Arsenal were beaten 2-1 by Bournemouth yesterday following another lacklustre performance at the Emirates. Here are the player ratings:
David Raya – 5.0
He needs to work with his defenders on how to handle set pieces, and Bournemouth applied considerable pressure on him.
Ben White – 4.5
He struggled against Milos Kerkez and Dango Ouattara, who often combined effectively to pin him back.
William Saliba – 5.5
On a day when Arsenal’s vulnerability at set pieces was evident, questions were raised about his resilience.
Jakub Kiwior – 5.0
He has performed well in recent weeks, but this time he found it difficult as Evanilson regularly escaped his marking.
Myles Lewis-Skelly – 6.0
His ability to beat Bournemouth’s press made him stand out, though Arsenal’s issues with defending set pieces persist.
Declan Rice – 7.0
He was the only player who truly impressed, and it appears his future role may lie further forward on the pitch.
Thomas Partey – 6.5
He provided the expected defensive cover, but the two Bournemouth goals undermined his contributions.
Martin Odegaard – 6.5
Odegaard delivered an improved display, though he was unable to break down the Bournemouth defence once Arsenal fell behind.
Gabriel Martinelli – 6.5
He was active throughout and kept the attack lively, but he opted for an assist when he should have taken the shot himself.
Leandro Trossard – 5.0
He continues to show why he may not be the reliable option Arsenal need as their number nine.
Bukayo – 5.5
This was a disappointing performance from Saka. It is hoped he is reserving his best for the PSG clash.
Substitutes
Mikel Merino – 5.5
He was introduced to increase Arsenal’s attacking threat, but made little impact.
Raheem Sterling – N/A
Oleksandr Zinchenko – N/A
Ethan Nwaneri – N/A
What about the manager’s rating? Were we the 2nd best again as per the norm or did he sabotage himself as usual?
HH,
I don’t think there’s a mark for the manager because it would have to be -10 or worse. A completely clueless manager.
I very rarely reply with any sort of conflict, but to say Arteta is a “clueless manager” is absolutely ridiculous.
I know we haven’t won anything yet, as you normally allude to, but to be in the position we are in now since MA arrived and to call him clueless? Have a bit of respect man FFS.
@Derek
How does a clueless manager achieve back-to-back title challenges for the first time in 2 decades and destroy Real twice in a row, and get to only our 3rd ever CL semi-final, with a decent shout still of reaching the final?
Asking a clueless fan though, so I am not expecting a logical response 🙂
“How does a clueless manager achieve back-to-back title challenges for the first time in 2 decades and destroy Real twice in a row, and get to only our 3rd ever CL semi-final, with a decent shout still of reaching the final?”
After spending nearly a billion, write off players worth 500 million, given 5 years of patience, made the 3rd most paid in the world and win absolutely NOTHING!!
Arsenal’s trophy cabinet has been removed under Arteta to make space for excuses cabinet.
He won the FA Cup in those 5 years.
Are we really counting that FA Cup. OH my days. We won that not because of him, but in spite of him. 🤦♂️
Absolutely. Perhaps Herr Dierr can enlighten us on why he hasn’t been able to replicate that at least once more? With his own players?
1 billion does not even buy us a Carabao Cup or at the very least a final?
Well Lucy78,
Your clueless fan remark. You know all about being clueless yourself. As many of your post’s will testify.
Lucy78,
I responded to recent post of yours and on reflection I think I was rude. I retract what I said, and I apologize unreservedly. 😉👍
Rice 8, White 6, Partey 7.
We were the better team for 60 minutes then fatigue came into play. We played one of the best teams in world football midweek whilst Bournemouth rested. We have a heavily depleted squad and no options to rotate due to injuries. We also had one eye on Wednesday with Merino not starting and timber not even in the squad.
Let’s not pretend Bournemouth don’t have some decent players either the defenders Huijsen and Kirkez are going to be moving to massive clubs in the summer. Semenyo and Evanilson would also be in our current starting 11 and Outtarro and Kluivert would see plenty of game time too.
Another not so great result but the reality is top 5 is secure. Chelsea have to play Liverpool, Newcastle and Forrest.
See how the standards have slowly regressed ?
4.5 for White was a teeny bit harsh but then looking at the way the review has been marked it’s not wildly out.
Nobody had a blinder of a game and in my view Partey’s performance showed good football but messy errors too so a 6 for me
This is so hilarious! Welcome to the top 5 race. P.s: you might not make it 😂
We will
Almost impossible not too
We need a miracle to win by a 2 goal margin against PSG.
Hopefully they step up their decision making and energy then progress to the final.
My head says we won’t progress.
My heart wants us to progress.
Let’s see how it goes but I’m not putting my hopes up.
