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.
There is a huge difference between the business models of Man City and Chelsea. Man City have made a serious long term investment in the City of Manchester as well as football. Chelsea is basically an ego trip on the part of Abramovich. Man City recruited Guardiola one of the best managers in business and there is no evidence that he will leave any time soon. Chelsea by contrast change their managers on the whim of the owner. Chelsea have a scatter gun approach to buying players whereas Man City are far more selective. The key difference is that Man… Read more »
……………..Leno
…….Holding Gabriel
Soares..Xhaka Tierney
………Partey Elneny
..Pepe……………Aubameyang
……….Martinelli
Park the bus, and look to spring counters?
Rich
Partey is out.
Rich
Is this your expectation or just a wish?
One other option if we are going to park the bus is that we play three centre backs as we did
in FAC Semi Final and Community Shield.
Willian trains well, so he gets game time where he does fuck all, and we constantly get 4 out of 10 performances. Saliba (Arteta pr rumours) trains like shit, flog him to Nice where in his first couple of months he wins their player of the month. So much for generational coach. Utter bollocks!! As someone mentioned before, he had no choice but to play ESR and now walks around like he meant it all along and he knew. Reminds me of wenger when he eventually played Arshavin in number 10 roll , who then assisted 4 goals and scored… Read more »
Role not roll
Believed in Arteta when he took the job and believe in him now. Yes he’s made mistakes as has klopp this season. Arsenal probably have the most spoilt fans ( All you need to do is read this blogg )
I remember when we got knocked out of quarter final of Champions league, wasn’t seen as an achievement but as a disaster.. let’s sack the manager
The best one was .. I’m getting bored of top 4
Emiratesstroller At some point we’re going to have to rest Smith-Rowe + Saka. We had success parking the bus in the semi final last season, where Saka didn’t get off the bench, and we had 29% possession I didn’t hate the performance in the league earlier in the season, it was a fine margins game, we kept it tight, and had a couple of really good chances to nick a goal, and gave away very little from a defensive perspective We’ll have to be careful playing the same team 3 x in 8 days, that’s why I think a bit… Read more »
The rule today is simple – Nobody considered a starter or that has played too many game or just coming back from injury should be near the team. No Tierney Saka, etc. This is the time to use our second eleven. I’ll go with the following: Matt Ryan Chambers Holding. Mari Cedric Elneny. Ceballos Odegard Pepe. Lacazette. Martinelli I would have saved Ceballos and Odegard but it seems the olodo Arteta considers Xhaka better, and like Odegard, haven’t had too many games anyway. Infact we stand a better chance with this team. If it were Arteta’s first 11 they would… Read more »
Rich.
Partey, even if fit, should be nowhere near today’s bench. All our eggs are in the Europa basket. We barely have 7 games to save our season. It’s as simple as that.
West Ham is for real.
Best team in London????
Thorough I disagree City are favourites today, but we can absolutely get a result We’re 9 points off 4th with a game in hand, and 6 points off 6th 14 games to go, 42 points to play for, we’ve got a first team squad of 25 I agree we should rest a few today, but there’s absolutely no reason we can’t get into the Europa League places in the league, and no reason we can’t compete to win the Europa at the same time as well It’s all to play for, even if we lose today, there’s still 39 points… Read more »
Cor reading you lot is depressing.
“Believed in Arteta when he took the job and believe in him now. Yes he’s made mistakes as has klopp this season.”
Hilarious. Comparing Klopp (vastly experienced CL and PL winner) with Arteta.
Believing in someone who had zero experience and therefore no track record to base that on is simply ‘faith’ where there is no logic in which to base a rational argument.
And followed by the classic criticism of other fans who may not share your blind faith. Zealot.
TYAG
Ah yes, Mr Arshavin.
A wasted commodity.
He switched himself off once he knew Wenger was not all that.
Arsenal are the most spoilt fans – what a ridiculous statement. Can you imagine the fans of other ‘top’ clubs if they were sat in 10th place over half way through the season and likely about to slip further. They wouldn’t be talking about what’s brewing I can tell you that.
