We needed a win, we got a win, the win was good, and I enjoyed the win. We did quite a lot of good stuff and a little bit of not so good stuff, so here’s how the players rated.
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Monday, December 23, 2024
We needed a win, we got a win, the win was good, and I enjoyed the win. We did quite a lot of good stuff and a little bit of not so good stuff, so here’s how the players rated.
Ozil is a dream player. Simply sublime footballer.
Need to get off ozils dick. Goes missing in way too many games and when he does sonething. Everyone on this site talks about him like the messiah.
Wow, does not speak on behalf of all Aussie gooners.
98 percent pass accuracy
10 crosses
5 chances created
1 assist
Definitely the messiah.
hes not the messiah hes a very naughty boy
Just 5 chances created? Thought it might be more. He was outstanding but our finishing was so rubbish.
True he is not the messiah but a great disciple.
he of layer very well.
Talking of missing in games the entire chelshit went missing today lol
Vision and touch that very few players have. He has bad games, who doesn’t? Time to quell to the we hate Ozil brigade he plays for Arsenal and despite what what some folk think does care and put effort in!
What the fuck are you watching?! He and Alexis are our 2 best (and truly world class) players. The man is a footballing god. Alright, he has had a couple of periods when not at peak form (maybe he’s a demi-god), but at his best he is unbelievably good.
I just don’t get it when people say they don’t rate him. I love watching him play. Do you watch the full game? Or highlights?
I watch every minute of every game mate. Compare what ozil has done in 2 seasons to what Sanchez has done in 1 and you’ll realise Sanchez is a much better player.
Ozil is decent but he’s by no means “unbelievable “.
You really need to stick to the A league or watching AFL. You clearly do not understand finesse. Özil is out of this world… Bergkamp MII.
Australian football is different to English football. Try tune your eye into the quality; you’re missing a great show!
Said it before and I’ll say it again, Ozil’s (magnificent) game is simply often far too subtle for some viewers/pundits/fans. You’re (it would seem) one of them. Nothing Ozil does on the pitch is without thought. He’s a genius through and through. Observe closely and learn from him how to appreciate the finer aspects of this game.
What a relief!
I feel for Ramsey being played out wide which is not his best position but thought he squandered the ball a few too many times today.
Think Wenger has to make the decision that Coquelin and Cazorla at the heart of midfield is when the team plays best but it is noticeable that we lack width when Ramsey plays on the right. I feel he’s very unlucky at the moment given the formation we are currently operating.
Decent away result though and lovely finish from Olivier, COYG!
Yeah I agree. Ramsey’s goals often overshadow his frustrating knack of giving the ball away too much, but he also isn’t very comfortable out wide. It’s difficult for Ramsey because right now Cazorla should be first choice for his favoured ‘next-to-Coquelin’ role, but we’d be better off with two proper wide players out wide, something that Ozil would definitely benefit more from with more fast players to feed with his excellent passes. Our midfield still feels a little imbalanced to me. Wenger has one too many players he feels needs to be on the pitch, but if we’re talking a… Read more »
Agreed , Ramsey is out of his depth on the wing and we could use a pacey tricky player there( Ox obviously). However he is a great ball player and a deadly finisher! Why not playing him as a striker? He want to play central and he is world class!! I killed 2 birds with 1 stone
Ramsey’s goal threats come from the timings of his runs from deep ala Lampard. He’d lose that as a striker.
Ramsey links up well with Ozil. Not just this game but pretty much ever since Ozil joined. Ozil tends to drift wide which complements Ramsey drifting inside.
Ramsey wide may not be “natural” but he’s effective enough there, at least when Ozil plays too and they have the interchaging down right, as they did today.
Yes, he gives away the ball frustratingly. But at least he typically only does it in their final third. Unlike a certain other candidate for the right wing slot…
It’s clear, Wenger needs to decide who is his core CM to build around.
If it’s Ramsey, he can’t play with Coquelin, he needs a Deep-Lying Playmaker next to him ala Arteta (or someone with fresher legs, like Illerimandi).
