Made this comment after watching that game.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Gunners/s/mnNWkoEy53

Such a lazy ass player.

I swear Haaland slots home atleast one of those 2 chances against any other team and probably both against us.Not.complaining though;City dropping points is good.

This sort of confirms the eye test.Our passing through the middle this season hasn’t been incisive enough.As good as Rice is,his passing isn’t as incisive as Partey ( not a slight at Rice,thats how good Partey is at this particular aspect), Havertz is a downgrade from Xhaka when it comes to buildup, through balls etc and Ode hasn’t been at his best( maybe its because of the change in tactics,maybe because of having to compensate for the lack of creativity from the other 8 or maybe due to the niggle he has been carrying or a sum total of all this).

On top of all this,when Jesus isn’t available and Eddie is preferred over Trossard in that 9 role,there is a further loss of creativity through the middle because Eddie cannot drop deep and help the attack like Jesus.

So basically the only real threat comes from Sakanelli and teams just put 2 guys on them and kick them around all game because the refs won’t do shit.

All of this leads me to wonder what Mikel’s vision for our midfield was with the summer signings.Was it

1)Rice-Partey-Ode

Or

2. Havertz -Rice -Ode

If it was 1,I don’t quite get what the point of spending 65m on Havertz was.You don’t go out and spend that kind of money on a project signing that too one that isn’t a starter.

If it was 2,I have to question the idea of essentially replacing 2/3 of our midfield from last season in one go.

In hindsight,I think we would have been better of spending big on a ready made partner for Rice in midfield.But whats done is done,and I trust Mikel so hopefully whatever Mikel’s vision is comes good and Havertz becomes a success.

There was a moment after he came on where he had a chance to burst upfield with the ball on the counter but somehow a Sevilla player managed to catch up with him without much fuss.One of the reasons for making subs at that point is to have fresh legs to carry the ball upfield and relieve pressure on the defenders.I was really disappointed with Nketiah there.

Do we make it to the 10 biggest European clubs of all time all things considered,like fanbase,trophies won etc?

Madrid,Barca,ManU, Liverpool,Bayern,Milan clubs,Juventus all make it imo given their exceptional success both domestically and in Europe and I would put us and Chelsea in there as well.But would clubs like Ajax despite their current condition edge us given their past success in the Champions league?

I get your point,but the league isn’t what it was a few years back.We are yet to play Brighton,Villa,and Newcastle who aren’t part of the traditional big 6,but more dangerous than a team like ManU at the moment. We also have to play Liverpool,the second most difficult fixture after City.Also the games against the Manchester clubs and Spurs were all at home.

But City have a cheat code in KDB though(when fit).Someone who can create a chance out of nothing with one of his trademark crosses or through balls.As good as Ode is,he isn’t quite that level.We obviously have players who can create but not the same level as City imo.They can afford to play that kind of controlling game with 4 CBs and Rodri providing cover when you can rely on Daddy Debruyne or one of his minions to just put one on the plate for Haaland to tap home.

Also their strikers- Haaland and Alvarez are far more clinical than Eddie/Jesus which means City don’t have to create too much to score.

Another advantage City have is that they are ruthless on the counter,while for some reason we seem to slow down attacks.

All things considered,I don’t think we can afford to play like City.We may need to take few more risks and find some sort of balance, because the way we are getting points doesn’t seem sustainable.

Maybe Timber could be an option? Incredibly press resistant,can go past people,good passing,physicality and work rate.His long term future is probably in the Zinchenko role and occasionally rotating with White,but Timber as a 6 would be interesting.