The Man United game can’t come quick enough after this diabolical result. Let’s hope it doesn’t affect our excellent home form. Let’s hope a lot!
Here are my ratings…
Cech – 6
He made some great stops to keep us in the game, but I don’t think he could’ve stopped any of the goals.
Mustafi – 5
Not one of his best performances
Sokratis – 3
He should have been a lot more careful after the first yellow
Koscielny – 5
Our best defender on the night, but that’s not saying much..
Monreal – 4
Was pretty good in the first half but what an awful own goal. What was he thinking!
Xhaka – 5
Still hot-headed. Needs to control himself and the ball much more…
Torreira – 5
Should be a bit more defensive when needed. The balance went out the window
Mkhitaryan – 6
Was in fine form before this and maybe should have stayed forward instead of a right back. But did okay…
Ozil – 3
World class? Not on this performance
Iwobi – 7
Maybe a bit lucky for his goal, but was our best player and should never have come off
Aubameyang – 3
Has the pressure finally got to him? No confidence at all
Subs:
Guendouzi – 5
As bad as everyone else
Ramsey – 5
Couldn’t get a sniff
Kolasinac – 3
Not even worth a rating really
Admin
Sorry, you missed the game.
Iwobi was absolutely Rubbish.
He didn’t track his player back half the time, which led to numerous chances and ag goal for them. That is why he was taken off.
In general, I think he has improved a lot this year, but yesterday he was a disaster.
Iwobi was bad but imo he looked like the one who could threaten the Rennes team.The substitution of Iwobi for Guendouzi was wrong and shouldn’t even be defended.What kind of substitution was that when clearly we were trying to play on the counter and Iwobi is one of the few who shields the ball well and can beat his man.These two things were needed on the counter.Mustafi offered nothing at RB and he’s never a better RB than Carl Jenkinson.I give the MOTM to Petr Cech and Iwobi in second place for the goal.
Perhaps Emery wanted to keep Iwobi for Man United
I believe Emery knows that Arsenal can never fight back once they get a red card and tried to minimize the damage by including more defensive players
Jenkinson was not bad in his cameos this season, but I doubt his focus because of his expiring contract
I do not understand how come up with your excuses for Emery. Perhaps he wanted to keep Iwobi for Manu game, if that is the case why playing him at all. Ok let say you are write for a second and on Sunday our team put out this abysmal performance again what is going to be your excuse for him. Everything thing he is doing with this teams reminds me of Wenger last 2 seasons with a slightest improvement. This group of players are not that bad. All the players need is a coach that will earnest the strength and minimize their weaknesses. The way he deploys his players shows he doesn’t know there strengths from their weakness. I don’t know any other team that plays disjointedly as ours.
Who is the coach who can do better with this squad than Wenger or Emery have been able to achieve?
Who would be prepared to come the Emirates under the current constraints at Arsenal FC?
I think Iwobi was substituted because he would be needed for Man United
He is strong and tall, but he should have played centrally. Unfortunately Arsenal don’t have better left winger, which hopefully would give a promotion to a youngster this season
I would have rated Sokratis 2 for his inability to commit better technical foul. He is usually reliable, but he single handedly destroyed Arsenal’s plan last night
Reality Check!
Ozil plays well ONCE IN A WHILE, certainly no where close to consistent and doesn’t play well against top teams and not always well against average teams
Is that worth over £300,000 per week?
Are we that wealthy?
I don’t understand why some people love him so much
Also most of our players are mediocre to average
Is that good enough to become a Top team?
Also What can Emery do with average players?
The fact that we are competing with United and Chelsea who have BETTER players than us shows Emery is doing FANTASTIC if you think about it. He is competing for Top 4 with mostly average players
Ozil was good in the first half though still not worth the £350,000 a week he’s being paid.He supplied some important through balls and created two very important chances which e should’ve scored from.He was dreadful after the red card though, particularly in the second half.Before the second half begun we should’ve shaken him off and introduced AMN because we needed counter attacking players while not reducing defensive balance.
I think the whole team was poor after the red… except Cech… yes he let in 3, but not much he could have done about any of them, especially that 1st one… could have been much worse
ForeverGooner, your observations could have been written ten years ago and still be pertinent to the discussion.
It’s whether UE can bring cup success, top four finishes and CL qualification that will be the interesting comparision though.
Same owner, same transfer kitty, currently six new players, three long term injuries affecting players he inherited and players being allowed to run their contracts down, poor substitutions and no plan B.
Some things never change for the better do they?
Even one of their best player was laughing at the antics of our manager, a complete humiliation from the 41st minute onwards.
