A lot of results-based analysis going on, which is fine and has its place, but I've been wanting to share my thoughts on the game, so here goes.
Bad starting lineup. Just bad. Nothing about that can be said to have "worked" in any way shape or form, for me. I'd say most attempts to legitimize the first half are tantamount to retconning. We were nervous and poor in each third. It was a miserable watch.
-Raya felt the pressure, which transmits to the crowd and then back to Raya again. Vicious circle, and he was terrible.
-Eddie and Trossard were very poor.
-Jesus kept getting into those Saka-esque positions, but the few chances he had at a decent cutback were driven straight into the first defender.
-Less said about Jorginho the better. Can't stand watching him play for Arsenal. Nobody needs a metronome when you're playing the actual concert. He's hilariously slow, and an obvious target for the opposition. Liability.
-The rest has relatively serviceable performances, but it was Arteta I was most annoyed with. The lineup right off the bat said that we were only going to get anywhere with substitutions, and I didn't trust him to make them. Thankfully, Trossard's fitness forced his hand, because that half-time sub is what completely transformed the game.
Even so, in that torrid first half, something...clicked. Maybe it was the ridiculous, obviously corrupt, blatantly purposeful decision by the referee to ignore the rules of the game in order to serve some idiotic narrative. Maybe it was something else, but the seeds of the second half were sown in the first. Rice started taking more responsibility and I thought Odegaard started to show a bit more leadership. Both happened to have been the recipients of Kovacic's double-red card that never was. The stabilization might have started slightly before then, though. The credit should probably go to Saliba and Gabriel. They were absolutely imperious, what a pairing! Along with White, they seemed like the only ones relatively unfazed by the occasion. Secure, physically dominant, and they made great use of the double-pivot in front of them. Zinchenko was far less exposed, and actually acquitted himself well defensively. Still, I thought it was a poor lineup, a nervy execution, and generally tentative, almost cowardly game plan.
Gabriel Martinelli was the game changer, my man of the match, and the guy who sparked us into finally looking like the team we should have been on day one against Forest. He was having absolutely none of this miserable coward-ball, and just said fuck it, let's play. His energy, enthusiasm, speed, and joyous talent unleashed Rice, in particular. Declan was incredible from then on, absolutely world class. Brilliant performance. Saliba and Big Gabby kept it up at the back, which provided the platform for Odegaard and co to really flourish. Saliba might be the best CB on the planet, but its Gabriel that gets him there. Getting Jorginho off the pitch was hugely important, and we no longer had such a clear and obvious physical weakness in the side, and it totally killed their fading press.
Tomi's run to receive that lovely ball from Partey probably doesn't happen if a) Martinelli isn't there and there's another midfielder coming inside off the wing, and b) we don't have Havertz occupying defenders with sheer presence that Nketiah simply does not offer. Tomiyasu has a real case for starting over Zinchenko at this point. Is there something he can't do? Real resurgence for him this season.
Raya improved hugely in the second half, and you can tell Arteta said something to him at half time. Show the crowd you have the ability, don't let them get to you, stick to the plan. It worked, but it also helped that there were actually players to hit in the second half. I think it was Martinelli that gave Raya space, indirectly, by forcing Walker to consider him. Their press got deeper, less intense, and we started to assert ourselves, and they couldn't come to grips with it. Raya's distribution looks better all of a sudden, especially after the triple sub.
In summary, Martinelli was everything. I don't think Arteta got his lineup right, I think he was far too nervous and conservative, and it almost cost us all three points within the first few minutes. Something great happened, though, and we realized that we belonged on the pitch with City. It's hard to pinpoint exactly where and when it happened, but we stopped playing with fear and frustration, and transferred that frustration to them instead. Martinelli converted what began as simply managing City, to something that almost looked like domination. They were rattled at full-time because they simply couldn't match us by the end. We held them at arms length, very professional, very controlled. The team we ended with was night and day from the team that started the game, and I don't think it was a case of "using the squad" well. I think we were very lucky to survive that awful first half, deliberate referee corruption aside. I think Arteta would do well to defer to the personality of some of our top boys a bit more, rather than impose his methodical thinking on the whole team. It's useful, it can be effective, but if we want to be who we truly are, as a squad and as a club, we need to let guys like Martinelli lead the way every now and then. We aren't City Group, we're Arsenal. We're a bit moody and emotional, we like a bit of flair. Instead of fighting it, we should lean into it, just a bit.
