Arsenal News 24/7Writer: Tim Stillman 
Date:Sunday September 28 2008
Time: 1:15PM
UK time is: 21:58:39
Choose your club
Other Sites
Network Navigation
Vital Partners
'If It's Football, It's Vital'
Match Ratings v. Hull City
1.Manuel ALMUNIA- Was helpless for both goals, which were expertly placed finishes. Manuel has had a solid season thus far and is consistently let down by a completely mismatched centre half pairing. 7
3.Bacary SAGNA- Unspectacular, but largely ineffective. Particularly when Walcott went off and he became isolated on the right. 6
4.Francesc FABREGAS- Clearly still suffering physically, the fact that we do not have somebody anybody in the team who specialises in regaining possession means we are doomed to play in basketball style games. When he is slightly below par, we do not have anybody who can step up and take responsibility. 6
5.Kolo TOURE- Again beaten in the air from a corner as he was against Blackburn several times and against Bolton. Battled manfully, but the deficiencies in our team are affecting him badly. 6
10.William GALLAS(c)- Needs to be dropped now, yet more apathy and an inability to jump is hampering our season badly. One of the players assured his place in the side, hence the constant lethargy. 4
11.Robin van PERSIE- Does not play for Arsenal, plays for Robin van Persie. I struggle to appreciate his function in a ninety minute game. He offered no service or support to Adebayor or Walcott. He looks to be a luxury player to me and therefore bench fodder, who should be bought on in desperate situations. Or more likely when we're winning comfortably and fancy seeing some fancy tricks and flicks. 4
14.Theo WALCOTT- Looked out of sorts on the right, but was still effective, creating our goal and making runs that at least worried Hull. We lost balance when he came off, van Persie should have made way for Bendtner instead. 6
15.DENILSON- Geovanni was allowed twice to shoot from range unchallenged and one must ask why either Denilson or Fabregas were not closing him down. Denilson passed the ball well and looked threatening going forward, which is his natural game. Unfortunately, he is a square peg being rammed unceremoniously into a round hole by his manager. 6
22.Gael CLICHY- Did not look as mobile coming forward, which may be down to the consequences of the heavy knock he received last week. Probably should have been rested, but once again Wenger obviously does not trust anybody else to come in and do the job. 6
25.Emmnauel ADEBAYOR- Starved of service and support from his strike partner which limited his effectiveness. Hull squeezed out our wide players, forcing us to hit long balls to Adebayor. With van Persie unwilling to link with Ade, we played right into Hull's hands. His lack of effectiveness was not just down to his own team isolating him, but also down to the simple fact that Hull defended excellently. 6
27.Emmnauel EBOUE- Hull did not allow him to drift all over the pitch as he has been doing so effectively this season. The constant pressure applied to him by Hull's midfielders forced him into erratic passing amd probably his worst performance this season. 5
SUBSTITUTES
26.Nicklas Bendtner- Very willing to get involved and try to rescue the game, but bafflingly deployed on the right wing. Why our most gifted header of the ball was the one throwing crosses into the box is a mystery. I defer to the manager on that one. 6
12.Carlos Vela- Looked lively and nearly scored a late equaliser simply by being in the right place. But the fact that he was deployed on the right and the left in his short cameo demonstarted what an excellent job Hull did closing down our wings. 6
Vital F1 Prediction League - Join now for Monaco
Your Comments
So bad ratings for van Persie.....Does he deserved it? I did'n watch the match
Bosko-Macedonia
Well don't argue with it then. The only incorrect comments are for Gallas. He wasn't that bad for god sake. Scapegoat? Witch hunt? That seems to be the case. Otherwise spot on. Denilson and Fabregas? Never again unless Denilson is told to be a DM, not to roam forward.
