Mikel Arteta dropped his first press conference of the season and I have to say… he didn’t inspire much confidence and came across quite muted. Not a good look when you cross-reference it against Thomas Frank’s glowing account of how his summer has gone.
Key points for me:
- We haven’t done the business Arteta expected us to do
- The market has been more difficult than they thought it would be
- A domino effect will likely happen in the last week of the window
Outside that I couldn’t really name much of note he spoke about.
The target is consistency this season and to take each game one at a time.
Our goal is to get the best version consistently that’s going to bring us closer to winning football matches. That’s what I want from the team. If we do that consistently in every single match, we’re going to be in a good place, but that’s something we haven’t done, consistently give the best version. That’s something we must control and we must do, and I think if we’re able to do that, then the results will be the consequence to that.
He’s never going to pick a league position, but I hoped for something a little more inspiring than consistency. It also felt like there were a few not-so-subtle digs at what he has at Arsenal, but I might just be reading too deeply into it.
The clarity in what they do. They’ve been doing it for a long time together and you can see they have that fluidity and chemistry between them, and they believe that the plan they’ve put in place works for them. I think that’s a big strength for any team.
There needs to be clarity on the pitch this season, with the players he has right now. The squad is still a mess, that’s not all his fault, but he’s going to have to make it work this season. We have a bright young squad of players with some players that are misfits for the system… but we can do things this season and we have to.
The objectives are pretty clear for the next 4 months.
We need to rapidly adapt to playing a higher line with Ben White. Getting ripped through the middle cannot be a new thing for the first three months this season.
There needs to be more clarity when it comes to our football style. We need better transitions, the team needs to feel more fluid and unpredictable, and we need to start taking our chances. Statman Dave called our style Doughnut football. We control possession around the sides of the area but there’s no verticality to our game. That has to change.
We need to reduce errors by 50% this season. We cannot continue to punch ourselves in the face. Moving on David Luiz was a big swing at that. Sending Ceballos back to Madrid will help. There are still a few players with us that lack the right level of concentration, but whatever, it needs to be better this season. 50% less errors last season and we’re a top 4 side, simple as that.
We need to improve our finishing by 20%. It wasn’t good enough last season. That’s the whole team, not just Auba. But, Auba does need to play like a £350k a week striker. We need 10 goals from ESR. We need 10 goals from Saka. We need to see our other players popping up in the box and contributing.
The start to the season is really important, if we’re within spitting distance of top 4 come January, we’ll very much be in mixer in May. Last season, we fucked the start of the seasons so badly we couldn’t recover… but we were still close. We need to be the post-Christmas Arsenal, that is the standard.
We’ll know pretty early on Friday which Arsenal has shown up. We’re playing in a new stadium against a team that doesn’t know where it’s level is at the moment. None of that matters, we need to go in there, boss the game, and start to build confidence. Chelsea is winnable. West Brom there should be no excuses. We need to go into that City game with at least 4 points. Then we’ll see.
It’s going to be interesting to see how everyone else does this season. Manchester City are the side to beat, without a doubt. Chelsea have not looked convincing preseason so far, they were very nearly Emery’d in the Super Cup last night. Spurs have a very drossy manager and a bag of issues no club needs to be dealing with. Liverpool is a team to watch, their players are all getting older, they dropped their level by 30 points last season, and they’ve solved that with one signing this summer. Everton haven’t done much. West Ham haven’t done much. Leicester have made 3 signings. This is going to be an interesting season.
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Pepe False 9?
Aubamayang and Lacazette out , could it be a false no.9 tonight.
We will now find out if Arteta trusts/rates balogun or Martinelli..
“Rap wtf does that mean?“
It’s incel lingo, obviously a WoW or LoL dweller.
Martinelli hasn’t even trained more than what a couple of times with the team. Arteta’s going to have to think of something.
Staring the season without Partey, Auba and Laca
So so Arsenal
Never mind how well White performs on his debut tonight, I am expecting big things from another of our new signings. What’s his name again? oh yes-Xhaka.
Auba has a touch of the Ozil flu, and Laca is hopefully getting driven to Rome.
What a shambles opening day.
Put Pepe through the middle with Gabi, ESR, and Saka behind him.
Eddie, Auba, Laca out is laughably Arsenal
afcstuff
Goal can confirm that Real Madrid are open to selling Martin Ødegaard for £34m this summer, with Arsenal poised to accelerate transfer talks after Joe Willock‘s permanent move to Newcastle is confirmed. @charles_watts
Is elneny transfer listed? Waste of space that one, And on 50k a week lmao
If I was arteta
I would keep willock, sell elneny
Sell laca
Use auba up top with nketiah or balogun as back up
Have pepe and saka on the wings with martinelli and willian as back up
Play ESR at CAM (buy a cheaper back up from the championship, or go for auruor, or szoboszai)
Have partey, willock, lonkonga and xhaka as CM
Defense speaks for itself
And loan a back up GK
At least the squad looks good for the future.
