Arsenal player ratings from Stoke loss – Ramsey MOTM

This was not a great performance across the pitch from Arsenal, as our troubles away at Stoke continued with another defeat, although a few decisions from the ref did us no favours at all. A few bright sparks on a dull day were Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Hector Bellerin and Danny Welbeck, while Petr Cech had no chance on their goal but played well. However, I am going for Aaron Ramsey as our best player as he was involved in most of the attacks and was only denied a goal by a brilliant Butland block.

Cech 7 – One outstanding fingertip save and a good all round game.

Mustafi 5 – First game back and rusty as an old nail. At fault on goal and could have seen red.

Monreal 5 – Not suited to that central role, clearly. All at sea.

Kolasinac 6 – Did okay under pressure but a tough day against Jese.

Chamberlain 7 – Bright, dangerous and a real live wire but could not quite make it happen for us.

Xhaka 5 – Woeful display in the middle set the tone for the game. Passing, tackling and control all lacking.

Ramsey 7.5 – Worked his socks off and deserved batter from his team mates.

Bellerin 7 – Should have had a penalty. Gave us good width and looked a threat. Shooting needs work though.

Ozil 5 – Some flashes of brilliance but nowhere near enough. We needed his best and got a lot less.

Welbeck 7 – Tried hard and caused problems but needs to be sharper in front of goal.

Lacazette 5.5 – Poor game from our new striker but his crisp instinctive finish should have stood. Largely anonymous.

subs:
Giroud 7 – Almost an instant impact with deft flick but missed good late headed chance to level.

Walcott 5 – Little time and no impact.

Iwobi 5 – Same as Theo really.

Bob.

51 Comments

  1. 1year 7months 11days to go before Wenger’s contract expires (assuming it ends on July the 1st)
    What if he again signs a new contract ?
    New manager like Allegri will improve us but we won’t win PL & UCL as long as Kroenke remains… Just wait & watch!
    Only hope left for me ? Dangote buys the club & sacks wenger…
    Next week Liverpool 3 – Ars 1.. Cheers ?

    1. I dont buy the kroenke thing.

      problem with arsenal is coach and tactics.

      i means sp*rs are spending less money than us but are more impressive.

      monaco winning the ligue 1 last season,juventus ucl final

      soo many examples of having a good coach with great tactics.

      1. Thats what I said @Nayr…. Spurs are impressive & look a better team than us but they won’t win the PL & UCL any time soon.. A new manager can take us a level higher but to win the PL & UCL you need an ambitious owner as well who will put pressure on the manager to get results.. Look at Chelsea, they sacked Mourinho, steadied the ship with Hiddnik & then went all out for the PL with Conte. This shows that no matter how good a manager you are, if you fail to get results you will be shown the door… In modern football you need to be ruthless if you really want to win…
        PS – In recent years Leicester have been the only exception

      2. one overriding issue is the fact ozil, lacazette, sanchez, welbeck cannot communicate in the same tongue – so perhaps alls they’re left to communicate with… is a gesture here or there or a series of grunts n groans… sort it out.

    2. the issue may not be kroenke this time, its wenger who encourages medocre in this club. well look kroenke is not responsible for telling the players what to do. Wenger is the problem, look at ozil and xhaka, its making me think we can achieve alot more with a new manager even without the so called world class players. the arsenal players dont look motivated to give their best for the club

    3. Kronke did not suggest players to buy nor did he do the selection
      The Manager.
      When play people out of positions? Two LBs playing CBs and a good RWB on LWB.

  2. I didn’t watch it live but I am just sad that we have to wake up to the unpleasant talk that will come to us from all media. The unfortunate thing is that it felt so much like last season. I have been a supporter of Arsene but the honest truth is that he can not take us anywhere far and the board are happy because he balances the book for them. They are hoping we win the premier league like Leicester did without spending too much money.

    1. The way Arsenal is run brings in money for everyone except the fans. Arsene makes money, the board makes money, the players make money, the pundits make money from our downfall etc. The only people that lose are the fans. We are always at the loosing end, money, emotions, and sometimes our comfort. I need a cure to being an Arsenal fan!

  3. bellerin has regressed a lot over this last year…. He should be nowhere near that 1st team.
    Ox is much better attacker and defender than him…. we should have sold him to barca this summer… barca are stupid enough to pay upto 50 mil for him too!

