Posted on Saturday, 29th December 2012 by Tony Merakli
Here are my Arsenal player ratings from this evenings thrilling 7-3 victory over Newcastle at The Emirates (feel free to argue or agree with me).
Wojciech Szczesny – Despite conceding three goals, which he couldn’t really prevent, the Pole didn’t have much to do in 90 minutes. Made a few good saves in the first-half and looked assured when called upon. 6/10
Bacary Sagna – Another poor performance from the French right-back. Got skinned on a number of occasions by Gabriel Obertan and didn’t look comfortable throughout. Perhaps needs more match fitness? Who knows. 4/10
Laurent Koscielny – Produced a great performance in the absence of Per Mertesacker. Never stopped running and kept position well. 7/10
Thomas Vermaelen – The Belgian centre-back pulled another good performance out of the bag. Commanded the back-line well and kept things nice and tidy at the back. 7/10
Kieran Gibbs – Was good going forward and linked well with Podolski on the left wing, but his defending was well off today. Two of Newcastle’s three goals came from his bad judgement and inability to mark tight. Set up Walcott’s second. 6/10
Mikel Arteta – Distributed the ball well and was tenacious throughout. Another good performance from the Spaniard. 6.5/10
Jack Wilshere – Despite ducking in the wall, which led to Newcastle’s equaliser at 1-1, Wilshere produced yet another spirited performance for The Gunners. Was tenacious and got stuck in, also bagged an assist along the way. 7.5/10
Santi Cazorla – Was fairly quiet in the first-half but picked it up in the second. Distributed the ball well and always looked to create. Got an assist. 6.5/10
Lukas Podolski – Bagged a goal and assist in what was a resolute display from the German international. A definite in the side now. 8/10
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – Bombed forward well and was not afraid to run at the Newcastle back-line. Scored a superb goal from around 18-yards or so, driving the ball low and hard into Tim Krul’s bottom right hand corner. 6.5/10
Theo Walcott – Scored a hat-trick and claimed two assists – Man of the Match performance. Still needs to tweak some areas of his game if he wants to secure the centre-forward position, but he’s doing well at the mo. 9/10
SUBS:
Olivier Giroud – Replaced Chamberlain in the 73rd minute and netted two superb goals – one with a bullet diving header and the other with a powerful right-footed strike from inside the Newcastle penalty area. Proving why he possibly deserves to lead the Arsenal front-line. 8.5/10
Aaron Ramsey – Another cameo performance from the Welshman. Came on for Podolski in the 82nd minute, Had a few touches of the ball and looks to be gaining a little confidence. 5/10
Francis Coquelin – Was brought on in the 85th minute for Cazorla to tighten up the midfield, which the Frenchman did. Kept position well. 5/10
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Tags: Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arsenal, Bacary Sagna, Francis Coquelin, Gabriel Obertan, Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, Laurent Koscielny, Lukas Podolski, Mikel Arteta, Newcastle, Olivier Giroud, Per Mertesacker, Santi Cazorla, Theo Walcott, Thomas Vermaelen, Wojciech Szczesny
Posted in View From The Sphere | Comments (40)
Arsenal News 24/7
December 29th, 2012 at 8:12 pm
One of the best games I’ve seen for a while
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December 29th, 2012 at 8:22 pm
Gibbs was as worse as sagna to me but the weakest positions are vermelean and gibbs he really needs to start defending better great attacking but looses concetration too much for a left back
I really think we need to play 442
Sch
Sagna. Mertascker. Kosc. Verm
Chamb. Wilshere. Carz. Gibbs
Walcott. Giroud
Good perfomance tonight though
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stanfab Reply:
December 29th, 2012 at 8:38 pm
Simba,do you really know football.younthink Gibbs z a better winger than podolski.you think wilshere cn be a good dm
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Lobsta Reply:
December 29th, 2012 at 8:44 pm
Give the guy a break, he’s obviously still drunk 4rm celebrating this awesome win
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ty Reply:
December 29th, 2012 at 11:49 pm
he fuckin must b dull twat
Simba Reply:
December 30th, 2012 at 12:11 am
If its a 442 gibbs aint a winger he is a wide midfielder podolski is a real striker if u watch his stylee of play he can be devastating as a front man
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denzel Reply:
December 29th, 2012 at 9:32 pm
I think Wenger should capitalise on Lucio the Brazilian experienced defender being a free agent and bring him 2 the Emirates.that will solidify our defence and enhance our Champions lgue chances nxt season
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kennedy M Reply:
December 30th, 2012 at 6:58 am
Simba,
Then also drop Arteta from the starting line up? But one thing I appreciate though with your line up is that we have three very very solid centre halves!
