Well, well, well… Klopp was the fraud all along. Arsenal win tomorrow, we’ll be 3 points off the Champions in the most nuts season on record.
It is quite incredible how a side can go from looking like the greatest footballing machine ever created, to total bums after one bad signing, a couple of injuries, and a global pandemic.
It’s a bit of a shame we’re playing Manchester City this weekend. They are one of the best teams in the world right now. Pep has managed the transition to a new vision with the same sort of deft innovation he always does.
The best manager in the world was pumping Arteta like he always does.
“All I can say is the last months show me that all managers need time and he is not an exception. What I see in the last two months every game Arsenal played is better than the opponent.
“Tomorrow we will have an incredible performance. They have an exceptional build-up, they have quality and they have energy. They have [Bukayo] Saka, [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang and all the players with the quality in the middle.
You might think this is patronising stuff. He’ll probably beat us tomorrow. But he’s not far from the truth if you are watching The Arsenal develop through the correct lens.
There are still mistakes in the system, we’re not perfect, but Pep is not wrong… we’ve been the better in all our games since the Chelsea game.
The key thing for me… we’re unpredictable now. Pep will recognise that looking at our games. We can press, we can sit back, we can go long, we can build from the back, and we can execute a well-crafted plan of shit-housery. Look at how we’re developing, versus the mess Jose is overseeing now his one-trick pony strategem is injured.
I’ve been saying for a while now, something is brewing at Arsenal, and it’s hard to deny it. We might lose tomorrow and we might lose on Thursday, but don’t take your eye off the ball. All the reports I’m hearing are that the coaching is phenomenal behind the scenes and things are building nicely. More importantly, you can see it on the pitch.
I thought a big show of our improving style was the game Auba had the other night. Sure, he missed some big chances, but did you pay attention to his game? Look at those runs he was making. That was a man that could smell the potential of a killer pass. Auba was running the channels. He was taking risks. He wasn’t doing that before Christmas. Arsenal has gone from a side that could barely progress the ball from the back, to a side that has options all over the park. Auba’s game sums us up… you don’t take chances on runs if you know the pass won’t come.
ESR, Odegaard, Partey, and Saka can all pass round corners. They can deliver from deep. They can beat an aggressive press. They dribble past players. When that clicks in this Arteta system, it’s really, really tough to play against.
Compare that to pre-Christmas when we had 2 power plays, that one on the left being the main one, well, it’s night and day. The passing is starting to look cognitive. Players are recognising the patterns, they know where to move, they know the triggers, they might not be the most aggressive pressers, but they are very intelligent at it now. There’s thought in every tactical setup these days.
We totally controlled Benfica. Whine about the result, but don’t snipe at the performance from a team that had just had to deal with Leeds before a plane journey. We controlled possession, we drew them out, made late runs in behind, and we delivered 8 quality chances that unfortunately didn’t have the finish.
We’re doing that regularly now. The xG might not always show it. But the positions we’re taking up in attack are good. The chance quality is way, way better, and the football is getting close to sexy.
The interesting thing is you can see the phases. Last year, we stopped being whipping boys. No more walking through the middle. This season, we started well defensively, we mopped up setpiece defending… then it went to hell for a bit. But part of that was down to not having the right players. Part of that was losing your best midfielder (he’s still out). If Liverpool can lose VVD and crash, why would anyone think Arsenal could lose their best midfielder and not suffer?
Now we’ve found some of the missing links. Big players are coming back into form (Auba/Laca/Gabriel). Troubled players are more settled because part of their usefulness was only going work playing with certain profiles of talent (Xhaka/Pepe/Hector/Cedric). Young players are shining (Saka/ESR). We also found an Odegaard who added more quality and confidence to the starting 11.
You should be excited as a fan. I’ve never felt more confident the path we chose was correct. We’re starting to see the fruits of the time we afforded the manager. We have to navigate this season with progress in mind, then Edu, Vinai and Arteta have to NOT make the same fuck ups as last summer.
We shouldn’t be signing David Luiz to a new deal. We should be ageing down in player profile. We need a top centre midfielder. Saliba should be integrated. We should sign Balogun down as our 3rd choice striker. We should sell the names that aren’t working or loan them for the year to shop window them.
