Burnley 0-5 Arsenal. Player rating and match Reaction

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

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Originally Posted by 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

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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.

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.

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Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club

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.

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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

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Originally Posted by Chippy

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.

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I think with CL now upon us again he will have to rotate a bit, getting Jesus and Tomi back is very important on that front given their international/CL experience

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Originally Posted by Chippy

It is amazing how we have all of a sudden clicked and scoring goals from everywhere without relying on a striker.

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It is. But I would note that Burnley are properly awful, and West Ham are in poor form.
It's nice to get good, confidence boosting wins but bigger tests are coming.

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Originally Posted by Letters

It is. But I would note that Burnley are properly awful, and West Ham are in poor form.
It's nice to get good, confidence boosting wins but bigger tests are coming.

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The Newcastle game is massive, not necessarily to get a 5-0 win but a win is vital - if they turn us over it will make us look like flat track bullies

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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?

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Originally Posted by IBK

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?

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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

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Originally Posted by Mac76

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

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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.

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Originally Posted by IBK

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.

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Yes I think that was it :lol:

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Originally Posted by Mac76

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

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Agree with all of that.

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by IBK

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?

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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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club

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.

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...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.

Trouble with Eddie is that he struggles to make an impact from the bench, so he’s never really giving Arteta too much to think about. As a starter he’s delivered in dribs and drabs but I can’t for the life of me see a long term future for him here unless he’s just happy to be a bit-part player. I don’t think his all round game is particularly great either, which is why even a misfiring Jesus remains a better option because of his ability to make things happen around him.

I would personally move Eddie, ESR and Nelson on this summer but I guess that’s easier said than done because I’m sure a big factor in them still being Arsenal players is because they tick the home grown box.

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Originally Posted by Marc Overmars

Trouble with Eddie is that he struggles to make an impact from the bench, so he’s never really giving Arteta too much to think about. As a starter he’s delivered in dribs and drabs but I can’t for the life of me see a long term future for him here unless he’s just happy to be a bit-part player. I don’t think his all round game is particularly great either, which is why even a misfiring Jesus remains a better option because of his ability to make things happen around him.

I would personally move Eddie, ESR and Nelson on this summer but I guess that’s easier said than done because I’m sure a big factor in them still being Arsenal players is because they tick the home grown box.

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Agree on Eddie and reluctantly I agree with mocing those players on - ESR's too injury prone, Eddie isn't good enough and while I'm a big fan of Nelson he deserves to be a regular starter somewhere