In every young person’s journey through management; across any industry, there’s always a moment when things go badly to shit. Your PowerPoint plans get smacked by unforeseen circumstances. Those principles you promised to adhere to are tested by people you expected more of. You start engaging in contradictory behaviour because you believe there to be no other choice, and secretly, it’s easier to let things slide versus confronting people. That time is here with Mikel Arteta. Bad decisions have snowballed and the chickens have come home to roost. He has to take stock, get back to basics, and graft a path forward.
We thought simple answers were sitting in plain sight, those naive ideas were obliterated yesterday, now it feels like we’re entering a death-spiral. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Only the weak succumb to panic and the mob. Arteta needs to show strength and battle his way into the cockpit and take control of the Arsenal plane.
Firstly, let’s talk where the standards are slipping.
Why did Willian start? The club told him not to travel to Dubai and he said, fuck it, I’m going. What message does his inclusion send to the rest of the squad? What would we have said if Ozil did that? Why was Willian included if he broke the rules? If you have non-negotiables, they have to be for everyone, and if they are breached, there has to be consequences. The fact Willian was so bad in the first half he had to be yanked for Reiss Nelson was stunning. He hasn’t had an assist or goal contribution in 7 games now. His free transfer has followed the exact trajectory of nearly every signing we’ve made from a rival. How were Edu and Arteta allowed to do this deal? It is a catastrophically poor use of funds made even worse because there is a very clear history of these deals working out poorly for us.
Another observation. Watching the warm-up, you look around at the coaches and you have two that look like they’re about 23 running drills. I’m game for innovative thinkers, but we’re in a crisis right now and it looks like our ‘manager’ is going down the same path as Arsene Wenger. Surrounding himself with a backroom team he can dominate. It’s a small thing, but what does that say to the players as well? Where are the experienced heads to counterbalance Arteta’s youth? Who is the Villanova to Pep? Where is the guy that’s done it before at the highest level? The biggest weakness of Arteta is years served… he should have those weaknesses catered to by a Technical Director that has the cojones to impose himself on a junior coach and build a team around his weaknesses.
Then we have the game. Nicolas Pepe, darling of a huge chunk of the fanbase for no real reasons, landed a run. It was a big 90 for him. He had a chance to show he has something to offer the Premier League. He was a disaster, again. He was a gift for Leeds down the right. His game has no intensity, his body language is shocking and his creative output doesn’t merit inclusion. What is the difference between him in the side and Mesut Ozil? Bar Mesut can actually create. I wasn’t sure it was possible he could be more useless in the second half, but he dug deep and decided that he’d take an unintense situation and make it pivotal to the game by headbutting a Leeds player unprovoked. It wasn’t ‘heat of the moment.’ It was intentionally destructive. It was the power move of a player that really doesn’t give a fuck about Arsenal or his career. I’ve seen people bemoan Arteta for calling this behaviour ‘unacceptable,’ like he’s being unfairly scapegoated. He literally blew our game plan over nothing. Not sure what else there is to say here.
To be honest, we played better when he exited the field. Reiss wasn’t much better than Willian, but Saka coming on for Joe Willock gave us more balance and attacking threat than Pepe and Willian combined.
… on Joe Willock. How bad was he? I don’t think he could have done a better job proving why he doesn’t start proper games. He couldn’t do the basics right. He got in the way. He ran towards players with the ball, he held on too long, he made bad and slow decisions. A total disaster run out for him.
Auba dropped another 2/10. He looks drunk off his big deal. Nothing stuck through the middle. He lacked sharpness. He dropped too deep. He didn’t connect with anything. Another drossy day out for our most important player.
Think about the basics we’re fucking up. How many more times are we going to see a corner barely make the front post? My ultimate peeve at the moment is watching Hector Bellerin give away possession from throw-ins and worse… foul throw. Who foul throws more than Hector? If you do that in Sunday league, your mates rip you, and pour Fosters in your duffel bag after the game. How has this become a thing? Our setpieces at the moment are toilet break opportunities.
The output of the game was reflective of a very bad two weeks preparation. Things aren’t great at the training ground. There are disciplinary issues that you’re not seeing that are contributing to friction in the camp. The Dani Ceballos vs David Luiz issue wasn’t a case of light handbags. It was a big deal and Ceballos was to blame. His cries of ‘FAKE’ are nonsense. Willian sticking his middle finger up to the culture was shocking considering his seniority, then he gets a start and stinks out the place. That all the troublemakers of the last two weeks started doesn’t exactly speak to new high standards being upheld. But… Dani is an Arteta project. Willian is a reflection of Arteta’s tastes. Caving for your favourites? Not a good look.
