Ratings vs The Arsenal

[shaqTHFC]

Thought Defoe looked sharper after he came on today than he has done through most of December and January before he picked up his injury; was very impressed with his performance off the bench.

I was hoping that the month or so off would end up rejuvenating him after a great start to the season. If he can chip in with some goals and take some of the burden off of Bale then 2nd place is on imo.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

Who was supposed to be marking the German bloke for the scum goal?? Saw Verts picking him up after the goal. Did he lose him for the goal?

btw the scum supporters seemed very upset after the whistle outside the park lane lol , shame

Maybe the tide has turned.....

 

[Francis Gibbs]

Lloris 8
Walker 8
Daws 8
Verts 9
BAE 7
Lennon 8
Parker 7
Dembele 8
Sig 7
Bale 7
Adebayor 3

 

[The Apprentice]

lloris - 8 - absolute class. First class golie we've had the Lane since I've been a fan (94)
Walker - 8 - Didnt put a foot wrong. Anyone who says othersie is being a ****
BAE - wasteful in possesion but kep Walnut quieter than a cheeky fart in bed.
Dawson - 8 - Majestic. When Kaboum gets fit, we are going to be the richest Centrre Back merchants in the league.
Verts - 9 - Amusing because all my Gonn **** mates thought he was our weak link. Defends on anticpitation and insticnt. Love him.
Lennon - 8 - Anonymous fior a long time but marks for a cheeky finish
Siggy - 8 - So fucking pleased for him. Grafted, workd, loved, tried, great through ball. Give him time and nurture and he could be special.
Parker - 8 - . Boss. Made me not miss Sandro.
Dem bers - 8 - Ran Wilshere. End of story.
Bale - 8 - Born to play for Spurs
Ade - Pathetic - 6

I have massive respect for what Redschanpps di for Spurs but todays game completley soldified what AVB brings us. We defend 'properly' and break 'appropriately'.

Proper team, deserved success.

Fucky you Gooners

 

[WiganSpur]

Lloris 7.5
Walker 7
Vertonghen 8.5
Dawson 8
BAE 7
Parker 6.5
Dembele 7.5
Lennon 7.5
Bale 7.5
Sigurdsson 7
Adebayor 5
Defoe 6
Livermore 10

 

[ShelfSide18]

Absolutely huge win today. Don't completely buy the hype, Arsenal aren't as poor as a lot are making out, they have some excellent footballers playing in a defined style, but as a club they are falling the wrong side of the small margins that we are making a habit out coming out on the right side of recently. I think Wenger's shelf-life is probably up at Arsenal, and they need some fresh impetus and ideas to rejuvenate the club, but we still had to beat a good side today, with some dangerous players and ignoring the CL and Fa Cup defeats, on a good run of EPL form.

Ultimately I don't like seeing us have 40% of the ball at home and playing on the break, but whilst last season when we allowed Arsenal so much ball at home we had VDV and Mod in the side I wasn't happy, it is slightly different this year. Dawson acknowledged at the end of the game that we didn't keep the ball as well as we can and should, but what separates us from previous years is our excellent off the ball work, organisation and now after our early season wobbles - concentration, essential for when you drop deep like we did in the second half. I'm not sure how considered this was, was it a natural caution or was it that AVB saw that our high line looked a little vulnerable first half which is to expected when Theo Walcott is about. It would have been nice to have been able to keep the ball better (73% team accuracy is pretty poor tbh), but credit to them they pressed us well but that drew them nicely up the pitch which we took full advantage of - it showed Wenger as what he is, an excellent coach but not a particularly great tactician at times. I suppose though when you don't have the very, very best players all over the pitch, as a coach you need to be a bit more pragmatic and adaptable, and AVB so far has shown he is willing to compromise a little on his preferred style of play, something Wenger has always struggled with - we want to have the ball and be the side who takes the initiative, but since we lost 2 world class CMs who could dominate most other midfield's I suppose you have to show a little pragmatism in games like this.

One last thing was the atmosphere today, incredible, a lot of games now can feel a little drab probably because we are used to winning more often, but today was a real cauldron, and hopefully we can ramp it up a bit on Thursday against Inter.

