Gunners

Apologies, this is going to be a little long...

I understand where you are coming from. It is frustrating to see us look so listless and lackadaisical at times. I think that frustration is born of there being an expectation for the team to perform to a higher level, especially after challenging for the title in the last two seasons. I think we (and Arteta) have set the bar so high now that anything that isn't close is scrutinised. Having high aspirations is perfectly fine, I want us to push and be title contenders and finally win it. Counter to that, It's also valid to point out flaws and critique the team when warranted. Both are true.

I agree, there have been multiple games this season where we've looked far under par. But, I feel like that all fits within the context of the season so far. We lost Ødegaard the 3rd game into the season. He's one of, if not, our main creative outlet who leads the press and is instrumental in progressing the ball. That's 3 games out of 12 in all competitions. And you're right, we should have brought in someone else who could fill that gap during the window, but I could not tell you why we didn't. Whether that's down to Arteta, Edu or whoever else is responsible for that decision, I don't know, except that there's nothing we can do until January and I hope they have a plan.

As for Nwaneri, Arteta has mentioned that he doesn't want to rush young players in. I also feel like there have been a lot of examples where youngsters were pushed into the limelight too soon and they haven't been able to cope with the pressure. You could put that down to mentality, sure. But, you could just as well point to not setting that player up to succeed. These kids are humans as well and I feel like it's easy for us to get caught up in the moment and forget that they're not robots. Our fan base can also be absolutely ruthless... I used to watch AFTV late 2000's early 2010's and it was brutal at times. It got so bad I stopped watching for my own sanity.

I can see why Arteta may not have played him in this game. Shakhtar sat back and let us pass the ball around and hit on the counter. Maybe Nwaneri isn't ready for the physical demand in such an intense game? Nobody by Arteta and the coaching staff are going to know that. That doesn't mean he's not good enough to train with the first team. He's still only 17. It's a lot of pressure to place such an important role for a youngster, especially in the context of the game against Shakhtar.

Then, you have the added obscurity around the new CL format and what is needed to progress into the next stages. How many points is the benchmark to progress? Can you get away with playing more defensively and go for a draw to rest some players? Do you have to go all out attack to make the most of your position in the table? If the latter is the case, which is seems to be, then it's like playing in a more intense premier league season with what feels like even less guarantees. With all the injuries, we don't have the squad depth of Man City to play so intense every single game. Throwing Nwaneri into that at the same time could be detrimental to his progress. The other downside is instead of preparing against 3 teams twice, you have to come up with a new game plans for 8 different opponents.

I got a little sidetracked, but I feel like injuries have definitely made an impact on team cohesion. We lost White and Ødegaard to injury who linked up with Saka down the right. Saka has just been so good that, even when he hasn't looked the best, he still manages to get an assist and/or goal. He's an anomaly. Nelli has his moments, but I think we use a set Saka-standard we compare others by, which is unrealistic. He's on a whole other level. Then, Timber got injured now Saka has been out with an injury. That's all the best players on our right side. Calafiori has also been brilliant progressing the ball and getting into good positions and has also now picked up an injury and may not be available against Liverpool.

Then you have the abysmal refereeing we've had to contend with and the two absolutely ridiculous red cards - we've had to continually change the way we've lined up. We went from naming almost the same 11 for the majority of last season to almost a different lineup every match in this season.