My big disappointment with Ozil was when he eas through on the goal keeper and as Arsenal’s best credentialled, most talented marquee player had the chance to pick his spot and bury the chance. At 2-0 the game would have a different perspective, unfortunately Ozil meekly played to the goal keeper.
ken1945, anyone who compares the achievements of a manager over 22 seasons with one who has been here for less than one season, is being unfair to both managers.
Did the red card change the phase of the match?It absolutely did because Rennes barely offered anything up until then.We were giving away cheap fouls and we ourselves invited pressure with some mistakes too.I expected better from Rennes and based on what I saw unless we miss our chances like we did here we should beat them in the next leg.There were a few problems in the first half I noticed such as poor attacking from the right side,Xhaka pinging it long when he should calm down and dribble which he cant and lack of discord between our attacking players.We still created several chances in the first half which we should’ve buried though we lacked control of the game.
Whether red changed the phase or not, whether we win next leg or not, whether we’ll progress or not we are not going to win a troph with such shit performance needs more than miracle to beat napoli who is a favourites now… We have to plan for next season now.. Monchi has left roma now he is free, give emery as he want and atleast £100m summer warchest delivering same shit mid-next season fire entire management team and rely on legend as man utd doing with OGS,we have good legends but not know how to use them.. Look what overmas doing at ajax and vieira even Ljunmberg at league 2?
Monchi to Arsenal is a done deal!!
Another Spaniard coming on vacation!
???????????
Jah son, who do you recommend instead of Monchi?
Yes Iwobi scored – all be it a bit lucky…although I was glad.it went in……BUT… he wasn’t my MOTM.. he lost the ball, whatever he tried he didn’t really.pull off, just before he was subbed, he just stood there while one of the opposition ran straight past him!! So I could see why UE took him off. I’m sorry I don’t want to start WW3 by saying that – just my opinion.
Cech was my MOTM… everyone else was pretty poor
Iwobi is not player of even westham quality let alone arsenal and never will be , he is 22yrs now and his fan looking him as a 17yrs player.. Not even in poor nigeria first 11 team, if we are seriously want to compete with the likes of manchester clubs we have to show existing door all the players like him
I agree ?
I trust you to agree with him. Arsenal can not buy big money player.
I’m only going by what I saw
Contradictory statements from you. Put Iwobi on transfer list, you will see the clubs that will fight for his signature, or then you will know whether he is Westham (without disrespect to their fans) quality or not.
West Ham have better player in Anderson playing on Iwobi’s position…
If not for poor Iwobi it would have been 0-3
You’ll know the importance of his goal when we win 2-0 at the Emirates. Right now just shut up and sulk like the rest of us instead of attacking the only player that scored and looked dangerous throughout the match. Ozil with all his Real Madrid, Barcelona, PSG and Juventus qualities, what did he do for the team? Yeah right…. NOTHING!!
In truth we would be better off without both in the team.I can tell you like Iwobi very much but I’d advice you to not make others push you to the wall when it comes to matters regarding him.Just take it easy because in this football world Iwobi is not the first and shall not be the last to be heavily criticized and lambasted even though at times people show disrespect in doing so.
What does Jesse Lingard do in the United team? How many goals and assists does he average every season? But you see the way their fans get behind him and Rashford. You know why? Coz both players are one of them.
Considering how few homegrown talents are currently thriving in the upper echelons of the Premier League, it is very sad that many Arsenal fans remain unwilling to savour the rise of Alex Iwobi into one of Unai Emery’s primary attacking weapons. Rather than being heralded as “one of our own,” he is constantly facing criticism from the fans.
Iwobi joined Arsenal when he was still at primary school, rising through the ranks to become a mainstay of the first team, give him credit. It’s not an easy feat, ask Chuba Akpom. Many fans are just mad because he chose to rep Naija (unlike Ayodele Ali) but You can’t blame him for that, his name is Alex Iwobi not Alex Smith or Jones.
I don’t think the average fan really cares which country he plays for ,at the end of the day he’s not good enough ,his 1st goal in Europe this campaign (only his second ever )and even then it was an intended cross ,I’ve seen fans on here saying he plays like a magician as a number 10 for Nigeria ?? ,but when you’re playing teams like Mali ,guinea ,and Benin he’s obviously going to shine .
I’m not disputing the fact that he played ok last night but this constant reminder that he’s one of our best players is not of this planet I’m afraid .
It wasn’t just iwobi last night because most of the team looked awful tbh .byt until players like iwobi are moves on then I’m afraid matches like last night will be a regular occurrence.
Also I’m not liking what I’m seeing from some of the players body language ,looks to me like quite a few look fed up ,emery needs to sort the team according to the players strengths not this boring football which everyone keeps harping on about ,emery ball …. this hard press ,I’m yet to see any kind of evidence.
By all your standard we will be better off with all our players and do I need to say the coach as well. Iwobi is fine I mean good player and he can only get better.
