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[Ratings] Arsenal 1-2 Brighton: Luiz woeful as Ljungberg gets selection wrong again

By mac14 on December 6, 2019

Arsenal’s shocking run continued with a woeful 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates on Thursday night.

Arsenal started brightly and had a couple of penalty shouts but once again we faded after the first 15 minutes and Brighton started to dominate. The visitors were causing all sorts of problems and took a deserved lead in the 36th minute when Adam Webster fired home a loose ball from a corner.

However, Ljungberg made a change at the break with Nicolas Pepe replacing Joe Willock and we levelled things up within five minutes of the restart as Alexandre Lacazette headed home from a Mesut Ozil corner for 1-1.

David Luiz saw a goal correctly ruled out for offside as Arsenal pushed for a second but it was Brighton who got the important third goal as Neal Maupay glanced home a header in the 80th minute following some poor defending.

Arsenal had no reply and we failed to find an equaliser to slumped to a 2-1 defeat making it nine games without a win.

Here are my ratings:

Leno 7/10 | Made a few good saves, including one to deny Mooy at 1-1, but could do nothing about either goal. He’s the most worked keeper in the league, got to feel sorry for him playing behind this defence.

Bellerin 5/10 | Awful in the first half when he gave away the ball countless times. Improved after the break as he was a threat going forward.

David Luiz 4/10 | What an awful signing he’s been. Far too static for both Brighton goals and kept trying Hollywood long balls. Brings nothing to the team, needs to be axed asap.

Sokratis 4/10 | Shocking performance. His decline over the past year has been staggering. Poor on both goals and dragged all over the place by the Brighton attack.

Kolasinac 5.5/10 | Plenty of running down the left and put in a couple of dangerous crosses but overall he was poor defensively.

Torreira 5/10 | Still not playing in the defensive midfield role so he’s being asked to do a job that’s not suited to his game. Still, he’s not doing enough to offer any sort of protection.

Xhaka 6/10 | One of our better performers but still such a limited player. Brighton ripped through our midfield far too easily.

Willock 4/10 | Missed a huge chance to make it 1-1 shortly after Brighton took the lead. Was otherwise non-existent as he struggled to get in the game. Subbed at half-time.

Ozil 5/10 | A few nice set piece deliveries and he got an assist but struggled to have any real influence. Did very little out on the wing in the first half and didn’t do much more when moved centrally after the break.

Aubameyang 5/10 | Put a shift in to protect Bellerin but wasted out on the wing. It’s time we make a choice between him and Laca. We can’t start them both.

Lacazette 5.5/10 | Grabbed the equaliser with a looping header but didn’t have too many other contributions. Touch was poor and passing sloppy.

Subs:

Pepe 6/10 | Made a positive impact as it made a difference having a dribbler and ball carrier in the team. Also worked hard to get back and do his bit.

Tierney 6/10 | Surprised he didn’t start. Put a couple of decent crosses in after replacing Kolasinac.

Martinelli 5/10 | Almost grabbed an equaliser with a header.

Manager

Ljungberg 3/10 | Once again I thought Freddie got his selection wrong. Tierney, Holding, Pepe and Guendouzi should all have started. And I’d have gone with Chambers over either of Luiz or Sokratis too. I know Willock is a favourite of Freddie’s but he was woeful today and his form has been poor for months. The team is devoid of confidence so we need to get back to basics and playing players in their best positions would help. Ozil and Auba on the wings was a huge error and it’s time we make a choice up front as we can’t keep playing Lacazette and Aubameyang in the same team. We’re in real trouble and it doesn’t look like Ljungberg is the man to get us out of it. These players need a proper tactician and someone to get them back in line as we’re a total shambles right now. Allegri anyone?