Arsenal look they have finally found a bit of form and spirit, and they took apart Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth with very little effort last night. A great performance deserves great ratings! So here they are….
Leno – 6
Not much to do, and may have lost concentration when he put Guendouzi under pressure, but it doesn’t matter in the great scheme of things!
Sokratis – 7
The Greek is one of the reasons we are so high in the League now. He may get injured, he may be a hot-head, but when he plays he is a rock! Compared to the rest of our defence anyway.
Koscielny – 7
Worth keeping until he’s 40 if he keeps playing like this!
Monreal – 6
Gradually getting back into the swing of things. I can see him being a real asset.
Jenkinson – 8
He was a revelation! Maybe all his problems came from his relationship with Wenger?
Torreira – 7
I have been a bit worried about Lucas lately, but maybe he has now recovered his energy…
Guendouzi – 7
I think he is benefiting from a rest now and then. Despite his mistake I am sure he is going to go on to great things.
Kolasinac – 7
Surprised he played but glad he did. Maybe everyone is starting to gel with him?
Mkhitaryan – 9
What needs to be said. Suddenly he is worth five Sanchez’s and we can have real hopes we have a superstar on our hands if he keeps this up.
Aubameyang – 7
Was in Henrik’s shadow today, but seems to play better alongside Laca
Ozil – 8
Getting back to his very best form. As long as he is happy with Emery’s ideas he will be a real asset in the run in. And fresh as a daisy!
Subs:
Iwobi – 6
Certainly no complaints about his work today. He will definitely start against Spurs…
Lacazette – 7
A good short game. Again I’m certain Emery is keeping him fresh for the big one at the weekend.. Great cameo. Dangerous, hardworking. Took his free kick well.
Suarez – 5
Obviously not settled in yet, but every minute counts at the mo. Could be another asset in the coming months…
Admin
Your ratings are good. Tumbs up for Jenkinson for a great job. Now we can be rest assured Bellerin will not be so missed if Jenko continue to play like this .All the players really impressed yesterday. Great commitment, great results. Ozil is back to his best and Miki is on top of his game. Please let’s repeat such performance against spurs this weekend .If Arsenal can beat spurs this weekend, I can bet we shall make 3rd at the end of the season. COYG.
What I like it’s that Emery has improved our players. I can see the signs of the improvement especially in the players such were not that good before. It gives us better players & it improves their financial worth if we do sell them
I think he’s definitely after improving the fitness of our players, not injury wise, the energy and strength levels. Set pieces too, defending them, a noticeable difference. Another one would be how much they all pitch in, offensively it’s hard to say, but they all retreat back up field more often and in more numbers than they have in other more recent seasons.
You are Too optimistic about Saturday, don’t you??
We need to be calm… I think even a draw would good result at Wembley…
Our away form is dismal…
Although I completely agree about our away form, this is the North London Derby one of the biggest rivalries in football. Form goes out the window, Everyone wants blood
I agree with what Kedar has said, I read from a few fans off twitter straight after the match and it went beyond confidence or good mood. It reminded me of those knee-jerk fans that began talking about us as title contenders when we went 22 games without defeat. It’s going to be a tough game, no doubt, it’s ok to have confidence but talking about the match like it’s not even a contest, well, it’s a wee bit ignorant.
My head tells me to be reasonable but heart keeps telling me to prepare for St Totteringhams day. I’m just praying Ozil doesn’t disappear in the big occasion because he was nothing short of exquisite, another player that I had given flack and am proud to wrong about is myhkitarian, was absolutely sublime. C’mon lads let’s give them tiny totts a wholloping before they take on city and Liverpool
COYG & FOYS
Team v spurs
Leno
Sok kos monreal
Jenko torre xakai kolas
Miki lacaz iwobi
We should not go for 3 at back away…. We should go all out attack…
Because I don’t think we would survive even playing 3 at back
Leno
Jenkinson Sokratis Koscielny Kolasinac
Torreira. Xhaka
Mkhitaryan. Ozil. Iwobi
Lacazzet
A joyous night and even more joyous perf overall. Surely Jenks has now made the RB position his own , at least while Bellerin is still out. LICHT MUST NOT START OVER JENKS EVER AGAIN! I wish I could be proved wrong over OZIL , once and for all. Last night, I WAS. But it MUST become the norm, NOT a once in a blue moon happening for me to change my mind. WE WILL SEE . AND HOPE!
