Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season tonight as we went down 2-1 to Lens in the Champions League.
Gabriel Jesus put us ahead with a fine strike, and while both the home side’s goals were excellent finishes, we could have defended both better.
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
Read the Lens 2-1 Arsenal and see the goals here
Lens 2-1 Arsenal – 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 David Raya. Also, please give the ratings a few seconds to load.
The lens said the better
Not a great spectacle was it
Scope for improvement
With City on the horizon, we’ll need to refocus quickly!
That game is important but also need to zoom out and look at the bigger picture
True. We can’t be too shortsighted about this.
Raya should have gone to Specsavers
Come on guys, glass half full
Not exactly a photo finish was it
Leaving Saka on vs Bournemouth was rather shortsighted of Arteta
This game is sure to polarise opinion
Wasn’t the spectacle we hoped for
Myopia-nion is that we lacked sharpness and played with a little bit the hand-brake on.
Myopia-nion is that we lacked sharpness and played with a little bit the hand-brake on.
Even if we were a bit flat, you have to give big credit to Lens
Amazed they didn’t do any time wasting. Lens were pretty decent. Fair result in the end. So frustrating how slow we were in attack.
That’s how the game is supposed to be played imo! Frustrating with the normalized time wasting.
Agreed, they deserved their win but they’re a bang average side IMO
Why why why does Arteta keep risking Saka…
On a plus ESR looked bright, needs to be played more often
Every time ESR plays he gets a decent shot off.
He makes a difference on the pitch everytime he plays. He just always seems to be in the right spot more often than not. You can’t teach that and he needs to be on the pitch with Ode, Saka, Jesus, etc.
Be nice if just the occasional one went in
Something, I feel, we miss in some games where the players seem hesitant to take shots
Why does he risk him? Did you watch the second half? The attacking performance was inept and we were bereft of ideas.
It’s not a question of “why does Arteta play him?”, it’s “that’s why he plays him”.
A bit risky for a club like Arsenal to pin their entire attack on one player, don’t you think?
But we have raya rather than competition for saka or a player that can give him a breather.
To be fair, we only spent £3m on Raya this summer, because we got bugger all for the players we sold.
Pepe is still on the books…
#justsaying
If you don’t give others some time, there will never be backup there. Bringing ESR and Nelson on 80th minute will not help finding a backup.
To be fair, ESR got 82 minutes against premier league opposition in the League cup and although he was decent, somehow didn’t start ahead of Havertz at Bournemouth….
There is no doubt that he is our best player and our X factor in a lot of games and that’s why he is played so often, but when you are 3-0 up within 60 mins against Bournemouth, does he need to stay on till 76th min with 2 massive games coming up?
In his good season he was one of the better finishers in Europe he outperformed his xg better than haaland
0/10 for Arteta
4.5 /10 i feel generous
Sorry guys, but the man-management of Saka in the last few weeks is not worthy of a point. Why on earth do you risk him today? What has Ramsdale done wrong? Where is the rotation? Why are we so toothless so many times this season?
He is the one responsible, so he takes the shit atm. Like he takes all the chocolates when we’re flying. Just the way it is.
Agree with all of that
Ehh, you play him in Europe because it’s the stage every player wants, and it’s not the venue to rest your best players. The issue here for me is why he played at Bournemouth or why he stays on late in games to take extra kicking. Definitely think he’s being mismanaged though.
weird reasoning. if the player has gone down twice over the last two games and you are facing the best team in the world at the weekend (who are one point ahead of you in the league) all aspects of etiquette go out of the window and you tell that player to sit one out – it’s better in the long term.
Now look what happened
„Where is the rotation“
👏👏👏
This explains why we have had such poor results. Can we ever hope to fight our way out of the relegation zone? Arteta out!
arteta is an excellent coaching staff but not a good team manager.
Yet there are 18 others in the league who can only dream of being that bad…
Wasn’t Arteta’s finest hour. He needs to trust his squad. A good manager makes a team greater than the sum of its parts. Saka is a superb footballer but he’s human and he has been overplayed. He’s knackered. Smith-Rowe needs more minutes as does Riess. Vieira wasn’t the answer last night. Too lightweight. Hopefully Partey will be back soon to partner Rice. Will be interesting to see how the goalkeeping situation plays out. Raya is a very good goalkeeper but is he better than Rambo?
