Good morning my darlings. I’ve been to hell this week. Arsenal has been shit. Advertising has been worse (we won that Ad of the Year award though, so thanks). I’m on my 4th accommodation in 2 weeks after dealing with rodents. The only joy has been finding out that lizards are quite social and like to hang out when you work. Weirdos.
It’s time to get back to business though. I can’t have Arsenal being shit forever. Mikel Arteta’s fall from grace needs a swift turnaround. He’s going nowhere and he needs to fix the problems.
Southampton are not exactly shit these days. Ralph Hassenhutl overcame a similarly shocking run last season, now he’s fighting for the league. They’ve been so good even Theo is looking like a player.
Still, at some point, something is going to click. I know everyone is crying that we’re going to get relegated… it’s not going to happen. Here’s how bad the season has been: if we’d beaten Burnley and Southampton tonight, we’d be 3 points off Chelsea.
What does that tell you? If we put a run in, we could climb the table pretty fast. Now, we have good players. Some are downing tools. Some are out of form. If we can work out who is who, then we could find some sparkle.
Auba looks shattered confidence-wise, but we were finding him the other night and he didn’t stop working. It’ll click for him. I simply refuse to believe he’s an Ozil-like issue.
Granit Xhaka can’t be used tonight. He’s been fined and now he can’t play. That means there will be a change in midfield. A lot of fans were critiquing Arteta for not savaging him a week after savaging Arteta for going off a Nic Pepe. I think he learnt his lesson, his post red reaction was virtually the same. Everyone fucks up, let’s move on.
Hector Bellerin, bless him, is finally being dropped because he’s suspended. What will Mikel do? I really hope he plays Cedric Soares and puts Ainsley in midfield. If he doesn’t, we’ll know that the Kia deal for the Southampton player last Jan was probably some sort of final straw for Raul.
I think we should go back to being Shithouse FC. Play 5 at the back until we have the players to roll with a back 4. Our midfield base should be Mo and AMN. Let’s have Auba left, Eddie centre, and Pepe on the right. then maybe Joe Willock or ESR in the creative position.
We need a win. The players he’s forced to pick have to come with the goods. This has to be a stepping stone to a better starting 11.
My fear is we see another round of Willian, Lacazette, and Ceballos.
The reality is we’ll probably fall somewhere in between.
I keep on calling every game a turning point. It never happens. But if you were honest about the last game… we were pretty decent. We played some good football before Granit saw red and we ended the game with an xG win (lolololol I am soooo desperate). I know it means nothing right now, but at least we saw less aimless crosses, some structure in our attack, and a bit of variety.
Arteta was asked if the players are behind him. He laughed and said, ‘my feeling is yes.’ Honestly, I don’t think we are in ‘downed tools’ territory. The results are worse than Emery, but the situation is very different I think. That said, you need to see some wins at some point. Today would be a nice moment.
There was a lot of talk about bad situations and what you learn in the presser. Mikel has never had his squad do to him what they did to Emery. He needs to remember this moment. How it feels. What people said about him. How close he came to getting the boot. Those are the things that need to be written in a diary so when May next year comes round, he’s ruthless. I don’t want to see Mustafi given another chance. I don’t want to see Luiz here next year. If we get an offer for Xhaka in Jan, let’s push him out. Arteta will escape this dip because industry people think he’s the next big thing. The execs will ride out the calls for his head this time… but he won’t get a second chance. This moment needs to be like the first time you licked a plug socket. Let me tell you friends, you only try that once.
Those conversations can happen later, today, is about the win. I liked it when Mikel was asked why we’re so shit.
‘This is football.’
Very true. Our team is more than capable of getting back on track. The talent in the squad is way above where we are in the league. Mikel is a great coach. Let’s see what the counter punch at our shitty form looks like.
P.S. Now listen to The Arsenal Opinion. I bring together Janan and Matt for the first one. It’s a good one. Therapeutic listening.
Too many name changes Midwest!
Chins
But there are 25 games left
Mid
Looool I knew you were lurking.
Ahern is moving to Spain, just said goodbye, mixed emotions sad but excited for him.
Sociedad look out you got an Ultra moving in.
