So bees vaccinate their youth? Unreal. Is there anything those guys can’t do? Actually, I was told they can’t count past 5… they use markers to navigate, once they go past 5, they get lost. Regardless, I’m impressed with bees.
What am I NOT impressed with? International break. Idle Arsenal fans festering is never a good blend.
The biggest concern most of us have is the return of Martin Odegaard next season. Honestly, I think the worry is a little bit overblown. Madrid are unlikely to be moved by his performances here. He’s played more minutes with Arsenal than he has in his entire career there. When he was sent to Sociedad, he was the 3rd most creative player in La Liga, Zidane was unmoved.
Madrid are £900m+ in the shit. They have no money. Their brand is built on superstars. It’s not really an option for them to double down on what they have, they have to brand their way back to the top. Martin Odegaard is an opportunity for some hard cash, I suspect we’ll try to buy him this summer, or more likely, we’ll loan him for another year with a purchase clause placed in the deal.
The most important thing is how the player feels at Arsenal. If he feels at home, loved, and sees there is a huge opportunity to be the focal point of a young and exciting team building towards greatness again… he might want to be a part of it.
His agent might also like that route as well. 4 seasons at Arsenal and he could have the pick of clubs to go to if we’re not to his fancy. Arsenal gives him space to grow, but not to the detriment of his brand. Arsenal is a big club. The Premier League is the grandest stage. He’ll do very well to stick it out with us.
I’m not really that worried about competition from the Premier League. Not sure the Carlo vibes are good. Liverpool don’t need him. City puts him in the same position he was in at Madrid. United have a #10. Spurs are shit. Chelsea are brimming with creators. He has a free run at Arsenal. At 22, what more can you hope for? He can be the new Cesc, but hopefully with a bit more success.
What else am I buzzing about today? Emile Smith Rowe. He needs a new deal and I’m already worried he might leave us. CAN YOU IMAGINE? When I was first in love, I struggled with jealousy so badly, I thought the person I was with was cheating on me in the bathroom… IN HER MUMS HOUSE. That’s the sort of panic I’m having over ESR. He’s so, so, so good… he needs the big deal. Someone get him it.
Also, Saka, can we give him a new deal? Just to be sure?
There’s been a lot of debate going off about whether there’s been real improvement at Arsenal this season.
Now, if you frame improvement by simply looking at the table, you could say: no… then bang the table and say, ‘TABLE DOESN’T LIE.’
Of course, this is factually correct, but it’s a bit reductive. There are many better ways to judge progress, the same way businesses are rarely judget simply on profit metrics, especially those in transformative moments.
On the grandest of scales, look at Jeff Bezos. It took 10 years for Amazon to turn a profit. They once went 17 quarters without making positive balance sheet impact. ‘TABLE DOESN’T LIE’ merchants were saying things like, ‘they don’t make profit, this isn’t a viable business, BEZOS is a fraud.’
Now look at them.
Arsenal isn’t Amazon, but currently, they’re asking people to buy into a vision in the same way. We’re closer to Apple before jobs went in the second time around. We had set the highest of standards once upon a time, but eventually lost our mojo, after giving the big job to a bum from Pepsico (Emery).
What did Jobs do? He slimmed down the organisation (Arsenal reorg’d). He streamlined the product line (slimmed the squad of duff products). He brought in his own people (new coaching staff). He set a lofty new vision (TO THE MOON).
Jobs new plans nearly took the company to insolvency, they were 90 days away from death. Michael Dell (Jose) told press Jobs should liquidate Apple and give the money back to the shareholders.
A year later, the company returned to profit. The rest is history.
‘TABLE DOESN’T LIE’ merchants can trumpet a truth and you can’t deny it. But what they can’t factor in is the context of vision. The easiest position is to be a naysayer, because it takes a leap of faith to believe in something better.
On the march to progress, things usually get a lot worse before they get better. That’s the nature of change in any business or team.
You have to accept that Wenger crashed our standards over 10 years. Don Raul crashed our class and our finances. Unai Emery crushed the good bits of the Wenger era and added even more indiscipline and confusion to the neglected areas. He left Arsenal worse than he picked it up, this isn’t up for debate, it’s straight facts.
