Totally agree. Thought oxo was good, but did give the ball away a bit. Giroud was poor (and I normally rate him) as was Gabriel. 2nd half we were much better.
I thought giroud was a bit quite yesterday which was disappointing. Iwobi, campbell, bellerin and gibbs shone for me.
I thought Giroud showed his class in the latter stages. Iwobi was excellent in the first 35mins, was willing to run at people, had no fear, but I think he tired a little in the second half. Walcott was good, but I felt was a bit wasteful and should really be taking the kind of chances he wasted if he wants to be a striker. Oxo was better than he has been in the past couple of games. Campbell, again was MOM for me, he obviously has a point to prove and he knows he has to take his chances.
First half was really slow, both teams looked like they weren't really up for it and conserving energy. Turned the tempo up in the second half with a much better performance and put the game to bed. We've got through to the next round without a replay and without any new injuries so that's the main thing!
Good solid win in the end and nice to get a bit of rotation out there, despite our ravaged team. Shows we have some strength in depth, whether it's enough remains to be seen. Arteta and Ramsey gave us a timely boost and it was ncie to see us able to do positive substitutions, rather than reactionary ones. Special mention to Bellerin and Campbell, imo the two best players on the pitch. I agree with others that it's hard to drop him on current form. My concern is that when Arsene likes a player, and more importantly invests time and money, he tends to be fiercely loyal. Theo, Aaron and Özil are examples of when he's paid good monies and kept the faith when things are a bit bleak. I can't help but think he'd still choose to start AOC over Joel as he has the faith he'll come good. Ability-wise I think he's spot on as Chamberlain has all the attributes. However, you can't ignore how reliable and solid Campbell has been. Glad I'm not a fooking manager!
Campbell is also looking way more fit than before, funny how a run of games also gets you into better shape, he looked very lean on Saturday, whereas before, he was kinda chubby in a way, that will definitely him more because in this league you need to be in very top shape to cope with its demands and high energy work rate.
Glad we got a home tie against a non- prem team but will still need to turn up and play a lot better than against sheff Wednesday
