Stoke City 3 – Arsenal 1 : Player Ratings

By: Martin | May 9th, 2011

As promised, here are the ratings from yesterday’s match against Stoke.

Wojo 5 Not one of his better games. He didn’t make any howlers, exactly, but you could argue that he could/should have stopped any of the three goals — probably should have come out strong and claimed the ball on the first goal, got a hand to the second goal and maybe could have palmed it high or wide, and maybe could have come out more and made himself bigger on the final goal. Made some decent saves, and, like I said, I don’t think you could definitively blame him for any of the three, because he was hung out to dry by his defenders on all of them. But a great goalkeeper bails his defense out in those situations. He’s done that before, but he didn’t do that yesterday.

Sagna 6 Worked pretty hard, and I don’t think you can question his dedication or commitment, but just looked a little off yesterday, especially in the attacking half. Seemed to want to cross when no one was in the box, but pass around when people were in the box. And his crosses were a little off.

Gibbs 5 I’m still a believer in Gibbs, but he hasn’t set the world on fire this season, and was particularly poor yesterday. Actually ducked under the free kick on the first goal and generally let Jermaine Pennant run roughshod over him. On the one hand, you can’t blame him too much, since he hasn’t gotten regular first-team football and was bound to be a little rusty. On the other, though, with Clichy’s contract up at the end of next season and a lot of speculation about him leaving the club over the summer, Gibbs had a real chance to show that he was capable of holding down a first-team place, and he failed to do it.

Djourou 4 A real shocker from him yesterday. Was at least partially at fault for all three goals — didn’t follow Jones’s run on the first goal, allowing Jones to bundle it in without even jumping. The first thing a defender is taught about defending set pieces is to follow your man’s run and to stay between him and the ball, and Djourou did neither. Completely failed to close down Pennant until it was far too late, and even then Pennant would not have scored were it not for Djourou’s deflection on the second. And then his bizarre attempt at a clearance was a perfect assist for Stoke’s third. That being said, he’s been very good for us all season, and has earned our support for one poor performance — can’t believe how many people on Twitter were calling for his head yesterday.

Koscielny 6 Probably could have done a better job at time dealing with Stoke’s physical presence and getting rid of balls in our area, but by and large, Kos was pretty solid yesterday.

Song 5.5 Song will probably always struggle to really make an impact on games like this, simply because teams like Stoke don’t really play the ball through the midfield, and Song doesn’t have many opportunities to break up play and start Arsenal going the other way. Song was probably lucky to stay on the pitch after a couple of incidents with Huth in which he easily could have been carded.

Wilshere 6 We saw a little of Jack’s temper and nasty side yesterday — was really trying to stir things up with Stoke all match long. I thought yellow was the correct call for his lunging tackle, but most people I read seemed to think it should have been a red. He has to be careful about that, and he’s got to keep his temper under control. But give him some credit for working tirelessly to try to get something going, even if he wasn’t able to.

Ramsey 5 He seemed to deal with his return to Stoke and the classless booing fans fine psychologically, which was good. And he did have one brilliant pass to put van Persie through on goal, where he probably should have scored. But other than that he had a pretty miserable afternoon, giving the ball away a lot and failing to find a way through Stoke’s defense. Subbed off half-time for tactical reasons, this performance provided a powerful counterpoint to all the short-sighted nincompoops who were saying that last week’s win proves that we don’t need Cesc on the team.

Theo 4.5 Pretty miserable afternoon for Theo. I guess teams like Stoke are still tough for him, since they defend so deep that he cannot get behind them, which is where he does most of his damage. But even so, he was bad yesterday — giving the ball away, wasting chances, failing to create anything.

Arshavin 4.5 Also poor. It was his stupid shove on Pennant which gave them the free-kick for the first goal. Absolutely stupid thing to do in that situation, and completely unnecessary. Added basically nothing to the attack, and didn’t help Gibbs with Pennant much at all defensively. Subbed off at half-time.

van Persie 7 Man of the Match. The best of a poor bunch. Although his finishing generally wasn’t great, he did fight until the end, took his goal very well with his right foot, and deserves some credit for making some good runs behind the Stoke defense. Scored a goal in his 8th consecutive Premiership away match, which is a new record.

Bendtner 6.5 Looked lively and did make an impact on the match when brought on at the half. Made some runs with the ball at Stoke’s defense, and took some decent shots, including the deflected shot which led to van Persie’s goal. Deservedly got a yellow for a nasty tackle.

Chamakh 4.5 Completely useless yesterday, as he has been pretty much all spring. Gave us no real aerial threat, added nothing with his hold-up play, and wasted several chances.

Rosicky 5 Pretty anonymous from him yesterday. He’s found himself increasingly on the margins of the squad as the season has gone on, and you have to wonder if his Arsenal career is coming to an end.

That’s it. Now we can put that behind us, and look forward to hopefully a home win against Aston Villa next weekend. Enjoy your Monday.

