Mikel Arteta and Arsenal fans entered a new phase in the relationship which usually spells the end.
Apathy.
Arsenal put on such a bad performance, it was hard to feel anything for the day.
You could have sympathy for the situation if you didn’t have the wider context of what’s been going on at Arsenal. The team started brightly, the system looked interesting and it had City a little bit on the back foot in a way we’ve not seen before. The players looked comfortable, we were moving the ball well… then BANG.
An extremely hopeful ball into the box, Bernd Leno doesn’t come and claim it despite it being 6 yards out, Cal Chambers makes a total hash of the situation, City go 1 up from one chance.
It didn’t take too long for the next error to arrive, a poor cross into the box evades our right back and Xhaka and finds its way into the back of the next. Basically two shots on target and two goals.
What next? The most predictable thing ever. Granit Xhaka is rightly upset the game plan has been destroyed by shoddy errors, so what does he do? He Granit’s hard with a lunging tackle. No one can say we didn’t see it coming, he’s dropped this challenge already this season and gotten away with it. It was a nice touch to see Arteta pat him on the shoulder after this reckless move.
That bit of dimness killed the game. We had no chance. I don’t really care what happened after that because we couldn’t recover with peak-Wenger in charge.
Arsenal shouldn’t be making errors like this. Our games shouldn’t be decided this way. But it’s now a pattern.
How can you feel sorry for a coach that is at the very centre of these issues?
We are game three of the season. I have rationalised William Saliba taking a loan. Then Arteta rolls against the Champions with Kolasinac in central defence. A player that is a shite left back, who is known for not being comfortable on the big occasions, who we are trying to terminate as we speak.
Unspeakable negligence.
Dropping Pablo Mari was the right decision, but how are we here? We knew the Spanish centre-back was ropey last season. Arteta spent a whole summer watching him. Decided he was better than Saliba. Now he’s getting dropped for a left-back in a mega away game? It’s unspeakable what that says about his decision-making and talent ID. It might be a bit rash to suggest Saliba was best placed staying here, but honestly, if Kola is getting games above Mari, how can anyone deny loaning a 6ft 4 ball playing center-back was a shrewd move? The coach is either a bad judge of players he’s watching on the daily, or he’s being extremely petty about the Frenchman. Today, I stand with the Saliba Ultras. They are now officially right on this topic.
We don’t know who our best right-back is, but we absolutely know who the worst one is. Another game of clarity for Soares. How is he still landing game time? Why wouldn’t Arteta just make life easy for himself and play a fan favourite in Ainsley? He’s more mobile, he’s a big-game player, and he’s done it against City in the past. It’s unfathomable.
Then we move onto Bernd Leno. His start to the season has been poor, the club knows he doesn’t want to be here, and it showed again. He let himself be pinned vs Brentford because he doesn’t care, then he let that cross sail over him because he’s not focused. Where were the consequences for the keeping coach that crashed his form? Nowhere to be seen. We’ve added Ramsdale to the mixer, what is going to happen there? At least we know he’d have come for that cross.
The Granit thing is a blessing. Why? Well, we’d lost the game already, now we will absolutely spend the next 3 games watching Sambi and Partey save our season. That’s great news. But my word, Arteta dying on the Granit hill is a sight to behold. We know he’s a good player, but we also know he does shit like that. Who said Ruben Neves was the same player? We missed out there. I think Arse & Nose on Twitter said Granit reflects more than a player, he’s the vibe of our own club, the reward of average service just because.
You can’t progress a team if you make errors like we make under Arteta. You can’t move forward if you don’t sell people that always let you down. You can’t progress under a manager that is buried in the doom of his own bad decisions.
This is end of days stuff. If there’s not a massive improvement in the next phase of the season, he’s going to be out on his arse. Many of us could have taken a loss today, but it needed to be glorious failure, not painful schadenfreude. Mesut Ozil mocking the process? My word. What a low.
5-0 to City is appalling. Bottom of the table after 3 games is a stain. Not registering a shot is pathetic. Scoring zero goals is P45 stuff.
But what is the next step?
Are you going to trust the CEO who promoted Arteta after 6 months?
Are you going to trust the Technical Director that was demoted and stripped of powers? The guy hitting the BBQ after loses? Hanging on a boat with shady agents and execs? The guy being leaked against as good for the chop? That’d be madness.
This is extremely worrying on so many levels. There’s no simple fix. You can’t put a manager into a power vacuum, because even the best need a functioning structure. We don’t have it at the moment. Too many big positions need changing and I’m not sure we have the sharpest people to shape them.
We deserve better.
What a horrendous way to head into the break.
More thoughts tomorrow.
Check out our latest podcast and video. It’s miserable.
Early days boys but have a look at that table, the ultimate window into grimness.
Spurs top
Arsenal bottom 9 back after 3 games.
Vlad “Xhaka is Swiss international and played really well at the European Championship. Mustafi was German international player. Under the guidance of a good coach they could play incomparably better. ” Well these two players were marked as not being up to scratch quite early in their Arsenal careers with Wenger as their manager. Only daft people quote the Xhaka very good in the Euros for a couple of matches. It has no bearing whatsoever in regards his Arsenal career. If he was that good he would have got his move away from Arsenal that he has really been wanting… Read more »
Thank you and goodnight
I understand what you’re saying but I just don’t think it’s fair to equate the two. Wenger made plenty of mistakes but he was also the victim of the high standards he set the club. We were a bog average team for years before he arrived and he should get credit for all the good he did. Krienke on the other hand……
Someone could look silly here regarding Nuno.
Don’t get me wrong Spurs are not geared up for greatness but in relation to Arsenal could be very grim.
Let’s hope Nuno is this virtually useless manager that he was tagged on here.