The rebirth of Arsenal was never, ever going to be sorted in a year. Especially when at the same time you’re rebuilding the football you are reorging youth football, starting afresh with a sporting director, rebuilding our football transfer ecosystem, adapting to Europa… all while navigating the biggest shock to elite level sport since World War II (pandemic not being a mitigating circumstance for some is so, so beyond the pale).
So how should you be analysing our shitty season? Look for green shoots that the vision is coming to life. PreChristmas, it was hard to see that. The football was slow, we had no attacking flow, the results were absolutely miserable. At best, you could say we didn’t have the right players, at worse, you could say the taste in players of Arteta and Edu was shocking and we deserved what happened.
But it happened. The club didn’t sack anyone. They priced in the blip like Amazon and Apple shareholder priced in the short-term losses. As fans, we have to move forward from that moment in time.
Now where are we?
The linear progress is showing up if you rejigger where you look from.
PreChristmas, was shite.
PostChristmas, here is where we are.
We’ve played 15 games. We have 28 points. We are 4th. If we beat Liverpool, our game in hand over United, we are joint second.
We have scored 28 goals in one less game than United. We have scored the second-most goals.
Defensively, we’ve slacked off a bit. We’ve conceded 14 goals. The West Ham game took us from joint 2nd best defence, to 3rd best.
Those are hard numbers over a decent sample set.
Let’s get into eye test theory.
The football has a clear identity. We consistently dominate possession. We play good football. Sexy football. This has been a consistent theme since introducing modern numbers 10s. Pep said this explicitly about Arsenal.
The system is defensively stable, bore out by the numbers. Teams don’t walk through Arsenal these days. Our biggest weakness is unforced errors. Without those, we’d be 10 points better off right now. No team inflicts wounds on itself more than Arsenal. You could blame that on coaching, sure. But this is an issue we’ve suffered with for over 10 years. Most of our errors come from players we can lose this summer, or names that are Wenger signings. This is a very focused issue that will be addressed. Liverpool addressed similar flaws with VVD and Allison.
Our attacking system has moved to a new level in terms of production. We create a volume of high-quality chances in each game. We still haven’t landed the sauce needed to take those chances, but the point is, at some point, that begins to happen. Last season, we created few chances and took them at a higher rate, you’d much rather be creating more and scoring less… because great players take those chances in the end. Again, we’re bemoaning our efficiency in front of goal, when we’ve got the second best goalscoring record since Christmas. There’s a whole new level to reach and we’re doing well anyway.
We’re also tactically innovative. Bielsa, one of the greats, explicitly called out that he couldn’t deal with what Arteta had instructed Ceballos and Xhaka to do. Also, tell me the last time you were confident as an Arsenal fan that we’d compete in every game?
Again, these aren’t feelings… we’re dealing with facts here. Arteta has won 3 times as many games against Big 6 sides. We’ve conceded 19 less goals. Arsenal are a competitive outfit. We have beaten every major manager in the league.
Are there things that need to be fixed this summer? Absolutely.
The biggest chink in the armour of the coaching staff is their deference to older players that are never taking you back to promised land. Arteta seems to have quickly forgotten what saved his Arsenal career back in December. It wasn’t Auba and David Luiz, it was ESR, Martinelli, and Saka.
Hunger wins football games. Auba has not looked hungry for a while and he’s given a hall pass every time. David Luiz, throughout his career, has shown that he can’t be trusted over long stretches. When it’s West Ham, he’s not mentally there. That’s a massive blind spot. Hunger over talent, every single time…
Overall though, we’re getting to a good place when the best argument against the momentum is playing with data to show the worst possible outcome to appease the weird Emery Fan Club that exists.
Getting back to the top in the hardest league in the world requires vision, faith and time. You have to accept the choppy waters because it’s never plain sailing. Arsenal finally look like they’re taking the hard route. They’re doing the work, accepting the process, and delivering on a sustainable football future.
So in short, what is the fatal flaw of a big vision? Short termism. There are enough green shoots to show the direction Arsenal have taken is working… if you choose not to see it, you’re as bad as the table bangers that said Amazon would never succeed because the profit table doesn’t lie.
Right, listen to the podcast. Agree with me in the comments. See you later. x
Yo
Here
For
Tr4phy (sorry Groovey)
Tr4phy
Damn you DM….and damn this ‘posting too quickly’ bollox
Now to read this insanely long post….