I think we’ve failed to win in 7 of our last 8 games
Draws are worth nothing to us right now
25 games left of which we are likely to win how many? The more games you draw or lose the lower your confidence and the harder it is to return to winning. There is zero momentum A team that can shithouse wins regularly like we did at the end of last season will pull a result out of its ass regardless of performance. A team where nobody can score for shit, few chances are created, we keep getting red cards, matching historic losing records and dropping points literally every game – turning that around is infinitely harder even with the… Read more »
Ahern is moving to Spain, just said goodbye, mixed emotions sad but excited for him.
Sociedad look out you got an Ultra moving in.
________
Oh damn… Your gonna miss your sidekick in crime. Well tell him I said all the best.. Sounds like a great opportunity… weather will probably be boss… too.
Wasn’t Red also Jaguar? or am I dreaming that?
It’s not like we play great every week and keep getting robbed by shit refs, or freak luck. We are just bad. The manager doesn’t have any idea how to fix it except for spend 200m on 6 more players.
That’s not going to happen so we’re basically fucked as long as the club continues to entertain the myth that Mikel has any idea what he’s doing. He doesn’t.
As well, why is our disciplinary record so bad? 3 red cards in the last 6 or so league games.
What is actually going on right now???
“Oh damn… Your gonna miss your sidekick in crime. Well tell him I said all the best.. Sounds like a great opportunity… weather will probably be boss… too.”
And we’ve got and Iberian accommodation, look out Espana.
The problem from the very beginning is Arteta is learning on the job. With his background it seemed like he would have the tools to possibly make it work .. But that hasn’t been the case other then a short term Cup situation. He has been searching around trial and error and mostly it has been error. And trusting the wrong players is error numero uno in my book and I’m not sure he can get past that. For me I would like to try a new direction but then again I don’t want to be changing managers every 10… Read more »
I don’t like the idea of changing managers every year either, but when you hire the wrong one sooner or later you need to bite the bullet or face the damage that having the wrong manager does to a club over time
I think unlike Emery who did his homework with the team he was going to inherit and knew for the most part what he needed, Arteta just felt like he owed nobody shit, no research, just the hype surrounding him was good enough I suppose he thought. He missed his entitled job the first time around. Good for Gazidis to hire Emery. He showed that prepared enough for the role. Did not pan out, but he showed the work before the interview Arteta gets a midnight rendezvous with Vinai. This type of business is utter BS. The club knew if… Read more »
The goal today was good. I will not deny that.
Guess what Mike.
Saka made that happen… on his own with his skills.
Allow players more freedom like this….
Get 2 new CAM in Jan… let them have freedom to be artists!
Stop coaching from the sideline. that fucks with players too much
QuantumLeapDecember 16, 2020 22:56:07 Woab why can’t we all get along? Talk it out you might feel better. Is abusing a faceless stranger on the internet really the answer?What if this was the start of good set of results? Would you still be so upset ? ——- Got to say,you are a bit of a weird one to find your way to Le-Grove.. Anyway,saw yo talking about context earlier on… How’s this for context..??!! Premier League Record Under Mikel Arteta:- Matches 33 Wins 13 Draws 8 Losses 12 Goals For 43 Goals Against 37 And let’s put some things into… Read more »
Premier League Record Under Mikel Arteta:-
Matches 33
Wins 13
Draws 8
Losses 12
Goals For 43
Goals Against 37
Forgot to add,that’s real Man City IP stamp of approval-right there..
Laying that Pepe watered down sauce,just how we like it-relegation style.
Woohoo…
‘As well, why is our disciplinary record so bad? 3 red cards in the last 6 or so league games.’
The charlatan while at Man C was caught on camera encouraging players to commit fouls.
Mikel Pulleys
Theo Walcott; “I felt a lot of fear in Arsenal tonight, to be honest. They’re going through a very difficult time.”
Mid thanks for the well wishes! It’s bittersweet but at least I’ll be able to get on LG during prime hours now.
As Sal said we’re becoming Real Sociedad ultras now. See you in the Basque Country, baby.