Let us all not forget though how poor the Bournemouth defence was and is. Spuds will be a totally different prospect. A draw at WHL will be a great result and is my prediction too.
We can but dream my Lord…
“Last night, I WAS.”
I hope he keeps it up, he has had it hard this season with it starting after the German FA circus and then inconsistent run in the team, it is nice to see people who want to see more praise him when he done well.
I honestly think Ozil has looked stronger mentally in the past few games, I really hope we can bring this side out of him more often, the Guendouzi and Torreira partnership behind him was also pleasing.
Wenger never did that (DMs) and I felt it was constantly undermining Ozil. I do think Guendouzi and Torriera helped both Mkhi and Ozil have a good game, they done very well in helping us maintain the ball and to work it which in turn gave Mkhi and Ozil more license to play how they can play.
A fully fit Mhkit is of good value to our squad. I think Denis Saurez will be a good addition for the squad this year, I think he is a type of player who could play wide, hunt down opponents and run with the ball at the spaces that create issues for the opponents, a bit like B.Silva at city.
I hope Kos is recovering well from the studs to the knees yesterday. I was fearing the worse but if he has bruising and only missings 1 game that’s cool, be good atleast to have him for Renne and Man U.
Torierra needs to work out that the opponents will press him, same as for Gendouzi. Once they both master this issue their game will flourish more then it currently is.
Maybe it is smart thinking that Ozil is brought back in at the part of the season we really need him. Maybe a full season is what unai wants from him by seeing him work harder in training But if Ozil is to have a career at Arsenal, he will need to continue what he is doing right now.
from Laca’s goals this season, 9 have been match wining goals…but yesterday his goal capped a performance of a team who, like others see themselves at the business end of the calender and Arsenal have a squad back, players competiting and new ideas being learnt.
I don’t know where or what we will do. If we win the UEFA Cup, finish in the top 4 then that is a wonderful season considering not what we all want, but considering where we really are as a club.
But in truth if you look at the top 6 as 2 sets of 3. Liverpool finished top of the 2nd set and had enough to go and question if they are good enough to finish 1st.
Man u dropped out of that table and have a strong squad to finish 4th ahead of us and Chelsea.
Only Liverpool have improved from last season whilst in theory united have underperformed, spurs remain static, Chelsea and Arsenal are the same but with changes.
We just need to go back to working hard on the pitch and the Glamour that is associated with Arsenal will come back. Its this that comes from the atmosphere made by the fans on matchday. Spurs do not have that Glamour that is associated with Arsenal. Yes they are exciting at times but the fact they cannot compete for the league, means they are just like us, just like Chelsea and like United this season. They are just a little ahead of us at the moment.
Win against us on Saturday and it doesn’t pave over the cracks appearing for them. Ppch just said it will take 10 years for Spurs to compete for the league, I don’t think Kane looked happy yesterday because it is not going as they thought – We could of told them that. We tried the cost effective approach to try and win the league.
We are about to come into a time of being able to spend wisely until we are back in the CL where we know that revenue sheet, because we had it for many years. Spurs are entering a stage of new stadium costs. If we win, 1 point behind them gives us a huge hope for stealing 3rd or atleast 4th.
these situations is what drives you as a manager or player.
Ozil & Mkhi were brilliant!! ? same again on Saturday please
Too right Sue and Kane maybe Suspended on Saturday ? out fishing atm (keen angler) ? 1 perch, 1 jack pike so far haha off to Amsterdam tomorrow so had to get a session in ?
