Arsenal fell behind in the North London derby this evening, but goals from Gabriel (it’s his despite going down as an OG) and Leandro Trossard were enough to take all three points in a must-win game.
It wasn’t pretty, it was tense, but in the end the only thing that matters is that we won and that Sp*rs and their fans are miserable.
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
Read the Arsenal 2-1 Sp*rs match report and see the goal here
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11 out 10 for Big Gabi
New contract please! He is the fucking man!
2 rolls royce defenders we have who compliment each other so much and love the shirt💪 this is a catylist and we will be champions come may…in micky we trust
POTS so far.
I’d tend to agree. For me he’s always been a personal favourite but this season I think he’s really levelled up in his composure and leadership. I think he’s quietly (despite all his roaring) outshining Saliba. Factor in his goals and the paucity of our attack and POTS seems fitting.
The gig fella has always been an emotional player but I think he’s matured and now channels that emotion better.
Saliba has maybe fallen off his absolutely ridiculous form this year – though still miles better than anyone outside the club – and Gabriel has gone to another level.
For me it means Gabriel is now the best CB in the league and possible world. Saliba second. What a fucking pair they make! Love it.
Yep – Big Willy just seems to be a little ‘dopey’ (for want of a better word) or ‘distracted’ in recent matches… His first few touches were really iffy last night, poor control and sluggish reactions – but he made up for it second half.
Go home Goonshow, you’re drunk
1000000/10 Trossard sending Porro to the shadow realm
Time stamp 22.32 Pedro Porro just turned
Word is that he’s still wondering around Islington looking for Leo…
If ever there was a time to cup your ears to the fans… That goal, after That Cruyff… fair play Leo. I wasn’t familiar with your game.
No – his best moment was his celebration in front of their fans. Pure shithousery
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Helped immeasurably by the fact that he looks like Robbie Williams cheeky chappie, crossed with a mischievous raccoon!
Porro knew he had to pretend to be injured, i’d have done the same 😭😂
I think he was actually injured. that’s what made the turn so nasty….
*obviously don’t condone laughing at the injury of other human beings – even if it is as funny as that was*
If he was injured he would be subbed. As soon as he went off the field he was itching to get back on the pitch
getting spun like that had to have hurt a little bit.
It hurt his ego, but he pretended it was his leg
He wasn’t injured, he was humiliated. Just before Trossard did that he gave a little wink to the Spurs fans after winning a throw on
Credit to him for making that amazing recovery, though.
And why did the ref stop the game for a non-head injury? Would he have done that for us? Nein.
TBF I thought the ref was okay tonight 🤷♂️ there were a couple of moments where I winced because Anne Other ref would have penalised Arsenal but he didn’t / he let the play flow
Pedro Porous.
Twisted his blood.
That was crazy. Beats me how Porro continued to play after that.
I almost expected the ref to show Leo a red card for such a filthy move. Absolutely broke Porto!
In fact am wondering how a career ending move like that is not a red card. 😂
Am I right that it was so X rated that MOTD didn’t even show it?
MLS!!! Aiiii caramba!!!
Love MLS. What a player.
A league of his own.
🎶 league of his own, league of his ooowwnn. Myles Lewis-Skelly is a league of his own 🎶
Monstrous game from Gabriel, Skelly-ton also superb. Unnecessarily scary game due to our profligacy up top! But fuck it, and fuck the ball-balancing cocks. LIR!
🎶 49, 49, Lewis-Skelly
49, 49 I say 🎶
Mr Lewis Skelly set the tone for the whole game ! Wow what a gem !
With Tuchel in the crowd, and LB a problem for England. Mr Skelly, should be getting the call sooner than expected
6 months ago England looked screwed at left back – now in MLS (and Lewis Hall from Newcastle) we look like we’re covered for the next decade
Lewis who?
are you actually watching football?
Not just yet, please. We don’t need some central European winger spiking our Great Leftback Hope.
Even more impressive because he’s a midfielder
FUCK OFF YOU SPURRRRRS HAHAHA
Mikel owns that team
10/10 – Trossard skinning Porro so hard that he went down injured and the game had to be stopped. Sent him to Mars.
Myles ahead of where he should be at this stage of his career. Total baller. Bravo.
Well done boys, let’s build on this!
Our boy is ahead of where 99.9% of all footballers will ever be, at any point, in any career.
