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We’re still up for the cup after a hard-fought 3-2 win over Brighton yesterday, but how did the players rate? Our unique scientific, state of the art,number crunching computer system has churned out the results below.
Wojciech Szczesny: 5/10 – Great save to prevent a Brighton opener, but a bit Fabmunia for their first.
Carl Jenkinson: 6/10 – First game in a while, generally solid
Per Mertesacker: 5/10 – Captain for the day, not his best performance by a long shot, partly culpable for their 2nd
Laurent Koscielny: 6/10 – Didn’t really notice him, which is, in some ways, a good thing
Andre Santos: 3/10 – Some wasteful shooting and was poor positionally, looked like someone who hasn’t played in months. Or someone who will play much in the months to come.
Aaron Ramsey: 7/10 – Another solid, disciplined game from the Welshman
Abou Diaby: 6/10 – Lasted the full 90, good ball for Giroud’s second, suspect defensively for Brighton’s second
Tomas Rosicky: 7/10 – His passing was a bit off, as you’d expect after being out for so long, but worked his hole off.
Lukas Podolski: 6/10 – Hit the bar with an excellent free kick, solid throughout really. Played a full 90 without being hauled off.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6/10 – Pretty quiet, looks to be suffering a bit from second season syndrome, needs to keep his head down and work hard to get through it.
Oliver Giroud: 9/10 – Two quality goals, could have scored more, Arsenal’s stand-out player on the day.
Subs
Jack Wilshere: 6/10 – Added some verve to midfield late in the second half
Theo Walcott: 7/10 – A touch fortunate with the winner but when your luck’s in, it’s in. Should have squared to Giroud late on though.
Kieran Gibbs: 6/10 – Replaced the struggling Santos, we were immediately more solid down the left.
Feel free to discuss and post your own ratings, but normal comment policy applies. If you’re not familiar with it, please read.
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Unlike some, I hate to kick our players when they are down. However, I honestly think you have been generous to rate Santos a 3! Not sure he did anything right all game, and could easily have been given a 1.
I’m certain that he’s better than yesterday’s performance, but still not good enough for us.
Because Santos is Santos.. He doesn’t get the insurance afforded to other Arsenal players when they are not fully match fit because they haven’t played in months. I get sad sometimes at the treatment some of our players get from some of their supposed supporters
So when exactly has he been fully match fit?
When he scored those crucial goals for us last season, there’s a start. I’d rather judge him on the season where he had a proper run of games, 15 appearances instead of his 6 bit part appearances this season, he wasn’t brilliant, but he sure as hell wasn’t the caricature figure of a fat, lazy, lumbering, culturally cluless player that fat, lazy, lumbering, culturally-clueless fans make him out to be.
Thank you Lobster! Put my feelings into words. Its not a black and white issue, Santos is still useful in the squad, just not as a defender or at least not with him so exposed!
As I said, I’m not the type to go over the top with criticising our own, but the guy has fucked up at EVERY opportunity this season. If Brighton can pick him out as the weak point, and attack him with so much joy, what happens when he’s thrown in against one of the big boys?
I for one hope Gibbs stays fit, but failing that I’d have Vermaelen, Meade, Miquel Kos, Jenks, Coq or Sagna ahead of our “second choice” left back
Agreed Lobster, as you say he was never the fat, lazy, lumbering, culturally cluless player that fat, lazy, lumbering, culturally-clueless fans make him out to be, and he is quite a likable character it seems, but as likeable as he is, he just isnt good enough for us as a left back. He is the weak link that is targeted when we are playing and will cost points as a result. There is no vendetta against him, we just dont want him costing us points
He’s overweight and unfit, that’s down to him and the club to sort out, he should never allow himself to get into that condition, he’s meant to be a professional athlete.
And you have to ask what are the clubs nutritionists doing allowing him to get into that state in the first place. And why when the get seems clearly unfit is wenger picking him and not bollocking him. Maybe because he’s paid six million quid for him and given him a huge contract to get fat on.