Being a leader is lonely. Upholding standards does not win you popularity contests. It is stressful. But that is the job. Arteta seems to be losing sight of that part of his role, for someone that talks about culture as much as he does, that is a really big worry. Replacing bad eggs with your own bad eggs won’t move Arsenal forward. Simply put, you cannot be a proponent of high-performance culture and not hold yourself and your team accountable to the principles that make it so. I hear one of the coaches is a disaster. A real bad egg. Everyone loved who he replaced, not so much the new guy. It’s a small thing, but why are we keeping people at the ground that aren’t good for the environment? Small bad decisions grow under pressure like cancer, and at the moment, it looks like our new ‘manager’ is paying the price of lots of small bad decisions that are now teetering on the edge of terminal.
Arteta’s ruthless and precision approach to discipline at the start has softened. He’s caving on his non-negotiables for players he’s personally invested in. He cut off his nose to spite his face with Mesut Ozil. You can only make big dick decisions if there’s a plan. His plan was to replace Mesut’s creative output with two players that seem to have the same zero fucks attitude without the same quality. Now he’s paying the price for that and he didn’t give himself an insurance policy (by keeping Ozil in the squad), preferring to give the squad place to someone like Saed Kolasinac we all know is not good enough. The argument of ‘preserving the culture’ falls flat when you look at what is going on right now.
Now, the good news is none of this is fatal, yet. Elite leadership talent doesn’t cave to bad moments. Football clubs have ups and downs. The best people find a way through the bad times. Make no mistake, we just entered a serious RedZone for Mikel Arteta. Some brutal decisions need to be made and he needs to get the car back on the road.
First thing he needs to address is discipline. If you don’t hit the standards for Arsenal, you have to pay a price. Nicolas Pepe should not be seen for a while. He lacks discipline off the pitch and he’s a disaster on it. We just have to accept he’s the worst signing in Arsenal’s history and no amount or rewatching his Youtube videos will change that. Get him out of the club and move on. I have not idea what we’re going to do about Willian bar pin his picture on the wall at London Colney and promise never to give someone over the age of 30 a longterm deal ever again. Let’s go Dennis Bergkamp on this problem and stop believing players are going to give you what you need. That decision is on Arteta and it was a shocking one that we all knew would end badly.
Secondly, he needs to work out a way of getting us firing again. People on Le Grove are calling Arsenal notagonists and it’s true. We were shite going forward again. We looked interesting when Saka came on and we went to 10 men. Whatever purist idea Arteta has in his head about attack is not working. We are really fucking slow-moving the ball. We need to add 30% to the pace. We need to stop looking so mechanical. We need to find some unpredictability in our attacking play.
Thirdly, all this needs to have happened yesterday.
We didn’t lose against Leeds. We look like an Emery team going forward, but we’re pretty difficult to break down. Leeds only managed two more shots on target than us yesterday. Problem is, we’re clueless in attack. No open play goals in 7.5 hours of football is fucking dreadful. That will get solved though. Arteta will coach his way out of this because his future depends on it.
We have two really big games coming up. If we take 6 points against Spurs and Wolves, we’re right back in the mix.
Can we also just take a moment to celebrate what stars Kieran Tierney, Gabriel, and Bernd Leno were yesterday. The German made some outrageous saves. He was electric, what a clean sheet. Tierney is just a warrior. A proper player. A nightmare to play against. I LOVED that he had to be dragged away after catching Xhaka chumming it up with Alioski after the game. That’s the spirit you want at Arsenal, blowing up after the game, when it doesn’t affect your team. I’m so glad he’s maintained fitness. A true warrior. I also love what Gabriel brings to our defence. He’s settled so fast. What a player we have there.
Back to the situation. The Premier League this season is about top 4 qualification. The job of Arteta is to be within 6 points of top 4 come February. If we are in our current position by then, we’re on target to treat every game heading into the finish line like a cup final.
Football clubs go through rough patches. We are in a patch that has been ploughed with salt and arsenic, but we’ll come out the other side and things will start to go for us. We have Thomas Partey returning to midfield. We’ll start Saka next week and lean on his creativity. We’ll stop wasting time on Nicolas Pepe, we’ll put Willian on the bench, and we might take a chance on some young players that cannot possibly do any worse.
