Arsenal fans at last have a reason to smile as the Gunners destroyed a makeshift West Brom team that was giving six youngsters their senior debuts, so it was by no means a surprise.
But you can only beat what is in front of you, and it was great to see Arsenal playing attacking football with style and confidence.
As Arteta said after the game: “When you lose a game, you have to win as quickly as possible. Today’s match is going to give us some confidence. We had some players playing their first minutes – for example Auba – so to get some minutes and score three goals is going to be great for his confidence. Overall I think [it was] a really positive night.”
So here are my player ratings….
Ramsdale- 8
Considering Arsenal’s superiority, our debutante was still forced to make some good saves. He can only improve as he gets to know his defenders better.
Chambers- 5
I know he hasn’t layed for some time, but he missed an opportunity to impress the boss.
Holding- 5
Not his best performance but not his worst either. I’m sure he will improve with game time.
Kolasinac- 6
A great performance by his standards, but I’m sure this will be his last game in an Arsenal shirt.
Tavares- 7
Very lively in attack and defence. Perhaps he will be our first-choice right back this season?
Xhaka- 8
He is the man in charge at the moment. A cool experienced head to teach our kids to be calm under pressure.
Elneny- 5
Made one good pass but yet again was hardly impressive. Last choice midfielder in my eyes.
Pepe- 8
Pretty good game and we can hope he kicks on this season. If he could only get the ball inside the post a little more often!
Odegaard- 7
Looking good and I expect him to improve much more with game time.
Saka- 9
Looking very sharp indeed – I’m sure he can cause havoc in the City defence if he gets over his knock.
.
Auba- 10
I know he should be bossing these West Brom kids all day, but he did it with style. Great to see he has found his scoring boots again.
Sub
Laca- 7
Excellent poachers goal to finish us off.
You can only beat the cr*p in front of you.
It was a practice match against some new young players who most had not played together and Please remember the saying One swallow does not make a summer
Surely this is the ideal time to sell Aubameyang.
A hatrick, fit and sharp.
We may never get a better chance.
40mill +30 m salary off the books.
70m for the 32 year old.
It makes too much sense.
Buy a new young striker in the weak covid market.
and have change for another AM. Aouor?
Sell Bellerin and get a new young RB. Aarons?
Business done
I’d be shocked if any other club would be willing to pay that.
Regardless, Auba needs to stay. He’s the club captain, the most experienced player in the club, our most clinical striker and a core part of the dressing room. Next season, Laca will be off and that will be the time to upgrade the no.9 position. It would be nice to get it done this window but I think we all have to be realistic. I’m hoping Edouard stays available until then…
If we aren’t confident to make turns, we’ll have a lot of problems in Manchester. We don’t seem able to change our direction when the opponents are pressing high up the pitch
But Aubameyang seems to play better when he’s supported by six left-footed teammates behind him. Odegaard’s diagonal passes to the left side and Saka’s dribbles would likely be the key to unlock Man City’s defense
Gotanidea, please stop with your obsessions with left footed players!! Football is not played with theory but it is practice and talent that makes the difference…right footed or left footed, it doesn’t matter mate, as long as the mentality is right and the talent is there then we are good to go.
totally good improvement. but still we should get aouar.
I see that Spurs are supposedly making a bid for him. If that is the case then forget it. He will not come to us, playing with Harry Kane and Son is to much of lure.
A big improvement, happy with Tavarez looks a good addition, Ramsdale looks a better bet than Leno, still not sure about Elneny but good to see Auba and Lacca back. Need to kick on now and start climbing that table, work to do to beat city but we have done it before and now is a good time to do it again. I would give Tavarez a go at on the right if Tierney is back he looks strong and doesn’t mind getting stuck in.
In Saka we have a gem who could develop into a great attacking midfielder.Picking the ball up deep he can accelerate away from his marker and cause havoc.His best work is invariably on the left side of the pitch and in my opinion Arteta should resist any temptation to play him on the right.
I’m sorry guys but 7 for Tavares?? No maybe a 4 or 5 he was bad first half kept on giving the ball away, couldn’t complete a straight pass at times ran around aimlessly, sorry not good enough for me, the rest did ok…
Well done Auba on your hatrick
ratings wet dream for the thirsty bunch, especially when it includes gems like the following, “He is the man in charge at the moment. A cool experienced head to teach our kids to be calm under pressure”, he’s like a new signing, I guess