So here with have our first Arsenal player ratings of the season, and despite the defeat we were nowhere near as bad as in the same fixture last season and there were many performances that give us hope for the future. Even if we lose again next week I am certain we will will start flying up the table as Emery gets his philosophy and tactics into the players heads…
Here are my ratings:
Cech 7
I think Cech certainly justified being picked ahead of Leno, and kept us in the game for long periods, never mind his one usual comedy moment!
Bellerin 6
Improved a bit from last week but not anywhere near his best
Sokratis 6
Will take time to get used to the Premiership, but I can’t help expecting a yellow or a red, like in Xhaka’s early days…
Mustafi 6
I am just happy he didn’t have one of his horror shows and hopefully he will have regained some of his confidence back after last season’s pantomime performances
Maitland-Niles 6
Played well for me despite his inexperience. It was a tough job and it was not good to see him go down injured. Three injuries – Three left backs. Who is going to be put in the firing line against Chelsea?
Guendouzi 7
Was not overawed by the occasion despite it being his debut. Very composed for a 19 year-old and although his inexperience showed at times it was an extremely encouraging first game for him.
Xhaka 6
He didn’t look quite match fit yet to me, or he was out of his depth. I am still hopeful he will improve this season..
Mkhitaryan 5
Jury is still out on Mhki, although to be fair he had little chance against the opposition. Didn’t help out much in defence either..
Ramsey 5
The most disappointing performance for me. Lost the ball too many times and was notsurprised he was replaced. Sell him now!
Ozil 5
Probably lost the ball as many times as Ramsey if not more, but he was never given a chance to dictate and when he was fed well he fluffed it..
Aubameyang 6
Was taken out of the game completely in the first half but when he got the ball he looked dangerous. Was much better when Lacazette came on and took some of the pressure off..
Subs:
Lichtsteiner 6
I think he should have started, and he will be a great asset once he settles into the team. If he plays in the unfamiliar left-back position again next week he will get injured!
Lacazette 7
He looked lively and confident and should definitely start ahead of Mhki. He will score lots of goals this season…
Torreira 7
Didn’t have much chance to show his talent, but he gave us a taste and I can’t wait to see him when he’s on full throttle.
Torreira and Lacazette MUST start next weekend. Preferrably Lichsteiner too, he’s a nasty player and we need players like him against dirty Chelskies.
Can’t you just see in Lichtsteiner a player that has spent the last 7 seasons playing for Juventus.He has all the experience and some.And when Torreira came on we at once seemed to have some composure in midfield.
I refuse to accept too many negatives from yesterday but the game highlighted exactly how far behind Citeh we are in terms of a team capable of competing for the Premiership this season and most likely for quite a few more
Seriously shows how we’re lacking that a 34 year old shows up are younger fresher first team .
Bare in mind his first proper game for us against the elite of Europe.
Bin these Wenger layabouts to the bench
agree with you Phil
Too much negativity
Rome wasn’t built in a day a d our city has been crumbling for many a season. Every this has been built on sand with no firm foundations
It will take a while not just after a few preseason games.
Mr Realism strikes another blow for common sense. Without realism, opinions are just fantasies so very often. For me, Lichtsteiner is miles in front of Bellerin and is indispensible . Torreira must be a regular too. Guendouzi is still raw but must continue to play as he has stamina, committment and talent. Xhaka, Bellerin and several other posers, I would not pick again until they are prepared to give 100% EVERY game. We fans and Emery are entitled to 100% and it is a con to offer less. Walcott conned us for twelve years and it is a disgrace to allow non tryers to wear our shirt. I now have had quite enough of Ramsey and consider him totally self centred.
Not surprisingly I agree 100% Jon.
I would like to add that IMO we are building for the future NOT to win the PL this year. This should mean that we choose potential, where possible, over experience in those cases where experience is NOT noticeably better than potential. As an example, I rate Guendouzi as having a much higher potential than Xhaka, and despite a few mistakes against City we should continue to invest in his development by playing him over Xhaka. I would like to see Torreira-Guendouzi against Chelsea with Ramsey and Xhaka on the bench or at home.
Same for Cech. Yes, he made a few stunning saves. But he has difficulties playing out the ball from the back something Emery wants from his keeper. At 36 Cech is not the future, Leno is. I would like to see Leno start against Chelsea for that reason.
IMO despite Lichtsteiner’s age, he brings noticeably more than Bellerin. To me, this means it makes sense for Lichtsteiner to start and for Bellerin to watch and learn.
Totally agree on all fronts.
It’s not all as bad as the media make out, quite honestly Sterlings first should have been saved by a keeper with Chech’s experience. Mustafi should have had a penalty, Ramsey should have scored, Bellerin should have passed it (not shoot) and honestly Emery should have played the second half team from the beginning.
