The Game
That was fantastic. Not perfect, but fantastic. Putting aside for just one second the awful defending which led to Bolton’s equaliser, for the second consecutive week our players demonstrated how they are no longer intimidated by assassin-like tackles.
The referee was shocking, Bolton deserved to have three players sent off but at the end of the day this is not important, Bolton is now history, and we go second, enjoying a day which saw Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur all dropping points. We can look forward to the Champions League game knowing that in midfield and up front we’ve got plenty of solutions to choose from. At the back, well, it’s not yet perfect but we can get there.
Laurent Koscielny is incredibly solid and has great vision in keeping his player at bay but if caught on the back foot or quick decisions are to be made, his lack of experience is immediately shown. But I’m sure he will learn from the mistakes he made against Blackburn and today. As for Sebastien Squillaci, wow, that was one helluva debut. He didn’t put a foot wrong and looked incredibly fit and as fresh as a daisy.
Cesc Fabregas, in midfield, had a slow start but as he promised in the matchday programme he clearly showed that he’s still special for Arsenal. Some of his passes were simply phenomenal with Andrey Arshavin not taking advantage of one of them in the first half. Carlos Vela, however, made no mistake in front of goal, finishing a move made up of more than 20 passes. Amazing.
The Mexican was very hungry, it’s not easy to be given only 10 minutes and show that you can be an asset up front with your runs and finishing skills, but it seems he always manages to do it. I believe he was supposed to be involved earlier but had to delay his small show after Abou’s injury, which by the way, could keep him out for some time. Shame.
Anyway, I’m a little upset about the way we conceded although as long as we score one more than our opposition, I’ve got no problem with that. Problem is that one day we’ll play against a team where such mistakes, simply, cannot be made.
Player Ratings
Almunia: 6,5 – Can’t blame him for the goal, he was as surprised as all of us to see Koscielny making a mess of the clearance and did well to push the Bolton player wide. As for the rest, he was pretty confident in dealing with high balls.
Koscielny: 6,5 – If it wasn’t for the first half mistake I would have given him an 8 as I think he was successful with ALL his tackles, but you can’t forget it’s the second game in a row in which he was at fault for the conceded goal. He will improve, I’m more than certain, it’s only experience he’s missing.
Squillaci: 7,5 – Welcome to Arsenal, Sebastien. Together with Thomas Vermaelen, the Frenchman will probably be our regular centre back and I feel the two can form a formidable partnership at the back.
Eboue: 6,5 – Many of our moves came from Kieran Gibbs’ wing with Emmanuel having a quite game but it’s always nice to see him involved knowing that we have proper backup for Bacary Sagna, at least when there is little defending to be done.
Gibbs: 6,5 – I wanted Kieran to start to understand what he can give defensively as compared to Gael. Unfortunately, the way he challenged Elmander shows that we have big problems on the left when defending is to be done, it was very similar to how Clichy failed to challenge Gary Taylor-Fletcher when we played Blackpool. If we can see it, other teams will as well.
Fabregas: 8 – “I was out of form and during the [Blackburn] game I knew it, but hopefully you’ll see an improvement [against Bolton]“. We did, Cesc, we did.
Song: 7,5 – Very shaky on the ball in the first part of the game but come on, that’s a goal every striker would be proud of. After Abou was replaced because of the injury, Alex moved in a more advanced position and caused all sorts of trouble to Bolton.
Wilshere: 6,5 – I believe Jack had a good game, he was brushed aside easily in more than one occasion but all in all he showed he’s not there to warm the bench.
Arshavin: 6,5 – I always have mixed feelings when I have to rate Andrey. Missed three very good opportunities which on a different day would come back to haunt us but stepped it up a gear in the second half though he still failed to beat the offside trap. Still not as good as I know he can be.
Rosicky: 7 – Was a bit anonymous in the second half but was by far our best player in the first 20 minutes of the game. The through pass he invented for Arshavin was simply amazing. It’s great to see Tomas play regularly, he’s finally back.
Chamakh: 7 – Works incredibly hard the Moroccan, just what a football player has to do on the pitch. And he scored that so important second goal which started our easy run towards the three points.
(Subs)
Diaby: No Vote – Shame. It was just what he needed, 10-men Bolton leaving gaps at the back for him to exploit. Wenger said “he cannot move his leg”, it doesn’t look good.
Denilson: 6,5 – Took over from Wilshere(and Diaby) brilliantly, keeping it simple and covering the back four well.
From www.thegunninghawk.com
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