Player Ratings - CL: Arsenal vs Ajax | 07/12/05

[sabret00the]

henry didn't play that badly, considering he was up front on his own for most of the match. he did eventually come deeper and then he started to look dangerous, going on some runs, starting a few attacks.

i'd give him a 6 or a 7 - he started slowly so probably a 6, need to watch again.

he showed no interest, no desire, no nothing, he was bollocks, worst player on the pitch, him or flamini

 

[nidza7]

I`d go for Sanderos MOM.

 

[RammiXP]

henry didn't play that badly, considering he was up front on his own for most of the match. he did eventually come deeper and then he started to look dangerous, going on some runs, starting a few attacks.

i'd give him a 6 or a 7 - he started slowly so probably a 6, need to watch again.

he showed no interest, no desire, no nothing, he was bollocks, worst player on the pitch, him or flamini

I felt Flamini did his job well today apart from his first 15 mins where, as usual he seems to insist on flying in with stupid tackles getting himself booked in the process but once he gets that out of his system he plays the holding role really well and I believe does a good job. I would go as far as saying better than Gilberto. By all means he was nothing special no one in the side today (except arguably Senderos) was. However in my opinion Quincy, Henry, Larsson and Helb where a lot worse than him and Helb is the only one with a valid excuse in my eyes.

My Ratings

Almuina-7
Solid performance, one mistake but watching it back he had to let go otherwise he would have slid out of the area and been sent off.

Eboue-6
Ok, performance defended well but passing was poor at times.

Senderos-7.5
Best performance on the night looked assured and solid apart from the one little mistake.

Toure-6.5
Did his job quietly without really getting involved in the game.

Lauren-6.5
looked good in the LB role and i felt did his job very well considering out of position.

Reyes- 5
Disappointing, never really looks dangerous even when he goes on runs im beginning to get frustrated with him.

Flamini- 6.5
Felt he played well apart from the first 15 mins where he felt the need to be superman with his legs. After booking he calmed down and enforced the defence well.

Helb-6
looked a yard short with obvious reasons, i look forward to him regaining match fitness.

Quincy-4.5
Did exactly what i expected, lots of running stupid feet movements with no end product, im not a big fan of Quincy never have been and today’s performance did nothing to make me change my mind.

Larsson- 5
Did his best but obvious he lacks the ability to really makes his mark on matches. The deflected shot could have been the goal and confidence booster he needed.

Henry- 4.5
Did not act like a captain, missed the Penalty and really looked uninterested. Im growing very concerned about Henry, I love him to bits but get the feeling he is slipping away from the club.

Subs

Fab-6 (all average when they came on)
VP-6
Gilbert-6

 

[mood]

Almunia - 7
Lauren - 6.5
Eboue - 6.5
Senderos - 8
Toure - 7.5
Flamini - 6
Larsson - 5.5
Reyes - 5.5
Hleb - 5
Quincy - 5
Henry - 5.5

RvP - 6.5
Fab - 6
Gilbert - 5.5

 

[Chips&CurrySauce]

Can't be bothered to give individual ratings but Senderos and Almunia were our best 2 plarers, both were sharp and alert.. Cesc came on in the second half and looked a different class to the midfileders we had all game.. As for Henry, although he didn't score I actually felt sorry for him, because it was pretty obvious he was too good for us.. He was head and shoulders above every player, for both sides..

Quincy was dire, for someone who is meant to have amazing natural ability, his first touch was poor, his passing was so inaccurate, how he couldn't find Henry in the box was unbelievable, such an easy pass and wasn't even close.. Larsson tried hard, but we all know he won't ever be good enough..

Eboue has potential although he still is a bit raw and Lauren looked a better bet than Cygan at left back..

All in all last night just confirmed what I already knew..

 

[sabret00the]

Can't be bothered to give individual ratings but Senderos and Almunia were our best 2 plarers, both were sharp and alert.. Cesc came on in the second half and looked a different class to the midfileders we had all game.. As for Henry, although he didn't score I actually felt sorry for him, because it was pretty obvious he was too good for us.. He was head and shoulders above every player, for both sides..

Quincy was dire, for someone who is meant to have amazing natural ability, his first touch was poor, his passing was so inaccurate, how he couldn't find Henry in the box was unbelievable, such an easy pass and wasn't even close.. Larsson tried hard, but we all know he won't ever be good enough..

Eboue has potential although he still is a bit raw and Lauren looked a better bet than Cygan at left back..

All in all last night just confirmed what I already knew..

What were you watching? Henry was ****ing ludicrously poor, he wasn't even interested in the game yet alone showing any sort of ability or class to be deemed better than anyone. And in regards to the Henry in the box thing, you know Henry could've moved towards the ball right instead of expecting it at his feet? he was a ****ing joke.

But quincy like the rest of our team bar one or two was dire and faded eveytime he came away from the right flank.

 

[Chips&CurrySauce]

I know Henry didn't have a great game and he was going through the motions, but thats not the point I was making.. Despite his apathy, he still looked a class above anyone else, in terms of his touch and natural ability..

