With all the injuries it felt a bit unlikely that we might do what we did tonight, but Olivier Giroud got his first Arsenal hat-trick, Joel Campbell played out of his skin, and they were ably supported by the rest of the lads.
Here’s how the players rated.
*ahem*
Flam’s going to come round to your house and rip all the sleeves off your shirts.
Aww you’ve made me feel bad now. Love the flamster.
Well done to all the lads. Loving this development of Joel
Its unbelievable to think that Campbell has grown from the guy who couldn’t even get a bench role to someone who actually benched chamberlain and would probably do so on Sunday… Football certainly the best sport.
if everyone was healthy (that made me laugh writing it), would it make sense to lend the Ox out for a bit to regain a bit of confidence and form? Can you do short-term loans in the EPL?
What a great win yesterday; still buzzing!
Couldnt be happier with joel campbell. What a game he had. I think playing a full season at that stadium a few years back really made him stand out today too. So familiar with the stadium and the fans that it didnt faze him at all.
What a shift defensively too. Cant really see any way back for the likes of gnabry and co now. Even the ox has got some catch up to do.
Nothing better to see then the unexpected emergence of players like bellerin, monreal and campbell in the last few seasons.
I really feel we never know how good the Gnabry, Iwobi or other kids are till they play in our system for a good window of time. Sticking around this far means most of the kids are talented to certain extent. Campbell, even Hector is proof that Arsenal’s style of play is really rewarding for people who are patient; like to learn, grow and slowly fit into a certain brand of attacking football; and mainly patient.
If he recovers and what not, still really think Gnabry can be something special. Time will tell.
Joel, though: take a bow. He’s well and truly earned every single thing coming his way at AFC.
Sure Giroud 10/10. Glad the boys can win a game of such magnitude without Alexis, now go and make EPL all yours
They were that good I actually forgot we were missing Alexis Alexis. So pleased they actually turned up tonight 🙂
I was almost crying with joy towards the end… Seeing Giroud step up and say ‘This is what I can do, now shut it’ was so good to see. Onwards and upwards!!!
You weren’t bad yourself Joel. Blogs even compared you to God vs Juventus for the assist on the 2nd!
That assist was simply sublime…
don’t forget all that Cazorla-like dribbling before the pass!!! A great sign.
How we’d all LOVE to have Chelski in the next round – and hammer them ☺
Can’t be paired with a team from the same nation in the next round
Fucking hell! Bring on the next round!
Monreal was great again – isolated at times but held his own defensively and made constant, dangerous forays in attack. Mr Consistent.
he became isolated when theo moved to the left. a combo of theo and bellerin was just a liability. monreal has it in him to cover for the attacking winger. sign of a vital player when he gives others the freedom to roam.
Just yesterday a Sp*rs supporting mate of mine (more like an acquaintance) was saying how Giroud is nothing more than a pretty face. Oh how you proved him wrong you handsome handsome man!
Pretty face? Unlike whom? Harry Kane?
He’s not only prettier than Kane, I believe he’s also scored more goals this season.
He certainly scored much more goals in Champions League.
It’s lonely at the top.
10’s all round for me! 😉
Koscielny top centre back in the premier league at the moment. Week in week out he is one of the best players on the pitch. Oh and Cech what a bargain he has proven to be already 🙂
Agreed mostly, but but for a silly streak that can still be an issue. He gave away a needless free kick at the weekend that could have cost us, particularly given how jittery we’d been. Cut that out and he’d be prefect.
Giving Flamini and Ozil both 7.5 is a bit odd since Ozil is the wizard we all want to be
A brilliant team performance against the odds. Really heartening after recent wobbles. COYG!
I worried myself cos at halftime I was calm and confident we would do it – so pleased for HFB to get his first gooner hat trick
Ref deserves credit. He had a blinder. Got most decisions right + not intimidated by home support…
The ref missed a lot and gave free kicks for dives several times. But we won so he was awesome!
Yep. Another day, another ref might have red-carded Ramsey – good to see Arsenal and Wenger still carry a good bit of respect in Europe 🙂 Anyway, I really really hope we come out, press high, keep the ball and try to play more in the opponents’ half in the Round of 16 home and away. If we sit back that deep against top sides, we can be ripped apart due to width afforded to FBs and wingers as we saw against Bayern. At any rate, if our MF wasn’t good enough with Santi and Coq before, no way can… Read more »
Annual CL brainfart behind us .. Up the Gooners
Ace!
Just… Ace!
Why not just give Cech a 10 every time he turns up?
