It was much closer than any of us would have liked, with us hitting the post twice and thankful for a goalkeeping error for the winner, but the main thing is we’re through to the final on May 30th after the 2-1 win.
Here’s how the players rated.
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Sunday, December 22, 2024
Gabriel also had one outstanding tackle late in the match too after a careless mistake by someone else gave Reading a 1-on-1 with the new boy and he answered the call brilliantly. I thought he was impressive in his time on the pitch.
Compare Gabriel to 50m man David Luiz last week, Two on one Luiz rushed in and got done by Suarez, Gabriel’s first instinct was to drop back, cover the pass option and force the Reading player to outpace him which he could not. Very good positional play. If he got a run of games he looks like he could really develop into a Brazilian Lolo.
To be fair to Sideshow Bob, Bitey McRacist is better than that ex-spud club foot..
Ozil was MotM. And it wasn’t that close.
Him and Alexis imo
It was Özil by a margin, with two superb assists for Alexis’ two goals. Surprised the ratings have Alexis Alexis (!) ahead of Mesut Mesut. Do you give an extra point for putting the ball through the keeper’s legs?
Twice
The second one wasn’t an assist. This isn’t hockey..
it was. made it looked simple but actually a perfectly weighted forward pass
Wembley here we come again! History will be written. I f**ing love this club and this momentum.
Remind me, gentlemen, what was it she wore?
A Yellow Ribbon!
Sanchez is king! Manure are exactly!
you get what you pay for
that’s why i would love Reus as our second winger
Ozil MotM
So, did tottenham get a 100 mill pounds worth then?
You dont really get what you pay for and that’s why Arsenal under Arsene Wenger has been a class apart.
It should be: You get what you pay for when you buy smart.
great great players come with a price
spending money on 31151 players mean nothing
you missed my point
Like Cazorla, Giroud, Koscielny, Coquelin, Bellerin…
I never thought I’d say this but Szczeny definitely looks low on confidence. I always thought he had enough for the whole team. Still got huge faith in him becoming an arsenal legend ala Wilson and Seaman.
What save did schez make first?, half only one I remember was straight at him!
Mackey was put through while Kos was down, he shot low and SZCZ saved, with his knee I think but he was miles offside and it had already been given. Wouldn’t have counted anyway and it was only a decent save, not a “big save” as it was right at him really.
Szcz made a few mistakes besides the goal, a routine save right at him which he pushed out for a corner and a ridiculous throw-out to Ramsey near the end which we’ve seen cost us in the past (Szcz thrown out to Flamini against Sp*rs, I think…)
The difference between Arsenal with Giroud and Arsenal without Giroud is like night and day. He makes us tick.
So true, it’s almost like Wenger has built the team around him. Would have sounded ridiculous on his debut season saying that, but boy has it worked this year.
Maybe watching on TV gave me a different view of the game, but Welbeck was poor but hadsuch low service it wasn’t a surprise…..
As for Wally? Did we bring him on for pace? The one run culd have produced a penalty but apart from that? F.a.
In fairness to Theo, he was covering for Debuchy who was running on empty and not fit enough for 120 minutes. Something i’ve criticised Theo for not doing in the past. So no complaints from me today. i thought he did well when he came on
I’d say Giroud has evolved into the team. With the same chances but with Welbeck, I feel we’d see a similar result.
It’s awesome how perfect Giroud is for the team right now!
We absolutely need that pivot in the final third. Even if he doesn’t take the touch, he’s always in a dangerous spot and they have to devote resources to shutting him down – letting the smaller faster players slice them up.
We are a different team with HFB as the pivot in the final third – even if he doesn’t directly assist, he soaks up so much defensive energy that our smaller faster players can slice them up. Long may he reign.
I think it has been the case from the start, since 2012-13. he didnt score much then, but as for link-up play, giroud has been doing that from the start. van persie and fabregas had left. Cazorla, podolski, walcott and giroud; All of our front four were new to each other. And yet, we managed to have cohesion in attack, is a credit to both Giroud and Wenger, i think.
