Yeah I thought he looked really sharp. So long as they learn their responsibilities and respect each others game it looks like we could be onto a winner – albeit early days.
He was saying sorry for putting him in a bind with Lukakakakakaka. Actually Ospina is the only guy in defence other than Monreal that can converse with him.
Promising first couple of games from Gabriel. Time will tell, but he could become a crowd favourite playing with Kos.
I still think Mertesacker can get back to his best, though, when his calm effectiveness in defence is easily overlooked. And he’s a leader on the pitch, like Arteta, and we don’t have too many of those, to be honest.
Yeah I thought he grew in confidence as the match went on. He can ping a pass, he can intercept, he can tackle, and he has that required level of bravery needed to be an Arsenal CB. Very encouraging.
Özil’s problem is a lot of pundits (Michael Owen today) are too stupid to understand what he gives us.
He doesn’t run around like a dog chasing his tail so he must be lazy and rubbish. They ignore his assists and passes and vision, and complain that he “doesn’t look hungry enough.”
I also thought he had a poor game–but he made two critical assists. That doesn’t mean one must split the fanbase into “pro” and “anti.” He’s a complex player, with strengths and weaknesses just like anyone else. It’s not all black and white.
He had a terrible game, Owens and Neville may be cunts, but they are not stupid, He did fuck all in the whole game, Everton were shit today and still he had no influence on the game. His 2 so called assists did not exactly put it on a plate for Gir or Ros, terrible player not suited to the premiership, shit work rate
Man you need to figure out what do you need? A creator or a box-to-box player? He is a typical No 10 who is supposed to do his magic in the final third not making tackles and closing down the opponents. I find him similar to Arshavin who was brilliant in terms of his attacking contribution but suffered because fans didn’t love him for not tracking back. If he had Sagna as LB instead of Gibbs he would have been fan favourite but we gunners hate what we have as we keep on comparing all our players to the best… Read more »
Tell you what boss any player who can just toss around doing “fuck all” and yet without whose 2 assists we wouldn’t even have scored is alright by me. When I was an apprentice in the last century there used to be a saying “the easier a craftsman makes it look, the more difficult it is for the average to do it.” And as for the Monaco game my two pennorth is that Wenger should send the kids and write it off. I want EVERYBODY fit and focused only on the Manure game because hey if we get knocked out… Read more »
The problem is that those who won`t see the positives that Ozil bring are wanting him to run around like a mad man diving into tackles with a warrior like expression on his face etc etc. This is not going to happen. If you want someone who will make that pass that leads to a goal, create spaces for his team mates to exploit then you have Ozil. He is not lazy at all , does track back but is never going to be a fierce tackler. He is an integral part of the whole team who brings his skills… Read more »
“When I was an apprentice in the last century there used to be a saying ‘the easier a craftsman makes it look, the more difficult it is for the average to do it.'”
@Highberry: I’m not disagreeing with your point apart from this, but that’s a stupid fucking saying.
These stats almost make looks as if our £42mil play maker is making play pretty well for us.
Anybody who says ‘he don’t track back, tackle etc’ obviously didn’t watch him before he signed for us, he was never going to be a player who does that.
He will float around the pitch making space for his team mates and then finding them in that space with an inch perfect pass!
Ozil haters must expect players to finish games with 100% pass completion, 28 miles covered per game, headed duels and tackles all won
He’s more complicated than “shit” or “best number 10 in the world.” Both camps are half-right which is what is so odd about him. There’s a genuine reason he divides opinion. Like many of the great players – and Ozil is a great player, make no doubt about that – he too complicated to be reduced to a single adjective. If you want to compare him to anyone I would compare him to Francesco Totti. Another great player who has divided opinion his entire career, and who has a lot of the same attributes – although Ozil blessedly doesn’t seem… Read more »
1) Ozil has not “divided opinion his whole career.” It is only recently that there have been a significant number of people heaping anything but praise on him.
2) Saying “he’s shit” or “he’s the best player in the world” are both “half-right” makes no sense at all. You could say the truth is in between, and that’s fine, but both statements themselves are totally incorrect. Also, your statement implies that the two are equally valid, but in reality though both are wrong “best No. 10 in the world” is far, far closer to the truth than “he’s shit” is.
I thought he was poor bar a few moments, for Ozil. But he looks poor when no one moves for him, both Sanchez and Ox’s movement off the ball was too predictable so not really his fault, we should play Rosicky with him, possibly rest Cazorla or play Rosicky out wide, hard to say, I actually thought Ozil was playing really well on the left before we shifted him inside. He’s undoubtably our most gifted player but needs some cooler heads around him, like Rosicky and Welbecks movement at striker would also bring the best out of him, bit more… Read more »
He reminds me of a cross between Sinatra and left-footed Bergkamp. Not as skillful but makes up for it in graceful jazzy strides. Games need people like this occasionally who aren’t outstanding but inconspicuously contribute to the collective effort.
