West Ham v Arsenal Player Ratings – Leno and Ceballos the most impressive

Bernd Leno: 8
Leno was outstanding as we kept yet another clean sheet despite West Ham being on the front foot for most of the game. He is looking more commanding every week…

Sokratis Papastathopoulos: 6
Slected at right-back again, and maybe Arteta is just trying to keep us more solid at the back and wants him as a backup to the new boy Mari, or he just really has a problem with Maitland-Niles. But Papa did a good job, all in all.

David Luiz: 7
Marshalled the defence well towards another clean sheet and continued instructing Mari as well as staying solid himself. Captain’s performance..

Pablo Mari: 6
Pablo is gradully improving his match fitness and blending in with his team-mates, but surely two out of two clean sheets is worth something..

Bukayo Saka: 7
An everpresent threat down the flanks and his untiring enthusiasm makes him hard for opponents to deal with. Is earning himself a permanent first team place in the future..

Dani Ceballos: 8
Running the midfield, he looks a completely different animal under Arteta. I hope Arsenal are discussing with Madrid to make his move permanent in the summer..

Granit Xhaka: 5
Not one of his best games considering his recent improvement. Started badly and only improved to become average, leaving Ceballos to run the midfield.

Nicolas Pepe: 5
Our very expensive winger still has a lot of work to do to cope with the pace of the Premier League. His decision-making and final ball still need a lot of improvement. It always seems to be one touch too much..

Mesut Ozil: 6
He finally got another assist, but it is frustrating when he refuses the chance to score himself when given the opportunity.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 6
Was not given much room or time by the efficient West Ham defence. Mostly anonymous today.

Eddie Nketiah: 6
Not firing on all cylinders yet but he is still only a novice. It may be time to give Martinelli some more chances in his place.

SUBSTITUTES
Alexandre Lacazette: 7
Usual great work rate and finally another goal, despite the nerve-wracking wait for bloody VAR to award it. He is becoming a supersub for Arsenal but he has hardly been a 90 minute player since his arrival.

Reiss Nelson n/a
Tried hard when he came on but was nowhere near as influential as he was against Portsmouth. Seemed out of his depth again..

Bellerin n/a
Only came on to see the game out..

25 Comments

  1. Leno man of the match by a country mile. Big ups to Luiz and Ceballos and even though I think Ozzie was a 7, we’ve lost our creativity. Aubamayang is wasted on the left wing. Agree with your other scores👍. I really do think it’s pointless playing Pepé on the right.

  2. Mesut Ozil: 6
    He finally got another assist, but it is frustrating when he refuses the chance to score himself when given the opportunity.

    Lol, no point in getting frustrated, Ozil has been that way all his life. Labelled as the most unselfish player on earth, that guy would get the chance to tap the ball into the net but he’d pass it to another teammate to score, he’s done it over and over again. So when I see him in the box, honestly I don’t expect him to take shots because I’ll end up disappointed if I do, also remember his shot taking is weak. He somehow hits the ball with force if he’s trying to pin point a pass from our half into the opponent’s half, but he suddenly he’s out of force to add while kicking the ball.

    I’d give Mari a 7, putting into consideration it was his first EPL game and he didn’t bottle it or performed badly. He was the better CB yesterday, even though Luiz did good too

    1. He reminds me of Hleb… he was also so unselfish player who always used to pass instead of scoring by his own

      1. Unfortunately Ozil’s avoidance of contact, looking to pass and not driving towards goal and shooting makes it easier for defense to close him down by defending the passing channels. Arsenal currently has limited goal threat from midfield.

  3. With the kind of comments from fans and the way they want us to move forward in rebuilding this team,I’m glad they do not make decision for the club.A player is good enough only when he plays a good game?Yours fans on this site is wisdom of fools.

    1. A rather pointless comment in itself, at least add to the debate regarding player ratings, rather than make comments about the rest of us.

    2. Your Wisdom is Second to Solomons.

      No wonder your name is Counsel.
      You need more counsel Mister.

  4. how did luiz get a 7? … his job is to marsall and solidify the defence he did neither … against any team with a decent attack we would have been 3 down at half time… the idea that all ozil did is assist is also blind assessment .. he wasnt at his best by a long way but a decent controlled performance … needs forwards to be moving ahead of him but neither nketiah (a 4 at most) nor pepe (also 4) seem to know how to do this .. but as wrighty insightfully put it 3 points is 3 points!!!

  5. Generally agree with the ratings.
    But as much as I love Saka, and hope he will be a future star for Arsenal, I have to say, his performance wasn’t good yesterday. He was really struggling defensively, and I know laying LB isn’t his choice, but he has played much better games than yesterday. No more than 4-5 for him.

