Arsenal finally matched a good performance with a full 3 points. Mikel Arteta put on a well-choreographed win against a Leeds team that comfortably beat Leicester 3-1 a few weeks ago.
We pressed better than Leeds, boxing them in, forcing mistakes.
We controlled their attacking game with excellent off the ball work, closing down passing lanes and making it generally difficult for them to break against us.
We also took our chances, something we’ve been terrible with over the past month.
The game was mostly about the return of Auba. We’ve been waiting for a game like that from him for a while. He’s been off from a confidence level all season. He was then rocked by issues with his mother’s health. Yesterday, he seemed to shake all of that off with a really, really good game of football.
Arteta seemed to find a formula that works for his star striker. He built pace and creativity around him. Saka, ESR and Odegaard buzzed around him all game and gave him the freedom to do what he does best… score goals.
His first one was all him. He was found by Xhaka on the left, he dropped some Cristiano stepovers and dropped his shot into the bottom corner. His second was a penalty after Saka was fouled by the Leeds keeper. His third came from excellent ESR box work with a 6-yard cross he found. He also hit the bar with a first time shot.
There was also a fourth goal from Hector Bellerin. Dani Ceballos threaded a pass into him in a crowded box, Hector finished with a smashed low shot.
The first half was inch-perfect. We controlled the pace of the game, limited Leeds strengths, and played to ours.
The second half was always going to be tougher. Leeds didn’t ever stop. They came at us, they scored 2 within 11 minutes. We didn’t control the game in the way you’d have liked. Let’s be hoenst, most of us were watching that game through the lens of ‘TIOTE SCOOOOOOORES.’ It was unpleasant to say the least.
What also didn’t help the optics was seeing Mikel Arteta roll-on Willian as his ‘let’s control the game’ sub. The narrative of the game wasn’t on the Brazilian’s shoulders, but the sub just stuck in the throat for a number of reasons.
- You don’t control a relentless team of attacking kamikaze pilots with a player that doesn’t have legs, energy, or desire.
- Nicolas Pepe could have done with the confidence boost after putting on a show in his last few games.
- Martinelli could have done with the minutes after being dropped post-Villa after a drab performance
Willian didn’t ruin the game, I think we were on the way to that anyway… but he didn’t do anything to improve it. I read a stat that he lost the ball 5 times from 10 touches. If he was brought on for control, it didn’t arrive. Where was the value? Why does Arteta keep doing it?
The value should be in giving Martinelli and Pepe chances, not Willian, who is so obviously not part of the ‘non-negotiable’ set of principles everyone else has to abide by. Young players have to have perfect 10s every game to keep landing minutes. Willian? He can drop 6 after 6 after 6 and it just doesn’t change Arteta’s opinion of him. He didn’t even get dropped for going to Dubai unauthorised.
The story shouldn’t be about him. We just beat Leeds with Xhaka and Ceballos in our midfield. No Partey or Tierney. That SHOULD be the story… but we’re still talking about weird in-game management. We’re wondering if Arteta has it in for Martinelli? We’re wondering why the manager wants to die on the Willian hill?
We’re also wondering if the stories about Arsenal giving David Luiz a new deal are real? What could possibly justify that? His experience has us in 10th position in the league. Whatever he’s bringing to the table, it hasn’t worked, so why don’t we just cut our losses and give his place to a young player?
Dishing out deals to £160k a week Luiz as you cull jobs behind the scenes is why they fans get annoyed. Time to move on. It hasn’t worked for 2 years, this shouldn’t even be an agenda item. It might not be. It might be Kia PR trying to force a question in his next presser… the point is, it’s believable which shows there’s work to do.
Anyway. I hate that we have to talk about this.
Saka. What a fucking star. Once again, he was a difference-maker. His decision making was superb again, he was hard to mark, he won two penalties. We are a different beast with him in the side. He looks like he’s really enjoying his game.
Smith Rowe added another assist to his name with a world-class cross to Auba at the back post. I love how he passes around corners. He’s highly efficient, he puts numbers on the board, and he’s going to be a vital part of keeping Auba in the goals this season.
Martin Odegaard looks top-class. He was fairly quiet today, but I love the way he probes and searches the game out. He moves really well, his passing is fast and sharp, and I think he’ll be decisive when he finds his role in the league.
Big shout out to Granit and Ceballos as well. I thought they’d be in big trouble today. They weren’t. They were smart in possession, both had an assist, they were ZERO drama which is what we wanted.
Arteta still has a lot of work to do. We didn’t manage the second half as well as we could have. But overall, let’s look at the positives. The football was really good at times, our front 4 looks exciting, we kept the most productive team in the league to under 10 shots, and we continued our good form with chance creation clocking 13 shots.
We have a rough month of games coming, but we’re more than capable of delivering some good results. City is a write-off, but Leicester, Spurs, West Ham, and Liverpool are gettable.
It is ridiculous, but we’re 6 points off top 4. Liverpool lost. Everton lost. Spurs lost. Villa drew. I don’t think we have much of a chance, but a good run out of this batch of games, who knows. At least we’re in the mixer.
