asajoseph
Established Member
For a 0-0 draw, I actually found this game quite exciting. I was thoroughly uninspired by the 4-5-1 formation, but this, to me, looked like the first time we've actually begun to get to grips with this formation (with one notable exception, which I'll come onto later). At home again, and a few players who haven't turned up all season begun to poke their noses through the curtains. No, we didn't win, but it was not a bad performance, and before the game I would certainly have taken a draw. Most importantly though, the players today looked like they really cared, and were channeling that into their football and not (too much) mindless aggression.
So, onto the ratings:-
Jens Lehmann - 7 - Suffered from some slightly dodgy kicking in the second half, but generally did everything that was required of him, as is becoming the normal. Was lucky when a well parried van Nistelhorsefacedtwat shot fell to Ronaldo, but punched reasonably well, and set off some quick attacks through quick thinking.
Pascal Cygan - 7 - No, he's not a left back, and towards the end of the match he let Ronaldo have far too much space down his side of the pitch. But, in contrast to this, and in the first half, his tackling was far, far better, and put on a nice crunching tackle on Gayboy Ronaldo. Started well, finished poorly, so solid overall.
Sol Campbell - 8 - Excellent strength all through the game, and put in some superb last ditch tackles. Martialled Rooney excellently, and looked much more like the Sol of old.
Kolo Toure - 7 - Caught out of position once or twice by clever running from the northern monkeys, but like Sol he exhibited some great strength, pace, and overall played pretty well.
Lauren - 8 - Never looked troubled by Utd's wingers, and got forward extremely well all game. Linked play up superbly down the right hand side, and if we had anyone interested in heading the ball, his crosses into the middle might have been more fruitful.
Jose Antonio Reyes - 8.5 - Ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran some more. The guy NEVER stopped, and deserves every single cheer he got tonight. Perhaps he wasn't the most dangerous of our midfielders going forward, but whenever he got the ball Manchester Utd looked worried. Tracked back well too.
Alexander Hleb - 8.5 - Not a winger today, but began to look like the central midfielder that many have hoped he might become. Like a metronone, he was able to recieve the ball, turn, either dribble or pass quickly, and genuinely looked like making things happen. We were half the attacking thread after he came off, and although it was because we were tiring, the Belarussian more than pulled his weight tonight
Gilberto Silva - 7.5 - Passing was erratic and poor as usual, but today he was far far better at doing what we actually expect from him. His reading of the game was much better, he got stuck in, and made some very strong challenges. Now if only he could pass the bloody ball!
Cesc Fabregas - 6.5 - Looked bright and dangerous in the first half, tired and jaded in the second. Put one excellent ball through for Pires, from which perhaps a little more could have been made, but as the game wore on his touch left him, and he was rightly substituted by Wenger.
Robert Pires - 7 - Had several chances from which he should have done better, but his overall display was an improvement on his recent performances. Began to play more directly, still timid in front of goal, but at least was trying to drive play forward, which was good to see. Not enough for a new contract, but definitely something to work on.
Thierry Henry - 5 - A bit harsh, I know, but I'll get onto that in a second. Yes, he had some good touches around the box, and set up Fabregas for what looked like a clear-cut penalty. Made some dangerous moves.... BUT he was also the single reason we did not win today. If we're going to continue to play 4-5-1, selling Henry to Barcelona could well be a very astute move. It is absolutely no use having him single-handedly spearheading our attack if he's going to spend most of the game waiting 45 yards out on the left wing. The number of times Reyes and Hleb made excellent progress up the left hand side, and Henry failed to make any kind of runs, leaving the box empty and standing waiting for the short pass to do it himself, was frankly infuriating. If he will not make direct runs when off the ball, he should be dropped every time we're going to play this formation. And if we can start pulling off as well as we did today, that will become more and more frequent. I firmly believe that if we'd had someone who would have made runs for Reyes and Hleb (and others), we'd have won today, but Henry was just not willing.
Subs:
Flamini - 6 - Came on too late to make much of an impact, but put in a couple of decent challenges.
Bergkamp - 6 - Made little impact, and was another victim of Henry's fetish for standing on the wing.
Eboue - 6 - Had too little time to really get involved in anything, but made an incredibly important goal-line clearance whilst under pressure.
