Arsenal 4 – 1 Galatasaray Player Ratings by KJ
Szczesny – 4
His red card completely ruined what was a good performance. We had to spend 30 minutes defending with 10 men and will be more tired now for the crucial game on Sunday against Chelsea. Extremely irresponsible stuff by him and he needs to fix up otherwise, he’ll be benched for Ospina.
Chambers – 5
He struggled tonight. He started off the season well but has slowly been regressing. I think he’s just rushing and overthinking his contribution.
Mertesacker – 7
He had a good performance. He made decent interceptions and commanded well when we went a man down.
Koscielny – 8
He really came into his own in the second half and made crucial blocks, tackles and interceptions.
Gibbs – 8
He had a very good game today. He was composed on the ball, linked up with Sanchez and Özil well and ultimately was very responsible in his play.
Flamini – 5
He’s bang average. Make no mistake about that. Didn’t do anything interesting.
Cazorla – 8
He was quality today on the ball. He had to play in central midfield which isn’t his favoured position but did so fairly intelligently. He had a lot of defending to do after we went a man down and did well to take the pressure off us when he could.
Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7.5
It was a good performance that again lacked that bit of cutting edge. He made some absolutely phenomenal dribbles but couldn’t find his man for the majority of the match. He did manage to get an assist though and he is showing signs of improvement so I can’t be too harsh.
Özil – 8
A quietly solid performance by the German. Completely ruined Galatasaray’s midfield and managed to get an assist for Sanchez’s goal.
Sanchez – 8
He had a strong game tonight. Provided an assist and scored. He is relentless. He never gives up in both the attacking and defensive sense.
Welbeck – 9 (MOTM)
This was a world class performance by Welbeck in the Champions League. He scored a brilliant hattrick that included some delightful finishes. He could’ve scored even more and his general play was nothing short of brilliant.
Subs:
Ospina – 8
Did almost everything right when he came on except for saving the penalty. Parried numerous shots and made some quality saves.
Rosicky – 5
He’s got energy but he still lacks responsibility. He’d give the ball away needlessly when we are a man down and need to control the game. Very disappointing.
Wilshere – 7
He came on and did as well as could be expected. Should’ve had an assist had Santi not scuffed his shot in the dying minutes.
Tbf to Szczesny the game was already won so I doubt we would be more tired for Chelsea. It’s a great chance to see what Ospina is made of in the UCL. I thought Roaicky was very good and Chambers was solid COYG.
“it requires less character 2discover the faults of others than to tolerate” But i think Sczny was very good and can’t blame him for the penalty, because he tried as much as he could to avoid contact the refree was just too harsh. I saw flair we’ve missed for so long…was it the absence of ramsey n’ wilshere and presence of carzola n’ sanchez?
Welbeck that’s all we want from you goals n’ man of the perfomances big ups boy.
Am salvating for the front 3of Walcot, Welbeck &Sanchez while Ozill threads in those passes.
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A COMPETITIVE GAME SO FAR
Is it just me or was santi cazorla superb as cdm”???
Sanchez + Ozil + Wellbeck = problems for the rest of the footballing world.
PS: Not sure why Wilshere got a 7. Dribbling into players and then falling over clutching your ankle is hardly a sign of a good game.
Tbf I don’t remember him losing the ball and he nearly got an assist.
I do. He runs straight into players.
Chambers – 5 and Wilshere got a 7……..u need a doctor ASAP!
I just read KJ’s tatings for fun. You should never take the guy seriously. I don’t believe he even watch the games!
Sometimes I wonder if me and KJ are watching the same game… Seriously Flamini bang average? He did everything wright defensively and had a good game.
Same here, dude! I believe Chambers and Flamini did well, those two were a pleasent surprise to behold.
@jensenvk
On the up. I think Flamini was doin well enough, but he did try to play like a box2box leving huge gaps in front of our B4. when Gal switched formation they found it easier to penetrate. Chelsea will put men in that space all day if he doesn’t get more positionally aware.
