Arsenal fell to a 1-0 defeat to Monaco on Sunday evening, meaning Valencia won the Emirates Cup 2014. The Gunners have now gone four years since they won their own pre-season tournament. Perhaps they missed Yaya Sanogo a little bit.
Wojciech Szczesny – 6.5
Couldn’t do much for the goal but was pretty good between the sticks otherwise. Never had to do too much but made no mistakes.
Mathieu Debuchy (off 89) –Â 8
Man of the match. Was very impressive. Athletic and great going forward with some good crosses and also some brilliant defensive interceptions. Looks a top replacement for Sagna.
Calum Chambers (off 45) –Â 7
Really solid and looks accomplished at centre half. Slight communication problem with Koscielny for the goal, but nothing that a few games won’t iron out.
Laurent Koscielny – 6
Koscielny grew in the second half but hopefully he won’t defend like today in competitive matches. Far from his best.
Nacho Monreal – 6
Worrying performance from Monreal who has not looked great for a while now. Caught out a lot, but was also rarely given much support on the left.
Mikel Arteta –Â 6
His performance pointed out why Arsenal need a top quality defensive midfielder. He lacks power and that extra bit of quality. Will be a good squad player but won’t win us titles.
Jack Wilshere (off 73) – 7
Lively and athletic. Looks in good shape ahead of the new season, but still looks to be missing that end product which will hopefully come in time.
Aaron Ramsey – 6.5
Moments of quality and bundles of energy, playing in a more advanced position than usual. Slowed down in the second half after playing a lot of football this weekend.
Alexis Sanchez (off 73) – 7
Tried really hard to impress, maybe a bit too hard. Some lovely touches and skill, but wasn’t at his spectacular best. Looked better when he was upfront.
Santi Cazorla (off 73) –Â 6
Nothing special from Santi, a good tidy performance, but often slowed down the attack.
Olivier Giroud (off 45) –Â 5
Looked like was still on holiday. Taken off after 45 minutes, would be surprised to see him start now in the Community Shield.
Subs
Ignasi Miquel (on 45) – 4
Not Arsenal quality.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (on 45) – 7
Added pace and directness to a blunt attack. Real contender to start next weekend.
Gedion Zelalem (on 73) – 6
Nothing wrong, nothing amazing. Tidy passes but not much time to impress.
Chuba Akpom (on 73) – 7
Didn’t have much time but should have won a penalty (poor ref call) and looked strong on the ball.
Mathieu Flamini (on 73) – N/A
Some brilliant touches late on.
Hector Belleirn (on 89) – N/A