PHASE 2 LEARNINGS

by .

Welcome to Monday precious ones.

It’s international break. Kill me. Honestly, why do we need so many of these? Can you beleive Mr Wenger would ideally like this period to be AN ENTIRE MONTH OF FOOTBALL. Honestly, he fell off so hard. I cannot believe that all that good work he did managing his reputation, to just jump right into bed with FIFA and try and reinvent the game to have World Cups every two years, something he’d have hated as a manager. Really shoddy.

Anyway, I’ll take this break on the chin.

We’re going to have to be Perspective FC today because this season moves in phases and we have to look at how we’re tracking.

This batch of games was overall, a big improvement on what we saw in the first three games. 10 points from a possible 12. We’re 4 points off Top 4 having played 3 top teams so far. As Johnny said in the podcast, we’re now at a crossroads. We’ve lost some games we wanted to win and won some games we thought we’d lose.

Now it’s all about how we move on to the next phase: Consistency.

Some of that is going to come with time. Whether you want to accept it or not, this is a new team of players and new teams take time to bed in. Factor in that it’s the youngest in the league and you have to consider other elements like experience and maturity.

The game at the weekend was a prime example of what a lack of experience gives you. The weather was absolutely dreadful, Brighton’s press was bang on-point, and we didn’t have an answer.

Liverpool had the same issue against City. They were totally boxed in during the first half. Everyone was one step off the pace. The team reacted by stepping off City, which is exactly what Pep wants you to do against him.

Listen to how Klopp dealt with the issue tactically.

It takes time and experience to do that. Arsenal’s young players didn’t know how to respond and didn’t really have the confidence to step up against the Brighton press. There was too much fear in the system. Long balls were the easier option, but tactically, Potter had an answer for that. Auba can’t play in a side that has a midfield frightened to break the press. He’s at his best when the ball is moved into his feet at speed. We don’t have an Olivier Giroud for long-ball football. Our players can’t allow themselves to be press-bitches like we were under Wenger. There needs to be more bravery in the system going forward.

Confidence doing that will come. Players like Tomi and Lokonga have never played a game that intense in their careers. They will learn and adapt. That’s just how it goes when you move the Premier League. Look at how hard it has been for players at all club. Emerson Royal and Christian Romero are taking their time to bed in. Jadon Sancho has been way off the pace and he’s English. Saul has had his problems. If it’s happening elsewhere, there should be forgiveness when it happens to us with less experienced players. Remember, it took Thierry 7 games to score his first goal, and Robert Pires took a long time to show that he had teeth.

Just as important for me was the fact we didn’t concede and our defensive structure looked solid for the most part. Brighton are excellent from set-plays and we dealt with it. Even more impressive when you consider the level of wind that was going off that day.

There’s still work to be done in the final third. It’s sloppy for the most part. But we are creating chances. Brighton wasn’t our best run out, but it’s worth noting that they conceded the third lowest xG last season. They are hard to get at. Their setup is well structured and they make it tough from a chance creation perspective. I very much doubt Palace, Villa, or Watford will have that level of discipline with their defending when we go there after the break.

Regardless, we need to see more shots finding the target. Thomas Partey needs to lay off the long-rangers, and our better players need to get sharper.

Overall, the key things we learned from Phase 2 of the season.

  • The young players we signed are good and will get better
  • We have seen what peak Arteta-ball can look like
  • Arsenal can still defend, but now we’re doing it with players that can pass

If you need a bit of a hand with the explainer on what has changed, no one does it better than Statman Dave.

Just a quick one today, there is much to be done at work. If you desperately want more content, then check out our video or listen to the latest podcast.

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englandsbest

I get sick to death of the doomsters endlessly proclaiming they are Arsenal fans and spin their misery for the good of the Club. How does it help?

