Arsenal player ratings – A tremendous performance brings a deserved win over Man Utd.
Tonight we saw the effect that Mikel Arteta is having on the Arsenal players and it is a hugely positive one.
This is no meaningless win, this was against Manchester United and the lads stood strong and tall for the entire game.
The defence played a blinder, best I have seen in a long time, they were impenetrable and comfortably held United at bay.
Player Ratings
Leno – 7
Bounced back from his howler against Chelsea and looked comfortable and at ease.
Kolasinac – 8
Helped create the first goal, was solid in defence and a threat going forward. A very good game.
Sokratis – 9
Excellent performance, scored a goal and absolutely bossed the United forwards. They looked scared to me.
Luiz – 9
Oh I wish we could see this sort of display week in week out. The Brazilian was simply brilliant and showed leadership throughout. Best game in an Arsenal shirt.
Maitland-Niles – 8
He put Martial in his pocket and never let him out, had a really good game both defensively and attacking.
Xhaka – 7
Looked fresh and determined, did nothing spectacular but did nothing wrong, he was efficient and showed good composure.
Torreira – 8
Another outstanding game, his transition from defensive midfielder to creator to attacker when required was fluent and effective.
Ozil – 8
Played the entire game and he was damn good, this was far more like the Ozil of old. More, please.
Pepe – 8
Scored a nicely taken goal and was a constant threat, he is still adapting to the English game, that is clear, but all things considered one can get excited again about the record signing.
Aubameyang – 7
Worked his socks off but on occasions drifted out of the game on the left.
Lacazette – 7
Another frustrating night for the Frenchman. It does seem like something is off but he tried very hard and remained a threat throughout.
Subs
Nelson -6
Did ok but was a clear downgrade on Pepe but he has time to improve.
Saka – 6
Another one that did ok when he came on. Did what was asked and got basics right.
Guendouzi – 5
Average score because of the time he came on.
Manager
Arteta – 9
Fantastic first win for the Spaniard, he is starting to bring the good times back.
This was the first performance for years that resembled the true identity and DNA of Arsenal. Point proven that Arteta has the right stuff to turn things around! COYG!
Oh, and happy new year Gooners!
👍👍 Happy New Year, GunneRay! What a start to 2020!! 👌
Happy new year sue, I totally enjoyed the game.
Happy New Year to you too, Pat 😘 I’m glad! More of the same, hey?! 👍
happy new year too, oooh what a tremendious start of 2020 for the gunners. u really made my day.
DNA… hmm. Whose DNA again? Where did it come from?
COYG 🙌🏼👍🏼💪🏼🙌🏼👍🏼👏🏼
if Arteta gets them to play a mix of Wenger/Klopp/Guardiola then we could be onto something great! Tiki taka with hunting in packs and high intensity all rolled into one!
Ps. Fitness levels needs upping over the next 4-6 weeks as you can see they still gassed out after 60 mins but that will come with better training methods and being thought how to preserve your energy during the game! Bring on the mighty Leeds, this one will be dedicated to Nketiah 🤪
Hope we don’t underestimate Leeds. FA Cup could be our only chance of silverware.
However, if arteta wants to prioritise the chase for 4thbandbthe Europa League it is fully understandable.
Footnote if nketiah plays for us he cannot go on loan. Personally I would keep him and loan out Nelson instead. His extra goal threat could be important at the business end of the season when we could be fighting in 3 competitions.
Yeah it will be dedicated to nketia
Made me laugh when Keown said “Dare I say, Luiz actually did some defending tonight” 😂
Ozil, Torreira, Luiz & Kolasinac 👌
What was hilarious for me was when they had to give Torreira an Energy booster to eat on the pitch during the Guendouzi-Laca substitution.I didnt even know that was allowed
Neither did I! Yes, it was funny.. it looked like he chucked it on the pitch after!!
That was the moment of the game,i was also tired of contantly smiling and screaming so i grabed a beer instead
Amazing performance. Not just win but a clean sheet with our leaky defence
We won without Lacazette or Aubameyang goals
Pepe scoring was nice to see
Arteta has impressed me so far
Long may it continue
COYG
Emery stank… worse than the Thames in some parts in the old days.
Under Arteta, AMN and Torreria have been reborn and the uplift in the “spirit” of the team is very noticeable.Like the Chelsea match, we dropped off physically in the second half but this is to be expected particularly from players who are not used to the hard work ethic which is essential in the PL game today.In this regard the change in Ozil from a floating ,luxury to a grafting midfielder is pronounced .Whether he has the mentality to keep this up remains to be seen but he seems to be buying into the demands made by MA in terms of effort.Long may it continue.
who still think allegri/mourinho would have been right appointment?