If it’s Coq, it’s gotta be Santi next to him.
disagree, ramsey and coquelin owned chelsea, cazorla was out wide, and ramsey definitively has the best chemistry with ozil in the team, even from the right, he may have given the ball away and shot wide a few times but he only receives it in great positions because he makes very intelligent runs, even from the right, which in turn allows bellerin to overlap and coquelin to cover, ozil drifts left, sanchez in field, it all works well and will improve given time. Reminds me of Parlour on the right of petit and viera, always tucking inside, lauren overlapping, overmars… Read more »
I prefer me the OX, but I agree with a comment from above @Mr G, of the three; Ozil, Ramsey and Carzola one has to be dropped/ rotated but can’t all be on the pitch effectively together, for me its Ramsey out (rotated) and The Ox in on the wing, (almost) every time.
I agree on Ramsey. The first twenty minutes looked great, Ramsey drifting inside overloading the midfield and Bellerin providing the width. We were cutting them apart, passing through the lines. Then it looked like Palace caught on, and we looked again like a team out of balance – Ramsey on top of Giroud too often, no width, etc. It’s a tough call this for Wenger. Sometimes it looks great tactically; sometimes awful. I don’t know how long you can keep the Ox out of the team. But Santi in the middle is a must for me. Team looks so much… Read more »
Quite agree, and isn’t odd that even when we’ve got fit wide players with pace (Walcott, Ox, even Iwobi and Le Jeff) poor Ramsey is still stuck out in a position he doesn’t do at all well. Why Wenger does this I’ve never been able to grasp. When we played West Ham they drifting middlewards inside, as they always do, which made us so narrow it was the perfect for West Ham to defend against. Bilic clearly couldn’t believe his luck. Yes, we’ve got too many central attacking midfielders but why not rotate them, the better to keep them on… Read more »
It is not very difficult to grasp why Wenger prefers Ramsey on the right rather than the far pacier and more threatening Chamberlain or Walcott. He’s better than them at tracking back and helping the right back when we don’t have the ball. Walcott doesn’t like to track back at all and Chamberlain tries to but is not very good at it (take another look at West Ham’s 2nd goal last weekend). It’s a balancing act for Wenger; he loses a bit of speed and at times width on attack but Ramsey is very good at tracking back and winning… Read more »
Yeah and I would guess that the other reason is his off the ball movement and his willingness to get into the box giving Giroud some support
Great at tracking back? What are you watching, the back of your TV
That’s a good point about Ramsey’s tracking back, but only when he’s in position when possession is turned over. If he’s out of position, then he is nowhere to be found. As for Chamberlain, it’s not so much his tracking back that’s the problem, rather it’s his poor decision making when he wins the ball back that leads to him losing it. It’s something I felt really needed working on last season (perfect example was when he scored against Monaco, then a minute later needlessly lost the ball and they scored) and he still needs to work on it.
Except he does not in reality protect his full back much at all, since he rarely sticks to the right side. Too many times he wanders all over the place. IMO, the Ox offers more POSITIONAL defensive sense, since he sticks more to the wing. Ramsey may still be the better tackler and reader of the game, but that is of little use to the team if he isn’t at his assigned defensive position. By all means, he can roam from his position when we are in possession, even if I’m not a big fan of this, since as many… Read more »
Frankly, I get exasperated watching Ramsey but do not know who to blame more, Wenger or Ramsey himself. Within 20 seconds of the game starting (have a rewatch –it’s that quick and undisciplined) Ramsey left his position and moved to the number 10 slot, where he crowded Ozil. He then spent the majority of the first half completely out of position. He pushed Giroud out of the way to play center forward, he played old fashioned inside left position and even played left wing. He offered no cover for Bellerin and left Cazorla or Coquelin to cover for him. It’s… Read more »
Couldn’t agree more.. I think somebody needs to tell him to cool the fuck down.. he loses the ball too often trying things too often.. sometimes simple is better
I feel Ramsey is being used as a Ray Parlour type out wide. He might not offer searing pace and attacking width, but we all know how much Parlour added to the team when he played.
