Arsenal v Brentfod Match Reaction and ratings

[Mac76]

Ram - 6 - flapped around a bit but did at least kick the ball upfield a few times, which he's not done in the last couple of games
White - 6 - decent going forward but missing in defence too often
Saliba - 7 - did an OK job against Toney who is s real handful
Gabriel - 7 - one of our real rocks
Zinchenko - 0 - now our biggest liability, took way too many touches, constantly misplayed passes and tried to shoot when he couldn't hit a barn door - literally at one point the Brentford fans were singing at him that he was "embarrasing"
Partey - 7 - more of an important game in terms of him defending than attacking, should have tried a shot at some point
Odegaard - 5 - ineffective, off his game atm
Saka - 7.5 - not perfect but got the assist and had a good shot at another point, like a lot of other players took too many touches a lot of the time
Xhaka - 4 - increasingly starting to be shown up on technique and pace
Eddie - 6.5 - disappeared at times but did a decent job when he got the right ball - he's no Jesus though and we are really starting to miss Jesus now
Martinelli - 7 - tricky because again Zin and Xhaka denied him service as usual, but he needs a rest IMO
Trossard - 8 - comes on and gets the goal - needs a start against Citeh for sure
Vieira - 4 - what's the point, he's not a PL player IMO
Tierney - N/A as he didn't come on, but should have played FFS

[Chippy]

Ram - 6 - flapped around a bit but did at least kick the ball upfield a few times, which he's not done in the last couple of games
White - 6 - decent going forward but missing in defence too often
Saliba - 7 - did an OK job against Toney who is s real handful
Gabriel - 7 - one of our real rocks
Zinchenko - 0 - now our biggest liability, took way too many touches, constantly misplayed passes and tried to shoot when he couldn't hit a barn door - literally at one point the Brentford fans were singing at him that he was "embarrasing"
Partey - 7 - more of an important game in terms of him defending than attacking, should have tried a shot at some point
Odegaard - 5 - ineffective, off his game atm
Saka - 7.5 - not perfect but got the assist and had a good shot at another point, like a lot of other players took too many touches a lot of the time
Xhaka - 4 - increasingly starting to be shown up on technique and pace
Eddie - 6.5 - disappeared at times but did a decent job when he got the right ball - he's no Jesus though and we are really starting to miss Jesus now
Martinelli - 7 - tricky because again Zin and Xhaka denied him service as usual, but he needs a rest IMO
Trossard - 8 - comes on and gets the goal - needs a start against Citeh for sure
Vieira - 4 - what's the point, he's not a PL player IMO
Tierney - N/A as he didn't come on, but should have played FFS

Two points dropped. FFS.
One point from six.
Top four struggle is on!

[Letters]

Aye, we are only *checks notes* 12 points above 5th place with 2 games in hand.

[Marc Overmars]

Can’t believe the defending for Toney’s goal. Proper school boy shit.

That was peak Wenger and Emery banter.

[HCZ_Reborn]

I’m not really interested in re litigating a goal that absolutely should not have stood to the point where Lee Mason I believe has been suspended from VAR duties for the rest of the season.

The defending in general was poor, too often caught out trying to pass our way out of defence and zonal marking on set pieces.

But again that’s not what concerns me. It’s having a lower xg than our opponents in the last two games. That simply is not good enough, and it definitely does require a re-think.

[Mac76]

Aye, we are only *checks notes* 12 points above 5th place with 2 games in hand.

The last time you made that comment, just a week or two ago, it was 15 points - leads can evaporate quickly when all of a sudden you can't find a win

As i said before, given Spuds' inconsistency, top four is still quite likely, but not certain, we dropped 9 points in just three games last season

What bothers me is how stubborn Arteta can be about what his best team is or see what's in front of him, someone who refuses to learn or adapt is going to come up short at some point

We're also really missing Jesus now which admittedly isn't Arteta's fault but he needs to show some imagination

[Ollie the Optimist]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...equaliser.html

So VAR “forgot” to draw the lines to check for offside. Literally the only way you check it.

It’s corrupt

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Clearly Lee Mason should never VAR us again (he also chalked off Martinelli's goal at Man U), but I think we're missing the point...if it hadn't been that goal I still firmly believe Brentford would have still scored anyway, so our inability to read and turn the tide properly at the crucial part of games that are clearly not going our way is getting to predictable.

I mean at HT I did say Brentford was going to score and it happened exactly that way.

IMO Martinelli should have never have come off as he was a clear goal threat, why couldn't Mikel mix it up and play him in the middle while still bringing in Trossard...I mean for FFS, we're at home, would it kill you to play 2 strikers for a team which had not scored in over 225 mins of open play??

VAR might make the loss of points more annoying, but lets be frank those of us who watched the full game know Brentford should have been out of sight with the pathetic chances and lack of imagination we showed.

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Ram - 6 - flapped around a bit but did at least kick the ball upfield a few times, which he's not done in the last couple of games
White - 7 - decent going forward but missing in defence too often
Saliba - 6 - did an OK job against Toney who is s real handful
Gabriel - 7 - one of our real rocks
Zinchenko - 3 - now our biggest liability, took way too many touches, constantly misplayed passes and tried to shoot when he couldn't hit a barn door - literally at one point the Brentford fans were singing at him that he was "embarrasing"
Partey - 7 - more of an important game in terms of him defending than attacking, should have tried a shot at some point
Odegaard - 5 - ineffective, off his game atm
Saka - 7.5 - not perfect but got the assist and had a good shot at another point, like a lot of other players took too many touches a lot of the time
Xhaka - 4 - increasingly starting to be shown up on technique and pace
Eddie - 6.5 - disappeared at times but did a decent job when he got the right ball - he's no Jesus though and we are really starting to miss Jesus now
Martinelli - 7 - tricky because again Zin and Xhaka denied him service as usual, but he needs a rest IMO
Trossard - 7- comes on and gets the goal - needs a start against Citeh for sure
Vieira - 3 - what's the point, he's not a PL player IMO
Tierney - N/A as he didn't come on, but should have played FFS

Agree with most of the comments, edited the scores.

[Mac76]

Clearly Lee Mason should never VAR us again (he also chalked off Martinelli's goal at Man U), but I think we're missing the point...if it hadn't been that goal I still firmly believe Brentford would have still scored anyway, so our inability to read and turn the tide properly at the crucial part of games that are clearly not going our way is getting to predictable.

I mean at HT I did say Brentford was going to score and it happened exactly that way.

IMO Martinelli should have never have come off as he was a clear goal threat, why couldn't Mikel mix it up and play him in the middle while still bringing in Trossard...I mean for FFS, we're at home, would it kill you to play 2 strikers for a team which had not scored in over 225 mins of open play??

VAR might make the loss of points more annoying, but lets be frank those of us who watched the full game know Brentford should have been out of sight with the pathetic chances and lack of imagination we showed.

Generally agree although still, if the only time they found the back of the net it should have been scrubbed off then that is a factor

And yes Arteta' game management just involves replacing people in individual positions but never changing tactics