I’ve told myself I wasn’t getting a new shirt (I have two, a JVC one with Adams on the back, and one that’s about 10 years old) – but Myles-Ahead makes that promise hard to keep. Now I *love* Saka. But this? It’s less “flashy” to be a defender than to score goals and make TV-dribbles, but … MLS you absolute monster. He’s afraid of noone, takes sh*t from noone, and gets pushed around by noone.
Exactly what you need from a Defender – ask Tony Adams!
Baller?
MLS is absolutely superb. Such a mature player – can see Calafiori struggling to get his place back.
I’d rather start one of the youth boys than Sterling – there’s genuinely no way it could be worse (from a first team perspective – I appreciate chucking a young player in prematurely might not be the best thing for their development). Play just stops whenever he gets the ball. Not trying to dig him out, it isn’t like we were scoring a hatful when he wasn’t starting, but we may as well be playing with 10 men.
I think there’s a 5-2-3 formation in us where u play MLS and Cala
Coman or Sane on the right will help this team no end . Kaiser is still fine as a 9 but with Gabi out for ages we need two forwards
Has Sane still got pace?
He destroyed us last year in champs league , think Benji Blanco would prefer him with us than against.
Wonder if Ferran Torres would fancy gametime, Cunha be too expensive and not really what we need . Just need a Davor Suker and Jose Reyes Type signing s
Man’s out ‘ere playing footy manager
solve the future with the past?
He tries to be direct, lively. I feel he has the potential to offer something – but isn’t really. Passed it? Lack of confidence? Lack of playing time? I don’t know. I’d love it for him to show us some really nice stuff.
Don’t worry. As soon as Nwaneri has recovered, Stirling will be back warming the bench again.
I think they both can play on the same team. Calafiori is a centre-back officially and MLS is a midfielder. I can see variations in the future where they both play and perhaps neither of them at left back. The midfield for MLS might be something to come later on, but seeing him play he’s not another Maitland-Niles.
Calafiori is a CB, MLS is a mid-fielder, Rice is a 6, Arteta is the manager, and that’s why players play where they play. Full trust. Except Rice at 8. Not sold on that one with his DM credentials.
I like Sterling. He’s not had much game time but he looks sharp when he’s on the ball. Not easy to make space in the penalty box but he does it. At some point we have to start putting in some of the roll backs he keeps delivering. I think there’s more to come from him
Sterling wasn’t terrible but he is really playing with the handbrake on. Is it confidence or fitness or ageing or something else? Arteta needs to demand more aggression and positivity and forward passing from Sterling, as at the moment he’s really slowing us down too much.
He’s not playing with the handbrake on, he’s blown the head gasket.
He’s just a shorter Mesuz Ozil in braids. Seems to have more business interests than interest in playing football. Surrounds himself with an entourage whose main purpose is to prevent even the most harmless realities getting inside the Sterling bubble.
Do you know that or are you just following the narrative that Sterling is a cunt?
Thought he looked good against ManU but pretty pedestrian today.
But then so did the whole attack.
Not into personal attacks in the player when they’re wearing our shirt.
You know they swap shirts at the end?
Just so pleased with the win today. It was a bit nerve wracking but we did enough to get it over the line. COYG!!
NORTH LONDON IS RED AND MYLES LEWIS SKELLY IS GOING TO HAVE IT TURNED INTO A PAIR OF SLIPPERS
MLS wow! I said on another thread recently that he could be what we are looking at long term for left 8. I just saw the inter wire with Declan Rice, who said MLS can play 6 or 8 as well as what he is being asked to do at 18.. Seriously special player on our hands there. Rio Ferdinand made comments after the rice interview that rice offers too much to just be a 6 – he would be too restricted there – and I am inclined to agree – rice is box to box. The future of our… Read more »
Yes rice offers to much for a 6 but still lack some vision for a perfect 8 he is still under development and the workrate is great
I remember watching rice start out for West Ham as a centre back. He adapted and moved to 6. I think he is now adapting to become as forward thinking as he is defensive thinking – and that is quite a big mindset to overcome – as his entire career has been geared towards protecting the defence, and now he has to let go of that instinct at times to progress the attack and produce goal threat
Rio Ferdinand talking out his arse again. Rice is the best #6 in the country. Play him there and get a creative left 8 ffs. Then we can really get the left side moving again.
I think rice has a lot more to his game than being a 6. What holds him back from being that dream 8 is most likely psychological – he is wedded to what he knows which is the defensive side – we haven’t seen his full potential in the attacking sense yet – I think with zubizemndi (I’ll work on the spelling once it’s confirmed) I think we could see a change in Declan’s mindset about trusting what’s behind him more
Zubimendi. It’s not hard bro.
