Hull City v Arsenal [R] Pre/Dur/Post Match

[AfrcnHrbMan]

Any 'detractors' he has have little knowledge of football and thus their opinions carry little weight.

Well I agree with you there. This was a hard fought match, the Arsenal deserved all 3 pts.

[wanye_stirrear]

Any 'detractors' he has have little knowledge of football and thus their opinions carry little weight.

So how many points did we drop again G dot Ozo?

[G dot Ozo]

So how many points did we drop again G dot Ozo?

Zero, fortunately. However we were on course to drop two until Wenger made some changes to the useless midfield I was having a go at in that original comment. The way we've played with that midfield this season totally justified what I said. And the way results have turned for us when we've gotten away from it further justifies it.

[antifan]

I think this result shows some growth from the team. They kept their heads after Hull equalized and pushed on for the second and third goals. I don't know if that would have happened earlier in the season.

[TheArgonaut]

Can't argue with the result. It sure is nice to see us score 3 goals.

Almunia - 6.5 - Decent game, didn't have a lot to do at times. Controlled the box well sometimes and sometimes he didn't.
Sagna - 7 - Solid defensively and picked up a lot of Eboue's mistakes
Toure - 6 - Decent game. Can't think of anything terrible or outstanding.
Djourou - 5 - His performance dipped today compared with what he's shown he can do. Bad decision making at times.
Clichy - 6 - Made some defensive errors but also did a pretty good job of dealing with a very quick and mobile Hull RW.
Eboue - 5 - good runs but nothing on the end of the runs. He either ran into a Hull player or passed it to a Hull player.
Diaby - 6.5 - Nothing amazing but put in some really solid tackling at times and showed good strength holding onto the ball
Denilson - 6.5 - same as Diaby, solid game with not too many mistakes but nothing outstanding.
Nasri - 7.5 - very dynamic in possession, good movement and passing.
RvP - 8 - set up all three goals. In the absence of Cesc, RvP is quickly becoming the organizing and directing force in our offense.
Adebayor - 6 - apart from the goal (which is no small contribution) did very little.

Subs:
Bendtner - 8 - excellent when he came on. good movement into dangerous areas with and without the ball. Very dangerous on the ball
Song- Not on for very long.

RvP, Nasri and Bendtner were the standouts for me in this game. Bendtner is really an enigma to me. When he comes off the bench he almost always makes an impact. He showed he's got the talent and skills but just can't seem to show it when he's starts as a striker.

I'm starting to wonder whether this hybrid 4-3-3/4-4-1-1 we have when Bendtner plays with Ade and RvP is (with our current available squad) our best formation. In defense Bendtner drops to the RW and RvP drops deeper but in attack we seem to just be able to overwhelm the opponents b/c of Bendtner pushing up as a forward on the right. As soon as Bendtner came on and I saw how he was going to be deployed I just knew we'd score. I wasn't sure we'd hold onto whatever lead we got, but I knew we had at least one more goal coming.

[Publius]

We got some real fortunate calls for a change. I thought Adebayor's goal could have been disallowed for an offensive foul and Djourou caught a break on the non penalty.

Eboue and Diaby continue to be a source of frustration for either making bad decisions or failing to execute what they're trying to do and end up turning the ball over. I had thought that Bendtner had been having a disappointing season but he's been coming up big lately.

In the end it was a hard fought three points.

[Smalls123]

Great win today. I was really impressed with RVP Nasri and Bendtner today. I like how today we decided to go at defenders and make things happen...it was good to see that again.

Robin has been very impressive the past month or so. And for how mouch crap Bendtner get (some unfairly) he is never afraid to go at defenders.

[antiwhinger]

watching arsenal these days is just torture.

adebayor is about as useful on the counterattack as darius vassell. has speed, can get the ball, but can't do anything after that. despite being blindingly fast, he really slows down our counterattacks...

van persie is an absolute beast. we would be hopeless without him right now.

[wanye_stirrear]

Zero, fortunately. However we were on course to drop two until Wenger made some changes to the useless midfield I was having a go at in that original comment. The way we've played with that midfield this season totally justified what I said. And the way results have turned for us when we've gotten away from it further justifies it.

lol...yeah, subbing Bendtner for Eboue is exactly what we have been talking about when talking about our midfield selection. :rolleyes:

[Silva 5]

I usually come here after a match and say who I think played well and who was poor, or underwhelming. I'm not going to bother. It's not about the individuals anymore, it's about the squad as a whole. We're getting results. Eight matches undefeated, three wins in a row. We showed the mental strength needed to put our setback aside, as well as the weather and get the job done. Well done.

[daedalus]

i really do not like eboue as a right midfielder. i do not think he has the skillset to succeed there nor do i think he will develop it. it could be just my bias but i just do not see it happening.

on the other hand, i have to give him credit for his work rate. he has not whine and just loaf for a really long time. kudos for that at least.

[G dot Ozo]

I'm starting to wonder whether this hybrid 4-3-3/4-4-1-1 we have when Bendtner plays with Ade and RvP is (with our current available squad) our best formation. In defense Bendtner drops to the RW and RvP drops deeper but in attack we seem to just be able to overwhelm the opponents b/c of Bendtner pushing up as a forward on the right. As soon as Bendtner came on and I saw how he was going to be deployed I just knew we'd score. I wasn't sure we'd hold onto whatever lead we got, but I knew we had at least one more goal coming.

