Your Chance To Vote On The Best Arsenal Players Of The Season

It’s that time of year when everyone reflects on the somewhat tumultuous journey we’ve been on this past season. Today we give you all the opportunity to vote for those players you believe were the most influential in the campaign.

I have added a supplementary poll at the end to stimulate discussion for the day.

In order to avoid any subliminal bias on my part creeping into your choice, I have listed the players in alphabetical order according to their surname.

This last poll is about your choice of what type of player we should buy if we could only bring in one new top quality player in the summer transfer window……..

Just added this last one for a bit of controversy …

Apologies if you think I’ve left any player out, Coquelin is undoubtedly a talent but he hasn’t really played enough to be in consideration.

You can view the on-going results by clicking the box at the bottom of each poll, we shall publish the final results.

I hope you’ve had fun, please carry the debate on your choices through into the day’s comments.

Rasp

St Totteringham’s Day – Report & Player Ratings

That was a very, very nervous experience made all the more intense by the fact that we were expected to win. Some how being the underdog in crucial games makes it just that little more bearable when a loss is inevitably considered before and during the game. But win we did and by doing so we secured the chance to play Champions League football next season which I believe makes it sixteen seasons on the trot, no mean feat when you consider just how desperate and disappointed those around us were at missing out again.

Does that introduction work? Nah, it was nail biting hell, ninety four minutes of torture before the release of the final whistle and the opportunity to laugh at the pained faces of those left wondering “if only” at White Hart Lane. That’s better, that’s more like the introduction that this game deserves.

It was in fact a very professional win, every player followed the game plan, nobody panicked, all of which lead to our just desserts safely being locked away at the home of football.

As I sit hear in the afterglow, looking back at the season I think it has to be said that the single most important decision made was that to drop Vermaelen. This is not meant as a poke at the Belgian, I am convinced he remains a very popular player amongst Arsenal supporters; it’s just that everything points to him being put on the bench as the spark that galvanised the defence.

Do any of you remember the debate that divided us over which centre back paring would be the most successful? Half the people said Vermaelen and Mertesacker and the other half said Vermalen and Koscielny, I was one of those arguing that the later combination would be more mobile. But I think it is fair to say no one argued for Mertesacker and Koscielny.

Well there you go, those two flanked by Gibbs, Nacho and Sagna have proved to be a very solid defensive unit indeed.

Did you notice how much more controlled Sagna was in his attacking play today, no wild crosses and solid as ever in his defensive duties.

I can’t finish the defence without giving Koscielny special attention; he was the standout player of the day and the Man of the Match by some distance. Koz, you have no idea how much happier you have made all of our summers; for you, your performance and your goal we salute you.

The midfield worked well together. Ramsey was immense and will rightly pick up the AA award for the most improved player. He started the season coming on as a sub on the right wing and did very well; he then got his chance to start in the middle and was poor, poor to the point of serious abuse. From there he disappeared back to the bench, reappearing after the spud loss to progress to being undroppable which is where he is today.

Sadly for our Spanish Captain couldn’t lead us to the end of the game but the Ox came on and added fire to the midfield belly. Have you noticed how well he and Walcott work together? Theo is the senior player and is able to tell the Ox exactly what he wants to happen, the upshot is that Theo plays with a greater confidence.

If I have one minor moan it would be that Rosicky was a bit sloppy by his usual high standards. Many will not like me saying this but I think we were a bit fortunate that Wilshere got injured when he did because if we had carried on playing the same way we did against spuds I believe we would not be in this happy position today. Rosicky is an attacking midfielder who interacts well with the most talented player we have at the club and Wilshere is nowhere near that yet.

And on the subject of the most talented player at the club I am sure we are all agreed that the AA award for best player of the season goes to Cazorla, he ran his socks off again and boy what a great buy he turned out to be.

Podolski, not being so brilliant in the air, forces Sagna and Gibbs to send the ball into the box along the ground rather than hoofing it high which is one of my pet hates; his tally of assists this season is very impressive. As to whether he is the answer to our number nine issues I neither know nor care today, I am just pleased with our not quite so BFG.

It was a good day to be an Arsenal supporter, we need to push on from here with some quality summer signings but I will leave you with my favourite image of the day. Remember the end of the game when the Sky cameras went over to White  Hart Lane? Well think of despair of their faces and chuckle.

Have a great day.

