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RATINGS: Arsenal 1-3 Aston Villa: Wenger A Disgrace, Referee A Disgrace

By on August 17, 2013

Arsenal lost 3-1 to Aston Villa on the opening day of the season in a highly controversial game that saw the visitors awarded two penalties while Koscielny was sent off midway through the second half. Here are my player ratings from the game;

Szczesny 4/10

Took down Agbonlahor for the penalty but almost made up for it by saving Benteke’s spot kick. Went awol from his area just before half time that almost lead to another goal. Didn’t get near Benteke’s second or Luna’s third.

Gibbs N/A

Forced off with a nasty looking cut just above the eye. Must be a major doubt for the Fenerbache game now.

Sagna 5/10

Moved to left back when Gibbs for forced off. Did his best to fill in and looked to have picked up a nasty neck/back injury when he landed awkwardly late on.

Mertesacker 5/10

Wasn’t particularly at fault for any of the goals but was part of a shambolic defence. Needed our captain for the day to settle things down and Per failed to do that.

Koscielny 3/10

Absolute nightmare. At fault for the Villa equaliser as he was done by Agbolahor then gave away a penalty in the second half when he brought down the Villa hitman again.

Wilshere 5.5/10

An up and down day for Jack. You could see how much it meant to him as he was fired up for it. While he showed glimpses of he excellent play, he never really got hold of the game.

Ramsey 6/10

Allowed Agbonlahor to burst through the midfield far too easily for the first penalty but did his best to hold it together in midfield when we were down to 10-men.

Rosicky 5/10

Good work in the build up to the opening goal as he slipped in Chamberlain down the left. Missed a golden chance to make it 2-1 when he blazzed over when through one-on-one then missed another golden chance to make it 2-2 when he shot straight at Guzan when put clear. Had some lovely interchanges but just couldn’t put the ball in the net.

Chamberlain 6.5/10

Superb assist for Giroud’s opener, bursting down the left and picking out the Frenchman with a pin-point cross. Best performer of the first half but was forced off at half time after a collision in the dying minutes.

Walcott 5/10

Lively down the right when he saw the ball in the first but just get in the game enough. Quiet in the second half.

Giroud 6/10

Swept home the opening goal with a cool finish. Harshly pulled up for several fouls throughout the match but his first touch was off for much of the game.

Subs

Jenkinson 5/10

On for Gibbs and was eager going forward but his crossing was poor. Didn’t really offer much with Walcott down the right in the second half.

Cazorla 4/10

Gave away possession cheaply in midfield which allowed Agbonlahor to burst clear into the box and win a penalty. Very sloppy from the Spaniard and turned out to be the turning point in the game.

Referee 1/10

Absolutely clueless. That’s all I can say. Disgraceful all afternoon.

Like our summer, this game was an utter shambles. We can all lay blame at the shocking performance of the referee, because it was truly awful, but Arsene Wenger has to take a huge amount of the responsibility as well. He chose to go into the opening game with only two available centre-backs. When Koscielny was sent off, we had no option but to play Ramsey as a make-shift defender. Embarrassing.

Gibbs went off and we had to play our right back at left back. We had no alternatives on the bench as we were struggling to create up front. Everything went against us today but we have to point the finger at the manager as he has created a venomous atmosphere at the ground due to his lack of transfer activity.

He’s got just over two weeks to sort this mess out. Over to you Arsene….

What were your thoughts on today’s game? Do you blame the manager? The ref? Both?

47 Comments

  1. BillyTheYid

    August 17, 2013 at 6:36 pm

    🙂 COYS!

  2. rellends

    August 17, 2013 at 6:40 pm

    i had 20 quid on villa at 8-1 which was a massive price with us there for the taking. he can blame the ref all he wants but the fact is that it is his dithering in the market which has and will continue to cost us. we’ve got 1 available centre half for fulham and we could easily go to the spurs game with nothing on the board. the squad is devoid of depth and we are threadbare for the ferne game. this all has happened on his watch and he is the man to blame.