Cédric is so short he’ll lose every header. Bellerin looks lost defensively. Chambers is better than both of them. Can Nuno Tavares play on the right side?
I think there’s something cooking behind the scenes. Are both our strikers looking for a move away ?
this may be a pleasure in disguise. Imagine if Martinelli or Pepe in the middle have a cracking game.
Having both auba and laca for the season makes zero sense. One of them has to go.
I can’t deal with another season of laca up top with auba out wide. It’s one of the reason why we couldn’t find the back of the net last season.
If Odegaard is that cheap can we not bring in Aouar too?
And how coincidental that Auba and Laca are both out with “illness”
something happened to Pierre this Summer where he started to talk sense
I think it’s just that Ozil has gone from being his only conversation topic to ‘just one of the major topics’ haha
How the fuck do we lose 2 strikers hours before the kick off of the opening Premier League game? Shambles is an understatement….
so with maddison fee we could buy both Ode and Aouar. insane..
Ever since we signed both Auba and Lacazette, we are out of the CL. Time to turn the page.
China1
Pierre has always talked sense, his insight has slays been appealing
It was just that his love of everything Ozil distracted people from reading whatever else he wrote about.
Balogun is clearly not ready, but one wonders if he doesnt get his chance now, where that time would be? and how he would react to possible omission? we havent even started the season and it looks sinister.
He has t0 play Martinelli up top but neither he nor Saka [who has to play] is fully fit.
We have – bad transfer window so far, lots of strange choices were made like waiting on Real to determine our fate.
What happened if Leno gets crocked or something? Runnarson?
What are the chances of seeing a false #9, now that our senior strikers are unavailable looooool
Diss
I don’t think martinelli is ready, he just joined training this week
But artetas plan is simple, so I guess we could start martinelli, ball will be passed around at the back anyway.
A false #9 would be Diet Peps way of starting the season in style
Pepe as false 9 or Martinelli as CF.
Its between Willian and ESR for the false #9 role
Season has not started and we are already in shambles….
In 2014, Debuchy + Chambers both picked up injuries, and that opened the door to Bellerin
Last season Willian fell ill, and that opened the door for Smith Rowe
In 2019 Tierney was injured, Kolasinac picked up a knock, and that opened the door to Saka
Silvinho’s passport issues opened the door for Ashley Cole
Hopefully tonight Martinelli or Balogun step up, and then never look back
Coincidences are just God’s little way of staying anonymous
PEA would be the most piss weak Captain in Arsenal’s history. What’s he got now, the sniffles?
Valentin “ I just hope that in 3 years time, we don’t look back at all those players (Willock, Nkethia, Saliva, Reiss Nelson, …) With regrets about what could and should have been. We had the nucleus of the club squad for the next decade and we are squandering it.“ – in a nutshell. Always felt that way , but could not articulate. Arteta will prove to be the most damaging Sauce ever poured over the Arsenal circuit board. If Kroenke still persists , Arteta will run the Club into depreciation, which would likely force Kroenke out. That would be… Read more »
If Ode is 34 mil, then fair enough at that price. Don’t think he has the drive to be a door kicker, and slows down our play, but at 34 mil it’s worth taking the chance he develops, while knowing there’s a goid chance you won’t lose a huge amount if moving him on.
Though bearing in mind Real ‘allegedly’ valued him at EUR 50m earlier in the summer, you’d think at £34m there will be a modest buy-back clause (e.g. EUR 50m).
Runnarson as a false 9 ! Hopefully it works at the opposite end of the pitch !! LOL
Yeah, Rich – we’re desperately in need of one of the junior CFs breaking out this season, so it would be huge if one of them can take the chance.
False 9!!! haha
They are not I’ll hopefully a sale is possible which is great news if true.
Could they sell Willian on a buy one get one free! BOGOF is so accurate.
Tammy and Ode it is then.
Oh well no top 4 for the foreseeable future
I remember when Vieira picked up a big injury, and we roped in some kid to replace him…
Agree Rich. If Balogun is designated 3rd choice CF then we should start him.
The 8-2 thrashin by man u brought Diet Pep to Arsenal
“”””””Coincidences are just God’s little way of staying anonymous””””””””””
I’m hearing Madrid want a buy=back clause in the Ode deal but Arsenal are reluctant.
Good. Straight deal or no deal. Buy back is just a glorified long term loan deal.
Wait both strikers out? Advantage Arsenal for me.
Spanishdave
“Could they sell Willian on a buy one get one free!”
