daredevil I don't think it was. I think the main plan was what we saw today and what we saw in the Community Shield. Havertz up top, and Partey and Rice in midfield
Yet literally the next game and for the first 4 games of the actual season we had Partey at RB, Havertz at 8, Rice at 6 with Trossard and Nketiah swapping places up top. Jorginho was fit and would come off the bench towards the end of games.
Even after Partey got injured and we put our back 4 in place with White, Gabriel and Saliba, we had Havertz still playing in midfield with Trossard/Nketiah up top and Rice behind. At one point Havertz was dropped Vieira came in for a few games, and then Rice did. It's not until we moved Havertz further forward in the new year with Jorginho and Rice behind that we started really clicking.
Fair enough, the manager wanted to try some stuff out, it clearly didn't work, and he had the good sense to change it before it derailed our season completely and those changes are what has pushed us to where we are now. It's a credit to realise when things aren't goong well and knowing you need to change things rather than trying the same failing thing.
But Partey was a RB under Arteta this season until he got injured, and Jorginho was behind Havertz and Vieira in that midfield spot until Havertz was moved up top and Vieira got suspended and subsequently injured. It's pretty clear Jorginho wasn't the favoured option in the first half of the season based on the minutes given to each at the time comoared to the minutes they play now similar to how since then he has been favoured and just had his minutes managed.