Tom14
I agree with Tom14. Gallas didn't play bad he was just beaten for the goal. Who else do u think on arsenal wud have got that? Fabregas was by far the best player on the pitch (for Arsenal), Walcott was decent and a threat. Hull didn't outplay us, they outplayed themselves while Arsenal just were too relaxed it seemed.
http://arsenalcolumn.wordpress.com/
arsenal column
I am amazed the Ade is rated with a 6 the same as Clichy. Clichy was our best player on the field even though he seemed to be carrying the Davies challenge fllowed by Cesc and Toure. I cant remember how many times Ade was off side yesterday and if you take the Blackburn game out, he really has not been worth all the hype that went about in the summer. Arsenal were so apathetic yesterday I could not believe what I was seeing. There was no desire, Hull won more tackles than us, they were first to all the 50/50 balls and I tell you what, their defense kept its shape. Phil Brown has done a fantastic job there. We gave up another goal to a corner and "we let Senderos leave?". I am so annoyed at the moment, the wife has gone out for the day. The tragic thing about all of this is, I am watching the Wigan/City game and by the way they are playing, we are in real trouble of finishing in the top four if we contiune with our current mind set. What I cant understand is that this is the same team that went to the Reebok, hed the sh*T kicked out of us yet there was 20 minutes in that game we were unstoppable. The difference is that Nic started and Eboue seemed to have a point to prove. Yesterday, he was back to his whiny self. Why Wenger left him on for so long, beats me. When we were 2-1 down, I could not believe that we were still walking around with no sense of urgency. This is a fundermental issue that Wenger needs to address. Plain an simple and I think the entire team should go on Arsenal TV and apologise for their shocking performance yesterday.
themadafrican
The more I reflect on this defeat, the more I feel it could be a watershed for the season. Whether that's for the positive in that we really learn a lesson and push on or whether we'll just have a season where we'll struggle for the top 4 I don't know. Even more than the 3 points lost is the damage that we weren't able to find the resources to beat Hull at home will do for the confidence and belief of the players and fans. That's no disrespect to Hull but I don't see Chelsea or Man Utd ever losing at home to them. Lets hope it was a freak result,
Gooner_Vin
correct me if im wrong, wenger lacks dat ruthless streak seen in maureen-hoe and ferguson. they arent afraid to drop u on the bench or sub u if u are not performing. rooney startd on d bench. why didnt vela replace rvp early enuf? cnt ade be subbed? is wenger afraid of his plaxers?
gunnerchi
So after 12 years we have just discovered that Wenger lacks a ruthless streak? Ask Henry that question. After any defeat there is a natural tendency to over analyse the reasons. The reasons for this defeat are not any great flaws in the team, the squad, our tactics or the manager. Just two individual mistakes one each from Walcott and Gallas and perhaps a lack of guile down the flanks. It's that simple.
Amos.
I am so worried about Van Persie. Someone really needs to come into the coaching staff and teach him how to play for the team - but in the style of Robin Van Persie. He can keep his style and his flair, but it needs to be integrated into the Arsenal way. It's such a shame. We have one of the most talented footballers in the world but he's just not producing. If only Dennis was here to teach him a thing or two.
ArsenalRob
no, he has belief in them, and so we should to, wenger's not dumb, and stop talking like all of you know football, if you know football, why dont you subimt an application to be the gaffer then? its time like these we have to stick together, believe in wenger, and in our players, as a fan, the best thing we could do is just breathe and be behind our team 100%, no matter where we finish this season, no matter what the critics say, we have to say loudly " WE LOVE YOU ARSENAL, WE DO"
gooner_till_i_die
I agree, Wenger is incedibly ruthless as he's demonstrated time and again. The problem is he doesn't have the squad. Like I said, the three away games at the beginning of the month we used only 13 players. Hull played very well and we are not giving them due credit. BUT, it was still a listless performance and I believe we'll see more whilst there is a lack of competition for places in the squad.
Little Dutch
gooner_till_i_die. Yes, we have to support the team and we will. But when you've just travelled 2,000 miles to Kyiv and see only three players come over to applaud the away support its hard to feel protective of the team. I don't think any of us are proposing we can do the job better than Wenger, but that doesn't mean we have no right to be critical. I wouldn't want to apply for the job of PM, but that doesn't prevent me criticising Gordon Brown.
Little Dutch
As for having nobody to take control of possesion in the middle, what about Nasri when he comes back, and possibly Rosicky, if he ever comes back. I know Arsene seems reluctant to play Samir there but I'm pretty sure he could do well there.