Written by LB

Following on from LB’s excellent report Rocky would like to offer these player ratings:

Szczesny: little to do but exuded confidence. 7

Sagna: very solid performance. He still seems a fraction slower than before his leg breaks but he defended well against Newcastle. 7

Gibbs: got pulled out of position a bit in the first 20, but played very well thereafter. 7.5

Mertesacker: typically good showing from the BFG. He is one of the best CB’s in the EPL. 8

Koscielny: a perfect performance at the back, augmented by as coring the all-important winning goal. 9 (MOTM)

Arteta: it was clearly a risk starting him, but he played with his usual efficiency before having to retire with injury early doors. 7

Rosicky: not everything came off for TR7 but he was involved in some of our best moves and his work rate was incredible. 7.5

Ramsey: phenomenal effort as we’ve come to expect. Some of his best work is unspectacular and, therefore, is missed by many. An invaluable player on the day. 8

Cazorla: drifted out at times but was a persistent threat to Newcastle and fought very hard for the cause. 8

Walcott: plenty of effort and skill from Theo, who was double- or triple-teamed throughout. It was a relief that his late effort that hit the post after great solo play did not turn out costly. 8

Podolski: Lukas was up for this one and fought hard in both attack and defence. Got a head on the ball to set up Koscielny’s winner. 7.5

Subs

Oxlade- Chamberlain: it was a surprise when Oxo slotted in to the holding midfield role vacated boyar teat, but hE did well. 7.5

Giroud: his hold-up play was good and his presence helped see us through to kids debating. 7

Wilshere: not time enough to do anything special. 7

 

Cazorla Conducts : Arsenal 4 Wigan 1

Last night was the next in a long line of must win matches, must win if staying ahead of that lot down the road is important, which it is.

This will be a slightly more sketchy report than I usually do because:

a) I was there so did not have benefit of copious replays
b) I’d met other AAers in the Tavern prematch.

Everywhere you looked every conversation you caught was tense and nervy, the Dean effect was discussed, the ability to throw away good work with a defensive lapse, the lack of a much needed finisher.

Come full time we were happy Gunners wondering why we were so worried.

The early goal a poachers header by Podolski from Cazorla’s corner took some fingernails away from teeth, the ball had gone over Mertesacker’s head and Wigan defenders failed to clear the danger, the story of their season.

Unfortunately the team then found the handbrake as they have done so often during this run in and seemed to decide one was enough.

This affected the crowd, tension grew as we sat deeper allowing Wigan to play their patterns, I really like the way Wigan play forward, they always seemed to have an extra man even when we were well set defensively, we got pulled about left and right. But with a bit more quality when we were in possession we should have been able to punish them on the counter, however we didn’t appear to want to leave our half.

Everyone put in a shift, then Dean started to try and influence the game, allowing some robust challenges on red and white shirts to go unpunished, one particularly memorable one was on Santi which led to a Wigan attack while Dean surprisingly to everyone but the conspiracy theorists waved play on.

Not so long after Dean awarded what appeared to be a very soft free kick on the edge of our area. Maloney stepped up and looped it over our wall into the corner of the net, it was a well taken free kick, but Pod could have been a little braver in the wall.

The boos at half time were reserved for Mike Dean as he left the pitch.

The second half started and we were still a little nervy but at least we were now on the attack a bit more, and trying to use the ball better in possession.

It wasn’t until the 63rd minute that we could breathe a little easier, Santi released down the right flank produced the best cross of the game, Theo had taken a good position in the centre and met the ball to finish. Theo Theo reverberated around the Emirates, but the real difference was Santi’s cross, we had put in many a poor cross from the right before that or chose the wrong options, Santi just looked up saw his target and put it on a plate.

Moments later we were on our feet again, Santi helping the ball through to Podolski who flicked it over the approaching Wigan keeper.

Ramsey then rounded off a very productive 10 minutes and another high energy display from himself with a much deserved goal, you could see the relief in his celebration. It was a very good goal, finding himself on the left wing he was released by Santi again, he ran with purpose towards the area, and without many options he decided he would have one for himself, cutting onto his right foot and finishing high into the net.

“Are you watching Tottenham?” Asked the Emirates faithful, I’m pretty sure they were, and the thought of them crying in their beer was very heartwarming.

The only worrying development towards the end of the game was Arteta limping off with a calf pull, which leaves us a selection dilemma come Sunday, Podolski’s goals also give Arsene another decision to make with Giroud available for the final game.

At the final whistle celebration in the home end quickly turned to respect for Wigan players, manager and fans, with most around us applauding Wigan players as they came over to commiserate with their fans. The Premier League will be a less entertaining place without them.

The team then went on its traditional lap of appreciation, BFG walking closest to the fans, fist pumping his way round, the crowd sang to the players, after this troubled season it was as if some of the wounds have healed, we can see they care, they know we care, and in unity we can only grow stronger.

Player ratings

Szczesny 7 could have done better with goal

Sagna 7 solid at back, crossing poor

Koscielny 7.5 solid

BFG 7.5 solid

Gibbs 6.5 not his attacking self in the run in

Arteta 7.5 keeps us ticking

Ramsey 8 Another high energy display wrapped up with a goal

Rosicky 7.5 took up good positions, moved the ball on

Cazorla 9 Genius

Theo 8 worked hard tonight, good finish

Podolski 8 two good goals

Written by Gooner in Exile

Cazorla Out?

Santi Cazorla was below par against the Cottagers on Saturday and also struggled to influence the home game against Everton.

It has raised the worrying question of whether the talented little Spaniard is starting to burn out after a spectacular first season in the English top flight.

There is no doubting his genius – as he has shown on numerous occasions during the campaign. Twelve Premier League goals and nine assists so far is an excellent return.

