Fulham vs. Arsenal: Rating the Arsenal Players

Well, it's never fun to do a post-mortem on a loss like Arsenal's to Fulham, but it must be done nevertheless.

Arsenal resoundingly underperformed in a fixture they sorely needed to win, throwing away a lead and looking extremely unstable in the process, even before Johan Djourou's fatal sending off.

It was one of those infuriating matches that Arsenal just could not dominate. And the Gunners lost as a result of their perpetual failure to close off close games.

As usual, the North Londoners controlled much of the first half and could have been up by more than one goal at halftime. Instead, they had to settle for a tenuous 1-0 lead given to them by a good Laurent Koscielny header.

But a few awful refereeing decisions later, and Djourou was gone. And with him went any chances Arsenal had of getting a result from the match. Twice in the final 10 minutes, Fulham scored to send the Gunners home disappointed—and me into despair.

There are certainly no shortage of things to analyze until we play Leeds United at home next week, and with so many notable performances by Arsenal's players, let us attempt to rate each individual performance.

If you disagree, I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

All ratings are from 1-10, 10 being the maximum possible rating.

Wojciech Szczesny: 6

The young Pole had quite a good game for the first 80 minutes, making a number of good stops and saving extremely well from a point-blank Bryan Ruiz effort. But a flailing Szczesny was largely at fault for Fulham's equalizer, and he was completely out of position and beaten by Zamora's winner. The fact that he was rooted to his position at the fatal moment says it all.

Johan Djourou: 4.5

As he has for several matches now, the Swiss looked extremely awkward on the right and, well, looked like a player who is playing completely out of his natural position. He offered almost nothing going forward and always looked shaky in defence.

Though his second yellow card was a bit ridiculous, he alone put himself in the position to receive it, and it precipitated Arsenal's demise.

Laurent Koscielny: 7.5

The Frenchman was one of Arsenal's best players on the day; he was their only goalscorer.

As he usually does, he offered the Gunners more stability in defence than any other player, and his goal was quite well-taken. However, he was just as—if not more—at fault for Fulham's equalizer as Szczesny, as he stood like a statue as Steve Sidwell knocked in a goal that was all too easy.

Per Mertesacker: 6

Mertesacker turned in one of his normal performances—generally sturdy, but with a few inexplicable nerve-wracking moments of ineptitude.

The big German can't seem to win many of the headers that his massive stature would suggest he should; he was beaten by Bobby Zamora and Bryan Ruiz on several occasions. However, his stoic defending is always a welcome sight, and I shudder to think of who Arsenal would be playing if he hadn't been bought.

Francis Coquelin: 7

Coquelin showed that it is possible to play well when forced out of your natural position. He did quite well in a slot that he had never played in before. On the attack, he contributed more than one might have expected to, and he was not tested much in defence, as Fulham ran much of their attack through the superb John Arne Riise and Bryan Ruiz on the other side of the pitch.

Alex Song: 7

Song was his usual tough-tackling self, making a number of crunching challenges and intercepting some balls, while contributing more than his share to the attack.

However, he was lucky not to be booked, as many of his challenges were justifiably free-kicks. Good game for the defensive midfielder overall, though.

Mikel Arteta: 6.5

The Spaniard looked quite tired for much of the match, as he often went missing in Arsenal's defensive and attacking efforts. That much is quite understandable, as he has played the full 90 minutes in nearly every match for quite a while. There were still glimpses of why, though, as it is visible that Arteta is the metronome who keeps the Gunners midfield ticking.

He could still use a rest against Leeds.

Aaron Ramsey: 6.5

Ramsey offered a good deal in the attacking side of Arsenal's midfield, but like Arteta, he looked a bit tired at times. However, he did have his moments, threading through a couple nice through-balls that, on a different day, might have led to a goal or two.

He, too, is in need of a breather.

Theo Walcott: 3

Unquestionably Arsenal's worst player on the day, it is getting harder and harder for even Walcott sympathizers like me to stay on the Englishman's side. He wasted nearly every attack than ran through him with poor crossing and control, and his tracking back was so poor that he simply went to sleep and let John Arne Riise run past him on multiple occasions.

Much more of this, and he will stand no chance of being offered a new contract during the summer.

Gervinho: 7

The Ivorian was one of Arsenal's better players, as he offered more dynamism to the attack than any other player. He still needs to be less wasteful in front of goal and more decisive, but he should have won a penalty when he was tripped by Philippe Senderos.

He will be a huge loss when he leaves for the African Cup of Nations.

Robin van Persie: 7

Van Persie wasn't his normal self, but playing 180 minutes in a few days will do that to you. He was, nevertheless, as much of a creative force as he was a scoring threat. He just missed a couple of chances with his "chocolate leg," which has proven to be more effective in recent weeks. He should never have had to start this game, but Arsenal's dearth of striking options meant that Wenger had to trot out an obviously tired van Persie.

Substitutes

Yossi Benayoun: N/A

Tomas Rosicky: 6

Looked lively when he came on, but there was no one to support him. Arsenal had already begun to hunker down and defend for their lives against a tidal wave of Fulham attacks.

Sebastien Squillaci: N/A

While he didn't play enough for me to rate him, I should mention that he was not at fault for Zamora's winner. His header under pressure did fall to the striker, but Francis Coquelin should have been there to mark him. Instead, he was left unmarked, and the rest is history.

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