The season feels like it’s over, but it’s not. You’ll spend all week complaining about where we are, you’ll be angry at work tomorrow… that is your right fam. Things will improve though. It really doesn’t take much in this league to go from FRAUD watch to something more hopeful. Fingers crossed Arteta can find the path forward.
See you in the comments. x
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Tr4phy
wE hAvE a gEnErAtIoNaL CoAcH
Unfortunately this is all on Arteta… Take the FA cup out of the equation and he’s a total failure.
FRAUD
Pedro All I read is negativity about the club, the manager, the players we have got and of course our recent performances. So for once let us start with a couple of positives. Leno had a very good game and we are now playing with a “stable backline”. We have conceded fewer goals this season despite the three in game against Aston Villa. Second Partey has played only one full game in EPL and I do think that his mobility and dynamism will improve our performance in midfield albeit we still need to add creativity in that department. On the… Read more »
Pete your standards are at an all time low, the excuses you make for this guy are getting ridiculous now. Just say it mate. Arteta is not good enough, we have not improved & we are now starting to go backwards. It’s not all his fault though.
Good post, but let me condense it down into something much easier.
Arteta is a shit manager. Wearing Chinos doesnt make you Pep.
Well I was expecting that post. Zzzzz
I don’t get why Willian gets so much shit on here. Yes he hadn’t played well but who has?
Why does the fa cup not count any more? Not very wise Socrates.
Sorry Pedro Tierney big heart and all is average.
His final ball going forward is for most times a disaster.
Gabriel and Leno yes solid performances.
Would Arteta see this as a good draw.?
In fact how did we get a point.?
Things are getting uglier every week and I don’t think adding a creative midfielder is going to turn things around. Time to start looking for an alternative manager, I’m afraid Arteta doesn’t and won’t cut it. Rigid, arrogant and starting to loose the dressing room. Pochettino would be great
Lets see if Arteta upholds his non-negotiables thing after what Pepe did and give him the Ozil treatment. I have been staunchly defending Pepe but what he did yesterday is just like Arteta said ‘unacceptable’. Arteta looked REALLY angry at Pepe in the post match prezzers. Freddie after the game said Pepe’s behaviour is holding him back. So all in all Pepe’s not performing, he is moaning in the media, he didn’t think twice about his teammates yesterday and he is no training monster. Lets see if the non-negotiables hold true for him too. Pedro, did you get info from… Read more »
Pedro has a point regarding Pepe and Ozil. There is no difference between them in regards having suspect characters and yet one is in the squad seeing some games while the other is completely ostracised but as Pedro states that is all on Arteta. Arsenal were comprehensively outplayed by Leeds and this was also the case for enough periods in the first half. Arteta goes to a back four but this is only the beginning. He has to get his fullbacks far more involved attacking wise. I’m hoping that Partey is a player that can play and dictate this team… Read more »
Le Grove has the football it deserves I’m afraid . How you all celebrated when Wenger left after years of abusing him How you all celebrated when Ozil was left out of the squads .after years of abusing him You’re not celebrating now are you … Bring back the fans .into the grounds i say , then we will really see what they think of our football and Arteta.. It wouldn’t surprise me if we heard “one Arsene Wenger” reverberating round the Emirates, along with the Ozil song ” weve got Ozil , i just don’t think you understand” And… Read more »
Did we learn anything yesterday? Probably not. Yeah it’s an excuse that Pepe was a pillock and got sent off but it’s a valid one. I thought at half time we might nick it just as we did at OT. The next three games should tell us where we are, five or six points would be acceptable, less than that would not be good enough.
But when guendouzi does this he is a cunt.
” I LOVED that he had to be dragged away after catching Xhaka chumming it up with Alioski after the game. That’s the spirit you want at Arsenal, blowing up after the game, when it doesn’t affect your team. I’m so glad he’s maintained fitness.”
The players look low on confidence especially in attack. Pepe and Willian just look totally gone in their heads. the young brigade of Nelson, Nketiah, Saka and yes willock, I feel are more likely to pull us out of this. not forgetting ESR and Martinelli one day soon.
Got to hope both Partey and Saka are not badly injured as they are two of our brightest hopes.