You obviously rate Quincy, on what basis I don't know, he will never make it here, I've no doubts about that, even if Henry went for that ball he wouldn't have got to it, it was nowhere near him..

 

[sabret00the]

I know Henry didn't have a great game and he was going through the motions, but thats not the point I was making.. Despite his apathy, he still looked a class above anyone else, in terms of his touch and natural ability..

You obviously rate Quincy, on what basis I don't know, he will never make it here, I've no doubts about that, even if Henry went for that ball he wouldn't have got to it, it was nowhere near him..

the pass wasn't great, but the keeper never got to the ball either, henry could've got to it, or atleast try. and it's not that i rate quincy, though i think he's got a chance to make it here, it's just i feel he needs to be given that chance, something i don't feel we did with pennant.

but i highly disagree that he looked a class above everyone else, he was attrocious.

 

[KingReyes]

Can't be bothered to give individual ratings but Senderos and Almunia were our best 2 plarers, both were sharp and alert.. Cesc came on in the second half and looked a different class to the midfileders we had all game.. As for Henry, although he didn't score I actually felt sorry for him, because it was pretty obvious he was too good for us.. He was head and shoulders above every player, for both sides..

Quincy was dire, for someone who is meant to have amazing natural ability, his first touch was poor, his passing was so inaccurate, how he couldn't find Henry in the box was unbelievable, such an easy pass and wasn't even close.. Larsson tried hard, but we all know he won't ever be good enough..

Eboue has potential although he still is a bit raw and Lauren looked a better bet than Cygan at left back..

All in all last night just confirmed what I already knew..

Agree with most of what you said mate especially regarding Henry. A striker depends on the players around him to shine and to be honest there was nothing around him in terms of experience and quality. As you said he was head and shoulders above the others in terms of attacking threats, just like he was against Bolton.

Can you honestly imagine Shevchecko or Adriano having a good game with players like Flamini, Larrson and an inexperienced Quincy. Because I honestly can't.

And in regards to Quincy I feel he's in the same boat as Reyes, he tries too hard with the ball at his feet and is not direct enough. He looks like he's got a lot of potential, once again like Reyes but he needs to learn when to relaese the ball and hopefully that will come with experience. Hopefully he'll get more minutes to learn.

 

[MK5]

Can't believe some of the stuff I'm reading every time Henry's had an ordinary game. Henry wasn't at his best but I saw him chasing back plenty of times .I'd agree he could be a bit more supportive of his teammates at times but you got to understand that he wants to win and get frustrated when his teammates aren't up to his standards. When Keane or Terry do the same thing they're called winners, when Henry does it he's called arrogant.

Anyways, it wouldn't surprise me if AW told him hold back a bit and pick his runs yesterday.

 

[Gurgen]

No surprise that everyone is on Flamini's back again depsite him being the player who completed the most forward passes :roll:

 

[sabret00the]

Can't be bothered to give individual ratings but Senderos and Almunia were our best 2 plarers, both were sharp and alert.. Cesc came on in the second half and looked a different class to the midfileders we had all game.. As for Henry, although he didn't score I actually felt sorry for him, because it was pretty obvious he was too good for us.. He was head and shoulders above every player, for both sides..

Quincy was dire, for someone who is meant to have amazing natural ability, his first touch was poor, his passing was so inaccurate, how he couldn't find Henry in the box was unbelievable, such an easy pass and wasn't even close.. Larsson tried hard, but we all know he won't ever be good enough..

Eboue has potential although he still is a bit raw and Lauren looked a better bet than Cygan at left back..

All in all last night just confirmed what I already knew..

Agree with most of what you said mate especially regarding Henry. A striker depends on the players around him to shine and to be honest there was nothing around him in terms of experience and quality. As you said he was head and shoulders above the others in terms of attacking threats, just like he was against Bolton.

Can you honestly imagine Shevchecko or Adriano having a good game with players like Flamini, Larrson and an inexperienced Quincy. Because I honestly can't...

yHenry is our captain, and his whole performance was outshined by van Persie who had a fraction of his time on the pitch, what does that tell you? regarding attacking threat, i'm not quite sure where you got that, most of the good stuff around the box came from Hleb and later from Cesc and van Persie. he was a shell of a man out there. i will say this, though van Persie was obviously itching to score against Ajax he was watching the game from the sideline, i think if he felt that Henry was half the player on the day you thought he was, he would've tried to link up, instead he opted to do it alone. no Adriano, no Shevchinko just van Persie.

And let's not even get into how selfish and self centred a display that was from what i would describe as a childish snobby tantrum of a performance by a captain. if he can't lead the team for better or for worse he needs to give the armband back, because a captains job is to instill beleif and in those first 20 minutes he could've proved invaluable if he tried to be a captain and lead them, but he never and thus the players never settled.

 

[RammiXP]

No surprise that everyone is on Flamini's back again depsite him being the player who completed the most forward passes :roll:

totally agree, people like wearing the anti flamini Glasses while watching yet keep the I love quincy shades on at the same time.

I will never understand it.

