Might have to ban @poorlydrawnarsenal@sh.itjust.works
Not sure how many of you picked up on Arteta’s post match presser. He mentioned part of the tactical decision to sign Kai was to better deal with high pressing teams (ie. so we can play the ball over the top).
It was definitely something we struggled with last season - having an out ball for Ramsdale or the defenders to aim a long ball to when our midfield gets overloaded/pressed. Interesting idea.
Gorgeous weather where I am and an Arsenal W - day couldn’t be better.
Fuck I would love if we signed Lavia.
Hope the goal help Kai build up his confidence, I’m still skeptical about him but hope he will success
Just had a thought and idk how it’d work if it would even work decently: Arteta mentioned us having several very good holding midfielders. What if we played with 2 of them and one proper 8 for some harder matches? The idea would be that either one at any time could fill the 8 role, while the regular 8 switches sides to give space? So like, if we had a Rice-Ødegaard-Partey midfield, you could have both Rice and Partey help defend when needed against like, say, Kevin de Bruyne, but you could also have Rice as an 8 between Martinelli and Jesus with Ødegaard next to Saka, with Partey sitting as the lone 6, or Partey as an 8 between Saka and Jesus with Ødegaard on the left next to Martinelli while Rice holds down the pivot. Not sure how well it’d work but it could provide some more unpredictability and versatility while essentially maintaining a similar style? Not most of the time, cuz this would probably attack less, but in big matches it could work
Obviously, neither Rice nor Partey are as good at offence as Havertz or ESR, but they’ve both got significant experience playing in 8-ish roles (Partey more so).
@Astrealix Rice has been forced by Moyes’s own cautious tactics and West Ham’s dire form to play very defensively. There’s talk that Arteta sees him playing much more on the front foot.