The problem with Rice is that he was more than a bit shit at the Euros and took that form into the league season. That said, Arteta clearly cant decide whether to deploy him as a DM or a box to box midfielder. His form has picked up but we still haven’t seen him at his best for a while.
I’d agree but insert the caveat that we cannot underestimate what a fit Thomas Partey adds to this team – we are just so much more effective going forward when he is the central pivot.
Yes, there’s the (increasingly rare, recently) brainfart – but that’s true of WIlly, Big Gabi and even Raya – and Partey is invaluable in that mix because he always looks for the forward, penetrating pass… when he’s not there, the ‘square-itis’ and reverse passing just strangles our transition play.
I just love Myles – MOTM today. He is gem in the making, ascension of that magnitude is quite unexpected, learning anticipation and tackling from William and being monster and bullying Sp*rs for fun from Gabriel.
Oh and Richarlison is tw*t.
Louis Skelly is too skilly.
Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis Skelly, Rice and Odegaard. All exceptional tonight!
There are some really good players in there. Should have killed the game in the first 30 minutes. Nerve racking end to the game. MLS is just sensational. Rice was monstruous. Big Gabby is such a warrior. Saliba such a rock. Timber so solid. And the list goes on.
Clearly missing creativity, as Blogs and Gunnerblog have mentioned many times on the Arsecast Extra. Let’s hope Arteta fixes this quickly.
MLS gives me that Ashley Cole vibe (hopefully not the greedy turncoat vibe) that wow factor that he can make the position his own in front of seasoned internationals. We need more going forward, good to see KT come on, should keep him over ziny IMHO.
Yes! Can he be the first academy LB of such calibre as Cole or am I missing someone?
I certainly hope he won’t leave and break my heart like Cole did when I was just a kid.
I must be watching a completely different game to every one else. For me MLS is nothing more than a duel winner with limited technical ability, he’s Arsenal Lisandro Martinez In the Wenger years i would have loved him because we were a team of ballerinas but in Arteta’s Arsenal he makes us even more turgid and slow than usual. This kind of football works against limited opposition like Spurs but as we’ve seen all too often recently our style of play can be weaponised against us when playing better sides. Spurs were there for to be hammered yesterday but… Read more »
We all know the limitations of this team are lack of firepower up front and creativity in the middle. However, we have a strong back line that mostly dominates opponents. Singling out MLS as already limited in capability is quite frankly, fkn ridiculous and WAY OFF mate. He’s 18 ffs! His potential is HUGE for this club AND for England!
How are we going to miss Partey next year….
Couple of passengers in our side tonight- partey could have been down to fatigue, but sterling? Cmon guy, you have to at least try to run. We’d be better off giving one of the academy kids a debut up top if they’re going to at least give a fuck.
Not suggesting Sterling was great, but he has barely played and has been coming back from an injury so think he deserves some patience. There are plenty of players who need that match sharpness to be at the top of their games. Also, he is one of those moments players, like doesn’t do loads during a game, doesn’t get too involved in build up but has historically, at least, been pretty productive and I thought there were a few signs of that tonight, some nearly moments where perhaps with a few more games and that sharpness he might have capitalised… Read more »
In terms of fitness and availability, Partey is currently exceeding my pre-season expectations 🤷♂️ so he may well be fatigued in this second half of the season
I think Sterling does give a fuck (might be wrong but he doesn’t seem to be doing a Wilian) but he’s clearly very short of confidence and pace.
Yeah, the crowd was on him in the second half. He was fairly tidy on the ball but no more than that. A winger is supposed to create something. We need him for now, but he’s mostly just giving Martinelli a rest. Heck, Tierney or Zinchenko would be as good at right winger now. They’d at least get some shots off coming inside. Sad.
I’d be surprised if his kit needed cleaning after he came off.
He’s stealing a living
Mostly from Chelski, but yeah. I’d like to see him to much better. He can!
He’s hesitating when he should take people on immediately. Then when defensive reinforcements surround him, he then tries to take them on!
Arteta should tell Sterling to just go for it and be brave. But wtf would I know!
I think we all know that at only 30 he still can, but does he want to?
I am sure we would all like to congratulate Dominic Solanke for scoring his first goal in a north London derby!!!!
ARSENAL ARSENAL ARSENAL
Big Gabi was immense today from start to finish. Loved seeing him ‘coach’ MLS at times. And MLS looks so assured on the ball. Love how he zipped passes into Trossard a few times. It helped set a tempo which had been lacking in recent games.
