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West Ham vs Arsenal Player Ratings

By mac14 on October 26, 2008

Emmanuel "Money Bags" Adebayor Proves To Be Too Much To Handle

Arsenal traveled across London this weekend to take on city rivals West Ham United in what was a very hard fought victory at Upton Park. A scoreless first half saw Arsenal come out from the break determined to find the breakthrough. Despite the heroics of Robert Green, Arsenal found a way through off of a Faubert own goal. Arsenal we able to hang on to advantage until stoppage time when a sublime pass from Bendtner put Adebayor in on goal to double the advantage and sure up the three points for the visitors.

Almunia: 8 Fantastic first half from the Spaniard who made a few fantastic saves, including a great one on Bellamy. Almunia seems to really be growing into his roll this season and as someone who has never been particularly impressed by Almunia he really is becoming a solid keeper.

Eboue: 6.5 Not the greatest game for Eboue. He was slopping in the attacking third but solid enough in defense. I still think he plays better as a right back.

Gallas: 8 Great game by Gallas, one of the few good games I can remember him having in an Arsenal shirt. He dealt well with the Hammer’s attackers all evening and played some fantastic one on one defense. Lets all hope that our Captain keeps up this form for many games to come.

Silvestre: 7.5 Played very well next to Gallas. He is still getting used to our system but the Frenchman seems to be fitting in quite well.

Clichy: 7.5 Showed great willingness to get forward but was outpaced by Bellamy in the first half. All in all though it was a typical Clichy performance, as solid as ever.

Walcott: 8 Theo was brilliant on the night. His pace and ability to launch Arsenal into attack with the snap of a finger caused West Ham trouble all night long. He put some nice balls into the middle and showed a great willingness to fight down the right and to get into scoring positions in the box. He was unlucky not to score when he fired off the crossbar.

Fabregas: 7.5 Fairly good performance from the Spaniard. He controlled the midfield well and seemed to work much better next to Song then next to Denilson. He had a few passes get away from him but over all he showed great determination to orchestrate the attack as Arsenal searched for a winner.

Song: 8 A so-so first half combined with an amazing second half completed what is most likely Song’s best game for the Gunners to date. He was fantastic getting back in defense and halting any sort of offense the Hammers got going and was good in the final third as well. He showed good decision making in his passing and some fantastic skill on the ball as well. I hope this game will give Song a prolonged run out at the defensive midfield position.

Nasri: 7 Quite game from Samir but continued to link up well with Clichy down the right. I have been really impressed with the Frenchman’s skill and strength on the ball and I look forward to seeing Nasri continue to adapt and fit into the side.

van Persie: 7.5 Looked for goal often and came close on three or four occasions. It looks like Robin’s free kick ability is starting to return as she rattled on off the upright. He worked the keeper well and played some nice balls between the rest of the team, especially his chest down to an oncoming Walcott in the box.

Bendtner: 7.5 A performance the young Dane can certainly be proud of. The game did not come easy to him the whole 90 minutes but Nick worked hard and linked up well with his team mates. He played some excellent balls into the box and even worked the keeper on on occasion. His ball to Adebayor for the second though was absolutely fantastic. Suffice to say, I believe Bendtner is coming along quite nicely and gives Arsenal another solid option up top.

Subs:

Adebayor: 8.5 Made all the difference. His willingness to fight for every ball was very clear and his hard work paid off early as some fancy footwork and a shot toward goal helped Arsenal find the breakthrough as Adebayor bounced a shot off of a West Ham Defender and into the back of the net. His link up with the rest of the team was great and his goal was superbly taken.

Diaby: 7 Showed some nice link up and some fancy footwork but ultimately didn’t make that much of an impact on the match.

Sagna: N/A

Man of the Match: Adebayor has certainly added another dimension to his game this season. The way he links up and interacts with the other players on the pitch gives us something we didn’t have last year. His pace and physicality have become huge problems for Premier League defenders and his 8 goals in all competitions have helped Arsenal keep it close in the opening months of the BPL and the Champions League.