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One year under Arteta: every player ranked by Dan Smith
This weekend marked the first anniversary of Mikel Arteta’s first job as Arsenal manager. It is a cruel irony that it happened at Everton.
Not only is it his old club, but it was at Goodison Park 12 months ago that he and Carlo Ancelotti sat in the stands watching the two teams they inherited. If you remember, the team’s confidence was so low that day that Freddie Ljungberg was content to play a 0-0 draw.
Self-esteem is so poor right now that we would have ripped his hand off for the same result. So things change but remain the same.
For a long time, this year seemed successful. You just have to go back to September to find some readers on Just Arsenal who predict a title challenge and compare our coach to Arsene Wenger, even claiming he was better. A lot of that was based on how he won the FA Cup, thinking tactically of both Manchester City and Chelsea, displaying the man’s management skills to make his players believe in his ethics.
Many took over, as Pep Guardiola taught him that in the long run the spirit was to play the fluid soccer with which we are associated.
What I wanted to do was rate the Arteta players. He has been responsible for two campaign halves, but both have to be judged in some context.
Last December, Unai Emery had clearly lost the locker room, so the current regime is not to blame for our worst result in 25 years. For 3 months of that time, football was canceled due to Covid, meaning that Arteta only had the luxury of 3 months to handle in front of the crowd.
So when judging the players, what is a more important factor to consider, December to August or August to December (not scoring summer transfers, including Elneny)?
Martinez – 9
Arteta’s greatest success story was turning a goalkeeper, who for a decade was not even our third-choice goalkeeper, and making him the number 1 goalkeeper in the Premiership.
Many gooners were concerned in July when Leno was discarded for the season, but his replacement had a presence and a calm (especially in the air) that we haven’t had since.
The club would have benefited from having adequate competition for Leno, but as usual we prioritize money over ambition.
Leno -7
He’s not the world-class goalie some do, but he was better with Emery where he had to face more shots. He made mistakes against Chelsea, Everton and Olympiakos and he just doesn’t look the same since he came back from injury.
Bellerin – 5
He seems to have lost a beat after a couple of serious injuries, and is no longer facing his man. He’s becoming a scapegoat for some fans, but others are just as bad.
Maitland-Niles – 6
He showed he can tactically follow instructions in the FA Cup semi-final and final, but those are still his only truly great performances.
Cedric – 5
He’s going to give him a solid 5 as he hasn’t played enough, but when he has he has been solid if not spectacular. Not even our endorsement, so it’s not obvious why we signed it. A place in the squad could have been for someone else.
Kolasinac- 3
I could never fault his effort, but he hasn’t been good enough for a while. Arteta never trusted him as a left-back, but he proved him as a left-back. That experiment ended quickly after he gifted a goal to the Spurs in the NLD.
Tierney -7
Kieran was excellent after the block, showing tactical awareness to play as a central defender and then plan when to bomb the flank.
The constant line-up changes mean he hasn’t had a consistent career as a left back. At the moment, you have been instructed to cross at every opportunity that is not working.
Saka -7
Injuries made Arteta give him a chance as a left back. Unlike other youngsters, he almost immediately showed the personality they lacked to take the ball and try to make things happen.
Some gooners need to calm down with praise and not push you too hard. And you need to improve your final ball.
Mustafi – 6
One of the first things Arteta did was bring back Mustafi, who had been frozen by Emery. The German was the best of a bad group, suggesting that he may have had a fight with management. He played every week until he was injured, but since his return he cannot return to the team.
Luiz- 6
The lowest was his performance at Etihad, but he impressed many with the way he recovered. His two best shows were in the FA Cup semi-final and final, but he should only play in a three.
Holding – 6
It has been very good but not consistent. For every Old Trafford performance, he follows it up with the race against Aston Villa.
One of the few that shows some leadership. At 25, he could become a better player with our current coach, but will they have much more time to work together?
(Chambers got injured, Mari only played 2 Prem games with Arteta and the few times Sokratis played it was as an improvised winger, so it’s not fair to score)
Xhaka – 6
Not popular at the moment, but I went back to the FA Cup final and everyone was saying how much Arteta had improved the midfielder. However, where we needed him to be a leader, he let us down a lot against Burnley.
Ceballos – 4
I had a great Cup final, but that’s it. It was only after the block that Arteta started Ceballos, leaving him deeper in midfield, but he hasn’t done enough to earn himself a permanent move.
Willock -4
If this were to judge you solely in the Europa League, you would score higher but, in the Premiership, you still have to prove that you belong at this level. He runs with the ball but has no end product.
Unlike a Saka, Joe plays like he’s grateful to play for the team he loves and is afraid of making a mistake.
Reiss Nelson -3
Apart from against Liverpool when they had already won the League, can you name another great game you have had? He has yet to show the bravery required for this level, always playing the single pass.
Ozil – 4
So I can only judge him by the games he played. From January to March he played all the league games in which we did not lose. I’ve written my theory many times about why he can’t make our team, but in terms of showing that we could creatively get along without him; It couldn’t have been worse.
Pepe- 4
The best display for us was the FA Cup final, where he was fantastic holding the ball. It was strange that he started the season on the bench given how he played at Wembley.
With a year to settle in English football, many assumed that this campaign would demonstrate why we spent all that money on it. You have yet to show that you have the mindset to be one of our top leaders when we really need someone.
Lacazette -5
He started the year with a goal drought, but was finding his scoring touch before the first block. He started the season with 3 goals in consecutive games but seems to have lost his smile.
Whatever your confidence level, you can never criticize your work rate. You can’t say that for all of your peers.
Aubameyang – 7
It is very difficult to mark our captain. Fantastic in the second half of last season with Arteta admitting that he doubted the ability of forwards to press and defend from the front, but showed great tactical awareness in planning when to sync their runs from the left side to the middle.
He has not been the leader we needed this season. Not only has he lost his scoring touch, but he’s not working as hard as he used to.
Eddie – 4
He scored against minor teams in the cups but the contribution in the league consists of getting off the bench, colliding with a defender and throwing himself to the ground.
Martinelli-6
In early 2020 he became one of our top leaders. As more veteran players made the moves, Martinelli wasn’t afraid to take the ball and try to take the initiative. Hopefully I can do it again.
SUMMARY
Another irony, of course, is that this is the same period of time that Carlo Ancelotti has had to work with Everton. If I were rating how many members of the Toffees team have improved with their new manager, I think they would get higher scores.
Let me know which Arsenal players you think have improved or declined after working with Arteta for a year.
Be nice in the comments
Dan Smith |