Correct me if in wrong, but did we have Party and Saka in the starting 11 against Villa? We all know how that game went, so to pin are hopes on those is wishful thinking at best. Don’t get me wrong I really like Arteta and want him to succeed, but the more I watch the more I’m starting to think he’s out of his depth. I think he needs a experienced attack minded coach by his side. I also definitely think there are dressing room divisions starting to appear? Compare the body language and work rate of some players,… Read more »
Why the F are we having willock in the squad and not guendouzi. Because guendouzi fought after the game like tierney. Two faced arteta
Ac
Guendouzi was ostracized because of his antics behind the scenes after that Brighton debacle. He wasn’t ostracized for grabbing Maupay by the neck. Tho it did lead to the behind the scenes fallout with the manager and Edu too I think.
I bet guendouzi told arteta he is not half as good as him which is why he is exiled. Arteta is a shit manager and was a shit player.
It’s a contradiction really.
Baically you brand Pepe a waste of space but at the same time praise Tierney for going in regarding an incident involving this waste of space character called Pepe.
Tierney shouldn’t have got involved in this instance and should just have left Xhaka and Alioski to fondle each other.
He played willock as the CAM and instructed him to man mark the leeds defensive midfielder Phillips.
Negative…
Shocking Technical director, stubborn GeNeRaTiOnAl CoAcH,. We need to get rid of the following players because they represent everything that is wrong with this club. Kola, Sokratis, Mustafi, Cedric, XHAKA, Laca, Pepe & Willian. Between this Winter & the summer window, They all need to be gone in order for us to move forward. Let’s be brave and thrown in the more of the kids, it can’t get worse.
Pedro, as usual you want your cake and eat it. You criticize Arteta ruthlessly ( and quite rightly ) then in the same article you tell us he’s the man to lead us forward without any reasons to justify it. What game plan did Pepe rip up when he got sent off ? We were crap before the sending off and in fact looked likelier to score when down to ten. How do you know Willian went to Dubai against the Clubs wishes ? How do you know that Ceballos is a trouble maker ? It’s hard to take these… Read more »
Captain Tierney,
The premier league didn’t consider it a serious offense and let him go. Also, what is the exact fallout he had with arteta and edu? no one knows. Arteta has made so many bad decisions now that i am not ready to accept guendouzi decision.
We are getting bored with the excuses for Willock.
Yet again he was a nonentity just like last season when he was given chances in the proper big mans football. The higher end games.
He is clearly not good enough to be starting the higher end games and he wouldn’t be getting in the majority of EPL sides.
Pedro, Holding played so much better than gabriel yesterday think he should also be celebrated.
Embarrassing for Xhaka to take the side of his fellow ethnic Albanian Alioski (albeit with a Macedonian passport) instead of his teammate. Good for Tierney.
Arteta is sounding an awful lot in post-match interviews like Scott Parker, another novice manager who seems completely unable to get his group to act out his words. We are all-in on Tets powering through this learning process and finding answers, though many young managers will take seasons in lesser leagues to understand why certain seemingly good ideas aren’t great in practise, and how to man-manage the full range of situations. He needs to play more exciting football, because that’s all the club brand has right now: we’re no longer relevant at the top, so as a minimum to keep… Read more »
“I hear one of the coaches is a disaster. A real bad egg.”
Who is this any idea? the set piece coach??
PEA, Ozil and Partey combination would have made games against bottom half team winnable
Arteta maybe caved to what the fans wanted in playing a back 4 and 3 in midfield and Auba in the middle but that midfield is second rate compared to one with Partey instead of Xhaka and anyone else instead of Willock. Saka needs to be first choice on the left next to Auba as well. It’s not all about the formation, the personnel needs to be right too. The difference between Pepe and Ozil? Simple, output: Pepe got more goals and assists last season than Ozil has had in the last 3 seasons, he’s not the answer to any… Read more »
Six points off top 4 come February? I thought that the narrative had been six points off the TOP come February previously?
And the difference between Pepe and Ozil is that despite the Ivorian’s poor displays he still has some residual sales value where Ozil has absolutely none whatsoever.
Incidently, I see that both Leeds and AFC have had to issue statements condemning racist abuse on social media directed at Pepe and Alioski. It’s a sad world with a lot of pathetic people that we live in.
Graham62November 23, 2020 09:59:23
Who are these sources that Pedro speaks of who say Arteta is a great coach.
