Roker Report - Arsenal Vs Sunderland: As It HappenedSunderland AFC's foremost blog and Podcast!https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/51357/rr-fav.png2014-02-24T10:00:01+00:00http://rokerreport.sbnation.com/rss/stream/51999772014-02-24T10:00:01+00:002014-02-24T10:00:01+00:00Quick Kicks: Thoughts On Arsenal 4-1 Sunderland
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<figcaption>Michael Regan</figcaption>
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<p>For some reason we're adding yet more comment on the weekend's thrashing against Arsenal. We'll stop soon though, don't worry.</p> <h4>What The Gaffer Said</h4>
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<p>It could be that we were second best, or it could be that on the day there were things that we simply weren't good enough at - I think it's a mixture of the two.</p>
<p>Arsenal were very good on the ball and we couldn't cope with them, we had a very bad day on the ball; we were very poor and we paid the price.</p>
<p>Maybe it's a good time for it to happen, a week before the cup final; some people say if you have a good result before the game it can make you too confident and others say if you have a bad one it's a wake-up call.</p>
<p>It was a bad day at the office. We weren't good enough against a very good team, maybe it was nerves or something but it's definitely given us something to think about.</p>
<p>The players that came on deserve credit. They came on when we were 3-0 down away from home, I bet they were thinking ‘thanks for that, gaffer', but they did their jobs and then it was a great finish from Giaccherini for our goal.</p>
<p>I had an idea about how I wanted to play next week and which players I wanted to use - today's game has put a few doubts in my mind.</p>
<p>It's an important week for us now; the players are going to have to work very hard to get into the team.</p>
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<p>Nothing to complain about with Poyet's post-match comments. All relatively spot on, so we'll move on. Worth saying though that I've yet to find myself really disagreeing with him when talking to the media. Something that can't be said for a lot of other recent Sunderland managers.</p>
<h4>Impactual Italian</h4>
<p>You're welcome Mr Goldsmith.</p>
<p>Anyway on to the "impactual Italian" and that man being Emanuele Giaccherini, who built on a solid outing against Southampton in the FA Cup with a good cameo performance in this encounter.</p>
<p>Giaccherini has been something of an enigma. Not entirely sure what we do with him, nor where he fits into the Gus Poyet system, but in the past two games he seems to be developing and putting in a strong claim for inclusion down the stretch and in the Capital One cup final next weekend.</p>
<p>Perhaps we've finally begun to work him out and where he can fit into the site. Lovely goal too.</p>
<h4>Shaming Rather Than Saving Themselves</h4>
<p>For some reason it appeared that very few Sunderland players wanted to fully commit themselves to the game, with an air of not wanting to be injured or suspended ahead of next weekend's cup final, which was incredibly disappointing to see.</p>
<p>In trying to 'save' themselves for the final, they did little but shame themselves with an absurdly poor performance which lacked any sort of guts or guile.</p>
<h4>Like Vergini, Shite For The Very First Time</h4>
<p>Of everyone who had a poor game, not many if any were poorer than Santiago Vergini.</p>
<p>The back-pass attempt to Vito Mannone proved to be costly, his passing seemed unusually off and to cap things there was the fourth goal where having narrowly avoided scoring an own-goal, with Laurent Koscielny scoring from the resulting corner.</p>
<p>It was an awful day for him, but it's worth remembering that we haven't seen enough of a sample of games to really write him off in the way some seem to be doing so.</p>
<h4>Not The One For Catts</h4>
<p>Lee Cattermole's omission from the match day squad took me by surprise, however as things developed I was glad he wasn't anywhere near the pitch.</p>
<p>It was exactly the sort of game where due to our own failings Catts takes things into his own hands and usually gets himself in bother. At least now we have him at 100% fitness for the cup final on Sunday where he'll play a pivotal role.</p>
