West Brom 2 – Arsenal 2: Highlights and Player Ratings

By: Martin | March 21st, 2011

Highlights of yesterday’s draw with West Brom, as well as player ratings for that match, after the jump.

West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal by jordanip

Now onto the ratings:

Almunia 4 I’ll try to keep this rating short, because I don’t really feel like looking up “awful” in the thesaurus. He was terrible. West Brom only had 2 shots on goal the whole match. They scored 2 goals. That just about sums it up. Should have come out and punched away the corner on the first goal, and came out for no discernable reason on the second. I know we win as a team, lose as a team, etc., all those platitudes, but the fact is that if we had had a healthy Flaps or Wojo yesterday, we wouldn’t have conceded twice, and therefore it’s not really unfair to say that Almunia cost us 2 points yesterday. He ought to be watching his back, because after that performance, Lehmann can probably get a chance at a start with a good couple of weeks in training over the international break.

Sagna 5.5 Well below his normal standard of consistently high level of performance. Didn’t provide much support at all for the attack, and troubled to deal with Jerome Thomas all match long.

Clichy 7 Good performance from Gael — sent in some very good crosses to van Persie and Chamakh, didn’t get caught out of position too much, and was providing a lot of support for the attack down the left.

Squillaci 4 Shocker. Obviously didn’t learn from Koscielny and Wojo’s mix-up in the Carling Cup final. Should not have let that ball bounce, and even after it bounced, should have put his foot through it and knocked it clear. Very much at fault for that goal, and struggled all day. If this is anything to go on, we may be in for a long final 9 matches watching Squillaci play.

Koscielny 6 Didn’t exactly set the world on fire, but I thought he was generally pretty solid for the match.

Denilson 4 Very ineffective for the first match until he was mercifully taken off at the break. It really threw into contrast how bad the last couple of years have been for him — a couple of seasons ago, he started 36 out of Arsenal’s 38 league matches and was a very solid two-way midfielder, and looked to have a very bright future. Two years later, he really seems to have regressed into a very limited player — he’s a holding midfielder who can’t tackle or win the ball back, he offers very little going forward, but he’s decent at helping to retain possession. But yesterday he couldn’t even do that — he gave the ball away time and again. It’s troubling, and unless he can turn it around, you really do have to question his future at the club.

Wilshere 6.5 Not quite up to his general recent standards, but that may have been due to the poor play of those around him as much as anything. And his attitude was good as ever.

Ramsey 5 Rough performance from Rambo in his first start back. Was at fault for the first goal when for some reason he decided not to challenge Reid’s header even though he was tracking Reid on the near side. And then he squandered a golden opportunity to equalize when van Persie’s header off the bar fell right to him on the edge of the six-yard box.

Nasri 5.5 Well below his normal standards. On a day when we were really looking to him to step up and carry the team, he didn’t answer the bell. Worked pretty hard, but didn’t really threaten the West Brom defense all day.

Arshavin 8 Man of the Match. At the heart of just about everything good Arsenal did all day. Brilliant bit of skill to take a touch and then unleash a rocket for the first goal, and was the architect of the second goal with his looping header over the top across the box for the equalizer.

van Persie 7 Had a pretty quiet day, but that may have been down to lack of service as much as anything. Nearly scored with his header over Carson’s head from the edge of the box, and then got the equalizer with a real poacher’s effort to poke it over the line. Took some pretty awful free kicks, though.

Chamakh 7 Came on at half-time and made an immediate impact by giving us an extra presence up front and in the box. Had a great assist on Arshavin’s goal and generally troubled West Brom’s defense.

Bendtner 6 Didn’t make a massive impact, but worked hard and got an assist on the equalizer.

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Category: Arsenal News, Fixtures, Match Review, Premiership, W.B.A.

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Looonyattwood

What a strange season we are seeing this time around. In fact when you take a look at the league after the same number of games compared to now you can see a few surprising things.

Let us start at the top. I will give you first the current league table and then the one from one year ago.

United were on top last season and they are also on top now. Last season they couldn’t keep it up to the end so let’s hope they do the same again this year.

