Player Ratings - PL: Aston Villa vs Arsenal | 31/12/05

[Buhry]

Jens: 4. Shaky.

Lauren: 5. Good going forward.

Toure: 7. Saved our arses a couple of times.

Sol: 6. Ok.

Cygan: 2. Cygan.

Hleb: 3. A danger anywhere near our own defence. Made two nice trough balls.

Flamini: 3,5. Tried hard, but that was about it. Back to his usual mediocre self.

Cesc: 4,5. Our best midfielder, but he didnt have a great game. The rest of the midfield made it hard for him.

Ljungberg: Crap, crap, useless. Why is he on the pitch? He has lost his pace, and his goalscoring. That makes him useless.
0,5 - For the shot that hit the bar. Almost a lucky hit.

Henry: 3. Didnt look to interested in playing, nor going for goal.

VP: 4. Had a nice flick on for Flamini, and some sweet touches, but overall it wasnt his best performance.
He was denied by the linesman once again though. Clean trough, one on one with Sørensen, but in the refs opinion offside. A very wrong decision, he was clearly onside and he would have scored.

Wenger: 1. One point for starting Van Persie. (Edit Would have given him zero if he hadnt started Robin.

 

[kel varnsen]

come off it.


he's not a s**t player.

he wasn't at his best today, but he was better than most.

did i say he was a **** player? no, all i said was that he was crap today. which he was. in fact, i've defended flamini on this board previously.

 

[sabret00the]

Lehmann - 6 : The guy was solid in goal, but his distribution sucks and he lacked concentration.
Lauren - 6 : Got beat a few too many times for me, but was solid otherwise.
Toure - 6 : Was ok, tried to make things happen but just conceeded free kicks.
Campbell - 6 : Best performance all season really, he was vocal and tackled hard, saying that though, theirs A LONG way to go
Cygan - 5 : Caught outta position way too many times, though did have one or two moments
Fabregas - 6 : Was silenced and kept outta the game for large bouts, though when he was involed he was quite positive.
Flamini - 5 : i said after the pompey game, he'll give a brilliant performance, then 20 ****e ones. today really was the proclimation of that.
Hleb - 5 : Worst game yet really, i was really disappointed, his distribution was worse than ever and his concentration wasn't on this game.
Ljungberg - 0 : He was totally ****e, and our players persisted on trying to queue him up a few times instead of teeing it up for van Persie. trying to put him through cost us the game and if he had kept his position on the right wing we would've had shape and width and taken them to the cleaners.
Van Persie - 6 : Couldn't get involved, was greedy when he did get involved, if he had service, would've made the difference but he never got it.
Henry - 6 : he was playing favourites and made poor decisions, could've done alot better. still think he's carrying an injury.

Wenger - 4 : Theirs no real way you can justify keeping Freddie on while taking van Persie off, he was a ****ing joke today

 

[Wheelori]

come off it.


he's not a s**t player.

he wasn't at his best today, but he was better than most.

did i say he was a s**t player? no, all i said was that he was crap today. which he was. in fact, i've defended flamini on this board previously.

that's fair enough, but isn't everyone entitiled to a bad day?

he doesn't need jumping on from a great height for one less than perfect performance.

 

[Viper]

Jens: 4. Shaky.

Lauren: 5. Good going forward.

Toure: 7. Saved our arses a couple of times.

Sol: 6. Ok.

Cygan: 2. Cygan.

Hleb: 3. A danger anywhere near our own defence. Made two nice trough balls.

Flamini: 3,5. Tried hard, but that was about it. Back to his usual mediocre self.

Cesc: 4,5. Our best midfielder, but he didnt have a great game. The rest of the midfield made it hard for him.

Ljungberg: Crap, crap, useless. Why is he on the pitch? He has lost his pace, and his goalscoring. That makes him useless.
0,5 - For the shot that hit the bar. Almost a lucky hit.

Henry: 3. Didnt look to interested in playing, nor going for goal.

VP: 4. Had a nice flick on for Flamini, and some sweet touches, but overall it wasnt his best performance.
He was denied by the linesman once again though. Clean trough, one on one with Sørensen, but in the refs opinion offside. A very wrong decision, he was clearly onside and he would have scored.

Wenger: 1. One point for starting Van Persie.

1 point for starting Van Persie? Then who should've he started?! Van Persie needed a game since he was injured!

 

[Buhry]

What i meant to say Viper.. I would have given Wenger zero points if he hadnt started him.
I wanted Van Persie to start, but i wanted Pires and Jose out there aswell.
And, if one is going to make subs, then do it before the last minutes of the game..

