And yet Citeh have had fairly free reign down our left side many time in the first 25 mins. Hmm. Mahrez especially... nobody on our team seems to have an answer for him.
they can't do everything, those two just look more quality on the ball than any of the others. Let's face it, we can't get the ball or keep it most of the time.
Seems fitting given a) the opposition and b) a central midfield of Xhaka and Elneny behind a kid who's been with the team for, what, 2 weeks?
I don't think I've seen Auba touch the ball so far I'm sure he must've but I haven't noticed it. Either way, that NEEDS to change.
City are not playing very well despite their possession which seems like a given for them no matter what.
Yeah, after the first 5-10 mins which they owned 100%, they seem to have slacked off somewhat. Wonder if that's entirely unintentional. We certainly have had a slightly increasing number of forays. But... against this team, that's fools gold.
When in doubt or facing a superior opponent the rule of thumb is to stay within yourself and look to control the aspects of the game within your reach. Looking at the lineup I'm trying to discern what options are available besides "Attack from the left." The midfield doesn't lend itself well to a true counterattacking style and 2-3 of these guys won't do well in the defensive bunker. This might be a case of simply throwing stuff out there and seeing what sticks.
Arteta seems to have gone with runners to try to exploit space whenever City turn the ball over and it feels like a mistake watching this first half. I feel like we need as many ball players as possible.