Arsenal made hard work of beating Swansea yesterday but, considering the Swans record at the Emirates, it was a welcome three points. Saed Kolasinac was again very impressive with a goal and an assist for Aaron Ramsey, but it was hardly a World Class performance from the Gunners ahead of next week’s tough trip to the Etihad to face the League leaders Man City….
So here are my ratings, let’s see if you agree with them…
Petr Cech 6
Cech does not seem to be at his best yet this season, but made a few important interceptions after his schoolboy errors contributed to Swansea’s opening goal…
Laurent Koscielny 6
Again, like Cech, it was not his best game. He seemed nervous when failing to stop Sam Clucas and he also missed a perfect opportunity at the other end.
Per Mertesacker 6
Still worryingly slow at times, and all in all an unimpressive week for our ageing defenders…
Nacho Monreal 6.5
The Spaniard seems be our most consistent defender recently, and can be effective at the back and going forward as well….
Hector Bellerin 6
Glimpses of his old form, but again is nowhere near as creative as in previous seasons. Is his head already in Barcelona?
Granit Xhaka 5.5
Xhaka had the ultimate game of two halves. Rubbish in the first but much improved in the second. Why are so many of our players struggling with consistency?.
Aaron Ramsey 7
He improved as the game went on, like most of the team, but as he got the winning goal he deserves an extra point.
Sead Kolasinac 8
Far and away MOTM with the power and desire that we want to see from all of our players. Fast replacing Sanchez as our driving force.
Mesut Ozil 6
After last week’s masterclass against Everton, Ozil seemed like a shadow again. Inconsistency is forever a problem with the German.
Alexis Sanchez 6
Seemed to be trying hard at the beginning but with little service from his strike partners he seemed to be running around with no end-product to show for it. One great shot but was denied by Fabianski.
Alexandre Lacazette 5
Didn’t get much service, but didn’t seem to be chasing the ball either. Very poor showing from all our supposedly super strike force.
Darren N
Cech has cost us 5-6 goals already. We need a new goalie next summer. And knowing Wenger, he will struggle with that department for years to come.
guy takes a decade to replace a dm ffs
no hope bud
I didn’t see the game, but heard Ozil was his usual average self, with a 6 rating maybe being a reflection of that. For all those Ozil lovers, what’s your excuse this time? We’re at home against a rubbish team!
I keep saying we’re better off without him, and I promise you, he’ll go missing against City next week. Time for Wilshere be to given a chance, and Ozil to get Europa League.
I agree with you, I was hoping there’ll be an article abt ozil again, we are better off without him and wenger. The day ozil and wenger leaves arsenal is d day I start believing in d team again, or maybe the day wenger stops being sentimental and makes great decisions. I’d love wenger to try nketiah or Nelson in sanchez’s position like manutd did with Rashford against us, I’d like Ramsey replacing ozil, I’d love to see Wilshere and coquelin, bellerin is not on form, I’d like to see him challenged by Nelson, I’d love koscielny to displace mertesacker, since there are no options, monreal is trying , id love to see a disciplined debuchy at koscielny ‘is right. If we have this team, koscielny, monreal, debuchy, coquelin, Wilshere, xhaka, Ramsey, lacazette, sead, cech, Nelson or nketiah then a strong bench of sanchez, elneny, bellerin, iwobi, mertesacker, giroud, Walcott, maybe ozil, I’m very sure we would give city a run for their money or even beat them
Sometimes I wonder if we deserve Ozil, he had a very good game, ok not as good as against Everton but a very good game still. His touch and vision were amazing to watch. I really don’t understand the ratings of such a world class player on this forum.
I guess Swansea’s defence had allot to do with it. Ozil helped keep the flow of our play but last week he created eight good openings whereas I didn’t see him attempt many yesterday. And Lacazette needs service, even a half chance. But Swa defended deep and they had a game plan, stopping Ozil or pushing him back might have been part of it. We know Ozil can string passes together but it’s strikers ammunition we need from him.
Kolasinac did play a great game, but he owes allot of it to Xhaka and that pin point accuracy. When he does get them right they are something, not many players can see that pass never mind make it. But because it’s final third stuff you need to allow slack, I don’t mind him being hit and miss with those passes, it’s the stuff in front of our rearguard that I’d have issues with. Alexis too will be hit and miss and he rightly gets the slack because it’s the hardest area to work in.
Cech has started looking very shaky recently…. Clucas would not have scored had Cech stood on the goal line . His decision making on when to close down an attacker is not the best. This can cost us points when we are playing a high line against pacy forwards. I am so scared of Man C!!!
I’m worried about city too. Could be another 6-3! Cech needs to sort himself out & I don’t want to see Mertesacker in the starting 11 (sorry Per)
Mertesaker 6 ù…….”I don’t believe it!”
Sorry couldn’t concentrate on the match yesterday. Was distracted by Wenger’s shoes.
Ozil’s issue is not inconsistency, he’s just a weak player that doesn’t take risk by being direct sometimes like great players do, when he faces a compact or aggressive or technically better team, he prefers passing the ball around without actually creating anything or he prefers being bullied.
Ozil wasn’t man of d match against Everton, he started playing when they were short a man, the goal was d only plus, and against Swansea, we saw d real ozil, he kept passing the ball around with nothing to show for it. Weak, hidden, ineffective, Wilshere, Ramsey, iwobi are all better in that position, I would prefer coquelin and Wilshere, then Ramsey in ozil’s position against a stronger team like man city, even sanchez would make do with the bench, Nelson or nketiah would be better.
Debuchy-koscielny-monreal
Bellerin-coquelin-wilshere-sead
Ramsey-nketiah/iwobi
Lacazette
Mertesacker, monreal, bellerin, mustafi, ozil, e.t.c are in the team cos there’s no alternative
Though monreal has been trying, sanchez……..don’t know, he plays like he’s got a beef with lacazette
I too want to see Ozil be more direct, run at defenses and shoot for goal. It adds other dimensions to his game and gives more for opposition defenses to worry about. Its not like he’s the smallest player on the field.