Listen to the on-the-whistle podcast with Demian and Matt.
The owners don’t stop us fro spending money but they’ve never showed any inclination to make sure that their money is well spent.
Had they been good owners, they would never have appointed a rookie manager to a position co-equal to the technical director EIGHT MONTHS into his contract.
That is unheard of, to promote a head coach who is still clearly learning some basic aspects of the job in the first year of his contract.
There’s even talk that Arteta is about to be handed yet another extension this year.
Owner apathy is what’s given Arteta too much latitude.
Wonder what’s brewing at West Ham, I mean something must be because a past it manager with an ordinary team is competing for top four while our fans are congratulating the generational one on a home victory against Leeds and quoting Bielsa.
Olis owning the melts. Spitting glass and blood every time arsenal turn in a quality performance. They truly despise it. And yeah Freddie. Dipping into the european market is the only way to improve the team in your head isn’t it? Except our best players this and last season have all come from the great British isles. Saka, Tierney, AMN Holding and ESR. Martinez was also an internal solution still have azeez and Balogun to come. Of course the market is necessary but the lads have proved this season that internal solutions can be better than anything the market has to offer.
“Jamie if you understood what you were actually watching, you wouldn’t be such a snide and could actually contribute.”
Aubergine, if you understood half of what I understand, you’d be a fucking genius.
So West Ham go 4th.
Scary!
Anonymous
What a terrific post.
That’s what I’m on about Pedro.
A post that says it as it is.
We will not only lose the fans, more importantly, we’ll lose even more of our young talent
Dissenter
Also true.
Chelski one up.
Giroud.
they would never have appointed a rookie manager to a position co-equal to the technical director EIGHT MONTHS into his contract.
Dissenter
Tells you everything you need to know about the owners right there. You’ve just defeated your own argument
Olis
In respect to what?
Are you the resident ref?
Giroud scores. I pick this Chelsea team to make Top4 instead of the Pools or West Ham.
Arteta’s masterclass on Sunday has clearly not gone unnoticed by the NP on LG. He gave Bielsa a schooling. Pulled his pants down and smacked his arse. The wift interchange play & movement between the lines worked to negate the Leeds press & was just another step on our path of constant improvement, tactically & player wise. False 9’s, CB’s & Midfield positional changes all reminiscent of full fat Pep, enough to get the juices flowing yesterday. God that felt good. Arteta proved how tactically smart he was last season, repairing the damage Dick Emery did by implementing a defensive shape & pressing game we had long coveted. Tierney & Partey to come in and Pepe, Martinelli also knockimg on the door, completion for places strong. Auba and his hatrick not getting a mention because they wanted him sold a few weeks ago, because he was useless -incredible but true. This rookie Manager, with one major trophy under his belt already, can you imagine what he will achieve with a bit more experience!. Mark my words this is going to he good. When all they’ve got to beat him up about is Willian, because he proved the naysayers wrong about Xhaka, you know he’s got people worried. Especially those who want constant managerial upheaval to unsettle the club and players because it’s been such a success for the sad Spuds in their 60 year search for the league title.
I can see Werner will get better and better after he finally scores.
Nelson
Chelsea spent a lot of money on those players, they just haven’t performed.
AFC
I can’t see we can compete for Top4 without KSE spending some money in the Summer TW. The current team doesn’t have enough depth compare to MC, the Pools, Manure and Chelsea.
AFC
Nice post. This team is moving steadily in the right direction and the usual crowd can’t stand it. For several reasons but we won’t go into it now. I’m excited to watch arsenal again and it’s Arteta that’s brought that feeling back back.
Nelson, yes we need to recruit.
Winthorpe.
Arteta has had a successful football career. He’s also learned from Wenger & Pep. People talk him down as if he’s some wet behind the ears former shelf stacker. Pep actually said he was a smart tactician & didn’t want him to leave. Need a few additions & it takes time to build a side & educate players but we are seeing good progress.
Watching Willock playing for Newcastle. What exactly does he do?
Alfonso Davies ripping your momma’s arse with that belter
All that 💰 yet Sane and Willian can’t buy a decent haircut. Shocking behaviour.
Radio Raheem
Lock down mate, impossible finding a bloody barnber!
*barber
Bielefeld we need a match winner to step forth.
AFC
Nah not having that. They can afford to buy a barber get him/her isolated for 100 days if they wanted…😀
It’s funny the Newcastle lad got done for going to the barbers the other day but it’s obvious that every premier League player is getting their hair cut, not a strand out of place except our dear Willian of course. Idiot.
Willock heading the ball like Drogba
Willock almost scores. GK saved it.
William must get a neck ache running around with that mop.
It’s incredibly troubling that people can say we are on the right track while sitting in 10th in the league and likely to slip down the table in the near future or at the very least miss out on points relative to our nearest competitors.
There is no miracle run of form to rescue our season in the making lads, this isn’t like it was back then when we were actually one of the best teams in the league.
We are gloating about getting a win over a newly promoted side and calling it a masterclass.
Utterly terrifying to me how this is passing.