“Take Willian, and we’ll throw in Auba for free. World class. All yours without paying a penny in fees… (as long as you agree to pay their joint £100m in wages over 3 years).”
Vintage
I don’t mind the Ode buy-back if the option is set at £80m, and we’re buying at £34m.
If the buy-back is set at EUR 50m, or £50m, complete waste of time. We’d be taking a big gamble on a player without owning any of the upside (but all of the risk).
Any chance of re imaging the Willock sale and turning it into a swap deal involving Joelinton… or Andy Carroll? No can do cos Edu’s having some last minute bunga bunga at Butlins in Minehead. Let’s hope these droppings (pun intended) is code for Auba has been benched or is en route to Barcelona and Laca is in Rome having a medical. Weigh this type of news up against Arsenal being one of the richest clubs in the world and you get a full appreciation of how bad the amoebas are run the club. Would love to see Flo play… Read more »
Fair shout Elmo. I think it’s just i’m tired of us having Madrid players that they can call back if successful. £80m BB clause is reasonable though i guess
Odegaard is massively underrated by some on here I’d take Odegaard over Maddison in a heartbeat, I wouldn’t blink, Odegaard has by far the higher ceiling Different style of player, and at a different junction in his career, but Odegaard would be our best signing since Alexis in 2014 Disappointed we’ve let go of Willock, I was pushing for him to get a run of games through the beginning of last season, and was told almost unanimously that he’d never be good enough… He’s not a deep lying midfielder like some seem to think he could be, he’s a no8… Read more »
No Auba or Laca tonight? No problem.
Pepe as false nine anyone? 😂
Bacary….to quote a famous former Arsenal manager “Xhaka can also play there”
Got to be Balogun tonight, thrown in at the deep end but if he’s good enough he’ll be ok!!
Fortune favours the brave….I only want to see Elneney when we are 3 goals up and if truly Auba n Laca are out give way for Energy in the form Martinelli or Balogun… let’s not think our way into problems,Tets am looking at ya
2 obviously first team starting attackers out barely hours before the season opener
I think the club is cursed….Scenes if Brentford get a jammy win tonight, that will complete the misery
i wouldnt be surprised if Teta doesnt even play a striker tonight in which case id fuck off if I was Balogun!
As much as I want us to sign Odegaard, we shouldn’t do a buy back clause, that should be a 100% deal breaker
The last thing we need is to develop Odegaard and give him a platform to thrive, only for the threat of Madrid pouncing at every transfer window lingering over us
We can’t plan properly for the future with clauses like that, it’s also easy to unsettle players
We shouldn’t be reluctant to include such a clause, we should be adamant that no such clause is included, otherwise we’ll look elsewhere
Atleast we dont have Auba on the left wing, thats a positive
Auba and Lacca out bullshit, something going down but on the day we kick the season off this is going some even for AFC
Anyone create a Legrove Fantasy League ? Be happy to join in one
Chance for Martinelli to save the club massive amount of money for the mediocre Chavs reject Abraham.
If Arteta doesn’t give him the chance I want him gone from the club ASAP
Give Balogun a run out he can’t do any worse.
careful Avi you will draw ire with from certain people with that sort of comment
“As much as I want us to sign Odegaard, we shouldn’t do a buy back clause, that should be a 100% deal breaker The last thing we need is to develop Odegaard and give him a platform to thrive, only for the threat of Madrid pouncing at every transfer window lingering over us“
—————-
Buy back clauses aren’t indefinite.
What’s Arteta’s record of developing players like?
Christ CC you even have Pornstein on the Abraham agenda, salut the effort.
Diet Pep after 2 seasons is more shambolic than Wenger after 20 years
I find it kinda funny in a way that we’re missing 530k’s worth of CF for today but it doesn’t really bother me because neither are consistently good enough these days
I’d play balogun
He might not perform but the same is true of the other two, so that risk just doesn’t feel scary like it should
Maddison is an 8 (his words), I do rate Ode but where does this leave ESR? Both play 10 and not as if we have loads of games on our plate.
This is worth 10mins of your time
https://youtu.be/rIfv2qlesok
I’m way more excited about Brentford as a club than Arsenal after watching this … lol
Yeah or martinelli
To the resident whisky heads, if you’ve not already get yourself a Dalmore 12, it’s frickin lovely. The taste is quite similar to arran 10 but dare I say even nicer
Had an awesome night the other day on holiday in shanghai. Ordered an Ardbeg 10 and a laphroaig 10 side by side to compare properly which was a very fun hour and a half. Then found a jazz bar round the corner with an awesome African/Bulgarian jazz band and tried dalmore 12 for the first time. Elite night
sorry just waking up in cali….
hearing auba and laca are sick??!