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Category: Arsenal News, Fixtures, Match Review, Premiership, Stoke City

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Rico

Having read the post I agree with a lot
of the arguments. We do need to shake things up and give our players a boot up
the backside! I agree only JW and RVP were the only players interested in the
Stoke game. Here's what I think; Bin the 2nd, 3rd, 4th keepers! They are
of no use. We need someone to challenge Chesney (hope to be our no1) to keep
him on the front foot improving. Denilson, Rosicky, Arshavin, Eboue and Diaby
for simply not being good enough or look interested enough to wear the Arsenal shirt. Bendtner to go as he actually believes he is an outstanding player
which is far from the truth. Chamakh should be playing up front along with RVP
learning constantly from him. Chamakh showed he was a good attacker near the
start of the season but dropped out and has been forgotten. We play with
Walcott and Nasri on the wings, therefore RVP and chamakh (both good in the air
and love to be in the 6 yard box) should be waiting for the ball. I believe that Vermaelen is our
strongest Centre half and we do need him there! They others centre backs need improving
greatly or replacing, it’s not like we don’t have the money! Sagna and Clichy
are reliable in my point of view. If Cesc wants to go, fine! “Bye Bye”. Best of luck breaking
into the Barca squad! (no sarcasm intended)We need to show the players we have
that their jobs aren’t save! They can and will be replaced if needed.Rico
Brenton

Watching this Fulham-Liverpool game I'm quite glad we didn't pick up Schwarzer. Between Wojo and Fabianski we have two excellent keepers, despite their shortcomings.
Darren_V

I thought Sagna was at fault for Pennant's goal as well. Don't understand why he just left him to run on his own like that. And I was absolutely shocked and mortified by Sagna's dive when he got 'touched' to the face by the defender in the 2nd half. I couldn't beleive it. You can tell Gibbs is a midfield-turned-defender. Gives his man too much space to cross from the wing, gets caught too high up the pitch at times. Shows flashes or promise, but hopefully Clichy sticks around another year.
Wilshere is gonna be getting more red cards in his career, unless he gets the Scholes' treatment from the ref. Which would be unfair to the rest of the EPL, but would help Arsenal.Does anyone on that team care, besides RVP and Wilshere? You wonder sometimes....
J___V

Spot on with wilshere. This lads going to have an awful disciplinary record throughout his career. Glad we got him but also sure that in if he were at any other club then I would probably really dislike him in a few years time.
Chicago Gunner

Agreed. I feel like you don't see the guys showing a lot of emotion out there. It was nice to see some fire out of Jack. Michael Jordan used to say he hated losing more than he loved winning. Our guys don't look like they feel that way.
Gigi_man

Internet at home does not work so the last weekends you all have been save from my yelling and whinning.

So come the week I am more calm, which leads me only to say ..well, less yelling and whinning.

I truly think now that we need a balance, again if we are going to conceed that much we need a goal factory, but with a solid defence we only need what we have. On the other hand in thos 0-0 games, I again vote for more attacking (true box fox) players to be added to the 1st team (bought or promoted). But again, psycho effects. I was reading an n interview with Sandro Mazzola praising Helenio Herrera , saying that the 1st thing he did to make the Grande Inter was to coach them psycholigically to be good and win.

I did watch some of the game, and once again I say we need to improvise at times, there were times where the ball was left in a middle, and since it was "no one" position, nobody came for it, on the other hand, when other teams see an empty space, wehre the ball can be either passed or fall, someone quickly gets there in position to get it. And then the shooting, well you said it, forget about the perfecto goal and just shoot (maybe they dont do that because there is no one "out of position" to get it if it bounds back!).

AW and the board need to understand that if we are to be in the top, its fine, but if we want to make a difference and win, theres something to be done. I dont want to sound arrogant but I run my own firm, along with my partners, we all came from big firms. We knew what it took to be in the top elite list, we didnt want to knock anybody opout of their 1st place, as long as we were making money, proportionally, we were fine. We dont want to knock a 50 (thats huge for our country) lawyers firm, since we are only 3 partners and 3 associates. Hélas, in football you have 11 in all teams...and you wish to knock someone out of the 1st spot to win!

So, imo, we need to take a step forward in that area, not to be a big spender, but if not: we will always be the ones who develop and never get the product done. Dont tell me about years ago, because years ago Di Stefano didnt make what Cristiano does today...and he did a lot more in Real!
Gues

I don't see how anything is going to change with this dozy idiot still in charge. I hope cesc is sold- it seems like a curse that anyone who is made capn they bloody end up wanting to leave the club
Sairax

