We got our first Premier League win since the 2-0 victory over Hull in February, beating West Ham 3-0 after an excellent second half performance.
The goals came from Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and substitute Olivier Giroud (watch them here).
Here’s how the players rated.
Great result, lovely to see Ozil back on form and enjoying himself. Bellerin still doesn’t seem to have found his pace though, he got burned by Antonio at the start, how heavy is that hair???
His speed hasn’t been the same since he came back from injury
His pace isn’t the problem, he’s been sloppy with his concentration and some of his passing. His pace isn’t really hurting us, see Sane goal at the weekend..
I think the problem isn’t necessarily that his pace is gone but it is slight lapses in concentration or misreading the developing play.. sometimes he is heading one way (when you can clearly see the ball is about to be played behind him) and has to jump on the anchors and turn one it’s passed him. Against slower players his pace is plenty capable of cleaning up the misread. Against other speed merchants the headstart is sometimes too much.. A bit better reading of the game would have him already on the way back or the half turn at least.… Read more »
Points for rocket league mention
Surely Xhaka + Elneny has to be what we stick with for the remainder?
Thought Gabriel did well.
Finishing 4th and winning the fa cup beating Sp**s at Wembley would be an acceptable season.
We can then renew the contracts of all our players and coaching staff and use stability as an excuse not to improve our first eleven.
well…. until we lose our first 2games, everyone goes into meltdown and we sign someone on the 31st of August.
I’m looking forward to the summer already ?
Gabriel, Xhaka and Ozil. Incredible shifts. I know it’s only West Ham. But considering the slack they have been getting…
Also 10/10 for the cameraman who captured the little toddler in away kit and his father celebrating the goal (2nd? 3rd?) in the stands.
In short, this was more like the Arsenal I love on and off the pitch.
My god Atkinson is a dopey cunt, isn’t he? ?
useless. not even fit to referee in pub leagues. arsenal cannot expect home advantage from any of these cunt refs….
Exactly. Atleast refer to the line referees or something. Both Monreal penalty shouts were so genuine. No home advantage at all. At the Chelsea Palace game at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea got 7 minutes of frigging extra time when down 1-2, and then got 3 more just like that!
TBF the second Monreal penalty shout would have been an incredible spot – it was a foul but I didn’t see the contact in real time. The first one (and the Walcott one) were pretty obvious, though. Furthermore, I actually thought West Ham had a valid grievance for Ozil’s goal (pretty sure they changed the rules so someone doing what Sanchez did is classed as affecting the play) and maybe on another day Atkinson might have sent Mustafi off (ignoring the fact it came straight after a horrific tackle on Walcott). Plus he missed so many really obvious fouls, Byram… Read more »
Sanchez wasn’t offside though.
by my count, we should have had 3 penalties as well.
Sanchez was onside as well 🙂
We should start a referee rating table.
I actually like this, keep a tally of how many key decisions in a match are called wrongly for both teams.. then you can work out which teams get the rub of the green more, where it is more at home or away, and which refs are bias against particular clubs, homes away teams or big vs little teams. would take time to build up such a list to get something like a fair representation, but would be very very interesting.
Sounds like a job for someone of 7AM’s skill set, though he’s already quite busy and generous as it is.
Damn, if I knew stomping on people’s feet in the penalty area is all good, I would be doing it every saturday
Thank you for saving me from having to say it.
He should be dropped from the prem for the remainder of the season. 3 clear-as-daylight pens missed because he was spent admiring the inside of his own arse for 90 minutes.
The case for video assistants will start to mount heavily now….
Unfortunately it’s going to take someone other than Wenger to pressure them, they always seem to be oh so happy to stick it to him.
The refereeing display was scandalous once again. How many times do we and other clubs have to be disadvantaged by an unfit / biased / corrupt (take your pick) official? Football has been left behind by all other major sports whilst the authorities have chosen to do nothing to prevent cheats prosper and preserve a level playing field. I am encouraged by the trial of technology in the FA Cup next year, but it has taken way way too long to get to this point. The sport (which coincidentally is run by a corrupt organisation in FIFA that is under… Read more »
Much better thanks!
Martin Atkinson was truly atrocious. Should have got way less than the 0/10 rating.
1. Is it me or Mustafi really puts his foot through in his final third passes? I feel he could impact games massively if he sorted out the weight of his passing.
