Player Ratings - PL: Arsenal vs Liverpool | 12/11/06

[gunnerGH]

Almunia 8
Eboue 8
Toure 9
Gallas 9
Clichy 8
Gilberto 7
Flamini 7
Fabregas 8
Hleb 7
RvP 8
Henry 7

Toure was excellent today and led the team the way henry should and made an impact. Thierry poor today just like at west ham. Ill have to put it down to the 4-5-1 plus i think he misses freddie, bobby and bergy.

 

[sabret00the]

Almunia 7 - Solid.

Eboue 8 - Guy's a genius, enough said.

Toure 8 - A few wayward headers but improved in the second half and scored like Beckenbauer in his prime.

Gallas 8 - Had lapses in concentration, but recovered well and scored.

Clichy 7 - Going forward this kid, like Eboue, can dribble past any defender. If he improves his final ball and positioning the sky is the limit.

Hleb 7 - Good game from him, did what he does best and created the first goal.

Cesc 7 - Sloppy at times, but moved well off the ball and got an assist.

Flamini 7 - Lost the ball too often, but got the vital goal and gets an extra point for his celebration. How pathetic is it that players are booked for that?

Gilberto 6 - Some suicidal passes, giving me various heart attacks.

Van Persie 8 - Cheeky Maradona impression early on, was a threat all night and got two assists.

Henry 7 - This was the big game performance the crowd wanted to see I suppose. Worked very hard, but we don't pay him to work hard. This is not a criticism of Henry btw, the formation doesn't suit him and never will.

the free role suited him.

 

[RC8]

Henry - 6.5 - Good running at the end defensively. But offensively lacking. If Henry continues to retreat into the midfield as he's doing, RVP will not form a great partneship. Not enough runs forward, not enough movement for Cesc to pick out his runs. As Arsenal's most forward player, he can not be frozen afraid to move into the box. I guess I'm a little harsh on Henry but a prime example of this is when Cesc had the ball, Henry just stood there and took the ball from Cesc, so that Thierry could be the playmaker. If Cesc had the ball and he was trying to pick out the runs, Henry should have been running. Didn't offer much forward, but the extra .5 for his defensive work and for caring.

Henry had 2 players marking him all the time, he played very well in my opinion, although this formation is indeed not the most appropiate for him. Honestly I would play Henry on RvP's role, and give RvP or Ade the central striker role. We would see much more from thierry that way. I would give him a 7, he started off the play for our second goal, and did some outstanding defensive work. In my opinion Fabregas misplaced too many passes, and this happened not only with Henry, but with Hleb, Flamini and RvP as well, so it was not a matter of Henry not doing enough.

 

[Gurgen]

Fabregas suffers from the formation too RC8. When he receives the ball there aren't many options in front of him. He hesitates a lot because he is always looking to play it forward. Often he can't release it quickly, resulting in losing the ball.

 

[RC8]

hleb - 7,5.

you're kidding, right?


Seriously, Hleb deserves at least an 8 for today's performance, he took responsibility when no one else dared, and gave variety to our play, was responsible for the first goal in that instead of passing around the box he decided to pass the ball into the box to find Fabregas. One of the best performances I've seen from him.

 

[RC8]

Fabregas suffers from the formation too RC8. When he receives the ball there aren't many options in front of him. He hesitates a lot because he is always looking to play it forward. Often he can't release it quickly, resulting in losing the ball.

Indeed he does, and he tried to keep it simple today, which turned his game into a rather predictable one. However, he has the chance to play further up when he has Gilberto behind him and doing all the defensive work. I think, in spite of all this, that Fabregas was a little bit nervous today, and tired as well, which is what lead to his relatively average performance.

 

[phil15]

Alumina 7- Solid

Eboue 8- A real livewire an intelligent display

Toure 8- Terry+Ferdinand= Kolo's left buttock, best defender in the league atm

Gallas 7- Very solid and untroubled

Clichy 7- Wonder sometimes with his distribution and concentration looks like bambi was let loose in the wild but improved

Hleb 7- Instigator of alot of moves early doors

Gilberto 6- As per usual some ridiculuously inviting passes that looked like punishing us but otherwise solid

Cesc 6- Improved performance still seems somewhat off the pace, hopefully with the beast coming back and flamini back on the scene he can be rested

Flamini 6- Great work rate and ain't no ****ing about with the goal too

RVP 6- Drifted in and out, got 2 assists, always seems on the verge of something very special, ****ing like to see someday though

Henry 6- I'd ****ing love it if he would stay high up the pitch leading line but recognize his play is governed by the system

 

[JMT]

Almunia 6, nothing to do
Eboue 7, typical Eboue game
Toure 8, solid as a rock and a goal too
Gallas, 7 cos he wasnt as good as Toure
Clichy , 6 good enough
Gilberto , 7 solid
Flamini 7 good work rate, seems to have imrpoved his touch
Fabregas 9 brilliant
Hleb 7 typical Hleb
RvP 8 excellent, getting better and better
Henry 7 worked his socks off but didnt do enough where it matters

how you can think RvP played better than eboue is unbalivable.

