Arsenal finished the job against AC Milan after having a small scare when the Italians scored first, but we can’t complain about the way our team responded. At least we are through to the last eight without too many heart attacks!
Ospina – 7
The goal caught Ospina by surprise but he did quite well after that. I’m still not convinced he is better than Cech though..
Bellerin – 6
Got about the pitch quite a lot, but not much end product
Mustafi – 8
The German is on a good run of form again. Let’s hope that this continues
Koscielny –
Only lasted ten minutes before getting kicked. Can’t say he was missed
Monreal – 7
Didn’t do much defensively but was good going forward
Xhaka – 8
Have we finally got him to play like a proper midfielder. An impressive performance for a change
Ramsey – 6
Another lively performance from the Welshman but he really should be scoring more from the positions he makes
Ozil – 7
Certainly got his passing right but didn’t stand out as much as usual
Wilshere – 7
Got forward strongly and had a couple of shots. Still looks very lively…
Mkhitaryan – 8
Another great offering from our new signing. He looks like he reallywants to win this competition..ç
Welbeck – 7
Terrible dive. Great penalty to redeem himself and a lucky finishing goal. Looks like he has got his confidence back but when will he play again when Lacazette returns?
Subs:
Chambers – 7
Very solid replacement for Koscielny. If he keeps this up he could be a regular starter.
Elneny – 5
Nowhere near as lively as he was at the weekend
Kolasinac – N/A.
Thought Elneny was good
Include me on your statement. He was good to me as well.
And me I thought he was excellent
me as well,and giving Ozil a 7 for doing nothing is generous if you ask me
And me as well
Yes. Unfair rating because he wasn’t long on the pitch.
Elneny was actually good for me too. Xhaka was excellent though.
We are facing csk Moscow in the quarter finals,their violent fans will be something to worry about
They don’t have the cojones to mess with gooners
Poisoning is a different matter though. Always go with someone you don’t like. That way you have someone to test your food and drink before you try it and if they have tried to poison you then all you lose is someone you didn’t like to begin with
?
win/win
Something us gooners aint used to recently XD
With or without dive, Welbeck worth 8.
And on the day when most of us called him out ..in the article.
Hahaha……..he turned the game in our favour with his Bambi move………….and scored a brace…….I hope his confidence is back………
The only competition we have left and Wenger plays the incompetent clown and reserve goalkeeper Ospina. What a stupid unprofessional decision by the manager. the man’s lost his marbles
give it a rest mate, we won both legs of the tie! really winds me up that some gooners aren’t even happy when we are winning. do you support the club or just come on when you fancy having a moan?
It’s unbelievable some of the people who come on here in the name of Arsenal fans ??
That’s why Admin has to return the thumps.
25 years on the terraces and 35 years a season ticket holder and still am. Bit different to you armchair fans
Go and have some English lessons.
Kenny, you’re not the only one, but you’re wrong ospina is far from a clown. It appears to be yet another excuse to have a pop at Wenger. Let’s just enjoy the way we played and won.
With all respect MW, Wenger should see that Ospina is a liability but yet he carries on regarding him as World class. Whereas I accept that Cech is not the Keeper of old, his still a better option than Ospina especially at this stage of the competition.
At the same time though lads, ya have to admit that there is always a large chance that Ospina could be the undoing of us. All it takes is a good crossing side to keep firing balls into the box and at least one of them will likely be flapped at before keeper spins himself around – looking disorientated.
Agree but Cech is just as bad at times, if not worse.
Then again Donnarumma is supposed to be th3 next big thing, now there is an incompetent clown!
True.
Cech overall still 10 % better and a safer choice.
On the other hand, Ospina might do better with penalties.
But if we play Atleti, we need Cech because there will be a lot of high balls that Ospina just cannot seem to reach.
You both don’t understand, We’re only into Quarter finals. Mark my words Ospina will cost us any chance of success.
Break-on-through understands.
Ospina was pretty laid back last night… had me shouting at the tv a few times. He needs to focus & concentrate for the whole 90 minutes
You tell ’em Sue.
Sue, I think he heard you and that’s why he daren’t let in another goal.
Must say though, I like the guy and his commitmen to the club.
Playing second fiddle even when Cech has made some awful mistakes (as he himself admits) must be very frustrating.
