Ratings and post-match discussion vs the Renties

[qs]

Fabianski made a few saves, wasn't at fault for the goal. Didn't look suspect in any other areas. I'd always rate that a 7.

Just seen the Sun gave Djourou a 6, joint lowest rating with Clichy. Shaun Custis, idiot.

 

[Iloveyouarsenewenger]

We should be grateful they spelled his name right.

 

[est]

The Sun cracks me up.

 

[General]

Guys, the idea behind ratings is always open to personal interpretation so it's futile having an argument over it.

Fabianski - 6 I'm sorry but a top goalkeeper would've at least stayed on his line knowing very well that he had no chance of getting to Ivanovich's header. This is something he does with frequent regularity and I'm still not convinced he's the way forward.

Sagna - 8. Solid and dependable as always. Not much gets past him and one of the few who consistently exceeds his fundamental role.

Djourou - 8 Very solid performance. Strong

Kos - 6.5 - Did ok. Distribution was bad at times and nearly cost us.

Clichy - 5.5 Great energy which always seems to hide his incompetence. Not a single game goes by these days without him giftwrapping possession to the opposition. What's wrong with him!!

Nasri - 8 Excellent. Should've scored.

Cesc - 7 - Good but surrendered possession cheaply a few times.

Song - 7.5 Very good. Positional awareness still suspect.

Wilshere - 8 Excellent. Superb distribution and positioning. More importantly he's a fighter.

Robin 7.5 - He played a very clever game. Switched with Theo to good effect.

Theo - 7. Hit and miss. Great goal and got the opportunity to do what he does best i.e. using his pace on the break.

 

[Tourbillion]

I'm amazed at how fast Nasri has suddenly become.

 

[The Sleeper]

I agree about Fabianski, in the sense that he got stuck between coming out and retreating to his line. He'd already started coming out so if only he had continued who knows if he might have blocked Ivanovic's header.

Way it turned out, his hands weren't even high up to at least try and block a header. He just froze and looked like a clown. Defence was also to blame, perhaps even more, but you want your keeper to make even less mistakes than your defence.

You don't see Chesney doing things half-way. When he makes his mind up that's it. Hesitate and it's a goal.

<a class="postlink" href="http://vodpod.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://vodpod.com</a>" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ( search for: Branislav Ivanovic v Arsenal )

 

[Thommybhoy]

Fabianski - 7 - good game, goal wasn't his fault, I was not scared, even once when he was called into action.
Clichy - 7 - also had good game
Koscielny - 7 - you say what you want he was really good at the back, and did job really well
Djourou - 9 - I don't know why I shouldn't put 10 to be honest, had amazing game, he is really massive massive talent
Sagna - 8 - flawless as usual, best RB in the world right now and for a while now
Song - 9 - played what he is best at after a while and did awsome job
Wilshere - 8 - had really good game, did his job very well. Still 18 years old you say?
Fabregas - 8.5 - I think he had a slow start, but was at his best later, missed games and that was shown, as well as how much we need him and what a special player he is
Nasri - 8.5 - Did his part well, and as much as that miss proved to be of no significance at that time we still didn't know and I was mad, but mad as much as I can be on a player who did so much for us this season
Walcott - 9 - I'll give him MOTM, all the criticism, underrating and all that of such a player is so beyond stupid, we will be one of England's and Arsenal's greats!
van Persie - 7 - not enough games and could have done better, but on a day like yesterday, who really cares

Wenger - 10 - finally decided to adjust tactics to opponent and did so in perfect way, everything was so good as if he had a time machine, well done!

 

[est]

I wouldn't blame Fabianski for the goal at all. The ball from Drogba was exquisite. It was the dip in the end that caught Fabianski. Without that, he would have caught it, I'm sure.

 

[flobaba]

I think the reason people are downing on Fabianski is that, for some reason the cameras focused on him, and he looked quite disappointed at conceding the goal as I'm sure like all goalkeepers, he wanted to keep a clean sheet, especially as he had little to do all game prior to that moment.

If he had gone all Lehmannistic or been yelling at the defenders ( who were the actual culprits ) for failing to pick up Ivanovic properly, there would be less criticism. It was a great ball in by Drogba. Perfectly placed. Defenders should have done more to put Ivanovic off his header.

 

[CandysRoom]

If Terry had played the game Djourou played, would the Sun have only given him a 6?

