‘United will get run ragged by the German boys’
The coolest take of mine this week.
Getting smashed by OGS 5-0 is embarrassing. But look, that’s the reality of United, they have a lot of good players that on their night, can be absolutely devastating.
… poor Nagelsmann. That’s a real spanking. Another one of my hipster fantasies running into problems.
So, onto Arsenal.
We host Dundalk. It’s a dreamy story of a team that’s climbed the ranks with a coach that was teaching kids to play football in America not so long ago. What a day out they’re going to have.
We should beat them, but they’ll be high on life, so this will very much take on the vibe of an early-round FA Cup game. I’m praying for a win out here…
There’s a lot of misery around Arsenal and Arteta at the moment. Everyone needs to take a reality pill and get back on track with what the project is about.
This time last year, people were genuinely talking about Arsenal getting relegated. We were 12 points off 1st, and 4 points off 14th. There was no direction, the players looked uninterested, and things were about to get very, very bad for us.
We hired in a 38-year-old manager. He expertly steered us out of a hideous situation and stabilised the club. That was a huge task most thought he was incapable of.
His biggest mission has been to change the culture of the club, that takes time, especially when you can’t turn over large chunks of the squad that were badly recruited.
Arteta tasked himself with making us difficult the beat. He has achieved that. No one comes to Arsenal to roll us these days, you might think that’s no big deal, but we have literally been getting rolled by top teams for 10 years. We are good at defending. We have the second-best defence in the league and we rarely concede more than one goal. Shots against us have drastically reduced. Again, you might think that’s par the course, but it is within living memory that Watford had 32 attempts at our goal.
Part one of the job is on track. The foundation has been set. The next phase is about fixing the attack.
Here, we have to be realistic. Solving that problem with internal solutions, to the level we require, is unlikely to happen. We don’t have the attacking riches United, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea or City have… even Everton look like they have better-attacking options than we do.
We clearly lack a #10 or a modern #8 player. It isn’t one player either, it’s two. We don’t have players that thrive in the half-spaces. There’s no Hleb, Santi, Wilshere or Rosicky to make the magic happen. We’re currently relying on Saka adapting to that role, and that will be a huge ask. He’s more suited as a wide player.
Wide player-wise, there’s simply no world in which Arteta sanctions £72m for Pepe. He’s not playing well because he’s not that good. We hope based on his price tag, the reality is, if his name was Billy Smith and he was a youth player, we’d not be interested. Reiss Nelson is now the answer, but let’s be honest, he was struggling the break into Hoffenheim after a blistering start and we spent the summer trying to move him on. We love Gabriel, but it’s still a stretch to think he’s going to be a teenage saviour this season.
Then you look at the striking options. Auba through the middle isn’t an option because he can’t hold the ball up in the way we’d like. Lacazette isn’t right, and Eddie seems a way off ready. Fans are pumping Balogun?! That’s not right.
If we’re realistic, solving our attack is going to be very, very tough.
At the moment, our approach is to squeeze out chances to make our powerplays. The hope is that out of 4-5 good chances we create, we score one and batten down the hatches. This season, our form has been poor and we’re not taking our chances. Nothing has clicked and lady luck has covid.
You also have to accept that when you hire a young coach, they will make mistakes and misjudge situations. Arteta has a high ceiling, but he has to learn. We couldn’t afford to spend £15m on Poch, so we took a chance on potential. He will fumble, he will do odd things, but that’s a price worth paying, because when he gets it right, and he will, it’ll be worth the entrance fee.
‘SACK HIM’ is not analysis. It’s what stupid people who live in the moment say. Again, worth noting that the ‘best young coach in the world’, just had his arse handed to him by OGS. RB Leipzig is a very well assembled side deep into its development. They made the semi-finals of the Champions League last season. They are a good team, but bumps in the road are part of the journey when you bring in a young manager. Even Jose, with a far better squad than ours, tanked a 3-0 lead to West Ham.
