Arsenal FC – Our away record against FC Bate Borisov

February 13, 2019

FC BATE Borisov is a Belarusian football team from the city of Barysaw. The club competes in the Belarusian Premier League. The club’s home stadium is Borisov Arena, which was opened in 2014 it has a capacity of 13,126. BATE is an acronym of Borisov Automobile and Tractor Electronics.

The team was founded in 1973 and then disbanded in 1984. Prior to being disbanded they won the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic league three times (1974, 1976 and 1979), the club was re-established in 1996.

They are the reigning champions and are the league’s most successful club with 15 titles, 13 won consecutively. The club has also won three Belarusian Cups and four Belarusian Super Cups. BATE is the only Belarusian team to have qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League (2008–09, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15 and 2015–16) and one of two to qualify for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League (2009–10, 2010–11, 2017–18 and 2018–19), along with Dinamo Minsk.

The following comes from a stadium guide and is not a great reason to travel.

The Borisov Arena is located on the edge of the city surrounded by forests, office parks, and some residential housing. There is not much to see or do near the stadium so little reason to head over long before the match. Barysaw is a rather sleepy city so there isn’t much to do elsewhere either, but you’ll be able to find a few places to eat or drink in central Barysaw around Revolution Avenue or around Gagarina street near the coach station. There are barely any hotels in Barysaw so your choice is either to go for one of the very basic options or pick one of the apartment rentals around the city.

The alternative (as most of the travelling Gooners seem to be doing) is to stay in Minsk. In fact Arsenal FC have arranged coaches for fans to make the 70km journey. Coaches will depart from Lenin street (metro station Pershamayskaya) opposite the Minsk Concert Hall.

Minsk Concert Hall

Honours

Belarusian Premier League
Winners (15): 1999, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

Belarusian Cup
Winners (3): 2006, 2010, 2015

Belarusian Super Cup
Winners (7): 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
Belarusian Second League

Winners: 1996
Belarusian Soviet era champions
Winners (3): 1974, 1976, 1979

The only occasion we have played against Bate in Belarus was in the 2017/18 Europa League when we won 4-2.

Thursday 28th September 2017 – FC Bate Borisov 2 Arsenal 4

Two early goals from Theo Walnutt and a close range header from Rob Holding gave the boys in powder blue a commanding lead. Bate sneaked one back before FFS Giroud sealed the win with a penalty just after half time. Bate’s second 20 minutes from time proved no more than a consolation. A 17 year-old Reiss Nelson impressed at right wing back.

I expect us to win – but then again we are the 2018/19 version of Arsenal so –?

GunnerN5

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Posted by Bongo

What does February hold in store for Emery’s Arsenal?

February 1, 2019

So, a new month and a peculiar one at that. Six games in three distinct sections await The Arsenal; two away Prem games, followed by the Europa home and away against Bate in the Europa and finished off with two home games in 4 days.

This February’s fixtures kick off with (along with the dippers at Anfield) possibly the hardest fixture of the season, the Champions away from home at the Emptihad. The season kicked off with the light blue oilers beating us at home when everything about The Arsenal seemed unfamiliar after 22 years of Arsene. We were outplayed but not humiliated.

We need to beware for Sunday’s game as they will be smarting from their defeat at the hands of the barcodes on Tuesday. Still, we won there in 2015 when Santi bossed their midfield; his penalty plus a headed goal from FFS-G giving us a 2-0 victory, so who knows what might happen this time around.

I really dislike waiting around all weekend to see us play in a 4.30pm Sunday kick off.

Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images

On Saturday February 9th we’re away again at Huddersfield and it’s at a proper kick off time of 3pm. Wagner’s boys will be hoping to improve on their record of 11 points from 24 games which has earned them bottom place in the table. They’re yet to experience a ‘bounce effect’ from having a new guy at the helm, losing narrowly to Everton in midweek. The Terriers have Chelsea away on Saturday, so let’s hope it comes then rather than when we visit the week after.

On Thursday 14th we go to Belarus for the away leg of our round of 32 game against Bate Borisov. The temperature there is ok at the moment. We beat them 10-2 on aggregate (4-2 in the away leg) when we played them in the group stage in 2017 but there should be no room for complacency.

