Ain’t nothing I love to see more in the game than Arsenal stealing a win in the final minutes of a game.
Why?
It shows our players are still fighting when the season is dead.
It shows that in fact, we are capable of scoring goals and creating chances.
It feels good, after a season of having those sorts of moments going the other way.
Roy Hodgson’s last game in charge was a tough one to analyse. We controlled the game playing some nice football early on, the passing was slick, Palace couldn’t get out of the own area.
Then we scored. Saka and Tierney combined beautifully, the Englishman back heeling for KT to cross to the back stick where Nico was prowling with a perfect volleyed strike with his weaker foot. Pure Arsenal, the type of goal Arteta wakes up to after a deep bout of REM sleep.
Arsenal then fell back into a familiar pattern. We took our foot off the gas. We let Palace have a crack. This wasn’t helped by the general violent conduct of the Palace players. Benteke swiped at Mo, somehow managing to avoid a red card. A little late, Nico bodged a touch, Partey fouled, the freekick was whipped into the box and Benteke fouled two players on his way to a diving header that drew the game level.
Did it not feel like the officials were angling for a nice last game for Roy?
The tougher the ask, the harder Arsenal players fall back on the patterns of player we aren’t really that good at right now. We created very little. Everyone looked like they were remembering the instructions a little late. Palace were eating up the predictability of it all.
Arteta did make changes though, he brought on Odegaard and Martinelli. It helped. Mike McDonald wrote that there needed to be a rebellion in the system and it happened. Odegaard slipped a beautiful inswinger to the backpost where Martinelli gambled and bundled the ball home. Then Nico Pepe took command with a mazy power run that ended with a beautifully curled low shot. A £72m goal if ever there was one.
Some performances of note:
Nico Pepe. He’s a weird player. His G/A this season sits at 17. He’s scored some great goals. But at the same time, you can see why he causes frustration. His poor touch led to the freekick they scored from. He rarely takes the ball on a run. His first instinct is always to stop play, have a think, pass it backwards. I’d love him to be more consistently explosive.
Auba had a poor afternoon. Hard to go at him, he had malaria, which is a rough, rough thing to deal with. But overall he looked well off the pace again, he’s not taking chances on balls, he’s not making good runs and his holdup play is nowhere near what we get with Lacazette. His game is one of an assassin, hiding in the box and poaching, not sure why Arteta tries to make him come deep, it’s not his game and never will be. Bigger question: Does he want to be here? It’s one we tend to ask after every game. If he does, there’s a lot of work to do next season to make him work in the system, Arteta can’t keep asking things of players that don’t have it in them.
A lot of people were moaning about Thomas Partey. I don’t hate his game. I think he’d be a lot better if he wasn’t the singular driving force for creating openings. But, I still prefer him into the starting 11 than out of it. His form will improve, he’s very press resistant, he just needs to reduce some of that high-risk behaviour. He’s a bit Hollywood with his passing, but in a system fairly accused of being too rigid, he’s a breath of fresh air for his speed of thought and mostly on-point delivery.
Martin Odegaard has been up and down, but his talent for unpicking defences and opening up space with his movement has been a miss since his injury. He’s a different level on the ball, we don’t have a player that can break down a team the way he can, I think it’d be a huge add if we could land him next season. Let’s be honest, he’s not changing the fortunes on Real Madrid, but he certainly could ours given a proper run at the first team.
I had a lot of heart for some of that cover game from Gabriel. Another player who dealt with a horrendous virus, only to come back flustered. He has great pace, he’s powerful, he just needs to iron out some of the reckless in his game that has made him look a bit all over the place this year.
Final shoutout goes to Bernd Leno. Fast distro, good saves, totally dominant in his box against monster opposition. I’d prefer if we didn’t lose him this summer. He’s had a rough year, but if the club sorts the keeping personnel issues in the background, perhaps he can hang on. Though it’s worth noting… he has 2 years left on his deal, has shown no intention to sign, so technically, he should be getting sold this summer. Let’s see where this goes.
