It appears the strategy of Arsenal leadership is to go full-steam ahead. They are backing Mikel. They are backing Edu. We are moving forward with the ‘vision.’ It’s bold or totally nuts.
Part of this approach is to take back a bit of control.
The players failed Wenger. They failed Emery. They are tanking Arteta in a big way right now.
I make the club right in that sense. Don’t enable a culture where the players feel they have the power to change the course of the season, especially if they are bum talents. At core, this mess is a player-generated one. Simply put, we have too many at the club that don’t give a fuck.
Where the story comes right back to Arteta is that he’s been a chief enabler of this since he’s arrived.
When he was in his 30s, he was tapping up people to help him earn his coaching badges. His head wasn’t on the project. He was just trying to get to the end of his deal for the next move. How did he not check his own experience of being an old player when he invested his young coaching career in old players?
New deals for Auba and David Luiz. Rumoured new deal on the table for Barca bound Mustafi. We canceled the Granit Xhaka move to Hertha Berlin. Any player that told the new management crew they believed in Mikel found themselves with another chance at the club.
The senior players have turned on the manager now. It’s clear.
If they think he’ll be pushed out, they might be in for a bit of a shock.
What baffles me is why Arteta keeps on picking them?
Mustafi is off. Don’t pick him.
Kola is shit. Stop picking him.
Xhaka won’t apologise, that’s a non-negotiable. He needs to be shipped to Italy. Stop picking him.
If the players that aren’t in the squad are causing problems, tell them they can train elsewhere for the last 5 months of their deal. Work them from home. Blame it on covid.
The biggest thing… if Arsenal are going to be indulging student Mikel like we’re a training school, someone has to put the breaks on his shocking decisions.
Here is a really fucking scary reality: If Bernd Leno pinged an achilles heel tomorrow, we could be relegated.
Runarson is the worst keeper I’ve ever seen in an Arsenal shirt.
The decision to play him against Manchester City was beyond the pale. I was told week one that he was a shower of shite. Mikel has watched a player that can’t position a wall do that in training for 5 months now. He is the last line of fire and it is scary.
That decision is on Mikel and Edu. We spent a million euros on him. There’s simply no way the scouts picked him. There were way better options available on loan and for free. We picked a new member of staff’s mate… we allowed contacts scouting to happen again. Unbelievable that Vinai, Edu, and Mikel sat around a table and saw 17th place Dijon’s second-string keeper with the worst shot-stopping record in the league and rolled the dice on him. Does no one at Arsenal ask questions of their colleagues? Why are we taking the advice of a Championship keeping coach when it comes to scouting? What data did he have that supported him being the best we could do? That is not a process. It’s amateur hour.
Where is the accountability? Who is pulling Mikel and Edu to one side to explain how someone that bad found their way onto the pitch for a quarter-final of a league cup against Manchester City? No doubt they will rectify that in January. What will KSE say?
It’s these sorts of decisions that rock my faith. Mikel cannot stop doing stupid things. He’s in a tailspin, each week he seems to do something worst. I’m really struggling to see how he escapes this moment because I can’t see any thread of a plan.
Worse, is the realisation that Vinai won’t act because I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know how to. He’s been raised in a culture of self-preservation. No one acted on Don Raul when they knew what he was all about because Sven sounded the alarm. We rode it out, blew £100m+ on players not fit to wear the shirt. Sven is now rolling hard with an exciting young team in Germany.
We acted far too late on Unai Emery when it was clear what was going to happen. Now we’re in a nightmare again, Vinai isn’t understanding the moment, nor the opportunity. Edu has a bad record with us. Vinai demoted him. Ralf Rangnick is on the market. Luis Campos is on the market. They will cost money that will pay itself back 10 times over even if they do just an OK job. Both have the experience to nuture Arteta’s talent and control his bad instincts. Both are monster movers in the market.
