International Break – Arsenal Player Ratings

The international break can be a pretty boring period, and this time it seems that the 2-week break between Arsenal games is even more frustrating than usual. It’s almost as if FIFA are conspiring to delay the amount of time that we have to wait to see Mesut Özil in an Arsenal shirt…
Below are our ratings of all the Arsenal players who were away on international duty for the World Cup Qualifiers:

England 4-0 Maldova

Jack Wilshere – 6.5 The furthest forward of the midfield trio, Wilshere made some of his usual surging runs and dealt well with the physicality of the game. Nothing spectacular, but a decent performance. Replaced after an hour.
Theo Walcott – 7 Saw plenty of the ball and was particularly effective in the first half. Grabbed an assist for Lambert’s second goal after his shot was saved by Namasco, but parried straight into the path of the Southampton striker.

Macedonia 2-1 Wales

Aaron Ramsey – 7 Won and converted a penalty in the first half, but could not prevent Wales from slipping to their 5th defeat in the World Cup qualifiers.

Germany 3-0 Austria

Mertesacker – 7 Good positioning as usual. Read the play well and put in some fantastic challenges and blocks.
Ozil – 8 Fantastic in possession with a 99% pass completion rate and 4 key-passes, Özil was the creative centre of the team. Can’t wait to see him in an Arsenal shirt next weekend!

Georgia 0-0 France

Bacary Sagna – 6.5 Has developed a good partnership with Mathieu Valbuena and was pretty steady at the back.
Laurent Koscielny – 6.5 Good defensively alongside Abidal, but was poor in the air, espscially when attacking set-pieces.
Olivier Giroud – 5.5 Not his day. Spurned quite a few chances, including a late header, and was unable to replicate his Arsenal-form.

Finland 0-2 Spain

Santi Cazorla – N/A Only played 10 minutes, so unfortunately was unable to really stamp his authority on the game.
Nacho Monreal – N/A Unused substitute…

Czech Republic 1-2 Armenia

Thomas Rosicky – 7.5 Pulled the Czech Republic level from outside the penalty area with around 20 minutes left, but the team unfortunately conceded a second goal in injury time.

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