6/10
people may say we played well again. but close enough is never good enough. of course we played well. as we did against liverpool. but we shot ourselves in the foot again.
rooney's goal should never have happened. we have been through enough last season to know that the last minute of the first half and injury time are the periods where we should be absolutely focused. and we conceded. that is totally unacceptable. we must learn from it.
ronaldo's goal. last season's game at emirates, evra was similarly played in to play a cross to rooney. and we let him do it again. and we let them score when we were preparing to kill the game. it was just like the game against liverpool, where we gave away the ball cheaply when we should be preparing to kill them off. it's like you are going to sprint, then you stop and tie your shoelaces. ridiculous.
almunia- 5
my worst fears are confirmed: he can also make stupid decisions. the second goal, he should never have rushed out because someone was going to close down evra. i know he is not world class, but lehmann is making a fool out of himself, so we are really in deep shit with regards to the goalkeeping situation.
clichy-6
didn't really get to shut out ronaldo this time round. did create the gallas goal, did made good runs, but he had a very average game.
sagna-6
for the first time this season, made significant errors in defence, looked lost sometimes, but i don't really blame him, because those balls were really tricky. but his reaction to saha's cross was disappointing, but that happened too often tonight. yet, he did well to hook the ball back to fabregas.
toure-6
so so. could have done better, i suppose.
gallas-7
in defence, he was ok. the goals conceded should have been prevented outside the box. but he really showed a hunger for goal, with that first half header, and then the equaliser. finally understanding what the captaincy means.
flamini-6
tireless, did a really good job covering for the defence, but i thought the midfield conceded too much space to man u at some point in the second half.
fabregas-7
helped to distribute the ball to get the play going. did very well to remain composed and not blast the ball over again like at anfield.
hleb-6
main tormentor, very tricky, but crumbled too easily at times under the physical approach of the man u midfield and defence.
eboue-6
slowly got into the game and started displaying flashes of brilliance and pace.
rosicky-6
improved from the last game, but only slowly easing back to form.
adebayor-7
he chased every ball, he somehow kept possession when it seemed a lost cause. but in the first half, he came out too much. let hleb and rosicky come out and get the ball, just go inside so that they can send the ball in.
walcott-6
again, made an impact when he came on, though not as much this time.
gilberto-6
thought he didn't play too well, not really doing his job in midfield.
eduardo-6
could have done alot better with that volley. didn't really do much, seriously. but great ball from him, although adebayor failed to connect.
i thought as a defence, we did well to restrict man u to long range efforts that were never ever going to trouble us as long as lehmann wasn't in goal. but some of the balls they played in, though not connected, were dangerous and tricky, which proves my point that you don't need to have shots on target to be dangerous, to be judged to have good chances. but we largely coped with them, although in the second half, we gave them too much space outside the box, and the two times we lost our focus, we conceded.
in attack, we were simply too cautious in the first half. we could do alot better with our shooting because we managed to set ourselves up in good positions to shoot. and we should have sent in more crosses, to go for the direct approach because i don't think vidic and ferdinand really coped well with the few crosses we put in.
what a shame that we conceded the second goal, because not only did we undo all our hard work, we also had to abandon what wenger must have had in mind when he brought on gilberto and eduardo. we were supposed to play 4-2-3-1. we did, but it wasn't the way wenger would ahve wanted. we went for direct long balls. it would have been interesting to see how we could control the game, dictate the tempo with this formation. instead, we didn't ahve time for it; we just had to get the goal. if we hadn't concede, 10 minutes with a 4-2-3-1 that uses short passes could have enabled us to totally dominate the last stretch and create the chances to win the game. when you concede such a late goal, you don't really have time, much as you would want, to play a patient passing game. you would put men forward and whack long balls up. panicky, but probably the most effective.
anyway, i was really interested in the 4-2-3-1 because i have been thinking, and i think it is the most suitable formation with van persie still injured. and theoretically, we will be able to harness the qualities of flamini and gilberto, while unleashing fabregas's full potential. flamini can go chase down every ball in midfield while gilberto will just sit back and kill the space, be the third central defender, sweep up loose balls. basically, i think flamini can do what fabregas does when he goes deep: keep the play flowing by moving the ball around accurately. so fabregas should push forward and focus on creating chances, playing that final ball. the two wingers should be walcott and hleb, with adebayor as the lone striker. adebayor should try to be less mobile because hleb, walcott and fabregas can all do come deep to get the balls.
i am disappointed that we couldn't win the gam, but we could only blame ourselves.
