A second minute Raheem Sterling goal was the difference between Arsenal and Man City at the Emirates this evening. Rob Holding
It wasn’t an unexpected defeat to a side who have now won their 18th successive game, but it still felt a bit disheartening – even if you can acknowledge City’s superiority.
Here’s how the players rated.
Read the Arsenal 0-1 Man City match report and see the goals here
Arsenal 0-1 Man City – Player Ratings
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No one looked great but City are probably the best team in Europe. They’ve just set the record for most consecutive wins in English history & every player they put out today is better than our corresponding one – no exceptions. On to Thursday which is a much more important game for us
also arseblog second guessing bellerin’s performance bcoz of pepe. saka bellerin works well bcoz saka is an world class talent and makes everyone look good. pepe on left is more effective bcoz there’s no bellerin at lb. Stop defending bellerin, he’s shit.
Yes saka is elite. But other than that your logic is flawed.
You have to feel for Pepe. The lad has had two really good periods at the club. During the first he lost his place to Willian and the second he was replaced by Odegaard. Two signings were made to push him out the team.
You can’t help but feel that doesn’t bode well for the lad. I’m not convinced Arteta fancies him at all, even when he’s on form.
Can’t help but feel this is just poor management from Arteta. Both Pepe and Laca have been dropped recently whilst riding waves of really good form. Not sure how you can continue to motivate players if you keep doing that…
Laca replacement in the centre is Auba, and we are rewarded with a hattrick lest you forget. But having said that, I do enjoy Laca’s energy when he is on. Auba is better in the centre, We have better options on the left like Martinelli or Pepe.
Agree
Totally agree! I am now slightly pissed off with Arteta! How come he spends time in the media praising Odegaard and at the same time never convincingly doing the same for others like Pepe, who with the right coach, has it in him to be something very special. Pepe kind of reminds me of Kanu at times. Odegaard is a big talent, but he’s not our player & we haven’t invested heavily in him like we have with Pepe – and Saliba is another. Stop wasting Arsenal’s resources Arteta! Buck up, drop the egotistic management and support players that deserve… Read more »
You might want to re-evaluate your statement about Ancelotti v Arteta spending…..
“Pepe kind of reminds me of Kanu at times.”
Wait.. What?!!
How you got that many likes with that sentence in your statement astonished me.
The style of football we’re trying to play doesn’t suit him, he needs spaces, to run at defenders, but is rarely getting the opportunity. He’d probably be better off elsewhere, as much as I like him.
Not sure I agree with this Richard. Whilst Pepe’s looked hapless on the right wing, he’s very sharp on the left. Arguably our best period of form this season has come with him wide left and Saka out right – which we notably chose to invert this evening, to very little effect.
Agree that Pepe would be better on the left but that’s where Auba was and it didn’t work. Go figure….
Agree completely Alex. Pepe on the left, Saka on the right, ESR linking between them and Laca leading the line. That’s our best front line this season. Instead we are constantly trying to fit in a very inconsistent Auba and now Odegard and it just doesn’t work.
Seriously why invert a formation that works?! What logic is there in it?! Such a shame for Pepe, but even sadder for Arsenal fc. We don’t have the money to misuse and demotivate players we have invested heavily in. This manager is no Ancelotti 😀 Have we now swapped places with Everton due to the difference in management skills/quality; when we’ve actually spent more on player recruitment in the same time period?
I think that Pepe is a fragile soul. He needs to feel loved and trusted. And when he’s in a rich vein of form, we need to keep playing him and not stunt his momentum. After another ok performance from Pepe today, I feel like Arteta has sabotaged this transfer to a certain extent. He must know that Pepe needs to keep expressing himself on the field. I think Arteta, like Pep, thinks players need to come in when asked, do a perfect job and then sit out when he says so. Look at Mahrez or Bernando Silva at City.… Read more »
Arteta is just using his resources poorly which happens to great managers let alone brand new managers.
And he worked his bollocks off today – never seen him dash about trying to keep the press going when the others seem to lose interest.
I’m guessing since every comment you make on every post is about how bad Bellerin is, you don’t like Hector.
That’s partially true, love hector as a human being, but i just cant stand the fact that he inspite of being average gets a free run into our team.
I don’t think Bellerin is that bad. What do you look for in a decent RB? He rarely gets beat 1 v 1, overlaps well, drives into the box when covered by his winger, seems aware of space and his defensive responsibility. He’s not Tierney going forward but he’s ok. We’re a team full of ok players who can be good when conditions are just perfect. I see the same in Odergaard despite the excitement around him. Definition of midtable.