  4. A commanding Central defender is a must,a great can also before we think about challenging, otherwise Wenger will retire trophiless and he will be a laughing stock

    1. Are you sure that is what this team need? We can buy the best CAMs in the world and we will still concede goals like that against Leicester and stoke. What we need urgently is a coach who will instill discipline and steel in our players. Our players are good. Majority of them are first team players with their countries. Wenger does not have anything to offer league football anymore. What did stoke did to deserve that win. We gave it to them. No urgency to get a goal. All our attackers expect ozil and lacazzete are selfish. They make too much and needless touches on the ball. The midfielders make complicated passes instead of simple ones and who is the coach.

  5. We will get soundly beaten by Liverpool. The result might flatter us but mark my words, soundly beaten.

    Liverpool might have struggled against Watford and Palace but Klopp will run Wenger into excuses for sure.

  6. Bellerin 7? No, no, no! The Ox a live wire, yes, but no end product and looked sulky to me, as did Ozil who was terrible, took no responsibility and passed sideways all afternoon. Welbeck? Oh dear. Wenger 1/10 for playing Monreal, Kolasinac, Bellerin and Ox out of position. 0/10 for not taking off Ozil and putting Ox centrally, not taking off Welbeck and subbing Giroud at 60 mins or earlier (or starting him), taking off Kolasinac instead of moving him to left wing where he would have offered a threat. I’m undecided on Xhaka because everything went through him, but his long passing radar was a bit off and he made two big mistakes for the goal, losing possession and then chasing the ball instead of getting back into position. We didn’t need a CDM for this game, just quicker, more incisive passing.

    1. Generally agree – Ox good, but still no end product, Welbeck – good effort, sorry but not enough if we want to win things, Xhaka needs protection of a good CDM, Özil a luxury we can’t currently afford, Ramsey good if we again had someone filling the midfield behind him – We just need a great CDM (as per the previous 7+ years) to give us a solid platform we desperately need.

      1. Maybe OX showed some good things going forward. But look at their goal again, mate.
        He should have tried to prevent the danger, when we lost the ball. He was the player nearest to it, but he did absolutely nothing, and that is his problem in a nutshell. He doesn’t cut it defensively.

        1. You are spot on but we would focus on the player that lost the ball. I blamed xhaka for losing the ball but i blamed the defenders more for the needless passes between one another prior to xhaka mistake. If one of them had played the ball infield on time we wouldn’t have being talking about xhaka. Monreal only pass the ball to xhaka when he came back for the ball with stoke’ player putting pressure on him. It was all those needless more touches and passes that caused the goals scord against us. It was Ozil exchanges of passes with Bellerin When he was pressured by Leicester player that resulted in the corner we conceded the first goal from when the simple thing to do is played the ball inside the field. It was from the needless exchange of passes between defenders and Xhaka we conceded the second from. The same thing happened against Stoke. Are defenders not suppose to play the ball infield when teammates are man marked anymore.

  7. A few weeks ago i criticesd some players,i was thumbed down by almost everyone and my comment was hidden…now lets win two games then smone criticiz the team ppl will eat you just like a week ago when Henry said the team aint strong enough hahah

  8. This is my main issue with Wenger – he constantly sets us up to fail! Before KO, he made us much weaker than we should have been, because of three elements: using players that are not good enough at this level, players in the wrong position, and players out of form.

    This isn’t a new thing either. Down the years it’s actually become more of a rarity to see Wenger pick his best team. This is why we keep failing. Say what you want about the likes of Mourinho, and Pep, but they do something Wenger doesn’t – identifying the weak areas of their squads, and then strengthening those areas. I watched ManU against Swansea, and they were very balanced, with players in their correct positions.

    LWB was a perfect example of Wenger’s ineptitude. We had RB/RWB (Bellerin) playing at LWB. He’s been in poor form for a while now, in his natural position, and now he’s expected to perform better in a position that’s alien to him, in a really tough away game? Then we think, maybe Wenger had no choice, maybe there wasn’t any left sided players available. Unbelievably, we had two LB’s on the pitch at the same time, and the Ox who had been playing very well in that position. Wenger had THREE options available, FOUR if we wanted to use Gibbs!!! Bellerin shouldn’t have even been playing considering his form, let alone in the wrong position.

    Expect much more of the same in the coming months, and years!

