Not sure if it's to keep them match fit and sharp in preparation for the Newcastle fixture, but it was a bit surprising to me as well. I also didn't expect Saliba to play the full 90. The only thing I'll say is the subs didn't exert themselves too much and Saka especially wasn't putting in maximum effort compared to other games. He was playing it simple and bringing others into the game more, as opposed to taking players on and cutting inside frequently. Partey was a bit ropey at times, but generally speaking, the game was played at a pretty low intensity and Preston looked exhausted getting back to defend every time we bypassed their midfield. We were keeping the ball for fun (75% possession). I don't like Havertz in midfield at all, but even he looked a class above in the middle of the park. The calibre of opposition wasn't great. He'll need to start using the wider squad more now, though. No more games against lower league sides and the matches are coming thick and fast.
Think ordinary is too generous. Shocking would be the right adjective. We've regressed a lot in such a short space of time. It won't happen, but the manager's position needs to be under more scrutiny than it currently is.
Like us the other week, you simply didn't look up for it. A very strange performance in a lot of ways that.
Going to St. James Park is always a difficult away day - they were unlucky not to beat Man City, beat Spurs and beat Chelsea a few days ago. But the loss in itself, though concerning, doesn't bother me as much as the nature of the loss. We looked totally void of ideas, fight or belief. It's unacceptable to lose with a whimper like that. The main issue is that Arteta has looked to mitigate technical/creative ability for duel winners and physical specimens. If you field a team with no creative outlets and no natural forward, eventually, it is going to show and especially in games where marginal gains make the difference, it'll become even more apparent. However, these are not issues we should be facing with Arteta entering his 5th year in the job. It would be understandable 1-2 years in, but not this far in. That's why I'm starting to turn against him - he's undoing all the good work he'd done getting us to this point. It's all entirely self-inflicted.
