A first defeat in what seems like an age against a good Dortmund side. The Champions League group is thrown wide open.
Here’s how the players rated.
Wojciech Szczesny: 6/10 – Really had no chance with either goal. Other than that had little to do.
Bacary Sagna: 6/10 – Good ball for the goal, but looked tired from the start.
Per Mertesacker: 6/10 – Nothing spectacular or unspectacular. The archetypal 6 out of 10 performance.
Laurent Koscielny: 7/10 – Did well against Lewandowski, got a straight arm in the face for his trouble. Could have writhed on the ground, chose not to and probably saved the Dortmund man from a red card. Next time pretend to be dead!
Kieran Gibbs: 6/10 – A little bit Clichy.
Mikel Arteta: 7/10 – Really solid defensively, worked very hard to cut out as much danger as possible. Not much happening ahead of him though.
Aaron Ramsey: 5/10 – Bad mistake which led their opening goal, was always due a duff game at some point.
Jack Wilshere: 4/10 – Really needs to concentrate on doing the simple things better. Completed just 15 of 30 attempted passes. At this level that doesn’t just lead to a bad individual performance but affects the team.
Tomas Rosicky: 7/10 – Worked hard, tried to make things happen but not much did. Unlucky not to score but for a fantastic Hummels block on the line.
Mesut Ozil: 6/10 – Some nice moments but found it hard to get a hold on the game.
Olivier Giroud: 7/10 – Scored a good goal, really worked to get the Gunners back into the game, but never really got any service.
Subs
Santi Cazorla: 7/10 – Made the team better when he came on, almost scored with a fantastic effort from the edge of the box.
Nicklas Bendtner: n/a– Not on long enough to rate
Serge Gnabry: n/a– Not on long enough to rate
Feel free to debate and discuss in the comments, but please read the comment policy first and don’t get angry with each other, or me, about imaginary points.
Can’t moan at any of those ratings. Not a great day at the office, against a decent side, in a very tight game.
Done now, so let’s jump back on the train and fuckin smash the Eagles on Saturday.
Perfect.
I think we (both the fans and the team) needed a little shock reminder that we must not get carried away.
Yep..not a bad time to lose one..kick in the pants we needed
Someone either mis-calculated the team’s fitness levels or their desire. I don’t think it would’ve hurt to bring on Gnabry a bit earlier… Ozil was the only one of our midfielders who was even trying to add some width.
subs were made too late. giroud looked done by 65 minutes, wincing as he trotted off at half time. overall we looked tired. i expect serious rotation on saturday. and a youthful side to face chelsea in the league cup.
looking at the 90 minutes, and the 2nd half in particular, i’m sure we can go to germany and get those three points back.
Seeing as Chelsea’s upcoming schedule isn’t the easiest either (City, Us, Newcastle, Schalke, West Brom) we could well see 2 youthful sides squaring off
Dortmund took their chances well, I just think the game was ours to lose. We had a bad game, they had a game-plan which worked and frustrated us. Especially in the 2nd half where they time wasted a lot which lead to use becoming ever more anxious to go for the winner. Its a good lesson to be learnt.
I think going to Dortmund the incentive will be on them to attack, we will have a much more enjoyable game in an attacking sense and I fancy us to score a few.
I’d say we now have to win at either Napoli or Dourtmound… A hard but not impossible task
Draw both and smash Marseille?
Nightmare scenario if we need to take something from the game in Naples.would like to finish it off before that
We have won at much harder places, with many key players out. I am pretty confident we can do some damage in those games.
Not sure if Rocky should have a seven. I would of subbed him when Jack was taken off.
To many below par performances against a team of quality. We just wernt up for it tonight.
It’s comparative. Plus he would have scored with that stunning left-foot volley, if it weren’t for the fact that it occurred during almost the ONLY PASSAGE OF PLAY EVER where there would be a defender directly on the line during open play. Harumph. But he and Giroud were certainly our best players in terms of trying to make things happen. And Arteta did his job in terms of being a metronome. I pretty much 100% agree with all these ratings.
Arteta made half of our 22 tackles. That alone is worth 2 points for me
I thought Rosicky was very good. Almost scored, created lots, looked one of the only players capable of making a difference.
Tried to be overly clever with the 1-2’s for me. Ima big rosicky fan but I didn’t think he was great at all.
I was particularly irked by the constant passing with giroud about 30 yards away from goal. It was was going to end with giroud being disposed. I feel he’ll have better games this season.
