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

[longrufus]

I cannot believe how some people watch the game with blinkers on. Fabregas, Hleb and Freddie did little to no defending today, so to expect Flamini to do the defensive work of 4 men is laughable. You cannot excuse Cesc's defending as his task is distributing the ball.

 

[KingReyes]

Lehmann - 6
a bit sloppy at times

Lauren - 6
good going forward a bit shaky at the back

Kolo - 7
Stopped everything and covered Sol's arse as well

Sol - 5
What the **** has happened to him? He made Cygan look awesome.

Cygan - 5
Meh

Freddie - 4
Makes better moves posing for Calvin Klein than on a football pitch

Cesc - 6.5
Some nice passes but once again overun in the middle

Flamini - 5
Back to doing what he knows best. Being average

Hleb - 5.5
Poor passing, too many touches.

RVP - 6
Can't do much when the midfield is ****.

Henry - 6
Look at RVP

 

[eddie_wills]

Jens - 6 - one awful pass, apart from that pretty commanding.

Lauren - 6- offered nothing going forward, rarely seemed to get into advanced positions, but solid defensively and used ball well.

Pasc - 5 - clumsy, some poor crosses, but defensively sound enough.

Sol - 5 - hit and miss, made some mistakes and got beaten in the air by smaller players far too often.

Kolo - 6.5 - Good first half, won a lot in the air, used the ball well, seemed up for it.

Freddie - 4 - Hasn't played well all season, cannot be considered a first teamer anymore. Can't beat his man, doesn't score goals, isn't tracking back anymore. What does he offer?

Hleb - 5.5 - Sporadic, some nice passes but some ridiculous clumsiness and a worrying unwillingness to clear his lines when on edge of area. Worked hard.

Flamini - 5 - was everywhere, but sadly much of the game passed him by. Didn't tackle enough, didn't make enough passes.

Fabregas - 6 - When he got the ball, used it positively and worked hard throughout. Was unlucky not to be more involved.

RVP - 3.5 - Not in the game at all, offered nothing. I like Robin, but this was bad.

Henry - 3.5 - Very poor. Didn't seem to care, just... didn't do anything.

 

[James]

Lehmann 6
Lauren 7
Toure 9
Campbell 6
Cygan 5
Ljungberg 2
Fabregas 4
Flamini 3
Hleb 2
Henry 3
RVP 3

 

[karan kansal]

Is it only me or does every one agree that once a player joins arsenal he forgets how to take shots from outside the box or head the ball?

I mean watching Hleb trying to find a non-existent option in the box is excruciating. Just take a goddamn shot!!! it may deflect in, it may get us a corner, it may get us a handball. Just do something with the freaking ball.

Damnit watching Joe Cole and Lampard score deflected goals is depressing enough. See your own team trying to walk the ball into the net every single match is downright messed up.

 

[nazo]

Lehmann: 6
lauren: 6
toure: 8
sol: 6
cygan: 5
ljungberg: 3
cesc: 6.5
flamini: 5
hleb: 4
rvp: 5
henry: 5

 

[IBL]

Really interesting reading the differing rates here.

Lehman 6 - OK apart from the dodgy pas first half

Lauren 6: Solid enough
Sol 6: Likewise
Toure 7: Thought he was our best player today.
Cygan 6: One of his better performances

Hleb 5.5: Tried but didnt offer anything
Flamini 5: Ineffetive
Cesc 5.5: Some good passes but struggled
Freddy 4: Apart from his shot did sod-all

Henry 4: Did not seem too interested
RvP 5: Tried but not involved enough

SUBS:
Reyes 6: offered something
Pires 5: Little impact
Bergkamp 5: Likewise

 

[Canadian Gooner]

Difficult game to watch, especially with hardly any offense being created. I think a tie was a fair result.

Lehmann - 6 - Scared me a few times in the first half but not bad overall.

Lauren - 6.5 - Worked hard defensively.

Toure - 7 - Great display, and probably our best man out there.

Sol - 6.5 - Played well, but you could see he had a hard time keeping up with the pace of the offside king.

Cygan - 4 - Cygan will always be cygan, but we have seen worse out of him.

Ljungberg - 3 - Couldn't do anything today. The only good thing he did was hit the crossbar and some might consider that shot lucky. I sure hope he doesnt play against ManUre.

