Country: Australia
I think most of the players out there played well, and Swansea were very well disciplined. Gary Monk is a top coach.
Our weaknesses today were the same as always. Ospina should have made that save, and despite how good his reflexes are, he just isn't getting any taller. Szczesny would have gotten a hand to that and pushed it our for a corner kick. He's made much harder saves than that for us.
Giroud did look a little tired, but this type of game is supposed to be perfect for him. He is the striker in our squad who is supposed to excel in this match. Swansea sat deep and Giroud should have used his physicality to create space down the middle. He didn't really do any of that all game, and that is a big concern. I think Giroud has had a really good season, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. Too often I think he plays like a small player in a big player's body. He tries to make space through creative runs, and that is good, but sometimes you make space by being physical. Today's game was the type of game to use that skill set.
Last season, we would have subbed of Giroud and brought in Sanogo, and even though he is a less skilled player, the fact that he would rough up defenses created space and scoring opportunities.
Giroud is taylor made to play this way, yet he still wants to act like he is a faster and more technical player than he is.
Apart from that I think pretty much everyone else played well, and were just a bit unlucky. Alexis and Theo should have had goals, but they shot it a bit too close to Fabianski. Sometimes that just happens, and you're unlucky. Theo looks a bit rusty and we clearly aren't going to see the best of him until next season.
No service for the big man BP simple as that .