Man United 0-1 Arsenal Player Ratings and Match Reaction

[HCZ_Reborn]

Raya 7 - Made two very good saves one from Cunha one from Mbeumo, a little bit suspect in his decision making otherwise would have been rated higher


White 7 - Did ok in physical duels with Cunha


Saliba 6.5 - Made some good interceptions in the box second half, but seems to be missing something in his game at times


Gabriel 6.5 - Like Saliba got better as the game went on, but looked nervous and unsure at times, in fairness this was his first competitive fixture for us since April


Calafiori 6.5 - Better going forward than he was defensively, but given despite claims on here he’s not Zinchenko level poor defensively…his forward movement makes him a better should than MLS in certain games (if we are smart we will rotate so both get games)


Zubimendi 6 - Didn’t really have a chance to make anything happen


Rice 6 - Also underwhelming by his standards


Odegaard 6.5 - I don’t think it helps having him drift to the right, play him through the centre if you’re going to have only the one creative player in midfield


Saka 5 - Anonymous


Martinelli 4.5 - Can’t give him the excuse of being isolated, this is a player who for me has clearly got a lot of talent but if it’s not going to be on show…what’s the point of keeping him.


Gyokeres 5.5 - Everyone here knows my view on us signing this player, but I’m sure as hell not going to judge him after one game where the service was non existent and he’s clearly not 100% match fit anyhow



Subs

Madueke 6 - Never really had the chance to show anything


Timber 7.5 - I’d say he should have started but White played reasonably well too


Havertz 6.5 - Added physical dimension with holding up the ball but didn’t really carve out any real attacking opportunities

Lewis-Skelly 6.5 - Made sense to bring him on with Cala on a yellow but struggled just as much as he did with Mbeumo

Merino 6 - Completely anonymous, wouldn’t have even known he was on the pitch…frankly that’s how I like it


So a result we all I assume would have taken, and a performance I’m sure most of us feared would lead to dropped points. There’s no point going on too much, I think we all know what was missing…I don’t think the effort was lacking but in many ways it felt too early in the season especially when we had a rather indifferent pre season to play a fixture like this….and we got a result we didn’t really deserve. There have been loads of times we’ve gone there and deserved far more than we’ve actually got so nice to have the shoe on the other foot. I’m glad we don’t have to go there again, and whilst I’m naturally skeptical it’s also too early to say whether we will improve or not going forward and whether this is a hangover from last season or a sign of things to come

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Pretty decent take on the game, though if you didn't notice your highest marks went to someone who came in as a sub and played only 25 minutes.

What I'd change is Saliba and Gabriel getting 8 and 8.5 respectively, as that partnership won us the game.

Also Rice and Zubi, deserve a 5, as they were both shocking, especially as they made Cunha look like Messi with that silly run and their fairylike challenges.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Pretty decent take on the game, though if you didn't notice your highest marks went to someone who came in as a sub and played only 25 minutes.

What I'd change is Saliba and Gabriel getting 8 and 8.5 respectively, as that partnership won us the game.

Also Rice and Zubi, deserve a 5, as they were both shocking, especially as they made Cunha look like Messi with that silly run and their fairylike challenges.

Timber was excellent when he came on, White had done well but he was flagging. Saliba especially was arse first half, looked more uncomfortable with bouncing balls than an opening English batsman in Australia.

Partey played a lot of games in front of the defence last season and I will give Rice and Zubimendi the benefit of the doubt that it’s a new partnership that will take time to settle. Although we might need someone like Timber starting at Anfield to provide a little bit of extra support.

[Letters]

Saw most of this one and think you've actually been pretty generous on Odegaard. He was playing the wrong pass all day - or playing the right one poorly. I like him, but he wasn't at the races today.
It was a poor performance but an excellent result. As you say we've had plenty of games at Old Trafford where the reverse has happened so I'll take it.
The goal was a mess from the Utd point of view. I don't think we set out to defend a 1-0 lead for as long as we did, I was quite pleased with the way we were going forward today - it seemed we were doing so more quickly. But we were never able to play the final pass to unlock things.
At the back, a few shaky moments but overall we dealt with them well. Raya made two very good saves and we were a bit fortunate with the one that hit the post. But given all their possession they didn't really create that much. Utd dominated but they weren't that good.