TH14-You make it sound as though Iwobi REJECTED playing for England in favour of International Football with Nigeria.He did not choose.He would NEVER in a million years getca game in any England team because he is not good enough.Playing for Nigeria is no big deal.They simply do not have good players.And with the very promising young players coming through at Arsenal he will soon find that he will most likely get more games for Nigeria than for Arsenal each season.
An earlier post suggested Arsenal would be inundated with offers if Iwobi was was transfer listed.Seiously.What other Top 6 Club would want him?None that’s who.What other mid-table side would come in for him?Wolves don’t need him that’s for sure.Everton have far better options.They even had Richarlison on the bench in the Merseyside Derby last week.Leicester?Not a chance.So he would only get offers from relegation sides and play in the Championship.Which is his level.And where he will be playing very soon.
And tell me.Does he actually get a game for Nigeria?And if so in what position.Bearing in mind how you continually say he is a CAM and not a winger I would at least hope you can confirm he actually plays in that position for a very poor third rate football nation.
@ Phil
“very Poor third rate football nation ” . Judging by the world cup i did not see a difference between the African teams and your so called rich first rate football nations.England in particular played like stoke city and coasted through luck.
I saw a difference and so did the whole world.Nigeria were an embarrassment PAL.And as for England I agree.I don’t follow England.I am an Arsenal Supporter.I watch International Tournemants but care less about England with every passing day.Far too many Dustbin Lids in the squad and some wonder why England are perennial losers.
But however bad Endland are please don’t continue to embarrass yourself to believe Nigeria are any good.They are not.Theyvare F****ing Rubbish PAL AND YOU KNOW THIS
Rather have kept Nelson here and let him and Iwobi compete for the spot. Think it would help both to either elevate their game, or wash out the dud who needs to move to the bench.
I think Nelson is a bright talent for us, and Iwobi needs to really up his goal tally and consistency or Nelson could push Iwobi to the bench.
I don’t hate Iwobi by any means, just no way in Hell am I buying what you’re trying to sell. Iwobi is Ok; not a goal threat or consistent, but can do a job for our club. Maybe Emery is playing him so much to find out if he has the stuff, or to see for himself that Iwobi ain’t setting the goal on fire, and only keeping better players out.
TH14 no one said ozil is madrid,barca,juve or psg qualities he is rubbish too
Players seem too comfortable, and no one is playing to save their job. They might scrabble for a starting gig, but tinker man will play them eventually, and they lack the fear of being sacked.
FFS Ozil gets frozen out, but Mustafi gets shoehorned into the side, Iwobi plays because club was stupid enough to loan out Nelson when he clearly could have seen PL game time. I mean, we need wingers, he’s the future for us, so why not give him some pitch time?
Maybe I’m too stupid to understand that loaning Nelson to rotate off the bench in German league with different manager is better than staying at Arsenal, rotating off bench with Manger he’ll be with next year, and playing in PL this year to prepare him for next year.
Did I forget to mention our desperate need for wingers on top of that? Would love love love to know who made that brilliant decision to loan out a winger when our shelves are completely empty of wingers.
yes, yes and yes. same for smith-rowe.
Nelson cant get a start even for Hoffenheim and you expect him to be starting for Arsenal. He is physically not ready yet!! I know people get pissed when told this but, thats the reality. Let the lad develop.
Absolutely right
??
Do you watch matches at all?
Torreira was sh*t..and has been for weeks! I’d give him a 3 as well.
I agree ,new player at the start of the campaign in the premiership,now it seems teams and opposing managers know how to play against us and him now ,I would say the last 2 months not been good at all from him ,and the constant rolling around on the floor ,is something I can’t stand in football and he seems to do it quite a lot
He is shit because the coach don’t allow him play his position. He prefers him to move forward rather than shield the defense. What he does best when he bought him.
I cannot believe the unjustified criticism aimed at Iwobi who was yet again one of our better players.The fingers need to be pointed further back to our lamentable defenders who along with Xhaka have cost us dear this season.Apart from Leno,Holding,Bellerin and hopefully Mavroponas,the others should be moved on at the end of the season.We are an average team because of our substandard defenders not Alex Iwobi who is one of our most saleable assets.Please get off his back.
I think Iwobi often needs to improve his decision making, and I’m not sure if he’s actually been told to defend the space in the old inside left channel, rather than marking the opposing right back, but that’s all he seems to do. However he has been one of our best attacking threats for the last few games and opposition teams have started to mark him really tightly which has reduced his effectiveness. This should result in either Ozil, or Ramsay getting more space on the left. Unfortunately we need the mobility of Laca to run onto the resulting passes and without him I don’t think we exploited Ozil’s creativity at all. Miki seems constantly caught on his heels, probably lacking match fitness. I’d rather see Nketiah and Suarez given a start on Sunday.
