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Arsenal player ratings v Bournemouth – improved performances from a number of players

Arsenal player ratings – Arsenal earn a deserved point against gritty Bournemouth.

This was a good performance from Arsenal when you consider the fact they were away, under new management and in terrible form.

Most of the players put in improved performances and while there are still issues this is a result that can begin the process of gaining some momentum, especially when you consider the sort of games coming up.

Anyway, here are the ratings.

Player Ratings

Leno – 7
Another solid display from the German, still miffed at the constant delays with passing the ball out but suspect that is down to instructions.

Maitland-Niles – 5
Josh King basically put him in his back pocket but he made no huge errors and worked his socks up.

Sokratis – 5
An average game, clearly not suited to this level of English football but is a trier.

Luiz – 6
I thought he had a decent game to be fair but he still makes me very nervous.

Saka – 6
The youngster needs to work on his crossing but overall I thought he played quite well.

Torreira – 7
One of his more efficient games. He was not bullied and fought hard to make the midfield more Arsenal than Bournemouth.

Xhaka – 8
Was my man of the match, played his heart out, was disciplined and actually played like a captain, shame we did not get this sort of performance from him when he was the actual captain.

Ozil – 7
He clearly tired which is no surprise but until then I thought he was bright and creative. One of his better performances in recent months.

Nelson – 5
Struggling at this level and maybe needs a loan move but who knows, Arteta may turn him into the next Raheem Sterling.

Aubameyang – 7
Put in a fine display today and with a little bit more service or dare I say, a more effective partner he may have scored more than the once.

Lacazette – 4
Worse Arsenal player on the pitch today. I do not know if it is confidence but everything was off with his game.

Subs

Willock – 5
Did ok when he came on but was nothing more than average.

Pepe – 5
Average rating because he was not on long enough.

Mustafi – 5
Ditto for the German defender.

Manager

Arteta – 7
Not a win but not a loss either and there were signs of improvement.

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77 Comments

  1. I hope Martinelli would come back soon and hopefully Arteta can make Pepe adapt faster

    It would be massive if both inverted wingers start banging goals from the flanks

    1. Why are you always mentioning inverted wingers, we don’t have proper wingers for now. Moreover, winger is to the wing, so which one is inverted winger?. I hope you will not bring comma or bracket winger come 2020

      1. Martinelli and Pepe are both inverted wingers. Because they play on their weaker side to cut inside and shoot with their stronger foot more often, rather than running to the byline to cross

        Similar to Messi, Neymar, Zaha, Neres, Vinicius Jr, Salah and Mane. Only skillful wingers can play well in that position

          1. Well there is a role called inverted Winger, and on paper and in reality they are very close. Biggest difference is starting positions, and also who winger or wingback, who keeps the width of the team. Also Inverted winger was a new option in FM2020, and is probably why people who are not coaches use it more and more

    2. @Gotanidea – please stop with your analysis, nothing is changing! The squad is useless and these ideas about inverted wingers is a load of crap!

    3. @GotAnIdea I’m glad you are ignoring some of these people who don’t have anything constructive to say

  3. I must have been dreaming, i saw xhaka put us in trouble giving the ball away for Bournemouths first effort and i counted 5 times he got tackled, lost possession or passed it to the opposition in our half. Apart from that he looked ok but nothing special. Leno and Torreira were my motm because they actually put a shift in all game. I thought Auba worked hard also.

    1. Xhaka and Maitland-Niles changed their positions many times to cover their teammates

      They intercepted many passes by doing that

  4. Well it’s just a single game, but Arteta had the team playing forward passes instead of their weekly sideways passes.
    The defenders looked calm, something both CBs don’t even look close to for the past three months.
    Xhaka, I hope he keeps playing like this, do the simple thing.
    I think the reason Arteta said he wants him is probably because Xhaka is the only thing we have closer to Gundogan.
    Under Arteta he could be our own Gundogan.
    Torreira!! What a performance! Something us fans kept singing about for the past 12 months, he’s a bloooody Defensive midfielder not an attacking or B2B.
    MOTM in honest truth..months ago I read Arteta might be the one to help Torreira & Guendouzi improve their games, especially Guedouzi seeing as he’s the experienced version of Guendouzi.. I’ve never had any doubt Torreira is a good DM.
    If watched his performance for Sampdoria, his first 5 months for us and his national team performance, you’d know the guy could be more useful for us if used properly. Listen to even Mourinho’s assessment of Torreira. If only Emery used him properly.