2. Happy for Mesut and Gabriel.
3. We should name Sanogo captain. He’s apparently cursed already…
I’m gonna wear my spacepants tonight baby.
Woah woah woah, how is that foul on Monreal at the end not a penalty?? The guy clatters him! In what universe is that not a penalty! Monreal still has the ball and the bloke goes straight through his leg!! It’s almost like Atkinson thought ‘you don’t need a penalty, you’re already 3-0 up!’ Madness!! If that was Xhaka he would’ve got an 8 game ban
Cue: “Byram is not that sort of guy.” He was fouling everyone in sight all game.
What was worse was Montreal down, play going on, then Atkinson walking over to Nacho on the floor about 40 yards from play and signaling to him it wasn’t a pen in the most dramatic fashion for the cameras. Utter prick.
Have to agree with James on the video–Theo’s commitment in important games has been fun to watch this season, even if the cumulative result has often been dire.
COYG
Theo is my player of the season so far, massively improved in comparison to most others under performing. And to think i thought he would be a West Ham player this year.
Weirdly the atmosphere in the north bank is feeling noisier than normal lately – even when it was dire 0-0
I’d probably have Theo as player of the season too, or at least most improved. Goals against Chelsea, Liverpool, Bayern and City twice, 19 in the season so far, not bad
I already know this will get a lot of negative reaction here but this needs to be said still: Walcott cannot be considered a good enough player until he starts contributing more to the overall play. He gives the ball away far far too cheaply and contributes far far too little in terms of general build up. Match in match out he is the player with the least touches of the ball for Arsenal. And the least completed passes. Arsenal almost dont play through the right side at all anymore. For someone so fast he is totally static. Bellerin routinely… Read more »
I was wondering today what Willian would bring as a straight swap instead of Walcott to our team. Both play similar, and in similar positions, except Walcott prioritizes pace and running inward, while Willian… well, he’s good, you’ll notice. I get what you mean.
Agree. He scored a good goal but his decision making process all night was basically “shoot immediately” even when he had time and team mates around. When Wenger starting bringing in all the flair players, he still had a foundation of proper Arsenal heads in the dressing room like famous back 5 + Keown, Parlour, Wright, Merson who would make sure the new boys understood what it meant to put on the cannon. Our most senior player now (and captain on the night no less) is……. Theo Walcott. Happy for a good performance finally but it doesn’t paper over the… Read more »
“…his decision making process all night was basically “shoot immediately” even when he had time and team mates around.”
Is that what happened when he put it on a plate for Welbeck?
Walcott is far from perfect, but I have a soft spot for him as the only player remaining from ~2006 when I started following Arsenal.
It is not meant to paper over anything. Nobody is looking for vindication. Let’s stop being defensive about our respective views. It was one game. Good three points. Clean sheet. Confident showing by blokes who have been rogered royally in the past few months.
Also, Walcott isn’t going to become Willian or Hazard. He can be the captain and in the starting line up and even disappear for bits as long as he keeps scoring.
Walcotts haters will continue to hate. Sanchez is wasteful. But in as far as he score and assist, it is okay. Walcott according to you is not good enough for arsenal, but he has score 19 goals and few assist, in big matches. The first to score you goal in big matches this season is walcott. What are you smoking? How about Welbec? No complaint about him. It is always Walcott not good enough. Those players you compared to walcott has their attribute/skills that Walcott lack. Tell me if any of them has positional skill, off the ball run,and goal… Read more »
Didnt mean to say that Walcott is the only problem. Of course Welbeck is not good enough to be the first choice center forward for a team competing to win the league. Walcott is also not good enough to be in the first team of a side trying to win the league. Additionally, the Sanchez argument actually adds to the problem. Teams work when players complement each other. Sanchez does give the ball away quite a lot. Thats his style of play and a result of his insistence on doing the amazing and it needs to be complemented with teammates… Read more »
Would basically disagree with all of that and I’d point out that Walcott was getting 90% pass completion rates earlier on in the season. Getting more involved in games is maybe the thing he’s most improved on as well as being more defensively switched on. And Bellerin can pass to Walcott but whenever Walcott makes that run into space Bellerin never makes the pass over the top. In fairness it might be something they’ve actually worked on, Walcott making room for Bellerin to widen the pitch, but I’m not convinced. “Also, compare him to the competition. Would Chelsea take him… Read more »
Spot on. In a team of underachievers someone is having their best ever season and people continue to pick on the guy.