Owning up to a mistake early and fixing it is not part of the way we operate. Though it’s exactly how big clubs roll… look no further than Leicester. Nigel Pearson promotes them, he’s fired after a bad year in the league. Ranieri wins the league, he’s out the year after. They chop and change until they get it right. I’m not saying move on Arteta right now, but at least address the elephant in the room… Arsenal don’t rate Edu because we saw the actions on the deck chair on the .com. Edu telling the fans he enjoyed being metaphorically cauterized by a coach with 6 months on his C.V. Strike on Ralf, Mitchell or Campos. Ensure good recruitment and a vision returns to Arsenal. Get an A-lister in the most important position at a modern football club.
We might go on a 10 game run, we might claw back to 8th, but I am seriously worried that some of these bad decisions are part of Mikel’s DNA, because he keeps making them.
You can only fix mistakes if you admit you’ve made them. I saw him in a prezzer say he’d make all the same decisions again after his first year. Errr… really?
Still, it is what it is… so we have to talk about what could happen that might make things better.
All attention focuses on the weekend. We play Chelsea.
Arteta pushed all his chips onto coaching the shit out of his team with the extra time he’s had this week.
It’s time for a reaction.
The good news is it sounds like Martinelli is going to be fit. I think the fear was a hairline fracture or something horrible like that. Good news is it sounds like it was just a bad knock. Well, at least according Gabi’s Twitter.
I have no idea what he’s going to do with midfield. Mo Elneny does a job, but he’s not at the level. Dani Ceballos should be sent home to Madrid after his performance against City. Xhaka cannot be an option, his head has gone and he’s shite.
Then you ask yourself about the kids? AMN should start in midfield for me. Give him a chance. He’s an athlete, he’s a brilliant defender, and he’s a big-game player. Why wouldn’t Arteta? Coach him. Tell him to protect our defence with Mo. Keep it simple. Move it forward. Defend like a demon.
I’m crazy, but I think I’d prefer to play Smith Rowe in that midfield three. Lacazette might be technically gifted, but he has no mobility. We need runners and creators. Smith Rowe created a good chance almost immediately against City.
I don’t know what he does with the front three. I assume he’ll go with Martinelli, Eddie, and Pepe. I honestly think I’ve seen enough of Balogun to know the more junior of the strikers might have a style suited better to the equipment we have on offer. He’s faster, he plays more like a Premier League number 9, and there’s more variety to his game.
… but he seems to be on Arteta’s shitlist. So who knows.
What I don’t want to see is Willian out there again stinking out the joint. But… Mikel the manager is a politician now. The principles are gone. He’s about perception. He knows KSE will frown on another dud on a long deal. So he’ll persist. It’s madness, it really is. Can’t we fake an injury for him and pack him back off to Dubai?
Defence is also going to be interesting. I don’t want to see David Luiz out there even though he’s our best defender. Gabriel is looking a liability, Rob Holding is limited, and Cal Chambers/Pablo Mari don’t seem to be near the first team.
At least we have Leno available.
A bit of a ramble today. It’s a huge week. We go again… hoping, praying, that at some point, the tide will turn by persisting with the same ideas.
Over to you, Mikel.
P.S. Have an elite Christmas Eve. Don’t drink and drive. Stay in your damn pods… and listen to MY pod. Smooth wordsmithing…
It’s been a fairly shit Christmas for me.
Left the new gf in europe where I live and work (too early in relationship to spend Xmas with her family) to fly home to UK to see the family but must have caught covid enroute home so now self isolating so will spend Xmas and new years evr alone aside from zoom/facetime calls.
Still this blog keeps me happy even if its the cathartic share in misery type of happiness.
Also much props to Pedro for the blog, yall alright for a biden supporter (bustin ya balls)
Pedro
Cant be bothered to go after you on all of that but:
“11) Offering Mustafi new terms but still playing him after he rejected those terms.”
It’s Arteta picking the team and as Edu and Arteta have been put on an equal standing I don’t see how you can blame Edu as he doesn’t have the authority to overrule Arteta.
