Athletic Club Bilbao 0-2 Arsenal Player Ratings and Match Reaction

[HCZ_Reborn]

Raya 7 - Another sit down in a deck chair with a stubby of Heineken game for the keeper


Timber 8 - Proved to be an obdurate presence both at the back and going forward


Mosquera 7.5 - Haven’t really missed Saliba that much


Gabriel 7.5 - Probably could do without him and Gyokeres nutting each other, I suppose that’s why he’s thought of as an Aggressive defender


Calafiori 7 - Interestingly he was solid defensively but rather quiet going forward


Zubimendi 6 - Which is generous, and asks questions as to how effective he is in the role when dealing with pace


Rice 7 - Should have started at 6


Merino 6 - For the life of me I don’t really see what he contributes in midfield


Eze 5.5 - The equivalent of a three pin plug on the continent


Madueke 7 - The pace and trickery is there, the execution less so


Gyokeres 6 - Admired his “it’s just a flesh wound” hardiness but should have done better from a free header


Subs


Martinelli 8 - The finish was actually poor as he shot straight at Simon and it snuck underneath him, but he was lively and fucking hell he took on his fullback and in doing so provided a great assist


Trossard 8 - Some of his passing is underestimated and the ball that put Martinelli through on goal was sublimely simplistic


Norgaard/Hincapie - N/A - brought on to get minutes when the win was already sewn up


Not only was this a midfield in need of prune juice in the first half, it was also dangerously immobile in being able to deal with swift breaks, and although the goal stats for Bilbao’s players suggested we didn’t need to worry too much, given we place so much of a premium on control we didn’t really seem to have much of it for the first quarter of the match.
Then it was the usual bore fest until the subs brought with them a bit of direct football. Martinelli goal hopefully does some good for his confidence.
Not exactly the confident, swaggering football I’d want to see prior to the game with Man City. But if the performance was ugly, the result was chef’s kiss

[Letters]

I guess we can file this under "job done".
Sounds like a poor game but an away win in Europe and a clean sheet is always fine with me.
Their 'keeper should have saved Martinelli's goal, I reckon.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I guess we can file this under "job done".
Sounds like a poor game but an away win in Europe and a clean sheet is always fine with me.
Their 'keeper should have saved Martinelli's goal, I reckon.

Well yes given it was straight at him, that it snuck under him was pretty poor for the no1 Spain keeper…only excuse is if Martinelli by sleight of hand had slathered the thing in petroleum jelly before taking the shot

[Letters]

Well yes given it was straight at him, that it snuck under him was pretty poor for the no1 Spain keeper…only excuse is if Martinelli by sleight of hand had slathered the thing in petroleum jelly before taking the shot

It was Onanaesque how it slithered through him. I guess he was beaten by the pace, but I'd expect a top 'keeper to have stopped it.
Whatever!

[Letters]

Meaningless stat du jour:
Apparently we are now the only side in CL/European Cup history to beat Spanish sides 6 times in a row.

[HCZ_Reborn]

It was Onanaesque how it slithered through him. I guess he was beaten by the pace, but I'd expect a top 'keeper to have stopped it.
Whatever!

The annoying thing is, Martinelli did the hard stuff really well, controlling the ball, outmuscling the defender…setting himself for the shot…but then he panicked. That’s his problem, I really have no question over his ability. But I think too often he overthinks or goes for the easier option (like cutting inside).

We’ve got a set piece coach, all kinds of coaching for defending but it feels to me like we need an attacking coach…someone to promote being bold, knowing when to take the shot…or release the ball half a second quicker

[IBK]

Good result. For all the criticism of a rather sterile performance this is how you get things done in Europe. Keep it tight and exploit tired legs/switch things up to get the points. No complaints from me given our win.