A late goal from Nicolas Pepe looked like it would give Arsenal victory in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final against Slavia Prague, but an injury time equaliser for the visitors gave them a valuable away goal.
The Gunners missed a host of chances, with Bukayo Saka culpable in the first half, and Alexandre Lacazette hitting the bar with the goal at his mercy in the second. With the team always capable of defensive lapses, it was dangerous and so it came to pass and leaves us with a lot to do in the second leg.
Here’s how the players rated.
Read the Arsenal 1-1 Slavia Prague match report and see the goals here
Arsenal 1-1 Slavia Prague – Player Ratings
The ratings are hidden by default until you vote, but if you just want to view the ratings and the comments, flick the switch at the top above Bernd Leno. Also, please give the ratings a few seconds to load.
This team is so frustrating. Laca, just terrible, makes me miss Sanogo. What’s up with Partey’s passing?
I’d choose to eat an unseasoned boiled potato over watching Willian huffing and puffing on the flank. Can we please start Martinelli over Willian?
So frustrating.
Arteta set up so conservative and it was known the moment we knew Willian was starting. It’s a shame but I think he is out of his depth.
Its like Partey’s come down to those around hims level. He does not look like the signing i thought we had.
The fact Willian still gets in ahead of Martinelli shocks me. What is MA thinking?
I’m not judging players individual performances so much. Or at least I’m only really judging their effort levels at this point. Basically the entire squad is out of confidence in themselves and eachother, low on form, and confused tactically. When that happens, it’s always on the manager, and it’s very hard for a player to elevate themselves above the collective dysfunctionality If Partey was playing poorly while his teammates were doing ok, I would be worried that he’s a poor signing. But that’s not the case, he’s a great signing. Just need a manager that can coach a team properly… Read more »
It’s time to take Willian to a farm up north and leave him there.
You know what? The non-negotiable is there for other players but Willian. Don’t be too shock if you seen Willian plays more games until the season end
Non-negotiable are only for non-Arteta players.
“Its like Partey’s come down to those around hims level”
He should still look better than Xhaka but he hasn’t since he’s come back from injury.
Both Willan and Pepe are played to upkeep their value, until they are sold in August.
You really think Willian’s performances have maintained his value????
And you group him with the one player who – given one chance – finished like an ice-pick, amongst a wasteful, listless group of half-hearts!
We are the unseasoned boiled potato of European football.
Excellent!
Here’s another: Half-Arsed.
Not sure if we were having a contest as who hits closest to the post. So many chances were missed. Lacazette, my lord! he doesn’t deserve an extension. At Lyon he’d used to score for fun 20+ in all seasons and 30+ in two seasons but at Arsenal his highest in a season is less than 20.
A lot of those were penalties. That’s often overlooked. He’s a 10-15 goal guy. No more.
Results like this happen when you trust this 10-15 goal guy and leave your world-class 30 a season striker on the bench. Saving him for what? Sheffield? Fcking idiotic.
This world class striker missed 5 clear cut chances in our qualifying europa league ties, and he missed another one today
5 clear cut chances in 2 games I might add
Why the Aubameyang hate? The talent of a striker is getting chances, not just scorning. Every single player misses them. How many chances does Laca even get? 1 or 2 a game max. It’s not good enough.
You don’t bench Auba, you play him into form against this lot. Not have him defending against Liverpool for 90 minutes. If a managers’ job is maximise his resources, Mikel is failing on all fronts. Let Laca and Willian scurry around against Liverpool and save your big guns for the knockout game.
Not hating, just stating the truth. He missed 5 chances didn’t he? I love both of them, but Auba deserved to be dropped, when Laca misses a chance doesn’t he get dropped? I back Arteta in this case for making that call. Both are different strikers who have different qualities
Auba is awful, that’s why. He can’t do anything except score and at the moment he can’t even do that. Not good enough.
Auba has missed a LOT more than Laca this season…
50million and he is no better than Giroud.
Was never a big fan of Giroud’s scoring but he offered a lot more than Laca. I see why he’s ahead of him in the national team setup even though he starts half the games that Laca does.