First 11, and the new Odegaard!
Don’t think Arteta knows his best 11, besides Leno, Partey, Odegaard/ESR and TK.
We’ve definitely looked better since Christmas. Results have been a mixed bag, but our style of play looks closer to where we want to be at.
Pierre
Ode at City and Benrahma at West Ham isn’t even a comparison.
Odegaard was competing with Kroos and Modric, one is a Balandor winner, and the pair have won 4 CL together.
Who is Benrahma competing with? I don’t even know honestly
Your analogy with Amazon sucks, they offer a service and products that is tangible, Arteta’s vision is not something tangible and if he dies you can’t build on something that is in his dead head. Amazon has a tangible structure that can be improved, just look at what happened at Apple once Job’s died.
Pedro, Good piece. Thank you. But I think your examples of Apple and Amazon demonstrate a further point that you neglect: how fragile a start up is in its early stages. If you extend that metaphor to Arsenal, then we can see that any progress is subject to a sabotage by a few major mistakes. Many of these come from Edu, although the focus of supporters remains on Arteta. He sanctioned the contracts for Auba and Willian. And he presumably sanctioned sending out Saliba and Mavro. I am not an Arteta fanboy, but I think that any blame can be… Read more »
Instead of using absurd analogies with multinational tax avoiding companies, can I offer the “Swiss Tony” inspired model?
Analysing Arsenal’s current fortunes is like making love to a beautiful women. First you remove all the superfluous undesirable clothing (in other words Ozil, Mustafi, Kola) before indenting for some more exotic lingerie (Saka, ESR, Tierney). Then you get her to Partey with an innovative strap-on Odergaard) that will lead to a thrilling climax. Boom!
NJ, if you’re worried about the fragility of the start-up, you don’t risk it on an 18-year old that isn’t committed. Not really worried about Martinelli, he signed a new deal and he’ll no doubt get his chance.
Interesting post,Pedro. I believed this was too big a job for Arteta,and it still may be,but I agree with your post. We are competitive(City aside)in most matches,and our injury record is much improved. I am hoping we win most of our remaining matches and the Europa league to call this transitionary period a success. The football identity is taking shape,hopefully the strange substitutions and misplaced loyalty to non perfforming players will start to peeter out. One good piece of news could be Bale ratting out Spurs and insisting on going back to Madrid to get his last year of wages,meaning… Read more »
“On the march to progress, things usually get a lot worse before they get better. That’s the nature of change in any business or team”
Completely agree with this, sometimes you need to go backwards, or take a couple of sidewards steps, before you can spring forward
I like the way Arteta has us setup, but unless our recruitment, contract management, and general decision making significantly improves, then it won’t matter how good the coaching is
Great post. The vision is clear. The results will come. How long we deal with this pandemic can slow things down but I am certain we will be near the top in 2 years and go on to win within the next 4 years
Rich, good noise from Odegaard.
“Very good. He is incredible. I have a lot to learn from him. I just need to ‘sharpen my ears’ and pay attention. He is fantastic.”
Now we are 4th we can look forward to playing in Europe next year.
I have always wanted to be in the parallel universe it’s great here we can do what we like.
Dave, you’re right mate, Amazon will never be a viable business and Facebook won’t turn attention into dollars.
99% of posters were fooled( not me) by Martinelli’s start to his Arsenal career. I was ridiculed on here for suggesting that Martinelli is a bit of a head down merchant and that fans shouldn’t build him up too much…I’m still not totally convinced but he is still very young so time is on his side. He is now struggling for game time and has failed to impress and failed to score in 10 appearances this season , albeit some as sub… In fact , since his 2 goals away to Liverpool in the league cup ,he has only scored… Read more »
Pedro,
I am not worried about the 18-year-olds.
No, I am worried about the fragility of a start up that banks on Auba, Willian, Luiz (and possibly Luiz again next year) and Xhaka. A top heavy start up full of high earners will not look very attractive to potential investors (Kroenke et al)!
The juniors won’t hang around if they think that the road is blocked by (gratuitously extending the metaphor) bloated senior management who don’t put in a proper shift!
Maybe Arteta will offer Martinelli to Madrid in a swap for Odegaard…
I would be ok with that ..how would other fans feel.
