By Matty Sadler
March 5 2016

How quickly we went from being back in the title race to being finished, to being back in it again. Before the game I would've taken a draw but, in true Arsenal fashion, afterwards I'm very disappointed we didn't win it.

Opening 15 - 20 minutes you could see who the confident side were and who the side in rotten form were. We were all over the place defensively and were rubbish in possession. Tottenham were comfortably the better side. As it stayed 0-0 we grew in confidence. We scored a very good goal after an audacious flick from Ramsey, and from that point on we were comfortable and in control.

Second half Coquelin lost his head and got a yellow card for a stupid, brainless foul and it looked like there would only be one winner from that point on. Tottenham peppered our goal and went 2-1 up quickly. I never expected us to show the character and spirit needed to get back into the game, but we kept going and Alexis scored his first goal since October 2015. Michael Oliver should've sent Dier off for a second yellow, but for some reason didn't book him. We could've won it at the end with Alexis's free kick and Ramsey's chance which was blocked.

TL;DR, Coquelin cost us all three points when we were pretty comfortable. Ospina was very good, as were Elneny and Welbeck. Hopefully Alexis's goal can kick start both his and our season. Our need for a better centre back remains.

RATINGS

Ospina - 8 MotM. Made a string of really good saves in both halves, Lamela's in particular. Couldn't have done anything about Spurs' first goal. Probably would've got fingertips to their second if he was taller. Did really well overall, which is massive for his confidence and our season.

Bellerin - 6. Awful first half but did improved in the second. Excellent for both of our goals, two great passes.
Mertesacker - 5. Shaky start but improved. Awful on Spurs' second goal when he should've seen the ball out of play.
Gabriel - 5. Also a shaky opening 15 - 20 minutes, but improved somewhat. Hesitated over his decision to close down Kane which led to Coquelin's sending off. Doesn't fill you with confidence.
Gibbs - 6. Stepped up and played well overall, but let himself down by playing everyone onside for Spur's second goal.

Coquelin - 4. Two mindless yellow cards cost us all 3 points I'm afraid. Absolutely brainless.
Elneny - 7. Impressed me today. Good in possession and used the ball well.

Ramsey - 6. Poor start but grew into the game. Excellent finish for his goal, great ball to Bellerin for Alexis's goal. Nearly won it for us late on.
Ozil - 6. Unable to be at his creative best due to circumstances but worked his socks off.
Alexis - 6. Anonymous for an hour or so before suddenly turning up. Could've wo it for us with his late free kick. Massive for him and our season that he has scored again.

Welbeck - 7. Excellent first half. Showed us what we miss by not having power AND pace upfront. Nightmare for Tottenham's centre backs. Did very well for Ramsey's goal. Worked hard second half.

Subs:

Giroud - 5. Tried but struggled to get into the game.
Flamini - N/A. Not on long.
Campbell - N/A. Not on long.

Ospina MotM? Player Ratings

Discussion started by Arsenal Times , 05/03/2016 15:01

Arsenal Times
05/03/2016 15:01

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NB I have moved all posts over from original thread. Apologies for any confusion.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016:03:08:18:09:48 by Padre Pio.

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Padre Pio
05/03/2016 15:03

Re: Player Ratings vs. Tottenham
Flava (86.144.62.164)
05 March, 2016 14:52
Good ratings

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Re: Player Ratings vs. Tottenham
MattySadler (86.24.235.52)
05 March, 2016 14:54
Cheers mate. We were all sh*tting ourselves about Ospina before kick off. He is no Cech but he did very well.

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Re: Player Ratings vs. Tottenham
Merlion96 (116.14.14.42)
05 March, 2016 14:57
8 - Ospina - he got this one point
6 - Bellerin - He is our weakest link now. 2 goals from right side.
6 - Mertesacker - decent but stupid for the 2nd goal.
6 - Gabriel - jittery like a headless chicken Kolo again.
6 - Gibbs - mediocre and should be replaced this summer.
6 - Elneny - decent but provide extra shield for Back-4
4 - COquelin - a mediocre player with poodlebrain.
6 - Ramsey - another mediocre player lack fighting spirit when he lost the ball.
6 - Ozil - a quiet game with 3 players instantly closing him down.
7 - Welbeck - pace and power. Goodbye wally.
6 - Alexis - hoping this is a sign he is getting back his match sharpness

6 - Giroud - a bustling presence and put in a decent defensive shift

Flamini, Campbell - too little time on playing pitch to be rated.

