Hard to be too dramatic after another lose, but, THIS IS REALLY BAD.
Freddie Ljungberg is dealing with the impossible caretaker role. The club allowed Unai Emery to hire in 9 of his mates, now they’ve all been chopped, Freddie is having to fix a broken squad with Per Mertesacker who is working two jobs at the same time. He has no experience to call on, he’s lacking resource, and he’s trying to fix a squad that doesn’t seem to care about the basics.
He is not going to be the future manager of Arsenal football club, so the exec leadership team needs to make a decision on the future of the vacancy this week.
I think they will, and I’d be very surprised if the name they pick can only join at the end of the season.
The three end of the season managers would be Brendan, Thomas Tuchel and Pochettino.
The now managers are Arteta, Vieira, Nuno and sadly, Martinez.
The decision should be an easy one, but my word, don’t write off Raul steaming in last minute to ensure another 2 years of Arsenal hell with a curveball mates rates type of paint job.
Arsenal look a disgusting shambles on the pitch, but it’s fixable. This is football, it’s not that complicated. We have more than enough good players in our squad to correct the season. Sheffield United are firing and its December. Leicester are at the top of the table. Wolves are robust with a small squad. We need organisation, a sexy vision, and a coach that can deliver his message clearly with a lot of energy.
Then we can push through to the summer and make the more drastic changes that we need to really reboot Arsenal.
The Manchester City game is hardly worth talking about. Bernd Leno proved his worth with some exceptional saves once again, he really is looking like a £100m keeper at the moment. Martinelli played really well, he’s the only player in our front four will to put a shift in for the midfield. Saka and ESR also showed some flashed when they came on.
Ultimately though, there was no shape, no strategy on how to press, and no commitment to play like a team. The football we play is a little bit better than it was under Unai Emery, but there’s still no confidence in the system.
City breezed past our midfield with ease. They all knew exactly what they were supposed to be doing on the pitch. They destroyed us with devastating precision. KDB looked like the best player in the world, but really, could he take any value in that statement when he was playing against a bunch of boys?
I don’t want to pick on Ozil, because there are lots of poor players in our squad, but no one stinks out our starting 11 quite like him in a big game. He was subbed off early and he strolled off the pitch, then threw his gloves on the ground. What a little bitch. I think I speak for most of the fans, I’ll be overjoyed to see the back of him this summer, he’s the worst £18m a season any club in the world spends. That World Cup really did destroy any ambition he had to be a footballer.
We are lost as a club. 10 years of neglect have taken their toll. We haven’t had a stable manager since 2008… but things can change very quickly.
Problem for Arsenal is we’re like a neglected trophy wife. Plenty of cash has been pumped in, but the husband hasn’t been paying attention to where it’s being spent.
The Kroenke’s have sunk net $330m in the squad over the last 5 years. That’s more than double Liverpool ($123m), Leicester ($163m), Spurs ($120m) and Chelsea ($140m) have spent. We have let drunk partners fritter away bucket loads of cash as we’ve watched on in hopeful fashion that there’s some sort of thought behind the outlay. There hasn’t been.
I think a good place to start is with a great coach with exciting ideas.
Here’s the thing, I don’t think Edu knows what he wants for Arsenal, which means the coach he hires is doubly important because they will be the vision. Let’s hope it’s someone exciting.
Then the hardwork starts, we have 7 months to get ready for next season. Everybody needs to work around the new coach. He needs the best staff, the most advanced analysts, and an operational structure built to get the best out of him and the players.
… most importantly, the summer transfer plan needs to be perfect. It’s going to be busy, but we can’t afford mistakes, we need to make sure the players lining up next season are fit to wear the shirt.
So let’s get this hire right, no fucking around with the bottom feeders.
We have to hope we’re at ground zero with Arsenal, we’ll only know that when we hire in a new coach. Make a bad decision, the next ground zero will sadly be one where the current leadership is swept out in another revolution. Hopefully, it doesn’t come to that, fingers crossed Raul and Edu do the right thing this week.
P.S. Check out our LATEST podcast, this one with my brother!
I’m getting the feeling that if Arteta gets appointed Pedro’s going to rewrite the Nativity story about the baby Arteta and how he was sent as our saviour.
I’d also feel a lot happier if Pedro was still on the Peroni and not on the Oat milk.
Its the perfect moment to take this sort of plunge, besides these jokers in charge have no plan
Banter is right they’re jokers but about to hire that person we want for manager. Christ if they went and used Jorge Mendes to sign up someone for Mikel in January the absolute head spinning on here will be something to behold.
