A hard fought win over Crystal Palace ensured we stayed top of the league, but how did the players rate?
Here’s how.
Wojciech Szczesny: 9/10 – Has been in great form this season but somewhat overlooked despite that: today’s outstanding save from Jedniak means he’ll get the plaudits he deserves.
Bacary Sagna: 8/10 – Absolutely fantastic, there’s no better backs to the wall defender anywhere.
Per Mertesacker: 7/10 – Made some timely interceptions, especially when under pressure and down to 10 men.
Laurent Koscielny: 6/10 – Not quite his usual self, I thought. Allowed Chamakh (haha) too much space in the first half and had that been a player who was actually any way good at football it would have been punished.
Kieran Gibbs: 7/10 – Solid again, un-spectacularly consistent.
Mikel Arteta: 6/10 – Great penalty, harshly sent off when Chamakh leaned into him and then tangled legs to get him sent off. Some former team ‘mate’, eh?
Mathieu Flamini: n/a – Not on long enough to rate before he went off with a groin problem.
Aaron Ramsey: 7/10 – Made a telling contribution with a wonderful assist for Olivier Giroud’s goal
Santi Cazorla: 5/10 – Got to wonder if he’s fully recovered from that ankle knock – but as a player who has rarely been injured in his career maybe just needs a week or two to get back to full sharpness.
Mesut Ozil: 7/10 – Probably should have scored today, his languid style was obvious, but that run late in the game when he looked knackered but left the Palace defender on his arse … awesome.
Olivier Giroud: 7/10 – Sealed the game with a fantastic headed goal, real desire to get onto Ramsey’s pass, but the Palace defenders hard work in general.
Subs
Serge Gnabry: 6/10 – Won the penalty very well before being taken off after Arteta’s red card. Was a little timid in a couple of challenges when he should have been stronger.
Nacho Monreal: 7/10 – Had a very impressive cameo, came close to scoring and used the very well when we needed it as well as shoring things up defensively.
Jack Wilshere: 6/10 – Solid in midfield when that was exactly what we needed after going down to to 10 men.
Bonus rating
Marouane Chamakh: Useless flap-headed, friend of Nasri, cheating twat/10
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.
chamakh rating spot on mate!hope santi shakes off the rust and pound the chav cunts COYG
Big thumbs up for Szczesny, made a top save when we needed him most!
TRUE
A massive thumbs up to Sagna too, think he deserves a ‘9’ rating; he totally had that tall dark C.Palace substitute in his pocket!
Sagna: New Contract/10 — What are we waiting on?
Giroud and Ramsey still tantalizing.
Had Ozil’s volley come off, he would have morphes instantly into Dennis Bergkamp.
Montreal looked good. Due for more playing time?
I dont know man… Montreal always seems so distant in training at Colney and I hear is very cold and speaks a weird combination of Franglais…
That was actually terrible and I now realise my mistake. I profusely apologise for any and all injuries, mental trauma or otherwise, caused by the above comment.
No worries, it was a decent effort.
Gibbs is hardly ever mentioned by pundits. He may be the least discussed footballer in our team.
That’s the best way for him to be at the moment. Reminds me of Nigel – always a solid 7/10, seldom more and even more seldom less.
Ah, Nigel. I feel this is an appropriate moment for this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_HOAcdHp2I
Schezzer would’ve saved it
Was gonna mention the same thing. No way he was “only” a 7/10. Very impressive in my opinion.
Clean sheet at last!
Least mentioned footballer in our team is Park.
However, his ratio existence/mentions is incredible.
Good enough performance when down to 10 men, not a lot of panicking and effective on the counter attack.
This team has bite now, really looking forward to the ‘big’ games we’ve got coming up, maybe a few wins will shut up the endless list of doubters we’ve got. Doubt it.
Love to see how much that goal ment for Giroud! Didn’t have have his best game today, but managed to score a good goal anyway. Great stuff.
6 points and 8 goals more than Tottenham. In October. Ha.
I’ve recently suffered a groin injury and there is no chance Flamini will be back for next Sunday in my view.
Watch him play on Tuesday now and make a mockery of me.
