Terrific performance from the lads. Defended superbly as a team, attacked as a team Mannone 7 - shot stopping was excellent, shaky on the high balls though Jenkinson 6.5 - Defensively, still has Sterling in his pocket, passing was terrible though, could have got us in trouble alot of times Mertersacker 7.5 - Excellent, all this 'he has no pace and therefore is rubbish' stuff, is, well, rubbish. great defender. Vermaelen - 7.5 - Same as erm, great defending, passing was off though. Gibbs - 8 Excellent game from Englands 2nd best LB once again. Arteta - 8 Completely bossed the game from start to finish. Diaby - 8 Few great runs, set up giroud brilliantly. Proved me wrong, today. but 2 bad games and 1 good game isn't good enough Cazorla - 8 Little magician, who knows what footed he is? i don't know. great for him to get a assist and a goal (great for my Fantasy team also( Ox - 6.5 Didn't really get the ball so couldn't do much damage, great defensively though, helping out Jenkinson. Giroud - 6 Poor finishing again, great movement but poor finishing, he wasn't holding up the ball well either. Just needs one goal as clearly has 0 confidence at the moment. Poldi - 8 Great to get our first goal of the season and Was brilliantly defensively Subs: Ramsey - 7 Played very well when he came on, provided a burst of energy Koscielny N/A great to have you back Santos - N/A 'he drives when he wants, he drives when he wants, andre santos, he drives when he wants' Steve Bould - 600000 He has definately helped this team tenfold. we havnt conceded in 3 games which are normally some of our hardest games, first time we have had 3 clean sheets in a row for 88 years, didn't even do that with Graham in charge. Fans - 600000 Absolutely outstanding, best i've heard our fans in a long time, outsung all liverpool fans on their own. 'where's your famous atmosphere' brilliant Sidenote - Joe Allen was class for Liverpool, gerrard and Johnson and Suarez poor. Agree?
Nice analysis. My main reason to smile as you mentioned is the fact we have kept 3 clean sheets in the last 3 games, the first 2 games were not so hard to keep a clean sheet, Sunderland and Stoke basically settled into their own halves for the duration of the game. What i like is the defensive discipline we re showing and 100% that comes from Bould. Our priority in previous seasons was to always attack which made us predictable now we seem to be able to control the game in a defensive way if needed. Sterner tests to come but today was very satisfying. All Giroud needs is a goal and he's off and running.
Mannone - 7. Dealt with everything, I never felt like he was a liability Jenk - 7. Great battle between him and Sterling. Needs to cut out those awkward cross-field passes though Merte - 6.5. On another day his constant fouling and loss of possession could've had us punished. Not at his best today Verm - 7.5. Is there anything better than seeing Verm power through midfield all the way from defence? Mopped up at the back well Gibbs - 7. He was a threat on the wings, which kept Johnson occupied for most of the game. Could've even scored Arteta - 7.5. His usual understated performance. Hussling players and keeping possession, the man is pure class Diaby - 8.5 (MOM). Confident, nimble, intelligent passing. He looked world class out there today Cazorla - 8. Always looking for a pass, really enjoy watching him play. Nearly put Ramsey through at the end with an awesome pass from our left hand penalty area. Oxo - 6. He didn't really get into the game but he helped a lot defensively and helped nullify their left handside. Disappointed in his attacking play Pod - 7.5. His partnership with Cazorla is promising. I much prefer him on the wing than up-front Giroud - 6.5. He won a lot of headers and held up play but then had nobody around him. Not sure if it's the tactics that are hindering him or he can't adapt? I feel sorry for him as he's only getting 1 or 2 chances a game and he's snatching at them
I'm going to speak up for Per here. The only thing I would say is that almost everybody knew he was mismatched with Suarez today and he came through as the winner of what must be one of his sternest tests. He was asked to play, presumably because Kos was a little short for the game. I think he deserves a little more credit than people are giving him. Suarez has been a handful for a lot of quicker defenders.
And I'll add to this by saying that Jenkinson was excellent today. He screwed up on a few passes but he made more tackles than anyone else. He was solid at the back.
That's speaking up? He wasn't mismatched, he's a quality defender who has bested little runts like Suarez his whole career for club and country. He was presumably asked to play as backup for Kos? I'd say he's playing because he's ahead of Kos at the moment. He deserves more cred than you're giving him!
Mannone - 6 Jenkinson - 8 Mertesacker - 8 Vermaelen - 7 Gibbs - 7 Arteta - 8 Diaby - 8 Carzorla - 8 Ox - 7 Podolski - 8 Giroud - 6
Worried about Giroud tbh.. wasn't really happy to see Gibbs having a go at him for not passing when he clearly wasn't happy himself about missing that guilt edged chance in the first half.. Otherwise a nice solid performance and another clean sheet. Everyone talks about how badly Liverpool played but no-one really gave us an ounce of credit. (The media I mean)
I think Per is better against the big CF type, not against the Suarez type. Mis-matched was probably the wrong word, but I was trying to say that Suarez was the sort of player that he wold be worst against. I think if both he and Kos were fit and on top form I would play Kos against the fast small strikers and Per against the big ones. That was what I was trying to say. I certainly didn't mean to insult any of our players.