Lloris Top, proactive goalkeeping.
Walker Some of his panicked, hopeful passing was dreadful - but thought he defended well and seems like he's been ill this week via his twitter so fair play to the kid.
Ekotto There was one occasion he went missing I believe, but generally very good and played with an intensity he sometimes lacks.
Dawson Excellent game, one of his best in a Spurs shirt.
Verthongen Best way to come back from a few sub par games, oozes class on the ball, read the game well and that tackle on Giroud was a thing of beauty, a first class mugging of the ball.
Parker As I always say, the positives he contributes nearly always outweigh the negatives - and one of his major criticisms which I find odd is that he is worse than Sandro on the ball. I disagree, and Sandro (as much as I love the guy) doesn't see that pass for Lennon.
Dembele Better performance, hope his knock isn't serious.
Lennon Excellent work rate, lovely run and finish and he continues to rack up an impressive array of important big game goals.
Bale Lovely finish, worked hard but Arsenal generally shackled him well.
Siggy He rarely sees much of the ball, but is very productive when he gets it - his eye for a pass is pretty sharp and it was a lovely assist for Bale. He's finding his feet now and, for me, is ahead of Dempsey. Find it hard to criticise a player being unselfish and putting the team's glory ahead of personal glory, but for the love of god just tuck that away Gylf.
Adebayor - Worked hard, don't underestimate the importance of his run for the first goal which dragged a defender away...but... has been pretty toilet recently if truth be told. Needs a goal, needs the fans to get behind him.

Defoe Lovely bit of work to set Siggy away, think he was a little lazy and seemed to exchange a bit of verbal with AVB at one point, maybe AVB was pulling him up on that?
Livermore & Gallas Sublime

Love it.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Top top post SS18. Triffic.

 

[OmarsComing]

shelfside why have you stopped giving numeric ratings?

 

[OmarsComing]

Who was supposed to be marking the German bloke for the scum goal?? Saw Verts picking him up after the goal. Did he lose him for the goal?
.

Ade

 

[RichSpur58]

8 Lloris - Not alot to do, but did everything right. Very quick off his line.
7 BAE - did well, few heart in mouth moments
7 Walker - worked hard, defended well
8 Dawson - solid, great in the air
9 Vertonghen - calm, assured, some nice dribbles
8 - Sigurdsson - did well, got more into the game as it went on
7 - Dembele - not his greatest game, needs to move the ball quicker
8 - Parker - though his and Dembele's imobility against Cazorla and Wilshire was gonna cost us, but he cam into the game more after 30 mins and did well
8 Lennon - worked hard, was a threat, but not many balls went through
8 Bale
6 Adebayor - not at his best


Subs
8 Defoe
10 Livermore
7 Gallas

 

[Don_Felipe]

Magnificent all-round team performance.

Fully understand anyone who gives MotM to Vertonghen but it was Walker for me. Simply magnificent. Worth watching again. He was so, so good at staying on his feet and using his body. I've never seen him play so intelligently. His use of the ball was first class and he was even better defending than with the ball. That's AVB and the staff coaching him, because he was a mess six months ago. I'd absolutely say he deserves MotM, even over SuperJan.

Third time I've hit the wrong icon on my phone... Need to stop

Totally agree.. Walker has been worrying every other time I've seen him this season, but was really impressed today.

 

[Blake Griffin]

vertonghen
dawson
lennon
parker
lloris
walker
bale
sigurdsson
dembele
ekotto
ade

 

[Dezzydez]

Agree with the Vertonghen scores and sentiment..seriously majestic today, with skill thrown in. We are building our foundations for the future with him,Caulker and Kaboul. Dawson stayed and fought for his place so glad he did and it paid off today.

 

[idontgetit]

What actually happened when Dawson flipped out at the ref? I thought we had won the ball and was expecting us to kick it straight out so Ade could get treatment and suddenly they had the ball back and we were going mental. Did they actually intercept a ball that was being kicked out?