Sal
It’s ugly but as I told my Spurs-loving brother-in-law it’s pretty sad they take the league table as a source of pride after three games.
TR7 I can understand not wanting one singular voice orchestrating things, but I think if we had the right people in the current roles the structure wouldn’t be under so much scrutiny. Trouble with us is we hired poor individuals into a good model and since tweaked the model to suit the ‘better’ performing individuals within that – which has arguably fucked the whole thing. Arteta shouldn’t have been promoted, and Edu demoted. Edu should’ve been replaced with much, much better, if he was questioned, and the structure remain. Now we’re at a point where we need a reset of… Read more »
Ishola
Salut you. for strapping back into LG, know the Xhaka is here for a while longer.
Regarding Nuno, he’ll eventually fall to his rightful station of 6-10 much like don Carlo did last season. But today it truly adds to the bantz we are living in.
@Bacaryisgod
Please don’t get me wrong, I’d have Wenger back before Arteta. Wenger had more managerial talent in his little toe than Arteta will accrue 50 years in management.
I think we have now a decent team (bare some deadwood) which could be very successful under expert coaching.
I’m sure Willian, Pepe, Aubameyang, Lacazette, Martinelli, and even Nelson and Maitland-Niles could play great football.
But not under Arteta.
BIG
Gotta take what you can get with a cabinet sprawling in space and a solo Audi cup for past 15 years.
The annoying thing is, before the international break when Emery was in charge he should of been sacked as it was obvious to everyone he’d hit a brick wall…..,but they gave him 2 more months. Same fucking thing Is happening again with Arteta. We all know he’s a dead man walking, why delay the inevitable
Adama Traore is a force of nature, amazing power and strength. Will have one eye on Neves too.
Wolves could have been 2-0 up.
So , the new lenient rules allow a player to deliberately punch another player in the face if they are merely touched on any part of their body……despite the offence leading to a goal . And the new lenient rules allow the attacking team to deliberately hold down the goalkeeper at throw ins and corners to restrict the keeper from moving from his line…despite the offence leading to a goal . But strangely enough the new lenient rules are not put into effect when an Arsenal player ( Kolasinac) accidentally makes contact to the face of an opposition player whilst… Read more »
I suspect another record broken today. The gap in places between us and the cockerel jockeys since we’ve been in the top flight has surely never been wider. As EB would say, Bravo Arteta. Fucking wanker, Arteta that is.
Ruben Neves walks into our XI with his eyes shut btw, such an Arsenal player it’s actually mad how many on here dismissed him earlier in the window.
Looks much more himself the start of this season.
True Sal!!!
Good to have you back Ishola.
ES
How about you give your top 3 managers and DoFs?
Then we can debate your managerial wisdom.
You’re getting the hang of trolling very impressive for your age.
Now if you could only get those dam sentences to stay in the right lines. Have you thought of using dictation apps?
Wolves squandering chances left, right and centre.
Man Utd need to do better, if they want to contend the title, games like this and at Southampton last week are ones they need to win.
Arteta out
It used to be if you don’t challenge for the title you’re sacked, now it’s you can keep your job no matter how useless you are.
At least Wolves create unlike the cretinous Arsenal team.
“Ruben Neves walks into our XI with his eyes shut btw, such an Arsenal player it’s actually mad how many on here dismissed him earlier in the window.”
Lol
Name one that doesn’t
i can only HOPE that the delay in sacking Arteta is based on us taking our time to talk to prospective new coaches. Maybe DOF’s
Or then again, Stan could be starting out the window of his ranch and his cattle, etc.
Josh on a boat somewhere.
Vinai crunching numbers in an office
We can only hope that this silence is due to clandestine meetings with new coaches
Ishola
Don’t do there with spuds. I got my hands burnt.
The rebuild has been ongoing for 15 years. Fans need to protest and stop going to games.
Guns
There is no ambition in the club. Only talk of process. And process means time granted.
They will hope Arteta can get some points on the board in his next few matches whilst the majority of fans can see that if this occurs it won’t lead to anything really substantial over the course of the whole season. There has been too much evidence to think otherwise.
Guns
We can only hope that this silence is due to clandestine meetings with new coaches
============================
But who are those coaches?
Brendan Rogers, Marcelo Bielsa?
Dissenter
“Don’t do there with spuds. I got my hands burnt.”
You noticed I only mentioned Spurs in relation to Arsenal.
No-one tips Spurs for ultimate glory.
Vlad
Ill take those…
Im trying to stay optimistic
That’said, it’s the ultimate defeatism to accept that we’ll lose to clubs like United, City, Liverpool and Chelsea when a Nuno-led spuds can be competitive against them.
Spuds with Kane convincingly beat city on opening day
Depressing times to be gooner.
Brenda would be able to handle this mess.
Bielsa would be great too, but he does not take any shit. Might not even want this job
“Trouble with us is we hired poor individuals into a good model and since tweaked the model to suit the ‘better’ performing individuals within that”
Good thing you put the better in quotes, take away the FA Cup and Arteta’s time here has been mediocre to poor in the league. The league is where you judge progress.
It was the stupidest thing we could have done that promotion, and he wanted it so badly. He wanted total control and bull dozed his way to it once he won the cup.
New post fellow Gooners
it would be hard to get someone already coaching. id rather us grow a pair and go for conte. a proven winner in more than one league. A fiery coach, would bring enthusiasm to the fans. The folks at the club should know the fans really need that- emotionally, something to get excited about again. Arteta is way worse than Emery. Both were kind of dud signings and for a time both coaches had us thinking that they might be the ones… FA cup, EL final, etc… but alas they did not live up Edu needs to go to… some… Read more »
This isn’t nothing new, under Wenger Arsenal managed no shots on target in two consecutive games against Chelsea.
Listening to Johnny rant was very therapeutic. Thank you sir.