It wasn’t the best game of all time but who doesn’t love a good penalty shoot-out win? Weirdos, that’s who.
Anyway, here’s how the players rated.
Lukasz Fabianski: 6/10 – Played well generally but might be disappointed about the goal. He seemed to get a good hand on it.
Carl Jenkinson: 8/10 – Lively, committed, drove forward well, but his defending was top notch throughout.
Per Mertesacker: 8/10 – Always in the right place at the right time. The steady, assured rock we have grown used to. Won more headers than Adam Sandler has been in crap movies.
Thomas Vermaelen: 7/10 – A solid return to the starting line-up for the skipper, he’ll be pleased with his night’s work.
Nacho Monreal: 7/10 – Struggled a bit with his passing during the 90 but had a good extra time and splooged home the winning penalty.
Mikel Arteta: 7/10 – Went off with what looked like cramp late on, and did look a bit leggy at times, but the run out will have done him good.
Isaac Hayden: 6/10 – Kinda lucky not to see red with a fairly reckless tackle in the first half, but the young man put himself about well.
Thomas Eisfeld: 6/10 – Was going to get a 5 but the goal wins him a point. Other than that he was pretty poor, getting caught in possession and ball watching a lot.
Serge Gnabry: 5/10 – Tried hard but nothing worked apart from one pass to Bendtner. Robbed of the ball constantly in the final third, and was too exhausted to take a penalty really.
Ryo Miyaichi: 5/10 – Like Gnabry ran at the defence well when he had it but some of his passing/final delivery was ridiculously poor. Faded out of the game at times.
Nicklas Bendtner: 7/10 – Ok, he missed a great chance to win it in normal time but he worked hard, won lots of headers, set up the goal and scored the first penalty. A decent return for a guy who hasn’t played in a long time and still has no real long-term future at the club.
Subs:
Chuba Akpom: 7/10 – At only 17 he’s still so raw but you can see there’s something there waiting to be tapped.
Kriss Olsson: 6/10 – Tidy enough as a sub, scored a crucial penalty.
Hector Bellerin: 6/10 – Came on for Arteta late on and although he’s a right back, didn’t really look out of place in midfield.
Feel free to debate and discuss in the comments, but please read the comment policy first and don’t get angry with each other, or me, about imaginary points.
Well played Nicklas Bendtner! He’ll get sharper after each game, feel more trust in him after this game, and huge compliments to all the youngsters who stepped up for their penalties. Superb win, UTA
Two strikers returned to action last night after long periods on the sidelines:
– Luis Suarez manages to kick David de Gea in the gonads
– Nicolaus Bendtner provided the assist for our only goal from open play, and confidently buries a crucial penalty
Suarez is a higher quality of player then the Fat Dane
But even NB is a higher quality of person than the racist, bitey Uruguayan.
So we’re all really pleased with Suarez’ return game then? Except I’m sure I would have heard if he’d been sent off for de-gonadding de Gea. It’s just a pity de Gea didn’t return the favour.
I agree, Bendtner done pretty well considering how long he has been out. I think many forget he was actual a decent striker a couple years ago for us and for Denmark.
The performance was nowhere near the best we have seen from a rotated/youthful League Cup team we always field, but the effort and energy we put in paid off in the end. We have let a lot of young (not quite first teamers) go and fringe players as well, so these youngsters were bound to struggle a bit away to the baggies.
Good job all round.
The corporal must have been given the freedom of the pitch by Wenger tonight. He was turning up everywhere.
i think he should have a go at filling in theos spot next game, he’s got fantastic energy and is a great crosser
I told you I was great, I TOLD YOU I’D BE THE MAN YOU WANTED ME TO BE!
This is fantastic Mick http://instagram.com/p/esyo7ig_sO/
That picture perfectly captures him. The man in his own world. The Greatest Striker That Ever Lived. In his own world.
Great win, COYG!
Bendtner IS Arsenal and always will be. His performance today is a sign that he can, if given a chance creating opportunity. We have wait for Wilshere 17 months, Rambo, RVP and such and they came back as legend (Wilshere not yet but will be). Bendtner is on the same path and old Arsene have seen it coming. The way he seen potential from Viera, Henry, Pires and such. Bendtner is truly a legend in the making. Give him more chances and we will have the legend that lost long time ago.
even I always believed the same, but recently felt his drive to play for Arsenal waver a bit. so here’s hoping he becomes “the legend” and proves that he is TGSTEL
I like how chilled out he is.