We are only 10 points off 4th place, a few wins and we will be back in the mixer
It does not matter who manages us, The problem is the mindset at the club, We are Owned and run by people who have no interest in Arsenal, We will never be a force again as long as Stan is here, We need a proper owner who wants to win and compete.
On your way to Spain please stop over in London and pick the charlatan.
Fucks sake when Wally walnuts says he smells fear you know you’ve really really spiked your pants
I like Theo as a guy and he actually had amazing natural talent that never kicked on due to a lack of coaching, but as far as footballers go he’s as wet as you like. Proper moist and soppy
When Theo smells fear against arsenal, just… sigh never mind. Never fucking mind
For someone as soppy as Theo to be smelling fear, I can tell you that ain’t no silent fear fart, turtle head or even light sharting he’s catching whiff of, that must be full on overflowing nappy levels of soilage. Dripping down your leg business, pancakes over your lower back business
Fucking arsenal
CHina you such a shit talker
China1 bruh you dirty motherfucker, hahahahahaha
Lol I just saw the Leeds highlights. Loads of lovely goals. The first 4 goals in that game were all headers! Go figure
More like the other way round, but Mikel didn’t notice auba has practically zero physical or aerial presence let alone actual threat, and he’s alone in a box surrounded by 4 defenders
Like I said either of 2 things has to be done to resume an upward trend. Either hand over the keys of our football to Edu and demote Arteta back to coach (Edu built up the Brazilian team ffs, he’s capable), sack Edu and bring in a more experienced DOF like Ragnick to oversee Arteta of course or sack Arteta and bring in a senior manager with Edu as his sidekick.
Well, 3 things.
https://youtu.be/iDIHlQBP0U4
The sauce of that smell of fear was originating from the sidelines and had a whiff of paella
Im telling you for free!
Valentin
“Just read that Leno gave an interview to German TV where he criticised the tactic used by Arteta. Slow and inefficient he called them.
But of course, to cover himself, that’s not the coach fault…”
Of course you failed to mention this, didn’t suit your narrative I guess.
“Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta is not to blame for their precarious position in the Premier League and the players must shoulder the responsibility for the team’s dismal form, goalkeeper Bernd Leno said.”
Bojangles
https://youtu.be/iDIHlQBP0U4
Calypso
Wrong country you dumb fuck.
Lmao ^
Bojangles
Are you on day release.
Quantum Leap
Not his call though was it.
Thank god.
Arteta shd fuck off back to his boyfriend in Manchester. If he’s quick he can lift the Carabao Cup with him again this year.!
They’ll need another 500m and Messi to.win anything else!!
Guardiola….the most over rated manager in history, and little Mikel, his most over rated coach. They belong together!
Damn we are very terrible at getting good players. I was screaming for Hakim Ziyech when we got pepe. He had everything and he was priced at 25 mil. Now he is going to help chelsea a lot. Now there is also Emi Buendia. Everytime I watch him play, I see a top class player in the making. I bet he could even play as a CM in a david silva type role. He has got everything. And he is premier league proven. But we always get our recruitment wrong. Auoar is great but I dont know if he would… Read more »
Some are more concerned with Arteta being a success than Arsenal football club. They want to muddle through to the January window hoping for a signing that transforms the team. The key question is how will you rate Arteta in terms of coaching and tactics
Have our players improved? No
Are we winning games? No
Have our league record since he arrived been adequate? No
So why are you so determined he stays. What’s in it for you?
Buendia
1 goal and 1 point from back to back home games against Burnley and soton….that’s straight up dog shit, no matter how much sugar and glitter some delusional posters try and sprinkle on it. Dog shit. Richarlson and his crew will tear these pussies a new one on Saturday, Luiz will shit the bed and be walking.
What are the chances of Iwobi scoring against Arsenal? asking for a friend
We signed a veteran Right-Back as a cover on a 4 year contract just to start meaningless cup games, boggles my mind. And why don’t our players run with the ball in the centre of the park? Our goal came with the run to the centre. Overloading the wings is ok but it also gives time for defense to organise and not worry about which way the ball is going to go. Every time the ball is passed out from the back, it goes wide, no runs in the centre of the midfield. Mix it up from time to time… Read more »
The midfielders are under instructions to be cautious.