But just lately he has seemed somewhat diminished.

Some may point to the fact that he has been played on the right recently to accommodate either Wilshere or Rosicky in the central attacking midfield berth. He plays in a right sided position for the Spanish national side, but there is a strong case to be made that his most effective position for Arsenal has been in the middle, pulling the strings.

But even though I agree with that, I don’t necessarily see that as the reason for the slight dip in form he is experiencing.

Prior to joining the world’s greatest club, Santi had spent his career entirely in the Spanish league, at Villareal and Malaga.

The problem with the Spanish league is that it is as non-competitive a league as you’ll find outside of Scotland (or at least, Scotland before Rangers’ fall from grace).

The fact that Real Madrid and Barcelona are allowed to make their own TV rights deals means La Liga is the most financially rigged competition in world football. The other teams are there just to make up the numbers. Consequently many games are not contested as fiercely as they should be. It’s a huge contrast with England, where the TV money is shared more equally and every game has the potential to be a blood-and-thunder battle, regardless of how lowly the opponent.

Santi Cazorla has played 45 games for Arsenal in all competitions this season. Incredibly, 43 of those have been as a starter.

This leads me to believe that he is just running out of steam in this late stage of the league campaign.

There was a telling moment in Saturday’s game where Theo (I think it was Theo) made a great run into the Fulham box and Santi tried to slide the ball into his path for what would have been, surely, another Arsenal goal.

At most points this season that pass would have been completely routine for Santi, but against Fulham he overhit it by a yard and the chance went begging.

It was a pass made by a tired man with tired legs. And it makes me wonder whether he needs to be rested for the remainder of the run in. Not rested completely, of course, but dropped to the bench to be used as a super sub if we are chasing a game late on.

I know this will sound like heresy to many and I expect to be (politely) shouted down in the comments. But I think we should appreciate that Santi has never in his life played football of this intensity for this long and the only surprising thing is that he hasn’t flagged sooner.

Of course, the three games against Norwich, Everton and Fulham all came within the space of a week and there are now full-week breaks between all our remaining games, but I still feel Santi is a man in need of a summer break.

So if we take Santi out of the front line, how do we replace him? Well, we already have his central midfield replacements ready (Wilshere and Rosicky) and it allows us to play a more wing-minded attacker like Theo or Gervinho on the wide right.

Arsene Wenger has shown himself willing to take tough decisions already this year (dropping his captain; dropping Szczesney). Will he be tough enough to rest arguably the best player at the club?

RockyLives

A Fair Result or One We Got Away With?

I think the answer to that is a bit of both. Across 90 minutes on the balance of play, possession and opportunities carved out I don’t think that 3-1 over-flattered us. That we were still 1-0 down going into the 84th minute does leave a certain feeling of having got away with this one though. I will, however, look at the positives that we kept fighting and pressing and that this is a very important trait that I see increasingly in this squad, which should hold us in good stead for the future.

Early on we dominated possession and carved out a couple of decent openings. I thought some of our old failings of overplaying it and taking one too many passes rather than taking the shot at the right time was in evidence. The pitch was becoming slick from the rain and seemed to be begging players to hit hard low shots that could spin up off the pitch and cause their keeper problems. When we did shoot it seemed to be 2-3 passes too late and the shot became predictable.

Giroud headed onto the bar from a Sagna cross early on but our best chance of the first half was when Gervinho was put through one on one with their keeper courtesy of a slide rule pass from Santi. As their keeper came out Gervinho, rightly in my opinion, opted to go round the keeper but took far too heavy a touch which took him too wide and narrowed the angle. He still came close to finding the net but the ball went just wide of the far post. It would have been a tap in for any player following up and I thought Giroud was slightly guilty of ball watching. If you look at it again he jogs along watching Gervinho and suddenly realises too late he ought to be sprinting into the box. I think he could have got there had he instinctively set off at full pace the moment Gervinho was put through.

The second half seemed to continue where the first left off and we weren’t capitalising on our dominance in possession and territory and you just had a feeling what was coming next. Norwich had hardly troubled our goal but once again the old set piece goal against the run of play undid us on the 56th minute. I was seated behind the goal and remember looking at Turner and thinking I hope one of our bigger lads gets tight to him because he is a big chap and has a history of scoring from set pieces. The fact that arguably their most dangerous player at set pieces ended up getting a free unchallenged header reopens the debate about the merits of zonal marking.

I had to watch MOTD to get an extra feel for the game as it is easy to miss a lot when you sit directly behind the goal. I wanted to have a look at the lead up to the free kick and on initial evidence it looked like their player tripped over his own feet so I waited for the replay and the better camera angle to get a better idea but do you think MOTD were interested in looking at a potential injustice against Arsenal that resulted in a goal?

Gervinho and Jack hadn’t really been at the races in this game and Arsene waited another 4 minutes before subbing them for Walcott and Podolski. I felt it gave us a boost with Walcott causing immediate problems down the right and arguably our most natural finisher sniffing around their box. It didn’t take too long before a decent passing move saw Podolski clear and he smashed his shot against the bar. The equalising goal was still eluding us however and Arsene replaced Sagna with the Ox on the 80th minute for an all out assault on their goal. His introduction in addition to the other 2 subs did the trick and we all of a sudden looked far more direct and penetrative.

