I rewatched the match against Brighton and finally saw exactly how they were able to beat us.
They simply didn’t give Arsenal a chance to play. Brighton pressed us relentlessly, with almost every player stepping up and pressing hard whenever we had the ball.
Games like this genuinely make me miss Thomas Partey. He would have at least tried to play through that press instead of constantly giving the ball away under pressure.
And I also understand why Arteta didn’t bring on Lewis-Skelly. Brighton were setting traps everywhere. The moment he received the ball, two players would have been on him immediately, forcing him into difficult decisions and potentially an error.
Brighton had a clear plan, executed it brilliantly, and Arsenal had no real answer to it.