Written by Filip Urbancík Sunday, 09 January 2011 20:25

GunnerTalk Blog

By Filip Urbancik

Szczesny (7) MOTM
Quite nervy start in the first half but he made a crucial save. Not so good communication with our centre backs and few inaccurate kick outs. I love the way he is goalkeeping. Absolutely calm, without any fear. He saved us from an embarrassing knock out. For me Man of the match.

Gibbs (6,5)
Clichy needed a rest and I was looking forward to see Gibbs in action. Watt was making it hard but he managed to deal with it. I think there wasn´t  a good understanding between him and the goalkeeper but a good match for him.

Squillaci (6)
We can´t play Koscielny every game and I think he played quite well. Arsenal had more problems on the wings. He´s not so fast but his experience helps us. Almost scored from the corner.

Djourou (6,5)
Another good defensive performance. Leeds were causing problems in midfield and his cooperation with Song was good enough to keep us only 1-0 down. His goal saving block was very important.

Eboué (6)
The way he is losing balls in front of our goal is driving me crazy.  Sometimes he´s playing with fire! His crosses were poor today and we couldn´t manage to provide more balls for Bendtner and Chamakh. He´s got more problems on his side than Gibbs.

Song (6)
He was solid in defense and good at going forward. He could easily have scored a goal but again he'd rather take the ball wide then try to find someone. Just strike the ball and let see what happens!!  It was quite risky to play without a proper defensive midfielder but at least we are still in it.

Denilson (5,5)
It´s easy to say same old Denilson but there were some bright things he did in the first half. He can score from long distance and at least he tries! Unfortunately he couldn´t stop opponents so well.  Some off his passes and combinations were poor. He should hold the ball in midfield and pass it to Fabregas or Rosicky more often.

Rosicky (5,5)
I was quite scared in the first half cause our midfield didn´t work well. We had huge problems creating something and we were losing balls too easily. Stupid yellow card for him, don´t know what he was thinking!  I expected him to create more for our wingers and our forwards.

Arshavin (6)
He has to know his position isn´t so guaranteed as last season. If he doesn't play well he´s warming the bench! He's quick were needed as without Walcott it's all too slow. Good attempts from longer distance, unfortunately he didn´t score that face to face goal.

Bendtner (6,5)
I hate when our central forwards play in midfield. We have so many players who creates but almost no one to score goals. It would be great to have two centre forwards upfront, unfortunately they are out of box most of time. He was desperate to score and his attempts weren´t bad but he has to be more accurate. For me he wasted too many good opportunities.

Chamakh (6)
Why is he playing so deep? He is such a great headerer of the ball and we can´t make the best of it! Let him play in the box for the most of the game and he will create chances. He didn´t fit into our game style today but his passing was good. He needed a player who would use his passes like Walcott.

Substitutions:

Fabregas (6,5)
AW tried to rest him but we hardly created anything in the first half. He added some kind of class, accuracy and clear vision. Rosicky isn´t good enough to play as a creative midfielder at the moment. At least someone played dangerously against a well organised Leeds defense. His understanding with Walcott was one of the brighter things today. He scored such an important penalty.

Walcott (6,5)
I wanted him to start today but he unfortunately started from the bench. He added speed and directness. He got into dangerous positions and his movement was a big deal for Leeds defense. If he stays fit he will do very well in the upcoming months.