You said nincompoop
Gues

Wenger had said judge me in may and the verdict is in: The first anniversary of the first four goal lead surrendered in the history of the Premier League; perhaps we could share a glass or two of Newcastle Brown Ale?
• The anniversary of twice surrendering two goal leads against the Spuds: perhaps some chips for that celebration?
• The one I am really looking forward to – the first anniversary after the last games in Arsenal shirts of Messrs Almunia, Eboue, Denilson and Diaby. Try to keep them out of the team for the last two games, as we don’t want to delay this celebration next year!
• Assuming I do accept your invitation to renew my season ticket, that I am no longer contributing to the wage packets of those serial underperformers, Messrs Squillaci, Rosicky and Bendtner.
• The arrival of the replacements for Fabregas and Nasri, as well as some serious competition for Alex Song and some support for RvP (unless of course he flies the nest too).
• The arrival of some proper defenders – you know the type Arsene; they can hold a line, they can head the ball away, they throw themselves in front of shots, they protect hard won leads in the 10th minute of injury time and don’t concede soft goals from free kicks. Of course you know the kind of player I mean, Arsene, so why don’t you buy them? And why don’t you employ a full time defensive coach?
After all that celebration, let me turn to judgement time, as it’s May. Oh but I forgot, we can celebrate something now, and we don’t have to wait until next season. I know it’s not quite the end of the season, but we can of course celebrate the sort of prize I know you value highly. Qualification for the Champions League. I am so looking forward to three riveting home games against some obscure teams from the fringes of Europe. I know I am digressing but even if you sell all the deadwood and let Fabregas go (you know he wants to, we all know he wants to, so let him go and get some money for him before his hamstrings go, as they will), we should be able to beat the might of next season’s visitors from Sweden, Serbia and Greece if we are (un)lucky; and then as always happens, we will draw a big team and go out again, but not before we hear you say how much better we are this year and now is the time to show our mental strength and all that jazz.
So yes, you are right, Arsene: there will be so much to celebrate next year; indeed I am almost tempted to open the bubbly right now. Excuse me while I reach for the wine rack. Don’t worry Arsene, it’s good French stuff, and I’ll make sure it’s nicely chilled before opening it.
But back to judgement time… to be honest Arsene, I think this season has been pretty dire. Project Youth hasn’t really worked has it? True Chesney and Jack have done well and it’s nice to see Rambo back; JD has put in a shift on occasion, but what else have we got to show for Project Youth? A captain whose heart isn’t in the club any more; Theo, who flatters to deceive most of the time, Gibbs who has contracted Clichy-itis alarmingly early in his career, and the self-publicising Great Dane, who showed us in a flash in Barcelona what he has to offer. Not much.
Defensively we were a shambles. One point each against Newcastle, WBA and Spurs, all of whom won at our place. Attacking-wise we were toothless on too many occasions when it mattered: Birmingham at Wembley, Sunderland and Blackburn at home. Creatively, on occasions we were so bereft of ideas it was embarrassing – Orient away, ManU away in the Cup, Leeds and Huddersfield at home in the Cup.
You know that ManU were not an especially good side this year, but they had organisation, a manager who kicked ass and a simple will and desire to win. With some judicious additions to the squad and defensive concentration, we could and should have won the Carling Cup and the League. But we didn’t and the reason we didn’t is because you didn’t manage well enough.
You screwed up royally on the goalkeeping front at the start of the season; then you failed to buy cover when Vermaelen remained injured in January; you played your tallest striker intermittently, and only on the wing; and you continue to play Eboue and Diaby when they are nothing more than liabilities. Tell me this – when did Eboue or Diaby, or for that matter Denilson or Rosicky, make game changing contributions this season? Or for that matter last year? Do tell me.
I have seen your comments after the Stoke game; maybe you will do something about the defence for next year. I will be delighted if what you do makes a difference. Something tells me however that not much will change.
I don’t think you will get rid of the deadwood. I don’t think you will buy proven defenders and I don’t think you will employ a defensive coach. No, I think you will sign a few more Francophones, possibly a couple of South Americans we haven’t heard of (if you can get work permits for them) and maybe a few more wonderkids.
And if Cesc and Nasri go, I reckon you won’t spend even half the money we get for them on new players. You’ll tell Ivan that Coquelin or Sunu are the future and they deserve six year deals.
But before all that Arsene, I suggest you concentrate on getting the points to secure third place; or is the now traditional end of season collapse a cunning plan to finish fourth and get one of the cup games included in the season tickets used up early? Don’t worry, the champagne’s on ice; and that’s where it will stay.
What’s that I hear you say? You meant May 2012? Or sorry, Arsene I misunderstood. Ah well, I’ll leave my judgement pending till next year.
Chicago Gunner

Ouch.
Lorient

Irony at its fullest, bravo!
Benjamin Dockter

That's a lot of words. Is there an abridged version?
Marcelpage

how we have fallen!!! I hope this cunt gets sacked
Chicago Gunner

If Wenger were to get canned, who would be the candidates to replace him?
Brentonwalters

"
can’t believe how many people on Twitter were calling for his head yesterday."

Surely you can't be surprised by the lack of judgment and rational thought demonstrated on twitter. It's what it was designed for.
Martin

Fair point.