Before the return leg on 21st Feb we have a free weekend with us not being in the 5th round of the FA Cup. Hopefully the home tie will not require too many heroics to secure our passage into the next round of the Europa.

n.b. both Bate games are 17:55pm kick offs – an early kick off at the Emirates is a peculiarity caused by the chavs being at home on the same night (I think)

The following Sunday, the 24th, has us at home to Southampton (kick off 2:05pm). I’m off down to the Smoke with Ant on the train for that one. Veganuary has gone very well and I’m definitely going to carry it on. Ideas for our vegan pack up are taking shape already! Samosas and onion bhajis will probably feature in place of sausage rolls and pork pies. I hope Ant’s looking forward to it. 🙂

Our final game of the month is 4 days later on Wednesday the 27th at home to Bournemouth. Thank Dennis it’s not at Dean Court as that’s never an easy place to go ……… ask Chelsea. Hahahaha.

So in summary, we have three away games spread over 12 days starting on Sunday, an enforced FA Cup weekend off, followed by three home fixtures in the space of a week. An odd little selection.

The new spud stadium is just waiting for us to write some more history there

Looking at the fixture list on AFC.com, early March has us away at the spuds and the venue listed is the Totteringham Hotspurs Stadium – it’ll be interesting to see if that’s where it’s actually played.

chas

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Posted by Bongo

Qarabag Ratings

December 14, 2018

This is the reason international friendlies never entice – if there’s nothing riding on a game of football, tedium ensues.

First Half

Laca scored a beauty from a Mesut pass.

Laca even had time to do a celebration dance as the ball sped under the keeper

Second Half

I went to bed to read.

Ratings

Everyone got a … 6

except

Laca (for scoring),  Kos (for surviving) and Mesut (for being Mesut) … 7

Qarabag … 2 – so poor they didn’t even try to make it an entertaining game of football even though they had nothing whatsoever to lose.

Comments from AA match attendees

LB

I got the feeling that Ozil wasn’t out there for as long as he was to get important game time but as a kind of sop to us poor souls who braved the cold.

LBG

I can safely say that was a worse game to be at than even the recent 0-0 draw.
Good luck with player ratings. Not one of the youngsters did themselves justice. Sokratis OK, Kos OK Laca frustrated by no service. Mesut reasonable. Ref shit (for a change…ed)

On to Sunday, take your boots if you’re going, you might be needed.

chas

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Posted by Bongo

Boys will be men! – Arsenal v Vorskla Player Ratings

November 30, 2018
Well, everything seemed to be stacked against the team in the beginning. Whose idea was it to organise a long trip away midweek before celebrating some serious Spud-bashing in the weekend! Really bad idea!

And then, serious brass monkey weather in the Land of Always Winter! Note, the ref needed a replacement can to paint the ground in the second half because the first one froze in his pants! 🙂

To top it all, martial law and proxy wars of the kind never seen in the civilized end of Europe on the correct side of 1945. Who would have thunk!

And then, in a shocking late move just to disrupt our preparations, UEFA decided at the last minute to move the game to the Olympic Stadium in Kiev. Surely, the sole purpose was to bring memories of another Brexit side crashing to European opposition in last season’s Champions League final!

Yes, the odds were all stacked against us.

In response, Unai Emery decides, in his enormous wisdom, to pack the team with teenagers fresh out of nursery. Bless the man and his sense of humour! In the event, we had a fantastic spectacle where the young gunners ran amok and Vorskled the shell-shocked opposition 3-0 on the night! What’s not to like?

We have struggled a bit with our academy setup in the past couple of years. But, if there was one thing we learnt last night, it was that the future is bright and shining. Yes, these young boys will be men soon enough. But will they stay and take it up the Arse? That is the long term question. In the short term, things look bright. We can look forward to another brilliant teen-show of Emery-ball against Qarabag.

Here are some quick thoughts and ratings. Please feel free to disagree.

Helmet: 6
Better with his feet than with his hands, which were probably frozen. Had to make a couple of saves, which he did, not without pretending to be nutmegged once early on. But that was just play-acting. Especially loved his bold clearance outside the box in the second half.

AMN: 6.5
Holding: 6
Jenks: 6
Licht: 6
The defence had precious little to do by way of stopping opposition attacks. It seems all aggression is diverted towards the Russians at the moment. Holding and Jenks were solid. Licht was good on the overlap. AMN was somewhat iffy in defence but linked up really well with the midfield.

Elneny: 5
Worked hard, but I thought he was the weak link on the night. Caught out of position a few times, and got himself into an offside position in the second half for what would have otherwise been Smith-Rowe’s second goal. However, decent assist for the third goal.

