Once again we started poorly, made hard work of it, but got something late in the game from Olivier Giroud who got his 9th goal of the season to secure the 2-1 win.
Here’s how the players rated tonight.
Once again we started poorly, made hard work of it, but got something late in the game from Olivier Giroud who got his 9th goal of the season to secure the 2-1 win.
Here’s how the players rated tonight.
I love Iwobi, but i thought he was woeful today. He had one nice pass to Giroud in the first half but that was about it.
We might be a good team if we play for 90 mins rather than 45.
Iwobi did an intelligent assist for Ramsey’s equaliser
Chu-Young Park will always be there for the youngster… 🙂
I thought he did quite well to hold play till he assisted Ramsey for the equalizer?
It must be a differnt game you watched boss. He was one of the best in the game.
10/10 for your bonus rating Blogs ?
10/10 for the away fans in the first half too. Kept chanting despite the absolute pile of wank served up by us in the first half.
I worry that our desire to ensure we don’t underestimate the opposition actually means we start games with insufficient confidence to impose ourselves at all. There’s no room for complacency in any game, but we need to stop playing within ourselves and start playing with the confidence that we are good enough to beat most teams.
Pérez deserves a run in the starting XI. Also deserves his own chant.
Enjoyed the fact we made Ben Pearson’s night miserable. Wanker throughout the course of the game.
Yeah he’s seems like a special kinda prick; begging to be shut up with a Flaminiesque slide tackle.
woolly haired scouse prick haha
Lucas was my man of the match tonight, until Giroud scored the winner. Our HFB makes a fine captain.
No one should have to subject themselves to R. Savage’s noise. I would suggest muting the broadcast and put on music of your choice in the background. You don’t need that knob to describe what you are observing.
Still making it so difficult for ourselves.. Preston were actually pretty dam good in that first half.
Not as good as we were shit. Ox, Mustafi and Gabriel should have been subbed off 7 minutes in a got a kick up their arse in the changing room
I so want the Ox to be a success and have generally been happy with his performances this year. But today he was absolutely dire. There was one period in the first half where he picked up the ball out left in our half and three times in a row he ran straight at their right back and gave the ball away when there were easy passes open. He typifies our Premier league attitude of “I can beat these Championship clowns on my own”. Hit the easy pass mate.
Yhey!
I much prefer Maitland at CM. Not enough pace, energy or positional awareness for me tonight. I really think that Jenkinson would have done better. The Ox just looked knackered tonight.
Still, through to 4th round and Giroud proving a very nice plan B+++++
I know he’s very fresh but I thought he was out of his depth at right back today. Beaten by the winger almost every time it really doesn’t look like his natural position.
I would have much preferred Gabriel at right back and Holding in the middle. Gabriel and Mustafi are too similar they both need a calmer positional defender alongside them.
Hats off to the Gooner away section chanting loudly even through the awful first half an hour.
Agree that it would have been better to play Holding and Gabriel out right. And Ox, Xhaka and much as I hate to say it Ramsey just aren’t up to it, don’t see places in the team for them. And yes please Lucas ahead of Ox and Walcott. And Giroud for me is still a super sub, I wouldn’t push a great player like Sanchez (how we missed him) out of position for Giroud.
fully agreed…maintland’s positioning was off today, caught the wrong side of his marker a number of times, couldn’t seem to be able to prevent the crosses from coming in, often stood off his man too much, just didn’t seem like he felt very comfortable back there. On the bright side he delivered some good crosses, is undoubtedly talented, has time on his side and will only improve with further game time, but it does seem like his future is further up the pitch. I agree that Jenkinson would likely have fared better today. On that note, does anyone know whether… Read more »
West Ham are out!! 🙂
I abaolutely agree with you. I do not believe that Mitland-Niles is a right back. Might be better if Wenger let him develop naturally in midfield n
I thought Iwobi and Lucas were the best players by far today.
Give Lucas a run
It is becoming pretty obvious that most teams will come press and hurry us maybe we can change the formation and tactics to absorb this in the first half and as they tire in the second go back to free flowing high attack football
Tactics and Planning from Wenger..Lol…Even worse its not as if he can’t do it..
Does it matter how we performed? As long as you win, you move on the next round. Win by one goal, or win by six, it does not make a difference. Yes, I want us to perform much better than we did in the first half, but it’s a cup game. Goal difference does not matter, etc. Lucas played well again. 6 goals and 5 assists in 12 appearances is pretty damn impressive. We have a chance to gain serious momentum ahead of Chelsea now…
Positives: Lucas Perez and the return of Danny Welbeck (wouldn’t it have been nice if his shot in the closing seconds found the back of the net?!). Negatives: most of the team in the first half! Were they just expecting Preston to roll over and play dead?! We *really* need to start with more speed and determination. Unconvincing: Xhaka and Ramsey as a midfield pairing don’t impress.
I though both Mustafi and Gabriel were bad in the first half but not only by theirs fault. Preston played with 2 strikers, so our mistake was Monreal and Niles were positioned too high so it was tough for our CBs. Neverthless in 2nd half they were both solid so I disagree Gabriel was better. Imo Mustafi is not ready yet. He needed few games at the start of the season. With his style of play he needs to be 100% fit to make it work. Ramsey again, yes he scored but you just can’t play with him. Our midifield… Read more »
Can we have 2 votes? 1 for each half?
Blogs, it’s 2017. Why do you still have Chu Young Park in your default profile? And Alexis Alexis??
It’s not hard to create 23 profiles at the start of a season, is it? Pretty weak. Too much bacon, not enough hunger.
#arseblogout
Chamberlain just lacks vision. It’s obvious when you think about it. He’s like one of those winger who’s still playing in their own pace, not in sync with the team. Remember Ronaldo going through the same thing during his early years at Man Utd. Hopefully Chamberlain can grow out of it sooner rather than later.
Honestly, I don’t think he is going to.
Your name should be candor
Ox has also looked better at times playing on the right, particularly with Giroud up top, it makes sense to play Ox on the right side so he can play in those crosses. With Alexis as the #9 pulling defenders all over the place with his clever movement and energy, it opens up space for the wingers to cut inside, which is when it might make more sense to play Ox on the left.
Giroud is now becoming a very important player for our team who can not be benched
A better plan B and coming off the bench to change the game in my opinion. We play better collectively with Alexis starting at centre forward.
Giroud has always been important, when he gets the service. He gives 100% every game despite getting fouled, pulled and climbed all over by the opposition. It was fitting Perez assisted him for the winner as Giroud gave him a beautiful assist for his first Premiership goal at Bournemouth.
Every time Giroud has started this season (2 ECL games, 3 PL and 1 FAC) he has scored. That’s class. And we have no one who holds the ball up better (though Iwobi is getting good at holding up too).
He’s not just a Plan B, for me, he’s an alternative Plan A. The great thing is, now we can play Alexis or Welbeck, perhaps Lucas (or even Walcott, though I prefer him on the right) as striker, we don’t have to exhaust our HFB, we cna keep him fit and hungry 🙂
That Chu Young Park has been quite the versatile player over the course of the last few seasons ?
His mistery exceeded by his power. True Arsenal legendish.
Great goal from Ramsey. Not many options in the center right now, hopefully this was the goal he needed to kick on this season!
Scoring goal is not the issue with Ramsey. It is the mere fact that he no longer have the quality required as an Arsenal player.
I gave AM-N 1star because I really thought it’s Park Chu Young. I’ll get my coat…
hi Blog i love u but chamberlain was by far the worse player on the field tonight and shouldn’t have been rated higher than any other player,the boy started to worry me long ago but now gets on my nerves, can’t beat a direct opponent don’t seem to know what to do with the ball, just not good enough at this stage of his age and career
I can’t agree more. I don’t think he will make it in Arsenal.
He has obviously not developed well. He’s the most likely player to lose the ball while making a dribble, a run or a pass. I also don’t think Wenger has helped him by not assigning him a position after several seasons. It seems to take Wenger an awful lot of time to make his mind up about players’ position. Alexis. Walcott. Ozil. Ramsey. Lucas. Ox. Welbeck. Chambers. Wilshere. Ashravin. Podolski. Even Coquelin until last season. You will never achieve the understanding and telepathy needed in a great team until players are settled in roles.
Well said nwanne
I hope Wenger spends all the next 3 transfer budgets on cloning Santi and making him play the entire season. I have a guy feeling that we can win the treble if this happens.
Gut*. Also ignore other spelling errors if i did make them.
p.s. Blog, your app on the Android is appalling. Please have it tested. Took me 17 attempts to stay on this page while looking at ratings or while trying to add a comment.
It’s the scroll side to side to change articles function, I hate it. scrolling up or down is like walking on egg shells..
I think the completely free Android app is pretty cool. I haven’t noticed that issue but will certainly have a look.
Mr Blogs, the scroll issue mainly happens because the picture at top does not resize to fit in the android screen. Hence, while scrolling down, it keeps scrolling sideways which triggers the previous or next article. I have commonly seen this mainly in player ratings screen or while opening an article from the push messages. Hope this helps. 🙂
p.s. the above comment was because the comment section was greyed out. when i kept clicking the box to type, it took me to the next screen and said cannot post blank comment (or a similar message).
2-1, just 2-1 with a midtable 2nd division team. Rejoice yourself, but with moderation
Steve “fido dido” mcmanaman
Thought Maitland-Niles was really poor. Didn’t offer much defensively, was passed too often by Preston players, and didn’t make up for that with anything going forward. Chambo was by far the worst player on the pitch.
First half he was horrendous. Surprised Blogs, Guardian, BBC didn’t pick up on it – in the stadium he was pathetic. Second half he was neck at the races.
He’s a kid, a midfielder, and asked to do a job that he’s not used to. Surprised he didn’t just play Jenkinson to be honest, but probably didn’t want to cup-tie him.
Mcmanaman is a f***ing cretin. For someone who was a skilful ball player his desire to see fouls occur and creatively play stifled by any means is like some strange fetish. We were shit today for most of the match but got the result so onwards and upwards.
