Damn international break! by Peter Doherty
There was a palpable sense of trepidation among Gooners when Vieira got sacked just before this meeting that we were going to suffer a new manager bounce, for the second time this season after the Everton experience.
That fear looked legitimate in the first twenty minutes as Palace looked threatening and only a Ramsdale fingertip save and a fortuitous bounce prevented us from going behind. Once Martinelli struck a beauty Arsenal settled into a groove smoother than Roger Moore’s left eyebrow. The quality of the Arsenal play was exquisite at times and was reminiscent of the best Wenger teams.
Here are my ratings:
Ramsdale (8) Made an almost indiscernible save onto the post early doors for a chance that would have altered the dynamic of the game. Made another excellent stop when Palace were through one on one later. This is a recurring theme and if we are to win the league these moments will define that success as much as Nelson’s wonder goal.
White (7) Had his hands full with a very determined Zaha who was auditioning for a summer move to the Emirates. Made some excellent tackles but was also undone by the Palace winger on a few occasions. Had a beautifully weighted assist for Saka’s goal and a pre-assist for Martinelli’s. How Southgate can’t recognize the potential of that understanding for England is baffling.
Holding (8) The anxiety about this fixture wasn’t helped by the prospect of Saliba’s absence but Holding somehow channeled his inner Maldini. In the first twenty minutes when the game was in the mix he was the most resolute Arsenal defender. His distribution was unbelievable, highlighted by two pin point cross field passes. Take a bow son.
Gabriel (7) Has been a rock all year. The memories of his former brain farts are long gone and he has been so consistent that we have come to expect it of him. And he delivers.
Zinchenko (7) I have been critical of his defensive qualities in recent games but he was excellent throughout. Didn’t give the ball away once either, which seemed to be becoming a habit. Offered his usual qualities going forward.
Partey (8) This dude is the complete midfielder. How the hell he retrieves some of the balls he wins is a mystery. So frequently he looks to be in a disadvantaged position but emerges with the ball. He is a player who understands what he is going to do with the ball even before he has received it, as his first touch is frequently an incisive pass.
Xhaka (8) Again does all the unglamorous stuff unfussily. But then weighs in with a well worked if slightly fortunate goal. Was a constant part of the triangles of short passes that tore the Palace defence apart.
Odegaard (8) The king of tight spaces. Has the capacity to control the ball under any circumstance. At one point he controlled a very awkward high ball by softly passing it to Saka in a dangerous position. Very few footballers could manage that, but even fewer would see it.
Saka (9) Two goals and an assist. Two beautifully taken goals it must be said. The superlatives to describe this kid all tend to sound insufficient. I think the fact that he comes across as such a humble nice guy makes it even more pleasurable to see him perform at such an incredibly high level.
Trossard (7) When the team purr like this he is a natural fit. His immediate connection to the rest of the Arsenal attack has made him THE signing of the January transfer window. Great movement, control and vision.
Martinelli (8) Took his goal beautifully. It was a very difficult chance and only a player playing with his current level of confidence would even attempt it. The level of his work rate is astounding. If you get a chance in a game to watch how many sprints he makes then you’ll understand what I’m talking about.
All we need now is another ten performances like this. How do you other Gooners rate it?
Peter Doherty
———————————————-
WATCH – A very happy Mikel Arteta discusses Arsenal’s pivotal win over Crystal Palace
WATCH EVERY ONE of Mikel Arteta’s and Jonas Eidevall’s Full Press conferences by subscribing to our YouTube Channel – JustArsenalVids
I think Trossard has 1 goal and 6 assists since joining us 2 months ago. Unbelievable impact! It’s hard to see Jesus replacing him the way Leandro is performing..
And Holding and Tierney were excellent yesterday despite of their limited game time this season.
Xhaka and Partey, impressive as usual (wouldn’t have believed saying this last summer that this is the norm for our midfielders now?!).
Obviously Saka was the MOTM for me!
Any word on Saliba injury? At least he’s going to get rested as he was not picked up by France.
I still believe 8wins will do from now. Whatever the result of the other 2, we should sail through.
I hope for the best outcome against Chelsea, Liverpool & Newcastle.
But really, did the team start the season with the aim to win the BPL? The spirit overall with the PL games are different.
I thinks Arsenal should target the Man City Game and win it then tell the whole world we are the better team and we can get our revenge back from Man City
I don’t think beating City proves anything serious. We beat Lester home and away in their title winning season but they were the best team over the entire season. I need us to maintain the performance and win games. Being the better of the 2 over the season is all we need.
Well it was very much a team performance and your scores represent that and how you valued each player’s contribution. There wasn’t a single player that was ‘off’ on the day.
I KNOW that Saka scored 2 and assisted but I rated Odegaard at the same level on the day. His industry and touch was incredible.
