Player Ratings - Arsenal vs Olympiakos

[jaguars4ever]

Mannone: 5 - Truly awful kicking all game, bar the last long ball to Giroud. Nearly cost us a goal with his mix-up with Vermaelen.

Vermaelen: 5 - His cavalier bombing runs forward only masked how reckless he was in the challenge today, needless giving away fouls. Also, poor marking for the goal.

Koscielny: 5 - Needlessly reckless in the challenge, and poor marking for the goal. Quite pathetic that between Vermaelen and him, mitstroga-guy got off his header.

Jenkinson: 8 - Solid in defense with no real mistakes, and great link-up and and passing going forward. Excellent tracking back and good crosses.

Gibbs: 8 - Same as Jenko. Excellent in defense and attack, and showed surging pace and surprising strength in his runs.

Coquelin: 5 - Helped win us back the ball at times, but atrocious in possession. Couldn't pass water and gave the ball away more than anyone else.

Arteta: 7 - Usual Arteta efficiency. Nothing to see here folks. Move on.

Cazorla: 7 - Was hounded with man-markers all night, but managed to shift to the wings to find space. Wasn't able to orchestrate the play as accustomed, but still our greatest creative force on the field.

Podolski: 8 - Put in a solid defensive shift. Linked up well with Gibbo. Fantastic swivel and savage nutmeg for his goal.

Gervinho: 9 (MotM) - Excellent in possession. Knew when to run at the defender and when to release. Seldom lost the ball. First touch and penetration was great. Clinically placed finish for the goal.

Oxlade-Chamberlain: 7 - Much better than his last game. Played with power and purpose. Although he tired towards the end, it's self-evident that he's surpassed Walcott in virtually every meaningful respect.

--

Walcott: 5 - Managed to put in a few decent crosses. Not great crosses mind you, but better than his usual hit and hope stuff. However, he remains unable (or unwilling) to utilize his primary asset by pushing the ball forward and running into space. Thus, he's useless to us.

Ramsey: 8 - Fine passes, terrific movement, deft touch, and fantastic chipped goal.

Giroud: 6 - Got into decent positions, and took a few first time shots. Unlucky not to have got a goal. As usual, he offered us a fantastic outlet to win long-ball knock-downs.

 

[MDGoonah41]

mannone - 4 - hes a disaster waiting to happen
jenkinson - 7 - MOTM today, just edging gibbs
kos - 4 - poor
vermaelen - 4 - poor. his brazen, cavalier attitude when protecting a lead is appalling and hints at a lack of tactical understanding. not good.
gibbs - 7 - solid as steel

arteta - 5 - looked off the pace for much of the game, some nice touches as always, but sloppy at times
coquelin - 4 - meh at best, poor at times
cazorla - 6 - didnt really come off for him at times, but put in a shift and created chances. teams are really starting to hound him and apply pressure

ox - 4 - really poor. looks like hes taken his foot off the gas and is coasting now, not good enough
gervinho - 7 - consistently got in to good positions, ran his socks off, nice finish for the goal
podolski - 6 - worked hard, took his chance well

ramsey - 6 - lovely finish
giroud - 5 - lovely header for the 3rd
walcott - 4 - i'm over him

 

[Airknight]

Mannone 5 - His mistake didn't cost us this time
Verms 4 - Some poor stuff from the captain, not his forward runs but his silly mistakes
Kos 6 - poor in the goal, average the rest of the match
Jenks 8 - Didn't protect the cross in their goal but showed consistency


Arteta 4 - Shocking decisions, made the midfield lose balance for almost 60 minutes
Coquelin 5 - Didn't exactly do what to do next to Arteta and had his fair share of mistakes
Cazorla 6 - Grew at second half

Ox 4 - Can't find his place in the team yet, 10 minutes of first half and he was already lost because Jenkinson took over the right side.. Also some silly mistakes
Gervinho 8 - Goal and assist, got better when he could find Cazorla and Poldi
Podolski 5 - Still dissapears but good on the goal


Subs

Ramsey 6 - Scored
Walcott 5 - Jenkinson was already doing what he does, and had little imagination to contribute
Giroud 6 - Unlucky, oh well

 

[USArsenal]

you forget Gibbs there Air?

 

[dysphoria]

Mannone - 6

Does't inspire confidence, poor communication with verms early in the first half gave them an opportunity outta nothing, late in the 2nd half when they put in a high ball into our box, he decided to come off his line then hesitated and stopped half way, he's good enough for a no 3 GK, definitely not good enough to be starting for us, game in game out. Poor kicking too but that seems to be an issue with all our GKs. Made a nice save from a shot in the first half, couldn't do anything about their goal.