Last time we scored was also when Elneny ran with the ball.
Speaker as a Centre Half.At a level well below Arsenal.If Arteta is such a brilliant Coach.I hope he asks Gabriel.Why did he go 2 to 1 on on Walcott s Goal.Plus both Bookings ,he was 2 far forward.IMO.
Arteta’s approach to football is like a car designer insisting square wheels are the future. .
Bojangle, In your own quote of my comment, I wrote that that Leno of course does not blame Arteta for the tactical fiasco. Can’t even read properly! 🙈🥗🙊🤡 Why do you think that Leno felt necessary to add that it was not the coach fault? He does not want to fall foul of Arteta. They are all afraid of how he will react if criticised!🤐 However how can he criticise the idea of sensing crosses after crosses and not blaming Arteta. Arteta himself acknowledged that the players just did what he asked them to do. This is a stupid tactical… Read more »
Gabriel is too far forward playing the Luiz role of CB creator, another tactical favourite of the charlatan,
Hasenhuttl figured it in no time
Calypso aka redtruth no true Arsenal fan wants us to lose a game to get the manager sacked
We never want to lose any game ever
Unless it’s Arsenal ladies then we don’t give a shit
Just watched the game.
A few thoughts:
– It looks as though we still aren’t coaching tackling.
– We have twice as many red cards over the last year than any other club. with foul throws, poor corners etc, it really looks like poor discipline and lack of proper coaching (again).
– AMN really looks like a young George Foreman.
– Anyone that didn’t bet their house on Walcott scoring in this game is a complete mug.
– Is Arteta trying to hold out for the transfer window? Does he know something we don’t?
“Unless it’s Arsenal ladies then we don’t give a shit”
ha ha
We finally score a goal and shock horror it’s not from q cross. We only attempted 11 yesterday anyway and only one found someone.
“Is Arteta trying to hold out for the transfer window? Does he know something we don’t ”
So basically he has given up coaching and is waiting for new players to make him look good. That’s bad
“We finally score a goal and shock horror it’s not from q cross. We only attempted 11 yesterday anyway and only one found someone.”
Without the giant that is Lacazatte in the middle, there’s no point in playing crosses in fro the box.
Of course , our goal yesterday didn’t come from a cross…
Yeah sorry but if the only way our form can be fixed is by spending money then there’s no difference between Mikel and an amateur manager
The whole point of being a manager is you have to make the team greater than the sum of its parts. If all the parts are underperforming and your answer is to buy a new engine, new wheels, new clutch, new paneling, new upholstering and a new gearbox then your miracle transformation is nothing more than paying money to compensate for being incapable of doing anything with what you’ve got
We are just incredibly poor all round. I really worry about the coaching.
Can’t tackle, can’t press effectively, can’t shoot, can’t pass, can’t dribble.
This has all gone off the cliff since Tyts was promoted.
What are our coaches doing? Or did we sack all of them too?
Absolute fiasco of a game.
Nothing of note to change my opinion of Arteta’s level as being assistant coach at best.
The song remains the same so onto Everton away Saturday.
Arteta vs Carlo the manager I wanted before Emery.
My heart wants us to win my head and gut says a draw at best but most likely we’ll lose.
Edu’s reaction to the Saints’ goal was priceless.
If Arteta is still here in January, Arsenal will be playing in the championship next year. Name one EPL manager who is worse than him. One
Mr Serge
We’ve lost enough games to warrant a sacking without me wanting to lose games.
Everton 2 Arsensl 0
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-players-left-angered-mikel-23180658
Shocker. Been obvious for a good while that Lego’s favourites can do whatever they want and be as shit as humanly possible and still play every game.
wikileaks – we now have Arsenals own version – Arseleaks – or in the case of Arteta’s favourites – Arselicks.
To be honest, I think it doesn’t matter what fans want. It will be a done deal that arteta will be sacked. I don’t care whether they say they back him fully. If he loses the next couple of games the I think he is gone. There was a lot of news regarding how they back Emery too and they were already lining up a replacement. I will be shocked if they haven’t talked to anyone yet. And there is a strong possibility of losing with an inform Everton and a Chelsea side needing a result. They will be forced… Read more »
Playing a front 3 of Auba Eddie Pepe is just stupid, apart from Pepe who can occasionally make something out of nothing they all need service, they need to be on the end of moves not messing up the build up. We need a creative player on the left (Saka, or Martinelli when he’s back) with Auba in the middle, give up on the Eddie and Laca as striker experiments, they’re just not good enough. Laca is past it and Eddie is on current displays a championship player at best. He almost got the personnel right for once but the… Read more »
The 3 things I picked up from last night
1 AMN must keep his place over Bellend
2 Eddie can never cut it in the prem his hold up play is shocking and is too lightweight
3 We need Partey back (not rushed) big time, no matter what the midfield combo is it does not have the athleticism to compete especially on our big pitch
IMO..
Southampton were slow out the gates for the 2nd half, but were starting to dominate as they did in the first half when Gabriel saw red. Walcott would have been away for a one on one with his pace, so Gabriel fouled him. Eddie did nothing of note other than his assist with Auba playing through the middle and scoring. Teams know how to cut off Auba’s supply out on the left or keep him out of the box unattended. Salah has the same issues on the right, but has a quicker service consequently having an extra yard or 2… Read more »
Don’t understand the love for AMN last night.
He’s physically up to the task but his brain just switches off too many times.
He was guilty of giving the ball away in dangerous areas in the second half and in quick succession. Basic passes that he should be making but gives it away.
You’ll get some good matches from him but overall it’s unlikely that he shows consistency of performance and this has always been his problem.
Not AMN greatest fan and he did give the ball away but would take him over Bellerin all day and not seen enough of Cedric SOREARSE to judge yet but no to the fashion guru!
Very nice assist from Eddie last night , the touch on the ball had to be inch perfect with the perfect weight .
Just because he made it look easy doesn’t mean it was easy, only someone who understands the game would recognise that.
The 3-4-3 formation is not a new formation. It fact it used to be common in South American common until it fell out of favour. Since once in a while a manager reintroduces it. Conte success meant many other managers just copied his template. However that formation is a very demanding tactically and physically formation and it requires specific types of players to work. Because it is an unusual formation it tends to initially baffle opponents, but once they work it out, unless the team has the perfect blend of players it can be easily counteracted. That’s why a lot… Read more »
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. If after Wenger, we had hired the right person, we wouldn’t be in this mess. The problem Arsenal had was that our tosser of a CEO, Ivan the terrible, was lost up his own ass and was incapable of making the right decision. Some actually thought he deliberately screwed us by pushing Emery forward. Wouldn’t surprise me. Our board might as well be on display at the natural history museum for all the good they do and our owner is an absolute joke. Arteta was not what we needed after Emery and now that we… Read more »
Valentin “Wingbacks: Like in the German 3-5-2, they have to be superior athletes capable of bombing up and down for 90 minutes. They need to be good defenders but also good dribbler who can whip mean crosses with their dominant foot. Tierney is good going forward, but can be left exposed against pacy powerful winger a la Adama Traore or St Maximin. Bellerin does not have the athleticism to play that role anymore. Put him on a paleo diet. AMN is perfect in that position.” Spot on That system gives you 2 strikers , 3 central midfielders and 3 central… Read more »
Not sure about Kola bear at left wing back
What worries me.We are told Arteta is a great Coach.For me Gabriel was everywhere ,he should not be.
Industry people think hes the next big thing. Hahaha…maybe but not with Arsenal. Its Josh Kroenkes L A Rams Sean McVay experiment projected on to Arsenal and its failed. Its embarrassing. Arteta needed to cut his teeth at a much smaller club. Hes a dead man walking.
I said I would never ever comment again on this shite again – March 2020 I think! But cannot resist now I have had my dinner. Have not even been here since then but had to have a poke. Hahahahahhahaha! Kneeling dogshit, rubbish football and low IQ footballers. Arsenal are f****d. Arteta is doing exactly what wenger did in his last 11 years. Still got my old shirt from Peter Storey days. 2021 forward – football will still be an interest, but only a small U18 team in Surrey courtesy of my son. Football BUSINESS officially a joke. Fill your… Read more »