Arsenal dropped points against Brighton for the second time this season, after a Joao Pedro penalty in the second half cancelled out Ethan Nwaneri’s first half opener for the Gunners.
The equaliser came from an incident you rarely see, but the second half performance from Mikel Arteta’s men was tired – to say the least – and it hammered home the need for reinforcement during this transfer window.
Here’s how the players rated this evening.
Read the Brighton 1-1 Arsenal match report and see the goals here
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Ethan: 9/10. Gabby M & Raya: 8/10. Saliba: 6/10 (to be harsh). Everyone else: 2/10 (to be kind)!
Other than the goal Nwaneri was pretty poor. Never an 9/10.
Compared to those other performances, I’ll forgive his getting the ball taken off of him as he drove forward. Maybe that’s just me.
It’s not just you forgiving him for it, but it’s definitely just you giving him a 9/10 in spite of it.
I am still have doubts about expecting Merino in front of goal. He has missed several chances this season
Apparently Nwaneri is out with muscle injury.. that’s why he was subbed. Not looking good.
What the hell man
If that’s a serious comment you should be ceremonially banned from the rating system, with a public display, your digital head chopped by the guillotine, then rolling down the wooden steps. Raya’s distribution was fairly poor today, well below his par, not more than a 5.5. Ethan too, great goal but lost so many balls dribbling into his man, and then to say everyone else was 3 or 4 times poorer than Raya, Rice who was so dangerous in the 1st half and played a big part in the goal, Merino who assisted it, Calafiori who had a bunch of… Read more »
We are too slow.
The central midfield doesn’t exactly scream fast-pace does it? Merino seems a holding player and put him with Rice and Jourginho…
Merino is slower than Mertesacker
The more I see Merino, the more I am perplexed on why he was signed? What does he bring to the table that Rice, Partey do not
The midfield of Partey and Rice looks good, in a defensive sense
Rice and Merino look lost together
Specicifity, Don’t question the process or you’ll be told to support Spurs.
He’s the Spanish Rob Holding
Comparing merino to Rob holding shows your lack of knowledge
Right.
well thst was grim… we need to stop being complacent after scoring… Attack was more or less impotent and there was no sense of urgency. Title is gone I think
You will get thumbs downs for saying that Sir…..but it’s true and probably has been for a few weeks. We need to dig in, ensure a decent league finish and really go for the Champions League and a domestic cup
Champions league?
A prestigious European competition in club football.
You get a trophy with big ears for winning it.
“Unwell before the game and didn’t train, and that was obvious in his performance when he came on” – Has he been unwell for the past 2 weeks or is he just out of form?
He looks gaunt to me.
Agreed, he definitely looks different to pre-injury.
When I became a father, I didn’t sleep for a year.
He’s a multi-millionaire, I think he can employ a team of nannies to help with the kid ffs!
Maybe he and his wife think their kid should be raised by their parents instead of nannies? Even multimillionaires have their foibles!
I was going to write this too! Plus lots of colds…
Way too generous with the ratings in my opinion. Martinelli, Trossard, Jorginho, Calafiori, Øde and Merino. None of them deserves anything more than a 5. And in general i can’t see how our summer signings of Calafiori and Merino has made us better.. rather the other way around.
yes, not convinced by Calafiori looks slow and not agile enough. Merino is decent at best but nothing more.
Merino is just a utility player, an ok replacement for el neny. Nothing else.
what are you on about
Calafiori dovetails great with Gabi when he’s on the left – but they haven’t had much of a chance to get into a rhythm due to so many absences and shifts in line ups. I think he’s got good agility but sometimes gets caught off guard defensively, which he can definitely work on. He’s exciting to watch – just wasn’t tonight, along with the rest of the team. On to the next.
An interesting prick of a ref ( not withstanding we were poor and a depleted squad) who happily waved away a penalty in 2012 for us.
Rvp ( a cunt i don’t like) was about to tap in from 2 yards and a lad just took him out b4 the ball came to him.
Fast forward to 2025…… a marginal foul in the box ……. And Yep, he gives it.
A yellow card for Nwaneri for “time wasting” at a corner with no warning …. complete joke of a decision.
The same guy gave foul away at Liverpool 1 second before we scored. Didn’t want to wait for the VAR I guess.
Although, objectively speaking, he does this very often against all the teams. So he’s clearly bad but equally against all teams unlike most other refs who target us. This performance was down to us being bad unlike the draws with City, Pool and Brighton…
Anthony Taylor is a tw*t
Was never a penalty. Shocking decision.
Tp must start in the midfield.
Would have if we had any RB available.
Think this nonsense of « Arteta plays Partey at RB, he’s so stupid!!! » has to stop.