I wasted my time reading this , sounded like someone from AFTV , nothing is more “shite” than this article. Used to read regularly but now its matching arsenals current performances
Pedro
Nice of you to load everything at Edu’s door forgetting that Arteta wrested a lot of powers that Raul had for himself. He is Edu’s co-equal, is he not?
Aretsa has to make Balogun believe he can thrive at Arsenal by giving him a sense of belonging and actually playing him
Edu couldn’t get Saliba’s loan done because Arteta dithered until the last moment.
There’s no way Edu could have done all,these deals unless Arteta was in board or actually driving them.
Like bacacryisgod alluded, Arteta is neck deep in EVERY one if those deplorable deals.
“No GrahamArteta is worse than Emery.Emery actually got near to top four in his first”
A major factor here was Auba and Lacazette. Take their goals out and we would have struggled as we are doing now.
Results are shit now but we are playing better than we were at the start of last season. You guys have very short or maybe selective memories.
be brave statsteta.
play the Hale End’ers.
They will reward you.
Also how can Edu take the lions share of the Willian deal when Arteta is pitching the project to him 3X, promising him a CL final by 2023!
Most of these shady deals were signed at the height of Arteta power after we win the FA cup. Arteta had the upper hand and was unstoppable- he got what he wanted. Nothing was forced on him.
Happy and healthy Christmas to all you fuckers!
Best blog around, thanks Pedro for the platform.
We will forgive you for your sins re Arteta! 😀
London gunner
Hope you feel better pretty soon. The Trump disease can be a bummer.
dissenter
touche touche indeed.
on other news would you take Vinicius Junior we are heavily linked to him
We need a machiavellian edge to our technical staff, no one has it, that’s why we get fleeced on transfers. Just trust the academy, at least the eyes at work there have some credit to them given the years. And honestly I’m at my wit’s end now, I don’t understand how arteta isn’t sacked yet. The optics are so poor but the pundits say to keep with him, what is he, some Majic Eyes Only Baphomet Worshipping Saturnian 33rd degree Freemason Wunderkind of the Craft, or fucking what??? It is that bizarre that he hasn’t been sacked yet. What moment… Read more »
And an obligatory merry Xmas to all the beautiful humans around the world, walking demons exempt.
I’m about to start baking some blondies for Xmas lunch.
Had to blow my steam off first before I felt human again.
Happy Christmas to you and yours you Le Grovin bastards
Pedro big love for help in keeping our sanity during lockdown and those that homeschool this year and pushing thru the darkest of Arsenal times. It’s certainly been weird but keep on pushing.
Lastly to the men first teaming for Arsenal this Palahniuk quote springs to mind:
“You are not special. You’re not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You’re the same decaying organic matter as everything else. We’re all part of the same compost heap. We’re all singing, all dancing crap of the world.”
Now sort it out.
The “Leadership” is backing the manager is it? I wonder who is the Leadership these days? Does Kroenke even know we exist anymore? Does anyone in this “Leadership”? Does it matter to them that we are in the relegation zone? Do they even know how dire our situation is? Maybe they are like most fans who think relegation is impossible and we’ll just stick with Arteta and things will turn out OK because they always do? I think we are being led by delusion more than anything else.
Merry Christmas to all you Grovers.
Merry Christmas to you Pedro – the only Arteta lover I can just about tolerate!
2020 has been the year when everyone was at risk of getting infected by The Pox. Sympathies to those who have or who have friends and family affected.
2020 has also been the year when an articulate and well groomed Basque imposter has been on the verge of destroying Arsenal.
Not a manager.
Not a coach.
Not generational – except in a negative sense.
Almost Christmas in UK
To sum up my views: there are clearly long term structural problems with Arsenal, which need resolving.
But the short and medium term problems are all about poor management and poor coaching.
And that’s down to one man, and one man only: Arteta.
Get rid, and replace.
Whoever comes in may be the solution, or they may fail.
And if they fail, replace again.
As far as I’m concerned, the long term issues can be addressed in the long term (when we may or not be dead).
Great words Trent!
Terraloon, You are wrong, Saliva was not eligible to play in the Carabao Cup. Look at the EFL Cup eligibility rule and reread premier league rule U.1.1 6.2 A registered player is one who would be registered and eligible to participate in a Premier League match and/or League Match (as defined in The League Regulations) commencing at the same time and on the same date as the Competition match in accordance with The Premier League Regulations and/or The League Regulations, or would have been but for the operation of Premier League Rule U.1.1 or League Regulation 43.9 (as amended from… Read more »
Merry Christmas to all the Le Grove faithful!!! … and Blog master Pedro from sunny Ol’ Texas..
Hope Everyone has a good one… and Santa brings y’all what you wanted for Christmas.
Which for me… is A few goals from open play… not too much to ask.
Come on Santa .. I’ve been Good… mostly,
Except for that one time in San Antonio. 😀
‘We will forgive you (Pedro) for your sins re Arteta! 😀’
We will?
I never got the memo on that one Weagle.
So It’s a Pedro Arteta-armistice for Xmas?
I’ll await until Pedro’s post Chav’s game before committing
Merry Christmas all !!!
This was always my wife’s favourite time of the year and our house was always alive with crazy decorations. Her spirit was everywhere and her cheer was infectious.
Today i light a candle in her memory and pray for her soul. How i miss her terribly.
Take care one and all and stay safe and enjoy as much as you can.
Sincerest regards…Ernest
Merry Christmas all
I found British bacon in a tiny imported shop here for the first time in almost 7 years last night.
Had some for breakfast and it’s REAL. What a Christmas present
None of that rubbish American stuff (no offense Americans!) or even worse the Chinese bacon which is offensively bad.
Merry Christmas everyone. Pedro First of all thanks for the blog, it’s been a pleasure reading from the start even though I don’t always agree. Second – not his fault Saliba isn’t good enough? Really? The same player that played in ligue 1 the last 2 seasons, that played EL football last season, that had similar or better stats as Gabriel in France who is head and shoulder our best CB, that guy? Maybe it’s just Arteta being a terrible judge of playing ability, or him being “petty and vindictive” like you yourself said. Would put his treatment of Guen… Read more »
Ernest. Much love ❤️
Happy Xmas Pedro – hope youre good.
Ernest
I’m So sorry to hear about your wife’s loss
I’m new to the blog but completely sympathize. I’m sure her spirit is with you
Stay strong brother
I can imagine this must be a very tough time Ernest and hope you can feel close to your wife with happy memories you both created together over the decades.
All the best for the festive season. Hope you’re able to have family and loved ones with you.
Ernest, I am sorry to hear about your wife. I know holidays make those memories even harder.
Stay strong my friend! Merry Christmas
Merry Xmas everyone and happy holidays.
I hope Pedro gets his Arteta action figure under the tree.
It’s a must have.
Merry chrismas Ernest may you find comfort and peace, Merry chrismas Pedro keep the good work,
Merry chrismas left testicle, Marc, Un na nai, Diss,Tony, Pierre, Highbury , Crimson, Bojangles, FL, Tom, NORG, GSF, Val, Karim(lol) and all y’all
Mery chrismas Gentlebris!
Merry Christmas Sid!
Im telling you this for free
Is this the first time anyone has ever said the sentence ‘merry Christmas left testicle’????
I always like linguistic firsts 😂😂
But yeah merry Christmas to all you fuckers!
No merry Christmas for me sid?
😢
Merry Christmas China!
Second – not his fault Saliba isn’t good enough? Really? The same player that played in ligue 1 the last 2 seasons, that played EL football last season, that had similar or better stats as Gabriel in France who is head and shoulder our best CB, that guy? Maybe it’s just Arteta being a terrible judge of playing ability, or him being “petty and vindictive” like you yourself said. Would put his treatment of Guen down to the same character flaws, can’t just freeze out everyone you don’t like and lose the club 10s of millions in the process, it’s… Read more »
Merry Christmas guns. Sorry for insulting your country’s bacon tho if you ever visit the UK you gotta try some British or Danish shit. It’s amazing
But Chinese bacon tho… sheesh it’s sooooo bad
*and* require
China you are part of the “night” crew for me in cali.
When im in bed, on LG, there are the familiar names on here…. you, Tony, Sid and some others…
I know I can always find you around 8-11Pm Pacific Standard Time in the US
Please stop this nonsense again about Ragnick or … We are an Elite team and need an Elite Manager likes of Allegri who is available. We have a lot of good players ( Gabriel, Auba, partly, Pepe, willian, laca, martinelli, tiereney, luiz ) who will respect Allegri and start playing well. He and his coaching team will add 2 or 3 ( Auoar, coutino, etc.)new players and we will be in good shape. Right now none of the senior players respect and/or trust Arteta and they want him out. Very simple. Sooner this is done the better, so the next… Read more »
Merry Christmas, everybody!
Arteta being the clueless rookie that he is tried getting respect. By axing a World Cup winners, exiling a promising young talent, being vindictive and immature…..instead of being humble, rallying his troops and winning games which automatically brings you respect. Arsenal cannot be Arteta ‘s training ground…hire a reputable CEO and sack Arteta ASAP , let’s get back on track before its way too late. Our players are for the most part not bad…at least not as bad as 15th. It’s our manager which is terrible . With the addition of a couple of good midfielders we can be a… Read more »
Happy Christmas from Singapore fellow grovers. It’s been a tough year, and much tougher for some than others. Ernest, I hope the house is not too lonely and you can find some time for happy memories without too much sadness. Christmas is my favourite time too. By the law of averages we’re due a string of good years to compensate. Thanks as usual to Pedro for keeping the blog going during some generationally challenging times at Arsenal. It’s really remarkable you have kept this up over what, twelve years or so. It feels like an age ago when Geoff was… Read more »
Marco,I think the suggested plan would be to bring Rangnick in as DOF/ responsible adult in the room.
We lack a plan and strategy for the mid to long term. edu and Tets have no clue. The coaching staff are a joke.
If we are to sack and replace Tets, we do need a plan and to find the right person. And to have the right structure in place to get us back into the top half of the table consistently. Someone like Rangnick could give us that.
Merry Christmas Ernest and best wishes to all
Hey guys. I HAVE YOU IMPORTANT INFO You can belive me or not, I dont care but Im going to share it with you. Stan Kroenke has said that he is not going to do anything with Arsenal at the moment. He said it is the worse time to take a decision and he is going to wait after all this festivities have passed. He recognizes that Arseanl is a mess but it is clear to him that the team wont be relegated because there are more than 20 remaining matches, so he is not going to push the panic… Read more »
If so Stan is just asking to get relegated which would be such a disaster. I guess if we plan to add in January Mikel might keep us up…
Stan should realise it’s stupid to invest in an industry that you little understand and even less care about. If there have been issues of poor governance or oversight that is 100% on them, in particular our poor and dodgy contractual management. Football is an extreme case too. You can’t ignore the UK support, whatever the global reach of the premiership. Unless you are prepared to throw billions into the black hole as Chelsea and man city have done, you need to have a plan and a strategy. It can be done, as Leicester have shown, but the window of… Read more »
Was Stan independently wealthy, or is it all about doubling down on the inheritance of his Mrs? Serious question, because from what I have seen in relation to Arsenal, the whole family are a bunch of clueless fuckwits.
SAGG
You seem to have a direct line to Stan.
Merry Christmas le grovers
Merry chrismas china1
I love Danish ham, Nordic ham…. soft, moist
I also ate the biggest ham sandwich last night with Inga. (wink wink).
Merry Christmas to Pedro and the motley crew at LG. The is the time of year to show that this is the blog of love. Be nice to your fellow posters.