We won’t ever know Gunnertz and who cares, its the past and lets look forward to the future with Arteta! Who else thought
Papa and Luiz couldn’t ever keep a clean sheet 🤪
I think lacazette deserves a better score than aubameyang. He was brilliant in the first half
Sorry that I cannot agree with that. Lacazette would not be in my team. He is ineffevtive, can’t remembee how to score goals. Running around without purpose is not helpimg the team.
Really? Ineffective? He was the one who flicked the ball for Sokratis goal, he fought hard against the defence and won, he is missing his scoring boots but he is class.
I read somewhere somebody said,’the day Lacazette finds his scoring boots, it will be one hell of goals extravaganza’ (something like that), and it’s true – I loved it.
That guy works very hard but is too wasteful (Auba too is wasteful but somehow scores constantly).
Laca needs to work on his temperament too (very important). He should allow the fans to make noise in his behalf because they see everything happening. His part is just to lie down very well and cry when he is kicked hard.
@SAGooner.
Wow.
Running about without purpose?
He put in a big old slog and got himself into good goal scoring positions but he is still low in confidence at the minute.
But to dismiss his hardwork throughout that game is bordering on bias.
This is what I expect from any of our so called big money signings. If you are not in good form at least work your socks off. And eveeyone is doing that right now.
Lacazette worked his socks off,which game where you watching?
This team today made me remember the Arsenal I fell in love with.
I criticize ozil daily but for the last 3 games he is making me eat humble pie.
Pepe was electric and he will get better. Lacazette was inspirational now add the goals.
Auba put a team effort. Xhaka for once was a complimentary midfielder and not a passenger. Torreira. All I can say is we have the south American version of kante in our team.
AMN is looking like he knows what he is doing now. Luiz and Socrates showed absolute maturity. Leno is just Leno.
Saka is putting in a shift even when played out of position still needs to get stronger,kola is giving Tierney a run for his money. gouendouzi needs to be schooled more, Nelson is the odd one out I couldn’t understand why a 21 year old winger brought in the later parts of the game couldn’t even sprint, he lacked stamina and kept falling all over the place. Now if we can get our boys healthy and increase our fitness levels we can begin the rebuilding of our club.
And lastly right from the chelsea game I could see arteta is a good coach. Happy new year everyone
They are playing a system the players understand and appreciate.
That is why they perform for Arteta.
What a contrast between Arteta and Emery. I hate to bag on Emery, but Arteta has coached the lads up more in last 2 weeks than I thought possible.
They have an edge to them, their confidence and belief in Arteta is wonderful to see.
When they get their swagger back watch out, they could really go on a run.
City look like real fools now regarding Arteta. He definitely looks like Pep’s protege, and they may have made a huge mistake by not promising him the gig when Pep leaves.
Their loss our gain; karma is a b!tch.
Can’t wait to see how Martinelli takes off under Arteta. He’ll get a run on LW and own that spot for years.
Durand, Man City couldn’t give the commitment to Arteta that he would automatically replace Guardiola; thus he has taken the challenge at Arsenal. Hopefully he gets the support he needs.
By the way it doesn’t say much for the clubs and coaches, who finished behind Emery coached Arsenal to 5th position and a Europa League final. They must be complete rabble.
Congrats team arsenal arteta you have hot line up straight but Nelson 6 ooooh 3 he was poor he is not arsenal type
He also dress like Pep😃😃🤣
😂
In Mikel Arteta I trust!!! Coyg!!!
I saw a better delivery from Leno, he hardly played those useless pull out, seems there was an instruction from the manager to always play it long to Kola when under pressure. He needs to decide who to pass the ball to when Kola is out of position, I could see he had it difficult about twice, trying to find kola who was already out of position, eventually, he gave away the ball.
Overall, the coach has really make his marks on the team, the hard work in training has paid off, am just disappointed we let it lose against Chelsea, and couldn’t get a point despite the hard work, but it’s a brilliant way to start a new year
Oh, what a performance! Looks like it’s going to be Year 20-plenty for Arsenal!
Plenty of good times, plenty of great football, plenty of distance between us and the past few months!