Rambo: 7
Almost convinced the ref and everyone else that he was attempting to dive, but in the process earned as fair a penalty as one would ever see. Wonderful stewardship of a bunch of youngsters (Cech was the captain on the night, I think, but Rambo looked very much the leader on the field). Most importantly, he got the opposition goalie on his knees for the penalty. Now, how many times have a seen a goalie defending a penalty kneeling down rather than diving! Wow!

Douzi: 6
Good solid link up play. Nothing spectacular except the hair, but valuable nevertheless.

Smith-Rowe: 8
Such games can sometimes be nervy affairs, and the first goal is always important. On the night, a wonderfully cool finish for an early first goal that set the tone for the game. To top it all, a wonderful sheepish smile after calmly finishing off a second half goal only for the goal to be disallowed very late. Just because Elneny was caught too far upfront trying to give the opposition goalie the eye!

Nketiah: 7
Tireless work throughout the game. Really gutsy, and very skillful. A fine assist to boot!

Willock: 7
What wonderful maturity, skill and finish for the third goal! A fine talent. A great pleasure to watch.

Zech Medley, Bukayo Sako and Charlie Gilmour.
What wonderful names! Never heard of them before. Medley was wonderful in defence, seems to be a real talent for the future. Sako was excellent in link up play. Both solid 6’s for me. Gilmour was not on long enough to make an impression.

Two final thoughts………..

First, a special thought for the team doctor (don’t know their name) who apparently did not travel with the team and reached late on his own. Then forgot that the game was moved to Kiev and travelled a pointless 400 miles by road to finally reach the game. What a performance!

Second. By the way, that is now 18 and counting! Look forward to some serious mauling of the blue-skinned swamp dwellers from N17 in the weekend.

A mildly satisfied,

Red Arnie

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Posted by Bongo

Arsenal FC – Our record playing in the Ukraine

November 28, 2018

Our record in the Ukraine hasn’t been all that auspicious.  It’s a difficult place to go as winter creeps in.

Dynamo Kyiv were our first Ukrainian opponents in 1998. These were the days of playing at Wembley to allow more people in and swell the coffers that bit more. It was a dreadful idea as virtually all home advantage was lost. Kiev (as we called them in those days) had Shevchenko and Rebrov, which also didn’t help! We drew at home and then lost 3-1 away in November. (This was before Rebrov disgraced himself by going to the spuds, coming 12th and 9th before going on loan to Fenerbahce).

Getty Images

In 2003 we again lost away but sneaked a 1-0 home win at Highbury with a late Ashley Cole goal. Kiev were drawn in our group for the third time in 2008. We managed to sneak a 1-1 draw in the Valery Lobanovskiy Stadium thanks to a very late Billy G equaliser and sneaked the home tie when Lord Bendtner popped up with an 87th minute winner.

Getty Images

Against Shakhtar Donetsk in September 2000 at Highbury, I was proud to witness one of my favourite ever live games. Losing 2-0 early on, Wiltord gave us hope on the stroke of half time slotting in the rebound from a missed penalty. The last ten minutes will live long in the memory as Martin Keown popped up with two goals (one which appeared to be off his arm) to snatch victory at the death. Must have been his only brace ever. I smiled all the way home to Notts. The less said about the 3-0 away defeat in November the better.

We romped past Shakhtar in October 2010 5-1 at the Emirates featuring goals from the FFBW, a Cesc penalty and a Chamakh special before again losing away 2-1 in November. (Eduardo, our Brazilian Croatian ex-player, scored in both legs but shunned any goal celebrations)

Getty Images

There’s a theme developing here. The later in the year you play away in the Ukraine, the harder it is to come away with a point. A proliferation of gloves and too many thermal layers probably doesn’t help.

Still all trends are there to be broken, starting on Thursday.

Update on Thursday’s game

Russian aggression towards the Ukraine appears to be escalating and in response the Ukrainian government has declared martial law. President Petro Poroshenko has said the implementation ‘aims to prevent an all-out Russian invasion’.

A statement from Uefa read: “The emergency panel has today taken the decision to relocate FC Vorskla’s Europa League group stage match against Arsenal from the city of Poltava, following the introduction of martial law into certain regions in Ukraine.

“Uefa will continue to monitor and assess the security situation in Ukraine in the coming days before making any decision on potentially relocating other matches.”

Up to 500 Arsenal fans were expected to travel to the game in Poltava and now must make alternative arrangements, with the decision coming less than 48 hours before the scheduled start time, which remains unchanged. (17:55pm)

chas

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Posted by Bongo

What’s in store for Emery’s Arsenal in December?

