Arsenal lost 2-1 to PSG this evening, ending all hopes of silverware this season for Mikel Arteta and his men. Here are our player ratings.
David Raya – 7.5
He was forced to make save after save and even saved a penalty, yet it was not enough.
Jurrien Timber – 7.0
Despite being tasked to defend against Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Nuno Mendes, he still made some good runs forward and created a big chance.
William Saliba – 6.0
He made the most passes by any player on the pitch, which showed Arsenal’s dominance of possession, but they conceded twice, and we must question his defending.
Jakub Kiwior – 5.0
This was another game in which Kiwior struggled, and he should have closed down Hakimi before he scored.
Myles Lewis-Skelly – 5.0
He lost so many battles to Bradley Barcola and conceded a penalty, even though it was harsh.
Declan Rice – 5.0
This is one of the few games in which Rice did not shine, and we especially missed his dangerous forward runs.
Thomas Partey – 4.5
Everyone wanted Partey back for this game, but his mistake caused the second goal, and he was poor.
Martin Odegaard – 4.5
Although he made the most accurate passes into the final third by any player in the game, he was overshadowed again.
Gabriel Martinelli – 6.6
As PSG ganged up on Saka, Martinelli had a good game and beat Hakimi severel times, especially in the first half.
Mikel Merino – 5.5
Performances like this remind Arsenal why they need a proper striker.
Bukayo Saka – 7.0
Saka was probably Arsenal’s best player in the match, but how did he miss that open goal?
Substitutes
Riccardo Calafiori – 6.0
He came on for Lewis-Skelly and earned a yellow card, but Saka should have scored from his fine cross.
Leandro Trossard – 6.5
He was brought on to help Arsenal score goals, and his tenacity earned them their only strike.
Ben White – N/A
Being an Arsenal fan is simply exhausting.
Why?
Look at the positives
1. We reached the semis in the UCL and Carabao Cup
2. We are number 2 in the league
3. We made a MF Player our striker and he has done good (more of threat than Gab J all seasons)
4. We tried to revive the career of Sterling – that was a bold move to go for him, you have to applaud the manager
5. We saved cash on not buying a striker (but are wasting it approximatly double paying Kai and Gab J), CAM, CDM
6. We earned money in UCL participation – how much has ManU or CFC earned?
7. Next season will be more entertaining if we get our men – NKunku, Anthony, KDB. plus “like new signings” Gab J., Kai, Tomiyasu, Fabio will be back.
8. You may have seen the last of Saliba, GabM, and Martenelli. I’m expecting CFC rejects lining up outside the Emirates.
Humble request is to support Mikel Arteta and the club, renew your season ticket, buy merchandise as much as you can afford and do spend on match days. We are the Arsenal!
LOL. That’s marvelous, mate. By the way, did you know we were “the best team in this tournament”?
The Shola Reality Show,
I’m detecting a shed load of sarcasm in your post, am I right. 😂🤣😉👍
We need a lot of signings. Left winger, two strikers, midfielder and probably another defender.
Unfortunately the manager has to go as well. Why in 5 years is the team in such a state? How long can Odegaard drop stinkers and remain 90 minutes on the pitch? Playing the whole team 90 minutes against Bournemouth.
We again missed chances and the lost our legs. But the lack of subs is criminal. Why not use the dead league games to put Nwaneri into form?
Berta has a lot of work. We need 250+ spending and a manager who is willing to rotate the squad…
@Konstantin
Why in 5 years is the team in such a state? Crazy thing to say!
Back-to-back title challenges over the last couple years (20 years since that happened).
And we’re still in a good position for a third runners-up spot in a row (20+ years since we were that consistent).
First time in a CL QF since 2010 in Arteta’s first attempt. Only the third time in a CL SF in our history! So Arteta has been outstanding in the CL so far, especially more so given all the injuries this season.
And let’s not forget Saka missing an open goal against PSG which would have given us a great shout in the last part of the game. Arteta didn’t miss that open goal.
I am not saying Arteta is perfect, or that he doesn’t make mistakes, but cut him slack this season. Crazy amount of injuries! Yet a brilliant run in Europe for a small club like us. Massive overachievement!
Honestly, I think fans forget how bad things were when Wenger left, and had been for well over a decade before Arteta arrived. We may not be winning much, but at least we’re now competitive, and we’re getting closer and closer to something huge.
However, Arteta definitely has to win something next season!
Saka, Kai and Gabriel all got the same Hamstring injuries, because they play every minute of every game. We had Sterling and Nwaneri on the bench as offensive options. That is not good enough.
Gabriel Jesus has a poor injury record which Artera knew from being at City yet we still brought him here. Trossard is probably the only good offensive transfer he’s made in 5 years. They are winning the game and they bring on strikers, we bring left backs. How about taking some risks to save the season?
Also, we’ve been really poor all season. Lost 21 points from winning positions. When is it not good enough? I thought this was the year to win. Next year more excuses are coming. When Saliba goes to Real there’ll be another rebuild, because he’s left, back to phase 1 or 3 or whatever.
Slott came in, walked the league with 1 cheap transfer that doesn’t play.
We were Stoke FC, Partet pretending to be Delap, wasting time on a throw in when we need a goal. This team is easy to play against. Enough is enough, Artera out!