Earlier
We knew who were the AKBs and deftly skipped their posts to avoid unnecessary heartburn. Nowadays fortunately the novoAKBs are around 3+1 . This malaise is not yet diagnosed and the quick and easy solution of ignoring these gargles of words is not yet utilised
Anyway, been missing the erudite comments of VALENTIN these days. Hope he reads.this and gets over the irritation with the neoAKB
G
You mean when there were only four teams competing for top 4.
Educate me, because I see it the other way around.
Tell me, when we moved into our new home, we’re you expecting a wee bit more? You know, more than no serious title challenges, no European successes( which was the norm anyway) and top 4 being considered a major achievement.
Based on our infrastructure, resources, players etc, were you happy with how things progressed (regressed)?
It makes me laugh when those fans that sat and tolerated regression, point fingers at those who saw it all unfolding.
It was pretty to watch though.
Lol!
Reyes, Arshavin, Poldolski . Yes Wenger ruined them all. Allowed henrys insecurities to allow him ride roughshod over the new boy in town
Couldnt find a way to get the best out of Arshavin
Didnt like Podolski because all he could do was score goals.
RVP, Alexis Sanchez. simply too ambitious and woulnt get with the program
Ah! I yearn for the days when these were the greatest of Arsenals problems. Now its looking with envy at West Ham and Everton progress
Arteta backs Willian despite how badly he performs on the pitch – why because he trains well behind the scenes.
And now Pedro is asking us to back Arteta despite a terrible league position and xG stats which can now be discarded and why – because he is a great coach behind the scenes.
Pedro’s obsession is like Arteta’s.
You could not make it up.
I increasingly am wondering if this blog is a spoof – I think it has to be as I cannot see any other explanation.
A mate just sent this to me!
http://www.haveyoueverseentottenhamwintheleague.com/?fbclid=IwAR0UUDKJc2MVzeOHMweTwUhoyS7QTn7YLD-Ep7sQFYpqJXyLpE7NhfYL4Ms
Graham
That’s two Graham’s then who think the same thing.
🍺🍺
Graham
Signing Willian was a mistake, and pretty much every fan knew giving a 32yr old outfield player a 3yr mega deal was insane
But we shouldn’t be surprised Arteta is backing a player publicly, it’s generally what managers do.
Willian hasn’t started a league game since our 2-1 loss to Everton on the 19th of December
He did start both FA Cup ties, but was hauled off after 66 minutes against Newcastle
What Arteta says publicly, and his team selections, tell two entirely different stories…..
Olis,
At least your heart is warmed by Arteta. Bless. That’s all that matters.
” In Wilian’s case, I’m not sure anyone could predict the dramatic decline in output. ”
I am speechless. Almost every player tries harder at the end of his contract. For someone who is older and has outside business interest, the risk is even higher that his performance will decline after signing a new deal. Our Exec is inexperienced and didn’t do enough research before the Willian signing.
Cretins, what a clown.
Olis
Yeah we hear you. Mediocrity is here to stay. Lets all get used to it. No problem
Olis
So let’s wind the blog up now.
Everything, according to you, is set in place.
Back to the garden then.
Nelson I agree, Wenger’s policy of 1yr extensions for over 30s was the right one. Make the players earn their supper, and make them chase their next contract If a man is given everything they want, they stop chasing, and we’re hard wired to chase things, it’s no surprise Lacazette was picking up form with less than 18 months left on his deal Hopefully we don’t make the same mistake, apparently we had a 12 month club option on Aubameyang’s deal, but instead chose to give him a new 3yr mega deal Our bureaucrats haven’t got a clue what they’re… Read more »
Olis
Were you one of those other “cretins” that sat back after 09 and went with the flow?
Curious.
Olivia
You’ve been on here five minutes and you’re already running roughshot over everyone else’s opinions and abusing people. Do you even know what cretin means – I doubt it.
Olis you were probs one of those saying Emery inherited a top 4 squad, yet apparently only now since Arteta took over everything is average.
You’re a joke.
That was a genuine autocorrect. I didn’t mean to call you Olivia.
Good to see spuds are losing!
Hopefully it makes up for our inevitable demise later!
