I don't know how many of you regularly read Football365.com , but it's always interesting whether you agree with what's said or not.
They're not Arsenal's biggest fans, but on the other hand they aren't anyone's biggest fans and are always pretty much as neutral as is possible. So basically they revel in taking the piss out of ALL teams!
Anyway, here our the ratings they gave our players yesterday:
Manuel Almunia
It would be harsh to criticise the Spaniard over Drogba's second goal considering that he is one of the few Arsenal players who has not under-performed over the past month. Widely tipped to be revealed as the weak link in Arsenal's title challenge ever since he took Jens Lehmann's place, Almunia has in fact proved to be one of the unexpected success stories of the season and has been blameless during the Gunners' collapse.
Rating: Six
Bacary Sagna
Adding insult to injury is the theory that the twisted ankle Sagna suffered was the turning point of a match that his header would have otherwise won.
Rating: Six
Kolo Toure
At fault for Drogba's second goal and shaky in general. Toure hasn't played well since his return from the African Nations Cup and it is no exaggeration to state that Philippe Senderos (who, of course cannot be mentioned without the words 'much' and 'maligned' also appearing nearby) would currently inspire more confidence.
A temporary compromise would be for Toure to take Sagna's place (provided he does not recover in time) at right-back next weekend while Senderos is paired with Gallas in expectation of another long ball barrage at Bolton.
Rating: Four
William Gallas
Talked the talk beforehand but couldn't cope with Drogba and was as much at fault for Chelski's first goal as Toure was for the second. It's equally fair to assume that Manchester United's centre-half pairing wouldn't have been caught short in such circumstances.
Rating: Five
Gael Clichy
Stuck manfully to the task of containing Cole and was powerless to prevent the two goals conceded.
Rating: Six
Emmanuel Eboue
Arsene Wenger's patience with a player who is as profligate in possession as he is irritating in behaviour must be on the verge of snapping. With Tomas Rosicky rarely fit, Alex Hleb reputedly talking to Inter Milan and both Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott unconvincing, the recruitment of new wingers must be Wenger's priority this summer. If he can be persuaded to spend some money, that is.
Rating: Five
Mathieu Flamini
Typically effective and industrious, the Frenchman was one of the most influential players on view until Avram Grant instructed his team to bypass the midfield.
Rating: Seven
Cesc Fabregas
Not at his fluent best, although one of his passes - a through ball to Alex Hleb that dissected the Chelski defence - was the best of the entire afternoon. As with Flamini, Fabregas could do with a rest. The only problem is that Arsenal's first reserve in such circumstances would be Gilberto Silva.
Rating: Seven
Robin van Persie
Unsurprisingly, Van Persie is still short of his best following what was essentially a six-month lay-off. More surprising was Wenger's ploy of using him as a left-winger at Stamford Bridge. The Arsenal manager has a preference for a 4-5-1 formation in Europe and using Van Persie as a winger would spare Wenger a choice between him and Adebayor. But the Dutchman remains best suited to the role of striker and Wenger may have erred in not pitching Alex Hleb in direct confrontation with Essien.
Rating: Six
Alex Hleb
Deployed centrally and caused Chelski a few concerns without ever providing convincing proof that Wenger's tactical rejig can inspire Champions League success. As with Arsenal overall, the Belarusian has faded in the second half of the season.
Rating: Six
Emmanuel Adebayor
Well shackled by Terry, reports in February that Adebayor was ready to become the new Drogba can now be disregarded.
Rating: Five
Player Ratings from yesterday from Football365.
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Red Gunner
- Posts: 5778
- Joined: Sun Nov 18, 2007 6:25 pm
- Location: London
I agree with the ratings in general. This bit about Eboue is so true:
Arsene Wenger's patience with a player who is as profligate in possession as he is irritating in behaviour must be on the verge of snapping. With Tomas Rosicky rarely fit, Alex Hleb reputedly talking to Inter Milan and both Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott unconvincing, the recruitment of new wingers must be Wenger's priority this summer. If he can be persuaded to spend some money, that is.
