Aston Villa v Arsenal review – Gunners fire and Ozil and Welbeck steal the show!

Well it was a much better start from Arsenal. As expected, Aston Villa started with a high tempo and tried to put us under serious pressure, which paid such dividends for Borussia Dortmund in the week. But the Arsenal players did not crumble under it this time and managed to pass and play our way around it.

The introduction of Cazorla certainly made a difference and Ozil was looking better, but Aaron Ramsey looked like the player of two seasons ago rather than the superstar of last season. It was a frantic first 15, though, and Arsene Wenger must have been glad to see his team stand up to it.

And then Rambo had a great chance from a corner but screwed it wide, which was typical of him this season. We were lucky to stay level about midway through the half when Clark failed to capitalise from a free kick, but Szczesny was in the right place to save it.

Ozil produced a peach of a pss on 25 minutes but Ramsey’s tpuch to Welbeck was woeful. I was really watching the German closely and he was slick, but he is not Ronaldo or Messi and if the players around him don’t match his ability he is not going to win you a game.

But our record signing got his reward with the opening goal after Welbeck, who had been impressive with his industry, played him through. And we hardly had time to celebrate before the roles were reversed and Ozil crossed for Danny boy to stroke him his first Gunners goal.

It never rains, they say, and when Cissokho put Gibbs’ cross into his own net, it was an absolute downpour from an Arsenal point of view.

The second half was all about making sure we did not give Villa a route back into the game and we did that well, showing grit and determination. But it was also great to see Ozil really enjoying himself and showing the class that we paid all that money for.

I thought that Wenger ight have turned to the bench, especially with Ramsey and Chambers on yellow cards and with players gagging for time on the pitch, but he left it until the 77th minute before bringing on Wilshere, Podolski and Rosicky. But I am certainly not going to moan about the Prof today, as Arsenal finally got the season off and running.

Tags Ozil Ramsey welbeck

139 Comments

    1. Happy that Ozil and Welbeck scored! Will be a boost for both, and we were able to rest Sanchez and Jack. Overall great day at the office!

      Did Ozil play through the middle or was that a mirage?

      1. I think everybody has now seen that we only need either of Ramsey or Wilshere in a match. We don’t need both of them together in a match, this also gives room for Ozil to play in his preferred position which is best for the team. I just hope and wish Wenger continues like this

  1. Yeah, now the fake fans will love Özil again! Chambers had a rough game, we should probably talk about how he will never be good enough now and we should have bought Mats Hummels

        1. Actually, I will fault Wenger for not buying the Millenium Falcon as the new team bus. Think of all the time it would save from being on the road. We could be spending that time training. And what a way to boost morale. Flying to Sunderland using intergalactic means. Wenger is the only one to blame. Wenger Out!!

          1. may be u should just repeat “wenger out” 10 times and u will make more sense..dont rejoice too much with a victory against aston villa- we always have been flat track bullies !

      1. Oh yeah of course. Except I honestly doubt he was really ever for sale. I can see Wenger putting a cheeky low bid in when he is available though haha

        1. we can forget hummels or reus- or any top dortmund player.

          they realise it is a sidestep for them or possible step down.

          cant live in lala land anymore

          1. I partially agree with you, we are in a much tougher and more glamorous league and we can pay them triple what they are making in Dortmund. But in terms of team performances are concerned you are absolutely correct.

            1. The same Dortmund that lost 2-0 at lowly Mainz today.
              Check out the Bundasliga table, and then, think again.
              Yes, we had a poor performance there, but, consider the last time WE lost an EPL game.
              Ville WERE lying 2nd before today, trounced Pool at Anfield last week, had the week off, and yet, we never looked in trouble today.
              Football sometimes is totally baffling concerning results/performances. One good result does NOT make you a great team. One poor result does NOT make you a crap team.
              Hummels, Reus WOULD come to Arsenal, that, is fact.

              1. Yes they would but not for success only. In the last 5 years Dortmund has been extremely successful, both in the Bundesliga and the CL. Like we used to be 10 years ago.