I also find the perversion people have over William Saliba very, very odd. Arsenal are pretty good at defending. If we are not including a young player in our squad this season, there’s a good reason for it. The player had fitness issues last season, so we know there are problems there, because the Premier League is brutal. He can’t speak English, which is also tough to manage. He’s 19 years old, has just moved to a new country, and he’s dealing with horrendous personal problems. Do we think throwing a precocious talent into the first team, just because Dave on the internet saw two minutes of him on Youtube, is a good idea? Do we need to wreck him in front of millions to prove a point? 19-year-old centre backs at the highest level of the Premier League are a very, very, very rarely a thing. Arteta is protecting a player that has a very, very, very long career ahead of him. You are really struggling if your analysis of our problems right now is #FreeSaliba… but again, when things are not going well, any average idea is given oxygen.
Arteta will experiment. He is humble enough to admit when he’s wrong. He will develop his ideas. But you need to brace for the fact that the path to top 4 is not paved in goals, it’s brick walls and ruthless discipline… and the hope that January might bring a present or two.
Don’t lose faith. Don’t covet busted flushes that started with better tools. Keep the faith. This is the way. xx
Ishola
Agreed regarding Xhaka, it’s my biggest worry concerning Arteta in that he sees Xhaka as an important player for the team in the future. I can just about understand ‘now’ but in years to come? We cannot achieve our true ambitions with such a limited player as a guaranteed starter.
There’s no flip flop, I spent the summer supporting creativity over a DM.
He’s also not missing players. He’s fitting his misshaped pegs into a system… because this is the best way to work with this squad.
Pedro
Olumide, FA cup? Second best defence in the league? Community shield? Competitive? Good press?Bar that, nothing
—
And you managed to not answer my two questions.
When should we expect beautiful football from Arteta?
What should be the minimum league position for Arteta this season?
Chris “Agreed regarding Xhaka, it’s my biggest worry concerning Arteta in that he sees Xhaka as an important player for the team in the future.” Well I’m not sure about the future but for the betterment of the side he should be planning his team without so much Xhaka in the here and now but instead we hear the complete opposite and he is going to continue to have him as absolutely integral to the side. We lack fluidity with Xhaka conducting proceedings and that’s not even delving into his other obvious weaknesses. If Arteta wants to continue going with… Read more »
CONGRATULATIONS PEDRO A PROFOUND DOSE OF COMMON SENSE, LIKE MANY OTHERS I GET FRUSTRATED WITH THE LACK OF PROGRESS, WILL JUST HAVE TOO BE PATIENT .
WILL NOT MENTION THE UTD RESULT
Fuck me Pedro Talk about rewriting history. The only person talking about Arsenal getting relegated last season was CG – the guy you used to spoon with on here when he was slagging off the club and everyone in it. You only banned him when he turned on Arteta which was always going to happen. You shouted down everyone who dared to comment that taking on a rookie manager was a risk – now you’re telling us that we should expect “bumps on the road”, you consistently pushed that Emery had a squad good enough to make top 4 –… Read more »
Creativity doesn’t have to come via btl players in half spaces though. Since Arteta favours the CF dropping deeper with the WFs making runs off him, Arteta could buy Sebastien Haller to play CF. Auba-Haller-Saka is pretty good front 3. Depending on Saka’s production, could be a top 4 level front 3. He also had the ball side CM in deep in the half spaces last game. The CM can put in crosses from there, trying to hit the far side winger and the CF. Crosses from half spaces are difficult to defend against. There was a nice moment at… Read more »
Ishola70
Seeing Xhaka not in our starting eleven over the past few years frightened me.
That might have said more about our other options than it did about Xhaka’s quality.
But I still think he’s been our most important midfielder, and by some distance.
I’m interested to see how the team develops with Partey over the next few months.
It’s Arteta’s first big punt, he’s signed a player who’s at the peak of his powers, and it’s a signing that really has to work.
Oh year my prediction for Sunday is a 3-0 or 3-1 loss with Gabriel getting a red card for not much but with Mike Dean what do you expect.
