We waited 100 days for the return of football, we all had hopes and in a calamitous 26 minutes, David Luiz single handily destroyed any chance Arsenal had of getting anything from this game.
I cannot complain too much about the initial team selection and injuries early on undid Arteta’s plans and while it has to be said that City was dominating possession, which was always expected, Arsenal were still in the game until Luiz did his horrendous cameo.
Anyway, here are the Arsenal player ratings
Arsenal player ratings
Bernd Leno 7
Our best performer but with the defence he has in front of him he was always going to be beaten. 7 is probably a little unfair but that is what you get when you lose 3-0.
Kieran Tierney 6
He did ok, showed some pace but never saw enough from him really and counter-attacks never materialised that he played any part in.
Shkodran Mustafi 5
Was out of position for the second goal and was wobbly throughout.
Pablo Mari 5
Came off early so gets the standard rating
Hector Bellerin 6
A bit like Tierney on the other flank really but was always looking mediocre when Sterling came at him.
Granit Xhaka N/A
No rating because he only lasted 7 minutes
Matteo Guendouzi 5
Out of his depth and not for the first time
Joe Willock 5
Soon realised he was not playing against Charlton in a friendly, questions have to be asked if he is ready for this level.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 4
Anonymous, nothing else to say
Eddie Nketiah 6
Probably the best forward today, at least he showed some energy.
Bukayo Saka 5
Average game and rarely showed the quality he has.
Subs
Dani Ceballos 5
Average game, did not offer anything really despite playing for 83 mins.
David Luiz 0
The very first time I have given a zero but what do you expect when in just 26 minutes you give away two goals and get red-carded. Absolutely disaster.
Reiss Nelson 4
Did next to nothing
Alexandre Lacazette 5
The only thing I can say is he did better than Aubameyang
Ainsley Maitland-Niles 5
Average and not his fault game was done when he came on.
Manager
Mikel Arteta 4
Risky team selection and it was not his fault that injuries and David Luiz crushed his strategy but he is responsible for bringing Luiz on and leaving Martinelli and Pepe on the bench when it was obvious they were needed very early on.
And we are thinking of giving David the donkey Luiz a new contract…
The wait for an Auba goal v City goes on…. as does an away win against a top 6 side….
Leno motm all day long…. again…
We’ve got to go through it all again on Saturday (wonder how many players we’ll be without 🙄) not sure I’m up for it… may go and do my weekly food shop instead, be less stressful that’s for sure!
You can’t help but watch the game no matter how frustrating arsenal are
Must be mad, hey?!!
Not me bro.
Haven’t watched Arsenal game on long time even before Covid-19 forced break.
I can endure the horrible shows presented by our mostly average Arsenal players, but the banters that follow it from our rival clubs local fans in the viewing centres are devastating.
In Nigeria, no matter the degree of your thick skin, you dare not wear Arsenal jersey this morning. You will negatively be cynosure of all eyes. Banters after banters will leave you regretting wear Arsenal jersey.
I’ve decided to avoid unnecessarily increasing my heartbeat from David Luiz and Co show of shame on behalf of Arsenal. Especially when they will still get their wages alert today on their phones.
Watching our live games is not my priority any longer.
Sorry if I’ve disappointed anyone here.
Nice one, Sanmi… and trust me, I feel your pain, we all do!!
My shirts haven’t seen the light of day in a while 😬
Breath taking how awful David Luiz can be. Please do not let him play for Arsenal ever again.
We are clearly needing a dominant ball winner in midfield.
Top 8 would be a realistic achievement now.
gooner’s lives matter!!!
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Leno deserves an 8, no less, would’ve been a cricket score if it hadn’t been for him.
Mustafi isn’t to blame at all for the second goal, Luiz was initially ahead of Mahrez, and could’ve got in front of him, but he preferred to let him run free, then pull him down. I wonder what Arteta said to him before sending him on, “go out there and sabotage us”?!!
I think we were unlucky with the early injuries, but Arteta could’ve done better with the starting lineup, I don’t understand what he sees in Willock. I think Nketiah did alright, Aubameyang seemed to become disinterested after a while, but in his defence, he wasn’t getting any service. Saka and others should’ve read his movements better on a couple of occasions or so. Ceballos should’ve started in place of Guendouzi in my opinion. Bellerin and Tierney were ok, Mustafi was too, until he slipped in the build up to City’s third.