Actually, final shoutout goes to the fans. Kieran Tierney has probably never felt better about being booed. Football is better with fans, yesterday, it was a pleasure to hear the singing and the overall joy from the fans. Life is returning to normal. I couldn’t be happier.
Back to the bigger picture.
Game won. That’s 4 wins on the bounce. This is the table since we added creative players to the squad.
It has been a very rough season for a number of reasons. The Europa League collapse, based on what happened earlier in the season would have seen most coaches fired, but it has been clear for a while that Stan K is trying to replicate the good vibes he’s getting with a young innovative coach in America at LA Rams.
Arteta is here to stay, so people have to stop crying about it and look for positive signs of life.
That table above is a positive sign. It’s 62% if the season. If you are choosing to prioritise the first 38% to get to the truth of whether this project is viable, you are being disingenuous.
Over that period, we have the second-best defence over that time period, the third most goals, second-most points.
That’s Champions League form. If we’d been half the mess we were at the start of the season, which was still bad, we’d be in the top four right now.
Are there problems to solve? Absolutely. Arteta is a rookie coach, people complaining that he’s getting things wrong don’t seem to grasp that concept, or that it’s part of the deal. They also seem to forget the plethora of other coaches that are far more experienced than he is, managing equally bland seasons. Carlo A was hired a few days before Arteta at an expensively assembled Everton side that were 4 points behind where Freddie/Emery left us. He’s 1 point ahead of us. Mourinho, the most winningest manager in the world has left Spurs 2 points ahead of us, after a run at the title. Klopp, one of the best in the world, 8 points ahead on 66 after 99 points last season.
If we beat Brighton, at worst, we’ll be 9 points off 3rd come the end of the season. 9 points of a Chelsea side that was top last season, then added £250m worth of talent to their ranks. Again, I don’t keep on saying this because it’s an amazing feat, I say it because the context for this season for almost everyone is that playing football with no fans in a pandemic year has been a fucking nightmare across the board.
Then factor in our unusually nightmarish squad challenges… well, it’s not quite suicide watch like some would have you believe.
This summer, which needs to go very well, will add more players into the system that can do the things positional football demands. The defence will need to find more quality on the ball with a centre back and a right back. We’re going to need more than one Odegaard this summer, because we’re absolutely nowhere through the middle in big games. We’ll also need a top-quality midfielder, and if Arteta’s, ‘Who else plays as many teenagers as us? We can’t just put them all in’, is to be believed, then chances are we’ll not be looking at Camavinga this summer. I mean, I am totally guessing there.
The ideal scenario next season is one where we’re not constructing complex mechanisms to protect our weaknesses as a squad. That’s the dream. It’ll take a lot to get there, but it’s possible.
The hope for next season is simple… the benchmark level is what we’ve seen since Christmas, then after December, we find a new gear that looks more like the modern Arsenal we hope can exist under this manager.
So, the last game of the season has something on it. The chance to finish above Spurs and gain entrance into a European trophy no fan wants. At least it’ll be interesting.
Also, Harry Kane asks out at Spurs and all the media are begging Levy to let him go. Magic.
See you in the comments, podcasts return next week because I am not at home for the week.
‘I wonder if Everton will sack their manager, Ancelotti after all they are in decline and at one stage had a CL place in their hands?’ I mean if you offered Everton fans a 7-9th place finish at the start of the season I think that plenty would have taken it considering you have Man City, Man United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal all bigger clubs with better teams as well as Leicester having a far better team to work with. They finished 12th last season on 10+ less points with a GD of -12. Only West Ham have outperformed… Read more »
I hope Arteta wins a trophy with another club in the championship that’s his level
Arsenal will improve next season in the EPL due to being out of european competition,
Not because of Diet pep.
Berg10kamp,
You might be right. On the other hand, you could argue that Tets chose the slow midfield because of his preference for old and predictable players. I get that Willock and AMN have their issues but speed is not one of them. It seems like the generational coach wasn’t that interested in coaching those issues out of them in order to get more speed into the team.
