Gooooooood morning! Arteta dropped some intel about some of the reasons we struggled early in the season.
DEADWOOD DEEPSTATE. Think I stole that from someone on the Arsenal Vision Podcast. Now it is mine.
The allusion was that certain players that aren’t here now were the problem.
I cannot imagine which part-time social media manager on £350k a week that could have been?
I cannot imagine which binned players might have been causing those issues?
I cannot imagine which players exiting might also have had a role?
The mess of the squad at the start of the last season led to dramatic decisions. Those decisions against big names were obviously going to hit the morale of the squad. You’ve all worked with a dickhead who hands their notice in and determines to burn the house down.
‘THIS PLACE IS A HELLISH VACUUM OF PUSS THAT IS GOING ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM’
Actual quote from Sandra from accounts at my place.
The biggest issue, Mesut Ozil, was a problem because he was the king. Everyone knows that when the King is dethroned, you have to kill him, because their prior power will always be a threat to stability. The German was too big for Arsenal at that point, he was hurt by the rejection, so it was clear he’d be a problem internally and externally.
Form has picked up since we rid the squad of bad eggs. Things have been better since we discovered the power of creativity in our midfield. We controlled games far better with Thomas Partey in the side.
Everyone is whining on about how 23 games of form doesn’t count for anything. Well, let’s see how that pans out next season, but also dig a little deeper into some other elements.
Leicester beat us with their only run into our box. We smashed them at their place.
Fulham beat us without having a shot on target.
Wolves didn’t deserve to beat us chance. Self inflicted Wolves.
Spurs beat us off 5 attempts at our goal and 30% possession. It was palmed off as ‘genius’ at the time, but let’s be real, it was luck as shown by Jose exiting the building a few months later.
Burnley beat us off 2 shots on target.
Everton beat us twice.
Villa beat us twice.
Basically, a lot of very lucky stuff happened against some very average teams this season.
Turn 3 of the above games into more positive results and the last game of the season sees Arsenal in Champions League spots in our worst ever season.
Hardly a stretch, right?
Think how much better life will be if we have a settled squad come the summer. Creative players from the start. An Auba not dealing with family issues and malaria. Young players a season on.
Arsenal will sell a whole collection of players. I’m not sure reading the praise of the manager is indicative of who we are keeping, it’s a negotiation tactic. Do we really think Madrid believe their future hinges on Odegaard? Doubtful… but it’ll pump his price. Same for the players Mikel is saying are under contract. We are less desperate this summer, which will lead to bigger fees (or actual fees).
Arsenal will no doubt try and make Martin a centre piece of our rebuild this summer and I’d agree with that. I’d certainly prioritize him over the Norwich fella at £450m or whatever they are looking to charge for him.
Then we’ll go for a right back, which has basically been a dead position all season. A nightmare for many reasons, but mainly because we’re lopsided when we attack. If we can bring Tierney levels to the right, it opens a whole world of possibilities.
Ryan Bertrand is perfectly acceptable cover on the left (Leicester after him, so should be safe).
Then we need to address that midfield. I have no idea who we’ll look for in that role, but hopefully we have another press resistant player that can move in the role.
Shake out the deadwood this summer.
Have a 6 week preseason and bond the leaner group.
Make sure everyone is excited and knows their own personal plan.
There will be no excuses next season, but I don’t believe there will be a need for them.
The players are backing the manager. Look at the vibes in the training ground video for David Luiz’s send off.
The club is going to bat for the first team again this summer.
I think we’re on the up.
Final word for the Edu story doing the rounds. The gist is he was taking orders from someone banned from Brazilian football for corruption when he was over there. I don’t understand enough detail to give a running commentary, but the basics are pretty clear, he took orders, he knew who from.
Arsenal relevance:
- It shows real lack of leadership to keep quiet when things like that are going on. The guy giving orders was behaving like Pablo Escobar from jail. Shocking stuff.
- Subservience to shady characters is clearly part of his operating system.
Speaking up about tough things that don’t feel right is part of any big job. I’d say ‘imagine if that was Arsenal’ but let’s be honest, we’ve seen people fail to speak truth to power in our football braintrust to great cost. Shocking deals, cosy agent relationships, huge wastage that a layman could have predicted.