Yes the win is good, but ffs keep the feet on the ground, it was against Leeds and they aren’t challenging for any noteworthy position in the table when all 38 games have been played, they’re trying to survive their first season in the premier League for some 2 decades.
Damn right arteta managing the arsenal should be spanking them, that could never ever be presented to the fans as a mark of progress.
I’m dead certain no other manager, either in our history or the history of the league, would be netting such praise for what should be routine for us.
The litmus test is Europa League and our league position after 38.
Any finish lower than 8th is a failure, I don’t even expect arteta to reach that high this season, honestly expecting us to finish exactly where we are in 10th.
And minimum Europa League semi-final is required, but I can’t bank on that when last season olympiakos dumped us out the competition in round of 32. Arteta is definitely not masterminding a finals victory to be frank, ready to be surprised but I definitely won’t be disappointed.
Anonymous Commentator
Arsenal FC has qualified for European completion for 25 consecutive years
If we don’t get into European competitions by any means then this season is a failure.
We are 6 points off fourth and games in hand don’t mean anything are two comments that didn’t age well
Anonymous Commentator, better to be an Arsenal fan enjoying the win, than coming on the site to berate people enjoying the win with a whole bunch of ifs and maybes.
Pedro is the last person that should lecture any Arsenal fan on enjoy ink wins, he moaned his way through a season where we finished 5th, two points off third and played the EL final.
Now we are tenth and he is wildly excited about the future, can’t make it up.
I don’t think Pedro was “enjoying the ride” when another Arsenal manager eats learning Arsenal on an unbeaten run with players like Carl Jenkinson and Stephan Lichtsteiner in the squad.
**I don’t think Pedro was “enjoying the ride” when another Arsenal manager was leading Arsenal on an unbeaten run with players like Carl Jenkinson and Stephan Lichtsteiner in the squad.
Aubamayangs ‘tattoo artist’ is in his bubble. How odd!!
Matt-yeah, really strange for Aubua to post that photo. Hope there’s no backlash.
Pedro had a point.
Emery was a total disaster.
‘No tactics, no formation, nowhere to hide” read the banners held up at Emirates Stadium when we lost to Eintracht Frankfurt.- after that performance Martin Keown called a ‘complete shambles”. Against Watford Arsenal conceded 31 attempts on our goal. Yep, 31. This was a familiar pattern, Emery did nothing to improve our defending. Without the ball we were soft and easy to get at. The biggest condemnation is that all Arsenal’s obvious and long-standing flaws remained as unaddressed on the day he left as when he arrived. We had 2 clean sheets in 25 away games and shots against were the highest since records began.
Lee Dixon called the 2-2 draw at Watford,: “The worst performance without the ball for a very long time.” When Emery was sacked, we had conceded a whopping 70 Premier League goals. In the same period, wr dropped 19 points from winning positions and made 15 errors leading to goals – more than any other top-flight team. There were reports about confusing tactics & poor communication and anyone watching us against transition could see that & why he list the changing room.
So you can rewrite history all you like but Arteta immediately fixed the defensive problems that dogged us for years and in the process beat Man City & Chelsea to win the FA Cup, against all the odds and with the same players. Thank god we sacked Emery.
*lost the changing room
Don
“And yeah Freddie. Dipping into the european market is the only way to improve the team in your head isn’t it? Except our best players this and last season have all come from the great British isles. Saka, Tierney, AMN Holding and ESR. Martinez was also an internal solution still have azeez and Balogun to come. Of course the market is necessary but the lads have proved this season that internal solutions can be better than anything the market has to offer”
AMN? You’ve lost the plot, he’s terrible and it was a travesty that he wasn’t sold when we had the chance.
You do realise we’re 10th right? I don’t care where we buy from, would be stupid limiting ourselves to only british players because you have a nationalistic agenda though. Would be happy if we bought Edouard from Celtic and Bissouma from Brighton, would have been happy with Buendia in the summer, wouldn’t have minded Aarons as a replacement for Bellerin. PL based players are often more expensive though.
Have high hopes for Azeez but it’s a bit early to bank on him starting this early and we need a partner for Partey with the same profile now, we suffer too much when he’s out. Balogun should have had the minutes Eddie got but I hope we can still keep him.
Emery deserved the sack, not one person here wants him around.
That’s the way it’s supposed to work – a manager doesn’t deliver…they get the boot.
The problem is that with Arteta, the goal posts are moved all the time. Now we are the star when we are supposed to bellow out Paeans because we beat a newly promoted club AT HOME.
We are 10th position in the league and are about to face proper teams. It is likely we will be lower the. 10th by the end of February.
If we don’t qualify for Europe then that will be grounds for dismissal but we all know it wont happen because the Kroenke’s are shitty owners.
They are
•We are at the stage
In the EL the teams you’d have to watch out for would presumably be Utd, Leicester, Spurs, Milan, Napoli and Ajax. The rest I wouldn’t have many concerns about provided arsenal play 80+% of our best.
Of those difficult teams, none are unbeatable and most of them will be knocking each other out sooner or later.