The ratings look spot on to me.
If we are able to pull off a win against PSG, then this loss is meaningless.
But in this form, we won’t. We need to play like we did against Real Madrid.
That said. I’m over the moon on our Champions League performance this season. Making it to the Semis, beating Real Madrid on the way, being the only British team in the Semis.
If we beat PSG that will even sweeter
There’s is not much time for ratings as there is a time for everything.
The gaffer has to get his act together and as quickly as possible, this downward spiral is a little too much for the faithfuls
Team was very poor as a whole, nothing positive about being the least worst on the pitch.
Collapses like this are not surprising, we finish seasons meekly, it’s our way.
Is Arteta out of ideas or too arrogant and stubborn to drop Artetaball?
Fortune favors the bold, that’s why “play safe” Artetaball can’t deliver.
Is top 4 a trophy again?
I agree to a certain extent but how do you change things with the players available? We have been playing twice a week for the last month whilst the opposition haven’t. We have no players to rest the likes of Saliba or Timber. Saka, Merino and White are either not fully up speed or got niggling issues same with timber. We are down to the bare bones in terms of attacking options. You could argue we should have addressed this in the summer but we are where we are. We will qualify for nexts seasons champions league and that’s all that matters now. Like a lot of you been pointing out recently what’s the difference between finishing 2nd and 5th because you get the prize. All eyes are on Wednesday and the cautious approach from the gaffer and the players is understandable.
This current team don’t look like they can score 2 unreplied goals against PSG, and if it gets to penalties we’ll still be out as our goalkeeper dives like a toad during shootouts
Then I bring it back to why did Mr Wenger get a hard time for only finishing top 4 when what 7 years later you are saying top 5 is acceptable
That’s just a bad question. Mr Wenger got flack because we 1) got beaten by large margins by the other top 6 clubs 2) hadn’t been in a challenge since before 2010 3) had been at the club 17 years and things had started to go stale 4) refusal to act and sign a proper Dm or a good goal keeper 5) failed to qualify for the cl in his last two seasons 6) age 7) naivety. Wenger was also massively responsible for bringing in the dross Arteta had to dispose of. Do you not remember Mustafi, Chambers, Holding, Kolasinac, Sokratis and co?
What the dross that won Arteta his one and only trophy .
No disputing that early days Wenger was a beast. However the second he switched from the likes of Viera, Petite and Gilberto to the more technical midfielder how successful where we ?
Yes we should have won a major trophy by now but it’s not completely on Arteta why we haven’t. For me we give him the players we all know we need. A creative midfielder, left winger and a cf. if we don’t win anything that season then he can go. But for me he’s built a world class 6 or 7 and we should entrust him to finish the 11.
Didn’t answer the point raised about the so called dross winning Mikel his only trophy though Liam.
By the way, one doesn’t have to lose by a big score to be humiliated – getting knocked out of the fa cup in round 3 and 4 in the last three seasons is humiliating for a club like The Arsenal wouldn’t you say?
And also Liam I would double check that
Arteta is yet to win at the Ethiad or Anfield in the Prem and has had just as heavy beatings as Mr Wenger did at both if not bigger at the Ethiad
Could argue that could be due to Artetas coaching rather than them not being dross. No not really it’s quickly forgotten however loosing 8-2 to man united, 6-1 to Man Utd, 5-1 to Liverpool and 6-0 to Chelsea is still a talked about in bragging rights to this day.
Like loseing 5-0 at the Ethiad ?
Or finishing in our worse league position in quarter of a century and taking us out of Europe?
Wolves , Burnley , Leicester all won at the Emirates for the first time
Difference is Mr Wenger can point to to wins at Anfield and Ethiad in the Prem
Arteta’s coaching? How come we haven’t won owt since?
That’s rich Liam,
When you see some of the dross that Arteta has brought to the club.
Although saying that, most managers make some dud signings as well as good. But the best managers sign more good than bad.
Honestly, truth be told, if Arteta had not gotten rid of some of those players he did, we would be in the same struggling position Man U is by now. The players he got rid off were good individually, but were already too comfortable. To be candid, I don’t agree with a lot of his decisions and man management, but I think he’s a great coach and would come good, let’s just support him. By the way, no manager prays for injuries to his key players, and no manager in the epl presently would have achieved what he did with such tin squad.
He’s the manager at the end of the day, so our arguments and complaints will change nothing. Let’s just back him and wish him good luck, because he would need it on Wednesday night to turn things around.
Liam,
What your post fails to mention regarding the hiding that Arsenal got at United (8-2), is if my memory serves me correctly the team were riddled with injury’s before that game.
If that had been an Arteta team, that would be the first thing that the Arteta-rettes would have latched onto and given him a free pass.
