Player Ratings - CL: Villareal vs Arsenal | 25/04/06

[Goalkeeper]

Lehmann - 10 (MOM, what more can Arsenal ask?)
Gilberto - 8
Toure 6
Clichy 6
Reyes - 3.5
Hleb - 4
Henry - 4
Eboue - 5
Campbell - 6
Pires - 5
Ljungberg - 5

Reyes was particularly poor however. Can't blame Henry, zero service and an atrocious passing in the midfield. It looked like the entire team had no desire to score (which I guess was the point). Not the type of football that I love about Arsenal. But I guess going to Paris is what it's all about.

 

[adjie]

.

Toronto-man, you forgot to mention Cesc rating ...

 

[PaulDavis]

Lehmann - 9
Eboue - 6.5
Toure 7
Campbell - 6
Flamini - n.a : sub Clichy 7
Fabregas - 6
Gilberto - 8
Ljungberg - 6.5
Reyes - 5 : sub Pires - 6
Hleb - 6
Henry - 5.5

 

[Tegh]

Jens - 8.5
Eboue - 6.5
Clichy - 7.5
Toure - 7
Campbell - 7
Hleb - 6.5
Reyes - 4 maybe 3
Freddie - 7.5 for effort
Gilberto - 8 - Quality in a five man midfield, different story in a four man midfield.
Fabregas - 6.5
Henry - 3.5 - Minimal effort, looked knackered.

 

[rich300]

Agree with the general concensus in this thread.

Gilberto has probably been our best player in the month of April.

Reyes.....this guy has to be sold in the summer. How can people keep sticking up for the guy?

 

[rednwhitearmy]

I thought Clichy was fantastic! i was amazed by his ball skills, he had alot of confidence for a first game back, and should be played against sunderland, and then onto Paris. he provides another attacking back. Well done!

I dont think we did that badly overall. i would give us a solid 7 as most supporters want their side to attack, where as it was obvious that wenger told them to stay put and not to let too many into the box. We did solid as pressure and injuries were on our back, yet i was dissapointed with Henry's creativity and mental drive. I thought Ljungberg did fantastic as he kept trying and trying until the final whistle even though the referees didnt favour him. I would finally like to point out that the obvious Gilberto should be equal MOTM with Jens. They both did extremely well and again, they BOTH took Requilme out of the game!

Well done Gunners!

 

[Lukazan]

Lehmann - 9
Eboue - 4
Toure - 5
Sol - 5
Clichy - 5
Hleb - 3.5
Gilberto - 7
Fabregas - 5.5
Reyes - 3
Ljungberg - 4
Henry - 3

 

[adjie]

Lehmann - 9
Eboue - 4
Toure - 5
Sol - 5
Clichy - 5
Hleb - 3.5
Gilberto - 7
Fabregas - 5.5
Reyes - 3
Ljungberg - 4
Henry - 3

Sorry mate, but I think it's a harsh ratings Lukazan,
agree with you that some of them had day-off,
but you can blame all to them;

Not sure what AW said in dressing room,
but his "Damage Limitation tactic" (Hujja, I use your phrase ),
consider our limitation (Injury, Fatigue etc)
surely had sacrifice our Wengerball flowing.

 

[Henry_Pires]

MOTM is Mad Jens. More mad more better.

Gilberto is totally our Midfield God.

Toure is King of Defense.

 

[tgr]

lehmann 9 legal motm
eboue 7
toure 7.5
campbell 5
clichy 5
gilberto 8
hleb 7
cesc 6
ljungberg 6
reyes 4.5
henry 5
pires 6.5

 

[mood]

Jens 9 MOTM

Clichy 7 - v.good game for someone who hasnt played in 7 months

Gilberto 7

Toure 8.5 - solid

Campbell 7 - solid


everyone else - 6. Special mention to Ljungberg who worked v.hard.

 

[kanooo]

Lehman was the obvious hero.

Toure & Gilberto did well.

Could blame the rest but how could I? They've just made it to the final. Just wish that they could do a lot better in the final.

Overall, I'm pleased with everyone even though we were battered for the most part of the game.

 

[raphael_as]

Course I am very happy that we got through, but I thought we were very poor tbh: The only ones who stood out for me were Mad Jens and Gilberto, who would be joint MOTM for me - Lehmann basically gets it for his penalty save, prior to that he was solid but Viallareal for all their pressure really didn't trouble him that much. Gilberto made a couple of absolutely vital blocks and generally performed well the entire match.

I think the entire team has been suffering from Cesc's fatague/injury. Without him running things in midfield (holding up the ball, making killer passes etc) everyone else seems to be in too much of a hurry to make things happen - I thought both Reyes and Hleb were particularily poor last night and Freddie and Henry were also completely ineffective (yes Henry had poor service, but in a similar situation in Madrid he came to the half-way line and MADE a goal for himself - we needed that sort of genius from him today). Pires introduction allowed us to hold up the ball abit and slow the game down (funnily enough exactly what some were complaining about him doing last week :? )