The equaliser came from a slightly controversial penalty decision. This time MOTD decided to make a real song and dance about it and funnily enough the pro Spurs Lineker, the just behind us in the league and soon to be playing us Everton manager, and the perennially Arsenal disliking Hanson all shouted injustice against Norwich. Keown showed in a close up that although they both grappled a bit the defender did indeed initiate the grabbing of Girouds shirt and clearly pulled him down. The ref should have seen it but didn’t and the linesman correctly spotted it from a greater distance. Well done to him I said as David Moyes, possibly with some ulterior psychological motive, intimated we had been thrown an incorrect decision. Anyway Arteta coolly slotted home and it was 1-1.

What came next was one of those ends that just makes you smile and, if anything, leave the game even happier than if you had the game sewn up on the hour mark. The players obviously realised the importance of the 3 points and kept pressing and cue 2 excellent goals in the last 2 minutes. Podolski’s goal for me illustrated why we should play him more often as no other Arsenal player has his finishing ability.

A critical 3 points and on to the tougher fixture of Everton on Tuesday. I think we will have to be more clinical in attack and more solid on the set pieces if we want to get the 3 points in that game. Had it been Everton today I am not so sure we would have got away with it. On to the ratings :-

Fabianski 7 No chance for the goal and didn’t have much to do but made a couple of critical stops when needed.

Sagna 6 Considering we had them mostly pinned back he didn’t seem to offer too much to our offence in this game.

Vermaelen 7 Had a solid game. Not too much defending to be done. Their goal seemed to be a tactical fault of the whole team rather than being down to one individual.

Koscielny 7 Ditto for Kos as with TV.

Gibbs 7.5 First game for a bit and looked good both in attack and defence.

Arteta 7.5 Kept us ticking over and put in a good shift. A cool head when needed for the penalty.

Ramsey 8 My MOTM I thought Rambo had a good game today. He seems to have matured recently and today, despite no individual brilliance, I thought he gave an all action display in the Steven Gerrard mode.

Cazorla 7.5 At times drifted out of the game but whenever we are dangerous or create chances he always seems to have some hand in it.

Wilshere 6 Struggled a bit today after his enforced absence. I am not troubled by this. It is nice that others take up the mantle when it is not happening for him and I think a fit Jack will be important to us for these last games.

Giroud 6.5 Scored a goal and as usual worked tirelessly but seemed a little off the pace of the game today.

Gervinho 6 After a couple of good games he was back to one of his more frustrating performances. It remains to be seen if this is just how it is with him or whether he can turn out the good performances more regularly.

SUBS

Walcott 7 Caused immediate problems to them when he came on and all 3 subs seemed to turn the game back in our favour.

Podolski 7 Scored a good one and crashed another on to the bar. You feel we have a greater goal threat when he gets in and around the opposition box.

Oxlaide-Chamberlain 7 Good direct running and made the second goal with a bit of inspiration.

Written by GoonerB

The Return of the Swerve : Arsenal 4 – Reading 1

In any other season Reading at home would be a home banker pencilled into our predictors. This season anything has been possible, so it was a great relief yesterday to see the team come out the blocks from the first whistle and not stop running until the final whistle. On top of that the team played with purpose and pace that we have only seen on brief occasions this year, and for me the most important feature of our play we pressured the ball when we didn’t have it.

Wenger named a couple of changes from the side that won away at Swansea, out went Jenkinson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Diaby and Walcott, in came Sagna, Gervinho, Ramsey and Rosicky. Many of us have felt on recent substitute appearances the latter three deserved a bit more game time. If Ramsey continues to play as he did today he will soon have silenced all of his critics, Gervinho too whilst sometimes appearing not to know what he is going to do next was lively enough and threatening enough to silence the boo boys.

It was Gervinho that gave us the lead after ten minutes, following good work on the right he continued his run into the box as the ball made its way to Santi, Santis shot was going wide but Gervinho reacted and stuck a boot on the end of it.

The rest of the half was one way traffic, Reading rarely venturing out of their own half. Whilst we were comfortable those of us watching at home were desperate for a second goal to put us in full control. That goal should have come when Olivier Giroud was brought down in the box by Taylor, it was a clumsy challenge and Giroud had already got his shot away, but how many free kicks were given yesterday for defenders after clearing the ball being clattered into by an onrush ing forward….I can count at least three on us without trying, so if that’s a free kick that should’ve been a penalty.

Just before the end of the first half a possession stat for the last 5 minutes flashed up, Arsenal 95%, could this be another one of those days?

Adkins sent Reading out with a little more purpose in the second half, but any attacking threats were quickly nullified by good defending starting from the midfield and completed by the defence.

