Match Ratings : Arsenal 1-0 Leicester City - Vote Now

[DB11]

[FireFox]

Is Shakespeare the right man for the job? To be honest, I'm leaning towards "no" right now.

 

No doubt he has been the right man for "until the end of the season". No doubt he has been a great assistant manager over the years and knows and gets on with the players well. No doubt we would miss him if he left (which I think is likely if he doesn't get the job).

 

But the question is if should be manager next season, and I'm not sure he is a Premier League quality manager at this moment in his career. When we sacked Claudio and Shakey had us playing 442, pressing higher, et cetera, there was always going to be an improvement from the player and a reaction. The tactics were "back to basics" in a way, the players gave it all, and they got the job done against Liverpool, Hull, Sevilla, West Ham, Stoke, and Sunderland.

 

But our next three PL games? One point. Without resting players for Atletico. Arsenal and Everton are quality teams, fair enough, but did Shakespeare do anything that made it look like we were likely to win those games? We were 1-2 up against Everton at one point, but I'd argue that wasn't Shakespeare's doing. Yes, he picked the team and tactics, but it was "back to basics", it wasn't anything new or innovative from this Leicester side. Not that I'm expecting anything "new or innovative", but if all he has to offer are tactics already integrated into the team from Pearson and Claudio, then is he the right man for the job? What happens if we sell Mahrez or Vardy gets injured. Will he be able to change tactics to something else? What happens when we have 30% possession, Arsenal change formation to 4 at the back, have had plenty of corners (we only got 1)? Shakespeare decides to take off Ulloa (who was fairly ineffective in that role, and I don't think had 1 cross hit his head) and put on Okazaki. Did it work?

 

We had a few chances throughout the game, mostly from set pieces, once with Mahrez on the left, but Arsenal had chances too and scored one. You could say we lost to the better team, but I don't feel that way, I feel like we played into their hands and were infrequent and ineffective in going forward. And Shakespeare didn't do much to change that.

[Guest ttfn]

Schmeichel 7

 

Simpson 7

Huth 7

Benalouane 7

Fuchs 7

 

Mahrez 5

Drinkwater 3

Ndidi 5

Albrighton 5

 

Ulloa 4

Vardy 5

 

Shinji 4

 

Shakespeare 2

 

Ref 3

 

Arsenal 5

[tetly]

42 minutes ago, ttfn said:

Schmeichel 7

 

Simpson 7

Huth 7

Benalouane 7

Fuchs 7

 

Mahrez 5

Drinkwater 3

Ndidi 5

Albrighton 5

 

Ulloa 4

Vardy 5

 

Shinji 4

 

Shakespeare 2

 

Ref 3

 

Arsenal 5

Fair ratings.

[masterg59]

55 minutes ago, ttfn said:

Schmeichel 7

 

Simpson 7

Huth 7

Benalouane 7

Fuchs 7

 

Mahrez 5

Drinkwater 3

Ndidi 5

Albrighton 5

 

Ulloa 4

Vardy 5

 

Shinji 4

 

Shakespeare 2

 

Ref 3

 

Arsenal 5

pretty much agree

 

[Bazly]

I think instead of manager stay or go there should be a manager rating of 0 to 10. That'd be more meaningful as a trending score.

[Harry96]

I thought ndidi was one of our better performers personally.

[brucey]

Both teams were dire. Our new manager bounce may be over.

[wokinghamfox]

Benny MOM by a country mile.

[eastendfox]

Back 5 did well. Rest did well defensively, not so well with the ball. Thought Albrighton particularly wasteful of good positions.

[lgfualol]

8 hours ago, ttfn said:

Schmeichel 7

 

Simpson 7

Huth 7

Benalouane 7

Fuchs 7

 

Mahrez 5

Drinkwater 3

Ndidi 5

Albrighton 5

 

Ulloa 4

Vardy 5

 

Shinji 4

 

Shakespeare 2

 

Ref 3

 

Arsenal 5

These are pretty much mine. Except I gave Drinky a 5 as I thought he won the ball quite a lot. Would have been a 6 but every time he won the ball back he would pass back to Arsenal.

