Arsenal Carling Cup player ratings

[BottledDog]

Just seen the Martins shot cleared off the line.

 

Makes the overreaction on here about something people heard on the radio even more ridiculous.

 

Still haven't seen it. Do you think it was a bad miss, then? Or not as bad as many made out?

 

It was on target, just not enough power. Dissapointing but just glad he hit the target after his recent efforts, and certainly not worthy of much (if any) sustained criticism for me.

 

The team did not deserve a goal, and it would have made little difference in the end anyway. 

 

I disagree there. They'd battered us but had only just got the breakthrough. An instant response from us could have changed the game completely.

 

Possibly. Couldn't see us suddenly finding the spirit so lacking in the rest of the game though to turn it around, but maybe could have grabbed a draw. If we had somehow managed to fashion the first goal of the match then things may have been different.

 

As it was though, the result was fair.

[Mowen]

Just got home. Thought we were ok at best, they impressed me a lot. Traore, Song, Denilson and especilly Diarra looked fucking quality. They outpassed us in midfield, and the sheer pace of Eboue and Walcott on the wings meant we were always stretched. For us I would have said Enrique, Taylor and Martins had decent games. Apart from the shocking miss Oba looked strong, threatening and worked pretty hard. Shola was gash, Roz was weak in the air and Smith couldn't find a black and white shirt. Beye and Faye were both OK without doing too much, and bringing Emre on made a difference imo. They deserved the win.

[NSG]

Just got home now. Got fucking stuck in London

[garth]

Just got home now. Got f****** stuck in London

 

How was the game?

[Guest Shibby]

Can't believe we lost to a second string Arsenal side... while we fielded our strongest eleven.

 

Man, back to bed.

[Guest SLK]

I didn't watch the game but from what I read about the formation, it looks like Sam is still making the same mistakes...Playing Ameobi and not putting Alan Smith up front along side Martins...

 

Also I like to point out to those people who thought Dyer had no contribution. Pacy players create problems, and problems give rise to chances to score...

[Tom_NUFC]

Just got home now. Got f****** stuck in London

 

how come you got stuck in London like?

[Guest tobiazvanderziaz]

I heard Bendner won everything in the air and dominated Newcastle physically. Sounds like a problem we have had before this season. Did he dominate both Taylor or Roz or was it just Roz' lack of size and strength which was exposed again?

 

Its really a consern and thats why I really dont think we should play Cacappa and Roz at the same time. Hopefully we have some rather strong full backs in Beye and Enrique.

[Skirge]

Manager rating!!

 

Wenger - 10 (great eye for talent and knows how to use it)

Big Sam - 1 (out classed and appeared out of his depth)

[Ant1815]

Hi Guys

 

Long time lurker. First post  I was at the game last night. One thing I do want to say which I haven't yet seen mentioned is our overall general style of play. I've seen Bolton play against Arsenal in the past and get results by closing them down and denying them time on the ball. I fully anticipated us to play like that yesterday. Not pretty but effective.....no such luck.

 

Our overall strategy seemed to be stand-off and let them play. For much of the game our entire team seemed to be no more than spectators standing around watching Arsenal pass it about. To be fair Arsenal didn't look too threatening at first despite all the possesion, but it was pretty much an inevitability when their first goal went in.

 

I don't get to see too many live games due to living in Luton and life commitments etc. but i usually get to all the away games down here and a few at SJP when I visit the family and I've got to be honest and say that last night's performance is pretty much the same sort of stuff I saw us play under Roeder, although the defending was a little more organised and competent. Very disappointing and i feel really sorry for all the lads that actually travelled down from the North East to see that dire performance.

[thenige]

When I got home from the game last night I can't believe how negative everyone was. Now I note it's still going on. The problem was yes the tactics weren't ideal (Shola and Smith were shocking where they were playing) but you have to bear in mind 75% of our team played two days ago, whilst Arsenal's youth were totally fresh and they really really looked it.

 

We were outpassed in midfield and every single one of their players had very decent pace so we were constantly stretched but you could see our players were knackered after about half an hour. How on earth were they supposed to chase down every single pass when they could barely muster the strength to start their own attacks?

 

We've heard how 'unconditioned' our players were when Fat Sam first took over and that doesn't change overnight. We picked the wrong line-up yes, but what else could we have done? We don't have as many options as people think, especially in midfield - and Sam has had success against them before when packing the midfield and frustrating them. They were just too tired. It makes perfect sense Faye was our strongest midfield performer last night, he didn't play 90mins two days ago!

