Well hello angry people. How are you today? I am still a bit bummed about the result at the weekend. It was really bad. Still, we can’t cave. We have to move forward and imagine ways this could be made better.
I think there are two issues we have going on at the moment that need addressing ASAP.
- The system doesn’t produce enough high-quality chances
- The system relies on elite finishing to finish the few chances that are created
- Our elite finishers are out of form, big time
Now, there’s a lot of debate going on about which is the bigger problem there. Are our big names struggling in a restrictive system? Perhaps. But there’s been a little too much good noise coming out of the club to assume that the players are playing badly because they are sad.
The system wasn’t the problem 6 months ago, it was the solution. But maybe too many things have to go right for that system to work. Living off low xG can only exist if you have someone like Auba absolutely on fire. He’s not on fire at the moment, he’s the opposite, and no one else has stepped up.
We’re not going to get back to form by fine margins-ing our way out. I think we need to try something different. We have learnt that fine margins is not good enough for top four. We have learnt that it’s quite miserable to watch. We clearly don’t have the players to be Atleti at the moment.
We do have good players though. We also have a good manager and lots of smart young coaches and analysts. I don’t think we can live in a world where we let Arteta off the hook because he doesn’t have the perfect squad. He needs to move on a new idea. Arsenal simply has to find the right balance.
Fans have ideas as well. I think most of them revolve around taking an L on Lacazette and Willian for a little bit, but there are more, so keep reading.
TOP THINKING:
PEPE: Could the Ivorian be deployed more centrally. We touched on this the other day. It’s a wild idea, but it ‘might’ be wild enough to make sense.
The player is a bit of an enigma. He’s been dross out on the wing. Awful. But what has added to that? Well, he’s generally smashed off the ball, and if he’s not, he has to work his way through a lot of players out wide. Could playing through the middle be better for him? Would it win us more penalties? Would playing off the last defender be better for his style of game?
Could he work well as a two with Auba? Let’s look at what he’s good at. He is a handful, defenders do not like what he represents, imaginative, tricky, with a rocket shot. He’s fast with the ball at his feet, a lot faster than Lacazette, and he smashes low shots like Anelka in his prime. He’s also good with his head, standing at 6ft tall, it’s much better to lob balls at him than Lacazette. His quick passing in tight spaces might work well with Auba.
It’s a stretch, but weirder things have worked… like, Thierry as a striker when he arrived as a winger.
AUBA: No one complained about Auba on the left when he was scoring goals out there. Well, now he’s not. He’s barely touching the ball. Lacazette touched it about 5 times, which Mike McDonald who blogs here called correctly: that means the manager has said don’t pass to him or the players simply don’t trust him. Both bad for him. Lacazette through the middle needs retiring. Auba is at his best, when he’s sniffing out chances in the 6-yard area. He’s a fox in the box and we’ve put him out wide where he’s next to useless at the moment. Let’s put him where he’s going to be most effective.
REISS: Look, he’s a bit all over the place, but he can be a player on his day, and he knows he’s in the last chance saloon. He’s fast, he’s very direct, and he looked good when Arteta started him way back when. Can it be any worse than Pepe or Willian? That’d be very tough. Not impossible though.
WILLOCK: Joe has been given two chances in the Europa League and delivered both times. He has never really done it in the Premier League, but now would be a good time to try something. With Partey in the side, could his quick passing, smart runs, and love for a shot be what we need? Maybe. Sometimes you have to take a player that’s not quite there to give you more balance. All our best pieces on the pitch don’t work at the moment. Could Joe give us something more interesting?
BIG LESSONS: I wrote back in July that you can’t coach character. I still stand by that. Players that consistently let you down will always let you down. Mikel seems to have gotten a little high off of some of the things he saw last season and he doubled down on people he should have moved on.
Now we are where we are and this is the way.
He chose to spend £250k a week on a 32-year-old looking for a retirement deal.
