Player Ratings - CL: Arsenal vs Porto | 26/09/06

[Bergy_1995]

Lehmann - 7; solid throughout, didn't put a foot wrong
Eboue - 9; what a find. exceptional going forward, a nightmare to beat. can't see lauren getting back into the team
Toure - 9; rock solid, mr dependable. great seeing him going forward. great reader of the ball too
Gallas - 8; another impressive display, gets forward well also. great signing
Hoyte - 7; much better game from the young lad. will do him the world of good. defended well and supported well down the left at times
Hleb - 7; gave the ball away a bit too much but got into good positions and offered width, plus a good strike for the goal
Gilberto - 6.5; solid display again and is vital for the team but needs to stop giving the ball away
Fabregas - 7; didn't do a lot wrong. spread the play well and looked calm and collected on the ball as usual
Rosicky - 7; proving to be another good signing by Arsène. Very pacey attacker who links up superbly with Henry 'n co. should've done better with his chances however
Van Persie - 6.8; should've buried his chance! simple. offered good width on the left but never really found his man. starting to find more confidence though. encouraging display
Henry - 9; always a threat, always does somethnig useful. great header for the goal, great assist for Hleb. the guy is simply irreplaceable and will be a big big factor in our success this season

Ljungberg - 6; looked slow and unfit, didn't make an impact
Walcott - 6; looked nervous, didn't have long to make an impact however
Song - 6; poor lad only was on 30 seconds

Great overall performance - 8; great midfield play, crisp fluid passing throughout. movement is second to none. defence is ever-improving. henry will be key to our success. no real concerns, looking good for qualification

 

[PaulDavis]

Starting 11s:

Jens Lehmann - 6
Emmanuel Eboue - 9
Kolo Toure - 8
Wlliam Gallas - 8
Justin Hoyte - 7
Gilberto Silva - 7
Francesc Fabregas - 7
Tomas Rosicky - 8
Alexandr Hleb - 8
Robin Van Persie - 6.5
Thierry Henry - 8

Substitutes:
Freddie Ljungberg - 6
Theo Walcott - N.A
Alex Song - N.A

 

[>YounGunner<]

Re: ARSENAL V Porto ratings

Lehmann - 6 Nothing to do apart from make one or two comfortable saves.

Hoyte - 7 His best game in an Arsenal shirt.

Gallas - 8 Rock. Hope he's okay.

Toure - 8 Completely in control the whole 90 mins.

Eboue - 9 Monster of a game tbh. Defended incredibly well, got forward brilliantly and provided ANOTHER superb cross for Henry to head home.

Hleb - 7 Played great and a really nicely taken goal.

Gilberto - 6 Some awful passing at times but was always comfortable.

Fabregas - 6.5 Not a bad game by a any means but has atleast another gear to reach IMO.

Rosicky - 6 Shooting was disappointing and he lost the ball a few times. Off night, nothing more.

Henry - 8 Great. Looked very lively and interested. I think we'll see that alot this season, his desire to win the CL is bigger than ever.

RVP - 5.5 Lively but that miss, jesus, brings his score down to a 5.5 I'm afraid.

Apart from Hlebs goal, Rosicky had the better game. Hleb lost the ball countless of times more then Rosicky and its a bit of a habbit for him, the careless passing has got to stop. I dont even recall Rosicky giving away the ball, he had a very good game.

Robin was poor and he was not effective on the left wing. If wenger was going to play him on the wing it should have been on the right.

 

[Blacks Are Red]

Rosicky played better than people make out.

How many people here were actually at the game ?

 

[Offy]

it reallly bothers me seeing people get on Freddies back. This guy loves the club and always gives 200%. Ok people say he's past it. But i beg to differ, i still think he has so much to offer the club and alot of you willl be eating your words come the end of the season . anyway Great all round display by the lads today ! Keep it up

 

[Lukazan]

Apart from Hlebs goal, Rosicky had the better game. Hleb lost the ball countless of times more then Rosicky and its a bit of a habbit for him, the careless passing has got to stop. I dont even recall Rosicky giving away the ball, he had a very good game.

Robin was poor and he was not effective on the left wing. If wenger was going to play him on the wing it should have been on the right.

Erm no.

Hleb was quite clearly better than Rosicky tonight. Don't recall Rosicky giving the ball away? I do, just as much if not more than Hleb.

Oh and Hleb scored.

Who had the better game is not even up for debate, ffs.

 

[We Are The Music Makers]

I also think ppl are beginning 2 exaggerate about ljunberg's performances as i do recall him having a very good world cup. hes not even thirty and he still has alot to offer, hes just lacking a bit of confidence and is out of form, just give him some support and time

 

[USArsenal]

i made the point in a different thread that his best performances seem to be coming in a Sweden shirt, not Arsenal... used tobe the other way around... he has offered us very little in terms of overall team play for over a season now... he works hard, and tracks back well, but his touch is non-existent and he doesnt have DB10 to supply his with great passes anymore, thus his usefulness in the team is going down with it...