Verms - 5

Poor game from our captain, from that mix up he had with mannone till the final whistle, he made countless poor decisions, really irritates me to see him throwing all caution to the wind and running up to lead/join an attack when its absolutely unnecessary, surely when you're defending a lead late in the 2nd half, you stick to your position, show discipline and lead the backline and not abandon your position. The olympiakos forward gave him plenty of trouble in the air today, by my count, he lost more aerial duels then he won today and was piss poor along with koscielny for their goal, really needs to buck up fast. I expect a better showing from him against west ham, hopefully carroll doesn't trouble him as much as he can, in the air.



Kos - 5

Another poor showing alongside verms, does seem that mertesacker brings out the best in either of them, like verms, was very poor in their goal, it was 2 of them vs 1 opposition(who managed to get between both of them), what worries me is that he seems physically weaker then he was last season, maybe its fatigue from the euros, who knows really, still, like verms, needs to buck up or will find himself on the bench(at this point of time, verms shades it slightly just because he's the captain, if that means anything at all). Missed a very good chance from a cazorla set piece, free header from 6 yards out, should be burying headers like that.



Gibbo - 7


Showed good pace throughout the game, nice work rate, usual stuff from him including the poor final ball into the box, had a couple of chances to cross it in but his crosses hardly ever beat the first man, needs to work on that. Also, i'd like to see him show a little more restraint in attacking just because i'd like to be able to see podolski having to cover him less frequently, still, i've been pleased with gibbs so far.



Corporal Jenkinson - 8

Yet another fantastic game from our corporal, very solid defensively, seems to be improving game by game, again, another fantastic bit of skill that you'd never expect for him(this time it was a cheeky back heel pass to get us out of pressure), gets plenty forward but like gibbs, needs to work on his final ball more, still, what i like about his crosses is that he seems to understand that when we're playing gervinho upfront, he tries to put ground balls with pace in. At this rate, sagna will be on the bench and quite fairly so.



Arteta - 6.5

Seems to be showing signs of fatigue, probably also because he just recovered from a slight injury against chelsea so he didn't look 100%, rarely gave the ball away, made some nice passes in the 2nd half but along with most of the team, was quite poor in the first. Would like to see him get a rest soon, luckily the international break is coming up and he'll get 2 weeks off.



Cazorla - 7

Love his work rate and ball retention skills, he may be small but its not easy to get the ball off him with is tricky footwork and low center of balance, is quite stock too. Could've had a goal himself from one of gervinho's assists, made a superb pass for a chance for the ox which unfortunately didn't come off and should've definitely had an assist for the cross he put in for koscielny who missed from 6 yards out. Would like to see him get a rest too, he's very rarely taken off unlike podolski or gervinho and he deserves it when you consider that he usually also always features for spain during international games.



Coquelin - 5.5

Didn't really bring much to the plate today, was absent in the first half, better in the 2nd but his passing isn't up to scratch just yet and was muscled off the ball quite a few times by the opposition, showed tenacity to try to win the ball back and was unlucky to have seemingly picked up a hamstring injury after his tackle late in the 2nd half. I feel wilshere is already ahead of him in terms of the pecking order, just a matter of time until the former gets back to fitness so i hope coquelin ups his game to make team selection even harder. I felt that he was also at fault for their goal for not putting the crosser under pressure, was caught ball watching, hopefully will learn not to switch off as he gets more games.



Podolski - 7


Got a goal after an assist by gervinho, he is definitely a danger when he moves into the center but i'd like to see him do more attacking and less covering for gibbs, i think he can be a greater threat if gibbs stays back a tad more and podolski then switches positions with gervinho through the game, can't fault his work rate or tenacity in closing the opposition down from the front.



Gervinho - 8 MOTM


Say what you want about him but he's been delivering the goals for us, who'd have thought 6 games into the season that he'd be our top goal scorer? Not me for sure, he's not the most natural finisher but i'm liking the instincts he's been showing of late, he could had have another assist today had cazorla's cute curling attempt gone in, hell, had giroud had a bit more luck with his shot, gervais would have had 3 assists! Love the way he drags defenders around, perhaps would like to see him show more confidence in taking on the opposition when he drives forward but you can't argue with his goal return so far.


The Ox - 6.5

Worked very hard in trying to win back balls from the opposition today, perhaps tried a tad too hard to force situations on his own today but he's not shy of putting in a shift, on another day, would have had an opportunity at goal from cazorla's fantastic cross field pass but unfortunately for us, the opposition defender kept pace with him. Will only get better with games and time, with him and gnabry in the wings, it does seem promising. Would like to see him try to take defenders on more with his skill, he's got great upper body strength, hope he grows out even more.



