A new dawn #TeamPositiveGooners

by .

Today, it is my birthday, I am now at the age where I’d be getting a one year deal and everyone would be clapping like it was some sort of a major achievement, or worse, I’d be landing that deal because I’d done well for the club. A sympathy contract. I’m basically Dennis Bergkamp right now, slow, but I’ll still pick out the top corner if you let me.

The real birthday story is… I am sad. Yep. Really sad. Arsenal is not joy at the moment.

… but, I am ready to bury that sadness deep within, because I can’t be miserable any longer… metaphorically, I’m one walk to the fridge away from my career being over, so today, we hunt for a bit of positivity, because honestly, the lunatics were out in force yesterday after the game and we have to right some of the wrongs that are being spewed into the Goonerverse.

The surrounding noise

I had the view that the covid-disaster was going to take us places with this group of players. Turns out, I was totally wrong.

My hypothesis was that the uncertainty in the market would push players to find another level on the pitch as they fought for a contract, or, they fought for a future in the game.

This really was naive… no, it was stupid.

When you take people’s money away and they see that no one else in the league really took a pay cut, that has a negative affect. I know personally what pay cuts can do to people and their thinking. At first, it’s like, oh, ok, I’m saving the world out here… then, the dark clouds settle in and you start thinking… fuck you.

Some other factors that aren’t helping.

When Arsenal players are flogged in the press as potential exits or swaps, that has an affect. Lacazette, I am looking at you. He had to come out and call a random Twitter account a liar. Mentally, he’s been affected by uncertainty.

When four players don’t know their futures 2 weeks before they might be cut loose, that can be problematic. Firstly, it can have direct consequences on the pitch, and we saw that. Secondly, people who are at risk can spread misery in the squad. You’ve all had a Karen in the work kitchen telling you that the company is going to collapse, that happens in football.

There will also be a collection of players that know they are leaving in the summer. Do you think they are going to put their bodies on the line? Absolutely not.

Those above issues, at a club with a stronger culture for winning, might have been ok. But this is Arsenal. A place that has allowed our best player to take away days off for the last two years. Each one of those problems takes you further away from an elite culture, where perfection is what you strive for.

I don’t think this season will be a total disaster, but it’s apparent that we have a more complicated set of mitigating circumstances than most and it literally played out in a red card in our first game, and it certainly looked like there was a lack of effort in some quarters for the second.

Time

Arteta has been in the job 6 months, but he’s 13 games into his tenure, with a squad he’s spent zero money on. Why are so many fans jumping down his throat after every bad result? It is quite incredible. He’s picked up a squad of players that are on their 4th coach in 2 years at a club that is at its lowest ebb in about half a century. Freddie hated the senior players so much he fucked them off and played the kids. This is far from an ideal situation.

Picking up clubs midseason is very, very difficult.

Jurgen Klopp took Liverpool from 10th to 8th and he started in October. He had a far better squad to work with.

Jose Mourinho picked up Spurs from Pochettino, a club that was in the Champions League final last season and he has them sitting a whopping 2 points ahead of Arsenal.

OGS at United. A great start going 12 undefeated to… losing 5 of his final 9, notably losing to Cardiff in the last game of the season.

The mighty Carlo is 3 points behind us and barring a miracle today, will likely stay there.

That’s four pretty relevant comparisons. Picking up someone else’s players midseason when they’ve been utterly shit is not an easy job, so when all the new high-standards-bros are chirping away, put a little perspective on things. There is no manager in the world that was solving our issues in 13 games. Also, we have bought into a manager that wants to play like Pep, do we have players to do that right now? No. But we will at some point.

Mistakes

New managers are going to make them. Guess what, experienced managers also make them, especially at new clubs when they’re trying to work out what’s what. Arteta’s in-game management was not at its best at the weekend, but he’ll learn from the experience. Overall though, it’s hard not to watch that Brighton game back and think that we should have come away with three points. Our defending was just criminal, as it has been for years. We’ll hopefully fix that this summer with more suitable players.