He chose to tie Auba down to a longterm deal in his thirties instead of cashing in.
He and his backroom team did not add a creative loan to the team and they chose to omit Mesut Ozil.
He won’t hide from those decisions, because he can’t, but that means he has to make them work, which is why I am very confident he’ll get it right. Arteta cannot afford to fail in his first job.
As fans, we can either cry like children every time we lose… or we can trust in one of the best young coaches in the world. He is the right choice of candidate. We are the poorest club in the top 8, our squad is still a mess, and we cannot afford one of those fancy managers everyone assumes would come here with limited funds.
This is a tough job. Really tough. This is his first major test of faith. We’ve been drossy all season, we’ve had little to smile about, now it’s time to get smart and take some risks in a better version of Arsenal. It can and will be done. Just keep the faith
Over to you, Mikel.
The lack of quality players is still the overriding problem, not necessarily the system. It doesn’t mater if it’s Arteta, Klopp, Nagelsman etc etc in charge, when we have run down the contracts of all the players on 150k-350k a week that literally nobody wants (and for good reason), then and only then will things change, we simply don’t have the funds to upgrade players of sufficient quality to challenge for top honours. Sadly, it’s a chicken & egg situation brought on by the owners over 10 years, not 10 months. Anyone who thinks this will take less than another… Read more »
Arteta has 2 weeks to show us he wasn’t the “fetch the water and arrange the cones” boy at City. As some armchair pundits alluded to, and I agree, it is easier to coach a defence than an attack. Arteta’s system, while making us more resolute defensively (and naively to many extents – we had 11 players in the 18 when Villa scored their first goal), he has completely snuffed out any creativity in the side. I thought he would build around Ceballos and Partey since they both have a penchant for that risky pass that can break the lines.… Read more »
A good analysis from Tim of 7amkickoff. “ It’s super popular right now to blame Arsenal’s bad attack and we are bad. Like Unai Emery bad. Actually worse than Unai Emery bad in attack. And yesterday was a nadir in terms of how bad Arsenal’s attack was. In 64 minutes, Lacazette made just 8 passes, progressed the ball a total of 15 yards, and had just one shot. In 64 minutes, Willian made 34 attempted passes, almost all of them backward, and progressed the ball a total of 149 yards. Aubameyang had zero shots and has only had 9 total… Read more »
Leicester are doing things correctly for sure and Brendan is a top experienced manager
I doubt Aouar or Szoboszlai would be the panacea to our attacking woes. The attack line is hugely imbalanced and lack any form of cohesion or understanding. Arteta has to focus on finding a plan B else we should all forget about champions league football let alone telling Willian he would win it in three seasons
‘As I said yesterday, the key is not to play him through the center but to start him and play him more often, with Aubameyang through the center and a more creative player in an advanced midfield role. You don’t need to play Pepe through the center to get production out of him; you need him to be getting the ball in dangerous locations in and around the 18 and in behind defenses.’ Agree with this. Unfortunately for us, we don’t have a single player that fits that description in the squad. Not one player that excels in playing the… Read more »
“Unfortunately for us, we don’t have a single player that fits that description in the squad. Not one player that excels in playing the final pass and knitting together the midfield with the forwards.”
We do, but unfortunately he is paid £350k p/w to play fortnite and tweet commentary about probable scorelines.
Are there still people hailing the promotion of Arteta to manager co-equal to the technical director Arteta needs to devote 100% of his time to the head coaching tasks. I think most of the decisions he’s taking about the squad have been dead wrong; -Keeping Holding -Making an offer to extend Mustafi’s contract -Sidelining Saliba -Pushing the club to extend Auba for big wages without the possibility of salvaging some costs at the end- he’ll be 35 year/old when it’s all done. -Pushing the club to sign Willian to a three year contract -Pushing the club to sign Pablo Mari,… Read more »
Gooner Joe/Bamford Welcome back, try to restrain from making any wagers. / Now is not the time to claim squad poverty, the last 2 seasons and before yes, not now, the only thing we really miss in the squad now is a top Cam. Sure we could also do with some other upgrades but the options we have are much better than what we are seeing. The only explanation I have for Saliba not playing is the loss of his mom and not being ready emotionally yet, he’s better than Fofana and he’s smashing it for Leicester, their man of… Read more »
“Who are we likely to sell in Jan?”