I hope Arteta has learnt from this game though, otherwise there’s little to be hopeful about.
The midfield was just too ordinarily. Ozil, torreira cebalos would have done a better job
Definitely
How many times did they fail, those favourite players of yours?
When you play somebody from the MLS – Mustafi Luiz Socrates; a horror/sorrow show is guaranteed and they did not fail to disappoint.
On the plus point had Xhaka and Ozil played we would have been battered. Two goals down by Agent Luiz and the usual Mustafi gag, we went 0-3. had Xhaka remained it would have been worse.had Ozil played it would have been a catastrophe. For those with a short memory a 3-0 loss due to individual stupidity, is more respectable than the 8-2 hammering. My grudge with Mikel is that when he knew that Luiz could not defend against Brentford, what can he do right against a top team. Whoever signed this clown should be debited the costs!! What was Mikel doing, and preparing the team in the training. Who knows Man City better than Mikel. And to play Xhaka, Mustafi , Luiz has shown that he is still an amateur coach, will need 3-5 seasons to get to be a winning coach. Sorry he his not brutal/ruthless like Lamps or Ole Gunnar. That is the reason we are mid table.#FueraArteta
Not for the second but for the third..he goes down and he keeps watching (typical mustafi) how foden pick the rebound…mustafi needs to wake up fast and continue the fight..but he is too pasive.
We have 2 players out in 20 min…i think, again, we were not get the proper preparation
AUBA body language show it all, he wants out, sell him and use the money to rebuild the team. This team is too low in quality, a lot of average players. City class showed and attack did little all through
I agree with you. Aubameyang was very poor. Just strolling on the pitch. And there was no midfield.
Thomas Partey is a must buy. 45m pounds will get him
Next is Asensio. Maybe 50m pounds. If Madrid does not want to sell, then Leroy Sane for 40m pounds
Fekil for 25m pounds
Dunk for 35m pounds
Sell 9 players and bring in 4 quality players.
Bellerin. Dunk Saliba. Thierney
Partey Saka
Fekir. Pepe. Asensio
Martinelli
Sell Aubameyang to PSG.
David Luiz = Calamity Jane.
I said it before, Luiz can’t be our classy-defender, he is trying to show that he is a captain or a wise defender but in reality, he always needed someone to hold his back when he keeps repeating the same mistakes!
Arteta .. you had your answer!
Leno 8 — he is saving us every time!
Bellerin, Teirney and Mustafi 6 — they had to do extra work because of “the great” defender Luiz!
other players deserve 4 or 5 because they didn’t really do much.
Arteta 2
Bad team selection, nonsense formation with no playmaker!
Keeping Auba on sides when you need him in front!
We lost because of Arteta’s selections and formation.
We lost because Arsenal are not good enough in football ability, judgement and character. Arteta, as those before him, can only shuffle the player deck so many ways.
Spending £74 million on a wide player in Pepe, who doesn’t even get selected when that money should have been spent on 2 decent CB’s. Aubameyang did nothing, yet Martinelli doesn’t get a run?
As for David Luiz, is he still trying to destroy Arsenal, but this time from within, rather than playing for Chelsea.
The problem starts at the top with scouting and recruitment. Other clubs with less resources than Arsenal can recruit and coach good defenders.
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How are you Sue?
I always say this: You dont win matches with Guendouzi anchoring the midfield. He does not have the pace of a DM
Thomas Partey is a no brainer. I watched his game against Liverpool. The guy is a beast. An Engine.
Also, Fekir, Sane or Asensio and Lewis Dunk. And we have a squad that can compete once again
The midfield is the major problem. It is crystal clear
So so, Skills 😂 how about yourself?
We desperately need a spine!! GK is fine, but the other positions need sorting asap!! Look at KDB, pure class and d singlehandedly runs their midfield, we have nobody like that!!
We’re a million miles away from the top teams…
After last night, I’m not sure a y of those players would want to come to us 🥺
Sue, and how much did KDB cost Manchester City from Chelsea and what are his wages compared to Arsenal’s highest paid midfielder, who doesn’t even make the bench?