Great piece Pedro, Short termism has gotten us Willian, Luiz and Aubameyang while long term vision has us with Saka, ESR and Gabriel. I know which three I would love to see for years to come..
The record against the big six and our diabolical away record seems to have picked up as well, it sure has been a roller coaster ride but I hope for our sake we make the right decisions on and off the pitch to see us at the top in the next 3 to 5 years
What I am worry about is whether the club can learn from their mistakes when giving out contract. They just came out of Ozil’s contract. Then, they give two old players two long contract with high base salary. The club should not take all the risks in the deal. Auba deserves a contract. But the contract should be structured in such a way to protect the club in case the player down tools.
Odegaard is amazing, he’s a good age, good level of experience, and is hungry to play and improve, he’s exactly the profile of player we should be targeting Hopefully we can get him on a permanent deal, and then pull a couple more signings of similar quality from somewhere Odegaard isn’t really an unknown quantity though, we need to pluck the next 20-22yr old Vieira or Sol Campbell from somewhere We should be aiming at building a young team that’s ready to mature in 2 years time, and put in a genuine title challenge Putting €50 mill on the table… Read more »
Sell ESR and Saka to Real Madrid for £150 million
Pierre
No, not swapping Martinelli for Odegaard. And I dont think we even need to, Madrid need cash, Zidane doesn’t rate Odegaard. A decent transfer fee in 40-50 mil range should be enough to sign him imo.
+ Martinelli has a world clads ceiling. Yes he is not getting minutes now, but at various moments under Arteta, even Saka couldn’t get in the team. ESR as well was stumbled upon because of injuries to other players. Thats just the way Arteta manages young players. Until last year, Foden couldn’t get 10 minutes a game, doesn’t mean he wasnt good enough.
FFS pierre give it up already. Martinelli hasn’t got a proper chance since arteta took over. And he hasn’t played a single game at the spot Emery was playing him. I will bet anything that he would score a bunch of goals if he had even a sniff of a start at 9. And his performances on the wing haven’t been that bad. Pedro Some of us change our minds you know. I like what arteta is trying to bring now. But I am yet to trust him fully when he comes out with baffling team selections ignoring 2hat is… Read more »
No to swapping Martinelli to Odegaard. Either we get Odegaard on our terms or we go for buendia. Only an insane person would discard a 19 year old goalscoring sensation that easily when strikers are the hardest players to find. Pierre you are insane. Eddie will not replace Martinellis potential.
Excellent post Pedro, makes absolute sense, although “sensible” doesn’t hold much credence around here. As I was reading the Amazon Apple analogy, I could hear children’s fingers tapping away on their keyboards. You have to realise 95% of people do not have a clue about business, witness the hysterical reaction to the redundancies.
Good post Pedro if you’re a glass half full merchant. The usual glass half empty merchants will be out in force soon enough. I dont think we need too much in the summer to make us a decent top 4 side. The younger players need tying down to long deals and we still need to shift the deadwood. The biggest problem we have next season is Auba. If he stinks the place out like he is at the moment we have another Ozil problem. Im sceptical about your assessment of the Odegaard situation, its too emotional. Sure he is enjoying… Read more »
Vintage, we unsettled him… feel like his advisors aren’t that great.
Pedro,
You never truly know early on in the journey whether you’ve got an Amazon or a MySpace on your hands – or just another over-hyped tech start-up.
You’re right when you say that a) style of football, b) chance creation c) solidity (barring brainfarts) of defence, and d) points total have all been looking much much better since the Near Death Experience in November/December.
Let’s hope that at the end of all this you are lauded for your ability to spot “vision” and are not told that you should have gone to Specsavers.
Words, MySpace sold for a lot of cash.
There’s a good bit of MØ open Mic on YouTube
Habesha, agree with your on the flaws. Plenty to work on, but the project is shaping up nicely.
Perry Groves has a good bit here.
https://twitter.com/hassan_rubbani/status/1374389455776227329?s=20
Pedro
That’s fair. Let’s just hope he learns his lessons.
Taylor swift
https://youtu.be/Pq5MlFC42dw
Absolutely amazing mentality. I didn’t know he could shout and communicate with his team mates like this. The kid is very good. We need to do all we can to get him.
Odegaard is a Viking!!!
