TOXIC CONTRACT REBELS SHOULD BE PUT ON GARDENING LEAVE.

by .

The games are coming thick and fast. The dust has barely settled on the Chelsea win and I’m already panicking over two teams lower than us in the league.

It’s worth talking about some things before we power onto what’s next.

The league is still very tight. I made a point about 4 weeks ago that February is when you’ll truly know how good or bad Arsenal will be this season. Well, we found out way earlier than February that Arteta’s 1.0 vision of Arsenal was utterly shite.

However, what you missed when you were floating in a bath of misery vomit was that everyone else has been shite as well. Liverpool drew to West Brom. Spurs dropped points to Wolves. Chelsea lost to a team having its worst season since the plague was the pandemic people were most concerned about.

We are 9 points shy of 5th. Now, I’m not ramping up the top 4 challenge banter, that’s well and truly over, but we are more than capable of climbing the table over the next 5 games. We have to. Arteta needs breathing room and the fans need some joy.

  • Brighton
  • West Brom
  • Palace
  • Newcastle
  • Southampton

Bag 15 points from those games and we’ll be feeling a lot better about life.

Generally, the mood has lightened after the game yesterday. Mikel found something we haven’t seen since last season. The players flew out the traps and kept up the intensity for the whole game. The Arsenal Column had a great tactical analysis of the game here. I liked this point.

The other noticeable thing about the change in shape – or rather formation – was the relaxing somewhat, of the positional play philosophy that Arteta has attempted to implement since be took over. There were still specific instructions given to players about which areas of the pitch to occupy – for example, as mentioned, Saka was asked to move inside from the right flank, which in turn allowed Hector Bellerin to hug the touchline; whilst Emile Smith-Rowe was mainly told to gravitate towards the left as Gabriel Martinelli joined the centre forward, to create a certain symmetry in the build up – but overall, the positioning seemed less restrictive.

Arteta took the handbrake off in a number of ways. He put trust in hunger and suitability, binning off the view that only older hacks can do what he needs. It also looked like he reined in some of the over-coaching. We looked less mechanical. The team played with more freedom. There was more joy. It didn’t always work, but the freedom of ideas led to faster passing, more creativity, and a little bit more spontaneity.

Mikel needs to bottle whatever the magic was and work out how he delivers it against teams that won’t dominate the ball. I hate playing Brighton because they are a very well-coached team, combined with having a very unsexy name, which can and has lead to complacent performances.

A great way to combat complacency? Continue to give responsibility to players that need it to have a career. Don’t let Luiz and Willian back into the squad yet. If the defence needs to change, don’t put Mustafi in there, he doesn’t care, he’s thinking about Barcelona. If our front three needs to change, don’t give Nicolas Pepe another chance, it is clear he’s not good enough and doesn’t suit what we’re trying to do at Arsenal. If you’re going to swap Mo Elneny out, don’t automatically give it to Dani Ceballos, give it to AMN. He runs harder, he’s a better defender, he’ll give us the legs we’ve lacked.

The magic we found against Chelsea, outside lady luck, was energy and desire. Is that enough to take Arsenal to top four? No. The quality isn’t there at the moment. But it is enough to earn us enough points to push up the table. We gave up half a season to ‘experience’ and it fucked us. It downed tools. It grassed the new manager to the Technical Director. It planted a story in the papers to bury the club in a sea of weirdo hate after a loss they were sure was coming. Sickening.

Time to move on from toxic bitches, 2021 is gonna be different, yas qweeeeen.

Arsenal has to live with the Auba deal. I think we can rescue that. He’s the best finisher in the league. His game is not necessarily built on pace. If we surround him with powerful runners that create space for him, he’ll start scoring goals again. Auba is a mood guy. When the chips are up, he’s flying. When they are down, he’s crying in the corner posting sad emoji’s on Instagram Stories for attention. He’ll be back I suspect, I think he likes to be adored, no way he signed to down tools.

Willian? I don’t know what we do there. I thought at the very least we were getting a Rolls Royce professional, but that appears to be a generous assessment of what he offers. He can’t run, he doesn’t create, and he doesn’t score… but we’re lumped with him. That’s on Mikel. What I don’t want to see is Arsenal go out of their way to rehab a player that is deeply into the back 9 of their career, especially if he can’t do the basics like stay away from Salt Bae. We might be taking the Mesut Bogarde L again.