You were watching Giroud walking around again, weren’t you
Pretty much in agreement.
Except as to Gnabry, who I thought was a 7 or 8. Slipped in pretty seamlessly despite not knowing he would play, beat his defender several times (including the pen), played some good combinations in attack (including setting up Ramsey’s 1st half chance), and ably helped Sagna when needed (not often, to be fair).
I agree! 7.5 for me
I can see where he lost a point (admitting, however, that they are awarded arbitrarily). His offensive contribution was useful for the team, but his overall contribution was only good for a youngster. I think he was the man covering back on some attacks and after one or two of them, when they broke down, he did very little to slow down the counterattack. Like I said, I think it was was pretty good for a youngster (e.g. an 8/10), but we want him to be building towards the kind of performances that we consider 8/10 for a regular senior… Read more »
Very vulnerable to counter attacks. One thing is vs BVB but Crystal? Kick it up a notch boys
Not the best game for Ramsey and Giroud for me. But their quality showed even they are not in their best form.
I was so impressed with Szcz, Sagna and Nacho! Real steel shown late in the game by the team. Feeling very optimistic about the tough run to come
I also thought Sagna was exceptional today.
For Tuesday it’s too bad we don’t have Coq. Looks like a chance for Frimpong? I hope we do rest several first team players. Quite a few looked knackered today.
Mmm it’d be a pretty huge shock to see Frimpong, even in the cup — when was the last time Wenger trusted him? Much more likely I’d think to see Ramsey, Jack, and Rosicky.
I hope you’re wrong even though I fear you are not. Ramsey needs a rest.
champions mentallity..?? yeah thats it…
I thought Wilshire made a real impact when he came on,we looked sharper and there was more pace to our game.
Loved Giroud’s epic goal celebration. I’ve missed those since the days of Cesc’s emotional goalface (for spine-tingling example, see AC Milan).
More great stuff from Per. Is it just me or does he whip out at least 2 or 3 Bobby Moores per game? The Merteception. Peerless.
The bonus ratings are fantastic
…. We can’t say anything about winning till we win THE BIG GAMES
Yes, because you get extra points for winning THE BIG GAMES
Technically you do you may not get extra points but gains points and taking points off your title rivals is essential.
If we beat Chelsea/ city etc. We will seriously show we mean business.
Beats Spuds dont count.
Exactly! it’s actually NOT all about winning the big games. The big games are an important test and mean a lot to the fans and a way to measure really how good you are but the most important thing is winning these games (crystal palace, norwich, etc) these are the gmaes we messed up on in the past and then you go into he big games needing a win just to stay in contention. puts too much pressure on the players or forces you to play Barcelona becuase you came second in a group you shoudl have sailed through undefeated.… Read more »
Sorry about all the typos! Feel pretty strongly about this however. Taking care of business is the mark of truly great teams, in all sports. Never taking your eye off the prize, winning all the little crappy games we should win, that’s how you win championships.
If anything, it was often THE SMALL GAMES that tripped us up in the past.
I suggest you read Tim Stillman’s column this week where he points out (based on another person’s article) that we got more points from the same fixtures last year (not including todays result). I also think you should go back and see how many points we got off the top 4 last year. Dropping point to the “small” teams is bad, but they don’t call games against your rivals “6 pointers” for no reason.
Did any of those teams have zero transfer activity? Because teams change due to transfers
Wrong god give me strength!
Some seasons its been small clubs other seasons its been big clubs.
But we have always struggled miserable against Man U cause of their counter attack and chelsea because of their physical presence up front Drogba.
Monreal did great as a sub. Hopefully he will get 90 against Chelski.
Also, 7 for Özil? Bring on the thumbs-down but he was pretty bad today. A lot of misplaced passes and a lot of lost duels/tackles, although he never goes in like Flamini in those situations but still. He’s due for a rest and I like that this was his first so-so game for us. He needed to get that out of his system, now he’s gonna dominate in the big games 😀
I think “so-so” is more accurate than “pretty bad.” But you’re right. He’ll have much better weeks for the Arsenal.