Well hopefully Xhaka will throw another hissy fit if he isn’t playing regularly, you never know your luck.
Arteta may try to flog Mustafi who would probably prefer to leave on a free come the summer. We must have at least one CB that might raise money. Saliba could be a surprise sale, stupid if you ask me but when has that ever stopped us? Nelson could go, maybe AMN at second time of asking.
Bergkamp 63 On the money there mate. A rebuild is pretty much 80ish% about getting the right players in/deadwood out and the remaining 20 odd% is how well the gaffer gets them firing on all cylinders, to buy into his philosophy/style of play/ethos, etc and to translate that talent into being ready and able to win football matches. That 20ish% seems a small number but it can make a mammoth difference when the margins are so fine at the elite level. We all have seen great managers take poor/average teams over the edge and overachieve. Just look at the work… Read more »
WengerEagle I agree, this has been our problem for a while. Had it not been for Aubameyang’s efficiency last season, we’d have been in a world of bother. We were never going to get more than a handful of goals between Xhaka, Torreira, Guendouzi, Ceballos as our midfield options, they all want the game played in front of them. Options of Elneny, Xhaka, Partey, Ceballos, are unlikely to prove much more productive, both in terms of goals or assists Willock, Smith-Rowe and Saka are the only players who naturally look to cause some chaos, get into the box, and take… Read more »
Bamford,
Why do you keep slithering back?
S Asoa,
“Congratufuckinglations, we are Sam Allardyce’s Bolton.”
lol
WE
“Unfortunately for us, we don’t have a single player that fits that description in the squad. Not one player that excels in playing the final pass and knitting together the midfield with the forwards.”
Are you sure about that …
Hindsight is good. Edu or whoever should have persisted with the intent/ decision to sell AMN and ruthlessly moved on Sok, Kolac and Mustafi. Shouldn’t have loaned Torreira and Guendouzi. Even sell at lower fees with as sell on perhaps? Point is, it was weak and borderline negligent not to buy creative player(s). It didn’t have to be Aouar. The ‘lesser’ teams all did quite well in strengthening their MF! Chelsea picked oicked up Z for how much? Why do we seem so fixated and without a clue about prospecting?? Don’t care where exactly he ends up playing but ffs… Read more »
Matt Did Auba play most of his games through the middle last season? I must have missed that. My point was he is playing in the same position that he scored 20+ goals from. Yes his service has been limited, but so has his application in my mind. He looks completely disinterested. — How many shots did he take last season? How many shots has he taken this season? You’re missing a lot, obviously. Compare the number of shots Auba has taken this season to players like Salah, Kane, Son, Mane, Werner, etc. Meanwhile, check S Asoa’s comment. 2 goals… Read more »
Leicester are doing things correctly for sure and Brendan is a top experienced manager
———————–
Like how they bottled top 4 last season…….
I said from day one, Trying to play a pressing game with Aubameyang, Lacazette, Willian/Pepe is doomed to fail.
It’s a case of playing the kids like willock, Nelson , Eddie, Martinelli, saka , Smith Rowe who will press all day long.
A player/team is only good at pressing if they have the hunger and desire to do that job ..
You cannot make players like Aubameyang, Pepe , Willian or Ozil press with any intensity, it is futile even trying.
The other option is to sign players who have the hunger and desire to press.