Now that our Lord and Saviour, Thomas Partey XXVII, is alive well and kicking on the pitch, how do the common folk rate him?
Elneny did more with his first forward pass than Partey did all match (because every forward pass was to an opposition player). Ever since his injury it looks like he is trying too hard and failing.
Martin Keown said “Arsenal need someone to punch them in the face”. Where can I sign up for this assignment?
Brilliant
In the words of Swedish post punk outfit The Hives – Hate to say I told you so. I remember getting slaughtered on here for suggesting AMN shouldn’t have gone on loan to get relegated with Big Sam. Played LB in the FA Cup final. Played LB in the community shield. And we all knew Kieran would be on the treatment table before long. Can’t help but think he’s a much better option than Cedric. Ah well, at least he’s finally getting minutes at CM. That matters because… um… nope, can’t remember. I’ll expect multiple thumbs down for being a… Read more »
Wow! The double thumbs does work.
I signed in with 13 different accounts just because
I always thought AMN was a decent enough backup option both for LB and CM. He won’t start. He won’t excel. But he will do ok.
Problem is, maybe, that Mikel does not seem to encourage the spells of confidence with players he does not think can be great. One subpar game from Pepe and he’s out. A couple errors from AMN and he never plays again, same with Nelson.
This way, we lost a couple of important backups and do not have variety to rely when change is needed.
Although Willian can have as many sub par, anonymous performances as he likes.
He is the latest Walcott – his PR is fantastic but out of all proportion to his performances.
Forget AMN. The one change from last season?
Martinez
He was a proper, commanding keeper who lived the club and we just shipped him off with a two-fingered salute.
We will win nothing with Leno. You heard it hear first.
I still think we can win the Europa.
But yes, Leno is balls and it was obvious for all (except Blogs) to see that we sold the wrong keeper.
There were lots of problems and poor performances last night but Leno wasn’t one of them. In fact he kept us in the tie.
When will people accept that overall it made good sense to sell Martinez, and that Leno is a very decent keeper? If we have just a few million to spend in the close season (looking highly likely now) you’d be truly crazy to spend it on a keeper.
The only disagreement I have with what you posted is that I would consider the Hives a garage rock band.
what hurts more than these poor results is our fans still defending Arteta every game. He picks the team, he picks the formation and tactics, he gives out the instructions. 14 games without a clean sheet. The moment they put pressure on us we fall apart. If we are knocked out next Thursday he has to go.
Maybe we need to go back to three at the back?
Just as a temporary measure because we seem a lot less secure at the back and Saka could play left wing back?
What is it, 14 games without a clean sheet?
I’ve been pretty blindly pro-Arteta but my faith is very much wavering at this point. Just far too many bad decisions to be considered teething problems at this stage.
Sad, as I really wanted it to happen. But we’re approaching the position in which the board need to act to stop a real free fall.
If we were Chelsea we’d go all out and get Nagelsmann or someone equally as exciting, but I fear that just won’t even be a consideration.
That’s weird to me because the actual game was like a 4-1 type of game. The things that went wrong were bad misses in front of goal, which is obviously nothing to do with the manager.
I think the reaction is pretty results-oriented, here.
This is a season-oriented reaction.
I’m sure there’s a bit of kneejerk here- as a general rule I dont comment immediately after a game. I’ve given Arteta the benefit of the doubt on a huge number of occasions. But there’s been ostensibly zero progress this year. Yes this group of players are shit, but are you really telling me they’re bottom-half-of-the-table shit? As that’s where I’m personally envisaging us finishing the season given form. I jumped straight onto the Arteta train, and I really, really do hope I’m wrong. But that Cup win is looking more and more like the fabled ‘new manager bounce back’… Read more »
Football is a bit of a results oriented business to be fair.
Isn’t that what managers live and die by? It’s a results business Isn’t it? you can play very stylishly and still get relegated or you can win a ton of 1 nils and be crowned champions, I know which I’d rather.