Nonsense. All of our players are better than Leicester’s. It’s management.
ALL of them?
Bellerin is increasingly poor to average. He drives forward but then make poor decisions, losing the ball, doesn’t link up with Pepe as he should, defending 1vs1 has cost us goals and points, he has lost his speed, often out of position, first touch in key moments usually let him/everyone down and often can’t even do proper throw-in. Occasionally he comes up with good goal or cross but overall this season he hovers at average at best for me
Agreed with today’s Bellerin performance. He speaks of confidence and character but was like a dog with his tails between his legs today against city. He’s our senior most player, seems sinsible and likeable but we can do much better at RB.
He’s a great guy, like his style but as a player increasingly poor. Nice talker about responsibility and so forth but doesn’t seem to have a mirror in his house to reflect his own words back to him
Soares maybe?
Let’s be honest. The number of bad passes Bellerin made is high yesterday. He cannot hold on to the ball and is constantly under pressure. The left side did much better, handling the skilful Mahrez and also most of Arsenal’s venture upfront comes from the left.
Bellerin is not the player he was a few years ago and i would certainly be looking to replace him.
Do you mean today?
Or in general?
Because no way is Zinchenko better than Tierney (although he was better than Tierney today, who wasn’t as sharp following his return from injury).
I mean in general. Even if I granted you Teirney, City still line up at least 10 better players than we do. We have some promising players but this is a game we should lose 9 out of 10 times.
Ederson and Leno is debatable.
Only if you are a direct blood relation of Leno.
Not to belittle the overall point, but Bayern are probably the best team in Europe.
Agree with goongot everything seemed to end with bellerin. It will be interesting to see how many times he lost the ball today because it was a lot. We can do a lot better at rb than bellerin tbh
Not on current form
highjacking first post to ask: how does holding get a 4.5 for a single mistake when auba got 5.5 against benfica?
Auba imo against Benfica was 3. And the goal today I put more on Bellerin than Holding.
Then you weren’t watching the same match… Sterling moves through the centre while Bellerin is marking Silva, correctly as the outside man. Holding watches Sterling, checks back TWICE to monitor his movement. He perfectly positions himself goalside of him but then, does not even attempt a jump as the cross comes in! He’s also seen Mahrez shift back onto his left, he knows with all probability that the cross is going to come in… And yet he fails to even TRY to compete – he didn’t get outjumped by the shortest bloke on the pitch, only because he didn’t jump… Read more »
Bayern, PSG, or City. Easy to make a case for any of the three, nearly impossible to argue for anyone else.
Saka > sterling
I love Saka but no way. Sterling is truly world class. Saka looks like he has the potential to get to that level though
I find Sterling incredibly annoying for some reason.
It’s the constant pleading for fouls and harassing the ref. He’s an amazing player though
Could be because he is an odious weasel.
That’s because he is annoying
He runs like a chicken. Seriously watch the guy.
I used to, but come to respect him a lot as he’s matured. He’s a quality player and seems pretty honest in comparison maybe diving weasels.
Probably the goal he scored against us that won the game Sam.. I found that incredibly annoying
You wouldn’t if he was an Arsenal player
KT is better than Zinchenko
Bellerin is so bad…
Deary me is that all you have to say
Said enough imo. I could write an whole book about bellerin which would sum upto what he said.
Since you have the material to write an entire book on the subject to hand, could you quickly describe why/how Bellerin is ‘so bad’ here?
Genuinely curious – I think he’s good overall, especially with his positioning and approach play. I’ve been impressed with his defending recently too. Passing is usually good but can sometimes be a little careless sure. I actually think the way he plays dovetails well with Tierney on the other side, so that we have a LB willing to overlap frequently and a RB willing to tuck in more and provide midfield support/cover.
Elneny’s first move is always sideways or backwards. Great player to hold the game up but no good attacking he’s a slightly forward version of Kolasanic. We need to be better in these areas.
Always find it weird with him, like he has the ability to play good passes but he just never seems to back himself, ends up second guessing himself and goes sideways/backwards/gets caught on the ball. I feel like if he just had a bit more belief in himself he could be a much more useful player.
Always seems capable but has also always seemed to have an inferiority thing going on. He kills his own potential and ultimately his arsenal career.
Yeah this is exactly what I mean
Belief, or specifically the lack of it, has been the bane of Elneny’s career. He has the stamina, physicality, and basic technique to be a midfield hurricane, if only the fire in him was always lit.
