It was a great win by Arsenal last night, and a dominant display against Huddersfield was exactly what we needed ahead of our massive clash with Man United this weekend coming up. The Gunners have hit their very best form and we can look ahead with confidence at the moment.
There were some excellent performances in the Arsenal defence in the first half and the attacking side of the team took over in the second, so here are my ratings….
Petr Cech – 8
A well balanced display. Petr didn’t have a lot to do but when called upon he was great…
Laurent Koscielny – 8
Koss the Boss was brilliant as usual and seems very comfortable with his partners at the back
Shkodran Mustafi – 8
This was our 7th clean sheet in a row with Mustafi in defence and i don’t think it’s a coincidence! Solid and dependable..
Nacho Monreal – 7
Solid as usual, but there was a little bit of sloppy passing at times…
Granit Xhaka – 6
The jury is still out on Xhaka. Not very influential as Ramsey took control of the centre. Had one shot that was way off target!
Aaron Ramsey – 9
Excellent. He really is flourishing as the midfield general now. Two assists and the first flick for Lacazette’s opener was brilliant
Sead Kolasinac – 7
He hasn’t looked so much of a Tank lately as the rest of the team have improved. An average game for me and another that left his shooting boots at home.
Hector Bellerin – 6
Not involved as he should have been against such a weak side. Average day at the office.
Mesut Ozil – 9.5
The highest rating I’ve ever given. The Assist King is back. If only he’d never gone away! Even scored one himself. Brilliant.
Alexis Sanchez – 6
Scored a goal but not reached top form as far as I’m concerned. Welbeck could have contributed more than him I think.
Alexandre Lacazette – 7
Well taken opener but got injured soon after. He was trying but I think Wenger should have taken him off earlier.
Subs
Olivier Giroud – 7
You can’t knock his efforts with two goals but he may improve further with regular playing time. He will be keen to take advantage of Lacazette’s injury.
Wilshere – 6
Got a great cheer when he came on but will be better with more game time under his belt
Welbeck – 6
Another one needs more match fitness
Debuchy needs to start pushing Bellerin for a place on the starting 11……
Debuchy is a very good right fullback, despite slower than Bellerin. But I think Bellerin’s competitor is Nelson now.
No way about NELSON. It is not his correct position which is further forward and only Wenger, unsurprisingly, disagrees.
Ain’t it grand. Apparently , right now, four Gooners(presumably) actually think that the highly talented NELSON IS BEST SUITED TO PLAY RIGHT BACK /WING BACK. Ignoring all the other evidence to the contrary. More likely they are in fact, objecting to my straight talking and have not the vocabulary or the courage to argue their own bizarre reasoning in print. So I issue this challenge to you, if you have the guts to explain why you see Nelson in defence in future, tell us why!
Yes Jon, Nelson is for me an inside forward not a full back.
no way.. look at how well Sterling is playing for Citeh… that must be his only role for Arsenal…. buy better defenders behind him if necessary !
Did not see the match, but I saw the highlight and the goals. Ozil and Sanchez were energetic, Ramsey was brilliant with his flick and assists.
Manchester United is the next challenge and they have longer rest than Arsenal players. Manchester United players’ physicalities and energy could only be defeated if Arsenal players play with high level football, like when they faced Everton, Tottenham and Huddersfield.
Overall I think the ratings are fair but sanchez I think deserves 6.5 or a 7 at least..Bellerin and Xhaka after a lot of promise in the past seem to be going backwards….Solid win though….
You are right..bt i tink kongdobia of valencia would b perfect for us..he could be our pogba..my opinion though
Although in the end a convincing and exhilarating last quarter esp, we owed a lot to Cech to save an equaliser and even going behind. Clearly the weak link is still the ponderous, slow to read danger, Xhaka. Sure he can sometimes spray passes around against lesser teams but he has been proved wanting at our level and must be moved on and not replaced by Coquelin or Elneny who are just limited triers. A full decade since Gilberto and STILL we are no nearer fiillng the long term glaring hole that has been our weakest link all that time. Such a shame , considering all our other real talent across the squad, that Wenger has no idea and seemingly no intention to remedy this gaping long term hole in the team.
.
.
Xhaka surely needs replacing. Just wish we had someone like Kante instead of him…
Me too. Kante has won 2 PL in a row with 2 different clubs lol. Chelsea made the right decision to get Kante. Just like United getting Matic.
Xhaka (£35 mil), Coquilin and Eleny aren’t good enough sadly.
We could and should have had Kante. But hey, who do you reckon is to blame for that omission!
A bit harsh on Alexis with 6.
Xhaka again fails to impress. He is a decent player but far from the £35 mil price tag and far from what we require in Central Midfield
Everyone else were excellent.
Awesome result
It’s nice to be on the right side of a blow out for a change. We needed a huge win to keep our positivity high
Now United will be a major test
Xhaka was always slow in decision making and he gave wrong passes… As for Bellerin I am sorry to say but attacking role isn’t he’s place as he is wasting that role…Walcott or Nelson would utilise this position well.Bellerin keeps taking the ball back like he still thinks he is a right back..
Give that he’s role to Walcott who takes the ball forward always and not Bellerin who doesn’t take advantage of he’s pace. Bellerin should return to he’s normal right back.
Yes Walcott. I remember him , signed for Arsenal twelve years since. Occasional sightings in the stand, the bench and even on the pitch- though he manages to hide very well from view, when occasionally, on the pitch!
2nd half was brilliant. Gutted Lacazette is injured… he looked good last night. Ozil was brilliant yet again. Ramsey played well too. I really hope they all keep this up as it’s a joy to watch (plus I’ll be there for the Newcastle match ?) and what was brought up on MOTD? The empty seats!!!
MotD were just showing the truth Sue. They were empty. Do you suggest that they hide the truth?
No Jon not at all but I don’t see what that has to do with the match
It is a programme about football generally as well as showing the days games. There are regular discussions between games and other related matters are often spoken about. Personally, I don’t believe in pretending something does not exist- empty seats- when they plainly do exist. Surely what matters is WHY they are empty. You have a perfectly valid opinion though as do I also. It would be a pity to agree on everything and in any case , being a miserable old git, I love disagreeing with as many as possible. These days , that is about all I can manage to do. Cue Violins! But I would truly love to see us win the title again and the CL before I succumb to the long sleep. Cue even more violins and louder, this time. Poor old sod!
Jon you’re not a miserable old git surely Haha! You’re right everyone has an opinion. It would be boring if we all thought the same way! With certain topics on here I love to see what you have written!
Oh Sue, I bet you say these nice things to all the boys! You are good for my ego for sure.
Am I right in thinking that Maitland-Niles plays in the Xhaka position for the under 23s? I rate him but he also does not look completely comfortable at wing back.
Seriously arsenal vs burnley, didnt know you had the power to watch the future. Still you use it to write reviews lol.
on a serious note ozil and ramsey should both be MOtM. Ozil was ozil but ramsey was actually disciplined and unselfishly creative. instead of bombing forward to get the glory goal, he was distributing ozil like through ball and should have a hat-trick of assist if not for giroud wastefulness.