Arsenal got their Europa League campaign off to a winning start, coming from behind to beat Rapid Vienna 2-1, thanks to goals from David Luiz and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
The home side took the lead early in the second half after a mistake from a rather erratic Bernd Leno, but Luiz headed home from a Nicolas Pepe free kick and Aubameyang was provided a tap-in after Hector Bellerin got behind the Austrian defence.
Thomas Partey’s full debut was impressive, and Gabriel was good again at the back, but Mikel Arteta has plenty to work on before Sunday’s visit of Leicester.
Read the Rapid Vienna 1-2 Arsenal match report and see the goals here.
Rapid Vienna 1-2 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 Bernd Leno. Also, please give the ratings a few seconds to load.
One thing I know for sure is that Partey should have started against Manchester City.
I agree. Also can we just point out how Nketiah is absolutely terrible at anything other than a tap in? WENGER used to put young strikers wide to develop their all round game. He did it with Bendtner Ramsey Wilshere Ox Jeff Vela etc I feel like Nketiah missed out on that phase of his development where he should’ve had a run outwide to develop his take on skills his dribbling his runs etc He is so one dimensional and clueless with the ball and his touch is so poor I want to like Eddie but his lack of all… Read more »
In that era we could afford to do that, that is no longer the case. Unfortunately as much as we want it, I don’t see a future for Nketiah here unless there’s a serious improvement in his all-round game. He’s an amazing poacher, but just like the #10, that’s not a role that can be accomodated anymore at this level.
Use your punctuation man.
Hindsight captains everywhere.
Arteta was asked why Partey didn’t start vs City and gave a pretty logical answer.
But we now have a fanbase that loves Arteta but doesn’t listen to anything he says
One thing I know for sure is that trust Mikel Arteta’s perspective on this better than Torterrier’s
Dunno why this is getting downvoted. I get the fitness thing, but he was playing for Atletico, right? It doesn’t seem to me that he’s the kind of player you bring on for an injection with 10 minutes to go. He’s more foundational – someone who allows us to line up and build our game on top of. Anyway, that’s in the past. He had a great game today and that’s all that matters.
I guess it shows the mind boggling complexity of mikel’s process and tactic (in a gd way, not unai way). With new found tactical genius + world class training and developmental skills, im very confident players like martinelli and saka will end up being as good as sterling and sane.
I’m not even confident martinelli will get game time
Hi EddieLongbridge
Football is a team game….any new guy coming into the team…more than fitness issues…needs to gel into the team tactics and the way team wants to play…that requires more than a single training session…especially when playing a team like Man City…thus the reason he was not part of the plans
The fact you actually have to explain this to some people smh
yeah
What else would Leno have needed to do to score lower than a 4!?
Literally throw one in, maybe?
Let’s not forget he made some saves (one where he got a hand up to stop a looping deflection comes to mind). But overall not reassuring today.
agreed, this was a horrorshow. 4 is definitely to high for arseblog standards, this was on par with mustafi’s worst peeformances
Leno is a brilliant shot stopper but I do worry about his command of his box. Martinez was much more comfortable with crosses and corners. Hopefully last nights game was just a one off.
red card, penalty, etc?
Late in the match, someone played a simple backpass to Leno, with no one near him and there was no problem. Except that I was home screaming “no, what are doing, why are you passing it back to him, what’s the matter with you?” I am not sure Leno or the other Arsenal players could hear me, but I was screaming loud enough that they might have.
Depending on the time zone you live in, your wife might have come out to scream almost the same words to you. Trust me I know. I have to watch while barely making out the what the commentator’s saying.
We could hear you
He needs to sit up. It’s starting to feel like, he puts in a horror Show, get stick from fans and media then turn up with a master class in the next match. Consistency is what’s required of him. No doubting of his quality imo.
Leno needs a Number 2 to keep him on his toes. Would he have been dropped on Sunday as a lesson if we had a known/reliable replacement?