With a bit of luck hey?! Then he’ll have time to see to his horns ?
It’s not keen, it’s avid!! ? avid angler!! ?
Well enjoy angling ?? and have a great time in RLD… I meant Amsterdam ???
No action against Kane ? FA’s golden boy proves the whole system is corrupt ? oh yeah Avid ? it’s gone dead lol gonna give it until 5 then head home. RLD me? I’m a good boy Sue ?
Exactly!!! I bet Poch gets away with it too & him & Mike Dean will be bezzies again b4 we know it!!! Dodgy bloody lot….
I seriously hope we do them on Saturday ?
So what’s your bait?
100% Sue, it makes me sick! Fa aren’t gonna wanna upset England’s main man! Oh no doubt if that was Emery he’d be already serving a 6 game ban! Using Lures on a baitcaster and have my carp rod out with deadbaits – Mackerel ☺
So did the mackerel work?! Eww not sure I’d want to touch all that sort of stuff… bad enough feeding my son’s lizards roaches & locusts ?
Don’t you eat fish Sue ? nah caught nothing on the deadbaits one small jack pike and perch on the lures not very good but saved a blank haha. What type of lizard bearded dragon ?
Haha yes, but in breadcrumbs or batter or tuna out of a tin!! ? don’t want to touch it with all blood & guts hanging out ??
A bearded dragon & a crested gecko..
Saved a blank? You know I’m no good with fishing talk ?
2 lizards ? I seen tons of wild gecko in Corfu little buggers were everywhere ? so fish fingers then ? ah you get used to it ? lol saved a blank means you caught something rather than nothing even if it’s only small ?
I like lizards & newts & all that sort of thing! I was thinking more like scampi ??
Well thanks for clearing that up ?
So it said on ref watch that we should have had a penalty last night, when Sokratis went over…. all very well saying it now ?
We should have Kane banned too but no the FA are corrupt and have a bunch of rubbish ref’s that’s why none of them involved at the world cup! You wouldn’t like monitor lizards or Komodo dragons ? it’s a classic Sue ? haha something new you learned today ?
There’d better not be any dodgy decisions on Saturday!!
So Son has been crowned London’s PL player of the year!
Depends on the ref Sue ? disgrace should have gone to Andy Carroll ? ranieri sacked again I think his management days are over, he looks a broken man
Haha he was robbed ?
He was certainly up against it at Fulham… they leak more goals than us!! Yes maybe he should call it a day… must be rough being a manager.. I wouldn’t want it… the stress of it all ?
Unai Emery will have grey hair this time next year ? and everyone raving about Callum Chambers ? spent well over a hundred mil last summer, and they’re worse than they were before they spent lol. They should sack Scott Parker and bring in Wenger to shore up the defence ?
He won’t look like Dracula next year then ? that’s a lot of money… that Babel guy has played quite well, but he can’t do it all by himself!!
How the hell will Parker do I wonder? They’ll probably be relegated
An OAP Dracula ? they probably think he’ll do a solskjaer and rack up the points lol. It’s the hair making him roll back the years Sue ?
? have a great Weekend John … ???
The FA is taking no action against him. Just saw that on BBC.
You’re joking???
Then he’s going to gore another person??
??? ? they’ll be an inch or so bigger by Saturday!
Haven’t watched the game but from all the upbeat comments from my fellow gooners it seems like we did good.
Now the real test comes at the weekend against our Spud friends.
Let’s go Gunners.
It was Goonster, I enjoyed the game which was nice, I haven’t been shy in my criticism so I’ll say when he done well.
