Palace v Arsenal Review – Massive 3 points despite Arteta sabotaging the setup again

That said, our performance was poor. The Arteta experiment with Partey at right back just doesn’t work for me, and I’m worried it’s all just to fit a certain Kai Havertz into the side, and let’s be real, he really hasn’t set the world alight with his performances so far.

We’ve moved Gabriel who was arguably our best defender last season out of the side, moved Partey, the most important player of our midfield last season to right back, and I didn’t see anything in Havertz’s performances to indicate he deserves this.

I’m a firm believer that results eventually catch up to performances and this simply won’t do enough against a better team. We might get away with it against Fulham, but I’m worried long term.

Our squad in terms of players is second only to Man City right now, we should be doing better going forward. Apart from Eddie hitting the post, we created very few substantial chances and only scored due to some clever fast free kick taking.

I don’t like this setup of the team, and I’m worried the stubbornness of the manager will cost us again. Once Gabriel came on and Zinny later on, you immediately saw an improvement even though we were down to 10 already.

I think Arteta is just lucky Tomi will be out next week, so maybe we’ll see Zinny back in the side and stop this Partey RB nonsense, because our LB will do the inversion.

That said, the one positive from this performance was our defensive resilience. When we had to dig deep, we did it, even though the manager tried to sabotage the team again. Why are you subbing one of our quickest and most dangerous players in Martinelli, who also works hard to win the ball, when you are a man down, to keep on Havertz.

And I’m really not picking on our new German signing, it’s just baffling why we are doing it. Arteta is in his fourth year here and we’ve spent a fortune on his squad. The expectations set are to win trophies and challenge for the title.

That is the only standard he will be held accountable to this year. The Kroenkes dipped in their pockets for him like they haven’t done for any other manager, even Wenger. We should be playing better football, and we should be creating more chances with the abundance of talent we have.

It’s just about putting the best personnel that fits the system, or picking a system that fits the personnel we have. So far I’m not seeing the direction we are going.

Just don’t be fooled by the 6/6 points. We started like no other Arsenal team from before had last year, and still finished second. We must improve, starting with Fulham.