Very harsh on chambers the kid was solid did nothing wrong how is he in decline the kid keeps improving with every game pathetic comments about his performance!
Why is chambers a 5?! He was solid. And flamini deserve better than a 5 as well.
Whatever KJ is smoking is of very high quality. lol!!
@dboy
In the immortal words of our resident “lyrical assassin”, RVP “KJ should apologize”…
Disagree with the Flamini and Chambers scores, Chambers wasn’t exciting but he was more than solid throughout, and Flamini did well particularly in the First half where we were pushed right up and our CB’s were a little more exposed, he broke up more than handful of counters and gave some of there defenders a kicking after they were fouling Sanchez.
Hmmm did we play Chelsea already.. am sure dats not yesterday match.. it Definately played in the future.. kj the time traveller.. good game though
Too harsh on Chambers. How can you rate him five when outstandingly performed well? The boy was fantastic in every tackle, very accurate on every pass and made desired forward runs, ” you’re great. Keep up the good spirit”. And Flamini? He did well, no blame.
Wow, these ratings are always hilarious.
Any my personal assessment was:
Szczesny – Had a good game minus the moment of madness he had. 4 nill up and Gala trying to get back in the game keeping calm and let the defenders do there job would have been wise. He might have whooped them 6:1 with 11 men had they score in open play and Schez on his feet. He might turn into our new Leman (his not at his level yet definitely) but he might also turn out to be a good golie for us but has some acts of insanity on the pictch sometimes.
Chambers – Are you sure this guy is 19 only. Pure class, calm, matured and calculated play from him. Am really impressed with this lad, didn’t bomb needlessly forward or tried to do too much, if not for the injuries I think that DM spot would have his name written all over it. Our other defenders can learn a thing or two here. He keeps improving each game and once he works on his positional play too, my gosh, exciting future ahead of him.
Mertesacker – Good and steady performance from the big guy last night. More of the same please.
Koscielny – What a player, Kos for captain all the way. Strong, fast, technically aware, and always looks hungry to get into action. He seems to actually enjoy been challenged, hope he puts costa in his pocket come this weekend.
Gibbs – matured game from him today. Wenger take note, if you play true and dedicated wingers on each side the team is more balanced and our defenders can be dedicated to their primary responsibility. His partnership with Sanchez shouldn’t be disrupted.
Flamini – good game from the French man too., would have done minus getting a yellow though. It seems his winning the race of getting the most yellows this season. Keep calm Flame, these yellows might come back to haunt us. Looks miles better been played next to a player who knows how to keep the ball and has an eye for a killer pass.
Cazorla – Cool as ever. Having him along side Flamini worked wonders has he complimented the French man well. Our own Pirlo last night. I would pick him over Wilshere against Chelsea. He doesn’t hold on to the ball too much and is always available for a pass. You might question his physic but his got low center of gravity and has a good football brain.
Oxlade-Chamberlain – He is not called the Ox for nothing, strong, fast, skill full, and pretty smart too. Always looks committed and ready to burst a gat for the team when playing. That right wing should be his and Theo to fight for.
Özil – He did the simply things well and made the hard things looks simple. Smiled a lot too aswell last night, his enjoying the pace in front of him and players who can finish off his lovely balls. Carzola allowed him to do his job in the center of the pitch by always trying to find him and not trying to overshadow him or do his job. A beautiful partnership can now begin hopefully, Wenger shouldn’t try to disturb our front 4.
Sanchez – The stallion, learnt not to hold on to the day too long or do too much last night. Looks at home on the left and complimented well with Gibbs and the other front players too. Always plays with passion and his enjoying his football at Arsenal currently. Team player for sure and good goal.
Welbeck – Five star performance last night, the hold up play game or flooding crosses in the box is not the Arsenal way, we all know that. Having a ST who’s full of running, technically aware, skillful, powerful and calm in his finishing is what we’ve been crying for. Now that his tasted blood I hope he can grow from this, bang a hatrick against Chelsea mate and you will go into our hall of fame straight up.