Dear Loose Cannon, Walcott wasn’t doing 90% pass completion. e.g., In the first 4 matches of the season his pass completion was in the low 70s mostly but even more importantly to what I was saying: He was the player who played the least number of passes for Arsenal in 2 of those 4 matches (even less than Cech). I would also suggest you to look at his heat maps. His most consistent position is actually inside the right edge of the box. Only 2 kinds of balls can be played there. Either to feet and he can hold it… Read more »
Thank you for your reply dear Ajar. 1. Pass completion is dependent on more than just the passer. It is decidedly tougher up on the pitch and on the wing. Also, I don’t deny he can be marked out of the game. His limitations aren’t a badge of honour. 2. Positionly and in terms of how to bring him into play there is much that can be done. His goals that you belittle are a sign that he is realising what his strengths are better. 3. I never laughed at you though I can’t for the life of me think… Read more »
He can usually win a foot race, but can rarely take on a defender one on one and get past He scores goals, but makes baffling decisions often . I don’t know what to think of him.
walcot is a limited player . does what he does best , which is running behind the defence and scoring odd goals . but he cannot beat a defender , pass the ball more than a few yards and decison making is awfull.
even in this game i remember him being in a tight angle but choose to shoot anyway mutiple times , when he could’ve passed the ball to a player in a much better position.
I was really hoping when we signed him that Perez was going to be that player.
I have been loathing Walcott’s performances for years now. He is not good. He needs the extra seconds his pace affords him to figure out what the hell to do when it isn’t just shoot first. When his pace leaves so will any value he has to the club. Sell him now.
We have done the majority of our buildup play on the left or up the middle for a long time whether Walcott has been on a starting run or not. As far as I can remember it hasn’t been since we had Hleb, or maybe a little with Nasti that we’ve played much buildup on the right, and then only occasionally. Stop assuming because of bias for a moment that it’s because of a supposed weakness in Walcott, and that perhaps it’s a purposeful decision to play that side with speed and openness and use the middle and left to… Read more »
referee: 0 ..and beyond
Big shout out to Gabriel. Didn’t put a foot wrong all day, by far his best performance for us. Also, not sure if I’ve ever seen a worse referee performance in my life. Glad we won the game against 12 men.
He and Mustafi kept the horseheaded monster quiet. Very composed and assertive performance from Gabriel.
well done to the team. played with intensity and purpose and won 3-0 despite that clown referee. same next game please.
I’m amazed we still think some referees are shit, instead of crooked.
How can someone deny 3 stonwall penalties?
I’m sure everytime we scored a little part of Atinkson died.
Then we should score loads more.
I would’ve keep on with Emi on goal til the end of season.He deserved it for loayalty and it is unafair not to put him at goal now when the FA went into semis.Great and humble men and at least decent goalie!
After bellerin and iwobi, I hope he’s this year’s breakout player
I love Niles, too. 🙂
Agreed, unless he gives us a reason to drop him, let him play. Ospina will be off in the summer, and though opinion varies on him, no one can argue that Ospina is good enough to be our number 1. So let him go.
1) Pace pace pace. Welbeck. Barely touches the ball, hardly keeps it, misses two sitters. Don’t get me wrong I think he will come good for us but I simply do not understand the bias people have for this whole pace thing and Welbeck over Giroud. Simply incomprehensible. 2) Walcott. Sell him. Granted his scoring goals and showing some mettle but we simply need more nuance off the flanks. Unless Perez decides to ship himself off, I say we take the money on Walcott now (while he has value) and invest in a bit more invention from out wide. 3)… Read more »
Why didn’t you just copy/paste the report you wrote in the comments section on the match report? Would’ve saved you re-typing 99% the same shit. 😉
The reason Elneny appears to often pass sideways and back is because it’s his role to recycle the possession, the role results in a lot of that so it just doesn’t make sense that you single him out for being mediocre.