Flamini - 4.5 - He just kind of seemed non-existant out there. And he blasted a good chance over the bar.

Cesc - 6 - He had an ok game. Nothing special, but nothing that hurt us.

Hleb - 3 - I thought he had a terrible game. He held onto the ball way to long and it disrupted all of our momentum going forward. He needs to pass a lot sooner. Maybe would have been a bit more effective in the middle, but that is a big maybe.

RvP - 5 - Didn't do much for us. He didn't get the service that he needs. I didn't even think he should have started after just coming back from an injury. Should have been a sub for the last 20 min of this game and starting against ManU.

Henry - 5.5 - Average performance. As a striker, he needs to play upfront more often, especially as most people consider him to be our main striker. Would have had a better game though if the midfield would have given better service.

Subs
Bergy - 5 - Couldn't get anything going

Pires - 5 - Same thing as Bergy. Had a nice one 2 with Reyes

Reyes - 6 - Did a lot more than Ljungberg did with the amount of time given. Worked really hard and hopefully he didn't start today so he is fit against ManU.

 

[RocktheCasbah]

Freddie should never again play for the first team.

I don't like saying it, but I'm really starting to get f'cked off by how crap he is.

 

[Mr. Hotshot]

Freddie should never again play for the first team.

I don't like saying it, but I'm really starting to get f'cked off by how crap he is.

EXACTLY!! I am fed up with the s***e that he's doing right now. If you read in my recent posts I have stated that Freddie should not play because he will waste everything that is given to him. Reyes should have taken his place.

 

[ccc]

Freddie should never again play for the first team.

I don't like saying it, but I'm really starting to get f'cked off by how crap he is.

kuijt would be a decent replacement for lunjberg. but I still can't figure out how freddie's form dropped so much this season. he is only 28, while looks like 5 years older than he actually is. wierd. and we got so many players injured this season. should we find a new team physician?

 

[bojed]

Is it only me or does every one agree that once a player joins arsenal he forgets how to take shots from outside the box or head the ball?

I mean watching Hleb trying to find a non-existent option in the box is excruciating. Just take a goddamn shot!!! it may deflect in, it may get us a corner, it may get us a handball. Just do something with the freaking ball.

Damnit watching Joe Cole and Lampard score deflected goals is depressing enough. See your own team trying to walk the ball into the net every single match is downright messed up.

FYI, it's wenger who gives out the order to play that way. bring the ball from the flanks. midfielders apply pressure in the center. play the ball little by little closing towards the penalty area. play around. walk the ball all over the penalty box. bring the ball as close as possible and wait for a break. anyone can take the risk to shoot but make sure it wont result in dispossession as it will mean counter attack by the opposition. this is what is called by "wengerball".

i got this from the world coaching seminar@forum.

although we will see nice build ups from this tactic but usually when the box is filled with 9-10 opposition players, how the hell are you going to score then?

oh yes headers, air balls and long shots are hardly recommended in this tactics.

sad eh?

our gameplay is kind of predictable ATM.

 

[Arsenal_Soldier]

God help our defense when Toure leaves.

 

[bojed]

God help our defense when Toure leaves.

push cygan into the center and let henry play as the LB. i think he has some good experience from covering cygan's area before

 

[OneProudGooner]

God help our defense when Toure leaves.

Ashley Cole will be back then stop being so pessimistic. It's not like Sol is playing like crap I'm kind of worried about Senderos.
Defensively okay even though our we didn't control the midfield well.

 

[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.

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?

Got it :wink:

 

[sabret00the]

Freddie should never again play for the first team.

I don't like saying it, but I'm really starting to get f'cked off by how crap he is.

i remember when you never felt like this, i like seeing you on the darkside.

i said the exact same words on the phone to my mate straight after the match.

 

[RocktheCasbah]

Me?


Maybe two years ago mate, but I was firmly on your side with this argument a long long time ago (in a galaxy far far away)...

 

[sabret00the]

Me?


Maybe two years ago mate, but I was firmly on your side with this argument a long long time ago (in a galaxy far far away)...

guess my minds playing up, must be all the trying to forget style liquor

 

[Anonymous]

Lehmann 6
Lauren 5
Toure 7
Campbell 7
Cygan 6
Ljungberg 5
Fabregas 5
Flamini 5
Hleb 6- PUT HIM AT CM
VanPersie 5
Henry 5