He’s had a few runs where he played much more progressively and was pretty impressive. I’m not sure it’s confidence as mich as instruction: I think if the manager tells him to play as a 10 instead of a 6, and the other midfielders are defensive-minded, he will be somewhat more creative. He’s as good as many squad players in Champions League clubs.
He was sloppy on the ball but kept Sterling quiet in every 1v1. Tierney on the other side got burned by Mahrez for the cross. Bellerin is not as bad as people say, but not great either. Both can be true.
Mediocre…Which is why we are where we are. The acceptance of players like Bellerin who still cant cross despite much improvement… Xhaxa who has 4 good games in a row every time he gets sent off to make people forget how shite he was for 15.
Holding who cant seem to go a game without making a ridiculous goal conceding mistake only to then play superbly after said mistake.
Extra point for luiz for giving them some of their own medicine for the 5 minutes he was on
When you think about the stupid foul he gave Diaz rather than try to win the ball it just shows the difference.
Don’t think they ever truly believed that they could get anything from this game.
Thought once it wen5 to 1-0, both sides decided that they had bigger fish to fry. Citeh in the CL. Us vs Benfica. Had we managed to score, they would just have upped their game until they scored again. It was like watching a team of 16 year olds play a team of 10 year olds.
Fully agree. I saw team that lacked self belief. And I think it comes from Arteta as a result of working under Guardiola. The 2nd period in 1st half we played with some belief. Immediately passing was more crisp, forward, and possibility of chances and winning 2bd balls. After halftime, Man City dominance. It makes me ask what happened in respective halftime talks?
If fans were in the stadium… I believe 50 thousand supporters would of shouted ‘ Arteta Out ‘
Therefore, I see it as a positive situation for Arteta & Co 😉
No one wants Arteta out surely?
There’s a large part of our fanbase who are anti-Arteta. They even were anti-Arteta when we were on form.
Usually the same ones who are obsessed with Martinelli and Saliba…
ELEVEN Premier League defeats now for Mikel Arteta this season and only one win in the last six games too. Yet some Arsenal fans will call you crazy for even considering the fact that Arteta should be sacked.
Something major has to happen for the club to justify keeping him in.
Question!
Can anyone tell me why Pepe on right and Saka on left?
Flipboard upside down is my guess
That’s the question of the week!
Saka was playing very tucked in. Kind of hybrid 3rd CM / winger. Better suited to that role than Pepe.
He seemed to be man marking somebody – gundogan? Maybe that’s why. Couldn’t understand it otherwise.
Maybe Arteta feared cancelo and sterling would be too much but saka wasn’t sharp but think that is more exhaustion related than willingness.
Because Saka and Tierney have a good understanding and Pepe’s good games from that side came with Cedric as lb. Also think Arteta wasn’t in for balance in this game but tried to put all the best players close to each other and attack via them. Xhaka was (due to Partey’s absence) the best midfielder and Tierney is our best full back so he put Saka on that side, knowing that Auba also likes to move to the left and hoped that they’ll be able to create that 1-2 chances with which you can maybe snatch it.
I think it was because Saka would be better at tracking Cancelo in field, whereas we didn’t need to worry about Zinchenko as much
It was Mahrez, I think, that Arteta believed Tierney would need help with. And he did.
possibly Tierney was risked not fully match fit & perhaps Arteta thought he’d get more defensive support from Saka on that side – not that Pepe is not putting a shift, but Saka has played Tierney’s position rather well & could provide better defensive support/security – that all went out the window after 2 mins of the game…. All the same this may be Arteta’s failed logic in this case. Sadly it seemed he also failed to instill any belief in our players that they had a cats chance of getting anything at all out of this match. That’s most… Read more »
Not to put any blame on Elneny, but my god he is limited like you said. In the second half I made a point in trying to count the number of forward passes he could make and to be quite honest, I think I managed to count one pass (and it was almost intercepted). We desperately need Partey back! Also, Pepe is a massive let down for the price tag he came with. Surely, Martinelli should get a go?!
I really don’t understand why ceballos had to remain on the bench today with el neny starting. Pepe was on good form until dropped 2 weeks back. Kinda annoying.
Total waste of 90 minutes worth of running for Auba today. Shouldn’t have played as many suggested.
All a bit meh. No bonus rating says it all.
Bellerin at fault for goal not Holding. He was marking him but then let him go.
Aubamayang is useless on end of a thru ball. He is not the striker this team needs
I have no problem with disagreements about football. But this can’t be about football. No one who doesn’t already hate Bellerin could possibly have said this. It is just crazy. (Btw, Lee Dixon, a tough critic of fullbacks, thought Tierney was partly responsible because his poor body positioning allowed Mahrez to get his (brilliant) cross away too easily. Obviously, he thought Holding deserved most of the blame.)
The CBs have to cover that area.
It was both, I’m a bit surprised Bellerin has escaped censure for it because Sterling is his man and he lets him run off. But tbf, Holding should NEVER be beaten there.
Thought xhaka was our best player today. Tierny and Saka were also good. Would have been nice to see Ceballos and smith rowe come on earlier to gove more drive in midfield
Wow ! Bullied by a technically gifted Man City side ! Will I ever get to see an Arsenal side with some “bottle” about it ever again? When you can’t compete one way try something different take the opposition out of their comfort zone We just let them play & smiled politely ? Mahrez always wants to get the ball on his left foot so make his left side errr sore a bit? But no we couldn’t bully an unset jelly man!
Elneny was our best player in the first half.
Saka the best in the second half.
Holding struggled in the first 10 minutes were disappointing and ended up playing quite well after that.
But the damage was done.
We use to beat them, day in day out ………………………..that was long time ago
Before they won the lottery.
People will talk about how City are the best in Europe In a bid to soften this defeat but that’s not a justification IMO. I looked at both teams at the start of the game and had genuine hope. The 0-1 scoreline somewhat vindicated that hope , but watching us just going through the paces was jarring. There has to be more of an impetus in our play in games like this. Countless times we picked up the ball in promising positions but lacked that belief, that burning desire to score. Aubameyang epitomised this. Weak in hold up play and… Read more »
I thought the game was played at a reasonable tempo and we tried pretty hard. It’s just City are better than us.
In all honesty, we could have played for another couple of hours without scoring or even having a decent crack. I don’t remember Ederson diving or even jumping for that matter, he barely broke a sweat. Pep could have kept goal and would have made no difference to the outcome. Scoreline is flattering, as City never got out of first gear and played with their handbrakes on. In fact, I felt humiliated that they didn’t feel the need to up their tempo after the goal and played around us like we were kids on the park. They felt the need… Read more »
Eaven if its possible to play Saka and Pepe where he did, why go against recent evidence of it working better with them inverted
I agree. We’ve looked our strongest this season with Pepe on the left, Saka on the right, ESR linking between them and Laca leading the line. Why have we moved away from that?
That City team are better then us but what was our game plan to beat them?
Another very early goal given away. Just not good enough at this level no be switched off this early. I am a big fan of Holding, and he did ok most of the game, but he should have done much better for that sterling goal. Hector could have also done better, but the end of the day 1-0 to City is the most respectable defeat you can get.
“1-0 to City is the most respectable defeat you can get.”
I don’t think we came out of this game with any respect.
In fact, city gave up trying knowing we couldn’t lay a glove on them. That’s about as disrespectful as it gets.
This nails it for me. That was, in some ways, the most depressing game of the season. Granted City are light years ahead of us in every position technically. But what’s even worse, for me, is that they also want it more than us. We made no effort to press, no-one bust a gut (KT aside), no-one on the pitch tried to up the tempo. It was a feeble surrender and I don’t know what the answer is.
Hector? Why? Twenty percent Tierney’s fault for allowing the cross too easily; 80 percent Holding’s for allowing a small man to have a completely uncontested header in front of goal.
Ratings seem a bit harsh today, 4.5 for Holding! He was culpable for the goal but other than that I thought he had a great game.
Crucial moments matter.
Also thought why no one blamed Mari. I know he was covering in case Tierney was beaten but held is ground to allow holding to track the nearest back post runner better.
Mari was worse than Luiz showings of late, passing to the opposition as many times as willian.
El Neny panicked constantly.
Auba looks gone in confidence…are we sure his mum is ok? Or could it be the club could only afford to give him x time off.
Yeh especially in the second half Mari misplaced a lot of easy passes.
But harsh on Holding I reckon.
I think take out the first 5 minutes, and holding gets bumped up to a 6.5. comfortable on the ball and solid defensively. We lost this on attack, not on defence
Very true. We never looked like scoring with the set up in attack and midfield and I think city looked vulnerable, which makes it very annoying.
True, you’ll never win games if you don’t score, unfortunately it’s just damn hard to score against city at the moment.