This story is a bad reflection on Edu, but an even worse one on our leadership. Did anyone check in with people that had worked with him to see if he was a determined leader, or a soft touch people pleaser?
I doubt anything will come of it, but at the very least, I hope Vinai V, Richard G, and Josh K are keeping an extra close eye on who we are talking to this summer. The number 1 interest should always be Arsenal FC, that clearly hasn’t been the case with a lot of the decisions we’ve made over the past 4 years. The weaknesses on show in this story aren’t hard to trace back to some if the things we’ve seen at Arsenal (subservience). It is also a worry that he can be so comfortable working with a man of corruption. It’s a canary in the coal mine. Let’s hope we’re not on the receiving end of one of these stings in the future.
Aubameyang is never on the end of those crosses.
I was shouting get in the box 5 seconds before that ball was played. Drives me nuts when players don’t anticipate something so basic.
Useroz
Via a ballot for ST holders.
MC is doing Arteta a favor, leading 1 – 0
Yep Moss the ref. is a fat azz he basically shambles about … in center of the park not wasting much energy.
Wots the point of auba back heels
Can someone tell those wankers we need to win the game to go above Spud?
Thanks legend
Take the shot Chambers God sake
Results are going for us
Thought partey had great strengths 💪💪💪??
Spuds down … vardy special
Leicester one up
Leicester 1 – 0;
MC 2 – 0
Slow build up .. slinging in crosses like we have Giroud.. in there.. isn’t gonna do it… need to counter quickly.
I really like Thomas but why not berate the reg for that arm on his neck?
We really are meek
///
Lolz. Spuds 1 nil down to Leicester.
Everton 2 down, Spud 1 down. Now watch us concede stupid goal.
We have to score to take advantage of the current results in other games. These players should be busting a gut today.
Pepe is scared of their fucking freak left back or what?
Presumably arteta has been made aware we need a 1 nil win , at least
We’re playing at friendly game pace
Vinai looks like a joker next to Kroenke
I find Pepe has the physical ability but is quite dumb.
Oh look Josh Kroenke is there.. Sell you fucker.!
Back neck header by Auba lol
Willock scores again.
Willock is bantering Arteta nicely..
Willock with every passing game adding to his value
Fuck sake… FK at one end and almost 1v1
Bissouma so far quite useless.
Auba is Arteta out. Could have got that header in, considering their goalkeeper
That was a horrible freekick
Finally partey shot on target lol
Partey on target at last.
Fans booing
Partey closer still.
Partey has been practicing shooting.. he must read Le Grove.
That Newcastle guy who can’t scoring. We should sign him…..oops he is in our books already!
Partey really reminds me of Vieira, just a really really bad version.
Attack that fucking freak Burns FFS. He’s a donkey
Willock is intent on giving the Arsenal transfer team a major headache
You can’t ignore a midfielder scoring goals for fun, goals win games.
Arteta has no flair for playing to players’ strengths and talent… other than forcing players to play the one way he knew and handicapping them along the way
Chris Hughton was one of the biggest spenders with Brighton and was still fighting relegation.
With respect to Graham Potter, have you ever seen a lowly league side consistently dominate matches with a well-defined style of play? All with a bunch of unknowns. The stats are also there to show how disparate their league form is with their performances. You could point to Leeds but even they have spent more than Brighton.
There’s no comparison between Potter and Hughton.
How did that not go in?
Bissouma’s audition is certainly over
Sign up the lad.
Arteta has no flair for playing to players’ strengths and talent…
____
Yep… one of my biggest complaints with him. That and losing too much.
Shame that we were offside as this was a goal.
Newcastle knew how to extract values from Wullick, Arteta doesn’t. Willock might not even be playing if with us next season.
Even when Holding scores, it’s offside.
If it’s like that at half time, get Auba and Odegaard off and put Laca and Martinelli on.
3 players crowding pepe every time he has the ball. Definitely our most threatening attacker.
Bissouma not impressing anyone so far.
Willock’s middle finger must have been tired for being up a while
We need Willock. Our attackers can’t score!
Willock again?
Oh so the plan is to wait until the second half to attack. Gotcha…
Their keeper is very flappy
Arteta still busy playing Pep lookalike… determined not to honor the occasion with an Arsebal jacket , and with some fans back attending in the last game of the season
We need a goal
Willock scores
Can’t say I’ve ever been that excited about Bissouma really. Good engine but we need more than just that.
Bissouma has good pace, one great tackle in the box, a foul on Odegarde, and some pressing. That aside, nothing much so far….
That attack by Auba looked like he was deciding if he wanted to play in Europa Conference and was like… nope.
… may be we are too easy for bissouma 😆😆😆
Spud equalised
Auba header hit bar
Bissouma not taking any chances and risks. He wants to not make any mistakes in his audition that he looks average.
Ughh Spuds draw with Kane scoring.
At least he is fucking off. This will weaken them significantly.
Auba just fucking ball watching
Bissouma!s mammy in her market boots would still be an improvement on Xhaka
Spuds equalised
Chelsea is losing!!!!
Follow it up! Bloody stood there like a mannequin.
Never thought I would say Partey and our Center backs are our best attacking threats today.. so far.. that’s sad.
Getting closer to a goal. West ham playing very well.
They have had a very good PL season.
Chelsea one down.
How bloody predictable..at HT its only Arsenals game that is Nil Nil
We needed goal scorer like Martinelli in a game we need to win. Instead Arteta playing number 10 as a left winger.
However, I’ve been watching Brighton all season, we’re one of the few teams that really made the potter boys look clueless. Good sign
Shearer must be seething… An Arsenal kid, Willock, just become a Newcastle legend
7 goals in 7 PL games
… with still 2H to go!
Useroz
May 23, 2021 16:43:59
Auba header hit bar
———-
Gabriel……
We need to further up the tempo..need Martenelli on for Odegaard
Check out Willock’s goal, sheer single mindedness
A bit of a meh first half.
Yes we are pushing but nothing concrete so far bar that goal which was ruled offside.
We need to step up the pressure in the second half.
mid
long time no see. Good to see you here on a matchday.
Best news after Spud not winning the almost a man team losing at Villa.
Seventh to Tenth on all the same points.
A Spurs mate of mine just sent me a message begging us to win, they so don’t want to be in that new European Conference League!
The Willock goal was a special solo run from own half and ended up scoring from around the penalty spot. Wow!
Looks like WestHam will get the 6th spot. Most likely, we’ll get the 8th spot again. The Pools will win. The big question is the 4th spot between Leicester and Chelsea.
Useroz
And that’s where we bring Willock back and Arteta doesn’t know what to do with him.
Sigh.
I would even take Xhaka or Tierney off and move ESR central to bring Martinelli on.
However, watch Willian come one because Arteta thinks Willian is better against defensive teams in tight places.
Our tempo was decent the early part of the game but Brighton are showing why they are much improved defensively, a tough nut to crack.
That being said we need to speed things up again, the results are currently in our favour. The crowd seem subdued also but they may just be my perception.
Arteta would play Willock as a number 10. in this lineup.. you just know it. nullifying his goal scoring threat.
Anyhow.. Thanks Gonsterous.. I’m usually here for Game days.. not much else though anymore.. occasionally drop in to say hello to Sal.
Today is a repeat of the game vs CP. We couldn’t score until Martinelli came in.
Arteta will play willock at left wing next season
Willock was almost Martinelli like in his grit and desire in scoring that solo…
In contrast, early goal attempt aside, our MFers today exhibit fantastic consistency and show discipline, ruthlessly making mostly side and back passes, per generational process.
Still think Willock would be wasted if/when back with us next season, if Arteta hasn’t been sacked..
Coyg
Midwest
Arteta won’t play willock
This feels a lot like the game at their place. Get Laca on so he can score the winner again. Fuck knows why we struggle against this lot.
Auba doesn’t deserve half of his paid.
Vickingz
Arteta will test Willock’s patience and observe his reactions , like wot he did to Martinelli our third top scorer of 9 PL goals in 2019/20, by benching him for two third of next season! Wot a psycho
Still no signs of Martinelli…