Here are my Arsenal player ratings from today’s 2-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield (feel free to argue or agree with me):
Vito Mannone – Had a fairly comfortable afternoon in goal for The Gunners. Pulled off a wonderful save late in the second half. Looked a little nervous when Liverpool whipped balls into the area, but dealt with what was thrown at him. Another clean-sheet for the young Italian. 7/10
Carl Jenkinson – Misplaced one or two passes early on but found his feet as the game went on. Was defensively solid and kept Raheem Sterling quiet. Got stuck in and was positioned well throughout. Growing with confidence which is great to see. 8/10
Thomas Vermaelen – Yet another solid performance from the Belgian defender. Worked his socks off, cleared a certain goal off the line after Mannone fumbled and got forward well as well. Was subbed in the 90th minute after a challenge from Steven Gerrard. 8.5/10
Per Mertesacker – A lot of people were worried to see the German start against Luis Suarez, but proved his critics wrong. Got booked early on but was positioned superbly, intercepted well and made some vital challenges throughout the 90. 8.5/10
Kieran Gibbs – Got forward brilliantly, providing an overlap and another option for the forwards, and moved the ball around neatly. Definitely first-choice left-back, just needs to stay fit. 8/10
Mikel Arteta – Doesn’t get enough credit or recognition for what he does for the side. Kept things nice and tidy in midfield, got stuck in and tracked back well. Got booked, but another tenacious performance from the 30-year-old. 8/10
Abou Diaby – Probably the best I’ve seen him play in a very, very long time, and I’m not a fan of him! Made some powerful runs forward, displayed his skill and moved the ball around nicely. Hopefully he can replicate this performance for the next 35 games of the season. 8.5/10
Santi Cazorla – Great movement throughout from the little Spaniard. Shifted the ball around superbly and always threatened when he pushed forward. Created Arsenal’s first goal after playing a lovely through pass to Lukas Podolski. 8.5/10
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – Done alright, but I’ve seen him perform much better. Did well defensively, covering Jenkinson when he got forward, but lacked the cutting edge today. 6.5/10
Lukas Podolski – Scored Arsenal’s first goal of the new season then set up the team’s second after playing a lovely one-two with Cazorla. Was always a threat and showed why Arsene Wenger brought him in this summer. Quality performance. 9/10
Olivier Giroud – Didn’t see a lot of the ball, but hassled Liverpool’s back-line well. Won a few headers and held up the ball adequately. Perhaps should’ve scored a goal but its encouraging to see the Frenchman get in goal-scoring positions. 7/10
Subs:
Aaron Ramsey – Came on for ‘The Ox’ on the 73rd minute. Held the ball up nicely, movement was good and found space effortlessly. 6/10
Andre Santos – Came on for Podolski in the 82nd minute. Touched the ball a few times. 5/10
Laurent Koscielny – Replaced Vermaelen in the dying minutes of the game. Touched the ball a handful of times, but good to see ‘The Boss’ back. 5/10
Like what you read? Then follow me on Twitter – http://twitter.com/Gunnersphere
Visit and Join our Facebook page, click HERE to do so.
Gunnersphere is currently looking for new writers to join the squad. Contact via twitter or at Gunnersphere@snack-media.com for further details.
Looking for some cool, cheap T’s? Then click on the banner below!!!
?????? observations today ; We did well in terms of our defense but one thing we need ???? put into consideration is our attack. Three matches i have seen Giroud played, he lacks the presence,ability ???? threaten defenders (wonder ??? he became the top goal scorer) and also the strength ???? push forward. Let’s A????ll hope he won’t turn out ???? be the next Mouranne Chamack or maybe he still needs time ???? adapt. ( Take a look at his first game against sunderland, where carzola played a fantastic thru pass but he played out wide. Todays game, Diaby neatly game him a thru pass which obviously he played out wide. This is not what we want frm our top 9.
Mannone made a nice save frm Shevleys shot, he still needs ???? work hard.
Jekinson was very solid, showed a lot of energy in keeping the young sterling frm threatening us.
Mert and Verm did great. Gibbs was quite decent but more work needs ???? be done in the area of defending.
Arteta, i so much love this guy, was very very solid in stopping liverpool’s attack, made brilliant tackles, sliding and kept possession. His experience is vast and that’s a ?Öö? plus for us. Protected the back four pretty well….
Now a point for concern is our Top 9 (Giroud)….. Playing Podolski frm flank is something i’m against. Let’s forget the fact he plays that role pretty well, i see him as someone who will do better if given an opportunity as our central forward. ?ã†? i love about him is his strenght (very strong), very capable of bullying defenders (just like drogba did) and takes shot at every slight opportunity he gets and that’s very ?Öö?…. Hope wenger sees this
Not great ratings to be fair.
Mannone – 7: he flapped at three it four crosses
Arteta- 8.5: brilliant. Simple as that.
Jenkinson – 8.5: so solid its unreal.
Giroud- 7.5: his movement allowed Podolski to score
Giroud has been overated. I think he deserved 5.5/10. He was vulnerable on aerial balls and also missed open chance when put through by Diaby, same way he missed against sunderland. He needs to compose himself or else fans will lose faith in him.
Diaby will crumble against stiff competition.
Good to get a win.
Wenger and board need to go.
Your a idiot
Yeah, agreeing with Ryan, you are an idiot, and if anybody needs to go, its you John
I agree . U Don’t know what ur talking about . U r a twat . I don’t like diaby much but he was awesome and although Arsene is struggling the last 4 or 5 he is still a master . Get rid of him for who . A moron who squanders all the money we have been carefully getting together . Fans like u are short sighted and stupid
WE may as well go and support Spudz, while we`re at it, eh John?
You are talking nonsense. Diaby was the king of midfield in this game and he will get better and make Alex Song a joke.
With his hair and his attitude I would say Alex Song is already a joke
Come on… Go home and joins the spuds
You truly don’t like Diaby do you!!
He was head and shoulders above anyone else on the pitch today. The best he has ever played in an Arsenal shirt.
You are a tv pundit rarer. Always give it to the goal scorer. You should watch what happens elsewhere on the pitch.
Will agree Podolski was outstanding as well but Diaby even overshadowed him!!
good result, but Giroud reminds me of a french nicholas bentner, needs countless chances and has no pace.
@ tumaini i agree. He is a 5.5 or 6 for this game but I like his movement and probably needs better crosses too but he looks like a top player to be.
French Bendtner? Cant trace the good looks or ability to make good runs or the lack of ego in the pink boot wearing pants showing car crashing Diva.
Mannone flapped, didn’t hold the ball and parried into the 6 yard box, not convincing for me. Also Jenkinson needs to cut out giving the ball away along the back line, a team with a decent finisher in it would have buried at least one of those misplaced passes. That said it was a good result ad another clean sheet (a bit disappointed that AW didn’t give Bouldy credit for the work done with the defence in his post match interview). Pod took his goal well and we looked solid at the back. I still think that we need to get midfielders into the box more when attacking as Giroud was isolated a lot ….. first win now lets kick on !!
I think some of you should watch the game more closely, Giroux looks like he will be very good indeed his movement is very clever very RVP, it was his movement that pulled the defenders away to help create the first goal, then the movement to create the missed opportunity was also very good. He does need a few weeks/mo.the to adapt to the higher intensity of the pl but he willbe an excellent player. I love LP work ethic and would love AD to stay fit as he offers real drive from CM. We still have TR, JW, BS, EF and WS to come back too. Two important games at the end of the month we need 4pts from city and Chelsea