Arsenal are into the semi-finals of the FA Cup after a 5-0 win over Lincoln City at the Emirates this evening – read the report and see the goals here.
Our player ratings system is offline this evening, so you’ll have to make do with old fashioned ratings in a post, and you’ll have to leave your own in the form of a comment.
Here’s what we reckon.
Ratings
Petr Cech, 7 – Didn’t have a lot to do but made a good save in the first half to keep the mighty Lincoln at bay.
Hector Bellerin, 8 – Great going forward in both halves, and in the first he tried to make things happen.
Shkodran Mustafi, 7 – Got an elbow in the mouth early on, but that was about as much as the fat bloke up front troubled him.
Laurent Koscielny, 7 – Got the fat lad back with a nice elbow, solid all game.
Kieran Gibbs, 7 – He was good in the final third, forced the own goal, never had a lot to do defensively.
Granit Xhaka, 7 – Got booked, as usual, but his range of passing was very nice.
Aaron Ramsey, 6 – Fair to say he didn’t have his shooting boots on today, should have scored more than the one he did.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 6 – Was doing fine until a hamstring injury forced him off before the half-hour mark.
Theo Walcott, 8 – Probably our most threatening player today, opened the scoring but always looked the most likely to get us a goal.
Alexis Sanchez, 7.5 – Lovely goal, far better in the second half than the first.
Olivier Giroud, 7 – Got a goal, grand in general.
Subs
Mesut Ozil, 6.5 7– Came on, did well, then shouldered that lad out of the way and made Chris Sutton squawk with anger in doing so. So actually he gets another half a point.
Francis Coquelin, 6 – On to avoid a second yellow for Xhaka
Lucas Perez, 6 – Was involved but unable to make an impact on the scoresheet or with an assist.
Hope Piers Morgan slits his wrists vertically not horizontally. Stupid cunt. Also Chris Sutton, I mean what the fuck was that commentary?
Other than that great performance from the lads, looked quite a bit better with Özil on the pitch. Hope it gives them the confidence to end the season on a high.
Yeah, pretty much. Just when you thought BT Sport couldn’t do any worse than Owen Hargreaves, they bring in Chris Sutton, a man who so arrogantly and patronisingly just HAS to state his (almost always wrong) opinion when other slightly less worse pundits are trying to have something resembling a discussion.
When Park Chu Yongs is not around, the team performs really well
Chris Sutton is such a fucking mug.
Most of the pundits are former football players that have been demolished and outshoned by beautiful Arsenal total football again and again. They´re just trying to ease the deep pain inside that arises when watching Arsenal. I fell sorry for them.
Sutton fucked me right off with his comments on Lucas going down in the box. It never even looked like a dive and yet that arsehole commentator slaughtered our man Perez.
Yeah their player literally lumped him right on the ankle in the penalty area, it was a fucking stone waller, then Sutton started laying into him – the fucking cunt.
That enraged me man, his stupid moans about him deserving a yellow for the dive. Absolute bullshit. Why does every pundit seem to hate arsenal? Worst thing about it too is our fans believing it….
What I do now is just watch the football played in front of me and laugh at the silly opinions of the people that believe everything sky sports say. I swear half the shit aimed towards wenger is because of the media outlook on the situation. Mind you doesn’t help with the obvious lack of commitment at the moment it seems, but still ex players like Merson, Sutton etc sticking their oar in doesn’t help.
I have never been so pissed off by a commentator in all my life. I lost my shit at the comments about Lucas. What an absolute shower of shit BT are!
Wenger
Out
That sort of suicide is pretty tame. How about death by misadventure; a restricted breathing masturbation game gone wrong, pants around his ankles, tiny penis in hand?
Hey, it’s obviously pretty inconsequential to argue about ratings after a stroll in the park like that game (or: even more inconsequential than usual), but I don’t see how Giroud gets a 7 and is considered “grand”. Thought he was poor today, very, very immobile (I know that’s his style, but it stood out today, especially in the first half), and had at least two air kicks after Ozil twice set him up perfectly on his left foot in the second half. I truly hope Wenger doesn’t revert back AGAIN to starting with Giroud in the upcoming run of PL… Read more »
Very involved in the first goal, and got the second. Big man up front is hard work to play against and makes defences uncomfortable when there is also pace around. Grand
I saw that Giroud was going to be CF again and, quite frankly, I didn’t bother watching the game. If I want to look at a statue I’ll go to a museum.
