The main reason that Arsenal were not at the races vs Chelsea

 By 1970s Gooner 

Arsenal lacked control for 76 or so minutes in the game against Chelsea. The main reason for this was the deployment of Jorginho at the base of midfield. 

This meant that Rice was moved into the Xhaka role on the left. Also Zinchenko's invertion into midfield was not that apparent as he had to content with the threatening runs of Sterling on that side.

Chelsea on the other hand played with a false 9 in Palmer which meant that in their half block they had one if not more players in the middle than Arsenal. 

More importantly Jorginho was not at the races himself as he was not able to provide a decent defensive barrier nor was he able to pass the ball forward that often preferring to pass sideways or backwards.

All this  was corrected when Jorginho was substituted and Rice was moved in the anchor position.

It appears that Arteta had overestimated Jorginho's ability to control the game by repeating his fine performance vs City. He didn't of course. 

Now why Arteta didn't start Partey there is beyond me and many many Arsenal supporters.

If Arteta felt that Partey was too tired from his travels to the USA then he could have started Rice as the number 6 and brought Zinchenko as the left sided midfielder with Tomiyasu at left back.

Now that's an idea...

Even Karl Hein was worried

 By 1970s Gooner 

Even Karl Hein was worried. Raya was having such an awful game against Chelsea that poor boy, Karl I mean, was beginning to contemplate that Arteta would do what he bizarrely threatened he was capable of doing. And that is to substitute the goalkeeper midway through a match!

Honestly Arteta is loosing the plot if he thinks that Raya is a better goalkeeper than Ramsdale or even if he is better at passing the ball with his feet.

He is not.

He conceded Chelsea's second goal by his wrong positioning. This was a goal that gave Chelsea renewed belief and sunk the Arsenal players confidence.

Yet if you remember Raya committed just the same mistake against Spurs. He was out of position for a high ball from the side which luckily hit the bar. And from the same phase a great chance was created by spurs which he did well to save ( his blushes).

Take the Lens CL game. His ill advised long diagonal pass to Tomiyasu was easily intercepted and resulted in their equaliser during a period which we were gaining control of the game having gone ahead.

And what about the Man City game. He was a bunch of nerves full of anxiety and got his passing all wrong. We were very lucky we didn't concede in those crucial early stages of the game.

Surely Ramsdale comes in goal for the Seville game and deserves a run in the team.

SURELY 

Partey ready for City game?

 By 1970s Gooner

Partey's participation in Sunday's game against Man City can be considered crucial in maximising Arsenal's chances of winning the game and leapfrogging their rivals in the table.

He has been in full training since last week and was on the bench for the Lens game. This shows that he is ready to help the team. Its up to the doctors and Arteta whether to start him or bring him on later in the game.

But the only reason to bring him on as a sub is if you are trying to hold onto a result. If he starts from the off he will be able to provide that extra strength and stability in midfield alongside Declan Rice. 

There's another significant benefit to be derived from his participation in the game and that is that as a result Havertz will probably start from the bench. A significantly positive change in my opinion increasing Arsenal's efficiency levels overall.

And funnily enough our draw and subsequent victory on penalties against City in the charity shield was based on the same midfield of Partey, Rice and Odegaard. 

Our starting 11 for that day was :

Ramsdale

White Saliba Gabriel Timber

Partey Rice Odegaard 

Saka  Havertz Martinelli 

Our front three are likely to be different on Sunday and the absence of Saka and Martinelli in particular didiminishes Arsenal's attacking threat significantly. Remember these two players scored 29 goals between them last season as well as assisting 17 times.

As a result Arsenal's ability to keep the ball in the attacking third for long periods of time is likely to be jeopardised. And that is another reason why Partey can help provide a strong shield in midfield.

My starting 11 for Sunday would be:

Ramsdale

White Saliba Gabriel Zinchenko 

Partey Rice Odegaard 

Jesus Nketiah Trossard 

In the absence of Saka the starting 11 to face Man City

 By 1970s Gooner 

What was obvious to everyone except Arteta has happened. It was so apparent that Saka needed a rest but Arteta obviously thinks that he is so important to this team he ought to play even on one leg! 

Well it's now very unlikely in my opinion that Saka will be able or allowed to start on Sunday. 

Given that Martinelli has not trained at all yet with the team shows that even if he is declared physically fit he most certainly will not be match fit either.

Just like Trossard was against Lens where he wasn't able to affect the game and fluffed the great chance he had to score.

I would start him on Sunday however and hope that he has gained some sharpness from last night's game.

Just to mention also that Arteta's substitutions came late last night and this is also another area he has to improve on. It was fairly obvious that Lens had started to gain ground about 10 minutes before they scored their second and that was when some substitutions should have been made to steady the ship.