 

[sabret00the]

No surprise that everyone is on Flamini's back again depsite him being the player who completed the most forward passes :roll:

you know, i can't speak for everyone else but i can speak for me. with flamini i know he tries hard but that doesn't make a good performance, i'll be the first to admit that he is improving and becoming a better player as time goes on. but whether he'll be good enough is another question. in my opinion other than the rash fouling and the odd forward pass he was invisible to the ball (though with the eye you could see him running around in circles, i think he was pressing player or something). he's still not managed to get past that first touch being a foul thing and i'm pretty sure that he's due a ban soon too. i watched the game objectively but he's rash in his thinking. the only player in my opinion that played worse was henry.

totally agree, people like wearing the anti flamini Glasses while watching yet keep the I love quincy shades on at the same time.

I will never understand it.

in regards to rami's post: one is a seasoned player with a uefa cup final under his belt, and a first team run in a squad challenging for honours, while the other is 19 starting his first champions league game, second game for Arsenal this season (including the reserves too i think). if quincy had as much time to lift his game to the standards of Arsenal as has been given to Flamini and put in that (Quincy's) performance, i'd be asking for us to sell him in January. Hell if he plays that badly his next game for us he should be loaned out immediately.

 

[Gurgen]

I thought Flamini looked more composed on the ball than Eboue, Larsson and Reyes put together. Sure he makes some rash tackles, but he hardly gave the ball away last night, while everyone else was passing to the opposition. At least he is tackling players, unlike Gilberto.

 

[RammiXP]

To a degree I see your point regarding Flamini, but I was at the match last night and I honestly felt secure with the fact that flamini played that holding role and I believe did it well and better than Gilberto can. Yes he still lacks a certain "quality" but he is still young and once again as with Cesc is playing in a lot of situations he should not be in at the moment.

I can see something in flamini that is really positive and that is commitment. Yes I agree he goes a little over the top at time but as stated in an earlier post after he had his 15 mins of stupidity and Henry (yes Henry the captain) had a word with him, he was a lot better and never put a foot wrong all game. His job was not to be the creative spine of the team he was there to marshal the midfield which I believe he did very well.

The other 4 midfielders where the ones who should have been more involved in attacking and they failed in doing so. I will not lie I like Flamini I would go as far as saying he is one of my favoured players so I may be slightly bias but I feel he is a player that will keep on improving with time (you seem to agree with this) and I think he will become a valuable squad member to us.

 

[sabret00the]

I thought Flamini looked more composed on the ball than Eboue, Larsson and Reyes put together. Sure he makes some rash tackles, but he hardly gave the ball away last night, while everyone else was passing to the opposition. At least he is tackling players, unlike Gilberto.

agreed, it wasn't as bad as some of Gilberto's performances lately. as for more composed than them three put together, i wouldn't say that, but definately more composed than Reyes.

 

[sabret00the]

To a degree I see your point regarding Flamini, but I was at the match last night and I honestly felt secure with the fact that flamini played that holding role and I believe did it well and better than Gilberto can. Yes he still lacks a certain "quality" but he is still young and once again as with Cesc is playing in a lot of situations he should not be in at the moment.

I can see something in flamini that is really positive and that is commitment. Yes I agree he goes a little over the top at time but as stated in an earlier post after he had his 15 mins of stupidity and Henry (yes Henry the captain) had a word with him, he was a lot better and never put a foot wrong all game. His job was not to be the creative spine of the team he was there to marshal the midfield which I believe he did very well.

The other 4 midfielders where the ones who should have been more involved in attacking and they failed in doing so. I will not lie I like Flamini I would go as far as saying he is one of my favoured players so I may be slightly bias but I feel he is a player that will keep on improving with time (you seem to agree with this) and I think he will become a valuable squad member to us.

the other four more involved in attacking play? Hleb was our man of the midfield. Quincy was trying but had a bad game, Larsson was actually pressing forward and getting into some nice supporting decision and Reyes well...the less said the better. but you're clearly bias.

The thing with me and Quincy is that i want him as another option when Pires/Ljungberg as playing like ****e, if he doesn't make it here then oh well (if he get's a fair chance) and that's my attitude. i'd like to see players like van Persie, Eboue, Cesc, Smith, Senderos make it here a hell of alot more than Quincy (who incidentally reminds me of Eugene Rose from Dream Team). Where as Flamini in my opinion tends to get in the way and it's not his fault, it's the managers, i just hope to God that the managers faith in Flamini isn't going to be the reason we don't buy in a first teamer to replace Gilberto.

 

[RammiXP]

, i just hope to God that the managers faith in Flamini isn't going to be the reason we don't buy in a first teamer to replace Gilberto.

Ow i totally agree with that, im not saying flamini is the answer too our problems but i feel he is better than gilberto. Gilberto needs to be replaced sooner rather than later and im very consistant in my dislike for gilberto i have never been a fan of his play. Him and cygan are the two player i have little time for.

 

[Rohit]

Din't get to watch the game but from the textual commentary it seemed like we were being pressed a lot.Everyone here is rating the CM's with respect to going forward and completing passes which obviously is important,but can anyone who watched the game throw some light on the defensive work of Larsson and Flamini in front of the back four as well as that of Lauren at LB and Eboue at RB.

Were Ajax unlucky not to score or were we pretty comfortable defending ???