Didn’t you hear graham?You don’t have connections at arsenal,you are not in the know and you don’t speak to ‘people in the club’ like pedro lol.
Ishola
“We are getting bored with the excuses for Willock.Yet again he was a nonentity just like last season when he was given chances in the proper big mans football. The higher end games.”
There is a level of football ignorance on Le Grove of which you have highlighted again ishola…
Freddie
“Yes, Pepe was stupid yesterday, no doubt about that, and he’ll miss the next 3 games because of it, that’s enough punishment, after that he needs to be back starting and getting a steady run”
He’s been a twat far more than being a positive.
A player that was obviously not scouted properly.
Good character is very important for a player and Pepe far too often lacks in this regard.
Willock wouldn’t start for any other Prem side by the way
I thought the first 20-25 minutes yesterday was good. But then the mistakes crept in, we got deeper and we struggled to get the ball forward. I don’t think anyone played particularly well. Leno made saves I’d expect my keeper to make. Gabriel gave up a few good chances. Holding didn’t win enough aerially. He’s nowhere near good enough.
The players just look so short of confidence.
Shut the F up already, Pierre. The only clueless person on LeGrove, day in and day out is you. You are like a scorned lover who cant move on 30 years later because you still believe your former lover actually loved you. Move on already, you offer nothing but misery with your Wenger and Ozil obsessions. And by the way, how did your new interest do yesterday? Covered himself in a glorious shade of red for all the world to see.
You sure can pick em, you clueless sap!
I’m just curious Pedro, but what in your mind is the point where you say Arteta has failed and needs replaced? You talk about high performance culture… but that applies equally to the manager (who is now a manager, in an exceptionally regressive step on the way to having structure). I mean I hope you’re right. I hope he can get us firing on all cylinders and get Auba scoring and Willian assisting etc. But “coach his way out of it because his job depends on it” is a line that applies equally to every other fired manager there’s ever… Read more »
People are here celebrating the non negotiables because they affect players they don’t like. Wait until their favorites get ostracized. Its only a matter of time before auba loses his head.
Freddie
‘All our attackers didn’t forget how to play football this season, it’s the tactics and instructions holding them back.’
I agree with this. Willian isn’t a bad signing. Aubameyang hasn’t all of a sudden turned shit because he signed a new deal. Pepe, Lacazette are quality players. The positional tactics are holding them back. Something Willian alluded to in an interview recently.
Ishola
“Tierney shouldn’t have got involved in this instance and should just have left Xhaka and Alioski to fondle each other.”
WTF does this mean? Next week another player goes on to injure one of our players and Xhaka should also kiss his arse?
Good on Tierney to stand up for Saka. Xhaka hugging him was just facepalm, he might as well planted a kiss.
Willian was subbed at halftime because he had a muscular problem, not withstanding of course that up until that point he was even more useless than a pylon with a picture of himself slapped on it.
I would remind all the critics that only two players selected yesterday have been recruited by Arteta. Those were Gabriel and Willian.
The rest of the team have been recruited during Wenger and Emery managerial periods.
Arsenal’s budget in last transfer window was around £75 million spent mainly on Partey and Gabriel both of whom were considered good aquisitions.
Also apart from his weird ManU fantasies…bamford basically said we are a 6-8 squad and he basically received dog’s abuse from people who are saying the same thing now.At Legrove we call mourinho finished,ancelotti old and rodgers shit.I think before we go in hard on other managers we should look at what ours is serving us. Personally I am still backing arteta until the nld after that if we don’t get 5 points then am done with him.
Mourinho who presently is topping the league didnt buy 11 players, he is using the team he met last season with 2-3 additions, so spare us this its not Arteta’s team crap.
So is arteta losing the dressing room? He acts tough on some players and is very lenient with others. Also the squad looks a mess atm, worse than when he took over.
Is it possible that Arteta certainly knows how to coach a good defensive structure? Most certainly. Is it also possible that Arteta does not know how to coach a good offensive structure? Again, most certainly. Is this not why a Manager should have good coaches with them that specialize in such structures? So exactly what are Arteta’s coaches coaching?
backpass
“Good on Tierney to stand up for Saka”
What has Saka got to do with it?
Tierney was sticking up for what Pedro basically termed the waste of space Pepe wasn’t he?
If Tierney was annoyed at Xhaka and Alioski kissing each other then fair enough but overall if this was about Pepe then he should have just left it. Pepe is not worth going to war over.