    Ozil suddenly looked like the Ozil I know. It’s a game, I hope he doesn’t slide back and keeps putting it in like we know he can..
    Hopefully Martinelli is ready for Chelsea.
    If not this Jan, next summer we might get Koulibaly, as the board already approached Napoli during the past few days

  5. A point at a team who has lost 6 of their last 7.
    Not a terrible result not a great result.
    Inconclusive really.
    Two Emery like draws so far under Arteta.
    After Chelsea and Man U at home will be a better time to assess.

    3. This is Arteta’s first game and first draw.
      The last game had Freddie in charge.

      I hope we mature up those 2 games. Would also be an assessment of how fast his mentality is sinking

    4. Arteta has managed one game, this game… Emery like draw would be constantly overran in midfield, opponent having more shots on our goal than their own, can’t string more than 3 passes together and never look like scoring. What part of this looks like an Emery like game? If anything it looks like a game we should have won based on our performance but we take a draw as we know how bad our team has been as of late.

      It’ll be better to assess this team after January.

    5. Agu, if we did not have a great game yesterday against a very average team and the week before too, then the future two games can be guessed. Our players may have the talent and skill, do they have the drive to do what S’ton did to CFC? Be prepared for maNy draws, in the near future.I have written off the EPL, if and IF Mikel can win the FA and the EL, then the season would be a success.But I doubt, with Ozil, Xhaka, Socarates, AMN, Mustafi, Luiz, it would be easier for Mikel to scale the Mount Everest alone than win something with these dudes.

      1. I hate this kind of negative thinking that people possess, I’m sure you have a job you do. How will you feel if your boss think the company is going no where with you? This players are good before they joined us, the coaches job is to make them perform. My brother always says academy player don’t get appreciated because they were not bought. Robertson was from Hull city, Vardy was playing in non league, Trent Alex was from the academy but the coaches brought out the gold in them even Salah couldn’t cut it at Chelsea but told he is dressing up for Balloon D or

    6. agu eman But surely Arteta has only to win the Treble this season to satisfy you. Lucky for him that you’re not a demanding fan, eh?

    7. i hope you’re not expecting miracles. Even if we got Pep into this side nobody can improve THIS squad as quickly as you seem to be expecting.

  7. I think the ratings are too generous.
    Also thought Xhaka was a 5 at best.

    Arteta gets a 5 as well. I thought he could have replaced RN at half time.

    Why is it that our guys can’t cross a ball to save their life.
    We must be the worst crossing team in league.

    1. Still worried about relegation. If we get nothing from next two games we are in the relegation fight, and Tbh, I don’t think we have the mentality to get out of it. So let’s not get there to begin with🤞

      1. But if we win against Chelsea, we’re 5 points off top 4.

        I know, we’re not getting top 4 this year, although the way Chelsea have imploded and the way Spurs and Man U might do the same as the season goes on, it’s not out of the question…

        On topic: Torreira was good, but lost their scorer for their goal. Ozil was very good, Laca is going through a rut, Nelson should be sold or loaned so his value increases and THEN sold. And most of all, we NEED Martinelli back.

  8. Some of you can’t seem to see any positive in anything our players do… Bunch of negative whiny moanys…

    1. exactly….the team actually did quite well

      most of them did not even watch the game…

      xhaka did well too

      arteta still need time …a good pre season to prepare

    2. There were lot of positives, tactics were good..you could see there was a clear plan n played followed it. Torreria n Ozil played really well. Finally some one is playing torreria in his right position. With more confidence as time go on happy days are ahead. Everyone gave their best effort n played their heart out…sad some of them just don’t have the technical ability like Nelson n wilock. Xhaka is just not suited for the role, he is not a CM who can link defence and attack plus he does not have quick feet to bail him out of trouble. Make shift defence did pretty good as well.