Where have you been for so long Konstantin? I have missed your post match reports
Slot didn’t have the injury problems that have faced Arsenal all season and already had at least a couple of long standing world class players in the team. As it was “Klopp’s team” do you think he’d have won had he not left? Liverpool were back in contention again after a bad season 2 years ago. They had already won the CL in the year that Arteta took his first managerial role. Were they not going to be competitive?
Hi SueP, I’ve missed you too. I decided to not post since I don’t want to repeat myself and be the negative one.
Unfortunately it’s another trophyless season where the same old problems occur. Players were overplayed to the point of injury, poor to no subs, lack of options on the bench.
This bench was build by MA, not me. Slott literally told Salah to focus on attack and not too much on defense. It’s smart management. Everything is a system with MA, that’s why we can’t believe it when individual quality shines through. We conceded 2 goals from cutbacks and shots against PSG. We don’t shoot, we don’t expect teams can shoot. This is coached. We are afraid to shoot, we’ve destroyed individual brilliance, or we just don’t have it. Either way after 5 years, it’s on him.
Also Odegaard dropped another stinker. Surely we could’ve brought Nwaneri on, Zinny in midfield, throw the kitchen sink. I felt the players tried, but they were tired. Why did we play the whole team vs Bournemouth? We lacked legs. I’m sorry it’s poor. It’s inexcusible in his 5th year. I don’t want to waste another year on him.
But now it’s on the owners, who keep him here, because he balances the books well. We could’ve signed Kvarat in January like PSG did, I don’t buy the `there’s nobody out there`. This is laziness excuse. I’m tired, and worse I’m bored. We play poor, unexciting football. Partey was doing Rory Dellap impressions, Arteta needs to call Tony Pulis and ask for a hat.
This team used to win trophies and play the best football around. We sacrificed that for 5 years to win 1 FA cup, which Auba won on his own and we ditched him, cause he’s not a puppy. We lack matchwinners, magic makers, I’m tired I don’t want another season of this. Give the job to a proven winner so that Berta can give him the tools we need to actually lift something.
I expected nothing less Konstantin 😊
I’m all up for a meaningful discussion. I’ve got time, Mikel should have too since we don’t have anything to play for again at the end of the season. I’m interested to hear the next excuse as to why we don’t win anything and hear how `next year will be our year`. 20 god damn years do I follow this football club. I’ve seen so many teams win trophies, show ambition, never have I seen a fanbase so patient and accepting of mediocrity…
Sensible honest and to the point posts. This site has just had a boost. Please keep posting. It makes a change from all the excuses of failure. To have people who say it how it REALLY is. 🫡
Reggie,
I’m with you on this one.👍
Since the passing of Admin Pat god bless his soul, they haven’t posted any of my articles…
Thats strange.
Actually a really interesting question and point mate
I think unfortunately it’s a culture
Stan Koronke joined the board approx 2007 and by like 2012 had majority shares
So that means for nearly two decades we been taught a certain standard
So it was okay to finish 4th ….then years later 5th was called progress
So if 5th is then progress suddenly 2nd is success
Now it will be top 5 isn’t the end of the world …….
It’s because it starts at the top and no one has said enough
For example look how Real Madrid have reacted to one season not winning CL or La Liga
It’s this is our standard we don’t accept it falling under this
Unfortunately ( and it pains me because what is the answer ?) what is the standard at Arsenal
Tell me deep down that the Koronke Family were watching last night
That’s why I maintain we will never win title under this ownership
Scared to make that next step
Cheer up Konstantin, i just mentioned a few points earlier and a few here
1. Only 1 team wins the UCL, we are among the top 4 clubs in Europe. Lets be happy with that.
2. We are the 2nd best club in England. We are on course to win the prestigious “Top Four Trophy” Where are ManU and Tot. H?
3. We are the among the highest spenders in Europe, hiring talent every season with massive wages. Club is not a miser anymore.
4. We have a bold manager who likes challenges – instead of buying stars, he makes them shine. He outsmarted Carlo Ancelotti.
5. Liverpool had to wait for 30 years for the EPL, we are just 20 years and counting. Tot H have not won it since 1961.
6. We don’t earn much from wining domestic cups, lets ignore them and focus on the UCL which brings in big money and publicity.
The Shola Reality Show,
As I observed in one of your earlier post’s, and I asked the question. I get the impression that there’s a shed load of sarcasm in this post, am I right. 😂🤣👍😉
In your post, my apologies my bad. 🙄
Derek, since I can’t fight the system I’ve joined the system Arteta Fan Club and it’s looking good. Suggest you join too. There are quite a few on this site also. With Arteta Let’s Make Arsenal Great Again
Konstantin
Try again if I were you
He’s got an article up right now Sue
👍
The fact that you think we can compete financially with PSG for Kvarat is laughable, and it says a lot!
I always like the Slot comparison!
Did Slot have a monstrous injury crisis for the entire season? No! Did he have 5 decisive red cards to deal with? No!
Imagine no Salah for 4 months. No fully fit Trent all season, and no Trent for 5 months. No McCallister for 3 months, and so on…
Fans also forget that Slot inherited a brilliant squad, full of players that had won everything at club level, and regularly getting to finals.
I agree that we haven’t been great this season for sure, and there’s issues that need addressing tactically, and in regards to squad building in the forward positions most notably.
