A very disappointing result that will need further analysing in the next few days, but here are my player ratings for now:
Mannone: not much to do during the game and not at fault for the first Chelsea goal. The second goal was conceded mostly as a result of Koscielny’s bad timing, but the goalkeeper should still have dived towards the corner with more conviction. 6.5
Jenkinson: super, positive performance today with a number of good crosses in and defensively very sound throughout the game. He was always willing to go forward and seldom or never gave the ball away. 8
Thomas Vermaelen: he did not do much wrong today and made a few good interventions, as we have come to aspect from the Belgian warrior. However, as a captain I found him a little bit too quiet again. 6.5
Koscielny: he will want to forget this game as quickly as possible. He should have been stronger against Torres for the first goal and the timing for his intervention from the Mata free-kick that led to the second goal, was not good enough. He lost the ball a few times when under pressure during the game as well. 4
Gibbs: superb performance. Confident, applying good pressure, winning the ball back all the time, and pushing on constantly. Great link-up play with Podolski until the latter was substituted. My Man of the Match by a mile. 8.5
Ramsey: good start on right side with winning balls well and keeping possession. He did ok when taking over from Diaby but was unable to help the midfield gain control over that all important area. At the start of the second half he seemed to tire again (as he did against MC) and a couple of passes went missing. His substitution made sense. 6.5
Arteta: decent first half in which he fought hard to get control over the midfield (together with other midfielders). In the second half he seemed to tire initially, only to come back strong towards the end. He lost the ball under medium pressure at one point in the second half, which led to TV having to intervene by conceding a free-kick – from which the second goal was scored. Not his best performance but still ok. 7
Cazorla: was not given much space in midfield by the hard working and disciplined Ramires and Mikel, and did often not get enough support from our other midfielders. As a result he was isolated, especially in the first half. In the second half he became more involved, but unfortunately he did not have his shooting boots on, and he should have done better in the last few minutes of the second half. Good lay-off though to Giroud, who should have done better. 6
Diaby: started off ok but not long enough on the pitch to rate him. Such a shame he went off injured, as we really missed him.
Gervinho: energetic, could be found all over the pitch helping his team, and full of confidence. He showed great movement for his first goal, with a good first touch and clinical finish as well. He produced a good ball for Cazorla late in the game from which the latter should have at least hit the target, but he did manage to be off-site a few times too many. Very close to my Man of the Match. 8
Podolski: he had some good moments but was absent a lot during the game. His link-up play with Gibbs is getting better and better and he almost scored with a header from a difficult angle (from a Gibbs cross). 6
The Ox: he had periods of good wing-play with a nice variety to his crossing/putting the ball in the box. One of them led to Gervinho’s goal, which was very well spotted by him. 7.5
Giroud and Theo did not play long enough to give them a fair rating, although Giroud should have done better with the chance he was given by Cazorla in extra time. Theo had no impact.
Total Arsenal.
Bergkampesque 
Gibbs is improve verymuch.. as well as Jenkinson..
My consen is who will backup Gibbs.. Santos..??
For Jenkinson we still have Sagna..
Are we ready to play the youngsters..??
Hi TA,
Pretty accurately reflects my view about the player ratings, with a couple of exceptions.
[These things are always subjective – but you may remember that is why I have never done them myself] 🙂
I think you have been a little generous with Gibbs, mainly because he just cannot cross the ball properly (not that we had anyone in the box to have benefited anyway, I suppose). 🙂
Unfortunately I think we saw last season’s Vermaelen emerge again. He clearly got fed up with our powder puff attacking efforts and continually hared off upfield, much to Bouldie’s evident anger with him. The result was that having charged upfield he was buggered when Arteta made a mess and gave away possession to Chelsea, and you have described what happened next.
Disappointed with our man Vermie!
But my main concern was Gervinho. He keeps promising to deliver but ends up giving us porridge rather than bacon and egg. Whenever we launched a speedy attack and the ball went to the Gerv, he seemed unable to decide what to do with it, and ended up going around in circles and either losing the ball or making an insipid backward pass, a la Theo, and negating our threat by giving Chelsea the chance to regroup. I know he scored, but ironically his spinning in a circle, on this occasion, allowed him to get in a good shot, after brilliant work from the Ox.
An odd game, where the Chavs produced some ‘Arsenal like’ quality with their passing in midfield by Oscar, Mata and especially Hazard. Despite that they never looked threatening in front of goal, except for two stupid free kick goals (stupid that we gave them away, I mean).
For me there was a pleasant sub-plot, in that Corporal Jenks played with his heart.
