Arsenal 5 – 0 Aston Villa Player Ratings by KJ
Ospina – 7
He was solid today. He was rarely challenged but kept his concentration and his distribution was decent.
Bellerin – 8
A very good game by the young Spaniard. He was composed on the ball and was defensively solid. He took his goal very well as well with a cool side foot outside the box.
Mertesacker – 8
Composed performance by the captain. Never looked in trouble at all.
Koscielny – 7.5
Similar to Mertesacker but there were moments where he tried to dribble out of our own box when defending and was dispossessed by Villa.
Monreal – 8
Another quality performance by Nacho. He was defensively strong and added a lot to our offence with his overlap and passing.
Coquelin – 8
He was extremely solid in the middle. Won plenty of tackles and his passing was good enough to aid us on the counter attack.
Ramsey – 6
Lost the ball a lot for me, especially in the second half. He’s just come back from injury and is clearly lacking sharpness.
Walcott – 7
Although he scored a very nice goal, he didn’t get involved enough in the play for me. There were opportunities for him to really hurt Villa but he never made the right choice.
Cazorla – 8
His consistency since the beginning of December has been outstanding. He is just the perfect midfielder at the moment. He presses, he can turn extremely quickly, he can dribble, he can pass, he can score and so on.
Özil – 8.5 (MOTM)
He was brilliant today. His passing was superb and he hurt Villa constantly with his runs from the left. His assist for Giroud’s goal was class and he took his goal extremely well. It’s good to have him back.
Giroud – 7.5
Overall, it was a good striker performance. He scored early on (although he almost lost control of the ball) and he applied a lot of pressure to Villa’s back line. They tried to play a high line against him and failed.
Subs:
Rosicky – 7
He added a bit of zip and that allowed us to really hurt Villa. He turns so quickly which allows us to counter effectively.
Akpom – 6
Decent appearance for him. Won the penalty and did use his pace effectively on the counter. A lot of refinement needed but promising stuff.
Flamini – N/A
Came on late and didn’t really have enough to do for a rating.
Ramsey need a role change, obviously Cazorla is playing as playmaker
it shows that our best starting XI could be without him (Ramsey) it might be something like:
Ospina
bellerin. per. boss nacho
coq. Santi
theo. mesut. Alexis
Olivier G
Keep Ozil our wide for now, midfield is a hot boiling pot right now and we need fighters and grafters in there. Don’t fix what’s not broken.
Play Ozil as a Striker or as a Winger but don’t put him in midfield. We need hard workers that keep it tight. I think Ozil is doing just fine out wide, he had all the freedom to do what he wants from there..
The Coq, Cazorla, Ramsey, Rosicky are the type to keep it tight and gangsta right now and it’s not been bad, as it??? And if Sanchez comes back you can drop Walcott and play Ozil and Sanchez, but our midfield is balanced at the moment, let’s not mess it up again by trying to fix or try things that are not needed right now..
How fast the tables can turn, last season guys were on Ozil’s case now its Ramsey’s turn. I have been watching Ramsey closely of late and i now understand why some people dont want another CM, definitely Ramsey will lose his place. I’ve been telling guys that World class players need 3 games to show up after injury but mediocre players mid 3/4 of the season to get back their form. Ramsey needs to learn his role in the team. some guys say we should not bench Ramsey to accommodate Ozil, so why should we bench Ozil to accommodate Ramsey? Things totally when Ramsey came off yesterday.
@muda, while it is exciting to fit all our best into the team, i think i would have to agree with Keown on this one. Coq Sant and Aaron are pivotal/vital to how solid we have been lately. He even pointed out Aarons change in tactics, some on here might not have noticed Aaron having a great individual display but at least someone has noticed him doing something much more important – having a great team ethics display.
I’d go for the same lineup except that i’d like to see ramsey playing alongside Coq in a 2 DM formation. It will give us more protection and let Ramsey have the B2B role.
Actually I like him in this setup. Not sure if you noticed, him and Cazorla are the perfect B2B duo. When Ramsey was up, Cazorla stayed back while wehn Cazorla went up the field Ramsey stayed with Coquelin.
One time we have seen a (too) high density in the last third when we had Ozil, Ramsey, Cazorla and even Coquelin in a very tight area. That was a bit strange.
Ramsey must learn discipline, people often forget how good of a tackler he is. He should definitely play ahead of Wilshere.