A worst case scenario for us in terms of fixtures would be along the lines of
32- Benfica
16- Leicester
8- Milan
4-Spurs
2-Utd
It would be a tough run but none of those teams are unbeatable. It’s up to Arsenal how well we play and do from here
China, all of them are very beatable.
RH, get over Emery you massive child. You and Dissenter out here today trying to make everyone feel bad about Arsenal is painful viewing. Have some shame.
Freddie, you’ve got to stop obsessing over who is who on here like some weirdo.
DON, DON, DON to literally anyone you don’t like.
Pedro… Excuse me? I lurked this site since 2008 and Wenger got grief for seasons on end for doing far better than this hot mess of a season we’re having.
What happened to the standards?
Emery got grief for doing better than this, more grief on wins than anyone has given arteta so far.
Do we have title ambitions or not? Cause if not then getting rid of Wenger was not the solution, neither Emery considering arteta was permitted a far worse spell of games than him.
Like heck he’s doing worse than a guy who couldn’t even speak English yet insisted on speaking his broken English.
That’s wild as all hell.
Where’s the consistency?
How can Wenger and Emery be given so much grief for getting less wrong with a difficult squad, and arteta is given roses and felatio for winning against newly promoted Leeds?
Makes not a lick of sense to me.
The manager best get his act right because I will not forget why we got rid of Wenger and Emery. A win against Leeds does not proof his sauce, we haven’t even done the double on Leeds this season, and I’m being very kind by saying that arteta can still proof his alleged sauce.
Benfica – city – benfica – Leicester – Burnley – Tottenham – West ham – Liverpool.
Nightmare run of games for how we are currently.
We will know all we need to know about arteta after it, granted I have personally seen enough of the man.
Arteta’s problem… Well there are many problems, but his problem is that no matter what type of run he puts on now our league position is pretty much nailed on due to how poorly we started, and any loss will compound his problems.
So while it’s nice that we won against fresh from the championship opposition, what actually changes with that win?
We are still in dire straits, that isn’t going to change in a hurry, and this situation was no doubt avoidable if the manager were more honest with his team selections earlier in the season. He’s still not honest with his selections but at least starting his favourite Brazilian is no longer an option for him.
But Pedro, to complain about someone not seeing your choice of manager as the guy?
Spare us please.
To complain about people critiquing the current state of the club and manager after a win?
SPARE US PEDRO, such hypocrisy is not for preserving on the internet.
Anonymous Commentator, to come on here moaning like you are after a win is really grim.
We’re in a global pandemic. 8 points off 4th, 6 points off Liverpool, 2 points off Spurs, after a very rough season for a number of reasons.
All standards are out the window for this season. We’re still in the mixer in the league, albeit a long shot. We have a good chance in the Europa League. The coaching is starting to pay dividends with identity. Our defence is top 4 in the league. Young players are thriving.
If you can’t see it, I can’t help you… but save the misery for a loss.
Nice to see Emery kicking into gear over at Villareal as well. Not too many talking about the football they’re playing over there at the moment considering how many Villareal fans there were here in October.
Pedro
Tell me I’m wrong and I’ll stop.
Hardly obsessing is it when you let the lunatics run the asylum just because they happen to agree with you at the moment, they’re still despicable characters, that you let back in despite being racist, abusive scum. It’s your site though so knock yourself out.
Oh whoops the ‘general consensus’ of fans are behind Arteta. Silly me thinking for myself.
Pedro
*”China, all of them are very beatable.”
You’ve set the goal posts …so let’s not hold our breaths hoping you won’t move them if it doesn’t work out with this run of games.
Arsenal is very beatable as 10 losses in the league demonstrates.
They only sing when they are winning. When they don’t they make excuses.
I’m pleased we won but we didn’t move to the Emirates so that we could celebrate wins over newly promoted teams like Leeds all the while losing to the likes of Wolves and Aston Villa.
We are mid table for a reason!
Pedro actually wrote that “All standards are out the window for this season. ”
…and some laughed at Abramovic’s Chelsea when he fired a club legend who was manager for coming short of expectations
“All standards are out the window for this season.”🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
Freddie
February 15 18:59.37
My sentiments entirely well put.
Anonymous Commentator
Some really good posts yesterday
Jamie
A always taking no prisoners and rightly so
as always*
Sal
“Changing handles is bizarre, can’t keep up unless its the obvious ones like Dial -Marble – Red Truth or of course Bamariano.”
Such handle changes just demonstrates weak personalities with poor emotional stability leading to cowardly actions trying to hide behind new personas, but not having the intelligence or ability to use different written styles./nuances.
There are none so blind as than those who will not see, Sal
“Jamie if you understood what you were actually watching, you wouldn’t be such a snide and could actually contribute.”
Aubnagine, Northern, Olis/Don/ Battle Elite, Un Una Uai and so the list goes on that made me really laugh as this clown doesn’t even know who he is such is the rate of him being continuously being binned.
Sounds like you need new meds or have you tried them al and are left like the way you are?
I mean how do you tel an obviously highly educated and intelligent poster as many are here, such as Jamie that they could actually contribute better here.
That made me really laugh.