Well done to the boys and coach I’m supply here to tell everyone to get off laca’s back cause he had a dam fine game ran himself to the bone. One worry is Nelson please don’t sub pepe for him he came on and showed no intent on getting back eagarly is not a one’s off thing.
The younger home- grown Arsenal boys are still not there mentally. They are too complacent just being an Arsenal player.
What an amazing feeling for Pepe as he walk to the bench and fans keep on applauding him,hope this is the beginning of something special from him.N.Miles past 3games habe been great in defence.Overally with another two weeks of trainning,the boys will become even better
I had the most fun everytime ozil had the ball. He actually fought for the ball when he lost it, which was very rare. Great performance from all the players. Apart from United’s first chance early in the first half of the game, I don’t think they caught arsenal behind the ball, everyone played with discipline and covered for each other. I love Toreira, dude actually gased out and had to be given an energy snack to continue the game but he didn’t take his foot off the pedal.
10/10 for ths whole team in my opinion.
Torera was pure class. He had the best game reading on the pitch.
For sure Mikel Arteta has a bright future for arsenal and i think we can make it in top 4 if mikel go on with that pace. i like arsenal as i love my UGANDA the pearl of AFRICA, and am an arsenal diehard. Happy New Year Pals.
Yepp far as i see it Luiz gave a command performance, he and his compadres worked well in defence. Nice to see Pepe in confident mood also. However, in the interest of consistency we will need an player overhaul and one things for sure the defence will see changes. Well Done Arteta, Well Done Arsenal, its about time we had something to cheerful about roun’ here.
I hated AMN,but i’ve fallen in love with him now,we don’t need bellerin anymore..as for Ozil,i don’t know what to say!!!
😀
He needs to work on his passing, like a lot. Absolutely he is coming along but lets not get too far ahead of ourselves just yet. Even with my criticism, it was a good game for him.
I actually thought the two full backs were the weakest parts of the team last night, and they still played well – Maitland-Niles with his passing and Kolasinac with his recklessness – I was afraid that he was going to be sent off.
It was soooooooo nice to see a strong performance – they are talking to each other, seem to have more fight and camaraderie on the pitch, tracking back to defend (Ozil committing a foul and tracking back, putting some pressure on the ball).
Pepe was exceptional! Everyone was great! Joy at last!Lift off ARSENAL!
This was a good performance especially given recent performances and results. The limitations MA has with his injury hit squad also mean he deserves praise for his management skills.
It is important not to get carried away however. This is not a great Man Utd side.
For those still bringing up Emery, remember Arsenal beat Man U by the exact same score last season.
Not a great Man Utd side, but they’ve been beating most teams in the top 6, even though emery won last season, he still went for a defensive setup at old Trafford when Man Utd was so bad
Still feels as good this morning!!!
I feel you😉😄
👍
I loved how Xhaka drops to the left when Kola bombs forward,it suddenly looked like we had 12 players out there.we completely overwhelmed UTD but i would like to see pepe make more crosses.
Whoa, finally, every players fought as one. To put 9 to sokra & Luiz is pretty generous.
Now watch out, we looked fragile at times and Man U dominated in second half, with dangerous moments that could have cost us to conceid.
The best player on the field was Ozil, Torreira as well. Ozil is top class, when he touches the ball, he takes control of the game and have opponent scared…
Man U were not able to display their football because our midfield blocked and took game over. Arteta transmits his football spirit and makes of Torreira what he used to be.
Thumbs up, let’s hope this inspires and turns season around, we are still fragile though, need games to settle to this. Xhaka looked like a Captain again.
David Luiz was immense last night, my motm. 9 is deserved, sniffed out almost everything and provided great cover for Saka/Kola. Clean sheet and launched many attacks from deep, don’t let your bias blind you.
Beating man utd always leaves a good feeling and there is enough already to see a better year ahead so it’s tough to be critical but the drop in energy in second half (which was also visible against Chelsea) does show how complacent and undemanding of players wenger at the end and Emery from the beginning really were … Impressed that arteta has begun to correct that so swiftly … Torreira was motm by a country mile but he had to work his socks off as we still are not controlling from the midfield … Need to realize ASAP that Nelson and AMN have to be moved on simply not EPL standard … And once he’s found replacement for xhaka (and the sooner the better) we can begin to control midfield … He’s definitely got more out of laca aub and ozil but am not convinced that this is our future attacking combo .. As someone who wanted arteta before am a more optimistic gooner for 2020
It’s good this weekend there is FA cup so we can give chance and game time to Bellerin, Holding, Ceballos, Martinelli before EPL resumes…
Pepe and Ozil and Torreira must also get a 9. Hope Eddie is kept at Arsenal and Nelson can be loaned out instead to give him more experience. Eddie and Martinelli could be great working together when we need them. Ozil at his artistic best is a threat to the whole PL. Finally we look like the real Gunners!