He’s Arsenalesque. Sometimes Arsenalesque makes me more happy than biting, fighting, diving, disloyal. back-stabbing, glory-hunting, cash-starved excuses for a ‘world-class’ footballers. So fuck them haters.
Gibbs seems only capable of collecting the ball, running ten yards, checking and then passing backwards of square ten yards. No penetration. Not enough end product. I presume Monreal must be injured.
I agree. Just can’t get my head around Gibbs’ game at the moment, defensively excellent in our half, predictable and one-paced in the opposition’s half.
Yeah but I do note that everyone seems to conveniently forget that Monreal, excellent though he has been this season, was really overrun against Palace. Maybe he needed a break.
Re Gibbs the problem is when the entire team performs like crap, nerves get frayed. Some players are going to get over it quicker than others and it was not as if we played with assured confidence yesterday.
I think he is compensating for Bellerin’s more attack minded game. When you look at our full backs, we usually have one more defensively minded, so the center backs aren’t left exposed and caught out, and one more attacking minded player to help provide an overlap with the midfield. When we had Sagna, he was our more defensively minded player, much like Debuchy, and Gibbs would be given the more attacking role – which is why, for me, a lot of our attacking play comes from the left. With Bellerin in the side, he is much more attack minded than… Read more »
I actually thought (despite Arseblogs view) it was the first half where he wasn’t overlapping and in the 2nd he immediately did, seemed obvious Arsene had a word to me anyway. Thing about Gibbs is when in the reserves he played midfield and renowned for his sweet left foot, scored bundles of screamers from all over, even free kicks so I’m not sure where all that ability or most likely confidence went, just let loose Kieren, you have the talent!
Ultimate Gooner
9 years ago
The best thing about Ozil is that he always makes the unexpected passes so effective.
He has a very good goal return. I wouldn’t complain about a guy who often wins games for us. He annoys me against Monaco though.
Mark
9 years ago
Great three points coming back from the midweek disappointment against a squad that has given us problems. Looked early like we were content to concede possession yet again, but grew into the game and started to pin Everton deep in their end. It’s tough to break down packed in defenses as we all know and we were not the most effective at it, trying to tip toe through throngs of defenders instead of backing the ball out and spreading things out a bit. Everyone did pretty well so ratings should be close for all players. Ozil really did well I… Read more »
Understand what you mean with Coq. The thing is we need is a player next to him who can distribute the ball from deep like Ramsey or Wilshere (or Arteta). Cazorla is a top player but dictating play from deep isn’t natural to him as he is more of a CAM than a CM.
Must be one of the fastest back fours in football! Even Ospina looked quick when he came out and tackled lukaku
MT
9 years ago
Is Nacho having a minor injury that he is not playing? I really don’t see the reason why he is using Gibbs now. I though that the left side was less dangerous than the right just because of him. He went forward today but when he goes he just run inside the box and crowding there. Why he doesn’t wide our game?
Think AW went for Gibbs pace v Monaco and saving him for Man Utd game
Mr_Kobe
9 years ago
Rightly said about Ozil. He is quality and those two assists showed just what he brings to the team. Gabriel will be a top top defender with such good speed and a good tackle in him too. Good game from the lads
saintsanti
9 years ago
I think Ozil gave away the ball away too easy several times and this is a bit harsh on the Ox. Overall a decent performance from us.
Had the highest pass completion % on the pitch, highest key passes, had the ball 62 times and was dispossessed 4 times all game. Considering he is playing at #10, dead central in an attacking area. that is fucking brilliant ball retention really.
Ozil played well. The patch of form at the start of this season seems to have soured some fans unbelievably.
He was dispossessed 4 times, leading all players. 5 if you include a unsuccesful first touch. Also noteworthy is that 4 of these losses of possession occurred in or close to our own half. That’s just risky. Concluding his ball retention was fucking brilliant because he had 62 touches is invalid. Alexis, Santi and Ox had respectively 66, 64 and 58 touches but we’re all together dispossessed just one time more than Ozil. Besides that, it’s a shame that if you have something not entirely positive to say about Ozil here you are always sad to be ‘influenced by pundits.’… Read more »
gooner
9 years ago
“his crossing was poor all game and he seemed to overrun that ball out of play plus he needs to score more considering he’s playing on the front three. he needs to adjust his game too and get in one on one with the goalkeeper once in a while considering the position he’s playing.” just an alternative to he’s not fully fit or he played within himself or to be honest he wasn’t the only one who struggled and he covered a lot of ground today (the BFG does too on bad hi days ) would be nice once in… Read more »
Man Manny
9 years ago
When Gabriel is fully settled in England (Language included), Mert will be in real trouble. I loved his game today. We had two quick CBs for the first time in a long while.
His tackle on Lukaku was the moment of the match for me. I had the benefit of the slow-mo replay (baby girl was sitting in my seat today) but that is the defensive equivalent to Özil magic. Think we may be on to a good thing with this fellow!