Also, I say this in a hushed tone, for fear of waking the Gooners with the heavy set tattoos on the table behind me, but… we missed Granit Xhaka in our side. Our two best players at moving the ball between the lines are out. Mesut Ozil is on an effort holiday and Granit is injured. Say what you will about the Swiss, but the good parts of his game are sorely lacking at the moment. Dani Ceballos is not the full ticket, he’s been a huge disappointment. I like Matteo G, but he’s still a bit of a head-scratcher… I can’t work out what his thing is. That is not the sort of midfield that’s winning you games consistently. We need a Thomas Partey desperately.

Selection

This is my favourite debate at the moment. Every time we have a bad result, every man and his dog knows the exact reason. This week, ‘WHERE WAS MARTINELLI’, which is fine, we’re fans, we’re allowed to have opinions… but come on people, do you really think we’re a Martinelli away from cracking the code?

Last week it was Nic Pepe, who, outside an outrageous goal, was largely anonymous.

If the Brazilian isn’t playing, I suspect there’s a reason. At the moment, it’s because Saka is ahead of him in the pecking order, and I have to say, that’s absolutely fair. We all have this quick win solves that the entire coaching staff are missing, but we need to be real, there’s not a silver bullet in this squad. If there were, they’d be playing.

The Past

I know there are a lot of wounded Emeryista out there. They go into hiding during the good times, then as soon as we drop a few points, they’re out in the street, ringing a bell, messing their pants in public. We have to move beyond this. I could absolutely tolerate the AKB pining after their leader, because he was more than just a manager, he was… a father figure to a lost generation of fans. Yep, I know that’s weird, but it’s true.

Unai Emery? That’s a whole bag of weird. He was an abusive stepfather who didn’t even take time out to work out how to pronounce your mum’s name. How anyone can still be trying to litigate his passing is beyond me, but it has to stop, and I have to weed the poison out of the comments section here.

It’s time to move on.

On the Arsene piece, there’s also a collection of muppets that think the Wenger Out fans are getting what they deserve. No my friends, the sycophants that supported Wenger’s prolonged tenure are getting what they deserve. Wenger held onto power too long, he crashed the culture, he didn’t innovate, he held on to average staff, he spent bad money after bad money, he didn’t get contracts right… and then we doubled down on a terrible succession plan.

Wenger is not to be blamed for Arteta’s mistakes, but it is disingenuous in the extreme to say his exit was the problem. The problem is we didn’t move him on soon enough. We should have hired Klopp before Liverpool. We should have snapped at Pep when he was interested. We should have moved on a whole host of managers that could have moved good squads forward. Remember, Wenger blew the league to Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester.

Also, you don’t have to look at me for clarification on whether Wenger was finished. Just look at where he works now. That’s not because he was the magic wand keeping Arsenal together, it’s because his slow-motion crash over 10 years made it very clear that his idea of what the game should be was for 2004.

Conclusion

Onwards and upwards, we have to pick ourselves up the same way the players will be expected to. We have to get out the end of this season with a few wins. We have to hope the kids can pick up their game. Then we have to look forward to fast-forwarding 3 years transfer windows and reshape Arsenal into a lean, mean, battle machine.

The real focus for us should be on Stan Kroenke. He’s a real estate mogul, the market has crashed, he should move in on the weak clubs this summer and bring the squad up to standard in one quick hit. There will be SO much value to be had, but I fear we’re going to have wheel and deal with zero funds.

Josh and Stan need to step up, Raul needs rip the emergency cord and do something special this summer, Arteta needs to make sure he’s heard so there are no excuses next season.

Right, next up, a team we always have a good time against… Southampton.

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Redtruth

Pierre

You googled Marinello and looked up wikipedia for the information, you lying git…

Pierre

Martinelli 10 in 1463 – 146.3 minutes per goal
Nketiah 8 in 1173 – 146.625 minutes per goal.

Well marc , you certainly proved your point there…not.

Surely playing in the premier league is more difficult than the league or europa cup , wouldnt you say.

Globalgunner

Everton showing the kind of tactical onus and organisation. Not seen in an Arsenal side since 2005

Buzzy

Liverpool getting battered..somehow its not going in for Everton

Dissenter

Ancelotti is using the same players to improve performance
Think of what players his reputation will attract to Everton in the summer for his first TW.

