Arsenal beat Aston Villa 3-2 this afternoon and for some, all that matters is the win but for others, the performance is just as important because it indicates what to expect in the future and overall, it was not a great performance.
You could argue it was a game of two halves and no doubt some will point to the sending off of Ainsley Maitland-Niles as the reason for this game being so close, but that is not being honest with yourself, certainly not in my opinion.
Arsenal was poor for a vast amount of the game and while the win is definitely celebrated it does just mask over the continuing problems with the team and the ratings reflect that.
Leno – 6
Not to blame for either goal but never did anything exceptional, slightly above average rating
Maitland-Niles 2
Not only did he get himself sent off for two yellow card tackles but also injured himself, this is a game he will not want to remember.
Luiz 4
Poor today, yes he did some great passes but his job is defending and he did a bad job for the second Villa goal.
Sokratis 3
Did not like his play-acting one bit, it was embarrassing and Grealish made him look exactly like what he is, useless.
Kolasinac 5
Probably the best Arsenal defender that started today and he was poor, says it all really.
Xhaka 3
Another woeful performance from the Arsenal captain, the way he played today and previously is bringing the Arsenal captaincy into disrepute.
Guendouzi 7
He played well in bits and pieces but too often out of position including with losing McGinn when he scored for Villa but he did set up Chambers with a delightful pass.
Ceballos 5
I hope his performance against Burnley was not a flash in the pan, he was poor today and totally ineffective, starting to be disappointed more often than excited by the Spaniard.
Pepe 4
Got his name on the scoresheet from the penalty spot but offered up very little else in the game. What I have seen so far this season is just glimpses of what he apparently can do and that is all and today was no different.
Saka 6
I thought he was very unfortunate to be substituted, I understand why but based on contribution it was underserved but then he never cost £72 Million.
Aubameyang 6
Scored the winner and that is why he gets a six but it has to be said, he was poor overall. He missed some damn good chances and rarely held the ball up.
Subs
Chambers 7
Had a decent game and would have been the clear man of the match for Arsenal if he had done better for Villa’s second goal. He got his name on the scoresheet with a well-taken goal and deserves a start in the next Premier League game.
Torreira 6
Did ok when he came on, brought energy to the game and it was noticeable the pressure increased when he was introduced,
Willock 5
Hardly noticed him when he came on but played his part in keeping the pressure on.
Emery -99.
Gwen has 10 from me!
Love this kid. Shame is, if he carries on like this we will be seeing him where a Barca or Real Madrid Shirt within a season or two.
Not gonna look out of place either.
Chambers made a real difference too.
You watched the game? He came alive in the last few minutes, after Xhaka was gone, or else you’d be slating him for his performance, if he was substituted. He was all over the place, a typical Emery player. Now don’t come at me about the comeback, because we were meant to decimate Villa at The Emirates.
Mmmmm gwen is one of the best and most consistent players we have. Mmm wouldn’t slate him because he is so young but has more fight, craft and balls than most around him.
Saw bits of the game to answer your question but have also seen him in most matches since he joined us early in preseason..
If you think we were gonna decimate the villa them maybe the last match you watched was in the invincibles season!
You will never win titles with Guendouzi and Xhaka playing in the middle,he might play well some matches but in other matches he looks awful.
Good solid player yes ,world class in the making ,no chance .
Problem is They look like the 2 that are undroppable at the moment .
Guendouzi was probably MOTM today but that wasn’t difficult with the way the rest played .
I agree about Xhaka but not Guendouzi, at least I know who I will pick if I have to choose between him and a particular German.
Guendouzi is one of de best talent to come out of midfield in current time not only in arsenal but world wide as well. He has everything to be an excellent midfielder in time to come n you think he is over rated….you must be james Milner fan lol!.
With the current players we have Wenger can do better than emry. If Wenger could put us in top 4 with average players then surely he can do better with current players.
he does have a ton of potential though, but yes, very hot and cold performance today. Shocking first half from him, way better 2nd half.
No according to Kev he’s just overated but Nelson is class, the guy is just a comedian.
The same Barca and Real that with all their spending still play awful !!!! This mentality that our “fans” have that are scared that so called “big” teams will poach our players is part of the reason that we are in this mess.