As Skills1000 states Partey is the style of player Arsenal needs, but the whole midfield needs a total overhaul; it is the weakest I can remember playing for the Club.
The forwards get no service and the defenders get no cover.
That’s the thing, Ozzie, we just either and buy any old crap and think that’ll do… we need to spend and big!! Quality costs… and we need loads of it!!
*dither
It was all down to the selection. We only have a player cabaple of playing the no. 10 position and you left him behind, enough of auba on the left. Simple 4222 would have done better.
Now we can only field this available 11
……………Leno
Bell. Must. Sokr. Tier.
………. Guen. Ceba
Pepe…………………… Mary
……….. Laca. Auba.
With Ozil not fit enough or whatever real reason he was left behind if you are not playing him at no. 10 play nobody else and find another formation for the kids to play
Auba have packed his clothes n ready to take flight. We did more back pass than go forward. Arsenal lost its spark, no more one touch n counter attack. Dead game. No leader. Arteta need to b very strict wt players. MC player injured, our player circle around watching, instead of gather n talk game plan. Maintain safe distance. Clueless players.
To rate Luiz zero makes this article a double zero as ratings.
Luiz again shows that a sub par arsenal can’t overcome calamitous defenders. It was always going to be a tough match, but those were rookie mistakes.
Arteta has to clear out players, defenders that can’t defend, and midfielders that can’t disrupt opponents or control tempo.
His selection of Willock was baffling, and he was invisible for most of the game. Don’t understand why Pepe and Martinelli never saw action. 2 shots on goal, and our attackers were never dangerous or threatening.
Willock needs a loan spell badly, Saliba has to be better than our current CB’S. Luiz has done me in, and I fear the mood may turn sour if Arteta pushes to extend his contract
I already knew we were going to be beaten. The good thing is that we are done with majority of the big teams. I still believe a CL spot is possible.
We still have Liverpool
David Luiz -3
And to make things even worse Luiz will prob get a new deal it just about sums up the club should that happen a complete joke!!
I just can’t understand the logic of this starting 11, I wish I could see what artera saw for selecting this team against man city, this should have played with our best players at their best positions.
…………auba…..laca
Saka.xhaka.ceba.pepe
Tier…sokra..must..bell
Now we don’t know when xhaka and Mari will be available. So desperate to see torreira and ozil back.
this lineup looks much much better and we might just have shot at beating Man C.. too bad arteta doesn’t see it
Just how much more deadwood have we got to shift?? We’ve been doing it for ages now……endless supply…..
😂😂😂 Do you remember though in 2011 we only needed Chris Samba from Blackburn and our team would have been perfect not a single deadwood? We got Koscielny instead and it has been downhill ever since. Now the proportion of deadwood in the team is even higher than that of useful players.
How right you are, QD…. and come this transfer window – like several before – everyone will be strengthening, yes even West Ham.. and we’ll be scrimping and dithering in the bargain basement…. I hate to say it, but this has become the norm! We are the new West Ham!!
Sue, we replace deadwood with super deadwood, so the cycle continues, season after season. We had a decent defender in Gabriel, we let him go, got Socrates and now ho ho ho Luiz. We let go Debuchy and brought Lich. and now Soares. We let go Coquelan and brought Torrera (who keeps crying to go like a toddler) and who knows who we will hire next.Let go Wallcot, brought Lucas Perez. Let go Iwobi, brought Pepe for 72M?? Let go Ismael Bennacir, Gnarby, Jeff Rene, retained Nelson,Willock. Eagerly awaiting more super deadwood joining us – Smalling, Willian, Lovren, if you know some more just inform Raul and me!
In other words, we’re a donkey sanctuary 😆 Seriously, you’re right, it’s shocking and criminal really…. and is only going to get worse!!!
Reading your comment shows how badly run our club is. We once had Arshavin, Nasri, Rosicky and Fabregas in midfield. We are a joke now.
A top team like ours should go all out to invest in Asensio, Fekil, Partey, Dunk and Sane . Those are the players we need and must buy in the summer.
The board is to blame. Arteta shohld demand quality signings or he will loose the job very soon.