Derek, there was 3 players that couldn’t play in that game due to be injured, Wilshire, Diaby (no surprise there) and Gibbs.
Hardly riddled 🙄
Herr Drier,
I stand corrected.
By the way, I don’t like your emoji, 😂👍
HD, what happened before and after that 8-2 drubbing in the transfer market regarding players in and players out?
Ken, I’m pretty sure you know that 2 players were sold before the match, even though the manager said that we wouldn’t sell both of them. One of them went on strike to force his move, while the other played until he was sold.
After the game we then signed 5 players. One of those players was so keen to play for us that he agreed to sign on for the same wages he was on at his previous club. He is now our manager.
I agree with you Ken1945,
Our record in the cups isn’t much to write home about is it. 👍
Wenger’s final 5 years were more successful then Arteta’s first 5
In the history books yes of course. I would argue that the last two seasons prior to this one were better than last 10 under Wenger. Even the Leicester season we finished second we were never in the race. I would also argue that Arteta has given us some pedigree in Europe that Wenger never had. We have fans literally going ballistic because we lost 1-0 to the current best team in world football.
But 2 of those bad Arteta best ?
beat
Liam,
How are PSG the current best team in the world. There good yes, but the best I’m not sure about.
@Liam
Since when did PSG become the”current best team in world football”? What did they win to deserve that moniker? RM holds that title. And we beat them twice…
That’s rich Liam,
When you see some of the dross that Arteta has brought to the club.
Although saying that, most managers make some dud signings as well as good. But the best managers sign more good than bad.
I have never been this disappointed as an arsenal fan and Arteta is the cause of my frustrations. Normally loosing against Bournemouth shouldn’t be a problem but all our starters against psg should have been given the day off seriously, now we’ve ended up stressing them physically with few days to probably the most important match we would be playing for like the last 10 years. Now if we lose to Psg and end up moving down the Epl table to 3rd with all the wobbles of man city this season. Then we’ve got a whole lots of issues on our hands
6.5 for Ode-ghost? Stay off drugs
Yes because he played against poor city sides and poor Liverpool teams . What about Wenger last win at Old Trafford being 2006 or Wenger record against Jose. You don’t see other managers calling Arteta specialist in failure. Loosing to Birmingham in the league cup final. Eliminated in the round of 16 in the cl 7 seasons on the bounce. We can all dig up unflattering statistics. I agree Arteta isn’t perfect but don’t paint Wenger like some sort of God when he should have left 6 years prior as he was on the decline .
And Arteta last League win at Anfield or Ethiad?
Simply not true there were times where Liverpool were not finishing top two and he wasnt winning at Anfield
Specialist in failure perception?
Arteta reputation is literally not being able to get over the line
There is zero comparison it’s night and day
Watch this , name one thing Arteta has done that Mr Wenger hasn’t and then tell me when your finished and I’ll tell you what Mr Wenger did that Arteta has not
@Liam
Seems as if you’ve gathered up a good few “Anti-Wenger” talking points. No doubt copy and pasted from back in the day when those so called fans got ugly against one of the greatest managers to ever manage AFC. All in an attempt to defend the tactically clueless rookie. Here’s a tip for ya. Bragging about beating RM twice, ain’t the flex you think it is, if you draw to Palace, lose to PSG and Bournemouth at home right after… Just sayin.
Liam,
What are you talking about. When it comes to comparisons between Wenger and Arteta, there isn’t one.
They’re not even in the same conversation, one produced not only trophy winning teams, but teams that won with style.
And as for your remarks regarding Liverpool and City not being good back then. We faced a top united team season after season, with a Ferguson at his peak. So don’t even go there.
To try and cheapen Wenger’s achievements to try and back up Arteta is absolutely laughable.
The gulf in class between them are night and day, and you should be totally embarrassed at your cheap shots at a certain Mr Wenger. 🙄🤦♂️🤷♂️
You are going to find all the Arteta die hards have that in common and perhaps it is their biggest motive behind the over the top support and toxic positivity.
@DEREK
👍🏾
One built a title winning team in a two horse race. Where was Man City at this time and Chelsea and even Liverpool to an extent. I’m not downplaying Wengers achievements but the league was easier back then and Man Utd were our only real worry. What happened to us when city and Chelsea rolled in ?
