Arsenal moved to DEFCON 5. The Redzone. We’re in the jaws of a big fuck-off crocodile, we’ve been pulled into the waters of mid-table, and the death-roll has begun. Not many escape it.
The season feels over before it started. Lots of small bad decisions have snowballed into an almighty avalanche of shite and it’s hard to escape our reality: We are not very good.
The turning point for me was making Arteta the rookie coach into the all-powerful manager. He saw a power-vacuum at a club that lacks leadership and he went for it… he should have been told to fuck off. Instead, Arsenal elevated him because they don’t rate Edu. An embarrassing decision.
It’s amusing because when I broke into advertising after 18 months of trying, my boss at the time quit and my dad told me to apply for his job after 3 weeks of experience. I did. I was literally laughed out the room. A really embarrassing moment in my career, but ultimately, who the fuck did I think I was asking that after 3 weeks?
I was told to fuck off because I worked for strong leaders. We don’t have that under Edu. Arteta was promoted too early and allowed to make terrible decisions right away.
The two biggest?
- Trusting players that always let Arsenal down
2. Giving new deals to old players in the hope they had one last job in them
Granit Xhaka was an abomination yesterday. A non-negotiable should be ‘don’t back a rival player over your teammate’, but here we are a week on after the Alioski incident and the slowest plodder in the league had another disaster class in midfield. We should have moved him on this summer.
On this point. Our letdown players seem to have this thing where they’re so comfortable, they feel they can be affronted by competition. Xhaka was good last season, you can’t deny it. Is it any coincidence that he and Ceballos, both dropped for Elneny and Partey, are dropping 2/10s now they’ve been disrespected?
What did AMN do at the training ground that was so bad he can’t contribute to a midfield with the mobility of my 94-year-old grandma three-point turning her trolley in an Aldi shopping aisle?
David Luiz was an incredible player 5 years ago, but we should never have given him a new deal after the season he had last year. That’s on Arteta, he trusted a player that tanked for us on the pitch. He thought £160kish p/w was deserved based on behaviour behind the scenes. Don’t even get me started on how he was allowed to play on like a wounded soldier after a clash of heads that sounded like a car accident.
Auba. Love him. But it is ALWAYS a risk to sign a player based on emotion. He’s 31 years old, we are not a mega club, should we have given him a 3-year deal? An experienced technical director would have said no. Nagelsmann moaned after the Champions League semi-final that he hadn’t been allowed to sign players of that profile. Rightly so. That’s how big swingers act with upstart coaches. Put them in their place.
Back to Auba.
He was nowhere. he looked disinterested. No fight in him at all. It was a pathetic run out that spoke to the bland season he’s been having. He is not a complete striker, which means you need a special type of setup to get the best from him. Namely, wingers that can go past people and find him in the box. We don’t have that.
Willian, an early sub again, after another nothing game. He was never the player we needed. So many people raised the flag on that signing, yet we invested £250k a week on ANOTHER aging player. It looks like a catastrophic signing for a club that is working from the strategy of signing players that look like Champions League level, but are in fact not. Look at the players Wolves sign, generally cheap, always built for the league, better than ours. Can we not compete for these types? £72m for Pepe versus £23m for Jota? Who would you prefer?
Lacazette looks finished at this level. Pepe doesn’t look like he can compete in the Premier League. The kids aren’t good enough and the environment to blood them is absolutely toxic.
Manchester City doesn’t have great strikers, but they have an incredible pipeline of creativity that feeds them.
Spurs don’t have an incredible pipeline, but they have complete forwards in Kane and Son.
We don’t have complete strikers. We don’t have good wingers. We don’t have good midfielders. Slander Arteta all you want, but this squad is built for no manager in the world. It’s a fucking mess.
When all of our players are playing at their peak, we can bumble our way through games. When NONE of our players are putting in a shift, we are fucked. Arteta did really well to get a turn out of them last season, now it seems he can’t.
It’s not all his fault, but it’s hard not to point the finger at him for continuing the bad decisions.
He is a brilliant coach, but a terrible judge of players. I went at people in the summer who said he was conned. I am rethinking that evaluation because it looks like he has been well and truly hoodwinked by a group of players who are built to fail.
The stats after the game made me queezy. We played 36 crosses into the box and only 2 found players. This is peak David Moyes. Is this Steve Round’s contribution to Arsenal? Is that all we have? Arteta is a progressive coach that can’t recognize our striker has no physical presence in a crowded box? How many hip youngsters in the backroom do we need to suss that strategy is a terrible one?