Interestingly, I did hear that Willian is a top guy and an excellent trainer. No joke. What Arteta says about him is true, it’s not PR. He’s very well-liked behind the scenes. It’s not working out for him because he’s just not the player everyone thought he’d be. I get the sense the deal was rushed (can’t imagine why). It’s simple, never take a chance on the roulette of age. This was a mistake, Arteta has to accept that and never do it again.
I also don’t think you should read too much into the Gabriel M stuff. He’s not playing at the moment because the side is buzzing. It’s hard to change something that’s working, especially for a player that is raw power. He’ll get his chance though. There are also a number of kids coming through that everyone is very excited about as well, so expect the youth theme to continue into the Arteta tenure, there’s still a lot to come.
I don’t really have a lot to say about today. My hope is it’s a great afternoon of football. Key for us is to not concede early and see if we can grow into the game. It is going to be absolutely essential to take our chances. CIty’s defence has been immense this season, Auba won’t get 5 good chances tomorrow, he’ll be lucky to have two… so let’s see what we can do. Should be fun.
Yo
2
3
Tr4phy
Don
“The fans deserved to be told to fuck off. Booing their own player off the pitch like a bunch of self entitled morons. The only other fanbase i can think of that treats their players as badly are at Real Madrid”
You’re a fucking soft cock, despite the hard man attitude you use on here. You have zero clue.
I am not looking forward to tomorrow’s game.
I am looking forward to the game against City for some strange reason and I did not think we were very good in the Europa but what have they got to loose really City are slapping everyone by three goals so to my mind they should just relax and play
I honestly don’t recognise this blog anymore. Standards have slipped so low that and it is a long way back. My old boss used to say that standards are the easiest thing to lower and the hardest thing to raise. Standards and expectations from so many people, Pedro especially is really hard to stomach.
Do you not see where this is heading? Is top half of the table now a trophy??
Don I don’t even know why I read your absolutely trash commentary… “I’ve literally never witnessed any period under any manager as bad as the first half of last season.” So you didn’t watch the start of this season then?? “Emery had the worst start to a season for 40 odd years then Arteta comes in and beats every big team in the premier league bar spurs, wins the fa cup and the community shield in 6 months and you’re claiming emery’s half a season was superior” Contradictory much??? And Arteta does all that great work last season to then… Read more »
“It is quite incredible how a side can go from looking like the greatest footballing machine ever created, to total bums after one bad signing, a couple of injuries, and a global pandemic“
17 different CB pairings , or what Pedro calls a couple of injuries.
Hard to take anything seriously after that isn’t it.
“We might lose tomorrow and we might lose on Thursday, but don’t take your eye off the ball.”
Lose tomorrow , fine.
Lose on Thursday and not sure what that ball is we need to keep eyes on.
The ball that says Arteta can’t advance past first semi serious hurdle in Europe twice of asking?
Jusus.
Yeah Tom we can lose this league game in what is in reality a dead rubber for us, but get knocked out of the EL by benfica and it all but confirms this will have been our worst season in how many decades? It should be a sackable offense, really
Yeah, but Willian is a really good guy on the training ground so, you know, it’s all good.
Willian is a lovely guy, bellerin is a vegan activist and xhaka is a world class fine collector
And none of them should be in the first team next season
I just don’t get the agenda from Pedro these days. He is going to be the next David Copperfeld if he carries on with this level or misdirection.
About to get schooled by Man City, yeah but look at the mess Liverpool are in and as for Spurs…
Something is definitely brewing, still, it’s just nobody knows what it is. But again, the coaching is apparently excellent and Willian has always got a smile on his face. Not surprised. I would have a huge fucking smile if I was stealing a living.
Smh. It’s a pity the utter tripe Pedro comes out with. At this point it feels like he’s trolling his readers. The same way Arteta is trolling the fans with all his decisions and interviews.
Couldn’t even finish the blog post. This is an abomination of a post. If we lose today we will have lost our 11th game of the season in the PL. If we lose Thursday, we will have failed to go past the 1st knock out round of the EL for the 2nd straight running.
But but but…keep your eyes on the ball. Smh
The comment section… If you don’t like the blog just sod off.