But there’s no denying that player availability has been a nightmare all season, and the biggest contributing factor! We haven’t even had a month or two of consistent selection of our best players. Finally get Saka back, then we lose Gabriel for the rest of the season, and it’s been like that all season.
And I don’t believe there will be excuses next season. Everyone within the club will know that we have to win something. Not just for Arteta’s sake, but to convince our biggest stars to stay at the club.
We need a perfect summer, but far more importantly, and just like any other club, you need luck, because we could buy 3 amazing attackers in the summer and then they all get long term injuries. Will that be Arteta’s fault as well?
Lucy78, Salah himself said Slott doesn’t require him to track back. He’s there to score goals. Saka and Martinelli are the hardest working wingers in the league. We’re run down to the ground.
The issue you have is believing injuries are just luck. We have a squad, but we don’t use it. A squad he built for 5 years. When Saliba goes to Real, there’ll be another rebuild.
When is it the managers fault? Ethan could’ve come on at the 60th minute, try Zinny, Tierney, something. We played 1 way, got figured out and that’s it, no change. We’ve dropped 21 points from winning positions. I don’t need to repeat myself anymore. We’re dooming ourselves to another pointless season, because I know we’ll keep him. I’m not falling for more excuses, a top manager at a top club won’t last 5 years with no trophies.
I blame the manager all the time for things such as tactics, and the poor attacking squad building, but injuries are mainly down to luck. In fact, the manager is the least to blame for them.
Any manager has to trust his players are telling the truth, and are fully fit to play. And he has to accept the expert advice from the medical team. Finally, he has to look at replacing injury prone players sooner rather than later, which on the whole, he has done with the exception of Jesus.
Are you honestly saying that City’s absolutley shocking season so far, has nothing to do with all their injuries? They haven’t missed Rodri?
How many times does Salah, VVD, McCasllister, Allison, Gravenbach start on the bench or get subbed early? When does Haaland start on the bench? And so on… The truth is that if you look at other top teams, the star players play all the time!
Lucy78,
While I’ll agree with some of your post, to a degree Arteta can be questioned regards to some injury’s.
You can’t tell me that playing Saka for three years straight with out getting adequate cover didn’t have any bearing on the injury that he got this season. At some point something was bound to give, and in this case it was saka’s hamstring.
It’s similar with Havertz no real cover, and it’s another hamstring. The fact his hamstring went in training is neither here nor there, in fact that raises the question regarding training techniques.
So although he’s not entirely at fault, the lack of cover over the years in said positions doe’s have a knock on effect. As this season has showed.
I’ll repeat myself.
How many times either starting on the bench or getting subbed early, on multiple occasions for the likes of:
Vini Jr
Mbappe
Haaland
Salah
Isak
VVD
Yamal
Kane
Bellingham
Ronaldo
Messi (pre Inter Miami)
etc…
I agree that we should have cover for Saka earlier than finally Nwaneri coming through, but the facts are that Star players play all the time!
None of those players are required to constantly run back and cover for their full backs. Not 1, you just chose to ignore this part of the conversation, because it suits your agenda. Mbappe did 1 challenge in 180 minutes against Arsenal and got injured.
I’m not saying injuries don’t matter, far from it, but you keep ignoring some things. Saka playing 90 minutes in games we’re 3:0 up with Sterling and Ethan on the bench, then playing in the carabao cup. Same with Gabriel, how’s that alright? Why did we play the squad against Bournemouth instead of giving squad players needed minutes? We had no legs in the second half, who’s fault is that.
Did you read about Slott and Salah? Alisson was missing for most of the season, TAA had an injury, come on. It’s a lazy argument. Rodri plays every game for Man City and Spain and so on, and surprise a season ending injury.
If I understand your point, we should never rotate and hope that the bodies of the palyer don’t break down and we shouldn’t manage them at all?
Yesterday we were basically missing Gabriel, but Kiwior has actually been alright, and I believe Merino is the better midfielder put on top rather than Havertz. You think Havertz or Jesus would have made any difference? Tomiyasu? Tommy and Gabi J should’ve been sold last summer based on their injury record.
I don’t blame Arteta for Rice and Partey doing silly mistakes that gave them goals, but this has been the whole season. Could we have tried taking a defender on and throw the kitchen sink? Naaah, who cares about winning? It’s not MA i’ll tell you that. It’s not one game, the whole season has been covered by 2 wins over a poor Real madrid.
How about our pathetic european record. Olympiacos, Sporting, Bayern, now PSG. Anemic performances, players missing, no substitutions. How Odegaard is playing this season when Nwaneri has been 10 times better than him, I have no idea. We had Partey yesterday, so what?
Excuses have dried up. I’ve followed this club long enough, to know our mentality and behavior and sadly I wasn’t surprised once again.
Now you’re definitely biased against Arteta. “Rodri plays every game for Man City and Spain and so on, and surprise a season ending injury.”
So it’s a surprise when a player from another club plays all the time, but Arteta’s fault when the same happens to one his players. Cannot believe you just said that!
Manager’s NEVER sub CB’s irrespective of the score, but again, you’re blaming Arteta for not subbing Gabriel. Again, that is about a biased statement as you could get!
And why aren’t pinning a lot of blame on Saka? He missed a crucial open goal. That wasn’t Arteta missing that!