We've played our best football this season when this sort of formation is in action. Bendtner at least understands passing and moving, will have a go at defenders which generally makes things happen. Our shape changes going forward, having players on both wings that can properly attack the area as opposed to square passes and tame crosses. I don't understand why we have to wait 60 or 70 minutes to do this when we can be at the opposition from the off and possibly score 2 goals by half time.

lol...yeah, subbing Bendtner for Eboue is exactly what we have been talking about when talking about our midfield selection. :rolleyes:

Not exactly, but getting away from a rigid 4 across midfield with Eboue, Denilson and Diaby, with the latter two as CMs HAS been what was talked about. Exactly how it was done was uncertain, but it's obvious that playing the way we started is not effective, and wasn't today. It wasn't until Bendtner came on for Eboue that things started to click going forward.

[wanye_stirrear]

Can't argue with the result. It sure is nice to see us score 3 goals.

Almunia - 6.5 - Decent game, didn't have a lot to do at times. Controlled the box well sometimes and sometimes he didn't.
Sagna - 7 - Solid defensively and picked up a lot of Eboue's mistakes
Toure - 6 - Decent game. Can't think of anything terrible or outstanding.
Djourou - 5 - His performance dipped today compared with what he's shown he can do. Bad decision making at times.
Clichy - 6 - Made some defensive errors but also did a pretty good job of dealing with a very quick and mobile Hull RW.
Eboue - 5 - good runs but nothing on the end of the runs. He either ran into a Hull player or passed it to a Hull player.
Diaby - 6.5 - Nothing amazing but put in some really solid tackling at times and showed good strength holding onto the ball
Denilson - 6.5 - same as Diaby, solid game with not too many mistakes but nothing outstanding.
Nasri - 7.5 - very dynamic in possession, good movement and passing.
RvP - 8 - set up all three goals. In the absence of Cesc, RvP is quickly becoming the organizing and directing force in our offense.
Adebayor - 6 - apart from the goal (which is no small contribution) did very little.

Subs:
Bendtner - 8 - excellent when he came on. good movement into dangerous areas with and without the ball. Very dangerous on the ball
Song- Not on for very long.

RvP, Nasri and Bendtner were the standouts for me in this game. Bendtner is really an enigma to me. When he comes off the bench he almost always makes an impact. He showed he's got the talent and skills but just can't seem to show it when he's starts as a striker.

I agree with this. Diaby had one of his better games in the middle. He put in some very good tackles, which was a surprise. Clichy and Djourou weren't at their best today, but we made it through. I still do not understand why Clichy backed off his man and let him cross the ball for the Cousin goal. He started to close him down and just stopped. I think he is most responsible for the goal. Overall, the team showed good character to finish the game off especially given the weather.

[Silva 5]

Oh, Nasri's celebration after his game winnger...legendary stuff? I liked it.

[And_ROOS]

Any 'detractors' he has have little knowledge of football and thus their opinions carry little weight.


I was one of his detractors, everyone knows about his amazing skills and technique, but this is the first year he hasn't been made of glass.

[antifan]

Can't argue with the result. It sure is nice to see us score 3 goals.

Almunia - 6.5 - Decent game, didn't have a lot to do at times. Controlled the box well sometimes and sometimes he didn't.
Sagna - 7 - Solid defensively and picked up a lot of Eboue's mistakes
Toure - 6 - Decent game. Can't think of anything terrible or outstanding.
Djourou - 5 - His performance dipped today compared with what he's shown he can do. Bad decision making at times.
Clichy - 6 - Made some defensive errors but also did a pretty good job of dealing with a very quick and mobile Hull RW.
Eboue - 5 - good runs but nothing on the end of the runs. He either ran into a Hull player or passed it to a Hull player.
Diaby - 6.5 - Nothing amazing but put in some really solid tackling at times and showed good strength holding onto the ball
Denilson - 6.5 - same as Diaby, solid game with not too many mistakes but nothing outstanding.
Nasri - 7.5 - very dynamic in possession, good movement and passing.
RvP - 8 - set up all three goals. In the absence of Cesc, RvP is quickly becoming the organizing and directing force in our offense.
Adebayor - 6 - apart from the goal (which is no small contribution) did very little.

To be fair to Eboue, he was awarded the free kick that Van Persie nearly scored, and he forced the corner that Ade scored from.

In addition to his header, Ade had a nice pass across the goal that Eboue should have scored off.

I also thought that Diaby showed alot of improvement today and looked solid in central midfield.

[wanye_stirrear]

Not exactly, but getting away from a rigid 4 across midfield with Eboue, Denilson and Diaby, with the latter two as CMs HAS been what was talked about. Exactly how it was done was uncertain, but it's obvious that playing the way we started is not effective, and wasn't today. It wasn't until Bendtner came on for Eboue that things started to click going forward.

I recall exactly what we were saying, and you definitely are revising and broadening your statements. I think you realize that too. It does not matter. I will let it be.

[TheArgonaut]

To be fair to Eboue, he was awarded the free kick that Van Persie nearly scored, and he forced the corner that Ade scored from.

In addition to his header, Ade had a nice pass across the goal that Eboue should have scored off.

I also thought that Diaby showed alot of improvement today and looked solid in central midfield.

Good points.

[juanca]

I think this result shows some growth from the team. They kept their heads after Hull equalized and pushed on for the second and third goals. I don't know if that would have happened earlier in the season.

Spot on.

I think that is the perfect Summary of our team.

Hopefully, it isnt too late and we can cancel out all the early season League defeats and finish in the CL zone.

[antiwhinger]

i really do not like eboue as a right midfielder. i do not think he has the skillset to succeed there nor do i think he will develop it. it could be just my bias but i just do not see it happening.

on the other hand, i have to give him credit for his work rate. he has not whine and just loaf for a really long time. kudos for that at least.

people have this misconception that eboue just works hard.

dude, eboue can go past people. that makes him a legitimate midfielder. most wingers can't even do that regularly and they suck at crossing.

in the first half he had some dazzling runs which ended in nothing. still this is 1 trillion times better than his abject performance at the emirates in december. hopefully he will get better, much better...

give the dude the credit he deserves...