  9. Harsh on Lacazette; the service he received from Welbeck, Ox Chamberlain and Ramsey was hopeless and selfish!

  10. We need attackers

    Creative goal scoring midfielders

    We keep dominating and cant score goals, we will never win

    and as the clock keeps ticking we will feel the pressure and concede

  11. for me Ox looks impulsive but there is no efficiency. once in a blue moon he makes a good cross or a good through pass is very rare. Ozil looks lazy and he makes mistakes but he is the one with passes that open up the defense. If only Sanchez played last night, we surely had scored. we created opportunities that came to Ramsey and Welbeck.

  12. for me after such a loss, selecting MOTM makes no sense. Lets choose Sh*t Of The Match instead and that would be definitely Wenger with his team selection and tactics

  13. Hope le coq gains fitness soon…hes the only tough tackling midfielder we have.Remember how effective the Coqzorla partnership was.Granit Xhaka is clearly not cut out for the premier league…would rather thrust wilshere back into the fray tbh

    1. He can be fit as a fiddle but Wenger wouldn’t play him. (Actually he might try him on the wing :-0)

  14. Are these points for yesterdays match?
    – Welbeck , missed a free header , couldn’t handle the layoff from giroud, missed a straight forward chance in first half
    – Monreal , never looked in control and was definitely at fault for our first goal
    – Ozil , shambolic body language , one tough tackle and he hides behind Ramsey and Xhaka and forgets to go forward.Was he ever in the final third during first half?
    – Xhaka , kept losing the ball and no control whatsoever on the game . Oh Santi, where are thou?

  15. You can all picture the scene : deadline day panic spending brings a couple of lightweights in to try and appease the masses , then this time next year he will be trying to offload them as not required. Was so looking forward to a clear out and squad rebuilding but it ain’t gonna happen same square pegs in round holes

  16. Need Van Dijk and A good DM. Ozil should only play at home against weaker teams. We have to use a DM like Carvalho when away from home. Why play Monreal and Sead as CD when they are both LWB?
    Buy at least two more players or come in 6th.

  17. Why do you keep using “flashes of brilliance” word to describe Ozil’s performances? I only saw a very safe play and lack of work rate in the field.

    The result could be different if Iwobi played, instead of him. Iwobi has better stature, close control and speed.

  18. what is xhaka position in this arsenal team.. dude can’t tackle, can’t drive forward with the ball.. very slow.. then we have welback.. a striker that can’t score.. what about ozil, for
    a star player he sure doesn’t influence games.. and who brings in Walcott and takes off his striker when looking for a goal

  19. Have to disagree with your ratings on several points:
    1) Bellerin a 7? He was extremely poor. Lacks a final ball as we all know. His defense is poor too, he had a challenge in our own box in 1st half that was atrocious and almost lead to Stoke goal. If we play 3 at the back then no reason for him AND Ox to both play. One or the other. I choose Ox.
    2) Agree with Xhaka rating, just have to point out his deficiencies too if I mention Bellerin. Not fast enough, not good enough defensively. Essentially another Ozil whose only strength is looking for long passes, just not well rounded enough to control a game from the center.
    3) Welbz a 7? Danny is one of my favorite players and he contributes so much positively but that was by far one of his worst games. He unfortunately truly lived up to his billing of being able to do everything but put the ball in the net.
    4) And last Wenger. Nothing for me to say that hasn’t already been said. Just horrible team selection. How you don’t play Sead at LWB, keep Bellerin on bench and play Holding or Mert or both in back 3 is beyond me. Ok so Rob had a bad game vs Leicester and now don’t even include him?? Way to inspire confidence in your players. At worst this should have been a draw. Just so disappointing.

  20. Worked his socks off lost the ball endless backward passing no close control no positional sense … No wonder wenger gets away with his fraudulent management … Don’t need a new manager need a whole new fan base too … Pathetic assessment

  21. Unlike many fans I’m pro Ramsey. And agree had good game, was unlucky not to score (great save)-

    But we need 2 defensive mid-fielders!

    It protects better. It also leads to less of a possession based game and we PLAY BETTER when can use our pace and skill to counter-attack (at least) some of the time

    That means it’s Ozil OR Ramsey. And yesterday Ozil should have been sacrificed for the better shape

    Giroud has arguably been our best player – and sorry – he must START!

    He had 1 header – and nearly scored!

    I also like Awobi- in Sanchez absence he is one of the few players that will take a risk, take on and beat a player

    We need a different starting line-up in the next match!