Pierre

Ruth
What’s googled mean ?

Marc

Pierre

“Well marc , you certainly proved your point there…not.Surely playing in the premier league is more difficult than the league or europa cup , wouldnt you say.”

Well I’d say the PL is much more difficult and that’s why I’d already posted:

Nketiah 1 goal and 330 minutes played in the PL.

Martinelli 3 goals and 656 minutes played in the PL.

How does that prove my point?

Marc

Hello little p

where are you?

Buzzy

The only thing going for this Liverpool team is pace on the wings and individual brilliance in finishing…from an overall footballing perspective, they haven’t really impressed. And they were being compared to the invincibles? No way in hell next season city’s coming behind them

Marc

tiny little p

you seem to have disappeared

Sid

Some random thought…..
Mental health is even more important than anal health,

Pierre

Fred still getting uptight about Ozil and his contract , even though we keep losing without him.

Don’t worry Fred he’ll be back in for the next game ro help us get a result.

A little unlucky yesterday, all we need is a decent ref and a bit of luck to get things back on track.

MD-Gunner

Pedro, “MD, it’ll absolutely be football related. Arteta is an absolute obsessive, he’ll not be keeping players out the team out of spite. ” “Diss, he had Luiz playing like a warrior so I’m not sure the faith was unjust.” This article blows a whole in your theory. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-8435841/David-Luizs-Hall-Horrors-Arsenal-defenders-long-list-gaffes.html Either MA thought he could reform Luiz when all the managers of Brazi, PSG and Chelsea could not then he is delusional. If he didn’t know about it he is incompetent. That shows he does make decisions on none football related matters who plays and who doesn’t. Watching Everton begs again… Read more »

Marc

little p

You seem to be ignoring the stats now after bringing them up?

Marc

sid

I’m pretty sure you’re struggling in both departments.

Pierre

Marc
So we are in agreement…

Globalgunner

We signed the wrong manager

Marc

It’d actually be worth the current shit show Arsenal are putting up if Liverpool blew the title.

I think I’d need medical assistance I’d laugh so much.

Ishola70

Arteta seems a sort of grounded person so I’m sure he would hold his hands up and say as a rookie manager he could be guilty of rookie mistakes at times.

There seems to be some though that don’t want to entertain this notion.

Arteta as rookie head coach/manager can make rookie mistakes. Oh the shock and horror of it all.

It’s a case of how quickly he learns on the job and if he learns enough and implements to be a success.

Receding Hairline

Like we have never lost a game with Ozil….a man your age shouldn’t say certain stupid stuff. Ozil has avoided as many away games as he can get away with throughout his time here. He isn’t playing Europa football with us because he loves the club, he is doing so because he and his agent tied him up to a contract no other football club will give him.

Freddie Ljungberg

Pierre

Considering I’m an Arsenal fan and not idolizing has been players yes, I want to get rid of him.

His wages could be spread around 3 new top young midfielders that would actually contribute to the team, and we would have money left over for a couple of players more.

I’m sure we would miss his 3 goal contributions per season though against cannon fodder at home. Smh

Marc

Pierre

I think your senility is getting out of control.

Martinelli has scored 3 times the goals in under twice the minutes.

Receding Hairline

Ishola admitting Arteta is a rookie contradicts the whole sauce build up.

I for one expected these mistakes, what I did not expect is his total inability to read a game from the sidelines and make the necessary adjustments.

Pedro

RH, sauce doesn’t mean experience.

Pierre

Marc
“Nketiah 1 goal and 330 minutes played in the PL

.Martinelli 3 goals and 656 minutes played in the PL.”

“Martinelli has scored 3 times the goals in under twice the minutes.”

Maths mot your strongest point then

MD-Gunner

The story about Arteta’s rehab is starting to make the rounds.

Marc

Pedro

Fuck me talk about re writing history? What about when I and some others were dismissed when we said talking on a manager who had zero minutes managing was a huge risk not matter how highly rated they are?