I hope there are some big moves out of Arsenal in January. We have too many players exiting deals within half a year / are not in the squad to have a focused training camp. 5 of them will be out in January. There’s no resale value. Why don’t we bomb them out of their deals early? What is their purpose? They’re causing problems, they aren’t putting in performances, they’re barely making the squad. Send them home for 5 months.

There is no value in keeping people at the company who are on notice. If it’s Dennis Bergkamp playing for another year, it works, he has skin in the game. Imagine you have been put on a year’s worth of gardening leave like Mesut or Sokratis, but you have to go to the office 5 days a week? Imagine you know you are leaving at the end of the season and you’ve been unceremoniously benched? Senior players dealing with embarrassing rejection dealt to them by a young coach some of them played with. Senior players knowing their next contract value is plummetting every week they don’t play. Are we surprised they want to burn the place down on their slow walk to freedom?

If the environment is toxic, cut out the poison. But here’s the thing, make sure you analyse why this happened: We paid average players MASSIVELY above market rate, so there was never an incentive to leave. We did that again last summer with Willian. It is absolutely shocking we don’t have a tool that evaluates a player’s worth before we dish out contracts no other club in the world would offer.

Onto transfers…

I’d heard the club was looking at a Dortmund player a couple of weeks ago, apparently, it’s Julian Brandt. Obviously, he’s a top player. Jurgen Klopp wanted to sign him before Michael Edwards convinced him to move on Mo Salah. We need a creative player that floats like him. My worry is that we’re not grounding ourselves in reality again. The club is fucked from a money perspective. Our wage bill is atrocious, it’s very likely we’ll have no European football, and our own manager has gone on record saying we’re 6 players away. Why would we drop minimum £50m on a single player? Should we not be getting back to basics here. Address the whole squad versus dumping out a huge fee on one superstar while the rest of the team burns? We need a David Luiz replacement. We’ll need to replace our midfield because Dani, Xhaka, and Mo lack future proof credentials. We need a backup keeper. A back-up right back. Probably a new #9. At least one new winger if we can bin Nicolas Pepe.

Our summer rebuild needs to be extensive… blowing our money on a big name seems, well, like a weird plan? I’m also wondering why he’d want to leave that set up right now, because it’s probably going to be pretty good for him next season. Bigger thing for me is Brandt feels like the sort of player I’d throw up if you asked me to name creative players I’d be quite interested in. Who is the Gabriel Magalhães of creatives? Can we not find that profile in a player that costs £20m and £45k p/w? Mike McDonald finds more interesting targets than Edu.

I have no clue what the club is going to do in January, but I suspect it’ll be loan moves. There’s no Champions League to chase now, so there’s no need to premature ejaculate cash at a short term goal. KSE should be holding the exec team to a higher standard of rationale for the players they choose. If we need a creative player and a keeper this January, let’s make sure they make sense, even if they are loans. Those loan deals need to speak to the future profile of players we need, because Arteta needs to show people what he’s trying to do, so it makes sense when we buy players for real.

Let’s not see Christian Eriksen at the club, he has the same issues as Ozil, and he can’t cut it in the slowest league in Europe. Isco could be interesting for us, he’s mobile, has played at the highest level, and no one is interested in him… he still has a lot to offer if you can unlock him and help him lose some weight.

Clubs around the world are struggling badly with the weight of fat wage bills, there must be players we can bring in that can match the profile of the squad. No more bums. We should keep the powder dry if we can’t do something smart.

Right, listen to the podcast and I’ll see you in the comments.

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grooveydaddy

1st

grooveydaddy

And

grooveydaddy

The

grooveydaddy

Tr4phy

Tenerife+Gooner

Hi

grooveydaddy

Nice!

Goobergooner

Nice read Pedders!

We do need to be really smart the next few windows, to compensate for how shit we have been the last decade.

If edu can produce more Gabi mags’ then we will be on the up.

If he is bringing in more Willians we are fucked.

Dissenter

Pedro,
Excellent post.
Now tell me where to send the hostage negotiator to because surely someone kidnapped you and forced you to write this post.

Hitman49

My comment disappeared..?

