Arteta gives insight into Saka, Ozil, and resilience

by .

The morning after and I’m still feeling pretty immense about yesterday. It was the sort of game that builds the character of a team and shows who is there to cut the mustard and who there spreading low-fat mayonnaise like a melt.

Nearly everyone showed up, the key worry heading into that game for me was that Everton hadn’t played for 14 days. I mistakenly thought it was a week. That’s a lot of time to prepare, revive the legs, and get hyped to blitz a side on a shaky road to recovery.

For us, it was the 3rd game in 7 days. That has a huge impact when you’re fighting a team that’s had their feet up. The players looked toasted by the end, Mikel said they were cramping up, factor in that they only had two second-half subs to freshen things up, and the outcome was all the more impressive.

Everton gave us problems, no doubt, but they only hit the target 5 games in a match that was pretty evenly split for possession. I thought a lot of our problems came down Bellerins flank. We had a two-fold problem there, Hector looks disgracefully off the pace, I think we’re all seeing now why the club invested in a spare right back when the need didn’t look that important. We also saw the difference between what Pepe offers as cover and what Auba does. Chalk and cheese, the Ivorian needs to pull his finger out. He has so much to offer going forward, but the only way he’ll survive this regime is if he does his bit tracking back, especially when his right-back is struggling.

Talking of right-backs, it is sad to see that AMN has fallen foul of the new rules of the road. I suspect he’s complained about playing right-back (like he did to Emery), because surely that’s all it can be, he always works hard, hasn’t put a foot wrong when he’s played and looked a standout 5 weeks ago. Seems like a really silly thing to do, especially when your captain is playing on the left and mucking in defensively. Hopefully, he can redeem himself, I’d prefer to see him there than Cedric, so let’s see if his tune changes soon.

Thursday night will be an interesting test for rotation. Mari and Gabriel were both in the stands today. I struggle to understand the Gabriel omission, was pondering whether it was the body language and blow up at Xhaka on Thursday, the fact he’s played a lot, or a slight knock. Mari is going to be interesting, the Spaniard who just loves smiling needs to land some game time soon and a home match against Olympiacos could be a great way to introduce himself to the fans.

Arteta dropped some sexy hintations about Auba’s state of mind after the game.

“Hopefully not just the wins, but as well what we are trying to do,”

“That he really enjoys on the pitch every time he goes, that he feels very much part of what we’re trying to build here. And I think he’s with that mindset at the moment.

“I think it’s been tough for him. You know a player like him, there’s been a lot of disappointments in the last few months and years because he has big expectations. You know he wants to play for the biggest club in the biggest tournaments, and be up there with the best players in the world. And we have to try to support him and give him everything at the club so he really feels fulfilled here. That’s the challenge I have.”

I still think it’s a moonshot to get him to stay, but the manager has said over and over again that he’s our best player and most important. Hard to disagree. It was also interesting that he wasn’t sure if he could be the complete player, namely, could he defend (even if he wanted to).

“I had two questions. One was ‘ he doesn’t want to do it?’ or ‘he cannot do it physically?’. Once I found out that physically he could do it, it was just about convincing him he needs to do it every three days and he’s showing that.”

He’s certainly shown his hunger in bucketloads. If that leads to him to staying, you’ve gotta be onboard that hype train, if he leaves, we’ll land more money than we would of if Emery had stayed on.

The manager alluded to Saka being out of the line-up because of a fitness issue and also leant into some of the mistakes being geared around a little bit of believing-your-own-hype-itis.

“Well I’m never happy when something happens like that. With Kola, he’s been very unlucky with injuries. Bukayo had some issues as well before the game then he started to play after a few minutes. It was a great contribution defensively but as well there are other moments that he showed today that there is still a lot of margin for him to improve and he needs to keep his feet on the ground and we have to help him to.”

Finally, Mesut Ozil had a very good game again. He’s certainly not falling back into old habits, he has a coach that understands him now, and one that he very much seems to respect. Arteta had an interesting piece on him.

“Yeah, I’m very pleased with him. Obviously I played with him and I know him so I try to pinch him as much as possible to do what he needs to do because I know how much he can give on the offensive side. But as well, Mesut – it’s a good example for this game. When we are dominant, when the whole process is properly done and you find the player in the right position, it’s the type of game that he wants. When that game becomes like this (gestures back and forth) that’s not his game. So he needs his teammates, he needs the right structure and organisation for him to flourish. Sometimes it’s not his fault, it’s about the team that is not supporting what he needs.”

Arteta is incredibly open about everything, I love it, feels like we’re getting an inside look under the car bonnet, hopefully, he doesn’t stop with that. Anyway, I feel like that last part was interesting (and the pinching up bit tbh), because that game doesn’t always go the way of Mesut’s strengths, so what is the plan? Or does that mean that he won’t be the plan at some point. Anyway, great to see the player happy and contributing beyond just being a key pass quarterback.

Off-topic. Arteta beat Carlo in his first encounter. He also closed the gap on Spurs to 3 points. Mourinho is out here moaning about his lack of strikers like he’s the first manager to ever have an injury crisis and I have Spurs fans complaining the football he’s trying to play is straight out of 2010 and Nagelsmann made him look antiquated. He’ll tank, like he always does, just faster this time because he can’t shield himself with £500m of players. I’m still happy with who we hired.

RIGHT, I did a podcast for your ears, listen and enjoy. We have a VERY good bit at the end where we discuss hair cuts. We also do a deep dive into the Everton game, we touch on the players who are doing it, we slam veganism, we talk discipline, missing names, and what we think might happen this summer.

Dive in right this instant (and check out yesterday’s HUMDINGER of a match report)

Spotify | iTunes | Stitcher

569 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
MidwestGun

Pedro is correct.. again. It’s a circular argument which comes down to the word capable. Do we have a squad on paper talentwise that is better then all but 3 other squads? probably not. However, clearly last season this squad was capable of getting 4th, as evidenced by reality until we bottled the last 4 games and the EL final. Clearly with added talent like Tierney and Pepe we were capable of getting 4th this season until we had the worst start in 30 years. This is a fact that it was a terrible start which required us to sack… Read more »

Zacharse

itd be nice if pedro could use some sort of function on the posts of certain posters on here so we can distinguish between people actually interested in sharing info and opinions and those who simply want to troll. the crossed out font, a micro penis icon, or making them all use the same user name related to spuds are some suggestions

MidwestGun

Ok my work here is done… back to my in- depth analyses of day drinking. Tequila versus Vodka.

Ernest Reed

Oh, thats just nasty Midwest. You must have an iron gut.

Ernest Reed

I think he gets a run-in, Pedro. With consideration that they wont play again for another week or so, he likely wont start.

Zacharse

Mari could potentially fix one of the biggest issues for us in d, namely having a big fucker in the mix to nullify dead ball plays. Hope arteta gives him a run, maybe as a sub on thurs though id love tonsee luiz and mustafi getting a rest. Wtf happened to holding?

Marc

I think part of the problem with is the squad good enough for top 4 argument is that the other “regular” clubs Chelsea and ManU have also seen a drop off. The Spud’s might have got to the CL final but their PL form was pretty poor from the start of 2019.

Marc

Ernest

After Thursday we play on Monday night. Admittedly it’s against lower league opposition in the Cup which you assume will see some rotation after that it’s West Ham at home on Saturday 7th.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Mari get a run out in at least one of the two next matches.

MidwestGun

Oh, thats just nasty Midwest. You must have an iron gut.
___

Ha! No, just doing a little fishing and if the fish aren’t biting, it gives me something to do. Besides read Le Grove on the Samsung.

Richard

Is Bamford the new Gambon?

Ernest Reed

Speaking of West Ham, haven’t they been relegated yet?

Marc

Ernest

Have you seen their next 5 fixtures?

If any of the other teams can put a couple of game run together West Ham might be so demoralised that they just give up.

Luteo Guenreira

Is Bamford the new Gambon?

Lol this is like comparing your toilet to Disneyland. Behave.

Redtruth

Champagne charlie
“Everton were 2nd behind Liverpool for league form since Xmas, above all the other “better teams” you claim. Their 10th place is indicative of their start to the season, not the form we met them in quite obviously.”

Are you saying Everton are the 2nd best team in the Country…..lol lol lol

Zacharse

Do we stand to steal any players from west ham? Rice would be nice

Zacharse

Un

It seems like Lately the only players we’re being linked w are cb’s. Could
This be more an issue of agents recognizing a bit too late our defensive issues? They seem pretty covered atm esp w saliba joining in a few months time…

Richard

Luteo, I just had a new bathroom installed. We have a very nice toilet as it goes 🙂

Just out of curiosity, which one of them should I be comparing to my toilet?

Luteo Guenreira

Richard

That depends on how nice your new toilet is.

As for Mari, really would like him to get some playing time soon, not sure what to expect but hopefully he can hit the ground running. Who is the best CB to play next to him though?

Ernest Reed

I have little doubt that Norwich is going down and Watford – wasn’t there someone on here a few weeks ago touting Nigel Pearson being a better choice for Arsenal manager than Arteta – and its a toss between West Ham and Bournemouth. Gonna be 3 in this foursome almost certainly.

Nigel Fricking Pearson over Arteta – seriously

Redtruth

We’ve hired s novice who has yet to register an away win….lol

Marc

Jamie Carragher really is a cunt and one of the worst pundits out there.

He’s talking about what ground he’d prefer Liverpool to win the league at. After 30 years you’d think they’d just want to get it done.

Ernest Reed

Wasn’t Carragher the dumbshit who spit on someone in a vehicle as a response to a heckling?

Zacharse

Un Arteta def needs to give mari a go soon, little bit of a build up to a prem game so he can see if he’s worth it or not. Cedric ditto but as i understand it hes still injured. If both become squad players that saves us a ton of dough in the summer and they both have the potential there… As for what happens w sok, holding and mav in the summer, i could see them all going, loan or transfer. Mavs done real well so far in germany but is now injured. Thibk hes got min. Another… Read more »

Zacharse

Calling arteta a novice is just poor trolling. We won last week in greece moron

Redtruth

Zach

Olympiacos home record in Europe is terrible, go do your homework…moron

Zacharse

I did my homework moron. It was an away win moron

Ernest Reed

Starting? LOL

Words on a Blog

Pedro,

Give Redtruth a break.

He was expecting The Revolution and the revolution didn’t come.

Now he’s disillusioned with politics, and all he can do is lash out at fellow Arsenal supporters.

Marc

Ernest

Yes and it was a teenage girl.

Ernest Reed

Dating back to 2009 Arsenal has a 5-4 advantage over Olympiacos in wins. They apparently have never drawn.

Marc

We’ve also won away at Bournemouth in the Cup.

GoonerDave

Carragher also threw a coin into our fans. But got a free pass on that too.

Ernest Reed

Classy guy Carragher is. Its amazing what will pass for “analysts” these days.

Paulinho

“Ramsey plays less than half a season, just look at the bullet dodged with him at juve”

And yet he still has more league goals than all our central midfielders combined.

Ernest Reed

LOL Un.

Zacharse

Un
Lol forgot about chambers. As for holding, i couldn’t consider last seasons form relevant for the reason that we’re doing things differently now aNd if the price is right baboom. We need a big midfield soldier, xhaka has shown hes got the leadership to keep everyone pushing but we do need an upgrade on him if we’re to challenge bigger clubs more regularly. Id take an everton-style fee for holding if it means our mf gets stronger

Marc

Un

I agree winning the league at certain grounds adds a little something but when you’re Liverpool who haven’t won the league in 30 years personally I’d just want to get it done. Celebrate winning it at a particular ground after the event but get it done first.

Zacharse

Paulinho

We dont need his goals at 350/week

Marc

Zach

Convert the salary into per match when he spends 3 months of every season out injured and it’s a lot more than £350k per week!

Paulinho

“Willock has our scores him this season
So has Pepe
So has martinelli
I’ll guarantee Nketiah will by the end of the year”

Hence why I said central midfielders and LEAGUE goals, not pointless ones in crappy cup competitions at stages no one cares about.

Ernest Reed

Indeed not Zacharse, we have our own one goal one assist 350K/wk wonder ourselves!

Eddie

Oh dear Bamford, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. Bamford: ‘I’ve never resorted to the fallacy of the majority’ On 2nd and 3rd January, you brought it up. You the stated: 1. just don’t think they are the problem some people think they are. AND THERE ARE MANY GROVERS WHO THINK THE SAME AS I DO ON THIS POINT. 2. Whether anyone agrees with me on that point — PLENTY OF PEOPLE DO… Just two quick examples, supplemented by exhibit 3 and 4. 3. “Charlie, In a sense you’re right, because most people agree with us now”. 4. “I… Read more »

TR7

Why do so many people think Mustafi had a great game yesterday against Everton ? I thought he was very shaky in the first half and was partly at fault for one of the two goals conceded.

Words on a Blog

TR7,

People thought Mustafi had a great game cos he did the job of two defenders: himself and Bellerin who went missing a lot of the time.

Zacharse

Un Yr right about proving worth, i just don’t know holdings ball playing skill which im assuming is one of the bigger things arteta is looking for. And i literally forgot about chambers not insulting him. Multitasking as it were. The more english defenders the better imo, as long as they can move the ball. I think luiz and mistafi are getting starts right now because they are strong passingg ame players, but ive been wrong before. Mari also must have made an impression due to his passing game, caio was the destroyer on that flamengo team if the cwc… Read more »

Paulinho

“Got it. Well no sorry it doesn’t work like that just so you can box in stats to shine”

Well it does work like that.

League and knockout rounds is a much higher level. It’s not being able to grasp basic facts like that which led to the hilarious overrating of our players based on Europa/Carabao Cup games earlier in the season. Then reality hit.

The likes of Willock melt like butter on warm day when they play in the league and you’re sitting there all confused wondering why.

Words on a Blog

One of the best things I like about Arteta is that he has forced me to reevaluate my opinion on players I had previously dismissed as useless/not good enough or simply past it.

Mustafi
Luiz
Xhaka
Ozil

Zacharse

Neither mustafi or luiz have been weak, they are just not as tall as youd like a cb to be when playing against target men like calvert lewin etc. un’s point about holding pinning down d costa goes to that, costa bullies both mustafi and luiz due to size in a Hypothetical matchup imo

Dissenter

…and here comes Paulinho, riding in like the knight in shining armor to defend Ramsey.

Really… 🙂 🙂

Zacharse

Paulinho

Willock gave newcastle the fear when he came on late last week. That was a league game. He’s going to improve into clarified butter if that game is anything to go by

Zacharse

Un
Fair enough. As always time will tell

Paulinho

A game at Anfield against a bunch of kids and half-arsed seniors that didn’t bother closing down. A game where even Ozil looked like a roll royce.

Again, learn to judge a performances in context and you might actually get a clue at some stage.

Dissenter

I have very bad hay fever
If I sneezed … uuuuuuuRrrrrrrrammmzeeeeee
Paulinho will show up with a lance, ready to defend Ramsey’s honor.
Not to worry mate, he’ll be playing for United next season because he’s surplus at Juve.

Paulinho

Dissenter – Defend? Simply pointing out that in a supposedly disastrous season he still has more league goals than our current CM’s combined.

Paulinho

“The same ozil who has scored more goals for arsenal in 4 years than Ramsey did in 10?”

Ozil goals for Arsenal – 44

Ramsey – 64.

Hahaahahah

Dopey Don.

Pierre

After 30 years without a league title to their name, if I was a liverpool fan I would feel a slight sense of anti climax at how they have won the title.. As a football fan , there is more interest and excitement in the battle for champions league places ….the title is over. There are possibly 6 teams fighting for 4th and 5th spot and it is has all the makings of being a great finish to the season for those clubs. Arsenal ,as a club , are in a position where every game is like a cup final… Read more »

Chris

I don’t think Liverpool fans are feeling anti climatic. They are still on for a treble, possibly an undefeated league title.

And they have been waiting for that title so long, after a few close calls, that they won’t care whether they win it by 20 points or on goals scored.

One was on 5live the other night, refuses to believe it is done until it is mathematically sure. Obviously scarred by 2014.

Pierre

The sad thing for Ramsey and Arsenal is that Arteta arrived a year too late.

Arteta would have sorted Ramsey’s discipline issues out and we would have had possibly an exceptional central midfielder in our side..

Marko

Why do so many people think Mustafi had a great game yesterday against Everton ? I thought he was very shaky in the first half and was partly at fault for one of the two goals conceded. It’s very common with Arsenal fans these days. If a player who’s been generally poor and error prone these last few years does less really dumb shit that costs us all of a sudden he’s playing great. Which of course isn’t true. My biggest concern with Arteta at the moment outside of his game management is if he gets conned by certain individuals… Read more »

Graham62

I doubt there are many Liverpool fans who “feel a sense of anti climax at how they have won the title”.

They still have the unbeaten trophy to go for as well as CL progression.

Not too shoddy if you ask me.

Pierre

Chris
“I don’t think Liverpool fans are feeling anti climatic. They are still on for a treble, possibly an undefeated league title.”

The excitement for the fans is in the cup competitions not the league ..

There will be no buzz of anticipation in the title run in .

Marc

I sort of get what Pierre means re Liverpool. 30 years of desperation for a league title and when it does happen it’s almost a cake walk.

I’m sure they’ll take it though!

Chris

I’d really like to see West Ham relegated.

Who would you rather have as owners of your club? KSE or Brady and the Dildo Brothers?

Chris

Pierre

I see where you are coming from, but I just don’t feel like Liverpool fans will.be feeling anti climatic the days they can clinch it. The roof will come off when they get presented the title at Anfield, after all this years.

Marc

Chris

If they were paying a fair rent for the free stadium they’ve been given I think they’d get more sympathy.

If they go down I can see that place averaging 20,000 in the Championship.

Zacharse

Marko Would have to disagree on almost all of your points. First game mgmt: he does not have nor has he had the time to prep players tot ake over certain jobs on the pitch. I think pedro made the point that once ceb and ozil were subbed our mf opened up quite a bit and we had more trouble moving the ball. Nothing you can do about that if you dont have readymade players to fill in. Pepep not getting subbed was down to kolas injury. You have tonwork whats at yr disposal As for mustafi he had a… Read more »

Graham62

Marko

So you think Arteta is getting “conned by certain individuals”

Do you really think that?

In other words Arteta is gullible?

I think you’ll find Arteta is not that stupid.

Chris

Marc it would be interesting to see if West Ham retain the loyalty of their fans the same way Newcastle, Sunderland and Leeds largely did when they dropped down a division or two. That may depends a bit on whether their current owners are still in situ. Is their stadium 60000 also? There would be a lot of empty seats I’m sure. When they first moved in there some people I work with were debating on whether to split the cost of 2 season tickets between 4 or 5 of them and rake turns in going, not one of them… Read more »

Marc

Chris

They were selling of the season tickets for £300 or £400 – I actually know a couple of people who are not West Ham fans that bought them with a view of going to the big matches because only going to 6 or 8 matches averaged the cost out at £50 a match.

Chris

Marc

Yeah this is what they were always going to be up against with a stadium that size. I see Everton are going with a more realistic 50000 for their new stadium, I highly doubt they will have trouble seeking theirs out. The designs look pretty cool also.