When has Vieira on the wing ever been a good answer? He’s not a winger for goodness sake. This should be the top thread. 0/10 for Arteta. When will he learn, when will he rotate, when will he actually drop players who’ve been performing badly and give credence to his “competition in the squad” talk?? And when will Arsenal finally start looking dangerous on attack??
Saka been injured less than 48 hours after James posting a video about his resilience can’t be a coincidence….
Rice & Tomi pick of a bad bunch tonight I’m not sure how statistics give an insight into a player’s will to win though ? Havertz stats would be okay whilst ESR stats worse ESR put the effort in though & tried to make things happen but hey his stats would lower ? Statistics can’t be wrong though eh ? Drive & a will to dominate & win can’t be shown on a spreadsheet Mr Arteta !!!
I thought that goal on Saturday would’ve given Havertz a spring in his step but he reverted to type tonight
Maybe he should take corners and throw-ins? Just to build his confidence a little…
£60M down the drain 🥲
Bro he scored in the CL final. A pity penalty against a relegation team isn’t going to change anything
Havertz scored a goal to win the champions league. It did him no good for his confidence. We’re also learning that the only place to play him is as a 9. At least he can hold the ball up and maybe score on a few headers.
Agreed. Same applies to Rambo. With all the talks on Raya’s stats being marginally better no one anywhere has commented on Rambo’s attitude and will to win which became hugely apparent the moment he stepped into the position.
He was a massive part of the attitude turn around in the team.
Intangibles like this can be priceless.
Terrible man management on Arteta’s part. As is his handling of Bukayo. Running the best English player in the premier league into the ground for 2 straight years is not in Saka’s, Aresenal’s or England’s best interests.
That is the worst we’ve played in a long time. Not one single player looked interested. So, so negative on the ball. Even Arteta didn’t look interested. We showed zero urgency until maybe the 92nd minute. Trossard and Zinchenko in particular I thought were very poor. Trossard had no first touch and Zinchenko had a few too many lazy passes giving away possession. Subs were weird and the second half ones too late. Vieira has been good this season but him for Saka over Nketiah/Nelson is daft. I’d half hooked Trossard at half time as well. Oh and Raya’s daft,… Read more »
We can’t just stop playing at 1-0 & even when we did decide to ramp it up, we still never felt like grabbing a point but Lens were very good, gave zero space through the middle & knew they could because nothing would happen on the wing once Saka went off
Didn’t see any of the game, but dam …. Thought this would be a stroll in the park. Hopefully we saved the performance for the game on Sunday… COYG!!!
Honestly: why did you think it would be easy?
Better question, why did the Arsenal players/coach think it would be easy? Because that’s the impression I got from viewing it. So much complacency, we just didn’t do the little things that have made this team a force.
It’s never easy away from home in the CL but Lens are a bang average side no better than PSV. That said, they fully merited their win as they were better than us on the night. Easily our worst performance of the season by some distance.
Let’s face it, our back ups are not good enough. I know people will say done blame Vieira, he is being played out of position, but he did nothing of note for the whole hour he was on. You actually see Ben White looking up the wing, seeing its Vieira and not passing. Nelson did nothing to warrant such a lucrative contract, Eddie hardly touched the ball. And let me put my hat very firmly in the Rambo corner. Raya has not had to do a thing in the three games he has kept a clean sheet, and the two… Read more »
I see our “back ups” a bit differently. I think in the attacking third Martinelli, Odegaard and Saka are fully embrace the resposibility for their part. Through thick and thin – They were here in the last 2 years and can feel, that they’ve earned the right to be here in the CL. On the other hand Nketiah, Nelson, ESR – they are Hale End graduates and because of that – they are always ready when they get the chance (even if they are a bit behind when it comes down to the level of performance). However Havertz, Trossard, and… Read more »
Lens Jehman should have been in goal tonight !!! Schoolboy error Arteta !
Bloody Almunia!