What team do you support?
I don’t want to come near violating the comment policy, but this is a genuinely moronic comment–worse than the stuff that people here rightly hate when it comes from pundits.
Even if you were right about Giroud, why would you not want to watch the ten other players and the team you say you support?
I think he was being slightly sardonic, you great biff.
No bonus rating today?
Not even for Chris Sutton who provided the most annoying and shit co-commentary I can remember since Michael Owen got on the mic
Don’t forget McManaman too, oh and Savage. It’s like BT are playing one upmanship games with the other channels. ‘Oh Phil Neville, we’ll raise you an Owen Hargreaves.’ Bunch of biased twats
I pretty much look forward to the player ratings more than any other posts
Great performance from the boys, could have easily lost this. COYG!
Are you not the fellow who was complaining about the teams performance in the previous article? or are you another Paul?
The same original Paul but just being sarcastic.
Sarcastic on which post? I am confused.
*in
I have had so many thumbs downs for saying we were poor in the first half against a non league team, so I just got cross and started to be sarcastic! 🙂
Ah, right…So, just sort of being a prick then
Just to summarise I found it incredible that Lincoln almost got to half time at our place at nil nil. That is a bad thing to feel apparently!
That would be like praising arsenal to making it to the 2nd half against bayern level or even in the lead at the Emirates….which I’m pretty sure you didn’t do.
Don’t take it personally buddy, folks here just love to pick on negative comments, as they should since most of them are asinine and come from an infantile/egocentric/grumpy “I just spent virtually zero money and 90 minutes of my precious time watching Arsenal and they owe me more!” perspective. Doesn’t mean you don’t have the right to feel this way, take the downvotes in stride.
Great win from us. Tremendous once again from Walcott. Give that man a statue already. A true Arsenal legend
Ramsey. Haha. What a total joke. Kick that loser out of our wonderful club as quick as possible
Walcott is good, but needs another few years at the top to get a statue. As for Ramsey, tries hard but is the worst player ive seen at arsenal. I’ve been following arsenal for 12 years!
You must have been distraught when Arsenal lost such stellar contributors as Gervinho, Song, Chamakh, Gallas and Arshavin.
Arshavin did put four past Liverpool at Anfield…
Arshavin is a legend.
Song played very good for us, his best was seen in an Arsenal shirt.
you have a short memory if you think Ramsay is worse than Cygan or Almunia
Sad to see no mention of Andre Santos.
Dude, stop being so weird.
Sorry, that came out overly rude. What I mean to say is: we all have our strong opinions about the team and specific players. We don’t always agree, but it seems to me your comments would seem more serious if they weren’t worded in such a blatantly over-the-top manner (e.g. Walcott deserves a statue (lol) but we should kick that loser Ramsey out of the club).
Agreed on Ramsey being a joke. Really dislike that dumb smile he does each & every time he skies or scuffs a shot. It seems to come with a “oooh that was close!” thought bubble. No it wasn’t chief, you just skied / scuffed that shot. His finishing it terrible.
Walcott was good in the first half but in the second was more or less anonymous. Ozil was deservedly MoTM. Gibbs good in the final third? Imo he could do much better.
Don’t want to cause trouble but has Xhaka been a bit of a disappointment so far? Yeah he can pass but he needs a lot of time to get the ball under control and lift his head. Compared to Santi and Arteta it’s like he’s playing in slow motion. Not in a languid, elegant kind of way, but in a clunky one. Dunno.
Try watch it again and count how many times he gave accurate one touch passes. You´ll be surprised how many. Passmaster in the making.
But that’s it, I’ve been watching closely thinking there’s got to be more about him. Good first 45 against Bayern but it was a weird game and they were sluggish.
I’m not going to write him off, but I don’t see the same speed of thought and technique at the moment. I’ll keep watching.