I mean, I’m not this way inclined, but I’d drag my dick through broken glass to smell one of his farts.
I’m so fearful of Giroud being out for any extended period. I really don’t think Wellbeck is up to it. I’d like to see Arsene strengthen in the CF position over the summer.
Szczenzy showing us all why he’s not number 1. The ball hit him in the hands and still went in.
Loved Ozil’s performance today, he’s full of desire and confidence, at the top of his game. Giroud did well but not only 0.5 behind Alexis well.
Does today’s performance and the fact we won’t have time to bed him in (so to speak) secure Bellerin as our RB for the rest of the season – with next week in mind? I think that’s the case, and I think Gabriel has a strong claim as well.
No, I still think Debuchy is class, and today will have shown him (and Arsène) how rusty he is and lacking in the confidence we saw from him when he first joined the club. He won’t sharpen up and regain that pazazz without starting games, and today was an good opportunity.
But certainly he’s competing with Bellerin for the starting line-up, and for the moment, when we really need his speed and incisive running (eg against Mourinho’s brick wall next week), I’d go for Bellerin.
I’d rather have debuchy with his experience playing up against hazard
I’m torn on which way to go next week. Bellerin’s pace may be helpful against Hazard, particularly with Debuchy still feeling his way back. I worry a little about next week, fully expecting Chelski to play exactly the same way against us as they did against United. I still don’t totally trust our guys to go a full 90 minutes without making a mistake, which really is all it took for Hazard yesterday. I’m also a touch torn on Debuchy overall. To be fair i’ve not seen enough of him to form a solid opinion, by my bro, an avid… Read more »
Are people happy to have Szczesny start in the final I wonder?
Why not? He failed to save a deflected shot! Everything else that came his way, he was able to deal with, just like any other keeper would have
Schez has an unfortunate predilection for firing bullets into our own skull, and he picked up today where he left off against Southampton. (Nice to see him and gibbs wheel out their Keystone Cops thing too, last witnessed against Man U.) Today’s game was altogether a throwback to earlier in the season, when Alexis would chisel out an advantage, and the defence would hand it and the momentum straight back to the opposition. And frankly I think the changes suggest we may well have discovered the weakest link (s). I’m very curious to see whether Wenger plays Schez in the… Read more »
Sczez will play in the final. Whether he should or not is another matter. I don’t see Wenger changing his philosophy on this one. If he does, then Sczez will not be at the club next year.
Indeed. The Pole is an average goalkeeper, I mean how many excuses are people going to give him since 2010/2011 season? Please Arsene play it safe bring back Ospinna for the final.There is no point reaching the final again and blow it with a new blunder from scz.
In a word no! I don’t feel confident when he’s in goal anymore, he’s a accident waiting to happen.
Don’t know why the comment is poorly rated. In my opinion, it’s as simple as this: Szczesny is not a winner. It pains me to say it, cos I really like the guy and I’ve desperately wanted him to succeed. For me there are two components to judge a player by, physical (skill, strength, technique etc.) and mental. Past Arsenal teams were mentally weak and Szczesny is part of that old order. Ever since the Carling cup final fuck up with Kos, he has always looked brittle. Worse is his seeming attitude on the pitch- he is the type of… Read more »
Defence were shocking today. If Pogrebnyak was any premiership striker they would have put a few past us. The amount of times he was clean through, and either Kos or offside came to the rescue.
The world is not that simple. If the Russian was premiership Quality, trust me the psychology will be different. They’re human after all, and no matter the level of professionalism there’s that tendency to relax a little bit.
So true!
Kos and the offside trap are aspects of the defence, aren’t they? Our defence was poor and we only got away with it because of our defence?
I think we take Alexis’ work rate for granted. He worked his tail off today. So did Ozil.
An aside: if Liver-poo win tomorrow, do blogs and the mugsmasher sit near each other at the final?
Very harsh on Szcezny. I guess the fans have made up their minds. It doesn’t take much to get a reputation.
Deserved win, Reading fought hard but (understandably) played for penalties during extra time. Nice to see the positive football triumph. Debuchy and Gibbs looked rusty but important that they get some minutes and on paper, Reading was a good choice for their run-out.