Exactly LS. Problem is if he did persist with AMN and Willock he would get stick for it and people would call for experienced players. AMN didn’t do well in midfield and I still believe he can be a top class RB for us if he embraces it.
@Chrispy
And what trophy would that be.?
The most passes sideways and backwards trophy?
The most boring team in the premier league trophy
Or maybe the arsefucked by Emery trophy again?
New season with everything to play for, for all teams. With Luiz and Willian given up on him, no doubt Arteta will be fumbling on his fresh list of pensioners, sorry I mean established pros who have done it all before, that he can ‘manage’
AFC Forever
Arsenal are currently overperforming.
—
Arteta is overperforming with this Arsenal squad? Hmmmm, this makes so much sense.
Pedro is in advertising that much is plain to see.. he conjures up an imaginary table where we are just behind City.
Just as I can make up a table showing City tanking in points after they won the league. Don’t be fooled chaps. If Pedro was a car dealer, he would be telling you a FIAT is closely related to a Ferrari.
“Important to remember this period doesn’t include Liverpool, City, Utd Everton, Leeds and Spurs away.” Pedro’s data is full of holes. Only reliable data is a full season especially when he was given all the tools at his disposal including the owner paying Partey’s clause, Arteta handpicking Willian to be his marque offensive signing, loaning Torreira, Guendouzi, Saliba, selling Martinez, not selling AMN. It was a huge failure and there is nothing good coming with Arteta at the helm. Instead of pushing for a change after a potential 8-9th place finish, here we are trying to hype up people for… Read more »
I like it when Arteta said he’d defend the players to death. Do it must of been Steve round who slaughtered pep and Partey to the media after the game.
What he should of said is , “ when we are winning I will defend the players at all times, but as soon as we lose it’s their fault not mine “ .
Rambo….. why do you even bother following Arsenal? Did I hit a nerve . There’s a rock waiting just for you it seems.
Spanishdave… we’ll just erase the FA Cup win to suit your agenda. Rock waiting…..
“Weagle with you on all points 10000%” Seconded, there’s no need to pretend Mikel was an eight incher this season, just accept the four inchness of it all and embrace that that’s what he’s working with. There’s also a lot of talk about rookie manager and growing pains, but it’s still pretty recent that he’s been making questionable selections after a year and half on the job, and even with the addition of creative players since the New Year, the improvement in results has come largely from negative football. The growing pains might be a given but that doesn’t mean… Read more »
Berg10kamp,
Agreed on AMN at RB. Fat Sam said as much in an interview recently. Something along the lines that it’s not a bad idea to play where the coach wants you and be a bit of a utility player. Compared to the rest of the young players AMN seems to be a bit dense unfortunately.
A midfield of Guen and partey with ESR next season could be a success if the players are up for it. But we will probably not see guen again…
Berg10Kamp “With a faster and more mobile midfield, a faster CB and more clinical passing we can play fast build up. Our passing has been mostly shit when trying to build up fast and that is why we have reverted to slower play in order to keep possession” This. I wrote something similar this morning. The dynamic of the team changed with the introduction of Odegaard. Arteta has mentioned several times about the lack of tempo and that’s because we don’t have the players to play the way he wants. We need more technical players, like Wenger used to find,… Read more »
Yeah he is dense for sure. Crying to play in a position when u are clearly better in another is very dim.
Agree AFC on the benteke goal. Kinda embarrassing to see 2 huge players fall to ground like that for almost no contact. They need to man up.
WE
“I mean if you offered Everton fans a 7-9th place finish at the start of the season I think that plenty would have taken it”
That’s fair mate.
It’s about having a realistic expectation level. Mind you, they did spend a bit of money.