Spuds getting dicked by the Hammers.
And no one is expecting the title this season.
Everyone was expecting to challenge for top 4. Yet now it’s pretty well out of reach only Arteta fans are lowering the bar to 10th spot is progress.
Laugh at Moyes again or ya’ll going to say how West Ham have a better balanced squad than ours? 11 pts above us with a game in hand.
Bunch of idiots in here bowing to a complete amateur Arteta. Being perfectly fine with averageness.
Pedro talking about exciting times?? We are in 10th place. Wake the fuck up!!!
Labelling everyone you disagree with a cretin, is an interesting way of trying to convince others of your argument.
Olis, bit ironic to suggest someone is a child and then call people cretins isn’t it? I’m sure you do get my point and aren’t being deliberatley obstuse. No-one claimed that Arteta said he was a ‘generational coach’, as you very well know that phrase was used repeatedly by Pedro. Pedro sold us the ‘generational’ BS and that deservedly gets called out for the nonsense it is. I’ll put it in simple terms for you. If Pedro hadn’t claimed this generational rubbish then I’m sure many people on this blog wouldn’t be so critical when it turns out he isn’t… Read more »
CT
It’s bizarre that a qualified ref went to the TV viewed that TAA/Calvert-Lewin incident and gave a pen. TAA slid in on a previous tackle and was not even involved in the next play that the ref gave a foul for. Shambles
You guys are not serious, anyone with common sense knew that signing Willian the wrong side of 30 was never a good idea. You can find YouTube comments on it on the official arsenal channel, on aftv, on random fan channels. Heck I made some of those comments. It wasn’t rocket science. You can talk about Willians form last season all you want, we were entering a rebuild and how a over the hill, or soon to be over the hill, Willian fit in that rebuild according to arteta’s logic is illogical. We had Pepe, reiss, Martinelli, laca, ESR, amn.… Read more »
Anyone else sick of seeing Kane go down like a sack of spuds (no pun intended) whenever anyone breaths in his general direction?
I would get in a coach and/or tech director that actually had some substance to their careers first and foremost.
But I’ve maintained my thoughts over the last 5 or so seasons that we haven’t had a squad capable of properly challenging in the top echelons of the game. In saying that we aren’t an 8th to 10th place squad.
Hiring Emery was the first mistake post Wenger. But hiring an absolute rookie was just as bad a hire in my opinion.
What’s your plan then? Just sit back with arteta’s member in your mouth and hope for the best?
In other news, I’ve just prepared a roast chicken and trimmings for lunch without lacerating any of my fingers. Pedro – do I win 10 pounds?
Emery slightly overachieved in his first season, then got hung out to dry
When we spent £140 million, sent expectations soaring, but actually decreased the quality and experience in our squad in the immediate
Moyes is punching well above his weight this season
We’ve slightly underachieved so far this season, I thought we’d finish somewhere between 6th-8th
We still might, there’s plenty of points to play for
So no, I don’t care what the fuck the superfluous Willian is doing in training.
His deep throat technique might suit arteta but I’m not seeing any value to having him around the club.
“But he helps the young players”
Yes he helps them so greatly by occupying their game time with his lecherous form and expired legs.
Olis My expectations were that we would be challenging for top four. He’s had 14 months and a couple of transfer windows and we are nowhere near top 4. We might have 14 games to play but we are not getting too 4, you must realise that? I’m not saying that there have been no positives, but for me they have been outweighed by the mistakes. You can say that he is going to make mistakes because it’s his first coaching job and again, you might be perfectly happy that he is learning on the job, but for me it’s… Read more »
Klopp and Liverpool can afford a slip or two, no one can knock off what they have achieved in the last 4 years,
Won the CL
Won the PL
Reached the final of CL and finished 2nd in pl
Top 4 all those years
World champion
No comparison to Arsenal whatsoever!
6th,5th,8th, currently 10th projecton 8-11 finish
Only thing that saved Arteta’s ass is the FA cup , credits to Auba’s heroics
Is olis cc?
