I do feel sympathy for him on that first goal. Yes he should have looked up for the pass but he passed to exactly where the CB was supposed to be, except for some ridiculous reason the RB had gone tearing up the pitch through the midfield pushing the CB out to RB so there was noone there except for their centre forward on his own. If we were playing with the back 4 structure that served so well last season, it's exactly where Saliba would have been.

PFA Young Player of the Year for Saka while he, Ramsdale, Saliba and Odegaard make the PFA Team of the year. Bit weird this awards happen after the next season has started.

Oh, I think we can give him a bit of love for this - he's in pretty exalted company in terms of Arsenal players who have won the award - and Jack Wilshere.

    Well done the collective, four of our lads are in the PFA Team of the Year. It's a mark of the progress that's made us a preferred destination for big players.

    Just had a look and the last Arsenal player to make the cut was Aubameyang in 19–20, then Bellerín in 15–16 and Sánchez in 14–15, then Van Persie in 11–12. In that sense you've gotta go back more than one decade of averageness to pull together the quality in our current squad.

    Well done to those guys and no doubt they deserve it. Probably another 1 or 2 who could feel hard done by to not be included.

    4 days later

    Is there a "there" there? Wish we had a viable alternative to freshen up our right side. It's really bland.

    Trossard/Nelson/Jesus - all talented players who could do a decent job on the right.

    Hell I wouldn't mind seeing Havertz there - think he'd be capable of getting his noggin onto a few of those crosses Martinelli has been putting onto the back stick

      He’s definitely off form….a couple thoughts:

      Hopefully having White at RB helps him as that’s a more dynamic duo than Partey at RB.

      I also think it’s telling that Saka’s form has dipped when we’ve disrupted a great connection between Partey (at DM) and Odegaard. Partey had a massive influence on when/where Odegaard got on ball last season and it’s clear we’ve lost something there.

      Pepe LeFrits

      Yeah. If Eddie can continue show he is a viable option upfront. Jesus is a really good alternative for the right when we need to rotate Saka.

        Obviously I love Bukayo but he should be dropped, I feel. Absolutely awful, and blaming others for it is just grasping. Was as bad as Antony today.

        The funny thing about Saka is he has these visually weird games, but when you look at his numbers, he’s always very productive and in the thick of it. Yesterday he led in goal probability added, and was involved in the third most attacking sequences. So he’s doing smart, useful things.

          I disagree that Saka was awful. It was a terrible miss, granted, but we are just so used to Saka at his very best that anything short of it is seen as terrible. He was nowhere near as bad as Anthony, who was just functional.

          Anthony is just shit. Almost as bad as the Butcher who just quit on his team

          Saka's miss was probably his best moment yesterday.

            Claudius Its an expectation thing. If Havertz played like that people would defend him but we expect more from Saka because we've seen more from him. He's not at his best but he's still very useful. If he makes a proper connection with that late Jesus pass the narrative flips completely.

              Claudius

              People remember moments more than anything, unfortunately for Saka his notable moments were more bad than good, but the rest of his game was as reliable as ever.

                  Dalot to be fair was very good against him. As we saw last season Ake defended well against him as well, right footed LBs are more difficult for Saka as he likes to cut in.