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
Quick question though, are we still pining for Emi knowing that he’s conceded more league goals in fewer appearances than Leno so far this season?
What was it about him oozing calmness and it permeating through his defenders?
Graham
I can’t believe you listen to Adrian Durham! I had higher estimations of you than that 😜
“If we take 6 points against Wolves and Spuds, we’re right back in the mix”
👏👏
Of course we will.
Marc maybe just a shot!
Maybe Pedro means the next two games against molde, and vienna?
I mean we couldn’t screw those up right!right!right!
The oddball is the one who defends the present manager despite slaughtering the previous manager for doing pretty much the same as the present manager.
“The oddball is the one who defends the present manager despite slaughtering the previous manager for doing pretty much the same as the present manager.”
What he said
The solve to our current malaise is not new shiny toys, its better coaching and respecting the players abilities and giving them the freedom to express said abilities. If we have solved the defense as many keep repeating why do we still need so many bodies back to feel defensively assured. We were basically packed in our box all second half yet Leeds found the spaces they needed, only atrocious finishing let them down. I thought the Villa game has wiped away all this delusion of defensive solidity but some of us never learn, bad finishing by opponents cannot be… Read more »
Emery had to go, he was never the right choice in the first place. But when you compare records between him and arteta, it isn’t pretty. Arteta had more say in transfers and who he wanted. Arteta has a stronger squad than Emery. Yes arteta won the fa cup which I’m grateful for. Emery was a penalty kick away from champions league football against the spuds. I’m telling you now we aren’t even coming close to that this season let alone the seventy point barrier. At this rate lucky to finish eighth again. To me it looks like he’s starting… Read more »
Chris
I’m sorry to disappoint but he’s only saying what 90% of those on here are saying.
*sigh* Pedro…. good post but what we are witnessing is the growing pains of an inexperienced manager. Many on here warned you this would be the case. and that there was a risk that fans would not have the time and patience. Nor would other teams stand still. Your argument back I believe was as long as fans can see the process and what we are trying to do everything will be fine. Well that is the problem.. not many can see the process especially when results are shit. And to be honest I’m struggling to see it myself even… Read more »
It’s joyless and soulless and devoid of any form of hope. It’s back to the late Wenger period when we went into games not expecting anything and that’s just sad.
Chris “Charlie, like you I hope we see movements both buying and selling in January, the gaping creative chasm in our team is obviously the most pressing need.” Aouar willl not cure the” gaping creative chasm” as Charlie has alluded to , he has yet to score from open play this season with one assist in the weaker french league… Eriksen swap for xhaka is what we should be looking at .during his time at Tottenham he was the league’s most creative player in chances created and assists and was also top of the list for goals scored from free… Read more »
“All well and good dismissing the thoughts of others and calling them names oddballs” Not dismissing views or calling anyone an oddball based on that at all, don’t conflate matters because you fancy it. But those that’ve been anti since day one, mocking Pedro coining the term “sauce” etc and generally offering prophetic ideas of a downfall so they can gloat online are precisely what constitutes an oddball. Hear sweet fuck all from them when things are grand, or we’re bantering an FA cup win. But out they come when we aren’t scoring, dropping points et al. “when your only… Read more »
Who’s the coach that’s a nightmare?
Mid ” Many on here warned you this would be the case. and that there was a risk that fans would not have the time and patience. Nor would other teams stand still. Your argument back I believe was as long as fans can see the process and what we are trying to do everything will be fine.” Anyone who pointed out the risk of taking on a novice manager weren’t told anything about a process or it being slow evolution. We were shouted down as Emery lovers who didn’t recognise the sauce. Right now Arteta looks caught in the… Read more »
U4GN
“At this rate lucky to finish eighth again.”
That is not an unreasonable comment at the moment but it does raise another question – how attractive will we be to new signings with no European football at all?
Unless of course the AKB’s think we’re going to win a cup this season as well.
Midwest growing pains is all well and good but question is are we growing?? What is this process we are expected to trust? Building from the back? We have lost four games already and the only reason it isn’t five is due to Leeds being crap at finishing yesterday. Why should fans have patience for dull uninspired football against pretty much any one we play? Because the coach is young and he will crack it later? Not a good enough reason. Arteta’s reputation was not built on anything tangible. It was built off the back of articles by journos he… Read more »
I mean he was horrible towards the end but he went on a 22 game unbeaten run with what was considered a far inferior squad and even then most could see that we getting peppered every game wasn’t going to be sustainable in the long run.