 

[idontgetit]

Parker's passing was a bit schizophrenic today. Sublime pass for the goal but a lot of spinning in circles with his head down and releasing the ball to where a player used to be. Rest of his game was excellent though

 

[Nocando]

What actually happened when Dawson flipped out at the ref? I thought we had won the ball and was expecting us to kick it straight out so Ade could get treatment and suddenly they had the ball back and we were going mental. Did they actually intercept a ball that was being kicked out?

I thought exactly the same but the camera went away so couldn't see. The commentators didn't pick up on that if it was and thought he was just moaning for them not putting it out.

 

[JimmyG2]

Lloris............8..Safe as maisons that boy. Good handling and brave too.​

Walker.........7..Decent game all round. Real Madrid your 'avin a larf​

Daws ........8.5..Gutsy boy. I just like his spirit and attitude.​

Verts.........8.5..More style than Daws. Better performance than of late.​

BAE .............7..Typical BAE but good enough under stress.​

Lennon.........8..Some very telling runs apart from the goal. He scores:we win.​

Parker...........7..Superb ball for Lennon's goal. Not back to his best. More controlled.​

Dembele........7..Bit more like it today.​

Sig................7..Bottled the goal effort but good on the ball again. Great pass for Bale's goal.​

Adebayor.......4..Just doesn't look like scoring. Good run for Bale's goal.​

Defoe.............7..Not on long but looked lively. Great pass for Siggy's non attempt.​

Livermore.......He plays; we win​

 

[mpickard2087]

Thank fuck for that. I would have taken any sort of win today, and so it turned out really. I didn't think we played very well today for large parts but took the two chances in the first half and then put in enough of a shift defensively to see them off in the second half.

The two goals were gifts in all truth, but they still had to be well executed. Make the run, see the pass, make the pass and then a calm finish. All boxes ticked there, job done.

Their goal was a bit disappointing I have to say, so early in the half it gave them a foothold and put us under pressure. It was a silly freekick to give away in the first place and then Adebayor and Bale both have some fault in it. Mertesacker drifted off of Ade yes, but that front post role Bale has is crucial. Nothing is meant to get passed him and thats two goals in 10 days now where he has been beaten pretty easily in all truth. If he is going to do that job he has to do it better really and be prepared to put his head in where it hurts.

Lloris and the back four had good games, were alert and dealt with any moments of danger for the most part. Vertonghen has now had a couple of good games recently and seems to be finding form again after his winter lull. He read the game well and made some very nice interceptions. There were times where Arsenal nearly got in behind but we were saved by a poor touch, and I still think we need a bit more communication and someone marshalling that defence, but it was a pretty good day at the office for those guys today.

In front of them we had players who worked their socks off and for the most part played a very disciplined game in order to get in behind the ball and protect the defence. They wern't spectacular but they did enough of a job. Parker and Dembele didn't have the best of games individually but battled away and Lennon/Sigurdsson (and then Bale when Sigurdsson flagged a bit around the hour mark) on the flanks did pretty well at tracking back and helping the fullbacks. You have to give a lot of credit to AVB here, he is getting a lot more work out of certain players, and I don't know how he does it but I am impressed. Honestly didn't think it was possible in some cases.

However we did look decidedly second best when it came to ball retention and the ease and tempo with which they zipped it round was far superior to ours at times. In particular making a forward pass at times seems really difficult for us, I watched the game with my old man and at one point in the first half he counted two consecutive spells of possession, one where we had 17 sideways or backwards passes and then another with 21, both times we eventually gave the ball away and within 6-8 passes Arsenal had taken the ball in defence and had moved it through midfield and gone forward. I think the difference between the two teams showed where there is room for improvement with this team. I say it every week, pass and move, we ain't comfortable with it yet.

Having said that, as a footnote... the chance Bale put over the bar in the second half was in my opinion the best move we have put together all season by some distance. We went length of the pitch, some nice one touch passing at a real tempo, dragged them around, switched the play nicely... just missing the finish. I want to see more of this!!

Because of the issue with retaining the ball, Bale and Adebayor struggled to get involved. It's not necessarily their fault if others can't find them higher up the pitch. Adebayor in particular seemed to get fouled every single time the ball did eventually find its way to him, so don't know what people expected him to do? He drew a foul, job done in some respects. Both worked pretty hard and chased down, and Bale even went and did a good job as almost a left wing back later on in the game.