Taylor
I watched that too. He talked mainly to Laca and Bukayo Saka.
” Laca, Laca, Laca, stay left!”
” B! B! B! Go! Go! Go!”
Regular follower but rarely comment. I often find myself agreeing with you on all things Arsenal but as a fan of over 40 years, I can say I’m really excited and optimistic about the direction we are heading in. Our young players look like real prospects and I believe that in Arteta we have a diamond in the rough. After 10 to 15 years of growing frustration, I’m now really excited to watch the team playing again because I feel that with every game, whatever the result, we’re building something positive. I agree there are going to be some difficult… Read more »
“Maybe Arteta will offer Martinelli to Madrid in a swap for Odegaard…I would be ok with that ..how would other fans feel.”
Angry
Auba maybe…
Can anyone give a list of the top 6 sides Pedro is referring to.
Man C
Liecester
Man Yoo
Chelski
Liverpool
Kane FC
Anyone that thinks Ode will choose Diet pep over Zidane, Arsenal over RM, is as delusional as a diet pep fanboy
Isn’t that what he did in January?
Vintage, Sid is attention seeking.
A masterly piece from Pedro. A guide to the perplexed. Pretty much agree with every word. But there is one glaring omission. IMO the most important factor of all, if we are talking about Arsenal’s future. You got it: Stan. The idea of Arsenal owned by an absentee multi-billionaire did not appeal to me. Nor did Arsenal becoming just one more bauble on his string of sports franchises. Nor did I like an owner who knew nothing about the game of football. Nor one who, for want of a relatively small outlay, allowed the Club to lose its elite class.… Read more »
“When I was first in love, I struggled with jealousy so badly, I thought the person I was with was cheating on me in the bathroom… IN HER MUMS HOUSE”
Well thats a first – you have left me completely speechless, Pedro!
Emery lost 13 Premier league games during his 51 games in charge.
Arsenal have played 54 Premier league games since his departure and lost 18 games.
Kendo, Liverpool scored 100 points last season, Arsenal are 4 points behind them right now.
You think something happened in the world this year that might have impacted elite sport?
Also, Emery was a bum. Hopefully we get him in the semi-finals and put him to the sword.
great post Pedro and totally agreed,. This is all about trend analysis.and the trend is moving to a better AFC if Arteta can overcome his flaws. He has to ditch Willian, Auba ,Luiz Xhaka and Bellerin. This is going to be a slow process and an uneven trend line unfortunately, even if simpletons like Sid can’t comprehend this as it involves more than a sentence and words with more than one syllable.
Pierre – swap Martinelli for Ode? – yeah right – that’s one step forward, one back
Is Kendo one of Redtruths many characters? Seems to reminisce about Emery at every opportunity
CC, yes.
West Ham are currently 7 points ahead of Arsenal after finishing 17 points behind them last season
Ha… I find it Ironic that Pierre thinks Marinelli is a heads down merchant…. When he is the resident Le Grove Heads down merchant …has absolute blinders one when it comes to anything related to his favs……. Ozil, Wenger and Eddie N. Not really buying the Amazon comparison… Amazon is the biggest player in a market with virtually no rivals except maybe Walmart. With them it was only a matter of time before economy of scale took over and of course it didn’t hurt them at all that people were literally forced to ship from home. We are more like… Read more »
ship = shop
Red still waxing lyrical about Emery.. some things never change.
Good article though Peds.. it made me think about things big picture and for sure I’m not as angry/worried as I was even 3 months ago. Thats my barometer is how much I’m dreading the next match. And right now.. I think we can be competitive with anyone. Not worried about Ode signing either if that is the direction we decide to go.. And I hope we do.
Pierre think your on your own with the Martenelli swap
Pedro
Well there’s me shocked.
Hope RM finish the season well so zidane stays in charge..Ode apparently doesn’t want to play for him
“West Ham are currently 7 points ahead of Arsenal after finishing 17 points behind them last season”
We’re progressing kendo. Maybe backwards but we’re progressing. Forget the table, doesn’t matter.
He just needs to give Xhaka Luiz & Auba renewed contracts for next season. We surely can’t do better than those three.
Lol at swapping Martinelli.
We do have some characters on here.
“Liverpool scored 100 points last season, Arsenal are 4 points behind them right now.”