Funny though, for a player who is being targeted all the time funny how he sadly/hardly gets cover on the left. Where was Podolski to help the left back. Too many times it is a 2 on one situation. Same goes for the right when Walcott leaves Sagna exposed and so called supporters who WATCHED the match give him stick. Just watch the games we win and play really well, the full backs get lots of cover. And maybe Santos is making life difficult for himself as he pushes forward allows the left midfield player to push higher up the pitch and that makes the journey back to help Santos seem so much more difficult.
I, for one said exactly the same thing about Arshavin, especially last season where I felt he could contribute more here and there, and was generally upset when he was booed on against united. I don’t want any of our players to do badly but his attitude yesterday stunk!. He just looked too casual and that’s what made me upset! You have to give credit where it’s due, if he scores a hat trick next time he plays then brilliant!
I wouldn’t mind him having a shot at left wing to up his confidence/fitness, if the issue lies there, as he does look like he can create at times.
A good win in the end though that’s all that matters! COYG!
Meh. The truth is somewhere in the middle. He’s been out for 2 months and was a bit off the pace. He also isn’t that great at his best. So………… He’s still not as bad as gervinho.
Bless you lobster. The chap isn’t half as bad as “supporters” make him out to be. He just needs to be played to his strengths like some contract-delaying, lucky goal scoring players are privileged to get. I think Poldi and Gibbs have a partnership on the left that he doesnt and no one wants to understand him this season. He tends to do better when its Gervinho(in form) i that position. Remember chelsea away last season? Still he’s a better left winger than left back IMO.
People defending santos are not true arsenal fans. If they were, they wouldn’t be defending a lousy defender who have been ear-marked as the worst full back and he would be exploited by the Brighton team.
If Brighton can exploit him, PL teams would tear him a new one every minute of the 90 minutes.
Its nothing personal against him, its just pure business. And at this stage, where every win-loss counts. Players like santos should never ever in fucking decade should have a place in the team like Arsenal.
We are Arsenal FC ffs, a top four team of PL not relegation battling team. And we demand and expect better players then santos in LB position or any position. And by yesterday’s performance, i wouldn’t even allow him anywhere near the emirates stadium.
I’ll get slated for this i know, but in many ways he reminds me of Eboue. Too offensive to be a fullback, too defensive to be a winger. I’d like to see him used like Eboue was towards the end of his Arsenal career, as a traditional left side midfielder when we are seeing games out and/or when we have a particularly difficult opponent on that side.
Well said Lobster and in answer to TomJ:
Last season before the injury when everyone was praising him for looking awesome. Remember also, this guy is more a wingback/midfielder than a left back. Just because the mad professor plays him at left back it doesn’t mean he is on.
So you would actually let him play shit AND stick up for him until he proves he’s okay. Interesting. And about our Arsenal?
“not good enough for us” sounds a bit arrogant.
what make ‘us’ are the history of the club, the current playing staff, the manager, the board and the fans, supporters, followers.
how do you define a player as ‘good enough for us’?
when our players do not player well, not applauding them is enough to let them know what you think of their performances.
while they are still our players, don’t you want them to be upbeat the next time they are or on the pitch?
If you say that you pay to watch then you are entitled to boo your own players, then you accept that you are the customers, not the supporters. So, do not complain about ticket pricing policy because it is of the supply – and – demand relationship.
He tackled well but chose a poor clearance decision which nearly cost us a goal (God bless offside). He has a dual identity. He can be great but he is, to be fair, a more attack friendly Brazillian than the defending sort. Besides, bit part games has clearly lumbered his unnaturally defensive brain as oppose to his better performance last year. Clearly his first start since being out for an abdominal injury for two month showed added rust to it.
Not that i have the stance to request it, but if i could I’d happily have Arshavin sold for peanuts and move Santos to back up LW’er, then move Meade up the short list. All this rather than sticking Santos in defense. This would be a realistic approach to the issue at hand with the Russian, in my opinion. At least Santos is more grateful to be an Arsenal player.
Santos seems better suited to midfielder role (more defensively) than a left back. His work rate wasn’t there yesterday, but otherwise he catches a lot flack unfairly in my opinion.