How they ca be called “professional” is a disgrace!
Embarrassing and should not be paid..
As for the so called manager!?
Guess what, Xhaka will start again, so will Sokratis and Luiz. Ozil will again be benched. Torreira will be benched too. Emery just defended Xhaka in the post match interview, says a lot about how far and to what extent Emery has decided his arsenal team to build around Xhaka. Xhaka is literally the first guy he picks to start. Thanks to Guendouzi today for winning the penalty and for that assist, otherwise Emery would have a hard time explaining things.
It was an awful display, but at least now we know who should start at Old Trafford and who should be dropped
Does it matter what we think?
UE is picking everything but the right options..
Xhaka, Luiz, Sokratis will all be back. Emery will rush AMN back just to play him in a position he hates and is not good at again. Our manager.
Tell me what is AMN’s favourite position and tell us if he can play ahead of the set of players in there. He would be down the pecking order in midfield and the wings. If Arsenal should acquire a new right back, Niles would be in the championship on loan
You have to credit the team for the come-back and the fight, if u ask me it was 10 vs 12 if you included the ref..The only rating i agree with is the 2 for Ainsley but lets face it he isnt a rb anway so UE gets the blame from me, Chambers should have played from the start. Geundozi really impressed me today like wow we got a gem on our hards here, for me hes man of the match and deserves a 8 at very least, willock added steal to the midfield and i must say iv always been a fan of xhaka but boy does he need to step up his game tenfold. Im happy about this game especially cos i had a bet for 3-2 aswell haha up the gunners
Xhaka will get picked even if he was playing for Stoke next weekend.
To come to think about it, its amazing we actually won with 9 players (Xhaka = -1)
Emery should be saluting Auba and Chambers for saving him. Struggling is Emery’s tactic apparently as we rarely look comfortable or on control.
Luiz and Sokratis are beyond embarrassing at this point, yet Emery starts them game after game. Xhaka is toothless and offers little yet is a mainstay to start.
Paper tigers with Emery “coaching” and the sooner he’s gone the better. Most boring, unattractive, and directionless Arsenal team I’ve ever seen
Please when is Emery leaving am tired of the tinkering manager I don’t enjoy my Arsenal playing again just imagine Aston villa scoring and we were equalizing
Wanted us to get beat totally papers over the cracks sorry but Dick Emery has to go nowhere good enough to be manager of Arsenal and hate to say it but Mourinho would be a better choice and I say that through gritted teeth!!
Mourinho should be the last coach Arsenal should consider. He would for sure improve our defence but destroy our philosophy and identity. He turned Man Utd into an auto defensive unit an they are yet to recover from that
Re Pepe: I don’t see Leading the team in key passes with 4 and in accurate crosses with 3 in 5 attempts as offering very little else today. He completed 91 percent of his passes, which is extraordinary for a forward. He and Guendouzi were the de facto playmakers today.
Are you sure we have a coach? I can assure you we are not going anywhere as long as Unai, is in charge, does not change his team. The partnership of Luiz and papa is not working and Xhaka is underperforming, but Unai will still assemble the same team. I don’t understand why we have him for the coach.
Our defenders are are a joke but when they have to face 15-20 shots a game you have to question the midfield. Positioning and pressing between guen, xhaka and ceballos was non existent as a unit. Torreira and willock pressed together forcing mistakes is what helped keep the pressure off and gave us a platform to attack.
Cant agree more Sosamayn. We have an average defence but our DM gives them little cover- Fabinho, Wijnaldum and Keita would always be the reason Van Dyke and Matip
So what exactly did Xhaka do wrong? Honest question.
I thought Niles had a really bad game, red card undeserved, but such is life.
I am failing to understand what Ceballos brings to the team. Not much offensive threat, average defensive presence, I think we should go with Torreira in his place.
Saka 6? For what exactly? Showing up?
Much as I agree with people saying Pepe left a bit to be desired, I liked his push and aggressive work towards the end.
I’m very dissapointed in Auba. Too passenger for a side that’s struggling like us
Arsenal must fired Emery. Mourinho is the right man yo manager this team
Miles is not a right back and never has been put in there for cover option and is totally not up to the job I’m not saying we should ditch him but play him in his correct position if he then goes on to fail yeh time for him to move on!!
