Arsenal 3-1 Liverpool, Player rating and Match reaction

[HCZ_Reborn]

The comments on Havertz are harsh, and its a shame that after an excellent win against a team that have only lost once in the league this season he is the focus for negativity. He is not my favourite player, and his lack of speed and composure in front of goal is annoying, as is his propensity to go down under pressure. But he was a key part of a team that out Liverpooled Liverpool in terms of pressing and ball progression, and as poor as Liverpool were - we made them poor and not only dealt with their customary balls over the top, but kept them on the back foot throughout. Restricting them to one shot on target is an excellent achievement.

I know that this will be seen as an excuse, but for me football is a team game and I think that every member of our team played a part in a crucial win in which all the pressure was on Arsenal. If we are going to call our team out for the points dropped in our losing streak, then its only fair to applaud them for a run that puts us back into league contention.

I am very happy this morning.

I believe that without him it wouldn’t have been possible to win. He occupied defenders in a way Jesus and Nketiah do not, thereby making more availability for Martinelli, Saka and Trossard. What people expect is for him to be a player who does that and also score goals…if he did that he would absolutely be worth his transfer fee which he isn’t. You can acknowledge a player wasn’t worth what you paid for him, but still make the best possible use of that player.

[IBK]

I believe that without him it wouldn’t have been possible to win. He occupied defenders in a way Jesus and Nketiah do not, thereby making more availability for Martinelli, Saka and Trossard. What people expect is for him to be a player who does that and also score goals…if he did that he would absolutely be worth his transfer fee which he isn’t. You can acknowledge a player wasn’t worth what you paid for him, but still make the best possible use of that player.

This is on the money.

[Ollie the Optimist]

While not about the game itself per se, it was noticeable the level of quality in the post match analysis.

Sky focused on arsenal & arteta celebrating (let’s not forget that Klopp pulled a hamstring celebrating a last minute winner last year!!) yet MOTD actually focused on how arsenal played, the tactics used and how they worked.

Sky, especially caragaher & Neville no longer offer sensible analysis but rather just try to grab headlines with stupid claims

[Letters]

While not about the game itself per se, it was noticeable the level of quality in the post match analysis.

Sky focused on arsenal & arteta celebrating (let’s not forget that Klopp pulled a hamstring celebrating a last minute winner last year!!) yet MOTD actually focused on how arsenal played, the tactics used and how they worked.

Sky, especially caragaher & Neville no longer offer sensible analysis but rather just try to grab headlines with stupid claims

The start of The Metro match report basically said Arsenal took advantage of Liverpool having a rare off day.
I couldn't be arsed reading the rest.
I'm not one who believes the media are all against us, but I agree the level of analysis is lamentably poor, it's little more than trolling, clickbait and meme generation.

[The Wengerbabies]

Good win.

[Mac76]

@HCZ

i'd still prefer Ram in goal, but giving Raya a 5 because of one mistake is a bit silly, his general performance was probably the best I've seen him, he took some very good clean catches under some pressure and his distribution was very good in general. 7

Gabriel and Saliba were both between 7 and 7.5 - again you're punishing them for one moment which is over the top, - in particular Gabriel knew nothing about that handball, it's ridiculous to blame him for it - Saliba should have cleared it though

Also Kiwior did very well and was a 7.5 for me, I'm taking off a half point becuase he could have done better with the header but tbf he got himself into that position and that's what we need, people taking responsibility

Jorg was great and yes, he and Rice work well

White got a silly booking but outside that he was really turning on the style in the first half

Also Trossard was an 8, he was excellent when he came on and did really well to win the ball that he ended up putting in the back of the net

Also I'll give Arteta an 8, we set up well against them with teh players we had and it took a stupid mistake for them to get past us and then they had 5-10 minutes at the start of the second half where they threatened

[HCZ_Reborn]

@HCZ

i'd still prefer Ram in goal, but giving Raya a 5 because of one mistake is a bit silly, his general performance was probably the best I've seen him, he took some very good clean catches under some pressure and his distribution was very good in general. 7

Gabriel and Saliba were both between 7 and 7.5 - again you're punishing them for one moment which is over the top, - in particular Gabriel knew nothing about that handball, it's ridiculous to blame him for it - Saliba should have cleared it though

Also Kiwior did very well and was a 7.5 for me, I'm taking off a half point becuase he could have done better with the header but tbf he got himself into that position and that's what we need, people taking responsibility

Jorg was great and yes, he and Rice work well

White got a silly booking but outside that he was really turning on the style in the first half

Also Trossard was an 8, he was excellent when he came on and did really well to win the ball that he ended up putting in the back of the net

Also I'll give Arteta an 8, we set up well against them with teh players we had and it took a stupid mistake for them to get past us and then they had 5-10 minutes at the start of the second half where they threatened

Where I think we disagree on player ratings is that I think you have to judge a player by their worst moment in the game. Therefore if they make a mistake it has to bring down their overall score. If you go to a Dental hygienist you’ll find that’s how they score plaque..they won’t look at where you’ve brushed well, they’ll look at where you haven’t brushed well.

Now I think it’s also fair to say that I judge defensive players harsher than offensive ones. But that’s simply because the defensive player makes a mistake it will more likely lead to us losing than will an offensive player.

I like Rayas distribution if I’m honest, really good for counter attacks


As for Subs, unless they really stand out I don’t tend to score them that highly….very similar to football manager in that regard. Trossard scored a fantastic goal though

[Marc Overmars]

Question is now, will we beat West Ham on the weekend? An opponent that has caused us a lot of bother of late. Need to win most if not all of our games now before we go to the Etihad in March. You feel like City are gearing up for their usual end of season winning streak.

[Marc Overmars]

While not about the game itself per se, it was noticeable the level of quality in the post match analysis.

Sky focused on arsenal & arteta celebrating (let’s not forget that Klopp pulled a hamstring celebrating a last minute winner last year!!) yet MOTD actually focused on how arsenal played, the tactics used and how they worked.

Sky, especially caragaher & Neville no longer offer sensible analysis but rather just try to grab headlines with stupid claims

At times they can provide decent analysis, Carragher last night said our defence is the best in the league and why we could still win the title, but end of the day they are partisan and that will always come through when a result goes against their predicted narrative. You can tell they had prepared a spiel on Arsenal being out of the title race come Sunday. No one felt that we’d not only win but win fairly comfortably.

Most punditry now is just about personalities who provide clickbait and gather views. It’s geared towards younger fans who partake in the trolling and back and forths online.

[Letters]

I like Rayas distribution if I’m honest, really good for counter attacks

I agree with this. I am warming to him because of this. He's not a spectacular 'keeper and it was a strange signing with Ramsdale looking good last season, but I'm coming to the view that he's overall no worse than him. We probably should get rid of Ramsdale though, it's not really fair to keep sticking him on the bench when he's clearly good enough to start at a PL club.