Simple question for you. We signed a brilliant player in Timber at a fantastic price, not that you’ll give Arteta any credit for im sure, and he missed almost the entire of last season due to injury. Arteta’s fault again?
Lucy78,
I’ve also responded to your post further up. And while Arteta isn’t at fault for all the injury’s of course he’s not. But at the same time, no matter what you say his lack of rotating the likes of Saka, and even Havertz to a degree have had a knock on effect.
You can’t play Saka for three seasons straight and hardly use any cover for him, and then surprise, surprise his hamstring went.
Not all injury’s are his fault. But there’s no doubt about it, his rotation policy or lack of in these cases, certainly didn’t help. With that there’s no argument. The proof is there with the said hamstring injury’s that both Saka and Havertz picked up.
I am never going to convince you even with hard facts. Star players rarely get a rest, irrespective of whether or not you have cover, and that is a concrete fact.
Of course, there’s an argument with your view. You simply disagree. As usual, your arguments are unsound
Lucy78 has made some very sensible points about the injury situation.
The real issue with regards to injuries is that they are difficult to predict. They are an inherent risk for any athlete. Rotating players etc. may have some benefit. However, we don’t really know the optimum levels of activity for any individual player. So for people to pontificate on this is just silly.
Lucy78, I absolutely think Saka should’ve scored an open goal, but you can miss chances, as the manager can make a mistake. But Saka has carried this team for 5 years, often being the only one in attack who can hold his head up high.
Why didn’t we have a proper striker in the box to tap that in I’d like to ask? At least Saka tried to score a goal when we needed it, while other players were nowhere to be seen. I don’t want Arteta gone based off of 2 games, it’s been 5 years.
Btw I was sarcastic about Rodri, didn’t you get it? Pep ran Rodri to the point of injury, same as Arteta did with Saka, Gabriel and Kai. I never once said Timbers ACL was Artetas fault! But Ben White played with injury problems all of last season and did his operation this year. I suppose this again wasn’t the managers fault for leaving the squad short again.
Last year I checked how many minutes Arsenal played for the whole season compared to Man City, the difference was around 4-500 minutes more on average, that’s the equivalent of 4-5 extra games. Again, rotation… And if the bench is not good enough to rotate, than who brought those players?
Let’s not beat it around the bush. The question is when are we supposed to win some trophies? 5 years is enough time, I’d rather give the next 3 to somebody else. The sad truth you chose to ignore, we’re keeping Arteta because the board doesn’t care about winning. We’ll end the season on a profit. Only the Kroenkes will benefit from that. The fans are left to eat all the banter for not winning anything again.
What’s the identity of this club? I hate Man Utd and I don’t wanna be in their place, but they beat Lyon against the odds. Their captain turned up in a game that mattered. Where’s Martin Odegaard? One shot in the 3rd minute is all I remember. Not good enough.
If luck is the reason why 5 seasons in a row we end up with nothing, why bother sign anyone? We can buy a bunch of horseshoes and hang them around the emirates, add some four leaf clovers and hope for the best. Criticism and questioning why things didn’t go our way, being honest, looking in the mirror and saying i won’t eat another doughnut because I’m fat is how you lose weight. You don’t just pass it as `genetics` for people who resisted the temptation and did the hard work in the gym.
Konstanitn, how about our pathetic European record under the previous manager, who had 12 years of being a manager before joining us ?
Lens, Keiv, Monaco, Ostersunds, Anderlecht, Bayern Munich, Inter and AC Milan, to name just a few.
Mikel has been in the CL as our manager for all of two years, reached the quarter finals and then the semi finals. Did you honestly expect him to do that ? I certainly didn’t.
Here we go again!!!!! Liverpool for the first two months of the season had as many and sometimes more injuries than us. Post facts!!!!!
Plus, whatever squad he inherited, it hadn’t won the league for 3 years and they spent peanurs last summer???? Lame excuses
We hadn’t won a league for 21 years and Slot inherited a better squad than Arteta. Facts!
Fact, they finished behind us for 2 YEARS BEFORE. HOW WAS IT BETTER WITH HARDLY ANY SIGNINGS? Arteta spent nigh on 350 mil in that time and didn’t improve. Slott came in and Oh guess what?
So their key players were out for months on end! Wow, I missed that!
Who and for how long then?
There were players out but not all of them were as influential to the team as our losses have been
It’s easy to look up the stats on how each club has fared on the injury front and whilst ours hasn’t been the worst they have been far worse than Liverpools.
I am similar to you insofar as Arteta has to pull something out of the hat next season as toxicity will return and that is not good for the club.
This year has been unusual as no one club will run away with all the prizes. The Slot situation should be looked at as a great league season followed by disappointment in cup trophies annd the CL. Other clubs will be sharing the spoils this year. I hope nobody suggests that Any of the remaining clubs in the mix for European glory have had a better season than ours.
Sue I noticed something
The current top 5 and we could be the only one without a trophy
That’s not including Spurs possibly winning the Europa League lol
This is going to be a long month 💔
I get it Dan
However, as far as any glory goes, does winning the conference title count highly on any Arsenal supporters, wish list?
SueP,
Whether it counts highly or not, surely whatever cup it is. If your in it, then try and win it.
Some of these trophy’s are dissed until the fans who are dissing it, see their team win it. Double standard’s or what!.👍😉
Derek
You’re right about supporters being dismissive of the Conference League and if you are in it then try to win.