Still managed to create chances in both games though – Cazorla off the post the other night comes to mind. Would have been sweet if he’d tucked in that volley, but he’s saving that for a bigger occasion.
of course, he’s so good that on a bad night, he’s still better than most other players, and that is f-ing amazing
No mention of Szczesny’s save that tipped it onto the bar?! That was unbelievable! And I agree Gnabry was better than a 6 today
People have often mentioned on this blog how quickly the match report comes out after the final whistle, but I popped over to ESPN FC and noticed that he’s also written two articles for them as well.
Blogs is truly a wizard.
He gets that paperclip in word to help him
Anyone else think it is time for Vermaelen to get a shot? I feel we are decent defensively, but not perfect. So why not let him try to and give Kos a rest?
Grant hot face performance, but a win is a win. let take it to Liverpool next week but first lets focus on chelsea.
i mean Grant Holt! lol
You need a sub-editor Blogs!
That leap from hfb after his late header!
Chamackh would have been recieved anonymously at Emirates but now he’s getting in the boo(for fun) list.
I just love the HFB. Just never gives up. Terrific attitude! Great touch! Scores goals! Does so much work off the ball!
Nervy affair, if we’re missing both Flamini and Arteta for the next match, hopefully Jack and Aaron can step up with Tomas/Ozil/Santi in front of them. Serge looked good too.
Arteta should be back for Liverpool.
Gnabry a 7, I think we’ve Got a playmaker on our hands with him.
JW10 7/8 IMO, thought he made a great impression in central midfield, you know, his position…
Monreal 8 Great plays by him
serge looked fine, i thought Wilshere had a great game. 2: 0 away from home, down to ten men. i’l take that any day.
As for Santi I think it was more of Arsenal playing exclusively through the right, especially in the first half. Really happy that Giroud got that goal he worked really hard for the team today and as usual held up the ball incredibly.
I would really like to see Vermaelen get a run in the side. Now that we actually have competition for places what good is it if we don’t rotate to keep players fresh.
I would swap Mert and Kos ratings. I thought Koscielny was very good today. Mert made two thick errors. One was too short header to SZCZ which he was able to clear ahead of Chamakh. Second one was clear header from Chamakh. It was Mert fault not Kos
Off topic, but when did song move to barcelona?
I thought he was injured or banned!
Next thing I know, he’s coming on for iniesta
That is way off topic
wow this is worse awareness than even piers morgan….
Its shocking you didnt know that, but in fairness to you i will say that since RVP left at the same time that took most of the headlines Song leaving sort of went under the radar.
Song isnt a very big miss we was never defensive enough he would often push farward and try to score goals all the time leaving us to open at the back.
I thought Giroud was poor today. His goal was well taken, but Ramsey set it up so nicely even Chamakh (might) have scored. Otherwise he wasn’t his normal imposing self, and a lot of his decision making was poor.
He worked till he dropped.
His goal was a superb effort.
Did you see his work rate against Dortmund?
Can’t disagree more. I’ve never seen a striker who is more impressive when not scoring goals than Giroud. His hold up play, including today, was excellent. Particularly impressive is his unselfish nature – always looking to get the ball in the right hands rather than taking a Bendtner-esque whack at it despite 3 defenders being in front of him.
I just realized that we are going to be without Flamini and Arteta for our next game against Liverpool….
Naah, Arteta´s suspension will probably be over after the Chelsea game.. Professional foul only 1 game ban.
Possibly without Flamini due to injury, Arteta’s only suspended for the Chavs game. He’ll be back for the mugsmashers.
Fuck the mugsmashers. After Liverpool beat W.B.A. today, in his post-match press conference Brendan Rodgers was acting as if he was Lord fucking Nelson coming home after battling with fucking Napoleon. What a Darth-Vader-wannabee, twat-faced tosser.
Luis Suarez wanted to leave Liverpool because he knew his team were a second-rate, living-in-past-glories has-been. Next Saturday let’s remind Suarez how shit his current team STILL share.
