I am BACK in New York after spending some time in the very beautiful Savannah. I highly recommend if you are ever in Georgia, what a place.
Back home, I was again pondering the weirdness of the criticism that continues to rumble around the new regime. It doesn’t come from serious people, but it is always shocking to me how fucking atrocious internetters are when they’re let loose with bad data.
Comparing Unai Emery to Mikel Arteta is, firstly, a very dumb proposition barely 11 games into his tenure. It’s so dumb, Liverpool fans actually did it when Jurgen Klopp took over from Brendy and started a #KloppOut campaign off the back of it.
This tells you two things.
1. Don’t replicate Liverpool fan behaviour
2. Don’t play the data game unless you are really fucking sure you have a robust argument.
Here is the math for the Spurs fans that were up in your Whatsapp groups with the ‘analysis’ of Arteta courtesy of Champagne Charlie in the comments.
You’re comparing Emery’s point average in a 13 game sample to Arteta’s 8 games. Won’t bother rehashing the old ‘sample argument’ that was brought front and centre with the embarrassing xGA stats previous, will just illustrate with the following:
11 points in 8 games = 1.38
We win our next game = 1.56
We win the game after that = 1.7The state of trying to pull trends in data with fluctuations like this 😂😂
Also, just like to remind you that Emery was operating with 12 months in the job and 150 mil of talent to supplement HIS football ideology. Mikel Arteta by contrast is picking up pieces mid season.
Another swing, another glaring miss.
Data points you ‘should‘ probably like.
We’ve kept 3 clean sheets on the bounce, 5 in 11 (with two games that we went down to 10 men) with a hodgepodge of teenagers, players we thought were dusted, and plenty of non-defenders mucking in. We can celebrate that. So when certain types say ‘I don’t see an improvement’ ask them if they ever felt like they were watching a team that was tough to break down under Emery, or if they ever felt like they were witnessing something even close to competency when it came to Arsenal defending.
You might also ask who the only team in Europe is to be undefeated in 2020? It’d be Arsenal. Again, not a totally electric statistic because we’ve drawn a lot of games, but when you add in further context, like, say, ‘Emery oversaw our worst start in 30 years and Arteta started in late December’, it starts to feel saucier. Low Scoble rating for sure, but we’re definitely spicier than a Heinz Ketchup at the moment.
Sure, there are lots of things we’d all like to see improve. We’re still making mistakes in dangerous places, our attack is hardly Liverpool fluid, but if you are out here complaining we’re not champions elect form at the moment, you’re a fucking idiot. I’m really sorry to be so blunt, but I absolutely mean it. That Liverpool thing didn’t happen overnight, I can assure you.
Additional areas of improvement to point towards.
You might not like Mustafi, Xhaka, Ozil or Luiz… but you cannot argue their performances have dramatically improved. Shkodran Baresi looked like he’d rather snort a Wuhan sneeze than play a few weeks ago, now he’s operating at a very, very good level of football. Granit Xhaka keeps getting better, I’ve been a vocal anti-advocate of him, I called him a mistake terrorist, but he’s doing well. David Luiz looks reborn, a frizzy-haired warrior. Mesut Ozil is slowly but surely feeling his way back into elite-level football. It’s not a longterm solution, but however you chop it up, players that were once deemed bin-worthy are now delivering hardworking performances. Even players we liked but thought were ill-suited are upping their levels… remember when we assumed Torreira was too small to hack it in the league? That Dani Ceballos was a write-off because his hair was too neat for the UK? It’s great that these players are showing their true colours now they are motivated and fired up about the vision.
‘The Uncoachables’ was such a ridiculous excuse, cooked up by the Emeryista, who still weirdly fetishise a manager about as sexy as a septic cock ring. No elite-level player is uncoachable. Sam Allardyce has made a living training bags of rotten potatoes to keep clean sheets. Hardly a shock that Arteta can make World Cup winners look a little better.
Finally, the kids. You can’t knock ’em. They are stepping up to the plate, learning hard lessons, and rarely hiding. To repeat, Ceballos looks like he might have a future, Guendouzi is a mess but he’s learning from someone that won’t tolerate his drama, Saka looks absolutely elite, Gabriel is inconsistent but taking praise from nobodies like Ronaldinho, and the others are showing they have teeth. Not perfect, but at least they are getting game time and a proper chance under a proper coach.
Moaning we’re not he complete package is such a base strawman argument. No one ever thought we’d be where we needed to be in 2 months. However, we’re starting to get better results, we’re hard to beat, and we’re slowly but surely finding our way in attack. We’re doing all of this without a proper preseason. We were in a process under Emery that wasn’t ever leading to a better Arsenal. That has all changed. Under Arteta it’ll be bumpy, but we’re heading in a direction that’ll take us places. We will need a good summer, lots of hard work, and a good start in August, but I don’t think we’ll be making excuses in May 2021. Unless we fail, then I’ll be blaming hair pills and dry grass for our problems.
Anyway, let’s keep it positive.
We have a chance to show our mettle at home against an Everton side that will give us a very good game at the weekend. Carlo has his players focused, better structured, with bit more bite to their game. He’ll be desperate for the win this weekend, but so will Arsenal. Our club needs momentum, win that game and the next 8 look far more attractive, drop points and it’ll feel like a miserable step back.
I’m still looking for more fluidity in attack. I don’t think we’ve cracked it by a margin, but at this point, I think it’s more about repetition and muscle memory than anything else (with this squad). We need a few sexy goals and a real ‘wow, this is the future’ performance to start the ball rolling there. A simple improvement would be finding the target a little more often. I think the type of chance we’re creating is improving, but some of the shooting has been less than ideal… and from players you expect more from. Imagine me as the coach?
‘Erm, guys, could you try and shoot the ball at the actual goal. Thank you.’
Right, big game tomorrow, fingers crossed we smash them and the Gypsy King deals with the Bronze Bomber. x
Boom
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Trofee
Tr5phy
Re posting my previous post as that link is a must read for all Gooners:
CC
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8030229/PETER-CROUCH-poison-gone-aura-Arsenal-thanks-Mikel-Arteta.html
Thanks for that post.
Every Gooner must read this.
This is no Tabloid bollocks.
This is Crouchy giving a real assessment of where we are at the moment.
I’ll repeat: We are a work in progress. We are heading back to where we should be one step at a time. But some must understand that this won’t happen overnight.
It will take some time. This is where patience is required.
Agree with Pedro that anybody saying we haven’t shown any improvement under the Arteta regime doesn’t understand football as there has been a sharp improvement in our performances but more importantly the attitude of the players.
One thing I have to disagree with is the performances of Mustafi, he cost us the game at Chelsea a few weeks back and is still too error prone to be a reliable CB, he may have improved slightly but that isn’t hard to do when you have been total garbage!
I seriously cannot get behind the criticism. I don’t think I’d ever felt as aperthetic about arsenal as I was in November. As pointed out in the post as well, how many players in the team have actually improved. Under emery I’d say he was well in the process of destroying 6 players careers in Mustafi, Ozil,Xhaka, Torreira, laca and Ceballos (debatable). I’ve also never been the biggest fan of Ozil but given his circumstances told the club didn’t want him, physically attacked, his mums life was threatened and all while his wife was preggers. Then he also barely played… Read more »
“The Uncoachables’ was such a ridiculous excuse, cooked up by the Emeryista, who still weirdly fetishise a manager about as sexy as a septic cock ring“
This had me howling haha.
Pedro how did you find Virginia recently? I’ve never ventured Georgia levels of south in the US, think that’s on the list of places in future.
Hell ya Pedro
I thought the shit would end too w wenger and emery out but it seems its time to lay down the law
JUST LIKE ARTETA
Great post and a pivot for common sense The utter tripe posted recently from all of the Spurs-like trollers has been idiotic beyond belief Why would any Arsenal fan want to change the manager for a fourth option this season? Where would that take us? You don’t need stats to see that the performance levels have gone significantly beyond what was served up under Emery Even when we went on that unbeaten run last season, Emery’s best spell from his third match in charge, it LOOKED unconvincing – we seemed to be stumbling to success. My overriding memories of Emeryball… Read more »
DB10
Except that we have done no better in the PL under Arteta than we did under Emery this season. 1.38 points per match. Yes, we are more compact and harder to score against, but this hasn’t resulted in all that much of a difference when it comes to winning matches and moving up the table. And the reason for this is simple: this is not a very good squad, something many of us here have been saying for some time now.
I predict we give everton a proper hiding
Talk about strawmen. This is pretty much all you lot traffic in.
Northbanker
Aside from Redtruth and maybe one other occasional poster, no one here is calling for a new manager. That’s a straw-man.
Bamford 10
Results haven’t improved dramatically agreed, but the performances have and you need to stop the rot first before we see a real improvement in results, quite a few draws are now starting to turn in to wins with the players finally finding some confidence and seeing results for all the hard work they are putting j
Bamford
I have better things to do than go back through past posts to prove otherwise but it’s more than the idiot Redtruth
The rest who haven’t explicitly stated as such have impliedly put forward the same argument as there is no other logical outcome from their views other than to say their comments are pointless and without purpose
Your own comments on the inadequacies of the squad and likewise without purpose. What exactly do you think Arteta should have done given what he inherited and the current state of our finances?
DB10 “We are heading back to where we should be one step at a time.” Right, but the question is, how many steps will it take to get us back there? How many steps are we from there? One or two? Or seven or eight? To be more specific and less abstract: how many new first XI players will be required to get us back in to the top four? Pedro and a couple of other posters think (at some level) that the answer is none, as they have argued that this is already a top four squad and that… Read more »
Northbanker
“What exactly do you think Arteta should have done given what he inherited and the current state of our finances?”
Nothing. My criticisms aren’t criticisms of Arteta; they’re criticisms of the squad. My and others’ criticisms of the squad aren’t “pointless”; you’ve just missed the point of them.
Great Post that Pedro, things are looking to be heading in the right direction . Not sure how some people can’t see the improvements in attitude and play style. Hopefully we can turn it on against Everton and get an important win.
I felt the need to post my own comment again. Stop saying mustafi is baresi even as a joke. I seriously hope we are fattening Mustafi , Ozil and Xhaka for the transfer market. We shouldn’t consider ourselves to be a serious club if we continue to play Unreliable, Error prone, Inconsistent players. Mustafi for example will have suitors now because he has been consistent enough for 5 games. Ozil we might have no choice if arteta wants him but It’s time to move him on too. But Xhaka might seriously stay and that is depressing for me. We need… Read more »
@Bamford.
This squad is good enough to get us to 4th. Wont win us the league but can get us to top 4. Thats where I think we would be at or thereabouts if Arsenal had sacked Emry in the international break before Christmas instead of letting him at the wheel for weeks after.
There is a willing blindness amongst many that post here. The May As Well Make The Best Of It, if you will. Make no mistake, Arteta has his work cut out for him with what he inherited. Facts are facts, Arteta has been asked to eat a Shit Sandwich, and no matter how you much fixin’s you put in it, its still a Shit Sandwich. Why try to make out what he has been given as anything else? The players are well known for what they offer, many of them are poor. Trying to see the good in them, thats… Read more »
“This squad is good enough to get us to 4th”
No its not and please stop saying they are. There is nothing in this squads performances that would lend itself to that level of thought.
B10
You just come on here to wind people up.
That’s my only explanation.
All Arsenal fans should buy into Arteta’s methods and what he is trying to do.
You harp on about the squad but what exactly do you want? What are your solutions?
Your on/off relationship with this blog shows that you are an attention seeker and will do anything to remain a constant on here.
What exactly do you want?
“how many new first XI players will be required to get us back in to the top four? Pedro and a couple of other posters think (at some level) that the answer is none” Saying we would’ve been challenging for top 4 this season with a competent manager isn’t the same as suggesting we don’t need to be active this summer. What can’t you fathom about that? There’s literally not one poster on here that’s said ‘we don’t need anyone, we can challenge next season as is’. Not one. And here you are claiming others are offering straw men arguments?… Read more »
Not even klinsmann could bring ozil back to elite level football.
Mustafinovs and xhakalson the less said about them the better.
Im telling you for free!
No ozil today so another win
You heard it here 1st!
Graham
I want Arsenal to be a top four team again, and more than that, I want Arsenal to be great again. For both of those things, we will need better players.
And what I am saying is no different from what Ernest or any number of other posters are saying. Please stop with the ad hominem.
We play tomorrow, Sid.
Ernest
Do you believe the squad weaker than last season’s?
If not then it’s hard to take the stance we don’t have the talent for top 4 based on last year and finishing 2 points off 3rd playing horribly at the backend. If you do then care to offer why you think so, and how you think we oversaw a decline in quality?
I think it’s high time something are put into perspective here. Emery had 2 full preseasons with the team and tanked. He was in charge between August and say mid November which can be approximated to like 3 to 4 months in which we played like 13 matches. Compare this period with that of arteta who took charge like 2 months ago and had to play like 12 matches within this short period compared to that of Emery who had a full preseason. Anyone who doesn’t see an improvement bearing in mind the circumstances surrounding the arrival of arteta needs… Read more »
Pedro Most of the critics of Arteta attach too much importance on his lack of experience as a manager or head coach and assume that this is critical in making a club successful. What they fail to recognise is the length of Arteta’s career at the top level as a footballer and then as a coach with Manchester City. Let us start with his career as a footballer who started in the Barcelona Academy considered by many to be the best at the time when he played there. This was followed by playing in good standard by not top level… Read more »
B10
We all want that.
The manager wants it.
The players want it.
The fans want it.
Maybe you should review the way you communicate your perceptions, that way you’d find posters would tolerate you that much more.
Just a suggestion.
The situation is clear for me. Although I have some criticisms regarding team selections and in game management Arteta is absolutely the right man. But the squad needs an Overhaul. This would be my new look team for next season. I am also assuming auba is leaving because I don’t think he is signing a new contract. Leno/Martinez, Bellerin/Cedric, Saliba/Holding, Luiz/Mari (New CB based on performance), Tierney/New Lb, Torriera/New DM, Guendouzi/New CM/ AMN, Pepe/Nelson, Willock/ESR/ New CAM, Saka/New winger, Lacazette/Martinelli. Loans , Nketiah, Willock or ESR depending on summer performances. Sell, Mustafi, Kola ( depends on if it’s good much… Read more »
Of course the squad is good enough to reach the top 4. Wherher we achieve that is another matter. Lots of ifs and buts , but it is possible not probable. For instance, if we beat Everton tomorrow and Chelsea and Tottenham draw, we would be 5 points off of top 4 .. Our next 2 league fixtures after Everton are west ham home and brighton away. During that period Chelsea have to play City and Tottenham have to United and wolves. During this period united have to play city and Tottenham.. This means that all teams above us will… Read more »
CC, the decline pretty much was evident even before Wenger left. Recruitment has been poor in as much that building from need has been replaced with acquiring because they could not believe their luck that player X happened to be available, so take him. Do that enough times and you wind up with what you have today, middling talent and a fundamental lack of cohesiveness. Emery was never going to be a solution, he in fact, is exactly what has slowly killed this franchise, cant believe he’s available so lets get him – the malaise of poor management. Arsenal have… Read more »
Pierre
Agree.
May be a step too far but, as you highlight, a win tomorrow will put us back in the mix.
Cheers.
E R
“the decline was evident” as soon as we left Highbury.
Steady and predictable regression led to this outcome.
I’m very upbeat about MA though.
I’d just like to point out to those citing the fact that Emery left us in 8th and we’re currently 10th with one perspective that I find interestingly ignored: – When Emery left us after 13 games he’d given up an 8 point deficit to Chelsea who were 4th (we were 8th). – Freddie took charge of six games and the gap between us and 4th remained 8 points (still Chelsea) – Arteta has had eight games and we’re 7 points off 4th place as is (still Chelsea) That suggests to me that Emery oversaw our current deficit, Freddie arrested… Read more »
Tyson to beat Wilder?
Who knows?
Should be a humdinger.
“Personally I hope that Arteta becomes a successful Manager/Head Coach and
that should be the wish of every true supporter of the club.”
On this we are in full agreement, ES.
Wins translate into belief. A win would against Everton would be tremendous for a shot at top 5.
There are 2 camps.
Prove with the squad we are better than with wanker and bumery.
Next is genuinely think about competing by additions and overhaul.
So as usual Arsenal fans are divided.
“”” Shkodran Baresi looked like he’d rather snort a Wuhan sneeze than play a few weeks ago”””
And that my friends , is a Pulitzer Prize winning piece of writing
I too am very upbeat about Arteta, Graham. He has brought with him an absolute air of optimism, a nice feeling for sure. Perhaps if management actually smartens up, he could make times ahead very special indeed.
Im seeing Wilder pummel Fury about the ring, Graham. There is some serious hate between those two.
Ernest I totally agree that our recruiting strategy could barely pass as anything of a strategy. It was a source of great frustration to see blind spots in the side continually overlooked under Wenger, so a restructure was welcome. That said, last season we finished 5th and 2 points behind 3rd. We did so with the most embarrassing of final stretches in living memory. So I fail to appreciate how we go from that, to this season with the summer activity and claim less of a chance of top 4 personally. The big hope was with Emery, and that was… Read more »
Agreed Charlie, and the fact that Raul The Implausible was prepared to hand Emery an extension – Wow, just Wow!
Maybe its just me but last season played out more like a smoke and mirrors routine until it became obvious that it was indeed a smoke and mirrors routine.
B10
So in other words you have a wish list and we all live happily ever after with 6 new world class signings with mega money paid funded by the magic money tree
As I said, pointless comments
“I’m of the opinion had we brought Arteta in after the EL final defeat we’d have seen an entirely different season this season.”
This is very true except that it would be difficult for management to do the right thing based on a precipitous decline because after all, this was merely a blip in their estimation. In total agreement with what you are saying, Charlie.
Can someone provide a link regarding Sanllehi wanting to give Emery a contract extension?
It’s something that I see repeated fairly often but I’ve never seen any proof that this is true.
So hoping for a bore draw between Chelsea and the Spud’s in just over an hour. A few injuries and red cards would be also be welcome.
I can’t see Watford doing us any favours but we will have the opportunity to close the gap on at least one of Chelsea or the Spud’s tomorrow.
It’s something we have to seize if we want a serious chance of CL football for next season.
Habesha Gooner
I like your posts. They are the kind of posts with interesting ideas and worth reading. I won’t waste my time on posts comparing Arteta with Emery or complaining about the quality of the players. They are with us until the Summer. We have to do the best with what we have. For those who don’t like them, just get lost and come back in the Summer.
This is what i have found, Marc. The source is David Ornstein.
https://theathletic.co.uk/1325951/2019/10/28/ornstein-on-monday/
Marc
Emery told reporters himself that the club was considering giving him an extension after last season end. It must be during one of those pregame talk.
Ernest
Thanks but I don’t subscribe so it’s no use.
“And that my friends , is a Pulitzer Prize-winning piece of writing.”
The PP is awarded to Americans journalists and authors, and not to non-journalistic Brit sport-chat blog administrators that manage to spew out a halfway-clever dig every couple of months.
Nelson
Yeah that’s why I don’t put any credibility to the rumour. Emery telling the world he’s so good the club are going to give him an extension.
There was a rumour that Sanllehi wanted to sack Emery in the November international break but was stopped by Kroenke. Funny how that’s not repeated with such frequency.
“So hoping for a bore draw between Chelsea and the Spud’s in just over an hour. A few injuries and red cards would be also be welcome.”
I’d rather watch an exciting match, with as few injuries as possible.
Ernest Without question the suits have a lingering question mark over their heads, I wasn’t happy they continued into this season after last and consider that a huge error to have made. It was then compounded imo by not acting over the international break this season. But…. I’m happy we landed Arteta and bizarrely he appears to have the gravitas and personality to drive the consciousness of the club which is quite a shock to me. Basically I’m more at ease with the melting pot of a committee with his inclusion plus Edu’s. Remains to be seen how any political… Read more »
alex
I’m not sure you’ve got this supporting Arsenal thing quite right yet.
The idea is you want Arsenal to finish higher in the table than other teams.
I have the same impression of Arteta as well, Charlie. He’s not going to accept the status quo as a given. If he keeps producing results then it becomes untenable for management not to act towards on field improvements. Besides, you don’t work for 3+ years with Pep and not develop a backbone.
If we don’t beat Everton and go over them, we can just about throw in the towel for the EPL and concentrate on winning the EL.
Hopefully we have a strong run at the back end of the worst season I’ve witnessed as an arsenal fan.
‘I’m not sure you’ve got this supporting Arsenal thing quite right yet. The idea is you want Arsenal to finish higher in the table than other teams.’
How does wanting to watch a boring match and hoping others get injured make you anything, other than mentally unwell?
I’m happy about how I currently “support” arsenal. Kind of like it was to “hate-watch” once-interesting, now-shitty tv like Dexter or Walking Dead. Just sticking around to see how laughably shit they can become, before totally losing any remaining interest and moving on.
Gonsterous
Problem is we have a pretty nasty run in after the upcoming “easier” set of fixtures. If we can put a winning run together, get confidence up then it’ll help in all competitions.
Just get the feeling that things are being turned around by arteta , not really interested in stats etc , I’m a bit concerned by him bigging up Xhaka etc but then what else can he do at this present time .
Good luck to the ‘ gypsy king ‘ , wasn’t a fan in his early days but you’ve just got to respect his honesty , great sense of humour and a great entertainer, hope he can do it .
Marc
“I’m not sure you’ve got this supporting Arsenal thing quite right yet.The idea is you want Arsenal to finish higher in the table than other teams.”
Brilliant
alex
For Arsenal to finish above the Spud’s and Chelsea then they both will have to drop points whilst we win matches.
Do you understand that? If they draw and we win tomorrow the gap closes to 4 and 5 points respectively. Whilst not easy it’s certainly doable.
Northbanker
I don’t understand why an Arsenal fan wouldn’t want teams we’re competing with to drop points?
I’d love tomorrows match between ManU and Watford to be a scintillating match which finishes 0 – 4 I can’t see it happening but it would make me happy.
And to add to Marc’s maths for Alex’s benefit, a draw means only 2 points are awarded whereas a win for either means 3 are awarded.
“Do you understand that? If they draw and we win tomorrow the gap closes to 4 and 5 points respectively. Whilst not easy it’s certainly doable.”
I thought I made myself clear. I would rather enjoy an exciting match between the “Chavs” and “Spuds” — regardless of the final score — than a boring draw, whether or not it would nudge arsenal a point up the table.
We understand the meaning of what you said Alex – but the point Marcos making is you really haven’t got the knack of supporting your own club
Our defence looks far better. The team looks happier, more willing to fight for each other. Many players have improved their work rate too.
If Arteta can unlock the full potential of our forwards, we might genuinely compete for top 4 next season. It remains to be seen, but he appears to be doing the right things in a logical order. And he loves the club. Why not back him?
Sorry Marc
Clearly, there’s a noticeable change in attitudes on the pitch. For that we thank Arteta. But have to agree with Bamford that overall the gains are marginal.
This is not a great squad…….kills me to see our perpetually-failing neighbors with better talent.
Taking your point further Alex, you would therefore presumably see your team play in a glorious 5-4 defeat in one of the best games ever than win a messy 1-0? That is purism vs supporting summarised
Omg – another critic of the squad – and…….?
Pedro
Sam Allardyce has made a living training bags of rotten potatoes to keep clean sheets. Hardly a shock that Arteta can make World Cup winners look a little better.
Made my day
“We understand the meaning of what you said Alex – but the point Marcos making is you really haven’t got the knack of supporting your own club”
Nothing that drew me to Arsenal (as an American) 20 years ago is still at the club.
I do not consider Arsenal to be my club. They are now one of the clubs I follow regularly. And the money, corruption, gambling, cynicism and Commercialization/Americanism that will continue to contaminate the sport will eventually make me lose any remaining interest I have in the sport as a whole.
Thank you Nelson
The Emery and Arteta comparisons are being made because people are either trying to prove a point or trying to call out hypocritical justifications. It is good arteta is getting good performances from these players. But it’s been proven some of them are our weaknesses in sustaining a top 4 finish. The last 3 seasons are the proof we need.
Some of you are obviously going to be very disappointed this Summer because realistically we will achieve 2 or 3 targets – not all of whom will be Plan A (at least we seem to have a Plan B these days unlike in Wenger’s time) For me, I would focus on a DM and a CAM subject to replacements (mainly Auba). Even at CB, where all the gossip seems to be, I’m not sure as we have current unknowns already in Mari and Saliba. If we could get Upamecano then we’d need to act now but not just sign another… Read more »
Marc
From now until the end of the season or until we cannot qualify for Europe, I will be willing any top 6/8 club to drop points.
That is just the way it is and always has been.
If there Is one thing we can be thankful for Arteta is that he has made the season more interesting/exciting for the fans for bringing some belief that we can compete for a top 4 spot.
“ We were in a process under Emery that wasn’t ever leading to a better Arsenal. That has all changed. Under Arteta it’ll be bumpy, but we’re heading in a direction that’ll take us places. We will need a good summer, lots of hard work, and a good start in August, but I don’t think we’ll be making excuses in May 2021 “ Rather Emery was a perversity roughening up the Arsenal Barca-Lite abrasively. He put doubts in our free flowing style which used to put fear of God in the opposition when it got going. We are now paying… Read more »
Well we had to squeeze that one out Alex but somehow your comments don’t su Reprise me. You mean when we were winning and now that we’re not at present you have disowned the club! Not really sure why you’re on here if you have no real passion..
Sorry but your attitude does make me laugh – having no passion for football and yet still watching it must be dreadful and meaningless – poor you
Pierre
You get it!
I mean an ideal result today would be a draw plus a mass 30 man brawl and points deduction for both teams. That would be helpful and entertaining.
Northbanker
I think the expression “fair weather fan” is where Alex resides.
And 20 years isn’t actually that long btw!! Lol.
Or maybe that’s me – I’ve put in a 52 year shift as a Gooner from my first match
Marc
Yep
An enjoyable game for me today would be a blood and thunder game, tackles flying in, and yes a couple of red cards would be nice .
Problem is , the ref is normally very lenient in a Chelsea/ Tottenham match.
I love listening to Arteta. He comes across as a no nonsense leader who exactly knows what he wants from his team, where do we stand right now as a team, our ultimate goal and the means/ways to achieve it. He is not wishy washy. When he joined us he had said his first target would be to ensure all the players pulled in the same direction, showed hunger and commitment and helped each other. He had said only when we achieve the first set of targets (cohesion, hunger, discipline) can we expect the team to aim for bigger things… Read more »
Pierre
That match a few years ago ref’d by Clattenberg was criminal.
TR7 – agreed. The body language from the 2 (taking Emery when he first joined as a maniacal screamer who no one was listening to rather than at the end when he was a little boy lost) is a massive contrast. That has clearly conveyed behind the scenes – I have never seen someone in football so much in charge as Arteta. Wenger early days was close as was George Graham but this guy seems to ooze authority and clear-headedness.
If he can now knit together the best of the Graham steel and the Wenger flair then it’s happy days.
“ You judge managers on the basis of what they set out to do and where do they stand in their journey after x number of games. Arteta seems to be making progress on what he promised he would try to achieve. Under Emery, we always looked bereft of ideas and he as a manager never had any vision of what he wanted to achieve and even if he had one, he never seemed to make any progress.“
Excellent summation.
Fat Frank panicking a bit now to include Giroud who had been behind a Michy in the pecking order.
Squeaky bum lad?
rotten potatoes,clean sheets.FUCKING BRILLIANT,love it.
And I believe he can do this without a huge budget and the 5 or 6 players that Bamford and co are demanding. We still have Tierney, Saliba and Mari to place in the defence. We have the ability to move Saka to LW and see how the Tierney – Saka combo can work. They’re all unknowns to an extent but I am more than happy to wait to see how this plays out, having seen what Arteta has done so far with our ‘dross’. A DM and a CAM are the priorities and that may yet be enough to… Read more »
I should also have added the Bellerin-Pepe combo as this is still a work in progress that will hopefully reap rewards next year.
Way to go Ollie!
What a goal. Bravo, Giroud.