Starting to really miss Jurrien Timber
I said couple of things in comments few days ago: 1. Fabio Viera is Saka’s cover on right. Don’t be naive in saying Nelson, he has never been paid anywhere but left. For a team that’s challenging for title, that’s a massive black hole we haven’t addressed 2. Havertz is a passenger in this team. Brings nothing offensively and will go down as a terrible signing. He’s been in the league for 3 years, there’s no acclimatizing. Arteta took a very expensive gamble and it’s not gonna pay off. Jorginho will have higher G/A if played there 3. Tomiyasu is… Read more »
Our season will depend on Martinelli and Saka’s fitness, and probably Partey whom I hope will be fit for the City game
Our season will not rest or fall on just two players but rather the form and fitness of the core of our squad (say about 8 players in total)
Man U lost at home, got casemiro sent of and have absolutely zero points after two games. Id rather focus on that. And can we please stop the nonsens that raya is a better keeper than Ramsdale because he passes the ball so much better that Ramsdale has to be dropped now?
Raya has been very poor for 2 of the last 3 games.
I dont know very pool but i belive that Ramsdale is a far better keeper.
forget it.. he is arteta’s protege
Yes, let’s make our immediate priority the fates of teams we don’t support
Gabriel is such an infuriatingly poor footballer. His passing is terrible and clearly targeted by opposition because of it. Should have taken the saudi money.
GTFOOH
His passing has been good recently.
Wtf
Talking out your asss(havin)
I’ve read a lot of brain-dead comments here, but that one is pretty much the dumbest of them all.
Laters spud
First class trolling there!
which gabriel? 😳
The fact is that with all these stupid favoritism shit form arteta… If at the end of the season, we don’t win ny shiit .. we will be all over him and we will be chanting for a new manager.
He should keep insulting ramsdale, he should forcing havertz into the team.. he should keep making late subs.. we will see at the end of the season.. if we don’t win anything reasonable ..he will feel it!!!!?
Wow! This comment is being read on some Spuds podcast right now in the same spirit as Andrew & James reading #LampardOut tweets last year.
We have nelson on the bench ..but someone thinks Fabio fvcking viera is a better winger to replace saka? What a load of bullshit from this manager.
My own team cost me a lot of money today.. alot of fvcking money.. this clown of a manager forcing havertz on my nerves.
what a silly sausage.
This team should have been more thank capable of beating Lens but that’s football. I realise after every loss why I go to such efforts to avoid all things Arsenal now…Of course the loss hurts but I can happily listen to James and Andrew or other well thought out opinions on the game, however reading and/or listening to such ignorant nonsense such as yours and other comments on here and in the media is what truly makes digesting a loss so unbearable. On another note, if Viera coming on over Nelson is costing you “a lot of money” you likely… Read more »
Besides, Nelson dribbled the ball out of bounds on two occasions.
Sorry for your loss. Please, how’s that on Arteta💁♂️??
“Your own team” didn’t cost you any money. That’s on you.
They would have cost you precisely the same amount of money had they won. Unless you mean you placed a bet on them winning the game which makes you a bookie’s wet dream.
Arteta outhought, Arsenal outfought.
Vieira was particularly poor today, everytime he got the ball he slowed the tempo down.
Reiss Nelson deserved better service, he was ignored most of his time on the left hand side whilst standing in acres of space.
Maybe this is knee jerk. But Ramsdale is somehow able to fire up what’s in front of him in situations like this in a way I haven’t seen from Raya. Sometimes you need a mad bastard with a bit of fire to wake the team up.
I’d like to see him start against City.
I thought this in the Derby. I have to respect the coaches decision to play Raya given all their in depth knowledge here but from a emotional and intangible point of view I think Ramsdale really does suit certain conditions and “just gets it”.
While Ramsdale can also be prone to the occasional mistake, I think his shot stopping ability can win and save games. I think he would have got a hand to the 2nd goal. I wish Arteta would be a little more flexible when it comes to his plans. Havertz not really working in the left 8 position. Try Smith Rowe perhaps? Raya not especially impressive in the two tough games. Revert to Rambo? If Partey hadn’t got injured he might still be playing him at right back.
Yeah no idea why nobody managed to find Reiss when he was making good runs and space.
The competition does not pass the ball to the competition
Some of Raya’s kicked clearances that end up in the substitutes bench where Ramsdale is sitting would appear to contradict that
I saw it through the viaplay f… g lens… 😭
Too many weak players, physically and mentally. Manager dazed and confused. Beaten by a team in the bottom third of the French League. I need a drink.