I don’t think that’s what he is saying. I think he’s just saying start TP in midfield and find another RB solution who – like TP – is not a RB. It’s a valid point of view, even if you don’t have to agree with it
1) There is no other solution at right back currently;
2) Partey did well at RB even if we missed his passing range in the midfield, I agree but we can outcome this with other players (e.g Jorginho when he’s not shit like tonight)
Who would you put there if not Partey?
I’d put any of the more natural defenders there (Tierney, Zinch, Lewis-Skelly, Kiwior were on the the bench today, any of them might have been better! And not necessarily in that order!) even if they’re on the wrong wing. Partey looks out of place at RB, even though he’s right footed, he’s so much better in CM.
We miss Cedric. There I said it.
Partey is better than all those options at Right Back. I say this even though I hate when Partey plays at Right Back. But tonight Arteta had no choice. While Tierney, Zinch, LS and Kiwior are natural defenders they also seem to be unnatural out of that position in this team. So why would you risk playing them there when a fit Partey is available?
Absolute rubbish. Arsenal have 6 players who can play left back. Meanwhile, our RB options are: “I did my ACL last season” Timber, “I played through the pain for an entire season before needing surgery” White, and “I’ve played about 5 times since I got my new contract” Tomiyasu. That.is.it. Arsenal have been aware of the lack of fit RBs for well over a season now (everyone knew White was playing hurt for a long time and Tomiyasu has been repeatedly injured, then Timber crocked himself) and management has done absolutely nothing to address the lack of depth in that… Read more »
It’s the whole squad management in total that needs reworking not just singular positions. The overall depth is shocking and out of balance.
Absolutely.
That’s complete bullshit. White, Timber, Tomiyasu, *Nichols are 4 options. Unlucky that White has the injury, Timber has to be managed, Tomiyasu just coming back slowly, and the youngster isn’t trusted yet. But spending money on another option makes no sense. Our squad depth is just fine except for the striker position, in fact it’s the best it’s been in a long time. You can only have 25 players in the squad (+youngsters), there’s home grown quotas to be met, plus those players who don’t play have to be paid. What we DO need is better rotation (which to be… Read more »
“That’s complete bullshit”… proceeds to name the same 3 RBs and adds another unproven youth team player who despite Arsenal’s injury crisis has played zero minutes for the first team this season. “Unlucky that White has the injury”… White’s injury was quite literally the opposite of luck, he played injured for months until he was forced to have surgery. This is has been public knowledge for some time. “Timber needs to be managed”… Timber is 6th at Arsenal for most minutes played this season, more than Rice and Martinelli. He would’ve played vs Brighton too were he not suspended. Timber… Read more »
wouldn‘t mls rb and tp in mf have been better?
Totally agree, we are a much better team with Partey in our midfield. I reckon the stats for 2024 would back that up.
The reaction after the equalizer was really disappointing.
That said, it’s very difficult to achieve big thinks if every grey decision goes against you.
Why is Artets always playing Rice upfront?
Because there is nobody else able to fill this position given current injuries.
It’s such a waste of 110 mil quid playing him in positions where he can’t contribute like a 110 mil quid player should…!
Because Merino stinks.
I know it was probably due to the yellow card, but I think it was a mistake to substitute Nwaneri. He at least offered us something. Martinelli should have been on instead of Trossard.
We created very little today. With a little luck we would have won 0-1. That penalty was weird
He is injured. Mikel just confirmed this.
Just saw the quote from Arteta
Combination of the pecky birds and the Bald Taylor couldn’t bring any joy today
Injuries are a problem. And a sickness going through the team that had to play wed then sat for some reason. Having no backup for Odegaard will hurt us more. He can’t play every match. Without him at full speed we are average. Martinelli and trossard have gotten worse. Yes, Martinelli scored last match but he looks to have no confidence. I forgot Trossard was on the pitch in the second half. He was poor. Not sure why Ethan came out. Partey wasn’t bad but he’s so strong in midfield it hurts us not to have him there. But I… Read more »
Nwaneri came off because he was injured
We luckily held out to draw.
With Jesus in lineup we might not lose PL game ever, but won’t win any silverware either.
Without the dodgy penalty decision we win that game 1:0.
Nothing wrong with this decision. If it was in our favor nobody would bat an eye.
Besides, what does this have to do with our abysmal performance in second half, especially inability to create any kind of offensive threat.
Only a bloody fool would give Partey anything above a 3. An abomination of a second half performance! Sickening.
Brighton under this manager are a very dislikable team and seem to get away with a lot and I agree with the penalty being a joke.
We have had some dreadful decisions against us this year and most are down to giving the referee an excuse to do us, and that penalty will go down like the Rice and Trossard sending offs in the never to be seen again box.
