Arsenal vs Everton Player Ratings

By mac14 on October 21, 2008

He Came From Mersailles To Play The Arsenal Way!

Arsenal battled back from a one nil deficit to beat Everton at the Emirates this weekend before the club heads off to Turkey to face Fener in the Champions League. The win was certainly welcome after a string of poor form in the league had cost the Gunners 5 out of their last 6 points. Hopefully this come from behind victory can help catalyze a good run of form for the tough stretch ahead.

Almunia: 6.5 Made some good saves but his poor decision to come off his line on Everton’s corner towards the end of the first half nearly cost Arsenal big time.

Song: 6 Much better when moved to Center Back, but utter dreadful at right back. His inability to play his man and his area certainly did not help as Arsenal conceded within the first ten minutes.

Toure: 7 Did well until he came off. Marked pretty well and generally dealt with problems. Showed willingness to press forward as well to help spur an attack.

Silvestre: 8 I though Silvestre had a great debut. He seemed a little bit on edge at the start of the match but seemed to really grow into his role. It was also nice to see an Arsenal defender attack a ball in the air and win a header.

Clichy: 7.5 Saves Almunia’s ass by clearing off the line. Combined well with Nasri down the left and got forward to help Arsenal in the attack. I was particularly pleased to see the Frenchman stand up for his teammate when Denilson fell victim of a poor tackle down the left.

Eboue: 7 Poor as a right midfielder but fantastic filling in for Right Back in the second half. His natural defensive ability combined with his willingness to get forward was a much needed change.

Fabregas: 7 Not a particularly great game from Cesc but still managed to make a difference when it mattered. On a day when not all of his passes were going on target his willingness to just get into the box and make something happened proved vital as he combined well with Adebayor to put a shot on goal only for the deflection to fall to Robin to put the Gunners up 2-1.

Denilson: 5.5 Poor game from the Brazilian. His passing was woeful, giving the ball away too cheaply on more then one occasion. His utter inability to place defense cost Arsenal early in the game as his man breezed past him for the go ahead goal for Everton.

Nasri: 8 Great Game from Samir. The young Frenchman is forming a fine partnership with Clichy down that left hand side and he seems to have a nac for picking up important goals. So far so good for Nasri. If he can manage to stay fit he will make a huge impact for Arsenal this season.

Adebayor: 6 Poor game from Ade. Other then the little pass to Cesc he really didn’t do much. He is clearly not on top form and while he has four assists only scoring in one out of the first eight Premier League matches is just not good enough. Bring on Bendtner!

van Persie: 6.5 Incredibly wasteful but got what ultimately turned out to be the vital goal in the match. It is a good sign however that even while the Dutchman isn’t on top form he is still picking up goals.

SUBS:

Walcott: 9 Fantastic game for Theo. You could immediately see the impact the youngster had on the match as his pace and ability put Everton on their back foot. He worked well down the right side and capped off the afternoon with his first Premier League goal for Arsenal at home. Well done Theo

Diaby: 7 Combined well with Theo toward the end of the game and grabbed a nice assist. It is nice to Abou back to fitness and with Denilson’s poor form it is only a matter of time before Diaby will get his chance in the middle.

Man of the Match: Theo Walcott is proving to be a revelation for Arsenal this season. He grows with every game and his pace, vision and finishing are clearly causing defenses all sort of problems. Over the first eight games of the season one thing has become very clear: Theo needs to be on the pitch as much as possible, because when he plays, anything seems possible.