Arsenal overcame Stoke’s impression of Barcelona with relative ease yesterday, here’s how the players rated…
Wojciech Szczesny: 7/10 – While he couldn’t do anything about Stoke’s goal, he’ll no doubt still be annoyed that another clean sheet has gone begging given he had little to do. Probably the first time he’s played Stoke and not had to worry about long throws, long balls, Peter Crouch etc.
Bacary Sagna: 7.5/10 – His headed goal (his first since the 5-2 against Spurs 19 months ago) capped off another solid display at right-back. Always on hand to direct debutant Serge Gnabry and rarely put on the back foot by Stoke.
Kieran Gibbs: 7/10 – Provided much needed attacking width given Wilshere’s tendency to stray from the left flank. A bread and butter performance at the back.
Per Mertesacker: 7/10 – Caught out by Nzonzi’s lofted ball to Arnautovic in the build-up to Cameron’s goal the BFG found redemption by boshing a header past Begovic to restore the lead. Half marked lost for part in Stoke’s equaliser regained for this.
Laurent Koscielny: 7/10 – Took responsibility for carrying the ball out of defence in the first half when Stoke packed the midfield, his defensive contribution was understated…it didn’t need to be anything more.
Mathieu Flamini: 8.5/10 – Played like a rabid dog…in a good way. Barked orders at teammates, bit into tackles and spent much of the game fucking the legs of Stoke players. As Arsene joked after the game he and Ozil cost £21m each…
Aaron Ramsey: 8/10 – Continued his scoring run with a very tidy left foot finish and earns an Arseblog News bonus half point for standing on Walters (?) ankle in the process. Tidy on the ball all game and nearly grabbed a second goal deep into injury-time.
Jack Wilshere: 7/10 – The boy just can’t help but throw his not-quite-fully-fit body on the line. It’s admirable in a way, but also frightening to watch. Still not quite his best but saw determined dribbles draw fouls which led to first and third goals. Needs a little break now.
Serge Gnabry: 6.5/10 – Very promising showing given how late he was selected. Kept it simple in the first half and grew in confidence in the second having a decent pop at goal from long range. Had to cut onto his left peg from the right-flank which narrowed game a bit. Survived an assault by compatriot Huth.
Mesut Ozil: 7.5/10 – A diligent and artisanal performance rather than artistic. He played a part in all three goals without resorting to his YouTube reel of slide-rule passes and delicate touches. Looked knackered as he trudged off to a standing ovation having created seven shooting chances.
Olivier Giroud: 7/10 – His touch wasn’t quite as sure as it has been this term but he battled for every ball with Shawcross and Huth. Didn’t get much service on a day when the team tired in the second half although did unleash a rasping shot from the edge of the box which forced Begovic to tip over.
Subs
Nacho Monreal: 6/10 – Arsenal’s de-facto left midfield substitute at the moment, he helped stem the threat from Stoke’s right.
Ryo Miyaichi: 6/10 – A lively 15 minutes including a decent run on the outside which resulted in a deep cross. A more natural right winger than Gnabry.
Mikel Arteta: 6/10 – Off the bench to a rousing reception for his first ten minutes of the season he was as metronomic and perfectly coiffured as ever.
Lets keep this up boys, I’m feeling confident something good will happen on the silverware front this year.
I’ll say a big fat ‘AMEN’ to that.
Who needs Leo when we have Ryo?
corrected it for you: Who needs Reo when we have Ryo ? ..
I’m so ronery .. so ronery .. so ronery and sadry arone ..
There’s no one .. Just me onry .. sitting on my rittle throne
Nice reference… not for everyone I guess.
Correctly speaking, ‘Lionel’ would be rendered ‘Rioneru’ in Japanese, not ‘Reoneru’.
But we’re still cool.
Per Mertesacker – the gif that keeps on giving.
Do you mean this gif?
http://balls.ie/football/gif-introducing-the-per-mertesacker-back-tackle/
You don’t actually see the ball until it comes out from underneath him. It’s like he laid an egg.
As good as Per’s been this season, the defending in that GIF was a bit mental.
He left Jones completely unmarked, with no one else stepping out of defence at the same time, and a better player on the ball would have slid it through to Jones before Per got to the ball.
Jones would then have proceeded to sky it 20 yards over, but still…
This is called “anticipation” and the best of defenders have it. To win the ball back, you usually have to risk something and the best defenders know when to take that risk. Merte can keep doing this every game for all I care because I trust him to know when to do it and to get it right.