    2. I am afraid too, but then records are made to be broken. But as they say if you want to get something done do it your self. If we want to preserve our record we will have to beat them at home.

  10. I thought Xhaka had a good game today, bad news for some, and good news for some Xhaka will be off to Hertha Berlin, confirmed.
    He’s not on board with staying, and he still feels bad with the way Emery handled his issues with the fans.
    Well that’s one, anyone else not ready to be on board should leave too.
    Xhaka has agreement with Hertha Berlin.
    Hopefully they pay up and Raul bites the money off their hands

      1. GB, his Agent has confirmed it, he says they have an agreement with Hertha, and they’ve spoken to Raul, Edu and Arteta that Xhaka wants to leave this Jan.
        Meanwhile, we can have Upamecano next summer as RBL seems to have found his replacement in a 17years old French defender.
        Xhaka will leave, I’m positive because Arteta already said anyone not board will leave

        1. Hi Eddie, I saw the article and see you are correct but it’s a pity he has one of his best games for us and now looks like he’s off. Looks like Elneny is leaving permanently too.

    2. I have seen that and for everyones sake i hope that it is true. I hope it turns out correct and we get the midfield stiffened up, with Artetas choice and we move on.

      1. Reggie I knew Hertha have new investors and wanted Xhaka for real. I just wasn’t expecting it to be this simple. He really wants to leave. for the fact his agent boldly came out to say they have an agreement with Hertha means it’s true.
        35-38million I think is the offer Hertha wants to make.
        Also Hertha are trying to convince Julian Draxler to join them as they’re rebuilding.
        That one is something I can’t. bet won’t happen, Julian won’t go there

  11. Yes Sue I think they will win more games than our Invincibles. Our 26-12 win/draw ratio, compared to Pool’s 2 draws; 52 out of 54 points.

    Unless they get bitten with Injury bug don’t see them getting beat.

    They made Leicester look like they were 10 points behind, 13 now. Leicester had no attempts in 1st half, hate to say but pool in another galaxy.

    We drew with a poor Bournemouth team, still same old Arsenal. Same dead cat bounce that Freddie got his first match.

    Face it, if Auba can’t magic a goal we are trash. Shocking we have become a team looking to one man to save the day.

    Wenger left the team without a leader and an embarrassing defense. Emery actually turned us timid in 18 months in spite of the money Raul wasted.

    Stuck with garbage players and forced to lose massive money if we can even sell them.

    £35 Mustafi, maybe get £15-£18 million
    £35 Xhaka, maybe get £22-£25 million
    £18 Sokratis maybe £8-£10 million.

    Rumored Kola interest for £25, or Torreira for the £27 million we invested.

    We are poor talent evaluators, bad contract negotiators, and ownership is our own worst enemy

  12. 16 plus shots on goal was only bettered twice in 18 months under UE.

    So improvement is shown in the 48hrs or so of training time with Arteta.

    Looking forward to seeing Bellerin, Holding back very soon as they appear to be in full training again. Hopefully Martinelli is back for Chelsea.

    Looking forward to seeing more of this type of football and with more understanding behind them, I expect we will have a more confident end towards the season.

    How a Arteta European Cup final win will go down for the millions of fans.

  13. We are going through a Very tough if I can remember Liverpool were actually going through the same thing a few years ago with mediocre signings like Andy Carol for 30m Stewart downing… Until Brendan Roger’s came in and improved them..atleast they had better players like Suarez, sterling and they came close to winning the league… Klopp has really transformed this team I watched them tearing Leicester apart and I admit we have a long way… We might just end up being a midtable team….i think our recruitment team is not doing a good.. Luiz, sokratis are players who are past their best.. The rest of the squad play like they have no desire…. We need a massive overhaul

  14. Xhaka was awful, gave ball away countless time. Made 2 good forward passes but most of his passing is backwards or side ways. His weakness is he does not have quick feet to come out of trouble. How admin has given him 8 I do not understand perhaps he was watching a different game. My man of the match was torreria, worked hard, came away with ball ever time n his distribution was good as well.

