UEFA Champions League Qualifier Player Ratings: Arsenal vs Udinese

With so much transfer news (all outgoing) coming out of The Arsenal camp over the last couple of days, one could be forgiven if they didn’t take note of the minor issue that was the Champion’s League qualifier against Udinese on Tuesday night.

Eboue joined Fabregas, Vela and Botelho out the door over the last 36 hours, the last 2 on loan, and Song and Gervinho were both charged by the FA for their behaviour in the Newcastle game, meaning both will serve 3 games suspensions and will miss the Liverpool and Manchester United games. All this coupled with the injuries to Wilshire, Diaby and the European suspensions for Van Persie, Samir Nasri and Arsene Wenger had a lot of people wondering if Arsenal will be able to name a team for the European game and the weekend game against Liverpool. Rosicky passed a late fitness test to retain his place in the midfield along with Song and Ramsey, while the back 5 remained unchanged from the league opener against Newcastle 3 days ago. Chamakh came in for the suspended Van Persie, while Theo Walcott replaced Arshavin and Gervinho held his place in the starting line up.

Player Ratings:

Szczesny- 9- Was called into action a lot more than on the weekend but was immense throughout. Had a one v one where he stood up and narrowed the angle expertly to save the shot, had a tremendous full stretch save on a free kick late in the game and was overall very commanding of his area and looked like a man who was not going to let anything past him. After all the problems with Goalaeepers over the last few years, it finally looks like Arsenal are now in safe hands, (ouch,sorry for the bad pun).

Sagna- 10 – He was superb all evening, cut out everything, worked constantly, tracked back, moved in to cover for the center backs if they were dragged out of position. He didn’t put a foot wrong and hardly any attacks came from his side of the pitch. If Szczesny deserves the majority of the credit for the clean sheet, Bacary would be a close second. Most consistent defender in the team and if Arsenal can get 4 of him in the back line, they would be the meanest defense anywhere.

Vermaelen- 8- Very strong and commanding performance at the back and cleaned up a lot of chances and half chances and potential threats. Having him does feel like a new signing and his intelligence and awareness and determination is something we sorely missed last season. A lot of the time he was left as the last defender in a one versus one with an attacker and he never let the opponent passed him and ended the danger. Loves going forward and attacking a bit too much though and that can leave holes in the defense.

Koscielny- 5- Had some solid moments and good tackles but his positioning, passing, general play and bringing the ball out from the back really was under par today. Gave the ball away cheaply and conceded a some needless freekicks and put the team under a lot of pressure. If Arsenal do sign a new centerback, it would be good for Koscielny as he can go away from the limelight and improve his game in the shadows. Still a very promising defender but needs some more time to grow into his potential and become a consistently solid center half.

Gibbs- 4- He is more of a left winger than a left back. Routinely out of position and not the best at tracking back either. Unlike the other full back, Gibbs will not break his neck to get back and is very susceptible to the ball played behind him. Most of the attacks for Udinese came from his side and if not for Song covering for him, would have been much more dangerous. And as usual he went down to injury and with Traore also out injured, suddenly Arsenal have no left backs left with Liverpool and Manchester United up next, with the 2nd leg of this tie in Italy sandwiched in between. Maybe its a blessing in disguise as Vermalen will now have to play left back and that offers more stability and solidifies the defense, though unless a new center back arrives, that will leave the center of the defense very weak, especially with Djourou going down injured too.

Song- 7- Covered a lot at left back and was everywhere but caught out of position a few times. Couldn’t give great protection to the defense and the opposition just went from defending to attacking our back 4 very easily, though most of it was related to him covering for Gibbs at left back and not being able to do his normal job. Was also caught on the ball a couple of times and gave away the ball a couple of times in dangerous positions, a couple of which led to excellent chances that were missed.

Ramsey- 6- Excellent pass for the Theo goal, and overall a very solid game. Had a couple of other good passes and moved the ball around but didn’t stand out too much in defense or attack. Went a bit anonymous at times and at instances in the first half, and especially in the 2nd half was run over by their midfield as they dominated the game and created chance after chance. Whats most encouraging though is that even after breaking his leg, he still rides tackles and puts his leg in and is not scarred by that incident. Just needs to add the consistency and deliver the final ball more consistently, like he did today and he has the makings of a very good player.

