Arsenal Ratings V Wolves Saka MotM
By Merlion
August 18 2024
A deserved win, a few hairy moments with misplaced passes. Excusable since the entire team did not have a full preseason training. Ring rusty then. But are Partey and Zinchenko a disaster waiting to happen. How many times their misplaced passes or easily robbed of the ball when near our box when playing out of the back. If not for some atrocious shooting by Wolves plus an alert Raya, Wolves would have scored at last one or two goals from howlers by Zinchenko and Partey.
There are no more easy games against any team now. Arteta should wake up and correct all those deficiencies exposed by Wolves.
Not that this game was always that easy, Wolves gave it a rugged go.
Ratings
7 - Raya - a breathtaking save plus one uncertain pass to Saliba that caused Partey to lose the ball with Wolves having a clear shot at goal.
7 - White - put in a decent defensive shift and did not put a foot wrong.
6 - Saliba - Missed preseason training and ring rust and a few misplaced passes. But still his imperious self and should regain his match sharpness within the next few weeks.
6 - Gabriel - temperamental and gave away a few fouls at dangerous positions. Lucky not to be booked.
6 - Zinchenko - decent 1st half but a potential disaster in 2nd half threatened with some poor defending
6 - Partey - decent 1st half but struggling in 2nd half. Too many misplaced passes, body shape wrong and easily robbed or disposed off. His legs are gone.
6 - Rice - not really in command and just ring rusty.
8 - Odegaard - just his usual bustling self with an engine to press all over the pitch. His creativity improves and let's hope he is correct to say he still has plenty of room to improve further.
6 - Martinelli - poor crossing and seems to lose his ability to slalom pass players. He goes down easily and has he got glass legs? Every tackle, he gone down as if his leg was broken.
8 - Havertz - MOTM. Got the crucial goal with his knack of finding space. Plus his assist for Saka goal. But he is not a natural and clinical striker. He scuffed a sitter wide where he needed composure and a split-second to wrap his leg round the ball to shoot accurately. Either you have it or you don't. Kai don't have it.
8 - Saka - Not fully match sharp due to lack of preseason training. But what can you say about him? Big player always turned up when the team needed him ... like scoring the much needed 2nd goal when the team was under the cosh.
Substitutes:
6 - Timber - decent outing. But dislike his showboating by attempting to dribble passed 5 or 6 players, resulting in being robbed of the ball and put the team under pressure to defend.
N/A - Jesus - too little time.
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"We tried to be unpredictable ... we wanted to control the game with more dynamic situations and quicker transitions, thanks to very fast players.” Luis de la Fuente