I am afraid we are getting carried away too much for this performance…
No doubt it was one of the best performance but we need to calm
@kedar
Let fans enjoy.we haven t be happy for quite long.
We are not the ones playing.
Arteta will know how to get the players back to reality.
Happy new year and enjoy this victory bro
So happy with the performance last night and the honesty of luiz to say we are not ready to play this way for 90 minutes. I hope the negatives don’t get louder again when a result or two doesn’t go our way. Arteta clearly has a style and ethos which will no doubt take a little time to fully bed in and translate but we are on the path. The players we have, and I’ve always thought, are good enough to challenge in the top four and I’m sure where we are short this will be address. A few more wins coming for sure and this season gets interesting again.
I loved how Xhaka drops to the left when Kola bombs forward,it suddenly looked like we had 12 players out there.we completely overwhelmed UTD but i would like to see pepe make more crosses.
For years I have been regularly and no doubt also irritatingly to SOME,(some only, mind you) been slating Ozil for laziness. Well in all Artetas games so far and most of all yesterday we can now see what a player he is WHEN he deigns to shift into a higher gear. A gear in fact that ALL players whether of HIS undoubted talent or far lesser players, MUST, SIMPLY MUST give all the time. YESTERDAY WAS FINAL PROOF OF WHAT CAN BE ACHIEVED, EVEN WITH OUR GENERALLY HOPELESS DEFENCE, WHEN ALL PLAYERS WORK FOR THE TEAM AND ACT AS A TEAM ,NOT AS INDIVIDUALS. I hope such as Ken, Phil and others are reading this and digesting the true comments that most, though sadly not all, Gooners have always known about work being vital.
Ozil covered more ground than any Arsenal player. But more importantly, IMO, Arteta finally build a team around him. I always thought that you either sell Ozil (which became difficult as a result of his salary) or you build your team around him. You do not play him on the wing where his most important qualities are not utilised. Emery seemed to deploy him on the wing and under Wenger he was also often played out wide. Give him a free role to roam and create and he is at his best. This only works when we play as a team and everyone knows what everyone else is doing.
Happy New Year Jon
Jon-Humble Pie or what.In all seriousness I accept that workrate is vital but you never accepted Ozil actually had better ground coverage than most realised.Bit now Ozil is managed by a COACH who plays him in the right position and with tactics that fit his style perfectly. I seem to notice that Ozil is playing just a touch deeper so that he is picking up the ball and has half a pitch in front of him.Thats not something we have seen for a while and shows just how a small adjustment can have such a positive effect.
@Truth sums things up perfectly below.
Happy New Year Jon and what a positive result and performance to start with
And I wish you a happy New Year too Phil. Hope that Ozil will carry on working as he is now doing under MA. My crits were always of his workrate , NEVER his innate talent. I believe my crits have been vindicated, as I always said he needed to work harder to earn his place . He is NOW doing that, so case closed. Hopefully you and I can now both move on too.
I guess we are all excited about Arteta. I was clearly wrong to back UE a year ago and up to this season. He should have been sacked much earlier with hindsight and we might well now be seriously chasing top four. I think no one, not me and not the board considered he would still not speak understandable English after all that time. I think we WOULD HAVE BEEN FOURTH, even with all the clown defenders we still have but who all dropped the clown act yesterday. CAN THEY UNCLOWN THEMSELVES REGULARLY THOUGH? THAT WOULD BE A MIRACLE BUT SOMETIMES, very rarely, miracles can happen!
Jon, your criticism went much further than his work rate though, didn’t it?
Not once did you consider or admit to the stats that Phil talked about, or the personal problems he had during 2019, the fan base that has always existed and was so easy to hear and see, the ludicrous way that UE tried to play him on the wing or the manner in which UE used him as a scapegoat during his useless time as our coach …you went on a crusade to destroy the player.
If you had just had a civil debate about WHY Ozil wasn’t performing to your perceived level, our discussions would have been so different – as I said to you, he is the most overpaid footballer in the world…even after MA has transformed him in just three matches…it was all there Jon, some saw it and some didn’t want to see it (or couldn’t of course).
