Quote Originally Posted by Peter View Post
The point of playing through a high press is not to retain possession. It is to draw in the opponent so you can get behind them. In other words, get your wide players at them before they have a chance to double up, for example. Not doing it would be more likely to show in the stats on clear chances and expected goals, not in the amount of possession. Indeed, a slower and more cautious approach to possession would yield higher possession and fewer clear chances. This is exactly where we find ourselves.

On Rice, do I really think Arteta would have spent the money if he had thought Rice couldn't play in our system? Well, he spent the money and Rice is not as technically competent in possession as Partey- I don't think you can argue with either of those statements. Arteta is a very precise coach so I think we can assume he was aware he was sacrificing something and was willing to do so given everything else that Rice brings. All of our stats suggest a change in our style of play.

I would guess the extent of the change in our style is not deliberate and, as I said, has been dictated by a lack of confidence. Does anyone really want to see Raya pinging balls around the box at the moment? In time, hopefully we will get the balance right. So far this season we have sacrificed rhythm for control and the results have not been great, partly because so many of the goals we concede are from unforced errors/ idiocy rather than lack of control.

Explaining all of this in terms of form is misleading. Throughout the season we have been scoring at a lower rate than last year and creating fewer chances. Our expected goals have been lower and the percentage of goals from set pieces higher. Have we been in poor form all season, or has our style of play changed?
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