He certainly has potential and did as well as you can expect in his PL debut, but is going to have to be given time to gain experience in this league with all the varying styles of attacks and players he will face from week to week. Per certainly is not done and has a lot to offer, but nice to see Wenger making some tactical adjustments defensively against a player that has given us problems recently by bringing in a more agile defender.
That’s rather very selective. You have just chosen to ignore the encouraging things he did – that last-ditch tackle on Lukaku, the sliding tackle on Barkley and many more considering the fact that this was his debut.
I remember Mert in his 1st season, the game against Swansea away for example; he gifted them the game. So Gabriel will be ok.
More than OK for that price I hope. Let’s wait until he plays against a decent team but he was a mixture of good and bad. The whole side have been hot and cold all season so he should fit in well. We need a world-class striker. But who? And what has happened to Alexis?
A chick that will grow into a cock can be known the day it hatches.
Gooner Inside the Beltway
9 years ago
Very happy for the 3 points, desperately important given other results this weekend. Let’s not kid ourselves though, that was a hard-fought win, at home, against a team that could find itself in a relegation scrap. And our keeper was–and needed to be–among the standout performers. Nice right-footed placement by Giroud, but those squanders are really beyond the pale at this point. The lack of pace at that position is so out of kilter with rest of our set-up, just feel like it creates imbalance, which may have as much to do with Alexis’ struggles as anything. Encouraging performance by… Read more »
The only good thing on Ozil are his perfectly weighted passes,
nothing else.He is not exciting to watch because he is slow, lazy
and his is not a game changer. Rosicky should start every game
instead of Ozil.
bergkamp would make opponents look stupid and curl it anywhere he wanted. and provide assists by the bucketload. and if people got nasty on him he returned the compliment.
in fact anyone comparing the great Dennis Bergkamp to Ozil needs his head examined
Uptheguns
9 years ago
Good performances all around today. Especially for the people who really needed them. Giroud, Ozil, Gabriel, Ospina all really needed to show their quality today and they did so, which is great for the team to have all players in a confident frame of mind. Bet on this good run to continue!
David C
9 years ago
Time to rest Sanchez midweek, give Walcott or Welbeck the start and give the wee Chilean a well deserved break.
2nd place is not far away! Not sure anyone can catch Chelski, sadly.
I’ll give him a two week rest if possible. I’ll give him the QPR game off for sure and I won’t have him train until a few days before the Man United game
Nacho de Montreal is tasty
9 years ago
Great win for keeping our third position in the league and having second spot at our reach. Should we sacrifice the CL to concentrate on FA cup and being second in the league ? Maybe. Even if Monaco show fool enough to let us progress, not sure we won’t repeat same again.
My daughter and I thought the loud bloke on the nbc microphone was hilarious. Even better to find out it was you, blogs!
Abhijeet
9 years ago
MOTM goes to Arseblog
Chambo
9 years ago
Didnt think that we looked that Narrow in midfield
James
9 years ago
Shout out to Ox, he’s one player that helps to give us genuine width and he tracks back well also. Perhaps not the most influential this (comeback) match but the signs were there and his development this season has been a joy to watch. Not a coincidence that our win at City was with Ox and Sanchez on the flanks.
Somehow I have the feeling that Coquelin is going to strain his hamstring while recovering from his broken nose.
Gooner from Pretoria(Cap city)
9 years ago
Is it only me or does Gabriel look like a DrugLord from the favelas..Anywa he seems like a good buy and an upgrade to our not so Perfect Mertesacker..
Gary Baldy
9 years ago
Extra marks to Super Tom as he lost the ball, or something – I can’t quite remember – but anyway, on the left hand edge of their box and then raced after the ball 15 or 20 yards to the centre of the pitch to make a sliding tackle and win the ball back and took a shot hoping for a second goal . . . literally withonly a couple of minutes left of the game. Would maybe liked to have seen him come on for Ozil a bit earlier, that is no reflection on Ozil, just to change the… Read more »
NYCgun
9 years ago
Kos and Gabriel! What pace!
RosaLegend
9 years ago
Make Santi permanent captain and Rosa the vice (provided Wenger actually gives him minutes)? Btw. Gabriel Paulista will do just fine in English football. Ospina great today, looked very confident and made good assured decisions. Overall as desperate reaction to the horror show midweek, especially defensively.
@invinsigooner
9 years ago
Wasn’t it a tackle on lennon where Koscielny conceded the yellow card?
Lettra
9 years ago
KOS Got his yellow for kicking sp*rscunt actually. Nevermind. We won so its all good. Also I think Gabriels mistake was maybe down to not understanding english I’m not sure he understood Lukaku was behind him.
Va va voom
9 years ago
Ok game, great 3 points. Was good to respond to united and pool victories and consolidate on city loss. Going forward I think next season the captaincy should be handed over to Kosielny. Been a while we had a real captain. Kos the boss!
SFGiants
9 years ago
I was especially impressed with Ospina today (MOTM?), and was heartened at Gabriel’s performance, seeing that the BFG seems to be on the decline. And might I suggest bestowing the captain’s armband permanently on Cazorla?