Well that was pretty poor all round. Ozil and Cazorla were the only players up to scratch.
I thought Ramsey, Alexis and Welbeck were awful. I’ll let Alexis off for bagging errr 1 and a half? goals?
Anyway onwards and upwards. See Mourinho parked the Stagecoach fleet at Stamford bridge. Can’t believe Chelsea charge people to watch that shite. They played 6 at the back 2nd half.
In truth, no one really played well and let us face it, better teams will not waste 2 1v1 situations (thanks Pogrebnyak).. But you are esp. right about Ramsey – seeing this oaf play in MF makes me cringe everytime.. he has no class or qualities except abandoning his role most of the time and playing as a wannabe striker/glory hunter.. Of course, he hasn’t got the requisite skills/quality there as well as we saw.. But of course, him being *British* and all, he never really gets the stick others quickly seem to get (nor does he lose his place… Read more »
Well, I’m not British so I’m not predisposed to being kinder to Ramsey just because of his nationality. And if you want to call the man who scored 16 goals last season and the winner in the FA Cup final an ‘oaf’ then maybe you should step back and re-think the way you speak.
Yeah, maybe you are Irish and not exactly “British”… but you are not willing to call a spade a spade, are you? We all have our likes and dislikes, sure but “Ramsey hit the post” is NOT what happened and doesn’t even come close to telling what really happened… So Ramsey got on a scoring form and became ‘Welsh Jesus’ last year, sure but has he become a better player in his position? No glory-hunting or scoring streak can disguise lack of quality for long and don’t forget the groans the year before.. Nasri, if you remember, scored a good… Read more »
Am so happy 2day because we are going to Wembley once again and also we didn’t lose our spot on the PL log. well kudos to all the players who fought immensely not to go into another round of spot kicks. Arsenal is making Wembley a fortress
I prefer my fortresses to be a little more stable. The last three cup games at Wembley have been anything but easy 🙂 But the more experience we get playing and winning these big matches, the better and more confident we will become COYG
We’ve seen Arsenal at their fluent best in the past. What we’ve wanted to see is when the pressure is on, how do we step up. I saw Ozil and Alexis taking the game by the scruff of the neck today. I saw what I wanted from Ozil, although it took time and the 2nd half was painful. Some BBC article had a list of manager of the year contenders. Mourinho, Koeman, Pardew, Van Gaal (!) and one other. No Arsene. I mean – why do Arsene and Arsenal get so little respect and love? It really is very strange.… Read more »
There is definitely a great relationship building up between Ozil and Alexis, and I
There is definitely a great relationship building up between Ozil and Alexis, which is also leading to Ozils new fighting spirit. They were deep in conversation as they were coming onto the pitch for the second half. Long may it continue.
Not sure you’re correct, I read somewhere that Ozil and Alexis can’t play together. (SF)*
*Sarcasm font
Good win. But we definitely need pace on the wings.
71% of the world is covered by Water, the rest is covered by Alexis Sanchez.
Hahaha, that’s quality
I really like when Ramsey plays box to box rather than right wing/wide. That brings more stability in front of the defence alongside coq. Santi was one that initiating our offence from two CB’s making us less creativity in the front.
Agree, actually thought Arsene might sub out Rambo or Santi for Giroud and move Welbeck over, but guess it worked out ok in the end. Feel like our best 11 includes a healthy AOC out on the right, hopefully he will be fully fit for the final and most of the run-in.
thats a tough one man … would that not mean dropping Santi for AOC ?
