Arsenal are represented in the latest Premier League team of the week that has been selected by BBC pundit Garth Crooks following the clash with Everton.
Actually Garth is now down as a ‘Football Analyst’ these days, a posh term for a pundit then!
The performances by Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Aaron Ramsey and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the five one victory over Everton at the weekend at the Emirates Stadium was enough to earn them a place in the side alongside the other, in the opinion of the former Spurs striker anyway, most impressive performers in the topflight over the latest weekend.
I think we’ll already know ourselves, and not just based on the latest performance, why Crooks, we’ll also not argue with it, selected the trio as part of his team but explaining his choice he told the BBC.
Mkhitaryan:
‘I liked Henrikh Mkhitaryan at Borussia Dortmund, I liked him at Manchester United and I adored what he did for Arsenal against Everton. Mkhitaryan was used and abused at United but, under more of an ‘artistic director’, the Armenia captain looks as if going to be a big hit for the Gunners. It is now patently obvious that Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, his former Dortmund team-mate, were having their own discussions to make sure that both would arrive at the Arsenal at the same time. One move clearly influenced the other. As for Everton? Well, manager Sam Allardyce can complain all he wants about his team’s first-half performance. If the Everton manager insists on playing so many unfamiliar faces all at the same time in a new team set-up, what does he expect – a Picasso? What he did get was a lovely looking, overly sweet, sickly tasting blancmange and that’s all he deserved. It takes months to create an effective team, not hours.’
Ramsey:
‘Arsenal’s 3-1 defeat at Swansea last Tuesday was a joke. Everton’s first-half performance against Arsenal four days later was even worse. Just when I was expecting a sweet toffee, I got a sour taste. Meanwhile, Wales international Aaron Ramsey would not have enjoyed being humiliated by the Swans but at least his hat-trick against a very poor Everton might make travelling home to the Valleys a little more bearable.’
Aubameyang:
‘The finish by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang against Everton on Saturday was pure class. But are the Arsenal fans or manager Arsene Wenger, for that matter, going to destroy another top-class player in order to play in a particular manner? Alexandre Lacazette looks as if he has now become surplus to requirements because of Wenger’s insistence that two up front cannot work. Correction – two up front does not work for him. Meanwhile, he is destroying strikers with every stroke of his Montblanc – ask Olivier Giroud. Let’s hope Aubameyang survives Wenger’s blame game.’
It’s always good to see the club represented in this way, and well played to all three for their recognition, but the most important thing about the weekend was of course the points.
Full Team:
Ederson (Manchester City), Jack Stephens (Southampton), Ben Mee (Burnley), Danilo (Manchester City), Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Arsenal), Mario Lemina (Southampton), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Fousseni Diabate (Leicester City), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal), Jose Izquierdo (Brighton).