*****
Wenger - 7 - Finally looks like he's getting that 4-5-1 to start working, and probably selected the best XI players to use it. He's made Henry un-droppable though, and that will cost us if we intend to keep playing him at the top of the formation.
So, onto the ratings:-
Jens Lehmann - 7 - Suffered from some slightly dodgy kicking in the second half, but generally did everything that was required of him, as is becoming the normal. Was lucky when a well parried van Nistelhorsefacedtwat shot fell to Ronaldo, but punched reasonably well, and set off some quick attacks through quick thinking.
Pascal Cygan - 7 - No, he's not a left back, and towards the end of the match he let Ronaldo have far too much space down his side of the pitch. But, in contrast to this, and in the first half, his tackling was far, far better, and put on a nice crunching tackle on Gayboy Ronaldo. Started well, finished poorly, so solid overall.
Sol Campbell - 8 - Excellent strength all through the game, and put in some superb last ditch tackles. Martialled Rooney excellently, and looked much more like the Sol of old.
Kolo Toure - 7 - Caught out of position once or twice by clever running from the northern monkeys, but like Sol he exhibited some great strength, pace, and overall played pretty well.
Lauren - 8 - Never looked troubled by Utd's wingers, and got forward extremely well all game. Linked play up superbly down the right hand side, and if we had anyone interested in heading the ball, his crosses into the middle might have been more fruitful.
Jose Antonio Reyes - 8.5 - Ran and ran and ran and ran and ran and ran some more. The guy NEVER stopped, and deserves every single cheer he got tonight. Perhaps he wasn't the most dangerous of our midfielders going forward, but whenever he got the ball Manchester Utd looked worried. Tracked back well too.
Alexander Hleb - 8.5 - Not a winger today, but began to look like the central midfielder that many have hoped he might become. Like a metronone, he was able to recieve the ball, turn, either dribble or pass quickly, and genuinely looked like making things happen. We were half the attacking thread after he came off, and although it was because we were tiring, the Belarussian more than pulled his weight tonight
Gilberto Silva - 7.5 - Passing was erratic and poor as usual, but today he was far far better at doing what we actually expect from him. His reading of the game was much better, he got stuck in, and made some very strong challenges. Now if only he could pass the bloody ball!
Cesc Fabregas - 6.5 - Looked bright and dangerous in the first half, tired and jaded in the second. Put one excellent ball through for Pires, from which perhaps a little more could have been made, but as the game wore on his touch left him, and he was rightly substituted by Wenger.
Robert Pires - 7 - Had several chances from which he should have done better, but his overall display was an improvement on his recent performances. Began to play more directly, still timid in front of goal, but at least was trying to drive play forward, which was good to see. Not enough for a new contract, but definitely something to work on.
Thierry Henry - 5 - A bit harsh, I know, but I'll get onto that in a second. Yes, he had some good touches around the box, and set up Fabregas for what looked like a clear-cut penalty. Made some dangerous moves.... BUT he was also the single reason we did not win today. If we're going to continue to play 4-5-1, selling Henry to Barcelona could well be a very astute move. It is absolutely no use having him single-handedly spearheading our attack if he's going to spend most of the game waiting 45 yards out on the left wing. The number of times Reyes and Hleb made excellent progress up the left hand side, and Henry failed to make any kind of runs, leaving the box empty and standing waiting for the short pass to do it himself, was frankly infuriating. If he will not make direct runs when off the ball, he should be dropped every time we're going to play this formation. And if we can start pulling off as well as we did today, that will become more and more frequent. I firmly believe that if we'd had someone who would have made runs for Reyes and Hleb (and others), we'd have won today, but Henry was just not willing.
Subs:
Flamini - 6 - Came on too late to make much of an impact, but put in a couple of decent challenges.
Bergkamp - 6 - Made little impact, and was another victim of Henry's fetish for standing on the wing.
Eboue - 6 - Had too little time to really get involved in anything, but made an incredibly important goal-line clearance whilst under pressure.
*****
Wenger - 7 - Finally looks like he's getting that 4-5-1 to start working, and probably selected the best XI players to use it. He's made Henry un-droppable though, and that will cost us if we intend to keep playing him at the top of the formation.
) besides he was one of the only players to take a shot at goal and he passed around well (including the pires pass) and i agree 100% that he lost his touch in the second half.
