A first half goal from Kai Havertz was enough to give Arsenal three points over Ipswich Town this evening.
It wasn’t the goalfest many had hoped, and without Bukayo Saka there was obviously something missing from the Gunners attack, but in the end we finish 2024 with another home win and in second place in the Premier League.
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
Read the Arsenal 1-0 Ipswich match report and see the goal here
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A win is a win.
Where’s the fella who guaranteed us Martinelli would score more than Saka from the right. Same fella that said Saka was a dreadful finisher 😂😂
Not in a league where goal difference counts.
Another game gone and we couldn’t match our main rival.
Liverpool opened the season at Anfield against Ipwich and it was a scrappy, dull and boring 1:0 to Liverpool.
So what are you on bro?
And we hardly started the season like a rocket did we? But after 17 league games I would expect us to be in our rhyme and not playing for scrappy 1 nils when our goal difference is worst as well as our point count. So as I said, we lost ground on our main rival as they gained plus 2 this round and we only gained a single goal.
So what are you on ‘bro’ ?
Ekkk..sorry bro you are wrong there…it was at Ipswich not Anfield, and the result was actually a 2-0, not a 1-0 win for Liverpool. Not saying I will kill myself today because of this result but I must say I did expect better output in terms of goals playing at home against a bottom 3 team.
For me, it was just a barely ok win and we move forward.
Happy with the win but we have a problem. Martinelli as a right winger, I actually think GJ would be better as a right winger than he is as a striker. and Martinelli can play as a striker. Don’t know why we are not trying that.
Granted the sample size is small and Ipswich parked the bus.
Question: if a keeper has nothing to do because of great defense and overall perfect play by the rest of the team should he not get a 10 or a zero?
10/10 for that total control. Yes it wasn’t entertaining but Ipswich have managed draws with Man U, Villa, Fulham, Brighton this season and beaten Sp*rs (I know). Their league position doesn’t tell the whole story, this was never an easy 3 points.
Folks need to watch more football. This is the truth & the gave €ity a decent 60 min or so (I know they’re trash but still)
Good shout
I agree mate! They are tough to play against and we did pretty well I thought. Blogs was harsh with all his rating IMHO.
We are so predictable to play against and if Ipswich had an ounce of attacking nous about them we could have dropped points tonight.
Shhhhh you can’t say truthful things on this. You have to be positive and ignore the obvious because people love burying their head in the sand and pretending everything is rosy
Comments like this aren’t really useful at all. Nobody says everything’s rosy. Everyone can see there were some issues with that performance, but people are happy we won.
I think there’s a grain of truth in
what Jack is saying though. Any negativity no matter how glaringly obvious is heavily put down.
I’d say that criticism that is constructive and well thought out is generally better received than that kind of sarcasm which paints people as idiots. Which is obviously not the case.
There’s this idea that because you’re positive about the win itself and the fact we’re 2nd in the league you can’t see that there are other issues. It’s not true. Most people aren’t that binary, which is why I don’t think those kinds of comments elicit decent discussion and just get a lot of downvotes.
100
But they didn’t, so we won, kept a clean sheet, earned three points, moved to second. Pretty shitty really.
We’re always like this with Rice at 6. There will be talk of Saka’s absence in the next couple of days but we’ve had games like this with him in the team too.
Hi – that’s interesting. Are you saying we are more laboured with Rice at 6 than with either of Partey or Jorginho there? I hadn’t thought of that possibility before but I wonder if it’s true. (Don’t get me wrong I love Rice but I wonder if there is a system issue here?)
Ipswich didn’t have an ounce of attacking nous about them because we completely nullified them with a brilliant defensive and pressing display. Sometimes it really feels like people commenting here aren’t watching the games.
Giving us a platform to win! It’s almost like – a plan! Those who want just entertainment – there’s a cock on a ball just around the way trumpeting your name haha. Or American hockey might be your thing
Are we tho, what else can we do liverpool struggled to open Leicester and they reverted to crosses , crosses won’t work for us and MA has been playing our champions league formation to try and help but just GM11 has lost his mojo, Leo’s leo and drifts in and out , jesus was back to himself and only complaint I have is not leaving kai as 9 and working others around him like jesus on left
If they had any attacking nous they’d have probably ended up more open defensively, making it easier for us to attack. Today was one of the few times I’ve seen a team sit back and protect a 1-0 deficit.
I was laughing so hard when they kept time wasting after going one nil down.
I’ve seen this type of comment loads i I don’t understand how people don’t understand, if they have an once of attclacking play we would have been all over them. The reason why we was boring is because they played with 5 defenders on the 18 and 4 midfielder 2 yards in front of them.
