At least our lineup and performance yesterday will put to bed the theory that Arteta was starting Jorginho for our ball progression instead of defensive security. It just never made sense considering the fixtures Jorginho started which were out of choice rather than necessity due to injuries.

Also, Havertz was good yesterday but it’s not because he was playing the role of a second phase midfielder. Rather it was Odegaard who did it - one of the few times he’s played the role this season, with the other times being against PSV, Lens away, and Bournemouth to a lesser extent. Odegaard’s touch maps in these fixtures were incredible, almost box-to-box like instead of being usually stuck next to Saka playing 1-2’s.

Maybe United will come for Ramsdale.

I guess Dias’ days under Pep are numbered.

He is still better than Jorginho defensively, and Rice will have a bit more freedom to go forward (or maybe Partey will be the one going forward).

You can’t win against the Parteycels. No matter how many numbers you bring up, or explain how opponents approach us differently, or suggest we may have even changed our approach, or that a pass through the middle needs a recipient capable of receiving among opposition defenders, they insist that Partey will single-handedly solve the issue.

Hard to believe. What then are we really paying our other players?