I’m personally adding an extra point for Theo for the ‘bitch please/get your hands off me, peasant’ face he made when he was hassled off the pitch by one of the Olympiacos thugs. Just a brilliant performance all round. So chuffed for Giroud getting the recognition he deserves.
Lool We love Troll Theo..
Troll Walcott?
Theo Trollcott…
Pretty sure the guy was wanting his shirt for after the game lol
I think Giroud was all about making up for the sending off in the first group game, man was on a mission, both personal and for the team.
I like Joel Campbell, and have said so for a fair while tonight. His performance this evening is why I like him and I thought he had something about him from pretty much the first time I saw him play. In this world of milli-second judgements and the fight for ‘airspace’ opinions are too easily formed. Giroud is another one who seems to be stuck with the label he was given when he first started, regardless of the obvious year on year improvement in everything about his play. “He doesn’t score enough” – bollocks “He’s not clinical enough” – bollocks… Read more »
he has never scored an Arsenal hat-trick – also bollocks
the ovation from the olympiakos fans was also a sign of just how good of a player he can be. they remember him and probably were the only ones who weren’t surprised by how well he played tonight.
Until someone shows me an widely accepted, standardized definition that says otherwise, Giroud IS world class.
And it seems Jo is paying attention to what Mr Mesut is doing. What an assist. And what a key pass by Mr Mesut himself. The beautiful game.
GIroud is a highly effective striker when he’s focused but he’s also temperamental and can be completely ineffective and petulant.
One hat trick in 3 and a half years in an important game does not change his overall body of work.
He’s scored 71 goals in 120 starts + 37 sub, so he’s about a 1 in 2 man, not world class.
With assists and general hold up/battering-ram play however I think you can safely add another 30-40 goals he’s been involved in.
He may not be in the minute group of players in the upper echelons of class but he certainly is a world class target man. I would say only two are superior and one is in decline – Lewandoski and Ibrahimovic.
He would be World class if his moods didn’t greatly effect his game but too often he gets moody, petulant and waves his arms about and it stops him being of any use. It happened only a few weeks ago against Spurs when he seemed more interested in his running battle with Vertongen and complaining to the ref, when his energy would have been better spent putting the ball in the net.
That sounds as much like Ibra as it does Giroud.
Personally never rated Ibrahimovic
Messi, C. Ronaldo, Lewandowski, Suarez, Aguëro, are world class. That’s it. Giroud is probably in the same category as Benzema who we all wanted this summer. Difference is Giroud isn’t a porn thief.
“…highly effective striker when he’s focused but he’s also temperamental and can be completely ineffective and petulant.” Just described every striker I ever knew growing up.
You should have followed so good one’s like Henry, Bergkamp, or even Wright who would still produce irrespective of which side of the bed they got out of in the morning
Point is there isn’t any agreed upon standardized definition, as that is not the nature of the term. Since we all get to make up our own, I’m calling him world class!
cheers-
giroud had 28 assists for us too, not to mention all the others goals he has been involved in the build up to as well.
Thierry Henry was world class and he’d get 30 goal and 20 assist every season not 28 assists spread over 3 and a half
On top of that, Giroud has become only the fourth Arsenal player to score a hattrick in the Champions League, joining the illustrious company of such all-time Arsenal greats as Henry and, uhm…. Bendtner and Welbeck.
Just sitting here with a stupid grin on my face, voting up every positive comment.
I’m doing the same since 10 minutes ..
Now I wish I could give you a few more thumbs up for recognizing it 😀
Per and Theo bumping hips.
Jöel – absolutely wonderful assist for Giroud’s second, and that came after he found Flam brilliantly early on.
This years Coquelin!
Joel must be almost first choice in the right sided attacking role.
Next year Wellington Silva comes back to win the golden boot
Sounds like there should be an annual Coq award.
This year’s Coq-iest player is…
After this display, I dearly hope Wenger will stop switching him to the left. Joel plays more like a LM cum playmaker drifting into the center than an outright winger (as he does for Costa Rica) and he seems more effective in conducting the play from the right. And on a totally different note, what in the world has happened to Bellerin? We have seen poorer and poorer displays from him and the fact he is sitting ridiculously deep at times defending is adding to it – he needs to remember he is a generally offensive player who rose into… Read more »
He’s 20 year old just come back from injury and his form has dropped for the first time since he came into the starting XI, happens to everyone, he will be back to his best and carry on improving in no time. Maybe a game or two out of the starting XI over the xmas period will refresh him
Really pumped up for the win. The whole week I have been uncharacteristicly pessimistic about this game. I always thought we will win but didn’t think we will go through.
