With a section of the Arsenal fanbase you have to be quite sensitive. Point out obvious flaws in our system after a win and you are negative.
Speak up after we drop points and you are asked ‘why didn’t you say anything before?”
So as much as I praised Thomas Partey’s footballing intelligence in our first two fixtures this season, I did fear that Mikel Arteta was in danger of over complicating things.
Partey starts at right back with the intention of timing when to step into midfield, Ben White begins as a centreback but will time when to switch to the wing to cover Partey, when Partey joins Rice as one of our DM’s, we have two number 10’s with free roles.
When Arsenal needed a left back to replace Timber and Tomiyasu on Saturday, they picked Kiwior.
Yes, the Pole has played there but again the idea of him being chosen was, when needed, he could step across and form a back three.
So, if Partey ventures forward, the Gunners are left with three trained centre backs to defend.
It’s of course meant to sound complex because the idea is for the opposition to find it impossible to man mark any of our players.
You might also recognise how familiar it is to Man City’s system.
The difference is the Champions have better players then us, hence why they won the treble.
Having done his apprenticeship at the Etihad and Pep Guardiola being his mentor, it’s understandable our manager might want to copy from the man who taught him what he knows.
Let me stress it takes bravery from the Spaniard to try these tactics, trusting individuals to use their brains.
A top coach also believes in his ethos and sticks to his convictions no matter what the outside world is saying.
If he truly believes that, in training, he’s seeing a team 10 times better than they were 12 months ago, he should stick to his principles.
The worry is in reviewing how we collapsed in the title race, our boss has over-thought things.
The 41-year-old admitted to being personally hurt by finishing second in a league he had topped for the majority of time.
In reality there not a lot needed fixing at the Emirates.
We didn’t end up runners up because of our tactics or even personnel, we ended up empty handed because we lacked the know-how and mentality.
It was too big a step for one of the youngest squads in the division.
In theory the same group will be better for the experience. You either believe that or you recruit more senior pros. That’s why I think it’s a mistake that Xhaka wasn’t kept as he was one of our few leaders.
Yet at a time when we need calmness, the man in charge may have let last season impact on his thought process, and now is making erratic choices.
Why is a centreback playing at left back the same time Tierney is travelling to Spain on loan?
That’s right, Real Sociedad are not paying a transfer fee for the full back or giving any guarantees they will.
They simply will cover his wages for the season.
Did we really need to lose Tierney just to slash the wage bill?
Meanwhile Gabriel is on the bench. While I have always argued he makes too many mistakes, is our back 4 better now?
Is Partey being right back truly worth not having Gabriel in the team?
The same Partey who we tried at right back in the last few games of last season and it didn’t work!
Man, City are not going to drop many points. The standards they set means you can’t afford to be experimenting while the campaign is going on.
If it’s not broken, why try and fix it?
We won’t win the title by making our own problems.
Dan
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