My point is that if we were in that particular one, any Arsenal supporter would have rightly been calling for Arteta to get the chop. I certainly would have. (Please don’t bring up the first 1 and a half seasons). Chelsea fell that low from greater heights and what do you think the Chelsea fans would prefer? Top 5 or the Conference League trophy? What would you prefer? Me – top5 and CL next season. Utd and Spurs both need to win the EL to get European football next season- hardly deserving on this season’s showing
No I didn’t even mean it as a response more just an observation and you were the first name i saw lol so I thought I would share it with someone
On May 21st we support Man United
Dan
Spurs have to get past Bodo Gliimt first. Arctic circle – probably Astro turf- y’never know. Then would you be wanting Utd? 😱
No then I’ll get a Bodo shirt
How funny, when we have a player out, he is influential. When Liverpool have a player out, he was just a back up. Well they had their no1 goalkeeper out for months, just for starters. If we had lost our no1 goalkeeper, I DREAD to think, how WE would have managed with one of our back ups?
Plus Slott rotates better than Arteta.
And I still haven’t had a reply from any of the excuse makers. How come with a fully fit first team squad did Newcastle beat us 2-0 and 2-0 and basically hammered us. It wasn’t injuries?
Lucy78, I’ve looked up their injury list and this is what came up.
Jota 15 games
Chiesa 15 games
Elliot 14 games
Gomez 13 games
Bradley 13 games
Allison 13 games
Morton 8 games
Konate 8 games
Tsimikas 6 games
Jones 4 games
TAA 3 games
Gakpo 2 games
That list is upto March 4th.
So out of that list, only 2 can be said as out and starters.
Jota is always injured, so why is Slot not being blamed for replying him, as Arteta is being blamed for the exact same situation with Jesus. Typical double standards from biased fans!
The only main injuries in terms of key players and length of injuries were Jota, Allison, and Konate.
So their best attacker and their best midfielders were always available then. Salah who has 50 plus goal contributions by the way!
I think Lucy because Liverpool won the title ?
And you say biased fans but many said in January ( as did you) this would happen and that we needed help so why now are you saying it was okay not to replace the injured attackers
Need to be careful though peeps you don’t let injuries paper over the cracka
In recent displays whos been injured ?
Surely we had a good enough team to be beating Brentford, the Cherries Everton , Palace , etc ?
Like yesterday we still had our first choice GK , CB , RB , LB ( a revelation apparently ) entire first choice midfield , Martinelli and Saka
So two fist team players out ( one of them is Havertz ) vs PSG who best player was only fit enough to be on the bench
So can’t just blame Injuries mate
Dan,
What you’ve not considered regards to the likes of Saka and Odegaard now being back is, but they’ve had a bad injury and their not back up to speed yet. That seems to be the favorite excuse when ever our Captain fantastic is questioned on his lack of performances.
Lucy78, I’m agreeing with you on regards to Reggie’s post about Liverpool having just as many injuries as us.
I don’t know if getting into the semifinals as against the quarterfinals of last season and then finishing poorly in the league as against the relatively strong finish of last season can be considered a step forward or backward though.
Also consider the embarrassing semifinal tie against Newcastle (Carabao cup).
Wether, you accept it or not for the amount time and resources Arteta has had our level is not good enough. And a drastic change is needed.
Whether you accept it or not it would be unreasonable to make too many drastic changes. We have challenged for the PL in the past 2 seasons and reached the latter stages of the CL.
It is disappointing that we have not been able to win a trophy but this can happen. The core of that team, many of whom are yet to reach their prime, remains and one can see where improvements can be made which would make us an even stronger team.
Wenger last 5 years more successful then Arteta’s first
Wenger a much more experienced manager than Mikel.
Remind us how many trophies Wenger won between ’05 and ’14 ?
Lucy78, agreed with your post right up until you mentioned Arsene.
Was it Arsene who took us out of Europe?
Was it Arsene who took us to our lowest position in over two decades?
Was it Arsene who provided the bulk of the team that won Mikel his one and only trophy?
The decade before Mikel arrived, we won three fa cups, appeared in the CL eight times and never finished below 6th in the PL.
I’m with you 100% regarding injuries and our CL run, but let’s not twist our history just to support Mikel.
Ken1945,
I couldn’t have put that better myself. Excellent post by your good self. 👍
Congratulations to PSG, they were the best team across the 180 minutes. Their goalie is phenomenal, hats off! We had our chances and I would go as far as to say we was unlucky but I can’t defend Arteta.
As a staunch supporter of Artetas philosophy of reinstating the Arsenal values of togetherness, family and the connection with fans, I rest the blame of this loss squarely on Arteta’s shoulders.
We had lost our legs in the 1st half today, clearly Odegaard and Martinelli was struggling and after the break they didn’t look any livelier and Lewis Smelly was getting roasted as well. The left side Calafiori and Trossard substitutions should have happened around the 58-60 minute mark along with Odegaard for Nanweri, triple sub, with an intention.
White for Timber should have been much earlier, even at half time, why is White on the bench if he can’t handle 45 min?? *White, Saka and Odegaard* trio has given us countless goals in the past!! Throw the dice for 45 min, Timber was already touch and go before the game, why did Arteta do nothing to try and win this?
