by Aristoskank Wed May 06, 2009 11:35 am
Incorrect, I thought Jens was a prize c**t, a cheat and an idiot but there's no doubting he was actually a pretty damn good keeper.
I used to rate Toure, but he's fallen to pieces since Gallas turned up, still capable of excellent performances but increasingly capable of shocking ones too. Fabregas is a very good playmaker, he's just mediocre at everything else. There was a hilarious moment last night when he found himself in unfamiliar territory on the right wing, and unable to beat his man, or even just find space to pick out a pass or cross, he just gave up and thumped it against the defender in front of him. If that was Essien, well, you can only imagine. Adebayor I've always rated as a player, even back in his first few months at Arsenal when he couldn't hit a barn door you could see the talent was there. I just found it risible that after one good season, in which he'd won nothing, he was turned into a top four striker in the world who guarantees 30-40 goals a season. Van Persie is an excellent player, but yet to prove anything on the big stage for Arsenal. Hleb I always thought was a waste of space, Nasri not that much better. Arshavin's obviously very talented but we'll see if he can keep up anything close to this form when he's only getting one or two day's rest between matches instead of a week. Sagna's good, but again was turned into 'the best RB in the league' after a handful of games, only to prove he couldn't keep up that level of performance.
I used to rate Vieira, Bergkamp, Petit, Pires (though I'd never admit it at the time) and a few others, mostly players who actually had the ability to, y'know, win things rather than give up whenever it got tough.