It was the nightmare of Bradford revisited. A somnambulant display allowing well-organised lower league opposition to knock Arsenal out of a cup competition.

Wojciech Szczesny - 5 – He had very little to do, but was one of three players at fault for the goal. Saved the first effort from Martin Olsson, but needed to parry it away from goal, rather than back into the penalty area, allowing Colin Kazim-Richards to score the winner.

Francis Coquelin - 5 – His distribution from wide was ordinary, and always looked vulnerable defensively. Being beaten in the air was the first in the chain of dominoes to fall for the goal.

Laurent Koscielny – 6 – Relatively unruffled in defence, but could have covered Coquelin quicker than he did to stop Olsson unleashing the shot, which led to Kazim-Richards goal.

Thomas Vermaelen - 6 – He may be unfairly blamed for not getting back on the line to prevent Blackburn's winner. He made some solid interventions before then, but his contributions when trying to attack were below his usual standard.

Nacho Monreal - 5 – Had little to do at the back, but was needed to give attacking thrust on the left flank, as Blackburn clogged up the centre of the pitch. However, his passing and crossing was moribund.

Mikel Arteta - 6 – Was allowed to control the midfield, and did so efficiently. However, his passing was more sideways than incisive. And he missed a great chance in the dying embers of the match, lashing a shot into the side-netting.

Abou Diaby - 4 – He needed to give verticality to the midfield, but Diaby's shuttling runs from box to box were conspicuous by their absence. He had a first-half header well saved by Jamie Kean, but this was a shoddy performance, exacerbated by his lethargic passing, often slowing down attacks.

Tomas Rosicky - 6 – Didn't provide the usual alacrity to the forward play that we normally see from the Czech. However, he was still the best of a bad bunch. Put Gervinho clear with a delightful through-ball, and was unlucky to see a shot crash off the bar, just before he was substituted.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - 4 – He was symptomatic of Arsenal's attacking display. He had plenty of the ball, but did nothing with it. Be it his dribbling, crossing or set-pieces, Oxlade-Chamberlain struggled to find a teammate, and should have been substituted earlier than he was.

Olivier Giroud - 5 – In Giroud's defence, the service he had was non-existent. But that's as far as I can defend him. His link-up play with the midfield was atrocious, his passing wasn't much better. He may have been fatigued, or he may have been disinterested, but Giroud was a vacant presence.

Gervinho - 5 – If I'm honest, I expect that people will find this rating generous. I'm sure the Ivorian will be the lightning rod for the ire that will come with the defeat. Personally, I felt that Gervinho was no worse than most of the Arsenal players. But his miss when played through by Rosicky was poor, and proved costly.

SUBS

Jack Wilshere – n/a – Spent a lot of his time on the left, when I would rather have seen him play off Giroud. But he was still a threat, almost creating an equaliser for Arteta.

Santi Cazorla- n/a – Wasn't able to find much space, and had a couple of shots blocked. But he should have been given more time on the pitch to make a difference

Theo Walcott – n/a – Had a penalty shout turned down, and gave more down the right than Oxlade-Chamberlain. However, he was the third man at fault for Blackburn's goal, as he didn't track Olsson's forward burst from left back.

An embarrassing result maybe, but who – hand on heart – can say that they were truly shocked by the loss? Far too many of the players are unwilling to consistently take responsibility for making the difference in matches.

Whatever happens against Bayern Munich, this result is more damaging.

We're not good enough to win the Champions League, but we could have won the FA Cup.

The trophy drought is getting ever nearer to double figures.

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