The club won’t sack Arteta. They can’t afford to. Their pride won’t allow it. But he’s now in that territory with a chunk of fans, which is the moment we live in. There are enough bad decisions you can apportion to him for this to be his responsibility. However, we have to be rational. The squad is not built to his specs. There is no manager you’d want that we can afford. It is going to be a massive undertaking to fix this.
The summer is a tipping point for us. The question is, do you have the team in place to deliver the brutality we need? If Edu isn’t the one, are you going to let him lead it and waste more money we don’t have? It certainly cannot be led by Arteta. He’s made too many bad decisions and the extra responsibility has clearly fucked his main focus, which should be coaching.
Here’s an idea. Sign Rangnick. Milan offered him £4.5m a year. That’s peanuts. Give him total power to reshape the club. Heavily bonus him. Set aggressive targets. Demand a premium version of what he offers the RB franchise. Don’t stick it out with people that don’t have a high ceiling. If you have a junior coach, do NOT have a junior technical director. Build a team around his weaknesses, don’t let him choose who he hires, especially if he hires people he likes to have control of the backroom
Address the job roles. We exited a dictatorship only to put ourselves right back into one with someone not ready for it. That is the weakest of all sauces. It’s seasoning your chicken wings with milk. It’s adding sparkling water to your Bud Light because you have meeting at 0830. It’s having an early night at your best mates wedding. We need to get a proper structure in place to fix the club. We need real hierarchy and clearly defined R&Rs. That should start now because we need to save our season. We have boots on the ground, where is the action?
I’m too furious to write about the path forward right now, I’ll bring that tomorrow. But know this, I fully recognize we hit a terrible tipping point yesterday. The slide is on. Arteta looks like a rookie caught in headlights. Maybe worse, he might have been hit by a truck, now he’s limping in the forest and the bears of doom are tracking him. He doesn’t have the infrastructure around him to solve it right now. He needs to call his pals in high places for advice. He needs to get a turn out of his players. He needs to pull off a miracle and get some pride back into the football, if he doesn’t, this is Emery in season two.
He can turn this around though, Ralph Hassenhutl did at Southampton. He lost 10 of his opening 17 last season after 6 months in charge. He conceded 36 goals in the process crowned by a 9-0 defeat to Leicester. This was a coach known for defensive rigour. He turned it around. He summoned the magic, now he looks like a contender to replace OGS. Mikel needs a run like his. Will he find it? Who knows. He needs to shock the system with something electric. Let’s see what he has.
Right, that’s me done. Off to find the bears of doom to see if I can get myself eaten. See you mugs in the comments.
P.S. Double the traffic when we lose? Seems that Arsenal fans like to blog here when we lose whether I’m pro or anti a particular manager. What a bunch of masochists you are.
The online community is forever waiting in anticipation to press the sack button, there’s absolutely no sense in it and the ramifications of that simply aren’t considered to the level they should be. We are not Man United, our revenues are pocket change in comparison. Arteta has tripped himself up and the action required is from him to self-correct. Trigger happy sackings is the dumbest way to negotiate management in football. Especially for a club that is comfortably now in the B-grade of European clubs sportingly. You can certainly make a list of issues at Arteta’s feet, but if your… Read more »
“See under Emery we nealaver had any semblance of balance, fluidity, control or purpose in the way we played”
Not true.
Against Napoli, Newcastle, Rennes, United, we were combative and creative.
Diss
I would have no issues with the 55 passes stat if they were actually progressive and sharp passes. We aimlessly recycle the ball between the back four and send an hopeful long ball to the attack. This isn’t what generational coaching gives us. I was one of those who gave Arteta the benefit of doubt as I can’t expect perfection since this is his first job but its looking more like same sh*t on different days.
Our play isn’t different from what we saw after the supposed “wake up call” from the villa spanking
“The new manager bounce was short lived. ”
What new manager bounce? In Arteta’s first 7 PL matches he picked up 8 points – if that’s a bounce no wonder we’re current on 7 points from 7 matches.
TR7 You will find in past history that any manager that really succeeds will brush aside teams in some matches. They will drub them. A midtable side or whoever. And the overall performance of the team will be top class as well as the result. Getting a few narrow victories over the top clubs or big name teams in a certain way has never been the real indicator in comparison to smashing a team at a certain level of competition. We have never seen Arteta smashing an EPL club and we are not likely to. This bodes very ill for… Read more »
We were much more creative and likely to score under Emery. There’s levels to these things of course, Emery is not prime Wenger, but arteta is not even a poor man’s Emery.