I agree somewhat, but I'd keep playing Merte for as long as he's doing a flawless job. Dropping him because you expect him to not do well against a certain type of player will only dent his confidence... and could only screw up a good thing. I remember Merts best days for Germany, and on his day he is as good as any defender. If he's in that form, we should not drop him for anyone.
I thought Merte had a great game, there was that moment early in the game when he got booked, though Suarez made the most of it. For most of the game Merte had the defence under control. Jenkinson was giving away a few **** passes early in the game, but did well throughout.
All the Diaby nay sayers got a shock today. He was awesome. By the way he wasn't nearly as bad against Stoke as I have seen people say he was. He's been one of our best players so far this season.
Well that is why I stated the hypothetical example of them both being on top form. I am not sure how Wenger will go about deciding which CBs to play if they are all fit. I certainly wouldn't want the job.
mine: Mannone 7 - Lots of solid saves and looked very commanding on most occasions. New number 2 to hopefully push Szczesny. Jenkinson 7 - After a shaky start he improved and was again very solid defensively. Needs to work on his passing. Mertesacker 7 - Got done by Suarez's pace once or twice, but won everything in the and his positioning is fantastic. Vermaelen 8 - Captain fantastic. Was everywhere in defence, and got back well to defend on multiple occasions. Gibbs 8 - Great defending, great attacking. Probably the best performance I've seen of him. Definitely our first choice LB now. Arteta 7 - The usual no fuss game of his. Controlled the midfield with his passing and also defending. Would like to see him get forwards more. Diaby 9 - WOW! He dominated Liverpool in the middle by keeping it simple and using his power. MOTM. If he keeps this up I wonder where Jack will fit in... Cazorla 8 - Another great performance and created multiple chances, plus scored and got an assist. Very excited by this guy. Chamberlain 6 - Was very quiet throughout and quite poor. Have seen him do a lot better and should have been substituted earlier, but he's still learning. Giroud 7 - Hold up play was decent, as was his link up play with midfield. Still needs a goal like all strikers, but it will come. Podolski 8 - Another great performance. Got his goal, but the better part of his play was with defending, as he helped out A LOT. Good link up with Cazorla.
Mine: Mannone 7 - Like all are goalkeepers is an excellent shot stopper, but a bit iffy on high balls and crosses. Jenkinson 7 - Poor distribution, but defensively was superb had Sterling in his pocket and the right side was pretty much shut out. Mertesacker 6 - Few errors and arguably a penalty (and a potential 2nd yellow) but otherwise very good. Great at interceptions and reading the game. Vermaelen 8 - Captains performance - still think he needs to chill on the marauding runs but great performance Gibbs 6 - Good going forward but like all are full backs is a crap crosser, which definitely needs to improve as the service to Giroud was dreadful from the wings. Also I realise it is our setup but he gets caught out of position a little too often. He should run up when we are further up the pitch. Arteta 7 - Solid! Nuff Said Diaby 9 - Tempted to give him a 10, not for the performance just forgot how good he can be. If he stay fit and in form he really will be like a new amazing signing. Cazorla 9 - Almost everything good going forward was through him really looking like a star player. Can be brushed off the ball a bit too easily but that should change as he gets used to the rigours of the EPL Chamberlain 6 - Not the best day for him Giroud 6 - Hold up play was decent, but not much going forward. Poor finish again from a decent chance - clearly needs a goal as he is snatching at the chances he does get. Also we need to provide him with much better service from the wings our crossing yesterday was awful - looking at Jenkinson and Gibbs especially. Podolski 9 - Amazing performance both going forward and back. He looks physically adapt for the league and a quality touch and finish for the goal. Also a brilliant pass for Cazorla's goal. Glad to see one of the 2 strikers is starting to fire.
Also ****ing Cock Sucking **** Licking **** Eating International break. At least we no longer have to worry about RVP getting is annual knock for the Dutch. Odds are he won't now that he has left.
Arteta was amazing imo, really showed how a DM is supposed to play. I rarely saw him in the liverpool 3rd and unlike song knew he had to stay back. Normally we are caught on the counter but Arteta was amazing. Wish we signed him when we had Cesc.
I love the fact that Diaby is showing his true potential. I've always thought he would become our Paddy Diaby. I noticed for the first time on MOTD2 last night they made the comparison. I hope he can stay fit, because I think he could have a massive season. That would really shove it in the faces of those who have been slating him for the last couple of years
