RSSReflections on Twente and player ratings
There was an odd moment up the far end right at the finish that you probably saw better on TV than I did at the game, but otherwise had nothing to do.
7
His usual solid self, tough in the tackle and got forward intermittently. It’s very hard to say a lot about his performances.
7
Got a goal and generally did fine.
7
I do prefer him to Senderos. I’d love to know Arsene’s true views on the centre-back situation.
7
Occasionally seemed almost impatient to get stuck in but was generally just his usual mad, endearing self.
7
Some wayward passes early on showed that his confidence is down. That happens and he is better than those off target balls. Got better as the game went on and set-up Bendtner with a lovely backheel.
6
For the West Brom game I wrote: “As he wheeled away after that goal you couldn’t help feeling that on the off chance Alex Hleb had got into that position, he’d still be fannying around.” No need to change it.
7
A stilted start but he came to life with an excellent assist for the first, what should have been one for RVP and then a well taken goal.
7.5
Usual composure and some surging run forwards without being at or needing to be at anything like his best.
7
In many ways he had one of those nights. But he also set-up the second with good work and scored the fourth. He and Ade even embraced after the goal.
6.5
That he is yet to find his range is not a worry for me. He will. Far more important is he appears fit. Missed one good chance but got involved heavily in the play, particularly before the break.
6.5
A few surging runs from Comrade. And the memorable: “Come to watch Eboue” chant.
6.5
Not very involved.
6
Much improved.
6.5
Arsenal 4 FC Twente 0
From Goodplaya at the Emirates
I’M going to start by pointing out that by beating FC Twente, we qualified for our 11th consecutive year of Champions League football.
I consider that fact to be a useful reminder of the bigger picture. Painful as defeat at Fulham was, there will come a time when we won’t finish inside the top four every year for over a decade.
In fact, before Arsene Wenger, we never had. And sometimes not even the great AC Milan do.
In the end it was very easy. But I left the Emirates pleased. The players had responded. Perhaps it had not been one of the great European displays but we had got an earlyish goal, killed the match on the night just after the break and then notched a couple more for players who could both do with a goal.
The easy answer was to say it was the return of Cesc that explained us being far better than Saturday. Not true.
We may have struggled on Saturday because we had no central midfield but the reason we were so absolutely turgid was because perfectly good players had an absolute stinker.
On Wednesday night they did not and on top of that Cesc offered us what Cesc offers, without needing to be anywhere near his most sublime.
After a start where he had once again played with his famous handbrake on, Theo Walcott accelerated away from his man and crossed low. When the ball came to Nasri he homed in on goal, got his shot away early and couldn’t care less that it rolled in after a deflection.
I think Alex Hleb used to treat football a bit like Quasar (or Laserquest). By that I mean he realised there were points to be had for standing in front of the opposition base station and shooting at it but considered torturing individual opponents far more rewarding.
In Quasar or Laserquest it often was. But not in football.
Nasri has no such problem and I apologise if that analogy either a) went over your head b) didn’t, but was tortuous anyway.
After the break Gallas stabbed in the second after deciding a minute or so earlier he fancied a goal. He seems to be able to do that.
I watched as he celebrated. Put it this way: if his team-mates really can’t stand him, some of them were doing a fairly remarkable job of pretending otherwise.
I should also add that where I sit (down by the singing section), dissent towards Gallas is non-existent. In fact, people rather like him and the sustained applause he offers the fans at the end of every home game.
Emmanuel Adebayor, on the other hand, is booed by a minority of fans (others make a point of singing his name).
Now, I’m very happy to offer my two cents on issues such as distribution of wealth, morality and greed. But I’ll do it either a) round the dinner table or b) at some public debate over it.
But I don’t go to Arsenal to do that.
I go to Arsenal very simply to see 11 men in red shirts score more goals than the 11 men in other coloured shirts. It’s a simple, almost pathetic pleasure. But that is why I go.
Of course, were we to put out 11 murderers, rapists and genocidal maniacs, I’d take issue with that and in all likelihood boo. But Adebayor is not one of those and while a gentle boo pre-season was fair enough, I struggle to see what positive it is going to achieve now.
Incidentally, the rumour Myles Palmer reported on Wenger being ready to sell Adebayor next summer and preferring Bendtner was one I’d heard on the grapevine too.
Booing wise, the same goes for Comrade Eboue, though I do think many of his boos were mistaken for disappointment at the withdrawal of Nasri and people just making the oooo sound like we used to for Kanu.
The third came from the much improved Theo. When he acts on instinct he thrives. When he thinks about it, he stalls.
And the fourth saw Denilson backheel for Bendtner to slot home.
I was pleased for both of them. Whatever you think of him Denilson is better than the stray passes and foul throws of Saturday and Wednesday night.
And the (few) ironic jeers that accompanied Bendtner successfully controlling after a sticky game were shameful frankly.
All in all, a good response. The draw is not easy, but it tends to be the supposedly simple ones that we frequently make the biggest hash of anyway.
Tomorrow it is the Geordies in a late kick-off at the Emirates. With Newcastle riding high and London poised to swelter in 27 deg temps and people drinking all day it should make for a good atmosphere and a more than decent spectacle.
29 August 2008 at 9:38 am
Goodplaya,
Do you think Song is a chance to start in midfield against Newcastle?
