[Player Ratings] Arsenal 0-2 Schalke: Gunners Disgraceful Once Again

Arsenal lost 2-0 to Schalke at the Emirates on Wednesday evening to leave the Gunners lying second in Group B.

Many Gooners thought Arsenal couldn’t play any worse than they did against Norwich. Unfortunately we were all wrong. Before tonight we held a proud record of not having lost to foreign opposition at the Emirates for 45 games. Only Manchester United have recorded a victory during that period.

This group of players relinquished that record with a whimper. There was no effort, no passion, no creativity, no organisation, no leaders and most importantly….no goals.

Like Norwich, Schalke fully deserved their win and have in Huntelaar the clinical finisher Arsenal sorely miss. Hopefully Arsene could see the sides failings a lot clearer from the stands. This was one of our worst displays in recent memory and there was so much wrong, it’s truly worrying. Here are my player ratings.

Player Ratings

Mannone – 5 – Lucky not to give away a first half penalty after lunging at Afellay. Will be disappointed with Huntelaar’s goal as well.

Jenkinson – 5 – For all his effort Jenko’s poor positional play, along with Santos, allowed Huntelaar in to open the scoring. The right back was slow in pushing up and playing the Dutchman onside.

Mertesacker – 5 – Made some important blocks and interceptions in the first half but played his part in Arsenal late demise.

Vermaelen – 5 – Should have organised his back line more effectively. As captain, he needs to speak up and make sure his fellow defenders are in-line when he pushes up. Unfortunately booked early on.

Santos – 3 – He was so bad i felt sorry for him in the end. While those in front of him could have offered more support, Santos was caught out of position on countless occasions. Also slow to push up and played Huntelaar onside for the opener and second goal created down his side.

Arteta – 5.5 – Did little wrong and passed neatly as usual.

Coquelin – 6 – Made some excellent tackles and at least put some effort in. Could have covered Santos more though.

Cazorla – 6 – Saw a lot of the ball in the first half and was making things happen, but faded in the second period. Still our main creative force but needs better players around him.

Podolski – 5 – Anonymous again. Really needs to get himself in the game more and improve his movement off the ball. Should also have helped out the hapless Santos more. Hopefully this is just a bad spell for the German.

Gervinho – 4 – Disgraceful dive in the second half and wasted several opportunities to create something. He either ran into a defender or wasted the final ball.

Ramsey – 4 – Not in the game at all. Played the easy passes well enough but doesn’t do enough to warrant a starting place.

Subs

Giroud – 5 – Barely touched the ball.

Gnarby – 5 – While the youngster showed his skill with a superb turn soon after coming on and had Arsenal’s only shot on target, he also lost the ball on several occasions and his sloppy pass resulted in Schalke’s second goal.

Arshavin – 5 – Barely touched the ball.

So, a second consecutive poor performance. QPR at home presents a great opportunity to put the last week behind us and get back on track. Let’s hope Arsene and the players take it.

What are your thoughts on the Schalke game? Get involved in the comments section.

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