Lehmann: 9 - Solid and the penalty save makes him joint MOTM for me. The look on Riquelme's face for the last 5 minutes of the game was priceless. I wonder how this will effect him if Germany meet Argentina in the WC??
Eboue: 6.5 - I'm still impressed by him, but he needs to learn some discipline, I really really hate the card waving in front of the ref and he also has little digs at players which he needs to stop pronto. Got caught out way too much by their overlapping left-back.
Toure: 6 - Run ragged by Franco, the scoreline had more to do with Villareal's inability to hit the back of the net then his play
Sol: 6.5 - Ditto for Toure. Cut 0.5 marks of slack for first game back
Clichy: 7 - Good first game back, but needs to work on his defense, same as Eboue got caught out far too much by the overlapping right back. If Villareal had had their finishing boots on some of the crosses coming over from his side would have been buried.
Gilberto: 9 - Made some vital tackles. Loses 0.5 for that stupid kick-out at Franco.
Cesc: 6 - Poor: As others have said he hasn't been the same since I think the first Juve match. If I were Wenger I really would send him on holiday for the next 2 weeks.
Freddie: 6 - Ran around, put in some tackles, but could not really use his pace to get behind the defence, 'cos we had no-one making those passes.
Hleb: 5 - saw nothing from him.
Reyes: 5 - ugh!
Henry: 5 - rescued his score by coming back and winning the ball a few times, but other then that showed nothing
Pires: 6.5 - a steadying influence, much needed when he came on, but didn't really change the game in any way.

 

[Saville]

you got to feel sorry for reyes, he wouldnt stop running he was trying to get the ball so hard....but it wouldnt work for him. My MOTM was Gilberto then Jens 2nd

 

[Gurgen]

Lehmann 9 - Got us in the final, enough said. Legend.

Eboue 4 - Didn't go past people, sloppy in his passing, caught out of position.

Toure 4 - Not good. Beaten in the air, outmuscled by Franco a few times. Improved late on.

Campbell 6 - Lacking sharpness but that's hardly his fault. Did well apart from one or two lapses in concentration.

Flamini - Not enough time to rate him.

Hleb 6 - Defended more than he attacked. Coward's performance like the rest of the midfield.

Cesc 6 - Didn't have runners to pass to, but didn't help himself by not moving. Run into the box Cesc ffs.

Gilberto 8 - Our best midfielder. Another good game from Bert. Made vital tackles and helped the dozy Toure and Sol a lot.

Ljungberg 5 - What was he doing? Instead of making runs he tried to be a passing central midfielder. Worked hard though.

Reyes 4 - **** on the left, as you'd expect. Natural left sided player my arse Wenger.

Henry 5 - Isolated, but that doesn't excuse his touch. Gets points for helping in defence.

Subs:

Clichy 7 - Did well. He beats people so easily. Needs to improve his defending though.

Pires 7 - Got us going a bit when he came on.

 

[Urushyby]

lehmann 7 a couple of great saves, but shot the ball out of the field a lot.
eboue 7 decent game. not so good in attacking/cooperation with hleb, but, he's a defender
toure 6 almost let villareal to score from short distance, not really stable
campbell 5 lots of mistakes.
clichy 6 couple of good runs, though much danger from his flank
gilberto 6 haven't noticed him at all
hleb 7 (MOTM) great dribble at the beginning, feded a bit, but helped us to control the ball much
cesc 6 not so bad, even gave some good passes
ljungberg 7 was agressive, and able to struggle all 95 minutes
reyes 5 not active at all
henry 5.5 active, but lost the ball much. a couple of times helped at defence.

 

[Army of Me]

this thread makes for some depressing reading, i don't think i'll even post my ratings, don't want to ruin the moment

 

[bobo69]

heart mad jens... head Gilberto. my god last night he was absolutely AWESOME... a wall! without him we would have been in big big trouble. perfect reading of the game and very incisive.

a masterfull display from a DM.

the italians (who appreciate in particular this kind of player) were gushing over him all night... ha ha ha.. 8)

 

[dmitri]

Lehmann - 9 Hero
Eboue - 6
Toure - 4 annihilated by Franco
Campbell - 7
Flamini - n.a
sub Clichy 6
Fabregas - 6
Gilberto - 8 The Blank Wall
Ljungberg - 4 invisible
Reyes - 4 Honey, Where You Been So Long?
sub Pires - 6
Hleb - 6
Henry - 6

 

[1970*Gooner]

Jens 9 - MOTM he played like a demon it was his save that sent us to Paris.

Eboue 6 - Not one of his best games, didn't play to his usual standards, few iffy passes.

Clichy 7 - Great comeback, played well don't think he let us down,defended well.

Sol 6. - Didn't let us down, could have been a bit more assertive in the air.

Kolo 7.5 - Not one of his best but still a good performance from our captain Braveheart.

Reyes 5 - Worked hard, however he offered little in the way of going forward, must say disappointed with him thought he would have been up for this game.

Gilberto 9 - Had another excellent game, he tackled well, intercepted, and generally filled in the holes.

Fabregas 6 - I have seen him play allot better, for me he looked tired and was not a major influence in the middle, looked tired and ragged at times.

Ljungberg 5.5 - Worked hard, seemed to be running everywhere and getting nowhere, I am waiting for him to start playing like his old self.

Hleb 7 Not a bad game however, lost a lot of possession in our own half, he still made some important tackles but not up to his usual standard of play.

Henry 4.5 This was a poor performance from him, for me he seemed to stroll around allot, made a few good tackles but seemed aloof of the game. I know he had little service but for me could have had a better work rate, oh and his passing was poor..