After the West ham game i think, i said as defensively “solid” as most claimed we were, we could not survive in the long run without finding a way to create more chances than we were and we’re not even so far into the season and it’s turning out to be true
“Idk about you, but “priority number one” means the top, most necessary of matters to address. No mention of the transfer window as the solitary answer to anything.”
My bad then
Marc-
I don’t think that’s completely true.. there was lots of banter for sure. But Pedro wrote many posts about becoming the new Dortmund of the PL.. I think your confusing comment section banter with posts, to be honest. AS you know there is lots of hyperbole and drama in the comments. It does make it more fun.. and interesting though.
Hypothetical question.
If the club had not appointed Arteta after sacking Emery but had gone for someone else and we were seeing the same results and performances what would the tone of Pedro’s piece been this morning?
FA Cup win and all.
Mid
Pedro got more than a little holier than though – what was it winning the PL in 3 seasons and the CL in 5?
Marc,
I did used to think maybe a season out of Europe would be a good thing but like you say would it attract players if we were.
And we can’t afford to have less revenue coming in gate receipts, tv money etc.
Unless we actually have a formation change that involves two strikers I can’t see us scoring.
We all knew this was coming, we relied on auba for two seasons now, something had to give.
Long and nice piece!! However,I think it’s to early to start complaining about Arteta being soft or giving preferential treatment to certain individuals. On the Willian issue,I think it would have been to high handed to have been punished severely straight away, considering it’s his first offense for non footballing reason. Am sure he prolly got the dressing down he deserves. As for Pepe,he’s blown his chance basically and it definitely opens doors for others to be tried. Am sure as soon as we get the right attacking players, the handbrake would be released. Finally, on Özil… that’s a third… Read more »
The thing is that the fixture list offers little respite, we have to start picking up points. These players are managed to the T, Mikel tries to orchestrate every single move on the pitch as we can hear with there being no crowds. They need the freedom and confidence to express themselves on the pitch without fear of breaking a non-negotiable.
U4GN
We were losing £20 plus million a season prior to all this, we’ve lost what’s got to be circa £60 million in match day revenue this year, if we then take another £25 – £30 million in revenue from the EL off the table we could be in trouble.
“If the club had not appointed Arteta after sacking Emery but had gone for someone else and we were seeing the same results and performances what would the tone of Pedro’s piece been this morning? FA Cup win and all.” The FA cup win would have been described as papering over the cracks, in fairness that is what it was. We had a record last season of losing points from winning positions in the league, we never really created much under Arteta, most of the fluid football we played was with Ozil in the team doing his little dummies and… Read more »
We will struggle to create, there is no link between the midfield and attack. I read that Leno made the most passes to Auba yesterday. Says a lot.
Pretty much agree with what RH typed there.
Midwest growing pains is all well and good but question is are we growing??
_________
That’s the million dollar question … isn’t it Receding.. I honestly don’t know. As I said it’s hard to see right now.
Marc,
That’s what I mean as much as I’d like a season out of the Europa to concentrate just on the league we can’t afford it.
I don’t know when the next round of sponsorship deals come up but with covid they probably will be less, if we are still in this freefall in the league each year whose going to want to throw money at us?
U4GN
We’re hardly a brand that people / company’s are going to want to be associated with unless we can pull ourselves out of this slump.
Think it was Ishola that said beyond moving Auba to the middle, it had to not be a situation where he kept coming back because the ball wasn’t getting to him, same with Laca in that position. Ludicrous to think we don’t have the players to be better than we currently are
” Ludicrous to think we don’t have the players to be better than we currently are”
Well we need creators, isn’t that the new anthem? We are such a well drilled team and all the process needs to take off is a creator.
Kind of like when Emery only needed wingers to explode. The irony is those that mocked that POV are the same ones now pushing the creator agenda
Why do people always talk about signing new players ? We have signed a lot of players since Wenger left us and for good money too but we have only become worse. Arteta needs to find a way out to extract more from our squad and that’s the only way we will move forward.
