Arsenal v Burnley - Player Ratings

[COBBLE]

Proud to be a Claret. I Can't expect any better performance.

[bfcwest]

Hart 7
Bardsley 6
Taylor 6 - needs to learn to cross it
Tarks 6
Mee 6
Long 7
Westwood 7 - thought he was energetic and effective
Hendrick 6 - too many poor touches
Cork 4 - looks like he’s running on thick sand
Barnes 7 - back to his best
Wood - 5 average again

I don’t know why Cork is playing tbh. He is so poor. He always looks like he’s about to fall over. He’s in a different gear to the Premier league, get him off ffs

[claretspice]

Took us 20 minutes to adjust to our new system, but once we had we did very well, and with a bit of fortune we might have got something.

Hart - 7 - One good save early on, couldn't do much with any of the goals although he'll have been disappointed to offer a sight of goal at his near post once more for their second, even if the deflection meant he had no chance in the end.

Bardsley - 7 - Steady enough, although both full backs were exposed a bit defensively at times in the absence of a winger to help protect down the outsides.

Taylor - 6 - Grew into the game after a very shaky start, although his crossing when he got the chance was a little disappointing.

Long - 7 - Caught ball watching for the goal, but otherwise very good indeed and growing into an extremely robust centre back.

Tarks - 8 - Some superb defending, although with hindsight he might have been more decisive for their second (albeit having been put in a difficult position).

Mee - 8 - No nonsense defending, but showed a commendable willingness to carry the ball forwards at times.

Cork - 7 - Part of a pretty effective midfield unit and covered plenty of ground, even if he still looks to be lacking a bit of his snap from last season. Should have scored after 70 minutes when he got a clear, unchallenged sight of goal from the edge of the box and that lack of composure and conviction in good areas was perhaps the biggest single criticism of the performance today.

Westwood - 6 - Should have buried his early chance, and generally busy even if he was another one who was a bit tentative at times.

Hendrick - 7 - Helped our ball retention massively in midfield, and certainly involved in midfield. Another who could have shown more conviction when given the chance to drive into space, or shoot, in front of Arsenal's defence - one occasion in the first half when he elected to play a wall pass with Barnes (who was offside) rather than shoot from 25 yards being a case in point.

Wood - 6 - Ran the channels effectively without ever looking like scoring, and still looks like a man searching for his self belief - the heavy touch when he found himself flagged onside, middle of the box, being a case in point. If we ever do get a penalty, he'll presumably be the man to take it, which is a bit of a worry right now.

Barnes - 8 - played on the edge with an aggression which wasn't entirely controlled, and he needs to be careful on days like these not to give the referee an opportunity to show him a red card, but his duel with Sokratis was a classic old school skirmish between two lads perfectly happy to mix it. Took his goal with a certainty his teammates can try and emulate.

Vydra - 6 - Ran the channels with purpose and provided an outball, but in central areas where it was too congested to run with the ball he was guilty of trying to do too much, and the ball bounced off him more than it should have done.

Vokes - 7 - Provided an effective alternative focal point to Barnes.


On a day when we'd had even one of Brady or JBG available to give us quality delivery into the box, or even with a bit of fortune and an even break from the referee, we might well have got something from this game. After a first twenty minutes in which the absence of the defensive help we're used to getting from the wide midfielders was exposed - including for the goal, as JBG, Brady or Lennon would have been expected to track the left back all the way to the byline - we grew into the shape, and the front two did a decent job of giving us a platform to launch raids. Clearly, we should have had a penalty for a foul on Long, and possibly another when Barnes was inexplicably pulled for a foul which was clearly the other way round, and we need that sort of break on days like this. But we also needed to show a bit more conviction and composure in the final third when we got opportunities to shoot, or to deliver a final pass or cross. We passed up too many chances to pull that trigger today, and when we did, on too many occasions we fluffed it (and it's probably the difference between our performances in the last couple of weeks against the top sides, and last season).

But that's a minor complaint - whenever you go to Arsenal and come that close to getting something, you've got to be happy overall. We're getting better - but need to maintain that progression if we are to pick up the points we need from the next 3 games, which present a huge opportunity.

[bfcmik]

Hart 7 - Couple of good stops but often anonymous (as a goalie should be)
Bardsley 7 Bustling but playing wing-back is not what he is does.
Tarks 6 Caught out a couple of times with his decision making and positioning
Mee 6 Struggling for form and covering wide against lightning quick players isn't what he is good at.
Long 7 Solid, getting blamed for goals 1 & 3 but not a he could do against such a great pass and an offside goal.
Taylor 5 Turns into problems way too often
Cork 6 Looked slow at times but good to see him showing for the ball again.
Westwood 7 Tireless worker and he is far more positive than given credit for
Hendrick 7 Always in the thick of a fascinating midfield battle.
Barnes 8 Back to his bustling best. Took his goal well
Wood 5 For whatever reason it just isn't working for him at the moment.

[bfcmik]

For what it's worth I'm giving Lennon his customary 3

Not an 8 for having being unavailable?

[the_magic_rat]

Hart 7

Bardsley 6
Tarkowski 7
Mee 6
Long 7
Taylor 6

Westwood 7
Cork 6
Hendrick 5

Barnes 8
Wood 4