Hitman49

Very nice post but it’s not rocket science is it…

All that was obvious to us all back in may last year…? But the board the manager and all seemed to miss it..?

That’s why for me he has to go a few have to go lack of common sense lack of planning lack of vision…

So for me he has to go along with a few others…ASAP as he will kill the developing players.

Goobergooner

Diss 😂😂😂😂

Goobergooner

Common sense and arsenal have not been hand in hand for near on a decade

Ishola70

Oh one win and it seems we don’t have a dodgy manager as well anymore

If Teets picks up two wins from the next two matches that sets him up for two winnable home games. He bags those four games and he may be on the road to forgiveness.

Until then he is still very much in the bad books for absolutely tanking this season thus far.

Goobergooner

Yeah he literally needs to win the next 5 for redemption. That is going to be tough, despite the fixture list

Goobergooner

Still can’t even get over he was hired in the first place 😂😂

Ishola70

tbf he doesn’t need to win both away games that are coming up. A draw and a win would be acceptable.

But he then has to definitely win those two home matches.

Certainly no defeats in the next four games.

Ishola70

Two draws in the next two away games and he is lagging again.

Not good enough. Got to have a win in there.

MGooner

Ya, send the rebels home if they do not care.

It is more ethical to finish in the bottom half with players that care rather than plaster the cracks and finish higher.

Interesting that Sauce lifted the handbrake. We are looking towards becoming more of a Wenger club again. which begs the question, we did all this to compete for the top spot and not for top 4…

gunnerram

Good Post Pedro.

The point is — If Arteta reinstates Auba, how does the team work? Will he be able to give us the same options as Laca or has Arteta got a better plan to nullify this lack of pressing from Auba.

Some of the switch balls from Lack — to Arteta, ESR, Gabi and Trinney were excellent. I am not sure if Auba will be able to play in the same manner. The same can be said about Eddie — he does not have the nuance to switch play like Laca does.

Tom M

Hi Pedro. Long-time reader but first-time commentor here. While Brandt is certainly a supremely talented player I think (hope) that you might be overestimating his price somewhat. Dortmund got him for 22 mill (via RC) in summer 2019 and while he was good last season this year he’s not started a lot for a struggling Dortmund team. With Norwich in a promotion race they’ll be looking for 30+ million for Buendia and I think any bid over 30 would make Dortmund listen for Brandt so the price wouldn’t be much crazier. Let’s see though I haven’t really seen any figures… Read more »

Ishola70

This is the big conundrum.

I’d stick with that same frontline until Lacazette has a stinker.

If Laca continues to do well enough Auba can sit it out for a while.

DUIFG

Look one swallow does not make a summer, I’ve learnt not to predict arteta usually what you think will happen doesn’t. Narrative is now young kids to save the season? Really? Last wends he karted out kola and mustsfi to play in the carling Cup.

Low key he’s also started excluding Nelson, so for every victory there is a wake of destruction in player value

DivineSherlock

Isco has the potential to be like a Bruno Fernandes type signing for us. Think Cazorla but with more goals.

DUIFG

Laca had a decent game on sat but it was pure battle, auba is still a goal threat laxa isn’t, how he gets auaba laxa and martinelli into a team will be hard, hopefully shape comes ahead of personalities

Ishola70

DivineSherlock

“Isco has the potential to be like a Bruno Fernandes type signing for us.”

lol have you seen him recently?

He’s looks a funny little fat fellow.

He’s got really tubby.

Goobergooner

Yeah I’m over seeing Laca and Auba on the pitch together. With them being besties they should have way better on field chemistry, but they just don’t. Either keep Laca central, with martinelli and Saka flanking, or I’d play 2 at the top with Auba on the shoulder and martinelli or even Pepe playing off him. Though maybe Auba and Laca would work better as a 2 rather than a 3. We just have such an unbalanced squad it’s hard to grasp where the best setup will come from to get us solid at the back but also play attacking… Read more »

Ishola70

DUIFG Lacazette knows where the goal is. He may not be as prolific as Auba but then again this offense is many times set up for Auba’s convenience. Lacazette up to the Chelsea game was sacrificing himself for Auba’s benefit by playing pretend ten. Fat lot of good that did for Auba, Lacazette or the team as a whole. Besides it shouldn’t be about one player bagging the goals. Maybe that’s why we have been failing this season because of the ever present reliance on one player to score that being Auba and he can’t keep on bailing out the… Read more »

englandsbest

We’ve all pretty much agreed that Arteta should field the young and vigorous, drop the old and tainted. He is doing that as far as possible now. We should all remember that his project is an ongoing process. In other words, it will take time. The ‘tightness’ he imposed was a necessary first step. What we saw against Chelsea was a relaxation: the youngsters had learned to do the right things INSTINCTIVELY. The second step, if you like. In the interim he was forced to rely on the old heads. Players like Auba, Laca, Willian have let him down. There… Read more »

Ishola70

englandsbest

“We should all remember that his project is an ongoing process. In other words, it will take time.”

It sure will when he signs 32yo rejects from Chelsea.

Ishola70

Arteta needs to be shot if he reverts back to playing Tierney as a hybrid LCB/LB.

Just play him as a conventional fullback FFS.

Kris

Isco has scored 8 or 9 goals in the last 2 and a half seasons + 3 assists. So you can expect 3 or 4 goals plus 1 assist per year right now. I agree that Eriksen is not a wise choice either, but this is just daft: “Let’s not see Christian Eriksen at the club, he has the same issues as Ozil, and he can’t cut it in the slowest league in Europe.” So the best chance creator etc (ask Pierre for more data) in the EPL is not good enough for the EPL because he now has issues… Read more »

Goobergooner

EB, he’s done it for one game (playing the youth). He now needs to maintain that

Graham62

Arsenal has to change its operational structure when it comes to hiring players with experience and giving them huge salaries. I’m fed up with these Chelski rejects. Willian and Luiz are not the answer and never were. It was the same when we got Gallas all those years back.. Our wage structure has also been unbalanced for years. Offering substandard players massive contracts should be a big no no. This belief that we need experience is also, imo, absolute poppycock. Luiz is experienced at doing what exactly. Making numerous cockups over the years? Falling out with his superiors? Causing mayhem… Read more »

Moray

Yep let’s wait and see. Arteta’s decision making has been atrocious this season. Let’s see if the result on Boxing Day (and the team selection) was a fluke, or whether he’s actually started to learn some of the things that many of us have known for a while.

T

Pedro you are way wrong. The academy players are the answer in most cases. What you dont want to do is buy a dozen random journeymen.

What you want is a core of academy players who have been drilled for years on the playingstyle and slot in seemlessly. Then you suplement that group with special signing like partey, tierney and aubameyang.

A team doesnt need 11 star players. Just a few of them through the spine and a bunch of fitting workhorses around them.

Goobergooner

Cech, despite having his good days was also a Chelsea reject we could have done better with.

That whole window has to go down as one of the worst. Absolute bullshit that we were the only club on Europe to not buy an outfield player. Consider we could have used any one of a CB, CM, or winger to complement Giroud/ or striker to replace Giroud.

Kris

Goobergooner,

Laca and Auba CAN play together.

They played 13 games together under Wenger and scored 15 goals (10 Auba, 5 Laca), so with a proper tactical setup they CAN thrive in tandem.

Ishola70

These latest two Chelsea rejects Luiz and Willian smell a lot more than Gallas or Cech did.

And we are not talking roses smell either.

Goobergooner

Haha well there you go Kris, it’s a manager problem.

I hate Green Bay

I think rest Martinelli tomorrow and play Auba. Would also like to see Saka rested for either Newcastle or Palace. Dont want to ‘Jack Wilshire’ either of these, they are far too important. With regards transfers, we shouldnt buy anyone over the age of 24, pay a maximum of £25 million and give a wage of maximum £80k. We have to focus on making a profit on those we buy. Probably the next two windows,. the most important aspect is getting rid. Totally agree with Peter, pay the poison off. There must be an air of negativity around which cannot… Read more »

Kris

T,
‘The academy players are the answer in most cases.’

Said not a single top club. Show me one top club which has more than 2 academy players as starters.

The trick is to find 1 or 2 academy players to keep. Another 2 or 3 as temporary squad players to be later sold reasonably well. AND buy talented youngsters for max 5M such as Guen or Martinelli to supplement the academy players.