Now it’s “he lacks experience”

Redtruth

Pierre

Injuries, suspensions, refereeing decisions, players making mistakes all conspired against Emery, I am glad we are in agreement

Guns of SF

Everton played well and could have won today…
Where can we find our version of Richarlison. A poor kid, who risked it all to be a footballer and suceeded.
Non stop running, defending, fearless and skillfull.

Shit …. we need one of him in the team or more!!!!!

Pedro

Marc, not quite sure what you are saying… was there a point when I said sauce meant experience?

Marc

Pierre

Are you a fucking retard?

Nketiah 330 minutes per goal

Martinelli 219 minutes per goal.

Or are you just trolling again you senile old cunt.

Sid

MarcJune 21, 2020 19:52:17
sidI’m pretty sure you’re struggling in both departments

Did Your tongue give you that conclusion on the latter?

Upstate Gooner

Super goal by Inter

Pierre

Marc
Martinelli 10 in 1463 – 146.3 minutes per goal
Nketiah 8 in 1173 – 146.625 minutes per goal.

Now let me see , how does that equate to 3 times the goals in under twice the minutes..

And more importantly, why are you even bothered that Martinelli has scored .00000000000000001 goals more than Nketiah.

Marc

Pedro

No you implied sauce meant experience wasn’t required. Arteta was too saucy to need experience.

It’s all looking a little bit different now though isn’t it?

Marc

Pierre

“Now let me see , how does that equate to 3 times the goals in under twice the minutes..”

I was referring to PL goals as you well know and had asked about.

Cunt

Pierre

Marc
“Are you a fucking retard?”

Are you English …

Pedro

Marc, your maths and understanding are off today

Have you been drinking?

Pierre

Oops
Marc’s been drinking too much ..getting abusive over Martinelli and Eddie’s stats is a sure sign that he can’t handle his drink.

Marc

Pedro

Then you’ll have to give me the numbers?

Thomas

Arteta was a horrible choice. Why take a complete novice when there are managers out there with experience? Hilariously bad call.

Receding Hairline

Pedro lord knows what it means then cos it certainly doesn’t mean an ability to influence games via sub’s or come up with a game plan that utilizes the players at his disposal to create chances in games.

Champagne Charlie

Since when has sauce ever meant lack of experience wasn’t going to need overcome?

That’s projecting good and proper. Those who advocated Arteta did so in spite of his experience as you can gain that, but cant gain the talent and potential.

Guns of SF

______auba______
Martinelli___ Saka___ Pepe
_____dani___Guen/ Willock____
Tierney__Mustafi__- Holding___ Bellerin

we should play our most attacking side in this formation… I like Gabby in the lineup and Saka again at 10…. He has good movement and might be able to create in that position for us

At this point why not…

andy1886

Come on Pierre you know that was PL goals only.

3 is three time one.

656 is less than twice 330.

It’s simple, are you??

Sid

At this point we should play formetions with 3 CBs and wingbacks, we are too porous with other formations.

Guns of SF

Sid with Tierney and Bell back we dont really need too.

With my lineup, the front 4 can interchange fairly easily… it gives us better movement options

Receding Hairline

Charles have you seen this talent in play? You are so quick to talk about his talent as a coach what exactly is this based on? And besides coaching and managing a team all on your own is two different things. This total belief in Arteta kind of baffles me, does he have antecedents as a football manager only a select few are privy to? You and Pedro are flat out refusing there exists a possibility his theories might be difficult to put in practice. That he may indeed not end up being as good a head coach as you… Read more »

Marc

Thanks andy

Pierre’s trolling – he brought up the goals in all competitions because the PL is the yardstick and then didn’t like it when the PL numbers made Nketiah look worse.

andy1886

Marc, at least he didn’t bring up friendlies like a certain blogger (lol) or goals for Lewisham pre-school under threes.

Receding Hairline

*does that possibility exist?

Not those for crying out loud.

Marc

andy

How fucking dare you “goals for Lewisham pre-school under threes.” my scoring prowess at that age was legendary

Marc

Pedro

Still waiting for those numbers?