He done very well ^.^
I reckon the win against Sou was a better performance. Bournemouth played too openly for an away day at a top six club, they would’ve needed a fair amount of luck because we were always going to rack up the chances. Sou set up better defensively and gave a good account of themselves in the second half, we ended up sitting a little bit at what we had rather than chase goals but we still carried a good threat. I thought it was a good attacking display especially there yesterday and it was certainly a nice confidence booster. I wouldn’t go over the top with it though because they gave us allot of space and they played right into our hands. Still, it’s two fairly good performances and you can only beat what is put in front of you. We had more will power and an out to get a job done kinda mindset v Sou, it was directly after a two day rest and there was six changes made to the starting line up, that game impressed me more. Yesterdays game was one that the players really enjoyed our play, and we managed to rest some players for it which was good, it was one of those games that everyone wants to get in on the act. Not taking anything away, there was some fine stand out performances, as was there in the previous one to it. Good job team and nicely done Emery, this Tott game is huge and we should have a bit of confidence going into it, don’t let the fine work end on sour note, please, because it’s getting close now.
As long as Lichsteiner and Mustafi do not feature, we can at least get a draw against Spurs.Surely Emery can see we are way better without these two mediocre defenders?
The performances of Ozil, Mkhitaryan, Jenkinson and even Lichtsteiner in the two games before his injury are the reason why not to write off any player. When they play badly. Let’s be decent in our criticism and avoid calling them names. Let’s support them and am sure they will improve.
With respect Lance , neither Lichsteiner not Mustafi will improve.They are mediocre players who are not good enough for our Club.
Ozil and Mkhi created chances, I liked that level of creativity together on the pitch, we will make attacking movements and having people like that in the side who can provide the key passes is vital.
I disliked 3 at the back and would prefer 4231 against the spuds.
Leno
Jenks-Sokratis-Kos-Kola
Guendouzi-Torreira
AMN-Mkhi-Iwobi
Auba
I would start with Ozil on the bench and let him and Mkhi know that they will be swapped, we want to win this so I’d want Mkhi to run himself into the ground and then replace him with Ozil who I hope would be able to find those pockets easier against tired legs.
Auba starts with the hope that the Mkhi/Auba partnership can grow again, they done well in the last game in linking up and Auba can stretch the spuds backline with his pace, again tiring them out against a top athlete.
AMN and Iwobi on the wings, Iwobi final ball is horrendous at times but he does put a shift in. He will track back, he will press and he will cause problems for their attacking movements. He would offer more protection to Kola as well IMO. The same idea with AMN on the right, he can help out Jenks in the def side which would be aided by his experience as a RB/RWB. Press hard, like Iwobi. He is not a small lad to be bullied off the ball.
I feel that both Iwobi and AMN could drop deeper and almost become LM/RM respectively, turning us into a 4411 at times when we are being pushed back, assuming the spuds will cause us problems…
I would like to say have Ozil and Mkhi on the pitch together but the spuds are not as weak in the middle as Bournemouth, I praise Emery for using them both against a ‘weaker’ side to open them up and will not moan if they both don’t start as long as we don’t start 9 def minded players…
Keep up the good work Emery and team, last game was good and I am hoping for another enjoyable 90 mins… ending in the spuds being beaten of course 😛
well i am delighted that ozil has finally had a decent game for us. i will not get too excited however. i will wait until the end of the season , and see how many more decent games he bothers to put in for us. one word of caution however, as my old gran often said , one swallow does not make a summer.
I just loved all the team effort and togetherness in the squad.
It was also touching to see the suporters standing behind Jenkinson.
Mhkitaryan and Ozil proved themselves. When they are fit, it’s a joy to watch what they can create.
I do hope we keep the same level of hunger and spirit and focun for the rest of the season.
I meant “focus”, not “focun”. Sorry.
Positive.. but still calm because it was Bournemouth. So when we meet Spurs hope it will perform well as expected..
I really hope that Denis Suarez will adapt quickly and perform well..
And I really really hope Auba and Laca improve their final ball as a striker so can maximize every chances they got to make all the goal… My dream they could be similar like, as smart as Henry and Bergkamp..