Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came closest to scoring for Arsenal this evening against Villarreal, but was denied both times by the post.
Emile Smith Rowe had a first half chance too, but overall it was a thoroughly disappointing performance on such a big night, and it leaves the season in shatters, with no European football for next season and many questions to be asked about what happens next.
On a night when we needed to score, we simply didn’t create enough chances – which has been a problem all season.
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
Read the Arsenal 0-0 Villarreal match report and see the goals here
Arsenal 0-0 Villarreal – 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.
Not sure about those ratings, particularly for the players that didn’t play!
Hard to argue with anyone getting over 6.
For me: Arteta needs a loan.
Let’s have him back in 2 seasons when he’s learned on somebody else’s watch.
Was just thinking the same, can we loan the manager?
Isn’t that what City are doing?
This is the equivalent of them loaning out Joe Hart
Arteta out just that simple
Way too generous on pretty much everyone. If we’re taking 5 as an “average” performance which, in my mind, is exactly what it should mean – can anyone honestly say that a single one of our players played above average today?
Maybe ESR?
Wow!!! how we see the game differently, this lad has been built up and up that we come to expect a much better performance from him, completely invisible all the game, we are not going to be able to compete over a whole season if players can’t show up.
I disagree, he was the only one out there that showed some heart, and played like there was no tomorrow.
Leno made a few decent saves.
Leno is a great shot stopper and has been a good servant during difficult times.
But he is part of the issue now.
He nearly kicked one into the back of his own goal again and he just isn’t good enough with his feet.
His decision making when playing out is woeful and plays our equally inept defenders into trouble time and again.
He is a good goal keeper but needs to play in a team that suits his strengths.
I like Leno, but what little I have seen from Ryan, he has been beaten by two deflected shots.. and is far better with his feet… and for a smaller Goalie, commands his area really well.
meant to carry on and say ‘… shop stopping wise, is there a lot of difference? Seems to me Ryan is abetting fit for the way Arteta wants to play’
Yes Leno Because he had to.
Kind of seems like the ratings from Everton just sum this team up anyways so fitting they’re here instead of the Villareal ones. Just an absolute mess at this point.
I think it’s pointing to the wrong match.
Fixed now
Everton performance ratings are actually appropriate (Leno aside)
What a howler.
It’s showing the Everton player ratings, blogs.
Seeing Everton ratings, but the only folks who should get anything above a six are KT and Rob Holding. Martinelli came on and worked his tits off but everyone else was so casual it made my blood boil.
Good defensive performance by those two but Rob didn’t get any of his headers on target today. Headers might not be easy to score but this has been a recurring theme for Rob all-season. A bit like Partey’s wayward shooting.
I cant be mad about our CB missing a couple headers when we had one or two shots on target amongst our $100 million front line. I care about what he did in our half and he played well in that respect.
Fair point. Can’t argue with that👍
One big Arsenal problem, it seems, is that the team just doesn’t have enough dependable scorers. Team is 10th in EPL goals scored, which equals mediocre, which describes this team.
I wonder why we keep trying to play Partey. His wayward passes are the bane of this team. Granted, he gives those out-of-this-world through balls once in a while, but I think Xhaka and Elneny were better suited for this match.
Ha blogs. I guess I didn’t need to watch since it was just a repeat from last time?
Blogs I don’t know if you know but the ratings being shown are from the Everton loss.
Was a bit shocked to see Leno rated so low then I noticed what was wrong for me.
Thanks for fixing the ratings.
Can’t say I disagree with any of the player ratings I’ve seen in the match.
I don’t know if anyone else saw Arteta’s post match interview. It was probably the least composed he sounded all season. I doubt that means anything though. Especially with the lack of ambition shown at this club.
Arsenal 0: Everton 1
It took me a few low ratings to realise blogs was having his falling down moment. Any way I don’t care what any of you say Wenger would have destroyed them 8-0 over the 2 legs. This manager isn’t even good enough to be the water boy
Wenger’s record in European competition matches Arteta’s. Neither has won anything. And Wenger had twenty attempts – or more – to correct that and couldn’t. Arsenal 2 Bayern Munich 10 might ring a bell ? This is a continuation of the last five years of under performing.