Guendouzi 5, are you serious? Did you watch that rubbish Last night? When you see Ramsey out sprinting a 19 year old to get back to help defence its time for Guendouzi to go back to the french 2nd division, he is pathetic. I would give him 1 for getting onto the plane.
Ozil was one of the better, 6. Kos was the best defender, the only fn defender we have, 6.5. Xhaka 1 for getting on the plane with Guendouzi.
Torriera fights for the ball and wants to play. Auba not at the races 2.
Montreal good 1st 30 mins but I would give him 1.5 for his petulance after loosing the ball in the 88th minute and subsequently lead to the 3rd goal. Childish or What?
I say to you all.
Look at United under Papa Mou
Look at United on the assassin with that baby face of his.
Now look at us under Emery? I say no more.
Body language is key
It’s a pity that despite all the below par performance from our senior players yesterday, people are here criticising poor Iwobi. For them Admin shouldn’t have given him any rating because he was the worst player. Then people will be surprise when Iwobi’s critic a being questioned.
And what?Iwobi played well did he?He was no better or worst than anybody else (Cech apart) in another shambolic performance.How about Emery now starting to bear some of the blame.
Mustafi at RB.He showed at Wembley that he has NO PART playing again for Arsenal.Im not even giving him the excuse of being out of position.You can either defend or you can’t.This player CANNOT DEFEND.Why does Emeryvpersistvwith him.AMN,Lichstiener and Jenkinson Yet he again plays this clown.
Torriera was bought as a CENTRAL DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER.Why does Emery play him so far forward?When he was first introduced his game was about covering our backline.Now I fail to understand his performances as the player seems to be confused of his own role in the side.We wait a decade for a specialist CDM and when we do sign one he is played where he is not needed:Emery?Can you explain this decision?
How as the manager allowed this performance just days after Wembley where we showed resolve,commitment,defensive solidness and team ethics.That performance was a million miles apart from how we performed against the Spuds.This is on Emery.
Emery auditioned for the job with an in-depth knowledge of the playing squad he was to inherit.What was noted about Xhaka? And Mustafi?How was the Wide Playerr missedboff the recruited players during the summer?Why is Denis Suarez not getting an opportunity?Surley he is match-fit now.If not Why was he bought in the first place?We havevonly NINE PREMIERE LEAGUE games left.Will wecever see him or will he be a replacement for Kim Kallstron?FFS just play him or send him back.
Too many question marks against Emery and most have been because of HIS decisions and HIS tactics.Top 4 hinges on the Man United game and this is now a must win game.
Let’s trust that Emery gets it right
Excellent point Phil. Dealer’s choice for RB options, and he goes with a CB again?
Torreria good CDM he proved in first several appearances; we waited decade for; and Emery has him bombing forward rather than playing to his best characteristics as CDM.
Former player mocks Emery, and is proven right at matches end.
Players out of position, no defense, berift of ideas under pressure, and looks lost.
I’m asking myself what’s changed exactly?
New CEO, new manager, same shit.
Xhaka, Mustafi, Monreal, must go. Auba either scores or is total dead weight the team carries.
A ton to prove this Summer; fading top 4 and fading Europa. Hopefully turn it around but not inspiring confidence now are they?
Hi Durand and I trust all good with you.
Would it not be so typical of Arsenal to win on Sunday and follow that up with a comfortable second leg next Thursday?The inconsistency is baffling to me.And what happened to our high press game?That seems to have disappeared quicker than it arrived.
It’s not as though Arsenal as a Club and us as supporters have not been in this position before overcthe last decade and Wenger for the most part (with the exception of the last two seasons) always found us a CL Place.Can Emery do that this season?I have my doubts-I expect it to happen but not surprised if or dosent.
Progress?
The jury is still most definitely out as far as I’m concerned
Phil and Durand, I agree that Emery had a bad day at the office against Rennes, with his selections and substitutions. However in previous games he has got so much right. He can’t be blamed for Socrates red card, Ozil fluffing a chance that a player of his standard should bury, Aubameyang being constantly caught off side, Monreal taking throw ins deep in attack with minutes to go instead of defending a 1-2 scoreline. The bulk of these players have shown the same deficiencies under two highly respected coach/managers. Isnt about time we agree that the squad is not good enough to achieve more than it is at the moment?
As for Ben Arfa, how many clubs has he played at without moving on due to inconsistent performances and without causing problems? Why are Arsenal supporters paying heed to his opinions?
One of the big reason why we were continuoulsy put under tremendous pressure last night was poor ball distribution by Cech. Leno should play the 2nd leg. We have big time off after this game.
Cech 9/10