Rosicky- 4- Always on the periphery of the game and for a player filling the now vacant playmaker role or the “Fabregas” role, he was quite ineffective. Gave the ball away, got caught on the ball a lot and had problems linking up with the front 3. Ran out of ideas later on and his shooting only gets worse. Not fully fit today though and had a grimace when he walked off the pitch after he was substituted, so hopefully hasn’t done permanent damage to himself. If he is to consistently stake claim at the playmaker role, he has to improve his performances at least two fold, as he is playing in the most creative spot in the team but is failing to deliver killer passes and general link up play is lacking.

Gervinho- 6 – Has had an interesting start to his Arsenal career. Red card in his league debut even though he looked very threatening and today again he looked very sharp and showed excellent ball control and technique and superb pace to beat his man, but his final ball was lacking. Picked the wrong option on a few occasions, notably when he should have played in Vermaelen in the first half, and did miss the excellent chance to put us 2 up after the mixup with Koscielny in front of goal led to the chance being lost. Runs with the ball too much and tries to do too much himself, but will learn to involve his team mates a lot more. Did set up Theo after a superb run and pass late on though, which the englishman should really have finished. Showed glimpses of what he can do and should be quite interesting to see how he does once he is fully settled in to the team and its way of playing.

Chamakh- 5- He still looks very low on confidence and clearly needs a goal or two to get it back, but he had a decent game today. Put in a workman like shift today and covered a lot of ground, put their defenders under pressure by closing them down and making them hurry their passes, linked up well with his team mates and held the ball well up at times. He had some positives in his game today though no goals or any end product, and that is what a lead striker is supposed to provide. But if he keeps putting in the work like he did today, it will eventually pay off.

Walcott- 8- Was ever present in attack and took his goal extremely well, starting from the smart run to the cultured finish past the goal keeper on the volley. Looked the most dangerous player on the pitch for Arsenal in the first half. Went back to his inconsistent self in the second though, as his final ball, like Gervinho’s, left a lot to be desired. Had a couple of excellent chances in the 2nd half which he fluffed. Tried to chip the goalkeeper and got its horribly wrong and then, after tremendous work by Gervinho, had a clear chance, which he took first time but Handanovic came up with a superb save. His first 90 minutes since his latest ankle injury in pre season, and hopefully he gets better as the season progresses, the signs look really good though. Needs to work on his final ball.

Djourou (sub)- 7 – Played just 10 minutes, though looked solid. Had a highlight roll moment where his sliding tackle blocked a Di Natale shot when he was one versus one with Szczesny, although the goalkeeper had it covered anyway. Hamstring injury is worrying as without him and if Vermaelen is expected to play leftback with Gibbs and Traore injured, we are already down to our bare bones in central defense.

Jenkinson (sub)- 5- Looked very tense when he came on and had a few heart in mouth moments. Grew stronger and more confident as the game wore on but a debut in the Champion’s League and having to play on the left side clearly did him no favours. Hopefully next time out he won’t be this nervous but its a good experience for the boy, as with Eboue’s departure, he is the backup to Bacary at right back and needs some games to get the nerves out.

Frimpong (sub)- 7- The game and midfield settled after he came on. He got in their faces, gave away a few free kicks and broke up the fluency of their attack. His passing is still the weakest part of his game and he missed a couple of chances to play the ball through their defense and took too long. His bull dog approach and biting tackles are a breath of fresh air though and with Song getting a 3 game suspension for his stamp on Barton, he will certainly get to fill that void in games against Liverpool and Manchester United, talk about a baptism of fire with the first team.Overall it was a decent performance and a second clean sheet in as many games, and that is always something you can build from. Should have scored a couple of more goals but Udinese could very easily have scored a couple themselves. Taking a lead to an away game is never a negative thing, and if Arsenal can score just one goal in Italy, Udinese will need to score thrice.

Hopefully some new signings come in before the weekend game against Liverpool but this win gives the team confidence that they can win without Fabregas and keep clean sheets, and both those should help boost the self belief of the team.