Ratings and post-match discussion vs Sp**s

[qs]

That sandro looks pap lol

he was shocking. Way out of his depth. And that Livermore lad wouldn't get into our reserve team.

 

[James]

Apparently he's t'riffic in training

 

[Humble Rex]

And with a t´riffic attitude!

 

[ricky1985]

How exactly does Djourou get a 5 in a 4-1 away win, when he wasn't remotely at fault for their offside goal?

Seriously, mate, go to 101 great goals and watch that goal again and then come back here an tell me Djourou wasn't at fault for the goal. What he did was absolutely unbelievable. I just can't see what hew as trying to achieve.

 

[dionysius]

Mostly agree with the ratings, but not as sold on Wilshere's performance. There were a few instances where he wasn't quite in tune with the rest of the team. For that reason, he deserves an 8.

 

[bigtimetopbanana]

Wenger - completely called Redknapp's bluff. His line-up suprised Redknapp and his subs top-trumped the Sp**s subs. Needs to buy a walkie-talkie though - 10/10.

Fabianski - I think his chance has gone. Time for Sneezy. 6/10.

Gibbs - I was really worried when Lennon came on, but Gibbs completely put him in his pocket. I think Lennon beat him once, and the only other run I remember was a sideways one, where he ended up on the left flank. 8/10

Eboue - It may have only have been Sp**s, but he was rarely in the right back position. The easy Sp**s ball was down to Pav while Eboue was out of position, drawing Djourou out of the middle. 6/10.

Kos - holy cow.. I had my doubts until tonight... but that athletic block on Lennon, when he made up six yards and came in with a thumping clean tackle in the penalty area was something I can't remember an Arsenal centre-back doing since... er... nope. 10/10

Djourou - he's getting there. He was turned a few times, and it didn't help that he had to play both centre-back and right-back, since Eboue was AWOL so much. 7/10

Lansbury - really impressed... kept the pass and move going really well... not scared of shooting from outside the area and ghosts into the box ala David Platt/Freddy Ljungberg/Michael Ballack. Great debut. 8/10

Wilshere - played pretty deep and still ran the show. He was tripped by just about every Sp**s player and never stopped running. 9/10

Denilson - just great. Brought back memories of the Carling Cup 2007. Maybe it was because he apparantely, hates Sp**s !!! 8/10

Ros and Nas - becoming interchangable, except at pens. 7/10.

Vela - shame he didn't have a partner to lead the line. He can't do it on his own. 6/10

Arsh cameo 8/10
Chamakh 6/10

 

[USArsenal]

How exactly does Djourou get a 5 in a 4-1 away win, when he wasn't remotely at fault for their offside goal?

Seriously, mate, go to 101 great goals and watch that goal again and then come back here an tell me Djourou wasn't at fault for the goal. What he did was absolutely unbelievable. I just can't see what hew as trying to achieve.

what are you looking at Ricky? from what I see, Djourou was pulling up for the offsides trap, and Gibbs was playing him on (so it would seem)

i know he might have gotten turned a few times, but that goal was anything but Djourou's fault.. i dont think he played too bad considering he's been out so long..

 

[ricky1985]

It's one thing to step up for the offside, but, 1) he does it when there is no pressure whatsoever on the man playing the pass - which is really basic stuff, 2) he steps up even though Kieran Gibbs is only marginally ahead of Keane - he's got to be 100% certain that he's the deepest man, and 3) worst if all he literally moves out of the way of the pass as it's played - as in he steps aside and clears the way for the pass to go through. Instead of just stepping up in a straight line and keeping reasonably close to Keane, he steps up and then moves towards the ball, and ends up 5+ yards away from Keane when he receives the ball.

It's absolutely shocking defending.

 

[kel varnsen]

btw, just how **** is fabianski? worst gk at arsenal. ever?

not convinced at all by lansbury either. looked out of his depth. struggled with the pace of the game and looked slow and cumbersome.

 

[Hoya]

Fabianski- 4- I'm sick of him?

Gibbs- 8- Solid defending and very fluid in attack, no random mistakes, I hope he's alright!

Kos- 9- Fantastic tackling tonight

Djourou- 7- Showed some good skill here and there, looked less lost than I remember him being that past couple of injury-riddled years. Looked quality enough.