  2. fantastic to see welbeck score and ozil back to his best but that could easily of ended 5 or 6-0 to us, a scoreline that we haven’t seen for a while.

      1. exactly. Everyone on here is going to be coming for my head, but its just one match against a midtable team. Good that Ozil is FINALLY starting to show something, but lets not get carried away. It was his first good performance in god knows how long. Okay, thumb this down now.

        1. but the good thing was he looked like he was out there to prove a point..btw does anyone notice how labored Mert looks when passing the ball out from the back???

      1. Well, to be fair. Özil at the top of his game is better than Fabreagas. We haven’t seen that quite yet. Here’s to hoping this game got the World Cup rust off and he can start dominating

  3. Much better performance. See Wenger, it was that simple, play Ozil through the middle and the machine runs well.

  4. 1 goal, 1 assist for Ozil and Welbeck. Two players who needed them. Everyone played well, though Ramsey can do better, and Arteta early on was getting battered. Still FINALLY a win and finally a clean sheet. Everyone shouldve just gone home after 1st half ended, pointless 2nd half, but 3 points for once. Can we do it against better teams? Can Ozil perform against better teams? We’ll have to wait and find out still but good start.

    1. Ramsey is having a poor season so far… I think he needs to be rested. We have enough cover..

      The team was fluid today, every single player apart from Arteta and the beck 4 interchanged throughout the match..

      No static player today..

      1. Ramsey on that back pass that gave away a corner reminded me of when I’m killing a friend on Fifa and I pretend to mess up to give him a chance to get back in the game

      2. Thank you @ Goonster. Ramsey needs to go back to basics. I think last season went to his head or Wenger wants him to play further forward; either way it’s not working. He needs to play deep along DM end of.

        As for the game, great result!!! Ozil played well but believe he will also play better as the season progresses. Oxlade should play more but I’m sort of seeing why Wenger doesn’t trust him. Not consistent enough within games but he needs minutes only way he’ll improve.

        Oh and happy about Liverpool result.

    2. better???..he had a shocker today but cant fault the lad for not trying. think he needs a rest more than anything else !

    1. because it’s totally different to play in the middle, and then drift to the left to find space than playing on the left all match marked by a fullback ! clear enough

      1. Strange because by the look of it it was Santi who played middle with Ozil to his left. But don’t mind me. I am just saying what I see.
        Ah! I get it now, the game graphic gave Ozil in the middle. Fair point.

        1. Lol it was as clear as day that he was playing the 10 role and that we played ramsey beside the DM.
          But dont take my word for it go watch wengers post match interview or press conference where he confirms the obvious.

          1. I suggest you to check heat map for Ozil and see for yourself. Left side is red and right is orange. Middle is yellow. Draw your own conclusions.

            1. @ budd
              you seem pretty dense man. it couldn’t have been more clear that he was playing the #10 and its obvious you’ve never seen ozil play before he came to arsenal cause drifting to the wings is part of his game its his intelligent movement which makes him so deadly he finds those little pocket of spaces

      1. You sound like a spuds fan.it’s like you don’t want Ozil to do well. Credit where credit is due they guy played well and put on a performance arsenal fans and have been hoping for. With or without him in the starting 11 we can handle spurs. I think you give spurs to much credit.

  5. Good win, the team needed it. Just hope ramsey gets his game going on again… If he does we’ll do much better! At least we had a recovery session in the second half, after a tough week. COYG!

    1. Think he’ll play his way back to form. He’s trying a lot of stuff that nearly comes off..frustrating. But he’s so vital to us with his clever play and goals…c’mon Aaron…keep going mate!

      1. I have confidence in Rambo he’s been the key to our recent success, but it’s just that type of player you alwys hope perform well, as you hope from jack! players go through dips and ups, and if ramsey gets back to form asap things can happen.

  6. Mesut was the conductor today. Everything was going through him.

    For those that still want to make Arteta scapegoat after this display. Than he was perfect in the role of DM. So many break up plays and fouls but no card.