Good ratings for once
Good game and hard to pick MOTM here. Though personally I would rate the team as
Ospina (7),
Bellerin (7.5),
Mertesacker (6.5),
Koscielny (6.5),
Monreal (7),
Coquelin (8),
Ramsey (5.5),
Walcott (7),
Cazorla (9),
Ozil (9),
Giroud (7.5)
Subs: Rosicky (7), Flamini (3.5), Akpom (7).
Ramsey has became a serious concern now and we all know how much faith AW has in him. Sure his just come back from injury plus it was good to see him get some more action though personally on his current form I would start him from the bench against spurs. Hope he also finds his feet.
AFC – Turn down for what!!!
Um, Mert and Kozza 6.5? You do know we kept a clean sheet, right?
Yeah I do, they were solid too but based on individual player rating I would say they were not tested as much and they a pretty quite day at the office apart from very chances villa created.
Our CB and goolie had a quite day but kept things tidy, this is what every coach wants to hear. My “low” ratings is just testament to how well the team shaped up and how poor villa were no disrespect to our CB’s.
They had a comfortable day due to our defensive unit as a whole str/midf/def/gk. I would say that the cb’s are crucial in this unit, every bit as crucial as Coq who you gave an eight which is fair enough but a slight lapse from Coq would have gone largely unnoticed unless he was the last midf back whereas a slight lapse from a cb would lead to a goal chance, i dont recall our cb’s having lapses which led to goal chances hence i cant understand your reasoning.
Actually Ramsey dribble is much better than Walcott. What pi$$es me off is the fact that people compare Ramsey from the year before when he actually had to take Cazorla’s place (due to his form back then) with Ramsey from yesterday where he was used as a cover for both Cazorla and Ozil. As a player you will never win a beauty contest in such position.
Ramsey wasn’t covering Cazorla, Cazorla was covering Ramsey Ramsey always bursts forward ALWAYS. In fact Ramsey plays better when he’s doing the nitty gritty
I believe you have seen a different game. I can show you the heat map for every player and the one for Ramsey is striking similar with the one of Cazorla but in mirror (Ramsey centre left and Cazorla centre right).
I don’t know if you understand how this new setup works but let me give you an example. Before (probably due to lack of depth in the team) we were pushing with both fullbacks and the 4231 formation rested on the two centre backs.
Nowadays, once we started using 4132 or 4141 if the charge goes on the left (Monreal) then the other flank is staying behind (Bellerin). Same goes with our CM/B2B/jack of all trades : Ramsey/Rosicky up then Cazorla stays behind. This is pretty obvious judging by how many interceptions or midfield made in the last 4 games.
I prefer Santi Cazrorla MOTM!!!
Ozil played well….but it would be a big mistake to play him against spurs or other top teams…..while he has performed well against villa — there defence was naive to have a high line.
Even in the match against villa – ozil lost possession a number of times – against better teams it can make be disastrous…
till he is ready to go into a tackle or a 50-50 ball with a hope that he can win the ball –he should be played against teams which are not quick/fast…
i worry wenger praising him too much — rosiscky is much better especially with coquellin providing cover…
if a player is not capable of playing in big games then who is he ? a big player? ? you guys should stop underrating Ozil.
I want Ozil to do well but I am still nervous about him when it comes to much better oppositions. For example the North London Derby is bloody, it’s 100 miles a second and tackles, high intensity, lots of pace etc, we need grafters, fighters and pure pace. Rosicky and Walcott are the 2 kings against Spuds, they just seem to up their games another notch in the derby, they score and make the spuds cry..
Just to make peace, if Sanchez is available then may be we should drop Walcott and play Sanchez and Ozil, but Ozzy has got to stand up and put in tackles because let’s not shy away from it hard over the top tackles always fly in NLD, no passengers.
Nobody is underrating Ozil. Ozil is a very good player buy maybe not a premier league player. I lost count of how many of times Ozil lost the ball yesterday and other players had to work hard to cover him. Against a premier league tough opposition, those errors might come too costly.
I think a big clue of who plays next week was Theo coming off early whereas Ozil was left to play. Considering both of them are only back i would imagine that @galen has a point and i think Theo will get the nod.
Your take on the game seems right and I would agree with your scores! What a game from the perspective that we didn’t take Villa for granted! Now to give those pretenders down the road to the status of “kings of North London” a good hiding!!!
The best part of Ozil’s play yesterday was his energetic run to get his goal. His pass to for Ramsey was also mouth watering.
Giroud’s pass to Ozil was arguably as good as Ozil’s pass to Giroud 🙂
Cazorla can’t score from open play now, can he? His shots keep hitting the post, or the keeper puts on a miracle save 🙁
Unfortunately for OX, Walcott proves once again why he’s a better player now. Finishing and end product.