You must’ve been watching a totally different game to me and missed his quick intelligent and accurate passing, hard work and off the ball running. Was easily our best midfielder on the night and as usual quickened the pace of our game when he had the opportuinity. Unlucky not to score and many of our attacking moves were instigated by TR7.
I love Giroud I think….
Agree on that one. Thought Giroud should have had an 8. He really put a shift in and caused them a lot of problems even though his service was poor.
I thought Hummels was very very good and Giroud still managed to cause a lot of problems! His development is almost as nice to look at as he is … Almost.
Argh so frustrating. I hope we rip Palace a new one at the weekend.
Tough for Wilshere, I think sometimes he tries a little too hard to make things happen and forces the play too much rather than being able to hold onto possession and create space. Had a couple of decent moments but looked tired and struggled to really influence the game, especially after his knock.
Ozil a difficult one too, could have gone so different on another day with two cutbacks for Santi. Looked good on the right, though – think he’s quicker than Wilshere and versatile enough to be a ‘false winger’ as it were!
I think wilshere should have stuck around when cazorla came off…rambo wasn’t doing anything he should have come off instead…
..hindsight is a wonderful thing…and so are the Arsenal
COYG!!
Surprised at those stats on Wilshere. I didn’t think he played that badly. Bit drunk though..
Him or you?
Rambo too deep in this game, held on to the ball for way too long (5). Jack grew into the game and was unlucky to get injured (7). Rosicky had a bit of a mare and ran into trouble often (5). Bfg was exceptional in reading and cutting out danger (8). Arteta had a brilliant second half (8). Poor Sagna fought hard all game but was way out of position for their winner and kinda lost us the game. i’ll give him an (oops). Giroud (8). Ozil Marginal but always tried to find space to make something happen (7).
What game were you watching? TR7 was easily our best midfielder on the night.
Really need our wide men back the cover wingers that are jack rosicky ramsey dont exactly know how to stay well…….on the wings e.g Gibbs constantly exposed to kevin grossketchups tonight.
Jack has to learn from Ramsey.
When its not working for you simplify your game.
I remember numerous times he could play the simple pass, yet tried to dribble past 3 players.
They scored their first from Ramsey not simplifying his game and fucking around in the danger area.
Think he means in general mate for about a year now, not his one off tonight.
We scored from Ramsey not simplifying his game and taking one of their DMs on, where he could have played the simple pass. So it’s about the area of the pitch you’re on.
hope he does not learn anything from him tonight
that really felt devestating
6 is generous for merty poor on the ball and got dragged all over the shop for dortmunds 2nd goal
Can’t believe some people have been saying Dortmund out played us! Ok first half they were the better team but we went into half time all square! Second half we were the better team and were denied a perfectly legitimate goal and hit the crossbar! We did all this a bit tired, some players having an off day and key players missing (flamini, theo and podolski) so think we have a lot to be positive about! Btw didn’t think much to the ref, some decisions were”strange”
They did outplay us. Dominated the first half, soaked up the pressure in the second and hit us on the break. Fact is Wenger’s tactics were shit, playing central midfielders on the flank – no width, again his substitutions were reactive nor proactive.
Legitimate goal? Take the blinkers off. Hit the crossbar? So what, crossbar is not a goal. Tired? Why? Key players missing – funny how they’re always key players when they don’t play aren’t they?
Strange decisions? Didn’t see any. Again, look to the manager, first big game in months and he fucks it up.
I’m ready when you are. I’ll sit by my phone tomorrow and wait for your call…
That’s plain creepy.
Some fans are impossible to please.
Looks like you were waiting for a failure to spew your anti-Wenger bile. Good result for you today, then!
You’re on drugs Peach. Dortmund was only better the first 20 minutes. The rest of the game they were trying to defend a result, even when it was level, they looked to get a draw. When Santi came on, they were defending with 9 players in and around the box. The only reason Dortmund got that winner was because Gibbs decided to challenge the man with the ball instead of following Grosskreuts. There was nobody forward for Dortmund at that stage, so I don’t know why Gibbs thought he had to challenge the guy with the ball, it was just… Read more »
Why was Rambo’s goal (from the corner) disqualified?
I really didn’t get it. Did I miss something?
It would have changed the game.
