vital interception later on in the game.

Eboue 7 - His best strength is turning defence into attack, and it's no surprise that our players actively look to release him into space. A great option for matches against the lower clubs.

Gallas 6 - Solid as usual but was guilty a few times of allowing Jerome to handle the ball without pressuring him.

Vermaelen 6 - Lost a few challenges in the air but was steady througout most of the game. The Ajax fans don't believe that he played for them.

Gibbs 6 - Looked shaky in the first half but became more confident as the half wore on. There was one brilliant cross field pass to van Persie(?) in the second half, but I thought he was very timid in possession. There were too many instances where he passed back to the CB when he should have tried to advance the ball.

Song 8 - I don't understand why his performance has been highlighted today, when he has performed in the same manner over the past 4-5 games. If football matches ended after 45 minutes, I don't think there is a better DM than him anywhere on the planet. His passing between the lines was impeccable again but he did become slightly sloppy late in the game.

Cesc 7 - He worked hard and grabbed himself a well deserved assist.

Diaby 7 - Good finish with his left foot (see, he has improved) and made a couple of important tackles in the defensive third. His passing was underhit on too many ocassions, though.

Walcott 6 - Quality run and shot to force a save out of Joe Hart. Unfortunate to get hurt by the follow through from the Ridgewell challenge.

van Persie 7 - Incisive finish from the Dutchman and his linkup play was excellent. He was also much stronger on the ball and didn't seem to fall down that often.

Rosicky 6 - Average performance today and didn't really seem to get going, despite managing an important assist. Plus, I thought he looked very disappointed to be subbed of...

Subs:

Arshavin 7 - He got tired far too quickly and wasn't assertive enough in possession. A great goal from him though, and he seems to be able to score, irrespective of how he is performing.

 

[alboots101]

7.2

we can do better.

 

[Anzac]

I don't know... I seem to remember him gifting Birmingham a golden chance at 2-1, one of their players lofted it out to the left, and Sagna was nowhere near him. It might have been the chance that led to Vito's great save, but I'm not sure.

Sagna was marking one of their players and Eboue failed to track the spare man iirc.

That's my recollection of it as well. I thought it illustrated my point well.

My thoughts as well - Sagna is more mindful of his defence & isn't as 'expansive' as Eboue going forward.

 

[alboots101]

i remember that...we held our breath for a sec...i need to see the game on tv though.

 

[ricky1985]

@ Outlaw.

Yeah, he won the ball, but he clattered Walcott as well. Considering the tackle was from behind (which isn't allowed), it was extremely wreckless. For me a certain free-kick.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

What was disgraceful about the tackle? I know he went in hard but he clearly won the ball.

You can't plow through people just because you get a touch on the ball, obviously. Especially not when coming in from behind where Theo had no chance of getting away.

 

[alboots101]

lightweights.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLTI3c8bDOc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLTI3c8bDOc</a>

 

[Clrnc]

That follow through on that tackle was disgusting. Could have easily broke Theo's leg. Wreckless, mindless. They were getting all the hard fouls into us and the ref didn't blow any ****.

I thought this was the worst ref I have ever seen. Hes not those kind of biased ref, but those who missed every single thing on the pitch. Did you guys see the 80th ++ min quick freekick we took and he didn't even notice. The commentator rightly called him a disgrace. Havent' seen such a pathetic ref for a longlong time. I remember his name in one of the controversy...

EDIT: Got it

As fourth official in the Premier League game between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford on 29 August 2009, Probert, along with match referee Mike Dean, was criticised after Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger was sent to the stands for kicking a water bottle. League Managers Association chief executive Richard Bevan said of the error of judgement, "Lee Probert totally failed to manage the situation and created a needless pressure point taking the focus away from the pitch in a big event with only a minute to go."

