FR: Porto vs Arsenal | 31/07/05

[las]

I'm also very impressed by hleb,he'll be outstanding for us the years to come.
and freddie is in top form already :angel
great win and the thing we needed before the season.

 

[mood]

I dont like Cygan at all, but I'll admit that he had a very good game today and he wasn't exactly at fault for our conceded goals. The other defenders deserve more blame.

Very good performance from him today.

 

[gstew]

What gives you that idea Patrick?

If you're right, I'd be even more sickened by the fact that Cole got that new deal. I still haven't forgotten about all that s**t, and think he should have been sent on the next train to Siberia before being allowed to play in an Arsenal shirt again.

Asa,

I'm with you. Sell Cole now and spend the money on a much more crucial area of the pitch, the middle.

 

[sray2]

-Hleb was really impressive, did a lot of defending too
-Pires was non-existent in first half, improved in second
-Henry had some nice moves but little end product
-Ljunberg by far man of the match, worked very hard as well as two well taken goals
-Bergkamp, showed some nice touches, really brought some creativity in the second
-Reyes, decent game, not too impressive
-Flamini, nice assist for second goal, but showed he cannot pass or finish...worked hard though
-Senderos, not a good game for him, at fault for goal
-Cygan, solid but made one terrible clearance in the second half
-Cole, looked really good throughout attacking down the left
-Lauren, decent game
-Bentley, solid, had some good runs down the right in the first half

Overall, we played poorly in the first half, really got going in the second and should have had at least 2 more goals. I didn't like Pires playing in the middle, he seems to disappear too much, as was seen against ajax too. We need more physical presence and possession in the center, especially next week against Chelski, or we're just going to be overrun in midfield by Lampard and co.

 

[jay-d]

What gives you that idea Patrick?

If you're right, I'd be even more sickened by the fact that Cole got that new deal. I still haven't forgotten about all that s**t, and think he should have been sent on the next train to Siberia before being allowed to play in an Arsenal shirt again.

maybe its nothing. in te first game, when each player was subbed, wenger was there to say a few words like 'well done' or whatever to the out going player. with cole, and i looked specifically for this, nothing was said. today, when cole came off, wenger satyed in his seat, a amrked contrast from the other subs. maybe its nothing, i'll watch the match a gain to verify. but i have a hunch they are not speaking. i dont think wenger issued any statement when cole signed his contract. again, i'm not 100% sure with that.

anyway, i feel our squad is stronger than it looks. i'm glad hleb is here because it means reyes can be relegated to the bench. i hope his role this season is that of an impact sub. he has the talent, but his overall game has to improve especially his possesional skills. hopefully watching from the sides will be motivation to do that. rvp and bergkamp will battle it out to partner henry, so theres healthy competition there too.

Have to agree with you about Reyes, was very poor again today. Hleb was very good and we need to give him the ball as much as possible. Looking at todays game it makes a big case for a Michael Owen type player, there were times when Henry dropped off and linked well with Hleb but there was no one to look for in the area, I'm starting to believe Owen can work, we still have 5 attackers creating and scoring and with owen we can have 1 just scoring can you imagine with this movement the amount of chances Henry and Hleb would create for him and if there's one thing Owen can do it's finish chances.

 

[clockwork orange]

First trophy of the season! (don't think Ajax or Boca will score 6)

Bergkamp made a very interesting remark on Dutch tv after the 1st half: "you can't play with a central midfield like this (Pires & Flamini), if you play a physical opponent". Totally agree, we need backup for Gilberto / a replacement for Vieira.

Hleb is everything I hoped he would be: great Arsenal player.

Senderos didn't impress me in any of the matches, wouldn't mind some backup there either.

 

[jay-d]

What gives you that idea Patrick?

If you're right, I'd be even more sickened by the fact that Cole got that new deal. I still haven't forgotten about all that s**t, and think he should have been sent on the next train to Siberia before being allowed to play in an Arsenal shirt again.

Asa,

I'm with you. Sell Cole now and spend the money on a much more crucial area of the pitch, the middle.

Not again please.

 

[jay-d]

First trophy of the season! (don't think Ajax or Boca will score 6)

Bergkamp made a very interesting remark on Dutch tv after the 1st half: "you can't play with a central midfield like this (Pires & Flamini), if you play a physical opponent". Totally agree, we need backup for Gilberto / a replacement for Vieira.

Hleb is everything I hoped he would be: great Arsenal player.

Senderos didn't impress me in any of the matches, wouldn't mind some backup there either.

Bergkamp really said that. Wow! I hope Wenger listens to him.

 

[jay-d]

A few ratings:

Lehman - A few shaky moments but i'll put that down to lack of practise, needs to improve his kicking but made an excellent save.

Lauren - Steady no nonsense game.

Senderos - Shaky in the first half, needs to really put his foot through it sometimes ala Adams, ring rusty also.

Cygan - Good game from Pascal, composed with the ball distrubuted it well one or two errors but best of a bad bunch.

Cole - Good going forward, still looks a little rusty but overall a good game

Hleb - Excellent, great touch, great skill caught a few times but always worked back to try and retrieve giving away fouls sometimes but neverless tried.