Are you kidding me criticizing Ozil and highlighting his uselessness these last few years and then mentioning him (or not replacing him) as an excuse for what we’re seeing is a flip flop. He’s also not missing players. He’s fitting his misshaped pegs into a system… because this is the best way to work with this squad. Wow. Seriously wow. I’ll not go far down this road because I know where it leads to but instead I’ll finish by asking any idea why he plays Auba LW, Saka LWB and Tierney LCB and see us struggle when against Sheffield United… Read more »
@Marc
I agree 100%
Marko
Poor little Arteta doesn’t have the striker he wants who can hold the ball up – then why the fuck didn’t he sell AMN and buy one who could?
Rich
We played our best football in periods this season against Shefiield United in midfield without Xhaka.
We had Ceballos actually giving some fluidity to the midfield in that match.
The Pepe goal and the number of passes leading to that goal testifies to that.
But you continue with your Xhaka narrative.
You don’t have another option really do you if you are backing Arteta to the hilt at this time.
Marc
I’m going for Arsenal 2–1 win.
We’re overdue a result up there, and we’re overdue some marginal decisions going in our favour this season.
Won’t get into politics with you, but if you fancy knocking one out, get onto the news channels, The Labour Party is eating itself, Corbyn’s suspended, and another 15 look likely to follow him out the door 💉
TYAG
What my prediction for Sunday or the rant?
We will be ok against Utd and get at least a draw . ________their 4-4-2 diamond will leave alot of space for us to exploit . Wanbisaka____Lindeloff___Maguire___Shaw If ever there was a backline for Saka__Auba and Pepe to attack and exploit its that back four. Their midfield of __________Matic __Fred_____________Pogba __________Bruno is nice and tidy but not exactly anything to fear . with Dani/Xhaka and Thomas, we should hold our own whilst staying solid . Hector and ANM should have the freedom of the park to create overlaps . Greenwood and Rashford will provide pace but no great aerial threat… Read more »
Rich
I’d heard about Corbyn. I’ve actually been starting a rumour this morning that the guy Starmer ran over on Sunday was Jewish!
Poor little Arteta doesn’t have the striker he wants who can hold the ball up
Yeah I forgot to comment on this nonsense earlier. Our tactic at the moment is diagonal balls from a CB to an attacker or winger we don’t play it up to a target man to hold up play so that’s not an excuse at all. It’s also not an excuse when you factor in Mikel starting Lacazette and Nketiah CF neither of whom are particularly good at holding up the ball. Not to mention their abject form
What exactly is the point of debating on here with Pedro?
Off hand mockery responses and belittling of accomplished coaches seems to be the end result
Then a definitive Arteta is a great coach and everyone at the club respects him sound bite
No real points just excuses and repetition of a mantra like an ardent believer of a religious cult.
Marko
The rumours last season was that Laca had been caught by his long time girlfriend putting it about so his head wasn’t right – this season he looks like someone with the flu who’s been asked to play football anyway. Guy look’s fucked before we kick off.
I’ve also got a nasty feeling Arteta will play too many first teamer’s tonight – if he does he’ll be moaning about fatigue on Sunday.
We have Partey for only two games. We have to build the game around him. This long ball attack through Luiz can only be a temporary solution. It can easily be stopped. Also long balls are 50/50.
Let’s see whether Arteta and his coaching team really have the sauce. I would like to see that we have a system where the midfielders and the attackers will exchange passes. Up to now, the midfielders and the attackers are living in two detached worlds.
Ishola70 Try reading my comments, not taking them out of context. I think Xhaka has been more experienced and a better option than our previous options. Which have been Guendouzi aged 19/20, Torreira 22/23, and Ceballos 23, and settling into a new league. Xhaka has more playing experience than all of them put together, and experience in a team can make all the difference I’m not making the case for Xhaka being the second coming of Vieira, I just think he’s been the best of our available options. While I see his limitations, I don’t think he’s as bad as… Read more »
“Up to now, the midfielders and the attackers are living in two detached worlds.”
They will continue do so unless you have a CF who can hold up the ball and combine
OR
have BTL creators.
Until this team engages more in central midfield it is not going to progress to the highest levels.
That’s why it is disappointing to hear things like Xhaka is going to continue to be the heartbeat of the side. He can’t engage in cental midfield. He has to play on the edges either deep or wide.
“ Even tonight’s game is making me nervous against an Irish pub team.“
Nah, I’m pretty sanguine about tonight.
Unless there’s drinking, swearing or fistfights involved Arsenal’s got it.
The rumours last season was that Laca had been caught by his long time girlfriend putting it about so his head wasn’t right
How’s that an excuse for garbage performances? Thick cunt does stupid thing isn’t an excuse. And besides Alex Lacazette has been the definition of hit and miss since joining us anyway. Now he’s just constantly fouling arguing with the ref and throwing his arms up in the air because you know he can do sweet fuck all else
Marko
It wasn’t making excuses it’s pointing out if it’s not one thing with Laca it’s another.
Ishola
“He can’t engage in cental midfield. He has to play on the edges either deep or wide.”
Not true.
The issue is of not having enough players taking up good positions in the pockets of space between the opponent’s midfield and defence lines.
If you look at distance covered in xhaka’s progressive passes, it was more than 400 yards per90 which was one of the best in Europe before it dropped below 300, due to arsenal removing Ozil, Ramsey,mkhi and iwobi from the team and not replacing them.
Xhaka is only useful because of his long diagonal balls. Those are effective because our play is so slow and ponderous any sudden switch of play accelerates it. Replace Xhaka by a more dynamic player and the switch of play are less necessary. One of the best performance we had against a low bloc team was last year under Emery with a midfield duo of Guendouzi and Willock as a pivot with Ceballos further up. With Ceballos in Guendouzi role, Partey in Willock role and ESR/Saka in Ceballos role we would be immediately a lot more fluid and attacking. The… Read more »
Leftfootcurler Don’t talk nonsense. Xhaka has been playing deep for Arsenal since he virtually arrived. Wenger for a short period played him bang in the centre of the pitch and saw it wasn’t a good idea. Why do you think Xhaka gets shunted to the left in games? He is not a bona fide central midfielder. And what has his passing got to do with him being able to operate to a required standard bang in the centre of the pitch? The overwhelming majority of his passes are from deeper positions, sideways or if he does venture bang in the… Read more »
“the switch of play are less necessary.”
Unless your opponent’s low block is shit, you have to stretch their shape.
For that,switches are extremely necessary.
Owners have bought into the Arteta project don’t see him going anywhere unless we finish way down table, bottom 1/4.
________________
Yep I agree Sal, but have a look at our schedule the next 5 games. It could get incredibly ugly.. and then all bets are off. It’s going to be a trial by fire. Hoping we come through it in a reasonable position but I’m worried about it.
Distance covered in passes is only a snippet of Xhaka’s play. It is one string to his bow that he can pick a good pass.
Other features of his play hinder us greatly, such as his lack of mobility, concentration lapses and poor ability to handle pressure.
It’s really hard to take these blogs seriously Pedro. What you have written today is almost the polar opposite of what you wrote on Monday after the Leicester game. You were critical of Arteta then and today you defend him as a young manager etc etc.
It’s too early for any judgement but to give Arteta a blank cheque because he’s a new manager and because you favored his appointment
is wrong. Of course he needs more time but it’s foolish to pretend that some of the team selections, tactics and rigid playing style are not of concern to fans.
Pedro, you’re really setting double standards for your golden boy. First you say we were “ineffective for 10 years despite playing beautiful football”, then you say we’ve improved under Arteta despite playing gruesome football because the ugly football helped us win the FA Cup. So how is that an improvement over playing reasonably beautiful football, finishing top 4 regularly, AND winning the FA cup three times in five years? You’re really shilling a bit heavy-handedly for the generational talent. And I would also ask: what is the lowest final league position we should expect this year? The one that doesn’t… Read more »
Leftfootcurler
That’s an interesting stat.
Arteta spoke at the end of last season about how we used to have loads of creative No10 types, and how he hoped we’d have a few more in future.
Hopefully KSE back him for his top target in January.
Ishola
“Xhaka has been playing deep for Arsenal since he virtually arrived”
What I mean by playing through the centre is breaking the opposition’s midfield lines via passing to team mates who stay in the pockets of space between the opposition’s midfield and defence lines.
If you mean standing right in the centre of the pitch, that’s not important.
Hey look no one should be seriously talking about the manager being at risk it’s beyond stupid. But at the same time some of the mistakes he’s making and the excuses being offered up in defence are honestly bad
Chris
“Other features of his play hinder us greatly, such as his lack of mobility, concentration lapses and poor ability to handle pressure.”
Yes. It’s why I don’t like xhaka.
Leftfootcurler “If you mean standing right in the centre of the pitch, that’s not important.” That’s where you are totally wrong. If a player is tagged as the heartbeat of the side then he should be able to engage with the opposition bang in the centre of the pitch. Not needing to play around the edges to feel comfortable. Considering he is not the quickest either this Arsenal heartbeat is not very rapid is it. Take for example the Leicester match. Xhaka was shunted out to the left and was still receiving the ball first out of the midfielders. And… Read more »
Rich
Lack of those types is precisely the reason why we are not a top 4 team.
Pedro really working hard to be Mikel’s PA.
Oh dear, some level-headed Xhaka talk. That’ll tickle the sack of a few on here.
Rich/Leftfoot… he’s a waste of space, adopt this line of thinking or you’ll be ridiculed trust me.
LFC
“The issue is of not having enough players taking up good positions in the pockets of space between the opponent’s midfield and defence lines.”
Agree. Last game, our three midfielders were positioning on a line. They should assign one moving between the opponent’s midfield and defence lines. Our attackers were lining up with their defense line. They should offer themselves for passes.
Champagne Charlie
“he’s a waste of space, adopt this line of thinking or you’ll be ridiculed trust me”
Pedro stated the other day that the Xhaka experiment should end.
How level headed is that for you?
Xhaka is a defensive liability. Rogers knew it so are all other EPL managers. Case closed.
Ishola
Not interested in your fetish.
“Take for example the Leicester match. Xhaka was shunted out to the left and was still receiving the ball first out of the midfielders. And you think this is a good idea? The heartbeat of the side operating from the left side” I don’t consider xhaka as the “heartbeat” of the side. And yes I see no problems with him operating on the left. It’s all about team dynamics. The reason Arteta wanted Partey so bad is because he wants “wide DMs”. Its a reverse concept to Pep’s inverted FBs. Pep wanted to have 10s in midfield instead of “real… Read more »
I think the criticism of Xhaka here is mostly level headed, there are plenty of constructive reasons offered as to why he shouldn’t play such an active role in the team if we want to achieve our ambitions, which doesn’t completely discount the qualities he does possess. It is just the negatives outweighs the positives.
Nelson
“Agree. Last game, our three midfielders were positioning on a line. They should assign one moving between the opponent’s midfield and defence lines. Our attackers were lining up with their defense line. They should offer themselves for passes.”
Yes Partey was basically redundant.
What I want is Partey in the role Ceballos played.
And one more player in between the opposition’s midfield and defence lines.
So it would be like Auba and Saka running in behind.
Laca and a “10” btl.
It’s a shame Willian was injured.
Hopefully we get to see it in the upcoming games.
Tonight’s game is pivotal for Arteta.
If he can’t get the players to express themselves and play open expansive football against Dundalk, no disrespect to the Irish team, then we have big problems.
The nagging doubts remain I’m afraid and not just on the pitch.
leftfootcurler
“I don’t consider xhaka as the “heartbeat” of the side.”
Well if the manager states that mostly everything is going to continue to go through Xhaka as reported to us by the erstwhile gunnerblog the other day then it points to him being just that doesn’t it. Conductor, heartbeat. Take your pick.
And as soon as people realise that Xhaka is an absolute key issue in this side then they will be more comfortable with him being spoken about at length.
Left foot curler, When a midfielder engage the defense, it create space somewhere else. So the big switch of play are LESS necessary. Right now they are our only weapon and it is predictable. A more dynamic midfielder can eliminate one line of midfielders and run at the defense. Defenders are therefore force to confront him, leaving space somewhere else for a Pass to an unmarked teammate. There is a reason why both Pepe and Saka look worse this season, they receive the ball deeper than last year and they receive when marked instead of with space in front of… Read more »
Chris
Thing about xhaka is most on here think he and Leno are the biggest issues in the team.
They aren’t.
The biggest issues are that we removed Ozil, Ramsey,mkhi, iwobi from the team and didn’t replace them and lacazette.
We have to remember that we are a midtable team looking to break into top 4.
For a top 4 team looking to progress to win the league/CL, that’s where you need to replace xhaka to progress further.
Ishola
I don’t really care about what Arteta says.
He will say anything to the media.
Xhaka got the ball more because generally we had more technicians on the left side of the pitch so we tend to play on the left more and he is the best CM at the club in terms of getting into good ball receiving positions.
A “heartbeat” of the side is not necessary when you have a coach like Arteta.
It’s all about set patterns and routines.
Left curler, Leno and Xhaka are the biggest issues because of the way Arteta wants to play. Change system, formation and they will not be so problematic. Start from the back requires a goalkeeper who can make quick, accurate 35 yards pass under pressure. Leno can’t do it. Continue to play in that system and more mistakes will creep in. Right he is a bag of nerves and that transmit to the rest of the defense. Look at how toward the end of the game Gabriel took upon himself to avoid make a backpass to Leno during our last European… Read more »
Valentin I disagree with a lot of what you are saying. Firstly a big switch is not necessary. But a switch is necessary. You have to shuffle the opposition’s defensive block fr side to side. So you have to commit the defensive block to one side and then switch to the other side. Arteta uses different formations in different phases of the game. In build up, we have 3 CMs. Saka is generally the 3rd CM(Leicester game is an exception). In Arteta’s system, the LWB and the CF are supposed to take positions between the lines,not CMs.(again, Leicester game was… Read more »
10 men behind the ball is a non negotiable
Anything outside of top 6 and I’d say Arteta has failed the acid over a full season. You can’t beat Emery over the head for finishing 5th just off of a CL spot and then reward Arteta for finishing miles off of it himself. I also would deem it a failure if we aren’t at least competitive for 4th, while it is true that Chelsea, United and Spurs have improved, so have we. You can debate the merits of player strength vs our rivals all you want, at least be consistent because Emery wasn’t afforded the same protection when that… Read more »
Valentin In games against non pressing teams, Leno is mostly fine. He will have some issues against good crossing teams too. Again, when I say Leno and xhaka are not the issues,it’s in the context of us trying to get to top 4. They will face problems in some games but those problems are irrelevant in most games. But lack of BTL creators and consistent runner and 2nd scorer is a problem in MAJORITY of the games, hampering our bid for top 4. There is no need for xhaka to carry the ball forward and dribble in Arteta’s system at… Read more »
“Xhaka is a defensive liability.”
Xhaka is not a defensive liability – he’s just a fucking liability.
I think Pedro’s main premise on this post that expectations should be tempered this season is a reasonable one. Some fans were obviously getting ahead of themselves because of Arteta’s wins in the FA Cup but those wins were carried out in a certain manner that were never going to be sustainable over a 38 EPL league campaign. It looks very likely at this point that this season will mirror recent previous other seasons where Arsenal’s chance of getting CL football will be via the Europa League. We just hope we don’t bump into a side in the Europa League… Read more »
We have midfield options now that mean Xhaka does not need to play in PL matches. If we’re playing with 2 CM’s then it’s Partey and Ceballos. If we want to play 3 we can go defensive with Partey, Ceballos and Elneny as a pure DM, if we want to be more offensive it can be Partey and Ceballos with Willian, Saka, even ESR if he gets chances playing further forward etc.
‘If we want to play 3 we can go defensive with Partey, Ceballos and Elneny as a pure DM’
Elneny is every bit as useless as Xhaka, doesn’t solve a single problem having him in the XI in place of Xhaka.
Not bringing in another midfielder and letting Toreirra go out on loan was the real crime.
Ishola
“I think Pedro’s main premise on this post that expectations should be tempered this season is a reasonable one.”
It was Pedro who pushed Arteta as the second coming who would take a squad who were being managed in a terrible way and take us to the promised land.
The problem right now is Arteta has been doing exactly what some of us were worried about in the first place – making stupid mistakes because he’s learning on the job. He’s fucking lucky that there aren’t fans in the stadium at the moment.
