CL: Arsenal vs Sparta Prague | 29/08/07

[asajoseph]

After the first 15 minutes, when we'd looked really threatening, I think Sparta just decided that they weren't going to win, but just didn't want to be humiliated - which is fair enough I suppose. I wasn't expecting much from them, and I don't really think they're a great side. They completely ran out of legs in the last 15 minutes or so though, and just couldn't get anything right.

They're a very poor side, to be honest - based on what we've seen of them last night, 2 weeks ago, and when we last played them in the Champions League, they'd probably get relegated from the Premiership if they were in this league at the moment.

 

[stiiphunn]

The funny thing is, I think Theo showed just about all the qualities yesterday that he's been accused of not having by this forum over the last few months. He showed, as most of us have known, that he is perfectly capable of taking players on and beating them with a combination of skill and pace, he does have a decent first touch, and he can get himself and the ball into dangerous areas of the pitch regularly.

His issue is consistency and decision making - and always has been, which you'd expect from an 18 year old. Here's hoping he plays more, gets more experience, and grows to understand the game a bit more.

Don't get me wrong. He's got qualities but I don't think he's ready for us atm.

I think one of his biggest quality is his composure. He looks very calm whenever he's near the goal. And that's priceless. He also demonstrated yesterday he could beat his man- problem is it's far too rare, and as long as it's not done on a regular basis it's difficult to take it into account. If he could do that more often that'd be great for the team. That's all I'm asking for to be honest. As for his first touch I think he's more than decent. It's quite good actually.

That said his decision making and his passing are still terrible. Can we afford such mistakes in a game?

To be honest I don't understand the people on this forum. They seem to think Theo has no flaws in his game. And whenever you single one out, you get answer such as 'he's 18 ffs!'. So what? He's an Arsenal player and should get the same treatment as his teammates. Wether it's Theo or Hleb missing a cross does not really matter, the result is the same in the end.

I'm quite sure he's going to be a good player for us in the future- his pace upfront is going to be a real asset. But atm the guy's just not ready.

 

[RocktheCasbah]

The only way he'll become ready is through experience- he won't get that if he doesn't play.

We all know he's not as good as he can be, to say that there are those of us who think he has no flaws in his game is over egging the pudding somewhat. We just don't think he's as bad as you're making out.

 

[stiiphunn]

Good result, poor performance.

Some of our players really aren't good enough.
Walcott is as poor as ever. Here's an idea put Denilson on the right and Theo in the reserves. Seriously even Denilson looked a better right winger than Theo.
Diaby, even though he can produce moments of brilliance, slows our game down. He always has to make 5 touches before releasing the ball. Plus his passing is decent at best.

Other than that I though Eduardo was quite impressive. He can hold the ball well, he's got pace and can score some goals that haven't been score in a while at Arsenal. I say he's a really good footballer.

I think you're being way too harsh. Theo was brilliant to start with and was instrumental for the first goal. After that he faded out but Theo needs a lively game to perform. At the start when he got the ball there was a degree of anticipation which he was thriving on. Thereafter he wasn't really needed nor used. He's never gonna be a world class winger but thats cos he's a striker. He's a really handy outlet on the wing though, he helps our defence immensely when they cant hoof the ball clear

Unfortunately a game doesn't last 30 seconds. I know he did a good thing on the first goal but he's been down right poor from then on. And it's not the first time this season.
He was used later on in the game but failed. How many times has he lost the ball or misplaced a pass? How many crosses has he missed? And he's still not able to run with the ball.

I know he's still young but atm I don't think he's good enough for us. If Hleb gets injured we're in a big trouble.

You need to get out more. Seriously.

What kind of argument is that? If you don't want to discuss, then don't reply. Good job mod.

what kind of moderating is that?

anyway, whens the draw for the next round?

So, because I’m a moderator, I have to write an essay to justify a comment? I don’t think so.

You are free to define it. I just think your comment was useless and didn't add anything to the discussion.

Your comment, stiphunn, about Denilson being a better right winger than Theo is patently bollocks.

If you think my comment about Denilson was bollocks then most of the comments about Theo were too. People were getting to hasty conclusions because Theo had a good 15 minutes in which he came up with an assist. So according to this logic, 15 minutes were enough to judge a player and this is exactly what I did with Denilson.