Hard to draw conclusions from opening day fixtures. Some definite alarm bells but in a game like that you just want to get the hell out of there with the 3 points. We did, so that's fine with me.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Timber was excellent when he came on, White had done well but he was flagging. Saliba especially was arse first half, looked more uncomfortable with bouncing balls than an opening English batsman in Australia.

Partey played a lot of games in front of the defence last season and I will give Rice and Zubimendi the benefit of the doubt that it’s a new partnership that will take time to settle. Although we might need someone like Timber starting at Anfield to provide a little bit of extra support.

Yeah, Timber definitely needs to start at Anfield if he's fully fit.

Rice and Zubimendi are our best options for now, so we can't do anything but learn to live with runs through the middle like a hot knife through butter!

[HCZ_Reborn]

Saw most of this one and think you've actually been pretty generous on Odegaard. He was playing the wrong pass all day - or playing the right one poorly. I like him, but he wasn't at the races today.
It was a poor performance but an excellent result. As you say we've had plenty of games at Old Trafford where the reverse has happened so I'll take it.
The goal was a mess from the Utd point of view. I don't think we set out to defend a 1-0 lead for as long as we did, I was quite pleased with the way we were going forward today - it seemed we were doing so more quickly. But we were never able to play the final pass to unlock things.
At the back, a few shaky moments but overall we dealt with them well. Raya made two very good saves and we were a bit fortunate with the one that hit the post. But given all their possession they didn't really create that much. Utd dominated but they weren't that good.

Hard to draw conclusions from opening day fixtures. Some definite alarm bells but in a game like that you just want to get the hell out of there with the 3 points. We did, so that's fine with me.

My main problem with Odegaard is that he hides in games and what I will say for him is that although as you say a lot of his passing wasn’t coming off (the weighting was off) but he made himself available, he drove forward and he got back and worked hard. He does need to significantly improve on last season but he did work hard today so I’m not going to come down too hard on him.

[Letters]

My main problem with Odegaard is that he hides in games and what I will say for him is that although as you say a lot of his passing wasn’t coming off (the weighting was off) but he made himself available, he drove forward and he got back and worked hard. He does need to significantly improve on last season but he did work hard today so I’m not going to come down too hard on him.

I don't disagree with any of that. And I certainly agree that his workrate is to be commended. He just wasn't getting things right today. Disappointing as I regard him as a "baller", as the kids are saying.
Only one game, but he wasn't at the races today.

[Chippy]

Sorry, but we were terrible in midfield and attack.

If it wasn't for Raya, Gabriel and Saliba, we would have lost 3-1.

If we play like that and Anfield (and we probably will because we have a rookie manager), we will get trounced.

Same tactics as last year, boring, predictable and blunt up front.

We made them look good yesterday, but they are not.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I don’t think the match tactics were so much the problem, we won the ball back in our third and tried to do the right thing with transition play, just so often we either got muscled off the ball or some of the longer passes didn’t come off.

I think the substitutions probably should have been different. I tend to agree with 21_Gunner that Gyokeres could have remained on, brought both Saka and Martinelli off and replaced them with Havertz and Madueke

[KSE Comedy Club]

Raya 7 - Made two very good saves one from Cunha one from Mbeumo, a little bit suspect in his decision making otherwise would have been rated higher


White 7 - Did ok in physical duels with Cunha


Saliba 6.5 - Made some good interceptions in the box second half, but seems to be missing something in his game at times


Gabriel 6.5 - Like Saliba got better as the game went on, but looked nervous and unsure at times, in fairness this was his first competitive fixture for us since April


Calafiori 6.5 - Better going forward than he was defensively, but given despite claims on here he’s not Zinchenko level poor defensively…his forward movement makes him a better should than MLS in certain games (if we are smart we will rotate so both get games)


Zubimendi 6 - Didn’t really have a chance to make anything happen


Rice 6 - Also underwhelming by his standards


Odegaard 6.5 - I don’t think it helps having him drift to the right, play him through the centre if you’re going to have only the one creative player in midfield


Saka 5 - Anonymous


Martinelli 4.5 - Can’t give him the excuse of being isolated, this is a player who for me has clearly got a lot of talent but if it’s not going to be on show…what’s the point of keeping him.


Gyokeres 5.5 - Everyone here knows my view on us signing this player, but I’m sure as hell not going to judge him after one game where the service was non existent and he’s clearly not 100% match fit anyhow



Subs

Madueke 6 - Never really had the chance to show anything


Timber 7.5 - I’d say he should have started but White played reasonably well too


Havertz 6.5 - Added physical dimension with holding up the ball but didn’t really carve out any real attacking opportunities

Lewis-Skelly 6.5 - Made sense to bring him on with Cala on a yellow but struggled just as much as he did with Mbeumo

Merino 6 - Completely anonymous, wouldn’t have even known he was on the pitch…frankly that’s how I like it


So a result we all I assume would have taken, and a performance I’m sure most of us feared would lead to dropped points. There’s no point going on too much, I think we all know what was missing…I don’t think the effort was lacking but in many ways it felt too early in the season especially when we had a rather indifferent pre season to play a fixture like this….and we got a result we didn’t really deserve. There have been loads of times we’ve gone there and deserved far more than we’ve actually got so nice to have the shoe on the other foot. I’m glad we don’t have to go there again, and whilst I’m naturally skeptical it’s also too early to say whether we will improve or not going forward and whether this is a hangover from last season or a sign of things to come

Agree with all of that except Odegaard.

He gets 4.5 from me.

More often than not, he made the wrong decision at key moments. Putting passes in silly places which destroyed a chance of attack, lofting balls overhead that could have been played on the ground resulting in the receiver having to tussle and lose possession, holding on to the ball for an extra 2-3 touches (when he clearly could and should have passed) only to be tackled and lose possession, then shooting when he should have passed and it being straight at the keeper......

I could go on, but ultimately, he is supposed to be our creative outlet and for a while now he is doing a shit job at it. I hoped that last season was a blip following his injury but I have seen nothing since then to assure me that he is getting back to that excellent season he had. We either need to start playing Nwaneri more in his position or just buy a creative player because we will be well and truly fucked up front if we continue with Ode like this.

My biggest gripe with him is not seeing him playing central and making cutting passes to the left, right or down the middle.
He is always trying to be within 2-4 meters of Saka, at all times.
It just limits the attack to the right wing only.

I would also go so far as to say it's a reason why Martinelli is doing so poorly as he often has no support and has more work to do on the LW. Usually Rice has to come more center-left to give Martinelli a passing outlet.
Odegaard is nowhere to be seen - Captain? lol. Did the players really choose him because he gives a good pregame huddle talk :shrug:

and god forbid he play a nice through ball down the middle for Gyokores to take advantage of..... :doh:

[KSE Comedy Club]

Saw most of this one and think you've actually been pretty generous on Odegaard. He was playing the wrong pass all day - or playing the right one poorly. I like him, but he wasn't at the races today.
It was a poor performance but an excellent result. As you say we've had plenty of games at Old Trafford where the reverse has happened so I'll take it.
The goal was a mess from the Utd point of view. I don't think we set out to defend a 1-0 lead for as long as we did, I was quite pleased with the way we were going forward today - it seemed we were doing so more quickly. But we were never able to play the final pass to unlock things.
At the back, a few shaky moments but overall we dealt with them well. Raya made two very good saves and we were a bit fortunate with the one that hit the post. But given all their possession they didn't really create that much. Utd dominated but they weren't that good.