It's now a new game on Sunday and there are two weaknesses that have to be addressed. 

The first one is the openness of our left hand side where Zinchenko's inversion into midfield leaves a gap which Lens did exploit and Man City surely will. Especially since Havertz does not have the skills nor is he really adept at falling back to cover for that side unlike Xhaka used to.

So in the starting 11 consideration should be given for Partey to start which will add more steel in our midfield and allow Rice to play more to the left to provide the necessary cover.

Partey was on the bench against Lens and has trained with the team so I think he can start on Sunday. Remember he was playing the last time we played against City in the charity shield.

If Partey is not fit to start then Arteta may think a little bit out of the box and bring in midfield Zinchenko and start Tomiyasou at left back. This arrangement looks promising to me.

The other weakness was on our right side where White was benched against Lens but Tomiyasu was not able to be as offensive as White can. White has to return of course.

And lastly who replaces Saka? Well Arteta has two options. One is to bring back Nketiah in the middle and play Jesus on the right side (last time he played on the left). And the other is to give Nelson a chance as I don't consider Smith Row to be able to play that role and I would certainly not play Vieira there as that's not his position really.

Ramsdale should start but Arteta will probably start Raya..

Ramsdale

White Saliba Gabriel Zinchenko 

Odegaard Partey Rice

Jesus  Nketiah Trossard

Alternative 11

Ramsdale

White Saliba Gabriel Tomiyasou 

Odegaard Rice Zinchenko 

Jesus Nketiah Trossard

Arteta's lost the plot

 By 1970s Gooner 

There are four reasons why I believe Arteta has lost the plot.

The first one is his obsession to tinker with something that wasn't broke. In fact it was working smashingly well last season until injuries, squad depth and inexperience of a young team took its toll.

His tinkering has confused the Arsenal players as was so evident with choosing a midfield player to play as an inverted right back. Fulham's first goal came about from Partey ignoring or not being aware that Saka was under pressure and rushed to position himself in midfield leaving a huge gap behind.

Furthermore Arteta has removed White from right back which had the knock on effect of depriving Saka the excellent relationship he had with White. This was a major reason last season which unlocked the spaces behind the two defenders who are usually assigned to stop Saka.

Secondly amidst all this tinkering he insists on starting Havertz in every game when it is blatantly obvious that the boy is not delivering. He can not mark well, link with Martinelli nor score. WHAT CAN HE DO?

Start Trossard there, ESR, Vieira or better still DROP him and play Rice there. He can do the job for sure.

Thirdly why did he have to go with a false number nine? Especially with all the confusion created with all the tinkering in the rest of the team. Start Nketiah there for all of our sake. He has proved that he is up for it.

WAKE UP MIKEL

Dropping points like this and insisting on carrying on with this tinkering will mean that we are now out of the title race unless City hand it to us.

Your target now has to be to finish in the top 5.

This is what has to be done:

1. Reinstate Gabriel in defence and White at right back 

2. Drop Havertz and play Partey, Rice and Odegaard in midfield

3. Give Nketiah a run he will score goals for you

4. STOP TINKERING, you and this squad is not that experienced to copy Pep and his tinkering. 

No wonder Saka and Martinelli are below par

 By 1970s Gooner

Arteta's tactics of using an inverted full back into the midfield spaces has served us well last season. but that was because Zinchenko was so good at it AND Xhaka was playing that role of the box to box left sided midfielder who could attack, link up with Martinelli and come back and defend. 

This season Havertz cannot play that role as effectively as Xhaka did and this is the major reason that Matinelli has been less effective so far (as well as missing Jesus who would move away from the middle allowing Martinelli to move inwards).

This season so far Arteta has tried to go one further with inverting Timber from right back AND playing Partey as an additional inverted right back. In the absence of Timber against Palace he reverted to just inverting Partey from right back. 

But this has greatly affected Saka because now White, who has been moved from RB to the centre back position, cannot bomb up and down the flank to offer support to Saka and Odegaard and help distract the two pronged defence usually employed to stop the wonder boy. Partey is more occupied in central midfield and when he does offer support to Saka he is not that effective with it. Its not his game really.

I think these are the major reasons that in our two games so far we have enjoyed almost total domination of the ball (when playing with 11) but have not been creating enough chances to blow the opponents away. And this leaves you vulnerable to allowing the opponent to feel that they can come back at you as the score is still tight.

I hope that against Fulham Zinchenko could return and play that inverted role and that Arteta reinstates White at right back and brings in Gabriel at centre back. 

