Arsenal survived some hairy first half moments and put in a very solid second half display to come away with a deserved three points and a 2-0 win over West Brom tonight.
Here are our player ratings. Remember, you can rate yourself, and leave comments below.
I’m beginning to get a warm, fuzzy feeling about lacazette…
Elneny was a good fit in the middle of field today, he was only second to Monreal today, you can play him and xhaka with ozil upfront comfortably
And where would Ramsey fit then?
On the freaking bench obviously, and if that means it adds balance and stability, then so be it!
And against the big teams, bench Ozil please. Can’t understand why this is so complicated to execute for Arsene, it’s been obvious for a few years already.
Oh really? And which club are you the manager of, Dear Sir?
The fact that an elneny and xhaka midfield is our best option right now is worrying. Against the best teams they will be to slow, to simple and to similar.
Really hope Jack can stay fit
Both were already making things too easy for West prom to execute their pressure, clearly no creativity no solutions However, one of them is a good option besides a good and creative number 8 signing in January ( am dreaming 🙂 )
Why with Xhaka? Play him with somebody else not named Xhaka. I lost confidence on this guess, he is too slow and makes mistakes with his passing. Bench Xhaka so he gets better.
Good win, great 3 points and great performance overall. But, it is clear that we are still vulnerable on the counter, we are lucky to getaway with Mustafi’s challenge in the 9th minutes! And we are lucky to have Monreal clearing the ball in front of goal.
Time to play Kos in the middle and allow Holding to learn his trade.
He wouldn’t be any more rash than our liability in the form of Mustafi.
Mustafi is not calm enough to be a center half, always felt he was overrated early last season with our unbeaten run. It was more like we somehow remianed unbeaten despite Mustafi playing than we remained unbeaten since Mustafi played.
Thought the fingertip save from cech earned him an 8
Thought his distribution was spot on as well.
As was clearing while hugging a goal post with his balls.
Waiting to see Lacazette perform against a bigger club. I think his lack of size may count against him at the highest level. But certainly looks to have the potential to bully smaller clubs – so a good enough striker to aim for fourth place then, which is, of course, the goal…
I worry that you might be a bit of a dick
He’s bigger than Messi and Aguero, just to name two.
I hate to say it but it’s true. For all the Messi, Iniesta etc’s technical brilliance there’s a reason Peter Crouch won multiple Balon D’ors in his illustrious career
Baaahahahahhaa
Spanish gooner thats cold. Haha
Ouch!
…and don’t forget the late, great Ian Ormondroyd (not sure if he’s dead, actually, but it sounds good).
So, really, are you a genuine Arsenal supporter who has become so embittered that he has lost all sense of perspective, or are you a troll?
Waiting to see ex-priest Tobin contribute anything other than a pissy whinge.
Aguero seems to have a good touch for a small guy!
Think you have anger issues man. That’s what happens when you didn’t get laid I suppose. Bless you ?
Name thief!
Bollocks. I was here before you.
You can be Kearney Zzyzwicz
Great stuff from Lacazette and Monreal.
Pulis can fuck right off.
Goes without saying
Could thumb up your last sentence an infinite number of times.
LacaZette is better than Aguero
No, he’s not. But he might be the most exciting striker we’ve had since van Persie was fit for a season & a bit
I just love how switched on he seems to be. I don’t think he’ll score the Van Persie ridiculous individual goals but if there is ever a loose ball bobbling in the 18 yard box Lacazette will cunt it in every time
I expect the thumbs ratio for this comment is a good measure of the ratio of miserable people out there
Time for Mustafi to get benched. Tired of his stupid tackles.
For who exactly?
Holding? Chambers? Or, and this one may seem a touch absurd, our club captain
and most experienced CB Per Mertesacker. Rumour has it he is actually still alive.
I think you could make the case that centre back is the deepest position in the squad. Mertesacker and Holding have both played superbly in huge matches against top class opposition in the last four months. Chambers was one of the better young defenders in the league last season. We could absolutely be giving any one of them more game time starting immediately. Playing centre back in the Premier League is something that often takes some adjustment to, and I think there’s a pretty good chance Mustafi will come good. But I think until he does that he’s likely to… Read more »
Chambers is injured. Holding has looked very much out of his depth his last two prem matches; I think there’s a real risk of shattering his confidence. And we have a midweek game.
Mertesacker.
My Mum for one
there must be a reason the boss is playing mustafi in the middle of a back 3 but i just can’t help to feel that he doesn’t have the composure and reading of the game to play there and he and koscielny should swap position. maybe then we can see the return of the mustafi when he first joined who I thought was pretty decent
Bring in Holding. He’s great at holding ut up. I’ve been holding out for him to start. We need a holding player.
stop it now.