On the minimal contact, I was actually proud of elneny for not flinging himself to the ground clutching his face when benteke brushed his chin. Altho if he did benteke would have probably seen red. Sadly that’s what the game has become
AFC Forever
What I’d give for us to sign another Cazorla, let alone sign 2 in 1 transfer window
Cazorla is my favourite player of the Emirates era, I loved Cesc, but signing for Chelsea was an unforgivable act of treachery, after that I can’t even look at him p
Chrispy
Troll away fella 😂😂
The glass is more than half-full. Way more. If it was a cocktail all that’s required is maybe a dash of spicy ingredients, a good shake, and the cherry on top. The cherry of course is the dominating midfielder.
I fancy Arteta will give the players more freedom next season. It’s like square-bashing. After weeks and weeks spent getting licked into shape, you’re given a weekend off to do as you like.
Cazorla with partey midfield pairing would be title contender ship level
If we can find a player on that level it would be transformative
Probably would be mismanaged by lego boi tho
Rich,
Yes, Cazorla was an incredible player.
Wenger paid £10 million for him, what would he be worth today? I used to love watching him play, one of my favorite all-time players.
Marko been banned again?
Lol, I wonder just how many are sitting in the sin-bin.
Going to be a Le-Grove MeToo movement in the near future.
Weagle I don’t read that at all, he piled on Arteta following Villarreal and his stance has basically been augmented because he’s absorbed the fact Arteta is staying and getting backed. With that info he’s spun his gaze to pulling on the green shoots of the season, the signs of progress. If you deny them then I don’t know what to say, I find the melodramatic stuff that Arteta is ‘clueless’ pretty drab reading. It’s been a poor season but we’re not even a mile away from top 4 so at least being some honesty and sense to the table.… Read more »
englandsbest I’ve always been glass half full. What’s the point making yourself bloody miserable? I love football, gets frustrating but it’s a hobby, not exactly working down a mine! From a mental health perspective, it’s really important to look for positivity wherever you can find it. On that note, I am off to pour myself a Long Island Ice tea – double, and chill. As you say, you have to remember Arteta wasn’t able to have a proper pre-season. That’s why I hope we do good business early, it’s essential we get time on the training pitches, especially if we… Read more »
Diet Pep messed up, AMN/Elneny & Buendia midfield would be equal to Coq & Santi
Why do people assume others are miserable? Being proven right gives alot of joy
Im telling you for free!
AFC Forever
You, me and Pedro (and plenty of others) are dead right – there’s every reason to stay optimistic – and it’s healthier that way.
Apparently Ek has had a $2.1 billion offer for Arsenal accepted
Thought KSE would hang around, looks like they’ve gone
Hopefully this doesn’t interrupt our transfer window if true
Mediocrity is unhealthy for Arsenal
Rich
Source ?
Rich,
If you say stuff like that you need to provide some info wtf? Don’t play with people’s hearts.
Sid
Expecting the worst is a definition of pessimism.
Predicting the worst is a repressed form of optimism. It’s like laying a bet on the opposing team.. You win either way.
@englandsfeast, being overly optimistic can blind you to the costs and consequences of a situation.
Rich is trolling.
Arteta will bother the hell out of me when he tries to portray the conference nonsense as something that isnt utterly embarrasing
The thing that worries me most about MA is what’s our pattern of play ? Is it an issue because he does not have his players ? Does he need 2 KT type full backs ? If so the RB is an issue
Are we playing on the flanks ? Through the middle
Tets what’s your pattern of play mate ?
I thing Rich is talking about EKs third bid and DB10 saying he is. Not going away
I really don’t want the Europa conference embarrassment I hope Everton finishes 7th
I would rather we dodge the Conference but I still want us to win against Brighton.
What will be will be.
Yup. I’d rather we don’t play in Conference. Especially given the fact that the coaches are still going to have to prepare for the games, they’ll still have to travel god knows how far. It’s just not worth it.
Sid
By ‘overly optimistic’, I take it you mean ‘expect the impossible’? Well, none of us optimists expect Arteta to win the league next year – we just hope hat he might. No costs or consequences if he doesn’t.
But let’s get this straight, there are very good reasons to be optimistic. Pedro las listed plenty, and so have others. The trend is upwards.