A very long post Pedro that you could have condensed into one simple Paragraph.
Arteta is out of his depth. He is not a great coach. He doesn’t have the “sauce”. His man management is atrocious. Arteta Out!!
I digress.
One sentence would have sufficed.
I would remind all the critics that only two players selected yesterday have been recruited by Arteta. Those were Gabriel and Willian.The rest of the team have been recruited during Wenger and Emery managerial periods.Arsenal’s budget in last transfer window was around £75 million spent mainly on Partey and Gabriel both of whom were considered good aquisitions. I would also like to remind you that the previous manager who received dog’s abuse was working with the same tools if not worse and yet player poverty wasn’t a thing. Yesterday you made a ridiculous claim here that the manager of arsenal… Read more »
What would Mourinho have done with Willian?
Exactly!
Stroller “I would remind all the critics that only two players selected yesterday have been recruited by Arteta.” We can’t go on saying that indefinitely, making excuses for manager after manager that they haven’t been able to completely overhaul the squad. We’ve spent a staggering amount of money on transfers, we pay huge wages, almost all the players are internationals: by any objective measure we should be comfortably beating the weaker PL teams, as in the flat track bully days, and at least holding a position throughout the season in the 5th to 7th bracket, if dreaming of 4th is… Read more »
What are the other Arsenal blogs highlighting.
Surely not one of them is standing up for Arteta.
Ishola
“If Tierney was annoyed at Xhaka and Alioski kissing each other then fair enough but overall if this was about Pepe then he should have just left it. Pepe is not worth going to war over”
You forgetting the challenges on Saka twice? The first one that the ref gave the advantage to Tierney and the second one in which Saka went off, Xhaka took a side and it was the wrong one.
I still don’t know why anyone honestly believes this team is capable of a Top 4 finish? There is absolutely nothing in this teams makeup that should ever lead any sane mind to believe they are capable.
Those that are making excuses and will also excuse Arteta if he just bobs along midtable have to realise that this situation will only be entertained for a period of time. He will have next season to show quite a vast improvement. If this improvement is not forthcoming next season then he will simply be replaced with Arsenal having to roll the dice again.
No FA Cup will save him in such a scenario.
Pep Guardiola is a lucky, cheque-book manager who inherited the best club side in the world that had been assembled for him by more acquitted, more knowledgeable Dutchmen, Cruyff and Rijkaard. How can you fail when you have Ronaldinho and Messi?
But Pep hasn’t won the CL without Messi, the last coming up for 10 years now.
Pep has been allowed to play ‘Championship/Football Manager’ with unlimited funds, so I’m not so sure that he passed on anything of any value to Mikel Arteta.
As usual, our American owners are winging it.
I wonder how excited Josh is right now.
So he is going to buy his way out of it is he Emirates stroller?
headbutting a Leeds player unprovoked
———————-
Pedro, I’m sure the Leeds scum definitely provoked Pepe, not that that makes any difference.
Alioski played the role of super pest to perfection yesterday. He should have been dealt with on the pitch in similar fashion but alas instead we were treated to a foolish undisciplined red and an after the match “I’m gonna get you” moment, both really childish responses. To be honest, thats a very Arsenal way of dealing with things these days.
What i wouldn’t give for a Martin Keown and Patrick Viera yesterday.
Herbs didn’t have ronaldinho he seemed him surplus to requirement.
backpass
One of the challenges on Saka from Alioski did not have real mean intent. There was a coming together of boots.
The main point is no-one should be going to war over Pepe at this time as he has been a twat for the most part since he has arrived.
Pedro
No comment on the clear penalty we should’ve got for hand ball?
Jostling a player is provoking him is it?
Pepe surely is in big trouble then isn’t he if jostling provokes him in such a way.
This is what happens in the EPL.
K+G
Well he had a young Lionel Messi to unleash on the world, and even though he didn’t need him, he took Thierry Henry from us in 2007.
My point still stands.
Ishola “The main point is no-one should be going to war over Pepe at this time as he has been a twat for the most part since he has arrived.” I see you’ve been going hard with this narrative since yesterday. Mentioning it in every post, how has he been a twat exactly? By not playing to our expectations? By having a blank facial expression? Are we supposed to be a team or only going to war for the people in the team we like? Going to be a lot of cliques out there then. Ozil has been a twat… Read more »
Ishola
You are thinking this is only about Pepe, I’ve given you two examples on one player, (sure he at least fouled Willock/ceballos) knowingly or not, he was dirty.