Any hope Reading had of finding an equaliser were soon dashed, more good work around the box by Santi and Gervinho saw the ball teed up for Santi to curl beautifully into the right corner of the goal to make it 2-0. This is what Gervinho can bring with his dribbling skills, he took the ball into the 18 yard box and sucked three defenders towards him, most importantly the man marking Santi which then left him with an easy pass.

The third came 20 minutes later, Gervinho stretching his legs on the counter attack waited for Giroud to join him, just when I thought he’d held it to long he laid it to Giroud who dispatched his shot low and hard to make it 3-0.

There was a small element of foot off the gas and Reading were allowed to get one back almost immediately, the cross came in far too easily to the back stick and Robson-Kanu arrived at the back post to grab a consolation.

Gervinho was allowed to soak up some much needed applause and was replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Giroud was replaced by Podolski.

Two minutes later and Oxlade-Chamberlain read and intercepted a poor pass out of the Reading defence and just ran at them, there is something very exciting about the way this young man runs with the ball, he burst into the area and was brought down. Arteta cooly scored from the spot kick and the three goal advantage was restored.

Despite being the end of the scoring there were still things to be admired in the performance, the team continued to press Reading when they had possession, and continued to push for more goals, some of the pass and move around the box was great to watch.

We should beat Reading at home, the fact that we did and so easily suggests we may have turned the corner this season, will it be too late to achieve the 4th place trophy?

Ratings:
Fabianski 7 – not a lot to do, little chance with the goal, but good handling and distribution throughout.

Sagna 6 – poor for their goal, offered little going forward (although didnt really need to)

Monreal 7 – steady at full back did not need to over commit to attack an was rarely troubled at the back, injured trying to prevent their goal

Mertesacker 8 – marshalled those around him well, snuffed out any threats with ease.

Koscielny 7.5 – solid performance

Arteta – 8 professional performance in the middle of the park, kept possession ticking over and always there to pick up the pieces on second ball

Ramsey – 8.5 very strong performance from the young Welshman, deserved a goal for some of his run and passing around the box, worked tirelessly to regain possession

Cazorla – 9.5 MOTM everything good comes through the boot of our Spanish wizard, he is just simply a joy to watch play football

Rosicky – 7.5 took some time to get into the game, but provided movement and quick passing essential to our play

Gervinho – 9 two assists one goal and a constant threat to Reading, more of the same please.

Giroud – 8 provided the fulcrum for others to play off, good finish for his goal, just wish we would see him relax a bit more in front of goal, and also be brave enough to use his right peg occasionally.

Subs:
Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7.5 got straight into the game am earning the penalty the young man seems to have found his confidence again.

Podolski – 7 found it difficult to get into the rhythmn of the team. Looked a bit lost when the ball was being moved one and two touch around him by Santi and others.

Gibbs – 7 nothing to do in defence supported attack well as we know he can.

Written by Gooner in Exile

Midfield squad ……. is it good enough?

Here is my outlook on the midfield hope you enjoy it .

Abou Diaby. Average player does his shift some games other games he’s just unreliable and prone to giving the ball away.

Should he stay or should he go?

Tomáš Rosicky.  Great player but he seems to have lost his way since the injury set back, can be unplayable at times but this season we have not seem him at his best.

Will he sign a new deal or will he be wanted elsewhere? Let’s not forget he’s getting older and we have players like the Ox who can play on the wing.

Mikel Arteta (vice-captain). I like the man from Spain, he’s a grafter and a gifted player when he feels like it .

His form has been a little patchy this year but he does his best for the club.

Jack Wilshere. Wonder boy jack is one of the best English players in the England squad when he’s not injured and he does an amazing job in midfield for Arsenal.

We’ve got to keep him – for a lot of us on here, he’s the next to wear the captain’s armband.

Aaron Ramsey. Love him or hate him, I personally think he’s doing his best. Yes he’s a youngster, but he can spot a pass and he can score a few and he’s one for the future.

We must keep him .

Santi Cazorla. Excellent, fantastic footballer and one of the players of the season so far he works hard and he can cross dribble and shoot and he’s gives 100% every game – another player who like to score.

Francis Coquelin. Not seen much of him as he’s a bit part player and is often used as a sub. When he comes on he does very well and I’m sure some Spanish clubs will be after him in the future.

Andrei Arshavin. I liked the Russian with the basin haircut, he has lost his way or he can’t regain his place in the team I can see him leaving in the not too distance future .

He will always be remembered for his one man show at Liverpool a few seasons ago .

MIDFIELD PLAYERS ON LOAN !.

Emmanuel Frimpong. This pong would not be out on loan, I’d recall him, he gets some tackles in and he is not scared of any player and he’s built like Mike Tyson .

What AW will do with the pong we will have to wait and see.

I’ve friends who are Wolves fans, he went there on loan before he had an injury and the wolves fans loved him and chanted his name every game.

Ryo Miyaichi. What a waste of money simples, buy him then loan him out, will he ever play a first team game in the Premier League.

Denílson. He looks to be enjoying his loan spell back home and can’t see him returning now or in the future but again I liked him when AW played him and he used him a lot.

I have not included the Ox or Theo as they play up front more than midfield but those two are another who in time will be a fantastic acquirement for Arsenal in the future.

