Arsenal player rating vs Stoke
Absolutely dreadful from Arsenal today. The boys were timid, lethargic, and never really looked up for it. I don’t know what it is about the Britannia that makes Arsenal so uncomfortable. Conceding a goal in 20 seconds is simply unacceptable, as was the marking for the other two. Given Chelsea’s loss earlier, you would think would have added incentive to go and get the result, but it wasn’t to be. Poor, poor, performance and result. It seems as soon as Arsenal go on a run and gain momentum, we are given a cruel reminder that there is still much work to do. Results like this are tough to take, deflating for both the fans and the club. View the player ratings from today’s match at the Britannia.
Not really much he could have done for the goals to be fair to him, although he got lucky the fourth was disallowed. Diouf impeded him, but he should have been able to cope with Bojan’s shot at his near post. I thought he should have done better with that one shot from Bardsley in the first as well, but he did pull off a fantastic save to deny Diouf (who was offside anyway) later on. Other than that there was nothing really for Martinez to do. Besides picks the ball out of his own net that is, but he has his back line to blame for that.
Diabolical first half from the BFG. He was no where to be found on the first two goals and as such gifted Crouch and Bojan tap ins. Chambers was beaten by a high cross for the first one, and never should have been put in that position. Per should have been on hand to head that ball clear, instead he was trotting in no man’s land. The second half was a bit better but admittingly Stoke were less fervent having been 3-0 up.
Dreadfully immature from Chambers to get sent off. Although perhaps harsh by the ref, you can’t tug at a player when already on a yellow. Poor marking as well on the first two goals and just overall a shocker for Chambers today. Boy how we miss Koscielny.
Poor from the young Spaniard today and he looks to still have much maturing to do. Positioning errors and ill timed pressing saw him chasing the game for the most part. I still believe in the player, but today was not his day. Did well to create a chance for Giroud but other than that really struggled. Replaced at halftime.
Could have done better on both of the first two goals, and allowed the crosses to come in much too easily. I stand by my view that it was Mertesacker and Chambers who should have done more to deal with the balls, but still Gibbs should have applied more pressure.
Not good, but not poor. He was bang on average today. Guilty of some rash tackles but then he often is so I won’t penalize him too much for it today. Arsenal still need a top drawer defensive midfielder.
His second half saved him from a 4 or 5. Like the rest of the team, he took a while to get going. In fact he took the first half off. He was chasing the game in the first but almost looked like the Ramsey of old in the second. I’m exaggerating perhaps, but he looked better and got on the ball a lot more. Fantastically taken goal on the volley, but too little too late and not enough to save his rating.
Finally got his long awaited goal but still a fairly poor performance. A lot of miss hit balls which is not like him at all and just overall a bad day for Santi. His skied pass in the dying moments really summed up his day. Good penalty though, as least he has something to take away from the match I suppose.
Poor from his standards. His work rate was at a premium at usual, but he couldn’t really find his feet today and was a frustrated figure. Questionable refereeing didn’t help in some cases, but he was shrugged off the ball easier than usual. Fantastic run to beat three or four players in the second but somehow hit the post from four yards. Sums up his day really, good with the bad.
Very poor from Giroud today. Missed a sitter early on which would have pulled Arsenal level and after that really struggled to find his feet. Flicked the ball on when he should have held it up, tried to hold it when he should have passed, and was bullied off the ball quite a few times which isn’t like him. Didn’t show much intent in the attacking third either, and just overall a poor showing from the Frenchman.
Tough situation for Welbeck to come into. Subbed on when already down 3-0. Tall order for anyone and did okay for us today. He gave us a different dimension going forward and tested Begovic with a good effort. Hard to really rate him after just one half but did decent.