Receding “The FA cup win would have been described as papering over the cracks, in fairness that is what it was. We had a record last season of losing points from winning positions in the league, we never really created much under Arteta, most of the fluid football we played was with Ozil in the team doing his little dummies and shoulder drops, creating space for others and being clever in his passing, i don’t really understand why Arteta was so keen to go to war with him after making such a song and dance of reviving him. Not a… Read more »
If the club had not appointed Arteta after sacking Emery but had gone for someone else and we were seeing the same results and performances what would the tone of Pedro’s piece been this morning? Marc I posted the answer to this question earlier. If we had appointed Jose or Carlo after Emery and this was the football they were serving, Pedro’s post would have been about how they are past it and we need someone young with bold ideas who can be a protagonist. It was Pedro who wrote the following just over a year ago . I think… Read more »
TR7
Pedro sold Arteta as a coach who would improve the existing players – he referenced the work he’d done with Sterling as an example.
It’s no wonder we can’t score goals when our own fans are moving the goal posts so much.
TR7 Don’t think anyone is interested in new players for the sake of them being new. But we’ve signed very few players since Wenger left with any great nod to a wider remit or cohesive idea of squad building. More than half the players since have been fundamentally flawed and unsuitable to English football. Nobody wants an extension of that, but there’s definite need for talent that does offer much of what’s inherently missing from the team. Wanting fresh blood isn’t an alternative to the idea we should be a country mile better than what we are currently. It’s two-sides… Read more »
To be fair we could do with a creative player in the side and herein brings me to whether or not stats or not we couldn’t have found a way to extract something, anything at all from Mesut Ozil, least in his last year.
If Ozil was included in the squads , Arteta would have no choice but to play him .
” I think a coach with a bit more confidence would recognise that our front three are amongst the most lethal in the league, and the depth is pretty decent as well. We’re geared up to play an explosive brand of scary attacking football.”
Azed the above was false when Pedro wrote it a year ago and remains false today.
Lacazette, Aubameyang and Pepe remain a painfully limited average front three.
azed
It’s amazing how the expectations have changed in 11 months.
Ozil will be back in the squad from January, can’t see there being additions in that window.
Pierre
I’m glad Ozil isn’t part of the squad, he’s a useless, selfish prick and you’re a complete melt for continuing to go to war on his behalf.
The issue isn’t banishing Ozil for being a cuck, it’s that we never replaced him with someone much better (or at all), so we’ve only done half a job as far as he is concerned.
Arsenal fans are the most “patient” supporters in world football.
That’s why we are where we are.
Maybe if we had reacted more strongly all those years back, when things were clearly going pear shape, we wouldn’t find ourselves in our current predicament.
The patience argument is farcical. Fans have a right to point fingers at something that is not right, no matter what others may think.
“If Ozil was included in the squads , Arteta would have no choice but to play him .”
Well we really can’t do without Sead Kolasinac can we?
On a serious note it was an unnecessary show of power, a playing to the gallery sort of move.
Guendouzi was also sacrificed for that, to show who is on charge. It was a gesture to the so called non negotiables
Marc,
I think that whole arteta is great with the kids things is a fallacy.
Sterling wasn’t exactly crap at qpr or the bindippers.
City paid 50 million for him he was only going in one direction, even if saucey didn’t get his hands on him.
RH
I was one of the people who shouted player poverty but Pedro felt it was just excuse making for the “incompetent” Emery.
Now the team is better, Saka is a year older and we’ve added William. I expect Pedro to be asking why the team isn’t playing expansive football and it can’t be the fault of the players.
Maybe Arteta isn’t that confident.
I said something similar yesterday, Arteta needs to consult with others on how to proceed. The chosen one is in trouble and does not have the experience to get out of this mess. The FA cup was great but the expectations rose too, especially being the “manager” in a short span. He plays favorites, which will be a real thorn in his side with other players. Favoritism happens, its part of life but he has not managed certain players well. Some are villains, others get off with daylight robbery. Developing bonds with players at the start will help when you… Read more »
U4GN
No argument from me.
I don’t know what made Pedro buy into Arteta so hard when there was no actual evidence to rely on – if this continues (and I don’t want it to) he’s either going to have to do a hard 180 or see the blog go down the toilet.
Putting Ozil back in the frame would be the worst case scenario.
He is, as CC rightly highlights, a selfish prick”, who has nothing left to give.
Anyone who feels he is still up to the task just doesn’t understand the game but also, even more significantly, doesn’t understand life.
Bad eggs just have to be thrown out.