Per knows exactly what he’s doing. Watch it again, and you’ll see that his angles and timing are spot on. He is always between the ball and Jones, so if a pass is attempted it would be very difficult to complete – and this is Stoke. Second, he doesn’t commit to leaving the back line until the opponent has made his heavy touch, betraying the direction in which he intends to travel. The fact that it was so successful, and made to look so beautifully easy, proves that it was excellent defending once again from Per.
Personally, I don’t agree. A tackle being successful doesn’t prove that it was the right thing to do. Similarly, something going wrong doesn’t prove that it was the wrong thing to do.
I see completely what you’re saying, but I don’t think that the possible pass to Jones was actually that difficult. What makes the pass impossible is a heavy touch from Adam (or whoever it was) but this touch isn’t made until Per has already stepped forward.
With a better touch, the ball was there to be played.
Would he have given it to Jones. Running at full pelt like that and being pressured might have made it much harder to put it a pass ahead of Jones in the penalty box. It seem a pass at that point would’ve ended up down the channel, giving enough time for Koscielny to cover as Jones would not have been able to put in a good shot. Put it another way, had he continued covering for Jones, the guy with the ball would have tons of space to keep running and might’ve reached the edge of the box instead. You… Read more »
Or in the case of the Stoke player, the gif that keeps on taking….
Haha man I was hoping someone would .gif that
I was watching at home and I had to do a double take to convince myself that it was him.
I love our first choice back 5, they are becoming quite a unit.
Theo should never take free kicks again. Ozil is the assist king!
We missed theo yesterday. Gnabry was alright but I felt our whole attacking balance on the right was distorted. Given his improvement season on season, and his goal scoring threat, he’s become a vital cog in our system. Get well soon tw14
Theo is inconsistent in patches
FUN FACT: Arsenal lost their first game 3-1. Since then they have beaten Fulham 3-1, Sunderland 3-1 and now Stoke 3-1. The only EPL game that did not finish 3-1 when Arsenal played was the London derby against Sp*rs.
Means we gonna smash every fucking one 3-1 innit. Maybe we can tone it up to 4-1 for those cunts with the Dutch skunk to keep na$ri in his place
Arsenal’s 3-1 record stands at 3-1 (W3, L1)
Could be a new chant if we concede early:
“We’re gonna score, two more, than you….”
I’m sure our number 1 would prefer some more “1-0 to the Arsenal” action whereas the neutral would probably prefer our classic 5-2/5-3s.
3-1 to the Arsenal.
I thought Serge Gnabry did really well yesterday. Sometimes it seemed like he was a bit indecisive when on the ball and held on to it for too long but apart from that nicely done (6.5 almost seems a tad harsh to me!)
I feel strangely (strange because I’ve not felt it in a while) confident in our teams ability to see a match out now. I know we’ve only played 5 PL games but the final 20 minutes have not been gut wrenchingly stressful yet.
Ger-naby. That’s what is said in the live blog
Agreed. I didn’t think there was any player who played especially poor to deserve the lowest rating of the first eleven who started really. Surely he deserved at least another 0.5 for his composure and bravery given the circumstances he was thrown into the game
way too harsh on gnabry, he was better than giroud yesterday for sure!
also thought he looked much better than ryo, who had some poor touches and looked a bit lost at times tbh
Way too harsh on Gnabry, especially given his young age-he played really well. I was at the game and I couldn’t help but be impressed by his energy and enthusiasm. Didn’t see too much of Ryo because I was sat at the other end when he came on, but from what I could see he looked sharp and quick. It bodes well that our youngsters are able to make the step up when required. I must once again reiterate my belief that Gnabry definitely deserves more than a 6.5, he was solid yesterday, and I can’t help but wonder if… Read more »
I think more influenced by the number of times he gave the ball away. He certainly did well, and impressively for his age, but his performance was certainly not perfect. He would have done well to remember how Theo plays – not because he should be like Theo, but that the team was prepared with Theo’s option on the right, and he has quite good pace, good enough to beat the stoke fullbacks, as he demonstrated. Good crosser of the ball, and drifted in quite nicely when appropriate – wish he got that goal.
I agree he still looks raw, but definitely worth more than a 6.5. He didn’t look out of place in the first team, and that was great to see.
Both Gnabry and Myaichi looked good imo albeit for different reasons. Gnabry’s maturity was impressive, he didn’t panic on the ball and rarely gave it away. Myaichi I worry might be a little too lightweight, but it was his harrying that led to Ramsey’s opportunity and actually it should have been Ryo on the end of that chance.
