Today, we have a bit of a fun data run for you with the YouGov Chat button that a load of you have been playing with. We’ll talk about fan player ratings today.
I asked: Value a player from 1-5, 5 being the most valuable, 1 being not so valuable.
The numbers were very interesting. The sample size we had was about 500, which is pretty good going for a survey.
Let’s start with the: What do the fans think of the new signings?
As you’ll remember, there was a lot of ‘WE HAVEN’T MOVED THE NEEDLE BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW THESE PLAYERS’ after the transfers window. Well, we’re one game in and the average rating for the 6 new signings was 3.81. Which is really high considering the average value of the entire squad was 3.10. Take Nuno Tavares out, who hasn’t started a game yet, and the rating goes up to a whopping 3.97.
- White 3.95
- Ramsdale 3.98
- Tomiyasu 3.89
- Lokonga 3.85
- Tavares 3.03
- Odegaard 4.17
So what can we take from this? Well, it seems the fans like the players a lot after winning, but in general, knowing a lot of Arsenal fans and hearing a lot of opinions, I think the fans actually just like this new group of players. There will be ups and downs, there will be mistakes, but they all have talent and they’ll all get better as the season goes on. I also like that character is shining through. Tomiyasu is clearly a big personality in the dressing room, and I love to see Aaron Ramsdale making videos for kids that have suffered loss. It’s small things like this that you think are standard with footballers, but I can tell you, there are players that have been at Arsenal where that has not been the case.
The top 5 players the fans are loving at the moment are to be expected.
- Saka 4.88
- ESR 4.70
- Tierney 4.67
- Partey 4.66
- Odegaard 4.17
Nothing mind-blowing there, though I was surprised to see centre back Gabriel just outside the top 5, clearly his performance against Norwich struck a chord. Getting a little more specific? The average age of the top 5 players is 23, even with Thomas Partey stinking the joint out at the grand old age of 28. If you expand the group to the top 10 most valued Arsenal players, the age goes to 22.7.
What does this tell you?
That the fans are on board with the summer strategy, that they like the idea of a youthful squad, and hopefully they are willing deal with the ups and downs that will come as part of the learning process this season.
We wanted a Dortmund++ and we basically have it. The ++ comes from the fact that we buy expensive players to supplement our kids like Auba and Partey. It also differs from the German side because we’re buying elite young players with bundles of Premier League experience. But make no mistake, this is a similar model. We’re doing it this way because that’s the only way to compete. We can’t buy a Premier League winning team, we’ll have to grow it.
This comes with some ramifications. Fans will have to temper expectations of a league run this season (lol). They’ll also have to accept that young players have ups and downs. But long term, this was the only way to do things and I think that it’s a very likeable plan that 95% of fans will get behind. As Mike McDonald said yesterday, we just have to be patient with it, and remember to continue to be awesome fans in the ground like we have been in every game so far. Young players need to feel the love, when they do, they get better, and learn faster.
I don’t really want to get into the players the fans aren’t loving at the moment. It’s basically a mix of players that we’ve replaced, that won’t leave, or have big PR issues at the moment. Overall though, the message is positive. The fans like the new squad, they like the players, and the direction on paper seems to be pleasing fans.
Right, before I go, make sure you read the ‘WHAT THE HELL IS ARTETA DOING‘ article from yesterday. Mike is a successful British coach in America and he took the time out to explain what he thinks is going on at Arsenal and I thought it was excellent. The article is the most engaged article of the past year, I think it’s clear that it has opened a lot of minds to what the plan is, and it’s hard not to get behind the sentiment.
Now we have to hand the controls to Arteta. He has to deliver a result at the weekend. He has to continue the good work of Norwich at a very violent stadium. I can’t wait.
Also worth noting that Arteta has pivoted his messaging. Hearing him talk about a ‘very bright light’ at the end of a tunnel is what fans want to hear. He needs to be aggressive about this new vision at Arsenal. He needs to defend his players and pump them. He needs to make us all believers again. The time is now, let’s see what the boys have.
Get in!!
Okay
Some spontaneity finally
Excellent free kick
First shot at goal
Oden
Westwood booked for a cynical foul. I thought for a second the ref was not going to book him. clear Yellow. Now good free kick position and what will we get?….
GOAL !!!!! ODE
Woooo
What a strike ESR!!! LETS GOO!!!!
Ode to a goal….
Wow. I’m trying to stay positive but to work all week with only one game to focus on and to seemingly have no idea how to break Burnley down is shocking. Goal…. but still shockingly poor so far
Never mind it’s Ode!
Well done Ødegaard!!!
What a free kick!!!
He bent it really nicely.
Ø baby.
Yeah that Odegaard adds nothing to us many say.
One for the naysayers
So ode js the dead ball guy now
Maybe now we can play looser.. Really really sweet hit by the Viking.
World class free kick!