That aside we went a goal up as we have many times and tried to strangle the game and it cost us this time.
Yeah – it feels that’s our default response these days. Go ahead, then seek to control the game, assuming this will usually work because the defence is so miserly. It didn’t work today because of the penalty, but I see why Arteta wants that ability in our armory. 1-0 away with a weakened team would have been a masterpiece of pragmatism.
Martinelli should play at left. He is half of player on the right.
Only solution I see would be to move him to the left, Trossard to the middle and Jesus on the right.
But unsure that would fix any issue we had tonight since most were down to our midfield.
Before Trossard joined Arsenal he scored a hat trick from the right wing against Liverpool.
like I say when I was a footballer Trossard would be easily dealt with
Need partey in the midfield. Completely different game. Figure out a right back whatever it takes
Raya – fine Saliba/Gabriel – ok, we don’t do away clean sheets anymore Calafiori – is he any better than any of our army of left backs? Offers nothing going forward Partey – decent in midfield, not a right back Trossard – does nothing Rice – Runs around waving his arms and calling everyone mate Merino – Slow Nwaneri – one for the future, not now Jorginho – Slow Jesus – don’t let recent goals fool you, not good enough Subs – Made zero changes to how we played, shite Arteta – Last year was our chance, he’s made us… Read more »
Some punctuation would really help this comment to become readable.
He hasn’t made us worse. Bar a few squad players that weren’t playing anyway last season we have the same damn team. We haven’t been able to find any rhythm this season due to suspensions, injuries and a lot of players bang out of form. The players need to take a long hard look at themselves as not one of them is near their level of last season (actually Raya has improved and maybe Saka also but everyone else not even close to last year’s performances (our captain needs to look harder than most. I don’t care that he has… Read more »
The weather here on the south coast is absolutely vile this evening, strong winds and very gusty, driving rain and it was directly into the Arsenal faces during the second half. I’m sure it’s part of the reason so many passes were going astray. Brighton are a cheaty, dirty, divey team and Anthony Taylor was letting them get away with everything, and even managed to magic up a never to be seen again penalty. We weren’t good, but I can’t be down on this team when they were getting assaulted all over the pitch, they’re unwell, and they fought twelve… Read more »
Do you think with this weather thing and all should we not be playing our big men e.g TP in midfield.
I ask you were the selections correct on the night???
May well be some recency bias, but this one cut especially deep. We “owed them one” after shambolic send-off and Hurzeler’s inane post-match comments in the home fixture yet couldn’t muster sustained effort through the full 90. Title challengers “find a way,” when things (like poor officiating, stomach flu, yellow card accumulation…) are against them. When it is your 17-year-old prospect that looks to be the only player desperately trying to get something out of the game, something fundamental may be amiss. This could well render title challenge done and dusted, where is the urgency (has Partey thrown the ball… Read more »
Where are our right backs? White, Tomiyasu…?
I’m not getting bent out of shape about this one. We don’t have the quality going forward and we’ve been unlucky with injuries.
If man u win tomorrow then we’ve gained a point. *that’s not happening*
A liverpool win puts us all out of our misery tbh.
i am not saying i believe still.
but with that much of a lead and their players talking abroad, they might slip up in a month or two.
if they do though, i bet city come storming back as well
Overall very pour not sure why they insist on playing martinelli on the right if Ethane was injured should have moved trossard to right as Martinelli is a far better option on the left and playing him out of position will only do his confidence gets lower. Rice have been looking legy all season and for me either need to play in 6 or not at all so he can rest and get back to his best. Problem as last season is the left 8 position where we Don’t seam to find answers Also very much missing haverts in this… Read more »
I’m sure I’ll be downvoted to hell, but I don’t see any issue with that penalty. He’s late and heads him in the head – it’s a foul in the box.
I think it is bizarre but possible correct it is just that I have never seen them given before.
And there is the issue of consistency as I can not see how a breaking nose in the early game is not a penalty when the player does not tuch the ball at all is not and this is given
Yeah I don’t really get blogs comment suggesting he has a problem with that penalty. He always says how would he feel of it was given the other way, and I would absolutely be screaming for a penalty of one of our players got essentially headbutted in the temple, though it was obviously not intentional, it was still a pretty obvious foul I think. After seeing the replay I had no complaints other than with our team for their subpar performance
TBF I changed my mind on this when I later saw a replay showing saliba actually got the ball first.
The replay I saw on TV it looked like he was nowhere near it and only headed the player, so I thought penalty.
