Well, before we dive into the mess. Le Grove passed 2.5m comments yesterday. Quite the number when I consider how many comments I delete on a weekly basis. The shame? That the massive jump happened because Arsenal reverted to pre-December form and dropped an abomination of a performance.
There’s only one way to look at the game.
Meek.
We were absolutely petrified of Liverpool. No one in that starting 11 thought they were coming out of that game with more than a point and that mindset is down to Arteta.
Can you blame injuries?
No. You can’t.
Ceballos in midfield next to Partey. That’s Arteta. He agreed to renew the loan, that was his expert decision, it’s been a fucking disaster. The Spaniard put the same performance in against West Ham at the start of the season, too many touches on the ball, doing an impression of a player that looks good. He hasn’t moved forward.
Auba out wide. That’s Arteta. Our captain has been shocking for a long time. He’s not good enough to play as a 9, so Arteta has hidden him on the wing where he has to do things he’s just not good at. His lack of control, his sloppiness on the ball, the zero confidence he has running at players. He should be benched. An unacceptable decision.
Rob Holding in defence. I like him, but it’s clear he can’t do what Arteta needs from a centre back. But guess who decided to give him a new deal? Arteta.
Bernd Leno. That was an Arteta decision. Two huge errors again from the German, again. This is not a blip, this is an extended run of shiteness that needs to be addressed. Mat Ryan should be used, could he be any worse?
Lots of bad decisions are starting to pile-up, like they did before Christmas. That performance was a copyright infringement on Emeryball. No guts. A bad plan. A spanking by a team we gifted the points.
Now, what you can’t avoid are these two pockets of reality.
Firstly, the reason Arteta opts for Luiz and Xhaka is because against good teams, we have no one better. We missed both today. Xhaka more so, but Luiz for his leadership and presence.
Secondly, it’s clear that the two most important player in our attack are Saka and ESR.
Here’s some truth… and this came from Johnny on the podcast who is not the biggest of Arteta fans.
If the Premier League bothers you, it’s your pride talking. At this point, it’s better we don’t make Europa via the league. Next season would be better served with no Europe, so we could do a West Ham.
Arteta has now refocused his tenure on success in the Europa League.
That is his objective. The blanket he’d love to call his comfort. It’s basically the only thing that saves him this year.
Win Europa, he’s Mr 2 Trophies, in the Champions League, fighting off Barca overtures.
Lose that trophy… well, things are going to heat up for him. That new deal he’s hoping for might not come that easily. Fan sentiment in the stadium will turn.
For me, I’m not really tapping on that beat. ‘Performance’ is what I want from Arteta right now. Bumming his way to Europa won’t do it for me.
I want to see progress every week. I need to see new mistakes, not those that we’ve been over before. Consistency is what takes us to the promised land.
If the system we’ve opted to play needs £500m to work. If it can’t tolerate 4 players missing. Then it won’t work for Arsenal.
The problems we’re dealing with right now are not all Arteta’s… but a growing number of them are. Mo Elneney’s agent telling the press he’s getting a renewal? Arteta playing a centre back as a right back when he has two fit right backs? Willian not getting a sniff? Auba getting a sniff? Gabriel Martinelli being treated he was caught doing something disgusting with the dirty linen? All Arteta.
The picture that hasn’t been painted yet is what is the future of the club? How will we deal with players that have deals running out? How will we replace? Will success in the Europa mean continuity of failed ideas?
Arteta is at ANOTHER pivotal moment of his short career. Dips are par the course… but if this Liverpool game sparks a terrible 2 weeks, the wounds might not heal. We can’t have another fatal month like we did pre-Christmas, it’s too soon for that. Fans will lose interest, and worse, so will the players. Belief is fragile… every day is a judgement… today was shocking. The only way it’ll be forgiven is if there’s a big response on Thursday.
… that’s now looking tougher. We were utterly dross. Project Arteta has just dropped down to amber. The manager has no one to blame but himself.
Thursday needs something big. Can we do it? I have my doubts.