I agree. I left a comment after the Crystal Palace (scorpion kick) home game saying that I honestly couldn’t see what the fuss was about and that I didn’t think he was good enough to play for a top 4 team. The comment ended up being hidden due to the amount of downvotes! Fair enough, but I stand by what I said. I think sometimes people are obsessed with the idea that the new, shiny, expensive midfielder has to be the hero they have all been waiting for, to the extent that every semi decent thing they do is lauded… Read more »
Give Xhaka a little more time; he’s missed a lot of games due to suspension (!!), something that has halted his progress. He needs to limit his mistakes (careless passes, studs up challenges), but he’s a sharp tack where we need one, and his game will grow. The left foot of his is going to bring us out of our seats before this season is up.
Both Mustafi and Xhaka were hailed as brilliant acquisitions immediately. People praised Mustafi for bedding right into the prem with no time for adjustment needed; there was a clamor to start Xhaka in every match.
Now apparently they are both rubbish.
I think both are very talented, with proven records in other clubs and with their national teams; both have weaknesses. Both have the potential to become genuine mainstays for Arsenal.
I guess I’ve lost my chance to be a pundit.
Compared to Santi & Arteta? Arteta not in the same league as Santi.
What I’m talking about is on the ball. Arteta was very clean technically did the simple things well, but just as important he did them quickly. We had our faults but were seamless playing out with him there before his legs really went.
Santi was definitely better. It’s a shame we’re probably talking about both in the past tense.
And on top of that he could win the ball on his feet, which is an underrated quality.
Are you really praising Arteta’s ability to win the ball back ? God help us. Madness.
You could disagree with the comment without ridiculing it. This is pretty innocuous stuff.
Yeah, he was a clean tackler – on his feet. Reckon the stats would bear that out. This was close quarters kind of stuff, but he didn’t have the mobility to impose himself especially later on.
Roughly the same applies to Santi, but he’s been a fair bit nimbler so he has been/was able to lock down the mf.
Sorry….it’s just nothing has frustrated me more about the last 10 years. A decent player, a good pro….but no more than that. Tried his best always but as a DM he was a disaster. And Arsenal captain? Please……the fact that so many Gooners spent years falling over themselves to talk him up WAY beyond his abilities was the ultimate in AKBism that has split Gooners apart.
Rant over?
I dont remember him ever being a disaster. Tackled well and sprayed passes around like no one else has. The only minus was his lack of pace.
I agree, xhaka doesn’t seem to be playing at the same tempo as the others. At least today he wasn’t. He looks reserved and unsure of himself almost like he’s not entirely clear in his specific role. Also picked up another dumb yellow card. Show a bit of discipline already. Still not as poor as Ramsey.
Ref definitely favored Lincoln on some calls and challenges but no damage done. Kos’ booking was a joke considering Sanchez was getting kicked all first half.
Not too much to take away from the game. We were suppose to win big and we did. Hopefully some of the lads got their confidence back and we’re going to Wembley again which is always nice. Our record in FA Cup semis is pretty good so hope we draw Spurs for that one!
0/10 to Lincoln for the disgraceful lack of respect they showed us by not handing us a pennant at the beginning of the game. Probably didn’t tidy up the dressing room either. Absolute bastards
Walcott playing like there’s a contract to be signed at stake. In all seriousness, I would never have believed he would be the one to show fire in his belly when Arsene needed players to stand up for him. Well played son.
I too have been impressed by Walcott’s attitude. Given that he is seen as one of the senior players, he’s really taken a step up this season.
His public defense of Arsene is fantastic, especially when you consider how much Arsene has stood by him even through his less than stellar patches, and to top it off, he’s seriously contributing on the pitch.
10/10 for me!
Difficult to rate them given the opposition.
On the plus side I thought Ozil was excellent, although he had loads of space and time to slaughter them with those passes. Walcott looked really sharp throughout and could have had more goals.
But personally I’m still not convinced by the midfield. Not helped by seeing xhaka and coq going to ground so often in the tackle. Lots of misplaced passes and bad first touches.
Despite the scoreline I think we’re still some way off the slick passing style that can dominate higher level games. Still the 5-0 can’t hurt at all.
