Arsenal vs Liverpool Ratings Thread

[Godsend_Gooner]

I remember him making quite a few runs whenever he got the chance but the midfield especially Ramsey kept losing the ball a lot due to which Walcott had to drop deeper along with Van Persie. Once you do that, you are not going to get that run on the defender which he so desperately required.

If it's a 4-3-3, consider the widemen as forwards and they will need service from the midfield. We had no service today.

 

[eye4goal]

Here's another occasion when Theo did not make a run after Arshavin had got the byline and crossed the ball

 

[cuban]

I actually can't get over Frimpong's red card...yes ever since he got a yellow at 7th minute or so I thought - he is going to be sent off...but I wouldn't really mind if it was like in 75th - 80th minute after a good tactical foul or something...but this was a shocking challenge frankly deserving a straight red...why on earth did he do that? he wasn't provoked by some tough foul on him or teammate...neither by wrong decision...it was rather calm part of the game and he does that on their half...criminal really...

 

[ricky1985]

I was absolutely disgusted on at least 4 or 5 occasions today, when either Walcott or Arshavin didn't bother attacking the far post. Good crosses came in and they were nowhere to be seen.

 

[La Sagna]

I'm glad people are calling Walcott for what he clearly is.

This will be a looooong and a very painful season

Seriously why are people acting like this?

He had a poor game against a class LB, as he did last time. He's clearly an on-your-shoulder last defender winger rather than the dribble past five defender one.

It's like blaming Arshavin for not winning enough headers but people don't do that do they.
If Walcott is used correctly, as the RECIEVER of the final ball, then he will be the star of the season.

But right now as a team we are neither here nor there.

He needs to make better runs if he wants to receive the ball on the move. The amount of times he didn't make a run today was ridiculous. Remember in the first half that great run from Nasri, watch it again on MOTD and you'll see Theo jogging beside Nasi for a sideways pass instead of pulling into the space in front and to his right and pulling a defender away.

He failed to do basic things today. It was like he had regressed to how he was in his first season. And that's why his rating is so low.

That's fair enough. If it is because he is not making those runs to get into goal scoring positions then I agree with that.

But it seems like people are having a go because his technique was off, crossing unpredictable, dribbling wasteful, etc...the thing is, WE KNOW THIS, hes never going to dribble past people like Nani, or deliver crosses like Valencia.
If we are going to play to the teams strengths then I feel we should totally not rely on him in the buildup until there is a gap in the midfield that can be exploited with a slide rule pass when he is on the shoulder of the last defender, a la most of his goals last season.

The fact that that ball never came today seems like more of an issue rather than the fact that he gives the ball away, which we knew he would do.
Make him the last line of our attack and he's set.

 

[cuban]

Here's another occasion when Theo did not make a run after Arshavin had got the byline and crossed the ball

remember this...I was so angry at that time...he could have got simple tap in with a bit of luck and determination...but he just didn't bother

winger not closing the box...shocking

 

[Godsend_Gooner]

One thing needs to be corrected collectively. Whenever a cross is about to come in, why do our players have the tea party outside the box and not inside it? It's shocking.

P.S. -> Whoever does not give Vermaelen a 10/10 is a Spud.

 

[cuban]

La Sagna...problem is that Theo wasn't making those runs today...I remember other occasion when was Jenkinson bursting forward...he already passed their winger and had only full back ahead of him and CM coming from side who wouldn't probably caught him if he continued his run...and what did Theo do? instead of basic forward run to either get the ball in full speed and beat Enrique for pace or at least pull him away he just stood on the byline doing nothing...Jenkinson had to check back and make a simple sideways pass to Theo...

 

[cuban]

One thing needs to be corrected collectively. Whenever a cross is about to come in, why do our players have the tea party outside the box and not inside it? It's shocking.

P.S. -> Whoever does not give Vermaelen a 10/10 is a Spud.

I write match ratings blog on other site and I indeed gave my first ever 10 mark to Verminator today...

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Scezney 7 done everything he good fine game

Carl 6 well its his first epl game in his life so he done ok game, he need to improve also

TV5 8 a beast he keep carroll in his pocket a really good game

kosh 5 shame about his injury hope its not bad and he could return soon.