@AnonymousC
Great post!! You keep on telling it how it is 👍
It’s even more noticable that responses to it Never address your points ( Cos they can’t ) so typically deflect and try to paint you as someone who’s negative.
Thing is people aren’t stupid and when they read those points, the questions raised won’t just go away. ( Except for the willfully blind sheep) People want answers. Who says we have to accept everthing without question. Things that don’t make sense to most people.
Pedro
“Anonymous Commentator, to come on here moaning like you are after a win is really grim.”
That’s a bit disingenuous!
Trying to belittle and ignore what are reasonable concerns just makes you look poor. I mean it’s an opinion blog after all.
( Granted it’s yours 👍 and appreciate the platform and all that)
But just because people are able to be a bit more balanced than yourself about Arteta, is not really an excuse to start accusing people of moaning without any reason.
You said from the start Arteta is your boy. You’re entitled to your opinion. Others aren’t as convinced, myself one of them. I wasn’t against giving him a chance, hoped he’d truly be generational.
But the mistakes just keep continuing. And you seem happy to ignore one of life’s principles. That drip drip drip of mistakes may seem like small ones at first. However over time build to a level that will bust that Dam.
You’re prepared to ignore it, some people aren’t and are rightly expressing their concerns and opinions about it.
I think you should give more respect for the differing opinions you get on here, it’s what keeps it interesting. Otherwise you just end up with a blog full of self appointed’so called Superfans getting hard cos we beat Leeds.
Then it’ll be Welcome to Untold mk2..
I believeThe mis management if players is going to have a big affect on Arsenal. It may not be apparent right now. But it’s gonna catch up to Arteta. No doubt.
Arsenal’s most expensive players of all time:
10. Lucas Torreira – Sampdoria, £25m, July 2018
9. William Saliba – Saint-Etienne, £27m, July 2019
8. Shkodran Mustafi – Valencia, £37m, August 2016
7. Alexis Sanchez – Barcelona, £38m, July 2014
6. Granit Xhaka – Borussia Monchengladbach, £40m, May 2016
5. Mesut Ozil – Real Madrid, £42m, September 2013
4. Thomas Partey – Atletico Madrid, £45m, July 2017
3. Alexandre Lacazette – Lyon, £47m, October 2020
2. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Borussia Dortmund, £57m, January 2018
1. Nicolas Pepe – Lille , £72m, August 2019
Money well spent?????
Unless we are looking into the edge of the abyss… I would rest Saka and ESR versus Benfica.
I would be tempted to play the Ceballos and Xhaka again to give Partey the rest he needs to face Leicester.
The real problem is LB back can we keep playing Cedric? I don’t know if Tierney is fit…
4. Thomas Partey – Atletico Madrid, £45m, July 2017
3. Alexandre Lacazette – Lyon, £47m, October 2020
The date for these two are mixed up.
Xhaka for 40m. I thought it was 35. Not much difference but still enough to make me vomit in my mouth a little considering we could have had Kante.
Sanchez was a bargain considering his output.
Partey and Auba on par for their fee vs value to their previous clubs. Ozil was good til his contract extension. We just fucked up the rest.
“RH, get over Emery you massive child. You and Dissenter out here today trying to make everyone feel bad about Arsenal is painful viewing. Have some shame.”
Coming from a guy that is smitten with Arteta (because why???) is laughable if it wasn’t so cringe.
You were totally against Emery for the same reasons posters here are critical of Arteta. Which by the by is normal when a team is underperforming. It was you that stated we had a top4 squad under Emery, but now with a superior squad, we don’t?
Dude, you need a total re-think, maybe seek out a psychiatrist, I hear New York is littered with them.
Goober
But just think, if we had Kante in the squad now he would either be playing in the U23’s, warming the bench or loaned to Stoke!!!!!
Aussie because he’s French and a bigmouth? 😂
China
No doubt ES wants revenge for the 2 City games he sat through at the Emirates when were embarrassed bot by Wenger and City.
Can’t blame him, though, they were bad enough watching them from over 6000km away.
However, we have to play our best team against Benfica in a competition that represents the only route to the CL for us next season.
As much as I hope for a win, the odds of use beating City with our full strength side are very slim.
Just have to hope Arteta sees more value in winning Thursday than beating his mentor at the weekend.
both*
I just rewatched the Leeds game. Despite scoring 3 I still don’t think that was our best half of the season like some on here. We pressed real high and had energy in the frontline which was nice to see. Especially at home. But Leeds aren’t that good. And I feel like the wolves game until we crumbled from shit ref’ing and the United win were still better ‘performances’.
People just want to over exaggerate to try prove their point and then call out that people with negativity have an agenda. Go figure.
Haha this place is fun isn’t it.
“RH, get over Emery you massive child. ”
Pedro make up your mind, after a loss you write off the season and make all sorts of excuses, we beat a team as beatable as Leeds at home and you are out here swinging, counting how many points off fourth we are, and also how many points off Liverpool we are, Liverpool who are having a season from hell are now the standard for rating Arteta, do you even read some of the things you come up with?