Whilst you’re there, take a listen of our latest podcast. I’m joined by Johnny, you can listen to his How’s Your Father pod here. BUT, for pure Arsenal, click below. He does a great job explaining the reality of our season… let me know what you think in the comments.
Graham I didn’t use those exact words but I’ve said that point Pepe typically gets dropped whenever he’s just had a really decent game. It’s a constant stop start But the example of note recently was Holding. Holding has had a good season and got a lot of credit for our post Xmas form. Then suddenly got binned off permanently and has barely played for months on end now. I think holding is a solid player (not elite but he is quite good when he’s match fit and sharp). I don’t know why arteta would choose Liverpool of all games… Read more »
Wiglaf
I haven’t turned off a game yet but I’ve drifted off watching and been on the net while just listening to the game a lot of times and even in a few games where we are still in it I’ve got that bored with Artetas style ( only done it this season) . I struggle to see what some say about a top notch DoF helping arteta as I’m certain one worth his salt would sack arteta . Rangnik certainly would because of his treatment of youth
Les not forget Cedric covered Tierney at left back and did quite well for a few games, he could end up being the cover for Tierney and a new right back.
Centre midfield and a new central forward are the vital positions to look at this summer in my view.
Englandbeast “arsnil Guardiola can and could buy top players as he pleases. Arteta does not have that option.” Englanbeast you are so wrong in this summation. We had at the start of the year a very large panel. He in many instances such as Saliba, Mavropanos and the goalkeeper let go the wrong players. Due to his complete inability to read a player and compare one player against another he kept many duds and ever since has compounded his error by carrying on playing these duds day in day out. Fickle, flaky and ponderous nothing players. Meanwhile still in the… Read more »
ES, The question is not whether Arsenal would be willing to spend £40 millions on Ödegaard, but whether this would be a good move. I think that at £40 millions and £200kpw he is vastly overpriced. In ESR we already have a superior player in that position , so we should look for an understudy for ESR or somebody ready for a different position. Bar Saka, we don’t have anybody Arteta trust to play LW. A proper winger is higher priority than another CAM. We also need an understudy for Tierney, an upgrade on Leno, an upgrade on Xhaka, an… Read more »
If we can pick up fees for Lacazette + Nketiah? Then I’d be happy to go into next season with Aubameyang + Martinelli as our striker options, and Pepe as an emergency option I’d rather have three technicians behind the striker Tie Saka + Smith-Rowe down to new 5 year deals Sign Odegaard, and go hard for Neto Odegaard, Smith-Rowe Saka, Pepe Neto, Willian Aubameyang, Martinelli Unlikely but if we could get Aubameyang out the door, I’d let him leave, and go for a player like Ivan Toney from Brentford, he’s a brilliant penalty box striker who wouldn’t be short… Read more »
The weird thing about artetas poor rotation is we actually have had ample games this season to safely rotate a bit due to the EL. The beauty of the EL is like the league cup you can easily afford to blood a selection of squaddies and youngsters to let the squaddies stay sharp and the kids get some experience Yet here we are wondering why many of the squaddies who never play seem rusty or why our kids who don’t get picked never seem to kick on whilst simultaneously bemoaning having too many games to play because of the EL.… Read more »
Valentin
The main problems with Odegaard is that Madrid are not going to make their decision in an expeditious manner.
We cannot afford to wait for them to determine whether they want to sell him and then participate in a bidding war with clubs that have deeper pockets that Arsenal.
I don’t think Arteta is vindictive. I genuinely think he thinks seniority matters. That is shit thinking though. The only young players that are playing regularly are Saka and ESR who have made themselves indispensable. If he took them out he knows results will start to go sour. If we would get the same results with a front three of Auba, Laca, he would play that front three all season and rotate Saka and ESR. That is why I am disappointed in him. Giving seniors 9 lives when kids get one chance in a while is very stupid. It should… Read more »
What a waste of money Partey has turned out to be.
He can’t tackle or pass and his fitness levels are a lot to be desired.