Willian returns….
Starting tonight 8pm BST
Fabrizio Romano @FabrizioRomano
Martin Ødegaard would love to re-join Arsenal. He was really happy during his loan spell last season and he’s waiting for Arsenal bid to be accepted by Real Madrid, once the green light arrives. ⚪️🇳🇴 #AFC Ødegaard has a great relationship with Arteta and board members too.
___________________________________________________________________________________
With Ode, I would like to see this attack:
—————————–Auba
ESR————————Ode—————————Saka
Pepe and Martinelli as backup.
how the F on opening day are both strikers ill?
Most of you were badmouthing Auba and Laca but when they’re out you still have a reason to complain.
Anyway as humans as we are, not all can be pleased. Their absence could give clarity on whether they’re tripe and shit as others make us to believe or our system isn’t just good enough. Hope the kids that are hyped here will step up to the occasion when given the opportunity.
I hope Martin takes this chance, and demolishes Brentford
that is the type of player we need playing. fearless and taking on players with ease
A blessing in disguise! Put in Martinelli up front and he would do the combined work of Auba and Laca (half a million pounds per week).
Auba and Laca have a case of the Ozilititis.
Nasty stuff that..hard to get rid of. Treatment apparently is 48hours of hard gaming followed by a call to your agent to see if he has heard anything.
hmmmm
are both being sold???
Strange indeed….
And once the agent responds with alls quiet on the western front, repeat process next weekend.
I imagine i will be downing some whiskey tonight Chinal but be first bottle I can lay my hands on . Never tried the Dalmore 12 must get it in . It will be tough without Laca and Auba but maybe a blessing in disguise , I think too much is thought of them and too much talked about them , they haven’t pulled up an trees lately and their Aldi Wrighty and Sanchez/Titi offerings only goes as far as the moody arms in the air and sulky faces . Get Marti in there to tries his balls off maybe… Read more »
haha I wouldnt bat an eyelid if news broke down during weekend that inter milan is in negotiations with arsenal to bring in aubameyang… 😀 or something crazy like that… 😀
Sal
What’s Orny being saying?
Real need a backup striker to Benzi, why not shift on Auba in deal for Martin Odd, till have money to spend on Tammy Abs if hes the man to get ?
Divine
“Anyone create a Legrove Fantasy League ? Be happy to join in one”
There’s one on le grove every year, it starts at Christmas.
Your team is good, Rosapirescastlesaka.
Shocking to see Chambers as our starter, though. We really need to sell Bellerin and find someone who’s at least mid-table quality.
we did pretty well after henry & co departed.. and have new stars in the making this time too… why wouldnt we be at least ok? 🙂
Sounds awful but I think Auba and Lacca being out, gives us more of a chance of winning tonight!!!
Awful right?
Damn If arsenal sell both auba and laca, I’ll take back all the bad things I said about edu and arteta
Almunia
There’s one on le grove every year, it starts at Christmas.
Lmao, or during Wenger era, it started at the end of February.
I created one last year and could see few of us already joined.
https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/35yukr
Haha rosa arsenal in 2021 are only worthy of that tescos own brand ‘special blended reserve’ for £11 a liter 😂😂
Absolutely no way that Arteta will start with Gabi Martinelli as our CF. Zero chance.
If he actually decides to do that, the bases of me converting to an Arteta believer will be set.
Most of you were badmouthing Auba and Laca but when they’re out you still have a reason to complain.
Could be a blessing that they are out.
Raptora , I think he will start Pepe-Gabi-Saka with maybe Pepe in the middle either way remember he will be going fullscale Peplite with a False 9 system .
Chinal, if tonight’s result doesn’t go right then Tescos/Dalry/ Jameson will make no differences because it will be quantity not quality I will be concentrating on
https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/qwvau3
I’m definitely not complaining, gives the youth a chance to step up. …..unless Auba/Laca are already starting the Ozil like mind games.. with ..” I’m sick boss vibes.” every game day. it does seem highly coincidental they would both have a mysterious illness at the same time 2 hours before the game.
Not good for team chemistry as we have witnessed with the Fortnite warrior.
Almunia
Even though I give credence to the post-Christmas League analysis, I found your comment very funny 🙂
I’d like to see Pepe play 9 with Gabi in 11
Has that Amazon.. Docudrama started filming yet? Sounds like good episode 1 … “content”.
Mid
Maybe Auba and Laca have to self isolate.
Midwest
What are they going to name it? Episode 1 – ‘Half Million Pounds sickness’? :’)
MidwestGunAugust 13, 2021 15:39:44
Has that Amazon.. Docudrama started filming yet? Sounds like good episode 1 … “content”.
Good point, now hopefully Will I AM will get same dose of shits they have