FR: Porto vs Arsenal | 31/07/05

[kevin earley]

played ok considering we were only playing at about75% i.m abit worried about reyes, hopefully he will start getting his good form back soon

 

[jay-d]

You still haven't answered my question.

We started to click because Dennis came in and started doing the build-up instead of letting it be done by our non-existent midfield.

I aint gonna slate Reyes with unconstructive remarks but I felt today too much of the play broke down with him, Wenger needs to decide if he's a winger or a striker as I'm sue this isn't helping him either, loads of talent but too wasteful at the moment.

 

[Gurgen]

I agree, he needs to work on his decision making, but he did a lot of good things as well.

It's unbelievable, because Hleb, who played well, lost the ball a lot more, but everyone is saying he was brilliant.

 

[asajoseph]

The thing I think that is rarely appreciated by Reyes is the fact that even when we're not playing well, and he's not playing well, he gets involved - he always gets himself into positions where he has the opportunity to do things. Sometimes, it just doesn't come off for him (as Gurgen and others have said, his decision making is poor). I think he relies on a poor dribbling game and underuses a fantastic passing ability, and when/if he learns when to do each, he'll be a far better player.

 

[jay-d]

I agree, he needs to work on his decision making, but he did a lot of good things as well.

It's unbelievable, because Hleb, who played well, lost the ball a lot more, but everyone is saying he was brilliant.

I think it works in ratios. For every bad thing Hleb done, he done about 3 good things wheras with Reyes it's the opposite at the moment.

 

[KingReyes]

LOL!! What did Reyes do wrong in the 45 minutes that he played? He was our most dangerous player in the first 15 minutes, afterwards just like the whole Arsenal side we went quiet and that includes Reyes, Henry, Hleb etc etc.

That's just how it is on this forum mate, whenever we're not doing well Reyes is singled out. I really feel for the kid, it's a good thing he's propably not reading these forums.

I think it mainly has to do with the transfer fee that was paid for him (which was 10 million rising to 17 mill depending on appearances and honours :wink: ).

Jay-D, Reyes was dangerous in the first 10 - 15 minutes of the game, it was actually Arsenal's best football of that half. After that the rest of the half was rather poor and not only from Reyes but the whole side.

I know you want him to succeed and so do most of us and I agree he still has plenty to learn as he seems to be a player that struggles mentally and thrives on confidence. Hopefully he can become a consistent player first foremost, I think whats important at the moment is that he become seffective during games on a consistent level and not that he has to beat the whole opposition and score. Then the rest will hopefully come slowly, lets see what happens this season with Reyes.

 

[patrick42uk]

i dont think reyes played well, but lets not blame him for the teams disjointed first half performance. that was down to the midfield getting overran.

as always, reyes showed glimpses but i'd like him to be a lot more polished sometimes. he cannot be consistent if he doesnt learn to keep possesion. hen he loses it, his head drops and it saps his confidence.

 

[AxlGunners]

Does anyone have a link to the great henry goal he scored pre season against one of the austrian teams?

 

[jay-d]

Does anyone have a link to the great henry goal he scored pre season against one of the austrian teams?

Wrong thread mate. I've seen you post this a few times. Subscribe to Arsenal TV online and you can watch it till your hearts content.

 

[Chicago]

I agree, he needs to work on his decision making, but he did a lot of good things as well.

It's unbelievable, because Hleb, who played well, lost the ball a lot more, but everyone is saying he was brilliant.

Hleb's played with us what a month if that.., I can understand him still being used to being the central dribble through everyone playmaker... and he totally shouldn't have been penalized with that shot.

Reyes has flashes of brilliance but still gave up the ball too, and it seems to me everytime he loses the ball he just goes into a rash challenge. That's not good. Kleb knows how to win the ball back without fouling someone

 

[jay-d]

To be fair Hleb gave away a fair few fouls why tracking back after loosing the ball

 

[sabret00the]

sabret00the, you've got this totally wrong - if Senderos had been marking his man properly, he'd have cut the pass out before it got to him, or somehow prevented him from getting to the ball - that's what marking is. The fact that Senderos' man got a foot to the ball and scored is no more Cygan's fault than Henry's. If Senderos had done a better job marking his man, or Cole had done a better job blocking the cross, it wouldn't have been a goal. Cygan was marking his man, as the Porto player dribbled up the line, and that's where he should have been. There was no way he could have got accross in time to cut out the ball into the box, and it was the fact that Senderos wasn't marking his man properly that lead to the goal.

let's agree to disagree.

btw i think that cygan was by far the best defender.