 

All in all I was disappointed (especially as I had to sit in the bloody Arsenal end!) but against a team like that which plays with so much freedom and pace I wasn't expecting us to tear them to pieces much like some people on here were. Diarra looked an absolute class act, Walcott gave us problems all night (despite his final ball/decision being poor) and their full-backs constantly kept us on our toes.

 

It isn't as much of an embarrassment to lose this game as people think, I just find it absolutely mental how only in September in a non-European season for us we're playing three games in six days. The FA has some serious issues.

[Skirge]

I agree its not all as bad as it looks, beaten of kids blah blah blah, Enrrique and Beye are nowhere near match fit or are really used tot he Prem style of play yet, and both played on Sunday.

 

Sams line up was wrong Milner is not a striker and has more effect out wide, Zoggy needs to allowed to hug the wing also, he cant do that being the wide man on a line of three.

 

Shola has never been a class player but he has looked very poor in deed when he has played of late, is that down to lack of games or just how shola is? either way any strike partner he has will suffer because of it.

 

Our real test will be at Man City, wor traveling fans need to ready a 4-4-2 song, Sam needs to stop with the 4-3-3 shite, especially away from home.

[Gash]

I havent managed to watch the game yet, just woke up from a very drunken 18th birthday last night

 

I cant believe that we won 2-0, i fully expected us to lose but im impressed by reading your evaluations of the players.

Somebody mentioned Song, everytime he has played for us he has been complete SHITE any different last night?

 

Traore is amazing, did he show it last night?

[Skirge]

I havent managed to watch the game yet, just woke up from a very drunken 18th birthday last night

 

I cant believe that we won 2-0, i fully expected us to lose but im impressed by reading your evaluations of the players.

Somebody mentioned Song, everytime he has played for us he has been complete s**** any different last night?

 

Traore is amazing, did he show it last night?

 

Song was solid, Senderos was your weak link at the back, and Theo seemed all out of sorts, other than that the rest were class. Traore was the pick of the bunch for me, and at 17 years old he will be fantastic, a great find by Wenger.

[Guest lebowski]

I havent managed to watch the game yet, just woke up from a very drunken 18th birthday last night

 

I cant believe that we won 2-0, i fully expected us to lose but im impressed by reading your evaluations of the players.

Somebody mentioned Song, everytime he has played for us he has been complete s**** any different last night?

 

Traore is amazing, did he show it last night?

 

Song was solid, Senderos was your weak link at the back, and Theo seemed all out of sorts, other than that the rest were class. Traore was the pick of the bunch for me, and at 17 years old he will be fantastic, a great find by Wenger.

Thought Diarra was the best player on the pitch by some distance. I don't believe that Shola was as bad as everyone is stating. I was (sadly) in the Arsenal end for this one and their fans thought he was alright. I thought he did a good job holding the ball up. We certainly had the majority of our chances when he was on the pitch. I get the impression defenders actually find him a handful due to his size and deceptive pace (or maybe he just looks so awkward). Don't get me wrong I'm not the head of the Ameobi fan club (is there such an organisation) but to rate him a 3 and Enrique an 8 on last nights performance just seemed wrong to me. I personally tried to watch a lot of Enriques game and my first thought would have been to rate him 6-7. He made a lot of errors in the 1st half, worked hard to rectify them and generally got better as the game progressed.

[NSG]

Just got home now. Got f****** stuck in London

 

how come you got stuck in London like?

 

We got hoyed in the overflow car-park, not good news. Took fucking yonks to get everyone there and sorted, then traffic was a bitch.

[KaKa]

Well, well, well. Not surprised that everyone who went to the game has nothing bad to say about Martins. As expected as a lone striker he was left isolated and Shola's pathetic performance didn't help.

 

I really can't understand why Sam didn't just start with Smith upfront and have Emre in the midfield and Shola on the bench. I hope he realises soon that Shola just isn't up to it. He should only play if both Viduka and Smith are unavailable.

 

Fatigue was definitely a huge factor for our team, especially as those Arsenal whippersnappers are so darn quick. Makes no sense that we had to play last night and not today even.