WE
Elneny is a better option than Xhaka.
Marc
“It was Pedro who pushed Arteta as the second coming who would take a squad who were being managed in a terrible way and take us to the promised land.”
Well people can change their opinion when it becomes clearer what is in front of them.
This doesn’t apply to the following season though.
If Arteta is not doing anything of real note in the EPL next season either then it’s time to look again elsewhere for the next man to come in.
Spot on Marc
Arteta is on a learning curve and he is stalling by loosing our fluidity up front and continuously playing Xhaka no matter what.
Pepe needs to be allowed to play like Salah and move inside more often.to use his left foot shot to greater affect.
Arteta is too rigid in his planning
Marc, I pushed a coach that would make us competitive. Which he has done. Waving the white flag now is weak sauce.
Our squad is good enough to compete for top 4. Arteta needs to improve on two counts – team selection and style of play. My guess is Arteta would have tried to play reasonably attacking football but tremedous success of a defensive approach in FA cup and Community shield got him hooked to the approach. He got a lot of plaudits too for it. Will need real conviction from Arteta to get back to play slightly attacking football but he will have to do it sooner than later.
H&L, except is does know how to organise his players on the pitch. Positioning and structure is not the problem.
Tr7, agree.
Arteta has to go.
The dream is over.
It has to be a massive bid for the OG, Pep. He needs a new challenge and Arsenal could give him that.
Or, and hear me out on this…Steven Gerrard. Yeah. Him. You heard it here first. Good vibes coming out of Scotland.
Marc
Is he? What does Elneny even do?
You’re splitting hairs if he’s better at all.
So the Villa game is to be on PPV, and another Sunday evening kick off at 7pm.
I have heard that instead of paying out the ridiculous £15 for the right to watch the game, the AISA arranged for fans to donate to the Islington food banks instead. A fantastic gesture and at the same time an added bonus of sticking the middle finger up at the pure greed of having to pay even more money to watch televised football.
TR7
” but tremedous success of a defensive approach in FA cup and Community shield got him hooked to the approach”
tbf if he got hooked to a style of play because of winning a Community Shield he should be hooked anyway.
And as other people have pointed out winning an FA Cup is nice for the fans and the club but it is not an indicator any more that you are a top side by winning it.
“Arteta needs to improve on two counts – team selection and style of play.”
That’s like saying the food and service at a restaurant are shit but that aside it’s worth going to.
Left Curler, We don’t play with 3 CMs, we play with two. Leicester was an exception in that we had nominatively 3 CMs, but both Xhaka and Ceballos were tasked to look after the fullback positions, so in effect we only had 1 CM Partey who was mostly bypassed by the rest of the team and as a result sat isolated redundant in the middle of the pitch. “So you have to commit the defensive block to one side and then switch to the other side.” To me that’s the definition of big switch, passing laterally the ball in front… Read more »
TR7
Lolz. Just the two. Team selection and tactics. So both things a manager does, then? So, he HAS to improve on his whole job.
That’s like saying a chef HAS to improve his cooking and presentation.
Pedro
“Marc, I pushed a coach that would make us competitive. ”
I will accept that it is my fault for misunderstanding you – when you said make us competitive I thought you meant with top teams not mid table.
It’s amazing how many of our fans think the majority of our players aren’t good enough, but are still convinced that Arteta should be getting results at Anfield and away to City. The logic of many on this forum goes like this: Xhaka is rubbish, and even though our results are statistically far superior with Xhaka, than when we don’t select Xhaka…. Xhaka’s rubbish, and Xhaka shouldn’t be playing… Maybe he’ll play less now we have Partey, but Xhaka is more experienced and a currently a better player than Torreira + Guendouzi, that might change as they gain more experience,… Read more »
Chris
Apparently the PL is looking at the cost of the PPV matches but no change will be brought in until after the November international break.
Reading between the lines I’d say 99% of fans have told them to do one at that price.
Rich
It’s the same group that Emery had to work with plus Partey, Gabriel and Willian.
Emery was also largely seen as incompetent and incapable of getting the most out of the group at that.