Also saw that Man Utd and Wolves are ready to install safe standing at their grounds in some sections. I read before that the Emirates isn’t compatible for safe standing without large scale renovation, unsure how true that is?

Zacharse

So what happens when west ham get relegated? Theyre in for a sunderland like fall playing there in the championship imo

Marko

So you think Arteta is getting “conned by certain individuals”

Well Ozil is continually getting starts and completing 90 mins more or less despite still drifting through games, Torreira who looked THE most improved player under Arteta initially is now back to the bench while Xhaka seems totally undroppable and Mustafi is back in the mix despite being Mustafi. If these players are still here next season he’s been duped simple as. If they’re gone he’s a man of his word and on the path to success.

Zacharse

Marko’s in line to be the next west ham manager

Chris

It makes me chuckle how some of these professional referees amble round the pitch with their beer guts. No wonder they sometimes make shocking decisions, there’s no oxygen left upstairs after trying to keep up with the game!

Goonies

Marko watches all the arsenal players in training every day and is a better judge of player than Arteta.

Dissenter

“It makes me chuckle how some of these professional referees amble round the pitch with their beer guts. No wonder they sometimes make shocking decisions, there’s no oxygen left upstairs after trying to keep up with the game!”

Referees are as fit at the professional players. They run more than mot players on the field.

Pierre

Marko “, Torreira who looked THE most improved player under Arteta initially is now back to the bench” With regard to Torreira on the bench , it doesn’t take a lot of working out as to why Arteta needed to make us more potent going forward. If he had left xhaka or Ozil out I’m sure you would have questioned why did he bench them as they were THE most improved players under initially. If bringing Ceballos in for Torreira had a negative effect on the team then you would maybe have an argument but 7 goals in 2 league… Read more »

Pierre

Arteta not initially

Chris

Referees are as fit at the professional players. They run more than mot players on the field.

Some of them sure don’t look it!

Dream10

West Ham will steal three points in the next few weeks. Just hope they get that win in the next 45 mins or against Southampton next week before we play them.

They’re still relying on Noble at CM after all these years. Can’t believe Haller has struggled.

Zacharse

I maintain that we should use summer sales to fund a mass buyoff of prem refs. We have too many who hate us atm.

Zacharse

I could run forever at the speed with which prem refs run. There are few that a re fit for purpose this season

Paulinho

“but 7 goals in 2 league games , 3 wins on the bounce makes me think it was the correct decision to tweak the personnel.”

But you can see how improving(or attempting to) our offensive game instantly leads to conceding more shots etc, which is the point I made to you a few weeks ago.

Chris

Zacharse, maybe they are, still wonder how some of them pass a fitness test to be a ref judging by the look of em!

And it’s a bit of a stretch to say they are as fit as the players!

I think I would be confident in saying any of the players out there on the pitch tonight would beat the ref in a 1500m race

Dissenter

Face masks are impossible to buy at the moment everywhere. The chines have bought out most of the US supplies.
I wish I had the good sense to stockpile face masks, I would be making crazy profits on them.

Zacharse

The ref fitness test must be as tough as whtever tests they have regarding club bias and rule knowledge. This seasons been disgraceful even taking out var bullshit which imo has gone so wrong because of the refs being pissed about using the tech. The guardian pod had a funny story today about a bar incidetn in scotland over the weekend where a player was dismissed for a dive, turns out one of the var refs didn’t even watch the replay. Needless to say he was fires

Bob N16

Come on West Ham!

Danny

West Ham to hold on? I wouldn’t bet on it…….

Samesong

I reckon West ham will win.

Habesha Gooner

Westham defending for their lives. 59 minutes and 29 to go. Dippers are winning this if westham don’t get another.

Danny

Flappy……

Samesong

And then theres Fabianski.

Champagne Charlie

Fabianksi you prick.

MidwestGun

Flappy Handski… with a shocker. Slow roller right through the 5 hole.