So, you think Tierney was angry because of what happened between Pepe and Allioski? Not the other dirty challenges, and God knows what else was said on the pitch.
From the last post
Pedro
that.Arteta did everything the fans wanted today. Auba through the middle, Pepe on the right, and Willock in midfield… it didn’t work out. Hardly rigid.
No sir, the work of a manager isn’t to do the bidding of the fans, his work is to win games. Nobody would be here complaining if holding scored a hatrick playing center forward and we won by 5 goals to 0.
A manager lives or dies by his results. Arteta needs to find a way to get this team winning games be it beautiful or ugly.
Freddie It’s obvious that all is not been going well with Pepe and not just about his football. It’s more than that. It’s his general attitude, his demeanor, his overall character on the pitch. And he has problems in itself in looking not to like the physical aspects of the EPL. I was commenting on this a long while ago that he was flinging himself to the ground a few too many times when in physical challenges but of course was told to shut up on here. That he got sent off because of taking a dislike to the physical… Read more »
I am as disappointed as everyone else with the way the team is going,and I am getting an Andre Villas Boas feeling about Arteta. Surely,as everyone knows,when it isnt working you go back to the basics,drill the wingers on crosing and hitting the same target over and over again. Then we dont have to suffer the joy of watching our ineffectual corners not beating the first man time and time again. Mr Arteta is very lucky there are no fans at the games,because the cacophony of jeers him and some of his team would be facing would be very scarring.… Read more »
Raptor a. Xhaka pushing Tierney away while having his hand on Alioski’s back and then staying with Alioski to chat and even went as far to hug him while Tierney was obviously upset at the Academy Award Nominee, has got to be the one of the ugliest things I’ve seen in a while. Guy is the epitome of a mercenary, he doesn’t give a fk about our club, he’d fist bump the guy that played a big part in sending our player off.” Look at it another way. If Tierney had carried on Arteta would have picked offence and he… Read more »
Is the defence that good though? Clive Woodwork was our best defender yesterday.
Leeds only managed two more shots on target than us yesterday.
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Pedro you’re correct because statistically hitting the post/bar 8 times doesn’t count as being on target……..
backpass “So, you think Tierney was angry because of what happened between Pepe and Allioski? ” So if Pepe hadn’t have got sent off and had his situation with Alioski and the only things that occurred were these extras that you also mention do you think Tierney would have acted in such a way? I didn’t see anything really awful from Alioski. Any player goes down when a player is stupid enough to put his head into another players face and motions a headbutt. You see tackles from opposing players and some “dirty” ones as well. It happens for gods… Read more »
Ishola
I’m not saying Pepe is lighting it up right now, he clearly isn’t, on the other hand all our attackers are shite at the moment and I don’t think it’s their fault in the main.
The head butting has been overblown. Happens all the time even if it’s stupid. Should punish that Scoliosis guy for acting like he got punched by Mike Tyson too but sadly that’s accepted.
We only have Auba, Saka and Pepe that can win games for us, they need to be played as an unit until it clicks imo.
The club has to extend the Guendouzi treatment to Tierney
How dare he back you his team mate by going after an opposition player after the whistle. He totally lost his head trying to play the role of the last air-bender monk.
Edu and Arteta need to coral him into a meeting and berate him for a lack of Arsenal values.
CC
How do you feel about the Willian deal now.
You notoriously backed this deal to the hilt in the summer
Freddie Ljungberg
“The head butting has been overblown”
Forget about the actual headbutt. What is more enlightening is what led him to put his head into another players face. And the cause of him doing it was because he didn’t like the physical attention he was getting from Alioski beforehand.
That in itself is a concern.
This is the EPL. You are going to have players getting in your face and getting physical.
Pepe will now be seen as a player that can be wound up.