1 Manchester United 30 18 9 3 64 30 +34 63
1 Manchester United 30 21 3 6 70 24 +46 66

A first thing we can see is that in their first 30 games MU couldn’t win as many games as last season. Last season they won 21 of their first 30 and now only 18. They also scored less goals but on the other hand conceded many more goals. But when you are top of the league these things are not a real matter for concern. For the moment I would say.

Let us move on to the team in second place. Arsenal that is.

2 Arsenal 29 17 7 5 59 29 +30 58
3 Arsenal 29 19 4 6 69 32 +37 61

Last season we were in third place. We also have 3 points less, just like United. And just like United we managed to win more games then and also had scored more goals. In fact the only difference, and this could come as a surprise is the fact that we actually conceded fewer goals so far.

Move on to Man City

4 Manchester City 30 15 8 7 45 27 +18 53
5 Manchester City 29 14 11 4 55 37 +18 53

Now we have Manchester City in fourth place and in terms of their position in the table this is better than last year when they were fifth after 29 games. And they are one of the few teams in the top of the EPL that have managed to get as many points this season as last season. And also their goal difference the same.

Let us take a look at the team that just overtook Man City on sunday

3 Chelsea 28 16 6 7 53 24 +29 54
2 Chelsea 28 19 4 5 65 26 +39 61

And then you see a huge difference. A negative difference. Last season they were in second place and now only in 3rd – and that only because of the win on Sunday. And they have fewer points compared to last season. And also their goal difference has gone down drastically. Their win ratio has gone down big time. It all has gone down a bit over there one could say.

Let us move to 5th place and this concludes the teams that are in the running for a CL place one could say.

5 Tottenham Hotspur 29 13 10 6 41 34 +7 49
4 Tottenham Hotspur 29 15 7 7 53 28 +25 52

Our neighbours from North London are currently 5th and this is one place below their fourth place last year. And just like the other teams in the top and who are fighting for a CL place they have 3 points less. But we have to admit that their goal difference is much better compared to last year. Yet they are a place down and with Chelsea beating Man City there is a bit of a gap between them and the couple of teams scrapping over 3rd and 4th place.

So all the teams in the top 5 have fewer points compared to last season apart from Manchester City who have the same amount of points. All the teams have won fewer games compared to last season apart from Manchester City who have won one more game.

To see this all a bit in perspective and to understand why this trend of the top teams not getting as much points as last season we have to look at the bottom of the league.

9 Sunderland 29 9 11 9 33 35 -2 38
10 Stoke City 30 11 4 15 36 38 -2 37
11 Newcastle United 30 9 9 12 44 45 -1 36
12 Fulham 30 7 14 9 33 33 0 35
13 Blackburn Rovers 30 9 6 15 39 51 -12 33
14 Aston Villa 30 8 9 13 37 51 -14 33
15 Blackpool 30 9 6 15 45 60 -15 33
16 West Bromwich Albion 30 8 9 13 41 56 -15 33
17 West Ham United 30 7 11 12 36 49 -13 32
18 Wolverhampton Wndrs 30 9 5 16 35 49 -14 32
19 Birmingham City 29 6 13 10 28 41 -13 31
20 Wigan Athletic 30 6 12 12 29 51 -22 30

And the most surprising thing is that last year around this was almost the points won by the teams fighting against relegation AT THE END OF THE SEASON!

So when we see the teams at the top struggling to get more points (they actually get fewer points) we see the teams of the bottom win many more games and points. And in fact the team actually in 12th place (Fulham) is only standing 3 points away from dropping in the relegation zone. And even Sunderland who have a 6 point gap with the team in 18th place must keep an eye at the teams below them. Because losing 2 games could bring you right in the relegation zone.

The league is also very compact if you look at the bottom teams. And all teams do have something to fight for. And this makes it more difficult to win a game. Which we have seen lately and not just by Arsenal. But other teams like Tottenham could not win their game at home against a team fighting for survival.

So the loss of the top teams is the gain of the lower placed teams. There are no easy games to play for the moment. All the bottom teams are capable of winning any game, even against teams fighting for the title. We have found this out the hard way but also the other top teams have discovered this during the season.