 

[asajoseph]

That was, I have to say, the most bored I've been watching an Arsenal game in a long, long time. A reasonable performance from the defence, but absolutely nothing at all from the strikers and midfield. Too many people just didn't show up today, and the lack of anyone taking responsibility in the middle of the park in a game like this just shows that we are no longer a top class side.

Jens Lehmann - 6 - One horrendous miskick, one missed punch, and one or two moments when you thought he might do something stupid, but on the whole a reasonably solid game. Although if Villa could actually shoot on target, it might have been another story.

Lauren - 7 - MOTM - Not spectacular, but put in some good defensive work today, and was unruffled. The fact that he was our best player just about sums it up really.

Kolo - 6 - Reasonably solid, although struggled with Moore's strength from time to time

Campbell - 6 - Likewise, struggled somewhat with Baros, and as the most senior player was not commanding from Villa's corners. Helped hold a good line though, and kept Baros offside on a number of occasions. Put in some strong challenges too

Cygan - 4 - Done for pace several times, out of position several times, and some dreadful passes several times. Put in a few useful challenges, but as he's not a left-back, he provided nothing going forward, even if he tried to get into position to do so. Unlucky to get booked

Ljungberg - 4 - Provided absolutely nothing, apart from the shot off the bar. Not strong on the ball, and spent most of the game on his arse looking perplexed.

Flamini - 3 - The only conclusion I can come to about this guy is that he consistently plays well against Chelsea and in games that I can't watch. Other than that, whenever I do actually see him, he's ****e. Never looked like scoring our best chance, and generally didn't make himself available for passes through the whole game. Was noticable by his absence breaking up play in the middle of the park, was lucky not to get booked after 23 minutes, and probably would have if Rennie a) had not been playing advantage and b) was a proper referee. I wanted him to do well today, I really did, but I saw absolutely nothing from him, yet again.

Fabregas - 4 - Struggled to get involved throughout the match, and although he distributed it reasonably when he had it, he really provided little of any note. Had one shot from distance, that was encouraging to see him trying, even if it was poor.

Hleb - 4 - Despite one or two excellent turns in the middle, he just looked to be on a completely different wavelength from everyone else today. Looked frustrated by the fact that people were not running onto his passes, and probably rightly so, but he managed to give away even the simplest of passes today. NOT a good performance, and he needs to work on his understanding of his teammates.

Van Persie - 5 - Really struggled to get involved, but at least he showed a willingness to shoot. Set himself up for one with an excellent touch 5 yards outside the penalty area, and was unlucky to be called offside in the first half when he was clean through, but looked like he was missing a lot of his sharpness

Henry - 4 - Had absolutely no touch today whatsoever. Did not play the captains role, struggled to control passes coming into him, and was generally completely uneffective.

Subs -

Bergkamp - 4 - Showed a little strength when he came on, and a couple of nice touches around the halfway line, but other than that offered absolutely nothing in the way of penetration.

Pires - 4 - Same old, same old Pires. No threat whatsoever, and passed to Reyes on the edge of the area when he should have shot himself.

Reyes - 6 - At least looked willing and able to have a go once he came on, trying to use his pace, but didn't really have long enough to make much of an impression.



All in all, an incredibly drab performance. I'm glad I didn't bother going up to Birmingham to watch it.

 

[siddharth]

The players were so crap that giving them rating is a token of appreciation. We had absolutely No desire to win and that is unacceptable. All this wenger talk of we are getting back to our best is total bullshit. We are in some serious trouble and wenger better do something about it.

I don't understand what wenger saw in ljunberg to give him a 4 year deal. The guy is past it and he's worse than an below average Pires. We need someone to tell wenger that Henry should be substituted when he's crap. Also Wenger IMO got it completely wrong with the starting XI. He should have started with Reyes and Pires.I also disagree about starting with van persie. Yes he's been in some great form but he's coming back from injury so bringing him in the 2nd half would have been a better thing.

Our problems are being compounded with Henry dropping too deep and playing in the bergkamp role and as a result we are struggling to score goals. There is no arguing the fact that we are just being over run in the midfield.

A average defence , poor midfield and an ineffective prolific scorer is a very disturbing and a worrying sight. :?

 

[ccc]

Jens: 4. Shaky.

Lauren: 5. Good going forward.

Toure: 7. Saved our arses a couple of times.

Sol: 6. Ok.

Cygan: 2. Cygan.

