Quote Originally Posted by Letters View Post
I don't actually know if things are OK. Nor do you. As I keep saying, it's early season, new players are still finding their feet.
Two wins doesn't mean everything is brilliant, two losses wouldn't mean IT'S THE END OF DAYS (although these days I don't know if anyone can start like that and be credible contenders).
But, it's August. Let's see where we are at Christmas.
Your confidence in your opinions being very correct is undermined by your equal confidence that we would lose the first game and wouldn't win the second.
And your analogy about a child is nonsensical. I know better than a 6 year old boy, you do not know better than a PL manager who had a successful playing career and whose team massively exceeded your expectations last season.

Again, it's perfectly valid to have concerns, I share the one about the lack of a proper striker. It's the level of whining I'm rolling my eyes out loud about, given that we're one of only 3 teams to have won both of our first two games.
So essentially your argument comes down to an appeal to Authority, you know…I think NQ is a crank as much as he thinks I’m a gutless, pliant brainwashed serf but he does have a bit of a point when it comes to you. You do have a bit of a “ours is not to reason why” mentality about you.


So I’m countering your appeal to authority with Empiricism. Arteta has a history of Galaxy brained tactical changes and they invariably don’t work, either because like with the star in the square hole it’s not meant to go there or for all his supposed tactical brilliance he hasn’t explained what he wants from his players.

This is what is happening now. Havertz as I say is a technically gifted player, but he’s not a central midfielder. Now I can’t say Apriori that having him in that position will definitely mean that Martinelli becomes more isolated but a) that’s what’s happened so far and b) there’s good reason to believe that will continue to happen.

Now Havertz himself said his preferred position is central midfield, but in fairness so did Ainsley Maitland Niles. If you’re 18 your skill set can be adapted at 24 less so. Yes you can tweak a players primary position like Wenger did with Henry but changing someone from the wing to a centre forward is less of a drastic change than winger/striker to central midfielder.


I can’t say for definite what will happen, but being wrong about the two results hasn’t in anyway made me think more positively because at home to Forest we should have lost…our defence was so open that all they needed was a smidge of ambition and they’d have taken all three points. Not because they were better than us, we absolutely were the better team in terms of overall play, but a phalanx of spurned half chances and being so far forward that it took just one run to put them in on goal for 2-1, not to mention the other two chances they spurned.

Our overall play was better than that of Palace, they were utterly toothless but we created nothing and yet laud Declan Rice for being the best player on the park when he had nothing to do. Nuts.


Being despairing when the one thing I got unequivocal joy from last season is taken away because Reasons (our attacking play and goal scoring)…hardly seems illogical. Most Arsenal fans admittedly won’t be as downhearted as me, but most will tell you (as those on here have) that the system doesn’t work, square pegs in round holes a plenty.

But honestly I’d much prefer you actually watch games and then tell me you think I’m wrong or being over the top. Because at the moment all you have is…well we won that’s all that matters. Well winning is copacetic, people don’t question things when they’re winning and then they scratch their heads and say “I don’t get what happened” when it falls apart.

So tell you what, watch a game and then give me your opinion. Otherwise how are you any different from NQ who just knows