On the commentary I heard, it was mentioned that City has not trailed in a match, even for a minute, since November. In that run, they have given up one own goal, one penalty (Mo Salah’s dive), one late consolation goal against Çhelsea from open play, and one lucky bounce for Richarlison in open play. That’s it.
He nearly got Xhaka injured with one of his sloppy passes, he was hot and cold today.
I’m sure a lot of people might have seen that as a positive 😉 not me though, I’ve got time for Xhaka (when he’s with Partey)
Playing Saka while martinelli is an option was poor management. I don’t mind odegard being off the boil as far as game management is concerned. Also don’t get why laca didn’t get start this match. So impressed with xhaka’s composure on the ball. Poor attempt at challenging aerial balls and hold up play that required a good first touch from Auba. He’s game play with back to goal is so poor and part of it is just a lack of effort. We need an upgrade on bellerin or a proper challenger (Cedric at his best is slightly better so we… Read more »
Completely agree with all of this, and the first point in particular. City are streets ahead of us and there’s little shame in losing to them atm. Similarly, I’m largely onboard with the notion this is a long-term project. But Arteta’s squad management is really concerning. Why was Pepe on the right & Saka on the left? Why did Auba & Saka both play 90? Should Tierney have played 90 (he looked knackered)? When is Saka going to get a rest? When is Martinelli going to get any minutes? And looking into the past – why did it take so… Read more »
Wasn’t the Saka/Pepe thing try to and counter City’s attack? Cancelo is always getting forward so we needed players with a bit more defensive nous (i.e. not Pepe) I think this was partially vindicated by the scoreline but then again their goal did come down that flank.! Maybe the thinking was to try and take advantage of that space with Saka who’s in great form?
I actually blame Arteta for Tieney and Parteys injuries..Soon it will be Saka.
This was a game were we really missed Partey. Xhaka/Elneny wasn’t bad per se, but they contributed next to nothing going forwards.
City really are a great team, so not surprised that we lost.
But it really is a shame that we caused them so little trouble. After all, we only lost 0-1. With a bit of luck (and better offensive play), we could have drawn this game
It’s a shame, to be sure, but we’re far from alone in that – there’s a reason they’ve conceded 10 goals outside of the freak result against Leicester. That’s a remarkable number. Happy to have this in the rearview and look forward to far more meaningful games ahead.
I really hope Arteta continues to have faith in Holding, not his best night but I feel he’s done enough this season to still be in squad contention. COYG
In his last start vs Villa he did the same for their goal. He’s a good back-up but we should be looking for an upgrade
Elneny is just soo average. He adds nothing but saving Ceballos legs for thursday. Need midfield recruits in the Summer and shift on the Egyptian.
Ceballos did not need to be rested today. He’s hardly started of late.
I disagree, he looked abit leggy towards the closing stages of the Benfica game. He’s working his way back to fitness
Agree with blogs, the lack of fans is starting to become a real problem for me, and that’s not just down to our quite uninspired performances the past couple of games (it didn’t stick out as much to me during that terrible run we had earlier in the season). Aside from the diluted viewing experience, the quality of the matches is clearly affected by this. Gary Neville even referenced it in the commentary towards the end of the game. Games just fade without the supporters in the ground. Fans making noise and encouraging the players to take risks and move… Read more »
I think the ratings are a bit harsh – thought Xhaka really impressive, never seen him so calm on the ball and under pressure. Also Holding played really well after his first error (bar that one loose ball to Xhaka). Really impressed by Mari and Holding bravely pushing on to their midfielders. But thought Tierney really had an off-day, many of his crosses and passes seemed to go wayward.
Tierney as much at fault for the first goal as holding. Mahrez destroyed KT down the wing…
I felt that we were not brave enough. Almost like we have an inferiority complex. I miss the old days where we gave it a go no matter who the opposition. I miss the arrogance of the old Arsenal teams. On the plus side Spurs lost and Mourinho looked sad!
Leicester haven’t moved out of the top 4 at all this season. I would say pound for pound our players are better, so really there is no excuse.
Thomas Tuchel subbed Hudson Odoi on in Chelsea’s game yesterday and then took him off 20 minutes later because he was being lazy.
That’s management.
You’re only allowed 3 subs though.
He’s just trying to stamp his authority on the team, Mourinho used to do the same thing at Chelsea. Maybe if he was a better manager Hudson Odoi wouldn’t have come on at all!
It is, unless you have destroyed Hudson-Odoi’s confidence. Then it’s just stupid.