I feel a lot better with Luiz in the team vs Holding. He offers us an extra going forward and doesn’t hide, a true leader on the field for us. Worth noting that Smith rowe is playing more of a #8 role for us with Odegaard #10, I like the look of them 2, the problem is what do you do with Lacazette? I cant see him fitting in anywhere right now
And about this first half from another galaxy we had, the Leeds goalkeeper was culpable for all three goals, he was atrocious, if Leno had a game like that the loss will be squarely on him and not how wonderful the opposition was.
Standards are not out the window this season,a few managers have already lost their jobs.
It would be understandable to use Liverpool as a yardstick on progress made under Arteta this season if they were flying high and maintained their standards from the last two seasons, considering they are struggling I don’t see what keeping tabs on how far behind them on the table we are achieves, but then again you are grasping so carry on Pedro.
Lol
Anonymous what seems to have slipped under your radar are two glaring facts. Wenger left the club in a mess and building a successful team takes time. Keep sacking managers isn’t the way forward. There isn’t consistency as you state but we are playing better. We move the ball much more quickly and look good in patches. We have a nucleus of young players who will get better. That’s positive in my book. We need to give a rocky manager some time. All the hot air about who he does or doesn’t like is just speculation as there is no evidence for their opinions.
Constructive criticism is fine but too many on here are just moaners. Keep the faith mate we as a club have been here many times before.
“We move the ball much more quickly and look good in patches.”
This can be said of any professional football team, that you think this is a sign of progress means you don’t actually watch football just Arsenal. Even rock bottom Sheffield united play some lovely football in patches, same can be said of Mainz in the bundesliga.
Stevey Holding is a vastly more reliable player than Luiz
How many points has Luiz cost us with gaffes, red cards and penalties since he joined? We don’t need our CBs to be offensive threats who show up, we need them to be consistently good at the back, which Luiz is certainly not compared with holding
We don’t need a CB to be a 10/10 for 80 minutes and a 3/10 for the remaining 10. It’s far more preferable to have a player who can give you 7.5/10 for 90 minutes the vast majority of times. The Leeds game being a case in point where he was good overall but directly at fault for one of their goals. Luiz is the answer to none of our problems and is personally responsible for some of them
RH
Liverpool finished last season with 43 points more than Arsenal.
This season they have only six points more than us.
Conclusion: Arteta has improved us by 37 points.
Boom! You can’t can’t argue with facts proven using scientific methods.
Arguing with Pedro about being objective is pointless. Time and time again his standards and consistency of opinions change. It’s futile to argue with that.
Emery deserved to be fired. But Pedro was banging the drum for him to be fired. On the basis of that Arteta also should have been fired when we had 7 losses in 9 games. We were contemplating relegation. That deserved a sacking.
But somehow he has turned it around to a point where the jury is still out in his ability as a manager. He is showing some good things but also some of the poor stuff that had us near the relegation zone. Poor team selections, horrible judgment of talent, failed “Non negotiable” standards and picking his favourite players still are massive blunders that is costing the team. On the bright side we are playing very good football in patches that makes you think may be he has it in him if improved on the faults that we can see.
Anyway, Standards being thrown out the window is Bullshit. Arteta might turn out to be a good manager in the long run. But we also need some bare minimum results in the immediate future. If he gets a good run in the Europa league and gets us a position from 5th to 7th while playing the good football we see in patches and sustaining it longer, then there is an argument for keeping him here. But if we get knocked out of Europa league witha whimper while we finish 10th then he deserves to get sacked. That is where we are in my opinion.
Nailed it Tom!
Fully agree Habesha
And let’s be serious the only reason why we are still discussing arsenal competing for top 6 let alone higher in the league is because it’s been a perfect storm of good luck that every other team bar city has at least once gone off the rails, in most cases multiple times.
Strokes of when we fell up the stairs to second place in the Leicester season where everyone just bent over and let us stumble into second through minimal quality from ourselves
Ah Tom, there you are ,
I do understand that you felt a little stupid after questioning my footballing knowledge, but the least you could have done is apologised for your futile attempt to embarrass me instead of disappearing for a couple of days after i provided evidence
Tom
“Pierre
Are you still butt hurt about your “away” shouting debacle?
You should be lol”
Tom
“Graham, your pal Pierre apparently did.
Unfortunately for him he played for the only footballing side in the world who’s keeper shouted “away” to hoof the ball up the pitch at corners and not for defenders to clear their lines to prevent cheap tap ins from second balls.”
.https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://topgoalkeeping.com/goalkeeper-communication-guide-shouts/&ved=2ahUKEwi5iKuymOnuAhXNMMAKHevMBssQFjAAegQIAxAC&usg=AOvVaw388rekUpH5cdrJnmnC7v0W&cshid=1613299531340
Do i need to say anymore Tom .
As well when you compare clubs it should be based over a period of years not weeks or months
Liverpool have made a CL final, won a CL, come second in the league with an absolutely ridiculous points tally, won the league with a joke points tally in the last few years. They have been the best team in the world over the last 3 or so years and it’s only the last couple of months they’ve been anything less than that. It’s normal that teams fluctuate each year and sometimes the levels drop. They’ve had loads of injury issues this year and are paying sorely for that.
