Arsenal left it late but scrapped their way to a 2-2 draw with two goals in the last 8 minutes at Goodison Park this afternoon. Here are our player ratings.
PLEASE NOTE: We’ve changed the system slightly, you rate each player then click the ‘Cast Vote’ button down at the bottom, rather than voting for each player individually.
Well played Giroud
Yes, it was a weird one with Giroud. Vs Besiktas he looked really out of shape and tired, casually moving about the pitch or standing still, while now he was full of energy. Probably had something to do with him coming on in 70th ish minute, and could blow all his energy within a short time frame. I think he would be a great impact sub if we ever get that world class striker. He allways seem more pumped and up for it when he come on as a sub, and i think some of his best performances have been… Read more »
Err….he came on right at the start of the 2nd half not 70ish.
Only problem with a 4-4-2 is that Ozil doesn’t do enough defensively to play in a 4 man midfield. You either play it like Atletico do, with hard working midfielders who make a contribution everywhere on the pitch or you play like Sherwood’s Spuds, conceding goals like a leaky bucket every time the other team counter attack. Probably would bring out the best in Giroud though.
If Giroud doesn’t get injured this season, he will score more than 25 goals easily. I bet my left testicle, I’ve never been so sure about anything
*something
I’d be careful about that left testicle. It could smart if they remove it
Where’s Joel’s face?
Am i the only one who REALLY wants Alex Song back? he’s available and wouldn’t cost more than 10m, + would give cover for the DM and CB (only if needed) positions. I think he can be the DM that we need. Solid defensively, bigger, stronger and faster than Arteta but also has the vision and passing quality of Arteta to create and dictate from the back. Song next to Ramsey/Wilshere can give us a strong midfield. No?
No.
Yeah looks like you’re the only one mate. Song is gash.
Third time you’ve posted this. Still hardly anyone agrees.
Top marks for trying, but you must be getting the message by now?
That’s why i posted it 3 times. to see what ppl think. Damn i miss him here but i guess it’s for the best he isn’t coming back.
Arteta has done Song’s job better than Song ever did his job and it wasn’t even a natural position for Arteta. No to all that fuck off to Barca (Henry excepted) or MC or MU. They always regret leaving the best damn club on the planet.
Song is also lazy as hell, lacks positional discipline and generally doesn’t give a shit. We’re much, much better off without him.
We know it’s you Alex. You can stop pretending.
I have had this name since beginning of the transfer window I so desperately want us to buy a DM but do I want Alex Song? NO He has nothing to offer that we cannot get from flamini, Diaby or even Chambers as makeshift DM The guy is sluggish He is arrogant He is Short! Arsenal needs someone taller who will help with area balls It’s not like he is coming on a free transfer, we still got to pay money him. He left Arsenal when we needed him the most This reasons should convince you, we do not need… Read more »
I’m done
tbh he was forced out, Song never wanted to leave…
Fuck you talking about Pedro?
He was not forced out, he wanted to “catch the Barcelona train” as it only comes once, apparently!!
Sorry to see you get buried under a bunch of thumbs-down. You meant well, even though you clearly don’t remember his dreadful WC performance.
Yeah the Mandzukic incident was the highlight of his lack of discipline. Anyway my question isn’t relevant as Wenger won’t have him back i’m sure. It’s just that in a time that most players are bought and not grown in the club i wanted someone like Song (who was also bought but at a very young age and was unknown). William Carvalho is highly rated and has massive potential but paying 25m for him while you have a former Gunner available for much less money… well, who am i to say. Wenger knows best.
10 for Wenger. Giroud on at the start of the second half for Sanchez. And Cazorla on when Rosicky was my preferred option. We didn’t win it, but we came damn close.
Strong 10 for starting in a 4141, neutering our best two midfielders by crowbarring Wilshere in between them, and forcing attacking midfielders right out on the wing in a 4.
Ten…
Should not have started Alexis as Cf in the first place.
You’re completely right! Giroud should have started up front and Alexis on the wing. This would have been far more effective and we wouldn’t have waited until 68th min to get a bloody shot on target. Giroud is great at holding up the ball and bringing those behind him into the game. People undervalue his contribution.