Haha…. I like him too but then I guess every gk has a mistake in them at some point
Agreed with your post Kenny
Ospina installs no confidence in me.
He seems to likes the action and some times creates havoc in the back lines just to get the action.
Dont get me wrong, he’s a good goalkeeper but for some else.
I couldn’t see the logic of letting scenzney go for peanuts and keeping ospins.
He would have made a great no. 2 and learnt so much then took over as our no. 1
Now he over in juventus keeping clean sheets and we have been left with coco as our no.2
There are so.e good goalkeepers out there but boy we are going g to pay through the nose to get one in.
Xhaka has always be decent game in a year and half
And all is ok ?
Sorry average player at best
I’m pleased we won but Xhaka and elneny will always be average at best
Rather than discussing the game I would like to pose a discussion about Mesut Ozil’s performance today. Can someone tell us what has happened in the life of Mesut? He was so down in the dumps today that he made me cry. Honestly, you can’t show yourself in public like that, people will notice. He is really having a bad time. I never saw him so depressed before. When he left the pitch and sat on the bench I really thought he was crying, I mean, he looked like he was going to crumble at that very moment. Really guys, I’m very worried about him. now I can understand the way he behaves on the pitch, he is just not happy, I just saw it clearly today. I don’t know, maybe I’m just guessing here, but honestly for the look in his eyes, he is definitely going through a very difficult time in his life. How do you go and lose all the courage and love and all the happiness that it is to play a sport; to be a professional athlete player. To play a game and make a living out of that fact. That is a gift from the Gods and this guy is wasting incomparable talent as well as the best years of his life, precious time. I am really sad honestly because I admire him so much. The first touch and the quality of dribble that he has, the vision and the capacity to resolve in very small spaces. That first clinical pass to leave the striker alone with the keeper is just world class. And he even has defending skills. I never saw him like today when he played for Madrid. He was much younger and you could clearly see in his eyes that he admired the players he was playing with. Always looking at Cristiano trying to predict what the Portuguese would do next, or connecting with Xaby Alonso and creating an amazing play in the Midfield, or simply setting up the greatest passes for Benzema’s clinical finish. Honestly I like more his hairstyle at Madrid wearing the band on his head and his attitude towards the game back then as well. I hope he recovers soon or find out what’s going on because wasting so much talent is just unbearable. Thank you.
Good artricle Boliviangunner, I think it might have something to do with his winning mentality. So used to winning with Germany and Real Madrid and not having the same success with Arsenal might be the answer. However hopefully next year with a new manager and changes at the back it could be restored. My fingers are crossed
Ozil was man of match on BBC and some other outlets.
I though5 he played well.
He has still created more assists an goal chances than anyone in the PL. Work that one out!! He is a classy player and we are lucky to have him at AFC. Hopefully from now on it will be better for him now that we have a quality finisher like Aubameyang. Our previous strikers were, at best, average which didn’t do much for his stats.
Agree 100% with you andcliff, I was only referring to Ozil’s happiness pointed out by Boliviangunner.
Kenny Rolfe,
Agree, a good article.
I noticed last night that he didn’t seem as excited and part of the team when we scored our goals.
If you look at his relationship with Wenger (according to his own quotes) he is enjoying playing for him and loves the London life.
So not sure your thoughts regarding new manager will solve anything with reference the article.
Also he has been used to winning things with us and has been superb in all the cup finals he was involved with.
Could be we are all reading into something that’s not there?
Ken, I agree with you, I’m a huge fan of Mezit Ozil, have been since his early days in the Bunderlige, but I say again my original article some hours ago now was purely about his happiness at the club in reference to Boliviangunner’s article
Lets be honest EUFA have always hated English football ever since the dark days of hooliganism and Brexit has only added to this, so to see the remaining two English sides in the Champions League drawn against each other plus Arsenal given a trip to Moscow under the present climate doesn’t surprise me. Until they start bouncing the balls around like they do with the Lottery draw I will always have my suspicions.