    1. Arteta was getting bashed before we zapped all of Villa’s confidence out in that 3 goal blitz. Villa didnt even try to attack after that, so Arteta basically just passed around the entire match. Lets not make him out like some hero. It was a good performance all around mainly, but Villa away is a match we just about always win, and they played right into our hands for almost the whole match. Just a reality check. Our next matches are Soton (League cup), Spuds, Gala, Chelsea. Lets see how we do against those teams before we officially say we’re back to our old selves.

      1. can you shut up with the negativity holy sh*t have you not been getting any lately?
        why is it the big matches that count? do they count as 4 points for a win? does mid table teams only count as 2? am i missing something or does logic not make sense to you?

      1. @ Budd why are you such a downer man? Ozil played in the number 10 position, Wenger himself admitted as much in his post match conference, so what is your problem?

        Ozil plays better at number 10 then anywhere else on the field, if he plays like crap at number 10 then you sub him and rest him. We have Cazorla, Rosicky and Jack who can play that position, but until Ozil sucks in that position he definitely owns it in my book.

  7. Great performance for the first half! We pressed well and ozil really looked like he had a point to prove. Our attack was fluid, with ramsey, cazorla, ozil, welbeck and chambo interchanging well. We took the foot of the gas in the 2nd half, but I’ll gladly take these three points with a comfortable win 😀
    Ramsey’s passing is still a bit off, but I’m sure he will come good! He works really hard and puts in his 100%. Good game from our boys, and I’m sure ozil will go at the next match with newfound confidence.

    1. who? dortmund? never heard of them? must have confused us with someone else tony? too much of that marching powder ur bringing in with sosa

      1. No Bob..

        It goes like this:

        – 1-5 bad matches, maybe even played out of position = sell them

        – 1-5 good matches = too early to praise, let’s wait after 10-15 games

  8. Although it was a good win the gunners still have to prove themselves with the more competitive teams !!! #COYG #GOODWIN!!!

    1. Cut the crap and just support the team! they played better today with 3 points that counts .
      you keep talking bout big games yet we completely outplayed city for most part of the game last week and could have won.
      swallow your timid pride and just admit we played better.

      also, this same villa team beat liverpool last week.

      keep calm and support Arsenal!

  9. Ahh…the spin doctors will go to work, attempting to sell us the qualities of the muppet manager alongside loopsided opinions of the qualities or lack there of concerning certain players. All the while, they fail to attach failure squarely at the feet of the manager in a reverse circumstance. Anyway, without loosing sight of the larger picture, today’s victory over a poor and deliberately timid villa does nothing to cloud reality. Stack the team up against similar quality opposition and they will crumble. An extension applicable to the muppet manager. Consequently, I hold firm to my Wenger out mantra.

      1. So if we get 4th again with no trophy, dont make one complaint please. We beat midtable opposition, in a match that was tailor made to build up confidence for us. Happy for the win, but our fixture list only get tougher again after this match.

        1. Was just commenting on his poofy pontificating….but hey, be happy, hopefully the start to our season…

  10. I’m so happy. Not just because we won but both Welbeck and Ozil played well

    Only criticism. Not trying to be nit picky, but I think when we are playing much better than our opponent, we should score in second half as well.
    I still have nightmares over that time we led Newcastle 4-0 and match ended 4-4.

    Anyway, awesome result. Lets continue this. Keep Ozil in the middle and Welbeck up front. Just imagine how great we will be when Walcott comes back.

    COYG

  11. Its nice to Wenger rest Sanchez. I was a bit miffed to see him dropped to be fair.

    But its coming along now.

    Spurs game he will start.
    Than Gala.
    Than Scums.

    Nice bit of rest before hecticness kicks in. Well done sir.

  12. Wenger still has to improve on tactics and substitutions in my opinion….he shld av substituted chambers when the villa boys r deliberately running at him to get him sent off…by d way dis wld av been a gud game to integrate campbell.