Anyone can see it expect him. Or maybe he can see it but just doesn't want to spend
Arsene Wenger's patience with a player who is as profligate in possession as he is irritating in behaviour must be on the verge of snapping. With Tomas Rosicky rarely fit, Alex Hleb reputedly talking to Inter Milan and both Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott unconvincing, the recruitment of new wingers must be Wenger's priority this summer. If he can be persuaded to spend some money, that is.
Anyone can see it expect him. Or maybe he can see it but just doesn't want to spend
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samstrange
- Posts: 340
- Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:25 pm
- Location: Peterborough
- Contact:
They do generally talk sense on that site.
The 'winners and losers' thing they do every weekend is my favourite part, this is some of the recent Arsenal related stuff:
Arsenal
Still, looking on the bright side, Gilberto Silva has promised/threatened (delete according to your knowledge of football) to leave in the summer. Now they only need a borderline offside decision to go in their favour, a goalkeeper who occasionally saves a shot, a left winger who isn't injury prone and victory at a ground where the hosts haven't been beaten in four years to convince the doubters they are still genuine title contenders. Otherwise, they could end the week out of a title race they led by five points just three weeks ago.
Emmanuel Adebayor
At a rough count, the Arsenal striker has been denied five legitimate goals this season due to the mistakes of flag-carrying officials. The 'goal' he scored against Boro was of a different ilk with a linesman flagging him offside for a pass that was actually completed by George Boateng in full view of referee Mike Halsey. So why didn't it stand?
In his post-match press conference, Arsene Wenger revealed: "The referee explained to me that the intention of our player was to play the ball to one of our players, who was offside, so the deflection of the ball doesn't count anymore. I didn't know that but, at least I learned something today."
The first thing to check is whether that was indeed Halsey's explanation. The second is whether his interpretation of the rulebook is correct. If the answer to the first matter is 'yes' but 'no' for the second then his position as a league referee will be untenable.
It's a damning indictment of the law-makers that such a simple concept as offside has become so complicated. Years ago, men used to amuse themselves explaining the law to the fairer sex. These days, even football managers don't understand it. Worse still, judging by events in Manchester on Sunday, it is unclear whether the law is clear to its executioners.
The 'winners and losers' thing they do every weekend is my favourite part, this is some of the recent Arsenal related stuff:
Arsenal
Still, looking on the bright side, Gilberto Silva has promised/threatened (delete according to your knowledge of football) to leave in the summer. Now they only need a borderline offside decision to go in their favour, a goalkeeper who occasionally saves a shot, a left winger who isn't injury prone and victory at a ground where the hosts haven't been beaten in four years to convince the doubters they are still genuine title contenders. Otherwise, they could end the week out of a title race they led by five points just three weeks ago.
Emmanuel Adebayor
At a rough count, the Arsenal striker has been denied five legitimate goals this season due to the mistakes of flag-carrying officials. The 'goal' he scored against Boro was of a different ilk with a linesman flagging him offside for a pass that was actually completed by George Boateng in full view of referee Mike Halsey. So why didn't it stand?
In his post-match press conference, Arsene Wenger revealed: "The referee explained to me that the intention of our player was to play the ball to one of our players, who was offside, so the deflection of the ball doesn't count anymore. I didn't know that but, at least I learned something today."
The first thing to check is whether that was indeed Halsey's explanation. The second is whether his interpretation of the rulebook is correct. If the answer to the first matter is 'yes' but 'no' for the second then his position as a league referee will be untenable.
It's a damning indictment of the law-makers that such a simple concept as offside has become so complicated. Years ago, men used to amuse themselves explaining the law to the fairer sex. These days, even football managers don't understand it. Worse still, judging by events in Manchester on Sunday, it is unclear whether the law is clear to its executioners.