Arteta’s approach to improving the defence has come back to haunt us – we didn’t just tighten up at the back we drew the entire team back to protect the penalty box thus stopping the crazy number of attempts on our goal. The initial result of this was to stifle out attack but that was OK give Arteta time and he’ll get the balance right, problem now is our inability to form any sort of cohesive attack or control in midfield means the opposition now have too many chances to attack our goal. Basically we’re back to square one in… Read more »
It happens every year, just as the geese fly south for the winter — the Brenda Rodgers love in begins on Le Grove.
Honestly? No thanks.
Couldn’t win the title with peak Suarez… and had to go up to Scotland to rehabilitate his career because after Liverpool he stunk so bad.
Leeds
Agree Rogers is not a top level manager – he’s a good manager but not at the level for a “big” club.
Where Leicester are very good is with their scouting / player acquisition etc..
Leicester bottled it because of lockdown #1, otherwise they were a shoe in for top 4.
“It’s a case of playing the kids like willock, Nelson , Eddie, Martinelli, saka , Smith Rowe who will press all day long.”
Yes. To press effectively you need stamina and energy. Willian does not have either, never has throughout his career… lots of invention and guile to be sure but not stamina.
With the exception of the two CL games, 80% of Arsenal fans who wanted the Club to buy Aouar don’t know anything about him other than what they convinced themselves he’s about after watching YouTube highlights. lol
Brendan Rogers is a top manager.
Anyone can see that.
‘You cannot make players like Aubameyang, Pepe , Willian or Ozil press with any intensity, it is futile even trying.’
Pierre criticising his man Ozil, now there’s a rare sight. As bizarre as TR7’s poetry mic-drop.
WE
“Pierre criticising his man Ozil, now there’s a rare sight.”
That’s an observation not a criticism.
Marc Leicester, and their scouting infrastructure reminds me of how good our scouting was when Wenger first arrived. Leicester makes Rodgers look better than he really is… he would be a step back. Arteta, needs to surround himself, not with yes men, but with people who will challenge him and stand up to him. Apart from Steve Round who else is there on the coaching staff who can do this? Anyone else who has won anything of note as a player? For this reason I would love to have PV4 or Dennis back at our club as part of the… Read more »
I haven’t lost faith in Arteta. Returning Arsenal to the elite is a step-by-step process, and commonsense tells me that it will take him time. Nor does he have the money to sign the players he wants. Nor the power to rid himself of those he doesn’t want. For the most part, this summer he had to make the best of what he had. That accounts for keeping Auba and Luiz and Xhaka and Laca. And probably for signing Willian. Only Gabriel and Partey fit the pattern of the future. We are only a step and a half into that… Read more »
Pierre
Unless you’re Lionel Messi you can’t get away with shuffling about and standing off the opposition in the modern game. Ozil is just as useless to you off the ball but you grant Messi that privilege because he’s magic on the ball and is very likely to win you the game on any given day ass opposed to the sauntering owl only interested in padding his key passing stats [which have been pretty average for a couple of years now in fact].
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/nicolas-pepe-arsenal-mikel-arteta-22986776
Oops …another one is about to bite the dust.
What does it say when strikers from championship like Bamford, Watson bangs in gaols and our expensive forwards are during blanks. Bielsa saw something that made him persist with Bamford than choosing nketiah last year with Leeds. Don’t.know why we don’t buy these guys atleast as a backup striker instead of buying someone like.laca from a different league.
WE: “As bizarre as TR7’s poetry mic-drop.”
LOOOL
WE
My argument is , until we sign/find someone better , then you play the one player who can play the slide rule pass inside the full back that takes out the whole defence for our wide player to give Aubameyang the tap ins that he feeds off.
again it’s not the abilities of the players it’s the system that we are playing right now
no matter which hyped up championship players like Pukki or Bamford they all thrive due to the system they play in
I’m sorry for Pepe, he just broke the non-negotiable with that interview. How dare you not happy with the Master.
Madhu, I assume you mean Watkins but yes I agree there is was talent in the Championship than we seriously look at.
We had a guest post on here a few months back highlighting the best of these yet I don’t believe any of them were ever seriously linked with the club.
Pierre, is Auba a tap-in merchant? I don’t believe that he is, most of his goals that I recall involve him running beyond the last defender.
“I’m sorry for Pepe, he just broke the non-negotiable with that interview. How dare you not happy with the Master.”
Well if Pepe suddenly “disappears” from proceedings then Arteta has just ended his own career at Arsenal. It would just demonstrate he’s all about a cult of personality which is fine when you’re nailing it but dropping player after player when you’re not performing for players who are as bad or worse is all about ego.
WengerEagle
I agree, if Ozil was bagging us 15+ goals and 15+ assists each season? Then an argument for him playing particularly against weaker opposition at home, would be a decent one.
But he’s scored a combined 8 goals and 9 assists in his last 3 seasons.
If we were going to play a maverick who lets us down off the ball, we’d be playing Pepe, who at least has some end product.
I’m amazed the Ozil argument is still rumbling on, he’s been in decline for years
Andy1886
Yes sorry about the typo I noticed after I submitted. But it beggars belief that we hardly ever buy someone from championship and yet pay huge fees for players from other leagues. Laca and Pepe combined fees of over 100 mil from French league.
Wenger Eagle
Tierney is a good player. But, I think as Arsenal fans, we have put him on a pedestal he doesn’t deserve to be on. He’s had decent performances and indifferent ones as well.
Saw you and Paulinho talking about Reiss Nelson yesterday. I am still a big fan of his. He can add technical security in our front three. Without Ozil in the squad, he’s probably the with the best technique and combine with others. Play him on the left and let Saka/Tierney overlap. I want to see a Pépé/Aubameyang/Nelson front three.
Auba skins a defender for most of his goals. The tap-ins are not even a third of his goals. He usually receives the ball, then makes space for his shot with couple of swift moves and leaves no chance to the keepers. Not something that tap-in merchants are famous with.
Is GoonerJoe the same poster as Bamford?
Does make you wonder if Pierre even watches games….
Madhu
Yes, we certainly seem to have a bit of a blind spot when it comes to scouting at home.
It is obvious now that change has to come.. Let me summarize some suggestions: – This 3 4 3 formation should only be used against the Pools and MC. We should use 4 3 3 for all other opponents. – Auba should be playing inside the box. I like Pepe as right inside forward and Saka as left inside forwards. – The width will be provided by Tierney and Bellerin. – Partey and Elneny/Ceballos will be the two DMs – I suggest Willian or Willock to play in front of the two DMs. For me, it was Arteta’s 3 4… Read more »
I think while the system isn’t perfect, the issue at the minute is the performance and the limitations of the players in that system. – Laca has still been getting one great chance in most games, but the issue is he hasn’t taken any of them and isn’t causing the opposition any real issues. – Auba is our best attacker, but he just doens’t seem to be getting himself into the same dangerous positions, nor does he seem to be proactively going after games. – Willian just isn’t offering up enough going forwards, which is fine if he’s surrounded by… Read more »
Agree
There are many hard working skillful players in the championship and we don’t seem to scout them.
Every team needs its Ray Parlor to give the side momentum.
Look at Milner for Liverpool when he comes on it’s blood and thunder full on.
We always seem to prefer Jonny Foreigner overpriced and under deliver
“Is GoonerJoe the same poster as Bamford?”
Yep. He’s more embarrassing than Don at this point.
Lol at we are one of the poorest clubs in top 8. NO ! We are the worst run club in the top whatever. The amount of money we pay to chutiya type players. There as a list recently on the most highly paid wingbacks and our 3 of Bellerin, Lola and Tierney were all in top 6 I think. We have probably the top highest paid CBs as well in Mustafi and Luiz. Add to that the amount we pay to Willian, ozil, Auba….so no, we are not poor. We are a club being run by chutiyas and we… Read more »
Any manager that makes his team selections based on how hard players train, not based on their talent and application in matches will definitely be result to boring, predictable and ineffectual football.