Other strikers are like “hey I wanna score some goals dammit” but bendtner is like “i’m just gonna tie my hair, chew some gum, eh will see how it goes ¯\(ツ)/¯
hahahaha ok you made me laugh
My gawd! that’s Obiwan Kenobi!
Either that, or he’s thinking about grad school.
Not sure its fair at this point in time to say Nicky B does not have a long term future at the club.
Certainly you could say that about Park. But Bendtner i am extremely glad has stuck around the club in our absence of a striker signing.
Surely the club needs 3 recognised strikers on the books. Whats to say he cannot be one of those 3.
maybe he will become, “The Greatest Backup Striker That Ever Lived”
soon Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be forgotten.
Ahm he already was until you reminded us
I feel that’s a fair assessment. Akpom was really impressive, especially considering he was played out of position. He is really strong on the ball and quicker than he looks. West Brom generally had to kick him to get to the ball and considering his age, he might really develop into something special.
Akpom has impressed me every time I’ve seen him, and he’s the youngest of the lot. We should be very proud of him, Arsenal through-and-through. And all the others showed glimpses of something, just not yet a complete, well-rounded game. What tonight does go to show is how exceptional Ramsey, Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain are. All of them were putting in complete, Premier League, even Champions League level performances (albeit not consistently) at 17 or 18. It’s easy to forget, when we’ve just seen a load of teenagers and 20 year-olds who we hope to be Arsenal’s future, that we also… Read more »
I was just thinking this – it makes me appreciate Aaron, Jack and Alex so much more. And they aren’t a whole lot older than our youngsters either.
Don’t forget Jenks, he might’ve been thrown straight into the first team when he came due to injuries but at 21 dude is making a serious case that he might be as good or better than Sagna. Well done to him.
Also have a soft spot for Frimpong and Migeul’s carling cup days, I don’t suppose much will come of them for The Arsenal but a couple years back their chances seemed good.
Mertesacker & Jenkinson were the best players tonight. Arteta looked sloppy during the 90. Vermalaelen & Monreal were solid. Bendtner was decent (Should have really scored that opportunity) but held up play well considering he’s not math fit. Notable mentions to Akpom & Ryo as well. Akpom looked assured on the ball & Ryo had crosses that actually beat the first man!
Bendtner looked knackered by the time that chance came, I thought. Thought he did well overall and the pass for the goal is something he’s always had in him. Not a bad backup for Giroud at all imo.
Jenkinson’s run through the middle during the end of ET was amazing. I honestly thought it was someone else, at first, through the bizarre place he was but I could not help but feel amazed and uplifted after a very long and, honestly, droll 120 minutes with his run. Gunner pride at its finest.
I thot his run back to defend a counter attack towards the end of ET was even more impressive.
Its pretty impressive to win at a near full strength West Brom when you consider the line up we had. Excellent nights work. I like Mertesacker more and more each week. A genuine leader in his own understated way. Top man.
Eisfeld was M.I.A it’s like we played without a no.10
Congrats on goal otherwise very average. Zelalem missed!
We may have liked to see Zelalem, but I don’t think it’s necessary to write off Eisfeld just yet. Wenger will be taking each of them through their game, pointing out where they could improve and why some of the things they were doing didn’t come off. Even when a player has a poor game he is learning from it at their age (with the right coach), and a goal even when having an off day is just what I want to see from Arsenal strikers.
Bendtner actually did a job today…..sorry society.
Good performance but wenger might want to field a stronger team in the next round. The COC could start a decent run
Eisfield took his chance really well, we can’t be to harsh on the young men such as Gnabry, Hayden & Ryo, the more games these guys get under their belt the better and they will grow. Don’t really want to talk about Bendtner, still has a lot of work to do, otherwise as Arsene would say “We showed great mental strength & their young and their learning”.
I thought Gnabry tracked back and helped out defensively very well. Was always chasing the ball down after we lost it, great effort if lacking slightly in the final third.
Was also my first away game tonight and the travelling support was amazing, one whole stand and managed to silence the rest of the ground. Great effort all round!