Pedro We totally controlled Benfica. Really??? also don’t think you should read too much into the Gabriel M stuff. He’s not playing at the moment because the side is buzzing. The side is buzzing? With auba being a passenger? Don’t get me wrong but even after his hat trick against Leeds I still think he should be no where near first XI especially after what he showed against benfica Interestingly, I did hear that Willian is a top guy and an excellent trainer. No joke. What Arteta says about him is true, it’s not PR. It is fucking PR pedro… Read more »
Measticleavea
Couldn’t agree any more
“keep your eyes on the ball”
That’s easy. I can get up, do a few stretches and then sit back down, and can easily find the ball still with Xhaka or Leno still trying to decide where to play the ball.
I love this blog Pedro but sometimes you’re out of depth just like arteta is, just accept it and get back to reality, he’s taking us down
Miji
So the blog would just be left with people who are in total agreement with Pedro?
Sounds like a great blog…
JayJay, I love you… but you are very, very wrong mate.
Goober, who is Don this time?
Mystic, behave mate. You’re on my blog. Show some respect or go elsewhere.
Pedro
I hope I’m wrong for good of my beloved club, I wanted arteta to do well and I still do, but i don’t believe him anymore
JayJay, it’ll come… underlying improvements are there. Auba was not a passenger the other night, the opposite in fact. As for me falling for PR, sorry, not true. I have the correct narrative.
Pedro
I’m not underlying the improvements because there aren’t any, we’re still 10th, hardly improvement, isn’t it? I begged for Emery to be sacked but arteta isn’t doing us any favours at the moment, is he?
So what’s with Balogen’s absence from the U23s game? Maybe he is getting a call up for City tomorrow? Jeorge Bird’s Arsenal youth blog made mention of his absence but didn’t provide any details.
Brownie
Forget balogun, he’s not an arsenal player anymore
JayJay
It’s like the stoke market, you watch the trend. We are moving from position 15 to position 10, isn’t it.
# stock market
JayJay,
You’re seeing Arsenal through your disdain for Arteta.
3rd best defence in the league
We’re creating loads of high-quality chances
The football is gaining traction, we’re the better side in nearly all our games
Tactically, we’re unpredictable. The football is very, very intelligent
Bum players are coming good
Great players are finding form
If you can’t see it, you’re purposefully not looking or you are a bad analyst
Brownie, we’ll re-sign him I reckon
Nelson
It’s a big progress, isn’t it?
Don is Winthorpe.
Pedro
I think you are seeing Arsenal through your unwavering and undeserved faith in Arteta. You are asking everyone else to see the same and claiming that if they don’t, they have some sort of agenda. I’m amazed you don’t see the hypocrisy, I really am.
Nelson, perfect.
Some look at stock market price.
Others look at underlying metrics to gauge value.
Too many looking at the current price. They’ll get burned in the end.
‘Amazon will never turn a profit’
Pedro
Maybe I am a bad analyst, that’s why I’m not a generational coach, but I watch every game and I follow what’s going on behind the scenes and I’m disappointed with arteta as much as I wanted him to be our saviour, he’s not the man
Jamie, not sure he is… I haven’t seen a single disgusting word ever from him.
Don normally lasts about 3mins in whatever guise he has before he starts playing the hard man.
Matt, you’re just worried it’s coming good mate… brace for impact.
JJ, he’s one of the best young coaches in world football. You’ll have to deal with that. It’s a fact.
Also, by Don… do you mean the Aubazamette guy?
Or Un?
Pedro
I really am not worried. Despite what you might think, I would absolutely love it if it all came good. I just think you have become very unbalanced with your views.
I have been coming to this blog for years, back when you and Geoff would alternate posts. Your expectations of Arsenal used to be so much higher.
Pedro
Is he really? I admit it once he get us back to champions league, and that will never happen, oh sorry him and willian promised us we’ll win it in 3 years, so I got to have faith, I got to have faith, faith….
I would be shocked if he unleashed Balogun against City but also kind of excited. Like when you point your toboggan down the steep slope for the first time.
Pedro man I appreciate you but you have it so wrong at this moment. Sometimes I wish I could go somewhere else. But your blog used to be so good so I can’t help coming back. Goodwill and all. Hopefully you see the light soon enough and give us great posts.
Matt, you come to this blog because I usually have the underlying narrative nailed… because I have the best information.
Same as always. You’ll see my friend, you’ll see.
Mystic, just admit I was right when the time comes.