We have such a pathetic fan base CC is a key example of this so happy to not only puntbeitel mediocrity and incompetence but make excuses for it deflect from it or outright deny it.
Let’s be honest we are a thousand miles from where we need to be.
I predicted at the start of the season we would come 8th and I called it right when everyone was saying we would compete for top four.
We have a mediocre team with an ever more mediocre manager
Engelandvest
Hiring a worldclass manager with experience of winning top hours is trending upwards.
Moving into a season with a historically bad performance and breaking numerous terrible records and being dumped out by an average team in Europa league is not trending upwards.
“Apparently Ek has had a $2.1 billion offer for Arsenal accepted”
Highly unlikely firstly Forbes values Arsenal at $2.8 billion the Kroenke’s aren’t going to accept a bid 25% below market value – even if the Forbes valuation is out the bid would still be low. Secondly the share price in Spotify has dropped by more a third in the last 3 months.
Whilst I have no problem in getting rid of the Kroenke’s we really don’t want a new owner who has to leverage the shit of the club to buy it.
Just read that Rich gave the sum in dollars. Didn’t Kroenke decline an offer of $2.5m a week ago? lol
Thought Rich meant it in pounds which would be £300m pounds more than his first offer of £1.8bn.
Realistically and honestly what better manager can we get should we sack Arteta in January? Any opinions here?
Marc
Ek could buy Arsenal and then float half of it on the market surely? As long as he remains majority owner he’d be in charge still.
Also, arsenal stock has probably dropped by now not qualifying for any european comp of merit.
Arsenal don’t need money anyway, they are self sustaining. They need a model to follow in the market and smart investment in players. Plus an owner and 3 legends breathing down the players necks will g them on a bit.
Berg10kamp
That’s why it shouldn’t be left in fact it should have been planned months ago.
Let’s say we sacked him after Villareal, who would we be able to get?
https://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2021/05/20/wow-incredible-arsenal-fans-react-to-what-theyre-hearing-about-shkodran-mustafi-today/
Lols.
As far as I know when he came in the available options were:
Mourinho- no thanks
Ancelloti- didn’t do any better
Nuno- not so special either
Allegri- wasn’t interested
Danny
Those Forbes numbers are from April 2021.
https://www.forbes.com/teams/arsenal/?sh=6c1981d53a57
The idea of floating half of it depends on what you mean. If it’s to investors they will want a return which just means the club has less money to spend, if it’s to fans you’re talking about raising $1.4 billion you’d need 100,000 fans to put in $14,000 each.
It all sounds great but thinking it’s easy because you want the Kroenke’s gone is just wishful thinking.
“Let’s say we sacked him after Villareal, who would we be able to get?”
You bin off Edu as well but Arteta first so he gets the full humiliation in the press and then appoint Rangnick (or similar isn’t Overmars leaving Ajax in the summer?) and let them do their jobs of bringing in a manager.
Our problem is people can’t differentiate between a useless rookie who was only good for putting the cones out and getting Pep’s breakfast order and someone who isn’t a household name.
Where was Wenger when we hired him?
Can see the spuds struggling badly next season, no manager of note seems to fancy them so far and Kane can’t wait to get out fast enough, the fact we can still finish above them this season after having our worse season in living memory is just unreliable stuff,what a shitty club they’re.
No doubt we would be miles above the lot if we had any coach of decent ability this season
Marc
Wont be easy, but no matter who manages us currently they have zero pressure on them because the Kroenkes take zero interest in the affairs or success of the club.
Just having an owner and board that are invested would be a huge boost.
Also, I’m pretty sure Ek has done his maths and isn’t just ploughing into this blindly. I expect he has a plan of sorts.
I believe the Mustafi story only has one response and that’s for a black cap to be called for.
Potter,Gerard,Hassenhuttle,nagelsmann are all far better managers than arteta, a couple was available when we hired the fraud and would have jump unto us in a bit
Danny
Personally I think it’s bullshit and he’s pulled out because he doesn’t have the money.