The best aspect of both of them playing though is knowing that there is a genuine alternative to Walcott on the rhs, and more importantly, that Theo realises this too.
Talking of gifs, anyone know if there’s one knocking about for the move where Jack turned Cameron inside out late in the 2nd half?
That was a proper Taxi!! moment.
ramsey is on fire. i really hope he scores at least 25 goals this season. we should buy marco reus and hummels with the money we have left. really think they both could do well in the premier league. but for now lets celebrate being on top of the table. i think we have an awesome chance of winning the league this year.
I’d love to see Reus and/or Hummels, but I reckon it would be insane not to spend some or all of the money on striker…
I’m sure Reus could play there tbh, I’ve always considered him to be ‘Theo with extra technique’ and that would work as a striker imo.
Do still want a ‘proper’ CF as backup though, given we’ll miss it when Giroud isn’t playing.
We need to rest players or their limbs will fall off… Also, Le Prof is looking MUCH more relaxed and jovial these days in press conferences. I’m a fairly recent Gooner, so was it the same way when we were all-conquering?
COYG!!!
As much I would be surprised if Ramsey didn’t win player of the month award , can’t deny Flamini excellent display.
People moaned when Wenger sign him and didn’t spend a penny. But hey , if he’s that good and free why not ?
I think what people forget with Flamini is that
1) He’s played in the PL before,
2) For Arsenal
3) With some current Arsenal teammates
4) Under Wenger.
That’s hugely significant. Any other ‘DM’ (I’m not convinced we like proper DMs/beasts in the midfield – always passing pivotes) would have taken much longer to get into the league etc. Flamini could do it straight away.
His composure when passing has to be the besy of the bunch. He already knows the “Arsenal way” and at 29 years old he is at his best. I consider him a steal.
When we resigned him I was a bit meh but now I’m much happier and glad to see him stick the boot in now and again. That sort of steel is what we have missed 🙂
some people would say buying him was a “no brainer”
Sort of a case of “Buy 0-1, get 1-3” with our signings this season.
hilarious!
To be honest, it wasn’t that funny after the Villa game when it was “Buy no-one, get (beaten) one-three”.
Near the end, he did a wee trick to keep the ball away from a Stoke attacker bearing down on him there were cheers.
He proceeded to applaud and a get the crowd going.
A good sort of character to have around and he seems to be putting the shifts in.
I’m just hoping they sign Flamini up to an extended contract, lengthening the 2 years he signed for. He’s the perfect player for the squad at the moment and it would be a shame to have clubs trying to prise him away at the end of this season, or a situation when he’s playing with his contract running out….again.
He was one of my favourite players when he played here first time, tremendous energy and aggressiveness, but it really sucked how he just f*cked off to earn more money after all the faith Wenger had shown in him.
That tainted his return a bit for me, especially with that hollow ‘Once a Gunner, always a Gunner’ phrase..
But with this level of performances I’m be happy to forgive him 🙂
The significant difference I see in the current Arsenal team and the previous ones (post-invincibles era) is that the defence is now vastly better. Yesterday towards the end of the game we had Arteta, Flamini, Gibbs, Monreal, Sagna, Mert and Koscielny – all of whom are very capable when it comes to defending towards the end of a game. This means that the moment we have a two-goal cushion, Wenger can quickly revert to a line up containing the seven of the above (if available), two of whom would mostly be coming off the bench and hence fresh. Definitely, this… Read more »
I tell you what lads. Flamini looks to be an absolute master stroke. His firey passion for this club is undeniable out there. Never stops barking and giving orders.
He truely looks like he has unfinished business at this club. Could be the man we have been missing for years. With him and arteta in that role, who says we need a midfield battler.
I think it was the 89th minute or something, Stoke weren’t showing too much of a threat and a victory seemed certain. Flamini was still shouting and pointing at people. I saw him give three players three different instructions in about 10 seconds while a throw in was about to be taken and it was brilliant to see.
In the 04/05 season I remember seeing Flamini and Cesc in the carling cup and saying Flamini would be an Arsenal captain one day. Ok… maybe not now all things considered, but he still has what I saw back then.
I’d say who needs a ‘Song’ when we’ve gat the Music! ℓ=))ℓ
COYG we are winning this…!!!
EXTEND HIS CONTRACT!!!
We don’t want big clubs trying to prise him away at the end of this season, or him running his contract down for another big payday!