Saka signed a contract extension only just over a year ago. Doesn’t he already have many years left on his deal? Unless we just want to pay him more as a thank you for being awesome, I’m not sure why we would need to renew now
Auba, Laca and Willian*
Dissenter I may be wrong but I think if we offered 35m real would accept within a week for Ode. They want to buy an elite CF in the 150+m bracket. They won’t be able to take part in any such bidding wars if they’re haggling over an extra few million for months on end with arsenal
They need cash and they need it now otherwise someone like city, utd or Chelsea might just come in for Haaland before they’re even ready to come to the table and bid
Rich
That is how you plan a top front 4 but look at this space, we will give Lacazette a new contract. We might even do that for Nketiah too. Arteta is the ultimate hoarder after all.
I also suspect very few clubs with deeper pockets than arsenal will be in for Ode.
As long as PSG aren’t in for him, I’m not sure which other club richer than us would be after him
He’s a huge prospect but my suspicion is because of the covid market he should be pretty attainable for around 35m as an estimate
Habesha Gooner
” ESR who have made themselves indispensable”
If he is indespensible why did Arsenal go and get Odegaard on loan who plays in the exact same position and has been shunted out to the wing on occasions to accomodate Odegaard? ESR is no more a wide player than Odegaard. They are both strictly ACM players really. ESR was getting a few first team matches and doing well in them just before Odegaard was loaned.
Is Odegaard quoted as being ‘heartbroken’? The media have released stories about him being keen to join Arsenal as well as wanting to stay at Real, as well as everything in between. I’d take everything from the MSM with a pinch of salt, naturally. We should be planning to get him, but only if the fee is right. I think others have already mentioned that £35 million should nab him, the wages may be a stumbling block. He appears to be happy here, he is playing regular first team football, important for his continued role as Norway captain, he has… Read more »
Aubameyang has been playing poorly but he has never been a winger. Just because he scored goals from there doesn’t make him a winger. This season he has An XG of 0.27 from the wing and An XG of 0.57 from the Center forward role. Bedsides becoming less of a goal threat he has exposed us numerous times because he doesn’t track rightbacks. He is already 31. Expecting him to do that is stupid. Arteta doesn’t want to come to the realization that it must be one of Lacazette or Aubameyang. We can’t play both. Auba is a threat by… Read more »
China1 “Dissenter I may be wrong but I think if we offered 35m real would accept within a week for Ode. They want to buy an elite CF in the 150+m bracket. They won’t be able to take part in any such bidding wars if they’re haggling over an extra few million for months on end with arsenal” I think you have this wrong Madrid need cash, lots of cash to be exact. They will use the 35 million offer we make as the beginning of a bidding war. It’s like the start point of a live auction. Odegaard will… Read more »
Odegaard would be the most expensive loanee in history should we be silly enough to buy him.
Ishola
Getting Odegaard was the right decision. Even indispensable players need a breather. If we went with ESR with our anyone else in January and he got injured, we would be massively fucked right now. It will be the premier December football for the rest of the season. We needed more than one creator. That is a fact.
Odegaard is exactly the kind of signing we should be making. He’s currently a better player than ESR. I like the balance of ESR, Odegaard and Saka.
In my opinion we need to prioritise a Xhaka upgrade.
I think we need to have a ranking here about the three players Saka, Tierney and ESR. They seem to be always put together as if they are on a par. Well that can’t be the case can it. One has to be better than the other. I would put Tierney as the best out of the three which is no surprise as he is the oldest and shows a bit more maturity. Then Saka and then follows ESR. ESR shows promise no doubt but I think he is being a little over-rated by fans and I think one of… Read more »
Dissenter I think his head has already been turned by arsenal He seems happy. He’s guaranteed games. He has some decent team mates and most people think arsenal will improve in the coming years. He’s already here and things are going quite well and he’s already stressed how happy he is here. We already have an advantage over many teams because of that we are a known quantity to him unlike if he joins PSG and sits on the bench. He’s already been stung by Madrid, I don’t think he will be so easily swayed by prestige for his next… Read more »
Which player has improved under Diet peps great coaching?
“Odegaard is exactly the kind of signing we should be making.”