TR7
9 years ago
Rosicky has been amazing as a sub again!
Zaid
9 years ago
The Irishmans comment ” Leave ’em down and play on – coome on ! ” never thought you were that hyper blogs . Heh
Ex-Priest Tobin
9 years ago
Solid performance but doesn’t make up in any way for the Monaco debacle. Heads have to roll.
trev
9 years ago
Will they’re be an mp3 of the commentary invasion? I need a laugh to complement the relief of a win.
sitchey
9 years ago
What game did people watch saying ozil was man of the match??? He gave away so many passes, doesnt dictate of influence the game the way world class players should.
And 2 assists? One was a miss hit corner and the other was one of the only passes he made correctly and it wasn’t as if it was a defence splitting ball.
You could count on one finger the good games he has had. What we have is an overpriced and overrated player. Real Madrid are still laughing
Arseblood
9 years ago
Was everyone watching a different game to me!?!? We were so poor today. Gibbs and Ozil particularly weak.
A better team than Everton would have turned us over, easy.
Watched the Liverpool v City game before…the speed and energy from Liverpool was like watching a different sport!!
We’ve been just getting away with it against Leicester, Palace and now Everton. 9 points is bloody great but no one be fooled that we’re playing well.
Goodness. Why aren’t we happy for the points when playing barely adequately or worse and winning. We cut the team no slack when the play well yet lose or draw.
We, as a fan base, have become hyper-critical of the team. Using the same logic for the 2003-4 season would we have dismissed their excellence due to the 12 draws? That’s 24 points just dropped, right?
vincentio
9 years ago
I see that most here have there Ozil tinted spectacles on. He was crap and ineffective as usual. Michael Owen was right.. No killer instinct. He looks like he’s thinking about something else all the time.
good performance from Giroud and Ospina and maybe Gabriel but otherwise pretty meh.
vincentio
9 years ago
And why is Theo never picked to start?
SDB
9 years ago
a win over this everton team is the only acceptable result so not getting too excited. will be happy if we retain the fa cup and take at least 5 points from man u, chelsea and liverpool to finish second or third in the league. anything less will show lack of progress.
Gabrull - Gabriel the Bull
9 years ago
Kamikaze keeper. Hardworking full-backs. Pacy and strong central defensive pair. Bloody and gritty defensive midfielder. Magical feet and great vision in the middle. Invaluable depth of options wide. Solid anchor who can bag them in. Did you get that scent? That sweet, strong and mature smell that wakes you up in the morning? There’s some really nice coffee brewing here…
Guntown
9 years ago
We can probably field the fastest 11 in the premier league. Based purely on speed.
Bellerin-Gabriel-Kos-Gibbs
Ramsey/Wilsh?-Cazorla
Walcott-Alexis-Ox
Welbeck
I am totally pissed. Totally pissed with some section of Arsenal fans who doesnt see the value Ozil brings to the team. For eg the pass to Rosicky for the 2nd goal….I really thought for a second or two that it was a misplaced pass….coz I didnt even see Rosicky coming….that pass took out 5-6 Everton defending players out of the game as they were focused on the obvious targets for Ozil to pass to. It was pure brilliant….gave a good two seconds for Rosicky to setup the shot….the fact it was deflected coz the Everton playets were put out… Read more »
It was a combination of both of them using their brains, as Rozza found the space to move to and receive the pass.
ny
9 years ago
And extra bonus points for NBC apologizing for bad language “you might have heard on air”. Fucking excellent.
goonersince90
9 years ago
usually spot on with the ratings on this section from author and fans, but i cannot comprehend how high the ratings are this time around. I found Everton far too threatening going forwards and our attack insipid, with plenty of wayward passing. Not to mention even though gabriel made some very good tackles (and i mean really, really good) he also made massive mistakes (His massive blunder with the backpass not mentioned?) saying that our prem from in nonetheless the best in the league, i think if you look back at the last 10 – 15 games even overshadows Liverpool’s… Read more »
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Gabriel, very impressed and thought he had a good partnership with Kos.
So much pace at the back.
Yeah I thought he looked really sharp. So long as they learn their responsibilities and respect each others game it looks like we could be onto a winner – albeit early days.
Kos’ booking was from a tackle on Lennon not Lukaku – Spud c*nt made it extra special. 🙂
There seemed to be a good relationship with Ospina too.
Highly impressed with both.
He was saying sorry for putting him in a bind with Lukakakakakaka. Actually Ospina is the only guy in defence other than Monreal that can converse with him.
Except for Bellerin maybe
Promising first couple of games from Gabriel. Time will tell, but he could become a crowd favourite playing with Kos.
I still think Mertesacker can get back to his best, though, when his calm effectiveness in defence is easily overlooked. And he’s a leader on the pitch, like Arteta, and we don’t have too many of those, to be honest.
Yeah I thought he grew in confidence as the match went on. He can ping a pass, he can intercept, he can tackle, and he has that required level of bravery needed to be an Arsenal CB. Very encouraging.