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2014/2/24/5439334/quick-kicks-thoughts-reaction-to-arsenal-4-1-sunderlandSimonWalsh2014-02-22T17:38:55+00:002014-02-22T17:38:55+00:00Arsenal Vs Sunderland: Player Ratings
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<figcaption>Michael Regan</figcaption>
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<p>Here's our thoughts on the individual performances today at the Emirates as Sunderland tackled Arsenal.</p> <h4>Vito Mannone - 7</h4>
<p>Couldn't really be faulted today. Not responsible for any of the goals and made a couple of good stops from Podolski and Gnabry. Mostly just felt sorry for him having to play behind the shower of idiots we're going to talk about next.</p>
<h4>Phil Bardsley - 4</h4>
<p>I have a bit of sympathy for Bardsley. If I was playing in a team 3-0 down knowing that I've got one of the biggest games of my career coming up I might find it hard to care enough to do things I'm supposed to do, such as defending a corner. Pretty poor game from the right back today.</p>
<h4>Marcos Alonso - 6</h4>
<p>Pick of the back four, not because he was particularly good at defending, but because he he showed some good stuff further up the pitch. Put a couple of good crosses in and linked up well with Borini a few times.</p>
<h4>John O'Shea - 5</h4>
<p>Couldn't deal with Arsenal's movement.</p>
<h4>Santiago Vergini - 2</h4>
<p>An absolutely horror show from Vergini. Atrocious backpass for Arsenal's second, and had no clue how to deal with his opponents fluid play. Gave away a number of needless fouls and just generally played like what autocorrect changes his name to on iPhones.</p>
<h4>Liam Bridcutt - 4</h4>
<p>Disappointing from Bridcutt today. Barely got on the ball all day and Arsenal's midfield trampled all over him. While I understand it made sense to play him, due to the former Brighton man being cup-tied for next week game, and while I still think he's shown enough promise in previous matches to suggest he'll be a success, this was a game far more suited to Lee Cattermole than Bridcutt, and it was the wrong choice not to play the former.</p>
<h4>Ki Sung-Yeung - 5</h4>
<p>Made some decent runs occasionally, and tested Szczesny once, but was mostly a pedestrian in the game.</p>
<h4>Jack Colback - 3</h4>
<p>Colback was as bad here as he was brilliant in the derby. Was out-muscled in midfield on a number of occasion, and made barely an attempt at a tackle, standing off Arsenal and giving their midfielders far too much space to play at their will. Represented a lot of what Sunderland did wrong in the first half.</p>
<h4>Fabio Borini - 6</h4>
<p>Frustrating at times, particularly with his inability to beat the offside trap, but looked decent when moved into the middle, where Sunderland actually occasionally looked threatening. Some good link-up play with Giaccherini.</p>
<h4>Adam Johnson - 4</h4>
<p>Anonymous.</p>
<h4>Jozy Altidore - 4</h4>
<p>To be fair, it's would be harsh to blame the poor first half performance on Jozy. He was completely isolated, and Sunderland lost this game because of being rubbish at further down the pitch, but Altidore still offered absolutely nothing and we looked a lot livelier when Borini moved into the middle.</p>
<h4>Emanuele Giaccherini - 7</h4>
<p>Another promising performance from Giaccherini after coming on. More on him below.</p>
<h4>Seb Larsson - 6</h4>
<p>Delivered a couple of dangerous crosses and was probably Sunderland's best midfield player in the game.</p>
<h4>Nacho Scocco - 5</h4>
<p>Still waiting to get to full fitness, but looked pretty good on the ball and linked up well with Giaccherini and Borini.</p>
<h4>Man Of The Match: Emanuele Giaccherini</h4>
<p><span>Could have given this to Mannone, but he's getting it every week at the minute, so I'll go with Giaccherini. Another very promising performance from the Italian after coming on at half time. Sunderland, who had been about as threatening as Jack Colback telling you he was going to mug you at a cash point, actually started to show some attacking intent. His goal was one of pure quality, with a wonderful first touch matched only by the strike. Most promising was his link-up play with Fabio Borini, which suggested that the two could make an unconventional partnership up front. Pushed his claim for a Wembely starting berth with his last two performances.</span></p>