Also Mystic, just remember… people with your sort of view were giving me shit when I said Emery would fail. Where are those people now? Trying to land one on me with Arteta.
Man Pedro, I’m all about doing what’s right by your health but you gotta sip some peroni again to gain some clarity on the state of the club.
Genuine question, what happens If arteta is not the guy and all we will witness is a series of false dawn’s under him?
“watching The Arsenal develop through the correct lens.”
The rose coloured variety suits your eyes best, Pedro.
To each their own but for me, at this current point in time, i see Arsenal in a distinct mode of regression. Considering how oddly the season has played out for many teams, such as West Ham, Arsenal have been plain and simply a poor team throughout the season that is struggling to find its identity.
Been reading this blog for 8 years, this is my first comment. I really don’t get some nastiness here. And some of the expectations. Quality-wise we’ve been on a relentless march to mediocrity for 10+ years. And people here whine and talk about saviours. There are no saviours or quick wins. Just a slow and hard work to raise standards. I’ve disagreed with Pedro’s POV plenty but he’s right on this – if you don’t see the improvements since the Chelsea game, you’re choosing to look the other way.
Pedro, Don is Winthorpe but he is behaving himself so far. Probably because Winthorpe/Don has aligned with your Arteta views your normal rationality has left you, as it has regarding your unnatural Arteta obsession. Lose against City and Benfica and it’s ok? Just keep our eye on the Arteta ball? Trolling personified! Could just see your reaction to a Wenger or Emery fan saying that during their tenures as managers. Love much of the comments section, Pedro, but your posts like above? I’ll wait until you come to your senses. Perhaps try writing your posts on magic mushrooms, as I… Read more »
Too many closet chelsea fans in the comments. Stop using the table as a full proof metric of where we are currently. Theres like 6 points between 4th and 10th! Arteta’s never coached a club before and he’s got us playing good competitive passing football, and it’s defensively sound. There’s been occasions where we’ve been close to unplayable. That’s after 1 year and 2 transfer windows with a £70 mil budget. The ride was always gonna be bumpy you spoilt brats!
Pedro has been taken hostage by his Arteta obsession.He can’t see that Arteta is all smoke and mirrors.
I used to just read the comments when he spun the typical Arteta Pollyanna stuff but these days the comment section is made up of pompom wavers. The hard hitting posters are no more.
That said, Pedro’s blog helped me get through the dark days of Wenger’s last stand, so he’s always in my good books
Pedro will see the light just like he eventually did with Gazidis.
Pep is forever very loyal to his assistants
He made vey positive comments about his longest serving assistant, Dominic Torrent when he left for NYC FC. Pep’s sauce was not enough to help in in the states. The same guy was fired by Flamengo after 100 days in charge
I expect Pep will say the right things about his new assistant, Juanma Lillo pretty soon. It;’s just that no premier league club will be foolish enough to provide their institution for a novice to learn his trade.
So people who are concerned about the club’s regression are now Chelsea fans?
What on earth.
You would think, logically, that Chelsea fans would be lapping up arteta as arsenal manager because we are no threat to their position in the table.
What on earth is going on with this fanbase, has it been infiltrated or is this just it?
A bullish post, Pedro. I’m not sure where this certainty is coming from, though. Still many questions hanging over Tets and Edu for me, as well as our CEO. We are a club capable of making daft and atrocious decisions on a regular basis. I’m very far from convinced that these awful and amateur mistakes are behind us. Being behind Villa, West Ham, Spuds and Everton is not a good place to be for a club with our resources, though I do agree he inherited a shit show. Getting rid of our dead weight players is a definite plus. We… Read more »
“exciting progress happening at arsenal”
That’s the Leeds coolaid Pedro, that result is no barometer of anything but how inconsistent Leeds are.
I wouldn’t put much store in Guardiola and what he says. I also wouldn’t expect any quarter from him. He will love to put five or six past his protégé’s team.
Also, Guardiola is clearly a detailed and talented coach, but until he has the cojones to move to a club without the resources of a Barcelona, Bayern or City, then I’m afraid the verdict is definitely still out.
“exciting progress happening at arsenal”
Edu & Arteta being fired with Rangnick the new DoF bringing a new visionary head coach/manager with him?
Yup, that would be exciting and long overdue.