I have been terrible critical of Liverpool the last 5 years, talking shit about the club, about the fans, about arnfield and i go on youtube videos and say Livepool are shit for fun and get many likes. I havent acknowledged them for ages but i must confess myself to be suprised with their excellent form I now see them as a threat again, it will be a serious mistake to underestimate them the suarez sturridge patnership is deadly. If we dont play at our very best we will lose regadless of the quality of our players that result will… Read more »
Just leave it to Mertescielny, after that game on Saturday no one will ever hear of the so called SAS partnership again!
ha ha…’acting as if he were lord fucking nelson coming home after battling fucking Napoleon’….class!
Wenger should let me do the team talk.
We will fight them in the dressing room, the tunnel, the pitch the pub.
Yeah maybe, but he closed the game out for us so I think we can let him off the hook this time.
Somebody needs to set up a TV channel or website with Giroud yelling “Come on!” set on a permanent loop.
Ramsey has that bit of Lovely skill and quick feet doesn’t he?
Everything about his play atm screams confidence… i love this boy
Reading an article from Sky Sports, I think Arteta misses the next game – the Capital One Cup game rather than the Premier League game.
I may be wrong.
You could tell how much Giroud enjoyed that goal. Excellent result from a team who had a lot to prove. COYG!
Won 2-nil, lost 2 men!
ratings look a little high across the board. great to get the win, but a poor performance by our standards. then again, who gives a damn? top of the league!
I can’t see who ozil gets a 7 when gnabry ha been marked down for being weak in the challenge. I lost count of the number of times ozil lost the ball under physical pressure. Love the guy but think he needs to come to terms with the physical nature of the league. 6 at most for me.
I know what your saying, but taking into account his positioning, awareness and (key)passing. If he was strong in the challenge (like Flamini) and awesome under physical pressure (like Giroud) then he would be getting 11/10.
7/10 is a fair rating.
Personally I think Sagna deserves the same mark as Szczesny because he was just as good. Giroud for me was down on his best – his hold up play wasn’t there and he missed a decent chance. Gnabry was really impressive – he really grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck at the start of the second half when we needed someone to – two times he had the ball in the box (winning the penalty of course) and he played Ozil in not long after. He was unlucky that the Arteta red meant he had to come… Read more »
Does Anelka look like Tim Howard?
Nope it’s the other way round!
“Mikel Arteta: 6/10 – Great penalty, harshly sent off when Chamakh leaned into him and then tangled legs to get him sent off. Some former team ‘mate’, eh?”
So why only a six?
Would it be worth a punt playing Monreal as the screen for the back 4?
I know it’s a bit out of left field but Ramsey, Wilshere, and Rosicky have shown they aren’t the most comfortable/disciplined in that position. With both Arteta and Flamini out, worth a shout?
That’s a huge shift for someone who’s been strictly on the left side his whole career. He has the right build and is good enough with the ball, but the positioning would be a very big learning curve.
Agree with Humble Gooner. I would be tempted to play him on the wing more though as all our wingers are injured.
He is good going forward and will add a bit of defensive awareness in MF.
The young pole is proving himself as one of the best keepers in the EPL.
I hope we signs Suarez in January
Nah. I hope Madrid sign him though. I hate playing against him, but wouldn’t want him on my team. I’ll take the HFB. No whining, no cheating, no flesh fetishes.
Mertesacker 7/10 ? Are you having a giraffe?
Arteta and Flamini played in tandem was overkill for Palace. We now have one out with a 9self inflicted) knock and the other sitting out a suspension. Think we need to be realistic about the next set of games. 1) Chelsea- least priority. Much a sit would be great to win silverware, this is the league cup not FA. neither qualify you for Europe. We made the mistake of over stretching ourselves last season prioritizing the league cup and committing too many first team players. To me, the league cup should be about development and assessing reserve players. If we… Read more »
I don’t want Ramsey, Giroud or Ozil anywhere near the starting 11 on Tuesday. As you said Chelsea in Capital One is of low priority when you see what’s looming on the horizon for us. We can’t risk injury to our most important players and these guys are due for a rest – they need to be on their top games for Liverpool, Dortmund and United all of which will come in quick succession.
There is no way those three will play.
I reckon something like:
Fabianski
Jenkinson – Vermaelen – Mert – Monreal
Rosicky – Frimpong
Gnabry – Zelalem – Miyachi/Cazorla?
Bendtner