Ok, now that I've calmed down a bit, let's go into the positives and negatives of the game. Positives: - 3 points is always the priority and we secured them. - We reacted well after going 1-0 down. We should never have gotten into this position, but it's always good to see we can respond fast to setbacks. - Proactive subs by Arteta. - Havertz with another important goal. He's been so much better and influential than I thought. Fair play to him. - Saka. Honestly, I'm running out of superlatives for him. What an outstanding footballer. We honestly don't win today without him. - Martinelli's had a slow start to the season, but since the City game, he's been fantastic and now he's starting to get more goals and assists. Great impact today. Negatives: - Why did we set up with Partey at RB? It would have been better to have played Kiwior/Calafiori as our fullbacks. I know they're both left-footed, but they're both more natural playing in that position compared to moving Partey out of CM to accommodate Havertz and Jorginho in the middle. - Rice is clearly being instructed to take up really advanced positions. He isn't suited to being deployed so high up and almost playing like a second striker at times. - Gabriel Jesus...I'm sorry, but he is absolutely finished at this level. He didn't do a single thing right and fluffed his lines in front of goal. Some people are saying he's not fully match fit yet, but honestly, we can't keep making these excuses for him. This isn't a recent thing. His last goal was in January of this year. - Raheem Sterling...to be fair, I was a bit harsh on him earlier. He wasn't bad today, but he also didn't have the effect I'd hoped. As I said when we signed him, he doesn't improve our efficiency in front of goal. I'll cut him a bit of slack for now because he's not played many minutes for us overall, but he's got a lot to do to win me over still. - Havertz should never, ever be deployed as the main threat in between the lines. Why didn't we start Nwaneri? He needs to be trusted more than he is. - Calafiori mostly had a good game, but I've noticed he does get spun in behind quite a few times and is overly aggressive in 1v1s. Needs to sort that out because we concede chances from his side too much. Happened today as well.
