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How Arsenal players fared against Schalke – my ratings

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Last night Arsenal took on German side Schalke in the first of their Champions League Group B games and having watched the game, here are my ratings on the players performances at The Emirates:

Vito Mannone – The Italian goalkeeper looked a little shaky, with a penalty scare early on and a few other nervous moments. Seemed to do well during the course of the game till the two goals flew in. 5.5/10

Carl Jenkinson – Another good performance from the young Englishman. Defended well and made a few good crosses into the box as well. Had no real impact going forward though. 5.5/10

Per Mertesacker – Simply put, he was a rock. Made vital blocks and moved about very well. Should have done better with the first goal we conceded. 6/10

Thomas Vermaelen – Didn’t see much of our captain last night. Made a few runs forward trying to encourage the team to attack. But it was simply a fruitless display by the Belgian. 5/10

Andre Santos – Simply put, the Brazilian had a nightmare – worst defensive display I have ever seen him dish out. Caught out on many occasions and was ball watching for the majority of the game. Was certainly our weak link, as all of Schalke’s attacks came from his side. Easily the worst player wearing the Arsenal shirt on the night. 2/10

Mikel Arteta – Didn’t quite look at all like his usual self. Lost possession too many times and had no impact on the game from his deep midfield role. 5/10

Aaron Ramsey – Worked hard in my opinion, but didn’t have the pace to cause any trouble to Schalke. However, he was once again played out of position. Did ok. 6/10

Santi Cazorla – The little Spaniard made a nuisance of himself as usual. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the midfield maestro to cause further damage upfront. 7/10

Francis Coquelin – My man of the match. He sat in front of the back four with assurance and was impressive when he did manage to get forward. Like most youths, he showed great energy and enthusiasm. A mature performance from the Frenchman. 8.5/10

Lukas Podolski – The German did well in the first half, creating a few crosses for Gervinho, but he did fade away as the game wore on and offered no cover to Santos. 5.5/10

Gervinho – Did move about well on the field and had a few half chances. But like most, his wheels fell off as the game wore on. To top it all off, the Ivorian got booked for a dive after beating his man – unnecessary. 5/10

SUBS:

Andre Arshavin – Played the last 10 minutes. Not much too really gauge the little Russian on. 4/10

Serge Gnarby – Didn’t have much time to shine but played well when he came on. Great skill and movement and almost had an instant impact with Arsenal’s only effort on target. Not bad for a 17 year-old on his Champions League debut. 5/10

Olivier Giroud – Moved about well when he came on, but didn’t have much of an impact as he only played the last 15 minutes. 4.5/10

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huge Arsenal fan, love the team and all that comes with it.follower of all kinds of sports, football being my first love, yet to attend my first arsenal game but i am planning too, some time in the not to distant future. i enjoy writing as well, that's how i ended up here, never looked back....

15 comments

  • cesc says:

    Did you watch the match? I cannot in my wildest dreams see why you gave Gervinio a 5. This man is one of the worst arsenal players i’ve ever seen.
    He offers nothing to the team. Incompetent is the word I would use.

  • Toye says:

    Ramsey. 1.0/10. Thats is his worth. Maybe you watched diffrent match.

    • Manamongst says:

      EXACTLY:

      as a gunner, look carefully at the problems Ramsey causes to the team shape and more importantly passing lanes. Ramsey is football’s eager beaver, don’t believe me take a look at his heatmaps on Guardian…the kid is all over the place…holds the ball too long, selfish hollywood passer, and technical teammates don’t have confidence in passing to him. He’s a bad fit stylistically. And I think Wenger has had enough.

      Agreeed with Jenkinson’s rating and Ramsey was the cause.

  • Andyham says:

    I totally agree with Toye ad Cesc. Gervinho was so appalling last night he wouldn’t get a start on a championship side. His first, second, third touches are all terrible. Also Ramsey was very poor last night. He has improved this season but last night – bad. I was at the game and without a doubt in my mind Per was the best player wearing red. Carzola needs a rest. Welcome back wilshere. Glad to see the applause from the gooner faithful for jenkinson. A spirited young player.

    • Manamongst says:

      A bit too harsh. I think people are discounting the problems to the shape that Ramsey being so far up front with very little skill. They actually gave Ramsey 2/3 of the field to beat their defenders and he couldn’t in the process he clogged up Jenkison’s lanes and clogged Cazorla’s areas as well. Held the ball to long and killed build-ups when he’d retreat past Jenkinson to dump passes back to Per and Vito. That gave Gervinho and Podolski very little space to operate and we got not triangles set up.

  • Willy young says:

    Is Gervinho Glen Helder??

    Santos Ramsey Mannone are not Arsenal standard

    Being realistic which of our entire squad if fit ( unlikely) would get a regular game at Chavski or Manure? Jack maybe possibly Sagna that is it. That is why 4th is best case yawn

  • Twivil says:

    QPR will be rubbing their hands in glee if Arteta and Cazorla are playing in CM on Saturday. Pass and stand still is not what any team needs. Only Ramsey and Coq put the work in. The rest of the attacking six were dummies at best and passengers at worst. Bench the skittles and get four runners in who want to play the Arsenal way.

    • Manamongst says:

      Coquelin was over rated, provided no help to arteta, hid from passes to him centrally, and was resigned to watch us workhorse the ball around the highway instead of stabbing them centrally. cazorla plays behind the striker…
      Ramsey is a waste of space. He should stay at home on the field and if he had played the back post like a RW he could have got on the end of at least one of Gervinho’s balls.

      Ramsey will be dropped, it is a grand step forward.

  • Paul says:

    My ratings:
    squad/ 3/10
    wenger/gazidis/kronkie/ -1,000
    fans/ -1,000,000 for continuing to attend matches and supporting this madness.

  • Jay says:

    You guys are absolute joke. At least gerv,manone and santos put in the effort needed even if they were crap. What the fuck did ramsey do if not to kill our attack. He is not even up to 0.5 in my opinion. Put him in the reserves and promote gnabry and eisfield. Crzppy ratings

  • desh says:

    lyk did u watch tha game hw in tha hell does ramsey get 6?n gevis 5?

  • @joey_scoundrel says:

    Gervinho and Santos have no business wearing arsenal jerseys! such incompetent imbeciles. smh

  • insyder says:

    I think Stanos performed better than Ramsey & i totally agree that he deserve a 2 so I would give Rambo a 1 or 0.5 just for being in the team. We should stop babying our British player coz we love our own if one can’t perform he should on the bench. What shocks me day in day out we tell the Gunners coaching staff of thier shortcoming but no one takes it serious.

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