Matt “Arsenal are the most spoilt fans – what a ridiculous statement. Can you imagine the fans of other ‘top’ clubs if they were sat in 10th place over half way through the season and likely about to slip further. They wouldn’t be talking about what’s brewing I can tell you that.” I prefer “entitled ” and 24 hours of reading Le Grove will give you enough evidence of their entitlement.. The fact that wenger had a total of 20 trophies or runners up in his 20 years at the club and was systematically abused by a minority of fans… Read more »
Correction Pierre,
mismanagement in the last 10 years !
“what were you’re expectations of Arteta when he took over the mess from Emery?” It certainly wasn’t replicating Emery’s worst period of his tenure, because that’s all Arteta has done. Or have you forgotten the losing run we were on prior to the Chelsea game? btw we have only won 1 out of our last 5! And before you say we won the Fa cup, Ranieri was fired not a year after winning the league with 100 to 1 outsider Leicester, Pochettino was fired after getting the scum to the UCL final etc. Because and it might be a novel… Read more »
Should have kept Emery, he was better than arteta will ever be. He wasn’t even able to speak English yet.
Imagine, arteta who can actually communicate clearly with the players is doing worse than Emery.
Give Emery arteta’s tongue and he would have us in 3rd this season, I guarantee it.
Ancelotti would have us second.
Who wanted a rookie manager?
No one with common sense wanted a rookie manager, we all said arteta should go cut his teeth at Everton FFS.
Klopp a fraud ? Seriously? The man loses a cl final , then wins it next season and finishes 2nd in the league with 97 points. Then wins the league next season with 99 points.
Olis is Aubergine/Uruguayan Pitbull/…
Dude is as angry as they come, always looking for a fight on the internet. Must hate his life.
Pierre your careful what you wish for gloat is fucking bullshit.
Just because we have shit owners and board members does not mean anyone wished for either Emery or Arteta to take over from Wenger. Let alone the absolute shit show that followed Gazidis leaving in terms of upper management.
You weren’t ‘right’ in saying that. You just lucked out because arsenal as a club had noone to make proper football decisions.
“The fact that wenger had a total of 20 trophies or runners up in his 20 years at the club and was systematically abused by a minority of fans for this achievement , shows how entitled some fans are.”
Only a complete imbecile would include the community shield as a trophy. seriously wtf
Ahh yeah Jamie, makes sense haha
Pierre
I don’t even know where to begin with picking the flaws in your post. Wenger was on the wain for a long long time. We stuck with him far longer than most other clubs would have. Or did his historical achievements give him a lifetime pass in your eyes? I think I know the answer already.
I didn’t even say I wanted him gone mid season.
I understand he will be here til at least the season’s end. Probably longer. Doesn’t mean I have to agree with that.
I didn’t reference your dick. I referenced you giving what I’d assume is a disgustingly average gobby to Arteta.
Socrates
“Only a complete imbecile would include the community shield as a trophy. seriously wtf”
The fact that you fail to understand what was written is on you …
And no. I don’t think we are on par. I’d say par is 5th. If we had a proper manager like Ancelotti or Rogers to actually ‘steady the ship’ post Wenger I feel we would be pushing top 4 with the squad we have, and probably would have offloaded more of the deadwood sooner. But we have had an absolute mashup behind the scenes to no real benefit at all to the squad. I don’t blame Arteta for all the mess at Arsenal, and I give it to him that he has some cojones to actually take on the job,… Read more »
I also don’t count top 4 as the “top echelons” despite it getting champions league. We saw how top 4 was a trophy in itself under Wenger which provided no great drive to pursue the actual top. I’d say 1st or 2nd in the league over a continuous period and making a good go at the cl not just dropping out in the first knockout round by 10-2 aggregates. I don’t expect to win the league or cl. But I do expect some actual expertise in any of the board or executive positions at the club as well as manager.… Read more »
Pierre,
Stating that Wenger won 20+ trophies and was runner up in many more is asinine… go ahead and name those trophies, please.
I’ll start for you, 7 fa cups and 3 league titles.
Typically disingenuous.
The Community Shield isn’t high on the list of properties, but it’s definitely a trophy.