There’s no other solution.
“is it ego getting in the way? pride?”
It could be sauce!
I mean he’s not exactly anyone’s cup of tea but how bad must what he did have been to not even be included in a playing squad that has AMN who barely gets a game and Kolasinac a third LB
that special sauce is constipating everyone, to follow Tony’s train of thoughts…..
Arteta’s greatest challenge at the moment are his decision making both off and on the pitch
Non-negotiable are selective
Coaching is good at least some improvement
Tactics is above average
Game management poor
Usage of personels like Wenger he has his favorites
Lastly he is cup manger or do I say we are a cup team
Marc/Charlie
With the likes of Partey, Saka, Auba, Ozil, Pepe, Willian, Martinelli, Ceballos, Laca in our ranks, theoretically we shouldn’t be struggling for creativity.
Graham
Playing devils advocate here but it’s not looking like we’re doing any better without the selfish prick on the field of play
Some good points in Pedro’s article and clearly Pepe was a twat . Willian was a sop to Joorabchian. We are very disappointing going forward but I thought we kept a good defensive shape yesterday and Leno let in less goals than Martinez this weekend .
But this is very early in the season. If we’d played the teams Tottenham have and they’d had our opponents I think the places might be reversed .
And don’t listen ever to Durham . He is a shitbag. Darren Gough wasn’t a very good footballer either
And I’d rather Guendozi out there than any version of whatever it is Joe willock is meant to be good at. Watched him for the French u21s and he looked the exact kind of kid you’d be hoping your club signs. Not perfect by any stretch but not as bad as many painted him
Marc, I never bought into what Pedro was saying about Arteta. I so wanted ancholotti when Wenger got the boot, and he was available. Then was free when emery got the boot as well. Even if we went the novice route I wanted big paddy V. But once arteta was bought in I said I’d back him and give him time. The problem is results are getting worse. The decisions are getting stranger. And it looks like the players are starting turn, let alone a lot of fans. I know people are saying no he has till the end of… Read more »
I think that Edu the nut less wonder, needs to be lining up DS and another CAM right now.
I dont want to hear about how stressed out he is, and not sleeping via his sons twitter feed.
Who cares.. you make a shit ton of money Edu. Do your job, and make sure we sell some and get in at least 2 players in Jan.
We will be losing about 7 players next summer, start the rebuild in Jan Edu.
That means, get DS nailed down now.
Step one..
@Pedro Oh SNAP!! “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.” You finally admitted to what many of us have tried to… Read more »
“I’m glad Ozil isn’t part of the squad, he’s a useless, selfish prick and you’re a complete melt for continuing to go to war on his behalf.”
A pricelessly factual yet inconvenient truth that Pierre often neglects, Ozil is indeed a massive colostomy bag. Or if you want the milder description, the richest sack of crap in Arsenal’s history.
Bati, Guen would be far more useful for us than Willock. Arteta seems to oust the players who have some use. It’s all a load of nonsense considering the rules change depending on the player. Willian for example has achieved a lot in his career but he’s not done anything in Arsenal colours to merit exemption from rules.
TR7
We shouldn’t be delivering the level we are, but I don’t think that’s a collection of abilities that screams creativity in 2020.
I’ve had issue with the balance in our attack and midfield for a while, thought Pepe was a massive piece of the puzzle that would take the strain off us and it’s been the opposite. Simply horrible way to spend a summer window, you absolutely have to get that profile of transfer spot on and we fucked it.
Pedro
Tell me, when exactly did you want Arsene gone?
When did you want Emery gone?
Remember, they both ended up staying beyond their sell by dates.
If we slip up against Wolves ( likely) and Spuds (highly likely) and we continue on this visible downward spiral, what justification would you have for us persevering with Arteta?
Blast, I forgot, it’s all about the process.
There was a long drawn out argument as to whether or not we should keep AMN and out of sentiment rather than logic, many hailed the decision not to sell him and here we are, middle of the season and he’s barely featured. Why keep him when you know you won’t play him? Same with stopping the move to Newcastle for Holding, average player we should have been looking to move on first chance we got. It’s the reason we still have Calum Chambers on our books, absolutely diabolical the management of this football club. Everyone attached to it seems… Read more »
“If Ozil was included in the squads , Arteta would have no choice but to play him .”
He was in the squad Last season Pierre, don’t you remember his sitting in the stands with his pretty umbrella, not playing?
It must be so flipping painful for you to wake up in the morning knowing you are going to be you again. What a glutton for self-punishment you are.
Bell—-Luiz___Gab____KT
_______TP___________
AMN_______Dani____
Nelson__Auba_______Saka
Bell, AMN and Nelson on the right should make us more physical, and offer more via attack….
4-3-3
AMN should play…. he can provide cover to Bell if he storms forward
Arteta should try this out
No MD, what I’m saying is that Mesut Ozil’s treatment should be benchmark for what is unacceptable.
So Willian and Pepe should feel the full force of the non-negotiables.
Left I never understood the decision to ostracize him as badly as we did. It’s just strange these rules the players all have to keep up with. The Willian signing was stupid, didn’t make any sense considering we couldn’t have maybe just kept Mikhitryan who’s making me eat a very humble pie this since he’s been over here. Don’t think I’ve ever heard the whole rules thing so publicly a big deal as it’s been made over at Arsenal by the manager and you can see it in the performances, no one out there seems to be enjoying themselves. It’s… Read more »
“Simply horrible way to spend a summer window, you absolutely have to get that profile of transfer spot on and we fucked it.“
You honestly have to ask the obvious Charlie, what must they have seen in Pepe to spend so much on, to date, for so little in return? Someone panicked, they must have to even sanction such a ridiculous transfer. The only other similar high priced blunder that even remotely compares would be Chelsea splashing virtually the same amount on Kepa, and look how that turned out.
Or the non- negotiables is all a bunch of crap and players should be punished for bad behaviour I.e. a fine or suspension or however every other team deals with it and everyone simply moves on from that.
Raul was looking out for Raul when he went after Pepe thinking he hit a grand slam and hoped that this would cement his status in the team. Problem was that he picked the wrong player.
3 strikes and he was out!
“we couldn’t have maybe just kept Mikhitryan who’s making me eat a very humble pie this since he’s been over here”
No Batistuta, He was never going to be that player at Arsenal or any EPL club. Some players are just those that will never cut it in the EPL.
Maybe the players are too occupied with their homework. Yes that’s another thing that has been needlessly made public. Our players get homework so the process is saucy
Batistuta, every team has this setup. It’s not unique to Arsenal. There’s a piece on training guru where Sean Dyche talks about the exact same thing.
Ernest No idea. You look around Europe and when the fee is in that region it’s telling most often because the return is undisputed, that or the potential surreal (Felix). The fact we committed that much money for what Pepe has turned out being is a disgrace. Would’ve rather we took Ryan Fraser on a free, that’s not an exaggeration. My feelings are clear on him and the whole scope toward a squad, it hasn’t been nearly good enough and we’re under immense pressure to sort it out. Would be wholly more digestible if we were producing anything of note… Read more »
RH, getting to the core of important matters as always. Players talking about homework is the issue, nice.
“Or the non- negotiables is all a bunch of crap and players should be punished for bad behaviour”
I think the non-negotiables were put in place for a very good reason, to rid the club of its country club atmosphere. Who better to know first hand than the current manager himself. The fact that its causing such grief is proof that its working.
U4GN I don’t think we’ll sack him unless things got really messy but there is a valid argument that Arteta had 20 PL of last season to take stock of the squad and as you say things are getting worse. Emery was sacked after 13 matches having picked up 18 points – we’re currently on 13 points with 9 played our next 4 fixtures are Wolves H, Spud’s A, Burnley H & Southampton H. Could you see 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss from that which would put Arteta 2 whole points better off than when Emery was sacked.… Read more »
@CC & G62 Are you looking at your Arsenal Fantasy Football team or what? The players you want in the team are not on Arsenal’s payroll, deal with it. Take the players on the payroll and come up with a team, but to regurgitate shit you pick up from other sites about Ozil’s attitude and being a prick does not support the claim that Ozil can’t improve the present squad. Arsenal has worst players then Ozil in the present squad. As was mentioned by a wise Tony in the previous thread about being full of Arteta shit, you both are… Read more »
CC, I agree on Ryan Fraser.
Did you see Marc Ingla was forced out of Lille for putting bonuses above the football team?
Pedro,
I know your saying if we’re within six points of fourth in February were still in with a shout, but what happens if were not even close?
We’re five points off now and in terrible form. What’s the point where you think no it’s time to go?