It was an oustanding all round effort, with good jobs from every area of the pitch. Martinez looked talented and assured on only his fourth PL start (with three clean sheets now, too!). Bellerin looks to be getting back to his old self, and Gabriel had his best game yet for us. Mustafi – brilliant. Monreal – excellent at both ends of the pitch. The Elneny-Xhaka pivot was superb throughout, Xhaka especially with a pearl of a match. Ozil was out of this world. Alexis may have been wasteful at times, but wasn’t as selfish as a couple of weeks… Read more »
Agree. Though Ramsey dribbling in our penalty area is never a welcome sight even if we are 3-0 up. I wish he stops being cute with his play.
And I’ve already given my analysis of the referee on the “At The Whistle” article, so I’ll only note here that 0 out of 10 was extremely generous.
I said before Ospina is bad at communication for which I think is the 2nd most important abillity for goalkeepers. That is why I think our back 4 were so calm. Martinez may not be as good shot stopper but he was surely more vocal. Imo Elneny was the unsung hero today. He made everyone better. We needed someone like him who is disciplined, makes smart runs and keeps it simple in that position. He was available and as a result everyone else was better. Ozil was great and I hope today everybody agrees with me he ran his socks… Read more »
Think, ELneny is a better Version of Denilson
Very unfair. Did you notice Elneny grew into the game and was more confident passing the ball around…?
The thing about elneny game is that he is always making spaces for others because he is constantly running around midfield making himself available which makes other players available, coq i static and that is why him and xhaka are pressed and losing the ball and midfield, while elneny running to lefto all to right midfield making available for simple passes which makes xhaka more time to have on ball to make those brilliant passes the reason why xhaka had an excellent performance yesterday.
Also his passes are maybe simple but 99% accurate which coq also lacks.
What’s with Giroud not enjoying his goal ? He needs to cut that out.
No. He’s human. He needs to have the freedom to be himself. Oli, score more angry goals I say.
i’m gutted sp#rs won, god i hate those fuckers!!
Got a bitl lively in the clock end-stam fans were funny and witty until they went 2 down-then it all changed. We started singing-they lost it-i saw 2 seperate men in their later forties actually spitting at us.classy west ham! Piss poor
Did Wenger ever say why he dropped the whole “Sanchez as CF” plan?
I’m a big fan of Sanchez at CF, but I don’t think it matters very much if Welbeck plays up front. Welbeck is so mobile that Sanchez gets plenty of opportunities to shift into the CF spot anyway (as distinct from when Giroud is playing)
But he doesn’t at all. He plays as purely as a left winger can play.
Xhaka and Elneny from now on please. It’s our best midfield without Cazorla.
I can’t understand why Coquelin still gets games. He’s holding us back in a huge way, no pun intended. I think his “best” spell with us was when he first got into the midfield alongside Cazorla. But the more I think about it, I think any midfield with Cazorla in it would dominate, and maybe that’s the only reason he seemed to “balance the team” as Wenger put it. I say you put Xhaka or Elneny with Cazorla, Ramsey as well, and it’s way better than Coquelin. Just honestly, he shouldn’t be starting any games for us at all. Elneny… Read more »
Xhaka and Elneny for the rest of the season please.
Totally disagree with the welbeck score. His mobility up front set the tone for the whole team. All of a sudden Arsenal were pressing again. That made a huge difference.
I agree. He played really well, in my opinion. Got into lots of good positions but the service was poor. There were a bunch of good runs he made. One obvious one was when Theo sailed it 50 feet over the bar in the second half.
I totally agree with you Welbeck worked his ass off in front he was pressuring the ball upfront and running really hard he did his part sadly he didn’t got a goal
Everything on the ptich is inter-related. Arsenal wanted to play a high line to, among other things, negate the threat of crosses to Andy Carroll from the wings. That meant Arsene had to play Welbeck because, if Giroud played, West Ham defenders would have had more time to look up and play balls through the lines and over the top to Carroll. So I think there is a decent argument that Carroll was less of a threat (and Arsenal’s defenders had better games) because Welbeck played.
Good point. Also Ozil got into tackles! Haha
I think Gabriel was fantastic. Excellent positioning (which hasn’t really been his strength so far), very assured defending and good build up play. Passed it well and booted it out when it needed booting out. Only one little indecisiveness in the beginning that allowed Noble to get a shot away, otherwise he was very, very good.
Ok so the gunners have finally won. I aint satisfied until they can beat spurs/mu .Then maybe otherwise its nothing to crow about.
The hammers are out of form having lost 5/6 games on the trot.