The way I saw it, Arteta tried to nick a result playing at home against Slavia phukn Prague. Chose Willian again over Martinelli and didn’t try changing untill the 70th minute. Results oriented may be but the result has a lot to do with Arteta’s mad decisions..
Picking lacazette and willian over aubameyang and pepe is absolutely on the manager… it could have been a 4-1 situation with them on the pitch
They came in with a tired defence and produced two chances! Not impressed. Sell Auba and Pepe. Pepe was caught sleeping fir their goal and Auba is just dreadful if he doesn’t score. Partey was awful yesterday. Mention to Xhaka and Laca who were excellent.
What also went wrong was that one of Cedric’s many back passes resulted in the corner they got in the final stages on which they scored. But that’s the style of play, to keep possesion at all cost, only the lose the ball anyway way too often. Either by a forced long clearence, or the ball is won by the opponent in a dangerous area. That way of playing is supposed to lead to more goals scored than conceded. In our case it doesn’t.
Max Allegri. Tried and tested. Partey was shit for the second game in a row. I think Laca was not that bad despite the missed chances.
I would have selected Martinelli as a starter over the Willian because he can easily play at the same pace as ESR and Saka, who bring out the best of Laca when they click.
And after we got Nagelsmann we’d spend, what, 250 million a year for two years to get the players he wanted. We’d need an oligarch owning the club. Don’t think we’d enjoy that either. Is your statement suggesting that you want us to be like Chelsea? There simply are no quick fixes for our many problems. Its going to take some time (read 3-4 years), some money (don’t ask) and some pain (get used to it). I thought the substitutes looked fantastic when they came on. They injected a lot of energy and quality. Then we scored and turned off… Read more »
Nagelsmann was an example, in all honesty I’ve barely watched any of his Hoffenheim team before or his current Leipzig team. But I think your assertion is that he’d spend 250m is wrong. His whole appeal is that he’s seemingly brought (relative) success wherever he’s gone with little expenditure. Also this budget thing is crap, and whilst I have many issues with Kroenke ownership, money isn’t one. Partey, Auba, Pepe, Laca. That alone is £200m. We’re able to spend, we just do so awfully. I’m not suggesting we should or will be challenging for top 4 any time soon. But… Read more »
I primarily responded to your “If we were Chelsea we’d go all out and get Nagelsmann or someone equally as exciting” comment. What would cause Nagelsmann to move to the hot mess that is Arsenal? He’s already in the UCL with Leipzig. He took Hoffenheim to a couple of UCLs. He’s paid his dues. You are aware that Bayern have wanted him for a couple of years, right? He doesn’t have to take on any more lumpen projects. He’s big time in a way that we are currently not. Hmmm. What could we do to lure him to the Emirates?… Read more »
I think I took your mention of Chelsea too seriously. For that I feel silly. But If we are going to spitball how about Bielsa? He takes on odd projects (Sociedad and Leeds) and, my, are we odd. He certainly knows how he wants to play and the type of player that works in his system. We’d probably end up spending less money than we have been. Also let’s be honest has it been more enjoyable watching Leeds or us this year? He’s a total football adherent and Wenger’s jazz was just another expression of total football. Bielsa has more… Read more »
If it was me I’d go for Rafa Benitez, he’s tried and tested, knows how to win and would probably be a cheaper option than Nagelsmann… I want Arteta to succeed but am not seeing anything in his tactics or system to say that he will. We don’t have a bad crop of players, just needs a for tweaks… persisting with Willian when we have Martinelli is just plain daft….
We’ve got a bloody Oligarch owning the club, money-wise. The problem is that he doesn’t give a shit. At least the Oligarchs & Sheikhs want to make a statement.
No one genuinely cares. The fish rots from the head, Kreonke/Kroenke an and Jr are just happy to have ‘a’ premier league team, they don’t give a fuck where we finish. Nothing will change without passion at the top and accountability of those below.
I can’t dislike Arteta, at least he cares.