The bottom line is the result. But I can’t take to much from this game. Beating a semipro team at the emirates isn’t much to get excited about. All the same a wins a win and we desperately needed one.
Personally think Xhaka’s long passing tonight was excellent . Not convinced he’s mobile enough to play in a midfield 2.
Yeah that is a big problem as the Coq, who can cover for his lack of speed, is so out of form. I think we need all 3 of Xhaka-Ramsey-Ox to play to make the midfield work against better sides.
This.
Yep. We look much better with a 3 men midfield. A bit like juventus a few seasons back with Pogba-Pirlo-Marchisio. I think Xhaka has the attributes to play the Pirlo role well and with 2 more cms in Ox and Ramsey/Elneny as box to box. That will give us more protection and hopefully allow Xhaka a little more time to dictate play from deep and control the tempo of matches.
If we can play the same (especially in the second half) as we did against Sutton and Lincoln then I think we have a real chance of top four and FA Cup this season. COYG!
It’s fuckinng Sutton and Lincoln! Unbelievable!
I know that’s my hidden point. 🙂
Walcott 8? Maybe if he had played for Lincoln and had scored a goal… If we measure our strength and performance based on today’s game, I am seriously giving up any hope. I was delighted to see 5 goals, but must I not remind you of our last 2 CL games. No excuses are tolerated. I am seriously starting to think that we slipped to the level of Spuds and becoming a mediocre team at best.. Something needs to happen, and I mean HAPPEN. At this level, I see us instead of Manshit next year playing against Bucharest in UEFA… Read more »
Thumbs down (once is not enough).
Thumbs down? That’s your comment? Sanchez is smiling at your reaction 😀
Thumbs down
Fucking A. Bring on Millwall in the semis. then crush Chelski or Man Shitty in final. Quality today but hats off to Lincoln for making it. Chris Sutton (who?) is as clueless as Owen.
Was Chris Sutton wearing a Lincoln kit today? Absolute muppet. At one point after Orca elbowed Mustafi in the nose Sutton said, “he just wanted it more.” Wtf? Guy chucks an elbow in Mustafi’s grill and bloodies his nose and Sutton praises him.
Tbf i think Sutton was taking the piss out of MOTD Some no mark on there said it when dirty alonso knocked Bellerin unconscious.
I don’t believe Sutton has sufficient wit to take the piss. He played the game in an all elbows Shearer type way and can’t help but think that is normal.
The inbred, goat fucking halfwit that he is.
Pretty sure John Sutton (Chris’s brother) played for Lincoln.
A good win. Took us some time to find the rhythm but we looked good in the second half. I think Giroud should keep his place in the first eleven for the coming games. He isn’t the most mobile player but we look more organised with a pure no9. Alexis is also more disciplined on the wing and doesn’t try to make everything happen by himself as he at times does when played as a striker. Ozil good again against lesser opponents, though we need to find a role for him against the better teams. Ramsey wasteful as usual but… Read more »
I respectfully disagree. Sanchez should stay as the striker and play Walcott and Welbeck in the wide areas. Their were times during today’s match when I thought giroud had cinder blocks for boots.
I second that. Giroud is great, but I prefer him as a last 25 mins kinda player. The first sixty minutes needs scary threat in pace a.k.a. Welbz Sanchez Walcott.
Can agree about playing Welbeck as a striker or even Lucas with Alexis and Theo on the wings but my point was that Alexis works better for us on the wing for the team. He had that purple patch on the first half (similar to Walcott as a CF last season) of the season but he is too undisciplined to lead the line on a constant basis imo.
Alexis on the left also means that we don’t have to play Iwobi there, who has struggled a bit lately.
I like that. Perez or welbeck up front and Sanchez and Theo on the flanks. Pace and more pace plus Sanchez and Theo to help bellerin and nacho/Gibbs. Just wish Perez would get a run of matches. Anywhere on the pitch at this point.
Wenger will play Ramsey no matter what. and for that reason alone i want Wenger out
What is it you don’t like about Ramsey? He’s honest, hard working, aka Super Rambo, scorer of FA cup winning goal, star of Euro 16, etc etc. I’m as frustrated as you when he skies another shot, but he also drives forward and makes things happen.