    1. Still@gotanidea gave him a 8 and MOTM while giving a 4 to Lacazette ! this site articles are getting worse, at the start of the season they promised us better articles and other crap,like our board all words and nothing else,i have an idea like ARSENAL this site should get rid of some of their writers,any ideas? actually I do have some!!

  15. I did not rate Xhaka, Saka, or AMN. Luiz and ‘The Wrestler’ are imposters. I do back Arteta though. He will see through our football imposters. We need at least 3 players in January. CB, DM and a creative magician like Mikel Oyarzabal. We are intensely boring.

  16. Torreira, Ozil finally given a role he can play.

    The problem is that the chances created by Ozil are not converted, which too many fans cannot see.

    Arteta: “He worked and could have been the difference; we could have scored three or four goals from his balls through…” “To be fair his attitude in training since the day I walked into the building has been incredible. I said I was going to give a clean slate to everybody and I want to give it to him.”

    So, now we have an actual coach who worked at the top of the game with Pep. But, do we have a manager?

    We need two CD and a DMF to replace departing Xhaka.

    I think Arteta will get two of the three players he needs…

    1. JJ Pawn, funny how that hasn’t been picked up by those who continually quote any negative article they can find regarding Ozil isn’t it?

      He was excellent today and to be honest, MA simply played his best players in their right positions and it showed just what a difference a coach who knows how to ACTUALLY coach can achieve.

      The forwards wasted so many chances, it was ridiculous, but as long as Ozil can co. can keep setting up the chances, the results will surely come?

      1. I want to see Martinelli up there, with a Giroud type of player, even Giroud himself. Martinalli is an electric killer goal scorer. Laca is being marked and hacked to distraction, poor guy. Auba is out of position–he is a poacher. He should play with Laca.. Ozil behind them. 4-2-1-3 is good maybe with a Laca playing a bit more of a false 9 and Auba in the box with the wing back behind on the wing… Monreal, we are missing him.

        I doubt anyone on this site looks at data: Giroud with Ozil led the EPL in headers… when Giroud left, guess what happened to Arsenal’s 3D attack? It become 2D and very much easier to handle. I am not sure anyone here has played CD or wingback, that is along the back four. It is much easier to defend if you know that there is not aerial threat.

        Ozil is wasted on Arsenal right now as there is no legit aerial threat. If Ibhra was at Arsenal, we would make top six in the next ten games with Ozil at #10. Only improve with a proper CD.

        Aretata know all this. His pedigree is with Pep the master of playing with the right men most of the time. Only way to upset that rhythm is a mobile fast attack unit.

        Wenger got all this, but did not have the players. He wanted Van Dyk! Imagine this team with that guy and Koz?

        1. exactly…most fans dont actually analyse the game but look at the final score and listen to the media….

          giroud was pretty good target man and strong in the air…

          the board could only afford a budget of 20m for evans…

          1. We sold Giroud to fulfill the 3 way transfer to get Auba. Ofcourse Auba is far better..But it was Giroud who won Euro cup for Chelsea last term.. He was scoring for fun for Chelsea in Europe…

        2. wow, first it was Giroud who needed to go and we needed a player who could run onto Ozil throughballs, now the narrative is we need a targetman all over again to make Ozil look good. You guys gotta stick with a story…

          1. RSH, I think you will find that, those of us who support Ozil, never wanted Giroud to leave – but it’s those who want Ozil to leave who keep making up these stories.
            After watching lacs and auba yesterday, it seems neither could hit a barn door with a ball, even when being supplied with the passes to do it (apart from auba’s goal of course).

            Anyway, I’m quite happy that every player has been given a clean sheet and it’s up to each individual to prove to MA they want to play the Arteta way…looks like MA and Ozil have already found common ground in which to admire and support each other…happy days ahead!!!

  17. Generally the team played ok. Lacazette was not firing on all cylinders and should have put a few chances away. Sorry to say Reid Nelson and Saka should not be starting, Saka didn’t put a decent cross in and Nelson didn’t look up to speed. Our squad has been stripped bare the last few years.

    I did see improvements the active pressing and pressing from both directions with the forwards coming back to create a pincer movement and winning the ball back a few times for this. More direct and positive forward play. Even though we didn’t win the performance has given me a little hope.

