Another devastating result for the Gunners and once again poor refereeing decisions and poor defending/goalkeeping has cost us. Tottenham weren’t great but teams don’t have to be great to beat Arsenal these days. Thinking back over the game, i’m struggling to think of many positives. Unlike some people, i didn’t feel we played particularly well and we struggled to create. How many times did we test Friedel? Then compare that to the number of saves Szczesny made.
Arsenal may have had some decent possession, but not for the first time, we passed sideways too much and didn’t penetrate enough. And with a defence like ours, we’re always going to give the opposition a chance.
Here are my ratings:
Szczesny – 7 – Probably the most difficult rating to figure out. He made several superb saves including a one-on-one with our mate Adebayor, but then ruined it all by letting Walker’s effort squeeze past him. No doubt the kid’s shot was well hit and swerving, but the Pole will know he should have kept it out. But Chezza doesn’t deserve worse than a 7 as he was still one of our better performers.
Sagna – 6 – Caught out of position a few times in the first half, but was being left exposed by the midfield/attack. Possibly at fault for the opener as he didn’t follow VDV’s run. Went off early in the second half from what looks like a serious injury. Triffic.
Mertesacker – 5.5 – Lack of pace was exposed a few times and he and Song let in Bale late on with some schoolboy defending. Also possibly at fault for the first after not dropping off to mark VDV.
Song – 6 – See above but made a few good blocks.
Gibbs – 6 – Like Sagna, was exposed by those in front of him and Spurs got in a few times down his flank. Offered little in attack.
Coquelin – 8 – Best Arsenal player on the pitch. Faded slightly in the second half but for most of the game he was carrying the midfield.
Ramsey – 4 – Awful, simply awful. Never seen him give the ball away so much before, i hope it was a one-off. Nice run for his goal though but way off his best.
Arteta – 5 – For someone who’s meant to be our main creative midfielder, he did very little. Doesn’t get in the game enough and didn’t do enough with it when he did have the ball. Must do better in the big games.
Walcott – 5 – Hardly got in the game. Touched the ball about 2 times, although on both occasions he got a left footed shot off and went close. Just didn’t seem to get himself in the match, was subbed off in second half….as usual.
Gervinho – 5 – Like Walcott, hardly got in the game and did very little. Missed a sitter with the scores at 0-0, not even hitting the target from 6 yards. Unforgivable.
RVP – 6 – Felt sorry for him, not for the first time this season. Got very little service, and when he did have the ball you could see he was trying to force things to make something happen. Let down by his team mates, again. Great run to set up Gervinho in the first half
SUBS:
Jenkinson – 5 – Left for dead a few times by Bale and is clearly not ready for the big games yet. Not his fault, it’s Wenger’s for killing his confidence by throwing him in at the deep end when he’s not ready.
Arshavin – 4 – Did nothing in his 15 minutes on the pitch.
Benayoun – 5 – Like Arshavin, did very little although deserves an extra .5 for at least TRYING.
