Ahead of Arsenal’s 3-1 win against West Ham there was much doubt. Andy Carroll’s aerial the main factor behind it, not to mention Arsenal’s poor record against Sam Allardyce teams.
Mannone – 6 - Looked poor in the air and Carroll had a free header after winning duel with him but thankfully, for Arsenal and Mannone, the England international missed. Apart from that the Italian had a solid game.
Jenkinson - 5 - During the game he ran ball out of play a few times and looked sloppy, potentially tired given the amount of football he has played lately. This reflected in his crossing. However he did hold up Vaz Te in a potentially dangerous counter-attack in the 45th minute.
Mertesacker – 7 - Had another solid game making an amazing tackle stopping Nolan in what would have been a certain goal. Again his influence was a calming one, perhaps he could have positioned himself better in Diame’s goal but apart from that his performance was pretty close to faultless.
Vermaelen (c) – 6 - The Arsenal captain failed to do anything attention grabbing however, as a defender, that is generally a fairly good thing.
Gibbs – 5 - Had quite a poor game by recent standards. His crossing was poor and was often caught too narrow. However he did nothing awful and failed to make a real impact on the game.
(substituted in the 55th minute for Andre Santos with an injury)
Ramsey -7 - Despite committing too soon in the build up to Diame’s goal allowing him through the young Welshman had a good game. At times in the first half he looked a little over eager to change the game with a few poor long balls, but he did not stop running and made himself available to his team mates on the ball.
Cazorla – 8 - Was hardly involved in the first half, however in the second he was a man possessed. In the 52nd minute he played a good ball allowing Arsenal to hit West Ham on the counter. He was constantly playing passed and creating chances and scored in the 82nd minute from outside the box.
Arteta – 7 - The Spaniard stayed further back than in previous games since Diaby’s return. He played the anchorman role very successfully playing near perfect passes to Ramsey, Walcott and Cazorla on a regular basis.
Gervinho – 3 - The Ivorian looked anything but sharp all game, drifted offside on a regular basis and did not seem to be paying attention. He was booked for a silly tackle on Noble and was rightly brought off in the 61st minute. Poor game.
(Substituted in the 61st minute for Theo Walcott)
Giroud – 7 - Scored a tap in in the 40th minute after a brilliant cross from Podolski, he looked good all game making good runs and put in a typical poacher performance. If he has more games like this he will soon turn the Arsenal fans who compared him to Chamakh.
Podolski – 6 - Played a brilliant cross to Giroud in the 40th minute which ended up being an assist for Arsenal’s equaliser. He was a constant threat on the wing but faded a little towards the end of the match. (subbed in 84th minute for Koscielny)
Subs
Andre Santos – 6 - Came on in the 55th minute for an injured Gibbs. He looked solid and was not hesitant to get involved in the physical game and looked a lot better than a second choice left back.
Walcott – 8 - Came on 60th minute for Gervinho and turned out to be a super sub just like in the old days of his Arsenal career. He scored in 76th minute putting Arsenal in the lead passing the ball into the net after a good run through on goal. He went on the assist Cazorla’s 82nd minute goal. Fantastic game from the England international despite being linked with a move away.
Koscielny - n/a - Came on in the 84th minute for Podolski and did not have enough time to make any real impact.
Arsenal came away from Upton Park with all three points despite prior concerns. Starting Coquelin and putting him on Nolan preventing him receiving Carroll’s flick on would have saved Arsenal fans a lot of stress; however Ramsey proved more than worthy of his inclusion. Arsenal looked good for most of the game but zonal marking proved, yet again, to be fairly pointless.
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