[Dickov22]

Kasper 7 One good save from distance 

 

Back 4 all 7s. Huth and Benalouane the pick of them but both of their distribution was poor at times 

 

Mahrez 4 I've always defended him against work rate criticism but last night is the first time I've watched him and thought he wasn't putting enough effort in. Really poor game from him and I'd have subbed him for Gray far earlier 

 

Drinkwater 5 Won the ball back loads of times but lacked support when he tried to do anything going forward 

 

Ndidi 5 Its about time he got some more confidence in himself; every ball is sideways or backwards

 

Albrighton 5 Plenty of effort but got knocked off the ball too easily 

 

Ulloa 4 Was pleased to see him start as he did well against Athletico but he was poor 

 

Vardy 5 Barely in the game

 

Subs 

Okazaki 4 The miss at the end looked easier to score but my view was blocked partially by the Arsenal tourists infront of me so I might be wrong (I was in hospitality) 

Gray N/A

 

Didnt think we deserved anything from the game but Arsenal were pretty poor. Gave the ball away loads but we didn't do anything with it. One of our poorest performances of the season. 

[M0901]

Kasper 7

 

Simpson has become Mr Consistent in this side. Every knock down the line was a decent one but he was always looking for the pass to feet. A couple of well timed interceptions too, 8

 

Benny Huth Fuchs 7

 

Mahrez 4, it's such a shame, it's like he's lost belieft

 

Drinky 4, see above

 

Ndidi 5

 

Albrighton 5, plenty of effort but no influence

 

Leo 4, my love for him knows no bounds but didn't quite come off

 

Vardy 5, everything he was involved in was effective, but too quiet

 

Shinji 4, no impact

 

Gray NA, why oh why wasn't he sent on earlier?

 

Arsenal 5, good possession based side but rely too much on Sanchez and Ozil, thought Xhaka was okay

 

Ref 6, not too bad, correct call on Sanchez

 

Shakespeare 5, Gray really should have been on earlier.

[Monsell1976]

10 hours ago, Harry96 said:

I thought ndidi was one of our better performers personally.

He was, but he gave the ball away a hell of a lot, which will mark him down 

[Dammy]

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says Wilfred Ndidi played a big role for Leicester City in keeping Arsenal at bay until Robert Huth deflected Nacho Monreal’s shot into his own net.

Ndidi has earned praises from various quarters ‎since his £16M move to the Foxes from Belgian side Genk in January, as a replacement for former Leicester City fans favourite N’Golo Kante.

Wenger while speaking to French broadcaster SFR Sport mentioned the 20 year old Nigerian as one of the players who made it difficult for the likes of Mesut Ozil, Alex Sanchez and Danny Welbeck to wreck havoc.

” We had a very good spell in the second half. We know we have to be patient especially with the way they were defending deep. Wilfred Ndidi did help them do that with ease”, Wenger said.

” Two good tackles in the box when it looks like we were in with a chance from him (Ndidi), We just have to keep on pushing and pushing eventually we got rewarded with the goal.

” The victory didn’t come easy but you won’t say we don’t deserve it. Leicester are a very strong side and we saw a bit of it in the game”.

Michael James

[shen]

Schmeichel 7 - Was his usual self. Good reactions and looks comfortable with Huth and Benalouane in front of him. His positioning has been very good of late.

 

Simpson 7 - Solid and unspectacular. Didn't do too badly in possession either, but as usual his attacking contribution is limited.

 

Benalouane 7 - Made some excellent interceptions and doesn't look out of place. Relieved we have an able deputy for Huth/Morgan. One mad moment on Giroud which could have been costly.

 

Huth7 MOTM - Very unfortunate to be the victim of an OG. He was a colossus with countless clearances and a great, great tackle on Alexis when clean through.

 

Fuchs 6 - Was pinned back by Walcott and Bellerin's presence, but his distribution wasn't up to standard. Was one of the guilty parties in giving away possession too cheaply. Otherwise pretty solid. Funny moment with Alexis at the end, but probably should've kept his cool.

 

Mahrez 6 - Was invisible until the biggest chance in the game landed at his feet. Did well to generate such power and get in on target, but unfortunately Cech was equal to it. Another decent chance fashioned by himself and otherwise looked like the only player trying to make things happen. He had to come very deep and inside to help out Drinkwater or Ndidi in an attempt to keep possession. As a result, it left us without open passing options and we resorted to long hoofs and aimless clearances. On TV it looked like he put in a decent shift, especially making some hard runs past the 70 minute mark.

 

Drinkwater 5 - He only gets marked up for the defensive graft. Shied away from any responsibility when the ball arrived to him. When he did try to move with the ball he usually lost it. When he did try to make good runs he was let down by poor control and decision-making. He willingly passed the buck to Mahrez waiting for him to create something when Mahrez desperately needed someone to create space and deflect attention. Prime candidate for rotation, but we need to adapt the formation if we do give someone else a shot.