Rich

Leftside

We lost our first 3 games

We’ve got the youngest squad in the PL, with new players settling in

So we’ve returned to first principles, if you don’t concede, then you don’t lose

We’re grinding out results, which rebuilds confidence

As confidence grows, players settle, new partnerships grow, then the football will improve

We’ve had to return to first principles to work our way up to that point

Wenger once said about confidence, you go up via the stairs, and back down via the life

AFC Forever

Leftside Good point. Our slow build up play last season didn’t help but Aubameyang was also culpable. He was poor, whether that was his personal issues, Malaria, Covid or just bad form I have no idea. You always expect more from your main striker but again against Brighton he missed a sitter for a striker of his ability. Smithe Rowes cross across the 6 yard box was a peach but Auba lacked conviction. Laca would have buried it. More fluidity in our play will help, which means goals get shared around more and that’s what we need to do as… Read more »

AFC Forever

Rick Yep. Every great team is built from the back. If you can defend properly as a team that is the foundation of success. It’s what we couldn’t do for years and used to get ridiculed for as being soft. We go to Burnley and Brighton with ta new CB pairing with their big units and keep clean sheets. Massive plus. The fluidity will come as the players become more confident and familiar with each other. That will take time but we are already playing quicker. Unfortunately, it takes time but I have no doubt we will get there the… Read more »

AFC Forever

*Rich

Sorry!

into the red

Out with the excuses again. Yet Arteta has failed to demonstrate, once again, that he has any sense of tactics or strategy. Cucurella was outstanding for Brighton, and what did Arteta do about it? Nearly all managers would have stuck somebody in front of Tomi to restrict him further up the field. But not the genius Tets. And what is this new PR about a young team needing to bed in? Remind us how many new young players are in the midfield and attack. Oh yes, one, Lokonga. All the rest have been playing together for quite some time. And… Read more »

Leftside

Rich, I understand about us setting up to ensure we can don’t get beat and pick up points but its at the expense of scoring goals in free flow. We get chances in games but not too many clear cut chances and they’re falling to an out of sort Auba. On Saturday even though we were against it for the majority we still for me had clear chances to win the game but we’re lacking efficiency in front of goal. This also isn’t a new problem, it’s one we’ve faced since Arteta has been here. I can’t help but feel… Read more »

Leftside

AFC

I agree with you although not sure Laca takes it in current form. I think we need to ensure that Eddie, Martinelli and Pepe get as much game time as between them and Auba and Laca they’ll be responsible for the bulk of our goals.

Brighton was tough for the whole team, so I’m looking forward to seeing how we get on against Palace which won’t be as easy as many are predicting. No game is easy in this league nowadays.

PhD2020

PedroOctober 4, 2021 21:54:34
Ben, because Arteta wins his cup finals?

—–
At the cost of being ‘Bang’ out of Europe for the first time in 25 years under Arteta over a 21 month tenure?

Anyway,was being out of Europe part of the ‘Project’ when Arteta signed up for the gig?

AFC Forever

Leftside

“Brighton was tough for the whole team, so I’m looking forward to seeing how we get on against Palace which won’t be as easy as many are predicting. No game is easy in this league nowadays.”

Very true mate.

Benjamin

We are not getting more than 5 points out of our next 4 games.
As Sid says.

I am telling you for free.

Nelson

I don’t see Saúl Ñíguez getting game time at Chelsea. He is someone I wouldn’t mind getting. He could team up with Partey again to stabilize our midfield.

Tony

A business fails without targets as do sports teams. The only target Arsenal has is patience and achieving CL qualification in 2 years but in reality it will be over 5 years from when Wenger left. Looks like Josh has teflon coated Arteta for that duration so no point in offering poignant views for the next 12 days with the trolling the Arteta apologists dribble out here. Le-Grove is Untold 2.0 during the international breaks. 10 points from 12 sums that up nicely. Now it’s what? Cowards vs bedwetters? When the fans are split in the way we are, the… Read more »

MidwestGun

Well actaully I prefer the.

Wet blankets versus the Magical Phases.

Tony

Or perhaps Middy:
Eye testers vs wet dreamers

Steg

Just to highlight a recurring inaccuracy here – Arteta was appointed on 20th December 2019 so he HAS NOT had two seasons. On December 20th 2021 he would have been with us for 2 years.Also worth highlighting his first ever team against Bournemouth to show the churn of players; The following players on that day have now left (Luiz, Sokratis, Mustafi, Torreira, Ozil, Willock and Nelson) – I didnt event look at the squadAlso agree about the 10 points from 12 narrative which is misleading in the extreme – 10 points from 21 ain’t great but then we have played… Read more »

zacharse

how is not part of the eye test to be able to watch players on your team, very fucking young players, make mistakes, have bad days, choke in a semi final against emery- and then improve and have days like we did against spuds? Personally i watched bad news bears a lot as a kid. i’ve watched the a’s, warriors, niners all have bad news bears teams and 8th place finishes and then the young players grow up and win big things. The warriors had a dynasty, then they moved from oakland to SF and they aren’t anymore. Arsenal is… Read more »