Hey guys guess what!? We won, we are through to next round with a supposed shit team.
There is not one arsenal player who has never been at fault.
We WON, move on!
The only to see if Santos is rubbish is by his next game.
No one cared how shit he was when he scored against Chelsea and other important goals.
It seems Arsenal need to have perfect players, perfect results, perfect signings, perfectly tied shoe laces and perfect zips. If one of those is not correct it means we have failed, the manager has lost it blah blah.
WE WON!!!!!!!
Giroud’s goals were brilliant, but his first, especially, was of the highest quality. When a player can score a goal like that, anything is possible.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagreeeddddd. i love his smile too
I thought the second was of the highest quality as well, just in terms of the control. I didn’t think he’d be able to handle it as well as he did, I was a little surprised when I saw him get the shot off and shocked when I saw it was a great shot and that he scored.
Anyways, this post can be summed up as “good for him!”
There will be a dozen comments here all bashing Santos and how he should never be allowed near an Arsenal shirt again. But I think most of those comments are just because of his moment of indiscreet shirt-swapping with the crying dutchman
Cut him some slack. This was his first start in about 2 months. He hasn’t been used much so it is expected he will be rusty. Poldi, Diaby and Per were as much suspect defensively but Santos will bear the entire burden.
It won’t do us good to break our own players’ confidence. Aside the usual bashed people are doing pretty well away from the spot-light – Ramsey another solid performance and its Gervinho and not Drogba who is keeping the Ivory COast dream alive
Jenkinson was rusty.Lacked a bit of sharpness as Arsene says.Santos was just plain stupid.How can you explain his decision to dribble past 3 players in our own half?It almost cost us a goal.He did that a couple of time later too.And his decision to shoot from 35 yards twice when there were player better placed?Rosicky hasn’t played in ages and he struggled a bit but he worked his socks off.
Everybody has an off-game once-in-a-while. Kos had a shocker against City and Chelsea at home but I don’t remember such scathing criticism then.
Santos isn’t in the same class as Rosicky and jenks has started more games this season. My only point is – If any other player has a mare, we shrug and say “Oh well, another time. Onwards and Upwards” but if one of the “fall-guys” has a mare, we tear into them like they are the only ones that cost us the match.
@Nognir
Part of it is that Santos is a member of axis of hated players at Arsenal. Now that Chamakh is gone, our list grows thin. It’s as if we’re counting down little indians on our mantlepiece of undesirables. And these undesirables have a way of never returning to form or reaching it – part of it may be a suspicion of Wenger’s/scouts lack of sharpness within the transfer market, or rather I wonder if these players no longer enjoy playing for Arsenal FC because of the interminable pressure they receive from football fans who love and hate like divas.
Its just plain wrong to say that most of those comments about Santos are just because of his moment of indiscreet shirt-swapping. If you remember much of the ire that day was because of his pretty abject performance in the first half (and the teams in fairness) and due to Santos being roasted in numerous games he played prior to that. Our left hand side is targeted every game he plays and he even brings Podolskis performances down. Whereas when Gibbs plays our left is one of our strongest assets as an attacking threat. This is not about indiscreet shirt-swapping, he is just not a good enough back up if Gibbs is out for any period of time
Let’s remember that Gibbs being the first choice left-back for Arsenal wasn’t as a unanimous agreement last season as it seems to be this season. Nobody thought it was a “stupid” move when Santos decided to take those long shots at stamford bridge and the hawthornes last season
Sorry mate, if you think the only reson Santos will get a bashing is because of the shirt-swapping incident (which was a disgrace!) you’re sadly mistaken. My mother could’ve played a better game than Santos yesterday, and she’s had a hip replacement. To say he was woeful, would be one of the great understatements. A Song..esque at Fulham performance!
And according to your logic, we should give him a bashing because he played a poor game/is not a very good player? Were you one of those who booed Eboue off the pitch a couple of years ago? Leave the bashing for Arsene to do. We should get behind him notwithstanding the fact that it would be nice to buy another LB.
