Player Ratings Arsenal Show Great Spirit At Chelsea
By Matt Sadler
January 21 2020
Disastrous start but we showed character that we didn't show under Emery or even under Wenger towards the end.
RATINGS
Leno - 7. Did well. Great save off Barkley late on. Bellerin - 7. Okay though looked sh*gged towards the end of his comeback, but popped up to equalise late on brilliantly. Mustafi - 0. You knew something was coming as he looked nervous and shaky right from the off. Shot us in the foot with a ridiculous unforced error. Cost us as he has done consistently under our previous two managers. Be it his confidence, concentration or composure, there is something fundamentally wrong in his head.
Luiz - 5. Have seen some saying he should've let Abraham score rather than getting sent off. Maybe, but he should have never found himself in that situation.
Saka - 7. Chelsea started off attacking down our left side to exploit the supposed weak link, but Hudson-Odoi ended up switching sides because he got nothing out of him. Martinelli will rightly get all the plaudits but this guy deserves a shout out. He's done a sound job for us this season filling in out of position.
Torreira - 7. Got stuck in and fought for the team throughout. Xhaka - 7. Found himself having to drop in at centre back after the Mustafi calamity but really rose to the occasion. Leader.
Pepe - 6. He's a handful but I just wish he would speed things up. Ozil - 4. Unsurprisingly it was like playing with 10 men from kick off. Only surprise was it took so long for him to get hooked. Martinelli - 8. Following on from what I was saying in the Sheffield United ratings... the star of this season. Showed superb composure to score. Never stopped running. Has to stop in the team.
Lacazette - 6. Worked hard.
Subs:
Guendouzi - 6. Came on and got stuck in, which was what we needed. Holding - 5. Slotted in. Willock - N/A. Not on long.
Shout outs to Bellerin, Saka, Torreira, Xhaka and Martinelli.
Hopefully Bellerin can now keep up this level of action and skill.
The youngsters are special, no doubt about it, Saka looks the real deal to me.
Watching hi head for the corner pin was magic.
Martinelli goal was like vintage Henry
"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.
The Martinelli goal was funny and brilliant all at the same time. When he took the bad touch his head went back and he was like “ah f.uck” and then Kante slipped and he never looked back
Leno - 7. Did well. Great save off Barkley late on.
Bellerin - 7. Okay though looked sh*gged towards the end of his comeback, but popped up to equalise late on brilliantly.
Mustafi - 0. Must be a cleaner at the club who can play C/Back instead of him.
Luiz - 4. Hasn't got a brain..
Saka - 7. Chelsea played on him first off and he looked out his depth. But came back brilliantly.
Torreira - 7. Got stuck in and fought for the team throughout.
Xhaka - 7. Played a great game as C/Back.
Pepe - 5. 2 or 3 good dribbles and that was it.
Ozil - 3. Just can't hack big games..
Martinelli - 8. Star of this season. Showed superb composure to score. Never stopped running. Has to stop in the team.
Good ratings Matt.
I understand why you've given Mustafi the duck, but if you take that terrible back pass out of the equation, he had an alright game. He didn't shrink from his duties after he stuffed up. So that tells me he's got heart and he had a more positive impact on the game than Ozil did.
That's Gabi's 10th goal for us in his debut season. Can you think of any other 18yr old having done this before with Arsenal fc. Maybe The Sulk. I can't remember.
Unfortunately I'd guess and say that some of the big money clubs will come sniffing around now.
I hope our club stays strong because I can see £50m plus offers heading our way.
Since the end of WW1, 1919, when the FA restarted its 4 tier football league, with Arsenal fc in the 1st div, there’s only ever been one club to have never been relegated from Div 1/ EPL.
plonky Mustafi - 8. It was a masterstroke to get Sideshow sent off. Our defending improved from that point on.
And the way he made out he was upset was brilliant
"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.
Yes, Mustafi howler first goal, and the 2nd goal, he was blindsided and static with just ran passed him and scored.
Overall, after Luiz was send off, Mustafi redeemed himself by putting in a solid defence together with Xhaka.
And all-action Torreira sweeping and breaking up attacks in front of them.
A total committed team performance and clawed back a point by sheer determination and "never-say-die" attitude … that English Grit.
We have a team we can be proud off never mind the results.
"The idea is to be more unpredictable every year and be more difficult for the opponents to stop and nullify what we want to do. That’s what we have now, especially at the back and in the midfield the options we have, to open up the spaces, we have many more options than we had last year.” Mikel Arteta
I thought Mustafi did ok after his howler back pass mistake. He block shots and put in solid shift. Deserves a 5 at least if he is assessed objectively.
What has gone wrong with Laca? He does work hard and he is strong, he used to score goals by holding off defenders and toe-poking it into the net. Now he just doesn't seem to know where the goal is. If we could get him and Aubu scoring along with Martinelli whenever he features, we might just win a couple of matches.
And Auba is back for the next league game against Burnley.
"The idea is to be more unpredictable every year and be more difficult for the opponents to stop and nullify what we want to do. That’s what we have now, especially at the back and in the midfield the options we have, to open up the spaces, we have many more options than we had last year.” Mikel Arteta
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