MD-Gunner

@Tony
“Looks like Josh has teflon coated Arteta”

In the latest John Oliver “Last Week Tonight” program he talks about PFAS, a group of man-made chemicals, used in the production of Teflon, which don’t break down and accumulate in humans leading to adverser health effects, such as increased cholesterol levels, effects on the immune system, cancer and thyroid hormone disruption. So there is hope that if Arteta is Teflon coated he will go in a not so natural way 😆

Tony

MD I saw that in a movie recently or legal series episode although I didn’t make the correlation when writing the text. To be honest I’m past caring what Arteta is going to do next. I don’t/haven’t let him affect me for some time now. I’m just indifferent to him and just want to win games. Those with other agendas, beliefs no matter how misguided can play all the name calling games they want. I’ll watch the games and comment on them as I see with my son and discuss after. Whatever our conclusions I may or may not share… Read more »

Gonsterous

I think if we finish 8th again under arteta, that may just be his level. Kind of like how everton under moyes had just the level of finishing 6th and never higher, or rednapp with spuds finishing 5th and never higher.

There’s just a level a manager can take a team. Only in artetas case, he’s spunking millions to reach and keep that level.

China1

As for why us bed wetter a need to constantly wash our piss stained sheets rather than the positive fans seeing the silver lining and feeling hopeful The reason is simple. The skepticism comes from being relentlessly let down and underwhelmed over a ten year period. ‘Fool me once’ etc. the club has failed to live up to expectations so many many times and increasingly so in the last few years. So are there some good young players and some aspects to be positive about? 10000% yes. But us bed wetters have felt the pangs of disappointment far too many… Read more »

Tony

Amen China well said.

Vintage Gun

Power to the truth China.

Bang on

Graham62

China1 Absolutely spot on. Irrespective of our fall from grace over the past decade or so, there are just too many question marks against Arteta and his methods. Yes we have shitty owners who are devoid of any connection with the club and understanding of the game, that’s why we ended up with Arteta.. He is a rookie but he’s also an incredibly worrying rookie. His philosophies are not geared to getting the best out of the team. Those that say ‘be patient’ don’t seem to get it. There basing their expectations on a manager/coach that has no record to… Read more »

Graham62

They’re basing

Graham62

Arsenal’s most important game during the past 22 months was Villarreal.

It was a must win.

Think back, what did Arteta do?

That’s right he set us up to play with fear.

That one game clearly showed that he is not the right man for our club.

PhD2020

As it stands under Arteta’s reign,if we are putting his tenure or managerial reign into context without bias over his 22 month period(Dec 20th 2019-Oct 5th 2021) and taking into account he has ‘banged’ us out of Europe for the first time in 25 years-coupled with a £200 million spend,should we nonetheless ‘Trust The Process’…? Then going by the stats under his reign…More so, focusing on the EPL campaign from Dec 2019 through to Oct 2021… He’s managed 65 EPL matches…Winning 30;Drawing 14; Losing 21.Points accumulated in that time period equates to 104 points and 1.60ppm(points per match). If we further… Read more »

Dark Hei

I just wish our men’s team can do as well as the women’s and the U23s.

I want Arteta to do well. Really do. But results are poor and the football leaves much to be desired.

If we 0-0 with 23 shots on goal and their goalie pulls a worldie, I can get behind the “trust the process” marketing.