So we are in to a very exciting end of the season. Be it at the top or at the bottom… a lot to fight for and this goes for any team in the league. Will we have the first champion with hardly 80 points this season? Will we have a team going down with 40 points behind their name? It all is possible.
curvaclock

everyone is saying we will win the league ! i agree. if only the players thought the same as the fans on the topic of winning. when the fuck is walcott coming back, arsenal needs speed !
Gigi_man

I hate it but I agree , well i dont hate agreeing with you, I hate the facts.

I hope that George there is right...
Felegy

The look on Almunia's face after both goals said it all......
Marloneious

Serious question, though it has nothing to do with Arsenal. I'm managing Munich in FIFA 11 and I'm looking to buy reinforcements for my wings. One side is Elijero Elia, but I'm stuck between James Milner or Eden Hazard for the other side. What do you guys think I should do?
J___V

Right wing? Easy.....Eboue!
Darren_V

Who ever is faster with stamina always wins in my books.
Marloneious

I ended up buying Hazard, Elia, and Samba with some money to spare lol.
Felegy

It's FIFA soccer...buy them both silly :)
Chris

Sorry, but I think you are being too kind giving Almunia a 4 point rating. He was out of position on the first goal, and should have come out to claim or at least parry the ball to relative safety, instead he retreated to his line. Bang. Goal. As for the second goal, no need to say anything, as it beggars belief why he was so far out of his area when the defender seemed to have it covered. Disaster. Maybe 1 point for being arsed to turn up for the match - and that's being generous.
And Squizz, apart from one crucial tackle in the second half, was dire throughout.

I know we have all been impressed with Djourou's renaissance as a CB, not could have predicted TV5 being out for so long, and overall Kos has been pretty decent for a first PL season (although somebody made the comment in a previous post that Kos might be feeling the stress from playing in so many matches) but the decision way back not to go out and find a solid CB is definitely coming back to haunt us now, as our lack of strength in depth is blowing our title hopes wide open.

And I do feel that the unfortunate injuries to Flaps and Wojo, and therefore now being on our third keeper in the season, has led to communication problems in that area as that instinctiveness that is so vital between defence and keeper and installs itself with regular playing, is seriously lacking. All easy to say with hindsight (and hell, there are still 27 points up for grabs) but the writing was on the wall before the season even got going.
Perry S.

Wholeheartedly agree. I don't care what anyone says, Mertesacker vs. any of the boys we've got playing (aside from Sagna), I'll take any day. That deal should have been completed in January, but again the stubborness got the best of our leader. Argue all you want that he might not be big enough, but he is by far and wide more technical than any of these boys, and to think we could have had him for around 20 mil.
Martin

Well, Mertesacker is 6'6, so I don't think there's any doubt he's big enough, I think it's just that he may not be quick enough to play the high line we like to play. Then again, he's certainly quick enough to be better than our current options. I think Luiz was the one I really wanted -- really quick and really skillful, think he would have been a perfect fit for us, but once the media spotlight got on him and all the rumors began to swirl, we were priced out of it (just as I'm sure we'll be priced out of the bidding for Eden Hazard this summer).
Perry S.

Also, when I meant big enough, I meant in the bulk category :} The man was nicknamed "the Defence Pole," aka a bean pole ha.
Gigi_man

thats the problem with Wenger, he thiks he is unknown like he was 20 years ago and when no one cared who he was looking for.
Now everybody knows and they are willing to destroy him on the market....wanna play with the big boys...sooner or later gotta become one
Felegy

Priced out of it!!?? You say that like Arsenal does not have money to spend. The team chooses not to pay for these players, not due to lack of finances though.
BERTRAND

And are you an insider regarding Arsenal's finances?
Perry S.

He says it based on Wenger's history. "Priced out of it" equates to Wenger's standards and sadly, he is completely correct.
Casimir

Mertesacker should be quick enough. Sure he's a big guy, but the German NT despite being extremely organized doesn't just sit back in deep in defense like Italy or Greece. I can't comment on Bremen's playing style, as I haven't seen them play since a few years ago with then had both Klose and Diego running around, but I'd imagine it wouldn't be too big of a transition for him. I'm confident his positioning and awareness could compensate for any lack of quickness he has compared to our other transfer wishlist favorites.
Georgedb1

Just for the record, so there is no switching back and forth:

Will the Boys, The Arsenal, be Champs this season? [Simply Yes or No, and I would especially love to hear from all the naysayers].