Do you think teams never set up like this against Klopp’s Liverpool or Pep’s City? It didn’t matter, they just blew them away. We’re not at the level where we’re able to do this, that’s the issue.
“They just blew them away.” And yet, I remember City often having overwhelming possession but few clear-cut chances, endlessly probing and finally getting a single late goal as their opponents tired. I must have been watching different City matches.
Spot on. Too many selective memories to suit narrative
I also remember us at their place earlier in the season, where we protected a 2-1 lead with 10 men as they beat at us impotently for nearly an hour, before getting a scrappy equalizer well into extra team
Yes I understand were not at that level yet. We have had to build a whole new team and we’re 3 seasons into that. He has started at the back and got us challenging for the title almost straight away. Now we need to buy attacking players. A left winger and a striker and we will be a forse but for now enjoy the level were at and take the wins when they come. Artetas biggest problem is he changed everything to quickly and now everyone expects us to win every game 4-5 nill. It takes time to build a… Read more »
Scouse scrapped a 1-0 vs this same Ipswich team (actually, Ipswich had their full squad available!)… check your facts, mate.
Wrong …check your facts mate.. 2-0 win for Liverpool in the league, playing away at Ipswich..I dont know ppl are being so Cincai with their facts..Now you make me wonder whether I am the one who’s wrong.
A very tough watch at times tonight. And I appreciate the sentiment a wins a win, but it is only natural to have real concerns about how limited we are offensively. Muric in goal for them wasnt tested anywhere nearly enough, we simply did not create any real clear cut chances from open play. Even when Ipswich were a bit more adventurous late in the second half, we could only muster a couple of nearly moments. I do have a great deal of anxiety about playing against a much more competent outfit than Ipswich. The blueprint has been out there… Read more »
I think we have 2 credible options as a club:
1. Say we are going for the league, in which case we absolutely have to buy one or more players
2. Say we are only going to buy if there is quality and pick up a Top 4 finish and focus on the Champions League with Saka back in the spring (hopefully)
I know this sounds negative but I think 2 is credible as I happen to think Liverpool will win the league, possibly quite comfortably, regardless of what we or others do.
D’ya what, I thought the same. Predictable and pedestrian. We didn’t really create any clear cut chances, other than the goal. However, a win is a win and I’ll take it.
If my grandmother had wheels she’d be a wagon
Martinelli wasn’t excellent, but he gave the ball to Trossard for the assist. Massive 3 points.
“Giving the ball to trossard for the assist” is now a thing?? Lmao 😂
Alexander Hleb would like a word
@arseblog – I’d be interested to compare the Inter game to these prem teams that “defend first” against us – hopefully that’s where we’re taking lessons in how to win without losing if that makes sense
How else would Trossard get the ball?
if he can’t even get past an ipswich town defender, i don’t know what to tell you. i thought he was atrocious again today. usually our bad players have a good match against lower opposition and rely on that to make the fans think they’re any good. with martinelli we don’t even get that, he’s just as bad whoever we play against. it’s like playing with one less player, i can’t stand his performances anymore.
I think a little harsh on Martinelli, did well to hold up and slow down play late on. Not a position we should have been in for sure.
We need a winger who can hold the ball. Martinelli is a good player but against low block he’s as useful in attack as our Goalkeeper is. Hell even Raya would make at least a few good passes. We have to play Martinelli in the games where he has space to run. He’ll be our big game player.
The man is tireless! Extra defender, excellent hold up play, did more to control the ball/time than any otherplayertoward the end of the game. Teams that give him space, give him a lot more to work with, but he always at least carries his weight
We need goals from him though, and he never looks like scoring.
He scored in the previous game
He still has 4 PL goals to his name this season – more than Glealish, Hojlund, Nkunku, Antony, Foden, Neto, Dominik Szoboszlai, Doku, Gabriel Jesus, Trossard, Zirkzee, Mudryk, Savinho and many others.
he’s a wide forward. the fact that “defending” and “time wasting” are the two attributes you highlighted from his gameplay should tell everyone what they need to know about the player
Maybe we could repurpose him as a left back to provide us with cover there?
will never get tired of watching Martin Odegaard play football, even when the goal contributions aren’t happening as much. And I’m adding Timber to that too now, that man is so feisty and explosive on both sides of the pitch it’s a sight to behold. And to think that MLS at 18 is almost is equal to him (or at least has been playing that way) is kind of insane.
Right?
Agree with this comment
whole-heartedly.
In terms of MLS it is insane!