Money though , Arteta is on 3.5 m. A season less than Sean dyche , one of lowest paid. Nagelsmann would want probably double , will the owners pay ?
i also kinda do. i feel its the players who let him down most of times. we were also shit during our unai emery 22 unbeaten thingy. of course u can argue if we lack mentality, its a coaching thing but imo the loss of “role models” like nacho and rambo was more crucial than we might think. it was good to move certain players on. now build from here.
I am certainly not the biggest Xhaka fan, but i certainly underestimated his role when it comes down to that.
We fired Wenger and hired Emery. We got a little worse. We fired Emery and hired Arteta. Things got a little worse still. But Arteta must learn, change and stay.
I am not so negative to Arteta’s player selection, but to what the team does on the pitch. Why is a mediocre team like Slavia Praha allowed to play back and forth through our midfield as if it wasn’t there? What are the defensive roles of out front three? They stood watching when Slava had the ball.
Slavia are unbeaten in their own league, and also beat Leichester and Rangers this year in this cup. Can’t say they’re really that bad of a team.
I think we’ll – somehow – still make the next round. And I fear what Emery (likely opponent) will have in store for us.
If we scrape though then it looks increasingly likely it will be a good ebening for Unai.
We struggle to score. And 14 games no clean sheet, I reckon we are as good as out
It worries and excites me in equal measure how this side is capable of the most intense but short lived moments of hi octane football.
Usually after half time, but often in the first ten minutes of a game too, we just go berserk. If we could find that gear for longer periods, we could be a very dangerous prospect.
Unfortunately, at the moment, these periods are very much the anomaly.
Arteta team selection was poor and game plan was non existent. You could see the players didnt know when to press when to counter press what to do without the ball and thats down to Arteta. Arteta out
Game management, we can’t manage it…
MA bad timing
It’s OKAY to blame the manager. But this club has some really terrible players right now that are NOT Arsenal material. We are now what Liverpool used to be just a few short years ago. And unless someone serious enough comes along to sort it all out, we MAY keep sinking until we hit rock-bottom.
Edu doesn’t look like the person to fix it. And then there’s that shit owner in the corner.
Pardon me, I am just frustrated.
The place is full of amateurs. In my opinion the executive are way out of their depth.
Agreed
Exactly. It’s just feels like we are not a serious entity
Stop it. Most of our squad would be snapped up by the managers of Leicester, West Ham, Everton and others above us.
If Auba and Pepe aren’t pet of our first eleven, that’s down to Arteta.
Auba, Pepe, Martinelli, Tierney, Partey, Saka And ESR would all be welcomed with open arms and you would see what they’re capable of with proper help.
Totally agree Alex. We have some really good players. This squad is “better” than Wenger’s (last) and what Emery had at his disposal. Some of these players have played in the CL and been “top 4”, they can’t all of a sudden be rubbish.
This has to sit with the manager and no one else.
Liverpool won Euro trophies in that time though, despite not qualifying as Champions. We’re more like the ManUre, Citeh, or Spuds teams which got relegated and, if we’re not careful, that could be our future too.
It’s the worst team in my lifetime for sure. Very disheartening.
We’re bad but not mid-table. Emery got this team challenging for top 4, to the EL final, we won the FA cup… The players aren’t as bad as you’re making out. They just mis-managed and underperforming.
I think the manager and player issues are one in the same – we have recruited badly and with no coherent sense of strategy.
We may need a to address some gaps but we have a better squad than a number of teams above us. Sadly I fear with Arteta we will continue sinking.
We need to pull our sh*t together – I’ve been getting angrier by our results lately, it’s one step forward and two backwards with this team all the time.
No, Mike. It has been a step forward but THREE backwards!
How about a rating for Arteta? How many would score him at more than 3 for tonight’s game?
Not past 2
I’ve been saying it for so long now, blogs says it’s a player rating and not a manager one…eh blogs all you have to do is add the manager at the end. Simple. It’s a team sport and the manager has the biggest influence on how we play. Just saying.
Arteta put out a wrong team.. 🤔
I’m not remotely worried about the second leg
There’s no way the script writers allow Slavia Prague to knock us out, they’ll leave that job for Unai Emery
On away goals
I watched a documentary on the Invincibles yesterday night.
