My best performers in the game against Newcastle By Sylvester Kwentua
Okay family, winning again is such a good feeling, and right now I feel good! I never doubted that Arsenal was going to beat Newcastle, but I still feel excited. Long may these type of feelings continue.
Alright, against Newcastle today, I decided to personally watch individual performances to see if maybe one or two Arsenal player’s effort was not getting the attention they should. From Arsenal’s attack line to their defensive line, I examined all of them, and here are my observations.
Attack: For the respect and love I have for Aubameyang, I won’t want to talk about his performance today. Maybe I will talk about him later. In Arsenal’s attack, the two players that really tried doing things for Arsenal were Saka and Martinelli. Saka was a constant threat to the Newcastle defense; always running at them and giving them a restless game. To crown it all, he scored a beautiful goal. I doff my hat for this great performer.
Martinelli! What else can I say about this young Brazilian bundle of talent? As soon as Saka started showing signs that he could not continue, I was scared because I wondered who would propel Arsenal’s attack. However, hardly had Martinelli got involved in the game, and my fears were gone! What more can I say?
Midfield: In all honesty, Arsenal’s midfield didn’t get involved in the game much, but they still managed to snuff the bite off Newcastle United’s attack. My best performer in the midfield today was Thomas Partey.
Defence: The defence today won the game for Arsenal. Gabriel and White, who are not really getting all the hype they deserve, neutralized the attack of Newcastle United. Saint-Maximin, who was the chief offensive player for the Magpies, didn’t really trouble Ramsdale, and that is because Gabriel and White did a good job on him. The few times Newcastle attempted our goalposts, reliable Ramsdale was there to deny Shelvey one or two world class goals.
I also have to mention our wing backs who also had a hand in the two goals that Arsenal scored today.
Today’s game just confirmed for me that truly Arsenal is on the rise again.
We are Arsenal and proud.
Sylvester
Gabriel
You forgot to mention “Tomi Gunz”contribution. He was resilient in defence and sublime with his forward passes…👍🏿
I thought Saka, while he was on the pitch, was by far our best player.
Ramsdale made his weekly Hollywood save, but also made his weekly low shot fumble.
However, I am worried for ESR. He was AWOL against Liverpool, and against Newcastle he saw less of the ball than his importance dictated. The problem I saw, particularly in the first half, was that White brings the ball out of the back. He plays on the right and tends to play the ball down the right. This seems okay because Tommy and Saka combine well. But it also causes Odegaard to drift over to that side to get involved.
This leaves ESR and Tavares on the left.
When the ball comes out thru Tavares he is slow moving it. When he finally passes to ESR, ESR is often marked and can do little but pass it back.
When Tavares uses his pace and moves the ball by running down the left, he seems to look for a ball into the box, rather than involving ESR.
In the second half, our first goal came down the left and ESR was involved. Saka had come over, and ESR made a simple (but clever) pass into Tavares so he could release Saka.
However, for most of the rest of that half ESR had to come further and further in field to try and get involved in the play.
I believe Arteta must replace Tavares with Tierney to get the best out of ESR.
This is just the way I myself saw the game!!!
ESR is better as a 10, where he can create and make late runs into the box.
On the wing it doesn’t play to his strengths, but hey I’m a fan not an expert.
Best were defenders again for me. Gabriel and White refuse to be bullied, Tomi has the right on lock down, and Tavares showed strength on Wilson nudge and speed getting forward.
They are solid 8 times in 10, but attackers are a coin flip whether they are dangerous or not.
Both assists came from fullbacks (worrying midfield is so sterile), and that needs fixing fast. Odegaard needs to get with it, or ESR as a 10 instead and Martinelli on the wing.
Ben White nuff said.
In attack it has to be Saka. I thought the time he was on the pitch he was always trying to make something happen and be the spark for us. Idk if he decided to come over to the left wing or if Arteta said to drift over there sometimes, but I was begging all game to put him on that part of the pitch, and our best chances came when he was stationed there. When he comes back Mikel needs to consider starting him on the left. I just think his decision maker is so much quicker when he can get the ball to his left foot quicker. When he played LB/LWB for us, he was a menace for how quickly he could deliver balls and get past the opposition. Too much time to think on right, and Tomi doesn’t give that many overlapping runs. Think ESR needs the overlap less than Saka does, and ESR can still get into good position in the box from either flank. Lokonga, another player who looked much better today. First player to try a ball over the top when things were getting bland and we almost got a goal out of it. Hopefully he keeps growing, and can move past the Anfield blip. Our CB’s always deserve a shout. Having consistent defenders is just so nice. All the Ben White heading nonsense from his FIRST GAME has gone TOTALLY silent. I feel so comfortable with those two at the back.
no real standouts, just a couple moments of unrehearsed brilliance…some decent performances by some for brief periods, but MA’s largely static offensive scheme doesn’t really lend itself to performances of any real consequence, so thankfully we went off-script on a couple of occasions
I thought SAKA was MotM. BEN WHITE IS ALSO WEEKLY BECOMING MORE INFLUENTIAL AND IMPORTANT TO THE TEAM.
Martinelli must surely now get a regular run, in place of the lazy and completely ineffective Auba.
Auba should no longer be able to trade on long past form when he WAS a regular scorer.
I’d drop him and try to sell him, though I doubt that will be possible, given his huge salary.
Lokonga for me today. IMO he has become more influential in our midfield than Partey, and he certainly passes better and runs further.