We have been playing like a Big Sam’s team, the only problem is, our wage bill alone can wreck the Titanic.
Asimov
Our owner is in the top ten most wealthiest person on the planet!
But just keeps his grubby hands in his pocket.
Nothing in that Pepe interview. Nothing controversial.
“Asimov
Our owner is in the top ten most wealthiest person on the planet!
But just keeps his grubby hands in his pocket.”
Kroenke paid for Partey this summer so lets stop the blame-Kroenke nonsense
How can anyone blame the lack of funds when we are signing payers we don’t need like Mari, Cedric?
We are signing older players on three year contracts at higher wages.
We have defenders that cost 29 million that can’t make the premier league/Europa league roster.
As fans, we can either cry like children every time we lose… or we can trust in one of the best young coaches in the world. You make it sound like it’s unreasonable the response to what we’re seeing to what is a trend from the start of the season and not just some knee jerk reaction to a single result. He is having us play shite he is getting the team it’s formation and it’s tactics wrong on the regular and the most worrying thing about it all is that he either doesn’t see that he’s getting it wrong… Read more »
What’s the difference between Emery playing Torreira as an attacking midfielder and Arteta playing Aubameyang out on the left?
There is no difference.
Or Arteta playing Willian center forward? Whatever the fuck that decision was I hope I never see it again.
Apart from Pedro criticising one, yet jerking off over the other.
@Marko
Spot on. But according to some window lickers, Super Rob being one, we’re all whiny bastards and should all hail Lego head as he’s a genius coach
My guess is that they really backed the idea of Mikel this summer and unless things get truly horrific he’ll be safe and they’ll hope that he can get enough results until January and look in the bargain basement for some creative players to paper over things until the end of the season. My big concern is wasting this (another) season because this season is absolutely vital for the club. We need champions league football this season it’s just an absolute must between lost money and covid, big investment on the likes of Pepe and Partey and not to mention… Read more »
We don’t look remotely like a top four club right now. Wishful thinking.
Pepe spoke his mind.
I also think he should be given more playing time.
There are underlying problems.
The boat is certainly rocking.
Nice one Pedro . I would add one more point , that the 3-4-3 needs to be ditched fast. Its like Wenger using Ramsey on the wings . Square pegs in round holes.
“…we can trust in one of the best young coaches in the world. He is the right choice of candidate. We are the poorest club in the top 8, our squad is still a mess, and we cannot afford one of those fancy managers everyone assumes would come here with limited funds.” Stop shoving this crap down our throats, Pedro. What has he done to become “one of the best young coaches in the world”? Why is he the right candidate when everything clearly points in the opposite direction? Where did top 8 became a thing? We’re not a poor… Read more »
I agree with Marko. I also think the owners gave us a proper chance to fight for top 4. If we again don’t qualify for UCL it will only keep getting harder and harder as seasons go by. Make no mistake, no fans at the stadium is crucial for us. Not in the way of crucial to our survival as a club, but to having no real money to work with in the Transfer windows. We almost certainly aren’t going to get any transfer fee for Ozil, Sokratis, Mustafi, Luiz. We’ll have to generate funds ourselves by selling the likes… Read more »
When did top 8 became a thing?
………………………….
Since Pedro moved the goal posts.
Arteta is smart…
Being cultured and speaking multiple language does not make you smart. Also even if you are smart, other default (stubborness, arrogance, pride, …) may make you overall dumb. There are people with Phd, I would not trust to run a kebab shop.
I’ll bet the fake Bamford that the real Bamford will score against us.🙄
Thanks Aasim, I just googled ‘chutiya’ on my work laptop and am now waiting for my official warning…..
It’s fair to say Arteta couldn’t run a kebab shop, so are you saying a kebab shop owner should manage Arsenal? A novel move.