Steg

PHD – lovely stuff that post – if he is outside of the top 7 mid table by end of December he goes. But I’m willing to wait till then to see the shoots of the recovery. Many on here aren’t

Emiratesstroller

For goodness sake why do the same posters constantly post the same negatives about the club. We are unbeaten in the last 5 games with 4 victories and 1 draw scoring eight goals and conceding just one. Okay the football has not been brilliant, but then our expectations this season are not particularly high considering the youthfulness of the team. What is clear is that the club has made major changes over last 2 years to management, coaching and playing personnel. As I pointed out the U23s and Academy teams are doing well and placed 2nd in their respective leagues.… Read more »

Nelson

That Arteta subbed out Ode and Auba showed that he is not totally blind. The problem is that he hasn’t set up a plan B yet. His plan A worked in the NLD. But in EPL, other managers will analyse his plan A and come up with plans to stop it. I hope that he’ll use these two weeks to exercise a plan B or even a plan C to make the team more unpredictable. In the meantime, he should also practice in game management.

China1

The other issue is that many of us ‘bed wetters’ take issue with people telling us to ignore the bad and only be positive about the food when many of the same people were incredibly negative when Emery and even arsene was here. You can’t have your cake and eat it. When we were on a huge winning streak under Emery and we had battling strong defensive performances against awkward opposition like burnley, grinding out tight wins, Pedro and co were telling us the football was too bad to enjoy and that the xG was unacceptable and a ‘correction’ must… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

Nelson

I thought that we played with Plan B against Spurs in the first half of game. The football was
adventurous, creative and attacking.

Rich

Arteta inherited a mess, a first team squad of 34, and a COVID market where selling our junk is difficult A CL wage bill, and a Europa league team that was in regression A small group of toxic players who downed the last manager, and almost downed Arteta last December An unbalanced squad that was made worse by the signings of Cedric, Runarsson, Mari, and a 3yr contract for a 32yr old Willian I wasn’t surprised we’ve delivered 2 x 8th placed finishes, the league is competitive, and our team/squad has been poor Cleaning up this mess, and putting in… Read more »

englandsbest

Graham62

Arsenal’s most important game of the past ten years is the next game. Go ask any manager.

But your statement puts in a nutshell exactly what is wrong with the doomsters: they feel comfortable dwelling in the past, whereas the rest of us look to the future.

China1

ES people still critique the club because the season didn’t start 5 matches ago and the club didn’t spawn into existence this season either People have to stop this nonsense about trying to pretend only the last few games count and that everyone needs to have amnesia about everything before it The last one two or three matches do not exist in a vacuum. Opinions have been built up over years and years. ES you seriously thinking everyone can only exist in this second like a goldfish is ridiculous. We’ve all seen progress recently. We all said the NLD was… Read more »

Bankz

The Emery comparison with Arteta’s last 18 months by Pedro shows daily why I think he is one sanctimonious hypocrite.
You think Emery was so terrible and didn’t deserve time but somehow think Arteta with a more atrocious run of results, league positions and style of football deserve time?
I really can’t wait for the excuses or story when the club finally grows a pair and sacks him

englandsbest

China1

Am I missing some fine point of Eastern philosophy? On the one hand you are 1000% certain we should be optimistic, and on the other you find it odd to be cheerful.

Emiratesstroller

Rich You should read today’s sports section of the Daily Telegraph. There is a detailed analysis of this season’s EPL from 4 leading journalists. They provide both individual and collective analysis. They are all agreed that the top four finishers will be Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Man Utd. The first three in varying order are as I listed. Man Utd are also expected to finish in top four on account of the strength of their squad, but are not rated as challengers for title. The surprise package outside the top four is that both Jamie Carragher and Oliver Brown… Read more »

Pierre

I have a feeling that Arteta may make a slight change to the starting line up for next week. Odegaard will drop in alongside Partey , smith Rowe wiill play CAM and he will bring in one of Pepe/Martinelli/eddie….probably pepe though i would like to see Eddie given a chance. Lakonga had a perfectly good game against Brighton but his time will come.. I would like to see the manager experiment a little with our offensive line up to get the right balance. Sometimes it may be a case of horses for courses, if Aubameyang struggles away from home in… Read more »

Ashwin Gunner

Pedro

Amazing stats by Statsdave. Explained very clearly on how we have shaped with our players. But here is the catch. our system will work with these set of specific players. Now that Xhaka is out, we saw that we suffered with our progressive play. Arteta has to rotate players and bring every one on board with his style of play other wise we are in for a rough December

Leedsgunner

For what it’s worth… I agree with Graham62 that the Villarreal match versus Emery was our biggest match since Wenger left. I also agree with him that Arteta should have been fired when he failed to beat him and he missed out on Europe altogether. However, for whatever reason, he wasn’t fired. Rather, the club backed him… with a cool £150m. What is the result? This is his squad. More importantly, the club is trying to change. It seems churlish to me not to give the man at least until the end of the season at the very least too… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

Ashwin Gunner

The loss of Xhaka for the game against Brighton cost us experience. Unfortunately the viewpoint of the majority of posters on Le Grove overrides the importance of him playing in the team.