LC, Sue and QD, I keep harping back to poor scouting, recruitment and contract negotiation and overall club management by the Board and senior management team as being the reasons for Arsenal’s decline to mid table mediocrity.
It has been obvious since David Dein left, that his replacements have not been up to the task. The football nous, guts and strength of character has been bled from the Club, with players not fit to wear the shirt.
Kroenke’s main failing has been his inability to choose a management team fit to lead the Arsenal.
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Luiz, Willock, Guendouzi, Mari, AMN, Nelson all trash.
Talking about our future youngsters.. None of them close to Walcott when he was young. God, we treated him bad. Even our recent forward never matched his goal scoring.
The only players to come out of that pitch with their heads held high would have to be Leno,tierny,guendouzi, nkethia, and bellerin. If it was Pepe that put the kind of performance Saka put out,all hell will break loose. Man was shit. I have no words for Aubameyang. The guy clearly wants to go. I say sell him and use the money to fund partey. I don’t expect to see AMN in this team next season, man has always been average but now he is bad. And I can’t tell what anyone sees in willock, very average player, does nothing and he is lazy too. Guendouzi was the only midfielder who didn’t hide, ceballos was crap after his first 5mins. Why was Pepe and martinelli not used? He should have brought them on instead of Nelson, and AMN. I don’t have words to describe that Luiz performance. A lot of players need to go. I’ll say let’s get rid of this lot, luiz, Mari, sockratis, mustafi, xhaka, ozil, willock, AMN, soared, kolasinac, Aubameyang if he doesn’t want to be here, toreira if he doesn’t want to be here, send Nelson out on loan to a premier league club, and rebuild this team.
The board is the problem. 200m pound investment in the summer will Get Partey, Asensio, Fekil, Leroy Sane, Lewis Dunk.
Out: Mkhytaryan, Ozil, Aubameyang, Mustafi, Luiz, Socratis, Lacazette, Guendouzi, Elneny, AMN
The above clear out will free a lot of money from wages. Sell Aubameyang to PSG or Madrid.
A football match is won or lost in midfield. With Partey in DM, you have the freedom to have creative midfeiders who can move with the ball. That is the key. It is not rocket science.
Spend wisely and get the required results.
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What da hell! Mustafi was out of position for the second goal? Did the author watch the match or pre saved this post cause am actually confused.
I meant the third goal, of course, calm down.
Good morning. Even for the third goal you still count fault him entirely Admin, he went for the ball meant for Aguero and slipped.
Just my opinion, was not overly criticising him, just felt he could have been better positioned.
Just saw it. I said Luiz was an awful signing, on the basis that he simply cannot defend! He’s still doing a cracking job for Chelsea though. If Luiz gets a contract extension, could it surpass Ozil’s last extension, as the most deluded piece of business in our history?
Not angry though. I was saying 3-0 City for weeks. Not much Arteta can do with the trash he inherited! Although annoying that he still refuses to put Auba upfront, and why was Saka on right? When he’s been probably our most important player, coming in from the left.
Wasn’t worth watching, was it?!! Bet you’re glad you didn’t stay up for it though!!
So glad I didn’t get up at 5am.
Arteta was trash too.
Expect a lot of these ratings then. The players know that only 300 or so are watching them from the stands and are only accountable to their agents. When players can’t be sacked for poor performance you know the game’s gone greedy.
Harsh on Leno, Mustafi and Arteta although may just be a case of disappointment influencing ratings. I also still don’t understand this 5 = standard when all players you’ve given 5 have been bad. Surely 6 is a normal performance?
Some positives to take were Leno’s world class performance. We struggled in that position for years after Lehman. Not any more. Bellerin was pretty solid defensively; Sterling always going to be a handful and probably should have been shown more often to his weak foot but Hector was much better than before the break. Mustafi was solid throughout and looked to form a decent partnership with Mari. As others have said, not much Arteta can do about 2 injuries and a red card in the first half. We’ll never know what the result would have been had Arteta’s selection been allowed to play to their plan so it seems harsh to judge.
Time to bounce back at the weekend. Looks like Holding will finally get a decent run-in.
Arteta is completely at fault for bad team selection and formation. Aub did not get supply at all.