of course i am relieved that the linesman spotted gallas' goal, but at the end of the day, if you didn't win, you better not be too happy.
rooney's goal should never have happened. we have been through enough last season to know that the last minute of the first half and injury time are the periods where we should be absolutely focused. and we conceded. that is totally unacceptable. we must learn from it.
ronaldo's goal. last season's game at emirates, evra was similarly played in to play a cross to rooney. and we let him do it again. and we let them score when we were preparing to kill the game. it was just like the game against liverpool, where we gave away the ball cheaply when we should be preparing to kill them off. it's like you are going to sprint, then you stop and tie your shoelaces. ridiculous.
almunia- 5
my worst fears are confirmed: he can also make stupid decisions. the second goal, he should never have rushed out because someone was going to close down evra. i know he is not world class, but lehmann is making a fool out of himself, so we are really in deep shit with regards to the goalkeeping situation.
clichy-6
didn't really get to shut out ronaldo this time round. did create the gallas goal, did made good runs, but he had a very average game.
sagna-6
for the first time this season, made significant errors in defence, looked lost sometimes, but i don't really blame him, because those balls were really tricky. but his reaction to saha's cross was disappointing, but that happened too often tonight. yet, he did well to hook the ball back to fabregas.
toure-6
so so. could have done better, i suppose.
gallas-7
in defence, he was ok. the goals conceded should have been prevented outside the box. but he really showed a hunger for goal, with that first half header, and then the equaliser. finally understanding what the captaincy means.
flamini-6
tireless, did a really good job covering for the defence, but i thought the midfield conceded too much space to man u at some point in the second half.
fabregas-7
helped to distribute the ball to get the play going. did very well to remain composed and not blast the ball over again like at anfield.
hleb-6
main tormentor, very tricky, but crumbled too easily at times under the physical approach of the man u midfield and defence.
eboue-6
slowly got into the game and started displaying flashes of brilliance and pace.
rosicky-6
improved from the last game, but only slowly easing back to form.
adebayor-7
he chased every ball, he somehow kept possession when it seemed a lost cause. but in the first half, he came out too much. let hleb and rosicky come out and get the ball, just go inside so that they can send the ball in.
walcott-6
again, made an impact when he came on, though not as much this time.
gilberto-6
thought he didn't play too well, not really doing his job in midfield.
eduardo-6
could have done alot better with that volley. didn't really do much, seriously. but great ball from him, although adebayor failed to connect.
i thought as a defence, we did well to restrict man u to long range efforts that were never ever going to trouble us as long as lehmann wasn't in goal. but some of the balls they played in, though not connected, were dangerous and tricky, which proves my point that you don't need to have shots on target to be dangerous, to be judged to have good chances. but we largely coped with them, although in the second half, we gave them too much space outside the box, and the two times we lost our focus, we conceded.
in attack, we were simply too cautious in the first half. we could do alot better with our shooting because we managed to set ourselves up in good positions to shoot. and we should have sent in more crosses, to go for the direct approach because i don't think vidic and ferdinand really coped well with the few crosses we put in.
what a shame that we conceded the second goal, because not only did we undo all our hard work, we also had to abandon what wenger must have had in mind when he brought on gilberto and eduardo. we were supposed to play 4-2-3-1. we did, but it wasn't the way wenger would ahve wanted. we went for direct long balls. it would have been interesting to see how we could control the game, dictate the tempo with this formation. instead, we didn't ahve time for it; we just had to get the goal. if we hadn't concede, 10 minutes with a 4-2-3-1 that uses short passes could have enabled us to totally dominate the last stretch and create the chances to win the game. when you concede such a late goal, you don't really have time, much as you would want, to play a patient passing game. you would put men forward and whack long balls up. panicky, but probably the most effective.
anyway, i was really interested in the 4-2-3-1 because i have been thinking, and i think it is the most suitable formation with van persie still injured. and theoretically, we will be able to harness the qualities of flamini and gilberto, while unleashing fabregas's full potential. flamini can go chase down every ball in midfield while gilberto will just sit back and kill the space, be the third central defender, sweep up loose balls. basically, i think flamini can do what fabregas does when he goes deep: keep the play flowing by moving the ball around accurately. so fabregas should push forward and focus on creating chances, playing that final ball. the two wingers should be walcott and hleb, with adebayor as the lone striker. adebayor should try to be less mobile because hleb, walcott and fabregas can all do come deep to get the balls.
i am disappointed that we couldn't win the gam, but we could only blame ourselves.
of course i am relieved that the linesman spotted gallas' goal, but at the end of the day, if you didn't win, you better not be too happy.
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