24th January 2005
By
Craig Hope
 Shay
Given
The Irishman made two outstanding saves that kept the game alive.
It is good to see Given making these saves whereby earlier in
the season, by his own admission, he was conceding too many
goals and should have been doing more to prevent them. We appear
to have found a way to keep the opposition's score to just one,
not since Boxing Day have we conceded more. With Given in this
form we will surely soon reverse the stat that highlights the
fact that we are yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premiership
under Souness at St. James's. But, despite the defeat, Given
receives my Man of the Match award for keeping
Arsenal's tally to just one on a day when you couldn't have
begrudged the Gunners four or five.
|
8 |
 Steven
Taylor
Not a happy 19th birthday for the young full-back. Taylor was
replaced at half time with Graeme Souness no doubt aware of
the caution he was carrying. He was outwitted for Arsenal's
goal with Bergkamp using experience rather than strength to
get the right side of Taylor and duly slot home. He will bounce
back however, he has too strong and confident a character not
to.
|
5 |
 Jean-Alain
Boumsong
Three games into his Newcastle career and surprise, surprise
– Boumsong has a pull/tear/strain. What do we do to players?
Two new signings both sidelined within three weeks of their
arrival. Is it time the Wright/Ferris/Winsper fitness team are
finally shown the door and replaced? Boumsong, until his withdrawal,
had performed well. He was however caught ball watching in the
move that resulted in Henry hitting the post. But he did show
great strength on occasions, most notably against Bergkamp,
in disposing the opposition and was efficient in his distribution.
Promising performance from the £8 million man but just when
will he appear again? |
6 |
 Titus
Bramble
He continued in his decent run of form that is possibly the
reason why our interest in Samuel Kuffour has subsided. His
distribution was at times hopeful but to be fair the long ball
was often his only option with our midfield particularly ball
shy on a day when we needed them not to be. He was turned by
Pires in the second half but apart from that made some timely
interceptions and wasn't to blame for any of Arsenal’s numerous
openings.
|
7 |
Olivier
Bernard
Bernard had a good game and showed exactly why his pace and
power are attracting the attention of so many other clubs. Delivered
a couple of excellent first half crosses towards Ameobi and
must have been very frustrated at just how often he was put
under pressure as a result of Robert’s wasteful tendencies.
It looks increasingly likely that Bernard will leave at the
end of the season – on the evidence of this performance he will
certainly be a miss.
|
7 |
 Kieron
Dyer
Did nothing. I don't want to write too much and give people
who didn't see the game the wrong impression – but he did, for
want of a better word – nothing! Sorry, he did cover a lot of
ground! |
4 |
 Lee
Bowyer
Our best midfielder in that he took the game to Arsenal and
was responsible for our sole meaningful effort on goal. Still
not good enough from the Londoner by means of all round distribution
and first touch but he did play a couple of decent long balls,
most notably putting Ameobi away down the right wing in the
first half. He did what we wanted all of our players to do and
tried to drag Arsenal into a physical battle – for this to be
effective Bowyer needed a supporting cast – unfortunately with
regards to fight and aggression Bowyer's was a one man show. |
6.5 |
 Jermaine
Jenas
Did ok. An improvement upon recent below par performances at
least. But, given that Patrick Viera received the man of the
match award Jenas ultimately didn’t do enough. He saw more of
the ball than in recent weeks but failed to deliver one telling
pass and didn't penetrate Arsenal's backline by means of forward
running. |
6 |
 Laurent
Robert
Harsh? Absolutely not! If, with regards to player ratings, you
work off the premise that a player starts on zero then works
his way up for good contributions then Robert would remain zero.
If, on the other hand, you work off the premise that every player
starts on five then deviates up or down in relation to positive/negative
contribution then again, Robert gave the ball to Arsenal on
enough occasions to warrant zero. He was disgraceful. He gave
the ball to Arsenal every time he had possession. His crossing
was aimless and work rate, as ever, below average. I have defended
Robert in the past but based on that performance he gives his
diminishing band of backers not a leg to stand on.
|
0 |
 Alan
Shearer
Hard to award Shearer more than five marks given his lack of
involvement. What he did do was good, winning a couple of headers
and beating Campbell for strength on a couple of occasions.
Big Al won't fashion chances for himself anymore and from very
early on in this game it was evident his team-mates weren't
going to create anything for him either. His body language told
its own story at times – a player who at 34 when given half
a chance will find the net playing in a team that appears void
of any invention and creativity.
|
5 |
 Shola
Ameobi
He had a couple of nice touches, as ever, but failed to create
anything other than a second half cross that was cleared by
Toure. He did well to beat Cole in the first half but then proceeded
to deliver a frustratingly lazy cross. When moved up alongside
Shearer he disappeared from the game but must have been frustrated
at the lack of drive and ambition shown by our midfield just
when we needed them to push for a late equaliser. |
5 |
Substitutes:
 Aaron
Hughes
Introduced at half time and looked nervous going forward. Arsenal
had a lot of second half success down their left flank with
Hughes looking decidedly short of confidence after his absence
from the first team.
|
5 |
 Charles
N'Zogbia
He picked up where Robert left off. He was involved in a couple
of neat interchanges with Jenas and Bernard but saw very little
of the ball and didn't once get in behind the opposition's backline
as he did so against West Brom.
|
4 |
 Andy
O'Brien
O'Brien managed to look worse than we remember. It looked so
simple for Henry to pull two or three yards off O'Brien's shoulder
whilst the Irishman remained focused on the ball. Looked worryingly
short of pace and so lacking in confidence that it was a miracle
Arsenal didn't score another three or four following O'Brien's
introduction. A harsh assessment perhaps given the time he spent
on the field, but our defence with O'Brien part of it looks
unorganised and unsure with any notion of playing as a solid
unit of four a worrying impossibility.
|
4 |
The Boss Man:
 Graeme
Souness
Hard to assess the Bellamy situation – but if Bellamy’s argument
was indeed that he should be playing as a striker then I'm afraid
Bellamy was right. Before the game there was a lot of talk of
a 4-3-3 formation, from where I was sitting it looked more like
a 4-5-1 formation that was never going to threaten Arsenal's
goal – one effort on target tells its own story. Every decision
Souness seems to make at the moment appears to be experimental
and he is certainly failing to install any confidence in the
supporters – I wonder how the players feel? We can only hope
that the acquisition of Boumsong, Babayaro and possibly Faye
are less experimental than some of his tactical decisions and
that given time the Scot can take us in the right direction
as opposed to the direction we appear to be heading at present.
|
5 |
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