The Premier League got off to an absolute cracking start with a Friday night thriller at the Emirates between Arsenal and Leicester.
Arsenal scored early – a debut goal for Lacazette – but despite dominating the game, Arsenal found themselves 2-1 down after half an hour and a major sense of dejavu descended over Goonerland.
The lineup gave us a hint of what was to follow – attacking intent with a disorganised defence – and that’s exactly what we got with no clear leader at the back and a shambolic approach with players out of position all over the place.
For long periods it looked as if Arsenal would leave with nothing, but then again, we forgot about the Handsome French B**tard just waiting on the bench.
So how did the players do individually?
Defence
Petr Cech 6
Didn’t cover himself in glory for Leicester’s first but made up for it when he got to the ball before Jamie Vardy could get the freedom of the Emirates. Also tipped one over from Riyad Mahrez
Rob Holding 5.5
Seemed nervous but given his performances in the first team to date, it’s easy to forget how young and inexperienced he is at this level.
Was sacrificed for an extra forward in the second half.
Nacho Monreal 6.5
As great as Monreal is, he’s not a central defender and should not be wasted there. He’s also no natural leader, and with Holding still so young and Kolasinac so new, he was required to take charge and didn’t quite get it right.
Sead Kolasinac 7.5
Firmly established as a fan favourite after one competitive game in an Arsenal shirt. Is he the anti-Diaby? Quite possibly. Was negligent, however, for Leicester’s first when he went wondering away from the back post. Assisted Welbeck though quite what he was doing there is anyone’s guess.
Midfield next
Midfield
Mohamed Elneny 7.5
Picked Laca out with perfection, never stops working and is as tidy a player as you could want. Is he great? No, but he’s solid, dependable and seemingly immune to Arsenal idiocy.
Why would we ever be thinking of selling him? Was replaced by Aaron Ramsey.
Granit Xhaka 7
Delivered the lovely cross-field pass to Bellerin who found Elneny in the build up to the early opener. His cross-field passes are everything the Ox thinks his are. He will have better games than this and he still created more chances than the entire Leicester team (5). His pass for Ramsey’s goal, too.
Hector Bellerin 6
That the Ox is a better left wing-back on the wrong side than Bellerin is at present on his natural side tells you all you really need to know about Hector’s form at the minute. Was weirdly better when he was shifted to the left.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 6
Looking cocky in his new Sky Sports pre-match graphic, the Ox showed great power with an early run half the length of the pitch. He wants £120k a week. He can have it if he can find a teammate with a pass three times in that same week. Or shoots fewer than 10 times from outside the box.
Forwards next
Forwards
Mesut Ozil 6
Was a major doubt for this game and probably could have done with sitting it out. A pass accuracy in the mid 80s tells you all you need to know.
Danny Welbeck 8
I might have to say this every week, but if he could finish he’d be a complete player.
He’s got everything else in his locker, the touch, the moves, the pace and vision. He managed to get a goal when he was set up by what wasn’t a great ball from Sead. Danny did well to get his feet sorted out to equalise for Arsenal on the stroke of half-time.
Alexandre Lacazette 9
What a header, didn’t even have to move and what better way to start your Arsenal career?
He led from the front, fought, harried, closed down and set the tempo for the side in a similar way to Alexis but without being so selfish. He’s what Welbeck could be if he could finish.
Subs next
Subs
https://twitter.com/tomwfootball/status/896101905344077825
Aaron Ramsey 8
Almost made an instant impact. With Lacazette moved out wide he found Aaron Ramsey bombing through the middle. Ramsey was fouled as he went to meet the ball with his head, but as it was in the box and Mike Dean was in charge, a goal-kick was given.
Got the equaliser thanks to a wonderful first touch and finish.
Olivier Giroud 8
On for Holding in an attacking change from Wenger as he chased another opening fixture, Giroud took forever to get involved but boy, when he did, did it matter! Bettering Lacazette’s header with one of his own, he’d only just set Lacazette up moments before too.
Theo Walcott 4
While Giroud and Ramsey both scored, Theo contributed by being offside.
Any other business? next
Any other business?
The retirement age for referees used to be 48. Mike Dean turned 49 in June. It pains me to think we could be living in a Deanless universe yet aren’t.
Alvaro Moratta and Romelu Lukaku are both more favoured to win the Golden Boot than Alexandre Lacazette. The Frenchman scored more than both of them combined last season.