Pretty sure losing your key players to injuries with no depth would do this to you.
CC some people will go to the end of the world to shit on the team they love.
Count on Midwest Gun to change it to an automotive analogy, hahah.
We need that fresh innovation to kick on.
While everyone was making heavy big block V8s Mr Wenger flew in from Nagoya with agile I4s and V6s with turbos and dual overhead cams.
Arteta needs that boldness. Gimme full EV power baby. Stop relying on old industry vets, the youth are charged up!
Pedro
I don’t get it. Same with those that need to shit on players because they’ve set their stall out against them. Digital age has given folk a right old complex I swear, used to support your own firstly.
Christ samurai Red Truth what next? Be water my friend. Epic post Pete, have to be inspired by direction of club since Christmas, the identity is showing something we’ve all surely missed. But the lack of consistency really is a dark cloud ever present, awaiting to piss down whenever we think the barrier’s been crossed. Was absolutely convinced we’d beat West Ham, within 25 min we were down by 3. Mikel’s ability to fuck a starting XI is most definitely a thing, just as i’m really rating him then he goes and puts Saka on the left after owning the… Read more »
What we are now is a mid 70s Ford Capri with a very dodgy clutch (sorry to anyone who doesn’t drive what I think you statesiders call a “stick shift”).
We sometimes look the part but the gears seldom engage smoothly and the ride is hampered by severe hopping manoeuvres. Plus the reverse often works more effectively than the forward gears. Recently owned by French and Spanish playboy types who completely fucked the transmission.
G “Pierre think your on your own with the Martenelli swap” I did say i was the 1% who didn’t think he was the next Ronaldo. That is not to say that i don’t think he has potential, i do , but I’m not sure that Arteta is totally convinced, hence my suggestion that he may consider using him as bait to bring in Odegaard. And yes , if i had a choice, i would choose Odegaard over Martinelli. Ideally we sign Odegaard , keep Martinelli and Arteta finds a way of integrating Martinelli, smith Rowe, saka and Odegaard in… Read more »
I believe that if we win the Europa Cup and PSG doesn’t win the CL, we’ll have a much better chance to keep Odegaard for another year. The reason is that if PSG doesn’t win the CL, they’ll want to strengthen their team. They won’t sell Kylian Mbappé to Real. Also, I think Odegaard will want to play CL football. If we win the Europa Cup, we can compete with other teams to keep him. Florentino Perez has a history of signing Galactico. Currently, he’ll want Kylian Mbappé or Erling Haaland . He may come up with a swap deal… Read more »
Pierre
You don’t know Real Madrid at all. They’ll never want Martinelli. Both Perez and their fan base will not accept that.
Count on Midwest Gun to change it to an automotive analogy,
____
Damn Straight Ahern… Bring back the horsepower. Its bad enough we are play out of the back merchants now.. I guess I have to live with that…. but is sure seems like we are trying to make an electric car work just because it’s the newest thing.
Kroenkephobe — The clutch is the actual disc connecting to the transmission (sorry, the “”gearbox””). Or it can mean the pedal which operates said disc. Whereas the stick shift is, well, the stick that shifts? What do you call it over there? The handywotsit?
MW — I was going the opposite way! We’re still addicted to old ‘reliable’ dirty diesels (Willian, Laca, Luiz, Xhaka, etc.) when the way forward is smashing the all-electric accelerator for instant impact (Ø, ESR, Saka, Martinelli, etc.)
I feel like we’ve got exciting youth but Arteta overplays the safe hands still. Season’s pretty much dead so I think we should be taking more risks. I like the guy overall but I think he prioritises ball security over athleticism to his detriment.
Sal – Yep that Auba right, Saka left thing was strange as hell. If that was the game plan Laca was talking about.. I can understand why they were confused. Ranks up there with the Willian as a number 9… experiment in failure.. luckily It was so bad I don’t think we see either one tried again. As bad as the first half was though.. you can’t fault the effort and fight back and clearly … at Halftime Ode was told to unleash the beast. And so Arteta has to get some credit for that. and sticking with Chambers. Anyhow..… Read more »
Nelson
“You don’t know Real Madrid at all. They’ll never want Martinelli. Both Perez and their fan base will not accept that.”
