Arsenal

[Player Ratings] Bolton 0 – 0 Arsenal: Time To Forget Fourth?

Arsenal lost further ground on fourth place after a disappointing 0-0 draw away to Bolton. Here are my player ratings from the game for the Gunners players.

by
Gooner Mac
February 2, 2012

Another disappointing result and once again Arsenal missed the chance to put some pressure on fourth-placed Chelsea. The 0-0 draw last night makes it 1 point from 12 so far this year and leaves us sitting in seventh position in the league table.

I managed to find a stream to watch the game and for those of you who missed it, here’s a brief recap (there’s also a link to watch video highlights at the end of this post).

We should have been at least 2-0 inside the opening 30 minutes. Ramsey was played in by van Persie but the Welshman elected to try a first time shot instead of taking a touch and hit it straight at Bogdan. Van Persie and Chamberlain could also have done better with chances before Walcott was sent clear one-one-one by a lovely Chamberlain through-ball, but Theo lacked any real conviction with his finish and Bogdan got a touch to send it wide of the post.

Bolton then had a could of chances themselves, with Ngog going close twice as Koscielny struggled to deal with the former Liverpool striker.

The second half saw van Persie hit the post before striking the bar with a stunning right-footed chip. Fine margins but these things just don’t seem to be going our way this season. Bolton finished the stronger side as we ran out of ideas. The lack of attacking talent available on the bench was worrying, yet not surprising. We all knew we needed a striker in the transfer window.

The good news is both Liverpool and Chelsea are also dropping points and somehow we’re only five points adrift of fourth despite our terrible form. So if we can put a run together we’re still in with a shout.

We really didn’t play badly at all last night, in fact the opening half hour was excellent. We just failed to take our chances and lacked any real goal threat on the bench. It was just ‘one of those nights’, but we’ve had far too many of those already this season and time is running out.

Unless we can find our shooting boots, fourth will be beyond us. We can’t keep spurning chances and hoping van Persie produces a moment of magic. The supporting act need to chip in with their share of goals, and that isn’t happening right now.

Anyway, i will be doing a post on Arsenal’s lack of goals shortly but for now here are my player ratings from last night’s game.

Player Ratings

Szczesny – 6 – Great save in the first half to deny Ngog, got away with some dodgy footwork and could have been penalised late on for a challenge on Davies. I think he got a touch on the ball though.

Sagna – 8 – Superb. Best Arsenal player by a mile. Great to have him back and his return coincides with a rare clean sheet.

Mertesacker – 6.5 – Made a couple of important interceptions and had a steady game overall.

Koscielny – 6 – Given a hard time by Ngog in the first half and was lucky not to result in at least 1 goal. Not up to his recent form.

Vermaelen – 7 – Solid game from the Belgian, could have supported in attack more though.

Song – 4.5 – Awful second half. Gave the ball away at almost ever opportunity. But he wasn’t alone.

Arteta – 6 – Looked good in the first half as he dictated the play but faded in the second half as Arsenal lost control of midfield, and he started making sloppy passes.

Ramsey – 5 – Should have scored at least once in the first half but not for the first time this season, Ramsey fluffed his chances. Poor game overall. Needs to be dropped/rested.

Walcott – 5 – Missed a one-on-one chance in the first half then screwed a good chance wide late on. Really struggling at the minute.

Chamberlain – 6.5 – Lively in the first half, and made one terrific mazy run. Could have done better with a couple of chances but played in Theo for his one-on-one chance with a lovely ball. Looked dangerous.

Van Persie – 7 – On another day would have bagged at least two goals. Unlucky to hit the post then went agonisingly close with a stunning right-footed chip. Frustrating night for Robin.