Ospina – He can really push Schez for that spot if given a chance. Wenger should use him in CL and Schez in EPL like Madrid style last season. This way both our keepers will be in form and happy. We cant wait for FA games only for him to play, he will just be unhappy and wont improve.
Wenger – Good game, good set up, you actually added some good tactics last night (know when to attack and when to sit back and soak pressure). See how well our team plays when every one is playing in their right positions and using our winning formation! Same set up for Chelsea please. Happy 18th Anniversary
@007
You nailed it dude…Much respect.
Cheers mate, despite all the typo’s. KJ needs help you know, he watches the game upside down or visits goal.com too much for player ratings.
And we nearly didn’t sign Welbeck
Or any striker for that matter
That’s what vexes me
Just see the difference
A half-decent striker with pace
Can do to a team
do to a team
Little bit double posting brace with “do to a team”
Wait a minute Chambers 5!!!! I think you sir just want comments to your blog because that score rating is nonsensical to say the least. To say he “struggled”… did you watch the game?!!!!
Now as for Flamini getting a 5 also. Don’t get me wrong I don’t think he’s good enough but let’s not bash our players just for the sake of it. The guy did well yesterday. He did very well in fact, especially as he was the only defensive minded player (excluding defence of course) on the pitch. To say he “didn’t do anything interesting” proves you don’t know what you’re on about. That’s what we want, nothing fancy just protection – break up play and pass it on.
Now on to Chelsea. I think same starting 11, just a bit worried Carzorla will get eaten by Chelsea midfield though.
I’m sure Mourinho was watching yesterday’s game with keen interest. I will be surprised if he hasn’t found a solution to the threat posed by Welbeck and Sanchez already. Maybe “rough ’em up Ramires!”. LoL
if this was a sir Alex team he would have given full of shit to sczezeny asshole has now been reckless for the big games does not save properly gets beaten by long-rangers and fouls on the first chance given he can never be neuer or courtios or cech for that matter never seems accomplished and this is why we may be too lethargic in possession and cheap give-aways one on one scz and rest is history .
Amazes me how 1 mistake from Szczesney sees him downgraded from a probable 8 to a 4. I honestly can’t remember him making any other mistakes. Cazorla made at least 1 mistake, one of which cost us a goal as did szczesneys mistake yet his score remains high?
Seems to me some people have favourites that sway their opinions.
Personally thought it was an excellent all round performance, in fact probably our best of the season so far, no player should have scored less than a 7, may be rosicky would have got a 6. He really struggles when not used regular, it’s not surprising at 34 you need to play more games and train less, I think like arteta, flamini and podolski, rosicky is entering the final 3 – 18 months of his arsenal career. I think its time to phase out the 4, we could get a decent fee for all of them in January, which could be put to use in trying to.land a Dm and cb. Perhaps we could also tempt dortmund with a reus for podolski plus cash offer?
He was careless!
He should be benched for the UCL, not because he’s not good but he needs to learn that the no 1 spot has to be earned. 2nd red in two seasons in the CL says a lot about his decision making. And it’s not just the sending off yesterday. He was also culpable in the tottenham game. He should have kicked the ball out knowing that the defence was under pressure with four totts camped close to the goal area. He takes uneccessary risks because he feels he has nailed the no1 spot. He should be benched back to reality.
Finally the Arsenal team and way of playing we all love.
What worries me is this formation looked perfect and as good as we’ve had for a while. The concern is we only got to see it due to forced injuries. Will Wenger mess with it and bring in Jack, Mikel and Aaron when they are fit again?
Main positives for me, (apart from our fantastic attacking play) were Cazorla and Flamini together, Ozil back at 10 where he belongs, Ox and Sanchez on the wings, Chambers and Gibbs commanding the flanks.
The Chelsea game will of course be very different, they have a more physical and organised defence and a likely pairing of Ramires and Matic will get in our face and disrupt our midfield. I also feel Chelsea will be very dangerous down the flanks with the host of pacey players they have, (Salah, Willian, Hazard, Schurle etc). Going to be a tough game but if we are defensively organised and counter fast when we get the ball we can get a draw or maybe even sneak a win, no rout this year please! coyg!!