Not a great performance, but the win was vital. Now let’s pound QPR.
I think the biggest compliment to Özil is that in a game where he collects two assists people overlook it. What a master.
Özil’s problem is a lot of pundits (Michael Owen today) are too stupid to understand what he gives us.
He doesn’t run around like a dog chasing his tail so he must be lazy and rubbish. They ignore his assists and passes and vision, and complain that he “doesn’t look hungry enough.”
Those two assists flatter to deceive his performance.
No point bothering to talk about the bad things he did as the Mesut brigade will find some irrelevant stat to show how great he was.
I also thought he had a poor game–but he made two critical assists. That doesn’t mean one must split the fanbase into “pro” and “anti.” He’s a complex player, with strengths and weaknesses just like anyone else. It’s not all black and white.
He had a terrible game, Owens and Neville may be cunts, but they are not stupid, He did fuck all in the whole game, Everton were shit today and still he had no influence on the game. His 2 so called assists did not exactly put it on a plate for Gir or Ros, terrible player not suited to the premiership, shit work rate
Man you need to figure out what do you need? A creator or a box-to-box player? He is a typical No 10 who is supposed to do his magic in the final third not making tackles and closing down the opponents. I find him similar to Arshavin who was brilliant in terms of his attacking contribution but suffered because fans didn’t love him for not tracking back. If he had Sagna as LB instead of Gibbs he would have been fan favourite but we gunners hate what we have as we keep on comparing all our players to the best… Read more »
Tell you what boss any player who can just toss around doing “fuck all” and yet without whose 2 assists we wouldn’t even have scored is alright by me. When I was an apprentice in the last century there used to be a saying “the easier a craftsman makes it look, the more difficult it is for the average to do it.” And as for the Monaco game my two pennorth is that Wenger should send the kids and write it off. I want EVERYBODY fit and focused only on the Manure game because hey if we get knocked out… Read more »
The problem is that those who won`t see the positives that Ozil bring are wanting him to run around like a mad man diving into tackles with a warrior like expression on his face etc etc. This is not going to happen. If you want someone who will make that pass that leads to a goal, create spaces for his team mates to exploit then you have Ozil. He is not lazy at all , does track back but is never going to be a fierce tackler. He is an integral part of the whole team who brings his skills… Read more »
“When I was an apprentice in the last century there used to be a saying ‘the easier a craftsman makes it look, the more difficult it is for the average to do it.'”
@Highberry: I’m not disagreeing with your point apart from this, but that’s a stupid fucking saying.
From ‘By the numbers’:
Who…
led Arsenal’s passing with 43/47
led Arsenal’s final third passing with 29/31
led Arsenal with 5 key passes
led Arsenal with 2 assists
Let me know the irrelevant ones.
Or do you just remember the bad passes?
These stats almost make looks as if our £42mil play maker is making play pretty well for us.
Anybody who says ‘he don’t track back, tackle etc’ obviously didn’t watch him before he signed for us, he was never going to be a player who does that.
He will float around the pitch making space for his team mates and then finding them in that space with an inch perfect pass!
Ozil haters must expect players to finish games with 100% pass completion, 28 miles covered per game, headed duels and tackles all won
Simply put, what did Ozil not do that would have made it a quality performance?
Ozil is the Federer of football.. he is there at the right place at the right time.. and he plays gracefully 🙂
He’s more complicated than “shit” or “best number 10 in the world.” Both camps are half-right which is what is so odd about him. There’s a genuine reason he divides opinion. Like many of the great players – and Ozil is a great player, make no doubt about that – he too complicated to be reduced to a single adjective. If you want to compare him to anyone I would compare him to Francesco Totti. Another great player who has divided opinion his entire career, and who has a lot of the same attributes – although Ozil blessedly doesn’t seem… Read more »
1) Ozil has not “divided opinion his whole career.” It is only recently that there have been a significant number of people heaping anything but praise on him.
2) Saying “he’s shit” or “he’s the best player in the world” are both “half-right” makes no sense at all. You could say the truth is in between, and that’s fine, but both statements themselves are totally incorrect. Also, your statement implies that the two are equally valid, but in reality though both are wrong “best No. 10 in the world” is far, far closer to the truth than “he’s shit” is.
I thought he was poor bar a few moments, for Ozil. But he looks poor when no one moves for him, both Sanchez and Ox’s movement off the ball was too predictable so not really his fault, we should play Rosicky with him, possibly rest Cazorla or play Rosicky out wide, hard to say, I actually thought Ozil was playing really well on the left before we shifted him inside. He’s undoubtably our most gifted player but needs some cooler heads around him, like Rosicky and Welbecks movement at striker would also bring the best out of him, bit more… Read more »
He reminds me of a cross between Sinatra and left-footed Bergkamp. Not as skillful but makes up for it in graceful jazzy strides. Games need people like this occasionally who aren’t outstanding but inconspicuously contribute to the collective effort.