His pace, physique and guts, and his desire to play well for the club he loves, made him by far the best Arsenal player for me.
As I always say — what do I know? 🙂
Hi Total
I didn`t see the match, so I`m just going on your marks/opinion ( and GIE over on AA ).
I wont have an opinion on performance as I dont watch highlights of games when we lose. It may sound a bit shallow, but I should imagine ,like most gooners, I dont take any losses that well , it hurts like hell to me, so I dont see the point of torturing myself any further by watching these games.
f**k me, how depressing am I !. 🙂
Keep up the exellent work buddy !.
Hi Henry, I would say the youngsters have become men over the summer and both will hold their place until suspension, injury or fatigue rules them out. Gibbs plays with such command and maturity now that I cannot see Santos taking his place any time soon. A fully fit Sagna is still preferable to Jenkinson in my view, but he is playing so well at the moment that Arsenal might stick with him for a while longer.
Hi GLiC 🙂
How is the little Gooner doing?
I know what you mean. I had to switch off from football for 24 hours myself. I did not necessarily expect us to win yesterday, but I did not expect us to lose through defensive mistakes of such magnitude. The bad thing is, it hurts like hell – the good thing is, this can ironed out by coaching. At no point did I feel Chelsea outplayed us – despite the loss of Diaby so early in the game, which was a big blow for us. We made it very easy for them by making big mistakes, but we still created enough chances to earn a draw. A real shame, but let’s treat it as a bad day at the office. 😦
Hi RA,
Thanks for your in-depth comment! 🙂
Agreed that Gibbs crossing needs working on, but I did not see him crossing badly that many times yesterday. For me, he was awesome throughout the game. He is playing with such confidence currently, always bossing the area that he operates in: keeping the ball with ease and winning it back constantly. His link up with Podolski is quickly becoming telepathic and if he improves his crosses a bit over the next few games than we will be ok on the left this season.
Re Vermaelen I fully agree with you. He is not a natural leader; instead he needs to be led. We really missed the brain and calm of Mertesacker yesterday, and I reckon from now on we will only see the Koz-Verm combo if and when the Mert needs a rest or is unavailable.
I thought Gervinho was brilliant for us yesterday. The goal was pure class: just look at his movement before he gets the ball, his first touch and his cool, brutal finish. He might have dithered at times, but I could see that he did not have good options to play the ball to other players in those few cases. The good thing is, he is often available and holds on to the ball really well. Compared to him, I thought Podolski had a quiet game and so did Cazorla. The latter had good opportunities for us, but unlike Gervinho, did not do what we expect him to do: burst the net!
Fully agreed about Jenkinson: what a passion and determination this young man has. A joy to watch!
Hi Total
Thanks for asking, the little Gooner has now gone into the low dependency unit and has put on 5 ounces in 4 days, so touch wood all is going well !. 🙂
As for the big gooners, the next game cant come around quick enough for me with hopefully a win. With the Greek economy in dire straites, they cant afford the to come over, so a few of Terry`s relatives from Muswell Hill will take their place, bad news for the Muswell Hillians though, no Kebab take-aways on Wednesday !. 🙂
Great news re your grandson. It must be such an emotional time for you: full of hope and natural worry. Hope he keeps gaining weight and doing well and what a great Christmas lays ahead for you and your family! 🙂
I used to live in Muswell Hill in the early to mid-nineties. Use to love the place and especially the kebab shops! Waking up in the morning with chilli-sauce lines down my chin: those were the days. The Muswell Hillians will indeed be suffering on Wednesday! 🙂
Hi Total
I think you’re being overly harsh on Kozzer (at least he tried to deal with the ball for their second goal); and I think you’re being overly kind to TV5, who needlessly gave away the free kicks for both Chav goals.
You’re right that Gibbo had an excellent game but I thought the Corporal matched him and may even have shaded the MoTM.
GLiC
That’s great news mate. That little Gunner is a little fighter!
Hi Rocky 🙂
Now that I have watched the game again, I agree with you I have been too kind to TV, and I should have given him no more than a 5. Initially, I thought he had no other choice then to concede another free-kick for Chelsea’s second, but he let himself be fooled by Torres and/or was clumsy. Koz just had a bad game on the day, but I am sure he’ll get over it.
I also now agree with you (and RA for that matter) that the Corporal – what a great name, isn’t it! – was as good as Gibbs. I guess I gave him the benefit over the Corporal because he appeared to have a lot more to do defensively in the second half, and that’s where Gibbs seemed to excel. However, Kieran made a few mistakes as well which had escaped me initially.
I also have been to kind to Aaron who really struggled at times on Saturday.