Told you the change was worth it. HE barely edges out Santi IMO; Nobody really had a poor game, even our worst performers on the pitch had good games
I'd say our worst performer was Nacho, just because he got beaten by HRK for the goal. Aside from that, it was good, even Ramsey was good today.
If we make a few key additions, we'll have a good squad with quite a bit of depth. Today was a good way to freshen up the team and give minutes to peripheral players like Rosicky and Gerv.
Still think we need a striker and a DM, maybe a top class winger too. The CB's will automatically improve if they have more midfield protection.
The real talking point of this game was how shockingly bad the referee was. It is very difficult to start on Mike Dean for his poor, or one-way, judgement on calls that are broadly within reason, when the standard for refereeing is so low, just for officials to get the calls correct. His ineptitude ran the gamut today, from poor advantages, to missed penalties, to penalties given that should not have been. He missed late tackles and called all kinds of contact the wrong way. The only good things you could say about him, is that his incompetence was completely impartial, and that it probably didn't affect the result too much, although Reading fans may disagree.
Agreed Monreal wasn't great. Gervinho was man of the match, though he squandered quite a few good opportunities. He won't get as many against better teams, so I still wouldn't pick him personally. Arteta with some great passes. Koscielny bossed the defense. Giroud with great one-touch lay-offs. Cazorla influential, and a great finish, but not his best all round game today.
So you think that sacrificing a little bit of the attacking threat, in order to reduce the opposition shots on goal below 4, is a good trade? Not sure about that myself.
Maybe not against minnows, but for the bigger teams, having a DM in will hopefully stop us conceding.
As i travel up the M1 i would just like to say i've had a most enjoyable day watching Arsenal beat Reading 4-1 in a game of Association Football