He’s Arsenalesque. Sometimes Arsenalesque makes me more happy than biting, fighting, diving, disloyal. back-stabbing, glory-hunting, cash-starved excuses for a ‘world-class’ footballers. So fuck them haters.
Good word, that! I like it.
He certainly is Arsenalesque.
So glad for three points. Three more at Loftus Rd on Wednesday pls!
Ozil should have been MOTM seeing as he won us the game.
Yeah but Ospina made sure we didn’t lose it.
Tough on Gibbs, we couldn’t have both fullbacks attacking or we would be repeating Monaco mistakes.
Good defensive discipline is a fairer interpretation.
Gibbs seems only capable of collecting the ball, running ten yards, checking and then passing backwards of square ten yards. No penetration. Not enough end product. I presume Monreal must be injured.
Monreal was on the bench, so unlikely he was injured!
I agree. Just can’t get my head around Gibbs’ game at the moment, defensively excellent in our half, predictable and one-paced in the opposition’s half.
Yeah but I do note that everyone seems to conveniently forget that Monreal, excellent though he has been this season, was really overrun against Palace. Maybe he needed a break.
Re Gibbs the problem is when the entire team performs like crap, nerves get frayed. Some players are going to get over it quicker than others and it was not as if we played with assured confidence yesterday.
I think he is compensating for Bellerin’s more attack minded game. When you look at our full backs, we usually have one more defensively minded, so the center backs aren’t left exposed and caught out, and one more attacking minded player to help provide an overlap with the midfield. When we had Sagna, he was our more defensively minded player, much like Debuchy, and Gibbs would be given the more attacking role – which is why, for me, a lot of our attacking play comes from the left. With Bellerin in the side, he is much more attack minded than… Read more »
I actually thought (despite Arseblogs view) it was the first half where he wasn’t overlapping and in the 2nd he immediately did, seemed obvious Arsene had a word to me anyway. Thing about Gibbs is when in the reserves he played midfield and renowned for his sweet left foot, scored bundles of screamers from all over, even free kicks so I’m not sure where all that ability or most likely confidence went, just let loose Kieren, you have the talent!
The best thing about Ozil is that he always makes the unexpected passes so effective.
Compliments OG nicely then, some of his goals, I dunno how he scores them.. but then some of his misses made Chamakh blushes. Or Sanogo.
He has a very good goal return. I wouldn’t complain about a guy who often wins games for us. He annoys me against Monaco though.
Great three points coming back from the midweek disappointment against a squad that has given us problems. Looked early like we were content to concede possession yet again, but grew into the game and started to pin Everton deep in their end. It’s tough to break down packed in defenses as we all know and we were not the most effective at it, trying to tip toe through throngs of defenders instead of backing the ball out and spreading things out a bit. Everyone did pretty well so ratings should be close for all players. Ozil really did well I… Read more »
Understand what you mean with Coq. The thing is we need is a player next to him who can distribute the ball from deep like Ramsey or Wilshere (or Arteta). Cazorla is a top player but dictating play from deep isn’t natural to him as he is more of a CAM than a CM.
So someone like fabregas? Nah just annoyed how Chelski won that cup. We best win the Fa Cup. Also we’re 4 points of second…..that’s not much
For the first one i wouldn’t guilt him because he got scared of being kicked in the face and he couldn’t hit the ball rightly.
Just glad to win it
Rosicky does the best ‘I’m rather chuffed with that goal I just scored’faces…absolutely love him!
With the rocker hand signals too, he’s epic!
Must be one of the fastest back fours in football! Even Ospina looked quick when he came out and tackled lukaku
Is Nacho having a minor injury that he is not playing? I really don’t see the reason why he is using Gibbs now. I though that the left side was less dangerous than the right just because of him. He went forward today but when he goes he just run inside the box and crowding there. Why he doesn’t wide our game?
Think AW went for Gibbs pace v Monaco and saving him for Man Utd game
Rightly said about Ozil. He is quality and those two assists showed just what he brings to the team. Gabriel will be a top top defender with such good speed and a good tackle in him too. Good game from the lads
I think Ozil gave away the ball away too easy several times and this is a bit harsh on the Ox. Overall a decent performance from us.
Had the highest pass completion % on the pitch, highest key passes, had the ball 62 times and was dispossessed 4 times all game. Considering he is playing at #10, dead central in an attacking area. that is fucking brilliant ball retention really.
Ozil played well. The patch of form at the start of this season seems to have soured some fans unbelievably.
He was dispossessed 4 times, leading all players. 5 if you include a unsuccesful first touch. Also noteworthy is that 4 of these losses of possession occurred in or close to our own half. That’s just risky. Concluding his ball retention was fucking brilliant because he had 62 touches is invalid. Alexis, Santi and Ox had respectively 66, 64 and 58 touches but we’re all together dispossessed just one time more than Ozil. Besides that, it’s a shame that if you have something not entirely positive to say about Ozil here you are always sad to be ‘influenced by pundits.’… Read more »
“his crossing was poor all game and he seemed to overrun that ball out of play plus he needs to score more considering he’s playing on the front three. he needs to adjust his game too and get in one on one with the goalkeeper once in a while considering the position he’s playing.” just an alternative to he’s not fully fit or he played within himself or to be honest he wasn’t the only one who struggled and he covered a lot of ground today (the BFG does too on bad hi days ) would be nice once in… Read more »
When Gabriel is fully settled in England (Language included), Mert will be in real trouble. I loved his game today. We had two quick CBs for the first time in a long while.