Avi your observation about the Spuds difficulties in recruiting a decent manager needs to be absorbed by those moaners who want Arteta out. Top class managers don’t want to join dysfunctional organisations. Arsenal are currently in a mess.
Spurs won’t attract any remotely big names now if Kane goes. Son will follow I think too.
Hopefully they sign bale on a fat deal fir 3 years and really fuck themselves.
I doubt Gerrard would tho. Nagelsmann seems a good option. But agree with Marc that Edu is the bigger problem here and the ceo as well.
Well it is what is and Mikel will be around next season. All we can do is support the club and be optimistic that we will see results and better management of the club.
Anyone wondering whether the Spud’s will get in a good manager just have to look at Levy’s record at hiring them, his management of the stadium build was also piss poor.
Berg10kamp
No that’s not what I said, Arteta is by far the bigger problem. I don’t think Edu is up to the job but I want Arteta to be fucking destroyed so there’s no chance he ever has a chance to manage us again.
Understood lol
Spuds are really in dire state..arsenal just slightly better but not much between the 2 clubs .
Bang average squads with absolutely clueless leadership
“But agree with Marc that Edu is the bigger problem here and the ceo as well.”
LOL!
Marc is as Arteta out as I am.
Such a dreadful season and we decide to play our best in the final 4-5 friendlies of the season. No wool pulled over my eyes.
Arsenal are absolutely the best team in the world when there is absolute no pressure and nothing to play for..just knew they’d go on a run after been bitch slap by bummery.
“Such a dreadful season and we decide to play our best in the final 4-5 friendlies of the season.”
True. And still Arsenal xG 1.07 vs WBA xG 1.83 and Chelsea xG 1.57 vs Arsenal xG 0.69.
Says all you need to know about this run.
raptora
Fuck off I’m more Arteta out than you are – I’ll fight you to prove it!
Marc
Fight deez nuts
Both Pedro and I have published today stats which show just how well we have performed in EPL since Christmas. Our away form in particular has been very good losing just 2 games which frankly we could/ should have won and averaging more than 2 goals per game. The football we have played does not match of course that of Manchester City who have recruited several world class players and have consistently outspent us in transfer market. Let’s be realistic we don’t have their resources. Arteta has made mistakes during his time at Arsenal, but he is not half as… Read more »
Just for the record EK only has an 18% share in Spotify he sold a big chunk and pocked it.
The majority shareholding is a bank and investors.
Stan will not go unless the fans get nasty , we tend to be too placid.
ES: “Our away form in particular has been very good”
Yes, it doesn’t include trips to Liverpool, City, Utd, Everton, Leeds and Spurs that happened before Christmas.
Our 2nd part of the season was by far easier, hence the improvement.
9th place is the real representation of our season, not this made up Christmas table that doesn’t have the hardest games of the season included. You bunch are ready to work anything in your favor…
Seriously, pumping a narrative as flawed as that one when the hardest games of the season are not included in the time frame is such an amateur move.
If Pedro drops this type of thinking in his work and he gets caught for how weak his argument is, he’ll be a laughing stock for a while.
No doubt Pedro is feverishly taking tips off of you Raptora, what with your opulent career in blogging and content creation.
Keep being smug AKBs. Just know that you are on the wrong side of this.
Be content with averageness.
Charlie,
Glad you didn’t call me a cunt this time around. Nice improvement.
“I’m not sure about 9 points off fourth. We’re finishing below two clubs who sacked their manager this year because of underperformance.” Embarrassing when you look at it this way. Greenshoots to see everywhere tho according to Pedro. Kind of funny when you think back that Emery was hounded by the same individual for finishing 5th with worse players. And Oh pedders, Malaria isn’t why Auba’s been shit this year. Take that from someone who gets it all the time. His Managers inability to get the best out of him is more likely. But hey we 2nd on the since… Read more »
Pedro and Charlie sitting in the tree K-i-s-s-i-n-g! and sharing the post-Christmas table excluding all the hardest games of the season.
