View From The Sphere

How Arsenal players fared at Old Trafford – my ratings

|
Image for How Arsenal players fared at Old Trafford – my ratings

Really, really disappointed by today’s result, but here are my Arsenal player ratings from today’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United (feel free to argue or agree with me).

Vito Mannone – Despite conceding two goals on the day, the young Italian was possibly our Man of the Match – which says a lot about our outfield players. Kept Arsenal in the game for as long as he could, producing some fine saves throughtout the 90. 6.5/10

Bacary Sagna – It wasn’t exactly a stellar performance from our ‘Mr. Consistent’. Still lacking match fitness. 5/10

Per Mertesacker – The tall German was the best of our back four today. Positioning was very good and he pretty much won everything in the air. Didn’t deserve to be on the losing side. 6/10

Thomas Vermaelen – Gifted United their first goal in the third minute or so and never really recovered from it. A really bad performance from the captain. 4/10

Andre Santos – Was always going to be our weak link in the side. Positioning was abysmal, leaving gaps for United to exploit, and his eagerness to get back at times was so frustrating to watch. Can’t cross to save his life. Worst player on the pitch by a furlong. 2/10

Mikel Arteta – Had a quiet game. Never really stamped his authority in midfield and failed to dictate play with his passing attributes. Booked. 4.5/10

Jack Wilshere – The only player on the pitch who looked like he really wanted it today. Looked sharp and always wanted the ball. Received his marching orders after a ‘dubious’ second yellow in the 69th minute. 5/10

Santi Cazorla – Not a good day at the office from Santi. Made a few decent passes here and there and drove the team forward at times, but not enough. Scored a consolation in what proved to be the last kick of the game. 5.5/10

Aaron Ramsey – Only managed 51 minutes after another disappointing display on the wing. Always looked to drift inside, which left Sagna defending against two men at times, and never offered The Gunners anything moving forward. 3/10

Lukas Podolski – Was nowhere to be seen today. A really poor performance from the German. His passing was way off the mark and failed to create or have any chances on goal. Needs to improve in the upcoming matches. 3.5/10

Olivier Giroud – Had about two decent efforts throughout the game, one from a tight angle which hit the post and the other prior to Cazorla scoring. Never got the service and was very much an isolated figure up front. 4/10

SUBS

Theo Walcott – Came on for Ramsey in the 51st minute. Had one effort which was blasted into Row Z. Never really got involved in the game. 3/10

Andrey Arshavin – Replaced Podolski in the 81st minute and got booked in the 82nd. Produced a few decent passes in the time he was given. (N/A)

Like what you read? Then follow me on Twitterhttp://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.

Share this article

30 comments

  • the king says:

    and i feel bad for us fans.

    every game we go home or away our fans are singing us on even when we lose like today.

    its just sad that a great club like us can just be happy being in the top 4.

    no ambition at all.

  • Frankys says:

    The writer shld always include wenger in your rating,i believe this is the time 4wenger 2go he has noting 2 offer he’s out of ideas.he’s the problem of arsenal, now dictator.y starting santos what was ramsey doing on pitch?tatically wenger is dead.this season if we finish 5th thank God.useless manager,mediocre players and visionless fans

  • mo says:

    I can’t a single player as the whole team lacks ambition, we don’t defend as a team and we don’t attack as a team. Everyone jst passes the ball casually with no urgency. Carzola is the only player who can move forward and create chances and arteta is the only player fighting for almost every ball, giroud gets no delivery and we just look like a mid table team. Looking at other teams like chelsea you can see the appetite and determination to win games, they chased every single ball last weekend even after going down to 9men

  • WC says:

    This 4-3-3 is a failed formation if you don’t buy the players to play it. Wenger has to revert to 4-4-2 with the players he has with Poldi playing more central as he’s not a wide player and 4-4-2 could accommodate Theo playing off Giroud if it calls for it but as it stand 4-3-3 cannot be played effectively with a tall target man – it relies on front players being able to interchange.

    We need a goal scorer and we need to buy one in January.

  • WoodyD says:

    Giroud is being wasted. Much like RVP, the squad doesn’t provide delivery and nobody seems willing/able to play off him. Arsenal finally have a target man but provide woeful crosses.

    Always liked Podolski but he’s not the player we need on the wing. He and Giroud should be competing for the striker’s role. Thought Cazorla looked his best today floating to the wing once Podolski was pulled.

    This team needs an enforcer at CDM allowing Arteta, Jack and Cazorla to play more in attack to support our target man up through the middle. Also would allow for a nice attacking rotation with Cazorla spending some time on the wing.

  • AW says:

    Even though Mertesacker was the best in the back four he didn’t play good enough. Evra’s goal is undoubtedly his fault and his offensive qualities, or lack of, were shown as he had the ball more often than anyone in the second half and still was unable to do anything more than pass it to Sagna and Mannone over and over again.

  • wisdom says:

    As wenger grows old so his knwnledge of football fades.He has nothing to lose that’s why he think he can do anything he likes.Pls arsenal fans let’s stop watching Arsenal games so dt the stupid board will experience some losses and maybe they’ll hav a rethink.arsenal were a team that can pass ball around nw we can’t pass, defence,attack evrything abt dis current arsenal is Zero

  • bc says:

    With only 3 players sitting on the sidelines that would make fhis our first choice x1 things are looking grim. szcesney for mannone gibbs for santos and walcott for ramsey for me are the only changes you could make with the current staff to improve the x1. so something needs to be done with the formation till the end of the year and in january improvements need to be made. it is clear we dont actually have any players at the.club that can play on the wing. by that i dont mean a player that can play wide i mean a player that can beat a man get to the by line and put in a decent cross or switch to his other fpot and cut inside and beat the man that way. im afraid that ramsey podolski walcott gervinho arshavin and even gnabry are not capable of doing that consistently. neither are any of them cut out to get back and protect the full back. therefpre until we invest in some players that can do that we should not be.playing players out of position on the wing just to carry out the formation. likewise the zonal marking system is a complete failure the only defender intelligent enough to play it is mertesacker and he cannot hold a team together on his own certainly not in the way the.likes of adams bould keown and campbell could. unfortunately we have no choice other than to go back to basics with 2 banks of 4 and 2 up front. once we have stopped concedeing we can then be a bit more adventurous with a diamond midfield then hopefully adopt a 4132 when we have mastered the art of defending again. only in january if wenger signs a proper winger or two players that are and can play out wide should he then revert to his 4231 or 451 or 433 whatever he likes to call it. I would be inclined to have arteta sitting in front of the back 4 with a 3 man midfield in front of him. if all are fit that 3 would be cazorla and wilshire plus one of diaby rosicky coquelin or ramsey. i would have.giroud up front then play one of podolski walcott or gervinho just off him or even in times of desperation play chamakh alongside giroud for those occassions when lumping the ball into the box is the only answer. at the back our best 4 defenders are sagna mertesacker and then its a.close

  • zane says:

    We just have to face the truth that Arsenal is just shit and Wenger is an Ass. He is too stubborn….we will never win trophies until Wenger is fired….How can you be the highest paid manager and cannot win a trophy for eight years….ridiculous………The team lacks fighting spirit and character
    I am ashamed to call myself an Arsenal fan

  • sebas says:

    Mertesacker has been an absolute god sent gift. Without him our defense would have been horribly disorganized. As for giroud…there was a good 3 or 4 magnificent runs he made that santos failed to even look up before he crossed.

    People need to relax a bit cause even though united fully deserved to win, they didn’t make much of the match.

    On a side note, am i the only one who thought rvp deserved to get sent off?

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *