- DB
Blog | Arsenal Power Rankings | 3rd December 2017
Reminder: these scores are based on end product and what a player actually does to help their team win a game. Individual contributions do count, but players only receive the highest marks if the efforts help the team.
This is a list of the top 11 players who have appeared in at least half of the team’s games this season. The minimum number of games played will slowly be increased over the course of the season, but with so much rotation due to the Europa League and Carabao Cup, there are very few players who have played in more than 50% of the matches played.
After an impressive win last time out, Arsenal unfortunately returned to their usual form against a big team and their twelve Premier League game winning streak at the Emirates was brought to an abrupt end.
Defensive errors, naively chasing a game and being hit on the break, and an inability to convert easy chances are continual issues that have plagued the club for years. Yes, Arsenal should’ve had a penalty, but they played well enough and created enough chances that it shouldn’t have been needed.
Player Ratings
As usual, the players are listed in reverse order counting down to the best player so far this season.
11. Mohamed Elneny (re-entry) – 12 games – average rating: 6.5
Re-claims a spot on this list solely due to Jack Wilshere playing no part in the game against Man Utd – hardly a ringing endorsement.
10. Hector Bellerin (+/-0) – 16 games – average rating: 6.5
Being part of a defence which collapsed against a big team again and picking up a yellow card sees his average rating slip, with no attacking influence either.
9. Granit Xhaka (+/-0) – 15 games – average rating: 6.7
Another ineffective display from the Swiss midfielder doing little to help either the defence or the attack. Really needs to step up a level, but who would replace him?
8. Laurent Koscielny (-3) – 12 games – average rating: 6.8
I think the vice-captain’s age is starting to show that he can’t complete three games in a week anymore and should be rested more often to keep him fresh.
7. Petr Cech (+/-0) – 16 games – average rating: 6.8
Not helped by such poor defensive work in front of him, but part of a goalkeeper’s role is to organise a defence, which he doesn’t seem capable of doing.
6. Nacho Monreal (+/-0) – 16 games – average rating: 6.8
Much like the rest of the defence, didn’t start the game well and didn’t contribute all that much against Man Utd, but not helped by poor organisation throughout the team.
5. Mesut Ozil (+3) – 12 games – average rating: 6.8
Swapping places with Koscielny after helping to create plenty of chances against Man Utd, ending up hampered by poor finishing from his team-mates.
4. Sead Kolasinac (-1) – 15 games – average rating: 7.1
Dropping a place after a poor showing and ending up subbed off as Arsenal chased the game – it might be worth giving him a break over Xmas and New Year.
3. Alex Lacazette (+1) – 15 games – average rating: 7.2
Moves back up into the top three after yet another goal at the Emirates. It’s encouraging to see him scoring against both Manchester clubs to show big occasions don’t get to him.
2. Alexis Sanchez (+/-0) – 14 games – average rating: 7.3
A pretty poor showing from the Chilean this time out, with very little to show for his still-impressive effort. The problem with Sanchez is that if he doesn’t score or assist, he’s almost a handicap.
1. Aaron Ramsey (+/-0) – 15 games – average rating: 7.5
Another game and involved in another goal. His attacking contributions can’t be questioned – and he seems to have struck up an excellent understanding with Lacazette already too.
In closing
A decisive defeat was always going to impact a lot of players’ ratings, with only Ramsey and Lacazette really coming away with a decent score thanks to their continued attacking partnership, in addition to Ozil thanks to the conveyor belt of chances he creates for others.
Of players not on the list, Mustafi is still the highest for any Arsenal player this season even though his overall rating dropped to 7.8 after the brief period he was on the pitch before coming off with an injury.
When suffering defeats in the past, Arsenal have tended to struggle for a few games afterwards, so it’ll be interesting to see how quickly they bounce back from such an ineffective outing.