He only signed for 2 years I believe.
Every single time Wilshere falls to the ground after a challange, I can’t help but feel worried…
The way his body hits the ground…..goodness me
I’ll tell you what, this season has started a bit better than the last one
I love Jack Wilshere! Common dude,i need you at your best form.
the Gif that blogs included in this for the reason Mert regains a half point… I’m uncomfortable with it. Did he turn around because he got the feeling the player would lose the ball…. or did he turn around because he’d lost his striker completely and rather than chase there was a higher chance he’d cut out the attack by facing. Props to him, it worked, but worrying that he lost a striker whom, had the ball carrier not lost control, might have been clean through. I know it’s a silly moan when we’ve won, but I feel it should… Read more »
Haha, yeah I kind of agree it is quite uncomfortable viewing when you consider the space he left for the player he was marking. I like to think he knew exactly what he was doing (he has my balled a few times now), but christ, if a pass had gotten through that would almost certainly have been a goal.
Not necessarily.
Could have had a Kenwyn Jones-esque touch….
I think that’s just how the BFG rolls. We always say he’s not the quickest of blokes, but his positional play is very astute. I think he realised the striker had the run on him, and in the split second he just decided he’s better off putting himself in a good position to cut off the supply to the striker than to try and catch him. Kos might have sprinted back (and conceded a penalty (kiding!)) but Per just defends that way.
That is what defending is all about mates. Its knowing when to push up and when to fall back. Its more than just last ditch sliding tackles and headed clearances. Sometimes you have to take chances like that leaving space behind. If he hadn’t pushed up to intercept the ball it would have meant the player would have been allowed to move closer to goal and that would have been more dangerous. I ll say this. Mertesacker is better positionally than any of our centrebacks and I m glad we have him.
about the conceded goal,i think per could do better,and i hope bould would note the error.. per back the ball which is not acceptable for any top defender. agger made same mistake against southampton on saturday
thought Aaron looked knackered 2nd half…give that boy an easy week! Nice to see Charlie Adam looking so hurt at being brought off. Give him something to think about when hes tucking in to his next pie.
I agree Wilshire needs a rest, he was rubbish. And apart from the goal, Ramsey was shyte. Thank goodness Arteta is back. How about playing Ozil on the left flank instead? Another successful attack on that side of the field due to the “free” role of players.
I know that everyone is entitled to their opinion. But seriously?
Are you David Moyes in disguise, as you seem to know about as much about football as he does at the moment!
Flame sure did f**k Stoke’s legs like a rabid dog. Its like he never left!
‘Serge Gnabry… Had to cut onto his left peg from the right-flank which narrowed game a bit.’
Not sure what this is meant to imply. Gnabry is right-footed.
While I agree with every other rating, I think Szczesny really deserves at least a 7.5 or an 8 on 10. He was pretty much perfect. Even got to the ball after Cameron took the shot. His reflexes were really amazing, and had some great saves in there.
right!
I think it’s not about 7,5 or 8….but giving him more credit after good performance. not only “couldn’t do anything” or “had little to do”. when read it I would give 2/10 !?!
Really loving the feel good factor at the moment. Everyone seems to be on a high and the signing of Özil really has given us that extra boost. With his talent and Flamini’s rabid psycho dog tenacity I think teams are now scared of us again, which is great. What I wouldn’t give to have five minutes alone with Robert Huth to kick him repeatedly in the face though. The guy is a monstrous twat. That “challenge” on Gnabry was appalling. He’s just as bad as that knuckle-dragger Lenny if you ask me. It’s always satisfying to beat Stoke but… Read more »
To me it’s not just that teams are scared of us, there’s another big change. As I turned the TV on to watch the game yesterday, I realised I was expecting to win. I haven’t felt like that for a long time.
Gibbs 7 is way to high, he was a 2 or 3. Bar one good interception, where he immediately gave the ball away straight up the middle, he was awful. Cute little chip passes straight to the opponents and his position play was horrendous, no help from Jack, who was nowhere near a 7 either.
Gibbs was as bad against the Orcs as he was good against OM.
I suspect you are a troll, or registered blind and/or incapable. I’m not saying Gibbs was outstandingly good, but he dealt with everything he was thrown defensively. Unfortunately with LJW playing in front of him and out of position, the link up wasnt as good as it should have been.
I think we should give a 10/10 for the supporters in the stadium.
The Emirates was rocking last night!!!