There are two benefits. First, we won’t have to endure an anhialation from Utd in the final. Second, next season means old fashioned Saturday football. And Arteta will know his job is on the line. We either qualify by top six finish – or he goes.
All the fans love playing the kids, but when half your starting XI is short on match fitness and the other half are teenagers, you’re facing an uphill battle. This is good experience for our young players. Hopefully they learn from this and improve.
This comment and the one by Rob67 are both really balanced and sobering. In the late Wenger years, we were in the CL but never really competed at all. MA is so frustrating – he is a rookie – but consider what we have as a squad. I mean, with the loans in and out, and the injuries we continue to have (though Auba and the malaria thing…thats super dubious) the first team squad is a total mess. I don’t think he makes things any better, though – that’s the issue. (e.g., Xhaka at LB, with Cedric sitting there?…baffling.) MA’s… Read more »
You might as well compare Nketiah to Henry. The difference in class is about the same.
Big difference between Bayern and Villareal mind
Even though we got hammered and remember us scoring a few decent goals against them and actually pressuring them for a bit. and that was shit.. I dont know what we are now
Goodness. What is actually worse than sh*t?
Really does leave you speechless 🙁
You mean we’re worse than Sp*rs now? Bugger
Well if you are going to get technical, Wenger couldn’t beat Fenerbahce in Europ League (UEFA Cup) final back in the day with the invincible squad. Not defending Arteta, but the squad Wenger had at his peak and the squad Arteta has, you can’t compare. Wenger coached World Cup winners. Our best player today is 19 and won’t even get in the starting 11 for England.
Galatasary you mean? I think that match had some rather extenuating circumstances too and we were pretty unlucky to lose on penalties. Plus it wasn’t really the invincible squad, no Campbell kolo etc.. And we played Davor Sukor up front! I think Wenger managing this team would have had them creating a few more chances over the 2 legs…
Top 6 LOL. Lets try and finish in the top fucking half. Arteta should be gone regardless.
So what? I rather play Bayern and lose than to play Villareal and lose.
Actually, I’d rather we played well and won and eventually won the competition, whoever the opposition is.
Would have been better to have crashed out against Benfica in the round of 32. Would have been less painful.
Arsenal weren’t bothered enough to perform tonight, so I don’t see why Blogs should have to either, fair enough mate!
Just the fact we bring willian on to save our season says it all for me. We are bang average. Such a shame to see our once great in such a sorry state
I’m convinced Willian has a non-appearance bonus, and the club saves money by bringing him on.
Willian has the codes to Arteta’s offshore accounts.
He actually was one of the few who seemed to care, tried a few good things (dont like him and was screaming to the TV when he came on)
Should have brought on Nelson. He would have surprised everyone including our own players as they might not recognise him.
Yup, heard that even Pope lost his faith when he saw Willian on the pitch to save the match
He’s got to go!!!
Blogs ain’t that bad.
If the players didn’t make an effort, why should Blogs?
It wasnt down to the players effort, it was down to the players having no answer to the tactics employed against them. Not only did Emery out think Arteta, Arteta out thought himself with his 4-1-4-1 formation
I don’t think calling our failings collective is appropriate. Pretty much everybody has underperformed, but you can’t blame the players collectively for poor management and direction.
Tragedy.
The feelings gone and they can’t go on
… gets coat
I don’t think there is any point in rating the players today either. I just can’t blame any player today. This defeat and the seasons performance is on the manager. He continued to chop and change the formation without letting players learn and grow in a position or system. He needs to go…but I guess we don’t have any money after this defeat to pay for his severance package and also get someone qualified so we might have to stick with him
He had a system for today, then 5 minutes before kickoff Xhaka got hurt.