I’ve got some issues with your ratings
1) Wilshere was MOM for me with at least an 8/9
2) I thought the Milan goal, the way it dipped and swerved would have beaten any keeper; almost certainly Cech as he does not get down so quickly these days. However I still think we need a really top No.1, with a few PL stoppers possibly available next season a) Butland if Stoke get relegated b) Pope of Burnley, a revelation this season. and dare I say it the keeper with the most saves in the PL, a certain Mr. Fabianski !? I think someone who has proven himself in the PL is a much better idea than paying a fortune for one of the foreign keepers that are being mentioned as possibilities
3) Quite the opposite view of Elneny; I thought he was very lively when he came on.
4) I didn’t actually think Welbeck dived – but it was never a penalty. You say when he play when Lacazette id fit, but surely Aubameyang is front of both of them.
I’d have no complaints with the ratings. About Ospina, you are right, he’s not better than Cech. And people who think otherwise have no sense in judging GKs. Xhaka, he did look good. And I think the formation with the two Brits either side has allot to do with it. I wanted to see that midfield three mainly because of Ozil, but I said Niles instead of Xhaka, but I’d be happily proven wrong if Xhaka keeps showing a maturity. Also glad you mentioned Chambers looking comfortable, he has what it takes I believe but the only thing that might hold him back a little is the coaching and/or football style at Arsenal.
When Jack dropped deeper then I thought we shown more balance in the team, in the beginning he was playing as the number 10, pushed up more and I wasn’t keen on it.
When he dropped deeper thought, the CM3 looked good, very good 🙂
I wonder if Xhaka could do equally well in a EPL game, this league is quick in closing down people… Teams know that is how to get at us so they do it.
Was it me or did Xhaka show more pace at times? The least few games he has shown that he can run, it is a gallop rather than a sprinting burst but he can cover a lot of ground once he gets going. A few times I’ve seen a player run and wondered who it was and when confirmed by sound that it is Xhaka (so I know my eyes wasn’t playing tricks lol) I was gobsmacked.
Maybe Wenger has finally learnt how to get the best out of him? If so then it has taken too long to forgive but gives me hope for the rest of the UEL.
Completely agree with your comment about Jack
Why a 7 for Ozil? He created 6 goal scoring chances (the most chances created in Europe since 2013 when he did the same) and a 90% pass completion. Don’t you get it, he doesn’t stand out he just gets on with his job. Another stat, he’s just beaten Cantona’s PL assist record in fewer games!! Nobody has commented on it but he made Wilshere look ordinary before he was substituted. Anyway the BBC had him as MOTM and I agree with Xhaka next.
All I know is that sometime we underrate Ozil…and people slate him when performance drops. We question that he is not aggressive…he is not ever going to be what he is not naturally built for. But for the skills he is made of….you can fault that he is one of the best avaialable in the world. We should be proud he is in our team. Just play to his strength and your team can be devastatingly strong against any opponent.
Gentlemen, don’t you realise some people on here have agendas.
It doesn’t matter how good someone plays, if he is not liked by someone they just won’t say he played well.
I honestly thought Ospina positioning was dodgy for their goal, he isn’t a tall keeper and he should know not to leave a side so open…
Take nothing away from their goal, it was a beautiful strike.
It was nice to see us show fight after letting in the 1st goal, watching the game it made me nervous as we haven’t reacted well for a while but we did then and the whole team deserves credit for that. Not enough good games to build my confidence back into Arsenal but it is the best way, to produce results. I couldn’t have hoped for more , well done Arsenal!
Ozil was my MOTM.
Welbroke was Cheat of the Match.
Glad he scored but I feel ashamed that such a poor dive was given and it was the route for us back into the game, kinda looked like a spud the way he flopped to the ground.
Make you right Midkemma about Ospina’s positioning. You’re not going to save a shot like that by diving from the centre of the goal, especially if your a short keeper like Ospina. The shot came from thirty yards away so he had plenty of time to see it. He had to take a step to the left first and then dive. But as I said, Not good enough
Two observations from me.
Over the two legs, Ospina let in one goal and I believe no keeper would have saved that shot.
Cech has made more mistakes on average this season than Ospina and I admire the man for playing second fiddle but being loyal to the club.
Second, Kos played ten minutes, gets injured and then is given a rating that makes no sense at all.
As someone else earlier said, people have agendas.
Well done to the crowd as well. Great to see and hear them getting behind the team again.
Also congratulations to the AC Milan fans, they know how to support their club even when we were 4-1 ahead.
Correction re. Kos and a rating, meant to say no rating.