Un
Leicester weren’t even a EL team, they’ve finished 12th, 9th, 9th and now they’re 2nd and odds-on for top 4.
Must be because of Ayoze Perez.
Ayoze Perez, a player Marko dismissed as being good enough in the summer btw..
So let’s hear the dribbly logic to explain them?
Read the big Mik wants Xabi Alonso as his number 2, upping the hot factor of bench.
Think peak Beatlemania for ladys in attendance.
H&L, Arteta will play the game with senior players, it’s hearts and minds to start.
… but at the very least, at least you’ll all be hear reading propaganda supporting the manager every day.
This will be a blessed place of tranquility.
Sal, he’s hiring in Alonso to fuck with Marko and CA who like the appeal of the exLiverpool man.
Hearts and minds, love to see it.
Marc 15.51.
Classic
Guys, I’m getting pretty excited.Christmas ‘might’ be a good one for Le Grove.
………..
Not for Atheists.
CC “With Arteta it’s unknown to me, it’s more hope than expectation but of course there’s clear expectation that whoever comes in can deliver better than the slop we’ve had after 17 games of Emery this term.” It seems you’ve started backtracking from all the lofty expectations you set for Emery LAST season. Now, you seem to be setting a lower bar for Arteta by making the 17 games under Emery this season as the standard to surpass. I recall that you didn’t wait for the ink to dry on Emery’s contract before you started attacking him after a few… Read more »
Must be because of Ayoze Perez.
No no it’s definitely because of Brenda and nothing to do with some of the brilliant moves they’ve made in the transfer market over the last number of years. That balanced squad came through the club right? I mean they definitely didn’t sign Ricardo Pereira, Ndidi, Tielemens, Maddison, Soyuncu, Evans, and before that Kante and Mahrez. Nah man signing better players definitely didn’t help them out at all. It’s why Danny Simpson, Morgan, Slimani and Iborra are still playing.
Pedro has the faith.
“Hearts and minds, love to see it.”
Its going to be a golden run on Le Grove entering and into 2020, regardless of what happens.
Insanity if Arteta delivers. Insanity if he fails.
Read the big Mik wants Xabi Alonso as his number 2, upping the hot factor of bench.
I’d be interested in that. At the very least we’re bringing in a good caretaker boss
“You’re only as good as your players at the end of the day and the idea of Arteta replicating Guardiola’s style of football at the Emirates just falls apart when you look at the players he’ll be working with. I felt sorry for the Arsenal players on Sunday because they are not good enough to play for the club. They are playing for a top, top club but they are mid-table or even lower-league players that they are expected to win football matches week in, week out. It’s not as if Arsenal are underachieving, they’re just not good enough.” Ouch… Read more »
Venkatesham, Sanllehí and Edu.
Three wise men?
Pedro
Nervous time for you though.
No more speculation.
You have to stand by the hype now.
salparadisenyc
December 16, 2019 15:59:35
“Hearts and minds, love to see it.”Its going to be a golden run on Le Grove entering and into 2020, regardless of what happens.Insanity if Arteta delivers. Insanity if he fails.
……….
Sal,
There will be bans galore.
If Arteta fails I’m starting a Pedro Out campaign.
Marko
Not another Spaniard at the club – CG will go fucking mental.
Brendan Rodgers would be struggling if they didn’t properly replace Kante and Mahrez or at least their output…Again while no one is saying hiring the right manager isn’t important, buying the right kind of players is also just as important if not more….Our player recruitment is poor and that has reflected in our results….Not going to be hard to see Arteta struggle if our midfield/ defensive positions are not improved and certain players kept as far away from the pitch as possible till they’re sold
Left
So you’re going to have a busy Boxing Day!
Merson……..the experienced voice of coaching and management.
I hope Arteta suprises some of you lot. I can see Arteta hair becoming grey after a season here though.
Never can beat that meme with Merson when he was asked about Spurs success
and Merse turned round and says ‘What success’
Ayoze Perez, a player Marko dismissed as being good enough in the summer btw..
Now now let’s not get into player recommendations… I’ll just throw out Antonio Valencia or you arguing the Lichtsteiner signing in 2018 or Xhaka and you’ll just look dopey
Same,
It’s grey now, he uses Grecian 2000.
Samesong
A lot of this is just a bit of banter – mostly at Pedro’s expense, who lets face it really deserves it. The real fans on here will get behind the manager and hope he does well.
Arteta was a master of the sideways pass, when he was with us. Should suite the negative midfielders we gave at the moment.