Leno is untouchable…. I personally think he’s highly overrated. You can’t argue at his shot stopping, but overall he is quite poor. His ball retention is rubbish, he’s uncomfortable with the ball at his feet, dosnt control the defence enough, his decision making is quite frankly appaling and he’s not great at set pieces. Think about last year’s “amazing form” before injury. How many dodgy backpasses ended up in a goal. How many punched away balls came back at us.
I said previousely he Will cost us goals directly due to him being not very good
This is the number 1 this season. Will point out the rest in similar fashion
Edu and arteta Will no doubt have to start taking some responsibillity for their shit decision to get rid of emi and replace him with a fourth rate keeper from france rather we had promoted mat macey
If only they had asked for your advice!
Come back Emi…
Lmao look at the downvotes in the last three comments with Leno hive acting like he never makes mistakes.
Arseblog always have their favourites.
Anyone else sensing an issue betweeen Hector and Lacazette ? They’ve been pretty cold toward each other for a few weeks now. Hope they work it out
It’s expected since bellerin found out abt his daughter’s affair with laca !
What did I actually just read😞
Sorry?
I seriously thought ozil’s account was hacked or maybe ozil finally got his password from his PR team.
I do hope we aren’t going to get a commentary on every game for the rest of the season.
let the guy be. Social media is form that. Now you also wished him gagged?
No, it just smacks of attention-seeking PR, to keep his name in the shop window.
Where were his player rating tweets last season?
If you want to, read them by all means. But it makes my skin crawl
Wait are you saying.. he was tweeting about the game..?
Nah, I refuse to believe it
Ah well it’s not so bad having seen it.
I’d rather Ozil be Team Cheerleader than go full Winston Bogarde
So what would you rather have him do? Give him a break, leave him alone. So long as he’s not doing anything that harms the team or the club. Surely the guy’s entitled to post on social media?
He’s never going to play for us again, rightly or wrongly. Let’s all move on and let him keep his followers happy.
Not every game, just once in a fortnight
Savage comment!
I missed that
What was that all about?
Biggest impact he’s had on an away game since his debut.
Don’t worry bud, it was south of Watford
Hoo boy it’s gonna be spicy season
We lack a creative MF!!!
I think it has more to do with the formation. Play a 4-3-3 with Saka as the #10 and a mobile double pivot of Partey and Ceballos behind him – we get the creativity we need, we take back the middle of the pitch and we shouldn’t get exposed to counters with the mobility of that trio.
Looks even more like an issue of gameplan and shape. A goal down and we move it around quicker and chances open up. With the slow passing at 0-0 we could have the best creators and nothing significant happens
Tempo is a big part of it too. We play way too slow far too often. Hopefully partey can help with that by just being able to drive through the lines a bit and open up some space. Again I think 4-3-3 with Saka at #10 would help as We wouldn’t just automatically be forced through the wings like we are now.
I wonder how much the pep philosophy of stretching the pitch during the initial phase has influenced arteta. It’s designed to get the ball forward every time without breaking down. The difference is that pep has ALWAYS worked with world class creative players. Guys who can dribble. Can pass through tight gaps at the precise moment. Players who were great at timing runs off the ball. Just lately, he’s struggled. The standard of players he has at his disposal arent quite at the level and his team can look a bit ponderous too. Point is, we can nearly get to… Read more »
I agree with you until the last part. It’s not bimble. It-
‘S badabing-badaboom
Amazing thought. Couldn’t add a word to it. The solution and the alternative.
We are forced through the wings because everyone is back in their positions and keeping a proper shape by the time we get to the final third
That and having such an alarming hole between our deep-lying double pivot and our striker. It’s either try a through ball over the top or slow things down and build up through the wings because we’re overloaded in the middle.
Wengerball!
Let Saka develop and progress on the left wing, where he is as his best and most dangerous. We need a central attacking midfielder to play central attacking midfield for us.
