Match report – Player ratings – By the numbers – Video

It was a tale of two goalkeepers as we drew 0-0 with Stoke at the Britannia Stadium yesterday. While I tend not to listen to post-match stuff in general, I think it was Graeme Souness who said if we’d gone into this one with one of last season’s goalkeepers we wouldn’t have taken anything from this game – and I agree with him.

Petr Cech had little to do in the first half, but in the second he made saves which undoubtedly contributed to us coming away from this game with a point. In the 57th minute the referee ignored a couple of blatant fouls in the Stoke half which allowed them to pour forward. A shot from Joselu was was pushed wide, and with Bojan ready to slot home the rebound the Czech international got up again, covered his near post with a smothering dive and saved the day again.

When Laurent Koscielny’s poor pass created another chance, he was there to make the save. And late on, after Aaron Ramsey had cleared off the line from a corner, Cech made a stop with his feet as the ball was drilled in again through a sea of players. On top of the saves he was solid, strong, calm and assured at a ground in which we’ve often struggled to cope with the opposition and the atmosphere.

The Stoke fans go mad at everything. One of their players is given offside, they howl as if someone has stepped on their tails. An Arsenal free kick is awarded, they wail with dismay at the injustice of one of their players being penalised for anything. One of them is tackled, they screech like banshees who have gone to the fridge and found someone has put back an empty milk carton. Aaron Ramsey gets the ball, they boo because he had the temerity to have his leg snapped in two on their ground six years ago. It all creates a fairly unpleasant ambience, but when you have a player like Cech who is completely unflustered by it, it transmits itself to the rest of the team.

At the other end, we weren’t as creative as we might have liked, but then going there without Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla is a reasonable explanation for that. Nor was there Welbeck, Wilshere or Rosicky to call upon, and we had to do what we had to do with a midfield that really isn’t functioning as a unit. Individually there’s no lack of effort, but there’s no real cohesion.

Yesterday the absence of Ozil meant we played a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-2-3-1 with Oxlade-Chamberlain in alongside Ramsey and Flamini. It’s fair to say that he’s struggling to find form this season, simple things aren’t working, but there was no lack of effort from him. Behind him Ramsey and Flamini did ok, but once more there was little sign of them really clicking as a duo.

On the left Theo Walcott was poor again, it’s not a position that really suits him and if we’re going to discuss someone like Oxlade-Chamberlain finding form hard to come by, we really ought to be talking about Walcott too. Since his return from injury, that cracking goal against Man City aside, he’s been very much on the fringes of our performances, and he’s a much more senior player.

There was another hard-working outing for Joel Campbell who created our best chance of the first half for Olivier Giroud. The more I look at it, the more I think it’s an absolutely fantastic save rather than a bad miss. Of course from that position you want your striker to score, but the ball was bobbling, Jack Butland read the danger and came out so quickly that you have to give more credit to him than criticism of Giroud.

In the second half the Stoke keeper made another brilliant save, again from Giroud whose downward header to the near post was textbook, but the reaction and the stop from Butland was first class. On this one, I’m not sure Giroud connected quite as well with the header as he should have, but again you can’t take much away from the save which was outstanding.

Late on Campbell curled one high and wide when he probably should have done better, before that Ramsey goal line clearance and Cech save kept the scores level. On the day you’d say a draw was probably a fair result, and under the circumstances I don’t think it was a bad one at all really. For me, the frustration of the last two games comes from the late goal conceded at Anfield, not a draw at a difficult ground against difficult opposition with most of our creative players missing along with our key defensive midfielder.

Afterwards, Arsene Wenger said:

I must say I cannot fault my team for their attitude, it was spot on the way my team responded to the challenge. We did well to battle. They made the game physical, they were up for it, the players were up for it and they were up for a direct game. We had to have a physical response and show solidarity, fighting spirit and togetherness.

Two points from six is not exactly blinding form, but the one gained yesterday was enough to put us back on top of the Premier League, so we’re still in a good position. The decision not to use Alexis or Ozil yesterday was understandable, the manager putting some faith in the experience and character of the side to see us through against Stoke, before redeploying them at home against Chelsea and, hopefully, having them available for the rest of the season as things really hot up.

I suspect had he really needed to he could have used them both, but used caution and common sense to ensure two men who can add the spark this side needs at the moment are fully fit and ready for what’s going to be an exciting but difficult second half of the season. There’s often criticism of using players too often and thus contributing to injury, and going to Stoke without two men of that quality makes life even more difficult, so it was brave enough decision in the cold light of day.

It makes next Sunday’s game all the more important, but if we go into that one with a good week of rest under our belts, and those two fit and refreshed, then our chances of taking all three points are greatly increased in my opinion.

Finally, Arsene Wenger on the Stoke fans who continue to target Aaron Ramsey with pretty vile chants, like this one:

Stoke City fans: "Aaron Ramsey, he walks with a limp".

Fucking hell.

— gunnerblog (@gunnerblog) January 17, 2016

When they get together sometimes they forget that individual responsibility. Maybe when you go home and watch it on television, you will be less proud.

Somehow, I don’t think they’ll be bothered one bit, although there must be some of them who, despite how much they might not like us, Arsene Wenger, or even Ramsey, must cringe at that kind of thing, because even in the world of football and terrace ‘bantz’, this is fairly unpleasant stuff.

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As ever James and I will be here with an Arsecast Extra for you later on. If you have questions or topics for discussion, please send to @gunnerblog and @arseblog on Twitter with the hashtag #arsecastextra.

That’ll be out for you before lunch, until then.