 

[clockwork orange]

Fabregas suffers from the formation too RC8. When he receives the ball there aren't many options in front of him. He hesitates a lot because he is always looking to play it forward. Often he can't release it quickly, resulting in losing the ball.

that's they key problem this season so far.

we have 3 midfielders worldclass at playing forward. Hleb can outturn every midfielder and immediately come up with a genius ball through, Cesc is also a genius at finding the impossible forward solution, so is Rosicky. Too many times they have to pass to each other because we lack 'targets' up front.

Anyway wonderfully played today.

 

[Army of Me]

Alumnia - 6 - Nothing to do really, dealt with a few long range efforts just fine.

Eboue - 7 - Put in a good performance, attacked well and still managed to get back to put in a good defensive shift.

Toure - 9 - Absolutely solid, except for a dodgy header early in the first half I can't fault his performance, and his goal was excellent.

Gallas - 9 - Again, same as Kolo he was solid in defence and took his chance.

Clichy - 7 - Ashley who? A great run in the 2nd half but unfortunately there was nobody to help him out in the final third.

Hleb - 8 - Some excellent runs and passes, great ball to Cesc for the first goal. Still gives away a few passes but none that put us in trouble.

Gilberto - 7 - A good shift as ever from the invisible wall. A few misplaced passes but none that put us in any danger.

Cesc - 7 - Looks like he needs a rest, but still manages to control the midfield like a veteran of the game.

Flamini - 7 - All over the place (in a good way!), good positioning for the goal.

RvP - 7 - Decent game, should've got his head to the ball for his first chance and not his hand.

Henry - 6 - Only turned up about 15 mins from time. Needs to pull his finger out and do what he did in the last 15 mins for 90.

Adebayor - 5 - Not enough time to make an impact; should've scored.



Overall a good team performance. We were understandably nervous in the first 30 mins but the first goal settled us and from there on Liverpool had no chance.

 

[jay-d]

Henry - 6 - Only turned up about 15 mins from time. Needs to pull his finger out and do what he did in the last 15 mins for 90.

.

So you want the main goal threat chasing back in his own box for 90 mins? Give me a break. It's just not running for him at the moment but there were a few moments when he tried to turn it on but just failed. He done OK today and doesn't really deserve criticism.

 

[Christofaux]

Henry 7 - This was the big game performance the crowd wanted to see I suppose. Worked very hard, but we don't pay him to work hard. This is not a criticism of Henry btw, the formation doesn't suit him and never will.

First let me say I'm delighted we won! However, I don't like this 451 at home business escpecially with henry as a target man (i can understand it for some away games) but I believe we are wasting henry (and RVP)

2 Assists to RVP and 3-0 to Arsenal... ide say the formation worked quite well actually.

 

[Army of Me]

So you want the main goal threat chasing back in his own box for 90 mins? Give me a break. It's just not running for him at the moment but there were a few moments when he tried to turn it on but just failed. He done OK today and doesn't really deserve criticism.

ehhh no.

I want our main goal threat to start putting in a decent shift, not just for a small portion of the game.

His work rate up until the last 15 mins tonight was poor, just as it has been all season.

And how you can call him our "main goal threat" when he's been anything but this season is a mystery to me.

 

[BannedKwame]

Almunia:..(6) nothing to do

Eboue:.....(9) 2nd best player on the pitch
Toure:......(9) Best player on the *****
Gallas:.....(7) good but needs to be better in the air
Clichy:.....(6.5) anonymous but for a few runs

Flamini....(6.5) anonymous but for thegoal
Fab:..........(7) clever player
Gilberto:...(7) solid
Hleb:........(8.0) Excellent

RvP:..........(6.5) Ok
Henry........(6) did ****all but for two tackles

Almunia: (3) i would've finished that chance.