I mean come on, that Leicester team has some very very good players who’d stroll into our starting 11 when compared. Rodgers being good has come in and just elevated the levels of football they have been playing all season and it’s not even a world class squad they’ve got not by a stretch but they’ve bought very smartly over the years… Also think it’s best we move past the Wenger ruined us narrative, he’s been gone a while now and those in charge have made daft decision after daft decision, can’t keep blaming the old geezer, after all he… Read more »
Hope it is Arteta I will back the man
Arteta gets a pass as far as this season is concerned in my book.
Having said that i will look out for the little signs here and there showing what he is trying to do. Preferred formation, players he picks and their attributes etc
I have nothing against his appointment and really hope he does well.
I will take a punt like him any day of the week if the other options are Carlo Ancellotti (who i simply believe is living off reputation right now) and Benitez.
Bati literally everything you just said is right. At some point others will get it
Something tells me if Xabi does come with Arteta it wont take long. In fact around mid January Mik will give Alonso that look whilst pointing to the board where its says Xhaka.
Those within earshot will here : PUT your boots on and fill this space.
Receding – Same here, let him figure out who’s with him and who’s against him this season, then sell the shite in the summer. Anyone that wants off in January as well so be it.
But the scrutiny will be intense. I hope he excels I really do!
The only bonus is that Arteta watched an absolutely shite Arsenal performance last night with issues all over the pitch, City took us apart in second gear and I honestly think Guardiola throttled back so he must have asked for budget assurances and backing for major squad changes.
No one would look at this squad and say 1 or 2 players (except Wenger obviously who made that an annual statement) and we’re competing.
Talkshite saying we will get relegated under arteta and Everton getting ancelotti means they will go up levels
They are idiots
I want fresh ideas not over the hill tactics
Guns and Un
You really didn’t read what I said did you.
I said a small part of me, only because Peter will be so smug you will be able to see his head from space.
I also said that I hope he is as good as Peter thinks he will be and I really do.
It will be worth putting up with the Ensuing smugness if he is a success.
I may not be the most literate of people but I thought I got that point quite clear.
“It seems you’ve started backtracking from all the lofty expectations you set for Emery LAST season“
Please enlighten me as to these “lofty expectations” I had of Emery. This should be good.
–
Marko
12th, 9th,9th to currently 2nd and more than likely top 4.
What’s the difference between 9th place Leicester of last season and this season?
Ayoze Perez.
Un na Even then, they still had a Maguire who would have walked into our 11 who now plays for United, an Ndidi who’d also have walked into our 11, a Perreira who same thing.. Look at no point have i said they have a world class squad and when we beat them, we were on quite the run ourselves( one which has now been put down to either luck or because of Wenger’s players) but they did have some quite very good players who have now been elevated by having a very good manager, don’t think it’s that hard… Read more »
Ishola
Yes, Edu found Martinelli
busted with Luiz
Need more Martinellis
Cesc
Moment Pep went hand break in second half my phone starting blowing in the whatsapp section: IT must be Arteta.
So out of character.
Interesting though if we do get Arteta and Everton get Ancelotti.
It could end up looking like the dumbest move in football (outside of Ozil’s contract).
Massive gamble from the board.
“Other than the fact he won’t get lost on the way to training, I don’t know what else he brings to the table”
Ah ah ah ah, Merson killed me with this one!!
And a whole summer with Brendan Rodgers too…I mean we keep saying a good manager is important so it’s not just buying Ayoze Perez, it’s having a whole summer with the squad and being able to implement his ideas properly
In response to those who asked me the question today as to why I would choose Arteta as Head Coach here are some reasons: 1. He has spent the last 14 years of his football career both as a player and coach in England so that he understands the game in this country very well. 2. His career during that time was with Everton, Arsenal and now Man City so that he knows reasonably well the set up at a reasonably big club. 3. He was highly rated by his employers both at Arsenal and Man City as a potential… Read more »
Same,
It’s grey now, he uses Grecian 2000.
Arteta was a master of the sideways pass
Now he will be a master of the side hair part!
Sal
Big moment for the club.
If this goes right they look genius.
If this go wrong then this could have serious ramifications for Arsenal.
If the players down tools on Arteta and the board don’t make big squad changes in January this could get nasty.
Be great if Pedro is powered by his own smugness in June. If he’s gone into hiding then we’re fucked.
Guns of SF
“Yes, Edu found Martinelli
busted with LuizNeed more Martinellis”
No he didn’t Guns.
One of the head scouts did not Edu.