    1. saka is a bit inexperience and nelson is rusty…at their age you do not expect world class perfect cross or etc

      both need games to improve

      its just like saying 18yo mbappe or fab should not be playing

      1. I agree John, but my point is Arsenal shouldn’t have to rely on them and starting them is ridiculous, as you said Saka is inexperienced. we should have experienced players in those positions.

        I’m all for bringing youngsters through, Fabregas, Clichy, Wilshere, Ramsey but they need to be ready to hit the ground running and they clearly are not.

  18. Freddie was promoted to assist Emery and it was all Freddie’s idea of promoting the academy players to compensate the loss of players we shipped off last summer. Freddie rely too much on these kids. Emery relied on Freddie and he got sacked… Last season we weren’t this bad. We cleared all our so called “dead woods” and promoted little shrubs to resist the hurricane of EPL. That was the main reason for our decline. Last season we lost top 4 for a single point. Count the points we lost because of error prone AMN. Pray to clear these kids who cant even cross a good ball and buy tall and strong players like Upamecano and koulibaly.. Else forget the season and pray for a better tomorrow… Be patient like Liverpool until we rebuild the team…

    1. We didnt use our main fullbacks, enough of this, weak cross crusade, the way we are slating the young men, we will destroy them in no time. Saka Is putting in a shift to help the team. I believe it would have been better if we had either of KT or even Kola on the pitch yesterday

      1. Sorry..not slating them..Just said they are not good for Arsenal… Like concerns about senior players like Mustafi, Xhaka, Miki…I dont understand why we shipped Welbeck to make room for these kids. .. Was he worse than these kids?

  19. I agree with the ratings, people say he didn’t have forward passes but he initiated the attack that led to our goal. I hope he stays but good luck to him if he leaves, hope we get someone better

  20. I don’t wana sound too negative, and I understand our current injury situation.

    We can’t rely on youngsters week in week out. These young players need an already bedded system within the squad to learn and grow from..

    Us trying to create a system with very young players in the starting 11 will prolong the process of us having an identity. It could even hamper the young players development Ala Walcott or Chamberlain.

    In the coming transfer windows we need to buy ready made players who can start games on and off the bench.

    Yes there are a few youngsters that are an exception like Martinelli or Guendouzi (ans Saka to an extent), but the rest need loan moves.

    Willock, Nketiah and Nelson should be nowhere near the starting 11 at the moment, the Arsenal first team is no playground for them to learn simple basics properly, even AMN took time to start playing, why are these guys now playing when Arsenal are in a serious situation where we need to start picking up points and confidence, and then create an identity.

    The Arsenal first team is a premier league first team squad first and foremost, not an academy setup.

    We must get our priorities straight

    1. If they are playing they must be showing some promise at training, We as supporters can’t see what goes on the background so I will support the line ups our Coach uses.

  21. It WAS an improved performance, period. The improvement came mainly from personal commitment by the players, firstly, and secondly the team kept its shape a bit better. Football wise there wasn’t anything to get too exited about yet. It will come – give AE some time.

    But what I would lke to see is a hard low cross into the penalty area instead of those that end up near the opposite corner flag. That is actually a bit pathetic, that we have players that cannot cross the ball where they want to. The chances of something happening when a hard low ball comes across the goal are significantly better than high crosses that do not reach the intended targets, and moreoer where those targets are not the beat headers of a ball in the first place. Just saying….

  22. There were certainly some improvements yesterday, especially in commitment to the cause and quicker movement off the ball giving more options for forward passes rather than continuously passing backwards. I’m more confident now than I was a few weeks ago but we need to get away from the relegation zone sooner rather than later though.

  23. Xhaka man of the match !!! True he probably made slightly fewer mistakes than usual but was his usual clumsy uncreative lateral self … Until he is out we will not progress … Fortunately that seems likely in January …lets see who arteta can bring in to add flair and movement to the midfield … First half players did work at the tempo expected from a top club the problem was that they looked shattered as a result and it took a scrappy and fortunate goal to add a bit of energy … Long long long way to go but some positives at least just that xhaka was not one of them

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