  13. i am still confused about why the subs are made so late…i was hoping for diaby to come in.
    ramsey needs a break.
    back 4 against southampton?

    1. I’ve said all my mates Liverpool will do ‘Tottenhams’ this season.

      You sell your best player for good money and don’t replace him with one world class player but with 5-7 average/above average/potential players and you have a team with 1/3 full of strangers and no harmony. Arsene Wenger knows this.

      Of course it’s too early to say it but the signs are definitely there.

  14. While I am very happy with our convincing win still I think abort the dortmund game and become very unhappy about performance

    I just feel there have been too many whoopings for a big club like arsenal and I can’t them anymore

    We need to grow some balls and perform week in week out
    Then only we can dream of becoming champions like city became destroying teams and showing no mercy

      1. An emigrated Italian, sniffing cocks, and killing Armerican public and becoming a small time crock on the balls of his ass sure do sound fun.

  15. Presenting the most astute comments from the last 2 days. Congratulations to all the posters for getting it spot on. You guys rock!

    Ks-Gunner – 3:2 ( bec we have a shit$t defense).
    ———————————
    blue side of London – whoop whoop

    villa goona win and Wenger gets fired.

    things looking up
    ———————————————————-
    CraigZWE – villa old be our savior to getting Wenger fired.

    Cumon Villa
    ———————————————————
    RSH – Ozil and Ramsey have been under-performing yet play every single match.
    ——————————————————–
    medvet – what a boring game….. this formation is not working at all
    ——————————————————–
    Simon_MrMac – Hope Ozil is left on the bench. Play Corzola!
    ———————————————————
    deyvido123 – people keep saying play mesut at the number 10 role,but we all know he is off form regardless of where he plays so I’m suggesting he is benched until he regains form.
    ———————————————————
    xhafeezx – Before match..article..jack wilshere..arsenal must not lose to Dortmund.. I wait for same article for villa game.. Mertersacker.. Arsenal must not lose to villa.. Then we lost.. Bash bash bash.. Next game same sentence different player.. Sighhh..
    ———————————————————-
    Me – Watch the game tomorrow and see Wenger make the same mistakes he always makes.
    ————————————————————
    Mo1 – Oh and i bet my bottom dollar that Stubborn stubborn man plays the exact same team,tactics as Dortmund and previous weeks, playing ozil out of position, No subs till 70plus mins etc etc etc

    and You all know its true
    —————————————————————–
    and the best of the lot

    Moreno – I said a few days ago that Aston Villa will tear us a new one; i didn’t even know at the time this is an away game as well……….. oh boy!!! I stand even firmer on what i’d said, Aston Villa will tear us to big holes and i will definitely see all of you here so we can all moan what it seems every normal person can see but arsene wenger.

    Excellent observations…now do us a favor and frack off!

    1. Frack off?
      No fcuk off is better implied.
      Don’t pay attention to dciks around here.
      Not worth the time. Seriously.

      Moreno – I said a few days ago that Aston Villa will tear us a new one; i didn’t even know at the time this is an away game as well……….. oh boy!!! I stand even firmer on what i’d said, Aston Villa will tear us to big holes and i will definitely see all of you here so we can all moan what it seems every normal person can see but arsene wenger.

      Ha ha. Where is the clown? This guy is better than a circus.

  16. 4-5 poor games in a row from Ramsey. Sadly, making last year look like an exception rather than the norm. As I said before, time for him and Jack to rotate/fight for the CM role. Pushing Mesut wide to shoehorn Jack and Ramsey into the XI hurts us way more than it has helped us.

    One must consider the competition today, but great to see what Mesut can do when given the freedom of the 10 role.

    Good for Welbz.

    Koscielny quietly doing the job of 2 men.

    Here’s hoping that Diaby can stay fit, and a displace Arteta. He’s old, slow, and late on every challenge. Coulda had a yellow based on pure volume of fouls.

    We’re still a work in progress, but today was a valuable 3 points.