Sagna 6 he play a LB and he done everything right

frimpong 7 Shame about the red card he need to be calm and no need to be nervous he was good a beast.

ramsey 3 such a poor game i know he need a time but he must work so hard he give the ball many times away he not give rvp the balls he need to score goals

nasri 7 he done everything he good he try to score the goal.


walcott 3 such a poor game from him he dont do nothing

arshavin 3 a poor game like walcott

rvp 5 well he miss a sitter this was easy chance to score

 

[ricky1985]

Szczesny - 8. Continues his near faultless start to the season. Showed everything today; great saves, good organisational skills, good reading of the game when coming off his line in both sweeping up behind the back four and in dealing with aerial balls into the box, and most impressively of all, given his struggles with it when he first came into the team; his distribution was absolutely top class - short, long, clever passes picking people out and reliable distance every time it was called for. Exceptional.

Jenkinson - 6. Struggled early on, looked nervous and rushed his first touch and passing. Settled in as the game wore on and was impressive thereafter. Still got caught a couple of times with runners in behind, but he did well.

Koscielny - no rating.

Vermaelen - 9. Forget about how strong he was in the tackle, how dominant he was in the air, how well he read the game, even forget about just how many times it was his head on the end of a dangerous Liverpool ball into the box, what impressed me most today was how much responsibility he took, how he made sure the inexperienced players around about him knew exactly what it was he wanted them to do and where he wanted them to be. Inspirational performance. Carroll will sleep with the light on tonight.

Sagna - 7. Did you ever really doubt whether this guy could play left back? Rock like as per.

Frimpong - 7. Wow. It was like going back to 1997 and seeing a certain Frenchman burst onto the scene - has the same bad temper too! Needs to improve that side of his game, but it's a given that he will.

Ramsey - 5. Worked and worked and worked, but he's struggling for fitness. The pace and tempo of the games at this level are hitting him hard and he needs games (and our patience) to get up to speed. He will though.

Nasri - 6. Decent here and there, great run and shot in the first half, but very annoying with how he held onto the ball for far too long on lots of other occasions.

Walcott - 3. Started liked he wanted to take some responsibility, but retreated into his shell more and more as the game wore on. So hesitant and timid when taking people on.

Arshavin - 3. More brighter moments than Theo, but far more careless moments too. He has no business starting for Arsenal, he's nowhere near good enough. People talk about us being toothless today, not creating enough chances, but you've got to look at the number of times Walcott and Arshavin got their fullback one-v-one today or in other threatening positions and did precisely sod all with it. Their lack of creativity and flair/dynamism is killing us post-Fabregas.

van Persie - 4. Some nice touches and link-play, similar to the Newcastle game, but wasteful in his finishing, especially that one big chance, and lacking in decisive and penetrative movement and passing. Needs better players around him though, Arshavin and Walcott didn't help his case one little bit.

Subs

Miquel - 6. Very calm and composed in possession, in fact, in just about everything he did. A few naive and sloppy moments where he showed his lack of experience, resulting in the crucial own goal, but showed he will be a player.

Lansbury - no rating really, but did okay.

Bendtner - 5. Didn't have much of a chance to impress, but some of his passes were utter ****, a knee-high pass, fired at 100MPH to Nasri from 3 feet away springs to mind. Pretty disheartening to see him thrown on to be honest.

 

[McIntyre]

Here's another occasion when Theo did not make a run after Arshavin had got the byline and crossed the ball

remember this...I was so angry at that time...he could have got simple tap in with a bit of luck and determination...but he just didn't bother

winger not closing the box...shocking

Arshavin did exactly the same when the ball was coming in from the opposite side. Just didn't f*cking bother to attack the ball at the far post. It's like they just don't give a sh*t! :?

 

[Jury]

As great as TV was, even he could have done better for their second.

Just saying.

 

[ArsenalDNA]

Szczesny 7.5

Jenkinson 7
Verm 9
Kos -
Miquel 7
Sagna 7

Thought our defense was pretty solid tbh. Despite conceding two goals. Might be more down to how **** liverpool are with Carroll on though.