I wish Ramsey would not smile so much after missing chances.
You must have been watching a match from 2013. Ramsey was rubbish today despite Scoring a goal. It is frustrating that he can’t find the form that he displayed during the euros.
Last 8 games we beat two non league teams and one premiership team and lost to everyone else.
I am grumpy, goodnight!
Sweet dreams…!
Only 7 for Ozil. He totally changed the way we were playing by actually finding team mates with accurate and imaginative passes and, dangerous though Theo was, Alexis was head and shoulders above him. If we are losing Ozil and Alexis we will be mid table mediocre.
Couldn’t agree more Gordy! Theo was good, but Alexis again was the heart of the team. I think that with two Theos in the game we would have still won but maybe 2-0… Alexis accounts for a huge amount of the creativity and forward movement in this team. Yes he holds on to the ball too much sometimes and can be sloppy, but he has tremendous vision and just creates SO MANY chances for his mates. Who else is really doing this consistently. Without Cazorla there, or Ozil firing on all cylinders, Alexis seems to be the only one capable… Read more »
On an unrelated note, you don’t have to like him but it most certainly is nice to see Ramsey back on the pitch and all smiles. Can’t imagine how much he’s missed being out there. It’s what makes this the beautiful game for me. People doing what they love, expressing themselves, entertaining and also torturing us.
11/10- the fat blokes hair.
“traditional centre forward” 🙂
I would be interested to know how many passes Alexis played to Mesut and vice versa. Not only in this game, which I thought were quite a few, but in other games as well. Alexis looks alot happier with his buddy playing on the pitch.
And I notice he made quick passes and spread the ball quicker to teammates when he is closed down amd so didnt lose many balls…that is a good sign for future games.
To win the FA Cup and secure top 4… Sanchez-Özil axis is the vital link for it to happen.
Summary: we won
Comment: thank fuck for that
Conclusion: well done Lincoln – helluva run
Aaron practically plays as a centre forward whenever he’s on. Smh
Good to see Theo taking some leadership in recent weeks. We really need him to step up. He is a senior player now but has been erratic in recent seasons. Ramsey can also step up a gear or two particularly since we have now lost the Ox. Whilst there is no need to gloss a win over a non league side, they are tricky opponents who have done very well in the competition regardless and it was correct not to take any chances given recent results. We need to believe in our own ability but also (as I think Alexis… Read more »
Bring Lucas in place of giroud and holding in place of mustafi and we may be in for a shot at the cup . Giroud is a great substitute . And Mustafi is all over the place,missplace many passes and can commit too many faults . He is also trying too much to anticipate . Against poor and average strikers it’s OK but top quality one we all know what happened . Am not convinced at all . He will improve for sure but he is too raw.
I miss podolski ?
We have a comfortable win, what makes it easier is the fact Lincoln forward players has no pace at all so we don’t have to worry about counter attack, needless to say we are clearly one level above them, so we’ve done a good job.
One thing that’s worrying me is Xhaka, he has no idea how to tackle and every time he does that, the timing is off(because the lack of pace maybe) and the referee always give him a yellow easily, maybe he needs some personal coach that can give him a lesson when and how to tackle.
10/10 for everyone
Shame about the Ox
We are not the same team without Santi -miss him so much! Mention has been made of Ramsey’s stupid smile each time he makes a mess of a shot on goal. This irritates me so much but perhaps its a smile of embarrassment.
Chris Sutton really is a Nob, but I was listening to commentary by Sam Matterface and Stuart Pearce – there can’t be anyone worse than those two – especially Pearce who’s inane comments never cease to amaze me. Why is it all these commentators are gagging for Arsenal to get stuffed all the time? Surely they should be neutral Ha Ha.
Best play of the game was Ozil bungling someone over….I though apart from the Goal Alexis didn’t do much…was more of a facilitator than anything. Ramsay’s finishing is terrible…got into good positions though…shameless about Ox…hopefully not too bad.
I want to see Alexis,Perez and Welbz together…they can all just interchange.positions…I just like that Perez is more direct and.makes things happen.