    COYG

    1. Don’t agree about Aaron….he’s not too far off…trying a lot that’s not coming off. He’ll play his way back into form. He’s earned a bit of patience from us.

      1. So much patience and time that our results continue to suffer? So much time and patience that we should push Mesut out wide and then crucify him for playing poorly in a position that’s not his and tell Arsene to sit or sell him? I don’t completely blame Rambo, as the 4-1-4-1 pushing him higher up the field next to Jack hasn’t helped him. Reality is though, we don’t have the luxury of forcing people into the side to play their way back into form with more talent on the bench.

        Again, difference between Arsene and Mourinho (whom I wouldn’t douse with piss if on fire) is he’d play the proper player in the proper position, on form, in order to get the result. We want Wenger to get us higher than 4th, but also want him to play players who aren’t performing in their position.

        Funny how you’d sit a proven Mesut playing outta position, but want a massively underperforming Ramsey to keep going…..

  17. I don’t think we played good today even though we won 3-0. We only got three shots on target not including the own goal. 2nd half was so boring.

    1. We have three tufg games coming up in
      Spurs
      Galatasray
      Chelsea
      So no use *wasting energy when the game was over in the 36 min.

      *Energy can never be wasted, only converted.

  18. The problems we are is with Wenger who insist in playing Ozil, Wilsher and Ramsey in the starting line up. Today, no Wilsher and Arsenal played fantastic.

    Rotation between Ramsey, Wilsher is a must. Ozil has to be our main man up front.

  19. West Ham are really up for it.
    Tomorrow i want a City win.
    Some one needs to break Chelsea’s momentam.

    Jenko comes on for West Ham. Hope he does well.

    1. Weird that we send Jenko out on loan so he can play more and he’s barely played, but if he were still here he’d be filling in for Debuchy for 3 months.

      1. @Mick The Gooner
        That seems to be the plight of most loanees. So to every one who says that a player needs to go out on loan in order to get more playing time, be careful what you ask for…

  20. I love Le Prof’s obstinate insistence to play the Best Hair in the EPL as our midfield enforcer and Alex Song wasn’t good enough to even consider on loan……ask Liverpool how the former Arsenal man is fairing?

  21. When i read this article i feel before the game it was ozil. Now its ramsey!! Leave them alone please. Support our players and get behind our squad

  22. i think i’t safe to say ozil ramsey running the show makes for a more balanced team than having wilshere with them.

    that’s cuz we have 2 b2b playing in the exact same area.
    furthermore, ramsey in the b2b role takes less responsibility and plays a simpler game, which i think suits him better.

    I’m still on the fence about Ozil playing through the middle is the key, because i think wilshere is actually doing both ramsey and ozil’s work, which is making it hard for the other 2 to play.

    If wenger has to play all 3 of wilshere, ramsey and ozil on the pitch, it has to be this way:
    ramsey b2b
    ozil playmaker no.10
    wilshere as deep lying playmaker, in arteta’s role.

    then the balance can retain.

    I also think Wilshere is capable of that role with his range of passes, but he perhaps is not the age for it yet.

    1. by Ozil no.10, i don’t mean he has to be in the middle. but the key is that he needs to be the main playmaker, so that he can control the pace of the game properly.

      Wlshere is still a bit too predictable in his change of pace in the game. Most noticeably by play his favorite 1 2 passes that lead to the Norwich goal.

      Jack DOES have the package to be world class, he just needs a clear definition of what his role in game is to play it that way.

  23. Where is the Ozil haters now?????

    Told that ……… keeps playing him out of position. The guy really looked happy today keep him there.

  24. when Chelsea or Man City beat small teams by 2 / 3 goals everyone goes on about how good they are, even on thuis site.

    but when our guys do the same, it’s just villa wait till we play Spurs or Chelsea.

    People still go on about city, yet they lost to stoke.
    Had we lost, then I guess we going to be relegated.

    Same goes with commentators, I watched the QPR game, a similar shiot to Welbeck after 5 min and commentators praised the effort, but with Welbeck he needs to do better and hit target.