True lobster, and when he has to be selected to play for us we should get behind him, but it still does not change the fact that he is either not good enough or not willing to work hard enough to be good enough
You cannot cut him some slack because the opposition will not cut him some slack. They will pressure him to take advantage of the player. Once you pull on the Arsenal shirt you have to be 100% committed! Santos was known when he was at Corinthians to be a great attacker and poor defender. He is simply not a left back as he regularly gives the ball away ( the offside goal yesterday is an example of his play) whoever told Santos he is a defender must have been crazy and the Arsenal scout who found him needs to be questioned!!!
Those outrageous shots Santos took is classic over-achieving stuff for a guy who’s had a long spell on the sidelines……I can confidently say Gibbs outplayed him for the little time he was on the pitch. Now for your own sake, please play well Santos, you started alright but you’re on a free fall right now, it’s not at all funny!
That one first time lobbed pass from Rosicky, was brilliant, hope Giroud would’ve finished that off.
Great to have Lil’ Mo baack!
* insert hate comment about Santos *
I hate santos.
lol
Ramsey<3
He has worked his ass off in the DM role and looks so much more comfortable really happy for him especially as he is my favourite player.
Vito Fabmunia
there’s only one olivier….
What about kuscak?
He made that first save according to itv!
Some players will never be good enough & unfortunately for Santos he is in that category. Don’t know how our scouting system could have got this one so wrong. £5.8m for a useless player, should have just doubled that outlay & got in Leighton Baines.
Really don’t know what your thoughts were last season then, before he got injured in the CL or playing against chelsea/west brom and so many other teams. Hey what am i saying, for sure we would be playing champions league football this year if he weren’t around. Thanks for the goals and possession play SANTOS!! Gunners 4 life!!! Let the haters support Everton.
He wasnt useless last season, most people wanted him to be the starter after last season…
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Poorly-rated
5 
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His distribution is poor? As shown on Wednesday for the goal when he threw out to Jack and we scored in seconds? Or Girouds first yesterday where he threw out to Rosicky and we scored in seconds?
Cesc i’ll give you a 10 out of 10,,,,,,,for being a twat “a clueless baboon” is that the best you can do???
You sound like a bundle of fun fella…WTF are you like when we lose?
I hope you’re around 10, because otherwise this comment is embarrassing.
Ramsey works hard throughout the 90 minutes, but he really needs to improve on his first touch. Sometimes his touches are so heavy, which can be risky in a deeper midfield position. Plus, he gave the ball away at least 3-4 times in risky situations when under pressure. A run of games will do him good, but he needs to be a bit more careful.
You are the one of the few people here who see well and reality. I hope Ramsey will not be in the first 11 against Liverpool but I don t think he is on the level to play really well against stronger more agressive oposition.
On the other hand I wont use this space to say anything about Santos except: he is not good at all. Eboue is God if you want to compare.
Except I think Ramsey excels against stronger teams. Remember his performance against city at the beginning of the season?
Yeah, 15 minutes in a year. great!
.. remember eboue?
I know it’s an amateur suggestion, but I would like to see Podolski play LB and Santos LW. It would be interesting to see how that would turn out, since it worked pretty well for Liverpool, with Enrique and Downing. Podolski said he wouldn’t mind playing LB for Germany so, who knows. In any case, hope Santos improves defensively. With Vermaelan and Meade out, we have to rely on him, to give Gibbs the occasional rest.
Youre having a laugh arent you? Podolski play left back? How about just buying a solid left back?
I know its stupid but since we’re probably not going to have new signings this window, I’m trying to think of various ways to keep a balance on the left, for cup games mostly, while giving Gibbs a break. I think we’ve been heavily reliant on him, so don’t want him to end up injured again.
Podolski at left back!!! I fucking give up,,,,our left back is shit, so we’re supposed to play one of our best attacking players there and move the shit left back to an attacking position just to accomodate him in the team…..What should of happened is, when Gibbs was ready to come on, Steve Bould should have walked on to the pitch, grabbed Santos by his hair and dragged him off!!!!!!
I think you should be Wengers assistant now. You both clearly want what’s best for the team.
“Players playing out of position!”