I don’t feel I should have to explain to you why that is, but given that Theo can go past players for fun, has shown that he is capable of delivering a final ball from wide areas and can also, allegedly, score goals, I’d say he’s a better bet out wide than someone who is much more suited to playing centre mid. And where is this Theo “can’t run with the ball” crap coming from?

I don't think Theo can go past players for fun. I'd agree with you if he'd do it on a regular basis but that's far from being the case. You're right though, he can deliver a final ball from wide areas. But I don't look at stats when judging a player. I look at his overall game and so far Theo's decision making is letting him down when he is in excellent position to pass/cross the ball.

And I'm sorry but Theo can't run with the ball, or if you prefer he can't run with the ball effectively. Most of the time he leaves it behind or because of a poor second touch the defender as time to recover.

There isn’t a winger in the world who doesn’t lose the ball when dribbling, who doesn’t misplace a pass (see Hleb on Saturday) and who hits the target every time he crosses the ball. The important thing is that Theo managed to do it last night and he created a goal in the process- thereby finishing the tie and enabling the whole team to play in second gear for 83 minutes.

You're right about that. But then it's very subjective.

But if you’ve decided someone isn’t good enough, then whatever they do it isn’t going to be good enough, you’ll only see the negatives from a performance and not the positives. So it’s not for me to argue with you, I just hope you open your eyes.

I haven't decided he wasn't good enough. It's just that I feel the guy's simply not ready. It's not a matter of deciding- more a matter of feeling. I'm not going to critisice him because I like it.
As for the positives, I pointed them out in a reply to Asa.

Just seen Asa's post above- I agree.

 

[No.8_Wright]

Don't get me wrong. He's got qualities but I don't think he's ready for us atm.

I think one of his biggest quality is his composure. He looks very calm whenever he's near the goal. And that's priceless. He also demonstrated yesterday he could beat his man- problem is it's far too rare, and as long as it's not done on a regular basis it's difficult to take it into account. If he could do that more often that'd be great for the team. That's all I'm asking for to be honest. As for his first touch I think he's more than decent. It's quite good actually.

That said his decision making and his passing are still terrible. Can we afford such mistakes in a game?

To be honest I don't understand the people on this forum. They seem to think Theo has no flaws in his game. And whenever you single one out, you get answer such as 'he's 18 ffs!'. So what? He's an Arsenal player and should get the same treatment as his teammates. Wether it's Theo or Hleb missing a cross does not really matter, the result is the same in the end.

I'm quite sure he's going to be a good player for us in the future- his pace upfront is going to be a real asset. But atm the guy's just not ready.

Completely agree with this. Against the bottom half teams in the Prem, especially at home, I would be more than happy to start Walcott like Wenger has been using him because if he makes a mistake we are less likely to be punished for it. Against the likes of Blackburn, Everton and Tottenham and definately against the top three I would not start him. A sub when defenders are tired for sure but he still needs experience to know when to pick out the right pass. An example being when Theo got the ball in the 2nd half and Eduardo was begging him to center it and he took an extra touch and then delivered a ball in that was too deep.

I know people might think I'm picking up on small things but this is the difference when you play against big teams. Rosicky and Hleb just have that further awareness of what is around them and even if their passes don't work out you can see they are always looking for options and I would back them on the wings more than Theo. I also feel that these two are more of a goal scoring threat from the wings. Theo's shots from long range lack conviction wheareas Rosickys are struck firmly. Hleb on the otherhand makes great runs into the box making him a goal threat that Theo lacks at the current time but I know that will come in the future. This season he should be replacement winger or forward, a squad player.

 

[stiiphunn]

The only way he'll become ready is through experience- he won't get that if he doesn't play.

We all know he's not as good as he can be, to say that there are those of us who think he has no flaws in his game is over egging the pudding somewhat. We just don't think he's as bad as you're making out.

Well this is the impression one can get because whenever someone criticise Theo others make it sound as if it was a crime and all wrong.