Unfortunately Arsenal were out of form leading into the game as well. Fortunately, it was the Arsenal who found it and not WHU. Both teams out of form, just one seems to have turned that corner finally, albeit slowly and behind everyone else. But a turn none the less!
A game equivalent to sitting down and slowly drinking a nice cup of tea. It makes a change to watching games equivalent to taking vodka shots to eye for 90 minutes.
Really think Elneny and Xhaka are one of our best pairings at the holding mid positions, compliment each other well and can really pass the ball.
Was the push on Walcott apenalty shout? Before the game,misgivings were made about the ref. I think its apenalty 95%. We have to wait for the seasoned analysts and retired refs to give their verdict.If it is,the ref shd be severely reprimanded and removed.
The gunners had to win and shd be grateful for an underperforming hammers team.
As for WHU, I expect them to win next game. Spurs are due adraw/defeat/blip no matter who they play.As for the so,he is due a defeat anytime and why not against Arsenal.That would be great.
“The gunners had to win and shd be grateful for an underperforming hammers team.”
No. Arsenal did GOOD to deserve their win. This was not a boring game headed for a draw rescued by an errant pass / own goal.
It/s funny you mentioned Xhaka seemed more controlled. Maybe it’s because he was having to worry about Coq over-commiting and putting him in awkward situations. Elneny seemed more calm and it carried over into Xhaka’s play. Like this pairing, but know Wenger doesn’t see it this way, so I’m prepared for Ramsey’s return.
Am i the only one who thought the players no longer celebrate with the ‘fans’?
If they are can you blame them? (Don’t tell me the shit about paying their wages.)
Ratings pretty spot on. Good to see Sanchez & Ozil linking up nicely again. Haven’t seen that for some time. More performances like that from Gabriel please!
Like many on here, I would like to see Xhaka/Elnenny combo get a run of games together in the middle but Ramsey will be in there for Mo next game.
Nice take by Giroud. 5 more to 100 for Arsenal.
One thing I have to mention. It is almost customary for Giroud to score when he comes off the bench in a game that Theo has started and scored. He seems to have this competition between him and Theo. Like, ‘I just had 30 minutes and I still scored just as much.’ I may be wrong but what the hell.
Haha. The supposed rivalry reads like a buddy cop movie…
How is it nobody mentioned Xhaka made it through without picking up a card?!
He was flirting with one towards the end with two trips within 2 minutes. But all in all he looked like the midfielder he was bought to be.
Lets say if Cech retires and Ospina leaves and we’re down to Szczesny and Martinez i wouldnt mind is Martinez being our 2nd choice after all tbh his distribution is dope!
Im so in love with the Xhanenny partnership!! Perfect combination!
I think Xhakeny works well as a pairing.
also, Mustafi tonight did well but he was still prone to the odd stupid forward pass that was going to noone and easily intercepted. Today though his passes started in the attacking half so the damage when intercepted was minimal.
Thank god we have Xhaka!!
Having watched the game live witnessed a terribly biased referee felt Atkinson had a vendetta against Arsenal considering he was forced to take a break in 2015 and we still witness performances like that against West Ham it’s time to say Atkinson is not good enough for premiership and has to go permenantly. As for MOTD, its official despite Wright commentating nothing was said of how poor Atkinson was or how many wrong decisions he made. I’m hoping it was discussed and it was edited out, which begs the question why wss it edited out, are the BBC covering for… Read more »
What is up with the players not celebrating scoring? It worries me a bit as it seems they’re not happy. I could be wrong but the lads don’t come together to celebrate like past seasons.
Very good three points whcih should do our confidence a world of good. I don’t mind Alexis losing the ball trying to thread a pass through for someone. What bugs me is when he dribbles into blind alleys, takes on three players when a simple pass and move will do. People say he works had to recover it but by then whatever opportunity we were building is gone and we have to start all over. I recall Christiano Ronaldo (whatever you think of him) became more efficient when he dealt away with doing un-necessary things. I wish Sanchez learns that.… Read more »
Im sick of MOTD. We had three stonewalled penalty calls and sure enough Atkinson couldnt see it. The cunt is known for anti Arsenal bias. But guess what, no mention on MOTD, instead they talk about Walcotts handball and Sanchez “obstructing” their goalkeepers view for Ozils goal. Ian Wright didnt help as always. I feel disgusted.