Rosicky should play against Spurs I believe. He loves the Spurs very much. I think Ramsey should be the player to make way. He’s still not at his 100%.
I am also ready to bet that Rosicky will feature against the spuds.
I must say, I’m so stoked for Le Coq! It’s amazing how quickly someone can improve… I’ll be honest, before he went out on loan, I really didn’t see the reason why we didn’t just sell him… So happy we didn’t! He will soon be in that France squad if he carries on like this…
This is very much a similar case to Paul Pogba Man Utd situation, except we held on to Le Coq… Here’s to a bright future for him!
Ospina deserves more, wat a fantastic save at the end to keep the clean sheet, also his fast distribution contributed to one of the goals….sumthing which u wont see from the Scezney…
its not good that all players are scoring or trying to score 🙁 🙁
Ospina may get jelous that he is the only one who hasnt scored and in our champions league final against barca, he will run with the ball and try to dribble n score but will be disposesed by suarez who will then score against us 🙁 🙁 🙁
Then alexis his continet mate will be very mad but will want to save ospina’s career. so he will go into beast mode n score 5goals hence cancel out his friend’s blunder 🙂 🙂 🙂
but alexis heroic act will depend on if suarez doesnt bite his heel and infect him with an achilles heel like koscielny’s 🙁 🙁
Pythagoras, you are a very special individual my friend!
Amazing how le coq hates seeing the ball at the feet of the opponent that he goes hard to win it back for his team
Le Coq – Plays hard and gets stuck in 😀
am i the only person who thinks ozil didn’t play that great! never man of match. many many miss placed passes, nearly as many as ramsey. coq man of match, amount of interceptions and tackles has been unreal in last 5/6 matches. no dcm is this quick and this good at reading tackles/ interceptions, you gotta start realising, his one of the best performers in the world in that position at the moment. don’t see why he aint gonna stop. watch bellerin since next gen days, he and gnarby was the only 2 stand out performers then and is gonna be in top 10 of worlds best one day probably soon. thank good i haven’t gotta see jenkos rigid play and terrible crosses again
my earlier post on ozil seems to have equal likes and dislikes…..he played well but not enough to guarantee a starting place… he is weak to win tough tackles and chase the ball upfront.
against a fast team like spurs, it will put a lot of pressure on the rest of the team..
ozil needs to earn his place in the squad..cant remember one big-ocasion game when he has performed..
Think this business about Ozil “winning tough tackles etc” is making you guys not see the wood for the trees. Kos wins on average one tackle a match and loses one tackle per match. Hardly a big part of the game is it. Everyone’s rave-fav Matic averages less than 3 tackles a game. Proper tackling is a fast dying art. You make it sound like tackling is the be all and end all ability, sounds a bit 1970s neanderthal to me. To pan one of our creative players for not indulging in kamikaze tackling is akin to criticising Coquelin for not creating or scoring more.
“And Arsenal, back in the business of stylish football and points accumulation”
Yesterdays commentator after Oliviers goal…
Priceless…
Can’t agree with Ozil being brilliant and M.O.M, very good yes, but he was too flaky at times, however his gonads will grow with more games.
He made a great pass for first goal and scored himself with another good pass from Giroud, but Santi was M.O.M. He had a hand in nearly every movement and was a kingpin in the middle of the pitch.
Great game to watch especially when breaking from defence, which looked pretty solid. Just goes to show that a more rigorous and confident defence allows us to play proper football and it is not all about possession. Could Ospina be helping this confidence in defence ?
Delighted for Theo he will come on again for this display, all looking good.
A hammering of the Spuds and Manure losing would be another perfect weekend. COYG.
I’m fine with the ratings although I would give Ospina and Giroud another 0.5-1. I think Ospina was given slightly too low. I think in addition to his goal, Giroud also had an assist. I think it was the Ozil goal (maybe I’m wrong).
So I’d give both a slightly higher rating
Ospina: 7.5
Giroud: 8.0
Everything else was spot on. I wasn’t impressed with Ramsey. Ozil was excellent, so was Cazorla. Walcott was a bit slow in the beginning but made up for it.
I think we are ready for Spuds and 5-0 sends a clear message. At our best, even without Sanchez, we are a quality team.
COYG
Player ratings are really subjective.Mert played OK but was never under pressure. Don’t understand underrating of Ramsey he worked hard throughout and was tireless. Most impressed with Bellerin, what a find ! Good team performance against a very poor side. Let’s not get carried away.