Hindsight: 20/20
I really don’t get this. Giroud, so far this season, has been a bit off colour. And the Everton game was as good a time as any to see what Alexis can do as a central striker even if he effectively seemed to have a somewhat freer role. Last season we played Giroud into the ground to the extent he was knackered by January let alone May. Last season Giroud was at his most effective against the lower clubs. If we don’t want players injured and unavailable to the same extent as we had in 2013/14 don’t we have to… Read more »
Actually I think Alexis didn’t play too bad. The thing is him playing up top requires us to press high to win the ball back quickly and use his speed on the break.
I suspect, sandwiched between the two Besktas games, this was not a game to give either Giroud or Alexis, neither of them fully fit, a full 90 minutes. It’s even possible AW planned all along to make the switch at half-time.
Completely disagree. Wenger played Monreal and Ozil together, even though he knew Lukaku would play on that side of the pitch (one of the key reasons Everton thrashed us last season). The substitutions were also too late in my opinion. Why does he wait so long for these things? Tactically, it looked as if we just thought we’d go out and “play our own game”, without any concern for the opposition. On the other hand, Martinez ensured his men could disrupt our rhythm and his side played faster and more cohesively than us. Sanchez as a centre-forward (criticise me all… Read more »
Sanches worked, he did the same thing Sanogo does. For a whilst, a short whilst he’s given us what Wali gives us, today he was expected to have an early run, and his running ran the Everton defense ragged, job done, he came off. The only problem with him doing that was that he also ran himself into the ground, and I’m not quite sure what came first. .. ..
How were the substitutions too late ? Giroud came on at half time . When do you want Wenger to make a change, after ten minutes ?
Thought Joey Campbell look a little like 50 Cent the rapper.
Andre Marriner, is that you?
yes all black people look the same; that is, like rappers.
they don’t even look remotely alike you pasty sod.
Really think we should play Campbell, or Alexis on the wings instead of Ozil.
Ozil through the middle all day.
Felt we got a bit crowed in the middle of the pitch, should’ve played more on the wings and I think Wilshere should’ve been subbed instead of Oxlade, put him on left, Sanchez on the right and Özil in the middle.
+1 for Sanchez defensive work, especiallt that one time when he was tight up front and tracked an Everton player back to a right back position. Hasn’t he done well defensively in all his games from us?
Lull ’em to sleep, Ramsey’ll hit ya from deep.
Put the knives away for a week fellow gooners.
Ozil, 5? Really? He was one of our best players. Kept things moving with some sublime passes.
Özil is Our best player he should always be played behind the main striker!!! Wenger this is a crucial period no time to experiment!!!! Besiktas next hopefully we qualify as it will allow us to add a few more player.
We need a good and probably left footed or ambidexterous CB, a DM, and a CF… Alexis is a winger by defult! Besides, John Terry is still a cunt!
And just because the Sanchez through the middle thing didn’t work this time, you can still try it again later. The bigger issue is that he was on a completely different page than the rest of the squad. It’ll take time.
Wilshere has not been very good and we keep playing him. He has lost his creativity and the team do not function properly with him in the game. Seems he only know one play … give an go outside the box. He has had a few chances to shoot it but just want do creative passes.
At least he did not give the ball away as much as he has in previous matches this season.
Why we play Ozil on the wing, that is just waste of his talent. He must play in centre. Hope some fans see now that in PL you can’t play with 169 cm tall player alone upfront and how Giroud is important player for us. He is the main reason we have 4 points today.
Agreed, and since Özil isn’t exactly keen on doing defensive work like he showed in this match, playing him there is an ill fit.
The sooner we can stop talking about Song the sooner we can all be happy
so annoyed with the officials all match, despite not playing well.
We need to get match sharpness pronto
A point at Everton is not the end of the world. Still, there were worrying aspects to our play which I hope we work on ASAP.
I want to give Ramsey the midfielder a 5, maybe a 4 even, but Ramsey the goalscorer an 8. I was even thinking at one point today that if anyone gets dropped for Ozil to come into the centre it could be Ramsey rather than Wilshire. But while he’s scoring he’s got to stay in the team, hopefully he’ll play himself into form.
(And I’m not saying Wilshire was great by any means, he needs to be more decisive when he gets into the box for starters, but he was creating more than Ramsey.)