Not a fan of Pepe thru the middle, feels very Walcott which flamed out under Wenger and he eventually cut his losses. Pepe doesn’t need a rebrand he needs to start delivering. Doesn’t help we lack so much cutting edge in final third, no mystery why our big cannons aren’t fully firing. I’m fully behind not giving Ozil a look in but if thats the plan you better have a player in mind to deliver which we clearly do not. Willian at this moment hasn’t added what we’d hoped in big chances created from the wider positions, i’d be more… Read more »
My thoughts are that Arteta will continue to persist with his setup for a while longer. I believe he is sussing things out on the practice ground and likely trying various combinations. I say the above because i don’t honestly consider Arteta a stupid man nor a stubborn one. He must be trying many things that we are not privileged to see and yes, the end product is not visually appealing but its not as brutal as some are making out either. Arteta has some really good talent at his disposal and equally he has some pretty lousy ones as… Read more »
Andy lol
Into the red, I am saying no such thing. I am just debunking the idea that because Arteta speak multiple languages and has played football, he is smart enough or knowledgeable enough to be a good manager. Being a manager is more than just being able to analyse an Excel spreadsheet. You have to factor the human elements. Both the opponents who may surprise you with an unexpected tactics and your own players who may not be able or willing to perform exactly like you expect them to. Right now Arteta seems to view the players as robots that he… Read more »
Ernest Reed
November 10, 2020 15:14:52
This comment is balanced and although I am frustrated. Is the most logical response I’ve read today.
Pedro dancing on the fence till the next positive result.
Looks like you’ll have to wait a long time to stop dancing, Pedro.
If you look at the people in charge of running arsenal, you won’t find a single British person, hence there is no priority to find gems from England. They are not invested in that, they prefer to look abroad because they are from abroad.
Get in people who value the English league like teams from the lower places and who follow all divisions in the domestic leagues, and you will see us target more players nationally than internationally. This is a common occurrence in most top clubs in the EPL.
#ARTETAOUT Some of you are pussies wanting this experiment to carry on. Pedro peddling the same Gazidis bullshit with Arteta. #NEVERFORGET
I guarantee we will find it hard to score 1 or 2 goals in our next three matches against Leeds, Spurs and Wolves. We need to stop the rot and hire an experienced manager that will have this team attacking and scoring goals. Arteta sucks ass! Fuck him!
‘He must be trying many things that we are not privileged to see’
What ‘things’ ? Playing Auba in the wing so that he can keep crossing the ball to Lacazette ?
I don’t want this’privilege’, thanks
Not having made comments for a while, I kind of tire I’d sooooo many back seat drivers! All fun and passion I know. But it’s a process; mistakes will be made; saka is young…..no martinelli….Pepe needs to drive and dish……but critical is movement., and sadly leaving Auba without chances. Lacazette blows so many finishes….yes he gets goals…..but sooooo many missed chances. Partey when playing regularly will make some great passes…….but I think the system needs much more from the midfield……and certainly more energy from the front to be open or create……the obvious I know
“There are stats doing rounds about Chelsea defenders having scored more goals than the entire Arsenal team put together and Harry Maguire having more shots on goal than Aubameyang. I can only hope that somehow Mikel Arteta sees them and feel as bad and as embarrassed as I do.”
From twitter Honestly we have become the butt of all jokes hope we turn this around.4_4_2,thoughts?
Leno
Hector Luiz Gabi Tierney
Amn Partey Elneny Saka
Pepe. Auba
Can someone explain to me how all the talk prior to Willian signing was Mikel using him as a number 10 and then he never played him as a number 10 (outside of that now infamous 20 min period against Sheffield United)? Seems Mikel is a first and foremost cautious and defensive minded coach
Both the Willian and Saliba debarkle are down to Arteta.
He is making some strange decisions due to his inexperience. Edu is of no help to him.
This nonsense will go on and unless we can get results in the next 4 games it will get nasty.
