By Matty Sadler
May 24 2015
One thing that pleased me is that, to begin with, West Brom set themselves up just like Swansea and Sunderland, with lots of bodies defending their penalty area. Walcott's pace and movement saw him get into one of the few spaces in the box to turn and smash in the early opener. That basically rendered Albion's tactics useless. Provided Wenger would actually be willing to make a substitution/ tactical change before the 70th minute, we have the players in our squad to mix things up when required.
Ospina - 5. Poor on West Brom's goal, where his lack of height was exposed, and got very lucky when he let a long range effort slip out of his hands onto the crossbar.
Bellerin - 6. Did okay.
Mertesacker - 6. Did okay.
Gabriel - 6. Completed his fourth full 90 minutes for us, and they won't come any easier than that.
Gibbs - 6. Did okay.
Coquelin - 6. Didn't have loads of defending to do, and left the attacking to those who're better at it.
Cazorla - 7. His best performance since Hull, much improved. Got an assist.
Wilshere - 9. One of his best performances to date. Worked hard, drove the team on, played a part in some goals and scored a banger. Would still rather see him central.
Ozil - 8. Quality in the first half where he pulled the strings and linked things up well. Quiet second half.
Alexis - 7. Worked hard but unable to get himself on the scoresheet.
Walcott - 9. Great performance. Lots of energy, pace and good movement. Scored three good goals, could've scored another two or three. Hope we get his contract sorted soon.
Subs:
Ramsey - 6. Hit the post with two good efforts.
Giroud - N/A. Never got into the game.
Oxlade-Chamberlain - N/A. Given a 10 minute run around on his return from injury.
Ozil, Walcott and Wilshere pulled the strings as we destroyed a truly woeful West Brom side who were clearly just waiting for the final whistle. I cannot remember the last time we attacked with such direction and purpose. Some of our counter attacks were truly devastating.
The second half was pretty "meh".
On to the cup final!
Discussion here