Completely agree, Santi is a good player but he has little influence on the game in that position. Ramsay would give us so much more power and drive playing alongside Coq. I think that’s one of the reasons the whole team can have a tendency to sit too deep especially if we’re trying to hold onto a lead, we need a central midfielder to drive us forward
It’s not Ramsey’s fault, and there were worse players on the pitch today, but he should not be continuously played on the right. It worked against Liverpool and he’s scored goals from that position, but it massively narrows us and makes our play pedestrian and predictable from that side. It’s not a one size fits all tactic for all games. Really think we miss the Ox for some natural width and penetration. Hindsight is always 20/20, but the full back changes were also an error. I don’t think the team has worked out how to play with Welbeck up top… Read more »
I think our wing play was affected negatively by both full backs (Gibbs especially) really struggling to make the simplest things. Don’t want to be overly critical but Gibbs failed to receive a simple pass twice in the first half both times leading to a dangerous counter from reading. Also Coquelin was often too isolated when building up play. Ramsey too doesn’t look effective on the wing as he likes to drift centrally, though it worked against Liverpool. A similar match to the Burnley match. Hope the lads find the sharp form again next weekend
Thank You. And there are people on here who wonder why he isn’t first choice for England.
He’s had a very important tackle that put us in the champions league a few seasons ago, but apart from that he’s been utterly useless. That’s not true. I wish he were useless. He inflicts more harm through his errors.
Gibbs out. We need a new LB to compete with the Nacho man.
I like how the people slagging off Gibbs forgot that he stopped a shot off the line in the final last season, I hate how forgetful and fickle fans can be sometimes.
Oh you mean like how he missed an absolute sitter in last year’s final. I hate how fans have such a selective memory.
Bonus rating. 0/10 for Mourinhos twat tactics against manure tonight.
Not a vintage Arsenal performance but we are through to the final for the second year running! Have to agree with the ratings for most players and as mentioned the players who has spent time out of the team doesnt deserve to get back in based on today. I m not slating Gibbs for a second here, but its surprising how underrated Monreal is by us fans. He isnt starting at left back in the league just because Arsene likes him you know. He is currently ahead of Gibbs on merit! So is Ospina from the looks of things. Szczesny… Read more »
Blog, may I suggest today’s 10/10.
Readings goalkeeper for being an Arsenal undercover agent.
Feel bad for their keeper he had a great game, they probably wouldn’t have made it that far without him. I’ll take the wins as they come but I still feel sorry for the guy
Why all the seriousness? Let’s learn to take a joke. We know how a keeper will feel. Our no 1 is feeling it still now.
Sometimes need to laugh away the sadness.
I think this was a game where having Ramsey on the wing didn’t really work – aside from the fact he spent most of the match anywhere but the wing, I felt we needed someone there to stretch the defence rather than crowd the midfield and leave Debuchy isolated. It was telling that when Walcott came on we finally started to find a bit more space in the final third, I felt his constant movement really made a difference.
He played very well there against Liverpool precisely because he kept the width. He lost his tactical discipline in this match. Interesting though that Walcott did keep the width (more or less) because often he finds himself in the CF position
Put aside all the mistake & take it as a lesson. The players should learn from the game and there’re still much time to improve for the final later.
Whatever it is, it’s such an amazing day to win & move to the final, once again!!!
“We’re the famous Arsenal, & we’re going to wembley” for second consecutive year
Where’s the Bonus Rating? 🙁
I miss the Ox so much.
He is our right wing power house.
How is it that Costa has a hamstring and back in 2wks from the usual 3 but Ox is still away for a month?
I need us to beat Chelsea so bad.
Hope the performance next week will be much better.
They are continually rushing Diego Costa back too soon.
Eventually he is going to have hamstrings like Michael Owen and his career will be over.
He already looks about 40, another season and his hammys with be 40 too.
Hamstrings are a tricky thing. They might heal in two weeks or they could take four months to heal. Depends on the kind of injury (whether it’s just a strain or a complete tear, for example), the part of the muscle that’s injured and the player. For a good point on hamstring injuries, take a look on this awesome article by Big Blue View http://www.bigblueview.com/2014/9/30/6869829/hamstring-injuries-why-the-waiting-game-is-best-for-odell-beckham-new-york-giants
I feel vindicated. Reading should be a piece of piss. Wenger’s lack of tactical awareness and motivational skills were all too evident against a well drilled Clarke side. How good could we be with him in charge or anyone who knows how to get a positive result against a team that are playing above themselves? People will talk about how we actually won this game but I would rather look at how Chelsea moved 10 points clear and stress how important it is for change.