I would also be happy if Havertz is dropped and Partey, Rice and Odegaard are cemented as our three midfielders.

In this way the team will be more balanced both in defending but also in creating and scoring more freely.

We expect Emile Smith Rowe and Thomas Partey to join us next week

 By 1970s Gooner 

This is the statement put out by Arsenal today when announcing the squad to travel to the USA for preseason training and games.

Emil Smith Row's absence is understandable. His last game was with the U21s winning the uefa European Under 21 championship against Spain on the 8th of July. Add 15 days and you can guess when he will join up with the rest of the group in the USA. 

But Partey had no such commitments as far as I can tell. He was of course in the starting 11 to face Nurnberg in Germany last Thursday. 

But Arsenal are 'expecting' him to join the squad next week alongside Emil Smith Row.

Let's hope there is no injury involved or some kind of transfer activity going on.

Partey should stay at home

 By 1970s Gooner

It looks as though we've got Rice and that's wonderful especially as Xhaka has already gone. 

What a tremendous trio of midfield players we could have next season in Rice, Partey and Odegaard. A midfield which would put the fear in most teams in the Pl and able to compete on an equal basis with Man City and the other top teams.

But if what is being rumoured, that Thomas Partey could leave in this window, proves to be true then we surely cannot rely on Jorginho or Elneny to fill that gap. Especially against a more demanding opponent.

And of course Rice can fill that void but I don't think that Havertz can do the box to box Xhaka role as well.

So imo if we allow Partey to go then we haven't improved our midfield at all. And we would still need to splash unnecessary cash to replace Partey as well as facing the risk that the new midfielder may not prove to be an adequate replacement. 

Let's face it Partey is able to control games as a sole pivot in the middle. No one can do that job as well as he has been doing it. Granted his injury record is not that good but if need be with Rice we now have a very good replacement which we didn't last season.

Partey should not be allowed to leave.

Arsenal are not likely to sign any new central defenders

 By 1970s Gooner 

It's great news that Saliba will most probably sign a new contract. In my opinion Arsenal should have offered him the rise he was asking for a long time ago as it is obvious he is absolutely worth it. 

Gone are the days when only goalscorers would get massive contracts. Goalkeepers and defenders are just as important. And this is ofcourse now more widely recognised.

Arteta's transfer strategy for this window seems to be concentrating not on defenders but midfield players. 

This seems logical to me as the current squad is very light on central midfielders taking into consideration Xhaka's imminent departure and the absence of a viable deputy for Partey in the squad. 

But it can also help provide quality backup for the defensive options we so desperately missed when Saliba got injured.

Let me explain.

The acquisition of Rice would go a long way towards replacing Xhaka but it will not be enough as we will still be vulnerable to the possibility of Partey being incapacitated with no viable replacement (Elneny imo cannot fill in adequately).

And this is where the acquisition of an additional defensive midfielder will help solve two problems. A midfielder like Caicedo can play in central midfield but also as a right back thus releasing White to move into a central defensive position if and when needed. Partey can play as a right back too.

Tomiyasou can also play that role but it's not clear if he will be ready when the season gets underway. 

In conclusion, the addition of Rice and Caicedo will go a long way into bolstering the strength of the squad in various positions. A squad that will have to compete for the title again and in the Champions League. 

So let's concentrate our scarce financial resources in getting these two transfers over the line and go again....

Arteta's selections confuse everyone including the players

 By 1970s Gooner 

For some reason only known to himself Mikel Arteta selected  a back line which rendered the whole team and its style of play incapable of functioning.

Partey was playing at right back. White was moved sideways as a right centre back. Gabriel remained where he was but inexcusably Kiwior was selected at left back with Tierney on the bench!!!

These selections had even more serious implications for the efficiency of the team moving forward as well as in its defensive capability. 

 Kiwior as a left back was nervy and kept passing the ball back to Gabriel rather than forward to Trossard. This meant the Trossard was out of the game completely and the team became very unbalanced.

Additionally the other defensive players stopped passing the ball to Kiwior! All our efforts to go forward were directed towards Saka. Forest realising this had three players blocking him.

Xhaka also tended to stay back not venturing forward so as to provide cover on the left side.

On the other side Partey was not bad as a right back but he wasn't a White. White has a great and very effective relationship with Saka. This was totally absent today. 

And as a consequence it also rendered Odergaard much less effective on the right side as the Forest defence only had to deal with two players, Saka and Odergaard, rather than three.

Add to all this Jesus's worst game of the season and his inability to hold the ball or even provide any kind of goal threat. So the team was even more unbalanced.

I won't go on as I will get even more depressed but I think you get the message.

I hope Arteta gets it too....