Hughie hands out the marks
Adrian: No chance with goal, brilliant penalty shoot-out save. Looking good to be honest 6
Zabaleta: Little to do defensively by his standards but got forward well 6
Diop: Hard guy to fluster and looked more like the player Pelle hopes he has bought. 6
Balbuena: Some misplaced passes but brings the ball out and always trying to pass it sensibly 5
Masuaku: Always exciting on the run. It’s time to stop thinking of him as a left back – defence ain’t his thing 7
Noble: Impressive again at the heart of most things – the odd misplaced pass but plays those often needed simple balls so well 6
Rice: Really dunno why we are looking for a defensive midfielder when we have this lad. Again, not a foot wrong – give him a decent new deal Daves, let him loose Manuel 7
Wilshere: Underwhelming again and you worry every time he goes down…still waiting for the real thing 5
Snodgrass: Fine performance, good set pieces – assist for Martinez’s goal and set up another which the Spaniard saw go wide. Very good 8
Antonio: Looked to be back on the case – menacing when he ran at the defence, saw a couple of chances go over the top but once the rust is out of his system he will be back in business 6
Arnautovic: Got no real service and not really his game tonight but ran his heart out as usual 5
Subs:
Cullen: Hmmm…dubious what he brought to the table. Lots of effort not much end result 5
Obiang: Once again pretty anonymous – could be on his way if things don’t pick up for him 5
Martinez: Nicely taken goal, missed another off Snodgrass assist – useful to have around first team 6
Decent enough outing. Rice and noble were very good. Wilshere not so clever, but hopefully more to come from him. I sometimes think if wilshere was that top drawer and consistent why did Arsenal let him go. I don’t think we need too much else but if anything another striker/forward. We are fine for GKs, defenders, midfielders and wide players.
Excellent ratings. Wilshere poor again and really beginning to wonder about him. The minute he went off the tempo increased significantly in the middle of the park. I don’t think Obiang;s head is right and for this reason I believe we should really consider accepting the offer on the table for him. It was also confirmed tonight that Cullen is nowhere near this level at the moment and if there is an offer for him to play at a lower level we should accept it. We have no 10 in the team at the moment who can make things happen. I loved Mario last season because he brought energy to the team in that role. We need a couple of class players and I would also consider having a look at Makausa in a more centre role as the left side of the midfield 3. Please let us not but Drinkwater – another journeyman who Kante made look good, not good enough for the system we want to play in the middle of the park.
Agree with most of the comment: Masuaku is not a defender, Balbuena looked good to me and shows a lot of (Tony Gale type) potential, Noble and Rice good, Wilshire showed some good link up but early days, Diop a work in progress, but Antonio, Snodgrass and Arnie all look good, but lack a real goalscorer to work with ?
The passing at times was pure West ham….
I think Adrian has really stepped up again, like he did when Hart came in last season. He has a really positive effect on the team. Wilshere looks like he’s playing within himself, either carrying a knock or scared of getting one. Not a good look for the position he plays. Antonio is getting back to his old, energetic, unpredictable self, which is a good thing. Cullen still looks out of his depth at the moment. Obiang did ok, but he’s coming back from injury so I wouldn’t put it all down to the transfer talk. Snodgrass was good yesterday but he still looks lacking in confidence. Great play for the goal. Arnautovic ran his heart out again, I seriously hope we’re not expecting him to do all of the hard work up front on his own every game. He needs a partner to take some of the load off. If Arthur was Brazilian he’d be worth £100 million. I liked what I saw from Balbuena and Diop.
Please that you gave Snoddy good marks; he managed to get around their LB many times and his crosses were on the money. He got a lot of snide remarks on the chat section of the live stream which are totally underserved (‘championship player’ etc). With his future sorted and the fans behind him I’m sure he’d do even better. Rice dominated once he came on. Balbuena’s last gasp tackle reminded me of Bobby Moore’s classic against Pele. If we can play two up front with Chicharito and Arnie or Anderson and Arnie I think the goals will come. Arnie on his own is forlorn IMO; too easily surrounded and snuffed-out; too much inviting heavy tackles. Looking good though. Still wish we’d bought Shaqiri – we may live to regret that come first match.