<p><i>We'll have more match reaction right <a target="_blank" href="http://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2014/2/22/5435936/arsenal-vs-sunderland-live-coverage-match-report-epl-2014">HERE</a> in our match stream tonight, tomorrow and probably on Monday so keep checking back in!</i></p>
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2014/2/22/5436350/arsenal-vs-sunderland-player-ratingsLuke Bowley2014-02-22T17:00:02+00:002014-02-22T17:00:02+00:00Match Report: Arsenal 4-1 Sunderland
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<figcaption>Michael Regan</figcaption>
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<p>In what was supposedly a good warm-up for Wembley next week, it seems far too many Sunderland players had their minds on the other side of North London as Arsenal battered Sunderland.</p> <p>Things got off to a terrible start for Sunderland when Olivier Giroud handed the home side the lead after just four minutes.</p>
<p>Having utterly dominated possession from the kick off and Sunderland prepared to sit back and watch Arsenal pass it about, the pressure eventually told when Jack Wilshere wriggled into the box and found Giroud who swept the ball past Vito Mannone from close range.</p>
<p>Slack defending from Sunderland, with Marcos Alonso the most notable culprit as he merely stood by and watched Giroud score rather than do anything about it.</p>
<p>As the opening stages continued, Sunderland were reluctant to learn their lesson from the opening stages and continued for some reason to give Arsenal all the time, possession and space they required, with the next phase of possession resulting in a Santi Cazorla effort straight own the throat of Mannone.</p>
<p>It took a solid ten minutes before Sunderland could string two passes together, and a further five minutes before they entered the Arsenal half with any attacking intent.</p>
<p>Following an Arsenal corner Sunderland managed to break with speed and with men over. Ki Sung-Yeung fed the ball wide to Marcos Alonso who's low cross was intended for Fabio Borini, however a slight deflection off Bacary Sagna allowed Wojciech Szczesny to gather before the Italian could nip in.</p>
<p>Both sides continued to trade blows, with Arsenal landing more of theirs by far. Lukas Podolski used his hammer of a left-foot to sting the palms of Mannone who did well to turn a powerful strike away for a corner. Meanwhile, an Adam Johnson freekick granted Sunderland a corner which was easily gathered by Szczesny.</p>
<p>Things seemed to be leveling off after the initial dominance of Arsenal, but just as seems to be the case with Sunderland down the years they proceeded to immediately shoot themselves in the foot with lazy and sloppy play, giving Arsenal a 2-0 lead.</p>
<p>Passing about lethargically at the back, Santiago Vergini gave it to Phil Bardsley who in turn passed back to the Argentine. Vergini has impressed in recent weeks, but this was an epic blunder as his under-hit back-pass to Mannone was intercepted by Giroud who's first time finish poked the ball past Mannone.</p>
<p>It wasn't long before it was 3-0.</p>
<p>Credit to Arsenal for some wonderful passing and quick touch football, however it was aided massively by Sunderland defenders being stood like lemons -- literally in this seasons away kit.</p>
<p>Anyway Arsenal passed it about with some style and aplomb, eventually leading to Tomas Rosicky being put clean through one-on-one with Mannone with the Czech midfielder chipping the ball over an advancing Mannone.</p>
<p>For all intents and purposes Sunderland were out of this after five minutes. That set the tone for the game and it continued throughout the opening half. The whistle eventually blown for the half with Arsenal holding a 3-0 lead, and it could have been so much worse.</p>
<p>Gus Poyet rung changes at half time with Emanuele Giaccherini and Seb Larsson coming on to replace Jozy Altidore and Adam Johnson, neither of whom had a great half. Not that anyone did mind you. If Poyet could have made ten changes I'm sure he would have.</p>
