Ratings and post-match discussion vs Leeds

[Y va marquer]

Wenger speaks up for Arshavin.

'It is not through a lack of desire with Arshavin. He wants to do well'
He took one touch too many with his first chance and the keeper did well to save another shot he had.

'Every player during a season has strong and weaker periods and he has had a weaker period, then two or three weeks on the bench.'

'I have no worries that Arshavin wil come back into the team, but their confidence does come back into the team, but their confidence does suffer a little bit from that'

We try to analyse our games in an objective way and I am lucky because our players are self critical, they analyse themselves well and they want to do well.

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[GaelForce22]

Not the best view from low down in the Clock End, but here are my ratings:

Denilson - 6. Played one exquisite pass with the outside of his foot into Bendtner in the first half. Also passed reliably throughout, but gave away the penalty like an amateur, which could have proved terminal. He's just too easily transformed into a passenger, whether it's because he can't cope physically or he's just not up for it, I'm not sure, but alot of good work is undone by spells of really poor play, that temporarily turn him into a real liability.

Arshavin - 5. So much dross, so very much. Poor passes, careless touches, dribbles down dead ends, and he completely fluffed his one-on-one early on with a ridiculous first touch. That said, he has class, real class. He plays perceptive passes from deep, spots through balls, dribbles through two or three at a time - does things that no one else on the pitch can. Alot of it goes unnoticed or even to waste because he's just not making it count where it matters right now. Without question, the guy did not want to be out there on that pitch today. That's a serious accusation as far as I'm concerned, but I stand by it. He wasn't interested in fighting or really running, and when the subs came on he was almost pleading to be the one who got the hook. Even coming over to the bench when Theo came on, before he realised it was actually Chamakh who was being withdrawn - he reluctantly jogged back into position. Someone on here said a while ago that Andrei is a fraud - when the going gets tough or things aren't going his way, he hides, doesn't want to know - and I have to say, it really does look that way to me right now.

Chamakh - 4. He seems to have almost run his race this season, I'm sure a second wind will come after a bit of rest, but right now he's pretty useless up there for us. Should have scored from a free header off a corner in the second half. Looks bereft of any inspiration right now.

Good post, especially agree with these three. As awful as Arshavin was it was only his runs/shots/passes/set pieces that all our chances came from before the subs. He's playing horribly at the moment, but maybe being dropped will bring out the right reaction.