Arsenal are pushing ahead with their chase of a qualification spot for the Champions League and are considered one of the favourites to finish in the Premier League’s top four this season.
Prediction algorithms from FiveThirtyEight have given Arsenal more than three times the chance of both Manchester United and Tottenham to finish inside the top four spots. Mikel Arteta strengthened his side in the summer with six additions and they have all had an impact.
However, the squad has not been perfect, and some mistakes have cost Arsenal this season in a number of matches such as the 3-2 away defeat at Old Trafford to Manchester United. The baffling loss to Everton and even the 2-2 home draw with Crystal Palace.
Chris Davison and I discussed on The Arsenal Way the player ratings that we would have awarded all the members of the first-team squad for their performances so far.
Despite having strong views, the overall opinion was shared very similarly throughout the squad but there were some standout low and high scores relative to what we have come to expect from much of this current crop.
For example, my rating for Kieran Tierney was below what I would rank him for the performances seen in the previous two campaigns and for good reason.
I said, “Kieran Tierney, I gave him a seven. I don’t think it has been his best season so far and I gave him a seven.”
Chris agreed to say, “Yeah same here, spot on. He hasn’t been able to live up to the standards that we would usually associate with him. We have since he came through the doors at Arsenal, think about how consistent he is and how dangerous he is every game.
“But we haven’t been saying that as much this season and he’s gone under the radar a few times. Been a bit quieter than usual but nevertheless, he is still very important to this Arsenal team.”
Whereas the standout performances of Martin Odegaard led both of our ratings to reach the top end of the scale.
“I was so tempted to give him a 9.5, and that would have meant me saying he has been better than Aaron Ramsdale and I think they have been equally important for this team so I gave him a nine,” I explained.
“I have given him a nine too,” Chris said. “But then again I totally get you when you said you could have gone higher. I could have gone higher as well, and it would have been really easy because he’s been fantastic hasn’t he?”
“A breath of fresh air. I think there were doubts when we signed him in the summer based on his initial loan spell in the summer. Which I can understand as he didn’t really set the world on fire did he? But he gave us an inkling as to what he could offer the more he played for us.”
Chris added, “The scary thing is Tom he is only going to get better because he is still young. So I don’t think it will be long until we are giving him a 9.5 or even a ten.
There were plenty of other high and low scores for a number of players.
You can watch the whole episode here and make sure to leave your thoughts in the comment section to detail where you both agree and disagree with out choices.
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