To me the biggest problem remains the left side of the attack.

lorddulaarsenal To me the biggest problem remains the left side of the attack.

Merino feels a bit meh right now. Those analysts saying he was bought as a backup are probably right. But then we need to find someone in for Partey desparately.

Bring Back Kerrea Gilbert Odegaard can disappoint when we need him most in the PL but tonight he was great.

It's really concerning how bereft of vision/creativity we are without him.

It's not just that. It's the drive and mentality. Saka has it for himself but Martin brings the whole team up. When he's out or not performing the whole team suffers.

banduan thought he looked good again. He’s giving us a lot of intelligent movement, passing, and runs into the box.

Second half we played quick forward passes and were determined to attack. That's why we won the game. Not sure why we don't play like that every week. Yes Odegaard came on but mainly it was a change in mentality that changed the game.

banduan I think a Partey replacement is key this summer as well as a marquee attacker. TBH both should have been bought last summer.

Gurgen I think palace weren’t as packed. But there is also some benefit from Tierney in that he was going wide and pushing our forward in, allowing Trossard to link up with Merino and Jesus.
There is probably value to playing like we did before with an asymmetric full backs. When both fullbacks are going inside, it makes us narrow and isolates both wingers, making us easier to hold.

Claudius also stops the left winger from having to do that work.

Claudius finally you see it. There's value for Tierney or a traditional full back equivalent in our game. We need to vary it up. We need width. No better than an overlapping full back supporting our cut in wingers.

Tierney was way too maligned and disrespected.

Claudius Absolutely, that's why the double inverted thing with MLS and Timber v Everton baffled me so. Not even Arteta had created such a monster before.

Didn't know this was on. Rubbed my eyes when I saw Jesus had scored a goal, nevermind 3. Huge contract extension incoming and vindication for Arteta that we have enough up top?

QuincyAbeyie gotta say, I love KT to bits and it was great to see him back, but last night his limitations with the ball at his feet were really apparent. Especially when you see the Rolls Royce Timber on the other side. He is exactly the limited footballer @flobaba seems to think Benny Blanco is.

Great cross for Raheem mind.

That said, it was his first game back in forever, so I could be being a touch harsh.

@RocktheCasbah he also laid on a plate the easiest chance to finish we had all game which Sterling managed to fluff twice in the space of a second.

I like Tierney. He may not be the most technical player but as traditional fullback he he's more than good enough. I loved him when he was playing regularly for us, aside from that period where Arteta tried to turn him into Zinchenko. Can you imagine inverting Tierney instead of making White invert and keeping Tierney wide? Crazy.

That was a really strange period towards the end of 2022/23 season. It was almost like when Wenger (or was it Emery) was trying so hard to make Cech get involved in building up from the back even though the guy almsot scored an OG doing that.

But all of that is completely pointless because the guy, like @QuincyAbeyie said, can hardly finish a game before getting crocked again. Tomi, much as I love him, needs to go as well for the same reason.

Big Willie he also laid on a plate the easiest chance to finish we had all game which Sterling managed to fluff twice in the space of a second.

Sorry mate, I know we've had our ups and downs, but what exactly did you think I was referring to when I said this?

RocktheCasbah Great cross for Raheem mind.

It was a gorgeous ball, no mistaking that.

RocktheCasbah Sorry mate, I know we've had our ups and downs, but what exactly did you think I was referring to when I said this?

Sorry, must have missed that part lol. I was referring to the part about his limitations on the ball and the mention of Timber in the next sentence. It's true, he's no Zinchenko or Timber on the ball. I don't disagree with any part of your post tbh.

It's just I don't mind that as much though because when fit (ha) and on form he creates a number of chances each game with his crosses and cut backs. I feel we've gone overboard on the inverting fullbacks stuff these days. They're useful and can add some more control in the middle third. I definitely think we need at least one in the team.

But that marauding fullback is something we miss these days, especially with White being injured. White himself creates so much opportunities even if only indirectly for Saka and the team because he overlaps and takes a defender with him.

I'll add that with Tierney wide we saw our LWF (Trossard) constantly in dangerous positions in the channel. In contrast, with an inverted LB we see Martinelli out wide and Rice often in the channel. I know we'll be far more dangerous with an actual attacker in dangerous positions than Rice.