Player ratings vs Blackburn

[ricky1985]

The thing is, russkiegooner, Blackburn threw the kitchen sink at us, it was an aerial bombardment the likes of which you rarely see - and we dealt with almost all of it. The centrebacks barely gave up a chance. Although there were one or two loose moments, there was also an awful lot of very good defending too.

 

[asajoseph]

A bit late, but I've been away for a long weekend...

Almunia - 8 - A very solid performance, under a lot of pressure, both on and off the pitch. Caught well, punched well, controlled his box well.

Sagna - 6.5 - Solid overall, but completely caught in no-mans land for the goal
Koscielny - 5 - Good aerially for most of the match, but the ease with which he was beaten by Diouf for the goal was alarming, as was the way he completely went to pieces for the remainder of the half.
Vermaelen - 8 - Rock solid, in the air and on the ground. Superb again.
Clichy - 6.5 - Solid overall, but failed to track Diouf for the goal.

Cesc - 6 - Tidy passing, and pushed forward nicely, but couldn't quite get up to speed pulling the strings in the most dangerous areas of the field
Song - 5 - Quite a weak performance, and his passing was very, very sloppy. Slipped back to the Song of old, but he'll be rusty at this stage, so nothing to worry about.
Diaby - 8 - Very strong in midfield, good in posession, and pushed on very well. Yes, he hangs onto it for a bit too long, but he does move the game forward well, and his ability to hold the ball remains outstanding.

Arshavin - 6.5 - Very good finish, but perhaps a little too quiet otherwise, for a player who's had good success against Rovers in the past.
Theo - 8 - Very nicely taken finish, and again showed his improvement in terms of staying on the ball under pressure. Tormented their fullbacks.

RVP - 6.5 - Delightful assist for the first, though a bit too quiet otherwise. Pain in the arse to see him injured again.

Subs:
Chamakh - 6 - Lots of industry, not much contribution in terms of end product. Still think he needs another couple of goals to really settle down.
Rosicky - 6 - Fairly tidy overall, though didn't leave much of a lasting impression, I think mainly because he was playing much wider this week.
Wilshere - 6 - Should have finished the game for us, good to see him pushing a little further up the pitch, but not much time to make an impact.