  3. gary

    August 17, 2013 at 6:45 pm

    COYS…………
    ITS JUST STARTING GOONERS

  4. elt

    August 17, 2013 at 6:46 pm

    Pretty poor show all round amber alert! Rosicky gets the Gervinho award for finishing.
    Just a thought: how does Arsene’s record compare with other managers if we just look at the last eight years

  5. Previgo

    August 17, 2013 at 6:50 pm

    Were are the AKB’S? As an arsenal fan, i must tell you it got to a point in the game where i wanted villa to score more.. Wenger is an absolute disgrace. Even if we will now strenghten our squad i cant believe as a club we have to be first embarrassed before we will then be forced to buy players. What kind of policy is this called?

  6. christy

    August 17, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    I certainly dont know what game you were watching because I would not have given Walcott 1 out of 10 absolutely useless.Ref was terrible and the reason you gave Koscielny 3 is because he has to cover for that useless excuse for a centre half beside him.Totally astounded this boy has that many caps for Germany.

    • Arsenal77

      August 17, 2013 at 9:31 pm

      You are retarded haha ref got 1, koscielny had possibly the worst game of his career. Mertesacker is good centre back.

      • christy

        August 17, 2013 at 11:08 pm

        If you think Mertersacker is a good centre half well i think you need to take a look at yourself as good as stepanovs i would say.
        The man almost falls over when he is running without the ball.
        Walcott 1 out of 10.Can you read.

  7. keeper should have gone

    August 17, 2013 at 6:51 pm

    Ref was poor not to send the keeper off on the first penalty; second one looked harsh but Villa deserved it

    • pooba

      August 17, 2013 at 7:29 pm

      the keeper was not the last man. so no reason why he should have gone. The second one was a good tackle, Agbonlahor, having lost the ball, kicked koz and fell over.
      No second yellow to any ofthe many aston villa players who were definitely pushing the ref for one?
      ref playing advantage to AV and then pulling the game back much later, when the advantage was lost. No advantage to arsenal at all?
      This is an Arsenal home game. The refs are so corrupt. the only thing worse than the refs are the moronic pundit who somehow try and justify all the wrong decisions!

    • omaricha fide

      August 17, 2013 at 7:40 pm

      Wenger is going kill arsenal with the start of league and we so poor in a game like villa; wenger pls save us from this shame u put today by spend the mony you have in your hand mien.

  8. keke

    August 17, 2013 at 6:53 pm

    Soccer fans knew that our squad was thin but one stupid and stubborn fool never knew this i wonder why he still keeps his job. why do some people keep praising wenger for what he did a long time ago? this is unacceptable. as fans we should rise against wenger and gazidis.

  9. Clinton

    August 17, 2013 at 6:54 pm

    Nice one for arsenal, ow i wsh we wl still miss out on champions league qualification. D ref ws out to frustrate d man who want to frustrate d fans. Crdt to him. Wenger nd d money monger called ivan should kno they too old to be stubborn. Woooooo to dm.

  10. Nuwa

    August 17, 2013 at 6:57 pm

    Wenger has everything under control remember he will make more millions for the business remember this, this is just a business hahahaha

  11. Previgo

    August 17, 2013 at 6:57 pm

    Oh yea! I forgot, the reff! Blind,dreadful,brainwashed and obviously a disgrace to the BPL, But wenger can easily better these remarks.

  12. gucci

    August 17, 2013 at 7:02 pm

    wenger is to blame for all this…..i wont be surprised if he runs away after this season

  13. Sahoo

    August 17, 2013 at 7:02 pm

    The blame lies solely with one man, Mr Wenger.

    This is what I call is Wenger Paradox on quality players which he has been preaching a lot in the last few days.