Good suggestion. Also, Mertesacker wasn’t at his best yesterday, so I reckon it might be worth chucking Cazorla in at centre-back just to see if that would add an extra bit of defensive solidity.
Exactly, a bit of guile and craft to the central defence…!
Not so stupid but I would alter the point slightly. We are a bit light on the wings and podolski getting injured is a concern. I would like to see Santos used as back up left winger. That is really his role as he is one of those weird Brazilian attacking left players, he is not a defender like Walcott is not a defender.
Podolski is our most clinical goalscorer, at the moment. Who knows how Giroud’s form will continue. But at the moment, his goals are essential to the team’s attacking power. It would be a waste to have him play Left Back as he is our best Left Winger. And forward positions matter less with how Arsenal plays the ball up from midfield anyway – if Giroud targets and services Podolski in the box, we need him to be clinical. Same with Walcott. If we had a better LW than Podolski it might have been interesting, but at the moment it does not make sense to take a forward leader and push him back.
Absolutely the right score for Santos. A reserve left back is one in which we should be looking in the market now, alongside one striker and one defensive midfielder.
Santos shouldn even be playing left bench for arsenal sorry.. Just not arsenal material full-stop.
I don’t get that there are people on here saying “cut Santos some slack cause he hasn’t played for a while” do you not remember his performances when he did play before? The guy’s a clown..It’s not that he’s a bit rusty, his positional play is shocking, his decision making is a joke and he just doesn’t look fit,,,,is this one of the top quality two players in every position Arsene was talking about????
And where’s our back up for Giroud should he get a nasty injury and be out for 6-8 weeks????
I somehow dont get it.. You thought Podolski was quite solid and gave him a 6. You thought Oxlade was pretty quiet and gave him a 6. Dont you think Podolski should have 7 then?
Does it really matter?
What? I though these numbers all feed into the stats that Wenger bases his team selections on.
Clearly it matters to 1 person!
It matters, of course, otherwise why didn t you give Santos 8/10 just for a laugh?
lol that’s ridiculous. don’t you know he bases his team selection on horoscopes?
This comment sounds really innocent! It’s cute gimme a hug pichu!
Santos is not such a bad player, he sparked our comeback against Chelsea, he’s been capped for Brazil and so on. However, when you’re clearly the second choice, when your confidence is below your heels and your fans are ready to bash you and will probably never forgive you for swapping shirt with a Dutchman cunt, it’s better for everyone to move on.
Buying a proper left back is not an option, Gibbs will rule that flank for years, but we could do with an anonymous back-up
Shaw from Southampton looks like he is going to be a player, and only 17. Would be an excellent understudy to Gibbs and another young Brit
He’s already a player. How else would you know of him…
And he’s clearly ready for the PL, he’s been playing there for months already!
The way you write your sentences annoys me is all.
As much as I love the dedication and determination of Kieran Gibbs, I think Luke Shaw is better. Gibbs shooting/crossing/passing is almost always inaccurate by a at least a yard. Compare that to Podolski vs. West Ham and his excquisite “inch-perfect” cross for Theo… simply breathtaking.
The idea of Poldi at LB is not as crazy as it sounds. Imagine having to defend against Gervinho (who is good at beating people) and Poldi (one of the best crossers in the PL). Gervinho would beat 1-2 defenders to get in a great crossing position, then back-heels back to an open Poldi who whips in a sharp cross to Giroud’s forehead for a goal!
I don’t think we should be in the market for a left-back at all. We have Jernade Meade, who looks promising, as well as Ignasi Miquel who can play there? Why don’t we start using talents from our own academy?
Yes that would be preferable. However Shaw looks like an exceptional talent and judging by his performances for Southampton is ready for the PL
I don’t see why everyone has this love for Ramsey, he works hard yes but he just isn’t good enough. Time and time again he gets caught in possession in his own half and it puts our back four in deep shit, he’s too clumsy to have playing infront of the back 4. We need to push him further up if we’re gonna play him, I think he’s better pushed up also. We need mikel back asap
And play instead of who?
He is not creative enough for an advanced role. Why is he good for us? Pass completion, it is what our game is based on and we need players like that.