So if you just take a snapshot of the table today it looks like we’re close but the reality is we’re miles off where they are as a club right now. It’s not even funny to compare us
RH
I think Ive fallen into your camp in respect to Arteta and what he’s doing.
For me the negatives still outweigh the positives.
Do you charge a membership fee?
Habesha
Every team “plays good football in patches”.
Even Sheffield United.
Anyone who watched the Chelsea game would probably come up with the same feeling Willock is just like his brothers and can do most things on a football field but not really good at anything he was actually quite painful to watch no tackling , hardly any pressure on the ball , maybe he had an off day but he was really poor in this game , that said he is not a player I rate at all but I am an optimist and saw some of the Southampton game and he looked reasonable so thought i would pay some interest what a mistake
no matter how you wush to paint it, this Arsenal side is underachieving and the club are absolutely fine with it.
wish
I mean why do people keep bringing up the pandemic like it is only happening to us? Aren’t Westham, Leicster, Everton and Villa dealing with a pandemic too? How come they are above us?
We keep lowering our standards because of incompetent people. When the season started the goal was to get champions league football back by league position or through Europa league. The bare minimum would have been a 7th place finish. The reality is we are midtable right now. What we could point out is to the football we play in patches and youngsters coming up. Other than that this season has been a failure so far. But we at least expect a Europa league place. saying otherwise is moving the goal posts. For me Arteta’s future depends on the end of this season. And that is not shitting on the club.
Jesus, Pierre , you’re still on this ?
How fragile is your ego exactly? just let it go.
No defender in the world awaits keepers instructions at corners to clear the ball.
It’s literally their only job in that moment whether you or this Toby dude agrees or not.
Olis
I think we all understand that.
By the way, “the winning culture“ evaporated as soon as Wenger was found out and that was long long before it became “toxic”
“Emery was brought in to steady the ship, make us better defensively, improve our away record and challenge for the title. “
Emery was brought in to challenge for the title ?
And you have the cheek to call other posters muppets ? Lol.
Olis it’s a perfect storm because it’s not through our own good work that Liverpool have had a Crocked defense this season or imploded recently and left us close to them in the table
It’s not because arsenal improved that Lampard blew silly money in the summer, shat the bed and got sacked
It’s not because of arteta’s good work that mourinho blew a valid title race shot
It’s not because we’ve improved that Utd are now blowing their title shot
All of these things have been entirely outside of our control and left the door open for us to look vaguely competitive (we’ve not really even managed that tbh). Rather than acting as if we’ve done ok, we should just be thankful that our rivals have all shat the bed and left the door open
If you have a 100m sprint vs usain bolt, rather than assuming you’re doing well if you’re not far behind him, notice the context that he’s tripped over his own laces, got back up and still ahead of you
Of course the pandemic has changed the dynamics of the game.
Can we though blame the pandemic for favouring Willian?
Can we blame the pandemic for the Martinelli scenario?
Can we blame the pandemic for losing our #1 keeper?
Can we blame the pandemic for David Luiz being a liability and possibly being offered a new contract?
Can we blame the pandemic in respect to Saliba?
Can we………………
I think you get the gist.
Tom
Actually, Olis is right on this point.
Guaranteed Tom that you will think again in the future before giving your sly little digs…
Just take it as a lesson learned.
Fact: We have a much more organised team than we ever had under Emery. We are where we are do to a bad start to the season, with our top goalscorer out of form. Players have improved under Arteta and so too has our ability to defend without the ball. After making us defensively sound after the shambles that was Emery & the 30 odd shots we were allowing on our goal, he has now sorted out the creativity issue. If you refuse to acknowledge those facts it’s on you, nobody else. He won a trophy in his first season with the same players. As for ‘luck’ I wouldn’t agree we’ve had loads of that would you? Luiz at Wolves & Lacazette/Saka at Aston Villa?
The fact some fans are so stuck in their pathetic little cult like agenda is sad. You will never be happy because your life centres around bitching. Nothing will be good enough for you because you will move the bar higher and higher. The fact you think continually changing manager will somehow build a team just shows how little you know or understand. Imagine getting so much pleasure from endlessly moaning.
I mean, you moan about everything!! Not just Arteta. You bitch about Edu. You gang up on players. You wanted Auba sold. Xhaka shoved your criticism down your throat. You attack positive fans, calling us Pom Pom wavers because you have no concept of enjoying wins. Every fucking thing offends or triggers you. A blog should be about interacting with people with a common interest. Half of you just see it as somewhere to piss on EVERY win or good performance because you are either a troll or the worst kind of fair weather, self entitled, ego driven fan who will only be happy when you get your own way. It’s all about you.
I always make the analogy of a 100m sprint. If you are running in the olympics and get a bronze medal with a time of over ten seconds you stay humble, count your lucky stars that all the better sprinters somehow fucked up and aim to come back next year with a time that’s actually worthy of the position
Arsenal have been dog shit this season and if we even get 5th we should be doing the same
Oils
Who said we are finishing 10th? He has 3 points and 3 teams with game in hands to navigate through to get the bare minimum. Arsenal should always be in Europe. I said Arteta’s future depends on that. If he finishes outside of a Europa league place then he deserves to get fired. It doesn’t matter where we are right now. What matters is where he will finish at the end of the season.