Sorry but this is on Arteta, he himself said when he took this job he would always do the best for Arsenal and if he couldn’t take us any further, he would walk away.
Guess what, @Arteta you have reached your limit and you can’t take us any further but wholeheartedly, thank you for where you’ve got us to, competing, where we should be. Now do the honourable thing and step aside. Take responsibility and read the room, our owners have backed you to the hilt, you have no more excuses. I thank you for your service. ❤️🤍 Arsenal forever!
Unfortunately, people are far too eager to rubbish the team because we lost the game. Some of these ratings are simply ridiculous.
Or mate is it the whole season ?
I agree , we can’t fault the effort tonight but it seems like it has to be one or the other
I dont agree that our manager should lose his job but equally some are falling into the trap of accepting failure
It’s okay not to buy anyone in January
Then it’s okay to be 13 points behind Liverpool
Then it’s okay as long as it’s top 5
Then it’s we are unlucky to lose two games ?
Then it’s all players deserve 8 out of 10
Then suddenly we will be 4th next season and back where we started
You got to have that standard at some point and say it’s not acceptable this season
considering the amount of injuries and all the setbacks, I think so.
Dan, people don’t realise effort doesn’t win you anything without proper guidance. PSG did most things right, we didn’t. We probably used more energy, ran more miles and worked harder but in the great scheme. It wasn’t good enough. We need to ask the obvious question, WHY?
Even Arteta said the difference is in the two boxes
I maintain he asked for help in January
Once that didn’t happen it was going to cost us
I’d imagine board isn’t satisfied with the players he’s vouched for and are his signings. I don’t think Edu wanted Havertz or Merino if the rumors are to be believed. I can’t put too much blame on them not forking more money to Mikel who has a questionable taste in signings lately. Idk who suggested Calafiori but that’s another curious one
I can 100% tell you Arteta wanted over Edu, Odergaard, Merino, Vierra (not Patrick) Sterling, Jesus and Zinchenko. The big one Arteta wanted Mount but Mount refused us (thank you) and we found out Haverz was available, so we piled in. We wanted Mudryk, we were going to pay 80 mil for him ( yes i said that) but he refused us (phew) so we got Trossard. Rice was 100% Artetas but in a nut shell, you can see our problem. Poor buys and random purchases. Along with ALL the other problems, that are staring us in the face and sone people choose to excuse.
Dan,
Some poster’s on here when the striker issue is mentioned they come back at you with, well we don’t have a problem scoring. Well that may be so, but say in the last three seasons when the team has been challenging for trophy’s, the difference a proper number 9 could have made in the tight games could have made the difference. And we could have been sitting here now having won the league in the past two seasons.
Now while a proper number 9 wouldn’t have guaranteed it, I believe it would have given the team a heck of a lot better chance in the long run.
A striker would not have made any difference to our trophy haul this season. It would NOT solve the underlying problems. And another lame excuse would be born. Stay tuned FOLKS!!!!!
Reggie,
While I’ll agree with you this season regarding a striker, I will stand by my stance on the previous two seasons though. 👍😉
It’s not about the ratings, I’d give them all a 10 tonight, they gave their all. It was down to our manager to switch it up when the players tank was on empty. Odegaard has not gotten back to the fitness level from before the injury and he looked knackered tonight after 30 min. Martinelli smashed it the first half, 2nd half his legs where shot and Skelly was under pressure without Martinelli covering his back when he went forward. I feel the game for us was crying out for fresh legs sooner. Our managers substitutions had little impact and at this level (and his pay grade) they should have been more effective. What do I know. It’s not about what I think, it’s about what Arteta’s employers think and they will be thinking about return on investment. Is semi-final UCL and 2nd/(poss 3rd) in PL enough to increase the share value? Probably is. Tonight was a great night for our owners because of how far we got in this competition and the money we earned but for me as a fan, I don’t have words to express the pain.
Plz someone should tell me what exactly Odegaard contributes to this Arsenal team?😏
The Boy has been HORRIBLE and is the worst player this season, yet no fan Criticize him, like we did Ozil, Giroud,etc😒
And someone should help me out with why Arteta brought on Sterling on loan from Chelsea?😕
Don’t know dude
Would hurt me if our fanbase went back to the days of needing a scapegoat
We win as a team , lose as a team
Just didn’t have enough over two legs
Firstly, that’s not true in the slightest that Odegaard isn’t getting criticized. In fact, some stupid fans want him gone!
The reason he’s not getting consistent over the top flack, is because at least he gives 100% off the ball every game. Something you definitely cannot say about the likes of Ozil! The laziest, most self entitled player I have ever seen in an Arsenal shirt.
Also, Odegaard was our player of the season for the previous 2 seasons, meaning he has credit in the bank, so to say.
Ozil was more successful though ….I like both by the way
As an individual Ozil could pull off some amazing passing, but he offered very little outside of that. Just because he might get an assist in a game, it shouldn’t excuse him doing almost nothing else outside of that.
Off the ball we were a man down when Ozil played.
Sorry Martin, but I disagree with you.
I know giving marks out of ten is an individual opinion, so here’s mine.
I don’t look at individual mistakes, as, probably, every single player made one tonight. Some led to more serious outcomes than others of course, but not one was a deliberate act.
So I would give every player a solid eight for a excellent team performance from start to finish.