November 27, 2018

Yep, I realise November isn’t over yet but December starts on Saturday and Europa League matchday 5 will take up the end of this week.

So, what’s in store for December – Nine flippin games is what. This is partly due to the ridiculous amount of international breaks, maybe. Injuries will abound and the clubs with the biggest squads will benefit.

These 9 games include 7 in the Prem, 1 Caribou Cup game and our remaining Europey fixture. With us still to win in Vorskla away this Thursday, hopefully Qarabag at home on the 13th December will finally be a chance to play some Academy players.

The League Cup game on Wednesday the 19th is, of course, against our loathsome neighbours from Middlesex. I’ve no real idea how we approach that tie, except to win by as many as is humanly possible.

Arsenal’s David Rocastle shows the League Cup trophy to the fans at Highbury. 11/04/1987

December kicks off, yep you’ve guessed it, against the spuds at THOF – next Sunday the 2nd, with an earlyish kick off of 2.05pm, presumably to minimise potential crowd disturbances. Three days later sees a midweek trip to Manchester – everyone gets a draw there. Can we grab a point or even go one better? These are two massive fixtures which could set the tone for the whole month.

Either side of that Qarabag fixture we take on Huddersfield at home and Southampton away. Huddersfield at home last season was a bit of a romp – hoping for more of the same this time around. St Mary’s was turning into a bit of bogey ground a couple of seasons ago; what with Szczesny smoking after almighty howlers and other such nonsense like Shane Long looking a half decent player but only ever in the one game he played against us each year. Recently, however, we’ve managed to win 2 and draw 1 of our last three down on the South coast. Definitely need to keep up that improvement.

The ground staff will have their work cut out to fumigate the Clock End lower Tier after the spud Caribou game in time for the visit of Burnley in the League 3 days later.

Our last two fixtures between Christmas and New Year involve away trips to Brighton and then to Liverpool. Both will be tricky in different ways.

All in all, a quite horrendously busy month with the only 5 day gap between matches fairly early on, after the Huddersfield game and before Qarabag. I suppose we’ll just have to take it one game at a time. 🙂

Twenty one League points up for grabs. Where we might finish in the table come the end of the season should become more obvious by the turn of the New Year.

chas    

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Posted by Bongo

Poor Danny – Arsenal player ratings versus unSporting Lisbon

November 9, 2018

Arsenal supporters turning up for Thursday night Europa League football were hoping for some excitement to warm them up and also for outright group victory with a win and three points. Things didn’t really turn out like that.

First Half

The best chance I can remember was when Douzi played a sweet one-two down the right and Welbz just failed to make decent contact at the near post with the Frenchman’s fizzing cross.

After half an hour Danny seemed to catch his foot in the turf trying to make good contact with a header. You could tell he was hurt by his reaction and by the reaction of those around him. So sad. He was having a fine season getting both game time and goals. Get well soon, Danny.

Second Half

The Arsenal players were obviously deeply affected by their very popular and likeable teammate having such bad luck. Auba had a few chances he might have gobbled up on a different day. Micki got into a great position and then couldn’t quite divert Wobbly’s driven cross beyond the Sporting keeper.

Lichtsteiner pinged a hammy by the look of it so efforts to preserve the fitness of the Wardrobe had to be foregone after the hour mark, but he seemed to come through unscathed. Hopefully Nacho will be match fit soon as well.

We had 14 efforts on goal, 5 on target, Sporting had five shots, none on target. A point was good enough for them and that’s what they came for.

This clip sums up Arsenal’s night in front of goal…….

Summary

The game was overshadowed by Danny’s injury.

The foul count was Arsenal 7 Sporting 13.  Lisbon’s 13 should have been a whole lot more. Acuna, playing on the left with no neck and the gait of a simian should have been sent of several times before Mathieu’s professional foul finally saw one of them leave the pitch. Unfortunately it came too late to have any effect on the result.

I realise that the ‘Sporting’ in the Portuguese club’s name doesn’t mean the same as it did for the Sporting Corinthians but they employed every destructive and negative ploy they could to disrupt the football match, including studs down the back of calf muscles, a wide variety of trips and the use of an arm. Nani should be sent off every time he steps on to the pitch just for his loathsome ‘5 year old having a tantrum’ face.

Our unbeaten run extends to 15 games, so let’s make it 16 by beating Wolves on Sunday for Dat Guy.