That aside, we should seriously consider resting Ozil. Can’t take risks of him being on the sideline even for a week. So sit him out against Villa. Team is on the high so will find a way to win next game.
Perhaps play the Ox in the 10 role? He’s looked decent in the middle before, and there aren’t the same tracking back duties as on the wing.
Everyone was great tonight. A real team performance. But I need to give extra shout outs to Giroud (duh…), Campbell, who continues to work so hard at both ends and has added the skill he obviously displays on the training ground. I mean, that assist for Giroud, all those touches and that pass through four players to the exact space was phenomenal. And Mesut. Oh, Mesut. Even gimpy the guy just makes my heart ache, he’s so good. I sometimes wish football had a second assist, like hockey. That pass to Rambo, after spinning away from the defender and looking… Read more »
Gave Theo an extra 0.5 for the look of utter contempt he showed the Olympiacos player who suggested he ran off the pitch after being subbed.
No – Walcott was bemused that he was asked to speed it up when he was merely inches from the touchline anyway. That was a bit funny 🙂
This is a tribute to Olivier Giroud. At half time today, I was thinking about how once again, in a difficult away tie where we need more than one goal like Monaco last year and Bayern two years earlier, Giroud scores the important opening goal. With many of our important players injured, Olympiakos being very dangerous, and the pressure on the team to get a result immense, Giroud bails us out. He then scores the second goal we need to go through and a third to take the pressure off his team mates and millions of Arsenal fans in what… Read more »
I read “Giroud bails us out” as “Giroud’s balls are out” and got worryingly excited at the thought
Deserves a double thumbs up
Hope the two old gits standing behind me at Norwich, who did nothing but rain down insults on Giroud and Wenger for 90 mins were watching tonight. In your hole boys!
Bonus rating: Ha ha ha!
I’ll admit it. I said Arsenal should throw in the towel on CL after the 2nd loss to focus on the league. Glad I was wrong. So, so thankful for no Europa League. Great effort all around.
That bonus rating was almost as good as the win. Almost but not quite.
Giroud put in quite the 100% performance he promised (if not more).. Also 10/10 for the ref. didn’t take shit from the greeks nor mexicans nor indians
I don’t know why Giroud seems to receive such a predetermined label of inadequacy. He gets it from our fans, from pundits and from the media. Even after this game he will get it. If he were English he would start up front every single game without doubt and would be touted as the hottest of properties. I’m glad he plays for us and comes from a time when, at times, we just needed ‘a f**king goal’ from anywhere – and he gets those goals a lot of the time. I know now with players like Sanchez and ozil we… Read more »
I think Giroud is labeled as inadequate because of the time in which he came into the team. Remember? He was the replacement for old Skunkie, at a time when Skunkie was going through the purplest patch of his entire career. So in comparison to that, Giroud did not match up. But take a look at where each of them are now. Giroud: just scored the most sumptuous of hat tricks, allowing Arsenal to progress to the round of 16 of the Champion’s League. A true legend now. Van Persie: doing fuck-all in Turkey. What a cunt. Where on this… Read more »
If you really really think about it: that one year that we were 200+ days at pole position, we could have won it with Persiecute as our spearhead. We were that close. Such a fool. For one season, he ruined a guaranteed legend status. Such a daft merc.
Yup, still bitter.
I said a few weeks ago I hoped Joel Campbell could become this teams Sylvain Wiltord. Shaping up nicely.
As long as he doesn’t give the boss as much of a headache about not playing up top. To that extent, Theo is the new Sylvan.
THEY’RE SHIT WHEN THEY PLAY
THEY’RE SHIT WHEN THEY PLAAA-AAY
MANCHESTER UNITED
THEY’RE SHIT WHEN THEY PLAY!
??
You know what? I am beginning to think that injuries to our superstars actually gives some blessing in disguise. We were playing more direct, sideway passes were gone, no body dominating the ball, we played as a team. Just fantastic!
That directness may have something to do with the urgency of the day. The boys knew they could not mess about, and so they went for it. I agree with you – it was great to see!
Yes I was thinking the same thing – I don’t remember the last time we put in such a good team performance. Maybe without some of the headline names they feel they have a bit more to prove.
Very professional display from the lads tonight. Great to see.
Also, don’t look at sideways passes as a bad thing. Sure, it’s become boring sometimes, but keeping predatory possession right outside the D box is one toughest, most skill-demandin
One thing that I thought was conspicuously absent today was the dead-end dribble attempting to take on 3 too many opposition players only to give up a turnover. Several of our boys have been guilty of that lately. Much more sensible team play with timely passing.