So it is gonna be arteta after all. Let us hope he already has a back room team in mind if he was thinking about being a manager for the last two years. Pedro gets his wish and unknown land here we come. I feel like Christopher Columbus. Pedro I hope to God you are right and you take the piss in us succeeding.
What’s the difference between 9th place Leicester of last season and this season?Ayoze Perez. Unsurprisingly you’re being really narrow and really dim. Brenda is doing a good job and getting the best out of them yes but also worth noting and something you fail to acknowledge is that he’s only capable of doing that because their recruitment over the last number of years has been good as opposed to ours being shit. Literally their best and in form players have all been signed outside of Chilwell and Barnes. You fail to realize that it’s this fantastic recruitment made over the… Read more »
“If he’s gone into hiding then we’re fucked.”
lol
CA,
I’ll not hide.
I’ll make excuses, divert attention, and cut off the comments section. But I won’t hide.
Hiring Carlo isn’t where the future of football is… we already tried something similar with Emery. Different levels of manager, but Carlo had similar complaints. Couldn’t build an identity, tactically weak, players complaining of boring training sessions.
Give me a chance at the future than a comfort blanket manager that won’t move you forward.
Cesc
Huge moment, its the moment for Raul whose attempted to distance himself from it which is somewhat difficult when your title is D of F. If it goes south Mr Sanllehi will certainly be gone and rightfully so.
Desperate time call for desperate measures, no quick fix going to have to give him time and follow signals of his leadership a whole lot more closely than they did with Emery.
If he is hired, it’ll be very interesting to see what the clean up job looks like this season, and how dramatic the rebuild is in the summer.
He could clear out 7 senior players in one go.
Pep has give his blessing to his son Mikel to coach us.
I’m sure that will bring us good fortune.
(luck, luck… we’re gonna need it badly)
Lefty
Agreed, giant ban hammer for insurrection and rightly so.
Get on brand people.
It could be Ancelotti’s Everton v Arteta’s Arsenal on Saturday. In the words of Martin Tyler… and its live!
“He could clear out 7 senior players in one go.”
And also if he could give us the next lottery winning numbers, that would be perfect.
If the Arteta experiment goes tits up… One Man and His Blog.
One final point speaking to someone who knows personally Freddy Ljungberg.
He is not a team leader and is unlikely to have the ambition to become head coach.
He is perfectly happy to work at the club without overall responsibility. He is
basically in the same boat as Steve Bould.
I’ll make excuses, divert attention, and cut off the comments section. But I won’t hide.
Attwood is that you?
He joined us after we lost 8-2 at Old Trafford . He loves a crisis
I’d probably have taken Pochettino before touching Arteta but that’s not going to happen now so it is what it is…
I’d back him, give him same time that was afforded Emery but the outgoings and incomings is what I’m most looking foward to
I don’t understand the bullshit rhetoric….this so called 10 years of neglect, then we go ahead and acknowledge we spunked net sum of 330m or so on the squad, mostly on 2 capable strikers, and the host of players the new manager got…i don’t get why we keep referring back to a manager who at his worse didn’t see us slide out to obscurity, most of his tim ein charge, and as bad as he was, we were 4th, last two seasons coincided with a power play in motion, that saw Xhaka and Mustafi in the squad and rot began.… Read more »
“Interesting though if we do get Arteta and Everton get Ancelotti.It could end up looking like the dumbest move in football (outside of Ozil’s contract).”
Don’t agree
Don’t really think Carlo is all that anymore in 2019
Someone just fired him to hire Gattuso FFS!!
“Talkshite saying we will get relegated under arteta and Everton getting ancelotti means they will go up levels ”
Well if Talkshite are against Arteta I’m all for him – especially as Adrian Durham will be on at the moment.
Plus whether or not for some reason i still have to watch Sokratis pretend to be a footballer
Pedro – Its a purge that’s needed. The rot has set in my guy, it’s time for a few senior players to move on.
Emitratesstroller with a top post about Micky Arteta, I was on board before but now……………..well about the same but still top post!
Sokratis is a Greco-Roman wrestler.
Marc, Talk Sport would champion Allardyce over Pep if they had the chance.
WTF ?? lol
It’s not pleading player poverty, it’s realising that we have some many players just not good enough and also not hoping average players suddenly stop being average
“If the Arteta experiment goes tits up… One Man and His Blog.”
Funny
Where are you guys getting the ” Xabi Alonso to become arteta’s second ” from because I haven’t read anything like that in news now.
For me, auba, laca, Ozil, xhaka, bellerin, kola, mustafi and luiz all need to go.