Bonusrating: 10/10 for the travelling fans who kept it going no matter how shite we played
Thought the selection was wrong today. Chiefly Maitland NIles. It wasn’t that he was particularly any poorer than most of his seniors, he wasn’t. But to have him in against Preston I thought was the wrong option. As soon as I saw his name, I thought we were going to struggle. I think we needed to have Gabriel deputising at Rback for these sort of high intensity games. Gabriel was a bundle of nerves today and also poor with positioning/decision making, but he would have given us a bit more solidity and added to our threat going down the right… Read more »
Some thoughts: Giroud and Lucas playing well again. Ramsey scoring and had a pretty good second half, hope he gains confidence now. AML had a good match considering he isn’t a defender. Would almost like to see him play CM in some matches. Probably not ready for 90 minutes PL yet though. Mustafi looks so off pace, Gabriel and Kos in next match for me. Ox didn’t do any favours for himself with the display, dwelled on the ball too much and lost the ball when tried too dribble. Iwobi was okay, the consistency will come. Would like him to… Read more »
Surely Lucas deserves a run in the team now. His determination, skill and commitment is as good as Sanchez.
Determination and skill? Its duracell you’re talking about remember
Monreal really needs to stay goal side when marking an opposing player in our own 3rd. I am not convicnced that he is a natural left back.
He would be better suited as a winger in a 3-4-3 formation. Or a 3-4-1-2, with either an Alexis-Lucas or Giroud-Welbeck pairing up top.
Monreal is and has been a good full back, but has suffered lately in games as opposition teams choose to attack him more than Bellerin. He may have started to lose a bit of pace though, so it could be time soon to look for an upgrade.
No idea why, but Ox really struggled tonight. Loose passes and too much dribbling with head down into dead ends. Some of his play (and others) put the team under real defensive pressure.
Well, that was harder than it should have been, but we were playing without our four best players (Alexis, Ozil, Santi, Koscielny), and without three others who have been central to our best performances this season (Coq, Bellerin, and Theo). That’s seven out of ten.
We have been seeing the signs of what to come. The boys are not playing well and are not firing from all cylinders. We should all lower our expectations this year.. i hv already done so.
The Jeff should never get a rating lower than 8.5… cos he’s THE JEFF
Ramsey and Perez were the bright sparks today. Iwobi needs some time away from the first team… He’s hit a wall…
We’re in the draw for the next round. What is wrong with you people?
Very happy about the result. But we were utterly shit in the first half, for the second game in a row.
Yes we are through. Nothing more to say except welcome back Danny.
It’s true that we needed to win just to shut those two commentator morons up.
Wenger plays the same formation/tactics every game no matter who the opposition or players available. Is he arrogant, a lazy manager, or clueless??? All of the above??
Wenger would be in a real pickle without Giroud’s heroics the last few weeks. He adds physicality and muscle to a mentally weak team.
I heard Giroud’s comments to the team in the hallway at halftime. The team responded, good pick for team captain.
Any side (even Barcelona) has trouble playing out against an energetic high press. That is what Maureen found when his RM sides were playing Barca. Even MEssi often coughed up the ball. I don’t know what the answer is other than hoof long and play in the counter. But the downside is that is wears a side out and if you weather the storm you should win. Arsenals performance (a makeshift side) in the first half was understandable. So was the improved performance in the second half. Lucas Perez – what a clever player. I suspect he’s now a big… Read more »
Bloody expensive makeshift side! Only AMN that’s not a full international. Really should be able to outplay journeymen of the Championship. “We were surprised at the way PNE played, full of commitment” – ridiculous statement, especially after Bournemouth. Beware, you may just find Swansea and Burnley will be the same!
Iwobi and Lucas were the best of a terrible bunch..Also i think Iwobi’s conribution to Ramsey’s goal is underappreciated also I notice his poorer games are when Ramsey and Ox play.. In general the overall narrative in football is becoming quite annoying..It is almost taking the enjoyment out of football..When you win your the bestest in the world when you lose everything and everyone is shit. Today’s game was exactly what the fa cup is about and everyone involved missed the point to come up with soundbites and the fucking pundits ALL NEED A SLAP. Jim beglin and Jon champion… Read more »
BT Sport eventually get rid of Michael Owen only to bring in his almost-as-bad team mate Steve McManananaman! Wish they’d put their money into sorting bloody phone system out instead!.
Was at the game today I thought mustafa played better than being being mentioned on here poor first 20 minutes but was covering alot for Gabriel and mainland miles thought he was awful today positioning was terrible.
I have seen enough of Lucas to put him in front of Theo and as far as for Ox, i think he is highly overrated and protected by Wenger. It’s time to move him on, sorry mate
And I was thinking they would cut us a slack after a shitty couple of mounths. Please go on one of those out of nowhere winning runs exept this time it takes us to the top! Who am I kidding
It’s sad how every time Ox gets a start he never seems to really take advantage of it. He seems to play a lot better as a sub coming on with 20 minutes to go than when he starts.
I was going to give a list of all the other players who were terrible in the first half but I was typing out the whole team sheet minus maybe Perez and Ospina so I stopped.
For the first half you could find 10 reasons to swear each minute. Embarrassing in the first half
10/10 hahahahaha