  22. are you drunk or didn’t watch the game and faking it. ramsey did play well at both end of the field though should have buried that chance. bellerin was awful on the left, tried his best but his weakness at using left food mean that with welbeck and him our left side is neutered, useless and didnt have not the usual overlapping runs monreal and kolasinac make. overlapping has always been one of our best attacking weapon.

    lacazette had a good game. he proved that he can linkup play even against tall physical teams like stoke and nearly scored.

    ozil actually took responsiblity of the game in the 2nd half. he didnt just disappear like he usually does when we play bad. cant blame him for trying and would have got atleast 2 assist if he had competent shooters unlike bambi welbeck.

  23. I believe the reason for the loss was due to Monreal playing central CB, he lead a bad line last time and I had hoped Wenger wouldn’t use him there again but he did.

    While trying to find reason for such stupidity the only thing I can think off is it is Wenger trying to push AFC into signing VVD… I know it is fantasy land but what else explains how a manager who has achieved top 4 so often even while selling the best players would make such a stupid decision???

    Remember when we lost to Liverpool on the opening day and we played both Holding and Chambers, we lost due to bad defending. Scored 3 and normally that would get you a win but conceding 4 was painful and we bought not long after that.
    That game was the 14th Aug, we signed Mustafi on the 30th Aug and Chambers loaned out on same day.

    Expect VVD?

    Now leave me to my delusions XD

  24. Articles on this site becomes more and more provocative…well you did it you made me comment on…
    I mean..Ramsey motm?
    Ox 7?
    I can tell author had good stuff prepared for smoking after the stoke game….but I understand…its tough to be AFC fan lately..

  25. Look I love wenger he’s been in my life 20 years always will be very fond of da great man he is but even I no we need young hungry manager I mean look at silva at Watford he’s got something about him there’s loads out there but it is only 2 no game we gotta relax we peppered stoke should had 2 pens ana a goal I believe if it stood we would have won with kos da boss and Sanchez come bk and hopefully another class signing we will do better we see where we are by xmas and hopefully still challenging ?

  26. I would give everyone a 1 just because of appearance, and Wenger a big fat zero for getting it all wrong. We deserve better than this as Arsenal fans.

  27. Some fan blame ozil and xhaka too much, I think they didn’t do that bad yesterday. They created some good chances to welbeck. On the other hand, welbeck and Cech needs to step up. Welbeck should have scored and cech should have saved the first goal. Overall, we just need to make some adjustments, we can beat Liverpool next week.

  28. I watched yesterday’s game with my son who is an undergraduate student and an ardent Arsenal supporter. As the team sheet was being rolled out on the screen just before the game he bitterly remarked that Wenger needs a psychiatrist. He angrily wondered how how Wenger could put Monreal and Kolasinac in central defence and leave an accomplished centre back like Mertesacker on the bench. Arsenal’s woes have mainly been due to two reasons: poor team selection and playing people out of their positions. Surely it would have been logical to start with Mertesacker and perhaps substitute him if he showed signs of not being fully fit. Most times we have lost games due to irrational team selection. Why should Oxlade play left wing back when there is Kolasinac? Why should Bellerin continue starting when it is clear he is off form? Why is Ozil never substituted even when he shows signs of not being up to it? Why should Wenger always make substitutes late when it is glaringly clear that some players are not performing to their expectations? If he knew he was unwilling to change why did he sign a new contract?

  29. Very boring game to watch. No leader on the pitch. Deserved result, zero point.

    Ozil, amazing how little he can influence the game any more. How come he always plays so deep? Became one of those mediocres. Drop him, sell him.

    Xhaka, he can’t defend, he lacks stability. I prefer Elneny.

    Welbeck, I know he’s trying hard but his finish is just too poor. Will he turn into a real threat? I don’t know, he is 26, already.

    Ox, he is my MOTM. He was a threat, he was the only one who tried to make something happen at least. Having that said, his efforts were individual; not collective. I don’t blame him if he wants to leave the club.

    Monreal, he was made to play out of position. I don’t blame him.

    Walcott, sell him, please.

    Wenger, this is very hard, I have loved and supported the club for 20 years, and when I looked at the pitch, there were not many players I really enjoy watching. And how they play was just disappointing. Wenger buys and plays the players. Wenger chooses the system on the pitch. 2 more years? That’s a joke and it not funny.

  30. The same old Arsenal. It seems this situation will continue unless the role of Cazrola is covered and a commanding leader is assigned.

  31. Not sure I understand the scale being used. If 5=average, these ratings are generally too high and generous. As just one example, I would give Welbeck a 3 this match for multiple wasted chances. It doesn’t matter how hard he runs around if he can’t shoot with authority when the teams delivers up a hard-earned chance!

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