<p>The changes seemed to have a positive impact. Larsson involved immediately to give the now central Fabio Borini a shooting chance which Wojciech Szczesny fisted away.</p>
<p>Sunderland did their best impression of Arsenal for the first ten minutes of the half, clearly getting some sort of reaction from Poyet's half time tongue-lashing. Things appeared to be going alright... and that's when things always turn for the worst.</p>
<p>A 'clearance' from Vergini was nearly sliced into his own net but thankfully went wide for a corner. Not that it mattered much as from the resulting corner Laurent Koscielny had the freedom of the penalty area to head the ball powerfully past a static Sunderland.</p>
<p>Ten minutes in which Sunderland vaguely threatened to get back into the game, immediately back to square one.</p>
<p>From then on it was merely a procession for Arsenal. Under absolutely no threat, all the fight gone for Sunderland both you, me and everyone else wondered why on earth we were still watching the final half an hour.</p>
<p>In a moment of generosity Arsenal gifted Sunderland the chance to take a shot at goal. A long ball to the back post was met by an on-rushing Ki who saw his effort rebuffed by Szczesny with 20-minutes left to play. Ki did fantastically well to get on the rebound and keep the play alive before Larsson ended any hope of capitalizing on the Korean's good work by giving away a cheap freekick.</p>
<p>In an effort to keep Sunderland fans interested Poyet brought on Nacho Scocco for Ki Sung-Yeung. The Korean hadn't had one of his better days, but it seemed anyone being left on the pitch was merely for the punishment rather than the worst offenders being brought off.</p>
<p>Scocco did very well to latch on to a clearance and put Giaccherini in behind the Arsenal defence. A chance? No, don't be silly. The Italian opting instead to faff about with it before letting Per Mertesacker take the ball off him with ease before even looking like getting a shot away with 15-minutes to play.</p>
<p>Sunderland were presented with another chance when Giaccherini won a freekick in a good position 20-yards from goal. This lead to as close as Sunderland would come to scoring as Larsson flashed the ball with power an inch wide of Szczesny's goal.</p>
<p>The hardy souls who had traveled to London deserved some reward. They actually got some mild reward when the deficit was reduced through an outstanding strike from Giaccherini.</p>
<p>A freekick was whipped into the area and never properly cleared by the Arsenal defence. The ball fell nicely to Giaccherini who was lurking around 25-yards from goal and half-volleyed low into the bottom corner with ten minuted to play.</p>
<p>Scocco attempted to stake his claim for a spot in the side next week but saw an effort at goal sail harmlessly wide, while at the other end substitute Serge Gnabry shot from similar distance straight at Vito Mannone as we entered the final five minutes.</p>
<p>Sunderland found themselves in a promising position with ten minutes to play, however Giaccherini, Scocco and Larsson all combined to fluff their lines and not get a shot at goal.</p>
<p>The three minutes added on at the end counted for nothing. Arsenal merely running out time and putting Sunderland out of their misery by knocking the ball around the visitors like they barely existed, almost reminding them that despite having a couple of chances and giving them a goal, they were still very much in charge of the fixture.</p>
<p>This was the most turgid of turgid performances by Sunderland, who just didn't look up for the game at all and looked entirely more focused on securing their place in the team next week at Wembley. It had completely the opposite effect as on the basis of this, not one of them should even be boarding the bus to London next weekend.</p>
<p><i>We'll have more match reaction right <a target="_blank" href="http://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2014/2/22/5435936/arsenal-vs-sunderland-live-coverage-match-report-epl-2014">HERE</a> in our stream later on, so check it out.</i></p>