Ashwin Gunner

“It’s time for him to produce the goods and prove how good he is. Whilst he’s doing that I’m happy to support him to the end of the season… hopefully he will exceed my expectations”

i agree with this comment. Let us wait and see if he can deliver Europe. If not boot him out.

Pierre

Rich
“A small group of toxic players who downed the last manager, and almost downed Arteta last December”

Willl just point out that the players who”almost downrd Arteta last december” were the likes of , xhaka, Tierney, Aubameyang, Lacazette, luiz, willian , bellerin, leno etc., all players that he wanted at the club and chose above the toxics.

The so called “toxic” group were nowhere to be seen …lolasinac, ozil, Guendouzi, torreira, saliba , AMN , and you can add willock, eddie , mari who hardly played in the premier league.

CG

“”””Stage 1 of the project was about clearing the deck”””” No, Rich, stage 1 was Arteta doing his job and getting his side to score a home goal against Villarreal and get Arsenal into the Europa Cup final and possibly back into the Champions League. If you can’ t manage that simple task-you don’t get to Stage 2. You get the sack and go back to learning management in the English lower leagues Like Potter and the Brentford manager Since when has Arsenal become a laboratory for untried and untested managers? The Villarreal debacle and indeed their Europa Cup victory-… Read more »

Ashwin Gunner

Emirates

Xhaka is very important to our team. He does have his shortcomings and makes some bad decisions now and then but so does everyone.

No one can deny the qualities he brings to the team. He is very technical, vocal and bleeds for the club. I think as fans we need to love the guy more. He has given everything to the club even after getting very little in return.

Rich

ES For me it’s about navigating the early stages of the season, the next 4 games are vital with 3 at home We need a minimum 9/12 from those fixtures The following 4 are: Liverpool away Newcastle home United away Everton away Those 4 fixtures could finish our season off if we don’t get a decent tally from our next 4 games, because I’d probably take 5 points if you offered me it from those 4 fixtures The rest of December eases off a bit after Everton away, but with such a young team, confidence could get dented quickly if… Read more »

Distanced hairline

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hd1LelpFPjc what do y’all think of callum lang?

Rich

CG We tried the short term fixes with older players on big contracts, and it failed miserably Wenger went out to Atletico a few years back, with a squad he’d had years to build…. We’re now trying to build a new team/squad in a different way, with young players Sacking managers every time they lose semi finals, would be ridiculous We could go out of the semi final of the league cup in January, sack the manager Semi final of FA Cup in April, sack the manager Semi final of Europe a few weeks later, sack the manager…… We’d be… Read more »

Ashwin Gunner

I dont know why people are getting upset on semi final loss. Its a match, we lost. period. Its not like we have never been out of a tournament. Peak Wenger couldnt win UCL. Guardiola hasnt won a Champions league without Messi in it. Just saying.

It was a match that we lost. nothing more. If we start judging managers by every match that they have lost, then we will be worse than Chelsea.

Leedsgunner

We need a Plan B when Plan A doesn’t work.

I would start by recruiting someone like Giroud to provide an outlet and an aerial threat… someone like in the mold of Paul Onachu would be a good starting place…

What is Balogun like aerially? He’s clearly too raw to start EPL games on his own, but maybe we should have him on the bench and start giving him game time if he has proficiency in the air.

Tom

Wenger’s ppg in the PL— 1.97
Emery’s ppg in the PL —1.73
Arteta’s ppg in the PL —1.6

Sid

Stiff upper lips want to own whole countries around the world but dont want Russians to own properties in London

CG

””””’Improving our bureaucracy behind the scenes is the most important thing we can do, ”””””

100% waffle, Rich style

Simply words.
Means nowt, bureaucracy don’ help the team with scoring goals.