We are dire right now.
Paulinho
Is no of shots on goal a definitive and comprehensive indicator of team’s performance ? I don’t think so. We looked in control for most of the game.
TR7 – Yep, but United, especially with the useless Pogba, are like a sieve in midfield. We didn’t need to force the issue to get at their back four.
Even then, our lack of ideas in terms of how to actually create chances became increasingly clear the more the match played out. We were hanging on for dear life at the end.
You can point to Hassenhuttl all you like but that is wishful thinking. Hassenhuttl had >10 years coaching experience when he joined Southhampton, having had a winning record at every stop, a championship at 2 Bundesliga level, a 2nd place finish with a newly promoted RB Leipzig and then a 6th place finish in an awkward holding spot for Nagelsmann. And even with that track record, his first stop in the EPL was a second tier club. We attempted to short cut things and take flyer on Mikel because, well, because he interviews well I guess? Sure sometimes it works… Read more »
TR7 would give any Arsenal manager a five year pass just because of one solitary result against Manchester United such is his complete loathing for them.
Beat Man United and you are Arsenal manager for life.
Paulinho I completely agree. Same way we have had the one or two good games under Arteta is same way we have had good games under Emery. You can’t claim Emery is a bum and Arteta is generational …the evidence shows nothing has really changed bar the FA cup win. Our league form has been rubbish since project restart last season and it has carried on to this season same way Emerys late season collapse carried on to the next season. We have watched Arsenal for years and we watch other teams play, we know good football when we see… Read more »
Paulinho
You yourself acknowledged the role of players like Iwobi, Ramsey, and Mkhi under Emery in his first season. The fact we have none of those types in the squad except Ozil is a huge part of our final third impotence.
Arteta identified that, but criminally never consolidated matters in the summer when it should’ve been the case. Instead he took the decision to rid us of Ozil and then fail once again to follow through with that by delivering a replacement.
TR7
How can you even pretend that a match that is in a run of no goals in open play that goes back to the 4th October is a good performance.
Good result – meh performance.
LG is the new Artetawagon
CC
Arteta didn’t have to let Miki leave did he?
Diet pep thought willian as ozils replacement,
Clueless
Arteta had all the time in the world to set everything right. He fucked up
sack Arteta
I believe our decision making has been very poor since we bid Wenger farewell… We had enough time to prepare and get a good replacement but Gazidis bottled it. Emery and Arteta are just victims of poor decision making
From the recruitment to finding the right backroom staff, we need a complete overhaul of our methods and operations as a club
Charlie – Yep. I never got on board with the idea last year’s squad or this year’s, is better than the one Emery inherited.
You could have three/four Auba’s/Pepe’s in your squad, and on paper it would be worth hundreds of millions, and be ‘talented’, but we know in the real world it would be woefully inadequate and one-dimensional. You’re better off having lesser players of a different type than an expensive batch of same old same old.
Can’t “suss” out a manager in six months and in same breath ask for patience for another manager who hasn’t been quite good in the league bar one or two games.
Worst start of a season since 1981… and we’re still digging.
I would be very surprised if Maureen’s players don’t show some “extra motivation” to destroy us…
TR7
Man Utd had the worst home league start since 1972 so it would have been rude even for a stinking Arsenal not to have beaten them.
Look on the bright side , the golf courses open on Wednesday …
https://youtu.be/irBmlk6HWQw
Pierre
I might be looking for a new hobby soon if this carries on!
HighburyLegendNovember :- Auba was fully invested in the Arteta project. Everything seemed fine, until he signed his new contract. Very disappointing if he’s the same kind of player/person than ozil… ” I think players are all the same, and they are no different to you and I on a lot of levels – If you allow them to operate in an environment with little to no authority, no competition and no consequences then this is the result. Arteta has seemingly re-implemented the worst of Wenger, and it’s imploding on him rapidly. As fans of the club we wonder why they… Read more »
Bati My point exactly. We attach lots of sentiments to these things The same metric that proved Emery to be a bum (according to some) is proving Arteta to be a bigger bum. So why does he need patience, patience to do what? He should be put out of his misery if he can’t turn the tide by the new year. There is no point recruiting players that fit his VISION only to sack him and the new coach asks for his own players. That is the sort of wastage that is killing us A DOF or a technical director… Read more »
Charlie I’d normally agree with that line of reasoning but ask yourself, why was Emery sacked? What is Arteta doing now that Emery didn’t before? Winning the FA Cup was great but it’s a secondary trophy at this stage, let’s be real about that. There’s not a gaffer or a team in the league that would take a Cup win over a top 4 CL finish. Even Di Matteo was sacked at Chelsea after winning the Champions League and FA Cup double. That ought to have bought him years of goodwill and faith but he was gone by November because… Read more »
Ishola
Not one result Ishola. Man U this season, our performances in FA Cup semi and final and even the first game under Arteta against Chelsea that we lost.
