Ratings and post-match discussion vs Newcastle

[fabo]

They all contributed to a lacklustre first half, bar the opening minutes where we could have scored a couple.

But I'd attribute more blame to Denilson/Eastmond for our struggles.

 

[Captain]

Twin holding players aren't really to blame for an 'isolated forward'. Rosicky failed to get on the ball and dictate as he should have done.

The general malaise was more a lack of leadership and is easily attributable to everyone in the team. It's something that used to happen regularly on these away days; we got dragged into the oppositions pace instead of getting our foot on the ball and playing our own game.

 

[Lord Dula]

motm was koscielny imo

 

[MAK 14]

Would love an easier draw. Ipswich, Wigan or West Ham/West Brom at home would be good.

By the way albakos, Bothroyd and Bellamy play for Cardiff.

You completely sure about that?

Let's be honest, the difference in quality between their first team and our Carling Cup team is huge. If we got them at home I'm sure we wouldn't make the same mistakes we made against them in the league. Reckon we'd beat them by a few.

 

[fabo]

My point Captain was that the central midfield's struggles were the root cause of the problem IMO i.e Rosicky not receiving the ball enough or at the best opportunity, which had a knock-on effect to Theo and the rest. Of course he had some underwhelming moments himself(think he produced one outside of the boot pass to Nik early on which he scuffed with his left).

Denilson did provide one superb pass wide to Vela but on the whole I thought himself and Eastmond were average at best....invited trouble too often with heavy touches, picked wrong passing options.

 

[ricky1985]

It ties in with what Wenger has been stressing as a real strength in Wilshere's game, and a big reason why he plays him deep: the early ball into Fabregas is crucial in creating chances and in giving Cecs time and space to damage opponents. Last night Rosicky didn't get that, although he didn't do much either.

 

[Captain]

Rosicky recieved plenty of ball though. He just didn't do very much when he got it usually passing back into midfield or play vertical 1-2s with Vela.

 

[ricky1985]

I don't think he received many early passes from Eastmond or Denilson. Rosicky doesn't find space like Cesc does, so that's also a factor, but their passing wasn't early enough or accurate enough.

I was disappointed in Denilson, I wanted to see him show a more expansive side to his passing, but he was slow on the ball and didn't play many forward passes. For me he didn't have the intelligence to try and play a different game when partnered with Eastmond than he has played when partnered with Wilshere.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

Denilson and Eastmond were both poor against Newcastle. I can understand Eastmond being rusty as he's barely played for the first team in his whole career, and hasn't played at all this season, but Denilson was certainly a disappointment to me, given his experience.

The gap in quality between Jack and Denilson is substantial already, and Jack is only 18.

 

[DK Gooner]

Thought Wenger got his team selection wrong to be honest.

The back 5 was more or less what I expected even if Djourou looks a real liability. However I think Le boss got the midfield selection wrong by going with both Eastmond and Denilson. Eastmond for me has great positioning, but needs more games to get up to the level he needs to be at for Arsenal. He offers more as a defensive shield than any offensive work and by playing Denilson next to him, we lacked a conduit between our defense and front 4.

Vela for me is getting games because he needs them rather than because he merits them. His game looks lacking in confidence and he lost the ball through poor execution nearly every time. In his place I think we missed the presence of a Nasri type figure who could keep possession as we far too often tried to be too direct too quickly. As a result our passing game seemed almost non-existent for the most part.

In the end I guess all that matters is that we have come through, so it hasn't worked out too badly bar the injury to Gibbs

 

[Tourbillion]

Koscielny's anticipation is world class. Of that I am convinced.