Todays generation will call that abuse and killing the young mans confidence. How many times would we have done that as a manager with Willian this season for example,
It’s destroying a young player’s confidence in both himself and his manager
I like Cabellos and Odegaard (especially). Cabellos needs to be much more consistent now though. What worries me is with no option to buy permanently are we developing another team’s players (Real Madrid) at our long-term expense. Are we not better developing Naitland __Miles & Willock in our team? Personally I prefer Cabellos and Odegaard but if we can’t sign them permanently at end of season we should think twice before renewing loan deals without option to buy permanently. Also whilst I think he is very good pro is Elneny the future?
Cabellos means hair. For the footballer see Ceballos…
it felt as flat as you could possibly get… boring game today 🤔
Yep. That shit drained my life force
Really disappointed with Auba today. He gets shrugged off the ball way too easily. I know it’s not his game but he must do better. Some sloppy passing, too. Crap game. No idea why Saka didn’t play right and Pepe left when it has worked well when they’ve played there recently.
Controversial but I have always thought Auba is only good running onto the ball. His hold up play and link- up play is poor.
Problem is in current formations you need a single central striker who can do everything ( speed, heading, hold- up, link play) Dare I say like Kane
In the old 4-4-2 days you could have two strikers with contrasting values ( one who could hold up, head and link) with other with speed finishing) but now you with say 4-2-3-1 your 1 must be all rounder
The fact that we’re thinking switching Pepe and Saka may have earned us a point against the best team in the PL is a big change from 6 months ago.
Beating City right now requires a lot of precision. Arsenal were anything but precise with so many errant passes, loose touches, aimless crosses. And City weren’t even at their best today or they would’ve taken us apart.
Leno was better than the rating given. He was good and made a really critical save from a second Holding error that would have led to goal.
I thought this would be Pepe’s game because he really shined in counter-attacking system played by Lille. Other players haven’t done enough to really play to his strength. Bellerin, although I had been a big fan of him, was really poor today.
You gave the same rating to Tierny and Saka today🤦🏻♂️
This match felt like a match in FIFA manager mode where you just simulate it to get to another match down the line which you’re going to actually play.
Not good, I am just glad no one is injured, and I am really happy that Tierney is back, despite his rustiness his endeavour alone got a decent performance out of him.
I don’t think the scores are fair for the defenders bar Bellerin (who I think should get a lower score with the way he attacked). They did brilliantly in the rest 88 minutes. It’s our attack that is worrying, or at least Arteta got it wrong with the formation. And Pepe should not play with Bellerin in the same flank ever again.
No improvement for Pepe after several matches as an expensive player…he must be sold once for all
97% pass completion for Elneny.
Lets look at those passes. After a billion touches & almost in all the cases, the safest option on the pitch.
He slows the game so much, that possibility of a quick break is almost nullified.
Lets not start him in PL anymore. Rather play Luiz as a CDM.
Taking the passion out of it and acknowledging we are rebuilding this team, a few things seem increasingly obvious in this process; Pepe should be sold along with Auba, (the latter being just a poacher); Odegaard doesn’t appear to fit the physical profile of the midfielder we are looking for (harsh to throw him into this game, anyway) and Bellerin’s best days are in the past. As for the match itself, I felt Arteta made a mistake not playing Ceballos instead of Odegaard and I would have brought Cedric on at half time. Tierney was knackered by then. Even though… Read more »
“Pepe should be sold along with Auba” THE BEST THING TO DO FOR THE TEAM
Elneny 97% passing rate is nonsense. Most of it were side-passes, back-passes or 2 meter passes. I could manage 98% passes.
I specifically watched Aubameyang to see how he managed the lone striker role, because that how the game played out. He worked hard and chased but he doesn’t have the ability, like Giroud of holding the ball up, neither does he have the speed he did a year or 2 ago. Cutting in from the left, he is far better. I agree Pepe & Bellerin don’t work. Pepe seems to stroll around and i don’t see him making it in this league.
Odegaard hardly being mentioned on the comments says a lot about how anonymous he was. Arteta is a strange coach.
For 20 minutes City showed why they are top of the league. They didn’t even have to get out of 2nd gear for the remainder and it could have been 3 or 4 nil if they had even bothered to raise so much as a canter. Arsenal’s nominated driver (Arteta) was asleep at the wheel and you don’t have your problems to seek when Rob Holding is your only progressive midfielder in the 2nd half?! Tierney and Saka did combine well in the latter stages of the first 45 to get behind City but either the final ball was lacking… Read more »
Bonus rating 10/10 — Willian didn’t come on!