What a state eh?
I don’t think its premature to discuss Arteta’s dismissal just not a realistic approach. The club are going to give him a lot of rope to find his way and this season in its entirety is likely his, its on the job training. That decision was made moment they hired him knowing full well there’d be peaks and valleys bringing in a man with no managerial experience.
X factor being if this slide progresses deep into a zone that looks untenable.
Just putting the Vienna game on Thursday to the side for the moment, we have to figure out how we are going to put up a decent fight against Spurs and Mourinho at the weekend. Arteta is likely to go with what he knows and also be aware of the threat of Kane and Son. So we are likely to see a back 5 and look to hit on the counter again. However obviously this hasn’t been working very well recently. Time for Arteta to switch it up, and stop trying to overthink things. Just play players in their proper… Read more »
If you’re looking at benchmarks for being in the wilderness and turning it around, I think we’re in a worse position right now than Liverpool were when FSG took over in 2010/11, and definitely worse than when Klopp became manager in 2014/15. The problem is that we don’t have high value sellable assets to reshape the team, we’ve already gambled away all the cash at bank, and as our revenue progressively shrinks our wage bill is becoming a monstrosity in proportional terms, as we get left behind financially by the CL clubs. Liverpool were able to have numerous cracks at… Read more »
“There is no point recruiting players that fit his VISION only to sack him and the new coach asks for his own players.”
Actually it’s even worse than that because we don’t have a DOF / Tech Dir who we trust to bring in good players that will fit how the club wants to play.
The argument is should we sack Arteta with mixed views – would anyone complain if we sacked Edu?
Willian didn’t go to shit just because he moved to North London. Auba didn’t forget how to score. Partey, Gabriel and a reintegrated Mo have been good. The issue is one of management. It’s really easy, when you don’t like your boss, you don’t perform. No player will speak poorly of their current boss so why do you expect to hear anything but nice words from the players mouths? Same happened with Emery. Issue with the novice manager is he doesn’t know how to manage. He can find out at a different team.. I’m not waiting 5 years for his… Read more »
Tr7
So four results in almost a year is the benchmark for you. Why not hire Tony Pulis then, I believe he can give us a possible 3 to four good results in 8 months as well.
That was on a lighter note by the way
Personally Arteta has had enough time to show us signs of excellence (FA cup comes to mind) but the baffling decisions far outweigh the good ones and he is sinking fast. I hope for his sake this is just a slump
Chris
As we’ve already qualified from the group and only need a point to guarantee finishing top then I don’t want to see any players who are considered first team.
Wenger Eagle
That’s was a particularly good post
You left out offering Mustafi a new contract, the needless signing of Mari and Soares as well as the nullification of Saliba.
Arteta met problems but he amplified many of them.
Paulinho
Agree with that. Is there anyone you were hoping we signed this past summer outside Aouar?
Marc
Don’t think there was any decision to make on Arteta’s part, the player had went, immersed himself, found a new home, and wanted the club to release him to make it permanent. Players aren’t pieces on a board, they’ve got their own will irrespective of your wants and needs as a manager.
The cup wins in the FA cup were perfectly executed and brilliant results but our results in the league at the time weren’t great and that’s carried on into the new season. One off games sitting deep against better teams and hitting them on the counter is great but you can’t sustain that in a full league campaign, just not sustainable at all. I was okay with having no pattern in the league but not this bad when he took over because every manager needs time but the longer it went on and with some very weird decision making, the… Read more »
TR7 “Not one result Ishola. Man U this season, our performances in FA Cup semi and final and even the first game under Arteta against Chelsea that we lost.” That game against Chelsea in the league was only one half. Lampard made a sub at half time and the second half was Chelsea’s. Anyway all this depends on how much you rate isolated results in the FA Cup. Said before once we see Arteta smash a team and with an overall top class performance to go with it will be the time when we can start to think we may… Read more »
Avram Grant won the league with Chelsea and still got sacked.
The senior players did not like him one bit. That group of Chelsea seniors are regarded as Chelsea legends..