He’s one of those players who is at his best when you don’t notice them, sitting in front of the back four playing simple passes, picking up any loose balls, winning second balls from crosses/corners/free kicks etc someone has to do the bits and pieces, very similar to Carrick at Wankchester utd, he never gets a 10 out of 10 but still gets picked every week..
Ramsey has showed he is capable of playing some very good balls and being creative. It’s a confidence thing and he seems to be gaining some. He is just as good as Wilshere it’s just Wilshere has more “mental strength”.
Ramsey will become one of the best midfielders in the world, of course at times I was frustrated with him last season but that’s only because of his obvious potential. Him and Wilshere will destroy other midfields in a couple of years.
Jiggalo…. Ramsey as good as Wilshere… Are u Welsh?
Ha ha ha…. hey @arseblog do you see where your 7/10 rating to Ramesy leads? Two games, without serious mistakes and slowing a game, against low clubs and now he is good as Wilshere… ha ha ah aha ha… siiiick !
If I am Ramsey I would be afraid of my fans like that…
@arsenal.
just open your eyes mate, he’s improving… couldn’t you see that?
he only did that twice against Brighton and one of these situations was because of Santos and Aaron fixed it himself so stop talking sh… he was excellent vs WHU and didn’t lose possesion once in our half of the pitch. Brighton was his second performance in this position this season and you’re saying he can’t do this? I actually like how the team looks with him in this role and I think we didn’t miss Arteta at all. And you know what, the amount of love for him is proportional to the amount of blind hatred. Because some people think he’s “not googd enough” and his presence on the pitch is the reason why we’re not winning or when we do, it’s despite him being in the team
ramsey can do no wrong in the eyes of the blogs it seems.
Or no right in your eyes
Then why don’t you simply give up and move on with your life.
Your ‘Loan Ramsey’ campaign won’t get any traction around here.
Well said, says a lot about us that it takes a female (i presume) to bring a little class and reason to the discussion….
@DialSquare: excuse me? “Says a lot about us that it takes a female to bring a little class and reason…”
What are you implying, that we don’t have the mental capabilities of men? That we don’t have any class? That we have a lower quota of reason to offer than men? oh, should I haveasked fr permission to speak before typing all this out? I mean, since you’re ever so more intelligent and reasonable than a simple woman like me could ever be.
Jesus Christ, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more sexist comment here on Arseblog. I’m tempted to ignore the little class I’ve been granted as “a female” and offer you a few choice words but I suppose it’s not really worth it…
Spot on Cam.
p.s. Where’s my sandwich?
Actually if you take your pinny and marigolds off and read it again, you’ll see that it was in fact a complement to the reasoning of a female argument, where as men tend to get drawn into the heat of a debate, it seems to me women have the ability to stand back and give a more reasond view, so calm down and put the bloody kettle on…
I actually interpret it more that he meant females have more class and reason, it but I mean there was no need to bring up gender anyway, was there
Sorry hadnt seen your own reply
@TomJ Cause that would be sexist…complimenting a woman on her well thought out and reasoned views..
What I meant is that I didnt think you meant to be sexist, but by bringing the persons gender into it and then putting it arseways you opened the possibility. You could have just said that the opinion brought class and reason to the discussion without referring to the sex of the person who delivered it
agree about Ramsey’s first touch but he will probably never be a master in that area. that’s his main weakness. however, I really like the shape of our team when he plays Arteta role, despite Diaby’s and Rosicky’s rustiness. his last two displays in that position were at least good. his work rate is massive, his passing is excellent and he even starts tackling opponents more frequently. if he eliminate turnovers in dangerous positions, he can be a real challenge for Mikel in that position. I’m very happy for him as it looks like his confidence is coming back
Yep, he needs a run of games to get his confidence up and to be played central to get good performances from him – this shouldn’t really be surprising given how young he is.
On a side not, he’s also stopped doing those semi ridiculous pivot-y cut back things he always use to do which slowed things right down. Keeping things simple has improved things immensely.