I wish he was Parlor-esque, but… Dwell on the first half for one minute and you will recall virtually nothing at all was created on the right wing as he had abdicated any responsibility for the role. Therefore not only did play narrow (as usual) but Bellerin barely ventured forward as he had no cover (and the CP wings are a potent threat) It was not until Ramsey, sometime into the second half started showing some discipline that the right flank was used and the cross made into Sanchez which led to the header, the deflected goal. What pains me… Read more »
But he ain’t Parlour…. He imbalances the team, most of the time. The team is not as tight when Ramsey is marauding about the pitch..imo.
Ozil was really best today and the second best player should be between three players Coquelin Mert or Kos. Giroud’s goal was amazing but still need to work overall. Anyways, a good win and will have to repeat this every week.
A word for the manager who was spot on with his selection, tactics and substitutions.
We are quick to slate him after a loss so he deserves a shout for getting things back to order quickly after the doom and gloom of last week.
Up the gunners
Much better performance and a well-earned 3 points. The good – An inspired effort for first 25 minutes, really should have had the game out-of-sight by then. Alexis clearly still not fully match-fit, but what a difference he makes to this side. Terrific finish by HFB on the end of a wonderful ball from Ozil. Also thought Coquelin was a very disruptive presence and a constant thorn in the Place side. The bad – Cech still doesn’t look comfortable, unsure punches and an Alumnia-worthy free kick do not inspire confidence. Too many squanders, while it didn’t come back to bite… Read more »
Wards strike whistled off the grass surface. That was the purity with which it was struck. That being said Cechs agility at 33 could come into question here. Did he really get down quick enough? [Sic] Westhams first goal…was he again slow off his line?
He is class it will show soon enough just gotta gel and better communicate.
I’m wondering if the years haven’t slowed Chec’s reflexes down. Part of the problem, too, is working with a new team. Especially working with a new team that doesn’t park the bus.
I loved that we got three points, but well-earned? We were given enough time and space on the ball in the first half. We did well. A change in Palace’s formation and more pressure definitely made us vulnerable. Agreed that their goal was a well-taken effort, but if you’re wondering why we can’t hold onto the ball and see the game out with ease, you only have to look at the midfield. Qualities needed for a Box-to-box midfielder: Ball retention, ball recovery, pressing, surging runs, passing, dribbling, long shots. Best fit? (only good fit really) Ramsey, if he is disciplined… Read more »
I don’t think it’s too much to say “deserved”. If you give Palace credit for their pressure, then you have to say we could’ve been out of sight in the first half. Alexis won’t miss chances like that too often. Wenger clearly hasn’t worked everything out yet, but there was some very good play going forward today. Encouraging.
Expectations were absurd and unwarranted for Cech (who no one had seen play for an entire year). As stated, Cech is not the keeper he was, period. What now troubles me is the idea he is not marshalling defense any better. People keep forwarding dumbarse excuses…he needs to develop a relationship with Per and Kos…but if we had hired a new defensive coach this season, we would expect things to be tighter already. They are not. I didn’t ever expect outstanding agility from him, but I did expect him to serve as a coach of sorts… I said last week,… Read more »
Offtopic.. but cant help commenting… The megacunts are in shambles…. woooohoooo… Its gonna be a good week.
Spuds or Chelsea? Both megacunts, both have been enjoyably shit.
The Spuds are just unlovable losers. It Chelsea who are the megacunts.
Spurs, despite fitting the above description, are always in in trouble.
Ok so people were back in their positions….
But why play people out of position last week?
3 points……..I can sleep tonite
Exactly. Why the hell does he tinker with a winning formula? We cannot experiment in any PL game, even home to west ham. Happy with the win, glad we’re back on track, but the tinkering has already cost us 3 probably vital points come the end
Have to respectfully disagree about Coquelin, he definitely should have been off for at least one of those. But you know what? Fuck it. Those calls go for you and against you during the season.
