[Player Ratings] Southampton 1-1 Arsenal: Poor Gunners Fail To Fire

After the scintillating display against Newcastle, we saw the other side of this Arsenal team. No fight, no desire, no creativity and no urgency. We were well below par and this display has to be one of our worst of the season so far. 

The fact we could only muster one shot on target says it all. The dodgy Boruc in goal was hardly tested and we just didn’t get out of first gear. Very disappointing after some encouraging performances in recent weeks. Here are my ratings for the Arsenal boys.

Arsenal player ratings

Szczesny – 7 – Our best player, which says a lot about our performance. Was unsighted for the opener and made a few decent stops in the second half as Southampton pushed for the winner.

Sagna – 4 – His poor form continues. Terrible clearance led to Saints goal and he made several basic errors throughout the game. Passing and crossing was also poor. Needs to improve quickly or it’s time for Jenkinson to be given a go.

Koscielny – 5.5 – Steady at the back. His poor clearance lead to their goal and he was lucky to get a foul for a slight push by Ramirez before the Southampton player scored a second.

Vermaelen – 6 – Quietly got on with his job but couldn’t get his troops up for the game.

Gibbs – 6 – Wasted a great chance to either shoot or find a team mate late in the game when he was free inside the box. Defending was solid.

Arteta – 5.5 – Steady and unspectacular. The best of the midfield three that was outplayed by the home side at times.

Wilshere – 5 – Below his usual high standards. Looked tired as the game wore on, which is to be expected given the amount he’s played since returning from his injury. Should get a rest in the FA Cup clash with Swansea next week.

Cazorla – 5 – A rare off-day. His passing was disappointing and he just couldn’t get going. Eventually subbed for Ramsey.

Podolski – 4 – Barely touched the ball. Really needs to get himself on the ball more in games such as these. Subbed early in the second half.

Chamberlain – 5 – Put in some decent crosses in the first half but led to nothing as we only really had Walcott to aim at. Quiet in the second half and was subbed for Gervinho.

Walcott – 5 – Saw little of the ball as he lacked service or support. Grabbed an assist with a dangerous free-kick that led to the equaliser, but couldn’t recreate his recent goal-scoring heroics against his former side.

Subs:

Giroud – 4 – Poor from the big man. Wasn’t given a lot of service or support but his touch was terrible, he didn’t hold the ball up and lost possession on several occasions.

Ramsey – 4.5 – Disappointing from Rambo. Wasted a great chance to create a goal-scoring opportunity on the break and his all-round play was poor.

Gervinho – 3 – Awful. Simply awful. Fell over a lot, wasted a good chance to score and looks totally lacking in confidence. African Cup of Nations can’t come soon enough. Hard to understand how the likes of Gervinho and Ramsey get playing time ahead of Arshavin and Rosicky.

The draw leaves us four points off fourth-placed Chelsea – who have a game in hand – and with games against the Blues and Man City coming up, the gap between us and the top-four could widen significantly if we put in another performance like we did today against those two teams.

With the January transfer window now open, lets hope Arsene Wenger makes some early moves as it’s painfully clear we need to strengthen.

What were your player ratings from the game? Get involved in the comments section below.