Eboue- 6.5- Better touch from him tonight, I was happy to see that. I thought he was solid all-around bar some strange positioning.

Denilson- 6.5- Misplaced a few too many passes for my liking, but again he was good enough today, he should play in these Carling Cup matches.

Lansbury- 6- Misplaced a lot of passes, but did some good defensive work (went way out into the wing too many times though)

Wilshere- 9- Lad.

Rosicky- 6- Very meh today, he is not a winger and I hope we stop playing him there. Much better central player!

Nasri- 7- I was not wowed by him but I did like how he struck his penalties, and man is he a great dribbler.

Vela- 4.5- He was out there?

SUBS

Chamakh- 6.5- Worked hard again, did get into some dangerous positions but I hoped he would do a bit better against this kind of competition.

Arshavin- 7.5- Fantastic goal, I really hope that gets him going. Looked dangerous here and there.

 

[redanddread]

It's one thing to step up for the offside, but, 1) he does it when there is no pressure whatsoever on the man playing the pass - which is really basic stuff, 2) he steps up even though Kieran Gibbs is only marginally ahead of Keane - he's got to be 100% certain that he's the deepest man, and 3) worst if all he literally moves out of the way of the pass as it's played - as in he steps aside and clears the way for the pass to go through. Instead of just stepping up in a straight line and keeping reasonably close to Keane, he steps up and then moves towards the ball, and ends up 5+ yards away from Keane when he receives the ball.

It's absolutely shocking defending.

Djourou didn't have a great game but Keane was offside. Interesting how the last two goals we have conceded have a twinge of offisde irony in them. Should Clichy have dropped back for the Sunderland goal, should Djourou ahve stepped up for the ****'s goal. I guess this highlights the difficulties facing defenders in these high pressure moments and decisions they have to make in a milisecond.. It really is a lottery at times.

To say it was shocking defending is a little harsh. Gibbs was ball watching a little for the Spuds goal but Keane was offside. The risk you run when playing a tight line like that is that the linesman makes the wrong call!

The little tart of a linesman flagged Gibbs offiside in the 1st 1/2 when he wasn't even level with the Sp**s defender and yet called Keane onside when he was clearly (clear daylight between the attacker and the defender) offside.

Due to the inconsistencies in decision making by the officials, the offside trap can really be a lottery at times.

 

[Anzac]

It's one thing to step up for the offside, but, 1) he does it when there is no pressure whatsoever on the man playing the pass - which is really basic stuff, 2) he steps up even though Kieran Gibbs is only marginally ahead of Keane - he's got to be 100% certain that he's the deepest man, and 3) worst if all he literally moves out of the way of the pass as it's played - as in he steps aside and clears the way for the pass to go through. Instead of just stepping up in a straight line and keeping reasonably close to Keane, he steps up and then moves towards the ball, and ends up 5+ yards away from Keane when he receives the ball.
It's absolutely shocking defending.

Djourou didn't have a great game but Keane was offside. Interesting how the last two goals we have conceded have a twinge of offisde irony in them. Should Clichy have dropped back for the Sunderland goal, should Djourou ahve stepped up for the ****'s goal. I guess this highlights the difficulties facing defenders in these high pressure moments and decisions they have to make in a milisecond.. It really is a lottery at times.

To say it was shocking defending is a little harsh. Gibbs was ball watching a little for the Spuds goal but Keane was offside. The risk you run when playing a tight line like that is that the linesman makes the wrong call!

The little tart of a linesman flagged Gibbs offiside in the 1st 1/2 when he wasn't even level with the Sp**s defender and yet called Keane onside when he was clearly (clear daylight between the attacker and the defender) offside.

Due to the inconsistencies in decision making by the officials, the offside trap can really be a lottery at times.

The highlighted points are why it was a poor decision to move towards the ball & away from Keane = he allowed for no margin for error.

Having said that he's not the only one in our defence who has done so = see our defence for B'ham's equaliser last season.

 

[Timleaf]

Sky Sports News showing a highlight reel of Wilshere from last night. This boy is different gravy.