Koscielny gave Hummels (I think) a shove in the back just as Mertesacker headed it. I guess this is what the ref saw anyway. It’s ridiculous as you get those fouls in the box all the time and 99% are either not given or go the way of the defending team.
If think you’re confusing possession with dominance. Arsenal have let the opposition keep possession of the ball in front of them ALL SEASON and that’s what happened in the first half; Dortmund created nothing.
Need to upgrade sagna. Not god enough going forward. Made ozils job that bit harder. Jammy enough with cross for goal. But its his problem for years. Id like to see someone better more threatening and assured going forward
Second loss all season and he’s calling to replace one of the best right backs in the premier league, we had a bad game, look to the next one, for christ’s sake does nothing please you?
He’s never been good enough going forward, but I wouldn’t blame him. If Jenkinson’s there you’re guaranteed costly defensive fuck ups.
Ok the ref was a but head lol
I’d give Giroud an 8 at least, destroyed both Subotic and Hummels tonight.
I didn’t think Wilshere played that badly…
Real fine margins stuff. If Santi’s strike had snuck in we’d all probably be hailing a ‘professional’ performance. As it is, it didn’t, so Arsenal looked short.
I think fatigue crept up on this side tonight. They looked a bit jaded, particularly Sagna and Ramsey. Totally understandable, but hopefully Palace is a chance to rotate a bit.
I have to say, I strongly disagree with Gibbs’ rating, I think he deserves a lot more credit. He didn’t get forward as much I would have liked, but he made a noticeable amount of cracking tackles, and looks the least likely of the back four to do something silly.
He did make one crap cross, but I don’t think that can sum up his game.
6 is hardly a bad rating.
He also left grosskreutz way too much space for the second goal
Gibbo for me was at fault for the winning goal. He was just a bit slow to react to the overlap and the defense tried to cover for him, which left a gap on the backpost. That said it boiled down to the tactical naivety of the gunners getting caught on the break.
No, he was exposed 2v1 for their winning goal, it was Sagna’s fault for not tracking the man on the back post. All round good performance though, could have beat one of the best sides in Europe!
I think a draw would’ve been fair and we missed Flamini, we seem vulnerable to counter attacks without him just like when he left the pitch on saturday.
Bit harsh on Wilshere methinks, but I can see your point. It’s definitely a case of trying too hard, Ramsey was guilty of the same thing. But I won’t fault either of them for trying to make things happen. While I didn’t think we played that poorly today, we lacked a bit on the flanks like against Swansea. We improved a lot when Ozil went wide and Cazorla interchanged with Rosciky. Really need Podolski and, more importantly, Walcott back to provide more firepower in the bigger games and to give Ozil a real target to hit.
Day 65: Still no sign of fatgooner
Wilshere out of position = 4/10
Why not win a win in Germany, Italy & France the team are more than capable aslong as Wilshere and Ramsey learn from tonights mistakes.
Missed Flamini tidying up, Arteta filled in okay.
Ramsey and Wilshire found out what top class football is about,but they are quick learners!
Very gutted about the result. In the space of 12 months, we have lost 3 home games to German opposition. The game was very tight and I dont think either keeper had to do anything. I can understand AW’s frustration at the fact that we could and should have settled for a draw but its upto him to send out that message from the touchline, but then if we are beginning to dominate as we did, then you can’t be critical of our ambition. Its just that if you consider that we were not losing the game and we didnt… Read more »
Who were the other German team? Bayern and Dortmund I got but I’m stumped with the third and I’m too lazy tonight to Google it
Schalke beat us 0-2 almost exactly a year ago tonight.
Of course. Thanks
Pretty much agreed although can’t agree with Gibbs and Bacary ending up level. Gibbs definitely a 7 and Sagna possibly a 5- I don’t think we should be writing him off but he was very indecisive and I don’t think Mesut will have been too impressed. Overall what stood out for me was that it felt like a steep learning curve for Jack and Rambo but hopefully one they do indeed learn from. They both tried to over complicate things too often which works wonderfully against Norwich but not Dortmund. The positive is of cousre they’re still in the very… Read more »
For the second goal, Gibbs was far too advanced, then, when he did get back, he was drawn to the ball. Cazorla was on Aubameyang, Gibbs should’ve gone to Grosskreutz or at least given himself enough distance to cover both.
As it is, he got too close, Grosskreutz went past him, goal. It was very much ‘Clichy’. He was fine until then, but costing us a goal is enough to take points off.