 

[RammiXP]

Lehmann-6-Not much to do but did have a couple of flaps and dodgy moments that on another day could have cost us.

Eboue-8-MoTM- Great game, brilliant cross, good defensivley and real fighting spirit keep it up Eboue.

Gallas-8- This guy has been a great buy, he is a rock at the back and is so good at coming forward, a brillaint burst from the back leading to the second goal.

Toure-7.5- The lion, this guy will be an arsenal legend for years to come he is great and him and gallas must be the best 2 cbs in the league.

Hoyte-6.5- Much improved defensivley, rarley looked troubled and had some good runs up the pitch. with a bit of time and persistance you never know?

Gilberto-7- Did his job well and played some really nice passes, simply put "professional performance"

Rosicky-6.5- Bit quiter today but still was effective at keeping possesion and making himself available. 2 shots he had could have been better though.

Fabregas-7.5- Much improved from the weekend, dictated tempo and was spraying passes around and finding space all game.

Helb-7.5- I would have given hleb and 8 but he gave the ball away a few times when not really under pressure due to lack of concentration other than that, a very well taken goal and some great running.

Van Persie-6-Disappointing, somes it up really. Had a brilliant chance that he should have scored and gets the ball alot and you wonder weather he really is sure what to do with it. It seems to me like he gets very confused when playing for us and is not quite sure weather to pass or do something on his own.

Henry-7.5- Getting back to the henry we know, some good runs, great passing to assiit others and another headed goal? lets hope he keeps imporving game by game

Subs

Freddie-6- The guy is really in decline, his first touch has gone and he is really lacking in pace, i miss the old freddie.

Walcott-6- Not much to do, few times he got the ball looked a bit rusty.

 

[phenn]

Lehmann - 6 Flapped around a bit but nothing awful

Eboue - 8 MotM, got forward a lot and had some good defensive plays. Didn't get caught up as much as usual. Great cross.

Toure - 7 didn't notice him do anything wrong

Gallas - 7.5 Didn't notice him do anything wrong,and made a great run to set up Hleb's second goal.

Hoyte - 7 Actually didn't notice him do much wrong, and made a couple good tackles. Much better passing.

Rosicky - 6.5 Pretty solid, had some good touches. Shooting should have been better. Very fast.

Fabregas - 7 Sprayed the ball around a lot, didn't do anything amazing though. If he got a hold of that volley he'd have an 8.

Gilberto - 6.5 misplaced some balls but hit a lot of good ones too. Solid defensively.

Hleb - 7 Scored a good goal, and when he has the ball you feel like the next thing that happens will probably be good. Such good control.

Van Persie - 5.5 Really should have scored that goal. Thank God we scored shortly afterward. In general seemed nervous or out of sorts in one way or another. Slowed down play at times and played in a lot of useless crosses. Did get into some good positions though.

Henry - 7.5 Good goal with his head, should have had a great assist to Van Persie, and had the assist to Hleb though Gallas did the real work. Some people are *****ing at him to stay up more often but I felt like all in all he was good. He really has lost a step though.

Freddie - 5 Bad, he's not fast anymore.

Walcott - NR, though he lost the ball once in a silly manner.

 

[tactica442]

Lehmann - 7, no much to do. Just some scare because his only miss when coming out to catch the ball from a corner.
Eboue - 8.5, proved that he can cross accurately. He slacked himself a bit after his assist to Thierry's header.
Kolo - 8. Kolossal.
Gallas - 8
Hoyte - 7. Doing ok. Was nervous a bit but his confidence grew as teammates helped out.
Cesc - 7.
Gilberto - 8. Vice captain.
Hleb -8.
Rosicky - 7.
Henry - 8. One goal one assist. I can see him trying to get himself much more match fit by taking on defenders.
RVP - 7.


Theo - 6, tried too hard, maybe due to excitement. Wenger should let him in much earlier.
Freddie - 6.
Song - N/a.

Wenger - 8. A surprising yet genius change by playing Robin wide. The confortable win showed Robin can be another choice to rotation (alongside Rosicky and Freddie) on the left. Robin's crosses were quite threatening. My only critism is when the ball was crossed into the box (by Robin, Hleb, or Eboue), often no one was in for a header, expecialy around the 6-yeard box at the far post. Wenger has told his players to take chances and shoot, now he needs to tell players to take chances getting into the box when crossed are about to be made from the flanks.

 

[dvandyke]

Lehmann- 6 Almost let an easy ball slip under him
Eboue- 9 Top class in everything he done
Gallas- 7 Good
Toure- 8 Very good game again
Hoyte- 7 Mutch better, he did not look lake a rabit in the headlights this game
Gilberto- Did his duties manfully as ever
Rosicky- 7 Solid game, nice passing
Fabregas- 7 Good but not spectacular
Hleb- 7 Played well and nice goal
Henry- 8 Getting back into the groove
Van Persie- 3 Nice touch on the ball and a couple of half decent passes is simply not enough. He is totaly ineffective!!! We may as well have played with ten men, he contributes nothing. Give me Adebayor, Aliadiere or an extra midfielder any day of the week.