So why not stick with the system and put Elneny In Xhaka’s place? It’s just ridiculous to change formation that late in the piece to something that’s untested. That’s assuming he wasn’t going to play Xhaka at left back.. I wouldn’t put the mortgage on that being the case.
Arteta the new tinkerer. Totally agree, we had a good run last summer but then completely changed things up, recovered some form at Christmas, but since then too many changes and some mitigating circumstances with injuries and sickness.
I’m watching Prison Break SN1. Hope it helps me forget tonight’s shit show
There will be a prison break of our best players in the summer when the bigger clubs start swarming around.
The good part is the first season is really long, before it gets shitty in season 3. So enjoy for us while you can
We had our last good team when that show first aired.
Was about to say at this point it’s not about individuals, but you did it anywa.
The whole team is a mess.
In any case we needed a strong middle to take over the game. However we badly overplayed our best midfielder and he got injured fornthe most important game of the season. But we were going to use him as a LB anyway.
Gameplan’s a mess, tactics are a mess, player management is a mess, recruitment is a mess.
Why did everyone assume Arteta would be a good manager? He’s smart articulate and Pep likes him? He had no managerial experience and came to a massive club like Arsenal and he hasn’t got a clue. The only thing he’s done is made Arsenal even worse and I didn’t think that was possible
I didn’t assume he would be a good manager but he was the choice and deserved support of course.
Have seen nothing this season to suggest he’s up to the job.
That’s why new managers usually get given a chance at lower league level first. It filters out those who aren’t up to it. Why arsenal thought it was worth a punt is very questionable. Emery was worth appointing because he had a great CV.
Arteta had a reputation as a good coach, he’s a smart guy and ex arsenal captain. But he’s failed.
I don’t think everyone did assume that. I recall most fans at the time wanted Allegri or Ancelotti.
And here we are, Arsenal fans want Arteta out, Everton fans are done with Ancelotti, and Allegri is still unemployed, probably just waiting to take back over for his replacement.
Honestly, I think many fans (like me) had ‘hoped’ Arteta could be good, because we simply couldn’t afford another f**k up in managerial appointment.
I bought (still buy) into the need for tearing things down before we climb back up. I’m just not as sure of the route of ascent we’re on anymore. Unai really out coached him over two legs.
Yep, I was happy we took Emery over Mikel first time round, when it came time to boot Unai I would have happily accepted one of blogs dogs taking the job so bad had we been
Agreed but there were so many trust the process clowns who really believed in this fraud!
Should have been gone at Christmas. Willian injury, being forced to use Saka and Smith Rowe and being eloquent while talking utter bullshit saved him.
Hahahahahahaha
Bonus Rating summed it all up.
Historically bad, shit season through and through, Arteta out! we cannot tolerate these results, it’s arsenal not stoke
No- it is Arsenal. It’s Kroenke’s Arsenal. That’s the problem in case you hadn’t noticed…
Can’t fault the players. This is a management thing. One thing to come up with tactics under the skirt of Pep at City, another thing to be able to man manage and get your team to execute to orders. This is where Arteta’s inexperience comes in. He had issue at start turning round some of our better performers in Sokratis, Guendouzi and Torreira. Some were rebellious others wanted out. Add Saliba to the mix. Now with what is in hand, you cannot simply keep saying this is not ‘Arteta’s team’. Emery had a far poorer squad at disposal when at… Read more »
For such an expensive team we were, and continue to be, completely and utterly toothless
Agree. We can blame the Krankies, we can blame Mikel but the players are proving to be bang average. We really overpaid for some and others have no business being on the pitch. In fairness Auba, Laca, Ode and KT were not 100%. Saka and ESR have cooled off. Pepe runs hot and cold. Partey has not been great, has he? It’s a collective problem but since we cannot fire the entire squad, the Manager will feel the heat. After all, he dug a serious hole with that silly line-up in the first leg…
I mainly put it on the manager. You can blame the players but why, almost to a man, aren’t they playing anywhere near their potential?