Man you got a thump up for this “Was also my first away game tonight and…” many of us have been supporting the Arsenal for so long and dream of one day watching them play live on the pitch. I have looked for many a excuse to travel to London but never been granted a visa: every time I visit the British Consulate, I discover my file is always missing one document. When news spread around that the Gunners will be playing against the super eagles of Nigeria IN NIGERIA, I immediately drove to the Nigerian Embassy in my country… Read more »
I don’t know why I was so resigned to losing throughout the entire game. I forget this new Arsenal thing we have going is actually quite good. Good run our for the kiddies, some of them looked pretty decent. After several pints and a few single malts that winning penalty was golden.
Towards the end Apkom having a gervinho-esque moment. Taking his time then passing it straight to the westbrom defender. Gervinho he’s still among us.
His name’s Akpom and he’s 17.Give him a break ffs.
Also we’re top of the league and we just knocked a decent premier league team out of the cup.
At their ground.
With our second string team.
How do you manage to find negatives in that?
Cheer up mate,or maybe find another sport to watch.
Correction: that wasn’t even our ‘second-string’ team… it was basically our U-21 squad + one first-string centrehalf + two second-string fullbacks + Arteta who hasn’t played in 6 months and Bendtner who hasn’t played in 2 years.
Pretty impressive victory against a full-strength mid-table EPL side. Love how the Arsenal ‘never give up’ DNA is permeating nicely down to our youngsters.
A 6 for Fabianksi? What game were you watching? He pulled off a string of top notch saves. Kept us in it a few times!
Bellerin was the one who impressed me the most. His touch and intelligence/awareness on the ball was class. Showed good energy, moves the ball really quickly and slotted in impressively. Don’t think we’ll be needing a new RB for a while.
Definitely agree. with the last comment Bellerin looked the most composed of all the youngsters, and I’d have given him the only 7 of the three subs. Thought Akpom looked promising, but out of his depth, while Bellerin looked quite at home and did everything right without being spectacular.
I’d also give Fabiasnski an extra point for at least one match-saving save. Otherwise I thought you were spot on.
ps. Welcome back Blogs!
Not a bad win. And TGSTEL thor-look-alike looks decent. After becoming TGSTEL in Arsegard I guess.
That should be 3-4 to Arsenal Blogs!!!
I had a heart in throat moment as I found the article on newsnow.
Risky wenger, although i admit he has guts any other manager in his exact position would have brought on flamini after arteta was substituted. Great to see us win on penalties albeit gnabry’s miss raised up thoughts of that awful bradford moment. Great win kids now watch your daddies show you how it’s properly done by taking down the swans at the weekend, as for the *horwthons* we’ll be back in a week time. Keep the momentum going, win at all cost even when your not on top gear. 11th consecutive away victories, bring on the swans…12th on my mind
I really really liked Akpom, thought he was great on the ball never losing it and is pretty confident as well. Hayden for me showed real problems, he’s not cut yet, awareness and strength and intelligence. Ryo is showing good signs but still off and so is Gnabry in maybe a slightly better state. Bendtner IMO was really impressive considering well, everything. Arteta for me is still way off and I really would rather have Flamini or Ramsey or Wilshere instead of him. I really think Arteta is too negative, always back to the goal and rarely facing it or… Read more »
Hi Blogs, You should do an Adam Sandler movie Player Ratings Special.
That’d be perfect.
I hope we never play that badly
C’moooon… Happy Gilmore? The Water Boy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeCM7UTyr7M
oh.. i see what you mean
Bendtner clattering the goal post early on….that’s more impact he’s made on goal in a long long time.
Impressive outing for him definetly ahead of Sanogo!
I don’t care if it is an ugly win, its always better than an ugly loss. But we can’t afford to rest players against our lousy neighbor in the next round, because they always put out their best 11, even if playing against high school kids.
bendtners going to have a half decent season, then bugger off on a free, noooooooooooooooooooooo 🙁
I’m fine with that! He should see it as his last chance to put himself in the shop window before he ends up somewhere like Hull.
MOTM – The greatest striker that ever lived! Nicklas Bendtner is back bitches!
MOTM – The greatest striker that ever lived! Nicklas Bendtner is back bitches!
A little harsh on Gnarbry & Miyaichi there. They played through the whole 120mins on the wings! come on!