Totally disagree with the sagna rating. The 2nd goal they got was his fault. He should havegottn back (and probably would’ve had he been fresh). Yes he got an assist but his passing was horrid especially in the first half. It does show the importance of the flame though. If he was playing would they of got the second? Would he let ramsey off the hook for the first one we conceded? I think not. Strange nobody has been talking about the hummels giroud moment. Hummels was the last man by a long shot and it was a chance at… Read more »
They were strong. We will learn a la Villa and and come back stronger. No panic yet but need to bounce asap
I’m not too optimistic for our chances. I think beating Napoli or Dortmund will be a very tough task. We’re capable but I don’t think it is too likely. Maybe a draw against one of them would be enough but unlikely. I said before the games started that I’d take 2nd spot in this group and I’d take that now. Can’t believe how much this group has changed after our great start.
It’s not all doom and gloom. The only reason you “can’t believe how much this group has changed” is because we lost today. And yes, of course it’s changed the complexion of the group. But Napoli, Dortmund and Marseille will take points off each other and we can certainly beat Marseille and Napoli again. We can beat Dortmund too. Just because they’re all tough games doesn’t mean we can’t win them, if we have to scrape 2-1 wins for all three I’ll take it obviously. And we can do it, of course.
We can do it but I would think we’re not favourites to qualify anymore. We have to play the 2 better teams away from home. just being realistic.
Keep calm and lets take the long/agonising path to our first trophy in 8years. Did you realy think it would be easy? Put the result behind you and Lets get behind the team we are ready to walk the path with them. Cheer up and lets put it behind like the villa blip after all chelsea where beaten by basel at the bridge some weels back. Coyg!
I thought our team gave BVB too much respect in the first half. Both our fullbacks we poor re crossing the ball. JW10 need to simplify his game Ozil was almost invisible tonight.ArteTa Kos and Per and Rosie were our best players. Ramsey have played far too many games and need rest. Santi was dynamic. Lewe should have been sent off. At the end of the game the heavend opened and we all got soaked and I can feel a dose of flu coming We will beat Dortmund away if our wingers are fit. When Arsenal played Bayern last year… Read more »
agreed, glad we saw the skipper back in form tonight. For me Arteta was our man of the match. He took over late in the first half and was our Pirlo. He pocked away every loose ball on top of the box, including the one that Rambo flubbed. And that slide tackle late to neutralize a Dortmund counter was uber brilliant.
Tough loss. Wenger has always been a poor rotator. There is no excuse for not playing jenkinson and Montreal at home for the Norwich game. This would have left our first choice full backs fit for a tough,vital home game vs Dortmund. Especially when you consider that we are missing theo, poldi, and Ox for pace. It makes the need for energetic fullbacks all the more important.
perhaps, but lack of energy is no reason for our inability to get off a decent cross. We seldom connect on crosses, we SUCK at crossing…period!
Without Flamini, Ramsey was forced to play further deep and couldn’t be more attacking as he’s been this season. At the tail end of last season, the Arteta-Ramsey pivot worked well buti think his mentality has changed this season and maybe it won’t work as well. Just a theory. Didn’t really think the midfielders on the wings would work well against a team like Dortmund. We knew going in that they were gonna play compact and hit us on the counter. You could see the difference when Santi came on. Suprised Gnabry didn’t start to be honest but against a… Read more »
Re: your first point, I think Rambo is versatile and the consumate professional to do the job asked of him; he’s shown this in the past. Think he just had a tough game, Dortmund effectively closed him down, put pressure on him and he was really restricted in trying to make things happen from deep. Apart from his flub that led to the first goal he was OK defensively, but he struggled to move the ball forward. I agree that midfielders on the wing just didn’t work, but I can see Wenger’s hesitation to play Gnabry in such a game… Read more »
Good ratings, especially Wilshere who gave the ball away far too many times. Saying that, I think a few of the team were guilty of that. Looking forward to us bouncing back at the weekend!
People should stop trying to assign blame to individuals, other than Santi, Arteta, Giroud and Koscielny, no one left with any credit at all. We had a bad first 30 minutes and we were playing catch up since, imo. We could have won it at the end, but they then hit us on the counter attack.
Moral of this story is that you can’t be sloppy against top opposition.
