When the total is less than the sum of the individual parts you have to blame the manager don't you?.

Too many sub-par performances under Arteta against good but not great opposition.

Very surprised by Paddy.
Thought he was average at best and would have preferred Arteta to him when Emery was sacked but has surprise me.
Doing a good job at palace and has changed their identity.
Thought Zaha missing was a massive boost for us but even without him palace were the better team.
We got out of jail for sure.
Arteta is a poor manager.
We looked toothless and this is on paper our strongest team.
We are being dominated now by teams who not long ago were swatted aside by us.
Not anymore.
Really fearing that villa game on this performance.

Pépé is a show pony with dancing feet but he appears to actually be quite a brainless, sum might even say aimless, footballer whose undoubted technical skills are not utilised in any really progressive way.

I think this formation where we only play Partey in midfield is not the way to go. There are too many well organised teams in the league who overrun us there. If Xhaka was fit we’d never be playing this formation.

If Saka is the best left wing and right wing we have then play him on his stronger side. Get him on the right and move others around to accommodate him.

The ominous thing is this is pretty much the best 11 we have and in terms of starting 11’s there’s not much different we can feasibly do.

I actually genuinely forgot that Ødegaard was even on the pitch in the 2nd half.

My frustration is with him is there are some pretty big average wingers or strikers who look far more dangerous in the league. Ayew tonight was a better winger than Pépé.
I still don’t think we use him to suit his skills though. Pépé tends to receive the ball between the edge of the box and the touchline. If we can get him the ball more centrally we utilise him better. That’s not saying start him as a 10. If you look where a lot of his good moments come from it’s much closer to the goal, he’s not really a touchline hugging winger.

I find myself agreeing and somehow trying to reconcile the fact he came away with basically an assist and by the end of the season his numbers always suggest he has end product. He’s maddening though. I do wish he’d get a consistent run in the team in his best position (at the expense of Saka…. ) so we can finally write him off or watch him come good. Well better.

I am actually beginning to think that Tierney's tendency to play high up the pitch and whip crosses in is more of a hindrance than a help. We don't get enough players in the box to justify it and it becomes a fruitless tactic.

What I would say about Pépé is he is inconsistent and frustrating in equal measure but he can provide a moment of goalscoring quality be it a shot or cross that brings a goal and there are NOT many players in our squad capable of doing that there really isn’t.

There is not a lot of goals in this side. Go through it player by player. Not enough quality on the ball.

Looking on the bright side, it is important that we kept the unbeaten run going.

Having said that, I'm not in the least bit confident that it will last much longer. There are only so many 'get out of jail' cards in the pack. We simply need to do better than that.

I actually have some sympathy for Partey, who had a poor game. Smith-Rowe and Ødegaard are attacking players, not proper midfielders. Partey is basically left trying to hold the midfield together on his own, and that's extremely difficult at this level. In a time where a lot of teams (most of the really good ones actually) are playing with three midfielders to win that important battle, we're playing with one.

Its incredibly difficult, maybe even impossible, to boss a PL midfield on your own. The midfield battle is often where a game is one and lost. Dominate the midfield and you have half a chance.

Sympathy in getting overrun in 3v1 midfields yes, but no slack for dawdling on the ball and getting his pocket picked. If Xhaka made the mistake Partey did tonight he be getting it with both barrels by the fans

Looks more like the rampant performance v Spurs was much more to do with spurs bizarre tactical plan of emptying their midfield than any remarkable brilliance from us.
It’s the team we need to go back to though. Saka on the right and Emile Smith Rowe on the left with Ødegaard in the middle.

Of course, it was a massive error. Unfortunately, he has those caught on the ball moments in his locker.

In truth Spurs were diabolical 1st half, we capitalised and took our chances but even in the 2nd half we ran out of steam and could have conceded a couple.

We have no real fluidity to our play.

We don't really create many chances in open play and we don't have many individuals with goals in them and that is a problem.

I noticed sky replaced the Gallagher tackle on Lokonga quite a lot in the build up to their 2nd goal. There didn’t seem to be much commentary to go with it but sky were trying to show that Gallagher didn’t actually touch the ball. He more sort of leaned in to Lokonga. I didn’t think it was a free kick but some refs would have given it much to the frustration of palace for sure

I’ve said before I’m not convinced his best position is the deepest lying midfielder. That said I want to see my dynamism from him in games, I want it to be Partey with his athleticism and physique being the one hustling and knocking players off the ball.

Once again we have a game where we don’t win unless our best players actually play well. Arteta has yet to find a way to win games when we struggle for fluidity.

Basically the Deontay wilder of the premier league.

On our day we can absolutely smash any side in a 20 minute period but our team is too young and immature to control the game so there will be periods where we allow the opposition to come back into it.

We generally always struggle for fluidity. How many times have we actually played an exciting, expansive, attacking brand of football under Arteta's reign?

Yeah I thought that but generally, and especially this season, that’s not going to be given and I’ve got no huge complaints with no whistle there. The way the league is being officiated this season favours pressing because if you bundle someone you’re more than likely going to get away with it. Shame we don’t really do it with any real consistency or expertise.

I think Norwich and Burnley were those type of wins. The more pressing issue for me is that we don't have any fluidity to our game at all. First half against Tottenham seems very much like the exception, we're just a poor attacking side on a consistent basis. More bad attacking performances than good ones, and it's been going on for years now.

I am not sure we are big punchers TG, we throw very few punches and those we do throw tend to fall short. We generally barely lay a glove on the opposition.

There you have it.