 

[redanddread]

It's one thing to step up for the offside, but, 1) he does it when there is no pressure whatsoever on the man playing the pass - which is really basic stuff, 2) he steps up even though Kieran Gibbs is only marginally ahead of Keane - he's got to be 100% certain that he's the deepest man, and 3) worst if all he literally moves out of the way of the pass as it's played - as in he steps aside and clears the way for the pass to go through. Instead of just stepping up in a straight line and keeping reasonably close to Keane, he steps up and then moves towards the ball, and ends up 5+ yards away from Keane when he receives the ball.
It's absolutely shocking defending.

Djourou didn't have a great game but Keane was offside. Interesting how the last two goals we have conceded have a twinge of offisde irony in them. Should Clichy have dropped back for the Sunderland goal, should Djourou ahve stepped up for the ****'s goal. I guess this highlights the difficulties facing defenders in these high pressure moments and decisions they have to make in a milisecond.. It really is a lottery at times.

To say it was shocking defending is a little harsh. Gibbs was ball watching a little for the Spuds goal but Keane was offside. The risk you run when playing a tight line like that is that the linesman makes the wrong call!

The little tart of a linesman flagged Gibbs offiside in the 1st 1/2 when he wasn't even level with the Sp**s defender and yet called Keane onside when he was clearly (clear daylight between the attacker and the defender) offside.

Due to the inconsistencies in decision making by the officials, the offside trap can really be a lottery at times.

The highlighted points are why it was a poor decision to move towards the ball & away from Keane = he allowed for no margin for error.

Having said that he's not the only one in our defence who has done so = see our defence for B'ham's equaliser last season.

Fair enough but if ALL our defenders had moved (continued to move out) towards the ball when ELYhamaday (don't know corerct spelling) headed the ball back into the box for the Sunderland equalizer then ALL the Sunderland players in our box when the goal was scored (Gyan & Bent and 2 others) would have been caught offside.

It seems to be a very tricky situation. I would be interested to know what the players are taught to do in situations like this.

 

[asajoseph]

The guy's there to play football, not pschologically second-guess the linesman.

 

[sabret00the]

Fabianski - 5 - He done an Almunia

Eboue - 5 - Subpar
Djourou - 5 - As bad as Ebweh!
Koscielny - 8 - Very good performance
Gibbs - 8 - Great going forward, two dodgy decisions

Lansbury - 7 - Done OK. Worked hard.
Denilson - 7 - Neat, tidy and consistent but failed to stand out.
Wilshere - 8 - Excellent first half. Failed to find space after they got tight to him, will have to work on that.
Nasri - 7 - Disappointing up until extra time.
Rosicky - 7 - An unsung hero for this game, which ultimately showed when he came off.

Vela - 7 - Done OK, lacked understanding with his team mates which showed in the runs he was making

Arshavin - 6 - Average
Chamakh - 7 - Worked hard and gave us another dimension
Clichy - 6 - Really paled in comparison to Gibbs

 

[Captain]

On Keane's goal, Djourou stepped out at the correct time and Gibbs stepped in. There was no mistake from Djourou. The Linesman messed up, Gibbs messed up and finally Fabianski messed up although I don't think the save was as regulation as it has been made out to be.

 

[asajoseph]

Looked to me, and correct me if I'm wrong, that Fab got both hands to the ball fairly comfortably, but simply didn't have the strength in his wrists to stop it.

A really odd save to fail to make.

 

[Captain]

He certainly messed up, no question about that and I'm not in a position to say why but shots like the one Keane took aren't as simple to save as people think. It's similar to the Walcott one against Barca last year, if a striker hits it early he always gives himself a good chance to score.

 

[ricky1985]

No way was what Djourou did correct. You can't step up and leave your man completely free on the edge of your own box when there is absolutely no pressure on the passer of the ball. In that case it's a complete and utter gamble.

I think he knows he made a bad decision immediately after he's made it, that's why he doesn't just step up, he also steps towards the ball trying to cut it off (fearing if the ball got through Keane would be onside) - in the process he literally moves out of it's path and by the time the ball reaches Robbie Keane he's in 5 yards of space! It's abysmal defending, even if he did manage to catch him offside - it was certainly more by luck than judgement.

That said the linesman is a seriously useless ****. He even had the line of the pitch to tell him for certain that Keane was at least a yard offside. That's without mentioning the Gibbs one.