6 - Arsene Wenger - finding playing negative football with two defensive anchors.

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Re: Player Ratings vs. Tottenham
MattySadler (86.24.235.52)
05 March, 2016 14:58
Ospina made nine saves today, the most by an Arsenal goalkeeper in a Premier League game since Lukasz Fabianski vs Liverpool in April 2009 (also nine).

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Re: Player Ratings vs. Tottenham
Boston Gooner (86.172.1.39)
05 March, 2016 15:00
F*uck Wenger still.

Just pleased we didn't get a hammering.

Put a big dent in Spurs title chances.

Could and may well have gotten 3 points if not for Coquelin's stupidity.

Ospina some great saves but doesn't fill you with confidence.
BFG poor defending for goal out wide again.
Gabriel is a joke.

Welbeck best player today.


[i625.photobucket.com]

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Re: Player Ratings vs. Tottenham
hahanice (72.83.139.218)
05 March, 2016 15:02
Yea I struggle to think cech would have stopped that many today...

Good ratings but I think Gabriel was fine, and Ramsey and bellerin should surely be higher

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"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:03:05:15:06:17 by Padre Pio.

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MattySadler
05/03/2016 17:26

I'd like to see Chambers in Coquelin's place while he is suspended. Unfortunately it'll probably be Flamini.

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Optimistic Gunner
05/03/2016 17:37

Quote:

MattySadler
I'd like to see Chambers in Coquelin's place while he is suspended. Unfortunately it'll probably be Flamini.

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MattySadler
05/03/2016 17:42

Also, I put "Ospina was very good, as were Elneny and Ramsey.", when I meant to put "Ospina was very good, as were Elneny and Welbeck". Any chance you could change that please Padre?

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Padre Pio
05/03/2016 18:55

Done

"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.

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MattySadler
05/03/2016 18:57

Gracias.

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hahanice
05/03/2016 20:11

I'd like to see elneny in coqs place. He looked good today IMO. Worked hard and was disciplined. Ramsey was good, a goal and big part in the second goal. To bad he's slow as molasses or he'd have scored a second

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MattySadler
05/03/2016 20:41

I actually tweeted about that earlier. You look at how well Elneny passes the ball and uses possession over his few appearances for us, it is what we need Coquelin to be doing from the DM/ ball-winning role. If he was a bit more powerful and aggressive in how he wins the ball, he'd pretty much be exactly the sort of midfielder we wanted last summer. It'll be interesting to see how he develops, if he bulks up, etc.

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mapleleafgooner
05/03/2016 20:47

Quote:

hahanice
I'd like to see elneny in coqs place. He looked good today IMO. Worked hard and was disciplined. Ramsey was good, a goal and big part in the second goal. To bad he's slow as molasses or he'd have scored a second

Coq is a better tackler than Elneny though he is proned to moments of blood rush as we saw today. Elneny needs to work on his body strength in the summer as he is too easily pushed off the ball. For the now to mitigate against that weakness, he needs to release the ball very quickly when he gets it. Something which Ramsey does not do well and I don't think he can change his game to do so.

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Kalela
06/03/2016 04:18

I thought the team played very well in this match and I was confident they would have won it if it wasn't for the sending off. Even with a man down the team almost pulled of a win. Wenger should keep Ramsey on the wing or the bench from now on. I am not ashamed to admit that Ramsey did really well even in midfield when he was forced to play as the holding midfielder after El Neny was taken off by Wenger. He was surprisingly very disciplined. The team was just solid with Elneny and Coquelin in midfield and Ramsey provided a lot of defensive cover from the wing. Welbeck's pace and movement bothered Spurs defense all game.

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MattySadler
06/03/2016 08:31

Big of you to admit that Kalela, many wouldn't.

One thing I've been critical about the Arsenal attack for many years is the lack of off the ball movement as well. So many games we stroll about, passing at walking pace and struggle to penetrate teams. I thought Ramsey's free roaming helped us a lot in this sense.

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