Aouar plays mostly on the LW too, but he’s also very good through the middle. Saka is excellent in possession through the middle. Until we do sign someone he is the answer, well him or Willian. My preference is Willian on the left and Saka as #10 in a 4-3-3 and the two basically play their roles interchangeably, which confuses defensive marking schemes, and both can thrive in both areas, that also gives us the balance with the direct play of Auba (ST) and Pepe (RW) – and perhaps as importantly a central attacking player to link with Pepe, who… Read more »
So how much did Pepe cost again? On the plus side Partey did look like a proper player !
What exactly was wrong with Pepe? He put in a good shift and a brilliant free kick which led to the goal?
And he plays in a system that couldn’t be less supportive of him. We channel 80% of attacks down the left, this system creates ZERO though the middle, which means defenses can load up centrally against him cutting inside, and he’s left foot dominate so struggles to go around players. Pepe just doesn’t fit this 5-2-3 system well. Reason #29 to switch to a 4-3-3…
Pepe should be in charge of all corners and free kicks from now on. No more luiz bullshit.
have you seen the corners pregoal?
He cost 0.75 parteys
1.5 Parteys surely?
Don’t call him Shirley
I GOT THIS REFERENCE!!! HAHAHA
Too much Spike Milligan? Here, have a boiled gorilla
Aha fuck! What an open goal, you got me there.
I was good at maths as well..
I wish you were my accountant. Then HMRC would owe me money.
He did nothing wrong. Passed the ball and defended. That seems to be what arteta asks of him stuck out on a wing. You want £72m worth then maybe put him in areas where he can demonstrate his actual strengths. Until then if he keeps it tidy he’s not playing badly, he’s just limited by his instructions. Feel sorry for this lad…..wasted!
Corners were bad, other than the assist his free kicks didn’t make it past the first man. He was not good tonight.
That Auba goal was reminiscent of the one he scored in the 3-1 against Leicester a couple years ago just with Mo playing the Özil pass.
Crap performance but got the win. Up the Arse!
And then the excellent third goal. My God, that was a goal!
Mo’Nenny just getting better and better – long may it continue…
Get used to the crap performances
Elneniesta is a better nickname than Mo-zi
Elninho
Mohamed Spellneny
‘Eddie is not a winger’ plane banner over the Emirates anyone?
That was a very generous “5” he has received.
Yeah, he was ineffective wide. He should be from centre.
I’d prefer “Auba is not a winger”
Like Blogs said, hope Leno got it all out of his system. But Partey looked worth every penny out there!!
To be fair, the partnership looked good with elneny. There wasn’t much difference in what they did although partey managed to get tighter and nick more balls I think
Mr Leno needs to forget about the brilliant Martinez!
And so do I!!!!
Bernd will be fine……..
Personally I’d prefer Martinez but Leno will do just fine… I think he was a bit too easygoing today with the oppositon team being less than the most glamourous side out there… hopefully this type of stuff won’t be happening in the games that count.
The bottle of Schnapps before the game may have affected Leno’s judgement a bit.
Gaffer’s fault for this ridiculous dogma of playing around the 6 yard box. Particularly you work to advantage and disadvantage of players. Leno has weakness with ball at feet why insist he play out like that and to the middle? Ridiculous and disaster waiting to happen. …watched Leeds midweek and they put the ball out quickly and to the flanks. their players made sure they were drilled to move the ball as soon as they received it. Very dynamic movement to provide for the pass. and that with poorer players than us. Arteta jury still out for me. Not entirely… Read more »
Leno is NOT weak with the ball at his feet. I think you’re thinking of Cech!
He is jittery. Not as bad as Cech obviously but there atleast 6 keepers in the prem who are better with the ball at their feet than him
It’s pretty clear that Bellerin is much more valuable than Cedric. But Cedric is not nearly so bad as people seem to think. Logical conclusion: Bellerin is really really good.
Naah. I reckon Cedric is okay as a backup, and Bellerin is a bit below par for the role of a starting right back these days.
He’s one hell of a full-back offensively but defensively he’s shambles and every game against the big boys it feels like he will cost us a goal at some point of the game, and more often than not he does.
I don’t think we’re too well covered at right-back with these two to be fair.