 

[tgr]

Lehmann - 6.5
Hoyte - 7
Gallas - 7
Toure - 8
Eboue - 9 legend performace
Hleb - 8
Gilberto - 6
Fabregas - 7
Rosicky - 6
Henry - 10 King header and fab passes
RVP - 6

Subs:

Ljungberg - 5
Walcott - 5

 

[RC8]

Lehmann - 7

Hoyte - 7
Gallas - 9
Toure - 8
Eboue - 9

Hleb - 7.5
Gilberto - 7
Fabregas - 7
Rosicky - 8

Henry - 9
RVP - 6

Substitutes:

Ljungberg - 6
Song- 6
Walcott - 5

Great performance, I'm very pleased with the result.

 

[the dawn raids]

i made the point in a different thread that his best performances seem to be coming in a Sweden shirt, not Arsenal... used tobe the other way around... he has offered us very little in terms of overall team play for over a season now... he works hard, and tracks back well, but his touch is non-existent and he doesnt have DB10 to supply his with great passes anymore, thus his usefulness in the team is going down with it...

hes just not effective on the ball at all anymore. he holds play up and just passes it back or gets dispossesed. he wasnt great last year, but so far this year, my god; its on the verge of painful.

its pretty sad when people would rather see a kid that cant even buy a beer yet take your place. just shows how fast his complete nosedive from grace has been.

 

[Sammer]

I can´t believe Hleb only gets 6.5 or even less, when Freddie gets away with a 6.

Freddie was absolutely aweful, while Hleb was our best midfielder on the pitch - easily an 8 for his superb performance.

 

[Clrnc]

lehmann 6 - not much to do and looked uneasy at corners at time

eboue 8.5 - had a slight injury late on but continued playing. a very good performance and a accurate cross for the 2nd time in 3 days.

toure 7.5 - solid as usual

gallas 7 - solid, but worrying injury

hoyte 5.5 - i hate to say this but again, he is absolutely lousy and hopeless. didnt help us by much and hate to rely on CD for cover

gilberto 6.5 - avg, controlled midfield well though

hleb 7.5 - great goal, sloppy passes at times.

rosicky 7 - our most classy midfielder yesterday, worked very hard. good on tackles and very direct in running

cesc 7 - held our midfield and spray passes all around

rvp 6 - shocker of a miss

henry 7.5 - almost back to his best. certainly slackened off as he practiced too much headers lol

song - n.a
ljungberg 6 - so predictable.
walcott - n.a

 

[Gooner83]

Lehmann - 7 Fantastic save at the end

Hoyte - 7 I think he made one mistake definately alot better.

Gallas - 8 Worldclass

Toure - 8 Tony Adams

Eboue - 9 Fantastic cross for the goal, never stopped running.

Hleb - 7.5 Nice to see him score, works his ass off but passing could improve.

Gilberto - 7 Invisible is when he works best.

Fabregas - 8 World Class performance, was everywhere!

Rosicky - 8 Another worldclass performance, he has great energy and it rubs off on the team.

Henry - 9 Great goal this guy has everything now he scores headers.

RVP - 7 Brilliant first half, unlucky not to score... faded second half but he was pleasing.

 

[Reyes no.11]

Lehmann, 5 rubbish day
Eboue , 8 - awesome
Toure, 8 - awesome
Gallas, 8 - awesome
Hoyte, 8 - awesome

Hleb, 8 - great goal, has mastered tracking back
Fabregas, 6 - looks tired, needs a rest
Gilberto, 7 - Does his job well
Rosicky, 6 - bit quiet today
VanPersie, 5 - lively but no end product or cohesion with team. looks like he will be sold in the summer.

Henry, 9 - made porto defence look like kids.

Ljungberg, 4 - lightning pace. clearly, walcott will replace him at LM very soon.

 

[Reyes no.11]

Lehman 7- Solid
Eboue 8.5- Terrific performance, expertly coped with Porto's flimsy attack and showed his quality in attack, what a ball for the goal.
Toure 7.5- He might as well have sat down, didn't break a sweat.
Gallas 8- World Class, nothing less.
Hoyte 7- Second half really came on alot, stuck to his job and got forward

Hleb 7- Tremendous goal and tireless worker, take note Freddie
Gilberto 6- You know what you except from him, invisible but solid
Cesc 6- Steady but unremarkable
Rosicky 6- Looked off the pace like on the weekend, strange, but work hard for the team and put a few tackles in, still more than Freddie

Henry 7.5- Slowly coming back to form, in a couple of weeks he will be fully back, another assist and goal.
RVP 5.5- Lacking a bit of confidence, trying to make things happen, but it's not their at the moment.

Freddie 0- f**k off freddie you've lost it don't you realise it, shovel up and die at altitude or I will chop off your limbs one by one and feed you to a couple of rottewilers.
Walcott- Absolutely no time whatsoever to make an impact, what's the point Arsène.

totally agree with pretty much everything you said. especially about ljungberg. the funny thing is, ljungberg still thinks hes good!