If David Luiz, Mustafi and Xhaka are starting next season I can guarantee you I’m not watching a game! This squad is constructed of some of the worst decisions ever made from a club that we all know has been rudderless for over a decade! I feel for Arteta, if he’s going to make it work, he needs lots of change. Will that happen? I doubt it a lot. Arteta will be gone by this time next year if things don’t change. And I mean “change”!
The way I see it, the football market is going to decrease due to coronavirus making it impossible to fill stadia for at least a year, and playing contracts will be worth less because training just to play in empty stadia is meaningless for professional sport. We no longer have to go over the roof in transfer fees to sign players, we just need to have the right coaches
Cash will be king; the clubs with it will get the bargains.
The issue with Arsenal is, does it have the scouting and recruitment nous to choose wisely?
What a farce of a match. Arsenal flew out of Stansted at 5am: so very little sleep for players ahead of a key match. The game was slow-paced and riddled with mistakes due to players being under-trained (by the admission of both coaches) due to covid restrictions. It was played without passion, with the stadium quiet enough to hear a pin drop – I thought I was watching a training match. Meanwhile two injuries arose from under-training. The Premier League has restarted only because of the TV contracts; the outcome as entirely illegitimate and no more valid than a series of coin tosses.
The injury to Mari was unfortunatel in more ways than one.The entrance , and subsequent exit of the hapless Luis merely confirmed what many of us oldies have been banging on about for years, namely the fact that we seem incapable of recruiting quality centre backs and a physically imposing , dedicated DM.Our midfielders worked their socks off but to have any chance of competing with City you need to keep KDB quiet and none of our midfield trio yesterday are equipped defensively to combat the superb Belgian who to my mind is the finest all round footballer in the EPL..The match was effectively over when Luis was sent off, or maybe it was over when he replaced the unfortunate Mari?
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Apart from Leno, it was one of the worst all-round Arsenal performances I’ve seen. My biggest disappointment was the utterly listless ‘performance’ of our captain Aubameyang he should have been replaced by Martinelli at half time. Not a great example for the youngsters who worked hard but in general lacked ability. Willock, for instance, has been given enough chances but is just not good enough as are Nelson, AMN and Guendouzi.
If the board feel that Arteta is the right man, the should back him financially and allow him to create his own team. Wholesale change is required if we are ever going to challenge for a top 4 spot let alone the title which, quite frankly , is a pipedream at the moment.
Exactly what i expected and wasn’t disappointed. Watching soulless football is bad enough but watching soulless Arsenal playing soulless football in a soulless stadium is just the pits. Im just pleased i didn’t pay a single penny to watch that drab rubbish. Im afraid football and particularly Arsenal should have waited longer to start. What a load of tripe.
i blame luiz for the poor performance,to cause two goals is actually dissapointing,arteta should have started martineli and pepe,if the same players are to be in the team next season,i can imagine of arsenal being in 6th-10th position,much is to be done.
Horrible lineup, what was Arteta thinking? Eddie is out of his depth, move him on. Willock is a pub league player, and despite me not being hot on Ozil, he should never start over him. Saka you want getting crosses in, so why is he on the right side? Tierney looked leggy, Bellerin not horrible but another defender that gets easily done against top players. Not up to it. Really a giant disaster outside of Leno. Is it worth even talking about David Luiz? He’s a walking disaster and hopefully we will never see him again for us.
Watching guendouzi is like watching the second elneny I really hope he is sold in the summer
The second Elneny?!! Jeez he ain’t that bad!!
Lol he offers exactly what elneny offered running around with no impact
There’s potential there… and tbh I’d much rather have Guendouzi in the team than Elneny… but hey we all have different opinions 🙂
In my opinion his physical side of the game is never going to be upto the premier league standard. He doesn’t have a football brain his pressing is random and his positional awareness is abysmal. Plus he offers nothing on the goal scoring side of the game. But saying all that I hope he proves me wrong as he plays for are club.
He’s had some average games (who hasn’t) But he’s also had a few decent ones too (very decent against Villa!) he does dilly dally with the ball and sometimes tries to do too much and desperately needs a goal…. but he has ability, just comes down to channeling it in the right way!! With a good bit of coaching from Mikel, I believe we’re looking at our future captain. But that’s just my opinion.
He is! 😂
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