Gnabry is awful last night he was slowing d game down he wasn’t even closing down attackers after loosing d ball unlike Miyachi who was actually working his ass off and he did what a winger does. wenger should not use Gnabry in our next game,he should use Miyachi or Akpom instead
Gnabry played 73 minutes on sunday against Stoke and then backed that up with 120 minutes last night… its his 6th game with the club at senior level… i think you’re being a bit harsh
“One thing you don’t question too much with (Bendtner) is his confidence,” Wenger said.
Speechless.
I looove Bendtner when he is humble… His limk up play is very good.. Smart, strong, good positioning, n deadly… I hope he has grown up now.. In his peak performance, he’s better than Giroud…
Better than Giroud? Don’t get carried away.
what blogs? I though Miyaichis crosses into the box were deadly definetly better than walcotts.
Hector bellerin! it’s impossible not to see why Arsene rates him highly. for the brief time he was on he impressed me a great deal.
we have a problem with the right wing, with walcott out and ryo/gnabry not quite it! can NB52 play there?
Yes NB23 can play Right Wing, but in case you hadn’t noticed, it always pisses him off. Then again, surely he must be desperate enough that he’d take Right Wing if it would get him a few games in the 1st team this season? He was going to sign for Crystal Placae out of desperation. I mean, Crystal Palace!!! If he wants a top career he either has to impress Wenger (and us, so we’ll support him), or he has to impress the coaches of some decent quality teams. This is his last chance to have a top career instead… Read more »
Bendtner is definitely not the option for right wing, especially while he is off the pace. I would like to see Jenkinson played there next match. I was very impressed with Jenkinson’s dribbling, running down the wing and crossing. All these would make a decent winger plus his tracking back was great. Ryo and Gnabry need more time to grow in to the first team.
Looking at the fixture list just spent a shiver down my spine. Chelsea, Liverpool, Dortmund and United.
Isn’t it great to be playing teams like that on a regular basis? We are so lucky to support a team that plays in the Premier League and the Champions League every season.
You can really tell the experience apart between the players can’t you? But there is potential, that’s a given. Hopefully they can push forward!
I did not appreciate the Adam Sandler reference though, he has made some classic flicks.. Jack and Jill was not one of them.
Miyaichi was the real disappointment of the night – he looked well, well short of Arsenal quality, I can’t see him having a future at the club. Maybe he’s only there anyway to stimulate the interest of Japanese fans. On the plus side Akpom looks a really great prospect
Whaaat? Hayden rated better than Gnabry? It might be your feed, I watched the game in HD. These ratings are more accurate. Fabianski 8. Whole defense 6 except for PER who is an 8. Arteta 6, Hayden 4. If it wasn’t for the ref he would’ve been sent off for two yellows on more than one occasion. Eisfeld 6.he lacked composure on the ball. Would have been a 5 if he didn’t score.
I thought Arteta had quite a good game. He held the MF together and didn’t lose the ball or hit a stray pass all night.
Damn cellphone just submitted… Continuing… Ryo, 4.. He looked alright in the right, had no support on the left and tried doing it on his own… Bendtner 4. Absent the whole match. Didn’t link up well. Gnabry MOTM 8. Our only player that had a spirit in him. Made the play that made the goal. He fought well against the West brom team physically. Had many great touches. Some scintillating passes that had we had Giroud on would’ve ended with something. Him and Mertesacker were the only two on that pitch that would make it in our stellar first Xi.
Credit where credit’s due – B52 doesn’t only look Godly now but that throughball was divine.
And I’m loving the Corporal’s crossing.Really dangerous.I’m wondering how he’d fare if we subbed him in at rw if
Serge isn’t cutting it at Swansea.Anyone agree?
Would be sickening. Wenger would never play Bendtner ahead of Gnabry on right Wing. Gnabry was great to watch last night.
Cheers blogs…
When did we last win a penalty shoot out?
My brain is broken
I think it was vs Roma in the Champions League.
I have come to use my discretion to realise that TGSTEL = BENDTNER. My question is this, could someone just help define TGSTEL or kindly reveal what the abbreviation means?
