Arsenal v Watford Player ratings – Mhki brilliant and many positives

Arsenal finally got a League win but it was against a team that have now earned one point from their last nine away games, so I’m not going to carried away just yet. But it was a confidence booster and other than Iwobi everyone played reasonably well.

So here are my ratings:

Cech 8
after blaming himself for last week’s defeat he bounced back in style. Excellent match, saved a penalty and finally broke his record

Maitland-Niles 7
Played very well other than penalty error. He is shaping up to be special

Mustafi 7
Great goal but the worry must be his recurring injury problems. Played well until going off

Holding 7
Another good showing by the youngster. Seems to have regained his confidence

Kolasinac 6
Played well at the start but still seems to need more match fitness. Where has his exploding runs gone?

Elneny 8
Great game, he looks fit and keen and definitely impressive

Xhaka 6
Nothing spectacular but a solid performance

Iwobi 5
It seems like Wenger desperately wants Iwobi to succeed, but if we only play him against teams like Watford maybe he will one day, but I doubt it..

Ozil 7
Great record, great game, terrible miss!

Mkhitaryan 9
He really is Alexis’ replacement, as he can be sometimes brilliant but gives the ball away more than anyone else! But as I say, brilliant…

Aubameyang 7
One goal, one assist but very little else!

Subs – All rubbish

33 Comments

    1. I hope you give him benefit of the doubts when he fails in a match. After he provided 3 assists in a match and did not play well against Spurs… i cant beleive what some Arsenal fans wrote. Yet, his #7 counterpart at OldT is yet to hit the ground running. I say some Arsenal fans are deluded.

        1. Or dooming us by arguing the case for a manager who believes the reason for fan discontent is a “bad week” in which we were beaten twice by Man City.
          I didn’t realise having one bad week in football could result in your team being 33 points behind the leaders.
          As short sighted as the manager…

    1. Xhaka is a good player but he doesn’t know how to defend or tackle…

      He has lost his aggression a bit due to the double red card

  1. Just watched highlights on YouTube
    Cech made a lot of good saves, not just the penalty.
    Probably his best match this season

  2. These ratings are far overhyped. We FINALLY beat a rather poor Watford, thanks to a poor penalty, though well saved, when Watford were well in the game. Mykitayyan given a nine is ridiculous. He was poor for a full first hour. I can never be one of those who forgets ten awful managerial years and a disastrous season with one scorewise misleading, though “comfortable” win against a bang average opponent. We still do not have even ONE reliable defender at the whole club, which is a disgrace and not so easily forgotten or forgiven by realists like me. Of course the naive and juveline Pires who has no life perspective will now say I am being disloyal . Disloyal to what? This mediocrity and nonsense of a manager?

    1. Hi Jon I’m not naive,I’m just asking you to be a little bit realistic and you will find that we cannot compete with the likes of shitty ….Wenger though is DISASTROUS at times and DOGMATIC also with his outdated vision of economics but changing managers isn’t always a solution even though I’m against someone like Jardim to take the managerial seat one day or E.Howe

      1. Pires, No other club either is properly competing with City in this extraordinary (for them season. That I accept. But we are not competing with all the other clubs above us either. This destroys your argument. I am also curious why you admit Wenger is “DISASTROUS AND DOGMATIC AT TIMES” yet stll want to keep him. Bizarre reasoning surely! You and I have different perspectives on many things, probably because we are so far apart in ages. I could more easily understand why other “dinosaurs” of my own generation would preach loyalty and things were very different, in life generally, when we old ones were your age. But what I CANNOT UNDERSTAND is why modern, up to date people of todays media savvy world , would want to stick with a dinosaur to manage us. Surely dinosaurs belong in museums, like the NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM , not managing a football club that likes to consider itself- however laughably- modern and at the cutting edge. Soon , both yours and my opinions will be entirely academic anyway, as he is very close to being sacked right now.

    2. Jon, with all due respect Arsenal were denied a sure fire penalty when Mkhitaryan was taken out late in the box.

      1. Agreed but so what? That changed nothing in essence! Except meaningless end of season goal difference

    3. jon agree with you on big picture but unfair on miki even if wasnt a 9 he looked like a quality option but maitland niles and holding a 7 is dilussional …neither will be playing if we get a serious manager though i think former might make it good if he spends a year in the championship working out his lethargy .. holding is a dead centre half walking and a summer quality purchase is imperative .. i was a bit disappointed with dououre who we seem to be linked with as a potential DM but almost certainly better than xhaka who the junkies still have faith in for reasons beyond any semblance of rational thinking

      1. Why is holding so hated. He has potential as Nilles or at least he showed that. I agree both of them do not deserve 7 it’s 6 for me. They would get destroyed by better players. However I have high hopes for them.

  3. Lots of positives but…
    Aside from a confidence booster for Thursday’s game with Milan this was a meaningless match with no pressure as our league campaign is finished.
    Nice result but the bigger picture is that we are 33 points behind the leaders – that is why I read nothing into it – Wenger still has to go..

  4. Elneny was the best player on the pitch yesterday.Surely be will play in the return against Milan?

  5. Mkhitaryan was bang average up until the assist and then his goal. Had he been subbed before those his performance would have been seen as poor on the day.

    Yes, he redeemed himself, but scoring him for the whole game, he was never a 9 out of 10.

    Elneny on the other hand is a little gem. He goes about his work quietly and without standing out, but his passes are often sublime and his role is evolving nicely. He deserves a good run in the side and can influence games very positively.

    I’m not against Mkhitaryan, but he needs to justify his salary that is probably 4x that of Elneny. He needs to provide those assists and goals more consistently.

    I think people are scoring him based on his potential and not reality.

    1. Hear hear! At least on Mkhitaryan. He definitely has talent but not sure of his heart, based on all his games so far. Worrying!

      1. About Mhki… you can tell that he is getting used to playing with his new team mates good thing that he already knows how Auba plays so he can provide that one goal when is needed… He will improve, Elneny has been playing really well when given the chance, unfair how Xhaka gets the thumbs up every single game when He is average.

  6. vs AC Milan 11
    …………..Ospina
    AMN…Kosc…Hold…Kola
    …………..Elneny
    ……Rams………..Jack
    Mhki………………….Ozil
    …………..Nkei

  7. I disagree with Mikhy rating as many mentioned he was poor most of the game. The assist and goal are very miss leading. He doesn’t deserve to be slated but 9/10 ridiculous. He is settling down with team and I have high hopes for him. He was same as Iwobi most of the game. He stepped up unlike Iwobi.
    Nilles was solid, but he can not cross the damn ball as Bellerin. Not his natural position so kudos to him for his performance.
    Elneny was okay as Xhaka I wonder why the rating is so different. However Xhaka had average game. At least I do not see him as walking bomb now.
    Čech is man of the match for me. Had many good saves and except for one shaky ball and kick he was solid.

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