Fuckin’ great!!
I got distracted and missed the goal ffs
Commentators saying it was very good
Take that raptora
Golazzzzzzzzo.
On more important matters, I always remember them in a bag. Maltesers were definitely boxed for special occasions. Ish there’s even a wiki page but nothing about packaging. Sorry mate.
I just said to my wife in quick succession
Oh we have a free kick in a good position
Hmm we don’t have anyone that can take free kicks
Ahh turns out we do
What a goal. I was just complaining to my brother how we never score free-kick and ode shut me right up.
Get in!!!
Tierney has lost all his composure. Simple passes are on but he’s booting it down the field to no one.
Fantastic by Ode
Prvhc
Ode to a goal….
And it’s autumn, at least in my neck of the woods. Let’s hope it helps us ‘urn’ all 3 points.
Looks like a deliberate trip on Saka.
Burnley players are bunch of nasty cunts!!
Burnley wants to play dirty now.
These Burnley players are horrible. Wind up merchants.
Really nice free kick
Clean.
Good defending by Gabi and TT, saved us.
Good save by TT. White makes me nervous.
Tomoyasu js solid
Burnley aren’t having any joy in that right side.
Ben White not looking assured
Ben white is not reacting at all to danger !
Burnley are all bark
In Emery’s first season we returned the favour and manhandled them on the way to beating them and Sean dyche was crying like a little bitch after the game about how arsenal players were too dirty for them
Just give some back and they’ll soon crumble
Gabriel bailing White out AGAIN. Gabriel is so important for us right now
Gabriel playing really well.
Still see no evidence White can defend. Hope I am wrong.
We are very poor at creating chances.
What the hell is up with Anthony Taylor? the game is slow enough without a conference every 2 mins.
Saka looks very light weight against those bullies.
Just read that Burnely haven’t had a red card in 109 games
. It mate that they know how to manage their aggression
Just some perspective to rhe dirty dirty Burnley. narrative
They’ll probably finish this game with 9 men, at the rate it’s going.
Magnificent strike by odegaard!
I’m sorry but what does Pepe ever give us? Wrong decisions all the time and no pace to beat his full back,
Inch perfect by Odegaard. Excellent free kick.
ESR needs to learn how to shoot!
MMMmmm ESR had a decent chance . got under it too much.
Fucking ball bag referee. Clearly brought Auba down.
Few good chances at the end. Keep waiting for the floodgates to open… and they never do.
The games need two referee
One ref can’t sere everything
Auba got dragged down, everyone but the ref saw it.
Watching the City game and man are the Saints causing them problems. For the first time City look bereft of ideas.
I gather from your commentary here and a quick look at the stats we aren’t playing too well but thankfully we are ahead, Burnley aren’t exactly comeback kings
*Two referees
I wish we’d stop passing it to Pepe when in promising positions. Just give it to Auba instead of sticking on the right wing, where the move peters out
Gazzap
How is no one ever pointing a finger at auba? Another anonymous performance
Pepe is very dangerous .. always surrounded by 3 defenders .. he just needs to find the open man earlier !
In all fairness, this is probably the best I have seen us play in a long, long while. Especially against this Rugby team
Saka has been very poor. Not just this game but this whole season.
Need him to do better if we are to have any chance of finishing in the top 6
White being bullied, Gabriel GREAT in the air and the amount of last ditch tackles he makes us outstanding
In a way it might be a good thing.. seemed to fire Auba up some.
Saka is very anonymous !
Receding
We arent playing badly either, just look bereft of ideas and inspiration
Ransdale’s staring position helps us to play a high line
Auba is still stinking the place out
Gazzap
How to give it to auba when he can’t get rid of his marker? Tierney is struggling to put balls into the box because our captain is always hiding.
Partey, Ode, TT and Gabriel are our best players in this game.Saka and ESR play like youngsters. Pepe has no final ball. White doesn’t look like a 50m player.
Partey the best player on the pitch by a country mile
Not sure one goal will be enough against these Orcs but at least we’re seeing a bit of effort, Saka needs to wake the fuck up.
Agree Saka since the Euro;s has been in a funk.. Don’t know if it’s moving him to the left. or what.. lost his mojo he had going on the right and with the England national team.
Late to comment but that was a well taken free kick by Ode
Bring laca on for Saka, he has been poor
Very disappointed with White !
Gabriel looks like the $50m player
Ode , Partey , TT, Auba .. great players !
Diss
The games need two referee
One ref can’t sere everything
Auba got dragged down, everyone but the ref saw it.
There are 3 refs already. 2 linesman and 1 ref (as you know).
The problem is, is that the linesmen only cover one half each (which is unlike rugby where linesmen cover the entire pitch on each side.
If you had linesmen running up and down the entire pitch, they may have seen the foul on Auba (that’s how it works in rugby. You have 3 pair of eyes!!! And VAR!!!)
Palace denied a stone wall pen against the dippers and now they are one nill down!
Pepe one of these players that over thinks too much and is erratic in his play. However he takes up much better positions in the final 3rd than Auba. Hope he scores to keep some of you guys quiet. That’s all he can at this stage.
Tomi is so rapid over the first 5 yards. Really surprising for a 6’2″ man. Also wins a great % of his headers.
We’ve got a very high potential RB for the future. He’s also got the Trent switch from right to left
What a performance trying to find a decent stream. Not top billing anymore. Crowded out by other matches.
From the bits I did see while trying to find a good stream it looks pretty decent tbh. The endeavour looks to be there and as we all know we will always play better football than Burnley come what may. Still perhaps a bit too focused on Tierney in relation to offense.
Saw the freekick goal from Odegaard. Very good technique.
Now have a good stream to watch the second half more closely.
Opposition managers don’t share that view that Pepe is rubbish
They always account for him with tactics- he’s surrounded by 2-3 players once he gets the ball
Having a runner around him will help but we never seem to do that.
gazzap
Absolutely nothing. Pepe is up there with Xhaka as my most hated player to ever wear our shirt.
He is clueless. Terrible body language. Shit corners. Shit decision making. Everything shit
I would have preferred we give Reiss Nelson a shot as winger this season. Pepe is awful & the fact Arteta keeps picking him is bordering on madness to late Wenger levels of madness
do*
We weren’t that great overall. Too much of the u shape attack with crosses in ending up no where/ players not getting it.
Good to see ESR find a way to get into play as Burnley were shutting him off.
Great goal by Ø.
Auba is hiding behind the defenders, no movement whatsoever to anticipate where the ball is played.
He should watch some Ronaldo dvds
ThelegendaryDB0
There we too many blind spots on the field.
Either they give VAR more powers or add two more linesmen or one referees
They need to modernize football
Dissenter
Pepe doesn’t get criticised for nothing.
He can be a match winner but the main criticism of him is that he is too erratic in his overall play.
It’s like you won’t admit to that obvious side of him.
Ish
Try hesgoal
It was too much passing between Gabi and White until the Ode stunner. Then it opened up a bit was better at the end. Like I said keep waiting for it to click and it never really switches on.
Saka – the worst player on the pitch!
Paolo
Safe to say you HATE Pepe so much you’re blind to whatever positives he may offer.
You did say he’s your most hated player.
Saka – the worst player on the pitch!
His driving run won us the freekick. That led to goal.
Kroenkephobe
“Try hesgoal”
It’s ok. I found a good stream now. My fault for not planning ahead earlier and looking for a stream last minute just before kick off which can be a problem when this match like last weeks against Norwich is not seen as top billing with the channels.
Until it clicks and stays clicking then it’s a bit of a non-story.
Consistency is key.
It’s sad but mikel really learnt nothing from pep and Wenger. Two managers who prioritized getting top midfielders to open up the opposition defense. We are playing like peak everton when Moyes was gaffer and arteta was in the squad. Everyone stick to your position because defending is a priority, not attack. No one twos, no give and go, no fast paced attack like fighter drones, it’s all been pass round the back. I saw several times in the first half when a forward pass would have caught Burnley players out of position but we instead opted for the back… Read more »
I believe we are better without Auba on the pitch – hope he scores.
Auba is world class .. he does not get proper service
Pepe is an all or nothing type player. will never be pleasing to the eye as most of the time the attack ends with him getting stripped of the ball or running into an deadend alley But when he gets through he usually gets the ball into a dangerous area or shot.
Ominous, the look on face of Sean Dyche. Wonder what skullduggery is planned?
Ishola
Arsenal are erratic, so why constantly pick on one player
Tomigasu ought to have to same attacking freedom Tiwrney gets to stretch the play around Pepe but that’s it going to happen.
Pepe is going to get the ball with so runners around him, he’ll get surrounded by three players and pronto, the Pepe critics will have more ammo.
Paolo
Maybe your hate is blinding you to the positives of pepe
And someone above stated auba has a great player in the first half. Biased Ratings all round
Auba is world class .. he does not get proper service
WC players great their own chances.
create*
Marco
Auba was* world class. Before the contract. Now he’s like a kitty running after the ball here and there, chasing shadows.
Can’t beat any one, can’t run with the ball and now even his tap ins have dried up.
White is getting worse.
Lol Ben white is terrible!
What the hell was that forward pass from Pepe?
There’s a reason there is always 3 players around him. It’s because he runs into them. very slowly. t’s very easy to surround Pepe.
I’m gonna need y’all to keep trash talking Auba.. so the Le Grove jinx kicks in and he scores. 😀
Had us scoring at least 2 goals this match.
The great Ben White. Bought with Arteta hate for Saliba view for 50 million and to rub it in got his No4. Toyed