Yes City had a few misses too and did deserve the win but it could have looked a bit more like 3-2 or 4-3 or a nice 2-2 draw to flatter us but hey that’s football.
Took Pep three seasons.
I’m still beaming that Wenger has finally gone and Emery is full of ideas. The future is bright!!
Well spoken!
??also 2 offside goals disallowed, due to poor timing of runs by Aubameyang and Ozil.
Lich is better than Bellerin but to dismiss Bellerin or to make the claim that he shouldn’t be picked until he gives 100%, how do you know he isn’t?
He appears willing to learn, wanting to learn, Emery was giving instructions and Bellerin payed attention… Not walked off or looking the other way while picking his nose.
Instead of supporting Arsenal… you just moan.
Instead of supporting the fact that Emery was giving instructions to Bellerin and Bellerin was listening, aiming to go better… Instead of supporting that and saying “unlucky on Bellerin, improved which was nice but still got to improve”, instead of saying supportive stuff like that, you just moan like Victor Meldrew.
A miserable old git. Demented old fool.]
Why not try SUPPORTING for once??????????
Bellerin has been commited to Arsenal all along, he has dismissed rumors linking him away year after year, he has done NOTHING to indicate he isn’t happy with us… He is showing willingness to learn, to listen and to better himself.
You just wanna moan, well, I’ll call you out on it.
You are willfully ignoring the good to tell your narrative, worse than the BBC!
You clearly have a problem with me. And I have one with you. I HAVE NOTHING FURTHER I WISH TO SAY TO YOU.
What about Niles? There seems to be no update on his injury anywhere on the media. I really hoped he would step up and become a very good player this season. I hope it is not a serious injury.
Does any one know the status on Niles? Please update.
I think we have to stop trying too much to accommodate the so called high earners into the team. I believe We need to go back to our famous 442 formation than to use a 4231 just so that ozil can play.
a back four of Bellerin Lichsteiner(as a CB), Sokratis/Mustafi, Kola(when fit)
a midfield of Torierra, Guendouzi (alternatively Xhaka and Niles and third choice of Elneny , Ramsey )
Wingers : Mikhi ,Iwobi(He is not a good player but we have no other proper winger left) , May be we should not have sold Perez(He can be a good left winger) or may be we should still keep Campbel and use him in the wing along with Mkhi in the right flank.
Now this strikers part is the toughest part to get the best of the players we have,
I think we need to use a false 9 and a striker.
i.e. a CF/CAM should be played by Lacazete and the striker role should be played by Auba.
so technically it would be 4411 and Auba and Laca can interchange their positions accordingly based on their stamina. The CAM/CF has to help in tracking back as well.
And may be Ozil can come in from the bench at 60min mark, as by that time because of Emery’s high pressing game One of the strikers will be low on stamina.
People need not worry about an injury to any one /both auba & lacazette will be devastating, so we need to only play one of them and play the other in the cup fixtures.
For our cup fixture we have nketie and Welbeck who are more than capable of scoring against small teams in Europa and other cup fixtures.
Match review after the dust settles by Tom
Tom, please email me at JustArsenal (at) hotmail like yours…
Your review will be posted next for discussion…
Agree with poster
Cech best starter and the 3 subs changed us .
I’m still baffled in what wenger and now emery actually see in Ramsey and xhaka .ramsey playing as a striker it seemed was strange and xhaka is a walking disaster.
What annoys me most is the fact we had all summer to address our problems and all we seemed to have signed is a reserve goalkeeper and a defensive midfielder who was on the bench
Against Chelsea our best would be this, since Emery’s gameplay is to play from back. The perfect keepers for that are German so.
…………………Leno……………….
Licht….Mustafi…Sokratis…Monreal
…….Elneny…….Torerria…..Guendozi…
……………………..Ozil ……………………..
…………Aubameyang…Lacazette…….
I chose Elneny over Ramsey and Xhaka because both of them don’t worth the starting line up as most of us have been saying… Elneny + Torerria will give us the cover the midfield need..I’m not worried bout the creative side because Torerria showed he has the eye for dangerous passes too, and Guendozi can be out Master at the midfield.
For no reason should Lacazette stay on the bench please.
I agree except with starting Elneny. He don’t really bring anything to the team.
I would start either Mkhitaryan or Ramsey over Elneny, or even give Iwobi a chance. We need one more attacking player in the midfield if we have 2 defensive minded.
With Torreira and Guendouzi we have enough defensive cover as Torreira is a PURE DM.
…………………….Leno……………………………
Licht…..Must…..Sokratis…….Monreal
…………….Guen………..Torriera………
……………….Ozil…………….