I agree 100%
That said I wouldn’t hold off the summer transfer business while waiting for Madrid to make up their mind. It would be bad business to let other targets like Buendia or Rodrigo De Paul are moving for less money whilst waiting.
We can’t do for Odegaard in 2021 what we did for Auoar last sumer.
Habesha Gooner “Getting Odegaard was the right decision. Even indispensable players need a breather. If we went with ESR with our anyone else in January and he got injured, we would be massively fucked right now. It will be the premier December football for the rest of the season. We needed more than one creator. That is a fact.” Fair enough. But you didn’t answer why ESR has been shunted out left on occasions since Odegaard arrived. That’s not having a breather. That’s being taken out of your natural position of ACM and being put out wide to accomodate another… Read more »
China1
Saka signed a 4yr deal last summer
He’s a player on the way up, put him on a 5yr deal now, and reward him for his progress
If we don’t do it this summer, then next summer he’ll have 2 years remaining, which will have a lot of Arsenal fans feeling very uneasy, particularly if his upward trajectory continues
The vultures will be circling
Like I can assure you if Haaland flies to England to have talks with Pep, the idea of dragging negotiations out to get PSG to outbid is by 5m for Ode will not be a pressing priority
Odegaard is not the signing Arsenal should be making if you rate ESR highly.
That is contradictory.
ESR is not a left midfielder. He is an ACM like Odegaard.
You sign Odegaard and you will eventualy kill off ESR.
Ishola
Right now we haven’t got anyone that is as good as Saka on the left. So ESR plays. Maybe Martinelli can do the job but arteta is hesitant in using him. So we have no better options. That’s why he is playing.
Habesha
It’s not really answering the question is it.
You said Odegaard was brought in to give ESR a breather.
That’s not really been the case has it overall.
Odegaard has stolen ESR’s position in some matches in the ACM position and ESR has been put out left thus no breather for ESR. He has still played but not in his natural position.
Odegaard and ESR are different type ACMs and of course as said before Odegaard naturally has a bit more composure about him and maturity because of age and experience.
Then it comes down to what ACM type do you prefer.
ESR is more aggressive than Odegaard and this shows in that he is better at running on the ball than Odegaard but Odegaard is better in passing and overall vision.
I agree with Ishola regarding the ESR vs Odegaard discussion
It’s possible to play both together but ultimately boith of them are Attacking ki9ods that can be modified to play other positions.
Odegaard is further ahead of ESR in development because ESR’s injuries have stymied him somewhat. I’m not so sure Odegaard’s ceiling is higher than ESR’s , only time will tell.
Odegaard was easily neutralized yesterday, that ought to give caution to all of our hyping of his abilities. He’s very very good but he’s not great in any way or form.
We need two attacking midfielders, Smith-Rowe + Odegaard can play together, or it allows us to rest one of them
Only having one quality attacking midfielder, puts us 1 injury away from having no attacking midfielder, and there’s more chance of injuries, if we aren’t in a position to rotate
Internal competition is also healthy, it keeps both players on their toes
Ishola
I would say Saka he actually sets the tone for us playing better and his ball retention and creativity has got better. He barely loses the ball. Yes he’s had the odd dip in games but that’s expected from him. When isn’t in the team our creativity goes down quite a bit.
Remember before ESR came into the team Saka was pulling off some big performances.
Odegaard is another Dani Ceballos. Any one remember the first match Dani boy played for us against Burnley? He was brilliant.
A year after, he is no-one.
ESR should always start, keep Ode as back up to him. Groom Martinelli on the left, Saka on right and ffs put Auba on top. If it’s not working, put Laca in there – just don’t play them together.
And don’t play players out of position. Not everyone is Saka!!
Not sure how difficult it is to understand for a coach.
Even when ESR was the lone ACM, he had a free role. He’ll appeared on the right or on the left to support the buildup of the attack. Odegaard stays mainly in the middle or slightly to the right. I can’t see why Odegaard and ESR can’t play together. ESR can continue to play his free role while spends a bit more time on the left and Odegaard on the right. Our major problem is trying to fit in both Auba and Laca. I would keep ESR Odegaard and Saka as the creative force and either Auba or Laca in… Read more »