By Boris Mellor and Matty Sadler
May 21 2017
For the first time ever Wenger stayed near the dug out for the whole of the lap of appreciation, usually he parades around like a proud mother hen, but this time he hid. He had nothing to fear, out of respect the crowd only blamed Kroenke for the clubs decline from a once great Wenger era. They pretended that Kroenke was to blame for all of Wenger's strange decisions, and at times poor tactics.
Time to reshuffle the crowd
Wenger needs a new crowd not new players. His plans are already succeeding as the stadium is increasingly mobbed by paper ticket holders every match, and season ticket holders stay away. True today's match was not as empty as the midweek one, but then last day is more like Ascot, a match to be seen at and to see old friends, saying goodbyes until another season when there will be new hope, well hope for those who have had a frontal lobotomy; or Wenger and Kroenke have gone. If not it will be Last Year At Marienbad all over again. Even Deja Vu has a repitive feeling at Arsenal, a place where the second hand of the clock moves, but the minutes rarely turn.Boris Mellor
Matty's ratings follow:
Cech - 7. Made a number of decent stops, but wasn't overly troubled.
Gabriel - 8. Basically flawless for about 50 minutes before being stretchered off. Shame.
Koscielny - 0. Complete idiot.
Holding - 6. Not his best game. Poor on the booking.
Bellerin - 8. Our danger man and main attacking threat. Scored.
Xhaka - 6. Alright before going off.
Ramsey - 7. Alright. Great finish late on.
Monreal - 6. Don't think switching around the defence helped him. Poor on the penalty.
Ozil - 7. Did some brilliant stuff at times but was also a bit in-and-out of the game.
Welbeck - 6. Always involved but guilty of some poor finishing.
Alexis - 7. Worked hard, drove at Everton's defence and scored, but could also be frustrating a times when little flicks and back heels didn't come off.
Subs:
Mertesacker - 6. Did well all things considered.
Coquelin - 5. Alright.
Iwobi - 5. Bright but missed some good chances.
In 2011, Arsene Wenger said that the top-four was the minimum requirement for Arsenal.
View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.