Flamini - Tireless worker, never stops running sometimes doing nothing. But makes a nuisance a nice assist for Freddie

Pires - Out of position, not a CM, pointless playing him there IMO, gave the ball away a lot doesn't get stuck in and should have scored.

Bentley - A few nice touches , gets lost sometimes only 45 mins.

Reyes - Poor, very poor, gave the ball away and looked very laboured still doesn't know when to pass or run, a few good things but far out weighed by the bad, frustrating.

Henry - Elegant without the cutting edge, lot's of good touches and skill sometimes dropped too deep to start things should leave this to hleb unless Arsène brings in another striker, a few great passes and you can see he's playing at 50%.

Subs:

Bergkamp - A lot better than Reyes but that wasn't hard some good touches set Pires up with a sweet backheel when Pires should have scored, but lacks pace as was evident when Henry put him throuhg with a beauty, still class but it's slowly draining.

Freddie - Brilliant. I must admit I have slagged him off a lot but it's only when he's out you miss him, came on an hustled and bustled scored 2 good goals always seems to find himself in scoring positions, worked very hard and made a difference to the midfield which was laboured in the first half.

Eboue - A bit rash, needs to stop pushing his opponents and giving away free kicks. He's very quick though but didn't seem 100% interested today.

Kolo - Not Much to do.

Hoyte - Not much to do. Got skinned once and pushed down at the end when they almost equalized.

Djouoro(sp) - No time

 

[Gurgen]

Senderos was utter ****e today. Hope he doesn't suffer from the Kolo syndrome.

Other than that everyone did well, except for Bob the non-central midfielder.

 

[Mark]

Well we weren't great, but a couple of good moves won us the game so that's a positive.

I cannot believe Pires is going to be our first choice central midfielder this season. The thought is scaring me. Please move him back onto the left, Arsène!

I also liked the look of the kit. It's really growing on me.

 

[KingReyes]

LOL!! What did Reyes do wrong in the 45 minutes that he played? He was our most dangerous player in the first 15 minutes, afterwards just like the whole Arsenal side we went quiet and that includes Reyes, Henry, Hleb etc etc.

Anyways well done to the boys, Hleb impressed me again with the ball at his feet and his upper body strength, Cygan had an impressive match, hopefully he can put more of those performances in especially in competetive matches in the premiership.

Our distribution was rather poor especially at the back, one aspect of Senderos' game that needs improving is definately his passing from the back. You can really see that he's only recently come back to pre season and hopefully its just a matter of time before he settles again and regains fitness.

Overall another good workout.

 

[jay-d]

LOL!! What did Reyes do wrong in the 45 minutes that he played? He was our most dangerous player in the first 15 minutes, afterwards just like the whole Arsenal side we went quiet and that includes Reyes, Henry, Hleb etc etc.

Anyways well done to the boys, Hleb impressed me again with the ball at his feet and his upper body strength, Cygan had an impressive match, hopefully he can put more of those performances in especially in competetive matches in the premiership.

Our distribution was rather poor especially at the back, one aspect of Senderos' game that needs improving is definately his passing from the back. You can really see that he's only recently come back to pre season and hopefully its just a matter of time before he settles again and regains fitness.

Overall another good workout.

Maybe I was harsh but maybe not, he's so talented yet he's so frustrating. His mental game is all wrong. Needs to sort the decisions out. I admit i missed the first 12 mins, what I saw of him was not good, I want him to succeed but he's doing the wrong thing toomany times to install confidence IMO.

 

[clockwork orange]

I cannot believe Pires is going to be our first choice central midfielder this season. The thought is scaring me. Please move him back onto the left, Arsène!

I can't believe that either. Imo the best choice is Gilberto and either Cesc or Hleb for the 2 central midfield positions.

I also liked the look of the kit. It's really growing on me.

I'm slowly getting used to it too. Think I'll like it in September.

 

[Gurgen]

LOL!! What did Reyes do wrong in the 45 minutes that he played? He was our most dangerous player in the first 15 minutes, afterwards just like the whole Arsenal side we went quiet and that includes Reyes, Henry, Hleb etc etc.

That's just how it is on this forum mate, whenever we're not doing well Reyes is singled out. I really feel for the kid, it's a good thing he's propably not reading these forums.

 

[thegame24]

reyes was ****

nobody can defend him this game.

hleb was decent and good on the wing.

i like the 3 attacking mids cause it comes of well sometimes but it depends on opposition.

i reckon we should try and go for ballack cause that will help a lot, we should also go for a center back and a goalscorer.

 

[thegame24]

reyes was ****

nobody can defend him this game.

hleb was decent and good on the wing.

i like the 3 attacking mids cause it comes of well sometimes but it depends on opposition.

i reckon we should try and go for ballack cause that will help a lot, we should also go for a center back and a goalscorer.

 

[Gurgen]

Why was he ****? :roll:

Because he set up two chances?

 

[thegame24]

Reyes was **** today.

and his ****nesss today broke down all play.

once again when he wasnt playing the team clicked.

we never click with reyes unless hes on his game which isnt often.

 

[Gurgen]

You still haven't answered my question.

We started to click because Dennis came in and started doing the build-up instead of letting it be done by our non-existent midfield.