Fans don’t pay for tickets and TV subscriptions, to not care when another team gets to dance around with a trophy at their expense
Hyper competitive professional athletes don’t not care when another team wins silverware at their expense
I’d much rather we were in the Community Shield, than not, and I’d much rather we won that trophy, than didn’t.
we may be only 6 points behind Liverpool but we are a whole 11 points behind the mighty West Ham where more often than not their Manager has been ridiculed by some. Does Moyes have the sauce?
Hammers pushing for top 4!
No excuses!
The title contenders appear to be 20 points a drift.
David Moyes deserves all the plaudits
I never saw them staying good this long but they have been consistently steady. Even when we beat them at the Emirates, they played us off the park.
This season is bizarre but I still think either Liverpool or Chelsea will get that last CL spot.
Sal
Whatever,
I said it…missed widely.
Aren’t you one of those who were for the Willian signing?
“The Community Shield isn’t high on the list of properties, but it’s definitely a trophy.”
The same could be said of any trophy then, Emirates cup a trophy by your standards.
Rubbish!
Dissenter
Relax, pissing on Spurs is a birthright. Own it.
Arsenal and exciting haven’t rhymed for a good 5 to 10yrs now. Arteta is average at best and that shows in Arsenal’s inconsistency. I was a big fan, but no more.
Luck has a big role in football
Leicester are facing a Villa side without Grealish which just makes them a different proposition
Not all doom and gloom…..Spurs continue to lose. Title race, my ass!
I would love to lay in to spurs but we have our own major problems to deal with first.
At least spurs fans aren’t happy with the state of things while our fans are debating the state of things.
The nonsense that counts for supporting Arsenal is the reason why politicians get away with so much rubbish in managing our lives. No matter how many cock ups and downright egregious, ridiculous policies they espouse. You will find a fair section of the public saying. “yeah that seems completely reasonable to me” We came the Emirates in 2006. I5 years later, none of the reasons for leaving Highbury have been justified, yet all we hear is how some fans feel entitled. We are a sporting entity whose only raison d`etre is to achieve the highest possible success. Not a country… Read more »
Socrates
“Stating that Wenger won 20+ trophies and was runner up in many more is asinine… go ahead and name those trophies, please.I’ll start for you, 7 fa cups and 3 league titles.Typically disingenuous.”
Oh dear ,you’re digging a hole for yourself now, try reading what i said(below) and then you can climb out of the hole before it gets any deeper.
“The fact that wenger had a total of 20 trophies or runners up in his 20 years at the club “
You need to win the FA Cup, the PL, or finish second in the PL, to participate in the Charity Shield
Martinez is beatable!
Luck has a big role in football
Leicester are facing a Villa side without Grealish which just makes them a different proposition
Leicester are a decent team that just beat Liverpool. With or without Grealish they give anyone a good game.
If Grealish was playing, Emi saves that all day long. It’s not his fault. He’s world class.
AG
You’ve lost your’e Arsenal soul if you can’t banter Spurs, pretty clear our rebuild is big and underway.
They went last ditch on a Jose package and its backfired multiplying the agony.
Take the victory.
Barnes love this player. Baller!!!!!!
Leicester taking Villa apart here.
“The fact that wenger had a total of 20 trophies or runners up in his 20 years at the club “
Oh dear, you can only have 20 trophies if you’ve won 20 trophies, runners up don’t count. Wow, just wow!
The fact that Wenger was fired must really haunt you.
Rumours of Martinez being Superman have been greatly exaggerated.
Extra calmness.
Pierre is lost to this mortal plane. He is walking in a Wenger wonderland and Ozil is his Pied Piper
Socrates
Obviously you are either being deliberately thick or you are thick…
remind me again what was the score when we Played Villa? PRoGreSs
Spare a thought for Jamie’s husband.
All the cattiness and scorn on a daily basis. . .
Brendan Rogers is deffo a top 6 coach/Mananger in the prem.
manager*
Pierre,
dude, please, you’re so far gone, its sad!
I wonder what Brendan Rodgers would have done with Saliba, had he fallen into his lap.
The man has no problems playing teenage defenders
Rogers would not have us sitting 10th and calling it progress.
Rodgers *