Raptora “Auba skins a defender for most of his goals. The tap-ins are not even a third of his goals.” You’ve been fooled by his run of form around the end of last season and his opener against fulham.. He did hit a purple patch around that time but that’s the exception rather than the norm .. His tap ins and penalty licks account for probably 60/70% of his goals . He doesn’t skin defenders for most of his goals ..that is only in your mind. Andy “Does make you wonder if Pierre even watches games” Thiugh i don’t need… Read more »
I do really feel for Saliba. Deschamps coming out and talking about Fofana and how well he’s doing at Leicester and his great potential and you see the garbage reasoning for Saliba not getting a single senior min at Arsenal from Mikel and it’s just a shame
Arteta took a year out of a top talent CB with his decision making. May it never be forgotten. Would have been SO much different if Saliba was his transfer. Need to look no further than how he’s treated Guen, Pepe, Martinelli then look at Willian playing every game even though he’s shown nothing so far.
Marko
It makes even less sense when you bear in mind we had a spate of CB injuries and outside of Gabriel don’t have anyone performing that well.
@salparadisenyc
Walcott scored more than 100 goals for us. We should be estastic if Pepe can score 100 goals. Whatever we say about Walcott he still won some games for us
“Arteta took a year out of a top talent CB with his decision making.”
Does anyone really know just where Saliba is in terms of his development? Some of you are acting as though this is the second coming of Tony Adams and how hard done by the kid is.
Again, none of us have any insight, let alone knowledge, of what goes on behind the scenes. The decisions regarding Saliba are taken from a management perspective and not Arteta alone. If they say Saliba is not ready, he’s not ready.
Just WOW with some of you.
Madhu
I was speaking of the Wenger’s attempt at playing Walcott thru the middle later in his Arsenal days, not his overall contribution as a player.
Sal, those were the good old days… imagining Theo as the next coming of Owen.
I’m sorry, there’s nobody who was on the field who needs to be told where to pass the ball. There’s a huge problem if the players feel they have to listen, and an even bigger one if they don’t. Then we’re all going to burn until Arteta is gone.
David Luiz is our top passer ahead of our midfielders, playing Pepe as CF expecting him to receive those balls will be disastrous.
This is our pattern of play,
ball from Leno to CB,
ball from CB to either Leno or fullback
ball from either Leno or fullback (depending on above) to CB
Long ball to Auba
Auba is covered plays ball back to midfield.
Ball from midfield to CB
Repeat above replace Auba with Pepe
Raptora Its clear Arteta likes workhorses like Elneny, Xhaka, Nketiah and Willian. From a fan pov it seems like Arteta wants everything to happen exactly the way he thinks it should happen. Which is nigh on impossible. Even Pep G allows license to roam and make their own decisions on the pitch to his key players. Eg. Messi at Barca, KDB and Silva at City. Tho there is a system the City players execute very well its not a one dimensional rigid system and there is room for creative freedom. Contrast that to our attacking system where we have to… Read more »
Whatever the arguments are for who should play where, professional footballers earning in excess of £100k a week should be competent in any area of the park. How difficult can it be to pick a team of eleven cohesive players? Arsenal’s decline since moving stadium has to be one of the most embarrassing sports stories ever witnessed considering the outlandish promises made by the clubs hierarchy. As for you Pierre, what is it with you and this obsession with the gutless Wenger? He is responsible and fully complicit with the demise of Arsenal, and we had a side closer to… Read more »
“Lets start by binning the 3-4-3 against weaker opposition.”
Amen.
Still smiling over the “one of the best young coaches in the world” bit
Arteta basically has one system and one system alone. He isn’t proactive nor reactive, doesn’t even read the game in real time and make changes to wrestle control. I remember Lampard bringing on Jorginho at the Emirates against Chelsea and we basically collapsed over that one single tweak
Madhu 16.14
Those 100 goals took over 10 years?