In almost all walks of life the manager goes if things are turning to shit. AFC should be no different.
He’s had enough time and money to spend, he’s not up to it.
Sack him.
Or do we tolerate mid table mediocrity now?
No true fan of this club would do so.
We had some fans wanting Arsenal to lose every game and be deducted points for ESL. I would say those fans want Arsenal relegated, not just mid-table.
When not in possession we made a Unai Emery team with Coq look like a Barca with a Xavi in it
They barely tried to progress or hold the ball.
It was like watching a cricket match with no runs, wickets or catches.
Or bowlers or batsmen.
Odegaard as weak willed and lightweight as they come tonight. Shocking considering he was decent on Sunday
What’s going on in Arsenal Midfield, every player we sign becomes shit!
Thomas Partey was awful today!
Partey has been wank since coming back from injury.
I guess it’s due to the tactics that the manager is trying. I remember the days when people used to accuse Wenger of not coaching players and just putting them on field and this is the opposite of it. The few times that we tried to move the ball forward with pace instead of the dreadful, slow build up we actually looked threatening. Leno’s distribution is so poor that we can’t start a counter when the other team is in our half and without Luiz we don’t anyone at the back with that passing range. We allow so much of… Read more »
Decent on Sunday? Must have missed that …
This is literally the lowest point Arsenal have been at in my life (I’m 40 and I don’t remember anything before about 16).
That’s enough for Arteta to go
The ratings are from the correct match now, but that doesn’t make it the right match. I’m going to exempt Tierney(surprise start back from injury), ESR and Saka(young). Holding and Mari were OK. But generally not good enough and not with enough emotion or effort.
It says something that we miss Xhaka and Luiz so much. And how much did we blow on Pepe and Partey? $120M.
only payed 30 mil for Pepe so far. Though I dont know which way is worse.
A club with ambition, vision, leadership would sack Edu and Arteta tonight then call
Ralf Rangnick or Luis Campos…….fuck hire both of them, we need all the help we can get.
I don’t think Biesla is a bad shout
Yeah Edu can fuck off too. Never been convinced. A phoney. And the CEO.
I feel miserable. Fortunately I have my psychotherapy session tomorrow. I was hoping to get a little bit of respite and joy but it’s life imitating the lack of art that is this era of of Arsenal.
Oh man. Hang in there. There will be better football days, and at least you get to wake up and be in Stockholm tomorrow. It’s a great city.
Hope the sun is out tomorrow and that you’re feeling better, from north London
As much as Arsenal have delivered woe this season, hopefully one day they will bring us joy once more. I hope that this miserable feeling evaporates and that tomorrow brings you a brighter day
Dude, try to remind yourself that it’s only football. Besides, we’ll get better in time. Just like therapy really.
Keep your head up. Just the fact that you’re beginning psychotherapy means you can’t go wrong. With good guidance the football won’t even mean anything.
Be as dedicated to your behavioural therapy as you would a job and you’ll come out a revitalised person.
Best Wishes dude.
Auba, Laca, Pepe, Partey, Tierney, Leno, Saka are all bigger than this club right now. Shakey summer ahead.
Time to get Zidane in. He’s got the silverware, he’s French and interesting. Staying at RM would be dull for him.
Partey was awful tonight, and Bellerin was probably a 5.5
Other than that all 6’s
Which pretty much sums up our season, we’re an average football team, who’ll probably finish 10th
This was really hard to watch. Such a poor performance, like all this season.
Worst football that I remember from the team.
No creativity, no passion and no skills. Players cant control the ball and cant pass directly. Weak coach with no affect at all.
I watched this game after a long break because of the poor performances this season. I see that I didn’t miss much.
Need to wait until we start playing decent again, then consider if this is worth wasting time on.
what if… And this is just an idea… we bring Wenger back… I miss his pointy old face
Fancy starting that campaign with me?
We all want Arteta to succeed. We like him. But he made a mess of the season, and then just got out coached by Unai Emery. He’s just not ready for this level.
