EPL: Arsenal v West Ham - 9/8/15, 13:30 - SS1

[bingobob]

Having missed the game I wouldn't be the best person to judge but I dare say even if I watched it this would be another game when Ozils genius was incompressible to the average punter. Can any of our resident super analysts enlighten me?

 

[Linson]

I never think there are enough ratings after games, here's mine:

Cech - 3 - Extremely poor. 2 absolute howlers gifted the game away

Debuchy - 5 - Did his job defensively but doesn't offer the same going forward as Bellerin
Mertesacker - 6 - No real mistakes, reasonable distribution
Koscielny - 6 - Did his job, ventured a little far forward towards the end
Monreal - 6 - Tried to get forward, did his job defensively

Coquelin - 6 - Wayward passing and diving in at times but covered the defence
Ramsey - 6 - Lots of energy but struggled to find that killer pass / edge
Özil - 4 - Passing seemed ineffective and mobility seemed dubious

Cazorla - 4 - Clearly wasted on the wings, completely lacked any influence on the game
Giroud - 4 - Just didn't seem to work for him today, shooting was off and he didn't get near enough service. I dislike him popping up on the wings when he's our only target man
Oxlade-Chamberlain - 7 - The bright spark of the team; energetic, powerful and direct. Really faded when he was essentially playing right back.

Subs
Walcott - 4 - Seemed to lack sharpness
Sanchez - 4 - Seemed to lack sharpness

Overall -
1. Team lacked cohesion, energy and directness
2. Cazorla / Ramsey on the wing does not work
3. Too many playmakers, not enough doers
4. Bellerin offers more than Debuchy going forward
5. Cech has to win fans over after this performance
6. Wenger didn't get the tactics / line-up or motivation right for this game
7. West Ham didn't deserve to win

 

[RuskyAdam]

Debuchy has one of the worst haircut I've ever seen.

That's the best bit of criticism from today's game

Wouldn't say it's the worst but it does look strange after that mohawk he sported previously

 

[Penn_]

Lol how can you blame the fullbacks crossing when there crossing into a box with a ratio of like 5:1. If you were able to pin it our Giroud head consistently when his the only one to aim for you wouldn't be a FB.

 

[gunner4lyfe]

Ramsey and cazorla shouldnt start together if we have to sacrifice a winger. Walcott should have started on the right with ox on the left.

 

[RuskyAdam]

And now we wait until the internet creates memes to take the piss out of Cech

 

[bingobob]

I refuse to blame the manager , any formation should have beaten the Hammers today if they were up for it .

Whose job is it to get the players up for it? The manager surely?

 

[Bashii]

And now we wait until the internet creates memes to take the piss out of Cech

No need to wait mate. just get on facebook

 

[OSBK]

It was tactically HORRIBLE!

1st half santi LW! and the mid trio running around like headless chickens.

2nd half starts with ramsey on the LW! midfield trio running around like headless chickens.

This game shows why we will not win the league with Giroud up front. He should've scored one of those chances today at a minimum. But what seperates us from Chelsea/man city/man utd is that when they play like we did they have a striker who will get a goal from nothing and change the game. IF we had scored early on then we wipe the floor with them, its that's simple.

This is the EPL and we are going to concede goals, we aint playing the dog n duck and the calibre of the league is getting higher and higher. But if we cannot be at the most elite at the business end of the pitch then we will simply not be strong enough to win it. Is Benzema the answer I don't know but we need someone the calibre of suarez up front and nothing less.

I feel sorry for Özil/sanchez. to come from clubs with the most elite strikers in the world to play for a team that has a decent prem striker. I really hope they go and get one of the best and then we can really say we will challenge.

on the plus side I thought the ox had a good game and monreal ran himself into the ground for the team. kos did his usual clear up merts mess all game.

onto the next game

 

[Liam Spencer]

I agree with every word there. I also think that those who see it as a given that he'll be a top performer til he's 37 or 38 are naive.

I think Wenger sees him as a 2-3 year stop-gap solution rather than someone who will be there for 5-6 years as some of the fans think.

In a couple of years, if Szczesny has improved or Martinez has shown good development, Cech will be quietly shipped off.