Ratings

Cech – nothing to do…6

Lichtsteiner – Booked fairly early after some Nani play-acting, then succumbed to his ageing muscalature in the second half…6

Big Sok – Looked very solid and he is…7

Holding – Growing in confidence in his own abilities with each game…7

Jenks – Did ok down the left without too much to trouble him…6

Guendouzi – what a great player he is at 19 years old. Just imagine what he could be like in his prime…7

Ramsey – Rambo couldn’t quite lift the game as you’d hope a player of his class might…6

Mkhitaryan – Likewise for Micki…6

Smith Rowe – Plenty of decent touches all over the pitch apart from in the final third where he sometimes lacks composure, which is only to be expected…6

Wobbly – got into some great positions but couldn’t quite seal his good work with an assist…6

Welbeck – Let’s pray his injury isn’t as bad as is feared. I was sure he was going to score last night…7

Subs

Auba – not his usual clinical self…6

Wardrobe – As with the rest of the team, he couldn’t find that killer cross after getting into some great positions…6

Maitland-Niles – looks fine as a back-up right back which may come in useful…6

chas

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Posted by Bongo

Sporting Lisbon Preview.

November 8, 2018

Win tonight. Top the group with two easier games to go. Job done.

Perhaps the post should stop here!

Man Utd and Spurs completely undeserved victory will hopefully keep them out of the Europa. There seems to be heightened expectations that we will win this tournament but, like the Carabao, it is relatively easy until the final rounds.

images.jpeg

Sporting Lisbon have not kept a clean sheet in any of their last 30 European games, I expect that run to continue. Having said that, we have not kept a clean sheet in our last 5 European games!

We have discussed Sporting in the first leg and we have little to add. They are a decent team, strong defensively, hard working … the usual. We should beat them in a home tie.

We have injuries and players returning to the squad, they should remain out of the team. A mixture of youth and experience is what is required.

My Team:

Helmet

Licht    Mustafi     Holding    Wardrobe

Ramsey   Curly    Smith Rowe (Lab)     AMN (Cons)

Mhiki       Welbz

A strong attacking bench will allow Mr Emery to play a very inexperienced and young midfield. I very much doubt he will play this team but it would be fun. Xhaka needs a rest, and I would keep Iwobi for Wolves at the weekend, same with Laca, Hector, Terrier and PEA.

Unknown.jpeg

Tonight’s 6 officials (referee, linesman, behind the goal-line linesmen and 4th official) are from Lithuania, could this be a first?

Not as easy a fixture as many are assuming, this will not be a walkover.

Enjoy the game

COYRRG

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Posted by Erik the Red

What does November hold in store for Emery’s Arsenal?

November 5, 2018

So, after October ended in subdued fashion with a ‘bridge too far’ performance away at Selhurst and a workman-like win at home to Blackpool, November began with a bang with a really decent fireworks display against Klippety Klopp’s team. How good was it to see the new Arsenal stand toe-to-toe with one of the bookies’ Prem title favourites and not look outclassed?

Some ‘pundits’ were made to look exactly what they actually are – utter clowns.

What does the rest of November have in store for us – let’s take a look?

Next up it’s the return fixture with Sporting Lisbon, this time at The Home Of Football. (I’ve never quite understood why you always play one team twice in a row in the middle of group game fixtures – oh well). Danny’s well-taken strike in the Portuguese capital has put us completely in control of our own destiny in Group E. Another decent squad performance on 8th November and the last two fixtures could be used to give pitch time for more of the youngsters.

The Europa means back to Sunday fixtures and we entertain Wolves on 11th November at the curious kick off time of 4.30pm. The game isn’t being televised and only seems to be at 4.30pm so as not to clash with the manc derby which also kicks off then. There’s no thought for travelling supporters yet again – what a surprise!

Let’s hope for a good performance against the Wanderers as it needs to carry us through yet another Dennis-forsaken interlull which begins immediately after.

Real life begins again on Sunday 25th November at 1.30pm with a televised game away at high flying Bournemouth. They will be licking their wounds and coming out fighting after being unluckily beaten at home by Mourinho’s mob this weekend. This will be another great test of Unai’s red and white machine. Anything like the performance at Palace and we could be punished.

The final game for the month is another away fixture in the Europa. FC Vorskla and a long  trip to the Ukraine. Hopefully we’ll have the group wrapped up by then and be able to rest some of the first Xl because December begins in rather tasty fashion – more of that at a later date.

