A very frustrating game for Arsenal and much more for the fans. After being a goal down for most of the game Arsenal came back well through Podolski's impact, scoring and assisting.
However the team lacked urgency, pace and much desire to win the game and as a result poor defending and decision making resulted in an own goal ending the poor performance in a 2-2 draw.
Player Ratings
Wojciech Szczesny- 4 - Yet another poor performance from Szczesny. Failed to take charge of most decisions and as a result let in a very very poor goal in the 90th minute after being 2-1 up. As a result game ended 2-2
Bacary Sagna- 5 - Not a great performance. Wasn't sure if the player was a defender or an attacker. Often left in the middle of the field not make any contribution on either side.
Per Mertesacker- 5 - Definitely not playing the way the team and fans are used to seeing. Poor performance at the back. Although he didn't have much defending chances, the times he did, the player seemed a little slow to react.
Thomas Vermaelen (c)- 4- A difficult day at the office for Vermaelen. Defended poorly letting Bony get in front of him on occasions and as a result allowed Bony to score an almost nowhere header.
Kieran Gibbs- 6 - Assisted the goal for Podolski and often found himself making runs behind the Swansea defenders trying to create chances for the team. Was often up field instead of defending when the team lost the ball resulting in nerves times for Arsenal fans.
Mikel Arteta- 6 - Not a bad performance from the midfielder. Often on the ball making 108 touches (highest in the Arsenal team). Not much movement around him though to pick out passes. The player does however seem slow on the ball and backtracking thus resulting to giving away 3 fouls.
Mathieu Flamini- 5 - the player had a 93% pass accuracy but however failed to find killer passes. A bit of a mediocre performance and very unlucky to give an own goal away.
Tomas Rosicky- 6 - An average performance from the player. However a 6 rating for his effort. Often the player tried to push forward by giving bursts of speed but often couldn't find players around to finish the play off.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain- 5 - Definitely not his best performance. However he showed some effort and with the crowd cheering at any attempt at goal, the player failed to make any impact and as a result we substituted before the 60 minute mark.
Santi Cazorla- 5 - very quiet game for the player. Didn't make any impact for the team nor players around him. A player that one would normally want to rely on, was definitely too quiet for a game where players need a spark of brilliance.
Olivier Giroud- 6 - An up and down performance. The player played his usual hold the ball up but often lost it poorly. Giroud had chances to take it on his own but as any unconfident player would, decided to pass it away. However apart from this up and down performance, the player did however score a goal.
Lukas Podolski - 8 - Given 30 minutes to make an impact and what an impact it was. Player came on to score a goal and then provide an assist basically a minute later for Giroud. One of the only players that should urgency and determination to try and do something on the field, be it with the ball or not.
Yaya Sanogo - N/A - came on late for Giroud. Not much impact to the game as chances were few for him.
Källström - N/A - Came on for his first game in Arsenal colours. Played a similar role to that of Flamini. Hold it well and pushed up well. Showed that he may be a player Wenger will need to rely on to start.
Conclusion
Another poor performance resulting in a 2-2 draw can only make people wonder what will happen against Manchester City on the weekend.
A lack of urgency and desire to score goals or make any attempt to score goals resulted in much frustration and anger for fans around. The poor result and performance can easily be back by the knowledge that a substitution who got 30 minutes playing time was the best player in the Arsenal side.
Latest:
