Rating Arsenal players in their opening day loss to Aston Villa

Laurent Koscielny

Arsenal had a dreadful start to their Premier League campaign as they were handed a 3-1 loss by Aston Villa at home. Olivier Giroud opened the scoring on the 6th minute, which seemed to be the perfect start to get Arsenal up and running but two Benteke penalties and an Antonio Luna goal cancelled out what could’ve been a brilliant afternoon at the Emirates.

Here is my take on each Arsenal player who was in action on Saturday.

Szczesny – 4

The Polish goalkeeper is an exciting talent but still has got a lot to learn. The 23-year-old looked indecisive on three or four occasions during the game. The Pole was lucky to not be sent off when he brought down Agbanlahor for the first penalty. He did save a penalty but was slow to react to the rebound, hence, came the Benteke’s equaliser. He should improve his game sooner rather than later if he wants to stay the Arsenal no.1 for the seasons to come.

Gibbs – 6

Didn’t get a chance to play his game as he picked up a terrible injury early on. Was replaced by Jenkison.

Koscielny – 4.5

The Frenchman had just that one of those games where nothing went his way. Off from the start, Koscielny was on shaky grounds against the Villa trio of Benteke, Agbanlahor and Weimann. Then, the French international was shown two yellows where on both cases he didn’t make much contact.

The first challenge was an excellent one but only turned out to be a yellow card and a penalty. But it was debatable as from the referee’s view it looked a rash challenge. The second one was mistimed but there was minimal contact.

It was quite unlucky and was caused by poor refereeing decisions. Again, his angle played a major part in this decision. Apart from that, in the first penalty decision, he was at fault as he let Gaby Agbonlahor get away too easily.

Mertesacker – 6

The skipper on the day, Mertesacker was positive in his play and urged the men ahead of him to move forward. He did struggle with the physical strength and pace of Benteke and Agbonlahor and was caught out many times. Other that that, the German provided a good target at the set pieces.

Sagna – 5.5

Started on the right but after Gibbs’s injury the full back had to fill up at left back. Had an average performance and we didn’t see the usual flurry of Sagna crosses into the box.

Wilshere – 6.5

Surprisingly was chosen to play in Arteta’s position with the Spaniard out injured. Didn’t have the best of days at the office but was helping back defending. The Englishman would slowly get into usual self with his great passing and bursts through midfield. Could see his tired legs later on in the second half.

Ramsey – 7

Work rate was good as usual. Played ahead of Jack and spread out the ball nicely. Covered up at centre back, a totally new position but still was very positive throughout the game, encouraging the Gunners to play. This season we’ll get one hell of a partnership of him with Wilshere.

Rosicky – 7

Unlucky not to score today with an incredible job at the number 10 position. Was looking to unlock the Aston Villa defence every time he got on the ball. Got involved in some great interplay and was the focal point of the Arsenal attack. As the Czech said earlier, he looked ‘hungrier than ever.’

Chamberlain – 6.5

The ‘OX’ was off to a great start, torturing the Villa defence with his pace and trickery. Provided the early assist for Giroud’s goal with a perfectly waited cross but as the game went on, soon faded away. Got injured at the break and was replaced by Cazorla. It was great to see him in this kind of form again.

Walcott – 6.5

He too gave all sorts of trouble to the Villa defenders but wasn’t able to get a proper hold on the game as he was anonymous for much of the game

Giroud – 6

Got his goal in the first league game with a neat and tidy finish past Brad Guzan. After the goal, he didn’t get great service thus didn’t have many shooting opportunities. Was involved in link up play with the midfield and did create some good chances.

Substitutes:

Jenkinson – 6

Came early on after Gibbs got injured. Was always on the overlap to put the ball in but defensively, he didn’t have a great day facing Gaby Agbonlahor and Andy Weimann.

Cazorla – 6.5

The ‘dancing feet’ of Santi Cazorla weren’t able to find a way out today as the Spaniard didn’t have much effect on the game during the second half. Would be looking to start for the next game and get his goal scoring account open as soon as possible.

Podolski – NA

Came on in the 90th minute. Would have share the goal scoring responsibility as well until any new people are recruited. For me, he should start more often.

This wasn’t in the script but Arsenal would need to pick up soon. Next game against Fenerbahce is the one we definitely need to win in order to qualify for the UCL group stages.