Andy

Bizarrely comfortable, Arsenal looked a shadow of the last couple of seasons. Some great performances all across the park from us. The two fullbacks were excellent.

His end product has been really poor. Generally fine defensively though.

Good win. Looking forward to Liverpool away in the next round.

He isn't though. He's played the same system for three years whether it's working or not, we rarely change tactics or have a plan B. Howe has a lot of strengths in terms of coaching and getting the best out of players, but tactics and systems have never been what he was known for.

I think saying we've been honking for the whole year is obviously hyperbolic. We have certainly been honking at times during that period though, especially away from home, regardless of whether you're judging by post-takeover expectations or pre-takeover expectations. Some of the performances have been well below the required standard, and what's concerning to me is we haven't really changed anything to shake it up. It currently feels like we try the same thing every single week, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. It seems like teams have found us out a bit and its edging more towards the latter this season.

I don't want to fall too far into the realms of questioning him, but I do think he is at his toughest point, and I do fear that managers of his type often run out of steam at clubs, especially when the squad begins to get stale as well. This season is a perfect storm for him. Stale squad, ageing players in key positions, Isak losing form, Gordon losing form, Trippier and Wilson being unavailable (and in the case of the former, a shadow of himself), Bruno looking out of sorts, two kids at full back... Add all that to the fact that he hasn't changed anything tactically to accommodate, and it's clear he could quickly find himself in a very tricky position. I'd like to think he can turn it around but I don't think he'll do it by playing the same system week in week out.

I think the big problem Eddie has is that he's never really been a big tactical manager. He's a motivator and he coaches teams to play with intensity. It seems like that motivation just isn't working this season, particularly away from home. There were signs of it fading last season too. We don't have a tactical setup to fall back on so we end up looking incoherent.

We don't play to his strengths at all. He wants to pass and move, our entire system is based around doing everything at 1000 mph... Unless that "everything" is rolling the ball around at the back, in which case we become painfully slow. He'd be best suited at the moment sitting deep while the other two push on. I'll never understand why Howe is so stubborn in playing Bruno where he does, it hamstrings the rest of the midfield massively.

While that's true, the last 3 games have balanced out the half dozen or so earlier in the season where the opposition could have scored four or five each and we somehow pinched a result. We are pretty much exactly where we deserve to be on the balance of the performances this season.

We look the absolute epitome of a midtable team, hard to believe how much we've regressed in almost every aspect of our play. Said it many times in the summer but if you stand still in this league you go backwards quickly, and that's what's happening.

He looks scared to open his legs up

Pope securing the defeat with a safe clearance into touch

Isak looks an absolute shadow of himself when he's carrying the ball in particular, hard to fathom how his confidence can apparently be so low after last season

It's mad that we still haven't learnt that Bruno is shite in the "6" role. His lack of mobility just compounds the lack of pace we have at the back.

We honestly might as well just play Osula up top alongside Isak and go 4-4-2. Our midfield can't be any more invisible with 2 men than it is with 3.

Burn is great if you're parking the bus. Beyond awful if you want to play on the front foot.

We must have by far the slowest centre half pairing in the league. Pathetic by Burn too, he has a 8 yard head start on Jackson and is sleeping so badly he ends up 12 yards behind him before he realises he's even moved.

Lucky. If Burn pressing up the pitch is tactical that needs to change as a matter of urgency.

Can only assume Bruno was injured? If not, it's the kind of change you make to kill a game off. Very odd.

I can't see us challenging for top 4 tbh, teams have sussed out how to play against us and we don't have a plan B. We really struggle against a low block/counter attacking setup, we have done for ages now. Add that to the fact we are naff away from home and we'll drop too many points IMO. I hate to roll out stats as they obviously don't tell the full story, but for all our possession, Brighton had as many "big chances" as we did today despite barely touching the ball for 45 minutes. That's not really good enough and is symptomatic of a serious lack of creativity.

Is that his job like, or is he there to help us control the game? Pitching the blame for us not scoring on Tonali is mental

Can't help but notice how much less control we've had of the game since Tonali went off

Longstaff and Miggy coming on to see out the 1-0 defeat

Good clearance by Joelinton, we looked in danger of scoring a goal there

Yep. We have too many players who rely on the game being stretched. If you remove that, our play becomes completely inert.