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cas Reply:
December 30th, 2012 at 9:52 am
Gibbs cannot score a half chance & more…ur team isn’t a properly drafted one. & @Gunnersphere. Gibbs had a game as bad as sagna’s…sagna wasn’t the worst player out there.
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December 29th, 2012 at 8:29 pm
Good rating
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December 29th, 2012 at 8:30 pm
Absolutely superb display from Arsenal
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December 29th, 2012 at 8:35 pm
Very harsh on Gibbs, Ramsey and Coquelin, the latter two not having much time to get warmed up, never mind actually impress.
Walcott was a 10/10, especially with his last goal…how he got taken down but just jumped back up and scored is incredible and worth a 10! It was a clear cut penalty but that’s Walcott…once in the penalty area he doesn’t stop…beginning to look more like TH14 everyday!
My ONLY regret was that it wasn’t United we did this to!
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December 29th, 2012 at 8:54 pm
Walcott now turning in great performance as his contract runs out. With a performance like that expect Real & Barca to enter frame like Juve then he is lost. Why did it get to this ?
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December 29th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
The 3 goals we conceded was as a result of when we stopped pressing the opposition and was ball watching while letting them pass the ball around. I Hope we have learned something from this….that we play better when we press the opposition and make them make mistakes. Arsenal is not a defending team…we are suppose to be the Barcelona of England. No team should be able to pass the ball better than The Arsenal. And did anybody noticed Giroud has got a chocolate foot too……what a strike from a left footed striker. If he uses his right foot more often to compliment his left foot, he will bang a lot of goals. Up Gunners!
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December 29th, 2012 at 8:57 pm
His last goal reminds me of chelski match last season where we won 5 – 3.He stumbled and stubbornly arose enroute his goal that day. Again,NASRI goal against PORTO in CL.
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December 29th, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Nice rating…. Theo ez getting more beta nd strnger each day, d lad ez really on his peak ryt nw… Kip it up Theo… Nd c’mon put d pen on d paper… Nd bravo 2 al gunners team in general even those guyz wu made sum lapses… Up gunners !!!
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ponzo Reply:
December 30th, 2012 at 2:03 am
lol what kind of English is this
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Mike Reply:
December 30th, 2012 at 2:39 am
It’s not English but you can bet that there are many ‘fans’ who communicate in the same way but think they know how to run a football club!!
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richudsonsmith Reply:
December 30th, 2012 at 8:24 am
That’s football fans for you Mike. I’m surprised more people aren’t complaining that we let 3 goals in. Most Arsenal fans don’t give the people that matter at Arsenal a break. The only time for getting on the people that matter’s backs is when the players haven’t put a shift in and lost. Today should be about celebrating the fantastic victory yesterday.
December 29th, 2012 at 9:37 pm
This was a difficult game to assess. Arsenal were great going forward but Newcastle were awful defensively and to a certain extent vice versa. No Arsenal defender should get more than 6 out of 10 as they conceded three goals all of them very soft.
Sagna and Gibbs were wanting defensively. A right- footed left winger in Obertan completely bemused Sagna who was completely unable to handle him.
I would totally agree about your other ratings for the forward payers. AOC was very effective going forward but doesn’t track back enough to help Sagna. Podolski was more help to Gibbs. The lack of a strong defensive midfielder is very obvious.
Theo was superb and it was interesting to see Giroud contribute so positively but the game swung on a period when a much fresher Arsenal team with no Boxing Day game made their advantage count. Their defensive calamities are going to cost. Statistics lie if they suggest Arsenal are the League’s 4th strongest defence. It is a very vulnerable defence.
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rukky Reply:
December 30th, 2012 at 6:36 am
Yea statistics lie if they say tht cos arsenal is the third strongest defence in the league last I checked.
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December 29th, 2012 at 9:39 pm
Theoooooooooo…..Theo, your last goal was a true va-va-voom goal. Hmmmmmmmm! our right n left back defence so poor.
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December 29th, 2012 at 10:04 pm
Thanks for a fair unbiased review of the game.
Tell you what, next year we (NUFC) will have Boxing Day off, while YOU play Man Utd away.
Oh, and you’ll need to drop 9 first teamers as well, as we had 9 missing today.
Try not to get too carried away – we matched you all the way until fatigue kicked in. Dale Winton would’ve giot a hat-trick at that stage.
Thanks for reading.
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young_gunnerz Reply:
December 29th, 2012 at 11:30 pm
Well it should have been more than 7. Should have been 8 xD.
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Mike Reply:
December 30th, 2012 at 2:45 am
Idiot. Arsenal have lost more players to injury than any premiership club this season and everybody gets a break with fixtures every now and again. And some of us have Champions League games to play. Stop bloody whining you sound just like your manager.