Danny+S

I’m just waiting for

‘Xhaka signs bumper new 5 year deal’

Graham62

Pepe should not be used as a scapegoat. We have all seen he has great assets but, more often than not, we also see he is, a lot of the time, not at the races. It’s not his fault we paid £72m for him. It’s not his fault that he came into such a shite setup. It’s not his fault that his been playing under a manager, in Arteta, who concentrates on life without the ball rather than our potential to hurt the opposition. Pepe is not a “ stick to a rigid plan” sort of player. He needs to… Read more »

Thorough

https://www.givemesport.com/1632174-arsenal-transfer-news-mikel-artetas-side-line-up-move-for-pl-star-amid-potential-hector-bellerin-exit

fwe make this move, we would arguably have the best fullback in the EPl so long Arteta stops the nonsense of playing Tierney in Central defence I absolutely love Tariq.

Thorough

*best fullbacks

Graham62

Goobergooner

I forgot about Cech.

We got Cech Mark 3.

Ishola70

Danny+S
“I’m just waiting for‘Xhaka signs bumper new 5 year deal’”

That freekick goal will seal it for him.

Pedro has been so flip flop on Xhaka it has been unreal.

Nelson

Pedro
I agree with everything you said. Very good post.

Would the club and Arteta do what we fans want? Rams is struggling to keep the playoff spot. KSE has no time nor interest to think about Arsenal.

Goobergooner

Danny S,

I just cried a little

Pierre

“I think rest Martinelli tomorrow and play Auba. Would also like to see Saka rested for either Newcastle or Palace. Dont want to ‘Jack Wilshire’ either of these, they are far too important.”

Martinelli needs to learn how to ride a tackle and quick, sometimes a player ( like Wilshere) can be too brave for their own good and in the end they suffer for it.

As you say, Martinelli is too important to lose to injury.

Moray

Graham, we doubled down on Luiz. That’s what’s so odd. Same as Ozil. Both were coming off bad and mediocre seasons respectively. We don’t just make
Poor decisions, we make them again and bigger.

Ishola70

Arteta needs to go on a run though and now.

No time to be putting players in cotton wool for the future.

Ishola70

Moray

“we doubled down on Luiz.”

The blog told us he was an excellent influence off the pitch though. That’s why he got extended.

Sure he is. The man who caused problems at Chelsea and was also in the vipers nest at PSG.

Dissenter

Pierre is so right about the risk of injuries to Saka and Martinelli
Martinelli needs to be protected from himself any taught how to withdraw from some 50-50s. There made only so many knocks anyone can take.

Dissenter

*Martinelli needs to be protected from himself and taught how to withdraw from some 50-50s. There are only so many knocks anyone can take

DivineSherlock

Ishola

Isco’s fitness can be managed , if we are talking about loan , the guy needs to go back in reckoning for Spain squad in Euro . There is the extra motivation.

Moray

I’m not sure we can risk bringing anyone in with ongoing attitude problems or lack of motivation (which seems to be the case with Isco – who is a player I love). It would be like throwing petrol on to the fire.

Ishola70

DivineSherlock

“Isco’s fitness can be managed , if we are talking about loan , the guy needs to go back in reckoning for Spain squad in Euro . There is the extra motivation.”

Aren’t we getting back into the rejects territory?

After Chelsea rejects Real Madrid are the secondary ones now to dump on us with Ceballos and Isco.

Samesong

Bellers to Barca
We want Lamptey
Saw on insta

englandsbest

Graham62

Anybody who appreciates a single malt is okay by me

Dissenter

The idea that only another high wage earner like Isco can replace Ozil is a bit laughable.
We need to chart a different course way from this bankrupting approach.
We have to move players out and pay them off fir the last 6 months of their contracts so how are we going to be paying huge loan fees for the likes of Isco?

Moray

Ishola, we have desperately needed leadership and a proper captain on the pitch for a long time now. If Luiz is viewed as that, it’s no wonder we are in the position we are. Let’s think back to recent times. Xhaka, Ozil, Koz, Mertesacker (when he was shitting himself with fear). It’s a list of the worst leaders imaginable. Again, we have surpassed ourselves.

Graham62

Just saw the highlights again on Sky of the Chelski game.

ESR is quality in the making.

Glides across the surface.