I think that at the moment, Jack’s best position is the one that Ramsey currently holds in the team. Playing them together these past few games, I feel they have both been taken up the same positions and almost nullifying each others games. Today there were even times when the Ox was taking up similar positions. I think Ramsey plays a lot better with Santi, Ozil or Rosicky in the slightly more attacking role with him in midfield because he knows his role then. This allows him to work hard around the pitch as well as make those late runs… Read more »
I actually thought Ramsey’s distribution was quite good today, and he brought the ball up from deep a lot.
Some very good moment and some pretty dire moments too. Team still looks very rusty and inconsistent. But it’s still early days, I remember many times the Uniteds and Chelsea’s slipping up against relegation fodder early days but then hitting peak form at the end of the season. Our most recent tittle challenges always follow the same pattern, start like a steam train, bulldoze everyone early days, then run out of steam before the finish line. I don’t mind a slow start, just hope it means we have spare Gaz in the tank come may. So more good moments and… Read more »
The biggest problem looked like rustiness. The passing and movement often seemed off. Not surprising when you consider the number of players with shortened pre-seasons, a few coming back from injury like The Ox, and adding a few new players. I thought Sánchez did quite well, especially as cover for Debuchy :p. He worked very hard, but he was playing too deep. He needs to be playing of the defenders. In general we don’t get enough people into the box, there to take shots, get on the end of crosses, etc., it’s usually only the striker and Ramsey. Just give… Read more »
Ramsey had a poor game, but made up for it by scoring.
He has many poor games that people forget about simply because he snatched a goal.
I’m not complaining though. #COYG
Fair call, but I don’t mind when Ramsey has a poor game. That’s because the reason is usually down to him losing possession too often when going for ambitious passes or runs. And in the team we currently have, we need players willing to take a risk, or actually DO something while we’re playing around the box, because Arsenal’s possession-based game is toothless at times (especially considering we have players like Ozil and Sanchez).
He always has a poor game when we play any of the big teams
What made Ramsey the player he was last season was his goal-scoring/confidence/calmness/goalscoring circle thing.
As long as he’s scoring goals everything else will fall into place.
Cazorla stepped up, big time. And without Monreal’s hustle for that errant cross and a laser cross of his own, no draw. The team responded today, as they have three times in a row now, in three matches we easily could have lost. I rate Alexis highly. His defensive hustle probably saved a goal. Why is he signalling for others to join him in pressing? That’s not on Alexis, it’s on the team, and the manager. We are either pressing as a unit or we aren’t. As a fan, I love this result for what it says about this squad…and… Read more »
The pressing and winning the ball back is a bonus we get from Sanchez’s time at Barcelona. I can’t wait to see what he’s like when fully fit.
You’re absolutely right. He brought that with him from Barca. Today though, I didn’t think that was the game plan. For the first 20 mins it looked like we were sitting deep, letting them have possession in their own half and then we were going to hit them on the break especially with the pace of alexis and the ox. I agree with Norcalfan. We are either pressing as a unit or we aren’t. Confused to see Alexis close them down by himself and encouraging others to join. Loving his work ethic but think this should have been made clear… Read more »
norcalfan,
Agree completely, When a team can come from behind late in a game it’s either because of superior fitness or it’s through character, ie a will to continue to fight. Since, I think it’s obvious that as a squad, team fitness still needs work, the character shown has been excellent. Things will come together, form will improve and more silverware is coming. Count on it.
Whats up with no Rosicky? I thought this game showed what we miss without Arteta. Flamini is nowhere near as good going forward or keeping possession/controlling the offense.