Elneny isn’t better than Xhaka, it’s the most desperate of analysis that suggests that. It’s out of dislike for Xhaka more than anything objective. Elneny takes Willock place as a safe CM option more than anything else. I think our best midfield two on paper are Partey and Xhaka, good passers, left and right footed, and both robust/physical in the challenge. Would sooner see a base of those two with three mobile players in advance of them as a central 5. 4-2-3-1 is our most prolific option with the current squad. ——————————Leno Bellerin——Mustafi—Gabriel——Tierney —————Partey—————Xhaka —Nelson————Willian————Saka ———————Aubameyang Subs: Pepe, Martinelli, Ceballos,… Read more »
Marc
I think the backlash against the PPV has been very visible in social media, so what you say doesn’t surprise me.
I hope this version of PPV will disappear ok the same way it did about 15 years ago, was it SKY Sports GOLD or something like that? Sure there was a separate PPV channel back then too that disappeared over night.
Chris
I can understand the price being £15 when fans are in the grounds – if you make matches too cheap on TV it’ll affect attendances but with the way things are, the media trying to scare everyone stupid every chance they get a distraction is good for fans – well with the exception of Arsenal fans where COVID is a more cheerful subject than watching the team at the moment!
Cc
Ceballos performances are superior to Xhaka in every way and yet you keep Xhaka in the team.
Any dislike I have for Xhaka is based on him being useless and a liability. He manages one or two good performances a season.
CC
That should be the lineup looking forward , could alter base to a more attacking Partey / Ceballos base, shift CBs but structurally thats the comprise to insert some attack. And Willian the key with Auba central.
I’d like to see us give this a go when Martinelli returns:
Leno
Bellerin Luiz Gabriel Tierney
Ceballos
Partey Saka
Willian Martinelli
Aubameyang
Cc
You do realise that Xhaka and Mustafi come as a 3 part comedy act – if you play those 2 why not add Kolas in as well.
Pathetic criteria is being rigid in your fantasized opinion and overlooking all hard facts to defend your pathetic opinion. ‘I see Nelson being the antithesis of that with his more honest and direct game.’ Btw what is an honest game. Another one of your subjective quality tests that a player has to pass. Im not portraying Pepe as a world beater but he is much much better than Nelson. His goal involvements, chance creation, dribbling numbers and Arteta’s faith in him proves that ‘He’s also omitted Ozil from the squad altogether, is Willock a better footballer than Mesut Ozil? Is… Read more »
Attack Davies of the SPUDS. He just gave away a goal.
Just read the post and it seems Pedro is back defending the undefendable!
I havnt read the comments but probably been said that there are tens ways to fix our attacking play with our top earners lots, otherwise what the point of being a football coach for a club like arsenal?
Where is the sauce?
GOH/Marc Picking up the right 11 is not rocket science. As for the style of play, again it is just a case of Arteta prefering a defensive approach to an attacking one, it’s not that he can’t get the team to play better football. As for Xhaka vs Elneny debate, Elneny has always been the better player for me. Elneny is not elite but he is criminally under rated. Very few mistakes in him, always makes himself available to make/receive passes, good engine and good understanding of his own position and of the ones around him. Not flashy but tidy… Read more »
Even Partey is frustrated
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/thomas-partey-frustrated-arsenal-leicester-22913762?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=star_football
I wonder what the obsession with Nelson is from a certain poster all of a sudden. Arteta tried Nelson when he first came in, we didn’t see much output either
WE
‘I’d like to see us give this a go when Martinelli returns:
Leno
Bellerin Luiz Gabriel Tierney
Ceballos
Partey Saka
Willian Martinelli
Aubameyang”
Undoubtedly our best 11 on paper. I am a bit surprised Willian has not kicked on yet given his qualities as a player.
Attack Davies of the SPUDS. He just gave away a goal.
____
Attack him? I thought it was marvelous play. 😀
TR7
Elneny is an average player but he does not bring the mistakes Xhaka does and he’s more mobile. If we want to play with 3 in midfield then he can more than do a job of screening the defence whilst Partey and Ceballos do their thing.