I’ll watch it again tonight.
I need something to cheer me up.
Leno is not a GK that inspires confidence. His Panics are contagious
He looks like he suffers from continual diarrhea. Why is he always looking so nervous?
Willian, as a winger, would it kill you to actually attempt to take on a player?
So many of Arsenal’s problems are caused by rank idiocy – stupid mistakes, lapses of concentration. Seems to be the one constant for the last decade or so
Sad how we threw out Arsene for way less and this clown, disgrace to the term “manager” still gets a free pass from deluded so-called Arsenal fans.
Completely unrelated cos it’s too depressing, but does anyone else struggle to scroll on these player ratings articles on their phone? Had the problem for a while..
Hey pal, just use the very far edge of your screen. I had the same problem for ages and that sorted it xoxo
It’s two separate scrolls, like a window within the window. Press closer to the edge or inside your screen depending on where you’re scrolling.
I’ve honestly tried to give Arteta every benefit of the doubt about constantly starting Willian and barely playing Martinelli. I figured, there must be some reason we’re not seeing. Something on the training ground, some advanced tactic beyond my feeble mind.
No more. Be better, Mikel.
It’s called conservatism
Arteta is the ever increasing problem at this point.
Feels like it’s getting a bit desperate for Mikel now. He is making poor decisions hand over first and compounding them by not taking corrective action on time. The team looks as baffled as it did under Emery at times.
The bit where Holding and Xhaka were pressing the Slavia defence and Laca popped up at centre-back…
I do wonder how much help and advice he’s getting from his coaching team?
Very little I suspect. But didn’t he pick them??
Good point, I really don’t like Stuivenberg and he seems to have a lot of influence with subs and tactics on match days. He was assistant to Louis van Gaal at Man Utd, and seems to favour those drab, defensive tactics. Steve Round was assistant to Fat Sam and Moyes, enough said. If Mikel is to survive, let alone thrive, I think he needs to get rid of at least Stuivenberg and the goalkeeping coach, who was responsible for getting rid of Martinez and buying Runarsson, and seems incapable of improving Leno. I’d actually love it if he got Santi… Read more »
Great point regarding Santi.
Santi could still play for us,
Shoulda gotten Santi for this season – he went to bloody Saudi ffs! And he stated in public that he would love to come back. Imagine – just 30-60 mins of pure Cazorlafication every other match and he gets the swansong season of which Fate so cruelly robbed him. Cannot for the life of me see why we didn’t make him the offer – free agent so it wasn’t cost. What could possibly have been the downside? Oh right – Willian was available so we plumped a weekly fortune on another aged player! If one looks at Willian shambling around… Read more »
Arteta told him to get in between the space of the centre back and the deep lying midfielder, but forgot to use the word “opponents”
These things happen…
Lol. Good one. That eked a laugh out of me.
Agree that Arteta is wearing out his welcome. Like many, I have been very hopeful. But it seems clear that there is a major management issue. The team is much less than the sum of its parts and continues to be so. Can only blame the players so many times before it has to stick to the manager. And why can’t he shut the hell up and stop barking out orders? These are professional players, Arteta has them in training. I can’t help but think that his approach detracts from players taking their own initiative and becoming paralyzed by his… Read more »
Excellent point. Surely by match day the players should know what to do.
He’s on their back from the get-go. It can’t be helpful.
It’s exactly how Emery did it. Set them up before the game then 5 min in he starts yelling and moving them around to the point no one knows what to do.
His love of game micro management is Mourinhoesque. Basically rooted in a big ego of tninking they know what is needed in every single second of every single game. It kills the instincts of the group. It’s as joyless for the players as it is the fans.
This is a good point, whatever job you’ve got, imagine having your boss screaming at you throughout your whole day, that would get tiering really quickly
i like Arteta and don’t for a moment think that sacking him will fix our issues, but the only thing keeping him in a job at this point is a lack of fans in the stadium
Wenger + Chamakh > Arteta + Lacazette
Give me strength. Does the man work on making these players feel important, confident? Not from what I see. It’s a machine without soul.