He looks like a seasoned pro, even though he is still completing his apprenticeship. He can still, and will, add more strings to his already stringy bow. What i love the most and in relation to his age, humbleness, and eagerness to learn whichever position, is that he is so comfortable on the ball and makes me feel assured. Ditto for Timber, and Martin8 🥰
Lacklustre performance but an important 3 points.
Don’t mind it if we can keep grinding out wins. But it does feel like we’ll get caught out playing like this.
Happy new year all and thanks as ever blogs.
For me yes Martin Ode wasn’t himself in 1st half but wasn’t helped by who was on front of him . The 424 is OK but it’s alot of space occupied ahead of Mo8 , spaces he’s sued to drifting into .
Anyways win is a win be good battle v Brentford but let’s get it together boys and go on a run
MLS-Timber duo is just amazing. I loved how Myles stood up for Gabriel against that one Ipswich random cunt
You saw that too. I was not shocked
Both of them have that dog in’em, just like Big Gabi. Amazing that out of this back 4 Saliba seems almost like the gentle giant, and he can be a pretty mean dog himself.
Odd and sluggish game. Missed a couple sitters and a comfortable win becomes tense. I thought GJ was great. Timber is tough. Tonight though I want to speak about Skelly. Goodness he simply does not back down. We saw that again West Ham and again tonight. He kept being pushed and prodded and did not give in. I like him.
was annoyed he didnt drive forward a few times, but that will come.
A win is a win. See you on the 1st.
💯% correct on MLS. So secure with the ball. It’s so rare to see a player with such consistent levels of tricksiness, silkiness and feistiness game after game. I know I know… sample size is small, but there are signs that we have a special player on our books right there.
Not as down on the performance as others, Ipswich came to defend just like against Everton so was always going to be tricky to break them down. It doesn’t point to what we need in January if we’re going to sustain any kind of title challenge. MLS man of the match for me, really exciting prospect. The right combination of skill and aggression.
Ratings pretty spot on. Raya had literally nothing to do. Would love to see Mø add some goals to his repertoire.
Should the ratings for a keeper include distribution? In some games he makes the best pass of the game. Not today but sometimes
Is the distance a keeper covers measured as it is for other players? If so who covers the most ground?
Martinelli on the right is just Martinelli on the left with less cutbacks. Take that as you will.
Comfortable, if uninspiring, three points secured. As much as we would all like to have an unending series of 5-0 drubbings, the reality is that there will be more of these as opponents attempt to keep from being overrun. Feels like something to build on heading into 2025 — with more than half the season still in front of us. All to play for in the league and cups, lets go!
We’ll need a left-footed forward in this window. We really need one. Either that or we promote from within. Probably Nwanerri. But we badly need a left footed forward for the right wing
Nicolas Pepe, anyone? lol
fabio vieira?
Our performance lacked the necessary pace, resulting in a suboptimal outcome.
Against a team of Ipswich’s caliber, we should have generated significantly more high-quality scoring opportunities.
The January transfer window will be critical to our success, a pivotal period that will determine our future trajectory.
need to figure out a way to use martinelli on the right. when there isn’t the space for him to use his pace, he is forced to shift to his left and is rendered useless. honestly I think he should focus on making runs behind the defense instead of trying to beat two men.
These ratings are often too sentimental. If MLS had the game that Timber did he would’ve received atleast an 8, yet he scored higher than the Dutchman simply because of his age.
Think Martinelli should get much more credit than he does for the fantastic defensive running he does. I know, I know he’s got to do more going forward, but I just love to see that indefatigable defensive work ethic.
Not the easiest watch, but we take the 3 pts, however I fear we may all have to get used to a few more ‘days like these’ (thx Van!). Teams will come to us and park a very large bus and we will batter it until we get that single, inevitable goal. That said, it’s well worth watching TH14’s great analysis on our current ‘predictability’: https://youtu.be/OUShK_ivRcg?si=5bpgajfGNgZh7TIf Granted, that’s with the over-reliance on Saka but his point about our other attacking mids and forwards not making enough runs between the lines of opponents’ ‘bus’ is spot on. And was evident again… Read more »
Arteta brings on two subs against the bottom premiership team at this time of the season, “Hello” are we not worried about this.
We are a street behind Liverpool in terms of points, this should not be the case.
10 for Amazon Prime and their Stadium FX option without the commentary 🙌 Worth the subscription alone.
The most exciting attacking moment of the game was Timber running directly up the middle of the pitch and taking a shot why don’t we do more of that?? And if anyone remembers the second half of the Palace game Rice came on and had 2 or 3 runs up the left side that were dynamic fast and exciting to watch. Our death by a dozen short passes has gotten old and less effective.
Ed Sheeran is the Phil Collins of musicians