…and overhit passes. Don’t know why, he drives me crazy with those.
Then again, it’s difficult to dislike any player whose individual efforts cause Pubis to go that particular shade of puce, regardless of how he achieves it.
or at least play Kos as the central CB and have Must as RCB…
or Kos – Mert – Monreal
I think the boss plays Mustafi in the middle because he’s the most vocal
I think I have a man crush on Kolasinac. Those arms like boughs of sturdy English oak.
Bosnian birch
Excellent peepshow reference.
Who would love, just once, when we are so short up front, to see Kolasinac play as a marauding centre forward?
10 out of 10 for Maitland-Niles. Didn’t misplace a single pass. Didn’t miss a single tackle. Never gave the ball away once. Ran hard every second he was out there. Need more players like him.
Created nothing, never gave a pass, never took a shot, never blocked anything.
What are we paying him for?
He’s got PASHUN’ and I definitely saw him run ’round a bit.
He’s such an inspiration. When his teammates saw him stride onto the pitch, they knew he’d guide them to victory.
A good second half performance, but our lack of passing quality at the moment is more than slightly worrying.
A bionic Santi would be glorious right about now ?
And if we can’t have a bionic Santi, I’d settle for a bionic Wilshere.
Hahahaha pulis the prick
I thought Alexis was far better than 6.
Yes so did I, but he’s still missing too many of the passes he normally makes when he’s in top form. He did his usual good job drawing defenders and dropping deeper to help the build-up but unless he uses the ball better the team can’t take advantage of the space that creates.
Alexis taking the piss out of us with those attempted kick ups mid game
Ramsey was poor. Back to his famous stupid backheel flicks with zero end product. Ozil or ramsey as playmaker? Mesut 100% of the time.
what game were you watching. Ramsey’s work rate is probably the best in the league
Please! What work rate? We almost conceded twice when he directly gave away balls upfront, one for the penalty that should have been and the other that was cleared off the line by monreal..
Even doing the basics looked like too much trouble for him but then he’s a favorite out here so we’re fine.
I think Elneny was superb today, what an allround midfielder he is. I think in the absence of “the sainty”, he is the engine we need. In the secound half he showed brilliant short passing and exellent movement. He’s basically the opposite to Xhaka, a static player who prefers long passes (he really likes to switch play).
We need a chant that refers to him as “Duracell Neny”
This. His touch on give and goes and long range switches were excellent. His touch over the defenders to Giroud at the end was fairly sublime. The best offensive performance from him yet. Yes, he was dispossessed 2x from behind. Not awesome. But nothing came of those. He still covers a ton of ground and provides a constant outlet. That is a very boring but super helpful contribution.
Nothing about his game makes me nervous to watch. That’s gotta count for something right?
I think the 2 of them can work brilliantly together. Have done for a while now. Xhaka and Ozil have the passing game, Elneny is nifty in those little 1-2 situations and triangle play the gunners do so well outside the box to pull defenders away from the goal area. Elneny is great at that stuff, Xhaka not so.
I need to rewatch the game I thought he was poor :/
I’m ready for the thumbs down boys but I will re-watch!
You were watching the wrong game Goonerlink. He’s as cool as a cucumber. As is Lacazette. Footballers with brains.
Its ok not to agree with everyone else. Footballers seem to make an impression on supporters and can never be swayed the other way. It happens. I personally thought he played well, did some clever stuff. Covered for Xhaka, and Ramsey even, nicely.
I thought so too. He wasn’t scared to play and i hope he gets proper game time
Boa noite muchachas. Enjoyed match, but still have no idea why Granit Xhaka exists. He was almost invisible tonight and I think coffee maker or microwave would be more effecient. Loved Nacho and Ramsey, those two really run off their tits, thats the spirit! Yay! Sanchez dont worth a comment. Hey, there are three defenders in front of you, where you will go? You can go to the left, you can pass…ups, late, already crushed into the wall. I am not in love with this guy, not a single bit. Selfish play, horrible decisions. Elneny great, always moving, but some… Read more »
I want to vote you both up and down
Kinda suspect Elneny won’t be joining anyone for a pint…
I’d love to join you for some stakes and rice
Alexis looked cocky on the ball and he lost it accordingly. Big head…
Mustafi. Agreed, needs to stay on his feet. Put Kos in center, demand he stats on feet, or go with Mert (3 or 4)?
It’s really an interesting problem the way I see it – Mustafi is more of the ‘last ditch’ tackle guy who gets left horribly out of position when he does it upfield, while Kos has always been strongest when he can step forward and get a jump on the play. So on paper the current roles almost make sense. But yeah, Mustafi has got to get control of those wild tackles.