His tackle on Lukaku was the moment of the match for me. I had the benefit of the slow-mo replay (baby girl was sitting in my seat today) but that is the defensive equivalent to Özil magic. Think we may be on to a good thing with this fellow!
If Gabriel could be just a quick Mertesacker, I would be sooo happy. :))
He certainly has potential and did as well as you can expect in his PL debut, but is going to have to be given time to gain experience in this league with all the varying styles of attacks and players he will face from week to week. Per certainly is not done and has a lot to offer, but nice to see Wenger making some tactical adjustments defensively against a player that has given us problems recently by bringing in a more agile defender.
yeah, he nearly gifted Lukaku a goal and got Kos booked. Brilliant!
Reserve judgment for a while. Winston Reid will come in and give us more depth.
That’s rather very selective. You have just chosen to ignore the encouraging things he did – that last-ditch tackle on Lukaku, the sliding tackle on Barkley and many more considering the fact that this was his debut.
I remember Mert in his 1st season, the game against Swansea away for example; he gifted them the game. So Gabriel will be ok.
More than OK for that price I hope. Let’s wait until he plays against a decent team but he was a mixture of good and bad. The whole side have been hot and cold all season so he should fit in well. We need a world-class striker. But who? And what has happened to Alexis?
A chick that will grow into a cock can be known the day it hatches.
Very happy for the 3 points, desperately important given other results this weekend. Let’s not kid ourselves though, that was a hard-fought win, at home, against a team that could find itself in a relegation scrap. And our keeper was–and needed to be–among the standout performers. Nice right-footed placement by Giroud, but those squanders are really beyond the pale at this point. The lack of pace at that position is so out of kilter with rest of our set-up, just feel like it creates imbalance, which may have as much to do with Alexis’ struggles as anything. Encouraging performance by… Read more »
Bane Mask coming mid week!
The only good thing on Ozil are his perfectly weighted passes,
nothing else.He is not exciting to watch because he is slow, lazy
and his is not a game changer. Rosicky should start every game
instead of Ozil.
Very naive comment
Except that he isn’t slow, the numbers show he isn’t lazy and he made a match-winning contribution. Nothing you said was correct.
Not a game changer, because he set up two goals today which won us the match.
Let me guess, you didn’t enjoy watching Bergkamp either?
Please don’t compare the two.
Based on Arsenal performance’s Mesut couldn’t tie Bergkamps shoelaces.
i dont know why 50 people down thumbed that ….
bergkamp would make opponents look stupid and curl it anywhere he wanted. and provide assists by the bucketload. and if people got nasty on him he returned the compliment.
in fact anyone comparing the great Dennis Bergkamp to Ozil needs his head examined
Good performances all around today. Especially for the people who really needed them. Giroud, Ozil, Gabriel, Ospina all really needed to show their quality today and they did so, which is great for the team to have all players in a confident frame of mind. Bet on this good run to continue!
Time to rest Sanchez midweek, give Walcott or Welbeck the start and give the wee Chilean a well deserved break.
2nd place is not far away! Not sure anyone can catch Chelski, sadly.
I’ll give him a two week rest if possible. I’ll give him the QPR game off for sure and I won’t have him train until a few days before the Man United game
Great win for keeping our third position in the league and having second spot at our reach. Should we sacrifice the CL to concentrate on FA cup and being second in the league ? Maybe. Even if Monaco show fool enough to let us progress, not sure we won’t repeat same again.
We already sacrificed the CL on Wednesday 😛
NO MORE PARK CHU YOUNG :'(
Until we bought Messi and cant find a picture of him to use.
We can dream.
Top bonus rating! I know I enjoyed it.
My daughter and I thought the loud bloke on the nbc microphone was hilarious. Even better to find out it was you, blogs!
MOTM goes to Arseblog
Didnt think that we looked that Narrow in midfield
Shout out to Ox, he’s one player that helps to give us genuine width and he tracks back well also. Perhaps not the most influential this (comeback) match but the signs were there and his development this season has been a joy to watch. Not a coincidence that our win at City was with Ox and Sanchez on the flanks.
not great but we won so yeah close the gap on citeh and back 2 third. plus still in fa cup.
ps andre mariner is still an idiot
Was the Irish man by any chance you Blogs?
Medical team’s about to turn Le Coq into Darth Vader with that broken nose!
They broke our Coq!
Somehow I have the feeling that Coquelin is going to strain his hamstring while recovering from his broken nose.
Is it only me or does Gabriel look like a DrugLord from the favelas..Anywa he seems like a good buy and an upgrade to our not so Perfect Mertesacker..