That one handed catch of a cross near the end from Raya alone should get him an 8
That was sooo good. It seems that a spurs player would have had a free nick, hadn’t Raya done so.
Yea I loved that moment, then that prick Richarlison tried to cheat it (punched it) out his arms.
The other moment I loved of Raya is when he came out and made a clearance just inside our own half, read that moment so well and totally squashed any hint of spud danger.
He’s world-class and I’m delighted he’s a gooner. 8.5 / 10 performance for me.
Good shout. I loved that moment too. David Raya, he’s got freakishly huge hands hasn’t he.
I think he’s wearing gloves 🙂
This was amazing and then that weirdo punched the ball out of his hands. Was surprised this wasn’t a yellow card!
Wring colour shirt to get a yellow
I like how Saliba has started to move the ball up the field, more. Gaining confidence in his ability to do that.
He always had that in his locker, but I think MA has learned that one of our two CBs needs to be more progressive when going in transition
Saliba looks quite ungainly on the ball but he delivers time and time again. What a pair of CBs we have.
I believe he started out as a striker in PSG youth academy?
Love your bonus ratings blogs. Richardson, hahahaha 😂😂😂😂😂😂
It was nice to see an Arsenal forward get the ball, drive into the box and fire a shot on goal. Seems like an eternity since that last happened.
It’s funny because it actually works but this manager seems determined to eliminate all transitions in the game, whether the opposition or ourselves
With all the high turnovers we get, we should have way more goals like this one.
There isn’t a better centre back in the league than Gabriel right now, and what MLS is doing at his age is outrageous. But will give a shout out to Rice, who was a machine today and brings so much drive and protection in transition. Havertz was still lacking conviction for me but he worked really hard and his movement was sharper than recently. As for Sterling, unfortunately tonight showed exactly why he hasn’t been getting the minutes we would have expected at the beginning of the season. The game was a lot tighter than it needed to be, forward… Read more »
10/10 for tottenh*m being $&@!%#
And just like that… I start believing again. why am I so easy?
:DDD
Sterling is done guys! Almost every time he got the ball he stopped and gave all the time to the spuds to organise their defence. I wouldn’t like to see him on the pitch for us again. We played with 10 men while he was on the pitch. He tried to cross once or twice and he failed.
Raheem did ok. First NLD and only playing because Saka and Ethan are out. didn’t do anything stupid. Nothing heroic either, but key players carried out their creative responsibility well today and Raheem could just keep it tidy. I think this contribution will help him feel a bit more settled for the next game.
Running should be a non-negotiable
He’s feeling way too settled IMO. I agree that he was tidy, but he made it way too easy for Spuds. Their left back was faster than him and had him in his pocket, so Sterling needed to pass quicker and make runs to clear space. We’re going to need him to share the minutes, even if he doesn’t score, but on this team he should be scoring.
I’m not looking to excuse Sterling’s performance in any way but he did have an injury not that long ago and was probably rushed back because we have literally nobody else. So I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s playing despite not being 100% match fit. For now we don’t have a choice but to back him to play better.
Respectfully, I don’t think the “first NLD derby” excuse really works when the player is a 30 year old who’s played in too many Merseyside and Manchester derbies to count.
Harsh. Trossard was also shite. His blogs rating is for getting a goal and turning Porro inside out.
Worthy contributions but he air shot when should have scored and played poorly for much of the game.
I don’t love how fashionable it is to scapegoat Sterling while all the attack has been shite.
How good was the first touch before the air shot though tbf?
I still a little bit shocked that VAR didn’t give Trossard a red card for breaking Porro’s ankles
☝🏼 That comment is gold.
🤣😂🤣
🏆
North London Derby double over spurs is delicious. A triple (Carabao Cup final) would be orgasmic. A man can dream… Team looked so tired in the last 20 minutes. Schedule and injuries are taking their toll. Glad the boss is properly taking about reinforcements in the transfer market.
Pfff… Toon are going to build a newer castle in defense. Still, hope remains!!
I scored very liniently. Derby victory first and foremost. Also, the main issue with the team is sheer exhaustion. Between injuries, illness, suspensions (whether deserved or not), some aging players, a busy schedule, overtime, and a still somewhat thin squad, the players are tired. Still, they rallied, they played hard, they created a boatload of chances, and I think the lack of goals is down to fatigue as much as anything else. Love this team!
