Arsenal player ratings v Brighton – Abject performance, no excuses

Arsenal player ratings v Brighton – Dreadful, absolutely dreadful.

The entire team, apart from Leno, played terribly and they fully deserved to lose.

The post mortem on this game will not be kind to the players, they were outplayed by Brighton at the Emirates. Think about that for a minute. Think about the depth Arsenal have plunged to.

It is not being unrealistic to say that come the new year Arsenal could be in a relegation dog fight. I never ever thought I would see that in my lifetime.

Player Ratings

Leno 7
Arsenal man of the match and he gets just a seven. Made two good saves and continues to grow in stature.

Bellerin 5
Started off well but faded and was culpable for Brighton’s winner

David Luiz 3
Awful and he’s getting worse as every game passes. How is he still in the team?

Sokratis 5
Never looked comfortable and when Brighton can run you ragged you need to question your own ability

Kolasinac 6
Best of the defenders, he actually managed a couple of crosses and was tough with his tackling.

Torreira 4
Again not played in his best position. What is the point of picking him out of position? But even so, did not do his job well.

Xhaka 4
Brighton went past him as if he was not there. He tried but was simply put in the pockets of the Seagulls midfield.

Willock 2
Very poor game. No point attacking him. he will know how bad he was.

Ozil 4
Did he play in the first half? I never saw him. Better in the second half, barely.

Lacazette 6
Scored the goal but was lacking sharpness throughout, he needs to do much better.

Aubameyang 5
Played out on the wing yet again and he is just not effective there. Let himself down having a pop at Willock as he did.

Subs

Pepe 6
Not at his sharpest but what do you expect when he hardly plays. He tracked back and did offer a threat, when he got the ball.

Tierney 5
Average score because of the length of time on the pitch. Why Kolasinac starts over him I do not know.

Martinelli 5
Just not on long enough so gets an average 5

Manager

Ljungberg 4
Selected another poor team, left better players on the bench, played others out of position. Out of his depth.

26 Comments

  1. I agree with most of what you say but I honestly thought you were unfair to Xhaka who was probably our best outfield player and worked very hard.

    1. I did hesitate over his rating but there were so many gaps in the midfield, in the area that he was supposed to manage and that allowed Brighton time and again to come at us. But maybe I could have gone one point higher.

      1. Emery left that behind, all that footage he had players watching, all the stationary positions he had them pick up, with our fullbacks receiving the most freedom, more freedom than our number 10 even (fullbacks a disciplined position, it might not look it, but it is). Wenger didn’t cause any of that, mismatching, the buying, the non buying, the low confidence, the angry fans, the lack of discipline and not even an over-attacking minded style to blame it all on, one or two same scapegoat ..but read further. Wenger has been erased at this club, whatever did survive is now gone and it will be coincidence when you find something you think you can blame on Wenger. Emery thought too literal when they asked him to mop up after Wenger, he went about eradicating stuff from top to bottom and was almost at the finish line (but not leveling the field by putting informed disciplines and ideals/training back in along with players taking up spots)

        I always said that we acted in the interest of two of our rivals with how things went in the last five seasons. Liv and Tott needed us out of the way, we were looked at as the weakest of that top four even though we had the greatest top four record, weakest in the sense that billionaires were at the other three. Liv’s story would be so different only for the timing, Tott could never get past us, so who had the most to lose and who the most to gain with how things turned out. Like I said, things panned out in our rivals favor, and you should never trust what you read online, ever!!! And yes, I am aware, I do see it.

      2. Xhaka made his obligatory mistake that should have led to a goal in the last ten minutes. The guy is awful.

  2. I agree. I think Xhaka actually was our best player today. Esp in the first half he did well defensively and had great forward passing.

    Though we lost I felt we had a lot more heart. we actually improved but reality is we still suck – it just not working. Where is holding and chambers for CB?

    Can we please get keown in to sort out team out again.

    1. He made his signature donkey mistake by the end of the game, though. Do you really want that in your team?

  3. After the last game I thought it could not get worse, it did and it will probably get even worse if the silent board don’t do something soon. In this instance silence is NOT a virtue. This team is totally disjointed, complacent, no leadership, no passion and no fight, just going through the motions.

    The new manager should set about disbanding this failed team as soon as it is possible. The only players, in my opinion, who should be kept are Leno, Tierney, Martinelli and Pepe, the last three have not had the time to prove their worth but with good coaching could develop into top players. Our defence, at best, is probably League 1 standard and is probably the cause of the steady decline.

  4. we are facing the drop, forget top four now, just concentrate on avoiding the drop, our better days were gone long time ago, thought freddie will do something…but hey!, we are getting worse as each day goes by,my friend beaten by brighton!, when shall we find our first win?, sorry dont see.., we are actually worse than the word worse itself!

  5. First of all I respect Freddie but
    always wrong selection so far and I think he is not ready to menage arsenal. I don’t know why he trust willock he is not ready. Socratis Luiz not good enough. Holding and konstantinos should play way ahead. So disappointed with Freddie team selection.
    If I were a menager I would have selected

    Leno

    Hector konstantinos holding tierney

    Torriera ozil xhaka

    Peper lacazette

    Auba

    I Don’t know what Freddie is afraid of or trying to proof old school won’t work.

  6. We can talk about team selections all we like but to say play Kontantinos when he has not kicked a ball in two years is crazy.