To make Olympiakos at home look like they just can’t keep us contained is no small feat. Well played!
Joel Campbell made a few excellent dribbles tonight, one in particular from near our area advancing right into theirs, that unfortunately turned out to be a dead end dribble instead of contender for goal of the season
What the heck is a ‘turnover’?
loss of possession.
Being dispossessed; also a baked pastry.
Need to give more credit to Gibbs for the job he does, coming in to shore up games. Hugely important.
Not only that, he has the ability to make things happen in the final third – he just needs to be a bit more confidence in taking a shot.
I still rate him very highly, yes, he has fallen behind Monreal, but the pair of them are 100% Arsenal quality.
imma huge bellerin fan but 7,5 is a joke
Bellerin was getting skinned in the first half. He has dropped off big time in the past few weeks. Also, Walcott was rusty beyond belief. Both should get 5 rating in my opinion.
I am actually scared about OX’s future with us. He has so much talent but no application. Getting to a desperate situation for him.
Great result overall. Monreal should get special credit. Goes about his job silently. Very matured performance from him.
Nervous when I see Nicola Rizzoli at an Arsenal game. we commonly get squeezed to the corner. Today, he did not do what he usually does at an Arsenal game
No one is talking about Campbell’s contract situation (so far as I can see)? He’s creating a nice problem for Wenger to deal with – pay him or lose him to pre-contract!
Show good performances during the year end festives, he will be given contract extension and double up his pay. He is the next Coq…
I could’ve sworn he signed a long contract just before he was loaned to Villarreal last season.
Actually thought Ozil ran the show tonight. That game was played out at the perfect tempo for us because of Giroud’s hold up play ad Ozil linking everything together. Joel also great and nice to see Theo and Ramsey getting game time as we need both firing in the coming weeks.
http://m.bbc.com/sport/football/14512847
After 4 loans, Joel finally is able to show what he really is capable of. Really happy for him.
And to Giroud. Thanks for the hat trick to move us to the next stage of CL and also proved all your haters wrong.
10/10 everybody
Love the name.
Diaby should have been on an episode of House.
Anyone know how he’s doing? Hopefully well and healthy.
Sadly, he’s yet to play for Marseille, and injured himself back in November which ruled him out for the season
Unfortunately, no. Hasn’t played a minute yet this year. I’m still heartbroken for him, he could have been a world-beater.
Joel is the new signing we needed, that we had all along.
Back Four and Cech were superb,,,I have to highlight him because Bellerin gets alot of praise (rightly so) for being so young and adventurous but Monreal is just Boss now..Nothing better than seeing that in an Arsenal player..Struggled at first but now you could say he is one of our most important players.. Rarely gets beat one vs one, always on the cover, surprisingly good in the air and he is deceptively quick. What he has that makes him our best full back is positional sense..Maybe not as gung ho as the others but he picks and chooses the best… Read more »
I’m no big fan of Bellerin but I suspect he was told to “stay home” due to our new maurading central mids. Still quality.
Youre no big fan of bellerin???
Once again the master of mediocrity, the offbeat metronome of goalscoring, Mr. “You Are the Weakest Link”, that gaping Arsehole in our team, Olivier Giroud, illustrates why Wenger is naive and bullheaded in failing to purchase outrageously priced, SEEMINGLY “world-class forwards” when Arsenal is so clearly substandard. The idea of having faith in the chemistry and the quality of players that you have worked so hard to develop, the players you have convinced and promised would get the opportunity to prove themselves. I bet Wenger even believes that by giving these players the chance to prove themselves…. He thinks that… Read more »
I wonder who’s next on our menu
No assist from Ozil!
#Ozilout# :p
no assist but two pre-assists, to Ramsey for first goal, and to Joel for the second
What I think we are seeing at the moment is our backup players starting to get that necessary match fitness, the final 2% that allows them to play like we always expect them to. You can’t come in and expect to be brilliant when you haven’t got much game time under your belt, and for a few games we have looked like our second string wasn’t quite up to the job. I think that was the rustiness you get with players who aren’t playing regularly, and they’re starting to overcome it now. Campbell is a perfect example. He’s playing himself… Read more »
Has to be one of Wenger’s best management jobs he’s ever done coming back from the 0-2 start to advance yet again with the final match being such a strong victory in a hostile environment with so many players out injured. All I can say is thank our lucky starts we don’t have to play in the Europa League!!!! Giroud obviously was immense, when he works to get in front of the defenders on the first goal and runs hard into the box on the second he can be devastating in the box. Just has to keep that work rate… Read more »
Olivier’s very much in the marry category of the shag/marry/kill scale right now