Avram had just won the league and still got sacked. He wasn’t the right man for the job regardless of the success he had.
Sal
“ X factor being if this slide progresses deep into a zone that looks untenable.”
Where do you draw that line
If we lose badly to Spuds, Mourhino is good at handing those type of beat downs’
Do you wait until the Burnley game?
Honestly, for me the sooner the better but I know the club has invested a lot in him so he will get more chances than most.
Marc
Personally I wouldn’t be surprised if Edu gets the boot. I believe Arteta has some goodwill at the club (not anymore with most fans) and he would be given some time if he can get one or two results to keep us within reach of the European spots. Vinai is the savior now, he needs to get a good DOF or TD as the case may be
If vinai pulls a Gazidis on us then were fucked!!
“Arteta on the other hand showed last season glimpses of brilliance.”
Seriously TR7, given the examples that you offered I think that the bar you set for ‘brilliance’ is incredibly low.
Who knows what hyperbole you might have to use if for example our coach went on a 22 match unbeaten run…..
Charlie – There aren’t many players out there. WE asked me yesterday what I thought of certain players we’ve been linked with and none of them particularly whet the appetite. Even the compilation I saw of Aouar didn’t convince me he could bring what we need.
Obviously Grealish is the one that would totally transform us right now, but we’re not exactly an alluring destination of someone of his talents right now. Although maybe he likes a challenge.
Bats
After this latest home defeat can you see Arteta doubling down and going back to his three at the back and nine players behind the ball?
It may get a few results but ultimately this will fail as well.
And I don’t think the fans or the media will sit by and watch on without negative comments when he is playing smash and grab against midtable EPL sides.
Arteta is petrified to open this team up because he is so aware of defensive deficiencies within it. This latest defeat is going to make him even more scared.
Le Sauce
“Vinai is the savior now”
Jesus be.
God help us.
I’m not sure what sacking Edu might achieve really. In what way would that make Arteta change his tactics, style of play or man management approach?
It wouldn’t surprise me though, find a scapegoat ad take the pressure off for a few weeks but would anything really change?
Andy
That’s the thing isn’t it? We had lot’s of people say during a 22 game unbeaten run that it wasn’t sustainable long term because we couldn’t keep a clean sheet to save our lives. There was xg and the likes thrown up after every draw or win in that run.
Now we’d be lucky to go on a 5 game winning run. If that was seen as not sustainable for many then where’s all the give him more time rhetoric coming from?
‘Suarez in 14/15 (74m; 150m now?), Sterling in 15/16 (57m), Benteke + Ibe in 16/17 (44m), Coutinho in 17/18 (131m), and a combined 62m from Solanke, Ings and Brewster in the past couple of years. When they eventually got the right manager in Klopp, he was able to invest heavily (and remarkably successfully looking at his hit rate).’ Outside of Suarez, Sterling and Coutinho, and they wasted a lot of the money from the former two’s sales on crap like Markovic, Moreno, Balotelli, Lovren, Benteke, those were all really poor players that they just played a blinder with getting in… Read more »
Arteta needs to back to Spain and manage a lower club to do his apprenticeship.
No spotlight and he can experiment all he likes to find a formula.
Some arrogance to think he can walk into a club as big as Arsenal and do the business, and more fool us for allowing it to happen.
Get Allegri in and move on
Sorry, this is no temporary ‘slump’.
Its not that the team are putting in good performances or at the very least, good effort.
Play back some of the games from last season and you would see performances to go with the effort.
Plus this is not a change that you are seeing from one or two players. Then you may attribute to temporary dips of form.
This is a behavioural change from all of the team.
Which can mean only one thing: Goodbye Arteta. You are not wanted here.
Good shout Dissenter, the Mari signing was bizarre. Whatever about the initial loan but making it permanent?
All i can say is thank fuck Arsenal didn’t beat Liverpool 7 -2 as TR7 would have given Arteta a blowjob and a new 10 year contract.
Le Sauce
Arteta had to use Xhaka and Ceballos in midfield yesterday- I don’t think you will find many PL clubs which have a slower and more pedestrian central midfield combination than Xhaka and Ceballos. Neither can accelerate or raise tempo of the game. We did not have either Partey or Elneny. Arteta erred in ostracizing Guendouzi and Torrera. You pick any manager of your choice and give them xhaka-ceballos midfield and he will struggle.
Auba and Lacs not on form. Bench the pair. Start Nketiah and other young strikers to show only performance required in the team.