I think we can conclude that Arteta is a notch above Lampard, maybe about the same level as EPL Emery, but definitely worse than La Liga Emery.
We need to desperately improve the passing when Xhaka and Luiz aren’t playing. For the faults of these players, we absolutely cannot hold onto the ball or progress it without them.
Absolutely terrifying that they are so important to the team.
Didn’t expect to get past Villarreal. The whole club is in a steep decline, English fans step up the anti Kroenke protests and get Kroenke out. Relegation is not an over reaction, the playing squad is getting worse and worse and has been since the prick bought the club. We have people calling for Ryan to start, a 4th choice Brighton keeper is good enough for our no 1? Tells you all you need to know. No one at this club has a clue what they’re doing or how to build a successful team. If Kroenke stays the rot will… Read more »
Thomas Partey is not a midfield.
He is a midfielder.
Playing Song Billong in defensive midfield was a mistake
Arteta said afterwards “We tried everything”
….
This is the same Arteta who brought Willian off the bench. Yet again. We know that move yields precisely nothing. It makes the team anywhere between slightly worse and significantly worse, that is literally all it does. How is that ever going to help??
We were bad before that sub and bad after it but I just want to cry every time I see Willian in our shirt. I knew we were done when he came on, and Arteta should be done now too.
We got strangled out of the match, way to much isolation on the flanks, and another thing, when you’re out of ideas and desperate for a goal, you usually push the whoe team up to hold the ball in offense, knowing full well the possibly of conceding the KO goal, we did none of that!!! why!!
P.S.Now is the time to make the bid Mr. Ek! (Heck! one he can’t refuse!!) Now or never!!
What did we really expect? We didn’t deserve to be there, we are a worse team than Wolves. Get used to it.
To be fair, Villareal didn’t deserve to be there either. They served us very little in 180 minutes of football.
Well, point taken, but not really. We are worse than Everton and West Ham though.
Question is, does this current squad have room for lots of improvement or not. We lack any kind of fluidity and cohesion, so it could be coaching too. Then again, I do think several first-teamers are lacking when it comes to it.
A different footballing world in many respects, but I am old enough to remember the last time Arsenal weren’t in Europe. If nothing else, it will be something different! And excuses are off the table now.
Think this is on Arteta: unlucky with the injury to Xhaka in a game where he was much needed, but the answer should should never be to play only one balance player in midfield. Chambers or Elneny should have substituted Xhaka. Bringing on Martenelli for Odegaard was the right decision, but Martenelli should not have been isolated on the left flank. Taking Auba and Bellerin (rated to low by blogs) was definately wrong decisions and particularly the inception of Willian just underscored how wrong Arteta often got it this season. Would still give him another go next season – try… Read more »
All of this works out well for us fans! No European football next season means less revenue, Kreonke may actually consider selling. Ek to invest a lot of money in rebuilding. Only EPL to concentrate on, life’s good. We are going to be premiership champions next season!
How desperate am I as a fan? Fuck me. Arsenal, what have you done to me?
Every cloud….
I’m genuinely struggling to remember watching such a poor, inept, clueless, leaderless, effortless performance with a lack of ideas, creativity & quality in such an important game – I didn’t expect much, but I really didn’t think it would be that bad….. What other top 6 club has sunk this low?!?! It’s just awful from top to bottom & I don’t think we’ve hit the bottom yet!!! Arteta will always have a special place in my heart, but this was the perfect job for him too soon… He has totally lost his way & the values he brought with him… Read more »
First of all, Arteta – out. He proved he’s still way too inexperienced for the job, we need a more mature coach. As for the necessary changes imo we need to buy the following players: (1) A quality first-choice right-back, (2) a quality first-choice midfielder partner for Partey, (3) a second-choice left-back in case Tierney is injured. I believe the youngsters in our attacking group would become even better and better as the time goes on, so I don’t think we need to buy anyone at least in the summer. As for who we can sell: (1) Auba – sell… Read more »