TGSTEL= The Greatest Striker That Ever Lived, I figured out that myself after some braincracking
Have to admit that I was nowhere near as impressed with Bendtner as most people on here were… nice through ball for the goal and a well-taken pen aside, he didn’t really get involved that much and spent much of his time strolling around the opposition half waiting for the ball to arrive at his feet. When he got sent through on goal one-on-one with the keeper late on, he dawdled for far too long and allowed the defender time to get back and tackle him. Admittedly he’s clearly way off full match sharpness, but still an underwhelming performance. 4.5/10
I wouldn’t say he played great but he wasn’t that bad either. As any lone striker, he depended on the service to him and that was not great. Quite a few high and awkward balls up to him but he battled his marker for them. There wasn’t much close support when he did manage to hold up or knock the ball on. His touch did let him down a few times and he seemed a bit off the pace but that was not a surprise considering how long it has been since he played any first team match , let… Read more »
So where does this leave us for Swansea? Will Gnabry recover well enough for a starting berth on Saturday? We’re so thin at the moment he seems like the only choice. Another option may be Bellerin who will undoubtedly track back defensively, but also will look to get into the space behind the full back and get crosses in from wide positions, much like Theo. I think this balances our attack as it more closely resembles the senior XI’s style with Jack/Santi cutting in from the left and Hector/Theo looking to push the full back, er, back, on the right.… Read more »
Hello passionate fans, I seriously do not know or understand what TGSTEL means. I have come across it so many times and I just wonder what it means. Could someone kindly help out pls? Cheers!
The greatest striker that ever lived!
@Man.Tizzle
TGSTEL = The Greatest Striker To Ever Live.
It’s a joke relating to his ego.
Damn, dunno how I was rated down for those comments.. It was a match where West Bromwich dominated proceedings. Arteta, Vermaelen getting match time and the youth caught up in the occasion. There was no cohesiveness, the first time the group of players played together, of course we not gonna look good out there, but to give such high ratings is ridiculous, because the players themselves would not rate themselves that high. It was incredibly underwhelming and I’m sure despite the penalty win, they know they need to play better then that.
got to love how nicklas bendtner reacted to the winning penalty! look at the banner picture. who says he’s not fit to wear the arsenal shirt?
Very harsh on Gnabry, aside from that awesome through ball to TGSTEL he probably played the most crucial part in the goal when he intercepted a pass (not nearly his only interception of the night) and played it nicely to Bendtner. Reasonable to say we would have definitely lost without him, and he could’ve won the match if TGSTEL put away that chance he set up.
I wished we started with Kriss Olsson in the number 10 role, Eisfeld is more of a goal threat, but fades away too often. Olsson has good passing, vision and technical he is. Anyway great win! #COYG
I thought Ryo was as impressive as I hoped he was but I would like to point out that I thought his crossing was pretty good. I think if we give credit to Jenkinson’s (what a true gunner he is) crosses then I would say Ryo’s were quite comparable. If only someone got on the end of them.
Oops I meant, he wasn’t as impressive. Sorry, I’m that blinded. 😛
I was a little disappointed with his performance. He showed pace, skill, willingness to chase the ball and track back, but too often he lacked movement to shake off his marker. Saw many times Monreal calling him to come short to receive a pass but he didn’t. He did make a couple of good runs in behind the channel but then didn’t manage to create much except for a slightly over hit cross. Passing was average and nothing defence splitting. He seems to want more space on the ball than was given. Still there looks to be potential, but I… Read more »
Fuck knows what game i was watching then, because i agree on the assist from Bendtner being a good pieces of play, but he spent the rest of the game looking lost, out of shape and having the ball bounce yards away everytime he tried to control it.
Sounds more like ‘SEE WE DO HAVE A BACKUP STRIKER! LOOK!!’ optimism rather than any real judgement on his poor performance.
Just came back in, surrounded by inexperienced players. Were you expecting something different?;)
If we are relying on Serge and Miyaichi as our wingers this season we are going to struggle IMO
yeah…good thing we are relying on Theo, Ox, Podolski and Cazorla instead.
while they’re on the injury table?
Rosicky and Cazorla are supposed to be back by next week’s midweek game, Theo’s surgery went well and he’s supposed to be back post-international-break, and in the meanwhile with Arteta back both Wilshire and Ramsey have played wide previously. Clearly not ideal, but Ryo and Gnabry can be eased into action as subs and with occasional starts, they don’t have to be our only wingers.
Bit of a shortfall against Swans.
Gnabry may have to come in again.
He’s raw but well put together. All these small set backs will do his experience a world of good.
If he comes together, he can be a top player. Plenty of pace and power, seems to have good movement.
I think his issue at the moment is decision making, when to play the simple pass and when to put on the afterburners go for the jugular solo.