A Cold Night Warmed By A Fine Second Half Display & A Sparkling Jack Wilshere – Ratings

Arsenal booked their place int he fourth round of the FA Cup after beating Swansea 1-0 at the Emirates on Wednesday night thanks to a late strike by Jack Wilshere. Here’s ‘Lloyd the Gooners’ ratings.

Those of us hardy souls in the stadium deserve a medal firstly for surviving the cold and secondly enduring the first half. The second half showed that we do have some players to build around. Here are my ratings:

Szczesny 6. Underworked but competent.

Sagna 6. Decent display. Now back to something like his consistent solid self.

Mertesacker 6. Swansea didn’t run at us with pace so he was comfortable enough.

Vermaelen 7. Made a number of important interceptions. He did show some signs of leadership and we need that.

Gibbs 8. Very good again. This boy really wanted it. You can’t coach it. That is part of your make up or it isn’t. You could see that he cared, like we do. Luckily for the team he has more ability than most of us and he showed it.

Diaby 6. Still blowing the cobwebs off. His physical presence really helped at times. In the first hall he and Coquelin struggled to win the ball for the team. In the second half they were the midfield base upon which our huge improvement was based.

Coquelin 7. To be fair he is inexperienced and he only plays every now and again. That cannot be easy. He warmed to his task and was much improved after the interval.

Wilshere 9. Class! Simply as. Great finish. I suspect, like Fabregas, goals will come with experience. A captain in waiting, obviously. Get a ticket to watch him live, plenty of spare seats last night. He is our Messi/ Iniesta/ Xabi all in one super-Jack!

Cazorla 8. Great second half. Which confounds those, like me, who thought he was in need of a rest! He and Jack really bounced off each other in the second period.

Walcott 7. Not his finest game by any means but stuck at it throughout. He was unlucky not to score too. He will score goals in a fluid forward line. The team shape suited him in this game.

Giroud 7. Odd performance from the big man. Slow lumbering and cumbersome at times. Clever and subtle at others. As well as being a bullocking, bulldozer as well. He was unlucky not to score as well.

Sub

Ramsey. Another useful show from the Welshman from the bench.

What were your ratings from the game? Leave your comments below.