Arsenal suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat in their Champions League clash with Inter Milan this evening. Here are our player ratings:
David Raya – 5.5
Had little to do most of the night and couldn’t do much to prevent the penalty.
Ben White – 5.5
Solid in defense with few threats from Inter, but could have contributed more offensively.
William Saliba – 6.5
Handled Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram well and pushed forward when Inter dropped deep.
Gabriel Magalhaes – 6.0
Worked hard defensively but couldn’t capitalise on any of Arsenal’s numerous corners.
Jurrien Timber – 6.0
Looked comfortable and made promising runs on the left, though nothing particularly impactful.
Mikel Merino – 6.0
Played well in the first half but conceded an unlucky penalty. He’ll be disappointed to have been subbed at halftime.
Thomas Partey – 6.0
Neat in possession but could have done more to drive creativity when Arsenal dominated in the second half.
Kai Havertz – 6.5
Looked the most likely to score for Arsenal and was unfortunate not to get a goal.
Bukayo Saka – 6.5
He troubled Inter’s defence all night, and his corners were dangerous, deserving a better final touch.
Leandro Trossard – 5.5
Struggled to make an impact as a number nine; he continues to look more effective as a super-sub than a starter.
Gabriel Martinelli – 6.0
Played too cautiously against Denzel Dumfries, opting for back passes rather than challenging his marker.
Substitutes
Gabriel Jesus – 5.5
Came on to spark the attack but offered little to change Arsenal’s fortunes.
Oleksandr Zinchenko – 6.0
Sent in some dangerous crosses, but Inter’s defence managed to clear them consistently.
Ethan Nwaneri – 6.0
An exciting young talent who looked most likely among the substitutes to grab an equaliser.
Martin Odegaard – N/A
Not enough time on the field to make a notable impact.
I noted Saka put about 18 crosses. That is insane, seems to me all we need is a striker in the box. If I put in that many crosses against the Italian champions and got a 6.5 rating, I would ignore it.
“all we need is a striker in the box” – that’s true in my opinion, but it was blindingly obvious back in the summer window if we’re honest about it. There were ten weeks then to do something about it.
Unfortunately, clubs aren’t likely to sell their best players, particularly “gold dust” strikers in January so I suspect Arsenal will have to make do until next summer now. If so, how that will affect their chances this season remains to be seen.
Were these “gold dust “ strikers available last summer? I’m only putting it out there but Toney was a non starter and was Solanke on the Arsenal radar? I don’t recall a single contributor suggesting him. I believe there were 2 strikers being targeted but neither materialised.
It’s stick or twist. Havertz had done well – and may do so again- so it’s a possibility that Arteta and Edu chose to stick rather than buy and get the wrong person. It shouldn’t be an any port in a storm scenario.
Gyokeres, for one, was all over the media reports I recall. I think he’s in rather more demand now, unfortunately. There were others mentioned in the media at the time.
I hope Havertz does well of course, but as you’ll know he hasn’t been a particularly prolific striker. His career best (17 goals) was back in his Bundesliga days. There’s Jesus of course. Well, enough said there. One goal – against mighty Preston – since January suggests there’s no scoring avalanche pending there.
Of course, it shouldn’t be any port in a storm as you say but it depends how closely you look for a port – knowing you’ll need one – before the storm hits.
Kai is 6ft4 he’s mostly on the wing,
Trossard is. 5ft 4 and he mostly plays center foward
Doesn’t make sense if a Sunday league manager done that he’d be laughed at..
What is still driving me nut is the fact that Arsenal rejected 33m pounds for G.Jesus, is that not insane? It’s been obvious that we needed to move on from Jesus and Zinc, but I guess MA has other plans, to ensure we end the season without trophies again. If the season ends without anything of note again, then it’s time to move on from Arteta and his project. He’s becoming too arrogant to learn from his mistakes and get better. Truth be told, Arsenal can’t win anything withe the squad we have now. No outstanding striker that wins games, no creativity without Odegard, as long as you cripple Saka.
Yes, it’s unfortunate about Jesus in my opinion. That said, were his potential suitors offering the £14m or so he currently gets at Arsenal every year? He must have, by a royal mile, the worst goal to salary ratio of any striker in the EPL. He’s got one (against Preston – always tricky to score against) since January. Perhaps things will change for him against Chelsea (if he plays)- we always have hope.