Extra marks to Super Tom as he lost the ball, or something – I can’t quite remember – but anyway, on the left hand edge of their box and then raced after the ball 15 or 20 yards to the centre of the pitch to make a sliding tackle and win the ball back and took a shot hoping for a second goal . . . literally withonly a couple of minutes left of the game. Would maybe liked to have seen him come on for Ozil a bit earlier, that is no reflection on Ozil, just to change the… Read more »
Kos and Gabriel! What pace!
Make Santi permanent captain and Rosa the vice (provided Wenger actually gives him minutes)? Btw. Gabriel Paulista will do just fine in English football. Ospina great today, looked very confident and made good assured decisions. Overall as desperate reaction to the horror show midweek, especially defensively.
Wasn’t it a tackle on lennon where Koscielny conceded the yellow card?
KOS Got his yellow for kicking sp*rscunt actually. Nevermind. We won so its all good. Also I think Gabriels mistake was maybe down to not understanding english I’m not sure he understood Lukaku was behind him.
Ok game, great 3 points. Was good to respond to united and pool victories and consolidate on city loss. Going forward I think next season the captaincy should be handed over to Kosielny. Been a while we had a real captain. Kos the boss!
I was especially impressed with Ospina today (MOTM?), and was heartened at Gabriel’s performance, seeing that the BFG seems to be on the decline. And might I suggest bestowing the captain’s armband permanently on Cazorla?
Rosicky has been amazing as a sub again!
The Irishmans comment ” Leave ’em down and play on – coome on ! ” never thought you were that hyper blogs . Heh
Solid performance but doesn’t make up in any way for the Monaco debacle. Heads have to roll.
Will they’re be an mp3 of the commentary invasion? I need a laugh to complement the relief of a win.
What game did people watch saying ozil was man of the match??? He gave away so many passes, doesnt dictate of influence the game the way world class players should.
And 2 assists? One was a miss hit corner and the other was one of the only passes he made correctly and it wasn’t as if it was a defence splitting ball.
You could count on one finger the good games he has had. What we have is an overpriced and overrated player. Real Madrid are still laughing
Was everyone watching a different game to me!?!? We were so poor today. Gibbs and Ozil particularly weak.
A better team than Everton would have turned us over, easy.
Watched the Liverpool v City game before…the speed and energy from Liverpool was like watching a different sport!!
We’ve been just getting away with it against Leicester, Palace and now Everton. 9 points is bloody great but no one be fooled that we’re playing well.
Goodness. Why aren’t we happy for the points when playing barely adequately or worse and winning. We cut the team no slack when the play well yet lose or draw.
We, as a fan base, have become hyper-critical of the team. Using the same logic for the 2003-4 season would we have dismissed their excellence due to the 12 draws? That’s 24 points just dropped, right?
I see that most here have there Ozil tinted spectacles on. He was crap and ineffective as usual. Michael Owen was right.. No killer instinct. He looks like he’s thinking about something else all the time.
good performance from Giroud and Ospina and maybe Gabriel but otherwise pretty meh.
And why is Theo never picked to start?
a win over this everton team is the only acceptable result so not getting too excited. will be happy if we retain the fa cup and take at least 5 points from man u, chelsea and liverpool to finish second or third in the league. anything less will show lack of progress.
Kamikaze keeper. Hardworking full-backs. Pacy and strong central defensive pair. Bloody and gritty defensive midfielder. Magical feet and great vision in the middle. Invaluable depth of options wide. Solid anchor who can bag them in. Did you get that scent? That sweet, strong and mature smell that wakes you up in the morning? There’s some really nice coffee brewing here…
We can probably field the fastest 11 in the premier league. Based purely on speed.
Bellerin-Gabriel-Kos-Gibbs
Ramsey/Wilsh?-Cazorla
Walcott-Alexis-Ox
Welbeck
Not a bad line-up that.
I am totally pissed. Totally pissed with some section of Arsenal fans who doesnt see the value Ozil brings to the team. For eg the pass to Rosicky for the 2nd goal….I really thought for a second or two that it was a misplaced pass….coz I didnt even see Rosicky coming….that pass took out 5-6 Everton defending players out of the game as they were focused on the obvious targets for Ozil to pass to. It was pure brilliant….gave a good two seconds for Rosicky to setup the shot….the fact it was deflected coz the Everton playets were put out… Read more »
It was a combination of both of them using their brains, as Rozza found the space to move to and receive the pass.
And extra bonus points for NBC apologizing for bad language “you might have heard on air”. Fucking excellent.
usually spot on with the ratings on this section from author and fans, but i cannot comprehend how high the ratings are this time around. I found Everton far too threatening going forwards and our attack insipid, with plenty of wayward passing. Not to mention even though gabriel made some very good tackles (and i mean really, really good) he also made massive mistakes (His massive blunder with the backpass not mentioned?) saying that our prem from in nonetheless the best in the league, i think if you look back at the last 10 – 15 games even overshadows Liverpool’s… Read more »