ArsenalRob
We don't have a problem in the middle. Defensively Nasri contributes more than Walcott. Nasri, Denilson, Fabregas, Eboue would be the right balance for most games. Walcott can earn you a goal but he may well also cost one though having said that Geovanni's was the first we conceded from open play this season. More by luck than judgement? Possibly but we have to take the cost of playing Walcott as an investment in the future. With a few more fit wide midfielders we can pick his games a little more carefully. For the moment he seems at his best coming off the bench. Rest Denilson and Fabregas as we have to but if they are fit then they can and should play 40 games a season.
Amos.
yes i see your point LD, but lets put ourselves in their shoes, they are having to deal with tremendous amounts of pressure this season, what with being not having a trophy for four seasons, and choking at the home stretch last year, also with adebayor looking for a move, its just their agent talking. i belief in our squad of being able to achieve its maximum potential, and even if we dont win anything, look at it this way, i belief this season is billy gallas' last, he doesnt look as sharp anymore, itll be interesting to see who steps up to the plate to man toure, and more interestingly, who gets the armband.
gooner_till_i_die
Unlucky lads. From a personal point of view I was glad to see ex Rangers player Daniel Cousin get on the scoresheet. I'm sure Arsenal will bounce back from this though.
Bud
At least we at Pompey put a smile back on your face by stuffing the spuds. Sol was a star.
storagematt
Lets not over analyse the reasons. The 11 players that wenger put out against Hull was good enough to get the 3 pts, same with Fulham. The players need to take another look at themselves. As for the defence, I really dont know what we can do apart from a change in personnel. Gallas made a mistake, normally it happens, but the problem was that he made it again, after the Fulham game. Harsh as it may seem, he cost us 6 pts so far.
prits
what did i say earlier - william gallas is the worst footballer at arsenal football club - the fact that he is captain is a disgrace - this is the one thing that wenger has got wrong in the 12 seasons he has been at arsenal. gallas is shocking- a championship defender at best.
D4NNYT
Not really 6 pts prits. You can't put it all on Willys shoulders. If he had cut out those corners we would have drawn both matches. So he cost us only 2 points. I bet he feels a whole lot better about that.
Amos.
D4, we can bash Gallas for the corner but he is a good defender, past his prime, maybe but I would take him in my team even if he was to warm the bench. To say he is a shocking championship defender come on, Perhaps he carries the weight of the capataincy to much. I would drop him and play DJ but I would also drop RVP and/or Ade and play Nic/Vela. I dont believe any player should rest on their laurels and if they do, they are stupid as there are many youngsters out in the reserves wanting that start. I am extremely critical of the performance yesterday but Arsenal is a team and as a team they win or lose. They need to now take stock as a team, I think get some humility and fess up that they werent good enough. That way perhaps they will understand what it is to put on that shirt.
themadafrican
Hehe yeah Storagematt, just watching MotD, well done!
GoonerLou
Fabregas looks like he's suffering under the burden of carrying the team. Flamini complimented him so well and even though Denilson is not half bad, Cesc is still having to work a lot harder than when Mathieu was here. It's nice to know that Arsene still rates his youngsters highly and is starting Denilson but that partnership won't hold well against the big bullies of Chelsea.
ForeverUnited
Ok, so I have just read the times article and good for Wenger. He is obviously upset enough to make changes. What disturbs me is Gallas's comments.
“I don’t think we were complacent and I hope not because if we think like this, we will not go anywhere,” he said. “The players were ready to play a strong game, we were not lucky and we have to work more and try to stay in the fourth position.
Try and stay in 4th position. Give me a break. If that is what he is aimimg for then he is the wrong manto lead this team.