 

There was a lot of crap being thrown Martin's way last night and you wouldn't believe how the commentators on Newcastle World were having a go, but he will shut a lot of people up soon enough. If he could score 17 goals alongside Sibierski and Dyer last season, I have no doubt he will do the business if he gets a run of games alongside Viduka or even Smith; Shola on the other hand just won't work as he actually has less ability than Sibierski. Make that far less. Shocking stuff from Shola this season.

 

I have to go into a bit of a Shola rant now. Let's just imagine I could excuse the fact that he isn't very good, which for the most part I can. What really kills me is the way he cannot challenge for a ball in the air fairly when he is 6 foot 2. He fouls the defender every single time and then starts arguing with the ref about it; in addition to this he will drift offside a minimum of 10 times a game due to not paying attention. These are the two things in particular which I despise Shola for.

 

 

[Dr. TC]

I wouldn't have said we have nothing bad to say about Martins.

 

Yes, he provided a threat despite no service, but he headed a relatively free header too close to their keeper early on and was so terrified of missing his best chance that he put no power on it at all. Could and should have scored at least one. He was OK, pluses and minuses.

[KaKa]

I wouldn't have said we have nothing bad to say about Martins.

 

Yes, he provided a threat despite no service, but he headed a relatively free header too close to their keeper early on and was so terrified of missing his best chance that he put no power on it at all. Could and should have scored at least one. He was OK, pluses and minuses.

 

I agree completely. I wasn't trying to say he was excellent or anything, but to claim he isn't good enough or he is rubbish because of his perfromance last night is ridiculous. This is exactly what was going on. You would have thought he didn't do a single good thing last night.

[Skirge]

I feel sorry for Martins, he went from being last seasons golden boy, club top scorer to being on the bench and even finding himself dropped for Shola at one stage, he has 3 goals and 2 assists this season so far and does graft for the team.

Now when he gets a chance to play, I think he is just getting to excited when he gets a chance to score, its thats desperation to prove he can do it and he knows its now or never because Owen will be straight back in the starting 11 when fit. The way Sam has done things has only created more pressure for him to perform, he has looked brighter than Owen though so far this season yet he is dropped for him, funny that Sam is not doing the same with Shay, Harper is not a better keeper but is doing well so he has kept his spot, Shay is having to wait for his chance as should Owen!!

[Guest ExiledGeordie]

 

Yeah I was there last night.

 

Would've preferred to see Smith up front with Martins to be honest. Shola despte his obviously lacking in quality was just isolated in that bizarre position out wide. Very odd, atleast when he's playing through the middle he's got "something". I'm just not arsed about him though.

 

You can talk about formations etc, we only played two days ago etc, they were just better than us last night. Their movement and pace in the second half especially was exceptional. That Traore looks class, as does Song and Diarra had a great game.

 

Considering that was Enrique's first start I thought he looked really composed and dealt well in tricky situations and while Beye wasn't outstanding you get a good feeling with those two lads at full back. Christ imagine how Babayaro and Carr would've faired? Dear oh dear. Taylor's tackle on Walcott was fucking mint and his combination of pace/power in defence is frightening!

 

Martins should've scored yes but I'm not really dwelling on this game/result, it was a fair result in the end. I might add they way they weathered that one period of Arsenal's assault, you could see Taylor et shouting and rallying the troops, thats the kind of thing which will stand us in good stead the rest of the season.

 

p.s props to Alan Smith for getting the lads to come over and acknowledge the fans. Good on him.

 

p.ps Great to see Barton running around like an excited school kid and hoofing the ball around before the start and at halftime, he's clearly very near a return!

 

 

[Guest Kenton Magpie]

Haven’t been home too long, was a poor show but I didn’t expect any different under the circumstances, there isn’t really one individual who stood out for me as far as being good goes but I keep questioning myself as to whether Martins actually has the ability to knock a goal in from a 1 on 1 situation without needing to take it around the goal-keeper and making the angle to score even harder!?

[Karjala]

Just watched the SSN highlights, and it looked like Men against Boys, shame the men played the role of the boys...

 

Arsenal were dominant, though none of their chances were that clear cut, Martins should have put that 1st half header in, while Senderos was unlucky but the man on the line did their job.

 

Looked like poor defending for their first, unchallenged header 10yds out, Martins should have scored when he rounded the keeper, as people have said, i think he was thinking about Sunday's miss.

 

Class goal by Denilson at the end.

[Nobby]

anyone see the big fight outside the toon bus with arsenal fans near the daryton park pub?

2 big riot vans loads of horses etc

[Nobby]

also transport to and from Arsenal was a disgrace