Thor

I actually agree. People keep blaming the guys up front, but in reality, everywhere else they play, they end up fine. It is blatantly obvious our problems are in the middle of the pitch. Kante going down has ruined our team from a standpoint of being able to press and control teams. He was clearly a silent leader in the middle of the ground and covers so much of the ground. Kai does well in all the areas you said. He was our best attacker yesterday. Found space, got into dangerous areas, etc. Sure he has his limitations, but he has no damn support. Apparently Werner sucked too, and now he is scoring goals again... shock. Sterling sucks now as well, despite banging them in. Every attacker in the world would suck here. The middle of the park does not step up and help our forwards. They are lazy and weak. Broja got the ball up front and had to dribble through 3 Arsenal guys, looked up, no one there, and got tackled by the 4th. This is a reality for Kai most games as well. He butchered a few passes yesterday? Sure... but he was the one that created the damn chance.

Again, who do we play at LB? Kova and Zak should have started but at the same time, they both have some fitness clouds hanging over them.

Yeah, Jesus would really be thriving off the hoof balls all our forwards are getting from our CBs.

Rubbish. Sterling would have 10 goals at Arsenal and Jesus would be on 2 if the roles were reversed.

What do those screaming for a new manager actually expect though? It is a matter of pick your poison with this team as it is now. Put in all new players and risk getting even worse. Or keep as is, come back after the new transfer window, and have your midfield set and a team that knows how to play with each other everywhere else.

I'm sorry but not every area of us is terrible. The one area where we do suck extremely bad (midfield) makes everything else look bad. Sterling, Conor, Kai, etc didn't just become poor. Reality is we were carried by Kante so much to the point he was a clear Balon D'or winner, that now we suck without him.

See - anyone would look terrible with no presence in the middle... Broja had to take on 3 guys... And then what? No one there to pass the ball to. Our midfield is shocking. Non existent.

Sterling Broja. Puli Conor Kova. Zak Cucu Kouli Chalo Whoever Please just put in as many new faces as we can. All this old deadwood plays with no inspiration.

Its the middle of the field, not the rest so much. There is literally no one there when our players lift their heads. Nothing is done in the middle. Our ball literally ping pongs from top to bottom.

How is that not a yellow by disrupting a chance?

That isn't a foul

Get Kova and Puli on.

We literally just had a moment where 5 of our players were within 2 meters of each other. No wonder it seems like they have more players.

Y'all are blaming Kai way too much. Dude is the one creating these dangerous opportunities. The middle of the ground is the one who can't hold the game and pace it for us.

Every minute Jorgi plays for this club is a mistake. He gets overrun and he isn't the future here. What is the damn point.

Beautiful play from Arsenal. Do they have 2 more players on the field than we do?

Look where we "possess" the ball and where they "possess" it. We pass it damn near around our box, and so do they when they have the ball.

We can win this game, but end of the day, they are a far better and more organised team than we are. We just don't look very good from a skillset point of view. Our midfield needs 3 new buys this transfer window. We can't control a game at the moment.

Ref is a muppet too. Doesn't help.

Our team is butter. So easily pressed.

What have our players been doing for drills the last 2 to 3 years? Arsenal look so comfortable holding possession under pressure and passing. We just cannot.

It'd be nice if we had 10 Reece James' out there. Unfortunately we don't lol. Nkunku and a new midfield will be massive for us. Our players lack character and grit more than anything. Potter is doing an okay job in my opinion and has helped us technically, but there are some things that take time and personnel on the pitch.

Nkunku is pretty much a done deal, correct? This is a step in the right direction. He is quality. We do need a front man though, as I see Nkunku switching between winger and up front. Midfield should be the entire focus. Havertz and Sterling can be made to look good if we build the midfield. They are quality players, and the reality is we aren't great in the middle of the park.

"Money" in football has changed. Sure we set a blueprint for things to come - but it was never like this. More so - the narrative and and outlook for players has changed. When we were at the top and the best team in football, we would still get competition from the other big clubs - Real, Barca, Bayern, Man Utd for our current crop of players signatures, and at times we would see some of our best go to these clubs like Robben, etc. City aren't like PSG, Real, etc. They are buyers by all means, but they buy to win. They don't care about big names and trying to make them work. They simply care about winning with funds spent. To the point that their second team would be considered more talented than nearly every other first team in the league. I disagree with Pep and KDB leaving. They'll be just as good. They'll be the reason rule changes are brought in due to such long running success. And they'll never get pulled up for their "spending".

Am I the only one bored by City and the narrative around them? I really don't think having an unlimited bank account and a second team better than most of the top 4's first teams is some massive achievement. Am I the only one not impressed and don't think Pep is doing something any other manager could do with the buy in and support from owners. Start throwing in a salary cap for football because it will only get worse.