 

Ndidi 6 - Shielded the back four very well, even when he visible looked drained for the last half hour. I said in the match thread that we needed him to carry the ball forward and try things as Drinkwater wasn't doing it. We should have flexible roles for the CM pairing as Drinkwater is able to sit deep and Ndidi has hinted at the ability to carry the ball and support our forwards. Is it too much responsibility to place on his young shoulders though?

 

Albrighton 5 - Lots of graft, but was reduced to being a defensive shield for Fuchs. Bullied off the ball by Bellerin, Coquelin and Xhaka and was forced to surrender possession time and again, especially first half, with long punts. We desperately needed an outlet and he didn't provide it.

 

Ulloa 4 - One good clearance at the back, but that's not what he was starting for. Couldn't hold up the ball well enough, didn't get on the end of many aerial balls and when he did, possession was surrendered. Don't think he even got near their box. Too slow and lumbering to press from the front. Rightly subbed.

 

Vardy 6 - Saw precious little of the ball, but he is our danger man and you sense that when he gets the ball something useful will come of it. Decent instinctive snapshot at the beginning and only one other half-chance, if you can call it that, where he did very well controlling it and getting a tame effort on target on the turn.

 

Subs:

 

Okazaki 5 - Improved on Ulloa, but guilty of wasting our best chances of the second half. Three on two with a clear sight of goal in the box, you'd expect better end product than a blocked finish by a player of his experience and pedigree. Also guilty of losing possession a number of times.

 

Gray N/A - Not on long enough

 

Shakespeare 5 - I can see the reasoning behind setting up the way we did, but I do sympathise when some fans say they would like more proactive tactical nous against a team that was likely going to have tired legs. That said, we had the best clear cut chances and were undone by a highly unfortunate deflection. Did we have it coming? Probably, but Arsenal couldn't have complained if this ended in a draw. Starting Ulloa was a mistake and he took too long to rectify it while we were crying out for more support in the middle.

[drofmor55]

6 minutes ago, shen said:

Schmeichel 7 - Was his usual self. Good reactions and looks comfortable with Huth and Benalouane in front of him. His positioning has been very good of late.

 

Simpson 7 - Solid and unspectacular. Didn't do too badly in possession either, but as usual his attacking contribution is limited.

 

Benalouane 7 - Made some excellent interceptions and doesn't look out of place. Relieved we have an able deputy for Huth/Morgan. One mad moment on Giroud which could have been costly.

 

Huth7 MOTM - Very unfortunate to be the victim of an OG. He was a colossus with countless clearances and a great, great tackle on Alexis when clean through.

 

Fuchs 6 - Was pinned back by Walcott and Bellerin's presence, but his distribution wasn't up to standard. Was one of the guilty parties in giving away possession too cheaply. Otherwise pretty solid. Funny moment with Alexis at the end, but probably should've kept his cool.

 

Mahrez 6 - Was invisible until the biggest chance in the game landed at his feet. Did well to generate such power and get in on target, but unfortunately Cech was equal to it. Another decent chance fashioned by himself and otherwise looked like the only player trying to make things happen. He had to come very deep and inside to help out Drinkwater or Ndidi in an attempt to keep possession. As a result, it left us without open passing options and we resorted to long hoofs and aimless clearances. On TV it looked like he put in a decent shift, especially making some hard runs past the 70 minute mark.

 

Drinkwater 5 - He only gets marked up for the defensive graft. Shied away from any responsibility when the ball arrived to him. When he did try to move with the ball he usually lost it. When he did try to make good runs he was let down by poor control and decision-making. He willingly passed the buck to Mahrez waiting for him to create something when Mahrez desperately needed someone to create space and deflect attention. Prime candidate for rotation, but we need to adapt the formation if we do give someone else a shot.

 

Ndidi 6 - Shielded the back four very well, even when he visible looked drained for the last half hour. I said in the match thread that we needed him to carry the ball forward and try things as Drinkwater wasn't doing it. We should have flexible roles for the CM pairing as Drinkwater is able to sit deep and Ndidi has hinted at the ability to carry the ball and support our forwards. Is it too much responsibility to place on his young shoulders though?

 

Albrighton 5 - Lots of graft, but was reduced to being a defensive shield for Fuchs. Bullied off the ball by Bellerin, Coquelin and Xhaka and was forced to surrender possession time and again, especially first half, with long punts. We desperately needed an outlet and he didn't provide it.