 

[BannedKwame]

Henry - 6.5 - Good running at the end defensively. But offensively lacking. If Henry continues to retreat into the midfield as he's doing, RVP will not form a great partneship. Not enough runs forward, not enough movement for Cesc to pick out his runs. As Arsenal's most forward player, he can not be frozen afraid to move into the box. I guess I'm a little harsh on Henry but a prime example of this is when Cesc had the ball, Henry just stood there and took the ball from Cesc, so that Thierry could be the playmaker. If Cesc had the ball and he was trying to pick out the runs, Henry should have been running. Didn't offer much forward, but the extra .5 for his defensive work and for caring.

Henry had 2 players marking him all the time, he played very well in my opinion, although this formation is indeed not the most appropiate for him. Honestly I would play Henry on RvP's role, and give RvP or Ade the central striker role. We would see much more from thierry that way. I would give him a 7, he started off the play for our second goal, and did some outstanding defensive work. In my opinion Fabregas misplaced too many passes, and this happened not only with Henry, but with Hleb, Flamini and RvP as well, so it was not a matter of Henry not doing enough.

I buy that. Give Henry the free role, give Gilberto added degfensive responsibility to cover the left back, and put RvP or Adebayor in the CF position. Henry can then interchange between attacking and supporting as he pleases. This could work.

 

[Christofaux]

Almunia:..(6) nothing to do



Almunia: (3) i would've finished that chance.

Pretty sure that goal kick was never going to go in . Adebayor maybe?

 

[Soler]

Almunia: 7
Eboue: 8.5
Toure: 10 (man of the match)
Gallas: 8
Clichy: 7.5
Hleb: 8
Fabregas: 7
Gilberto: 7
Flamini: 7.5
van Persie: 7
Henry: 7.5

Adebayor: 6

Eboue and Toure are just nuts.

 

[mad jens]

hey guys henry did ok today! stop slamming him. He was more hardworking today running for the ball and sometimes doing his part in defense. If you say henry was crap today, i think you are really wrong

 

[Chips&CurrySauce]

It was a good team performance but certain player stood out.. Toure and Gallas were quality, and Eboue was just superb. It seems his little break has done him the world of good. He was skilfull, strong, and he beats his man so easily, he is getting better and better and alongside Hleb they form an amazing partnership.

I don't think any of our central midfielders had great games. Gilberto gave the ball away many times but that is to be expected and Flamini was caught in possession many times too.. Fabregas sometimes tries to play the killer pass too soon, even when its not on... Especially when we are leading I feel he sould just retain the ball a bit more as opposed looking for the perfect through ball which often isn't on....

Henry gave everything he had but he was well marshalled.. VP is beginning to hit some form and even Adebayor looked good when he came on even tho he should have buried his chnace.. It seems to me Adebayor is alot more powerful now compared to last year when we signed him..

 

[3Z]

Almunia - 7 - Not much to do, held couple of long range shots he had to deal with well.

Eboue - 8 - Ive loved him from the first match he played for us (in the amsterdam tournament that year on trial) he's a machine. with experience defensively will be the best right back in the world.

Toure - 9.5 - Outstanding, inspirational, the new Tony Adams... and some. If he's not the best centre back in the world then who is??

Galls - 8 - Good game from him, settling back into centre back nicely.

Clichy - 7.5 - Good game from him too. fantastic run toward the end. lunged in once or twice but as with eboue... can be the best in his position in the world.

Hleb - 8.5 - Awesome, think he maye have gave the ball away once in the game... everytime he gets it you know he's going to beat a player a find a pass.. decision making has improved this season too. So underated its ridiculous... the sun gave him a 6.

Gillie - 7 - Quiet and tidy as ever.

Flamini - 7.5 - Got in the box welll for his goal. Still dont see him ever being a regular though... just not good enough on the ball... fantastic attitude and workrate though.

Cesc - 8 - Brilliant again. Missed Rosicky a little though.

RVP - 7.5 - Good performance. Learning not to get frustrated if he doesnt get a goal. And dispite the bit of luck a good slip through to Kolo for the second.

Henry - 7.5 - Better than he has been but still not really impressive. Nice couple of defensive tackles, afterwhich he sprints around for a bit. Ive said it in the forum and ill say it again. He's trying to replace bergkamp and we dont need it.

Adebayor - 5 - no time really but he does lack composure... and that really isnt something that can be taught. If he has no time to think he's ok. Cant help but think if only that chance had fallen to walcott as a sub instead!!

All in all a good performance, clinical for a change as we didnt create so many chances. Hope we can really give Newcastle a beating next week. Also good to be back in the main forum.

3Z