Holding really took his chance yesterday and was a real thorn in the CP side and White deserved an 8
Leeds (H)
Pool (A)
West Ham (A)
Southampton (H)
City (A)
Chelsea (H)
Newcastle (A)
These are our next 7 matches, and I believe these will make it or break it for us. The last 3 we have I don’t believe to be as hard.
Conincidentally City’s last 3 matches are more difficult I reckon as they have Chelsea at home, Everton and Brentford away. Brentford has been giant killing this season and Everton just might be fighting for survival at that point.
Leeds, Southampton, West Ham, Chelsea matches should all be winnable if we just keep our usual standard. I think even Newcastle might be easier than expected if they are running out of steam as it’s seemed like.
And concerning the difficult away games, I believe we will be champions if even just draw at Anfield and Etihad. Good thing at the Anfield trip is that it’ll be Liverpool’s 3rd match inside 8 days meanwhile we only play once a week. We won’t win all of our games but neither will City. Anyhow, rest now and just play one at a time!
Everyone scares me at this time of the year. There are nine teams that are in legitimate danger of relegation and the rest have some sniff at Europe.
One of our last three is Brighton and they have been playing well.
The good thing, this is in our hands – we play well and get results the rest doesn’t matter.
And this group is better than any team we have had for some time – better talent and better attitude
Ben White was MOTM for me with Saka just behind. Saka 8.5 and B White 9.
Rest of the scores I agree with.
Yes, I agree. Ben White looks very sharp and always make a genius passing, unimaginable….
Mark you Peter Doherty. Period to their playing against Arsenal at the Ems in the Epl last Sunday’s afternoon. It was the winless in 13 Epl games, out of sort and managerless Crystal Palace team that Arsenal played host to and wallop 4-1 in the match.
Arsenal will still face some tough games to play in their remaining 10 run-in games of this Epl season’s campaign.
Such as at home to relegation battling teams like Leeds, Southampton and others. And Brighton who are fighting for a European football birth next season.
And at away to relegation fighters West Ham and top4, 5 & 6 place seeking teams of Newcaste and Liverpool to contend with. And above all ar away to their this season Epl title win rival team Man City to play.
Which will subject Arsenal Epl title win credentials this season to a very serious test. As they have now approached the homestraiight of the 100 meter sprint race of this season’s Epl title win race. But Arsenal will pass the test excellently. And come 1st in the race on 99 points winning all their remaining 10 games and beat Man City to the title trophy lifting at the finish line of the title race. .
So many good performances to choose from, but 2 goals and an assist has to be MOTM.
Being out of Europa may be a blessing, I’m just saying. Now the focus is on PL title, and only having 1 competition let’s us rest and play the best over the final stretch.
Love to see City finish 2nd, getting tired of their arrogance and Liverpool over last several years.
Shout out to Neville, admire his loyalty to his former club, but looking forward to his humble pie when Utd finish well behind The Arsenal.
City have 16 games (if they reach the semis of the EC) until season end and we have only 10. This should be a big advantage as they will be playing twice a week most weeks and we only have this twice.
Better keep Trossard in the CF position, as long as he keeps making assists and goals. His tactical understanding and playmaking skills are excellent
Tierney made an assist as well, so he deserves to start against Leeds. A productivity-based rotation could push our players to train harder and perform better
Holding also deserves to start ahead of Saliba, after showing a great performance yesterday. This could improve the team’s harmony and let our key players know that the starting places aren’t guaranteed for them
Yes I totally agree with you. But I can’t blame Arteta he doesn’t want to take chance with any match. After all, the fans will blame him for keeping some players on the bench should he lose or draw any game.
Rob Holding have no choice. He gotta dig deep and perform under all these pressure. A little bit rusty but will come good as always. I’m more worried of Tierney, who seemed lost at inverted fullback role. He needs to take more incentives and responsibilities to cope with the situation. He did very well as attacking fullback later, as he always has been. But he gotta walk the fire now. Especially when Tomiyasu is injured. The daunting prospect of facing Salah at Anfield looms.
A 7 for Ben White is utterly shameful. It was his best game of the season, easily an 8 or even an 8.5.
Shame you didn’t give your thoughts on Tierney Peter, as I was so impressed with his contribution.
I like reading your views on each player and, while marking players is an individuals take, I find your breakdown always interesting.
One, among other reasons, why I am reluctant to award individual ratings in a team game, esp when the entire team all played well or extremely well, is simply that, IMO, it once again puts the cult of the individual above that of the team.
I regard that as unhelpful, TBH!
I will however gladly award the TEAM a mark of eight and a half!!
I RECOMMEND THAT OTHERS THINK OF DOING LIKEWISE, NEXT TIME RATINGS ARE DISCUSSED.