 

[qs]

Mannone 6

Eboue 7
Gallas 7
Vermaelen 7
Gibbs 7

Song 8
Cesc 7
Diaby 7

Rosicky 6
Arshavin 6
RVP 7

 

[kel varnsen]

Mannone - 4

Eboue - 6
Gallas - 6
Vermealen - 6
Gibbs - 5

Song - 6
Fabregas - 7
Diaby - 7

Walcott - 5
Rosicky - 6
RvP - 6

Arshavin - 6
Sagna - 5

 

[Block10Gooner]

Mannone 6

Eboue 7.5
Gallas 7
Vermaelen 7
Gibbs 7

Song 8.5
Cesc 7
Diaby 7

Rosicky 7
Arshavin 6.5
RVP 7

Glad that Song is finally getting recognition.

 

[raphael_as]

A workman like performance all in all. Didn't feel that anyone really excelled, but a lot of somewhat above average performances were enough to see off Birmingham.

Mannone - 5: -1 for the goal, otherwise I thought he was solid and made one great interception towards the end.

Eboue - 6.5: Thought he was good today, great energy and provided an outlet for us in attack. He gets a 6 for his time as an RB and a 7 for his time as a RMF.
Sagna - 6: Didn't do anything horrible, but not really convincing me - Ridgewell being in acres of space in our penalty box for the Mannone interception for instance. I'm really starting to prefer Eboue to Sagna at RB. Perhaps this is the weaker opposition, but I just get the impression that he doesn't actually give us that much more defensively at the moment, and we lose a lot on attack.
Gallas - 6.5: Solid, although he was caught out a couple of times so no higher rating
Vermealen - 6.5: Same as Gallas
Gibbs - 6.5: Again thought he was good today. Didn't get caught out too much and provided the odd attacking burst. For me, he performed better then Clichy has recently.

Song - 7: Very good I thought, and some nice passing to the forwards as well as his defensive work.
Diaby - 7: -1/2 pt for another WTF header that led to Birmingham's goal. Yes Mannone should have done better, but Diaby should have headed it away from goal rather then helping it on with a high looping header towards the back post. Otherwise would probably have been MotM for me - he put in the best defensive display I can recall from him in the 2nd half.
Cesc - 6.5: Decent but not great, I thought his dead ball delivery especially was below par.

Walcott - 6.5: Did a great job while on the pitch, definitely lost something when (a tired) Arshavin came on in his place
Arshavin - 6: Gets an extra 1/2 point for the goal, otherwise thought he looked very tired and not really at the pace of the game. Also not as good in defense as he has been recently, it's a shame that he couldn't have been rested for the whole game.
Rosicky - 5.5: Badly fluffed a couple of good chances in the first 10 minutes or so, provided a nice assist for the Diaby goal but overall a quiet game.
Van Persie - 6.5: Good game from RvP, really growing in his role and I love the little spins off the shoulder of the last defender he does and which Cesc (and now Song) are picking up on. He loses 1/2pt for me because I really think he should have scored at least one more, specifically from the (very harsh) free-kick we got for that back pass.

Wilshere - Not enough time to rate.

 

[kofigunner]

It's amazing how Song doesn't get the due he deserves because he isn't 'sexy'. He's playing a role most of our other players wouldn't want to play, mostly doing the dirty work and doing a pretty good job at it too. I don't see how we would get a 6 for the game he played.

 

[Dennis10]

It's amazing how Song doesn't get the due he deserves because he isn't 'sexy'. He's playing a role most of our other players wouldn't want to play, mostly doing the dirty work and doing a pretty good job at it too. I don't see how we would get a 6 for the game he played.

How do tou know that's the reason some people don't rate him? Besides, I believe most fans agree he was one of our best on saturday.

 

[Iloveyouarsenewenger]

Mannone 6

Eboue 7
Gallas 7
Vermaelen 7
Gibbs 6.5

Song 7.5
Cesc 7
Diaby 7.5

Rosicky 6.5
Arshavin 7.5
RVP 8