What’s your opinion on the state of our midfield?

Sheep Hagger ™.

One nil to the Arsenal ……

So another great game for the neutral but another nerve jangler for all of us. I had a thoroughly enjoyable day watching the live screening of the game at the home of football, but I have also decided that being an Arsenal fan likely takes some years off your life .

So what did we get from Arsenal in this game? Firstly the players seemed to be up for it from the start, and we didn’t have to suffer with waiting till the second half before we started playing. We started to create a number of clear cut chances, but as each one went begging you started to feel it was going to be one of those days. To be fair Mignolet was in superb form, and how often do we watch an opposition keeper put in an almost man of the match performance against us? What is it about us that seems to bring out the best in these keepers? Is it the way we attack? I am sure it doesn’t happen so often with the likes of Utd and the Chavs. That is a question maybe some of you out there can shed some light on.

We continued to press and were treated to some awfully inconsistent refereeing. There was a very strong shout for a straight red on Cattermole and I counted 2 maybe 3 Sunderland fouls in the passage of play that led up to Jenkinsons first yellow card. How we didn’t get a free kick before this I do not know. Anyway the faithful at the Ems were in no doubt how they felt about it. I think this was definitely a case of the ref being a homer.

Jack picked up where he left off for England and continued to pull the strings while Walcott continued to work the keeper without finding the break-through. Finally, on 36 minutes, the goal arrived that we had deserved. A now trademark surge of pace from Jack taking 3-4 Sunderland players out of the game resulted in a lay off to Walcott who declined the chance to shoot and cushioned it off for Santi whose powerfull low shot finally broke the deadlock. It is as well that he scored otherwise I would imagine there would have been many agitated fans questioning why Walcott didn’t shoot himself.

Refreshingly after the goal we continued to try and attack and kept a high tempo to our game, which I prefer as I don’t think we do killing a game off well. We continued in this way into the second half, but we weren’t having it all our own way and Sunderland threatened at times. Fortunately Szczesny started to replicate the form of Mignolet from the first half. Jack picked up an injury on 50 minutes and went off to be replaced by Diaby. It didn’t look too serious and we can only all hope that is the case.

Then came the pivotal moment when the tricky Sessegnon took on Jenks whose sliding tackle was a fraction from getting the ball and only suceeded in taking Sessegnon down. You knew what was coming immediately with the way the ref had been, and he showed the second yellow without even taking a moment to consider. In the cold light of day if you look at Jenkinson’s 2 yellows then independently they are both justifiable yellows. The problem again comes with the consistency and had we had a deserved free kick earlier in the game it maybe wouldn’t have led to the passage of play that saw Jenkinson get his first yellow.

Rasp and I had discussed a point after the first yellow earlier in the game, and had both agreed that there was a strong possibility that he would collect a second yellow and get sent off. I think MON exploited this and likely told Sessegnon at half time to get at Jenkinson. Should AW have forseen this and replaced him earlier? His options were limited as I believe Kos, who was on the subs bench, had a problem before the game when warming up. It would have left the only realistic option of Moving Sagna out to FB and bringing on Miquel at CB. Should AW have used this option?

We still had about half an hour to go and you knew it would be back to the walls stuff. Fortunately, for once, we did this well and ground out the result with the help of some world class saves from the big Pole. Even at this point we still showed some attacking intent and had some great opportunities on the counter-attack to get the respite of the second goal that my nerves and chewed to pieces nails deserved. Rasp had his head in his hands at times while Peaches was a picture of stoicism. I still think she was partially mesmerised from seeing Bobby Pires but at least by this time she had stopped being all giggly. It was great to see Goonermichael as well and he looked a picture of being cool calm and collected.

Rasp and I continued to fret like nervous wrecks and there was end to end chances in a frantic finale. Walcott hit the post after a great through ball from Cazorla while both Giroud and Cazorla had chances they put just over the bar.

We saw it out and as they say 3 points is 3 points and I was able to relax and reflect at an enjoyable day in the club class section of the Ems with some of the AA gang.

On to the ratings.

Szczesny 8.5 joint MOTM

Showed us the world class keeper we would all like him to consistently be. Solid throughout with some excellent reflex saves.

Jenkinson 5.5

I don’t want to be too harsh as I like Jenks and he always gives his all but some inexperience showed through today. He hasn’t had much game time and you wonder if this is affecting him because when he was playing regularly earlier in the season you didn’t feel he would make the mistakes we saw today. He will still become a good player for us.

Sagna 8

Deputised well at CB and the old Mr reliable was more on show today.

Mertesacker 7.5

Didn’t do too much wrong all game and it was a solid performance.

Nacho 7.5

Solid and unfussy game from our newest signing today

Arteta 7.5

Nothing spectacular but kept us ticking and I can’t remember any mistakes from him.

Ramsey 7

Was having a solid game and could have had a couple of goals, but he seems to have an error in him, and we were lucky not to be punished when he needlessly surrendered possession in a dangerous area.