Raptora
Sweary words on the internet upsetting you, what a warrior.
Raptora: Were you a Wenger out?
Matt B,
Yes.
No doubt you were GG out at the time too (not that I remember any of those)?
CC
Is a funny one he invests so much of his time and life on internet battles me thinks he doesn’t have much of a life going on
Raptora Hilarious that you’re claiming others being smug for looking at the positives of the season, but here you are giving it the ‘you’re wrong’ about future events that literally nobody has predicted. You’re so insecure it’s mad. We get it, you have an opinion. But there’s others out there if you weren’t aware. Cry more. “Pedro and Charlie sitting in the tree K-i-s-s-i-n-g! and sharing the post-Christmas table excluding all the hardest games of the season.“ A post-Xmas table is exactly what it implies surely? If it included games before Xmas then it wouldn’t quite be the post-Xmas table.… Read more »
Matt B
By that logic no manager gets sacked.
London
No life at all. Probably on par with you, a guy that’s looked for an argument two days running from the same poster…..
I was young at the time. I started supporting Arsenal when I saw Bergkamp do his magic. I was 11 yo in 1998.
I can’t take much of this 23 games stuff too seriously. I get what Pedro is saying, understanding that he is pointing to a trend, but at the same time it’s been a weird season of no fans, a remarkable season in many ways. I also remember quite a few seasons where GG’s or AW’s teams wouldn’t finish strong over the line when there was fuck all else to play for and have us moist for the approach season then bomb heavily the next. None of that matters much, it’s a trend for the moment, nothing else, you have to… Read more »
CC
By that logic we won the Sunday 2 May 2021 to Wednesday 19 May 2021 League.
Jeez, makes you proud. All with fantastic, entertaining football.
Left
But it isn’t, Boxing Day isn’t an arbitrary date plucked out the air. It’s the first game of the season we had an actual #10 after clamouring for one since the summer.
You can chalk that up to coincidence or whatever the fuck else, but there’s a measurable uptick in performance from then and it’s exactly that which provides cause for optimism.
Left Testicle: I was asking a question, so not sure where you get the ‘logic’ from
Raptora: Started watching Arsenal in ’98 heh — that might explain your attitude to Arsenal. You knew success right from the get-go.
We were very, very shite in the late 70s, early 80s and that’s why maybe some of us older gooners are a bit more forgiving
Matt B, I see your point. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable to demand success. Through the hard work of many people including Wenger, GG, Dein etc, and ofc our star players, they all elevated this club to the next level. That level is the top 8 or top 10 richest clubs in Europe. To expect our results to at least match our financial status makes sense to me. Do you think it’s perfectly fine to be behind Leicester, West Ham, Spuds and Everton? I don’t think so. It’s why I want the club to do better. If we were… Read more »
“”””Both Pedro and I have published today stats which show just how well we have performed in EPL since Christmas.””” wonderful stats, undoubtedly Emirates. I have published some stats too, not so wonderful. Arsenal 1 Oympiakos 2 ( last season) Saints 1 Arsenal 0 FA Cup Arsenal 0 Olympikos 1 ( this season) Arsenal 1 Sparta Prague 1 Arsenal 1 Fulham 1 Arsenal 1 Wolves 2 Arsenal 0 Everton 1 Arsenal 0 Burnley 1 Arsenal 0 Villa 3 Arsenal 0 Leicester 1 Arsenal 0 Liverpool 3 Arsenal 0 Man City 1 Arsenal 0 Crystal Palace 0 Arsenal 0 Man Utd… Read more »
Raptors: Don’t mistake pragmatism for a lack of ambition . We all want to be where we belong, but it might take a bit longer than a season or two.
Don’t get me wrong, Arteta might fail and be fired by November.
I’m surprised that Man Utd left OGS in charge, but he’s actually done okay.
Whether we like it or not, there really is a project with Arteta and it might just be worth seeing where it leads, at least up until the late autumn