Gazza

Pep lite now been in charge 22 months and we are literally no further forward so how much long do we give him?

Graham62

Being pragmatic about things is not being a doom merchant. Let’s have a show of hands here shall we. After Unai Emery left the building, how many of you thought Arteta was the answer to our problems? Go on, don’t be shy! Ok Pedro, you can put your hand down. What other club, in our position and having our status in world football yes, we do have a massive status, would have hired a complete rookie? Untried and untested. Not one person on here knew what we were getting, it was just the snobbery of assuming that because Arteta had… Read more »

Graham62

I’m all for positivity and patience but let’s not go overboard here.

Rich

CG Your the one who says we should be putting in a title challenge this season with no European football… I’d suggest you stay off the meth pipe, all fun and games I’m sure, but you’re absolutely delusional about where we currently are as a club, and how we go about turning around our fortunes Building a new team takes time, particularly when you’re tidying up a giant mess left by previous administrations, inside a decimated transfer market It’s why the bureaucracy behind the scenes is so important Managers come and go, but if we assemble a well balanced squad,… Read more »

Graham62

Rich

You’re comparing Pep with Arteta.

Pep had the credentials and knew exactly what he was doing.

Arteta has no credentials and I’m still not convinced he knows what he’s doing.

Major_Jeneral

Some of us need to watch something else that will lift our spirits. This was a good life show about Arsenal Legend Bob Wilson. I wasn’t born yet to watch him play but listening to him was insightful.

Arsenal Legend Bob Wilson https://youtu.be/6MK-_7yIZpM

Foxy

Re all this sudden Xhaka love I think we should be really worried if our ability to beat teams like Brighton depends on a player who no team in Europe other than Roma wanted to buy at a knockdown price. Did did we not recently beat Burnley away and Spurs at home without him?

CG

””””CG Your the one who says we should be putting in a title challenge this season with no European football…””””’ yes, if I had my way. I would want the Arsenal manager to spent the best part of £200 000 000 on players to try and win the league THIS season, not in 2024. With only x 38 games -its your best chance I would have kept Leno ( not bought Ramsdale ) , brought back Saliba ( not bought White) kept Torreira as back up, kept Willock and bought 2/3 attacking players. eg DCL and Toney. I would have… Read more »

The Bard

Steg I take your point and agree that its a possibility however to my mind there is another factor to take into consideration namely a lack of top quality alternatives. This explains the PR offensive, ‘this is a young side that needs time to develop’. ‘There is a coherent long term plan in place’. This is a desperate attempt to keep the fans onside because they know that if the fans turn Arteta is done.

Rich

CG You’re delusional and have grandeur ideas about where we currently are, and the size of the job to turn around our fortunes I suspect we would have signed Tammy Abraham, but couldn’t get rid of Lacazette or Nketiah We’ve got no European football, and Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah, Balogun, Martinelli But you would have signed another 2 strikers? Saliba is making a few mistakes at Marseille, and it’s right he’s making those mistakes elsewhere, before we bring back a more experienced + refined player next season Leno has been in goal for the last 3 seasons, if he’s the answer… Read more »

Foxy

CG, Ramsdale for Leno is probably going to turn out to be our biggest upgrade this season closely followed by Tami for Bellerin.

CG

Rich

”””’You have ridiculous grandeur ideas, it’s no wonder you’re always miserable””’

like most of your assumptions, wrong there, I am fine.

””’We’ve got no European football, and Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah, Balogun, Martinelli But you would have signed another 2 strikers?””

yes.

But then again I would have not given PEA that contract.
It was Arteta!

PhD2020

*-21/22:Matches 7;Wins-3;Draws-1;Losses-3;Points EPL-10pts;PPM-1.4;Place-11th(Out of Europe).

CG

Foxy

””””””CG, Ramsdale for Leno is probably going to turn out to be our biggest upgrade this season closely followed by Tami for Bellerin.”””””’

Upgrading individual players at vast expense is not really the name of the game,
The name of the game is to use your resources to try a get a team that competes the for the title and then if that fails – get top 4!

Any one can spend fortunes and buy a better right back than hector!