Perhaps why we were looking to offload him to Inter Milan?
In the first half, West brom carved us up each time we lost the ball. God help us when we lose the ball against a good team.
A good tEAM not even required, just one that can finish. See Liverpool.
Basically any team with a good offensive game will cause us trouble at this time. City and Sp*rs spring to mind. I think in Wenger’s mind, Kos and Mustafi are meant for the same role, so he goes for the biggest and slowest in the middle? Why not try Chambers or the Captain in that role? Is Blogs rating Mustafi ahead of what’s bound/going to happen in the future?
Chambers is injured.
Cech made a critical safe as did Monreal. Like the rollicking Monreal dished out thereafter. Actually thought Elneny did well powering into the box but also his long passes have been decent (which may give us a back up to Granit). Still a bit soft standing up to opponents some times and gets pushed off too easily but he’s full of running. Mustafi should not have dived in for that tackle which could easily have been a penalty against us. That said, played well throughout otherwise. Surprised by Ramsey’s inclusion further up but that is his best position as he… Read more »
Glass half full here, but we’ve got Mordor, Stanfraud Bridge and Ansfield out of the way already…
Elneny motm.
That hegazi dude was pretty good!
Xhaka needs a ‘rest’. Surely he’s been below par so far this season, Get Wilshere in there for a game or two… if Xhaka isn’t benched for his numerous mistakes he might not get that he needs to improve on them.
Didn’t realise how tall Nacho is.
I think we were, poor, static and predictable. Get the ball to the halfway line, take a tea break. Wait for opposition to get into position, give the ball away. That has been out tactic for years now.
The second half was better and when ozil came on we gained momentum. WBA were probably finished and that allowed us to play a more dynamic style
The referee should have known that penalty was afoot before Mustafi fouled Rodriguez, I knew a penalty was coming it was sooo predictable. We dodged a bullet there
Jeez…. Thanks for putting the rest of us straight.
Lacazette was great. Nearly had a hat trick, thought he should have gone for it first time…
On the Elneny-Xhaka axis there is not enough quality between the pair of them but I would be inclined to replace Xhaka in there. What Elneny provides is security, to me Xhaka is supposed to be providing what we miss from Santi (I know, irreplaceable) and he’s not even close to being as clever and mobile as the front 3 need him to be. How Arsene treated getting a midfielder in the summer as an after-thought is pretty shocking stuff…
Don’t see value in Xhaka at all – just gives the ball away and doesnt do much else. We’re up to seventh and Sixth is where we will end up.We’ve not enough quality in midfield to challenge for the title. Elneny did ok last night but what top club would want him? In this country not Switzerland
If Mustafi can’t cut out the mindless slide tackles then he needs to be benched. Bring back BFG, Chambers or Holding. No idea how and why that wasn’t a penalty. Our attack is starting to look good now and I like the options that we have.
Cech – a good reminder of how class he can be on his day. Bellerin and Kolasinac – probably the best wing back pair in the league, certainly on par with anyone else in the league. Relieved that Hector seems to be playing himself back into form, and being back on the right no doubt helps. Kola has certainly hit the ground running. The three center halfs – does it say something worrying that a left back seems the better than all the specialist center halves at the club? Not sure if I’m honest? Wenger needs to find the right… Read more »
Loved watching Elneny play. Kept the midfield ticking.
I watched only Xhaka for a ten minute period last night, admittedly there were 2 substitutions in that period and West Brom lined up (expectedly) 2 banks of five for periods of the game, but . . . he touched the ball 11 times in that period. For me, that doesn’t resemble a part of the team who in my opinion is supposed to be ‘the heartbeat’ . . . He cost us quite a bit of money as I remember.
Monreal was sublime last night.
l think Alexis’ biggest flaw is himself. He thinks he is way better than he actually is. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a good player, but sometimes it feels like he enjoys the smell of his own farts a bit too much.
we played well today. up to 7th place
Nacho MOTM. He was always on hand to cover an extra position when someone went bombing forward or someone went to ground too easily.
Mustafi was… pretty awful in that first half. Hard to find much good to say about him now, his head doesn’t seem to be in it anymore. Needs serious improvement in his positional awareness, short passing, and obviously his tackling.
Guys I’m starting to respect the work that Elneny is putting in. I think it will not be too long before we see him starting over Xhaka. And what’s up with Alexis and his attitude??!!
I thought Mustafi was woefull. Two times he slid in the box and almost cost us. Monreal save the day!
The really should have scored. I love seeing the Hulk bomb forward….like a run away freigh train.