Nacho Monreal

Partey is wildly underrated and there are questionmarks on if Rice has the ability to play at the 6. This was predictable and makes me wonder if Timber was intended to help support Rice or if the plan was always Partey #6 and Rice #8.

I think Rice is showing enough attacking IQ to get similar value as Xhaka let season. Build up is a little iffy on that left side but the Xhaka, Zini, Jesus, relationship was brilliant and Jesus has been in and out.

I think Arteta has learnt the hard way that only the final 30% of the season really matters. We need to get used to being really hard to beat so when we want to kill a game like we did go Man City, we can. Hopefully it will put us in good stead for the CL.

There’s nothing controversial about this. I’m a black Brit who grew up in the 90s. So many people like me started supporting Arsenal because they had elite players who looked like us. I didn’t see myself when I watched United. Representation does matter

43% of premier League players are black according to a statista article on the topic. I wouldn’t be surprised to see similar numbers in the women’s game in 20 years time. The club should be doing everything they can to harness that potential, just like they do for the men’s game.

For me it’s not even a black / white thing. It’s a class divide. Women’s football has additional barriers (financial, geographical) to entry that the men’s game sorted out decades ago. The talent is and always has been in working class communities and I hope Arsenal tap into that sooner rather than later.