I’ll give them 10/10 when they support the team even when we’re losing. it’s easy to cheer when we’re winning. Unfortunately we’ve earned a reputation for having incredibly fickle fans. Not the fault of the majority, but the minority that boo our own players, and boo at half time if we’re not winning, and boo a defeat, that minority need to be shut down for us to lose that reputation.
I agree the support is brilliant lately, but you can’t please everyone, one so called supporter on arsenal fan tv is not happy that we won 3-1 and slates flamini who just won motm and says our last goal was a fluke, I suggest you fuck off down the other end of the seven sisters road and complaine with them cunts
seven sisters road LMAO
What we have really gained is a team spirit. Not just the determination to fight for every game, but the confidence of everyone knowing what they are doing and that others are doing their job well. The pleasant surprise is that although the squad appears thin, the replacements have stepped up as required. Was very happy with Gnabry’s first outing proper. He looks strong and confident, a realistic option. Hopefully he can show Ryo not to be overawed by first team action. I agree with the general sentiments about Flamini being the best transfer so far. The solid base he… Read more »
I didn’t think Gibbs was very good at all an if there’s a position arsenal need to strengthen its LB im not sure he cuts it, jack needs to rest for a long time he isn’t anywhere near the player we’ve seen, we really could do with seeing podolski an cazorla back before everyone gets as fatigued as jack. Great timing with arteta coming back need to get him fit an hell be taking control of games again, giroud I can see going missing in certain games he’s a good player but is he going to do it against top… Read more »
.
Well there’s this guy Montreal, plays for spain. I have seen worse as a backup.
But I like them both anyway, just for the moment I’d see Montreal play the cups while Gibbs stays in the 11 for the league.
Plus, if Gibbs was tired, don’t forget his game against Marseille. That explains it.
Excellent ratings. Flamini – man of the match
Am i the only one who saw that Jack was immense yesterday?
I know Ozil got most of the assists but Jack kept things ticking…
Err… Montreal u say?
Giroud gets a 7 simply for battling with two uruk hais for 90mins while already being knackered from marseille.. Giroud sums up the team pretty well at the moment. Not as quick or as skilful as it once was but alot of heart and hard work with occasional flashs of brilliance and wonderful touches. Gnabry has a dilemma. He happens to have far more talent than theo and is already a better footballer… But theo provides balance and width to the team and far more threat in behind with his pace and directness. I always supported the incredible free transfer… Read more »
Gnabry sometimes gets used on the left flank as well, so it seems his technical ability, which is really good enough for the level even if his decision making does need more experience to work with it, will make him more versatile.
That was a shittily long sentence.
Not sure you can say Gnabry has “far more talent than Theo” (he deserves a capital letter!). He does seem to have as much promise as Theo did at that age, and we certainly all hope he’ll develop into a top quality winger. When Serge can score a goal every other gane or better at the top level, as Theo did last year, provide as many assists into the bargain, and maybe hold a regular place in his country’s international squad, then I’ll agree he’s as good as Theo. His performance and goals in our U19 team’s match against Marseille’s… Read more »
As much as Ramsey is in better personal form at the moment and Ozil is an exceptional player, think Jack is crucial in many ways to the balance in midfield as he is one of the few we have to provide dynamic ability in being able to take on and beat players. The other player is Diaby whom as we all know is not always available. Santi returning in to the squad will bring a different set of capabilities which may afford Jack a rest. As far as Gnabry is concern, I feel he was a little too self conscious… Read more »
The other thing I don’t get is why the press keep insisting that the Potters are some sort of arch nemesis for us. They haven’t beaten us for quite a stretch now and have been defeated at the Emirates consistently. Physically we have more than taken care of their threat and they have not dominated aerially on us for several seasons. It was frustrating therefore that we were a bit wasteful with passing start of second half and they managed a 59% ball possession. But as I have always mentioned with regard reading statistics (7am kickoff should take note), it… Read more »
I pretty much agree with all the ratings here. Watching the first half, I noticed that Gnabry seemed a little self-conscious, possibly a bit nervous about fucking up anything in midfield. But the difference in him was so noticeable in the second half. He was a lot more adventurous, made quicker runs, and looked a lot more confident! However, I agree that he isn’t quite ready yet to take the place of Theo on a consistent basis, as I feel Theo complements the team more and the central midfielders know how to integrate Theo into their attacks already. I feel… Read more »
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/09/22/watch-new-version-henrying-thierry-henry-uses-dance-mimick-foul-fc-dallas-de