I’ll be honest, writing this means I have to relive what happened yesterday, and I don’t really want to do that any more than you do. So, I’ll keep the intro short and sweet, we all know what happened.
Before yesterday’s game at the Emirates, our record against Manchester United since 2009 stood at one win, three draws and ten losses. Now, you can add another loss to that embarrassing statistic. Arsenal started the game very well, as we so often do. But, when we failed to take our chances, the inevitability of what was going to happen became immediately apparent to everybody watching. We were going to lose. And we did. 2-1.
It was another classic display of ‘chuck everybody forward in a frantic panic in and then concede on the counter attack.’ It seems to happen week after week. The one, miniscule ray of light that shone down on Arsenal’s worst start to a league campaign since 1982, was that Olivier Giroud returned with a goal. That’s all I’ve got. Here are the player ratings:
Wojciech Szczesny: 3 (Martinez- 59’)
There may have been a push from Fellaini which led to the first United goal, but ultimately, Szczesny wasn’t up to scratch, and it’s becoming a habit. I love Szczesny, and a lot of the time he shows promise, but is he really a first choice keeper for a club at Arsenal’s level? He went off injured following the clash with Gibbs during the first goal and was replaced by Martinez, who I give a 5 to for his performance. He didn’t have a great deal to do and he conceded. Though, it’s worth pointing out that horrific defending was to blame for the goal, and there’s nothing he could have done to stop it.
Kieran Gibbs: 4
Yet again, Gibbs put in a good performance going forward. He looked lively and at times, dangerous. The problem is, though, that a defender’s first job is to, well, defend. He shares responsibility with Szczesny for conceding the first goal. He sat on the ground, flung his leg out and deflected in a shot that was going well wide.
Nacho Monreal: 4
I know, centre back isn’t his position and we have to take that in to account. However, it isn’t rocket science to work out that when the team is piling forward, it might be prudent to hang back and cover in defence. It’s seems to be an alien concept with our back four at the moment that defending properly might mean we concede less goals. He isn’t the only one guilty of this, but he is guilty none the less.
Per Mertesacker: 3
Mertesacker gets and exceptionally low rating from me because he is supposed to be the most senior defender in our squad. The man is a World Cup winning German international that just the other day said Arsenal were defensively naïve against Swansea and had to improve. Why then did he spend the majority of the game yesterday marauding forward in some bizarre attempt to impersonate a striker? It’s baffling. I was tempted to give him a 2 out of sheer frustration.
Calum Chambers: 6
I’m giving Chambers a higher rating because for a large part of the game he played very well. Let’s remember that he shouldn’t even be a starter in our senior squad, and it certainly isn’t his fault that he is. He has been well and truly chucked in at the deep end with seemingly, very little help. He was humiliated by Montero against Swansea, with no help from Wenger and yesterday, he seemed to have little guidance from the likes of Mertesacker and Monreal. I feel for him.
Aaron Ramsey: 5 (Giroud- 77’)
Yet again, the Welshman seemed to spend the game desperately trying to recapture his form from last season. He needs to start contributing to the team more. A simple pass can go a lot further than a wayward shot from 25 yards. Giroud, who is going to get a 7 from me, replaced him. Olivier looked lively when he came on. He made a nuisance of himself and scored a very good goal on his early return from injury. Not sure about his new haircut though.
Mikel Arteta: 6
He didn’t do a great deal to influence the game, which seems to be the case more and more these days. He did, however, play the ball over the top of the United defence which found Giroud, leading to his goal, so credit where credit is due.
Jack Wilshere: 7 (Cazorla- 55’)
Jack missed a golden opportunity to give Arsenal the lead, yes. But he looked hungry, passionate and determined to drive the team forward. Unfortunately for him, the way he imposes himself on a game sets him up for injury, and once again he limped off the pitch with an injured ankle. Hopefully it isn’t serious. Cazorla was his replacement and the Spaniard did have a couple of shots at goal, but were never really going to trouble De Gea. Santi gets a 5.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain- 7
Chamberlain continued to impress me in the same way he has for the last month or so. He’s positive, pacey and full of energy. He loves to run at the opposition full backs and he had United’s defence in tatters a number of times. Alexis Sánchez- 7
Not his best game for the Gunners, simply because he didn’t get clear-cut chances. But, his work rate and determination to fight for the team merits a good rating. He has so much fight in him and you know you are going to get 110% from the first whistle to the last. It’s just a shame some of his team mates don’t do the same.
Danny Welbeck- 6
Obviously, it was always going to be a tough day for Welbeck facing his boyhood club. He had a few good chances, one of which he definitely should have scored. His day would probably have been made easier if he wasn’t stuck out on the left wing. We’ve seen him fail time and time again being stuck out on the flank. I have no idea why Arsène decided to play him there.