Hleb: 3. A danger anywhere near our own defence. Made two nice trough balls.

Flamini: 3,5. Tried hard, but that was about it. Back to his usual mediocre self.

Cesc: 4,5. Our best midfielder, but he didnt have a great game. The rest of the midfield made it hard for him.

Ljungberg: Crap, crap, useless. Why is he on the pitch? He has lost his pace, and his goalscoring. That makes him useless.
0,5 - For the shot that hit the bar. Almost a lucky hit.

Henry: 3. Didnt look to interested in playing, nor going for goal.

VP: 4. Had a nice flick on for Flamini, and some sweet touches, but overall it wasnt his best performance.
He was denied by the linesman once again though. Clean trough, one on one with Sørensen, but in the refs opinion offside. A very wrong decision, he was clearly onside and he would have scored.

Wenger: 1. One point for starting Van Persie.

1 point for starting Van Persie? Then who should've he started?! Van Persie needed a game since he was injured!

if AW didn't start , he would get 0. did I get it? Buhry?

 

[RammiXP]

To question Flamini (kel Varnsen) ''was he even out there today?'' is just f*n idiotic.

the guy is still learning his trade, he's not going to be able to carry the team on his own yet.

'learning his trade'? who gives a s**t. he was useless today, end of.

bollocks was he, he made some good tackles, got behind their back line on one occasion, and the fact he's not a goalscorer showed, when he just lacked that composure to fniish the opportunity.

he's one guy who never gives up, he isn't afraid to put a foot in.

he didn't make a single 'good tackle', gave the ball away on numerous occations and looked like a fool out there. our central midfield was completely crushed by villa. flamini offered absolutely nothing to the team today. s**t defending, s**t attacking...

I fail to see what game you were watching the guy made the best run of the game and had the best chance of the first half (for us anyway) how that is useless i do not know, had Fabregas done that you would have been praising the guy.

The whole of the team was crap, no one individual played well, the only people who get any credit in my eyes are Toure and Campbell as they did there job reasonably well, but otherwise it was just a shocking game all round from a team who just won 4-0 against Portsmouth. I just don't understand our team at the moment, how we can go from amazing to mediocre in one match I do not know. It’s like we have two different sides playing at times. Im lost for words and it hurts too much to think about it.

P.S. Just to add, why i felt the need to reply about Flamini is because I do not understand how he deserves any more criticism than any of the other players on the pitch. I just feel he had no better or worse a game than anyone on the pitch apart from Toure and Campbell and for him to be seen in such light I feel is a little unfair as it was the lack of a team that was the problem today not an individual.

 

[asajoseph]

The reason Flamini get's so much focus upon him at the moment, is that he's currently an extremely contentious topic on this board. He made one excellent run (not the best of the game though), but his finish from that chance was worse than schoolboy. Other than that, he was actually invisible for the majority of the time he was on the field, not breaking up the play when Villa were attacking, and not making himself available to recieve passes when we had it.

He had a good game against Chelsea, and by all accounts was good against Pompey too (I did not see the full match, but some excellent passing was shown for two of the goals), but today, he was absolutely useless, along with Freddie, Thierry and one or two others. I am still, far, far from convinced that this kid has what it takes to make it at Arsenal.

 

[sharpgunner]

I really want Flamini to do well especially after his last 2 games.

But around the 60th to 70th min, there was this incident when i saw him challenge Bakke 1 on 1. Flamini was totally outplayed, out muscled by the aston villa player.

That against a very average or even below average EPL midfielder is a very disapointing sight.

 

[RammiXP]

I really want Flamini to do well especially after his last 2 games.

But around the 60th to 70th min, there was this incident when i saw him challenge Bakke 1 on 1. Flamini was totally outplayed, out muscled by the aston villa player.

That against a very average or even below average EPL midfielder is a very disapointing sight.

but so were henry, helb, fab and freddie. Once again i fail to see where people are coming from this was a crap performance all over the pitch explain to me what fab did better than flam which was of real contribution. You may argue he passed better but i would argue flamini was better at breaking up play.

The game was drew on the wings, i ask all of you to watch the game again and maybe you will actually see that aston villa's best chances came from wide and very little if any went through the middle so how the blame can be put on a midfield pair that really only lacked attacking attributes i do not know?

 

[asajoseph]

I didn't see Flamini breaking up play at all today, to be honest. Villa were able to attack through the middle almost with impunity, and even when he did get stuck in he was turned like a kebab by such premiership greats as Erik Bakke.