I assume that sagna comment was for me sean gooner? When did I say we need a new rb ? I think the opposite. I said he had a bad game and left it open to whether it was due to fitness/ tiredness. Frankly I think we are fine in rb and am glad we still have him. God forbid I say he had a bad game…. should I say Wilshire s performance was top class because hes a few gooners favourite player? Read comments before posting about them.. it just shows ignorance.
Actually it wasn’t directed at you, the comment was in relation to:
vieira
October 22, 2013 at 11:26 pm
Need to upgrade sagna. Not god enough going forward. Made ozils job that bit harder. Jammy enough with cross for goal. But its his problem for years. Id like to see someone better more threatening and assured going forward
I actually agree that Sagna didn’t play too well today. Many players didn’t. Maybe you should be the one to check your facts before calling others ignorant
There will be no better place to response than at crystal palace. Up gunners
Don’t worry, we’ll have the Flamster back soon enough and those counter attacks we seem to be so susceptible to won’t be as easy for the other team with Flamini hustling back and being in position to cover the backs. He’s made a big impact with his positional play and we missed that dearly tonight. A draw would have been fair but we really did give up two poor goals and they only gave up one, so can’t complain about the result in the end. We are an excellent road team so I am very confident we can pick up… Read more »
Lets face it, our newfound offensive fluidity comes with a price, it leaves us open to the counter since our players move so much and are often out of position when we lose the ball as Sagna was tonight. Lets give some credit to Dortmund, that was some damn good pressing. It was like an old school man for man defense. It threw off our passing rhythm.
Pretty fair ratings, although I thought Wilshere was better than Ramsey, who lost the ball/gave it away too many times. I thought Arteta was superb (deserved an 8), working tirelessly to let us play from the back despite Dortmund’s pressure, and winning lots of balls. Giroud was of course awesome, and I love his passion.
Cazorla was a bit of a game-changer when he came on, too.
That was our toughest game so far this season, and we did ok – we can definitely do it in the remaining games and get through.
Think we missed Flamini. Didn’t deserve to lose, but we’ll bounce back COYG!
Problem is if we get a injury to Flamini he cant be replaced.
Every other posistion is fine.
But Flamini to this team is unique in the way there isnt another player like him in the squad that is willing to do the dirty work .
Could Frimpong do it (when he’s fit and maybe a bit more experienced)? What do you think?
No hes to ruthless he has no self control he will get send off.
Pretty much agree with your ratings. Too many players just not quite at their sharpest. Just as we took Naples by surprise with our fast start three weeks ago, I thought we were taken by surprise by the energy with which Dortmund started — presumably a plan designed to prevent just the same thing happening again. As a result, we were nervous and hurried when we did get possession, and wasted it far too often. Actually, apart from the unfortunate and avoidable first goal, I thought we did quite well to weather the storm, and 1-1 at half-time was a… Read more »
One of those things, could have gone either way. Your ratings would then be slightly different. Personally thought we were going to start either Santi or Ozil on weekend against Norwich in lieu of up coming Tuesday night. Therefore surprised that Santi was not started granted Rosicky is still quality. Also prefer Jack next to Arteta and Ramsey deployed up field further freed to do offensive work. Jack is slightly more combative and drives the ball from deep well for us. Ramsey in an attacking line with Santi and Ozil switching positions would have been a better mix IMO. We… Read more »
I get what you’re saying but the thing is Jack next to Arteta leaves our defense too expose. I don’t know if that’s changed this term but last season if definitely affected us. Moving Rambo to CM really gave us shape. But that said Ramsey’s overall game has gone to another level now, and he’s probably best used further up now. Don’t know!
Klopp for Arsene’s replacement! IF HE DO RETIRE some day.
Just another bad day at office, time to put this behind us and bounce back in style over the weekend. The season is not any where near done, so there is still much to do. Besides it’s how the team responds to moments such as these that will determine how successful we are at the end of it all
at 80 mins I felt we were going to score one more cos we got them holed back in their half for much of the 2nd half. we were undone by the lack of speed on our flanks. Ozil delayed play for way too long whenever he was through on there and got muscled out on the ball most times
Think we need some squad rotation as players are beginning to look a little tired. Not that surprising when you consider how many games Ozils played since he arrived, same with Ramsey and a half fit Wilshere this season. I’d go with Santi/Rosicky/Gnabry against Palace. Worried about our response to this game, last year the wheels really came off after losing to Schalke at the same time, can’t afford that this time around. Need to beat palace and focus on getting some momentum back ahead of the trip to Germany