More please.

Ishola70

Moray

“If Luiz is viewed as that, it’s no wonder we are in the position we are”

Well Luiz when he has been playing has been captain in all but name that much is clear.

Graham62

Not another expensive has been.

No to Isco.

Moray

Ceballos is really shit. The fact Real aren’t even asking us for a compulsory buy gives you an idea of how badly he’s considered in Spain. His best asset is making anyone who plays alongside him, for example Elneny, look like peak Makalele or Zidane.

Graham62

My leader would be Holding.

Just saying.

Graham62

Rob Holding just needs to stay fit.

Danny

After getting rid of Ozil, Guendouzi and Torreira, finally Arteta played an attacking midfielder in Smith-Rowe and the difference was telling right from the start and once he was taken off we began to fall apart.
Yes our next 5 league games are against shit teams but sadly we can’t trust Arteta.

Moray

Ishola, even when he’s not been playing. Someone’s sucking him off round the back and massaging his ego. I just hope it’s not Arteta. He’s overrated and a Chelsea reject and can fuck off.

We’ve come downhill a long way since Vieira was cock smacking Ashley Cole in the showers.

Ishola70

Holding has this weird facial expression on the pitch.

He grins but it looks like he is having a big shit at the same time.

Shit grin.

Moray

Graham, does Holding have the cojones? I don’t know much about him, tbh, but I do like him. Could be the thinning hair reminds me of my football watching heyday in the 80s. We aren’t exactly spoilt for choice. I see Tierney as a potential long term captain. Once he acclimatises to the tropical London weather.

Aussie+Gooner

Our recruitment has been an embarrassment – everybody can see that except the people that matter – ie those paying the bills. We have to recruit smarter and quicker, If I hear of another target of ours going to another club because of our lethargy I will scream! So many quality players, after having been identified by the scouting group, have slipped through our fingers because of the intransigence of the management/executive. This has to stop. We end up with lazy buys – journeymen who are given huge wages, long contracts and agents with more nous than our executive. Who… Read more »

Ishola70

tbf to Holding even if there are question marks that he is really top class at least he tries to put a marker on matches and opposing players.

He gets very aggresive in closing down and harrying opposing forwards.

David Smith

Can’t argue with the logic of that, just get trouble makers out of the way …..if possible Though the last game does present another angle. Auba, hopefully he should be able to be bought back into the fold, as skipper, he probably gets it from all sides and is getting caught in the middle. Auba not having to deal with the carping malcontents might help him as well, I am sure he would have enjoyed playing in that last game rather than relying from service from players who may be regularly whinging in his ear Just hope the club ,… Read more »

Ishola70

Therein lies the difference with the players Wolves have been getting through an agent and ours.

The Wolves players by and large that Mendes has been getting in for Wolves are not really what could be termed big name players.

They still have a point to prove when joining Wolves.

What points to prove do Willian and Luiz have so late in their careers and with their big names? That’s why they are poor signings.

Moray

I’ll take an honest pro as captain, even if he has limitations as a player. Plus, I like a defender or midfielder as captain. A striker should be focusing on other things.

However I want a guy who is a strong captain off the pitch too, dealing strongly with a lot of the shit that goes on. Let’s the manager keep his hands clean.

Goobergooner

Spot on Ishola.

I thought we could get something out of Willian but I was terribly wrong there. And it started so well against Fulham 😂😂

Graham62

Brighton are our bogey team.

I hope Arteta doesn’t revert to type.

Can’t predict this one.

If Arteta has seen the light, I’ll go for a 2-1 win.

If he hasn’t………….Gulp!!

raptora

“We need a David Luiz replacement.” Saliba? There needs to be a serious plan re CB. We have Holding and Chambers who are not good enough to start but are good enough to be backups. Do we cash in on them and go for higher ceiling players or do we keep them around and use them as squad members? In the long term they shouldn’t be starting for us. “We’ll need to replace our midfield because Dani, Xhaka, and Mo lack future proof credentials.” Agreed. All three have not been what we need. Guendouzi is better than them. Need better… Read more »

Captain Tierney

Agree with Pierre. Martinelli is too brave and needs to learn when to not rush into a 50-50. We cant have another Wilshere on our hands. Next 5 games should be 11 points at the least. 15 ideally but I’m not sure the current set of players are capable of getting 5 wins in the next 5 games Brandt hasn’t exploded like everyone thought he would after his move to Dortmund. I really wanted Arsenal to go for him then. Especially with the 22 mil release clause. He is not a key player for Dortmund ( starting only 46% of… Read more »

Bojangles

“I forgot about Cech.”