I thought we did get a positive result against a team that were playing above themselves!!
You’d probably be better off taking your views west then and supporting those cunts!
Bradford should be a piece of piss yeah? On home ground against a league 1 side?
Failing to challenge for the title is something to be discussed another day, but your argument is that of a petty clueless prat.
troll, pure and simple.
I hate trolls. However I suspect that this is intended humorously given Kevin Witcher is the editor of the Gooner fanzine, who I am sure wouldn’t be posting here.
Woj was awful…The Goal was bad..But his overal presence just seems to create panic..We regressed to our poor defensive performances that were a trend when he was part of the back five. Not helped by a rusty Debuchy who in fact did pretty well all things considered. I was very disapointed in Gibbs..He gets into the best positions but rarely picks anyone out or does the right thing. Defensively he was shocking today. Thought everyone tried hard, passing was a bit off and our players seemed affected by the physicalness of Reading. Steve Clarke graduated from Mourinhos school of making… Read more »
I laughed disbelievingly at that poor shoot by Ozil. Even the man himself does. Wonder if Alexis did?
debuchy’s rating seems a bit harsh, not a great game, but 2 hr of first team action, fair performance i thought 6 worthy.
ospina for the final please
By a mile.
Giroud was absolutely fantastic when he came on. Ozil mercurial throughout. full backs exposed a bit for rustiness and the keeper a liability on occasion I had my heart in my mouth. But a win is a win.
Just got back from wembley. Good day out and was a bit tense until the 2nd goal. Reading played well but we were below par.
Seen ozil live a few times now and its really like the guy plays in his slippers. Oozzes so much class, just wish he would take more shots, but to be fair he makes so many good runs his team mates dont always put him in when he runs into good positions. Sanchez was good today too. Coyg!!!
So you think a Clarke can get you a Sanchez or Oezil??? Seriously man?! Did you even watch the Chelsea game @ all?!
On the strength of our chances, it should have been a few. The winning goal was by far inferior to chances we failed to take. On another day it would have been done and dusted. Let’s hope we can win the cup again. I would love it and Wenger deserves it
What an embarrassment that was. This team doesn’t look all that to me, when next season starts and everyone is fresh, all the same faults will unfold.
Am I the only one who noticed the amount of time that Ozil closed down players and chased down some as well.
He does close them down (hence the high running distance stats) but rarely does he actually do so in a way that forces the opposition player to make an error or even change his mind. It’s more of a gentle press than a full on one.
Not really a criticism, more of an observation.
Great to be in the final.
We are a different side with Giroud in the team. his awareness of others is really under rated.
That’s very harsh on Paulista. Replaced Mert without a hitch. Would have won the game had it not been for an amazing save.
We’re the famous Arsenal and we’re going to Wembley!
The reason Debuchy was played in this match is connected to the Chelsea game, where we will have PFA POTY favourite Eden Hazard playing against our right back. Now, given a choice between Bellerin and Debuchy to face him, I know who my choice will be. You know, the experienced French international, with strong defensive capabilities, OR the young, quick, promising Spanish upstart who’s still learning how to defend. Now, if Wenger hadn’t played Debuchy in this game, he wouldn’t have been match fit for the game next week. I’d wager all my money, if I had any, and my… Read more »
Debuchy didn’t play at 100% but that was as said:excpected. This was a great test for us,physically and mentally. They played ugly and we answered,we should have had plenty of penalties and they should have had one. Refereeing was absolute shit but özil and theo played one of their best games proboably beacuse of it.
Theo we miss you hope you will get a chance to impress. Wembley here we go Again. History will repeat its self.
we were appalling today but we still won against the mighty reading and we are now in our 2nd final in two years against Aston villa(I hope) the only bad thing is we have to go back to Wembley.
I kinda wanted Ramsey to score the winner but maybe he will leave it for the final again.
Forget what Gary, Alan and Jason were saying. It’s clear we all love underdog stories. We beat a team that beat chelscky conqueror. And they’ve preparing for this game. Stats prove that we were all over then. Anyway great teams can play badly and still win. We are going to wembele get over it