I’m getting a bit wound up by the incessant click bait media, even the Beeb “Wenger unconcerned by Sanchez Form: Chilean hasn’t scored in 4 appearances, cost 35million, flop, written off bla bla” Bloody hell, it’s the second game of the league season and pundits are already writing us off. Never mind that I’m not even sure if he’s completed 90 minutes with us once. Half the team is missing injured and the other half are barely fit, could that have been better handled by the club? Maybe. Probably. But I don’t think our performances now are any indicator as… Read more »
Remind me, how many games did Dennis Bergkamp start before he finally got on the scoresheet? Or Thierry Henry? They turned out alright…
I think the ratings are overly critical to be honest. We played Everton at Goodison Park, and would’ve won it if not for the goal that should’ve been disallowed. Few teams manage anything at all there. The only thing that worried me somewhat was the central midfield, where Wilshere, Ramsey and Flamini pretty much got bossed by a 92 year old Gareth Barry. Ramsey and Wilshere kept running into each other, so either they have to learn how to play together fast, or we need to get Ozil back in the middle and put someone else (Poldi, Cazorla, Ox) on… Read more »
Poor decision by gaffer to play Alexis up top. He is far better coming off the flanks or behind the main striker. Granted Wenger mentioned he was concern to give Giroud a break, that should hint at the fact that we lack options up top, particularly without Sanogo. Personally would prefer to see Campbell up top although this is likely not the best game for him to be blooded in the position. IMO we could well do with more firepower up top but a lot will depend on availability of top top player. My reading of the delay in the… Read more »
Short attention span I know, but I can’t be fucked to read comments that are longer than ten sentences.
sorry
perhaps giroud should be our super sub and not a starter. he seems to study the game very well on the bench. i remember him coming off the bench to score two against everton in the FA cup last season, he came on as a sub in the community shield and scored a cracker against city and produced a man of the match display today after coming on as a sub.
We need a CB and that’s it. There are too many new players. I don’t care if they’re replacements, but the chemistry of this side is awful, and they need to build understanding. If the opportunity arises to get a world-class player at a decent price then sure. But these players need to develop. Everton, player-for-player, don’t really stand up to Arsenal but they had great cohesiveness.
Benching Girioud and Cazorla made a difference as both guys have been poor recently and had to prove themselves today
I think if we change our formation back to 4-2-3-1, we could become more dangerous, even with Sánchez as lone striker. He can offer something else, which we didn’t have last season. He has got the stamina for PL, he is super fast, he knows how to make runs behind the defenders and I’m sure he is clinical in one on one situations. It was his first game as CF in England and in his new team. Özil is still not good enough on the left, he is terrible in defending and why would you waste his talent on the… Read more »
Giroud seems better off the bench…Which he should be. Still no new striker Flamini not good enough, Arteta not physical enough- if only there attributes were within one player… Why does Wenger never play actual wide players, wide. Fucking converted fowards and drifters dosen’t work. As good as Wilshere is he needs to stop being accommodated, its throwing the whole teams balance off. Hopefully Diaby gets some cybernetic implants and we can transform him into a DM because ive got a bad feeling Wenger is not going to dip into the market again. Hope with all my heart i am… Read more »
-our performance was quite poor, the officiating too.
-play ozil in the center, however even on the wing, he could have done better.
-I would love to see Campbell more on the pitch subsequently.
-We perform better without wilshere in the side.
-Why is taking our players so long to get fit? Players from other clubs played in the world cup too. Hello Forsythe?
-Giroud is the best CF at the club, Arteta is the best DM. This says a lot! We can still upgrade in both areas.
I want Giroud to shove his long veiny penis up Naismith’s wife’s clit, and then snap his neck in a chokeslam.
Your lack of respect for women and understanding of their anatomy probably needs addressing.
What a relief! The team is not there yet by any means but there is an exciting team in that bunch. I think more than anything, today can turn out to be a morale booster that will serve us well this season. We are not playing well yet but we are somehow grinding out acceptable results –The hallmark of a confident team if you ask me.
We still need more signings anyway… A striker to complement Giroud (He acquited himself well today. Man of the match by a mile), a centre back and a DM.
Cunt/10 – Steve Naismith
Loved when he was rattling off at Debuchy, Debuchy just stared. Proper defender.
Tbh how on earth was Giroud our best player. He missed a golden chance at the start of the half and had a couple of other chances which he missed. Kudos for him scoring on the 4th attempt but if he did not score then we would all be lambasting him for his first miss which a clinical striker would have finished. Also Jack and Aaron do not work. Glad we got a draw in the end though which will be an important point to help win us the league.
I always said that if Chelsea win the league and Fabregas plays a huge part in their success that I would not blame Wenger for passing up the opportunity to bring him back. But I said that under the assumption that he would get in Ramsey and Ozil’s way in the MIDDLE of the pitch. If Wenger is going to play Ozil out wide regularly, he should have signed Cesc because Wilshere, as much talent and potential he has, will never be better or even as good as Fabregas. We would have won 3-0 if we played Flamini Ramsey Cesc… Read more »
Wilshere was bloody awful. I realise many were….but he plays in the most important part of the pitch. He gives the ball away so much and he can’t beat a man through lack of pace. We’ve already scored 3 goals after he’s been subbed this season…..coincidence?