themadafrican
Football is a team game and vindicating individuals at bad times is a common thing among fans. After Flamini, Song, Lehmann, Senderos, Adebayor, and Eboue the time has come to put Gallas to sword. This game had so much resemblance to another (heartbreaking) game which occured somewhere in 2001 when a lanky Norwegian striker Carew outjumped our captain and headed a cross (from Angloma I think) to end Arsenal's ECL dream. I still remember how in the dying moments of the game Tony Adams chased the ball deep in the Valencia half while the packed Mestalla was 'ole'-ing after every touch-pass. This came back to me as I was watching Gallas do the exact same thing against Hull, while those 10 years younger than him looked on breathing heavily. And while I can understand why WG10 gets a 4 (and a massive critique) for his poor performance, I don't understand how Kolo gets a 6, or Clichy or Sagna for that matter. Clichy had the worst game this season, especially in the first half when at least half of his passes were misplaced, he was caught out of position and none of his crosses reached the intended parties. Toure was on par with Gallas, failing to at least give Cousin a challenge for the second goal, same goes for Adebayor who along with Bendtner, always mans the near post (probably with the intention of clearing any near post crosses) but this time he didn't even try to jump and at least make it difficult for the Hull forward to see the trajectory of the ball. The responsibility for the first goal lies at the feet of Walcott, Fabregas and Sagna who failed to coordinate and close down Geovanni. All in all I do not understand how and why Gallas is being singled out as the weakest link, when the two defeats of the season have been a result of a fantastically horrible TEAM performance.
G4L
the ratings above are warped! true gallas had a shocker to concede the goal, but he almost pulled off the same header at the other end, he headed the ball well in some instances but not CONSISTENT. central defence IS a problem i agree, maybe djourou to step in, im not sure, lets hope AW fixes it soon. your rant against RVP is misplaced Tim, looks more like a witch hunt to me. i dont know what you have against him, but he is not there to provide chances for adebaywhore, our midfield does that, rvp is charged with scoring goals, and although he is not hitting target yet, give him time. DB10 was not prolific, but it was his individual brilliance which we admire. same goes for rvp. i am not blaming adebaywhore for this game or trying to make him a scapegoat, i just think he is rubbish in general. we should have sold him when we got the chance. vela, bendtner and rvp interchanging in attack til eduardo comes back is ideal for me. and on a last point, you gave theo and adebaywhore the same 6 points?!?! theo and clichy were our best players.
supersof
Can't really disagree with those rating, our players were so poor. I can't really understand why we were so poor, after knowing that we had to win the game to stay at the top of the EPL. Why,didnt we win WHY???
hackneyval
Why would I witchhunt any player I spend about £4,500 a season watching? RvP just cannot play in this team, he hasn't forged a partnership with any striker he's ever played with and is just too much of an individual for our style of play. Adebayor gets a 6 because he tried to make things happen for the team, he didn't have a good day but I saw the effort was there. The problem was we just resorted to punting long balls at him, which he battled for manfully and didn't complain, but the point is his striker partner is supposed to be in and around him to receive the ball, RvP wasn't. The point on Gallas is that he is repeating the same mistakes over and over, he is a quality defender and will know only too well what he is doing wrong, but he obviously doesn't have much desire to improve on it, he's looked all season as though he'd really rather be anywhere else but playing for us. If you take Adebayor out of this team, it is in huge trouble. Nobody offers the presence and effort he does and you saw shortly before we signed him how blunt we looked in attack. The month before we signed him we could not create chances away from home and in December 2005 we went four consecutive games without scoring precisely because nobody could create and worry defenders like Adebayor can. That pattern would re emerge without him in tight games. Clichy was clearly still carrying his knock from last week, which brings me back to my point about Wenger not believing in his squad because he wouldn't put Silvestre or Gibbs in, playing a half fit Clichy instead. Sagna's fault in the first goal was minimal, he had to stay with the Hull left winger.
Little Dutch
LD, you can't reason with somebody who thinks a player is rubbish because he wanted a payrise.
Tom14
The more I reflect on this defeat, the more I feel it was everything to do with not having the right attitude and being complacent and not just about a commanding centre-half or DM. Arsene's philosophy sounds like its: winning is a consequence of focussing on the quality of our game and playing the game we love. Hence the one pass to many, trying to walk it in the goal sometimes. On the back of our recent wins, our confidence perhaps turned into a belief that we just need to turn up, strutt our stuff, and the goals and wins will happen. Watching Sol Campbell for Portsmouth yesterday made me think about commanding he was in the air when he played for us and how well he worked with Toure. Its SO fustrating to think that Arsene said he knew what the problem was and yet didn't rectify it. From now on I think Djourou should be our first-choice alongside either Gallas, Toure or Song.
Gooner_Vin
Another point surrounding Gallas, after the Bolton goal last week, Wenger rose from the bench to berate and question him. I find it hard to believe that Wenger would not have bought this up after the game and on the training ground. Yet he made the exact same mistake again on Saturday, which has to cause you to ask questions of his desire at the moment.