If Martinelli is as good as what 99% of le Grove posters think, then why wouldn’t Real Madrid and their fan base want “the talent of the century” as klopp once said. ..
Why would they turn down the chance of signing a potentially world class talent….
It doesn’t make sense.
I am interest to know how can we prevent our team to lose the confidence like the initial 30 mins vs West Ham or the last 10 mins in the NLD. It is nice to talk about only the good side of the team and put a blind eye on our problem.
Nelson
Do you seriously think any “problems” are ignored on Le Grove?
This place is the most overly critical Arsenal chatter online, there’s rarely a day that goes by where the positive elements are discussed for any length.
Ha.. Ahern Ok I get you… Might still happen we will see. Second half was hard to ignore. More of that please.
CC
Do you have any suggestion to solve the problem or to prevent the problem to happen again. I think we need someone in the coaching staff who is good with psychology. If the team can switch on in the 2nd half, it is nor due to capability.
Nelson
Mentality is a long term thing, requires winning and requires characters that don’t wilt.
You have Auba and you have Laca as examples of either end of the spectrum. Willian and Pepe more sheepish characters, Odegaard and Tierney more defiant and aggressive.
We need to strike a balance but also develop more consistency in everything positive we do.
CC
You don’t think that Arteta suddenly came up with the idea, to play Auba on the right and Saka on the left, had confused the team. Whatever gamplan Arteta came up with, it was obvious that the whole team couldn’t understand it.
Nelson
No, what’s confusing about it? It’s perfectly reasonable to suggest a player does better on one side vs another, but if a simple switch of the wings confuses your side then your side is pretty shit.
No, imo the balance simply wasn’t right on the day and it cost us. The defence wasn’t right, and playing Auba and Laca just isn’t it at all. That plus some fatigue meant we started in 1st gear and got punished for it.
CC
You didn’t follow the discussion after the game. Both Arteta and Laca talked about a gameplan and the players didn’t execute it.
Do arteta is now Steve jobs… Hmmmm
*So
Nelson
I followed. That’s application, not confusion of a system. Application/professionalism has been a hot topic for Arteta and that’s an example of it poorly executed for the opening part of a game against a team playing well. .
Meanwhile there was outrage galore about keeping pricks like Guendouzi and Ozil about because of talent.
I know the point Pedro is trying to make but really comparing Arteta’s Arteta to Apple and Amazon? Sounds pretty agenda driven and desperate to me.
For every Amazon there was 1 000 000 other dot com companies that promised the universe on their shiny prospectus but couldn’t deliver. Look it up.
That’s a Arteta is at the moment. He is a shiny prospectus who looks good and sounds good. Whether he can deliver only time will tell.
CC
Just use your wording, Arteta hasn’t prepared the team well enough that caused a system to be poorly executed.
*Arteta’s Arsenal
For me, that new gameplan sucks. That’s why Arteta had to change it during the game.
Nelson Laca commented that the players didn’t respect the plan of the coach. So is that on Arteta? Or is that on the lack of dedication/professionalism from the group for the opening half hour? I think it’s clear which. Arteta is part-responsible for the team being in good mental shape heading into a match of course, but your point about Saka and Auba being on opposite wings did no confusing of anything. Draw your line between coach and players as far as responsibility goes, but it’s hard to avoid the poor efforts on the pitch watching that second goal back.… Read more »
Pierre Martinelli has played mostly on the wing, with extremely limited game time under arteta. Even last year he put him on the right wing where he didn’t look comfortable as he should be central or on the left
So if you’re judging him off that I think you’re extremely harsh
Reading through some old Arsenal history and found this:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031055/
Amusing!
CC
“but your point about Saka and Auba being on opposite wings did no confusing of anything.”
But that is part of his new game plan!!!! And the players failed to execute it. You can call it application . But if the players were clear about it, why the application sucked???? I called that confusion.
Pedro
“CC some people will go to the end of the world to shit on the team they love.”
….shit on the team they ‘claim’ to love. Fixed it for you Pedro. We also have to factor in the fact that some people just moan endlessly.. Imagine being forced to spend time with some of these people, however desperate we are for pubs/bars to open. They would win £10m on the lottery & complain it wasn’t £20m, they go out if their way to whine. Your comments in the header were pretty accurate really but some people have unrealistic expectations.