 

Ulloa 4 - One good clearance at the back, but that's not what he was starting for. Couldn't hold up the ball well enough, didn't get on the end of many aerial balls and when he did, possession was surrendered. Don't think he even got near their box. Too slow and lumbering to press from the front. Rightly subbed.

 

Vardy 6 - Saw precious little of the ball, but he is our danger man and you sense that when he gets the ball something useful will come of it. Decent instinctive snapshot at the beginning and only one other half-chance, if you can call it that, where he did very well controlling it and getting a tame effort on target on the turn.

 

Subs:

 

Okazaki 5 - Improved on Ulloa, but guilty of wasting our best chances of the second half. Three on two with a clear sight of goal in the box, you'd expect better end duct than a blocked finish by a player of his experience and pedigree. Also guilty of losing possession a number of times.

 

Gray N/A - Not on long enough

 

Shakespeare 5 - I can see the reasoning behind setting up the way we did, but I do sympathise when some fans say they would like more proactive tactical nous against a team that was likely going to have tired legs. That said, we had the best clear cut chances and were undone by a highly unfortunate deflection. Did we have it coming? Probably, but Arsenal couldn't have complained if this ended in a draw. Starting Ulloa was a mistake and he took too long to rectify it while we were crying out for more support in the middle.

Not  taking chances which came his way have cost us dear in the last few weeks..starting with the game v Millwall through to the Ath. Madrid games...admire his work rate but as a striker he needs to score more than he does...we rely too much on Vardy and its beginning to show

[Guest MattP]

Schmeichel 7

 

Simpson 7

Huth 7

Benalouane 7

Fuchs 7

 

Mahrez 5

Drinkwater 5

Ndidi 5

Albrighton 6

 

Ulloa 5

Vardy 6

 

Shinji 5

 

Shakespeare 6

Ref 4

Arsenal 6

[HoustonFox]

10 for Fuchs for the throw-in

 

Kasper and rest of defence get 7s

Riyad gets a 5

Drinky 5. Tackled but nothing going forward. The run in the second half showed he is low on confidence. Good tackle, started run and then overdid it. 

Albrighton 6

Ndidi 6 - lots of tackles, not as good going forward. Better than DD 

 

Ulloa 5 - Slim is worse?! Me thinks not

Vardy 6 - did what he could with nothing

 

Shinji 6 - Shinji performance

 

Gray NA

[Dickov22]

3 hours ago, drofmor55 said:

Not  taking chances which came his way have cost us dear in the last few weeks..starting with the game v Millwall through to the Ath. Madrid games...admire his work rate but as a striker he needs to score more than he does...we rely too much on Vardy and its beginning to show

 

He was not an upgrade on Ulloa at all. They were both hopeless.

 

Okazaki has no goals in 32 games..............

[WigstonWanderer]

Not sure what's happened to Ndidi. When he first arrived he was the one who seemed to want to surge forwards with the ball when our other players were in hiding. He seems to have lost that aspect of his play now for some reason. I wonder if he's been told not to.

 

Watching Kante with Chelsea, I think this aspect is what we are missing most from his absence.

 

Ndidi's passing has been poor recently as well. Still tackling, blocking, etc, but often then gives it away.

[DB11]

20 hours ago, Bazly said:

I think instead of manager stay or go there should be a manager rating of 0 to 10. That'd be more meaningful as a trending score.

That's already there and always has been - look at any player ratings results and you'll see it. It's the top name in the list of players 

[Redouane]

8 hours ago, Dickov22 said:

 

He was not an upgrade on Ulloa at all. They were both hopeless.

 

Okazaki has no goals in 32 games..............

Slim is definitely an upgrade. What the hell did you expect for 28 millions? The next Ronaldo 9? 

[shen]

15 hours ago, WigstonWanderer said:

Not sure what's happened to Ndidi. When he first arrived he was the one who seemed to want to surge forwards with the ball when our other players were in hiding. He seems to have lost that aspect of his play now for some reason. I wonder if he's been told not to.

 

Watching Kante with Chelsea, I think this aspect is what we are missing most from his absence.

 

Ndidi's passing has been poor recently as well. Still tackling, blocking, etc, but often then gives it away.

I think a long season is starting to tell. He's young and has played over 50 games already this season apparently. Add in that playing CM in our formation requires huge amounts of energy and it makes sense that he's starting to look jaded.

[lgfualol]

8 hours ago, Redouane said:

Slim is definitely an upgrade. What the hell did you expect for 28 millions? The next Ronaldo 9? 

Think Dickov was talking about Okazaki not being an upgrade.