  6. Can someone guess our problem why even small teams dominate us sometimes, i guess most of you have no clue, xhaka is our biggest problem, until arteta replaces him thats when we will surely start dominating teams, he hides from his duty as a DM, what a coward of a player

    1. That’s hating…Xhaka has been deployed differently by MA, he doubles up as left back wen Saka bombs up the line….he’s not my best midfield player, but necessary in the team at the moment!! Until we get an option

      1. I love your reply, not your best midfielder and until we get an option, thats what am talking about…. he is useless, makes our mid weak

  7. Against better opposition we could well have been three down were it not for Leno.With this in mind the ratings for our defenders and midfielders are to my mind generous and the lack of pace in these areas is concerning.We need energy and drive from a midfield base ,something that Rice could bring to Arsenal.Ceballos is a very fine player on the ball, but defensively he is weak and too easily beaten.As for Xhaka and Pepe ,once again mediocre performances.Hand on heart guys, we were fortunate to take the three points from a West Ham side which should avoid the drop.

  8. Not far off for me, i thought Leno, Ceballos and Luiz were standouts. I thought xhaka was awful again, i know the Ozil worshippers wont like this but what is it with the guy, WHY DOESN’T HE WANT TO SHOOT, its as if he doesn’t want the responsibility., again kept possession well most of the time but he is so passive and slow. Still got his second assist of the season so that wiil please some for 6 months. I like Nketiah, i think he is one for the future but not ready yet, we have better options to start, he should be brought on later in games. Mari was very good in the air, just what we need but boy he looks slow and a bit cumbersome, likes to hoof it and thats not always a bad thing, still watch and see for me. Anything from Man City will be a bonus, i personally would like to see a front 3 of Pepe, Auba and either Lacca or Nelson but i do think midfield and defence are going to be run off their feet. Arteta should at least have some inside knowledge of what to expect.

    1. @ Reggie.

      Kinda worrying when we’re loving seeing a HOOF, I was actually applauding it !

      Shot shy throughout the side
      (accept Xhaka, where cows *rses and banjo’s come to mind) makes me rip my hair out !!

  9. Laca was my MOTM,in my opinion his substitution changed the flow of the game.And even before he scored he created a superb chance in which ozil should have scored.
    Leno is impressive.
    Luiz’s positioning has improved massively l,i think he is better as a RCB.
    Ceballos played a bit safe yesterday but his defensive contribution is superb.He was all over the pitch.He was sloppy a few times but was the best in releasing pressure.
    Mari needs more game time

  10. I’ve always expected Ceballos a Baller from the beginning..
    Mare looking at the Boy’s figure, He has it.. Still Awaiting Tierney, He’s gonna be more than a Baller.. We all Gonn Love Him too.

    Xhaka got no Ball Brains..
    I wish his Physique Figure could be Switch to Guenduozi right away.

    We are Drawing Man City match, or better still Winning. AFC ain’t Losing and am SURE.
    COYG.

  11. As much as it is delightful that we begged the 3 points, the truth is that we were a bit lucky. The west harm midfield and defence was too compact. Pepe(3) is a good player, but the system just does not suit him. At the end of the day he is more of a liability than an asset. we really need a very good defensive midfielder, not Xhaka (4). Someone with the abilities of Fabinho or Fernadinho. Cebellos(7)is very good and has a positive work ethic, but i understand why Arteta prefers Ozil(7) than him as a #10 because he dribbles and turns and turns too much at times giving opposition time to adjust their positioning. he is again all over the pitch just like Gaundoezi. Saka (5) was good but not at his usual best, i think fatigue will slowly kicking in because the young lad has played so many games now. i think a back 3 system where he is a fullback suits him better as he is more of a forward going threat. Auba (5) seems to be still psychologically affected by the Olympiacos issue or maybe the defenders were tasked to block him at all cost. Nketiah (5)was good, but the game was too intense for him, the same with Nelson(5). but there are good prospects. Overally the future is promising, and Arteta (7) is a very good coach. Next season he will be in the top 4 throughout the season.

    1. Leo, a very optimistic projection for next season, which has no chance of eventuating, unless the Board supports Arteta in the transfer market to upgrade midfield and defense.

    2. Ceballos is a good no.8 and i also believe that he needs to release the ball faster sometimes.A team like liverpool can catch him if he holds too much.And i also like his composure and calmness just like ozil.They are very cool in what they do.There was a moment in the match in which the whole team is panicking near the edge of our box and ozil gets the ball.He just calmly lays the ball for sokratis and directs him where to play.Sokratis then releases pepe.
      These are guys who make the game beautiful.Game reading at its best.

  12. I don’t know how Pepe could become so unusefull. (I used unusefull (incorrect English but I didn’t want to say useless because he is not) he just doesn’t carry the team forward. Stupid shot passes that doesn’t do much. Ozil included. I will love to see them do something more productive. Pepe is becoming annoying to me.

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