If Calafiori comes regains fitness I wouldn’t begrudge him coming back into the line up but not at MLS’ expense. He’s earned his spot. Rather, I would like to see MLS given a chance at 6 or 8. Many have said Martenelli needs a left footer to open up that side of the pitch, (suspect logic given Saka doesn’t need a right footer to open up his side), so MLS could do that. Merino hadn’t exactly nailed down the position, although I do think he was brought in as rotation for Rice rather than to start. If we’re not considering… Read more »
White/Timber are both right footed and help open things up for Saka.
Thanks – I was gonna say that!
I seriously thought yesterday that MLS would be a lot more threat on either wing than having Sterling there who kind of looks like he’s afraid of other footballers. He reminds me a bit of Willian, when the ball comes to him everything just stops. Having Tierney or MLS on the wing might really be better.
Mls for the man of the match for me unbelievable development and calm if he keeps this up he will be unplayable
I think we can stop buying left backs now 🤩🤩🤩
Ödegård look better tonight but really need a goal to get his spark so important I think and when he does the team will click into gear
Richarlison is like the guy from The Hockey Song but shitter.
Lord that is a reference I didnt expect here…hit somebody!
I think all this talk about sterling is a bit harsh, he’s literally fed off scraps all season in terms of game time. I thought he was actually growing into the game and would’ve got better as the game went on but was subbed off on the hour mark. For me Martinelli was no better he got into better positions but his decision making in dangerous positions is becoming very concerning for me this season, he’s always keeping his head down in crucial moments and doesn’t have the awareness required to be part of the forward line for a club… Read more »
Have to give Raya a bit more. That was a vital save on Kulushevski, and how about that one handed catch on a cross late in the match.
Grateful we have David Raya too. One of the best keepers in the league for sure.
We have got to sign an attacking player that can play wing when needed as well as striker before the window closes even if on loan as there is no way we are going to win anything with Sterling starting or being our first attacker off of the bench.
Didnt get to watch all unfortunately…replay later.
As I have said many times, I love this team. Yes, too many injuries, yes the worst officiating luck I have ever seen, yes, the worst scoring luck imaginable, and yes we are a player short up front but good lord they fight.
Love it.
Raya Samba Skills – try him at number nine?
Love the bonus…what a typical spurs useless knobhead
Trossard scores after Partey strips the ball and Partey gets a 6. Not sure about that.
It’s getting really stale reading about how Havertz works hard. He’s not good enough for a team with aspirations of CL/EPL championships, and there’s a large body of evidence. Was excited to see Jesus get back to form, but now…..
I have to agree.
Is some of that evidence him actually winning the CL in 2021?
Pull up havertz’s chelsea reel of misses on YouTube…it’s why they were laughing their arses off when we have them 65mil for him then proceed to make him the highest paid in the team…🤦♀️
💯 It’s laughable to read every week the usual “worked hard and put a shift in” 7/10 comment.
Yep, he’s been shit in some games but scored and suddenly peeps on here start waxing lyrical about his work-rate as if it’s somehow a bonus that a player we spent $65M on and pay $280k a week actually runs about a bit.
I feel like I am completely missing something. The only time I saw him run was defensively, then makes no effort to get back in position. He failed to get some fantastic chances even on target. He lollops around like an oaf, constantly giving away possession, yet has a fantastic work rate? And at £65M, I would argue this is a way bigger crime than Sterling lacking spark having had no game time, not to mention youth!
If Havertz’s legs would be half so good as his footballing brain is, he would be an amazing player. His movement is excellent, he is always working hard, he is so often in the right position but he makes the minimum out of it. Last night it seamed his legs were having a constant fight with his brain, he just couldn’t sort them out. At the moment he is the only outlet when Raya kicks it long. He is useful player, but 65 million is a joke. Wee need to stop buying Chelsea players, it has almost newer worked. Apart… Read more »
Really not understanding why we’re paying most of Sterling’s salary.
Given that Arteta has been loathe to give him any game time (until now when we resemble the walking wounded) it begs the question: who actually negotiated the loan deal from Chelsea to Arsenal as all the benefit is to the player and the consortium Clearlake Capital,
Help thy neighbour I suppose
10/10 for scoring from the corner that should have been a goal kick. That will surely set the Spuds off
I usually agree 90-100% with Blogs’ rating but there are some anomalies in the above, imo: am I the only one who sees an uncharacteristically ‘dopey’ Saliba in the past few games? He improved through the match last night but 4 out of his first 5 key touches were shockers – poor control, scatty, inaccurate. We need him to be the Big Willy of last season if we’re to push the Scouse to the end! Thomas gets a 6 – compared to Saliba’s 7.5??? It’s established that Blogs is usually harsh on Partey but he was at least a 7… Read more »