Redtruth

Pedro

It will be three games when we lose our upcoming game.

Marc

The numbers that I put up that you dismissed.

“Marc, your maths and understanding are off today”

Please enlighten me with the real numbers?

Marc

Red

4 when we get knocked put of the Cup next Sunday.

Champagne Charlie

Receding I’m “quick” to talk about his talent because that’s the reasoning for him being headhunted by Pep, Poch and Wenger, then getting the Arsenal job. It’s not on his hair, or his way with words which is some of the dafter suggestions been made. You, and others, can sit and question the merits of his potential but I place enough trust in the systems that operate to allow myself the room to consider Arteta may possess the requisite talents to establish himself as an excellent Arsenal manager. There’s been enough young upstarts for that possibility to be very real.… Read more »

andy1886

Pedro, not even slightly singed, I’m paler than an albino polar bear.

Doesn’t just about everyone say that pre-season counts for nothing or am I in an alternative universe? Not that I said that anyway.

Don’t forget Sanogo scored four goals in Arsenal’s 5–1 win over Benfica in the Emirates Cup on 2 August 2014. How did things go for him after that when the real competition started?

Ouch!

Redtruth

I can’t listen to someone like Champagne charlie who thinks Xhaka is an excellent buy…..

Goonerkitt

Pierre is being a cockwomble

Champagne Charlie

Red

You’d drink Corbyns bath water, think you’ve got no room for throwing any stones.

Marc

So we’re heading for a situation where losing the remaining 10 PL games and getting knocked out of the Cup by Sheffield Utd doesn’t count for anything but beating Charlton in a “pre season” friendly carries real weight.

What the fuck is going on on here?

Receding Hairline

What changes? Literally nothing has changed for crying out loud!! We have all seen this movie before.

Pedro the Arsenal job isn’t really that hot anymore, we are club with players we can’t move, players overrated above their abilities and a culture of complacency that stinks to the high heavens.

As for your contacts vouching for him…. I don’t really think that merits a response. Unless you are in contact with people from the future

Goonerkitt

I hope Arteta is getting the team to play shit to encourage the krankies to cough up the cash for a summer shopping spree

Redtruth

Champagne Charlie

Johnson is doing a great job lol

Goonerkitt

Happy birthday Pedro.
Did you get one of those special deloreans for your birthday?

Redtruth

No time to give Arteta the benefit of the doubt, he’s clearly out of his depth as is Champagne Charlie

Receding Hairline

Charles there was nothing tragic about our last hire. He had a target and just about failed to meet it. That you have persisted in painting his time here as some car crash is your issue not anyone’s else’s. We are discussing our present manager, your excitement isn’t shared by many, we have all been watching the same games and they have been as bad as they could possibly be.

But then again you were all giddy about Mari and Soares so there is that …seems your standards have plummeted now you agree with the hire

Marc

Pedro

Show me the numbers?

Champagne Charlie

“Charles there was nothing tragic about our last hire.“

Just a dead spot for you isn’t it? He’s not here because his hire was so poor. Get with the programme, he wasn’t given an extension for his brilliance.

How am I giddy about either player? Being open to seeing them improve us for little outlay?

andy1886

Pre-season form eh? Following Sanogo’s heroics in 2014 the following season we beat Champions Chelsea 1-0 in the Community Shield….then lost our opener at home to West Ham. Next season we beat Man City pre-season and then lost the opener at home to Liverpool (Joel Campbell and Chuba Akpom were on fire pre-season….). And on to 2017…Arsenal win the Community Shield again against Champions Chelsea and come back to beat Leicester 4-3 in the opener. We then lose to Stoke (0-1) and get thrashed 4-0 by Liverpool (the previous game where we had zero shots on target in the whole… Read more »

Receding Hairline

No he is not here because we started the next season badly not for anything that happened in his first. Same way Poch isn’t at Spurs, Ancellotti isn’t at Napoli etc. Only people making a drama out of it is people like you looking to prove a non existent point. Changes are made at the helm of a football club for a variety of reasons.