THe way MA has shown just what a player Ozil is, doesn’t vindicate your personal and hysterical onslaught against him, rather it shows what the majority knew.
MA understood exactly what the man was capable of and as a professional coach, who understood football and man management, what talent the club has, just waiting for the chance to invest in the player.
The situation is not closed for any single player Jon, that has always been the case and if Ozil cannot perform under MA, then he should go – but for footballing reasons, not some rubbish about being lazy, mentally weak, bleeding the club dry kind of insults…case closed for the now anyway!!!!!
If he cannot succeed under the trust MA has shown, I will be up there with you, calling for him to go – I don’t think that will happen though, do you? Only a burke would argue otherwise!!!
Wishing you, in all sincerity, a happy new year, but please remember that we all are passionate about our club, want to see it succeed and hate those who seek to destroy it – you are not unique in those admirable thoughts and beliefs.
Looking forward to more debates in 2020 and who knows old friend, we might agree on something about The Arsenal!!!!
I remember those parts where you would usually claim,’even God Almighty cannot improve this or that person.’ I understand you use that to show how seriously deficient some people are, but I’ll advise you to find some other combinations of words to describe how you feel than taking the almightiness of God away from him, even for fun. Believe me, such passive references are not funny to Him at all.
I must also note that it a very commendable virtue that one admits his mistakes and tries to correct them, which you do every now and then. Kudos to you on that.
to PHIL,KEN1945, SUE and any other ozil fans who have stood by him over the past few seasons, well you guys have proven yourselves, the genius is still there. please accept my apologies for ever doubting mesut.i will gladly all the humble pie that can be dished out on here. i was very very wrong. i will never have a go at ozil again, as long as i live. not just because of the wonderful performances since arteta took over, but i was getting way too serious about this player. i found wrong where there was not any .please forgive me, i am an old irish hothead, who obviously knows nothing about football, or, soccer, as we call it here.i would also like to promise , one and all, that my days of bickering and arguing with ANYBODY on here are well and truly OVER. i have always preached that football is only a game , and , yet, here i am taking the game , and, the banter way too seriously.i would particularly like to apologise to KEN1945, it does appear that i had targeted him in my abuse of players. i can only say that this will never happen again, if i do go astray, which i promise i wont, but i would hope that the ADMINS will instantly kick my butt out of this great page.i will be much quieter on here from now on, i am going to practice what i preach, for a change.happy new year to all gunners, and heres hoping that 2020 will be the year of the GUN.
Wow, gerry, just wow!! I would say thank you, but everyone is entitled to their opinion…
So lush to see Ozil producing what I/we never doubted! 😉
It’s nowt to do with me, but I just want to say it’s really nice to see you apologise to Ken. Takes a lot to admit that, gerry 👍👏
Happy New Year to you too! And btw, we can all be hot heads at times! COYG!!
gerry, why do you think you know nothing about football?
You, like everyone on here, are passionate gooners, with widely differing views on all things to do with our club.
In fact, Ozil and AW seems like two topics neither of us can leave alone!!!
I decided not to get involved with you, simply because it was becoming very persona, something that should never happen.
You have no need to apologize for your own views, who knows, your thoughts about Ozil may still be proved correct…I’m just pleased that Arteta has given him the chance to show what I believed he still had.
If he messes up, it will be me who has to hold my hands up and as for being a “hot head” you are nothing compared to, say, Jon Fox, Phil, TMJW and myself when we get down to it!!!
Happy New Year to you and yours and 2020 for our club.
KEN1945 and SUE, thanks for accepting my sincere apology, i reallly mean that . maybe now i can begin to enjoy following the arsenal once agaain. i am a passionate old fool when it comes to arsenal. i dont know why this club does this to me, i am not like this is real life, i am quiet as a church mouse and shy as a badger, in fact.but mention the gunners and i am up and at em , ,lol.so i will be on my best behaviour from now on, no more personal abuse from me also, life is just too short.
I thought Torriera was worth a 9 he was outstanding, Laca put in a shift and covered some ground unfortunately his shooting boots were off but he had a good one. Aubma again covered a lot of ground and had a good one, over all a good team performance.
For me it wasn’t a game of one man standing out, it was a real team performance and they all played their part. Great to see the fans praising our players for all the off the ball work, and then our players praising the fans for the massive support throughout the game, it was Arsenal, the entire team with the fans on the night that gets the “Men of the Match” accolade, so I’ll give 9 and a half to them so that it tops your 9.