But AMN is more than OK as a back up, he’s arguably a legit threat to bellerin as starter. Thus, Cedric is rather obselete. Truly one of our worst signings.
Rough on AMN not getting any game tonight.
AMN is as much of a right back as Sokratis is… might be rough on him that he didn’t get any game time tonight, but I thought Partey and Elneny did really well overall in the middle of the park.
If all our players did so well, how come we created so little against a team which is supposed to be way below our standard. In the first half Rapid was the better team. In the second arsenal had much better control but created very little. Our first goal came after a massive blunder by their keeper. Arsenal were lucky to win.
Where exactly did I say “all our players did so well”?
This is rubbish. Bellerin has a great defensive game and workrate, and rarely costs us at the back. There’s obviously a balance between attack and defense to be struck, and Arteta has tweaked his role so he comes inside and plays further up at the moment.
You don’t really need to go far back to see my point if I am being honest… just look back at the Liverpool game this season where he is partially responsible for all 3 goals we condeded, or the recent City game where the only goal of the game happened because instead of contesting the player with the ball and a huge goalscoring opportunity that he was supposed to be covering in the first place, he thought the smartest thing to do was to run half the sixteen yards box away from him like a headless chicken… that sure turned… Read more »
run half the sicteed yards box away from him in the empty space like a headless chicken*
sixteen*
Correct assessment. Too many people prefer to imagine qualities before they are there. This summer it was on Saliba, AMN and cedric. I mentioned we do not have certainty the candidates to replace Bellerin can step up as yet. Jury still out (nor did we have budget to go after yet another fullback) It would have been daft in the extreme to have sold Bellerin to generate cash (even if this is a problem for our current inexperienced transfer team) We need balance of threat from both flank and with Bellerin, you get the right side going particularly with Willian… Read more »
We “need” a 4-3-3 that allows us to do something through the middle of the pitch, which would massively assist Pepe instead of allowing teams to shade an extra defending to him on the inside, taking away his strengths. Everything about our current setup is about solidity and pragmatism and a lot of it to support Xhaka, who is a terrible deep midfielder against teams that play high tempo counter attacking football due to his poor mobility and inability to defend in space. But IMO one of the main reasons we signed Partey was to be more versatile – so… Read more »
Was irked by Leno’s comments a couple of weeks back when he smugly smiled at the tv camera and said he always knew he was number one. Super confident I’ll give him that but that display was shocking. He’s our number one. He’s fine and I get that martinez only ever demonstrated what he can be over about 12 games and may have crumbled under pressure but leno has never even during last season put in performances to match those of emi. And I’m absolutely certain emi never looked that uncomfortable in ANY match with his feet. And that’s a… Read more »
Absolutely agree. Worries me he now has no competition.
When he made that comment. I took as him saying he was never doubtful of the club.
BUT now that you broke it down differently, I definitely see the arrogance and it worries me a little. No point having confidence off the pitch if you have none on it.
Was that Jay Leno rather than Bernd Leno in goal ?
No, Jay would have saved the shot with his chin.
Remember when people try to deny Leno’s high errors stat by making random facts up. Yeah
Third highest mistakes leading to a goal in the Premier League.
Yep, a bit error prone, and not the best commander of his box when it comes to crosses and stuff, but otherwise an elite keeper.
Hope he cuts the errors down a bit or at least keeps them restrained to games like these that do not have any huge significance… let’s hope for the best, but I’d be honest, Martinez being our no1 goalie would make me feel a tad safer.
I don’t know know… If you can’t command your box well and you are a bit error prone, how are you an elite keeper?
I’ll wait until the end of the season to decide who is better between Martinez and Leno but it looked like last season, Emi responded better to the goalkeeper coaching change. If he can sustain it is what remains to be seen.
*But otherwise*… meaning, in terms of 1 on 1’s, shot stopping in general and etc.