@Arsenalman365: our problem is honestly people like you and those who gave you the thumbs up. Yeah everything is superb at the Emirates! Rubbish if you ask me. Whatever you say on how fantastic our average players are, the proof of this pudding will be on Sunday. Then you can come out and tell us how great these overpaid mediocre players are. For a start our defence can’t defend, second we can never score from corners judging from our worthlessness against very average Spuds. What’s there really to write home about regarding this current crop? Not much except that there are just a couple of players like Wellbeck, Wilshere and perhaps Kos who are punching above their weights. Sczesney is too arrogant and cocky for my liking and must now be dropped. True there is a fine line between arrogance and confidence, I think he’s stepped over that line. Please thumb me down if you wish but the truth is always very bitter but must be told and that is that we are just average this season in spite of all that money spent. Manager’s fault!!! I hope we don’t get embarrassed on Sunday and therefore I’ll take a 2-0 beating now! I’m changing my name now from DarlingbudsofArse to ArsenalVoiceofReason! Thank you.
Only thing I agree with you on is Szcesney. Everything else is crap!
Am sure u gave yourself that thumps up.That’s how desperate u are, for them yet u write shit.And did u say Wishere is punching above his weight?
I’m assuming there must be a lot of personal sentiment by the author of this article with regards to player ratings as they are totally skewed. Player ratings is quite purely subjective anyway but……it’s obvious that there’s personal bias here !
Szczesny 5 ? Ball was played into a dangerous area and as a goalkeeper it’s a case of shit or bust. Does he just stay on his line and hope for the best or does he do what’s in the remit of his role and make a concerted effort to save an impending goal.
The ball was in the six yard area, everything was moving super fast, the proximity of both goalie and player is becoming increasingly more and things are changing in the minutest amount of time and decisions have to be made. Not the goalkeepers fault at all.
Yet you’ve given Carzola an 8, when it was his cock up in the first place that cost the goal and Szcezny’s sending off. Just as he did at Besiktas a few weeks ago and other games. Carzola had the ball outside our 20 yard area and tried to finesse his way out of an area where he should have just cleared his lines. Most of his skill set is being tricky and creative but…..not outside your box and at the expense of the team which he’s done too many times when I’ve watched him ? Yet you go and give him an 8 !
You’ve also given Ozil and 8 for what was just another nondescript and under par performance. Yeah he was OK but nothing special. Still didn’t set the game alight all by himself and it was more owing to the likes of Chamberlain and Chambers providing him with support on the right hand side that gave him most of his limited success.
Personally, I believe that the collective performance of the team should be the criteria with regards to numerical rating as they all done exceptionally well on a night which could’ve gone really awry given the recent run of games but it didn’t. The whole team as a unit played well and in the end got a comfortable win. For that….I give the team a 10 out of 10.
However, given the subjective nature of numerical statistics and the Arsenal…..that rating has to be weighted against the rest of the seasons results.
I think yesterday was one of the first games I’ve watched in a while where everyone played well. Not one player deserves to get rated below 6, not even Szczesny.
these ratings are poor and not fair. Chambers deserved an 8, he was incredible. Sczensny didn’t really have an awful performance if not for the mistake which Ospina came to atone for. n please what does one need to do to get a 10/10 since a hat-trick wont help?
Szczesny needs to settle on the bench and Wenger needs to give a chance to Ospina.
He is more and more reckless and his “cockiness” will cost us greatly one day…!
We have to concentrate on Saturday game.
I don’t know what the excitement is about…??
This is a game we were supposed to win… Galatasaray is as good as a top of the league championship team…!!
Welbeck and Sanchez will cost Chelsea problems as long as Ozil plays in his number 10 position (and not on the wing). Wilshere will get trample over by the Chelsea DMs.
Flamini will have a massive job on Sunday, massive…!!
I think Koscielny can take care of Costa and keep him quiet.
who’s KJ?? n why is his flop ratin in this site…