One final thing, another communication based observation here, we do make the game harder for ourselves than we have to a lot of the time. I lost count of the number of times today when the ball was in the air and one of our players just headed it 10 yards forward back to them, when he had players around him who he could just nod it down to if they just gave him a shout. Its also the same when the ball comes towards someone and they just hook it forward again up the pitch when they have time. Just talk to each other guys! Let the man on the ball know whats happening.

Lloris 7 - Not a lot to do, smartly off his line as ever.

Walker 7 - Some Walkerisms as per, but part of a good defensive effort today.

Dawson 7 - Good game.

Vertonghen 8 - Ditto plus that bit more.

Ekotto 7 - Not too bad, seemed to have instruction to close any space between him and Vertonghen that Walcott could exploit and did this pretty well.

Dembele 6.5 - Individually not great, but played his part and put in a good shift for the cause

Parker 7 - As above, plus a bit extra marks wise for the assist.

Lennon 7 - Nice finish, didn't see a whole lot of ball but lively enough with the stuff he did have. Put in a good shift defensively.

Bale 7 - Even quieter, probably saw less ball than anyone, but put in a good shift for the team. Composed finish, as good as any striker.

Sigurdsson 6.5 - Given time and space he can use the ball, in tighter areas or under pressure not so much. And I still don't think he gets into the game often enough. But credit to him he helped out Ekotto a lot particularly first half, but he did seem to fade after the hour though. A nice pass for the opening goal, but should have made the game safe!

Adebayor 5.5 - He doesn't look a goal threat, but he worked hard enough and made an unselfish run to open up the space for the first goal. He really suffers from us not being able to manipulate the ball around in the final third well enough and I think he has instruction from AVB not to wander as much and to stay up top and be a focal point and only come to life in and around the penalty box. In other words, seems incompatible to the game we are playing right now. I wouldn't say its all his fault.

Subs:

Defoe - One good run to set up Sigurdsson when he came on. Apart from that I can't remember much.

Livermore 9.9 - For coming on and treading on an ankle.

Gallas 10 - For the smug smile alone.

 

[Huddlestone22]

Lloris 6 - By no means is 6 a bad rating, it was just that on reflection he didn't really have a lot of saves to make, so good off his line though and I'm delighted we've got a keeper of his caliber.

Walker 6 - Defensively was spot on, was blocking the ball out well and composed in that sense. Wasn't keen on his distribution of the ball which made it hard for the team to retain possession, other than that good.

Dawson 8 - Tough to pick MOTM between him and Vertonghen, however he was rock solid at the back and apart from the set piece they created very little because of our composed defenders.

Vertonghen 9 MOTM - Maybe his best performance, which is saying something as he's had a great first season (slight dip in form lately though). Fantastic on the ball and made some vital and quality tackles.

Ekotto 6 - A lot better from Benny, he got caught out a few times but was generally well composed, similar distribution issues as Walker but I loved his knock out to Lennon in the second half .

Lennon 6 - Better from last week, still a bit anonymous at times but worked hard defensively. Took his goal well of course.

Parker 5 - Tackling was fine but seemed nervous when passing the ball. Good assist for Lennon's goal though.

Dembele 7 - Work rate was excellent and it seemed like he rarely lost possession, hoping it won't be long before he drives the ball forward like previously in the season.

Bale 7 - Can't stop scoring at the moment, seems to strike fear in every team now. Maybe not as menacing as he can be but he worked very hard today.

Sigurdsson 7 - Worked hard and lovely ball through for Bale's goal. Looks like he's starting to fit into the team. Really looking forward to the prospect of him and Holtby competing for a place on the team.

Ade 4 - Apart from intelligent movement for one the goals just absolutely nothing seems to be going his way. I miss the Ade from last season .

Subs:

Defoe 5 - Probably should of scored but better movement than Ade which should be useful in the next few weeks.

Livermore 20 - DAT GAME CHANGER!

Gallas 69 - SAME AS ABOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CowInAComa]

I was so fucking glad we kept hold of Dawson in the summer.

Extremely underrated, and I suspect just because he isnt shiny and new, or has a foreign name.

Warrior.