It is sad that our midfield is injured midfiled and that we can not loan Ramsey to Fulham where he will show how good he is or isn’t.
great to see diaby play a full 90 without one of his limbs falling off,a well deserved rest for santi was needed
I literally cannot remember the last time I read something written by Arseblog that didn’t have a criticism of Walcott in it. Give it a fucking rest. The guy’s our top scorer and by a country fucking mile our most dangerous player despite being dropped at the start of the season and having had the option of fucking off somewhere else and earning much more money, an option the likes of rvp cesc song nasri and flamini all took up. He is not a complete player but you are just choosing to be a prick, it is very very rare any player has a game that you can’t stick a “yeah but” comment in his review but you always always feel the need to with Walcott, even when he comes on and scores the winner. I was half expecting you to say it wasn’t really his goal anyway.
Tell me, just why are you called Theo?
Just out of interest, where could he have gone? Who were all these clubs quing up to sign him and pay him much more money?
Are you suggesting that he was right to go it alone and shoot from a tight angle when he could have provided Giroud with a much easier chance?
No I’m suggesting stop criticising our best player in every single blog, if you want to have a vendetta feel free but why pick on him? When the contract negotiations were dragging on and you kept having a go I assumed you were just bracing yourself for him leaving but he has kept performing and you still criticise. I have seen you justify it previously with reference to his status as our highest paid player but I would much rather pay someone who scores and creates goals and opportunities regularly 100k a week and overlook the (relatively) poor technical ability and bad decision making, especially when many of our more technically gifted players like the Spaniards contribute far less in terms of end product yet you regularly laud anything positive they contribute without the “buts”. In short, get off his back, its making your otherwise excellent blog tiresome.
Fuck theo Walcott.
Giroud had a easy sitter for his hattrick if Theo had simply looked up. Yes Theo has saved us on numerous occasions this season, but Theo can also be blamed for our slow start due to his contract ‘dispute’. Now that Theo ‘signed da ting’, hope he can learn to be a bit more of a team player. Theo is deffo worth GBP100k a week (even Nasri gets paid GBP180k-a-week). I just hope his ‘awareness’ improves along with his ‘finishing’
Walcott is one of our best. The stats don’t lie. But he is selfish in front of goal and if it countinues it might be the difference between 4th and 5th place for us the way things are going. He’s also not been helping the defense enough now that he has been given more freedom to play in the center.
I thought that Chez could have done better for both goals that we conceded. Just shows that we should sign a quality back-up keeper before it’s too late.
But, if course, we won’t.
You know something, I’m starting to think its not a backup keeper we need. I think we need a proper first choice keeper. Szcz is a favorite because of his personality but he’s had as many ridiculous fuck ups as alumina this year and he can not kick the ball to save his life. Fact is our defense is shit and having a top, top, top keeper would really help. Just look at how many times cech has saved Chelsea’s ass.
Spot on frog. Szczeny makes plenty of errors and needs couple more years to improve before he should be no 1. We have needed quality goalie for years and will have to put up with his puppy years before we see the best of him.
Wenger has a massive blind spot when it comes to Keepers and defenders. That’s why we’ll never win another title under him.
PS: the clock is still ticking, and nobody signed… Nobody.
Ya but come on fatgooner, we knew since November that we weren’t going to sign anybody. The feeling at the club must be that we have the required amount of talent to crash land into the fourth place spot again. I don’t think we do, we shall see.
As far as the keeper thing goes, all I have to say is if we had a top class keeper, we’d have at least 6 more points. How many points is a world class keeper worth at the end of the year?
I think people need to bear in mind how young Szczesny is, especially for a keeper. He’s got real potential, stuff like this is part of how he’s going to realise that.
I don’t think Szcz is much better/worse than any of the other top four keepers, Joe Hart is the best and the others much of a muchness….
@bloggs, that’s the problem. Yes he does have potential, so did denilson. I’m not saying he’s shit and we should sell him. In saying we should have brought in a proper number one like Julio Ceasar or that spud Friedal to be the number one for the next year or two while szcz went on loan to a mid table club ( we’re not quite mid table yet) or stayed with us and played in the cups.