I have turned, this is the final straw. Arteta out.
How bout the Lille guy?
We first need a serious, knowledgeable football person in the executive arm of this club, then every other change can follow.
The guys at the top are serious clowns.
Arsene? Could Wenger be our Rummenigge or Hoeness?
Let’s leave him out of this. I don’t want his legacy tarnished any further.
Edu needs to go and, manager wise, I’d like to see us hire Graham Potter or someone similar. *Actually* take a chance on someone young with a point to prove (we are not good enough for much else anyway now) and bring back the kids Arteta cast out and rebuild. Ainsley, Saliba, Guendouzi (I don’t care if he’s a bit if a shit, so was Anelka) and Willock come back. Play Aubameyang in the middle and pack the rest of the side with quality and potential… we have it and a well run side would recruit it. 10 years ago… Read more »
Right now we need the Big guy not the Lille guy….
I’m just becoming lost for words…. How do so many players keep putting in such poor performances, then keep getting rewarded again & again with either a start position or game time at some point in a match?!?! I just don’t get it!
This is a squad littered with seriously average players going absolutely no where…. I genuinely can’t see an end to these awful & frustrating performances (& that’s not even considering the results!!!)
Here’s a management tip for Mikel Arteta:
Put the good players on the pitch and leave the bad ones on the bench or at home.
If you do that, you’ll see the results improve – just like they did after December when you dropped Willian for ESR.
I watched Bayern v PSG last night. My god we’re light-years away from that type of quality.
KSE, look what you’ve done to our team!
Build the Emirates and we’ll be co.peting with Bayern right?…….
Absolutely spot on, we were near that level up until the kronkes became involved. The decline is tragic for us all. Never going to change until the unambitious greedy yanks go away (but doesn’t look like happening soon). Great shame, we gooners don’t believe we have a devine right to win everything, far from it, but what we do expect is for a club of our stature and history to compete at the top level both domestically and in europe, but as you rightly point out we are a million miles away. I am getting old now every ffing season… Read more »
Us fans need to start pointing the finger at the owners. Yes, we can blame the players and the manager, but ultimately the buck stops with KSE who have sanctioned everything and are destroying this club.
Sadly, to the Kroenkes, Arsenal is nothing but a franchise sitting on acres or prime real estate in “London Town” . It’s not about the fans anymore
Sports Entertainment my arse. It’s only entertainment for rivals and neutrals, it’s not about us fans anymore.
Spot on!!
“Why am I watching this” is not my thought pattern since I started as an Arsenal fan but after Wenger’s decline, Emery’s decline (remember the “we’ve got our Arsenal back” at Fulham), and now Arteta’s decline, I really wish I’d just watched Justin Rose take on The Masters!
This is really back to Billy Wright, Terry Neill, Don Howe days.
Average game from average players and team, managed by an inexperienced manager who is producing average results and performances week after week.
Ceballos came it late, but I still gave him a 3 for his shitshow against Liverpool.
Did not let in goals when Dani was on the pitch tho
Willian wasn’t that bad. Was a much better performance than usual, but he should not have started. Our offensive quality immediately after the substitutes was greatly improved. What are we doing?
No way. There was a sequence of play similar to Pepe’s goal, but it was Willian as the runner. He got nowhere close to the ball, and the defender handled it easily.
Then, look at the sequence of play where Lacazette hit the post. Willian and Smith-Rowe started from the same distance, and Smith-Rowe was able to pull a defender with him and almost got to the rebound, while Willian was just a passerby.
Worse still, he then blatantly jogged back when the opponent launched a counter attack from the rebound.
His performance and effort were diabolical.
He wasn’t “diabolical.” Several times in the second half he combined well with Cedric and they put in decent crosses that should have been attacked. The guy physically cannot compete as well as Pepe and should not be starting.
