goon Looking at the last three games, when the pressure started taking it's toll and our passing and technical ability went wayward and decision making slower, we had nothing to fall back on. We were losing all the duels, in the air, on the ground, 2nd balls etc. We had no way (other than Martinelli) to re-impose ourselves on the game or to find a semblance of control.
This is where I feel Arteta has had the opportunity to do a bit better. My sense is he's been a conservative manager here and explained these bad periods in terms of our opponents rather than changing our setup.
I felt like against West Ham we should've already had a plan B to compensate for Saliba's (and also in that match Zinchenko's) absences, but it was as if Anfield exceptionalism had led him to think that wouldn't be needed.
Hoping we have a real, drilled solution to be more compact and controlled against City as we have to be a lot more capable of retaining the ball and resisting the press than we have been in adversity.