TR7

It’s either a case of Emery aplogists being really keen and eager to see Arteta fail so that their stand on both Emery and Arteta could be vindicated or a case of insatiable desire for instant success. We have little to no money to spend, there have been a lot of injuries, there are overdrawn contract negotiations with certain important members of our team, there was a 3 month break due to Covid-19 and most importantly the new guy inherited a mess from Emery but most of you are not taking in to account any of these factors. I am… Read more »

Redtruth

Only one person to blame for the season being a write off and that’s the clueless one in charge.

TR7

Most of you are miffed Martinelli isn’t getting a chance. While I am curious to know as well why he isn’t, you got to accept that there could be a legitimate reason behind it which the coaching staff is aware of and we aren’t.

MD-Gunner

From the Athletic an interesting piece by James McNicholas How can Arteta rebuild without knowing which building blocks will be in place? Arsenal’s return to football has been painfully familiar. Fans have waited patiently in line to hear the eclectic new album, but have instead been treated to all the classic hits — a veritable ‘Worst Of’, including sloppy defending, punishing injuries, in-public contract negotiations and disappointing away days. Even the manner of Leno’s loss echoed injuries sustained in similar circumstances by Mathieu Debuchy and Alexis Sanchez. Thus far it’s been less Project Restart, more Project Rewind. This week has… Read more »

andy1886

TR7: Hysteria?

Not really. Hysteria would be proclaiming the boss as the new Messiah based on nothing much at all.

Let’s see where we are end of next season, but when he makes mistakes people are perfectly entitled to question that. Let’s hope he learns fast starting with dropping his campaign to re-sign Luiz….

Marc

TR7

” you got to accept that there could be a legitimate reason behind it which the coaching staff is aware of and we aren’t.”

Absolutely right but there’s one small issue – why put him on the bench then?

Marc

Pedro

No numbers?

Receding Hairline

TR7 I don’t take anyone seriously when they start with Emery apologists and wanting too see Arteta fail you know why? Because that person is just projecting his past attitude on others. I derived no pleasure from watching our last two games. I derived no pleasure from not being able to discern a pattern of play. I derived no pleasure from watching us pass the ball slowly and without ambition. No pleasure in witnessing substitutions being made just for the sake of it. We had above 150m worth of talent in our forward line and some highly rated (at least… Read more »

TR7

Andy ‘Let’s see where we are end of next season, but when he makes mistakes people are perfectly entitled to question that’ Are we asking specific questions though ? Most of what I read is generic slander about him being a novice. Oh we should have hired Ancelloti/Mourinho/even Sean Dyche. Arsenal job being too big for him. These are all accusations stemming from people’s own biases. Dissenter was going on and on about Everton’s resolute display today against Liverpool. I thought both Pool and Everton were ordinary today and there was nothing special from Everton for someone to lavish rich… Read more »

Olumide

Happy birthday to you Pedro. Thanks for keeping this place lively through COVID19. Best of luck in the future…

andy1886

TR7. As I hinted people were promised some kind of super-coach, a tactical genius and moulder of players. No wonder when the reality was somewhat more realistic they were a bit miffed. TBH I honestly believe if all the PR nonsense prior and during his appointment had been dialled down we wouldn’t have much of this antagonism specifically on LG. I’m sure we could all have got on board with a promising young prospect who would make mistakes rather than the second coming of Pep. People don’t like being taken for mugs, then being fobbed off when the product isn’t… Read more »

TR7

RH

Well, we did see some good performances in the first few games from Arteta especially against Chelsea. While I agree our performance was poor against Brighton but in general we have looked more solid under Arteta than we ever did under Emery. Individual errors have led to us conceding most of the goals rather than any tactical or organizational deficiency. I am a sucker for good football, so eventually I will judge Arteta on whether he can elevate the standard of our game but we got to wait.

TR7

Marc

As I said there needs to be more clarity on Martinelli situation and I am sure we will all get to know about this ina few days. My wild guess is MA is giving Nketiah games to judge whether he is good enough for us while he has no such doubt over Martinelli and he will slot GM in our side when he has made a decision one way or the other on Nketiah.