You scores the midfielders less than 6 with only one player getting a 5. Imo, that’s wrong assessment. If Arsenal midfield wasn’t effecient how then did they dominate?
Arsenal lost the semi final battle when we lost at the Emirate stadium in first leg.
And then the second leg we had no dominant prolific target Man. Our early domination of PSG should result in a goal or two. But we weren’t clinical. That’s the margin btw us and PSG who scored through two well taken goals. They deserved to be at the final
I honestly thought we would win 3-1 tonight but after watching Donnarumma pull off some unbelievable save , we were never to get 3 past him in a month of Sunday.
Had my doubts about him when he moved to psg but wow. Top keeper
2 crazy mistakes
3 worldie save
1 missed open goal
A few of chances
On another night against another team we walk away 4 goals to the good.
Well done PSG. Hope they go on and win it as it has been a long time coming for them and they are the real deal.
The rating are the rating and some agree and some disagree but the first 25 mins we absolutely ran them ragged but we needed the goal which didn’t come
Sake looked leggy at the end and not surprised as he’s only just co.e back.
A great journey but right now I feel deflated and the season feels poor
Ps
Anyone tells.me party is world class again and I will scream
Onwards and upwards
A gallant effort that lacked the necessary quality. We need to upgrade in several positions otherwise we will go from our plateau to falling off a cliff. Our injury woes this season should not distract us from seeing the limitations of a team that lacks top talent beyond Saka, Rice and Saliba. Tick Tock Mikel.
When the arsenal sign arteta as the head coach I was really skeptical and little pessimistic about his appointment from the get go.
Firstly he had no experience managing a big team and was only ever an assistant coach not even the first Assistant coach to guardiola.
His team management especially his man management leave a lot to be desire. And his constant micro managing on the side line pisses me a lot; not allowing/ trusting the players to play their game despite the tactical knowledge and strategy he impacted to them during training and before the match.
His players recruitment is another problem entirely. Thank God that Berta is here now and I pray he get the right materials in.
Arteta should be given one and final season which is next season and if he doesn’t get at least the epl title or champion league, he should be booted out. We can’t keep continuing with a manager that uses the club as large as arsenal to gather his work experience. And if he fails to deliver he should be replace with only an experienced manager.
The Arsenal team did their best against PSG in this year’s Uefa champions League semi finals, but their best was not good enough. The poor finishing which we the fans noticed and have been complaining get number 9 ruthless finisher and you will start winning laurels. Gyokeres, Osinmem, Will be banging in goals. Arteta, brought in sterling only himself can tell what Sterling is doing in Arsenal jersey. Kai Harvatz bought at 65, million pounds does not worth it, there are more quality players that would have been bought with less an amount. Maybe this is the annoyance of the owners of the club. Isak, at Real sociedad was less a amount, Arsenal failed to sign him now 150 million is been demanded,by Newcastle United. Arsenal scouts should do better, and stop bringing into Arsenal team half naked qualities. Is their legs biscuit, why all these injuries at a crucial period? Wenger was never given financial support given to Arteta. He, Arteta has tried, the team can now compete with any team in the world, he achieved that. But winning of trophies is a doubt, he lacks experience in making changes. His team carelessly drop points in premier League. More years permitted Arteta, to remain in Emirates, he may still be playing a second fiddle, that’s
his capacity and limit. Man City may still end in second position ahead of Gunners in EPL this season. What a shame that will be. Fans are fade up with all these near success syndrome enough is enough. I can’t argue with other club’s fans. Liverpool ran champions, next year Chelsea, Newcastle or Man City again will run away again. Some drastic has to be done hearts of fans are wounded no pretence. That’s my take as a faithful Arsenal follower.
We will keep supporting the Arsenal irregardless, but unless Arteta improves in his technical ability , we ain’t winning anything under him even if he stays here forever. The struggle continues.
That is very true. But I don’t think he can improve. Looking at our set piece reliance. He has tried to copy Pep (false 9, inverted LB, inverted wingerss) and that ended up second to Pep. I think he has run out of ideas, so he is noe copying TONY PULIS🤔
Agreed Cliff. You couldn’t have said it better. He just seems to overthink at the most crucial times.
I am a very big fan of his ever since he came to Arsenal. He just needs to learn quickly now and be ruthless as I feel time is running out.
Sell players that do not perform or are injury prone. Substitute players that struggle early.
Looking at those crosses that were put into the box, a Lewandowski or Halaand type player would have buried those no doubt. Again,it comes down to him and the board not signing a striker. I really hope the priority is Gyokeres or Sesko. Forget all other issues. We need a striker ASAP!
The seeds of this defeat were planted in June. Oh, the irony. Our inflexible manager, who never changes his tactics, was inflexible and abandoned the striker pursuit after missing out on Sesko. Instead, he signed a defensive midfielder so slow that he would place third in a race with a pregnant woman and a $50 million CB to move over to left back…..and then into midfield as an inverted left winger. But it gets better…….when the attacking core that the manager ran into the ground all came up with bad hamstrings, the defensive midfielder ended up playing striker, and the $50 million CB (converted to LB to play inverted LW….are you following this, because I’m confused) gets inserted into attack off the bench today. 750 million quid and no proper striker or reliable scoring options off the bench. Brilliant. We are now “Wait ’til Next Year F. C.” What’s the excuse going to be this time, next May? Because if Arteta is here, you can bet he’ll have one.