‘Bum players are coming good’
Who is that Pedro? Bellerin and xhaka have been passable, not what I’d describe as good. Willian hasn’t gotten better. Luiz hasn’t gotten better. El Neny looks worse now than he did at the start of the season.
Ceballos was good against Leeds but that’s about it
Arsenal are putting together a decent 1st X1 albeit one which is inconsistent and prone to silly errors. The squad is still lacking depth and needs strengthening. There are young players coming through U23s and Academy who have potential such as Okonkwo [see Bird’s latest reports]. Azeez and Balogun. I would expect us to lose today against Man City, but we should not be completely written off. It should not be forgotten that we beat Man City in FA Cup and Community Shield and before the negativists discount these results I would remind them that Guardiola does not like losing… Read more »
Tony, well, I’ve banned two other people that were Don in the same time period, so let’s see.
It’s not his IP.
If it’s Don, he goes the moment he says something grim..
Diss, you were captivated by Unai Emery mate, give it up… you had an addiction to the biggest bum to ever step foot into the management role at Arsenal. You have ZERO cred on anything.
Though please do tell us how Odegaard was a waste of money, again.
Moray, except the times he didn’t though… right? Joint 3rd best defence in the league. Getting spanked isn’t a thing these days.
Klopp is likely to win the CL, he has given up on the EPL due to injuries.
Meanwhile diet Pep isnt sure if the Europa league is his life line or top 8
Im telling you for free!
Pete I’m constantly optimistic about this side but i don’t totally agree w your take on the other day. Yes we controlled them yes auba was making more runs and being caught offside quite a bit. Our three creatives behind him and ceballos were looking good but i do think more and more bellerin and xhaka are losing thebtempo and momentum for us more than anyone in the team will admit to liking. I still think we’re a much better side w luiz in because of his passing magalhaes looked solid but I thought that that was a game against… Read more »
Moray, sure, plenty could go wrong… but look at the games since Chelsea. If you think it’s shit and there’s no improvement, that’s fine… but it’d be a shit opinion.
10 games lost (1 less than Fulham) with the 3rd best defense is either incompetence or charlatan
Sid, 6 points off Liverpool with a game in hand 70% into Feb.
‘Also Mystic(supreme leader Peh Dro), just remember… people with your sort of view were giving me shit when I said Emery(Gazidis) would fail. ‘
China Pedro reminds me of the nutter you used to see every day in towns high streets donning a placard stating “The end of the world is nigh” proffering unintelligible reasons why we all had to be ready to put our heads between our legs and kiss our arses goodbye. Who’s have though that the aforementioned placard would be replaced by an Arsenal blog on a thing called the Internet. In Pedro’s defense there is a very thin line between madness and genius where his Arteta delusions/demons are firmly keeping him in the former category . The latter will return… Read more »
Sid, Milan are 2nd in Serie A after a Gazidis revival, thank you for shining a light on that one for me.
Mislintat has taken Stuttgart to 10th, BVB are considering him as a replacement for Zorc.
Pedro, I’m not saying we haven’t seen some improvement, against a very low bar it has to be said. My concern is consistency and whether Arteta will continue to make stupid mistakes with his team selection, signings etc. we should be aiming for top four rather than tenth. And being below West Ham, Villa and Everton shows how bad the overall quality of the league has been this year. That’s why I’m cautious. I don’t dislike Tets and was behind his appointment. But for someone for whom a strength is supposed to be detail, he makes a lot of odd,… Read more »
Gazidis serie a, sven bundesliga,
maybe diet Pep should go to la liga?
Tony, I just hope you are here with an apology when it works out.
Not sure you will be, but there we are. Nor were the Wenger in folk, the Emeryista, or the people that called me a fraud for calling out Don Raul.
Moray, absolutely… if he makes bad mistakes again then he deserves whatever comes his way. Jan pointed to him learning. So we’ll see.
Sid, apology accepted.
Pedro
Honest agenda less question “ what do you think would have happened if Diamond eye was given the expected promotion and Raul fired?
6 points off the team in 6th place. Sweet I’m sold on Arteta.
Pedro, I think most of us would have preferred to have kept mislintat over Raul.
Gazidis’ ‘handover’ of the reins was one of the biggest fuck ups our club has made (apart from getting the kroenkes on board).
Zach, however you cut it… we played the most draining team in the league at the weekend then travelled to Italy. We were always going to feel that… but we created more than enough and controlled the game. They got a goal from a dubious penalty.