TR7 the idea we were disjointed and lacking in purpose in all games under Emery is false and you should cover your face in shame posting that as a defense of Arteta. Absolute shameless falsehood We beat United, Spurs and Chelsea soundly at home, we had the third best home record under Emery in the league. Telling lies to defend Arteta is shameless. You are better than that I don’t subscribe to Arteta getting sacked but he deserves every single bit of criticism. We have been hopeless in the league since he took over. The FA cup is not league… Read more »
Liverpool raking in 20m for Solanke would be like us taking in 35m for Eddie Nketiah.
Not sure how the Liverpool negotiator kept a straight face in that meeting.
Ishola Moving back to the back 3 and playing on the counter would surely makes comeback against spurs, he wouldn’t want to lose that game and the backs against the wall counter attack is his best style of play. If he did that and pulled off a result against Spurs then great for everyone but problem becomes when you can’t exactly do that the following week against a Burnley or Southampton and therein lies the problem, he doesn’t seem to have a plan B. I’d probably just fuck it and go 442 against the lower teams or whatever iteration of… Read more »
That’s the thing, most of us who want Arteta out can give you many many reasons and evidences of his poor decision making, the only reason people who want him to stay can give is his ‘vision’ . As I’ve asked before, can anyone truly tell me what his vision is? Didn’t think so. Arteta is out of his depth and the longer we hold on to a manager who’s lost the players , the nearer we’ll be edging towards relegation. I’m genuinely shitting myself about the game against the spuds and can envisage an old Trafford like 8-2 battering
Receding
He wasn’t my cup of tea but we did have some absolutely brilliant games in Emery’s first season especially in the Europa league. The fact he came that close with that squad was something really even though the wheels did come off after the second season but it’s a bit disingenuous to say his first season was an absolute disaster really. Remember absolutely buzzing for that Europa league final as it had been too long we competed in any
Thank you and goodnight
Stop hyping Spurs up. I picked Arsenal to beat Man Utd and I pick Arsenal to draw at Spurs.
Tr7
Difference his Arteta wasn’t handed Xhaka-Ceballos partnership. He chose it
He chose to keep Xhaka instead of selling him and chose to extend Ceballos loan. He made his bed with those two and must lie in it.
My worry is what long term damage is going to be done to the team. He’s already ostracised Guen amongst others and who knows what’s happening with Saliba. I’m not sure a rookie manager can have these so called non negotiables but then turn around and let players like Willian and Cellabos do stuff that’s worse!
I think all these things are adding up to make a very unhappy atmosphere at the club. I suspect they probably like Arteta as a person but not so much as a manager.
Also understandable to see Auba struggle so badly.
Last season he had big, big motivations: Playing for a big hike, Proving himself to the new gaffer.
Now the struggle is on to find another fire.
Those few months after you get a big reward are hard man.
Weagle It’s the exact same, but when I say that I reference Emery’s first full season and this one. Meaning would anyone have sacked Emery in his first season despite what was seen by many as the writing on the wall? No, though it was a view many were in favour of come the end when he’d had the opportunity to salvage it. This is the same reasoning I have for Arteta right now, he’s cornered himself with some half-decisions, but it’s a question of how he finds solutions to that which will determine his future. Throwing a season away… Read more »
Not even saying sack him really but I just wish e had a second gear, a plan B that didn’t involve sitting back and hitting on the counter, even the mid table teams don’t really do that as much these days and it’s not like our squad is made of amateurs.
I mean sure it’s a very disjointedly assembled squad but still should and can play much better than he’s got them playing
Ishola
FA Cup might be a secondary trophy but the teams we beat on the way to winning the trophy were good teams. Again not so much the FA Cup win in itself but rather how in a short span of time Arteta managed to create a template to beat teams better than us. Unfortunately since then he made a few wrong decisions and most of the good work was undone in no time.
Bats “Moving back to the back 3 and playing on the counter would surely makes comeback against spurs, he wouldn’t want to lose that game and the backs against the wall counter attack is his best style of play.” Yeah as others have said maybe this Spurs game isn’t the worst to come next. Arteta can treat it like one of those cup ties and play like the big underdog sitting, defending deep with numbers behind the ball and countering. And if he does get a result playing underdog tactics in this match then of course we will get people… Read more »
Yea but the league form under Arteta was iffy even pre lockdown, it’s not something that’s just started this season, it’s a pattern that wasn’t paid so much attention to because Auba was still scoring and then the FA cup win happened. Now the goals have dried up and all of that inconsistency is now bare for all to see
Receding
You’re right. They made Emery look like the second wave of covid and sold a glorious footballing future under any other coach. Good thing is the Club decided to go for Arteta which was Pedro’s number one choice and we were sold the whole city IP stuff and eye watering attacking football. Now were getting served stoke city IP with all metrics pointing towards a disaster season ahead
“Not sure how the Liverpool negotiator kept a straight face in that meeting.”