He combined with Cebric because he’s too slow to lose his marker and Cedric was his only outlet. What I saw was not so much them “combin(ing) well” as them passing the ball to each other because they could do nothing else. The crosses they put in were exactly the kind of low-XG, low-effort crosses players make when they can’t create actual chances. And let’s not forget the pass to nowhere. There was no danger from the left, because Willian is too slow and not good enough of a dribbler to be able to get into dangerous positions. I wholeheartedly… Read more »
Arteta should be fired for playing Willian and Laca as starters
Poor team selection by Mikel which meant 75 minutes of pedestrian football. We are shell shocked by the giving up three to West Ham and then Liverpool. The 3 back at WHU has been forgotten. To drop Auba and go back to Willian and Laca is not an answer. Sure Pepe was lousy against Liverpool, but this lot aren’t Liverpool. On top of that Partey should have been better and we missed two good chances (Saka and Lacazette). But I also put the inability to hold out for the last 5 mins on the team on the field. Why would… Read more »
This job is too big for Arteta
Who would have thought Arsenal hiring an actual rookie manager wouldn’t work out… nobody could have foreseen this.
except for those pundits,so called experts and fans who sold and believed in this Pep v 2.0 and “trust the process nonsense”
Arteta is extremely lucky there are no fans on the stadium to put some pressure when he makes those stupid changes.
I’ve been saying the same thing. Imagine having to pay to watch that dross.
0/10,Arteta team selection!did martinelli forget to collect the cones 1 wet December morning or wha?please god madrid still wants,or anyone wants, lacezette this summer…bumper contract incoming…ffs…..anyway,come on you gooners despite yourself…always red… go away William please….I really wanted u to succeed Mikel,I am sad
I rather have Lacazette miss one good chance than have Auba who missed 5 in 2 europa league games. I don’t blame Arteta on this one, not one bit, he deserved to get dropped, and Auba missed another chance 2 minutes after coming on. I don’t know why Arseblog makes a scapogoat out of Lacazette consistently. If Auba misses a chance he did good by being there in the first place, if Laca does the same thing it’s a terrible miss.
You can only miss the chances you create.
Strikers miss chances all the time. It’s not the end of the world. Try, try again.
The whole point is, Lacazette had just the one chance to miss.
This is what I’ve been thinking for ages. Arteta always comes out of games and bemoans missed chances and so do we as fans, but the truth is strikers miss lots of chances, I watch Liverpool, City, Chelsea, their strikers miss loads of chances, including loads you think they should score, the difference is those teams make way more chances than us, that’s our issue
I say it is more of a creativity issue, which needs to be sorted, there are still loads of games where we create close to nothing
Auba is known for missing chances I’ll give you that BUT he’s known for getting into position to take advantage of them and for being prolific. Laca is a 15 goal a season forward and always has been
Despite his bad miss I’d still give Saka a 6 because no one did more than him while on the pitch to try and get a goal for us. Must really work on his finishing though, not the first great chance he’s missed this season.
Somewhat starting to worry about Partey. Have we Arsenalised him? I can’t imagine him playing like this under Simeone, he needs to stick to what he’s good at. And what was going through Arteta’s head when he picked Willian and Lacazette over Martenelli and Aubameyang??
I thought Saka was dreadful, so downvote me all you like. The miss aside (not his first BTW), his control kept on letting him down and he played a number of terrible crosses into the box (would be nice if anyone attacked the areas he was trying to hit, mind).
He’s been our best player all season but that doesn’t mean he played well last night (or much at all recently). I still wouldn’t drop him, though, which goes to show the lack of alternatives.
I won’t downvote you but I disagree overall. Yes it wasn’t his best game but he created chances like the one Lacazette wasted at the far post and was actually a threat. And as you said, if we had more players attacking the box, we could take advantage of his crosses more.
Though, as I said, he really needs to work on his finishing, not the first big chance he’s missed.
The lack of tempo in the first half was concerning given our season hinges on this cup. The team will need to find confidence and consistency – which has otherwise eluded it this season – to win the Europa League.
While I could see the logic of it, I thought Ceballos for Smith Rowe was the wrong change and stunted the momentum towards the end of the game.
Partey’s worse game in an Arsenal shirt. Wonder if he is straying too far from what he does best.
