Liverpool 1 Arsenal 1 - Player Ratings

[rich 1990]

Almunia 6

Clichy 5
Vermaelen 7
Koscielny 6.5
Sagna 6

Diaby 6
Wilshere 5
Nasri 6.5

Arshavin 5
Chamakh 6
Eboue 5

Rosicky 7
Walcott 6.5
RvP 5

:? A little kind, don't you think?

 

[ricky1985]

I'm only saying what he said in the press conference - I'm not sure whether you actually saw him say it or just read it. He specifically cleared up what he meant - and he was clearly saying "as a central midfielder (he can cope defensively)" - he wasn't talking about him as a holding player.

Hopefully he only played that role today because of a lack of other options.

A holding player is a central midfielder Ricky.

He mentioned that he was considering buying a midfielder but the defensive aspects that Wilshere (and Frimpong) had shown made him reconsider.

Now, taking into account that Cesc is our main offensive centre-mid and Nasri is his back up, what role do you think Wenger was going to strengthen in that he believed Wilshere could play? There's only one and Wilshere played it throughout pre-season and then in the season opener.

You didn't see Wenger say it did you, you read it?

Wenger clearly made the distinction between central midfield and defensive midfield - the difference between Frimpong and Wilshere. I'm only passing on what was said, it's only because it doesn't fit the point you are making that you're debating the semantics of it. What you implied what definitely not what Wenger meant, I know because I saw him say it.

 

[Captain]

Ricky, what role has Wilshere played for us since coming back from Bolton?

There lies the answer whether you listened to what wenger said or read it.

 

[ricky1985]

Capi, at the end of the day what you implied Wenger said is not what he meant at all. Lets just agree to disagree, this is hardly important.

 

[Captain]

On Wilshere and Frimpong he said that they had both shown that they can play the defensive side of the game and put their foot in, basically that they can contribute as ballwinners. Frimpong is obviously but he's having a laugh if he thinks Wilshere can play there in the absence of the usual suspects.

But then again, he once replaced Vieira with Cesc so who
knows. :roll:

Just to clarify, this is what I said; it was you who starting talking about holding midfielders.

 

[ricky1985]

Cool, crossed wires then.

I just wanted to make it clear that in no way did Wenger say that Jack had shown in pre-season that he could play as a holding midfielder. He made a clear distinction between Jack and Frimpong, and was stating that Jack had shown that he was defensively capable of playing as a central midfielder.

Anyway, Wenger would probably tell us Jack played central midfield yesterday - which is worrying of course because he clearly was positioned (alongside Diaby) deeper than that, but I'm sure he would see the role Song played last season, a proper holding midfielder, as something different altogether - and nothing he's said or done would suggest he sees Jack as an option quite that deep or disciplined.

 

[USArsenal]

i find it interesting that so many people are saying that Rozza "missed a sitter" or "should have scored his chance".. people do realize that Reina actually pulled off a fantastic save on that, right?

 

[Captain]

It was a good save but the shot lacked composure.

 

[law]

It was the best save I've seen in a long time.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Just because it was a great save by Reina doesn't mean Tomas shouldn't have done better. He did fantastically to get to the point of taking the shot, but it wasn't a great shot.

 

[Freagle]

Good save? Lacked composure?

Seriously, I sometimes wonder If we are actually watching the same match. That was a world class save and Rosicky had all the composure needed to put it in a tough position. Credits to Reina I guess for making it look like Rosicky should of done better.

 

[MAK 14]

It was a very good save from Reina, but Rosicky should have just slotted the ball away in the corner. He really did lack composure.

 

[Captain]

The two best options from that position are find a bottom corner or hit it low and close to the keeper; Rosicky did neither.

 

[phenn]

The two best options from that position are find a bottom corner or hit it low and close to the keeper; Rosicky did neither.

I think Tomas was a little off balance from the nice footwork needed to get into that position. As such, he went for power and managed not to hit it right at the keeper. It was very, very good play to get into the position he was in. That is not "missing a sitter" or anything like it.

Further, notice how Reina played the angle perfectly in a way Manny never does because he's incompetent. He knew Tomas absolutely couldn't go to the left because of the defender, so he was already leaning heavily to his right as the shot was struck. The shot is actually a good bit away from him and high instead of at shoulder level. It was something like a 7/10 from that position and Reina just made a ridiculous save.

 

[Tourbillion]

Rosicky was leaning/falling back by the time he struck the ball, and as such was unable to open his body up enough to get the ball into the top corner.

 

[Captain]

So you could say that the shot lacked composure (whatever the reason was for that being the case).

 

[Tourbillion]

Yep. I was just elaborating.

 

[USArsenal]

So you could say that the shot lacked composure (whatever the reason was for that being the case).

for the position that he was in, and the weight of his body was leaning, that shot had fantastic composure. he got it on target, towards the corner, and the keeper made a fantastic save..

you people are ridiculous sometimes..

that said, Reina made up for it a few minutes later by gifting us the draw

 

[Captain]

Composed finishes are never taken off balance US. David Villa for instance is a master of shifting his body and waiting the extra half a second to pick a spot.

Rosicky lashed it and it lifted to a good height for the keeper. Bare in mind that I never once said that he missed a sitter.

 

[USArsenal]

no, you didnt say he missed a sitter.. a few others had though..

most of the time, players who are of balance and trying to force a shot at goal usually balloon it over, but Rozza at least put it on goal, forcing a great save from Reina..

in the end, we drew the game on a sh*t goal instead of a great goal.. for how we played in the second half, i'll take that