Papa I think is salvageable with the right defensive partner.
Amn is a squad player as is chambers and holding.
The rest I think will grow with the right players around them.
Pedro
I would call Adrian Durham a cunt but that’d be unfair to all the cunts out there. They don’t deserve to be thrown in as the same as him.
“Marc
December 16, 2019 15:51:17
I’m getting the feeling that if Arteta gets appointed Pedro’s going to rewrite the Nativity story about the baby Arteta and how he was sent as our saviour.
I’d also feel a lot happier if Pedro was still on the Peroni and not on the Oat milk.”
————————————————————————————————————-
That gave me a good laugh!
But I think the cool kids are on to coconut milk now.
If Arteta comes, we should give him time to work and not hound him.
I have written off this season and expect the board to do so too.
Look forward to next season out of Europe so we can concentrate on the league.
Has it happened yet?
Arteta to Arsenal would be seismic and on a par when we got Wenger back in 1996.
I firmly believe that this is what we need. Stealth, the unknown, pizazz, hair and teeth and more sauce than Heinz.
We need a fresh start, a reboot and Mikel is the man to do it.
Spurs have a proven winner, who should have come to us. Whereas we may about to be foisted with a desperation appointment. He may have good coaching credentials but so did Houston, Kidd and Maclaren to name but a few big first time failures We are being managed by a bunch of muppets, and I used to like that show!
Leverkusen signing Palacios for 18 million. Great bit of business that.
Biggles
I never was one of the trendy kids!
Has Arteta been sacked yet?
azed
“If Arteta comes, we should give him time to work and not hound him.I have written off this season and expect the board to do so too.”
This will be the general consensus and it could prove advantageous for him.
No massive demand for CL football this season considering the position the club were in when he took over.
But there are limits of course.
Pedro I think that the clean up roll will start earlier than the Summer. I think that Ozil will be offloaded in January, although the club will most probably have to take a financial hit. Leaving aside his performance on the pitch the club can no longer afford to keep a player whose attitude and more importantly public statements are damaging to the club’s reputation and will impact on its finances. It is also possible that Arsenal could offload another player such as Mustafi or Xhaka in January, but only if they can generate transfer fees and find the right… Read more »
@Guns : where’s the pink champagne to celebrate the great Mikel, savior of our beloved club ?
“I have written off this season and expect the board to do so too.”
Great excuse to miss the top 4, well done guys.
Pedro That’s not the point though. Hiring Arteta is a gamble, there is no other way of dressing it up. If Everton take the Ancelotti option and they end up improving and Arsenal stay where they are or get worse the club is going to get pelted from all sides…quite rightfully. Everyone championing Arteta, including many of the board at Arsenal, have to stand by their decision and face the consequences. Equally you can all be completely smug if it works out. But there is no way of trying to limply explain this away as anything more than a total… Read more »
Can’t wait to scrutinize the facial expressions of Mikel during a game. Should be good. The second he scratches a chin or purses his lips I’m calling him a cunt
Emirates
Xhaka going could well depend on whether he’s decided to move on and told his agent to find a club.
Agree on Ozil, Mustafi it’s just a case of if we can find someone stupid enough to take him.
There was some talk a month or so ago and trying to cancel the Saliba loan and bring him in in Jan – don’t know if there was any more movement on that one.
Krug for Mikel.
Mikel is ice. Calmness personified.
Marc
We sold Stepanov. We can sell Mustafi.
HL
There is not the slightest chance that this team will finish in the top 4. Personally I would prefer not to qualify for the Europa Cup as well.
It is a distraction and we need now to focus on the EPL.
Let’s be clear we do not have the squad which is good enough to play in Champions League and that will take time to build.
Un / Marko
Is it really that difficult to agree that good players with shit coaching won’t achieve their potential and shit players with good coaching won’t dominate football.
Anyway, we all must wish good luck to Pedro’s idol.
He’s gonna need it, really.
(Arteta, not Pedro.)
(Although…)
(lol)
Doubt we will bring Saliba in early.
Likely a financial cost to start with.
Also he’s just had surgery and Arsenal will likely be more than happy for him to regain fitness at St Etienne and not in a defence in the EPL that resembled a recently gassed trench in the Somme.
Marko
12th, 9th, 9th and now this season.
Your ‘amazing recruitment’ line looks a lot of bollocks given it never kicked in until Brenda arrived.
Talking absolute shite as per.
Un
I think Marko was being ironic.
You must know that Un Dos Tres is a big fan of Mikel, him too.