 

[Double_H]

Theo was a Headless chicken ..he doesnt know what to do
diaby just kills any counter attack.. when he gets the ball he give it4 touches before releasing the ball

Gilberto was great so was Edu

 

[No.8_Wright]

Theo was a Headless chicken ..he doesnt know what to do
diaby just kills any counter attack.. when he gets the ball he give it4 touches before releasing the ball

Gilberto was great so was Edu

I wouldn't say he was a headless chicken, he lacks the awareness levels of Hleb & Rosicky but he is getting better at looking up and spotting people and that showed last night.

To criticise Diaby I feel is a little harsh as it was his first game back so there was obviously a lack of match sharpness and he also made some lovely touches on the ball. I think he can start our counter attacks in the future if his passing improves although he like Theo is a squad player at the current time.

Gilberto and Eduardo were very good though last night I agree.

 

[stiiphunn]

Don't get me wrong. He's got qualities but I don't think he's ready for us atm.

I think one of his biggest quality is his composure. He looks very calm whenever he's near the goal. And that's priceless. He also demonstrated yesterday he could beat his man- problem is it's far too rare, and as long as it's not done on a regular basis it's difficult to take it into account. If he could do that more often that'd be great for the team. That's all I'm asking for to be honest. As for his first touch I think he's more than decent. It's quite good actually.

That said his decision making and his passing are still terrible. Can we afford such mistakes in a game?

To be honest I don't understand the people on this forum. They seem to think Theo has no flaws in his game. And whenever you single one out, you get answer such as 'he's 18 ffs!'. So what? He's an Arsenal player and should get the same treatment as his teammates. Wether it's Theo or Hleb missing a cross does not really matter, the result is the same in the end.

I'm quite sure he's going to be a good player for us in the future- his pace upfront is going to be a real asset. But atm the guy's just not ready.

Completely agree with this. Against the bottom half teams in the Prem, especially at home, I would be more than happy to start Walcott like Wenger has been using him because if he makes a mistake we are less likely to be punished for it. Against the likes of Blackburn, Everton and Tottenham and definately against the top three I would not start him. A sub when defenders are tired for sure but he still needs experience to know when to pick out the right pass. An example being when Theo got the ball in the 2nd half and Eduardo was begging him to center it and he took an extra touch and then delivered a ball in that was too deep.

I know people might think I'm picking up on small things but this is the difference when you play against big teams. Rosicky and Hleb just have that further awareness of what is around them and even if their passes don't work out you can see they are always looking for options and I would back them on the wings more than Theo. I also feel that these two are more of a goal scoring threat from the wings. Theo's shots from long range lack conviction wheareas Rosickys are struck firmly. Hleb on the otherhand makes great runs into the box making him a goal threat that Theo lacks at the current time but I know that will come in the future. This season he should be replacement winger or forward, a squad player.

Agree with that!

I too see him as a squad player and an impact player. Problem is if Rosicky or Hleb gets injured, Theo and Eboue are gonna have to step up. And this is a huge gamble! But never mind, we'll have to wait and see!

Nevertheless, this season's starting quite well IMO! If we can build a momentum like Man U did last season, I'm sure we can go quite far!

 

[Macho]

I was proud of Theo last night. He refused to take any crap. I loved the way he barged that guy. Can't remember the last booking he got. To me he is a little too timid, but hopefully he will start to come into his own.
Now im just waiting for a bit of facial hair and his voice to break.

 

[regele]

As I said yesterday, I don't think it's worth commenting on individual performances, because they didn't really try for most of the game, but as a professional performance from the whole team I was quite impressed, because I didn't think we could win a game like that, we got our goal in the beginning, turned off, then came back at the end and completely finished the game off, all without breaking too much of a sweat. We were in control during the whole game and knew it, if they wanted to, they could have scored a **** load of goals last night, but they decided to save the strength for pompey and still managed to score three. It wasn't too entertaining, but it was still a proper job.

 

[Kraig]

this forum gets invaded by ****** at times i swear.

theo has a good first 20 mins and cos the gmes dies out its his fault.

denilson on the right and theo in the reserves!?!? ok, i tell you what... rosicky went quiet after 10 minutes, in the reserves for him too eh! eduardo didnt score till the last minute, off you go to the reserves my lad, RVP played like a tosser again so he must be ****, Your barred! off to the reserves.

Seriosuly, do some of you even understand football, cos i really do ****ing wonder...

 

[RocktheCasbah]

Ha! I had a feeling about today... Good man Eduardo!