Scouser’s are used to robbing people – it just comes naturally to them.
We’ve been so bad for so long that I find it very hard to even care anymore. If Arsenal themselves don’t care, why should I…? This rot started a decade ago and it’s been like watching an addict who simply doesn’t want to be cured of their affliction. A slow, painfully obvious slide into mediocrity. It’s going to take YEARS to get out of this mess. Many clubs have gone through this but I cannot think of a single example where the turnaround was relatively quick. Liverpool were bang-average for 25 years before they really became consistently good. I fear… Read more »
“but rather how in a short span of time Arteta managed to create a template to beat teams better than us.”
Right now that list of teams better than us is growing by the day and we’re not beating them anymore.
TR7
It’s been said a thousand times before.
The “template” in winning the FA Cup was never going to be sustainable over a whole EPL campaign.
Sitting deep in numbers and countering was never going to work over 38 EPL matches.
You should know that.
@Calypso
I truly hope you’re right. But if a team like wolves without they’re main men upfront, Jimenez and the sold jota , can have a field day against our defenders, just worried what Kane and Son will do to them.
Ishola
Those tactics won’t work unless you’re a club just playing to stay in the league and even then you do have to attack sometimes or at least find a way to create chances for your strikers to latch onto. We’re barely creating anything really that you’re left pinning for Emery’s wing back cut backs that worked well for him early on
Our CM options this seasons could have been Partey, Guendozi, El Neny and Torreira.
3 of that 4 look to pass progressively the other can but needs to do it more
4 out of 4 work hard and are mobile
2 out of 4 would fight and look to control every game, 1 needs to do it more consistently, the other is a bit light
Instead Arteta decides Xhaka and Cebellos are the future and wants to give Mustafi a new contract.
And people STILL want to give Arteta more time.
Soop
” If Arsenal themselves don’t care, why should I…?”
It’s getting harder to get behind the club – I’m trying to imagine the phone call in May “Hello Sir congratulations you’ve come to the top of the season ticket waiting list – that’ll be £1500 please hello hello HELLO”
Bati Take AC Milan with Pioli as an example of the difference a gaffer can make. Was handed the reigns in early October after a horrendous start where they lost 4 of their first 7 league games including being destroyed at home by old man Ribery and Fiorentina. His first month in charge they were just as bad and they looked awful, although looking back their three defeats came at the hands of Lazio, Juventus and Roma. Since they lost to Juventus a month after he was hired, they have now only lost 3 more league matches in the 35… Read more »
That template talk is a bit of a hogwash really, Wigan did same against City in the cup final few years back and won and then got relegated.
Not taking anything out of what was a brilliant 2 games for us but that can’t be the template really going foward
Dissenter “Where do you draw that line” Thats the question that none of us can answer, our next 5: Spurs a Burnley h Southampton h Everton a Chelsea h Christ the way this seasons gone, could see us actually do Spurs. Wishful thinking, maybe even a deluded thought after Wolves but its been pretty topsy turvy for all but seems to be levelling somewhat which may kill that. Personally think Arteta’s earned more than being dismissed at this stage, but the question marks are seriously stacking up. Every manager seems to have that moment when its turned, for me with… Read more »
Weagle
Just Zlatan added in Jan eh pal, that the same Zlatan you’ve waxed lyrical about since he turned up in Italy again?
He’s an unreal focal point for any attack, genuinely has Ronaldo-like influence at the top of the spear.
If we signed Coutinho he’d act as the same kind of catalyst creatively, trouble with us is we passed on him and chased Aouar only to land neither.
Eagle
Spot on and the most notable changes were pushing Leao to the left or with Zlatan in certain games and having Chanalgu play a more free role and more importantly enjoying his football. Learnt to be a bit more flexible too really.
You look at Bennacer play and think the differences with Torreira aren’t that much but he has a much calmer presence beside him in Kessie who allows him do his thing.
Thank you and goodnight
I’ll take a 4-0 loss now if it means sacking the manager
Arteta asks us to trust the PROCESS. I think we need a target system first where the process will lead us. Winning the CL in three years is not a target. I don’t even know what is Arteta’s target system. What is his offense?