Just read a comment above which said its ok for ramsey to give the ball away because he takes risks. I’d say wilshere takes more risks than anyone else in the team but the same doesn’t apply for him? Just wait for him to click and he’ll hopefully be amazing.
Not sure how Szcz can be said to have had “no chance ” with either goal. He got a good hand on the first and the second was a 1v1 ultimately, not an open goal. I’m not saying he should have saved either necesarrliy but he could have. It’s his job to, in fact.
I’m pretty sure that Howard would have saved at least one of those, if not both. The second was similar to the chance Giroud had which Howard managed to block, instead it went right between Szcz legs as he went to ground -not good.
£75m on Sanchez and Ozil when we needed strengthening in others areas. Everyone knows where but Arsene determined to prove us all wromg. If he doesn’t surely it’s over?
It’s only 2 matches into the season.
Has it been difficult to wait two whole matches to start with the Wenger Out nonsense?
I guess we just ignore the previous years of failing to address gaping holes in the team.
Couple of points to make 1. Ox. A lot of pple online asked for Ox to start ahead of Santi after Besiktas. I could hardly understand it, and I still don’t. Yes Ox was threatening, but it means nothing if technically his final pass and awareness still far off from Santi. Defensively Ox also almost always fails to spot the runs of the opposing full back, happened a lot today. Ox always looks good coming off the bench, just like how Santi looks good today, but that’s largely because it’s always easier for a substitute to make an impact when… Read more »
“albino zombie” I just love this website
Play players in their best positions – i.e. Ozil in the centre not out wide!!!
We need a CF/Striker asap. We have Giroud and Sanogo upfront as our MAIN strike options. They are good but to win the BPL this season Arsenal need one more at the front. An out n out CF. Campbell, Sanchez, Poldi, Walcott(after returning) can all play in that role but they are not natural strikers. On the left side we have Cazorla, Poldi and Ozil. On the right side we have Campbell, Walcott, Sanchez(I prefer him in this position rather than an out n out CF. Same for Campbell). In the middle we have Jacky boy, Ramsey, Chamberlain, Rosicky, Arteta,… Read more »
Frustrating to see the 1st half disjointed performance. We were too easily bullied off the ball. Our passing and decision making in the Everton box was dismal.
Giroud needs to start next game. Thought Wenger was saving him for that game.
Wenger needs to buy a couple of players. Otherwise it’s going to be another nearly there performance.
I think Alexis played from a different script 1st half he moved,ran and worked hard all at high pace while our midfield was just stopping and wanking the ball around making his runs useless.
I hope Wenger’s brinkmanship in the transfer market pays off this summer. I suspect he’s trying to drive the price of Khedira down, but that’s risky with Bayern now looking for a Martinez replacement.
I wonder if he was also waiting to see if Cavani or Benzema became available. Former looks unlikely (PSG no longer need the cash for Di Maria), but if Madrid are genuinely in for Falcoa, then the latter is possible.
Btw, what’s the deal with left backs / right backs always being reversed on blogs’ pitch map? (and this time, Ozil and Ox being switched?)
Thought the way we set up it was lucky it wasn’t more than two, giving Coleman and Lukaku basically the free run on the right. 4-3-3 isn’t working and you can see that already, should go back to 4-2-3-1 with Ozil in the number 10. I don’t care if Wilshere is Wenger’s darling he should not be accommodated at the expense of Özil ever. And Ramseys goal shows why he should be ahead of Jack at this moment. Hopefully we’ll go back to the right formation with Ramsey suspended for Wednesday. Would like some proper wingers, Ox on one side,… Read more »
Not that we could really fault Szczesny for anything today, but he needs to play with bigger margins. Otherwise we are eventually gonna drop points because of him.
It’s cool when it works out. Not so much when it doesn’t.
I will take wins and draws at the moment until we peak
Gd comeback and the game looked one sided to me to, arsenal fc attacked and was clearly getting booked me happy them 2 precious goals equalled 2.2 but you know on an away fixture it was 1.2 coyg