Except his handling isn’t great either. Spills too many balls and prefers punches and pushes to catches. So apart from handling, control of box, and errors, he’s absolutely world class… Lol
He is a world class shot stopper…and that’s it. He is average in every other aspect of goalkeeping
Arsenal should send Nicolas Pepe and lacazette out on loan…to Man United.
You mean our leading goalscorer this season and the guy who scored a winner in the last PL game we won and delivered a cross that sparked a comeback win today?
Yeah sure…
P.s. not saying they’re perfect or even good enough for the Arsenal starting XI at the time being, but it’s this type of nonsense that sometimes makes me feel like our fanbase is full of ingrateful wankers.
Ingrateful = ungrateful ingrates?
I guess, English isn’t my first language so forgive me if it’s not 100% perfecto. xD
Against all but the best teams, Elneny looks like a top-class player. (Against the best opposition, he is pretty safe, but pedestrian and not someone who can make a big difference.) I thought he was really good today, immensely helpful on the right side of the back three, partnering well with Partey (who looks like a top-class player, full stop), looking to get the back up to Pepe, then Bellerin. I would have give him an 8, certainly.
Maybe he is told to play that way. The whole team played that way against City last weekend.
Sorry, anot her negative comment but Lacazette (for me) is really sub-standard as a hold up man. He finds it hard to show a decent angle most of the time and when the ball arrives he’s always square on with the defender. His frame isn’t big enough for that at the defender nearly always toes the ball away when it arrives. How this notion that he’s a good hold up player materialised I don’t know. If he gets it and turns and switches it well once in a match, that seems to pass as good. The attack breaks down with… Read more »
Yeah, I really like him but I have to agree. It’s not his strength. Giroud was so much better at playing others in…
What is Laca’s strength? I guess he is good in penalty box chances but he misses and wastes far more. He pressed decent but even that is lacking. He runs like a head less chicken in the beginning and loses steam by the end of an hour
As if to illustrate our drop in quality without one or two critical members of the first team in squad. Of course there will be issues given new player and some reserves but we were unconvincing without certain senior players on and it begs the question whether we can sustain the season if some of the peripherals do not start getting up to speed. OTOH, first match in group stage away so with that in mind : 1) Leno – A bit of a shokcer from him today clearing the ball. BUT I don’t really blame him because he as… Read more »
Leno, Laca, Pepe, Cedric, Eddie, Kola – poor
Mo, Luiz, Saka – average
Gabriel, Thomas, PEA, Bellerin – good.
I do not indulge in slander, but Ozil’s insistence at staying till the end of his contract, entitled as he maybe, reflects poorly on him. This was made clear last season, that he wouldn’t play, not anymore. That he’s here indicates his lack of interest in football, when he could have moved. A word on the transfer team: they should have pushed for his exit more. Him leaving would have allowed us to buy Aouar, or whichever creative midfielder they are looking at right now. Solid additions, almost all, but Aouar would have lit the spark. This team plays in… Read more »
Very pedestrian indeed. This team has been so well coached but to do one thing. We have massive structure. We control the ball deep and look comfortable. I only hope that arteta has coached them to do all that quicker than he realised he could. That at this point, he wasnt planning on moving on to attacking with speed or creativity and that he’ll get to that soon because right now we’re awful at going forward. Fat Sam was great at coaching. He coached players to play no risk football perfectly by hoofing it upfield and getting in positions to… Read more »
Great post TA spot on
Spot on, and I’m hoping Arteta works on the teams positions and runs in attack.
From watch the games, it seemed that our midfielders either seem blind or aren’t adventurous to pass ahead of them when pressured, almost looking to always pass backwards. Not helped on by a clear lack of movement as well.
We just need to up our tempo and passing speed whenever we win the ball, and work on movements and we should be golden.
That link between midfield and attack is missing, but till we find that link, a midfield of Partey and Ceballos should help our attackers breathe a little more – it’s astounding how constricted they look in attack, slightly lost, when compared to our defence, which is only getting better. That balance between attack and defence if found by Mikel will portend well for us.
The levels of passive aggressive in Mesut are worth a 9 at least
Leno is better than Bob Wlilson
Bellerin haters are just Boris Johnson supporters.