Really hope not to be in the City match report reading how Ben White had to come off injured. No idea why he played tonight. Anyway I hope to never again think about this game!
What happened to holding the ball and allowing the shape to reset and players to push up the pitch.
What’s the fascination with putting it back immediately
At least let your team mate recover some breath.
Raya mistake brought back Jens moment of madness vs Chelsea when he kicked the ball against incoming Gudhjonsen instead of kicking it high into the stands… oh Jens Lens
Another not-so-good display! We played like half of the team were playing together for the first time compared to Lens who were quite smart in and out of possession. It’s quite worrying now that Bukayo got injured and subbed off in another game. Should he have started from the bench?? We’ll never know. Hopefully, the team bounces back better ahead of the game on Sunday. COYG!!
A few points here: 1. For a manager who complains about the load on players being too much with the World Cup and the short off-season during the summer, he should doesn’t scare away from playing Saka every possible minute available, especially after getting bad knocks on the 2 previous games. 2. We NEEDED emotion tonight. We are not Man City and we don’t want to be soulless, plastic, robotic club. I don’t mind games that end 5-3, we want to be entertained and win, it’s a lot to ask but Arsenal is more than capable. You could tell we… Read more »
0/10 for the ref. Not everything that puts an opposing player on the floor is a foul. No excuses though, we stopped playing at 1-0 then only really ramped it up again in injury time
The ref was fine.
Really? So giving them free kicks for high balls smacking their CBs in the face is “fine” is it?
The ref is not the reason we lost
„we stopped playing at 1-0“ like most of the time…
the year is 2019. arsenal haven’t bought a right winger in almost ten years, relying solely on theo walcott. they finally buy nicolas pepe, who strolls around the park so much a 18 year old prodigy named buyako saka steals his place in the squad. three years later, no other right winger has been bought. that’s one right winger bought in the last 12 years. sure, let’s try to win the premier league with only one natural rfw. let’s buy another keeper to spare, but no rfw. im sure if we play nelson (who literally started 3 games last season)… Read more »
No right wingers in 10 years eh? Carlos Vela, Ryo Miyaichi, Joel Campbell, Wellington Silva, Serge Gnabry, Takuma Asano, Nicolas Pepe, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos. That said, I’m the first to admit very few have been what we could call ‘successes’
i didn’t say no right winger, i said no right winger bought in 12 years. you can read it again if you like. but in any case, every name on your list is wrong: carlos vela was a centre forward and was bought in 2008, 13 years ago. ryo miyaichi, joel campbell and marquinhos have 6 league appearances for us combined, as they were bought as teenagers and always loaned out, not part of the first team. wellington silva and takuma asano didn’t even play a single game for us. serge gnabry wasn’t bought, he was an academy product. same… Read more »
Vieira is staunchly CDS (allegedly)
Really is time to let ESR get a starting opportunity in place of Havertz. Havertz wasn’t awful, but again (other than his one attempt which was a nice one) was anonymous. You can’t have that game after game from an attacking mid especially against a team that cedes possession much of the match. We really have nobody on the team that can replace Saka when he’s out. Viera does better in the middle, but like Havertz he is fairly anonymous when on the right wing. I’d rather see Nelson come in when Saka can’t go that or move Trossard over… Read more »
I’m starting to get Willian flashbacks with him although he does try and put in effort.
So far Havertz looks more like a £6m signing. Vaguely capable squad player, but weirdly scared and sensitive. Hope he either comes good soon or Arteta gives in and benches him for a bit.
The most perfect description of Havertz I’ve seen. We signed him as an attacking player right? He’s shown sweet fuck all in the final third – he actually makes us less of a threat. He always just plays off a negative pass to his closest player or backwards (and does it slowly – remember those Xhaka bullet passes – Kai doesn’t know anything about them), afraid to take anyone on, pathetic in front of goal. He’s fucking useless when we’re in possession. I actually cannot believe how pathetic his offensive contributions are.
Very mediocre performance from KH but he would have had an assist if Leo had finished his dinner.
Leo was dreadful on the night imo.