  7. Kroenke’s crown jewel starting to look a little dusty, it’s time for a polish. And only some serious cash injection and change of mentality around the whole club will get it shining again. Forget the self sustaining rubbish and put some serious money into the club to get the best possible manager and players for him. Either that or sell to an owner who will. The club is dying and only thing he’s sustaining is mediocrity. Hopefully the only good that will come from this situation we find ourselves in is the clubs value and standing in world football will drop so much that he has no choice but to sell, that’s the only thing keeping me positive about Arsenal at this point

  8. Freddie is yet to understand the difference between Under-23s and the PL. You cannot have Saka [Freddie is obsessed with him!] and Willock in the PL. 4-3-3- at home is a good formation but has to drop Ozil. He is a waste of space. Start both Martinelli and Pepe, with Auba in the centre. For away matches, it may be good to go with three at the back – Holding, Chambers and Mustafi. Occasionally, Luiz can be played in the DM role.

  9. How you lot keep regurgitating this crap about Tierney being better than Kolasinac continues to amaze me. Really?

    1. Tierney crosses the ball better. Generally, played better when in attacking role.
      Defensively, the jury is still out.

    2. Kolasinic was our best defender in this game, immediately Tieney came on we conceded the second go with many attempt on goal against u.

  10. I think the problem is choosing Willock and keeping pepe on the bench when we need more creative player alongside Ozil. And there is no reason for keeping guendozi on the bench when you need someone to fight in the middle.

    Our defence is a disaster, let’s all agree that sokratis and luiz shouldn’t be started anymore!
    give Holding, chambers and mustafi a chance because I don’t think we are going to fail even more!

  11. What this team needs is the right mentality and fighting spirit. We lost that completely under Wenger and Emery could not bring it back. I think we need a couple of die hard English players too, not the weaklings we presently have.

    1. Arsenal need players with character, physicity and mental toughness with professional pride in playing for the Arsenal. I don’t give a rat’s arse what nationality they are.
      The interview with Tony Adams and Owen Hargreaves was right on the money, about the Arsenal players taking responsibility for the abject displays this season. Arsenal can’t keep changing head coaches to excuse the players.

  12. I doesn’t appear that any one here has better ideas than Freddie. Sorry to burst bubbles here. Hindsight is the greatest. He should have played this player, he should not have played this one. Good to say that AFTER we lost.

    Let’s all agree on one thing. On paper, any of these players selected should win us this match. But the reality is that we are finding it really hard to come to terms that something has messed with the team chemistry and we are seeing the result. These players are better than they are performing. Something is wrong guys!

    You can’t solve a problem until you put the correct name on it. What is the real problem with this team? It doesn’t appear to be a coaching problem to me. Each player is good enough, based on their antecedents. When so many players are messing themselves up at the same time and the club is going into a downward spiral, I don’t really think the players alone should be blamed. Yes, they should be responsible for how they represent themselves, talk less of the club. But this is scary. This defies any logical explanation.

    Anything short of dismantling the club and starting a rebuilding process won’t cut it. That will take a whole lot of money and a whole lot of time and patience. The fans are not prepared to be that long-suffering but, maybe they can learn.

    Freddie is probably doing what he thinks is the best. Let’s not kill him yet. It’s too early to do that. He walked into an impossible situation and he’s expected to deliver a miracle in a blink. The man must be paranoid now. With our kind of fans, he stands no chance. With a highly demotivated and clueless set of players, he is done for. For him, it’s heads you lose, tails you lose.

    So who is the miracle worker that will salvage the situation. Who is this knight in shining to the rescue if this damsel in dire distress?

    Definitely not the fans. I don’t envy the board at all. They must have peed in their pants after yesterday.

  13. Guys, I see a way out of this predicament.
    It’s gonna cost us both Laca and Auba because them two are leaving anyway. I reckon we can get around 100 million for the both of them. That’s enough money to buy a decent survive-the-relegation striker, a solid defender to finally bench one of the donkeys and you might be left with a couple of million to attract an Allegri.
    Other option is that one of the two stays for the money and then we spend the 50 million +- on a solid defender and have some money remaining for a save-our-asses gaffer.
    I was desperate this morning before I had this epiphany. If what I said happens, we’re safe. We might even be in the top 10.

  14. We are falling like a stone in water, to the bottom and not a safety net in sight.We made Brighton look like world beaters.Pity Dunk wasn’t our Centre Half and Captain.The Championship beckons , believe me.

  15. I think in the 45 minutes Willcok did more than enough to merit about a 4. (Closet Guendouzi fans I suspect criticizing him.) He should have scored and could have got a penalty. Lacazette cannot hold the ball up regularly, has an inconsistent touch and is never awarded free kicks, not sure why.
    Big up Ljundberg for dropping Guendouzi (if he is the core of our midfield we are in serious trouble – he needs to play with his head not his heart)

  16. I think people over-rated Leno a bit on occasion. He wasn’t horrible but he always seems to be beaten by at-least a couple of goals, I’m sorry but you yay sayers can’t always be right, because if you were – well then I’m sure we’d have seen some clean sheets before now.

    When keepers get a certain amount of efforts being fired at them each game, some GKs always try to make some of the other saves look a better save, some keepers are good at doing that. Ospina was good at it, but not for me. I prefer when players make things look basic, more simple, many people might miss it but the best authorities out there will see it, those are the ones you want to please, in the long run it will pay dividends.

    Also, marshaling a defence at times, GKs are greatly positioned for this, they are the eyes that the player doesn’t have in the back of his head. Has anyone seen Leno organizing the set-up back there, or have they seen him point a finger now and then and the shouting comes afterwards, if he can’t organize then he can’t organize, but he should know when he wants a man on post and he should be better at penno and set piece defending. Remember we used to be at our most dangerous when other teams took a corner and lost possession to us, we’d have the next three passes in our heads, and the way teams stopped us was a hatchet jo.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors