Arsenal 3-0 Forest Player Rating and Match Reaction

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13-09-2025, 04:54 PM
HCZ_Reborn

Arsenal 3-0 Forest Player Rating and Match Reaction

Raya 7 - A fingertip save from Wood aside, was a virtual spectator

Timber 6 - Made to look a bit silly by Hudson-Odoi in the movement that saw Wood’s shot cannon off the bar via Raya’s fingertips

Mosquera 8 - Great block to stop follow up, looks comfortable in the role

Gabriel 7 - Usual solid self

Calafiori 7 - Picked more for his forward work more than his defensive work, makes sense get the goals and bring Lewis-Skelly on

Zubimendi 9 - First goal was a belter, second was solid header

Merino 7 - Nothing as a midfielder, but unlucky not to score…does show the instincts of a forward at times

Odegaard 6 - Probably not the end of the world his shoulder injury

Eze 8 - An assist and good linkup play with Gyokeres

Madueke 8 - Isn’t just a backup for Saka, offers something very different. Where as Saka likes to cut inside on his left foot. Madueke likes to take it to the line and cross in and we do have people to profit from that m

Gyokeres 8 - The finish was what we want from a striker, someone to be there to put away these chances…the next thing to work on is creating more chances like that.

Subs

Lewis-Skelly 7 Defensive solidity

Nwaneri 8 Hopefully he starts the next few games

Rice 7 Tidy will be interesting to see if there is rotation between him, Zubimendi and Merino often

Trossard 7 Probably should have scored but got an assist

Martinelli 6 Bleugh

So comfortable day at the office, which is what we want to be consistently achieving and hopefully at the same time the disappointment at Anfield aside, resume being able to go toe to toe with the other big fish.
Although I’d like to see more from open play, it feels like it will come and the other thing to note is that it feels like our set pieces have a bit more variety to them than shit housing.
Nothing really much more to say, from North London to North Spain
15-09-2025, 01:52 PM
21_GOONER_SALUTE

A bit disappointed there hasn't been more commentary from others about this game...but it seems anytime we win comfortably, everyone goes quiet.

Anyway, I think your ratings are generally ok.

Great displays from Madueke, Zubi and Mosquera...but think Noni deserves the MOTM.

Eze also deserves a special mention for moments of magic that we rarely see anymore.

Merino should have received the lowest ranking, but it's more to do with him playing like a robot and teachers pet and not leaving his comfort zone.

All in all, best performance of the season so far.
15-09-2025, 02:35 PM
HCZ_Reborn

Quote:

Originally Posted by 21_GOONER_SALUTE

A bit disappointed there hasn't been more commentary from others about this game...but it seems anytime we win comfortably, everyone goes quiet.

Anyway, I think your ratings are generally ok.

Great displays from Madueke, Zubi and Mosquera...but think Noni deserves the MOTM.

Eze also deserves a special mention for moments of magic that we rarely see anymore.

Merino should have received the lowest ranking, but it's more to do with him playing like a robot and teachers pet and not leaving his comfort zone.

All in all, best performance of the season so far.

Merino just isn’t that good of a midfielder, he lacks the technical line breaking ability that is any use to you in the premier league. He looked ok in attacking moments with some of the set piece routines but expecting something from him that he doesn’t have (dynamism) seems pointless. We can blame Arteta for buying him in the first place, but we need to stop the pretence that if a player performs well on international duty against spastic teams that he’s a caterpillar not being allowed to emerge from his chrysalis as a butterfly.

As for the it hasn’t been spoken about, it’s a decent win but it’s the kind of win we should be expecting given the money we’ve spent.
16-09-2025, 10:40 AM
IBK

Quote:

Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn

Merino just isn’t that good of a midfielder, he lacks the technical line breaking ability that is any use to you in the premier league. He looked ok in attacking moments with some of the set piece routines but expecting something from him that he doesn’t have (dynamism) seems pointless. We can blame Arteta for buying him in the first place, but we need to stop the pretence that if a player performs well on international duty against spastic teams that he’s a caterpillar not being allowed to emerge from his chrysalis as a butterfly.

As for the it hasn’t been spoken about, it’s a decent win but it’s the kind of win we should be expecting given the money we’ve spent.

No issue with HZC's ratings. The quality of our performance must be seen in the light of the absence of Saka; Havertz; Saliba; White and Odegard (for most of the game) - all players whose absences would have derailed us in previous seasons. It's incredible how quickly things can change!

I also think that any observations that it was 'only' Forest have to be tempered by the fact that last season and even prior to this, this is the type of fixture in which we might well have dropped points...

For me, the comments re Merino have to be seen in this light. With him as a starter in place of Rice we put in a very good performance, and for me he links better with Zubimendi than Rice has done so far this season. IMO there's no real need, therefore, to castigate him.