As much as I was against bringing Cech in, I would welcome a keeper of his stature as backup now.

Graham62

Pablo Mari also needs game time.

Great to see him pointing and communicating against Chelski. Still very rusty but seems a level headed character who the youngsters can look up to.

Would prefer to see him , Holding and Gabriel forming a bond rather than Luiz with his pretend nonsense.

London gunner

Did anyone know there was a karate kid 3? Mind blown

Graham62

One thing I do know about Arteta is that GK’s are not seen as being a priority.

Something he obviously picked up from Wenger Mark 2.

Just imagine if we had someone of the calibre of Nick Pope in the team.

Dissenter

I’m shocked to see how much Garett Bale has deteriorated while Madrid. He’s been shit for Spuds.
I would put Isco in the same category of expensive nonsense that Madrid have accumulated over the years

No to Isco
Honestly this season is gone so long as we guarantee league survival early; just play the damn kids afterwards. Give the likes of Miguel Azeez opportunities once we mathematically safe.

Chris

“ Arsenal has to live with the Auba deal. I think we can rescue that. He’s the best finisher in the league. His game is not necessarily built on pace. If we surround him with powerful runners that create space for him, he’ll start scoring goals again. ”

Agree with this 100%. Sad to see certain people have it in for the guy. Yes, he wasn’t playing very well to start the season, but nobody has been outstanding, hence our league position.

Dissenter

*we are mathematically safe

Sid

Adios

Jamie

“I’m shocked to see how much Garett Bale has deteriorated while Madrid. He’s been shit for Spuds.”

Don’t tell Pierre. Signing Bale was a ‘masterstroke’.

London gunner

Gareth bale used to be fucking quality but word on the street is he spends more time on the golf course than the football pitch

Ishola70

Chris

“Sad to see certain people have it in for the guy.”

Calling for him to be benched for a period it’s not having it in for him.

That offense without Auba was clearly more lively, vibrant and cohesive than we have seen for a while.

Besides a little time out may be good for Auba himself.

He’s been carrying this club on his shoulders since he has joined the club.

Hitman

I’ d give Tierney the captaincy now. Arteta needs to show the cliques who is boss.
Tierney, AMN, Gabriel, Partey, Saka, ESR, Guendouzi, Martinelli, Balogun isn’t a bad core of young players.
Its actually quiet exciting.
Just don’t think Arteta is a good visionary, man manager or expansive as coach to be able to make the best of what he has.
No need to buy this Jan. I don’t trust this set up to buy well anyway.

Dissenter

Auba needed runners not 50 crosses per game.
He’ll be fine when he returns so long as he’s not paired with Eddie or even Laca.
Having Saka and Martinelli on either side of him will open up spaces for him to thrive.

Dissenter

Holding has been a reasonably good captain so far.
He’s been at the club longer that Tierney and he too is an Arteta boy so why take it away from him?

Hitman

Add Saliba, Nelson to that list of young one who have a higher ceiling.
Then you have Auba, Pepe, Laca, Mari, Bellerin, Xhaka to the team.
It should really be struggling as it has this season. The mix hasnt been right. The blame lies solely with Arteta.

London gunner

the season aint over till the fat lady sings

there is a chance arteta takes us on a crazy win run now so yes he has underperformed right now but could be a very different picture come summer time

Dissenter

Ishola
Our fortunes re still tied with Auba.
You’re kidding yourself otherwise if you think Xhaka is going to be placing them freekicks into corners every game or Saka will be scoring special crosses/lobs.

englandsbest

‘Revert to type’? What does that mean? Arteta is in a learning curve. His aim has not altered though. His stated intention is to return Arsenal to the elite.

Dissenter

‘ ‘Revert to type’? What does that mean? Arteta is in a learning curve. His aim has not altered though. His stated intention is to return Arsenal to the elite’

Why is Arsenal being offered as a finishing school for novice coaches?

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