If he touched the ball no way it’s a penalty
The ball flicked off Salibas head before the connection with the Brighton player’s head. Was not a foul. No penalty. VAR “Clear and obvious error” it was definitely but of course they sit on their hands and do squat
Yes that is probably why not overturned as not obvious missatake
For me i think if var should only be involved in obvious missatake then about 90% of all times when used this season it should not been used.
Either we go full technology or scrapp it in my opinion
I’m ok with the ref blowing the whistle but not with the fact they should be awarded a free kick at a goal for that.
Too much of a punishment.
Saliba heads the ball before heads come together. The ref is a clown.
No, he does not. It is very clear. Anyhow, there was absolutely no danger and no reason for Saliba to make the challenge. Otherwise agree that ref was biased against us in several (minor) incidences.
He does, go watch the MOTD coverage, they slow it down for you 😉
Very clear lol
I will gladly wear the referee tinfoil conspiracy hat after today. My word, the absolute pond swill between the ears. Folks looked stretched today, wondering how we can get more out of our wide attacking players. Trossard and Martinelli looked tame.
I think we try to control the game a bit to much Martinelli is as best when get to run at defense but sometimes need to get to far down to help and we always seam to choose the closest alternative when passing. I think in the players we have we could start it off quicker sometimes and need a bit more movement
Martinelli was ill.
Then I understand the decision not to start but still think when he got on should have been on the left.
Trossard was already invisible so think it would have been more effective.
I think Trossard is more of a player that can play across the line personally think he is best in the middle.
But it is always easy to say afterwards.
I agree, Martinelli should always be on the left or in the middle.
Injuries, referees, bad luck, weather, Øde’s Child, thin squad, Full moon, Ucranian War, etc etc etc. Excuses and more excuses. We are Excuses Champions !!!!
You should support a different team
he probably does.
We can’t rely on our forward players, they won’t win us the league. They’re not consistent enough and lack that cutting edge bar Saka
This transfer window is so vital for any success this seasons , but I can’t see us splashing for 3 players
Partly because we don’t give the the cance as we play up to slow and ask them to defend to deep to be in the position to make it happen
But I agree with you
Other all the talk about our bad luck in missing Odegaard and Saka for lengthy periods, Ben White’s absence has been at least as damaging. Should not overlook this.
That Jorginho performance just earned him a 50 million pound move to Manchester United.
That is not a good thing
Merino out of his depth. Terrible signing
We’ve been so hurt this season by our availability of right backs. I won’t knock Partey, because it’s not his position, but I think we all have seen that every time we’ve had him played at right back we’ve looked much slower in the build up. That’s not just by us missing Timber / White, but also by missing Parteys presence at CM.. where he’s been brilliant this season for the most part. It’s a double hit.. no RB and no Partey in CM.
Taylor was and continues to be one of the worst refs English football has ever seen. He’s so predictable in his approach, it’s clear he’s actually a moron.
Having said that, we were poor. It’s too much to expect to win games when you create naff all from open play, it catches up with you.
Think it was an expected result given the absences and shifting around of players re:Partey at RB. Hopefully things turnaround in coming games so the fanbase doesn’t tear itself apart.
This is a bad day for Arsenal, it is time to get rid of Arteta as he can not make the correct selections. If you look at the matches where points were dropped this season you will see that Trosard started and TP played at RB, it’s as plain as the nose on your face. I am an avid Arsenal supporter and a sportsman who played rugby, soccer, and GAA football all at a high level, I coached rugby for years I refereed rugby matches. I played in good soccer backlines and if I saw the likes of Trosard in… Read more »
i wouldn’t give arteta stolen money in the transfer window, sold GRANIT for 16 million and gave 150 million on rice and merino to replace him. tossard scored a goal for us and refused to celebrate, imagine that. that was boring vs Brighton, but can you imagine having to train every day under that regime. Our best midfielder played as a fullback AGAIN and 3 fullbacks named in the subs. the escape we had with mudrick.etc. sorry to disappoint but no trophies coming our way lads and lassies. Happy new year all
Sadly. I don’t see a title winning team. Whatever you rate individual players after every game, it doesn’t really matter. If you step back and look more broadly then week after week the performances are just okay, with focus on winning through control. The moment control is challenged or lost the team tend to flounder. We can moan about the penalty but we put ourselves in that position
3 DMs + partey shows how a creative attacking CM is so importantly missing.
A creative and dependable LW to supply and shoot is also crucial.
Nwaneri scored because he ran at the goal and took a shot and guess what it went in what a concept! We have stopped doing that instead we pass pass pass so by the time we try to shoot everyone is in our way. We had 3 shots on target one went in the other two were benign. Arteta will defend his position by quoting our goal tally but that misses the point we need a striker or two who can see a shot opportunity from just outside the box and can accurately challenge the opposing goalie.