Yes the lack of proper press from us is a huge concern. Especially when you see other coaches coach an effective press in next to no time. Aubameyang looked eager to press today, Ødegaard and Emile Smith Rowe are generally on board but we struggle to form any press that looks properly worked out on the training pitch. Some teams only press in certain areas, some have trigger pressing like when they spot a bad touch or odd played behind a player, or some just press all the time. Palace did that to us and we struggled. We struggle to press and struggle to have an effective plan against the press save for a couple of one touch moves that are 1 in 10 events.

Anytime I’ve seen Arsenal play good dominant football under Arteta it has been high energy, high tempo and with a high press. And also I can’t think of many games where we’ve played this way and it’s been to our detriment ie: just got picked off on the counter for fun

This has been my worry about Ødegaard. He just doesn't seem to have the energy to stay active in a game, doesn't drive forward with the ball and also lacks pace. He wasn't the only one though. Pépé was awful, Tierney just didn't seem to want to run and constantly passed it back.

After a bright start, the 1st half just seem to pass us by and the young squad doesn't yet have the personalities to give it a jump start. At half time, I really don't understand why Arteta replaced Saka with a central midfielder when Martinelli is a direct and dangerous replacement. If the intent was to sure up the midfield and provide more options to get through the Palace midfield pressure then Lakonga doens't have the experience to come on in this type of situation to offer that.

Only bright spot for me was Partey whose workrate was second to none.

Overall a game the Palace fully deserved to win.

And how long has it been like this? Arsenal are the epitome of the soft underbelly. Every team, manager, player and their dog know that if you give 100% effort, stack a solid defence and go for the 50/50 tackles then you have a good chance of getting a result. And with a performance like today it's no surprise that Arsenal's reputation is what it is.

There are some things I like about how we play in patches but I find myself asking "why?" with so many passages of play and the on field decision making. Is it just youth and experience or Arteta or a mixture of both, dunno.

https://www.onlinegooner.com/articles/view/5815

This rating is generous on Ode. I would give him 0/10. Totally anonymous. Nothing useful from him to get our attacking play going.

I had a feeling those that thought we'd get 6 points from the 2 games after the break were a bit optimistic. A point is not great but we'd have easily lost this game over a month ago.

I'm very happy for Vieira though. He has them playing well even without their best player. Palace fans will leave seeing it as 2 points lost while Arsenal fans left seeing it as a lucky point gained.

I've said before I've always liked Lacazette but I understood why Arsenal fans wanted to let him go. Maybe we will still do that. I don't think there is much Lacazette can do to be taken off the selling block.

It’s the lack of goals that will be the end of Arteta. Not getting a tune out of these players when you’ve been in the job almost two years and spent some serious money is not a good look. Certain areas have definitely improved but our passive forward play will be the death knell for him.

One of the particularly damning things for Arteta last night was how Vieira in the space of 3 months has turned Palace in to a direct counter attack only team to a team with an organised all pitch press, high line and clear plan of attacking football. Vieira must be kicking himself that he decided to settle for the 2-1 with 10 minutes to go.

He’s been in the job longer but you could also add Potter in his in the way he’s changed Brighton from a very dull defensive team to a very good football team

Our build up play is so slow. The problem stems from not getting the ball through the lines from back to front. For this you need a few key things.
1. Players with good enough passing to play these balls - well that’s exactly why we recruited White and Gabriel.
2. Movement from the players receiving the ball. I think this is the bigger problem as we seem to empty the centre of the pitch and there seems to be a lack of options for the defence

I do think its time for a change.

Arteta has had two years in charge, has spent a fair amount of money but is yet to produce a side that either excites the fans or gets the desired results. It seems that whatever group of players he has at his disposal he cannot get a decent tune out of them. Certainly not a tune worth listening to anyway.

I am sad to say that because another upheaval is the last thing we need but sometimes you just have to make difficult decisions for the good of the club.

I have seen very little in terms of Arteta's teams selections, tactics, intra-game management, man management skills etc that lead me to think this guy is the real deal, he just needs time.

The harsh reality is that Ødegaard is not playing well enough to be in the team but our options creatively are limited. Ode has a lovely soft touch, excellent technical skills and a decent range of passing but he appears relatively slow and is too easy to shove off the ball. At the moment he just does not influence games enough to justify his inclusion.

He was Ozil-like yesterday and I mean the anonymous Özil. He works far harder but we bought him to dictate games and create chances not disappear from them.

I thought the defending for both their goals was very poor.

Partey made a horrific mistake but Benteke side stepped Gabriel far too easily to get his shot away and no one closed down Edouard.

Hi Darren,

I agree. Our inability to create chances and score goals means that every single game is a 95 min struggle. Every side in the PL has at least one player who can hurt you and all it takes is a set play, a moment of individual brilliance or a defensive error and, hey presto, you are in trouble.

Yeah, pretty much this. I'm at the stage now where it's just waiting for it to get bad enough that he's replaced, and then hopefully we can move on. The squad is good. We have good players for every position, most of them at a good age too.

Arteta is running out of excuses; he's been given time, he's been given money, he's been able to make his signings, and the football continues to be absolutely dreary. Moyes didn't need two years to get West Ham playing good football, Benitez quickly got Everton to perform, Tuchel made an instant impact at Chelsea. I'm struggling to see any evidence that Arteta can get the team playing good attacking football, and after two years in charge I think that's a statement that can be made with some certainty.

We miss Xhaka. I know people won't like to hear it but Partey on his own can't hold the midfield. Lokonga even less so. For games like these Aubamayang and Lacazette upfront.

Disagree, some one is smoking the funny stuff.

https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/arsenal-let-go-gem-some-fans-accuse-mikel-arteta-committing-transfer-mistake?key4=skfootballfb&utm_source=FBAUTOFEED&utm_medium=SKFootballFB