Or maybe Bellerin a**-lickers no matter what he does are just brainwashed neo-commies, eh?
As for Bellerin himself, he has his upsides ( a great knack for an assist ), but also his downsides ( defensive positioning )… no need to collectively delude ourselves into thinking he is a flawless messiah or something
And here you have the two sides of the fake political dialectic, folks.
And on what “side” exactly would I be in your book, aside from not being a dumba*s “woke” commie?
The right side, a subsection of which contains boomers who have been coerced into the fox news/cnn sandwich of republicans v dems which is little more than wrestling. I think you’re the kinda guy who has ostentatious flames on his MMMBIG TRUCK with stickers like ‘socialism sucks’ and the other guy is the latte sipping, smug, globalized consumer. An enforcer of the party line, an empty vessel.
My side too. The side that stands for logic and not feelings
I am trying to respond to this, but what’s up with this biased site censoring certain comments?
While Arsenal FC has some 15 mio followers on Twitter, Ozil has over 25 mio!!! I am not one of them anymore though – got fed up with photos of Erdogan. But admitting that, Mesut was one of my favourite Arsenal players a few years ago
Gabriel and Partey… oooof! Bit damning that Cedric was subbed off… pre and post Sanllehi eras there?
The fans and media go bananas about tactics. Players win matches not tactics. With great players you impose your game on other teams. Arteta has a lot of average players, and to be fair young players, so he has to set up cautiously and play with more discipline. But we lack creativity. Since we are more disciplined we should beat the teams we are expected to beat with fewer gaffes this season than the past few. And we will continue to struggle against good teams, relying on making the most of our 3 or 4 chances on goal. Hopefully there… Read more »
Likeir it or not ozil under Arteta was probably one of the top 3 best players. Rewatch the matches if u want.. forward passing and missed sitters by our team. If you still think this isnt about money or politics. Then beats me.. players like.him gave Arsenal a fan base.. hes thr closest thing weve to a bergkamp or pires. Were a borimg team to watch without players.of his caliber bsck.heelimg nutmegging giving killer passes and creating awrsome team goals.. as wenger said.. FOOTBALL IS ART! Thabks for mentioning Ozil again.. ill stand by my favourite and most exciting from… Read more »
I know you’re right Nas because I sat at the emirates and saw it with my own eyes. Alas simply stating over and over again that none of this happened is what passes for truth in the comments section.
Ozil is nothing like Bergkamp or Pires, both those players combined talent with application and a good attitude, neither are things Ozil has displayed in quite some time.
What would you tell your client to do if you worked at a PR firm and you knew all your client cared about was the money and that hes not welcome at the club?
pretty much everything Ozil has done.
Hate to admit it, but it seems more and more likely that the sale of Martinez will come back to haunt us. Why fix something which aint broken. Emi was ( is ) playing well and should have been kept as the number 1, with Leno fighting to get his place back. Leno just doesnt give me the confidence whenever he plays. He cant command the area as well as Emi and dare i say, doesnt instil any confidence to the defence. Was thoroughly disappointed when Emi is sold. I understand we tried to tie his down to a new… Read more »
Is anybody else having trouble scrolling down the rating whhen arseblog rating is on? (Ios, safari) Cant see the last 3-4players ratinngs and comments. I know most of the times it would say “not on long enough to rate”
I think it’s time to try Runarson on goal. He really can’t be more erratic than Leno. I repeat, the decision to sell Martinez was a bad decision. Now come beat me if you can.
10/10: Mesut Ozil live-Tweeting the game. It’s that kind of creativity which makes £350,000 a week worth it. And Mikel loving it 😀
Martinez, I pine for thee.
Ozil should in this squad, we struggle too much in the final 3rd. Creativity is low.
I think the team is taking shape:
Leno
Bellerin – Luiz – Magalhaes – Tierney
Elneny – Partey – Ceballos
Pepe – Auba – Saka
You can see where some work is required but its getting there