 

[yonatan]

For me Hleb was MOTM. Henry didn't play well [Henry-standard] at all.

 

[jay-d]

sabret00the, you've got this totally wrong - if Senderos had been marking his man properly, he'd have cut the pass out before it got to him, or somehow prevented him from getting to the ball - that's what marking is. The fact that Senderos' man got a foot to the ball and scored is no more Cygan's fault than Henry's. If Senderos had done a better job marking his man, or Cole had done a better job blocking the cross, it wouldn't have been a goal. Cygan was marking his man, as the Porto player dribbled up the line, and that's where he should have been. There was no way he could have got accross in time to cut out the ball into the box, and it was the fact that Senderos wasn't marking his man properly that lead to the goal.

let's agree to disagree.

btw i think that cygan was by far the best defender.

Just watched it again and even after 5 replays on arsenal.com highlights it's still either Senderos or Laurens fault, nothing to do with Cygan whatsoever he stuck with his man all the way and thats all he had to do.

 

[kamikaze80]

Cygan is horrible! I dont even know why he plays the piece of s***e.

Cygan has been our best defender this game. What are you watching?? Typical of someone who wants to feel better about himself by denigrating others. And since it is OK to flame Cygan, he is the obvious choice. Were you not breast fed as a baby and therefore have low self esteem?

haha, bro, i love it when you go off on the cygan bashers. youre def on to something there.

 

[Alexone234]

I am pleased to hear that Hleb is getting settled in the team. Did he play CM?

 

[GoonerGurjit]

No, Hleb played wide left but drifted inside quite a lot in the second half.

 

[yonatan]

No, LM.

 

[kamikaze80]

sabret00the, you've got this totally wrong - if Senderos had been marking his man properly, he'd have cut the pass out before it got to him, or somehow prevented him from getting to the ball - that's what marking is. The fact that Senderos' man got a foot to the ball and scored is no more Cygan's fault than Henry's. If Senderos had done a better job marking his man, or Cole had done a better job blocking the cross, it wouldn't have been a goal. Cygan was marking his man, as the Porto player dribbled up the line, and that's where he should have been. There was no way he could have got accross in time to cut out the ball into the box, and it was the fact that Senderos wasn't marking his man properly that lead to the goal.

Asa

I know that you are a Cygan-hater like most of the people on this board. So I appreciate you setting the record straight when people ignore the game and just decide to bash Cygan for no reason. I thought he was our best defender today by far. And I am happy to have someone of his quality as our fourth choice CB. Only Huth even comes close in the EPL at that position.

I wish the Cygan-hating wasn't so ingrained. Then he would be applauded when he plays well and not given the paludit "well at least he didn't screw up this time". He is a good player who had an extremely successful career before joining Arsenal and has played dramatically better for us than the "fans" give him credit for. He is a step slow to be a top class defender in the EPL. That will never change. When does his pennance end?

Phil has had back-to-back bad games and that worries me. If Cygan has to play quite a few games this season, I don't want to have to defend him constantly for unjustified criticism. He should only be criticized when he screws up and even then, just by being held to the same standard as other Gunners.

so true.

asa, youre absolutely right about our need for a "go to" guy in midfield. someone who can hold up the ball with composure, retain possession, and distribute intelligently. a midfield fulcrum. i guess its going to have to be fabregas this year.

 

[kamikaze80]

anyway, i feel our squad is stronger than it looks. i'm glad hleb is here because it means reyes can be relegated to the bench. i hope his role this season is that of an impact sub. he has the talent, but his overall game has to improve especially his possesional skills. hopefully watching from the sides will be motivation to do that. rvp and bergkamp will battle it out to partner henry, so theres healthy competition there too.

personally, i like rvp and henry up front, hleb and ljungberg on the wings. reyes as a sub when opposing defences are worn out would be both a marked change of pace from either ljungberg or hleb, and would allow him to best utilise his speed. and yes, maybe he'll learn a thing or two about how we play by watching it up close from the bench. it seemed to do rvp a world of good.