To summarise, 3 home games in a week at the start of the month and 2 away games near to its end, separated by some tedious, pocket-lining fixtures for the game’s international governing bodies. (England are at home to the USA in a friendly and Croatia in the Uefa Nations League, if you’re even vaguely interested)

chas

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Posted by Bongo

Emery’s red-tailed Boa gently squeezes Sporting

October 26, 2018

If Unai Emery’s Arsenal were a snake, what snake would they be? What I mean is, if you had to compare Arsenal’s style of play or, let’s say, their game plan with a snake which snake comes to mind? It struck me as I was watching Arsenal beat Sporting to make it eleven wins on the trot that a clear pattern is emerging. We start games perfectly well then after about twenty minutes we start making silly mistakes; in the hope of capitalising on said mistakes the opposition are drawn further up the pitch and into the trap. What they don’t realise is that they have become caught in the snake’s coils and they are slowly closing; yes the opposition flail around for forty five minutes or so, they may even score a goal but as the second half moves on the coils start getting tighter and tighter, slowly squeezing the life out of them. The snake has surely got to be a Boa Constrictor.

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

Well, you try and find a way of starting our eleventh win on the bounce “Ozil benched after pedestrian performance” lol.
There are two teams starting to appear, the one that starts the EPL and the one that starts the Europa, did you imagine at the beginning of the season that Iwobi could find himself being saved for the EPL? Me neither but it certainly is testament as to how far Unai has been able to bring him on this season. With only a slim advantage of one nil, I even found myself feeling relieved when he made his appearance. Strange times.

The other thing that surprised me during the game, was going from feeling quite neutral about little ol’ Sporting with their nice food and pleasant weather to absolutely hating their guts for their dirty fouls and their dirty play acting. This was made all the worse when I realised that the ex manu player Nani was playing for them – once a banned ‘C’ word, always a banned ‘C’ word.

It obviously wasn’t a vintage Emery display (lol), no hope long range shots in the first half; the order made all the more tall with Xhaka and Lichtsteiner as makeweights on the flanks but we did what we do nowadays and found a solution, after a good opportunity was missed by Aubameyang and things looked like they might not go for us, Ralph Coates made a schoolboy error that gifted Welbeck a deserved goal which turned out to be a deserved winner.

https://twitter.com/K000RA2018/status/1055536375712415744

Onwards and upwards.

Ratings

Leno: what’s not to like, another clean sheet. 8

Lichsteiner: I loved watching him last night; it makes me wonder how they teach them in Italy, the complete gamut of Dark Arts were on display, Machiavelli would have been proud. 6

Holding: I keep on waiting for him to slip up but he doesn’t and goes from strength to strength, the weekend will tell us where he stands in Emery’s eyes, will it be him and Mustafi or Mustafi and Big Sok. A very level-headed display tonight; I suppose, as RC suggests, he should be MOTM. 9

Big Sok: When the Sporting player was through, bar Big Sok; he knew what to do; he knew how to make it look like he grabbed the oppo’s shirt without really doing so, my question is would Holding have known how to do that? This is what comes with experience which is probably why I would still plump for Big Sok with Mustafi to start on the weekend ahead of Holding. 8

Xhaka: not often I find myself having to cut Granit some slack but taking one for the team by playing completely out of position certainly deserves just that and he didn’t play too badly there either. 7

Guendouzi: yep, no probs for me, continues on his upward trajectory and long may it continue. 7

Ramsey: struggled to get a grip on the game which in my opinion was his job, got better as the game went on. Still loving the fact that Arsenal have withdrawn his contract offer which has freed up UE an awful lot. Evidence being, Ozil playing in his preferred place on Monday. Nothing to really complain about but Mesut he ain’t. 7

Elneny: he huffed and he puffed, I was surprised to see him play the more advanced player out of him and Guendouzi. His days must be numbered. 6

Mkhitaryan: did an awful lot better than he has been doing lately, a really determined performance and a hard working one at that. 8

Aubameyang: Unai Emery is playing this so well, it’s gentle rotation between him and Laca; neither feels that one is being given priority over the other and as such they are looking fresher than a lot of other strikers in the EPL but to think that UE is not purposely creating competition for places between them would be naïve in my opinion. 7

Welbeck: and on the subject of competition for places Emery should be applauded for how he is keeping Welbeck involved and clearly feeling an important member of the team and I purposely used the word team and not squad. Superbly taken goal. 8

LB

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Posted by LB

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