If Liverpool win today we will be 18pts behind them which is embarrassing and 21pts after next weekend. I don’t hold much hope for Wednesday but for the last few years I’ve been more of a glass half empty type of fella but hopefully I’m wrong. What makes this season so bad for me is that Arteta seems so far out of his depth when we play poorly and doesn’t seem to know when you make changes and has probably surrounded himself with yes men who won’t give him an honest opinion, like many I can’t wait for the season to end but dreading spurs winning a trophy while we are playing like a relegation team. I don’t claim to know more than Arteta about football but I could teach him something about passion and what it means to us supporters when the team plays like it doesn’t care and look like there can’t be bothered
Perry, when Mikel used to show passion on the touchline, some of the posters on here would berate him. They even had a go at him for having a go at Klopp at Anfield the other year when, I think it was Tommi, got an elbow on his head by Mane.
Damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t.
Damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t?
Do you know what that actually means ? Lol
Yes I do. You obviously don’t.
Well it means he can’t win right ?
Yet if he were to win the Prem do you not think he would get praise ?.
If you lost at home to Bouemouth and are 15 points behind Liverpool your not going to get praise are you ?
Apart from fans like you who think his rebuilding job is on the same scale as …..Arsene Wenger!!!!! Lol
Kinell Dan, you really do have a comprehension problem 😂. My post to Perry was about the passion on the touchline, but you have to change it to winning the PL 😂😂😂
It is never Arsenal esque to rely on scoring headers esp since the Wenger era. It is only Arteta who instilled that mentality in the club. I am afraid The Arteta Out Brigade might find a credible ground if Arsenal are beaten on Wednesday. Currently Arsenal are in a delusion and at crossroads not knowing clearly which route to follow. With Arteta or without him? PL or CL? Buy or wait for the injured? Academy or incomings? Problems inside or outside? If Arteta out any one worthy outside? Should we believe what Arteta tells us about the club problems or are they simply excuses to cover failures? Empty handedness without any trophy good or we win the title next season netflix mantra?
A keep seeing a seeing a score line of PSG 1 – 3 Arsenal
It’s like Arsenal went down again to an early goal in France and just when we write them off they storm back with three unanswered goals.
Arsenal will get in the top four no doubt about that, if we go on to win the champions league with a top four spot in the league, what an unbelievable season that would be
They would be immortal
That’s why last week hurt so much
So close to something amazing and it’s like every time we let the moment pass us by
Don’t worry Dan,
With the great Arteta in charge, what can possibly go wrong. 🙄🤦♂️🤷♂️
If he was as shite as you’re trying to make him sound we wouldn’t have breezed past Madrid.
@Liam
And yesterday, he let Bournemouth breeze past us.
Because we have completely ran out of steam and don’t have the players available to compete on two fronts. The Bournemouth game is also a dead rubber. Mathematically we can still drop out of the CL spots but if you look at the games the others have left we will qualify even if we don’t get another win.
Siege mentality at its finest is paramount for Wednesday’s PSG boom or bust finale. If Spurs win Europa League, which is largely possible due to the coach’s track records in his sophomore, and Arsenal didn’t make to the final what would be its implications for an Arsenal fan? Thus far degraded Spurs ending at last with 2 notable achievements: Trophy after 17 years and UCL spot for next season. Wow! In spite of all the hitherto fanfares Arsenal again ending empty handed. Catastrophic is not the befitting word. Arteta and the lads pls prove me wrong.
On the Wenger-arteta comparisons – anyone who doesn’t think Wenger was incredible in his first 8-10 years is mad, but anyone who believes he was great after that is kidding themselves. It did all go downhill (despite some bright spots in the fa cup), and the trajectory when he did finally resign was not good.
Arteta did turn the club around, but I think it’s fair to say there are a lot of similarities between arteta’s time and the bad years under Wenger – we are a more “solid” team under arteta imo, harder to beat, but the same blind spot Wenger had for defensive players, arteta seems to have for attackers. Wenger would spend money and energy bringing in top quality attackers, but not really on defenders – arteta will spend money and energy on top quality defenders and defensive midfielders, but not really attackers. It’s getting us to the same place of being close to the top, but not getting us over the line. Winning the ECL would change everything, but going out to psg now would make the season very, very mediocre imo, and I would worry we have run out of energy. If we go out, I think a change in management would be warranted.
Davi,
A very good post, most of which I agree with. 👍😉
I’m really not looking forward to seeing Wednesday match against PSG considering what I saw on Saturday. Saka has been poor since returning from injury, Odegard has been clueless, Martinelli is very predictable, Madrid interest is affecting Saliba and Timber nor White has never been fully fit. Unfortunately, nobody on the bench to challenge them, nobody. Nwaneri is not fully ready, Odegard has no competition, same as Saka and Martinelli, and we don’t have any striker, had to use make shift in Merino and Trossad. I wish them luck and I mean luck to be able to come out of Wednesday game with a draw.
Kay
At some point, they got to wake up.
This is a team with a lot of personalities.
I just can’t seeing them roll over and dead just like that.
There just got to be some sort of reaction in France, I can smell it