Really good game. So open in the first half, where we took four of our chances but CSKA failed to punish "openness". Second half we could've easily scored four or five but failed to make our dominance pay. Hats off to Ozil and Ramsey, both superb.
Cech - 6. Little to do (But did it poorly at times.Editor)
Bellerin - 7. Got forward well, particularly in the first half. Mustafi - 5. Bad decision led to CSKA's goal. Struggled against Musa. Koscielny - 6. Bad decision led to CSKA's goal. Otherwise okay. Monreal - 7. Did well.
Xhaka - 7. Played well. Very good on the ball. Ramsey - 9. The engine, the late runs, the getting into goal scoring positions, the finish for the second goal. Monster performance. Scored two but honestly could've been 3 or 4x that.
Ozil - 9. Great passing, movement, dribbling. Three assists but could've had more. Unlucky not to score. Ozil at his best. Wilshere - 6. To quote Robbie Savage, "worked hard but didn't always come off for him". Seems a bit slow/ unfit at times. Mkitaryan - 7.5 Should've scored.
Lacazette - 8. Lively throughout and scored twice, with the second being very well taken. Come back from injury and found form immediately.
Subs:
Iwobi - 5. Lively cameo but should've scored. Welbeck - 5. Thought he did well, and almost scored. Elneny - 5. Slotted in well.
Apologies for technical problems, but site keeps putting up duplicates. This led to losing original with messages, plus, sadly, the match thread.
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
I cant get rid of duplicate thread as it will delete or disable this as well. Have contacted Admin
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
Sorry Mkhitaryan should've been a 7.5. Meant to write more about him as well. I've just came back off a stag do on Monday evening and I'm still not functioning properly.
Mkhitaryan - 7.5. Played well. Worked hard and always involved. Shouldve scored in the second half.
A comment by Flava was that 6 was too high for Jack, he would have given him 3. I think thats a bit harsh, but 5 would be nearer the mark. He started ok but declined as match went on.
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
Thankfully admin have sorted out duplicate issue, although we can’t get match thread back. Have updated Mikky rating
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
Padre Pio A comment by Flava was that 6 was too high for Jack, he would have given him 3. I think thats a bit harsh, but 5 would be nearer the mark. He started ok but declined as match went on.
We seem to have finally found a bit of form and balance in our team, which I think largely stems from Mkhitaryan's arrival and Xhaka's improved form, which has taken the pressure off/ freed up Ozil a bit.
You look at Thursday's team and the way we play football and, to me at least, the obvious areas for improvement in the summer would be a first choice goalkeeper, two monster centre backs who aren't going to lose duels (one-on-ones/ 50-50s, think Campbell-Toure)* and Monreal's successor. After that we probably need to look at some attacking players with genuine pace/ width for when we need to mix things up.
Its just a shame it has taken this long, with us out of the League and FA Cups and stuck in sixth place.
* Looking at all of our senior/ reserve centre backs, I think the only one who fits the bill is Mavropanos, who is huge and surprisingly mobile. Mustafi has the aggression (too much aggression at times), but lacks the pace.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2018:04:07:13:31:33 by MattySadler.
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