TR7

RH

Moreover, all the teams have looked rusty post the break. Even Pool was nowhere close to their usual standard. If we do not see an upturn in our form say even after 2-3 weeks then that will be a cause of concern.

Overmars

Here’s a fact – Since March last year, Arsenal have only won 4 away games. In all 4 games, Aubameyang started through the middle on his own.

What does that tell you? That this myth of having a striker that gets involved in the physical battle with defenders (e.g Lacazette, Giroud, etc) when we play away is a load of shit.

Play your best players in their best positions i.e Pepe on the right, Saka on the left, Aubameyang through the middle, don’t over complicate things.

Pierre was right, keep things simple.

TR7

Andy

Who takes seriously epithets/tags such as super coach, tactical genius bestowed upon someone who is still learning the trade of football management ? It is not Arteta’s fault that he got great PR. He got the Arsenal job because he was a former Arsenal player who apparently had good leadership skills, could communicate effectively, worked closely with a great manager for 2 years and improved the game of a couple of players especially Sterling. Anything else is/was media hogwash/PR and should not have been taken seriously.

The Backpass

” but in general we have looked more solid under Arteta than we ever did under emery” Except, the Xg tells a different story. Emery was trash, glad he his gone but Arteta hasn’t even gotten the basic right.. It will take close to 3 years before Arteta really gets the basic experience. I pray we dont languish in Midtable by then. Are we ready to wait for Arteta to become a good coach, he simply has nothing to fall back on when all chips are down. Personally, I dont rate him and people who do, do so in hope… Read more »

andy1886

Overmars – quite agree. We still have a pretty average midfield (and that’s being generous) but at least play to your strengths which means players in their best positions, utilising strengths (speed on the counter) and mitigating your weaknesses (don’t try to outplay better sides in the middle of the park).

Hardly rocket science.

andy1886

TR7 – Probably would have been helpful to give Pedro that advice a few months back…..

TR7

Backpass

‘Personally, I dont rate him and people who do, do so in hope he comes good.’

Except the likes of Pep, Klopp, Conte etc. whose appointment would have you totally convinced ?

Habesha Gooner

Players I would keep this summer considering finances Gk Leno, Martinez RB Bellerin, Soares CB, Saliba, Mari, Holding, Chambers, Luiz ( a year more) Lb, Tierney, CM, Torriera, Guendouzi, Willock, AMN ( as a utility player too) AM, Smith-Rowe LW, Saka/Martinelli RW Pepe/Nelson CF, Auba( if he signs on reasonably), Martinelli, Eddie Move on Lacazette ( would keep him if Auba moves), Mustafi, Sokratis, Kolasinac ( keep him if there are no takers), Xhaka ( I doubt it), Ceballos ( shouldn’t even consider him for a loan again), Auba ( if he doesn’t sign), Ozil ( would take no fee… Read more »

Overmars

andy1886

“We still have a pretty average midfield”

We have been after lockdown. If I’m trying to be optimistic (and yes I’m probably clutching at straws), I would say that our best midfield trio – Xhaka, Torriera and Ozil, all haven’t played. Would results have been different if all 3 were fit? I would hope so. But still, with the players who have played, we should be doing better.

Dissenter

TR7
“While I agree our performance was poor against Brighton but in general we have looked more solid under Arteta than we ever did under Emery. ”

This again insane abject t lie
I can point to 13 games Emery cached where we played better than anything Arteta has dished out.

It’s pergfectliu okay to ask for time for the new manager. It’s another to exagerate our performances under Arteta. There are several big games where Arsenal showed up under Emery.

Overmars

As I’ve got 10 minutes spare, here’s my verdict on our squad: Leno – Although not very commanding in the box, great shot stopper, KEEP. Bellerin – Give him 1 more year, doesn’t look the player he was since before his injury. If he doesn’t improve we could sell him and get 20 million plus. I’m convinced there are dozens of better RB’s out there. Tierney – Need his confidence back, unlucky with injuries. Could be a solid left back for us for next 8 years, Elneny – Time waster, sell. Sokratis – Good stop gap for a couple of… Read more »