I have considered the shit he had to deal with regarding the squad but we are very capable of coming 7th. At the start of the season we had a squad that at least could finish up to 7th. If we had a good enough squad 4th would have been the bare minimum. These are the standards of a club with an ambition. Just because you like arteta, it doesn’t mean that changes.
Yes Olis precisely because we came second with an embarrassingly low points tally. In most seasons that would’ve been a fourth or at best third place finish and nowhere near the title. First place got a low tally and everyone else was trash so we stumbled to second with a low tally. That’s nothing to brag about. It’s something to be grateful for.
If a team actually shows up they won’t need other teams to be shit to achieve their goals. City have showed up this season and will likely walk the league with a solid points tally like up the upper 80s.
You’re pretending context doesn’t exist because we’re arsenal fans and it’s inconvenient to acknowledge that we’ve been shit (again) this season
Win the EL and arteta can get plaudits from me, I’ll give him that gladly. But I’m not interested in laying credit to him for finishing higher up the league when the only reason it’s happened is because our rivals have all been shit, rather than because we have been good
‘Best of a bad bunch’ is the kind of credit I’m not interested in
Tom what was Emery brought in for? If top 4 finishes weren’t good enough under Wenger and the club backed him with £200m on new players what were the expectations?Chelsea backed Lampard with £230m+ and expected a title challenger.So what was the expectation?
For starters , top four finishes were plenty good enough under Wenger and he was only let go once he failed at it, twice.
The fan base had an issue with Wenger , some of them, but not Kroenke.
Emery was brought in to cut the wage bill, not personally of course seeing as he had no say in transfers, and to take Arsenal back into CL either via the league or the EL where he was considered something of a specialist having won it three times.
He almost succeeded too.
The title challenge talk, if there even was any, was the usual PR bit for the fans.
I think it’s worth having a look at our signings over the past 2 seasons and this may give an indication as to why we are where we are in the league .
Signings
Martinelli….injured …out for 9 months
Partey ….hardly played due to injury
Tierney ..in and out of the team due to injury.
Mari ..hardly played due to injury .
Saliba …complete cock up all round ..hasnt played.
Thats 5 new players who have had very limited game time mainly due to injury.
Other incomings
Willian …struggling
Pepe…struggled
Runarsson…words fail me
Gabriel and Cedric are probably the only 2 that can regarded as reasonably successful at this point and they are not exactly game changing players..
Taking into account that during this time we have lost players of the quality of Ramsey , Mhkitaryan, Ozil , Torreira, Guendouzi, Monreal to name but few , it is understandable that the team hasn’t settled into any rhythm.
Now is not the time to judge Arteta, let’s wait and see how we perform with something close to our strongest side…
The main focus should be on getting pllauers a 100% fit for next season and learn from the mistakes of this season and be more patient with players coming back from injury.
Of course , our present position is also a lot of Arteta’s own doing, his man magement has been poor and needs to improve , his judgement should be questioned as to the treatment of Guendouzi , Torreira, Sokratis and Ozil as the ostracising of these players was detrimental to the team’s performance up until the end of the year.
We are turning a corner, thanks in the main to the emergence of 2 academy players , Saka and Smith Rowe..
What I would like to see is Arteta go a step further and introduce a couple more academy players into the first team and give them enough opportunity to prove themselves instead of the odd game here and there.
Personally, i think now is the time to experiment in the league as we are unlikely to finish top 4 or be relegated.
Go full out for the Europa , we have shown that we can beat any team on our day , there are some good teams left in the competition but we are more than capable of winning it.
,
China
“Yes Olis precisely because we came second with an embarrassingly low points tally. In most seasons that would’ve been a fourth or at best third place finish and nowhere near the title. First place got a low tally and everyone else was trash so we stumbled to second with a low tally. That’s nothing to brag about. It’s something to be grateful for.”
I presume you feel our title success in 1998 with 78 points was an ” embarrassingly low points tally. In most seasons that would’ve been a fourth or at best third place finish and nowhere near the title.”..
Yes if we finish above our rivals but we’ve actually been poor then I will be grateful and thankful and nothing more
I’ll applaud the team for doing well according to what it should be delivering on the pitch rather than just looking at the table
Who is seeking validation? My whole point is I’ll give arteta credit for getting the team to do as well as it realistically can. We haven’t done that this season and we’ve been miles off where we could be in terms of results and performances for most of it
If arteta delivers the EL I’ll call it a job well done on balance. If he doesn’t then it will have been a shit season and frankly worthy of the sack. Unless he goes on some miraculous streak and wins 85% of the remaining league games or whatever
Pierre that was a different era and one on which there was very little competition for the title.
Is it really surprising to you that I won’t shit on our title win from 23 fucking years ago? Lol.
Also we won the double that year.
But never let a good fact get in the way of an agenda Pierre
BTW new post guys…