With the next run of six league games Burnley is a guaranteed three points,
I hope, the rest can go anyway.
If we get to boxing day night and still in a poor run do you think it’s time to move him on?
I really hate this “non negotiables” phrase – it’s stupid.
The concept – having basic standards of behaviour is something that most businesses have and expect of employees.
Where it goes wrong is when they’re over applied to one member of staff and not applied at all to another.
“Our players get homework so the process is saucy”
Homework? You mean like actually learning how to play within a system of formation and purpose? Imagine that, I recall a former manager who pretty much tossed out a lineup game in and game out because he felt the players already knew how to play.
“Where it goes wrong is when they’re over applied to one member of staff and not applied at all to another.”
That’s interesting and yet all too convenient, Marc. Players that are made an example are players who need to be made an example. Anyone actually disputing any of those that have been disciplined? Not me.
“3 strikes and he was out!”
Hmmm
Persuading Xhaka to stay.
Offering Mustafi a new contract
Do we have a third? Selling Martinez? Not selling AMN or Laca? Reducing Guendozi’s value from a reported £60 million down to circa £20 million?
Ernest
I was coming from the other angle – where was the discipline for Willian? Pepe will now be ostracised but as Pedro said playing favourites is a dangerous road to go down.
Emery was sacked after 13 matches having picked up 18 points – we’re currently on 13 points with 9 played our next 4 fixtures are Wolves H, Spud’s A, Burnley H & Southampton H. Could you see 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss
To be honest I could see us beating Burnley drawing with wolves and Southampton and unfortunately getting screwed by Maureen. Five points max. That would be the same as emery.
U4GN
I didn’t want to be accused of being negative!
We must go back to a 3-4-3 or 3-5-2 – we look so much better across the pitch – Leno – Holding- Luiz- Gabriel – Bellerin/ AMN (Rwb) Tierney (LWB) Partey – Ceballos – Nelson – Eddie – Auba
Pedro No, but am I shocked? Also no. Would steer clear of Lille, they’ve done us no good whatsoever. Thank god the Soumare dick sucking has ceased in light of Hungry Dom being new flavour of the month. Newcastle probably thrilled their 30 mil move collapsed. Massive shoutout to Lille’s head of communications though, unreal sellers. Club needs to have a window in winter, we’ve been too passive in following through on deals that should’ve ultimately been met with the stern/uncomfortable situation. Laca needs ousted, plain and simple. We’ve chosen Auba, now fucking commit to that and build on it.… Read more »
“Reducing Guendozi’s value from a reported £60 million down to circa £20 million?”
According to whom? Guendouzi in his lifetime will never be worth that amount. Realistically you see his true value, on loan. You blame Arteta for his attitude? Even a past manager did not have flattering things to speak of Guendouzi’s attitude. There are dicks with attitudes who produce and will always be worth their talent, sorry, but Guendouzi was never going to go for any real value because Guendouzi does actually at present time have any real value.
@Pedro
“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.”
I thought my English is pretty comprehensive but that is some Jedi magic shit to turn the above statement into “Mesut Ozil’s treatment should be benchmark for what is unacceptable.” Mh, how does your stement of “keeping Ozil in the squad” fit into that?
stement/statement
We have played 15 games so far – any game you folks remember where we have been to the same levels like a 2018 Wenger? Even in that year – our creative output was far better . That we rely on players like Saka and Nelson etc shows how much we have stooped down. As the proverbial saying goes – we need to be very careful on what we are wishing far and it has been true in our case.
“Pepe will now be ostracised ”
Not so sure about that Marc, i see this as an opportunity for Pepe to redeem himself. Bottom line, he let his team down first and the Manager second – thats the worst feeling of all, letting down your teammates. If he is a person of character i would fully and reasonably expect him to take this as an epiphany moment in his career. Thats my opinion.
The non-negotiables were always a PR stunt that was going to end badly. If you state that you are going to treat everybody the same and then proceed to harshly punish somebody for trivial incidents but not let somebody else Scot free for a much severe breach of discipline, then people will notice. Pepe stupidly snapping after being wind up has disappointed Arteta, while Willian who actually broke the current lockdown rule is immediately readmitted in the starting eleven. Ceballos who started fights twice with first Nkethia and then David Luiz is rewarded with a start, meanwhile Guendouzi is exiled… Read more »