Charlie
Of course Zlatan is a big presence but he’s not the fastest so Pioli has basically found a way to nullify that lack of pace by having runners either side of him or playing him in a front two where he even plays as an 8 most games. Basically just tailored the team to the strength of what he had available
Charlie
Zlatan has been amazing for them but we’re talking about a team that was where we are headed for a bottom half of the table finish to being the best performing team in the country without any other proper investment.
As great as he’s been, he hasn’t made THAT much of a difference. Guys like Rebic, Calhanoglu and Kessie have dramatically improved under Pioli.
Deflective post yet again. To be fair started out fair/accurate in calling the decision to hire Arteta for what it was: short-sighted and lacking any rationale. Its a simple fact borne out by the numbers: you do not put inexperienced folks in charge of multi-billion dollar enterprises ‘hoping’ they will succeed. So how did we get here? If you will all recall, the megaphoning shrilling from bloggers was a key contributor to this decision IMHO. Endless articles going on about how great a coach Arteta is/was made this shite happen. You may doubt the power of blogging/social-shrills, but it works… Read more »
TR7, Sure but then again, why did Arteta repeat the exact same mistake that dig the graves of both Wenger and Emery – playing Xhaka game in, game out. Get the 20m for Xhaka, or try to sell him in the Summer for 15-20m. Lacazette in the Summer for ~25 to 30m, and AMN for 20m. Only buy Soares and not Mari. Don’t bring Willian. You can then get Aouar 45m, Dom S 25m and capable striker (I’ve no idea who but club must have targets) say Edouard for 25m. You bring in Partey, Gabriel, Aouar, Dom S and a… Read more »
First time post here.
Off course the biggest outrage is, if Arteta never selected David Luiz last night in the first place the Wolves player would not be in hospital today with a fractured skull.
Luiz injured Martinelli in training, he gives away penalties and collects red cards too.
A total liability.
And yet Mikel Arteta keeps selecting him?
Can somebody tell what ‘The Process’ is?
Has Arteta ever told us what ‘The Process’ is?
At what point does it stop being a ‘Process’?
Groubervillegooner (who I’ve never noticed before, hi!) made a point that really hit home the more I thought about it. To sum it up: buying unwanted players from big clubs never works for us. Think about all the stars we’ve bought or loaned from big clubs in recent times, going in reverse order: – Partey – Willian – Luiz – Ceballos – Suarez – Lichtsteiner – Sokratis – Mkhitaryan – Aubameyang – Cech – Sanchez – Welbeck – Ozil – Flamini – Silvestre – Diarra – Gallas – Rosicky – Baptista Couldn’t be bothered going back more than 15 years,… Read more »
Text book paragraph breaks Mr. Marc Faber.
Bati
Zlatan has never been the fastest, but he’s a freak physically and his technique is ridiculous. Then his charisma and professionalism is another chapter entirely.
Arsenal have nobody, literally nobody pulling any strings in attack. It’s anemic, but the right player can influence matters to a ridiculous level. Bruno Fernandes has given OGS at least 18 more months in charge ffs, Harry Potter stuff.
I’m simply arguing the fact that a game changer even isn’t this current run of results could’ve been the difference to a tune of 6 points. Comfortably.
I agree that the ceballos xhaka midfield duo is unworkable, but can we just agree that arteta is the one who opted into that midfield duo by loaning in ceballos for another season along with convincing xhaka to stay when he was ready to sell himself to other clubs.
He did this to himself.
And now Partey is out for 6 weeks I mean really, can’t even make this shit up.
Thank you Mr Left Testicle. Their is always a place for good grammar. Ahem.
BTW, what happened to the ‘right’ one?
“My worry is what long term damage is going to be done to the team.”
Not even speaking of the very long term damage done to the club’s image, which is already in disgrace for so many years.
What has happened to our attack? For me Willock just doesn’t cut it, his contributions do not move our attack forward in any way. Auba looks out of ideas and disinterested. I am going to be hiding behind the sofa next Sunday as on current form we are not just in a different postcode to Sp*rs but in a different and lower league altogether.
Hard to see where we go from here, which is why I think there are so many wildly different opinions on what should be done/who should be sacked/ who should be bought etc. It is horribly similar to the ongoing dysfunctionality at Old Trafford – the bloated squad with talented individuals who more than one manager has failed to meld into a team, the over the odds transfer fees and wages paid, the novice managers, and most strikingly the absentee wealthy US owners with no apparent aptitude or great knowledge of football. If we carry on like this, then even… Read more »