Wilshere 8

Those trademark runs driving at the opposition defence are a joy to see and get me on the edge of my seat. It was from one of these that the break-through came. Fingers crossed the injury is not so bad but Jack probably needs a game off anyway. I almost had him as joint MOTM again and some may feel that to be the case.

Cazorla 8.5 and joint MOTM

There wasn’t much to choose between him and Jack but the goal and that he continued to be the creative force once Wilshere was off just saw him pip it for me.

Giroud 7

Could have had a couple. He wasn’t too bad but it didn’t really come off for him today.

Walcott 7.5

Also could have had a couple and was unlucky when hitting the post. He always made the keeper work and his instinctive link up play with his team-mates is getting better and better.

Diaby (for Wilshere 50 mins) 6.5

Nothing great but nothing bad either.

Miquel (for Walcott 87 mins)

Not enough time to really form an opinion.

Written by GoonerB

Hammers Hammered – Report & Player Ratings

Five fine goals, free-flowing football and freezing fans fully satisfied.

(Whoops. Sorry about the alliteration. That sentence has more Fs than the ladies’ toilets in an Essex nightclub on Saturday night).

He signed da ting!

It would be fair to say that many of us were nervous before the game.

Would the Arsenal who dominated Chelsea for the second half at Stamford Bridge turn up? Or the Arsenal that whimpered and wallied its way through the first half of the same game?

Our inconsistency has been consistent this season and we knew that we could not afford to be off our game against a physical, long ball West Ham managed by the Walrus.

Truth to tell, it was the line in BR’s pre-match about the Hammers having put in 56 crosses in their last game that really caused a clenching of the buttocks. Fifty-six crosses? Given our ability to concede a goal roughly to one in every two crosses into our box, we could be on for a 0 – 28 humiliation.

Thankfully it was the good Arsenal that turned up. Podolski and Ramsey were in the starting line-up in place of Diaby (ill) and Coquelin (injured). The back five was unchanged, Ramsey took up the DM position behind Wilshere and Cazorla. Giroud started through the middle with Podolski left and Walcott right.

We looked threatening and up for it right from the off and created several half chances before, inevitably, West Ham took the lead. The goal followed a couple of annoying officiating errors (a clear corner to us given as a goal kick to West Ham, a clear goal kick to us given as a corner to them).

The said corner came in and was headed clear only to fall at the feet of Collison, who slammed it into the net through a crowd of players from just outside the box. It was powerfully struck and Szczesny was probably partially unsighted, but just once I would like to see him save one of those. I had the same feeling about Mata’s goal last week. Difficult to save, but great ‘keepers get some of them.

Anyway, that’s enough carping for one report, because we refused to let our heads drop or feel sorry for ourselves and hit back just a few minutes later. Wilshere set up Podolski with a wonderful little dink of a pass and the German rifled it into the side netting from about 25 yards with all the venom of Big Bertha (the cannon, not the golf club).

At half time it was 1-1. But I don’t think any of us were expecting what happened next.

If we had been pretty good in the first half, we started the second like demons. The lightning-fast, quick-passing, rapid-breaking football that Arsene Wenger patented at Arsenal was suddenly back.

The half had barely started when we were ahead. A corner on our left saw a slick move in which Mertesacker, having taken up a near post position, suddenly sprinted (alright, lumbered) back into the middle of the box and Giroud dashed to replace him. The BFG’s movement confused the Irons’ defence and Giroud was able to reach Walcott’s near post corner first, guiding the ball into the net beautifully off the outside of his boot.

Are we working on corners in training? Or was it just good, intuitive play?

Six minutes later it was 3-1. A neat one-two between Podolski and Giroud led to the German squaring the ball to Cazorla in the six yard box. Santi’s cheeky back heel steered the ball into the net and brought joy and relief to the crowd.

Our attacks were coming in waves now. Fast forward a few minutes and Podolski was provider once again. We broke down the left. Podolski held the ball up intelligently to allow Giroud to stay on side, then fired a low cross right across the penalty area for a flying Walcott to drive home.

And our excellent Number 9 completed his hat trick of assists minutes later when another
low cross was steered into the net adroitly by Giroud (a much harder finish than it first looked).

At 5-1 we continued to attack with panache and probably should have added further to our goal tally. But better than that, we were outstanding on the rare occasions when we did NOT have the ball, pressing West Ham all over the park and forcing them into errors. It was a real template for how we should approach every game.

A serious injury to the Hammers’ Daniel Potts (he appeared to be accidentally caught in the face or head by Sagna) caused a 10 minute delay and although we continued to press hard afterwards, the sight of Potts being stretchered off seemed to suck a bit of the energy out of proceedings. Hopefully the lad is alright. He was applauded off the pitch by both sets of fans (Stoke City Orc Scum fans please take note).

In summary: a brilliant performance and win; the gap on the cave dwellers closed to just four points and, surely, a huge lift to everyone involved with the club moving forward.

Many of us have complained that, too often this season, we have been less than the sum of our parts. Last night our players showed how good they can be and they need to carry this attitude, arrogance and self-belief into the rest of the season.