    1. Players like Soldado, Pauliniho, Negredo, Capoue and I can go on and on were not quality.

    2. The same Mr Wenger had bought players like Squillaci, Chamakh, Andre Santos, Chu-Young Park etc. Are they quality?

  14. Kevin Weaver

    August 17, 2013 at 7:06 pm

    Although I’m an Arsenal fan I do try to be objective. The referee was bad, very bad, only thing he did for Arsenal was not send off Szczesny. England fans, don’t expect Jack Wishere to be fit for England matches or the World Cup if this is indicative of the levels of protection he gets for the rest of the season, Villa kicked him silly, and got away with it!
    However, that isn’t the reason Arsenal lost. That was down to the long term in decline in quality of the Asenal squad over a number of years, and Arsene Wenger’s refusal to put it right in the summer. Szczesny has been doing what he did today for the past two seasons, he may be a top keeper one day but is some way from it now. Mertesacker and Koscielny had a good run at the end of last season during our run when we played no one good, neither would get into Man Utd, Chelsea or Man City teams. Jenkinson is a good lad but not Premier League, Sagna is now well past his best. The midfield is too small, we need an enforcer when teams try to rough us up! Giroud is a mediocre trier, Walcott overated, and Podolski the new Arshavin. What confidence Wenger must have in Podolski when he leaves him on the bench, even though we are losing and chasing the match. Its going to be a very long season, and my expectations are low!

    • Dog

      August 17, 2013 at 7:11 pm

      Well said!

  15. Dog

    August 17, 2013 at 7:08 pm

    You give Rosicky 5 and Giroud 6???
    Goroud headed the ball like he had casters on his head, was left for dead by defenders (he is too slow) and scuffed balls around the box.
    If he wasted less time gestating when he f#&k’s up he might have more energy to play.
    If Rosicky hadn’t been pressing no one would have today.
    He made the tackle to give OX the run for goal and was close a couple more time. Es, more than can be said for Giroud.

  16. Tom

    August 17, 2013 at 7:09 pm

    Villa fan in peace. Delighted with the result obviously. The ref was unbelievably bad and we got *most* of the luck from that.

    It was a strange game, an absolute war zone out there and I think everyone on the pitch took a knock at some point. We played some good stuff but not at our best, Benteke Weimann Lowton all very quiet and we got away with a lot defensively (thanks as usual to Godzan).

    Obviously it’s an nightmare for you guys, not a good performance. But with a ref like that and all the injuries you were always up against it. On another day could have been very different, you showed glimpses of being able to rip us to shreds and we hardly touched the ball first half an hour.

    Good luck for the season, I hope things improve for you.

  17. James russell

    August 17, 2013 at 7:15 pm

    Well Well, ref was a disgrace, didn’t send the keeper off that I admit was a mistake, gonna win the league with the squad you already have hey Wenger. kronke will not spend money because it’s his money and his little baby, put up the season ticket prices then the fans will think I’m splashing the wonga, tell them what they want to hear keep the rabble happy, he’ll sell up and pocket all that dosh that you the fans have basically amassed, box off Wenger and adios. fenerbache will put another nail in the coffin over the next fortnight and you’ll spend the following week hoping Eufa kick out Fenerbache when it doesn’t matter you’ll win nothing with the owners reluctance to spend surely now you can see what’s happening?

  18. noelc

    August 17, 2013 at 7:18 pm

    Agree completely. Arsenal were pathetic. After a great start we once again failed to take advantage of our situation. Villa did what they had to do, crowded our midfield and hit us on the break. That was an obvious ploy so don’t blame them ! This was a replay of the worst parts of last season and Wenger has done nothing about it. Regardless of what he may do from now on I have lost my belief in his judgement. I have maintained this opinion for the last two seasons but have been accused of being anti Wenger and a crank. Well so be it, he needs to be replaced . By whom you may ask ? By someone who knows what their at, very simple. The club should now concentrate on signing a new manager , the chances of signing any decent new players has now passed, Just a word on todays referee. The incompetence of today’s match officials demonstrates the poor quality and ability of referees to adjudicate at the highest level. Poor decision making allied to an unwillingness to interact with each other led to a farce as far as refering goes. This remark does not in any way belittle Villa’s achievement. Well done to them.

    • MCLondon

      August 17, 2013 at 7:49 pm

      I still maintain that the ref was equally crap to both sides. Szczesny should really have been sent off for the first penalty….