 

[celestis]

Ramsey just doesn't click well with Coquelin. His energy is much better alongside a calmer, more technical deep midfielder. Cazorla should have played next to Coq, or Ramsey next to Coq. Coq-Ramsey - not the combo we need.

Wenger doesn't seem to know what his best pivot is, which is very worrying. And Cazorla out-wide is not optimal at this point, especially with not knowing our best pivot.

Some other day Ramsey Coq will look great . Thing is Ramsey is so inconsistent technically when he's off it puts pressure on Coq's passing .

 

[Hunta]

Cech will get the headlines for his his howlers, that was probably the worst debut I've ever seen a player have for us. All talk about him being this leader at the back gone after one game.

The defence was comical, Koscielny had an average game but still stands out due to how bad the two to his right were. Monreal put in his usual display, our best player after Chamberlain. Said it when we signed Debuchy and I stand by it, the lad isn't suited to Arsenal, his first thought is to hit it long towards Giroud, it's Stoke stuff ffs.

Ramsey, Cazorla and Coquelin were woeful, Coquelin with his best Alex Song impression, thinking he's got the talent to go forward. Ramsey playing for himself, shooting when Debuchy was free in the box late in the first half - Wenger was clearly pissed with him and pushed him out wide (rather than subbing him). Candidate for the worst game Özil has had for us that, he give up after the second goal and before that he done **** all, he doesn't deserve to start next week.

Giroud is Giroud, we know he's not good enough, everybody in Europe knows it, except Wenger.

West Ham deserved it, they actually looked like a professional football team!

 

[Dokaka]

Having missed the game I wouldn't be the best person to judge but I dare say even if I watched it this would be another game when Ozils genius was incompressible to the average punter. Can any of our resident super analysts enlighten me?

No, he was poor. Pretty much got marked out of the game by Lebron James.

 

[Kroket]

Wenger is back. Same old. Do we blame the players or manager?

Why not both?

 

[Sanchez11]

Its simple really caz Özil and ramsey cant play in the same team.

 

[musicmonkey]

Ramsey is our most complete midfielder, but I think Wenger needs to have stern word from him - we don't want 15 goals from him every season, if he cannot get the basic things right.

The beauty of his game in 2013-14 was not the goals he scored but the little things that he did right.

I agree, his tackling stats were some of the best in the league and you wanted him the side even on his off days because our midfield was much more balanced. He picked his runs and positioning better, now he's trying to get on the ball and dictate the game too much. Sometimes you can contribute more in what you do off the ball than on it.

 

[FinnGooner]

We need Alexis fit fast, not just because he's our best player but it'll mean Wenger will have to drop one of Cazorla/Ramsey.

To more direct players in Alexis and Ox flanking either Giroud/Walcott would be so much better then having the past it Cazorla* on the wing.

Are you high? Wenger will not drop Caz or Ramsey even when Alexis is back. It's Ox off and Ramsey & Özil sharing the right flank and no. 10 role. If only he played real wingers but thet's not Wenger's thing.

 

[Jae]

Comical knee jerk reactions on here as always I see...

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Wenger after the game; "We are in the market looking. If we find the right player we will try with low ball offer"

Mertesacker; "We keep failing in these games, but remember we always come back stronger. So expect us strong for next few games until we **** up again, then we will come back stronger. We will be back."

Giroud: "Partying and my hair is all I can think about now but I wont be scared of competition when Welbeck is back!"

Walcott: "I finally have my 140k per week, I can keep focusing on writing children books".

 

[This_is_The_Year]

I refuse to blame the manager , any formation should have beaten the Hammers today if they were up for it .

you cant really blame anyone else - fair play to wenger if this was our strongest possible lineup today, I dont think it was even close to it.

he chose to go with what hasnt worked in the past with cazorla out wide and put faith in Giroud and Ramsey who both have looked massively out of form in pre-season.

he really does hate wingers, if he cant play a CM on the wing it just isnt fun

 

[Wrighty4eva]

My entire week is ****ed now .....

 

[David Smith]

We had to play a midfielder on the left wing because Alexis wasn't ready. We don't have another left winger.
Besides I really don't see how this is the reason we lost. We had loads of games with midfielders on the wing last season and it worked. Liverpool for example.