And well done matching us all the way until fatigue kicked in. Next time bring a decent fitness coach with you and perhaps you wont get tired.
And by the way, you could improve your team significantly if you signed Dale Winton you sap
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Andre Santos Reply:
December 30th, 2012 at 1:14 pm
I heard Newcastle have made a bid for Dale Winton actually, as a replacement for Ba
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December 29th, 2012 at 11:29 pm
10/10 for Walcott. Cant remember seeing him do anything wrong really he did everything you could ask of him today. I know 10/10 would mean perfection but it damn well feels that way after what he did. Even the 3rd goal he showed pace, trickery, determination and guile in 1 play. Bravo and please give the man what he wants!!
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December 30th, 2012 at 5:10 am
giround did well than theo since he played only about 16 mins and scored 2 much needed goals
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December 30th, 2012 at 5:42 am
Wenger has said Arsenal can kick out BM.The German team and NU are miles apart. For starters they have players who are more dangerous than Ba and company.Remember NU scored two goals with players totally unmarked. In the cl,Arsenal will be ripped to pieces by BM.
I saw the highlights but I think I am correct in saying the gunners are going direct instead of passing all over the pitch. The speed of the attack is another positive sign.
Sterner tests await the gunners. If Arsenal can navigate them successfully,the cl spot maybe within reach. It all boils down to the defence.
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December 30th, 2012 at 10:37 am
Why all this talk of the champions league spot,we should(or at least the players should) be aiming a little higher than that.We have an eminently winnable fixture on Tuesday,and we still have all those sides above us to play.It wound up being a good win Anyway its nice to have something positive to digest for once but dont forget to buy MVila for us Arsene and then our defence will have a bit more breathing space.yesterday and as regards Newcastle fading, they did the same on Wednesday at old Trafford so thats probably a deeper problem for them.
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December 30th, 2012 at 10:47 am
It might be a bit harsh to critizise Walcotts performance, but the way he ruined the counter-attack in the first half when he played the ball behind Cazorla was really poor. 9/10 is a good judgement of his performance.
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December 30th, 2012 at 10:54 am
Good report mainly but is it me or can no one else see that Sagna is not only a poor defender but also he gives the impression he couldnt care less too? I have watched him more closely since he tried to engineer a move to CITY and he has been crap. In yoiur report you blamed Gibbs for two of the goals..sorry mate..,. you watch it again and you will see that all 3 goals came from Sagna’s bad marking…or no marking…or bad positioning.
He obviously is the weak link and is living off previous seasons performances. Jenks has never let us down and is better alround anyway.
I had my supicions about Sagna after the Manure game…he looked like he was trying hard to give them a goal.
As for Simba and his 442…well mate add Jenks to that and I agree…but we need a fast, tall, good tackling DMF….what about Vermy or Kossy in that role?
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December 30th, 2012 at 11:43 am
Sagna has had his chips for me, his heart isn’t in it plus his leg has been broken twice in a year. Time to ease him out and let jenkinson have a go. At least he looks interested and his delivery is better
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December 30th, 2012 at 2:25 pm
Brilliant performance by Arsenal. I think that Arsene needs to sign a goalkeeper to keep szczesny on his toes, a solid CB to partner vermaelen, a solid DM, a decent striker and we need to sell fringe players like chamakh, arshavin and gervinho who shouldn’t even be at arsenal
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December 30th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
This is the Arsenal i was used to. We let in cheap goals but we score more spectacular ones. Ask spuds,pool even inter. We need a Feliani(nt realistic), Diame or any other Diaby type(i miss his wonders) M’villa maybe and an all round defender. Check out Mbiwa. We need a more solid defence. Less i forget, i see a real celebration around the corner. I’m not trying to be a prophet bt i know its not another trophyless season. Common Gunnerz!
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December 30th, 2012 at 4:16 pm
The defence is actually ok if they got the specialist help that a decent defensive midfielder would provide.When diaby was fit the back four coped well with teams as varied as stoke Liverpool and city.
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December 30th, 2012 at 8:29 pm
Sagna and gibbs should improve on their defending,a classical display to sign off the year in style,we need a quality DM this january.
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December 31st, 2012 at 3:20 am
Watch the geme again.
Podolski was immense. Great tackling, interchange with Gibbs , covers for him, sets up chances, scores, continuously working…
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December 31st, 2012 at 9:57 am
Poldi is rili hardworking as he tracks back to help Gibbs. Now Walcott seems to deserve the money he is asking for. Unbiased ratings though I can’t see Walcott’s rating.
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Den Reply:
December 31st, 2012 at 9:58 am
Oh now I can see it.
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