It is good that none of the comments on this platform have any effect on the management of AFC. Why do I say this? Because there is so much negativity that one would think the club has been relegated from EPL! This is simply outrageous! Why don’t we look at the circumstances that have hindered our team from achieving ultimate success this season? Which team can miss its two regular central strikers for nearly half a season and still do what we have done? Which team can lose its best central defender and some other prominent players and still remain competitive?
What some of the people here fail to remember is the fact that we spent a few seasons out of any European football. It is Mikel Arteta who has brought us back to the Champions league and with a bang. Why can’t we appreciate what we have done? What have Man U and Chelsea, which change managers regularly, done better than Arsenal? How much has Spurs benefitted from managerial changes? Instead of calling for change of management, we should be demanding better players who can take us to the next level. We should also be calling for a clear out of some players who have failed to live up to the expected standards. This is more reasonable than calling for change of the manager when he has clearly achieved observable progress. We need to build on this and success will come our way. Sir Alex Ferguson spent six years without winning any trophy at Man U but is there anyone who doesn’t recall Ferguson’s success at Man U? Arteta will indeed deliver for Arsenal. Every year that passes, Arteta gains more experience, and before we know it he will be one of the top managers in world football. We only need to give him chance. Nothing ever comes easy.
“Every year that passes, Arteta gains more experience“
Only thing that gains is his bank balance .
Oh well there’s always next year and next year and ……………………
Would you like to appointed in his place so that your bank account can gain every year?
Great response bud 🙄
I bet Dan couldn’t win a trophy either. Sorry Dan.
I could t but the club could save 12 million a year on wages
Some fans would still say it’s okay lol.
You may accept mediocrity. That doesn’t mean every arsenal fan on this platform have to settle for same.
Arteta spend five good years building and shaping the team and within that five years a major trophy like the epl title should have been in the cabinet by now.
Moyes didn’t spend up to five years at West Ham before winning the conference league.
Is the conference league your ambition? I think there is something wrong here! If you imagine that winning the conference league is better than being in Champions league then I am sorry for you and there is not much we can discuss. It is like saying that winning the Carabao cup is better than being in Champions league. If for you it is a trophy for its own sake, then there is nothing more I can discuss there.
While watching the match, you need to see mockery arsenal fans were subjected. Mostly from chelsea, man utd and Liverpool fans. Mind you man utd, Chelsea and tottenham chances at a European trophy is pretty high.
Liverpool win the epl
Man utd/tottenham wins the europa,
Chelsea wins the conference league,
Newcastle won the carabao cup,
Man city get the fa cup
Seeing all the major rivals in the league getting a medal in at least one competition and the arsenal settle for either second place and are we still guarantee to retain that second with the way city and the rest are playing.
It makes me laugh when people diss said trophy’s that any given team is playing in.
At the end of the day, a trophy is a trophy. And if your in said cup, then try and win it. Otherwise what’s the point of entering.
And I also find that people diss certain trophy’s until their team wins it. Double standards or what!. 🙄
Lol! Biased emotional ratings. How on earth do you rate Thomas 4.5? Did we watch different matches? He’s been outstanding all season but y’all keep doing this. I’ll be glad if he leaves to a team he’ll be appreciated.
To be fair, Partey made mistakes for both PSG goals and gave the ball away cheaply multiple times. He’s been outstanding this season no doubt, but there was nothing outstanding about his performance last night. I believe these are ratings for that game alone and not the entire season. I’ll be glad if he stays but I hope the club signs another player for that position.
If you looked back to my comments after the Bournemouth game I thought he was mixed. Some good but more mistakes than I expected. I graded him Lowe on that game.
L’Equipe, famous for their ratings gave us:
Raya-6
MLS-3
Kiwior-4
Saliba-5
Timber-4
Rice-5
Partey-3
Ødegaard-4
Martinelli-4
Merino-3
Saka-5
They also criticised Arteta for having no plan B.
In this world history plays a very great role and Arsenal are creating a new history of not winning trophies for the past 2 decades.
Only FA Cups have been our consolation and Arteta seems to fumble it too with his own team.
I’m not raising my hopes or expecting any trophy in the nearest future anymore.
If they do win one, then good but I won’t be thinking we will so I don’t get disappointed.
It’s very clear that we need a super striker and a good dribbling left winger.
Without these 2 players we cannot get trophies at all.
Who do you have in mind SJ? I like the look of that Gittens for the left wing. As for Centre Forward position, all the available options have question marks about them, but we have to take a gamble I suppose. I also do hope we can have a fully fit Havertz for the start of next season.
My dream team –
Gyokeres.
Gittens. Odegaard. Saka.
Rice. Zubimendi.
Calafiori. Gabriel. Saliba. Timber.
Raya.
Agreed SJ. Gyokeres would be the ultimate one. What do you think about Mbeumo to compete with Saka and Martinelli?
What about another goalkeeper to provide competition for Raya?
I doubt Mbuemo would want to sit on the bench and have reduced game time.
Gittens is a good left winger and will compete with Martinelli.
Maybe Nwaneri can compete with Saka for the right wing.
Sure, a back up goal keeper would be bought, so far Garcia from Espanyol is being followed.
I’m proud of the boys with how they preformed in Champions League
We made it to the Semis and beat Real Madrid on the way. That’s better than what we expected