Auba…………Ramsey…………Laca
ramsey will play as a false 9 as hes completely useless and indiscipline in the midfield.
xhaka and aubameyang 6?
were you even watching the game.
sorry these are too high ratings for me given how city controlled the game without sane de bruyne and d silva.
we can excuse the new guys but you certainly cant give high ratings to bellerin xhaka and aubameyang.
the team should have an average rating of 4
the highest guendouzi is a 5 but xhaka ozil ramsey bellerin and aubameyang are 1s
Xhaka / ramsey / ozil was ….what’s the word
*grabs collins dictionary
Oh yes that’s it
F###### s### !!
Hope emery has the bottle to bin any of our ‘names’ all over Instagram and prank videos but can’t be bothered when it’s an actual match .
Wengers legacy ….supremely talented players who only give there all once every 3 months .
GET IN THE BIN
I’m hoping that what Unai had in mind was to give the ‘Old Guard’ the first chance to shine before bringing in the new guys. As the ‘Old Guard’ failed miserably and were subbed I’m hoping for better things against Chelsea. Hope Unai has the guts to put these perennial underachievers on the bench – and get rid at the earliest opportunity.
Gunner Jack; and on their performances in this game, they will have no reason to complain or feel hard done by. Selection on form, not favoritism.
The first 2 games will not
define our season.
It’s far too early
We then play 12 winnable games
9 of which are in London.
The 2 home games v Liverpool game 11 and Spurs game 14
are the more critical for our top 4 aspirations.
Our Europa chances will depend on who drops down from the CL.
So I will wait till December before assessing this teams progress.
?
If our plan is to play out from the back , then Uncle Cech isn’t our guy. The man can’t make a short pass, the man can’t make a long pass….
I liked Bayer Leverkusen’s tweet about knowing a GK who can play out from the back ?
Torreira needs to come in!
Ozil need to play in the middle!
Ramsey is better further up the ground.
Auba & Laca both need to play.
Licsteiner was fantastic as well as showed that experience when he came on, i’d persist with him.
Dont care if Xhaka is dropped and Guendozi holds his spot.
I think the only natural leader in the entire arsenal squad is Lich. He needs to be given the armband. It doesnt matter if he just came in to the team. He will command respect from all other players around him and will get into thier faces if they don’t do as directed.
As long as Koalsinac is out injured Lich has to start. And it is not so difficult to play a RB in the LB position. We are not goin to whip in crosses anyway so we don’t need a traditional left footer in the LB.
Chelsea have used Azpicuelta in the left for more than 3 seasons. On many occasions he even got picked for spain as a back up LB for Jordi Alba.
And we need to use Niles in the midfield, we need his strength and drive from midfield. So should stop playing Niles in LB
I completely agree with Niles playing in the midfield….please Unai should stop wasting his potential
Ramsey needs to play further up the ground ?
He was practically playing in Man City’s goal he was that far ahead of everyone.
He needs to be sold that’s the best I can say about him .
Everything else I agree with you on .
I meant further up as in midfield box to box. Not as a CAM as he was this game.
?
We must severe all ties with Xhaka, Bellerin and Ramsey if we are to move forward. Hopefully at Stamford Bridge we will continue our recent trend of being a nuisance to Chelsea.
Spot on ! BELLERIN HAS NOT A DEFENSIVE BONE OR ANY KNOWHOW IN HIS WEEDY BODY AND XHAKA IS SO IMMOBILE, SLOW, UNAWARE AND BEWILDERED. Neither are remotely Arenal standard and must be sidelined and sold in Jan. Ramsey is like a piece of jigsaw that just won’t fit wherever he plays. Another to move on.
It also irritates me that we are playing Ramsey despite him being in the final year of his contract and him having clearly refused to sign our best offer. Do we never learn???
i guess you are still not convinced john and i sat there for over 20 min typing the reasons why he should be rated with no reply…so just expect an i told you so in years time, we’ll see if you had a change of heart
also he’s going nowhere! heads up!! you don’t sign a 34 year old unless you want him to mentor a certain someone, so i’m sure those comments will fade away soon enough jon and i’ll welcome you and the others into the light 🙂
oh and you heard it from me at least thrice!! i won’t say anything anymore but i’ll remind you about it in years time, fair enough? the same applies to me
now to the game my personal highlight was when our coach got involved by encouraging his players when man city dominated, that’s what i want to see, give them beleif i could hear his voice telling them to push up or stay back i want that, we need that!! 2-0 is acceptable and i won’t dwell on it as we need time to adapt, when torreira came in that ball was moving much faster he’s gonna be so good for us!
torreira and laca switched the momentum and i agree that laca,lich,torreira deserve a starting spot against chelsea, and for once cech was decent and we looked more solid defensively, so ok against the leaders let’s just start improving and get that top 4 back!