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2014/2/22/5436342/match-report-arsenal-sunderland-final-score-epl-2014SimonWalsh2014-02-22T16:15:36+00:002014-02-22T16:15:36+00:00GIF: Arsenal Score Their Fourth<img src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/FC-Sr2JTxA2wHlyKecrt6dQxZuA=/410x410/cdn.vox-cdn.com/fan_shot_images/321013/YearlyVagueAiredaleterrier.gif" />
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>Laurent Koscielny scores a free header to make it 4-0.</p></p></div>
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2014/2/22/5436544/gif-arsenal-score-their-fourthAndy Tomlinson2014-02-22T15:45:24+00:002014-02-22T15:45:24+00:00GIF: Rosicky Makes It Three<img src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/I5XbVbZ_zbw-yEJDlnXXlUhDPGg=/410x410/cdn.vox-cdn.com/fan_shot_images/321007/PleasingLikelyHammerheadshark.gif" />
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>Tomas Rosicky puts Arsenal 3-0 up.</p></p></div>
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2014/2/22/5436472/gif-rosicky-makes-it-threeAndy Tomlinson2014-02-22T15:34:21+00:002014-02-22T15:34:21+00:00GIF: Giroud Doubles Arsenal's Lead<img src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/loegs7bsiq2tc5vSK4pp5cNq-Fc=/410x410/cdn.vox-cdn.com/fan_shot_images/321001/IdealDisgustingDesertpupfish.gif" />
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>Olivier Giroud capitalises on a Sunderland mistake to give Arsenal a 2-0 lead.</p></p></div>
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2014/2/22/5436438/gif-giroud-doubles-arsenals-leadAndy Tomlinson2014-02-22T15:08:29+00:002014-02-22T15:08:29+00:00GIF: Arsenal Take The Lead<img src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/KFowFTvkminnsuljtJwwwp6HHaY=/410x410/cdn.vox-cdn.com/fan_shot_images/320995/DemandingCriminalFerret.gif" />
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>Olivier Giroud puts Arsenal 1-0 up.</p></p></div>
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2014/2/22/5436376/gif-arsenal-take-the-leadAndy Tomlinson2014-02-22T14:23:22+00:002014-02-22T14:23:22+00:00Arsenal Vs Sunderland: Confirmed Lineups
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<figcaption>Paul Thomas</figcaption>
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<p>The teams are in, and the Sunderland side has a familiar look to it. </p> <p>Gus Poyet opted against taking any chances with Lee Cattermole for the trip to Arsenal, with the former skipper not involved at all ahead of next week's Captial One Cup final. After a return to traning this week, Steven Fletcher also failed to make the squad.</p>
<p>There was a degree of familiarity about the starting lineup. It is basically the same side that battered Newcastle and started the next game against Hull with Santiago Vergini continuing to deputised for Wes Brown, who completes his suspension today.</p>
<p><b>Sunderland (4-1-4-1):</b> Vito Mannone; Phil Bardsley, Santiago Vergini, John O'Shea, Marcos Alonso; Liam Bridcutt; Adam Johnson, Ki Sung-Yueng, Jack Colback, Fabio Borini; Jozy Altidore</p>
<p><b>Substitutes: </b>Oscar Ustari, Ondrej Celustka, Carlos Cuellar, Craig Gardner, Seb Larsson, Emanuele Giaccherini, Nacho Scocco</p>
<p>The big news for Arsenal was that Mesut Ozil was 'rested' after a poor run of form and Arsene Wenger admitting the German to be a bit mentally broken by his midweek penalty gaffe.</p>
<p>The Gunners still have a strong squad on show, though, with Olivier Giroud and and Lukas Podolski both returning to the lineup.</p>
<p><b>Arsenal (4-2-3-1):</b> Wojciech Szczesny; Bacary Sagna, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal; Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta; Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla, Lukas Podolski; Olivier Giroud</p>
<p><b>Substitutes:</b> Lukasz Fabianski, Carl Jenkinson, Mathieu Flamini, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Serge Gnabry, Yaya Sanogo, Nicklas Bendtner</p>
<p><i>Follow the action with us live on Twitter <a href="http://www.twitter.com/rokerreport/" target="_blank">@RokerReport.</a></i></p>
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/2014/2/22/5436196/arsenal-vs-sunderland-confirmed-lineupsmichaelgraham