Ex-Spurs Scout: Arsenal player ratings v Tottenham – Saka ‘exciting’, Vieira ‘disappointing’
Tottenham News is delighted to welcome aboard our brilliant new columnist Bryan King, the former goalkeeper who spent six years as a senior scout at Spurs and 28 years in total in first-team scouting roles. Bryan also spent eight years on Everton’s recruitment team and 11 years scouting at Aston Villa across two different spells.
Tottenham played out an exhilarating 2-2 draw against Arsenal in the North London derby on Sunday (24 September) in what was a huge test of Ange Postecoglou’s credentials as Spurs boss.
Captain Son Heung-min twice equalised for Spurs, who remain unbeaten in the Premier League under the Australian with four wins and two draws.
A Cristian Romero own goal and Bukayo Saka’s penalty had twice given Arsenal the lead, but Spurs fought hard to earn a first point at the home of their rivals since 2019.
There were plenty of talking points on another memorable derby day and ex-Spurs scout Bryan King watched the match for Tottenham News and has given the low down on the opposition.
David Raya – 7/10
“He made one outstanding save but was also at fault for one of Spurs’ goals I thought. Brennan Johnson never really caught hold of his strike, and it was one of those you would have been very happy with if you were a goalkeeper, but it was still a good save.
“I thought he was at fault for the first goal. Some of his positioning for crosses is odd, he seems to get pulled to the near post when the ball is wide and he totally misjudged the cross in the build-up to Spurs’ first goal and it could have been avoided if he had caught it.“
Ben White – 6/10
“I thought both full-backs did okay, to be honest.”
William Saliba – 6/10
“The two central defenders seemed to get in the way of each other at times, and Arsenal do worry me a little bit defensively when they get put under pressure.”
Gabriel Magalhães – 7/10
“Again, seemed to get in the way of Saliba at times.”
Oleksandr Zinchenko – 6/10
“Again, he did okay”
Declan Rice – 6/10
“He was a disappointment for me, but he was injured to be fair to him.“
Fábio Vieira – 5/10
“Every time he got tackled he was injured, really disappointing for me.”
Martin Odegaard – 6/10
“Odegaard is a central player for Arsenal, his passing is good and he has really come on, of course having just signed that big new contract. So I expected more from him to be honest. I thought he had problems when Declan Rice went off and (when) competing with James Maddison.”
Bukayo Saka – 7/10
“Was probably Arsenal’s best player on the day. An exciting player, he has great pace and good technique and he is always a danger, a great talent for the future of English football.”
Gabriel Jesus – 6/10
“Should have scored in the first half.”
Eddie Nketiah – 6/10
“Never finished well and I thought he was lucky to stay on, I would have taken him off before Jesus personally.”
Subsitutes
Jorginho – 5/10
“I don’t think Rice would have been caught in the scenario he was caught in. He could have played it simple, he could have knocked it left or right, but instead he gave it away.”
Reiss Nelson – 6/10
“He looked bright down the left-hand side but couldn’t make a great impact.”
Kai Havertz – 5/10
“I don’t see why Chelsea or why Arsenal paid big money for him, I just don’t get it.”
Emile Smith Rowe – N/A
In other Tottenham news, the club’s women’s stars have been picking up some important minutes on international duty.