  19. Ralph

    August 17, 2013 at 7:20 pm

    Hindsight is lovely thing… We lost badly, ref didn’t help etc etc.
    But, the problem of a dodgy keeper, slow CB, no strong DM, no natural quick striker… these are stuff we’ve known about for TWO YEARS !!!
    But the idiot due of AW and Gazidis are to blame for their total incompetence and naivety. ABSOLUTE DISGRACE, RESIGN NOW and piss off.

  20. balla

    August 17, 2013 at 7:24 pm

    Ref’s an arsena fan frustrated. That’s him sayin wenger should sign players or try to leave.

  21. Temmy foru

    August 17, 2013 at 7:27 pm

    All i know is that Wenger must be fired. I was desappointed by Wenger

  22. frank

    August 17, 2013 at 7:42 pm

    it always saddens me when We need to start a season As poor As always then later compete for top four finish hoping things get better the following season. I relish the proverb of “its only a fool Who doesn’t change his mind”. are We always going to practice this same philosophy which has kept Our cabinet dry for almost eight years? I wonder the kind of people We have As ceo’s directors, football administrators at the Emirates. Pls for once in Our lives As GUNNERS, let’s face REALITY.

  23. MCLondon

    August 17, 2013 at 7:48 pm

    How can we blame the ref? We should be thankful that he didn’t send Szczesny off for the first penalty!

    I’d love it if we could put some of the blame on the ref but truth is he was equally crap to both sides…..

    We were just outplayed and the better side won.

    • Kevin Weaver

      August 17, 2013 at 8:14 pm

      I did say earlier that the ref was kind not to give Szczesny a red card, but otherwise he was really against us. I think I preferred it when Mike Dean actually celebrated a goal scored against us! However a real issue is that we seem to get the wrong side of a lot of referees. Is this down to the way Wenger behaves towards them, or our players? Sir Alex was a master at manipulating referees, putting them under pressure to be at worst equitable towards Man Utd, and often seemingly on their side.

  24. slugboy

    August 17, 2013 at 8:03 pm

    Up front: Walcott non-existent (again! – when will people start realising he is anonymous more than he is brilliant), Giroud some nice touches but not enough from him. Chamberlain flashy in places but not in the game enough. Good assist.

    Middle of the park: This where we really lost it. Three forward-thinking players in Rambo, Jack and Rosicky. Someone needs to patrol in front of the defence – really missed arteta today. Didn’t change when Carzorla came on. I thought rosicky had flashes of brilliance, but was unlucky in front of goal. Jack had a bit of a mare and was positionally very poor. Rambo needs to impose himself on the game more.

    Defence: I thought they played well, but had no cover from marauding AV midfielders. Kos was very unlucky to be sent off and the penalty against him was also a travesty. Mert played well but is not effective with so many running at him from deep. Sagna ran him self into the ground for the team and suffered some real hard knocks.

    Goalkeeper: one of the poorest performances by Chesney. Bad decisions all day. Not good enough yet. Would prefer Flaphandski at the moment.

    The solution: New defence-minded midfielder to enable the rest of the midfield to play; first class striker to knock in the half chances; experienced goalkeeper; right-winger who is effective every game. We do not have bad team, we are just lacking real grit throughout (too many flair players, not enough ‘Tony Adams’ effort and steel.

    I have a funny feeling that a few of my wishes may come true this week following today’s game, which may have not come true of the result had gone differently.

    • christy

      August 17, 2013 at 11:18 pm

      Good post slugboy but have to disagree with you totally about BFG absolute liability if you ask me.Did you see the attempt on Benteke during the sending off.The man is static,he can not move off either foot and I think he causes the defence to get in a whole state of confusion.

  25. ian

    August 17, 2013 at 8:04 pm

    The writings on the wall now aint it. Severe weaknessess everywhere. What is wenger and gazidis doing. I was dreading an embaressing defeat would be the early sign of weakness but it was enevitible. Well played villa tho, take nothing away from them. And we have had the worst luck with injuries and dodgy refs but players win games and we don’t seem to have any.

