Arsenal succumbed to their second league defeat of the season in the first three games following their 4-0 drubbing at the hands of Liverpool. In a game that has produced plenty of goals in the past, never was the distribution of goals this uneven. Arsenal were outplayed, outrun, out-smarted, out-passioned by a country mile.
In what could go down as their worst performance in years, let’s look at how the players fared on the occasion.
Petr Cech: 4/10
Petr Cech knew he was against it, after he saved a Mohamed Salah effort from close range, in what should have been the opening goal of the game. What followed can only be termed as annihilation. Couldn’t really do much for any of the other goals.
Rob Holding: 2/10
I guess we won’t be seeing him for a long time after this. Completely battered by Mane down the right, he was shaky on the ball too and can be pleased Liverpool didn’t score more than 4 on the night.
Laurent Koscielny: 4/10
With Arsenal’s defence at sixes and sevens at the back, Koscielny couldn’t really stabilize the defence. His poor positioning lead to Firmino’s header. Couldn’t do much for the rest of the game as he was let down by his team.
Nacho Monreal: 4/10
Salah ran rings around Monreal. An adept squad player, but was caught napping at Anfield.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 3/10
He has turned down a 180k per week contract at Arsenal. He didn’t do anything significant on the night to justify his demands. He is being played out of position though.
Aaron Ramsey: 3/10
Outplayed in possession and rarely on the ball. Speaks a lot of how under par he was.
Granit Xhaka: 2/10
Third start, and third goal he’s conceded thanks to his shoddy passing. Lacked any sort of grit in his play and gave up after Arsenal conceded the third.
Hector Bellerin: 3/10
Another shocking performance from Bellerin. His negligence in dealing with a corner lead to Salah making the most of his mistake. Looked out of place for most of the game.
Mesut Ozil: 2/10
Yet another start from a player who seems to be better suited to the bench. He cut a frustrated figure as his team were second best in every department.
Danny Welbeck: 5/10
Ran about a gave Karius an uneasy time in goal, something Arsenal should have done regularly given how nervy he looked on the ball. His high rating is just for the fact that he actually looked to make something happen.
Alexis Sanchez: 5/10
A player who just hates to lose. He kept running at the Liverpool midfield, trying to dispossess them but was rarely helped by his team. Was substituted for Lacazette. This may very well be his last appearance in an Arsenal jersey.
Substitutes:
Olivier Giroud and Lacazette: 5/10
Both of them came on with the game already done and dusted. Expected starters on the night, they were left on the bench and will be happy to not have been part of the humiliation from the very beginning.
Manager
Arsene Wenger: 2/10
Shambolic team selection, playing players out of position again, he keeps making the same mistakes again and again. You expect a manager as experienced as him to learn from his mistakes, but it wasn’t to be.
Arsenal have to overcome, not just this result, but also the own well of problems they’ve dug for themselves. The players seem uninterested and lack motivation.
Wenger needs to sort this out quick, else his contract might be cut short!