How on earth can the article writer give both Xhaka and Lichtsteiner 6?
Lichtsteiner gave us steel and proper defensive cover. Xhaka was simply crap and I hope he doesn’t get picked again. I can’t really fault the marks for our attack though as they looked like they didn’t know each other, let alone ever played together.
I wish there was a way to drop Ozil. Against the top teams, we need a CAM who can drive the ball forward with his feet and dictate play. Sadly, our “world class no 10” is not that person. His vision and passing ability has been dwindling too from last season and all we are left with is an overrated clown on £350k a week. As far as yesterday’s game is concerned, him and Ramsey were piss poor..If Ramsey is to be dropped based on yesterday’s game then Ozil should follow him on the bench. Remember Pep benching Aguero last season for a string of bad performances? That’s the difference between a good coach and a world class coach
My 1st glimpse of Guendouzi. He shows real fighting spirit. Win or loose he gets himself into the game.
Waiting for a glimpse of the new GK.
I enjoyed watching him and could not help thinking we were watching a potential great midfield player in the making. He played with a confidence beyond his years and maintained that even after a few mistakes. The quicker we bring him along the better IMO. Hope he starts again next weekend.
I just hope Chelsea don’t play that young boy Hudson-Odi again against bellerin. Murdered him last time around. I don’t want a part 2 of that horror movie!
Lichtensteiner is the man the sort of player i was used to watch and always admire growing up watching football. While now we have feminine a like players like bellerin who are busy with being vegan and hip. I trully miss the football of the past. Things have changed quit a bit. Happy to have Toerriera around. Just looking at him one understands that he means businuess.
My opinion is our team needs a complete transformation. It’s hard to make a case for any of our team bar Auba & potentially Torreira once he plays to stay in the new regime.
All have question marks and i question their drive.
Bellerin – cant defend
Mustafi – brain fades
Sokratis – too old, stop gap only
Kols – not as good as we thought he was when he signed for free
Xhaka – slow, immobile
Ramsey – overrated
Ozil – doesnt show up half the time
Would love a team that just has the will to win and never give up
Arsenal was always so succesful in the past bec were known to use power speed and flair. Today we have nothing of the three. You brits must understand that Ramsey is in the same category as Xhaka and Iwobi. Bench players at best and not good enough at any top current top 7 teams. You cant blame them for underperforming when they play to their fullest capicity. Its up to the club to replace them and do better result wise. Bring Guardiola and God himself down here and they wont be eable to do nothing. Bless you all dark times ahead.
Ozil,Belle,Xhaka,Ramsey and Auba were no way near what should be on display yesterday.
Cech kept us in the game more than once yday.
Emery needs to make some adjustments and I hope the video analysis will work for next game.
it’s too early though and we played the best team so patience is needed.
COYGs!
i think Ramsey was doing the pressing game emery wanted. he pressed and the rest stood for the ball to be passed. certain stage during the persistent pressing city lost the ball. ever since ozil came our no10s, jack, Ramsey have not faired. watch how jack at Barcelona single handed moved the ball and passed it to king bredtner chewing gum.
keep Ramsey there and let auba and miki stay wider a bit. auba was determined to keep his place. he doesn’t defend like laca so can’t play him on the wings. play torerca. ozil left the right wing never there and if he was there he shepherd the citi player not tackle. see the ball that he left this defender reach out at the goal he could have shielded it.
Roshan, while I agree wholeheartedly with the weaknesses in the players you listed, Rome wasn’t built in a day and it will take Emery some time to weed out a number of players he inherited from the Wenger era.That said he has started the process by substituting Ramsay and Xhaka who was abject,something that his predecessor would never have done. At this stage we are way behind Man City and Liverpool who seem to have endless resources to sign top quality players .The challenge is for us to improve as the season goes on to an extent where we contend for a top four position.I could not fault the players for a lack of effort, we simply do not have enough top quality in our squad.
My thoughts entirely! Only realists know the full extent of the dross , in attitude as well as poor squad, that Wenger left behind. We are now paying the obvious price for the stupid failure to sack WENGER MANY YEARS AGO, THUS ALLOWING THE DECAY TO GET MORE AWFUL.
Zcech is not a ball playing goalkeeper ffs leno is better all the way
No better formation than hard work, pace and skill put together.
………………….Leno……………………………
Licht…..Must…..Sokratis…….Monreal
…………….Guen………..Torriera………
……………….Iwobi…………….
Welbeck…………Auba…………Laca