Arsenal 2011: The Embarrasment of riches « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger; coach of the decade

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“Making the Arsenal” – the book of Arsenal’s rebirth

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by Don McMahon

During this interminable and terribly dull inter-lull we are all supposed to ¨enjoy¨, it seemed to be a great time to look at the entire Gunners squad, including the walking wounded, select loanees, the bench-warmers, some up-and-coming Youth players and so on, in order to truly assess the depth and solidity of our current teams.

In order to try and be realistic, fair and unbiased, I’ve used ratings from a number of websites and my own observations from games I’ve watched, so the review will focus on each position and will reference a set of criteria that will be rated on a scale of 1-10 and ranked by overall score, with 1 being poor and 10 being exceptional, as follows:

a) Commitment: Is the player happy and committed to AFC, based on his own statements and his performances?

b) Consistency: Does the player perform steadily, energetically, consistently well week in and week out under all circumstances?

c) Winning Attitude: Is the player driven to win, visibly able to step up his game when things aren’t going well, giving 100% over the entire time he’s playing?

d) Skill: Does he display clear and consistent skill and ability when playing and does his skill actually improve the overall team performance and results?

e) Physicality: Is he tough-minded, hard, fearless and assertive in his playing style and what is his injury record?

f) Teamwork: Does he show a team spirit and willingness to work with his teammates and a selflessness that is humble and noble?

g) Tactical and strategic nous: Does the player display adaptability, inventiveness and creativity in one-on-one and small group situations?

h) Potential for Improvement: Is this player past his expiry date or can he offer greater possibilities down the road?

i) Maturity and Intelligence: Does the player remain calm and steady under fire and behave intelligently when facedwith stressful or provocative situations?

So here we go…

KEEPERS	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	TOTAL/100
Szcesny	9	10	9	10	9	8	9	10	6	80
Mannone	8	8	8	7	8	7	8	9	8	67
Fabianski	7	6	7	7	5	8	8	9	7	64
Almunia	9	5	8	6	4	7	5	6	6	57

DEFENDERS	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	TOTAL/100
Koscielny	10	9	9	9	9	10	8	10	8	82
Vermaelen	9	9	9	8	10	10	8	8	10	81
Sagna	9	9	9	9	9	9	10	8	9	81
Jenkinson	9	7	8	7	8	9	7	9	8	72
Mertesacker	8	7	8	7	8	8	7	8	9	70
Santos	8	7	8	7	7	8	8	7	8	66
Gibbs	9	7	8	7	6	7	7	8	7	66
Djourou	8	6	6	7	6	8	7	8	6	62
Squillaci	9	6	7	6	7	8	5	6	6	60

DEF.MID	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	TOTAL/100
Frimong	8	8	9	8	9	8	8	9	8	75
Song	9	9	8	9	9	7	9	8	6	74
Lansbury	9	9	8	8	8	7	7	8	8	72
Coquelin	7	8	8	8	9	7	8	8	7	68
Diaby	8	7	8	8	6	7	8	9	7	68

MIDFIELDERS	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	TOTAL/100
Wilshere	9	9	10	10	8	9	10	10	9	84
Arteta	10	9	9	9	8	10	10	8	9	82
Ramsey	9	8	10	9	8	9	9	10	8	80
Rosicky	9	7	8	9	8	9	9	8	8	73
Benayoun	7	8	9	8	8	9	8	7	8	72
Arshavin	7	8	6	9	6	6	9	7	9	67

STRIKERS	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	TOTAL/100
RVP	8	10	10	10	7	10	10	9	10	84
AOC	9	9	9	9	9	8	9	10	9	81
Gervinho	9	10	9	9	8	9	9	9	7	79
Park	8	7	9	8	8	9	9	9	9	77
Miyachi	9	8	9	9	8	9	8	9	8	77
Walcott	9	7	7	8	7	9	8	10	8	73
Chamakh	7	8	6	6	6	8	7	8	8	64

And that was it.  ……Certainly a  totally subjective classification of Arsenal’s strength in numbers. I am absolutely sure that many bloggers will have other opinions and that the AAA’s out there will rubbish every player that AW brought in recently and critique me for wearing rose coloured glasses……

But still, it was fun to do.

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