Player Ratings

Szczesney: Good game but I would like to see him stop somebody’s screamer some time soon (I know GiE will immediately post clips of half a dozen breath taking saves he’s already made in this campaign). 7

Sagna: Still not the old Mr Reliable, but had a better game than he has recently. He seems to have lost all confidence in his ability to cross. 7

Mertesacker: Very solid and brought the ball forward well from the back. 7

Vermaelen: Tommy is slowly but steadily getting his game back together and he, too, was good last night. Despite West Ham being a typical Allardyce team more physically suited to basketball than football, they did not cause us too many problems in the air. 7.5

Gibbs: Super game from Kieran. Good at the back and a thorn in the Hammers’ side all night going forward. 8

Ramsey: Fine job in his preferred midfield role. Worked really hard, passed well and did tons of work off the ball. No Hammer enjoyed paying against him last night. 7.5

Santi-Cazorla: A busy bundle of tricks, took his goal stylishly and contributed greatly to the speed and fluidity of our movement. 8

Wilshere: Our new talisman. Drove us forward throughout the game despite, as usual, beng on the end of several fouls. His energy and inspiration is rubbing off on his team mates. 9 (joint MoTM).

Walcott: He signed da ting, now he’s delivering. He was brave and inventive and forced West Ham onto the back foot. Some wrong options on occasion but he never stopped trying. Took his goal well. 8

Podolski: Three assists and a rocket of a goal. When the Pod is up for it like this he must be terrifying to opposition defenders with his size, speed, strength and the sheer power of his shot, which reminds me of Charlie George. 9 (joint MoTM).

Giroud: Took his two goals brilliantly and had a good all round game, even if sometimes his understanding with team mates was a tad off. 7.5

Subs
Koscielny: Deputised well for Vermaelen who was removed as a precaution.
Santos: Nice to see Andre get a run out. He’s not as bad as his last outings would have you believe and it can only be good for the squad to have him back and fit.
Oxlade-Chamberlain: Full of running and tricks. Took shots a couple of times when he should have passed, but at 5-1 up who can blame him?

RockyLives

Bale’s A Proven Diver: Why No Fuss?

Against West Brom recently Santi Cazorla was fouled in the opposition box and went down. We scored from the resulting penalty.

The camera angles first appeared to show little or no contact. Later an angle emerged showing clear contact on Santi’s shin.

But that did not stop the media going into a frenzy about our little Spaniard’s alleged “cheating”.

The story ran for days – including calls for retrospective banning – and was a foul slur on an international performer who plays the game fairly.

Of course it was no surprise to us Arsenal supporters. We had seen the witch hunt perpetrated against Eduardo following a Champions League game versus Celtic shortly after his return from a (literally) shattering leg break. Eduardo may or may not have dived in that case, but the outcry was out of all proportion to any other diving incident in football ever.

Now fast forward to the Saturday just past. Tottenham’s winger Gareth Bale was booked for diving after what was, at best, minimal contact from a Sunderland player. Bale had reacted to the contact by hurling himself to the ground.

Here’s the remarkable thing: it was Bale’s FIFTH booking for diving since the start of last season – three more yellows for simulation than any other player in the EPL, even Ashley Young!

We know that referees get things wrong from time to time, but five bookings for diving can’t be explained away by officials’ errors. It quite clearly points to a player who uses cheating as a weapon in his armoury.

And let’s not forget, those are only the occasions where Bale’s dives have been penalised. There are many other examples of dives that have gone unpunished by the refs. Often they result in a free kick or even penalties to Tottenham (as we have found to our own cost).

So we see that Bale is a proven cheat of a player. Someone who, while undoubtedly a talented footballer, has been shown up repeatedly for his dishonesty.

And against Sunderland he took his tally of bookings for cheating up to a shamefully high level.

With that in mind, I expected the Sunday sports pages to contain a barrage of articles demanding that he be banned for a long period, that he be made to apologise publicly, that his manager be forced to condemn diving and so on. Or at least some earnest debates about morality in the modern game.

Lo and behold, what did I find?

Match reports that barely mentioned Bale’s booking and did so exclusively in the context of the Welshman’s claims of being persecuted; and – most ludicrous of all – articles suggesting he would be “hounded out” of English football “like Cristiano Ronaldo” if referees kept targeting him in this unfair way.

So please, Dear Reader, answer me this: why does the media seek to make English football’s most proven cheat appear as a persecuted victim, yet sets out to crucify any Arsenal player against whom there is the slightest allegation of diving?

I can’t fathom it.

Perhaps it’s that Bale (unlike Eduardo and Cazorla) is British and the British media seldom take to task home grown players for blatant cheating and foul play (Ashley Young, Rooney and Gerrard all have extensive “previous” for simulation, but are never demonised by the press).

Or maybe it’s just that the reporters have put so much effort into building up Bale as the next big thing (despite his stats being not as good as Theo Walcott’s) that they can’t bring themselves to acknowledge a glaring flaw in his approach to the game.

Or maybe you have a better theory… I’d be interested to hear it…

RockyLives