Little Dutch
I'm with you on the RVP issue LD. The problem is though, he'll probably play like a genius in his next few games, get us all rubbing our hands again, only to go and get injured once again which will take us back to square one and back to another long process of getting him back up to speed. I've got to be honest, with the displays that NB has been putting in, I just don't know why Arsene doesn't reverse the roles and get RVP to play in the CC games. Maybe a few goals in the CC would help to jump start his season.
flv
that'sfine LD, Gallas deserves his critiques but giving him a 4 while the rest of the defense gets a seemingly high 6 is not really a realistic reflection of their performance. Theo made the same mistake(s) he always does: a. leaves Sagna without any support and his decision making on 3 occasions was ***** poor (twice he was bearing down on goal). You dissected RvP (he repeated his mistakes as well), Eboue was back with his antiques which made him a hate figure among fans in the first place, Denilson was Fulhaming, and based on that, all of them should have gotten 4s or max. 5s. I also agree that Clichy should not have played if he was raw (he was crap) and what baffles me is that AW is repeating that we lack 'height' but leaves out Djourou on the bench. It is time for some of the first teamers to get dropped and reflect on their so-called performances.I'd start with Toure, Eboue,Van Persie and would rest Cesc coz the little fella is obviously struggling.
G4L
My justification there would be that Sagna didn't do an awful lot wrong, Clichy was ordinary/ unfit but not speactacularly bad. Ditto Toure, when King went clear on goal at 2-1 Toure was the one sprinting to make up the ground and eventually putting King off his shot, Gallas was jogging. Gallas also conceded a petulant foul and yellow card in injury time when he should have known better. The effort was there from some individuals but the collective spirit was wrong, which doesn't refelct as much in individual ratings. Players such as Cesc and Clichy and Denilson out the effort in but didn't play well. Gallas and van Persie played badly and didn't put the effort in.
Little Dutch
Wenger is capable of producing a team that combines strenght and skills (i.e Vieira, Petit, Edu, Petit, Parlour, Campbell & Keown era) especially at the 'backbone' of the team, the CM & DM. Now we are really getting smaller and softer (Fabregas, Denilson, Eboue, Gallas & Toure). That's the difference of us winning titles then and not winning now. How I wish if we have 2 CM and 2 DM the size of Bendtner.
Joe_@**
Also we need players with warrior's mentality. Vieira, Petit, Parlour & Keown had those mentality. Occasionally, they might went mental and collect some cards but they were collecting silverwares for the team at the same time. The last warrior we had was Flamini.
Joe_@**
the problem is not the players that we have, the problem is just the mentality surrounding some key figures. atm our player's mentality is like soybean cake, it certainly would not help if one or two of them would see how we are all critisizing them, enough is enough guys, this stops here, hull was on saturday, it is now 2 days since since saturday, let it go alreadi, and lets just think of how we can contribute to our beloved team......SUPPORT AND BELIEVE!
gooner_till_i_die
Okay gooner til I die. I hear you. Right then, who's gonna help me get my head out of this noose, 8-)
flv
Its all about the complacency. You create an INCREDIBLE amount of chances every game but 3/4 of those chances you're trying to walk the ball and 1/4 of them, just not been able to finish incisively. You could use Eduardo right about now but when he comes back who gets left on the bench? RVP? Ade?
ForeverUnited
We could use vela.
Tom14
ForeverUnited, frankly I'd prefer to see both Ade and RVP benched right now.
jaelle
can't believe how Gallas has sunk so low in form - he was a hero at our place - until that move :-)
merlin
[quote]I'm with you on the RVP issue LD. The problem is though, he'll probably play like a genius in his next few games, get us all rubbing our hands again, only to go and get injured once again which will take us back to square one and back to another long process of getting him back up to speed.[/quote]When has RvP really performed like a genius? He has some marvelous shots and oodles of skill but he plays very selfishly. He always has. The way this team plays it doesn't work to have one guy out there who plays like he does. Put him in the CC if you want, but put Nik or Vela in with Adebayor and see the difference.