29 August 2008 at 10:12 am
I think Song SHOULD get a chance, but it will probably be Denilson and Cesc. Unless AW realises that Denilson may just need a little rest, he has played more than any other player this season
29 August 2008 at 10:46 am
Could be worth a go.
Personally I wouldn’t mind seeing Cesc and comrade Eboue.
29 August 2008 at 10:56 am
Is this goodplaya plumping for Eboue?
How the times are a changing.
29 August 2008 at 11:06 am
May I add that Steve Mclaren is a disgrace of a football manager.
The dugouts were right in front of where I was sitting: At 1-0 down (hence needing 3 goals), the Twente defence passed between themselves for 2 minutes and then returned the ball to their goalie. Mclaren clapped his approval, noted something in his notebook and sat down.
This continued for the rest of the game, they were absolutely clueless. I know teams don’t want to be humiliated and lose by 6 but this was negativity on another level.
This is a team who came 3rd in the Dutch League last season and have good players. They also have excellent fans.
I pity them that they have a manager so totally lacking in any sort of footballing ambition. How he ever became England manager beats me.
29 August 2008 at 11:57 am
I’m just curious to see how he links up with Cesc.
29 August 2008 at 1:52 pm
Re: Gallas
Six small years ago just before Abramovic came Chelsea were in dire financial straits and it was well noted in the press Wenger was going to purchase Gallas if he could and I was beside myself with delight about that, I thought the man was absolute quality.
Criticise his attitude, commitment, captaincy and ego all you want but as Goodplaya has pointed out he is an awesome defender and bloody good footballer. I didn’t like what happened at Birmingham but I can understand why and I’m not a boo boy. Maybe Cesc would be the better captain. Maybe he doesn’t need that pressure yet. Yes Gallas cocked up against Fulham. Good thing it wasn’t against Liverpool in the CL quarter finals or some of you would’ve called for his head and he’d be playing for AC Milan right now. Arsenal are better for acquiring him, make no mistake.
29 August 2008 at 2:05 pm
Great blogging again from Goodplaya.
The “mad” Clichy comment spot on. You could tell he really enjoyed that game. What a player!
I thought Song was more than just “improved”, I thought he was pretty impressive. He looked good against Fulham when he came on at the end too. I’d rather see him in the question mark position against Newcastle than I would Eboue and I reckon that’s what we’ll see.
That said, Eboue’s done so well of late that Wenger will be loathe to drop him. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him out right again for the Newcastle game. Ole Gunnar (with an e) Walcott on the bench?
29 August 2008 at 4:25 pm
Agree that booing one of your own is out of order.Having said that how Bendtner is given a mark of 6.5 is totally beyond me.Perhaps there was a slip of the keyboard and you actually meant0.5 which would be more realistic.Words cannot for me describe how in-competent and so not an Arsenal player he is.My wife could have scored his goal and his 2 assists were actually accidental assists.He may one day eke out a career with a team like Stoke or Hull but please,please not Arsenal.Half an hour of Vela the other night instead of the Dane would have been sensible,informative and quite possibly productive.
29 August 2008 at 4:39 pm
A refreshingly positive and articulate article, particularly the simplicity of the Fulham assessment- simply a poor performance not indicative of any deep-rooted problems or serious weaknesses.
Bendtner just looks rusty to me. Plus he was very unfortunate throughout the Twente match, yet showed strong character to keep going and get his reward of a goal. The much-maligned Denilson now has what- 3 assists in four matches…?
29 August 2008 at 5:15 pm
I think you will find that Gallas’ family/friends are in the box above that section of the crowd, hence his trips over to that corner. I sat in a similar seat to yours for 2 yrs before loaning it out!
Giving Almunia a 7 is, quite frankly ridiculous as the man is a liability in everything he does.
29 August 2008 at 5:35 pm
afc - fair enough!
29 August 2008 at 5:57 pm
Hi, Goodplaya
Fab article! And I agree 100% with your ratings and comments.
I also particularly agree with this:
“We may have struggled on Saturday because we had no central midfield but the reason we were so absolutely turgid was because perfectly good players had an absolute stinker.”
It is irritating me that in some quarters, the improvement was put down entirely to Cesc’s presence. He is definitely a talisman for the team, and he played well, but he wasn’t at the heart of everything good. I love Cesc to bits, but let’s not downplay other players’ contributions. On Saturday, the team that AW sent out was perfectly capable of getting a 1-0 or 2-1 victory against Fulham.
And like you, I would be quite interested to see Eboue and Cesc together. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if, after all the stick he gets, Eboue turned out to be our central midfield saviour!
29 August 2008 at 7:55 pm
It would be funny but as long as it works, I’m happy.
30 August 2008 at 12:48 am
What do you mean by Song was much improved? when did he play poorly? he played well when he came on in the Fulham game. Thats a bit confusing?
30 August 2008 at 2:24 am
Paul N,
I think Goodplaya made that comment about improvement in relation to Song’s entire Arsenal career - not the recent Fulham match.
The Africa Cup of Nations seems to have been the turning point for the young man - his confidence grew immensely. Prior to that his Arsenal career was unremarkable.
31 August 2008 at 6:36 am
Yes i agree he now has new confidense in him self !