As for Hleb, yes, he looked like he was on a completely different wavelength half the time, and gave away some ridiculously simple balls, but he also produced a few of the games (few) good moments. He set off on a fantastic 1-2 combination with Henry down the left wing in the first half, and made some excellent turns in the middle of the park. Not a great performance at all, but that was because of inconcsistency, not general mediocrity.

 

[sharpgunner]

I really want Flamini to do well especially after his last 2 games.

But around the 60th to 70th min, there was this incident when i saw him challenge Bakke 1 on 1. Flamini was totally outplayed, out muscled by the aston villa player.

That against a very average or even below average EPL midfielder is a very disapointing sight.

but so were henry, helb, fab and freddie. Once again i fail to see where people are coming from this was a crap performance all over the pitch explain to me what fab did better than flam which was of real contribution. You may argue he passed better but i would argue flamini was better at breaking up play.

The game was drew on the wings, i ask all of you to watch the game again and maybe you will actually see that aston villa's best chances came from wide and very little if any went through the middle so how the blame can be put on a midfield pair that really only lacked attacking attributes i do not know?

exactly, Flamini's role was to break up play. And he was'nt able to do that today. Even against Bakke, he was totally dominated.

 

[longrufus]

The only positive i can see from this game is that it shows wenger what is clearly missing from the team.
Firstly a physical presence in midfield. We were so poor in the challenge today it was unreal, not to mention the number of times players were simply pushed off the ball.
Secondly, leadership. This was severly lacking today, when the younger players are struggling the more expeirenced players should be keeping them right. This game needed a captains performance, and it only highlighted Henry is no captain.
Thirdly, Freddie is past it. Possibly the worst performace of a player in an arsenal shirt since stepanovs against united. Apart from his shot he did absolutely nothing for 78mins. Eboue should be starting ahead of him.

 

[RammiXP]

For my own sanity i may have to re-watch this match cause i just can't re-call any real clear cut chance which went through the middle of our team. i felt all the sapce villa got was on the wings. Had millner been able to cross along with Davis this game could have been a whole lot worse. However i never felt scared when either bakke or McCann got the ball as they would just pass it wide.

 

[champions04]

The only positive i can see from this game is that it shows wenger what is clearly missing from the team.
Firstly a physical presence in midfield. We were so poor in the challenge today it was unreal, not to mention the number of times players were simply pushed off the ball.
Secondly, leadership. This was severly lacking today, when the younger players are struggling the more expeirenced players should be keeping them right. This game needed a captains performance, and it only highlighted Henry is no captain.
Thirdly, Freddie is past it. Possibly the worst performace of a player in an arsenal shirt since stepanovs against united. Apart from his shot he did absolutely nothing for 78mins. Eboue should be starting ahead of him.

Agree with that last part, at least Eboue can do what Freddie definately isn't doing....getting past a player!!!

 

[sharpgunner]

For my own sanity i may have to re-watch this match cause i just can't re-call any real clear cut chance which went through the middle of our team. i felt all the sapce villa got was on the wings. Had millner been able to cross along with Davis this game could have been a whole lot worse. However i never felt scared when either bakke or McCann got the ball as they would just pass it wide.

The reason why no threat came from the middle was because both McCann and Bakke are not offensive players. They break up our play, manage to fend off any challenges from our DM, ie Flamini in the middle and spray the passes to the wide players.

In this sense, they were very effective. We needed Flamini to try to win the ball, hold the ball and release to the offensive players. But he could not even do the former.

Cesc has the task of distributing the ball. I think he did a decent job today.

 

[october74uk]

all i will say is that the performance was dissapointing. I thought for the last 5 minutes we gave up. Players were shaking their heads even before the final whistle.

Flamini..i didn't even know he was playing! Seriously he went missing.
Cygan.. well it's obvious he is not a Left-Back but who else does Wenger play in there. You could tell that Henry really didn't want to pass to him , which is a shame as we are known for our left wing attacking play.Cole or even Clichy are badly missed.

And finally Henry ..i like the guy & i think on his game he is one of the best , if not the best striker in the world BUT all he did today & far to often for my liking is shrug his shoulders , shake his head and look down instead of geting in there , mixing it up and trying to make things happen.Try to get his team going. He didn't do any of those things today.

Now that just might be the way he is..his body language etc... but it doesn't inspire your players, since he is supposed to be the Captain.

Wengers subs didn't work today, apart from Reyes. Bobby & Dennis just don't strike fear into opposition sides anymore.

Bring on Man utd..well we can't play any worse. 1- Nil to the gunners.