Hard to draw conclusions from opening day fixtures. Some definite alarm bells but in a game like that you just want to get the hell out of there with the 3 points. We did, so that's fine with me.

:gp:

Except he hasn't been at the races since he came back from injury.

[HCZ_Reborn]

As I said to Letters earlier, and I’d say this for any player….what will piss me off with them is not so much getting things wrong but not trying. A lot of the passes Odegaard fucked up yesterday were passes he wasn’t even attempting to make last season, he was being a coward. What he was trying to do didn’t work yesterday and that is partly because Arteta has him drift right to accommodate Rice as LCM, and partly as I say the weight on the passing wasn’t there.
But he got a 6.5 because he put himself about and pressed well. If the passing continues to be off, of course there needs to be serious consideration given to dropping him but I saw yesterday a lot of things he often never even tried to do a lot of last season,

[IBK]

First game of the season and all that - but rarely have I felt more deflated after a rare win at a very difficult ground for us.

This is an emotional rather than a measured reaction, but IMO we were awful. For me only 2 players - Raya and Timber come out of that game with any credit. Our captain was not at his best, but at least he showed some intent. Arseblog summed up my feelings about him today with this link https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/comments/1mt0vaz/%C3%B8degaard_vs_manchester_united_a_17082025/?rdt=39357

Every one of our other senior players was off the pace. Saka and Rice in particular exemplifying our sub-par performance. Manure looked much hungrier; industrious; creative and organised. I disagree that we showed much desire to get the ball forwards. This was for me largely the lowlights of many of our performances last season. Balls given away; second best to loose balls; ponderous in the final third, with Manure having time to get into defensive shape (their conceded goal being an exception). All three of our new players were anonymous, and Madueke looked a liability defensively. For me - going forwards we were caught in 2 minds as to whether to commit numbers to attack, or being conservative defensively, and the result was the worst of all worlds - lack of movement and invention, and our defenders too high up the pitch and vulnerable to the counter.

We have better defenders than them, and again set piece FC leaned to heavily into this. Yes it worked eventually owing to United's profligacy/lack of cutting edge. But unless Arteta sorts this out quickly I fear for us this season.

Can I add that the referee was shocking. The unpunished arm in Zubi's face early on set the tone, and the homer ref seemed to react almost exclusively to the howls from the home crowd, while penalising us and disrupting our play at every opportunity.

[Marc Overmars]

I am of the opinion that we stink but I do not want to wish away this ruggedness that has helped get us these results in the big games. Once upon a time we’d go into these games almost certain of a defeat, so that is where Arteta’s work has paid dividends.

Just quite concerned that in putting everything into defending, we’ve become so disjointed as an attacking force and it’s not easy to watch. Yesterday was a huge win on paper but the eye test does not compute.

Expecting a big performance on the weekend against Leeds.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I don’t think the defending was actually that great, United got off 22 shots on goal, that over two thirds of them were off target was more on them. There was also far too much space for Cunha and Mbeumo to operate in.

The problem as I see it was that Rice was playing a creative role further up the pitch that he isn’t suited to and Zubimendi left to protect the back four by himself which given this is England and not Spain isn’t going to work. When the two play together Rice needs to sit much deeper (otherwise will get punished).

If Odegaard continues not to be able to operate as the central focus of attack, the solution as I see it would be to drop him and play Saka there with Madueke or Nwaneri on the right

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

https://youtu.be/0kiz4Om_FP0?si=cEzvc7PYizBjZm2N

[Letters]

I don’t think the defending was actually that great, United got off 22 shots on goal, that over two thirds of them were off target was more on them.
There's shots and shots though.
I don't remember them having many clear cut chances, their xG was 1.59.
I always think that's a bit of a bullshit stat, but an xG that low doesn't imply a load of really good chances and they were just wasteful. With a few notable counter examples they were mostly pretty speculative shots from distance.