RocktheCasbah As to the wider question, personally I think the criticism I've seen of both Arteta and the team has been a little OTT so far.
I think mine's a moderate, reasoned view (of course I do). In short, we shouldn't have dropped points versus Fulham or Spurs. Those failures belong to Arteta, distinctively.
Against Fulham, we played an unusual formation that requires an awkward lateral exchange between RB and RCB during transitions. It cost us freakishly swiftly, but a tactic that opens a wide temporary gap during every break is suboptimal.
In the derby, we conceded two goals due to Arteta's two hand-picked men Raya and Jorginho. Since then both Raya and Jorginho have been unconvincing more than once. Jorginho was also way out of his depth versus Chelsea.
Our season goes forward and results have been decent overall.
Our defensive strength relies on the experience, understanding and quality in our back four, now usually with Rice patrolling. Gabriel, Saliba and White are world class. Rice is a don. Arteta meanwhile has toyed with dropping Gabriel, shifted Partey to right back, selected Jorginho, and juggled keepers. He has subtracted value.
In offence, our numbers are well down. Martinelli and Ødegaard are both in diminished form, while Saka has been run into the ground. We're mustering 1.1 xG per 90 on average: not enough. Yes we'll improve, but why is it taking so long?
Arteta does a difficult job well. I'm hoping recent experimentation helps us flex with fatigue, fixture pile-ups and injury later. Maybe we can avoid the big decline that ruined last season. But Arteta's not a nimble thinker—he's a disciplined thinker disciplining himself to nimbleness. We take ages to correct issues and click into gear—he should question himself faster. We have a talented, deep squad by the high standards of our club. It's been assembled with a bankroll FFP will prevent us from revisiting. We have to expect a lot.