smithdj74
RvP and Ade deserve lower ratings. Find me two other strikers so unwilling to test a goalkeeper from inside the 18. For my money, the lads only perked up once Vela was brought on. I'd like to see Ade and RvP take a seat to Bendtner and Vela for one game, to remind them of the hunger they had before their spots in the starting XI was "guaranteed". Fair play to Hull, they made the most of their few chances and we spurned all of ours, but, something (someone) in this lineup has to give. IMO, at this point in time, Gallas should be stripped of the armband and given a week break. Let him watch from the stands whilst Toure and Djourou show him he's NOT essential to the side. Maybe then he'll play with heart, not attitude, and do right by the cannon on his chest.
brewtowngunner
and LD you fail to mention Adebayor's poor finishing when put through by his team mates. he may have scored 30 goals last season, but keeps missing sitters when the team needs goals, and as much as he is powerful in the air & holding the ball up, his finishing is below par when the ball is at his feet..
luckys_10
Depends what your take on genius is really smithdj74. I consider Beethovan and Bach as genius, but in between their great moments, in my opinion they wrote plenty of *****e as well. Wouldn't surprise me if the Mona Lisa looked like Penelope Cruz in real life too, if you get my gist?
flv
you played crap against hull
lil blackpoolgas
It was a poor result for Arsenal but all teams can have an off day. Hopefully you'll go on to win the title as I would prefer Arsenal to win, over Man Utd and Chelsea.
Markcity
Have Your Say
Recent Articles
Who Is Your Vital Arsenal Player of the Season? (Tuesday May 21 2013)
Newcastle United 0 Arsenal 1 (Monday May 20 2013)
VIDEO: Wenger Praises 'Exceptional' Attitude (Monday May 20 2013)
Arsene Wenger, Now Is The Time (Monday May 20 2013)
The Moment That Made It All Worthwhile (Sunday May 19 2013)
Happy St Totteringham's Day To Gooners Everwhere (Sunday May 19 2013)
Team News: Last Game Of The Season (Sunday May 19 2013)
The Squeaky Bum Preview (Friday May 17 2013)
Wenger Confirms Sanogo Deal Almost Done (Friday May 17 2013)
Mid-Morning Ablutions #11 (Thursday May 16 2013)
Archived Articles
Vital Members League (view all)
| 1. | nikolaijns | 58 |
| 2. | Rocky7 | 52 |
| 3. | Naijagunner | 46 |
| 4. | Wyn Mills | 31 |
| 5. | Nwankwo25 | 20 |
| 6. | flv | 20 |
| 7. | prits | 20 |
| 8. | gunnerkid107 | 19 |
| 9. | julieloveshenry4ever | 16 |
| 10. | No 10 | 15 |
League Results (view all)
| Latest Results | ||||
| Newcastle | 0 | - | 1 | Arsenal |
| Arsenal | 4 | - | 1 | Wigan |
| Q.P.R. | 0 | - | 1 | Arsenal |
| Arsenal | 1 | - | 1 | Man Utd |
| Fulham | 0 | - | 1 | Arsenal |
| Arsenal | 0 | - | 0 | Everton |
League Table (view table)
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 1. Man Utd | 38 | 28 | 5 | 5 | 43 | 89 |
| 2. Man City | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 32 | 78 |
| 3. Chelsea | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 36 | 75 |
| 4. Arsenal | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 35 | 73 |
| 5. Spurs | 38 | 21 | 9 | 8 | 20 | 72 |
| 6. Everton | 38 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 15 | 63 |
| 7. Liverpool | 38 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 28 | 61 |
Breaking League News
| Liverpool: Papadopoulos Is The Top Target
» Liverpool : 21/05/2013 18:31:00
|
| Out Through the Exit Door
» Chelsea : 21/05/2013 18:02:00
|
| Sir Alex Cleans Up
» Man Utd : 21/05/2013 18:01:00
|
| Villa's Pre Season Schedule
» Aston Villa : 21/05/2013 18:00:00
|
| Tony Pulis set to leave Stoke City
» Stoke : 21/05/2013 17:43:00
|
| Thomas Tweets Departure
» WBA : 21/05/2013 17:01:00
|
| Vlaar Pleased With First Good Touch Of The Game
» Aston Villa : 21/05/2013 17:00:00
|
Current Site Poll (view all polls)
|
|