Who knows with City, but I think they can be got at… agree though, it’ll need to be a mega game though.
“Though please do tell us how Odegaard was a waste of money, again.”
I am afraid Dissenter was right. I read that Real will use Odegaard to attract Haaland. Our chance of signing Odegaard is very slim. We could have a better chance if Chelsea got Haaland. But then Chelsea would become super strong. It is like “head” you lose, “tail” you also lose. This season, our league position is too far behind. There are too many teams ahead of us. Hopefully, Odegaard helps us winning the Europa cup before he leaves.
Pedro
I always own my mistakes, I’ve had plenty of practice in my 65 years.
I’ll be very quick to ask to be absolved of my Arteta wrong doings if in fact, they turn out to be wrong.
“6 points off the team in 6th place. Sweet I’m sold on Arteta.”
😂😂
Nelson, Madrid are absolutely broke mate… no chance they are signing Haaland or Mbappe. They certainly aren’t going to use a player they don’t rate to hook the second best young striker in the world
Tony, I look forward to it, I really do.
Pedro, thank me later
Goober, if you’re sold on points, then you have to compare Arteta to a top 3 manager in the world with one of the best teams to have graced the Premier League.
If you are sold on progress on the pitch, and you can’t see that since the Chelsea game, then you have bad opinions on football. I can’t help you.
Pedro
I hope that you are right. But Real has a lot of players they could sell including Arteta’s favorite, Ceballos.
Nelson, Odegaard will be with us next season… and Haaland isn’t going to be enticed by a player he knows Zizou doesn’t rate.
Pedro Believe it or not I want Arteta to succeed because I love my club. If I were the owner I’d be very concerned with what Arteta has produced and where his actions have a detrimental financial effect for the club. We’ve tried the usual route to get out of the mess Wenger built up over a decade. My solution would be to hire Rangnick and get him to sort out Arteta and Edu. I’d at least want a successfully experienced person at he head. My main directive would be teamwork with the 3 working closely together for the good… Read more »
Pedro Why do you still keep drumming to the Gazidis beat? Bald fraud is imo the biggest reason for our downfall. Sure, he’s doing great at Milan, but we didn’t sign him and paid him millions to do well for Milan. We did it for Arsenal. Also Madrid do rate Odegaard. Thats why they cut short his 2 yr loan spell. Maybe Zidane doesn’t rate him but the club certainly do and he wont come cheap. One thing going for us they need cash, so do Barca and most La Liga, French Ligue and Serie A clubs. Now is the… Read more »
CT, he’s a good CEO, if he’d stayed, we’d be in better shape. Simple as that.
Tony, agree with the leadership around Arteta… but the coaching is good and we’re seeing it on the pitch. There’s no concern that he’s not the right person.
Pedro He took Arsenal from challenging for PL titles and deep CL entries to barely qualifying for Europa. If that is what you call a good CEO then I sincerely doubt your judgement. He has made so many bad decisions, I’ll just list some of the big ones – Sacking Wenger 5 years past his expiry date – Mishandling of contracts of every Arsenal player. We sold Fabregas ( top 5/10 player in the world at the time) for 30-35 mil. Thats criminal. A 30 goal striker in RVP for 28. Nasri, Sanchez, the list goes on. – Created a… Read more »
Frankly I don’t believe that Real Madrid want to keep either Odegaard or Ceballos. When you farm a player out on a regular basis it is clear that they are not wanted. Real Madrid rather like ourselves need money so they are willing to shift the players out at the right price. My guess is that the two would cost around £60 million combined. Whether that is the right direction for Arsenal to go is another matter. Personally I am not a fan of Ceballos. I think that Arsenal should be looking for an upgrade for Xhaka in central midfield… Read more »
When Gazidis joined Arsenal was top 3 team in England. Teams feared us.
When Gazidis left Arsenal were regarded as THE banter club.
Says all about how good a CEO he really is.
CT, say what you will mate, he has Milan back at the top. If he’d stayed with us, things would be better now.
Emirates, agree. Odegaard will be sold if they can get a good price… no doubt.
Pedro
I just hope you are right , cos I dont what I’ll do if you are wrong . I am worried about the subs , Arteta seems to always make the wrong ones , which has negative impact on the game.