It’s the EL Sackico next week
Who’s going to be 1st to go Emery or OGS
???
Believe me Dan OGS is a dead man working and I believe he knows that, some were saying he did well by selling Lukaku but how can you even think you gonna get into the top4 with that fraud Rashford and Martial leading the line, the only thing that’s going on for us and Chelsea is that we still have arsenal have good strikers and Chelsea have an Okay striker. Am so sure that OGS will be the first top6 coach to be sack.
Winner is actually the loser ?
I want to praise Arsenal team tonight for their mentality. Whatever way we analyse this game the Boys played 10 against 11 and they got the job down. Yes, not the perfect game we wanted but I can see an improvemen when compared to Watford game. We need to show Aston Villa some respect they are a formidable team. U.Emery once again got his selection wrong but his substitutions was on point. I hope
N.PEP goal today will motivate him to higher performance bcos he’s been below pal. If you ask me I will give:
C.Chamber7- Have always prefered him to M.Niles
Toreira 6.5-He pressed high up the pitch well
Willoc 6.5-He pressed high up the pitch well
Guendoizi 7-Lost his marker but very lively and creative player with good passes
Leno 6-There is really nothing he can do for the 2 goals.
Auba 7-We could ague he was not at his beat in the game but his well taken freekick got us 3 points.
Please what did auba do wrong today or is it his fault that he didn’t get enough service
This Pepe guy is a real talent, I just pray he start firing soon, you can see he has the skill and he also have an eye for goal, I love that Saka effort which went wide in the first half the boy is playing like he’s been here forever, even a blind man can see Saka is a real talent and am happy we have him, he was by far our best player in the first half, ooh and someone said auba is not a leader, you don’t have to shout and fight all over the pitch to be a leader, you lead by example, auba is just phenomenon, what a perfectly executed free kick, If that was to be Harry the dick Kane, we will not hear the end of it but its auba and some daft arsenal fans are saying he’s just fortunate lol, auba is a top striker and he’s easily among the top 4 in the league. Please what is Leno problem with the short passes, we were leading 3:2 and under pressure but he’s still doing the silly passing from the back and please don’t tell me emery instructed him to because we all saw what Martinez did the other day.
Thought we played better with 10 men!
If not for auba goals this season we won’t be anywhere near top 10 and lets not fget his job is to score and he’s doing that right
In midfield yes we have options to do away with xhaka but as for central defence am afraid emery doesn’t have alternatives to the regularly poor luuz and the Greek wrestler unless Rob holding and Mustafi are paired again
Mustafi is error prone but I would argue is better than the two centre back clowns
Why do we keep making the same mistakes. Emery like Wenger before him sticks with under performing players.xhaha sokretis luiz.play players who are on form.the defense is still Terrible why luiz?.why let monreal and the young rb go on lone.when kolasinac and anm are terrible. All we can hope for is bellerin holding and Tierney stay fit.why but pepe when we were ok going forward last year and we’ve got nekaita who shouldn’t of been loned out.saka Smith Rowe ,Nelson,ANM willock who could play there.we could of sorted the defense crazy.
David Luiz is a central midfielder , he was never a defender in my book . He should play CM infront the defence . Can’t understand why coaches won’t notice it .
Luiz was playing in one of the best defences…. 8 mistakes-goals here. So MAYBE its not Papa with 3 mistakes-goals nor Luiz the problem…MAYBE its tactics, especially when you concede the most shoot attempts in PL
Thank you, someone that understands football!
Two players should be out for the next game (Xhaka+luiz) Torriera and Chambers In.
There is no more reason to keep Xhaka while he is doing nothing, not creating or defending!
While luiz is keep getting worse, sometimes it’s better to bench players so they can focus more for the next games.
UE has good names but it looks like he isn’t aware of their abilities!!
Thank God, some of you can not coach, talk is cheap
Maitland Niles is even showing on the pitch that he does not like RB,his demeanour is terrible,its no good hiding behind this fact of not being his normal position,he is in the team and should put in 100% every time,he looks fed up and looking like he is trying to show us he is not happy there.