I thought everyone was in agreement that project youth failed. We can’t keep bleeding these youngsters in in the first team. The cost is just to much. For every cesc, how many denilsons do we get
Anyone for a cheeky bid for casillas?
don’t think it’ll take that long for chez – already this season his confidence in rallying the defense and some key saves have been fantastic improvement.
Frog
you see Szcz mistakes no more! show me one goalkeeper who dont make some. more goals for Arsenal and everthing will better like it works in ManU for example.
Ceasar,Friedal,Casillas? never, for many reasons,ask Wenger (and in this point I agree)
Szczesny is talent with strong character. I hope he sees his future at Arsenal!
@ theo spot on, but when it comes to ramsey you are quickly derided as being negative for stating the obvious.cut the hypocrisy guys.we all know what is good and bad for team by now.
You don’t deserve to be an arsenal fan
… yeahhh, tel’m yeaaah…. and you are the one who can be judge of that! Hahahahaha @Lol – leader of PAF (pure arsenal funclub)
here’s a thought. Buy a CB/DM that can also play as LB. That solves 2 problems.
Vertonghen….heh!
Santos couldn’t even run by the end of the first half. He is not abject, but his fitness is a disgrace, both on him AND the training staff, and more importantly, it’s a liability. I’d love to see him in better shape so he can showcase his qualities; in this condition, he just foregrounds his shortcomings.
To give the same rating to Rosicky and Ramsey is really a cheerleading. It’s nice that arseblog is supporting our young players but in Ramsey’s case it is the same as putting him to play on the wing.
You should stop posting. What does ” really a cheerleading” even mean?
Ramsey played better than Rosicky yesterday.
Poldi played better than Ramsey and Rosicky.
C’mon leeds!!!!! lmao made my fucking day!!!
We all know sp*rs are shit, They just confirmed it all over again today. Hahaha. Get the fuck out!
Haha. Stick that in your hole Spuds. And you, Garth Crooks, and your stupid little fat cuntish head.
Hopefully we get a tough draw for the 5th round. The boys thinks it bed of roses all the way to final?. No!
Santos Needs to improve; loved watching Podolski yell at Santos every time he did something stupid with the ball. I just feel there was zero chemistry between Santos and Podolski which surprises me since they practice together correct? Once Gibbs came on the right flank was 10x more productive and the flow was enjoyable to watch again.
Left
Check your shoes are on the correct feet….
Ha ha ha…. Spuds out.
Perfect week!!!!!!!!! Gunners win and totty potty spuds LOOOSEEE!!!!!
What Losers b*******. Always in our shadow!!!!! COYG
It’s not complicated Santos ,stop being awful and fans will get off your back!. Stop getting caught out of position and the boos will stop. Cease being so casual and the jeers will subside. Lose the extra weight and work on your fitness and the bollockings will fade! Start looking like you’re trying and we’ll get behind you.Do you see a pattern emerging here?
OMG!!!!!! loserfool 2 goals down!!! comeon oldham, put them out of their misery. COYG
Hahaha fucking mug smashers and the spuds gone, a shame the chaves dident go aswell
Arsenal drew Blackburn in the 5th round. Not too bad, I suppose.
Arsenal at home to Blackburn. Lets repeat the last year’s 7-1 smacking
Overall a great weekend for cup football. Brighton gave us a run for our money and the results today (Sun) speak for themselves. Long live the FA Cup.
Meant to put this in on other thread
Aaron ramsey. Solid couple games from him. Looks comfortable and focused in that defensive role. Delighted he’s playing in a more suitable position and showing his quality.
Safe to say BOTH of Giroud’s goals against Brighton were better than any of the goals he’d scored so far for The Arsenal. Both were remiscient of a certain Dutch traitor.
Love the attitude too.
At this rate, one can even dream of the possibility of Premier League ‘Golden Boot’ in only his 1st season in Engliand!
can’t wait to see him in this form against better opposition – Liverpool on wednesday. although 90 minutes on saturday, another 90 mid week? we really need him to play the 90 against stoke, he’s exactly the presence we need against a team like that.
which is why we still desperately need a striker. e.