I think, yes, the boys will win it this year.
Georgedb1

People who declare champions in October and November will always amaze me; as will people who lose faith in the last 2 months. I'm very disappointed that there's on 1 response to my question; while I distinctly think I remember lots of speculation early on in the season about who the champs will be.
Homey_Mills

Not only will we not win the title this year, but I've already moved on to thinking about the summer transfer window. Actually, I'm thinking more about gardening and other such things. But yeah, it's over. We could still do it, but I see us dropping more points all along the way. Our reserve players just aren't good enough. We need pretty much our best 11 players to win anything.
Chicago Gunner

Agreed, HomeY_Mills. I ain't holding my breath.
Georgedb1

I'd be very interested to know why 9 games mean nothing to you - in a league where it only takes one weekend to turn everything around.

We have some tough opponents coming up but I think manchester have at least one loss (from Chelsea) in store for them - and with any luck maybe more.
45

i dont think the chelsea game is a guaranteed loss at all. man utd could probably win it. and we just seem so much more capable of losing points than man utd
Chris

I'm with Homey. With our best XI we can have an excellent shot at winning the league any day and we are the best team in the land, as well as playing the most attractive football. Our problem is that once the injuries start kicking in and mounting up it hurts. We can probably get by with the odd key-player out at a time, but struggle when we lose Walcott, TV5, Cesc, Song, Djourou all at the same time... just look at how we imploded last season in the final run following the injuries after the 2nd Barcelona CL leg when we lost players to injury.
The answer is strength in depth, which means investing in a few more decent, proven players. This doesn't stifle the development of younger players, but encourages them and creates competition for a place. Careful management and a controlled rotation system ensures that the quality players see enough action and time on the bench to maintain the balance between match-sharpness and gelling as a team, whilst receiving adequate rest, so reducing the fatigue and risk of injury.
We can still go on to win the league this year, but we would have a better chance if our back up were not reliant on Denilson, Diaby, Rosicky, Squizz and Almunia. Honestly, how much would it cost to replace those five with some decent players ? £40m ?
Darren_V

Sorry, but that 2nd goal is 100% on Almunia.
Regardless of if Squillaci shouldn't have let it bounced or not, that isn't a dangerous place, and in all likelyhood was probably going to head it back to Almunia and realized he was running around like a chicken with his head cut off.
Georgedb1

That was a defensive mistake, period. Squillachi got lost (lost his balance, lost his legs, his head, the ball, everything) and Almunia had no reason to run out like that except perhaps if he thought that Squillachi was gonna screw things up - all in all, looking for blame in that one is a bit like which came first the Chicken or the Egg. Both share
Martin

Yeah, I know it's mathematically impossible, but I think we can reasonably say that they were both 100% at fault for that one. Just abysmal play all around.
Georgedb1

lol yea - one more notch to our defensive mistakes; right now the list of notches it looks like a wall in a cell whose inmate is in the 40th year of a life sentence.

It really was as the commentators said "a school boy error" and its unfortunate that "when Arsenal attack they are men, but when they defend they're like boys." Both of these players have enough experience to not allow such a freebee.
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Perry S.

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Perry S.

Arshavin haters, eat crow...thanks for the big ups to him, Martin.
Gigi_man

yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Martin

Sorry these are up a bit late -- I had things to do most of the day on Saturday, and then I had actually written them up and hit "post" yesterday morning, but our server ate the entire post, as it is wont to do on occasion, and I stupidly had forgotten to copy the post to the clipboard. And I was too mad and short on time to rewrite the post immediately.
russianfan

i asked this one in the previous thread but still - wasn't it the post that assisted rvp on the second goal? i ran the replay a couple times, and i can't see the ball touching bendtner.
if it indeed hit the post, how cool would it have been for arshavin if his ball went into the goals
don

If there was any doubt in your manager as well as you fans that money cannot buy quality.

You just have to look at David Luiz, he is looking like the best central defender in the PL, maybe europe. Surely its worth going for someone like him for 21m in January than trailing through bargain basements and charity shops or a couple of 10m rated defenders.

How arsenal could have done with him, definitely would have done better than what their doing now.
Martin

Who has ever said that money cannot buy quality? No one. All that Wenger has ever said is that spending large money on transfer fees is not the only way to find quality.