Arsenal’s only 2 positives from Crystal Palace defeat

The Support for Mikel Arteta & Him Not Being to Blame

Could the manager have moved Xhaka into more of a double pivot role sooner to supplement Partey being overrun? Perhaps. But other than that Arteta didn’t do anything especially wrong, which in games where you lose this heavily is rarely the case.

The team selection is one that most would have agreed on, as while Martinelli may feel hard done by to miss out, the introduction of Nuno Tavares at left-back required a different profile of forward in front, especially if he was to get up and down the touchline as desired.

Equally, he had to bring him off at half-time. As big of a decision as it was for Nuno’s sake, it had to happen and putting Xhaka in at left-back to add another attacking player on the left was the wise call.

The timing of the Nketiah substitute was also unarguable, as there was no reason not to go 3-1-madness at this stage of the game, and were it not for some refined finishing they would have paid off.

But the support he and the team received is important. There have been some toxic nights at this ground – and against this opposition – before, yet even at the final whistle the away end was signing his name as loudly as they could. There is an understanding of the process now and as horrendous as the defeat was the supporters could see the bigger picture: this was one defeat in a sea of positive results from a team and manager who have their full backing.

Arteta spoke about unity in difficult times and while he has to handle that from the players’ side, there is no doubting that the supporters are holding up their end of the bargain.