  25. I trolled a Spurs site, when we drew away with the turkey team and the pitch was poor Spurs said we looking for excuses.
    when they drew on Thursday, they had an article and that their excuse a poor pitch.

    Let’s support our team, they did well today.

  26. game was like arsenal over last few years…35 minutes of sloppiness and confusion…10 mins of brilliance…and a second half of playing inside comfort zone….we have to play to our strengths til xmas because with mert arteta and ramsey as defensive backbone we are in trouble…these 3 were awful today but fortunately kos ozil welbeck and carzola (fitfully) were on form and ox and chambers looked promising….have to keep attacking (wilshere and sanchez add even more) and hope we can stay in contention and bring in quality defenders at xmas

  27. sanchez – welbz – walcott
    ozil

    and the spuds wont know what hit ’em

    btw for tomorrow i support sh!tty…. seems to me the only team capable of stopping chel$hit… and i don’t want chel$hit to equal the invincibles… that would be a black day for football….

  28. Great game. Great goals. Great for confidence and on top liverpoo lost.

    I think chambers needs to come down from cloud 9 from time to time. Too often in hes short arsenal career have I seem him make a foul, which in any other game would be seen as a yellow. He could easily have seen the red twice this season… I guess hes age could be a factor but no excuse and I think he needs a word. Overall glad to see the lad get some more game time, although I would prefer if we gave bellerin some minutes at RB and switched arteta for chambers. Maybe that one could be for lesser teams!…

    Also abit disappointed with podolski the last 30mins hes played (the only minutes) I thought he might give it abit more, show wenger what hes missing out on.. same goes for rosicky though he never dissapoints me.

    Just think of a fully fit Arsenal! Thats one major headache for wenger.

    But one fat rockon for me 😀 lol which then turns to a headache if we were to lose due to wengers tacs..

    Overall a nice deserved win lets keep it up.

    Victoria concordia crescit

    Coyg.

  29. I don’t want to come across negative, because we did win and we did get three points, which is what I guess it is all about, but the quality of passing was abysmal, Ramsey looked like he’d been up all night, and overall (in AW’s words) I didn’t think we played well all game, apart from 5 minutes.

    Aston Villa clearly had problems and any other CL contenders wouldn’t have taken their foot of the gas in the second half and would’ve put Aston Villa under continuous pressure, conclusively finishing the game off.

    Our defensive midfield space again looked suspect, Aston Villa were able to get places which they should never have been able to. I honestly think that if we were playing against any of the other PL teams playing today, we would’ve struggled.

    Again, where was Joel Campbell??? He wasn’t even on subs bench, yet we have Diaby there, who hasn’t played a PL game for years without getting injured for a year. What is it with Wenger? Let the guy who had a blinding world cup play, and play Diaby in more training games, so he doesn’t get injured the moment he steps on the field again. I know he can fill in as a DM, but do you really want a guy with his injury record stepping into arguably the most physical position on the pitch? And if we are really that desperate for a DM, what the hell were we doing in the transfer window? We have 170m available to spend according to the accounts, why have we still no proper DM?

  30. Let me first say well done to Ozil and Welbeck. Ozil enjoyed his game today because he was allowed to drift all over , playing from the middle, this is the role of a number 10, this is the role he should always play not on the wing where he will be lock down in one direction or not on the wings where he lacks the defensive discipline.
    Welbeck scored and i felt it was it was great i liked his movement, dropping off in the midfield to lose his marker then darting forward through the space created, thats how he assisted Ozil and got a goal for himself, unfortunately he dropped off wide in the second off, thought he would have more success if he continued as the first half. Nice seeing the link with Ozil.

    Ox and Cazorla rotating was great also, Ramsay played closer to the defense which is his most suited position, saw some poor passes but i felt it was an improved performance, he needs to make the keeper make a save with those shots though.

    better performance in the defense, at least we did not run an escort service today, on to the next match

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