Arteta has never been a leader. I remember one time while he was still a player. Arsenal were playing Villa (I think) and Arsenal were behind by a goal. At around 89th minute Wenger introduced Arteta via a sub. We got a free kick which Arteta took and scored and Arteta wasted two minutes celebrating that goal. Now I need you to get the context. Here Arsenal were fighting for the league title and our skipper wastes 2mins celebrating a free kick that levelled the game instead of rushing to start the game and go for a winner he celebrated… Read more »
Merry Christmas to all on this great blog. It’s gonna be a shit xmas on the football front, but let’s enjoy it as best we can. Here’s to a better 2021 on every front. Cheers.
Arsenal are clearly in a relegation battle if things don’t change and at the moment its not looking like anything will change.We might hope that we can get a result against Chelsea…but seriously…our heads would suggest not!..Then we have games against Brighton and West Brom…Fail to get more than the odd point and we WILL certainly be in the relegation zone and at that point the Board will presumably be forced to act…or perhaps not? We might hope that they are looking at this eventuality right now and planning ahead….We the fans know that Vinai,Edu and Arteta are all plainly… Read more »
Marco, Moray.
According to mainstream media (eg LeG) Arsenal is sticking with #MikelMouse so we aren’r getting Ragnick let alone Allegri!
#StopTheRot
#BeforeTooLate
Josh can fly n all he likes but he’s not the decision maker not even Tim L….
Best we’d hope for is somebody registering the risks…… before the Jan TW ends
Merry Xmas to Pedro and everyone else who make Le Grove an addictive daily read.
I just managed to escape UK in time for Xmas in Finland.. big party yesterday in hunting lodge, yummy Nordic ham, moose,, sauna and snow..
Santa give us a proper manager for Xmas please
Party or not we aren’t beating Chelsea the way we have played in the past months especially with #MikelMouse in charge…
I suspect KSE wouldn’t act until we are, God forbids, in the drop zone!
Even then, probably too late to clear the chronic dross and end up panic buy/ loan… in keeping with our heritage and values.
Merry Christmas to you all.
May each and everyone of you have a joyous and peaceful day.
Irrespective of our differences on here, we’re all in this together.
I’m not just talking about AFC.
God bless to you all.
Oh yeah and Pedro, sincere thanks.
🍺🍺
Pedro of course the club are going to come out and back Arteta. Its average PR. I suspect they will be sounding out options behind the scenes. It shouldnt take too long as no elite level manager would go near us. Eddie Howe might be one who would consider it.
SAGG
Nicely made up piece there, you have a good imagination!
Merry Christmas all.
Thanks Pedro for keeping this place going even with all the abuse you get.
Merry Christmas everyone and hope we all have a much better new year. 2020 will be a year to remember for all the wrong reasons. Ushering in of a police state for something that is no more dangerous than flu was a huge global disaster. I don’t know why the world has gone mad, whether it is sinister or just stupid – I hope it’s the latter. Every corner of life, every simple thing that we used to do and take for granted has been affected. Many rights have been removed and even the one festive event gleefully anticipated towards… Read more »
Arsenal 5 Chelski 0!
Blast all that mulled wine.
We all care Jeff.
That’s what being a supporter is all about.
Cheers.
New Post
Valentin
Saliba is eligible to play in the PL he is not included in the 25 man list as he is under 21 hence he is included on that list in exactly the same way as Martineli who as we know did play against Man City
Merry Xmas y’all !
Thanx Pedro for keeping this thing alive through thick and thin.
Cheers Sid !
Here’s a few questions worth asking. (1)Are we happy to leave January’s transfer window in the hands of Edu and Arteta given their dealings so far? (2) Would you entrust this pair of incompetent buffoons with the futures of our three most talented youngsters, Balogun, Martinelli and Saka? (3)Is it really true and are we happy with the fact that we are the 5th best (YES 5TH BEST!) team in London.(4)When we moved from Highbury, we were told we couldn’t compete in the transfer market with the biggest clubs because of the cost of the new stadium. Why then did… Read more »
Arteta is now beyond redemption. Get him after we are spanked by Chelsea and get PV 4 in charge till end of the season. Get Matteo back in January, sign a creative midfielder to have a midfield 3 of Partey, MG and the creative new signing and are sure to escape relegation. Merry Pedro and all le grove fans.