Sunderland (A) [18/09/2010

[Gaffer]

Saturday, 18 September 2010
Barclays Premier League
Sunderland v Arsenal, 17:30

[Gaffer]

Not happy at all, tossed 2 pts away against a very average team and didnt even look up for it today.

Cant remember the Sunderland keeper having a save to make in 90mins? No doubt people will moan that Sunderland scored in the 4th min of time adding on but in the end it was a far result.

Ratings

Almunia : 6/10 (Nothing he could do with the goal, Hardly had anything to do)
Sagna : 6.5/10 (Solid but wasteful with his passing)
Koscielny : 7.5/10 (Decent game)
Squillaci :8/10 (Looked very good and solid)
Clichy : 2/10 (Mr Panic, How many times did he lose the ball in his own box. And in the last min his miskick gifted the goal)
Fabregas : 6/10 (Scored a very lucky goal and went off injuryed before H/T)
Nasri : 8/10 ( Our best player, Hardly gave the ball way and won the pen that should of won the game) MOTM
A Song : 3/10 ( Slow and clumsy, the problem with Song is that he gives away pointless fouls. Sent off for 2 bookings)
Wilshere :5/10 (Didnt have a great game)
Arshavin : 5/10 ( See above)
Chamakh : 6.5/10 (Worked hard but never looked like getting a goal)

Subs
Rosicky : 3/10 (What was he doing with the pen?)
Denilosn : 4/10 (Came on and gave the ball away countless times)

[Curt.B]

Arshavin needs time on the bench, he is unbelievably poor at the moment. I know peole will argue that he is scoring, and yes he has had some good assists, but i reckon he is squandering 2-3 goals a game.

[EduGaspar17]

Starters:
Manuel Almunia - 7
Bacary Sagna - 8
Laurent Koscielny - 9
Sebastian Squillaci - 8
Gael Clichy - 5
Alexander Song - 5
Francesc Fabregas - 6
Jack Wilshere - 6
Samir Nasri - 7.5
Andrei Arshavin - 5
Maruone Chamakh - 7

Subs
Tomas Rosicky - 6
Denilson - 6

[Craigie]

Arshavin needs time on the bench, he is unbelievably poor at the moment. I know peole will argue that he is scoring, and yes he has had some good assists, but i reckon he is squandering 2-3 goals a game.

He's scoring goals that Nasri, Rosicky or Vela could've scored if they had his seemingly untouchable position in the starting lineup.

[stevedon]

Sunderland did well against us using the exact tactics which we find hardest to combat. Over the whole match I thought we just deserved to win because we clearly had more quality and should have scored the penalty, but to be honest a draw was not unfair. Our goal was a fluke so I can see a Sunderland fan might think we were lucky. I agree that Arshavin has been poor but he does create as many chances as he misses so I can see why he is in the team. The CBs and Almunia looked pretty good considering what they were up against (aerial bombardment and big tall attackers in the box).

I'm going down to watch us play WBA on Saturday so now I guess I will have to see how we do without Song. Hopefully Cesc will be ok. I'm hoping to keep up my pattern of never seeing us lose at home

[Curt.B]

Can somebody please tell me the last time Arshavin beat his man in a one-on-one? Not this season, that's for sure, his dribbling is poor and he has become terribly predictable. The only thing he's got gong for him so far is he is getting in behind the defence at good times. Other than that, his passing has been quit shocking in some games and his finishing twice as abysmal.

I guess Wenger just wants to stick wth him to help him through a rough patch but personally I think time on the bench might do him good.

[stevedon]

I know he has given the ball away and looked a bit crap on his finishing but don't forget what he HAS done. In the premier league this season he has had 5 starts and has 2 goals and 2 assists. He has had 14 shots of which 6 were on target. It's not exactly a disaster.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=22873&cc=5739