I guess that Sean ****is bloke lost money on the game

 

[Yaya]

Fabianski-6.5
sagna-7.5
Djourou-8.5
kos-6
clichy-6
Song-8
cesc-7.5
wilshere-7
nasri-7
rvp-6.5
walcott-7.5

 

[GDeep™]

Between Song and Djourou for MOTM, Song probably pips it for me. Djourou making a habit of playing well against Chelsea, lets not forget a few years ago when he came back and showed great character by putting in a top performance after conceding an own goal at Stamford Bridge.

 

[mo50]

I'm amazed at how fast Nasri has suddenly become.

It blown me away too. He never displayed anything like this prior to this season. Tremendous player.

 

[Iloveyouarsenewenger]

I'm amazed at how fast Nasri has suddenly become.

Coming from quicker than Walcott, this indeed is some praise.

 

[russkiegooner]

Nasri wasn't anonymous, he nearly scored 3 goals.

Not sure what you're talking about. Let's say that his exquisite chip in the first half is one. Kakuta's Christmas present is one more. Regarding the latter, I'd rather hold it against Nasri who bottled a splendid chance offered by the opposition to definitely kill the game. Which is the third? The free-kick in the first half? That was a decent attempt at best but hardly "nearly scoring a goal". Have I forgetten anything?

His passing was generally sideways and backwards bar the one-two with RvP in the first half.

As for the opposition being "scared" of him, the same argument was often put forward to justify Arshavin's weak performance. I'm generally rather sceptical about this kind of thing.

I rate Nasri highly and has done so since his beginnings in Marseille but he was pretty average yesterday, bar the chip. Don't understand what he does in the MOTM poll, honestly. Walcott deserves it much more, IMO, despite having been terrible for the first 30 minutes.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I rate Nasri highly and has done so since his beginnings in Marseille but he was pretty average yesterday, bar the chip. Don't understand what he does in the MOTM poll, honestly. Walcott deserves it much more, IMO, despite having been terrible for the first 30 minutes.

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. Theo was brilliant in my opinion.

 

[mo50]

You could clearly see Essien doubling up with Ferreira to try and contain Nasri. He ran rings around Ferreira a few times and adjusting their tactics shows they were indeed scared. United did the same thing, only this time we made our numerical advantage in midfield count thanks to Fabregas, Song and Wilshere stepping up.

 

[ricky1985]

Nasri wasn't anonymous, he nearly scored 3 goals.

Not sure what you're talking about. Let's say that his exquisite chip in the first half is one. Kakuta's Christmas present is one more. Regarding the latter, I'd rather hold it against Nasri who bottled a splendid chance offered by the opposition to definitely kill the game. Which is the third? The free-kick in the first half? That was a decent attempt at best but hardly "nearly scoring a goal". Have I forgetten anything?

His passing was generally sideways and backwards bar the one-two with RvP in the first half.

As for the opposition being "scared" of him, the same argument was often put forward to justify Arshavin's weak performance. I'm generally rather sceptical about this kind of thing.

I rate Nasri highly and has done so since his beginnings in Marseille but he was pretty average yesterday, bar the chip. Don't understand what he does in the MOTM poll, honestly. Walcott deserves it much more, IMO, despite having been terrible for the first 30 minutes.

I got mixed up thinking it was 3 chances, but I maintain the rest.

Kalou, Mikel, Ramires, and especially Essien, were always really quick to get out and double-up on him with Ferreira. They were clearly scared of him, and it was the same in the ManU game the other week too.

I thought everything he did was classy. From the neat little through balls he found van Persie with 2 or 3 times - especially the brilliant one-two that Robin fired over the bar. To the searing speed he showed to skin Ferreria in the first half, and the fact that he barely gave the ball away, even when surrounded, he always had the ability to cleverly manoeuvre the ball and find a team mate. All of that, and a very god shift in pressing the ball and tracking runners to boot. All round a classy performance from a classy player.

 

[russkiegooner]

Fabianski made a few saves, wasn't at fault for the goal.

I don't remember a single "save" by Fab. Chelsea had one shot on target according to the match statistics. So there couldn't have been a "few saves" but one at best unless you consider claiming the ball in the air as a save, which is quite contestable in itself.

I'm not criticising Fab; he did nothing wrong but nothing particularly worthy of special mention.

 

[russkiegooner]

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. Theo was brilliant in my opinion.

I wouldn't call him "brilliant". Fabo is right: he looked horribly clumsy in the first 30-40 minutes and was getting nothing out of Cole. However, he turned it on at about the 35th minute or so, made a couple of dangerous runs on his wing and - what's more important - grabbed his chances. First, passing it to Fabregas when he could have attempted to finish himself. Then, stealing the ball from Essien, moving brilliantly off the ball and providing a classy finish. That action oozed class. 3-0, game over. Even with Arsenal playing at home... 8))