Giroud - 6.5

Came on and did a good job, had 2 chances, one was unfortunately blocked by the opposition defender, would have definitely been on target and the other, a half chance from a cross by runcott which giroud did very well to even connect with. Nice header for the assist for ramsey's goal, perfectly weighted and in the right direction, he's definitely a handful for defenders, i wouldn't be against starting him in games with podolski and gervinho on the flanks to support him, the goals will come.



Ramsey - 6.5

Fantastic finish from ramsey, showed good upper body strength to retain the ball just before the chip as the defender came in to contest possession with him, i think coming off the bench is suiting him more then the starting role he got last season where more pressure was on him to deliver constantly, good option to have on the bench, with arteta and cazorla, he's got two excellent role models to learn from.



Walcott - 6

Didn't do much, showed good pace to try to put vermaelen in but his pass was too close to the GK, decent enough cross for giroud to attack, other then that was more or less quiet, sign da ting theo.





I'd like to think the team got an almighty bollocking from bouldie at half time, they definitely deserved it, rubbish first half that reminded me of the way we played against chelsea at times, not enough pace and we moved the ball too slowly, we really need to stop making stupid mistakes at the back and kos and verms really need to buck up, i hope bould or/and wenger sorts out verm's penchant to go batshit insane and rampage forwards when it is absolutely unnecessary, very reckless to have your central defender let alone captain do that.

 

[Vela]

Mannone - 6
Gibbs -7.5
Kos - 5
Verm - 5
Jenkinson - 7.5
Coquelin - 6
Arteta - 6
Santi - 6.5
Chamberlain - 5.5
Podolski - 6.5
Gervinho - 7

Theo - 6
Giroud - 6.5
Ramsey - 6.5

 

[ferrarif50hunt]

Mannone - 5

Jenkinson - 8
Koscielny - 6
Vermaelen - 5
Gibbs - 8

Coquelin - 6
Arteta - 7
Cazorla - 7

Chamberlain - 5
Gervinho - 8
Podolski - 6

 

[Yousif Arsenal]

Mannone 5 no comments

Jenko 7 this lad is improving alot keep it up please.
Kosh 5 you are not boss anymore. hope you back boss one day.
TV5 5.5 really need to stop making forward runs when we are winning, i know he love to score goal but ffs verms you are a defender not striker.
Gibbo 7 like jenko gibbs is improving hope he keep it up.

Arteta 6 poor first half good 2nd half
Coq 6 like arteta
Cazorla 7 great like always.

Yao kouassi 8 great game good movement good goal and good assist but not good celebration
Poldi 6.5 he working hard and get a good goal
Aoc 5 very poor look like he lost his pace and skills he need to focus in football and forget about central midfielder role.

Ramsey 6 great goal nice movements
Giroud 6 nice assist and i hope wenger start this lad the next game against westham
Walcott 5.5 not bad

 

[Airknight]

you forget Gibbs there Air?

Haha

7 for him, has also been consistent.

 

[KY]

@yousif been playing a bit too much FIFA there, my friend? (Referring to Yao Kuoassi) =D

But seriously, I'm loving our fullbacks. brings a lot to the attack yet plows in well in defense as well. Caught oujt once or twice that better opponents would definitely take advantage of though so thats a concern...

The ox seems a bit over enthusiastic though...gave the ball away cheaply quite a few times though in fairness he was trying a lot, so kudos.

And walcott was poor. His crosses aside, which admittedly was pretty good, he brought very little, showed little of his pace and didn't track back to defend as well as the Ox, causing our defense to become muddled a few times towards the end....

 

[Segway]

Mannone 4 - What a disaster

Jenkinson 7 - The ever improving corporal with another solid performance
Koscielny 5 - Reckless at best
Vermaelen 4.5 - Same as Koscielny. Seriously needs to up his game
Gibbs 6.5 - Great outlet on the left

Arteta 7 - Typical Arteta performance
Coquelin 5 - Got caught in possession too often and barely influenced the game. Poor
Cazorla 7 - His close control and intelligence in tight areas was a huge asset for us in retaining possession. Spurned a good chance though

Ox 5 - Tried a lot of things that just didn't came off. Still so much promise though
Gervinho 8 - MOTM. Great goal and great assist. Created a great chance for Santi Caz as well. His new found confidence is really helping the team.
Podolski 7 - Good goal, good runs and some hard work down the left. Would like to see him go by himself a bit more often though. He can really charge through a defence.

All the subs did well when they came on.