Frimpong 6, would be 8 if he didn't get sent off. was our only midfield doing any sort of defending. wouldn't be too dissappointed with him getting a reasonable amount of game time this year.
Nasri 6.5
Ramsey 4

Can't remember Nasri doing anything other than a couple of good runs. Definitely not what we need at CAM. Ramsey was pretty poor. He's got all the passes in the game but he just doesn't know when to use them, which unfortunately isn't an easy fix.

Theo 2
RvP 5
Arsha 3

Poor effort from our two wingers, with how uncreative our midfield is atm we need our wingers to start making some inroads but today/this season they just aren't getting it done. Arshavin lost it almost every time he had it but at least you could see he was trying ****. Theo is just diabolical when we aren't on the counter attack. Hopefully the days of 433 are going to end soon cause it won't work without Cesc.

We haven't scored a goal in two games so far and we won't score one next week. Disgusted to think that after 3 week we wouldn't have scored a single goal and will only be on one point.

 

[caek]

Szscesny (7.5) - Was confident and comfortable and had a solid game. Not much he could have done with the goals that went in.

Jenkinson (6.0) - Thought he did well to be honest. Struggled a few times but generally, did well tracking back. Have to take into consideration that he's been thrown into the deep end here.

Vermaelen (9.0) - MoTM for me. What a performance, makes you really wonder what could have been if he was fit for us last season. He had Andy Carrol in his pocket the entire game and stepped up when Koscielny was injured too. Very impressive game. Incredible in the air, on the ground but more importantly, the way he reads the game.

Miquel (5.5) - Didn't expect much from the lad and at times, I really felt sorry for him. The potential is there though.

Sagna (6.5) - Did a decent job out of position.

Frimpong (6.5) - Had a solid game I though but his inexperience really shone through. He needs to control himself a bit because his sending off made things a lot harder for us. He's a proper DM if you ask me and has got a bright future ahead of him.

Ramsey (4.5) - He was nowhere to be seen. He tried creating things but just couldn't. I know he's better than that but I'm really fearing that Wenger is pushing him too much this season. I think the lad just needs a rest to be honest.

Walcott (3.5) - Can't do anything without space. What's worse, it seems as though he lacks a footballers brain when he gets surrounded by players. Had some decent chances to make runs too but didn't do so. Was anonymous for the entire game.

Arshavin (2.5) - Shocking performance. Absolutely shocking. Gave the ball away far too many times, ran into players, didn't bother doing much at all. Disgusted.

Nasri (6.0) - Top marks for trying. He wanted to score today, you can see it in his face. His work rate was good and he helped the team. Was the only one that looked threatening.

RVP (6.0) - Can't really grade him since he was starved of the ball. Nobody to pick a pass and provide for him.

 

[cuban]

As great as TV was, even he could have done better for their second.

Just saying.

not really...it was mainly Sagna's fault for not covering Meireles' run...after that Vermaelen and Miquel were pretty much out of it...

 

[fabo]

What could Vermaelen have done better? Lucas is charging at the defence, he has to step out at some point and he's trying to cover for slow-ass Miquel too.

Question is where the hell were Lansbury and Ramsey? Watching the replay back, Lansbury is jogging back and he's only on the pitch 20 odd minutes. Hardly Ray Parlour-esque.

 

[progman07]

As great as TV was, even he could have done better for their second.

Just saying.

not really...it was mainly Sagna's fault for not covering Meireles' run...after that Vermaelen and Miquel were pretty much out of it...

Exactly.

 

[eye4goal]

It wasn't really Sagna's fault. He lost the ball in the final 3rd but we still had enough players to cover. You could say Nasri should have picked him but the space Lucas had was criminal in the first place(10 men or not)

Sagna loses the ball. Liverpool counter then play the ball back. Ramsey, Nasri and Lansbury are all drawn to the ball. Meireles is free on the left all along



Ball is played over the 3 men to Meireles,



Miguel goes over but Meireles flicks the ball to Lucas who's in acres of space(Ramsey created that gap). Meireles makes his run, Nasri is closest to him but it was fresh legs vs tired legs at this stage