...BTW, what's with the empty seats!? Mofo's who bailed early missed him get his first.

Good game, good sportsmanship. Ah.. Time to go home!

My mate Ben was at the game and said that there were about 12 Sparta fans there. And people started leaving with 15 minutes left.

I'm starting to think it was the ITV4 viewers who got the best entertainment last night, Tony Adams' match "analysis" was hilarious.

Seriously though, I hope he's not back on the sauce. He certainly looked and sounded like he might have been.

 

[Macho]

lol yeh Adams was looking far from legit to me.

 

[Double_H]

this forum gets invaded by ****** at times i swear.

theo has a good first 20 mins and cos the gmes dies out its his fault.

denilson on the right and theo in the reserves!?!? ok, i tell you what... rosicky went quiet after 10 minutes, in the reserves for him too eh! eduardo didnt score till the last minute, off you go to the reserves my lad, RVP played like a tosser again so he must be s**t, Your barred! off to the reserves.

Seriosuly, do some of you even understand football, cos i really do f****g wonder...

Theo everytime he gets the ball he doesnt know what he should do with it . there was lots of time where couldve cut inside yet he just goes for the cross . but look at denilson ..he knows what he will do before he gets the ball ..and thats the diffrence between a Good and a bad player
what does Wallcot have ?? Speed ..thats it

 

[stuart]

this forum gets invaded by ****** at times i swear.

theo has a good first 20 mins and cos the gmes dies out its his fault.

denilson on the right and theo in the reserves!?!? ok, i tell you what... rosicky went quiet after 10 minutes, in the reserves for him too eh! eduardo didnt score till the last minute, off you go to the reserves my lad, RVP played like a tosser again so he must be s**t, Your barred! off to the reserves.

Seriosuly, do some of you even understand football, cos i really do f****g wonder...

Theo everytime he gets the ball he doesnt know what he should do with it . there was lots of time where couldve cut inside yet he just goes for the cross . but look at denilson ..he knows what he will do before he gets the ball ..and thats the diffrence between a Good and a bad player
what does Wallcot have ?? Speed ..thats it

He's a neat striker of the ball, quite composed in front of goal and is a good crosser. Not bad for a teenager playing in the best league in the world

 

[illmatik]

Stilphun, whether you like it or not, Theo is going to remain in the first team for a while so you can stop your *****ing, instead you should learn how to give him some time, he has the talents, he just needs to use it, kind of like Hleb last year

 

[EMIR8_SOLDIER]

As I said yesterday, I don't think it's worth commenting on individual performances, because they didn't really try for most of the game, but as a professional performance from the whole team I was quite impressed, because I didn't think we could win a game like that, we got our goal in the beginning, turned off, then came back at the end and completely finished the game off, all without breaking too much of a sweat. We were in control during the whole game and knew it, if they wanted to, they could have scored a s**t load of goals last night, but they decided to save the strength for pompey and still managed to score three. It wasn't too entertaining, but it was still a proper job.

exactly no point commenting on performances for individuals...we was in complete control with the ball, sparta didnt want it so we just passed it around
first 20 minutes were very important but we more less killed it just before 10
so after that this was more like a pre season match to me, just looking at players fitness and performance looking forward to who wants to play on sunday

 

[Alfonso]

I thought that was Walcott's best game for Arsenal in 2007. I liked the way he showed aggression as well.

 

[Zico]

To be honest, this was Theo's most impressive performance for me. He set up Rosicky's goal brilliantly, and exerted constant pressure on the right flank. He also popped up on the left in the second half and proved useful there. He was willing to cut in more, and that was positive for us. In the past, he'd usually just run blindly to the top right corner flag and lose the ball.

There were several times that Theo ran into players or made errant passes. He was nervous, still shows poor decision making. But I feel that is something that can come with time.

What was important for me yesterday was that he stayed involved for a large chunk of the match, which is the first time I've seen this. He usually disappears and does not open himself up for passes. Yesterday he was in the action. I was also glad that he shot, even if the shots were errant.

I think he took a big step forward last night. He's still far from the finished article and is not ready to be picked ahead of Hleb or Rosicky for big games. But in a game where we could afford to have one or two lesser players, it was a good decision to play Theo.