Burnley 0-5 Arsenal. Player rating and match Reaction

[HCZ_Reborn]

Raya 7 - Smart stop early on


White 7 - Settled


Saliba - 7 Comfortable


Kiwior - 7 Solid


Rice - 8 proper midfield engine


Odegaard - 9 Driving force of the attack


Havertz - 7 Quietly growing in confidence


Martinelli - 7 Creating chances for others


Trossard - 7 Missed a few chances but ultimately buried one


Saka - 9.5 - Most Dangerous on the pitch




Subs


Can’t really remember who they were. Didn’t add or detract from a solid performance so will give them all a 7



There are tougher games coming up far tougher, but there’s no doubt that it’s good to limber up with comprehensive wins like these…they do wonders for confidence. I think we should if possible make changes for Porto….which might include starting Jorginho as I don’t think they will give us the same space in midfield West Ham and Burnley will. And fingers crossed we start to get players like Partey, Tomiyasu and Jesus back. Partey is finished in terms of long term at the club, but if we can get games from him that adds value in order to sell him in the summer. Jesus gives us another dimension in attack.

Vieira as a squad option will also be someone we could use in games

[Chippy]

Raya 7 - Smart stop early on


White 7 - Settled


Saliba - 7 Comfortable


Kiwior - 7 Solid


Rice - 8 proper midfield engine


Odegaard - 9 Driving force of the attack


Havertz - 7 Quietly growing in confidence


Martinelli - 7 Creating chances for others


Trossard - 7 Missed a few chances but ultimately buried one


Saka - 9.5 - Most Dangerous on the pitch




Subs


Can’t really remember who they were. Didn’t add or detract from a solid performance so will give them all a 7



There are tougher games coming up far tougher, but there’s no doubt that it’s good to limber up with comprehensive wins like these…they do wonders for confidence. I think we should if possible make changes for Porto….which might include starting Jorginho as I don’t think they will give us the same space in midfield West Ham and Burnley will. And fingers crossed we start to get players like Partey, Tomiyasu and Jesus back. Partey is finished in terms of long term at the club, but if we can get games from him that adds value in order to sell him in the summer. Jesus gives us another dimension in attack.

Vieira as a squad option will also be someone we could use in games

It is amazing how we have all of a sudden clicked and scoring goals from everywhere without relying on a striker.
In response to your comment regarding the players coming back. I would leave the team sheet as it is until the ones returning are 100% fit. We all know that Tommy, Jesus and ESR are made of glass.

[KSE Comedy Club]

I'm glad Arteta is starting to think about squad rotation and bringing players off for the last 10-15 mins of games, but what is abundantly clear, is that we have some proper shite when he does.

Nketiah has just fallen off a cliff. He offers nothing at all and should have been sold.
ESR is still trying to learn how to play football again so I don't blame him much.
Nelson - doesn't seem as good as he did last season when making appearances.

All in all, we can only switch to mainly defence mode when 4 or 5 nil up.

[Mac76]

Nketiah has just fallen off a cliff. He offers nothing at all and should have been sold.
ESR is still trying to learn how to play football again so I don't blame him much.
Nelson - doesn't seem as good as he did last season when making appearances.

correct re Eddie

I still think Nelson need more minutes to reach a degree of consistency, instead of waiting for 4 or 5 nil Arteta needs to give him a chance sooner in games

ESR has actually looked very good when he's appeared this season but it's his fitness that's the concern

[KSE Comedy Club]

correct re Eddie

I still think Nelson need more minutes to reach a degree of consistency, instead of waiting for 4 or 5 nil Arteta needs to give him a chance sooner in games

ESR has actually looked very good when he's appeared this season but it's his fitness that's the concern

Agree with all of that.

I do think Nelson will be fine, but ESR does need some games to get going again.

[IBK]

I'm glad Arteta is starting to think about squad rotation and bringing players off for the last 10-15 mins of games, but what is abundantly clear, is that we have some proper shite when he does.

Nketiah has just fallen off a cliff. He offers nothing at all and should have been sold.
ESR is still trying to learn how to play football again so I don't blame him much.
Nelson - doesn't seem as good as he did last season when making appearances.

All in all, we can only switch to mainly defence mode when 4 or 5 nil up.

What intrigues me is that - having shown that he is adept at developing our team - Arteta decided to offer Nketiah a big new contract. Was this simply a pragmatic decision at the time, or a mistaken belief that the player would be more adaptable? For me the irony is that Eddie's strength was as a poacher - and we were until recently pining for a penalty box finisher. Has the manager now shown that his team has evolved beyond this, and is the system the reason for Nketiah's fading star?

[Mac76]

What intrigues me is that - having shown that he is adept at developing our team - Arteta decided to offer Nketiah a big new contract. Was this simply a pragmatic decision at the time, or a mistaken belief that the player would be more adaptable?

I was listening to a podcast today where they suggested it might basically have been to balance out something to do with homegrown players/financial rules or something - sorry a bit vague but maybe you can make sense of that

[IBK]

I was listening to a podcast today where they suggested it might basically have been to balance out something to do with homegrown players/financial rules or something - sorry a bit vague but maybe you can make sense of that

Makes some sense I guess. At it's most basic giving Nketiah a new contract gave us an option up front without having the transfer outlay, while preserving a home grown asset for future purchases (important in the current financial rules climate). I think at the time there were more pressing requirements elsewhere on the pitch.

[KSE Comedy Club]

What intrigues me is that - having shown that he is adept at developing our team - Arteta decided to offer Nketiah a big new contract. Was this simply a pragmatic decision at the time, or a mistaken belief that the player would be more adaptable? For me the irony is that Eddie's strength was as a poacher - and we were until recently pining for a penalty box finisher. Has the manager now shown that his team has evolved beyond this, and is the system the reason for Nketiah's fading star?

Yes there is the potential for that to be the case, but I would say that a proper, hungry striker would find a way to adapt to any system and still find a way to be a threat.
Eddie just doesn't do that.

I genuinely thought the Burnley game would let him fill his boots, but he had one shot (directly at the keeper) and then most of the time he wasn't in the box when he should have been.
He's just not good enough.

We should have kept that other lad instead, imo.

[IBK]

Yes there is the potential for that to be the case, but I would say that a proper, hungry striker would find a way to adapt to any system and still find a way to be a threat.
Eddie just doesn't do that.

I genuinely thought the Burnley game would let him fill his boots, but he had one shot (directly at the keeper) and then most of the time he wasn't in the box when he should have been.
He's just not good enough.

We should have kept that other lad instead, imo.

...although Balogun is hardly setting his second season in France on fire, and ultimately I can see the thinking in keeping the player who had shown he could perform in the Premiership.

Nketiah's cameos recently have been underwhelming, but so have Jesus' in terms of goals (Eddie has scored 1 more than him, and the same as Martinelli in this seasons EPL). I suspect that (as happened until recently with all our forwards) he needs confidence, and starts, to realise his potential. Yes, I think that we are moving past Eddie - and Trossard has to be regarded as our back up striker now (and possibly Havertz - albeit that he doesn't seem to have a fixed position at all) - but his goalscoring remains comparatively competetive if you ignore Saka.