Also, Coquelin’s ball distribution was absolutely brilliant the whole match. In particular I remember one laser he fired to Ramsey in the Palace penalty area that was excellent.
I think 2nd yellows are given far too easily in general. Glad to see a referee show some common sense but then I also think the ref was a bit mad. How did Monreal get a free kick for almost booting one of their players in the head?!
My view on the Nacho foul is that he was clearly first to the ball and that CP player got into him just to try to get a foul for him.
The classic head to foot foul. You had to laugh at that one.
Coquelin certainly doesn’t rate a 7 with having should have been sent off with dumb fouls and his continued penchant for turning the ball over in bad spots. Cech had no chance on the goal, hard struck shot that nipped the post from that range. He obviously isn’t as quick as he once was, but did very well especially dealing with the numerous crosses sent in and knowing when to hold his line and not go for the ball. Monreal continues to be so steady on offense and defense, rarely gives the ball away and knows when to go forward… Read more »
# offtopic
Bus with Yokohama tyres destroyed by $ity
I personally quite like Ramsey on the right. I feel it allows him to pop up in the attacking third without compromising the solidity in the centre if the pitch.
It also means that if it’s not working we can bring Walcott or Chamberlain on to change the dynamic.
Ramsey barely played on the right the entire first half.
Agree with this. Aside from the fact that Cazorla is playing an important role in the middle distributing the ball, playing on the right gives Ramsey the freedom to roam which is what makes him a goal-scoring threat. Perhaps he took that to extremes (I recall him being in the left corner with Alexis at one stage), but I don’t think Bellerin was ever isolated as a result today. Looking forward to the goals to come for Ramsey.
Meanwhile over at middle eastlands reports are coming in of somebody called *Maureen* spontaneously combusting …
I try and keep football all in perspective and view rivalries through the eyes of a mature adult but there is something about it all blowing up in Mourinhos face that makes me giddy as fuck
I wonder who he’ll blame this time,probably the bus driver.
Has Koscielny ever had a good August? Feels like he generally gets all his mistakes out of the way early then dominates September through May.
He was motm on WhoScored
That genuinely surprises me.
Certainly didn’t think he was poor, and was mostly good overall, but MOTM?
Nah.
Gotta be Ozil for the performance or Alexis for changing the dynamic.
I also don’t believe enough has been said of Santi’s effect composing the squad back in that deeper cm with coquelin. It sucks Ramsey has to be out of position, but if he’s always wandering and not holding position to bring composure, it’s Santi all day for me.
I love using stats as a tool but honestly, that tells you everything you need to know about using Opta stats by themselves to evaluate the performance of a CB.
Ozil is Man of the Match for me.
On another note, Man City beat Moaninho’s Chel$hit 3-0! How sweet is that?
Agreed with the ratings except I will give Cech 5.5
Thought Ramsey played well on the right. Popped up everywhere on the pitch.
That Santi and Coq partnership has to stay. No tinkering with that unless for injuries or to rest Santi.
Lots of positives from wenger. Switching Santi into the middle after last week. Subbing coquelin straight away and getting us to bounce back.
i kind of miss chesney .I hope Cech comes good soon enough.Other than that Giroud’s goal was as perfect as gis hair .And I simply pity people who give slack to Ozil.Class written all over that pass!
Monreal was excellent today. Never seen him attack so much. I thought Cech was suspect for the goal again though – somehow seemed not to stretch his arms out fully, as though he misjudged it and thought it was going wide, which would be a worry if true.
I’m thinking that season #3 for Ozil – similar to that of a certain Mr Bergkamp – will be a breakout season. COYG!
Who remembers Tony Woodcock’s goal v Villa about 30 years ago. I think it was the game he scored 5? Giroud’s was very similar. Great goal.
Don’t you just love to see despair on Mourinho’s face for a change?
ld love much more of that, with an arsene wenger smile icing on it, in the end of the campaign
Fabregas has been atrocious for a while now. Hilarious to watch.
