Quote Originally Posted by WES View Post
Your logic baffles me, Peter. You have gone from 'Partey is more technical in possession than Rice' to 'Rice is therefore not technically skilled enough to pass the ball through midfield and as a result Arteta has changed our style of play'.

This, I'm afraid Peter, is a logical leap of epic proportions. We certainly have seen a range and accuracy of passing from Rice that I never saw from Partey. Is Partey more technically skilled on the ball? Maybe, but if so there isn't much in it. And once again, the idea that Arteta would buy a DM not capable of passing the ball through midfield given how he wants us to play is absurd.

I think the biggest reason our style of play is more conservative is because the opposition have been more negative towards us after our performance last season, they have forced it upon us and we now must adjust. No one thought we had any chance of coming close to winning the league at the start of last season, and other teams played accordingly. Now we are back to the 'park the bus days' of the glory Wenger years. We need to adjust and we need our best players to play better.

And it bears repeating, two games ago we were top of the league and of the subsequent two games only one can be considered a poor performance. Writing us off at this point strikes me as rather premature and very negative.

So unlike you, Peter
As already said, I am not writing us off at this point. I said months ago we wouldn't win the league.

It is an observable fact that Rice's qualities are different to Partey's. There is no logical leap to suggest that having a new midfield of different players has changed our style of play. It would be rather odd if it hadn't. You may feel that Rice and Partey are on a similar level in terms of their passing range but I don't. You should also consider Havertz and Xhaka here. Xhaka used to take the ball near his own box, under pressure. Not sure I can recall Havertz doing that at any stage.

You seem to be suggesting that we are more conservative because our opponents are most conservative towards us. I am not sure that even makes sense. It also doesn't explain how we are more conservative. You've dismissed my explanation. What is yours?