We’ll have the kai apologists on soon gushing about how valuable his off- the-ball running is and how superb he is at making space etc you know the things anybody’s granny could do just as well for Arsenal. Meanwhile back in the real world, everyone else see him for what he is: fucking shite.
What!! he scored a penalty on Saturday. Loads on here we’re raving about him like he had arrived. I want to work but how anyone can tell me he is or he fits in and makes us more fluid etc. will he start against city. My guess is yes. Should he start, absolutely not.
My cat spotting a bird on top of a tree in the distance through the window, after just having his dinner, is more of an attacking threat than Kai Havertz.
let’s make it “spotting a bird on top of a chimney from the back of the garden” and I will agree to that.
My guess is that Arteta preferred Vieira on the right due to his left-footedness, whereas Nelson is right-footed. So it keeps the system coherent while we don’t have a large powerful #9. But I agree Nelson brings more confidence and competence to the wide roles and should have been the first choice sub in this situation. Jesus can also be shifted left and Nketiah brought in if Trossard is pulled (not ideal really, but somewhat logical).
forget it. havertz is arteta’s ….
ESR hasn’t exactly been pulling up trees either in the games against Brentford, Bournemouth or RC Lens.
Let’s hope we are not out of CL group or top 4 competition before MA starts playing ESR ahead of Kai in that role.
It’s maddening when we pass the ball sideways and backwards. Pass it to the winger, who is double teamed so that winger passes back to the fullback who then passes it back to the center back. And we pass it to the other winger, and repeat. Nobody moving. Nobody but Rice pushing the ball forward. We have nothing down the center. Very few triangles on the pitch. My favorite moment was when Ben White had a throw in, and nobody moved so he threw it out. Zinchenko gives the ball away way too much. And I fear that City will… Read more »
Big issue is we have no target man as an alternative. Maybe that’s what we should just use Havertz as… a late sub when we need to lump the ball towards some big fucker up front.
I’m starting to think Havertz might be best as the draught excluder behind the wall when we concede a free kick around our box (except we just leave him there after the kick is taken)
Bit harsh on Zinchenko. Thought he had a stellar first half. Fizzled out as he usually does by the 65th min
Was usually tidy in possession and made some very perceptive passes but….was badly out of position for their winner. ZCD (Zinchenko can’t defend)
there’s little to argue with that, against stronger opposition, (and I don’t think any of teh CL teams away from home are weak teams) we are unbalanced when playing a midfield with inverted Zink, Rice and Kai
bring back Ramsdale, remember, Ramsdale is an Arsenal player, while raya is brentford player !!!! and also I have a conspiracy theory, that arteta just wants to weaken England’s national team, by dropping their no 1 GK, remember, Ramsdale is on course to be GK no 1, while at the same time strengthening his national football team, and in 2024, we have EURO 2024 !!!!
Of all the explanations about why he plays Raya ahead of Ramsdale this is the dumbest one
that’s why i call it as conspiracy theory…. usually it’s not true, hahahaha
Respect on the bonus rating!
On point!
A boring game and we were poor on the ball.
I hate losing but that Lens side are pretty likeable.
I hope they beat Paris, get to the final and then lose to us!
Boring game. Lens as winners are ok after what has been shown by the two teams. No end product from us. Good ref. Lens amazingly with no time wasting, no antics and no ridiculous fouling. Just solid in defence and we deprived of any ideas. Therefore congrats to them, I can live with their win, no excuses but our own performance. Hope they can go to the next round (with us obviously). Great crowd deserves it as well.
The whole team looked off the pace, not surprising really as they were held up at Luton airport for over five hours and the whole preparation went to pot. Bukayo really shouldn’t have started that game and Mikel was pushing his luck to go with him, who is clearly carrying an injury/knackered, and Leo who’s just returned from an injury. I would’ve preferred to see Nelson and ESR, who need minutes and have a point to prove, if they’re not to be trusted why were they given new contracts and pay rises?
Tomiyasu is looking more confident in possession. But Saliba still doesn’t trust him :/
Arteta needs to decide whether zinchenco is a fullback or a defensive midfielder. We have conceded a few times already this season when Zinco has been out of position when the opposition attack down our right flank.
ZCD
Obviously I meant to say our left flank, I was looking at the opposition perspective.
Buy a strong striker.
Teach the team how to shoot.