Ramsey out wide looks conservative considering the natural talent he’s being made to keep out. The goal was in no small part down to his struggle. Great game Santiago, Ozil and Mert
A good one for the lads. The team should learn to kill games at every opportunity. These goal misses are not my idea of fun. The lads should practise how to score goals given a quartre chance and how to pass their balls at the final third with calmness and accuracy. Up Gunners, we shot down Crystal Palace today at the Palace.
Much better performance but a word on Ramsey. Too often we see things as black or white with him. He’s a terrific player but too off the cuff for a team that needs to be more disciplined when defending a lead. His flicks and instinctive play are brilliant when the team is in full flow, but there’s a time and a place. Zero justification for the Ox starting on the bench after starting the season as the form player and I’m not buying the defensive discipline argument with Ramsey. After Alexis, no one tracks back more than the Ox. Three… Read more »
I really don’t get all the positive response regarding Aaron Ramseys display today. He was careless in the middle and lost the ball in dangers moments going forward. He slows the game up and showed on numeral of occasions late in the game that he lack the smartness to hold on to the ball or play it wide and instead gave the ball away. He do have a lot of upside to his game but the downsides really showed today and it gave Palace great opportunities on the counterattack. Aaron really need to understand the game better and get some… Read more »
Agree. Ramsey can keep talking about how he wants to play centrally, but the reality is that he isn’t good enough technically and doesn’t have the positional discipline. When you compare him to Santi, its not even close. His biggest strength is his engine, and is most effective when he keeps things very simple.
Ozil is so underrated it pains me.
He has shown class throughout, and people are still expecting more.
But he’s the one standing tall at the end of the day.
Totally agreed, Goonerette. ?
When Cech does get a clean sheet, he will go on a crazy run without conceding. Good game from the lads Glad we switched back to our winning formula
I hope we can recall Szcezny Back from Loan. Cech is Past it. Why did he flop on his stomach for their goal??? Garbage. Get our $$$ back Wenger.
You’re a little hard on Chec but I see your point. When he got benched in favor of Courtois I was surprised, but now I believe the years have passed Chec by, and Mourinho made the right move in bringing on the younger keeper. (And I apologize to all and sundry for having said something nice about Mourinho.)
Although he improved later, it seems that people have forgotten how coquelin tried to dribble past 3 players on his own and lost it in the middle and also how he passed straight to a palace player 25 yards out under no pressure. He had a shocker of a first 30 minutes, never-the-less with discipline and less Alex-Song-Itis he could be brilliant
my name is Mesut ozil, how may i assist you?
Mr. Blogs’ Bonus Rating was spot on: “Mesut’s flick and turn, halted only by barbaric violence perpetrated upon him by a man who had no understanding of what had happened to him.” It just proves the old saying that violence is the final resort of the incompetent.
anybody noticed the tinge of brown on almost all our players hair?
So Cech has leaked in three very savable shots yet he gets mildly talked about. For all that anti Ospina agenda that both Andrew and James carried out last season including non-sense stuff such as he can’t kick far enough (as if that’s a measurement of how good a keeper is) he never placed a goal kick straight out of bound. Cech has not been convincing at all, even at crosses he looks hesitatingish..
i agree with the assessments here of Cech. It looked like he was moving in slow motion on the goal. It was a good strike but he has sooo much time to see it react that i couldn’t believe he didn’t get to it. he is obviously past it….no way a top keeper should have let that one in. granted it should have been blocked and maybe cech isnt used to those type of shots making their way through but for crying out loud that was pathetic. he certainly doesnt look like the keeper who’s gonna win us points. We… Read more »
Every time I feel like Ozil under performed. But when I watch the replay, I found how much he does for the team without anyone noticing.
@kos, Speak for yourself! Are you only just beginning to notice Ozil and his massive contribution to the team? Oh well, better late than never….
A win, and half of the comments are about how shit Ramsey and Cech were.
Arsenal fans…
Well it wasnt the best game of Ramsey but we won!
Stop commenting about how bad he and Cech were.