I think that substitution was awful. It basically set the team up to try to defend the lead, which already puts them in a negative mindset. It’s a confusing message when they’re told to constantly pass the ball out from the back instead of thumping it upfield (doesn’t mean Cedric couldn’t just use his brain, though).
Not even worth rating these days. Take out Auba put in Laca and he misses (although good work to nick the ball in the first place. But put in Auba and he also misses (although good if clumsy assist) IMO as I have been saying for some time the gaffer does too much rotation. Not sticking to a stable selection has its down side. Pepe is a player finally looking in some form but he conspires to drop him as soon as there is one blank game. Then in comes Willian (admittedly at least he hit the bar) In comes… Read more »
On point 1, I’d add that it’s infuriating how often the ball is played to where the recipient is (or worse, behind them) instead of in front of them, so they can go forward with their first touch. It constantly leads to the ball going backwards and often ends up going back to the goalkeeper.
Once again arteta has shown his inexperience by lacking game management, by starting Willian, by leaving laca for too long. The players are losing confidence in him. I hope he gets sacked at the end of the season. This is by far arsenal worst season.
Arteta better learn his lesson after this the lesson is laca is a as slow as a slug and willian is player past his prime who has for too large a contract. I know arteta is playing willian to try to prove that he did the right signing him but honestly it’s going from very choppy to an absolute dumpster fire. Pleeeeeease play martenelli in the next game this team play like they don’t care and we need new faces and young talent to go back to the olden days. Teirney gone of course hurts us but we can make… Read more »
Arteta must stop with this horrible team selection crap and then whining after the game. He’s becoming the second coming of Emery. It start with him and setting your team to impose your game, don’t worry what Slavia might or might not do. Back them up. Increase tempo. Make them nervous. Make them unsure, you know like Liverpool did to you last weekend. Slavia was in compact defensive 4-5-1 formation, you can beat that formation from 4-2-3-1 by high press and fast one touch ball movement by quick players. what does he do? He puts In Willian to do what?… Read more »
ESR and Saka saved Artetas job post Chelsea. It’s time he gives Martinelli the full 90 and prays the trust in youth talent pays off again.
Will odegard be fit by next week? I think we’re going to have a tough time breaking them down without him.
I am so. so. so. tired of this shit. For a while we’ve been going one step forward, two steps back – it now feels like no steps forward, all steps back. Even the players seem like they can’t be arsed with Arteta’s ‘earn your place in the team’ discipline anymore. He’s running out of cards/tactics. Will he stay or go over the summer? I’m not 100% sure I even care anymore. This is so draining.
I think it has become second nature for us to not be a successful team anymore, I think there still is a massive culture problem still, the mentality is not right from the board, all the way down to the players, bottle jobs the lot of them. We laughed at Spurs for getting knocked out despite have a 2 goal advantage in the first leg, the fact is that all in all we are in the same boat as a team, massive massive change is needed. First of all we need an owner that actually gives a damn about the… Read more »
They lack the mentality. Even, those coming in the last minutes are not fighting. Look at Martinelli slow run when Pepe scored, or his poor reaction in giving out the corner that made the goal. A player at his age should be fighting for the team every moment.
Sorry, but Gabriel was excellent for me. Gave everything and I’m sure the stats will show his tackling and blocks to be top.
Also thought Willian had a better game than I was expecting, although without end product.
Xhaka being important to this team shows how average they are.
Any other big club would have sacked Arteta long before now…..not saying that is right but it is true. We all know he is very, very lucky there are no fans in the stadium. I’ve backed him since day one and still really want it to work but too many of these team selections and performances….. Why put our 31 yr old superstar striker on a crazy money 3 yr deal but then not play him regularly as a striker just so we can play the other guy who isn’t as good there instead, why keep benching our record signing… Read more »
Arteta out. This is not a training academy for shit managers (he may be a good coach though)
I believe too much tinkering by Arteta is the root cause. After beating Spurs and Chelsea, i thought the team could be peaking by seasons end, but have been proven wrong.
If Arteta cant win the Europa cup, chances are he could be on the way out