Klaus Daimler
Established Member
Fabianski: 6 - His positioning and timing wasn't good. He leaves too much space at the far post and rushes out even when he isn't supposed to. He had one or two REALLY good saves though, especially on the freekick at the end. He would have gotten a 5 otherwise.
Sagna: 5 - Didn't look secure today, something I think has to do with Song playing in the middle.
Touré: 5 - I think Kolo actually offered some spirit in defence. He had to work really hard for the best of the ninety minutes. The outcome wasn't so good unfortunately.
Djourou: 5 - The invisible man. Hoofed the ball away a couple of times but mostly back to the opposition. It didn't felt like he did much all game. He left Bothroyd to Song who failed heavily.
Gibbs: 7 - Best player on the pitch today. I think it was a great move to take a chance on him at leftback. I know people advocated for Gallas instead before the game but Gibbs showed a thing or two about the importance of playing players in their real position. Handled the pressure well and contributed to many of the positives in our game today. Those ninety minutes probably did his development a world of good as well.
Song: 4.5 - Instead of retaining the ball and distributing it through the middle he constantly carried it out towards the right flank and passed it two metres back so Sagna who then had to get rid of it in a stressed situation. He lost most headers and never took advantage of the spaces that were available on the counter. He's tough and offers some fight in the middle but he isn't of much use when he plays like this. Raised his game for a while in the second half but fell back into mediocracy at the end. His first full game back from a month of injury though so I'll cut him some slack.
Ramsey: 5 - Lost the physical battle in the middle, was too slow to release the ball and never showed off any of his ability to read the game. He actually challenged a lot but not with any good outcome. He probably started so Diaby could rest, but in hindsight it wasn't a good idea.
Nasri: 6.5 - Best midfielder for the day. He very rarely lost the ball and was the only one able to beat opponents man-to-man. Had to take a lot of responsibility when the central midfield disapperared. He should have scored on one of his chances though and took some time before he started to deliver.
Eboue: 4.5 - He is obviously not a right winger. I actually thought that he would improve this season after a hard first one where he was bad but nonetheless showed off some signs of ability. And initially this season it looked like he might, but instead he's been getting worse ever since the injury. We're handicapped with him in midfield right now. Not completely useless as some suggest, but he offers too little far too late.
van Persie: 6 - Not his best game lately. He tried a lot but rather than dictating tempo and creating mobility in the final third he lost the ball or saw his shots being blocked. He got intimidated by the Cardiff defence in the second half and for a while I was afraid that he was gonna do something ****ish like he did against Stoke.
Bendtner: 6.5 - Worked hard, won most challenges and actually positioned himself cleverly for as long as he played as a striker. Curiously drifted out left a lot of the time in the first half but it worked. Only player on the field showing off some vision today. He's often frustrating to watch, but at least you can take some comfort in the fact that most of the time there's actually a thought behind much of what he's doing.
Adebayor: 6 - Horrible, horrible miss. Let's hope that sitter doesn't come back to haunt him, because what he brought onto the field otherwise was good. People joked about us playing better as soon as Eboue went off but it was rather Ade who came on and gave us a little bit of better shape in the final third. He holds up the play well and very rarely misplaces a pass. He should have ****ing scored, though. Should have, should have, should have.
Diaby: 6 - Came on and started off horribly by giving Cardiff a chance from which they should have scored. He stood up to the physical challenge in the middle much better than Ramsey though and showed some decisiveness going forward. Defensively he was about as clueless as usual.
Sagna: 5 - Didn't look secure today, something I think has to do with Song playing in the middle.
Touré: 5 - I think Kolo actually offered some spirit in defence. He had to work really hard for the best of the ninety minutes. The outcome wasn't so good unfortunately.
Djourou: 5 - The invisible man. Hoofed the ball away a couple of times but mostly back to the opposition. It didn't felt like he did much all game. He left Bothroyd to Song who failed heavily.
Gibbs: 7 - Best player on the pitch today. I think it was a great move to take a chance on him at leftback. I know people advocated for Gallas instead before the game but Gibbs showed a thing or two about the importance of playing players in their real position. Handled the pressure well and contributed to many of the positives in our game today. Those ninety minutes probably did his development a world of good as well.
Song: 4.5 - Instead of retaining the ball and distributing it through the middle he constantly carried it out towards the right flank and passed it two metres back so Sagna who then had to get rid of it in a stressed situation. He lost most headers and never took advantage of the spaces that were available on the counter. He's tough and offers some fight in the middle but he isn't of much use when he plays like this. Raised his game for a while in the second half but fell back into mediocracy at the end. His first full game back from a month of injury though so I'll cut him some slack.
Ramsey: 5 - Lost the physical battle in the middle, was too slow to release the ball and never showed off any of his ability to read the game. He actually challenged a lot but not with any good outcome. He probably started so Diaby could rest, but in hindsight it wasn't a good idea.
Nasri: 6.5 - Best midfielder for the day. He very rarely lost the ball and was the only one able to beat opponents man-to-man. Had to take a lot of responsibility when the central midfield disapperared. He should have scored on one of his chances though and took some time before he started to deliver.
Eboue: 4.5 - He is obviously not a right winger. I actually thought that he would improve this season after a hard first one where he was bad but nonetheless showed off some signs of ability. And initially this season it looked like he might, but instead he's been getting worse ever since the injury. We're handicapped with him in midfield right now. Not completely useless as some suggest, but he offers too little far too late.
van Persie: 6 - Not his best game lately. He tried a lot but rather than dictating tempo and creating mobility in the final third he lost the ball or saw his shots being blocked. He got intimidated by the Cardiff defence in the second half and for a while I was afraid that he was gonna do something ****ish like he did against Stoke.
Bendtner: 6.5 - Worked hard, won most challenges and actually positioned himself cleverly for as long as he played as a striker. Curiously drifted out left a lot of the time in the first half but it worked. Only player on the field showing off some vision today. He's often frustrating to watch, but at least you can take some comfort in the fact that most of the time there's actually a thought behind much of what he's doing.
Adebayor: 6 - Horrible, horrible miss. Let's hope that sitter doesn't come back to haunt him, because what he brought onto the field otherwise was good. People joked about us playing better as soon as Eboue went off but it was rather Ade who came on and gave us a little bit of better shape in the final third. He holds up the play well and very rarely misplaces a pass. He should have ****ing scored, though. Should have, should have, should have.
Diaby: 6 - Came on and started off horribly by giving Cardiff a chance from which they should have scored. He stood up to the physical challenge in the middle much better than Ramsey though and showed some decisiveness going forward. Defensively he was about as clueless as usual.