    Szezhny is the worste keeper in the league by far. If wenger really thought he was ready to be number 1 how can we trust anyone else in that squad. If we don’t buy quality (good examples mentioned earlier here) then we could be in for a long season with the added insult (no disrespect to that competition) of the europa league. But we had glimpses of failure at the emirates cup againt gala and napoli.

    Point is I think wenger will bail out before the end of the season when arsenal are gonna be really struggling. And we will be. So technically bad up front. Defence hasn’t got a clue, mertisacker is not good enough either, or monreal, gibbs is too injury prone and there are many players out there. (Baines would be best) but we have known for months we need 4 or 5. In reality we need 8 players. Adler, subotic, williams, baines, kendogbia, willian, benteke, grenier would help us get top 3. Probably will end up with 2 other guys none of us really know (like always) and this time it won’t be enough. Let’s hope someone comes in quickly and ends this collapse before we turn into leeds

  26. lapel

    August 17, 2013 at 8:19 pm

    its too early to condem anyone, but wenger should stop using the world quality signings, cos we dont want to see another giroud, chamark, all we want is top top players

  27. Kus

    August 17, 2013 at 8:21 pm

    First off… positive thoughts/prayers/wishes to Sagna. That looked like a brutal fall and hope the lad is well.
    Second, for me, Rosicky was the liveliest of the bunch (though Jack had his moments of intensity)… TR7 definitely made a hash of the first opportunity but I credit Guzan more with the second opportunity than blame TR7. Third, I don’t even know who to wish for anymore. Looks like the youngsters AW bought over the last few years will have to develop the had way, straight into the toughest league on the planet.

  28. Steve.

    August 17, 2013 at 8:23 pm

    I won £10 on the result,the way things have been going on at the emerates lately,i wasn’t a bit surprised,i feel guilty betting against my own club,but I was certain,the result would go against us,and i’m afraid there will be a lot more to come, “WEGER HASN’T GOT A CLUE”.
    I would like to add,it’s not just one or two players we need at Arsenal,the club wants a complete overhall,starting with a new manager,
    we want a manager with practical experience who’s played the game at top level,like Bill Shankly,Brian Clough,etc: Wenger would make a better politician, “THEY ALL TELL LIES”.

  29. Jed Hadden

    August 17, 2013 at 8:39 pm

    Blaming the referee for our failings is laughable. We were second best, out-played, out-fought, and out-thought. They had all the games top performers, Delph, Agbonlahor, Guzan, Lowton, and Benteke, and just as they did last season at The Emirates, their front three ran us ragged at times.

    This current squad is simply nowhere near good enough, it has been in decline for three or four seasons now, and no longer can we attempt to paper over the cracks.

    If the arse-kicking that we received today doesn’t wake up Wenger and the Arsenal hierarchy, then nothing will.

  30. Previgo

    August 17, 2013 at 10:40 pm

    What has sczsney got to do with what happened today? I personally have always pointed out we needed an established goalkeeper but i dont see why sczsney is been criticize here, what exactly did he do wrong? Yea there was a time he made a mess of his clearance but recovered swiftly to make a needless save realy because the ball was going nowhere, aside that inevitable mistake what else? Oh may be he should have sticked to his lines and allow agbonlahor the luxury to finish calmly? Every good goal keeper would have a go for that, he saved the penalty but was unlucky, and the 3rd goal? Exactly what ramsey did against wigan last season he gave the keeper his eyes and placed it the other way, so what exactly has sczsney done wrong? He was the 4th best keeper last season..you know who to blame dont try to shift blames, we need a More mobile CB..toby anderweil? Per is too slow and dosnt know how to tackle, we need a proper dm, and a more swift striker..michu?suarez?rooney compulsory. Ramsey is the only reason i’m happy in todays game, he is getting more conident. And to the guy who said something about our cb’s won’t get into any of the top 3 teams above us… Kompany,lescott,vidic,koscielny,cahill,luiz,terry,ivanovic,jones,smalling,nastic,fedinand,vermaelen,per.. I know who would be my two centre backs and one is from arsenal and the other from city yea you guessed right..its koscielny and kompany both would walk straight into any team in the world.

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