Originally Posted by
IBK
An awful game from us.
It worries me that having gone into the season feeling like we had a decent squad, it's becoming clear that there is a damaging drop off when certain players (Saka; Odegard; Saliba) do not play.
I get that most teams drop a level when their best players are missing, but in games like these (and against Southampton and Leicester for large periods) we seem to lose our identity.
This is partly down to the manager's decisions. Arteta seems to have got into a habit of sacrificing attacking intent for playing a 'fine margins' game based on defensive solidity without Odegard available. It was noticable for me on Saturday that there was very little playmaking/verticality. The shape and personnel were all wrong. Partey was played too deep given the selection of Merino and Rice (despite the latter having a few surging runs) our MF was stodgy. On the right Sterling was powder puff before he went off, and Trossard (our worst player) should not be on the wing - his skills are better utilised inside...and maybe he should even have been played up front with Havertz playing behind him.
Without Trossard playing more centrally and Saka absent it was shocking how peripheral Havertz was. Without Saka delivering corners - our much vaunted set piece ability was non-existent and we were totally shown up by Bournemouth's inventiveness and execution when they scored from their opportunity.
More worryingly, the whole team seemed to lack confidence and insisiveness. We reverted to an all too familiar pattern of sideways and back passing, and missed passes. Bournemouth are a good defensive team and made it look easy to keep us out.
After the sending off we treated Bournemouth with too much respect in terms of any attacking intent, and looked jittery throughout. I wonder whether as well as working out how to perfect a low block against us, teams have worked out ways to deal with the defensive challenges that we pose. We have now conceded 5 goals against teams that wehen we played them were in the bottom third of the league.
I accept that the sendings off (mostly harsh but also self-inflicted) stifle any game plan, but I wonder also whether Arteta's mindset is too cautious; and his forward game too dependent on key individuals and 'moments'. Set pieces should be a bonus way of scoring goals rather than a 'go to', and we are seeing a continued pattern of failing to convert chances going forwards and an alarming development of lapses when it comes to solidity at the back.
Timber aside, we largely enjoyed a charmed life last season with key injuries. This season they are presenting a problem that the manager seems to be struggling to solve.
I'm not trying to be alarmist after a bad result, but the standard that we need to attain if we are to be champions is very high, and I'm not convinced that (even in games that we have won) we are currently looking like we are going to have what it takes to do this. Are we not quite as good - both in terms of mindset and ability - as we all thought?
