Sporting 1-5 Arsenal - Player rating and Match Reaction

[HCZ_Reborn]

Raya 8 - Made a couple of really good saves


Timber 8 - Really impressed with his attacking play


Saliba 7.5 - Tired a bit in the second half but still stood up well to Sporting’s attacking players


Gabriel 8.5 - Enjoys defending, gave Gyokeres a tough night and got himself another set piece goal


Calafiori 6.5 - I think Arteta has his “Goldilocks” left back, though looked a bit rusty tonight so it was smart when he’s recovering from injury to take him off early I think


Rice 6.5 - Something just still not right there I think


Partey 7.5 - I think it’s underestimated just how crucial he is to our attacking play as much as Odegaard is


Odegaard 8 - Understanding between him and Saka is crucial


Saka 8 - As above, getting in behind the defence causes so much danger


Havertz 7.5 - Benefitted from the uncertainty and chaos caused by Saka, Timber and Odegaard


Martinelli 7.5 - As with Havertz, good timing to finish chance laid on for him by others



Subs:


Trossard 6.5 - Overall performance pretty low key, but showed good reactionary instincts to get his goal


Merino 6.5 - A sub rather than a starter


Zinchenko 6 - Untroubled after coming on for Calafiori


Nwaneri 7 - Would have liked to see him getting more minutes


Kiwior 6 - Struggled a bit with the physicality of the game



I don’t think we did anything special last night, by which I mean we didn’t play in a way that is different from how we usually play but we just did it very well. This was a performance of saying “this is what we are capable of”. The difference was energy, there was bundles of it….and that’s encouraging for us when we need to build momentum.

I think the way we largely kept Gyokeres quiet suggests to me that maybe we want to look elsewhere for a striker, he couldn’t handle the physicality of Gabriel and Saliba (few can of course)

[Niall_Quinn]

That Sporting #9 was MOTM. What a fucking player. Reminded me of Shearer. Dropped shoulder, pace, directness and a fucking hold my beer shot, plus good in the air and a general bastard on the pitch. If he played for us that would seal the deal. We should bid whatever it takes for him and we'd make it back in 2 years. Jesus, Sterling - OK, time to get serious now.

[Niall_Quinn]

Partey 7.5 - I think it’s underestimated just how crucial he is to our attacking play as much as Odegaard is

This is the sort of thing that has made me question existence. Human beings are so strange and so different. Obviously Partey is a giant bag of shit that is detrimental to everything that makes the team tick and vital to everything that make the team suck. Any fool knows two things about Arsenal. One. If the other team lets us play they are fucked - welcome Sporting. Two, when we are direct and move the ball at pace we can compete with the best of them, even when they don't let us play. And then there's Partey, the plodding lump who we can alway rely on to ensure obvious fact 2 is never possible.

[Niall_Quinn]

Saka 8 - As above, getting in behind the defence causes so much danger

Would LOVE to see who ranks 9 or 10. Considering he's quite easily the best player in Europe at the moment (and I reserve the right to qualify with - at the moment) it means the scale of 1-10 is fundamentally flawed as it's impossible to get a 9 or 10. So the scale should be adjusted to 1 to 8.