Ishola “So if Pepe hadn’t have got sent off and had his situation with Alioski and the only things that occurred were these extras that you also mention do you think Tierney would have acted in such a way?I didn’t see anything really awful from Alioski. Any player goes down when a player is stupid enough to put his head into another players face and motions a headbutt. You see tackles from opposing players and some “dirty” ones as well. It happens for gods sake.” The thing is you have completely picked a reason why you believe Tierney acted that… Read more »
Good post Pedro Re Pepe it’s very frustrating. On the one hand I always highlight that he has been very poorly managed since he came Good performances always got rewarded with a benching, and none of his managers have ever just told him to relax and play and give him a few games to find some form On the other hand he needs to be using the opportunities he gets to lay down a marker. And deary me he has not done that often enough My other issue is every time I consider that Pepe has been poorly managed I… Read more »
I wouldn’t blame any player under Arteta ball.
Arteta is the ultimate tinker master whose constant fiddling disrupts the players of continuity to acquire consistency.
The only thing consistent about Arteta is his tough talk and favoritism.
The offensive players and youngsters loved dealing with KFL. His replacement is one of the problems.
the backpass
“my gripe is simply with the Xhaka and Allioski bromance that ensued”
Well you should know my feeilngs about Xhaka on here.
Dreadful that Arsenal have wasted going on four seasons with him.
Ernest “Is it also possible that Arteta does not know how to coach a good offensive structure? Again, most certainly.” The thing is, Wenger made attacking, expansive football look too easy…….i have news for you …its not and it is being proven on a weekly basis.. In saying that , i can remember numerous times in my years supporting Arsenal when we have had periods of struggling in front of goal.. It’s all about confidence really and what normally happens is a team scores one goal and the confidence returns and the floodgates are opened. I can remember a match… Read more »
Diss I also though willian would be a good signing alas it looks wrong now
I have an idea of how to deal with Pepe
Why not just hire four draft horses and quarter him, then disembowel him and use his bowels to line the training ground.
All the nonsense about punishing the lad is boring.
He made a mistake, he lost his head and it happens somethings in the game.
Arteta has made a lot more mistakes than Pepe. What did we do to Arteta at this point.
“Is the defence that good though?” To the eye test it looks noticeably better organised and resilient. Interesting, though, looking at Attwood’s figures on Untold, that the defence isn’t particularly much better than our medium / long-term average (especially when our xGA suggests we ‘should’ have conceded 2 more so far this season), whereas our attack has utterly collapsed. AFTER 9 GAMES: 20/21 Pos 11th GF 9 GA 10 Pts 13 19/20 Pos 5th GF 13 GA 12 Pts 15 18/19 Pos 4th GF 22 GA 11 Pts 21 17/18 Pos 5th GF 17 GA 12 Pts 16 16/17 Pos… Read more »
Ishola
“Well you should know my feeilngs about Xhaka on here.”
Lol, Everyone is well aware.
The most disturbing part yesterday was when he wanted to shield the ball and the ball just passed by him, i felt a sting in me watching that passage of play.
We were absolutely awful yesterday. For Pedro to even mention that Leeds (yes Leeds, not Bayern) ONLY managed two more shots on target than us is possibly one of the most embarrassing statements ever written. Never mind the fact that they hit the woodwork god knows how many times. The fact that they only manged two more shots on target was down to their poor finishing – nothing to do with us! How many shots did we give them the time and space to have that finished off target!
Not sure how much lower this team can sink!
Dissenter
Tierney was wise enough not to ask for his salary so he gets a pass.
Arteta is in shit Creek and he seems like a man who knows it. We’re not getting better anytime soon
How did people here feel about Xhaka’s play acting when it benefitted us in the FA cup final. I don’t recall Chelsea players going after Xhaka for embellishing contact to send off Kovacici.
Why all the praise of Tierney for acting like a thug after the game? What was he seeking to do.
Allioski did nothing wrong, he had every right to go down. That’s why the modern player is programmed to do.
Pedro
“The club told him not to travel to Dubai and he said, fuck it, I’m going.”
Just to clarify – did the club specifically tell him he couldn’t do that trip? You’d assume that all clubs gave the players a do’s and don’ts list whilst we’re dealing with COVID which would include unnecessary oversea’s travel but if the player asked was told not to and did it anyway? That’s gross misconduct as far as I’m concerned and we should look at tearing up his contract.
Elmo
Fans are gullible, they believed the media bullshit about wenger and our defence, in reality our defence was consistently top 4 quality as the figures will show.
The only positive that came out of yesterday is Xhaka once again showed his complete lack of awareness about his responsibility to the club and the fans.
It was about this time last year the fans drove him to find another club only for Arteta to persuade him to stay. It’s now on Arteta to get him out the club in Jan for the same money we had on offer from Berlin.