Apologies to all.
Ken, first of all the reason Cech’s made more mistakes than Ospina is because his played far more games, but lets be honest here, both our goalkeepers have been awful the throughout the season and who’s fault is that. When questioned about his keepers Ken you’re man Arsene Wenger said he was happy to have two World class goalkeepers at his disposal and while saying that released two young keepers with bags of potential. Secondly, it was the Arsenal fans joining in with the AC Milan fans towards the end of the game that added to the atmosphere although I do agree with you that we certainly do need to improve it, but I fear that might be asking to much with the modern Emirates football fan.
Kenny Rolfe,
I did make the point that when comparing the two, you should use an average.
Plus, I don’t recall Ospina actually having to publically apologise for his mistakes.
Wenger did indeed use the phrase “world class”, so how does one judge that?
I suggest that if your both full international players who have featured in world cups, then you are at least in that ball park.
I can’t believe your blaming Wenger for goalkeeping errors. We do actually have a goalkeeping coach by the name of Lehman, surely that’s who you should be pointing the finger at?
I assume Wenger took advise from him regarding who he kept at the club and who left.
I thought our fans were magnificient from beginning to end and our players responded in kind. As my seat is in the clock end I found the AC Milan fans a credit to their club even when the tie was beyond them. That’s how you support you club in my opinion.
I had to laugh when you said “modern Emirate football fan”. As you know, I’ve been accused many times of not being one of those,and like you I do long for the days when we supported the club through thick and thin.
Just as I will when a new manager is appointed. yes I amm a wenger man, proud of it. But, time stands still for no man,so let’s see what happens.
Ken, believe me, when I used the term “modern Emirates football fan”I definitely wasn’t talking about you. You are old school and well respected long time fan, spent many years at Highbury and can go back even before me. However you also go on to say don’t blame Wenger for Cech and Ospina’s mistakes, blame Lehmann, how can you say that when Lehmann who’s only been back at the club,what is it a year or so and wasn’t at the club when they were signed also before Sven, Raul and Jens joint the staff, Wenger done everything concerned with the football side of the club, in fact too much and was the person who let Szczesny and Martinez leave the club. IMO a massive mistake. One more point Ken, with your experience do you really think Ospina is world class? There’s been been hundreds of footballers who’ve gone to a World Cups that were not world class and I’m sure you’re aware of that.
Kenny,
We are talking about this season and the fact that Ospina was preferred over Cech for last nights game.
So Lehman must come into the discussion. I would have thought that even after one year, the club would be expecting him to have done something to warrant his appointment. I don’t believe one can blame any manager for his goalkeepers errors on the pitch, Cech has even said that himself. That is why I get so frustrated when Wenger is solely blamed for this seasons performances.
In my opinion Szczesny was let go because of his disciplinary record which had become public property. A shame because he was a real gooner. I thought Martinez was out on loan, but if that is wrong, then I agree a mistake.
It is difficultfor me to really judge Ospina being a world class player due to his limited playing time at Arsenal, but the rave reports from the last world cup he was involved in suggest he is very well thought of around the world. Cech has been given the opportunity to play a lot more and I ask you to look at the views from our fanbase over this season as a guide.
Your point originally was Wengers decision to pick him over Cech and I believe, with the imput of Lehman (surely?), the right one. Cech, by his own admission, has made some real howlers and cost us many points.
I was being sarcastic regarding the “modern fan” because I have been told that not being one made me a dinosaur. Wouldn’t swap being a real fan for a modern fan thats for sure. Would you?
Good debate Kenny, this is what makes the world go round eh?
Hi Ken, exactly, good debate argued respectfully. I don’t think Ospina was prefered to Cech, I honestly feel it’s a game of turns eaches which I think is ridiculous in professional football. I agree with you regarding Lehmann’s input but as for Szczeny, he was let go because he caught him smoking a cigarette in the showers while at the same time forgives Iwobi caught partying at 3-30 in the morning 24 hours before a game, surely double standards. You’re right about Martinez, his out on loan, but I would prefer him to both our present keepers and hopefully he’ll bring him back soon. Reminds of Courtois of Chelsea. I thought you were joking about the “modern fan” jibe, you know that could never be used to describe yourself. After all that Ken, what would we give for a young Jack Kelsey.