Receding Hairline

“Yes, coaching does matter, and the lesson here is evident. Too often, when a new manager comes in, debate focuses on whether the club will “back him” and what new players he’ll sign. First and foremost, the criteria ought to be whether he can do a better job than his predecessor with the guys who are already there.” This little excerpt from Marcotti’s musings on ESPN FC is for Rich who believes coaching doesn’t matter and a coach’s job is simply to buy the right players at the right age apparently. Back to the big question raised from that, Has… Read more »

Graham62

I’ll be extremely surprised if Arsenal get top 7 this season.

Ignoring the big 4, MC, Liverpool, Chelski and MU, you then have the likes of Leicester,Everton, WHU, Spuds, Wolves, Brighton and a few other teams in the mix for the next three places.

As I’ve highlighted, with Arteta at the helm I think it will be extremely difficult to finish as high as some on here think.

englandsbest

Graham62

Three words you used – ‘forthright’, ‘positivity’ and ‘patience’ – stick out like sore thumbs. I’d say ‘backward’, ‘negativity’ and ‘impatient’ are more in line with your expressed views.

Barca and Pep are an example, of a Club that hired a rookie manager, and did it successfully. Saying a top club mustn’t is backward thinking.

Not giving an incoming manager a hope in hell is plain negativity

And counting a long-term process in days, weeks or months, not years, is sheer impatience.

englandsbest

Graham62

Seventh? Judging by your expressed views of the manager, Arsenal should be at the bottom, battling relegation.

Hedging your bets?

raptora

Rich: “Saliba is making a few mistakes at Marseille, and it’s right he’s making those mistakes elsewhere”

And White was dominated vs Brentford, was on course for a clanger vs Burnley where Ramsdale saved him and was made an idiot by Rashford last season. Central backs will always make mistakes. Point of Saliba making some is?

PhD2020

Thanks!!!

Sid

Why do people insist Ramasdale is an upgrade on Leno? He replaced Runnarson, who replaced Emiliano. We have Not upgraded we just moved in circles.

Emiratesstroller

Raptora

The Brentford game was the first match in which White played for us and the team was missing several key players. Also White may well have been suffering from early stages of Covid.

I would remind you that since White and Gabriel started playing together we have conceded
only one goal in last four EPL games.

Rich

Receding hairline You fail to take into account whether a new manager inherits a squad that is young and progressing Or if the new manager inherits a squad that’s regressing, and has toxic players that downed the last guy Sometimes it takes a while to undo mistakes from previous regimes, particularly in a difficult market, when most clubs are trying to cut costs We were regressing for a while, Wenger produced 20 consecutive top 4 finishes, which is remarkable consistency We were always going to have a little dip at some point, and we’re now in the process of putting… Read more »

Dissenter

Rich
““Saliba is making a few mistakes at Marseille, and it’s right he’s making those mistakes elsewhere””

Why not apply the same standard to Arteta?
I don’t want Arsenal to be the creche for any manager learning his trade. Arteta has made more mistakes this season than anything Saliba did at Marseille

…yet, you’re still here defending Arteta at every turn.

Useroz

“It takes time and experience to do that. Arsenal’s young players didn’t know how to respond and didn’t really have the confidence to step up against the Brighton press. There was too much fear in the system. ” The manager is paid to evaluate and respond throughout the game, not the players per se. Mostly, players are expected to execute tactics determined before the game. “Just as important for me was the fact we didn’t concede and our defensive structure looked solid for the most part. ” Not solid at all most would agree if they watched the game. Defense… Read more »

Sid

If we have upgraded last seasons squad, the minimum should be 7th on the EPL table, 8th would be stagnation.

——–End Of—–

Up 4 grabs now

afternoon, The club themselves havent set a target for this season. we dont have a cat in hells chance of a title push, but bare minimum is get back into the top four. it was wengers brief. its was Emerys brief it should be Artetas as well ( especially after assembling your own squad and spending 200 million. wenger blew money on crap in his final years xhaka, mustafi to name but two, 80 million for them! Emery got 68 million in his first season after needing a complete overhaul of the club after missing out on the top four… Read more »

Sly

Great post Phd I haven’t seen the makings of a decent coach with Arteta, nowhere near the standard we should expect with Arsenal. Does anyone really disagree with this premise? The NLD performance has however given me a reason to put a pause on my criticism I would like to see Arteta surprise and prove me wrong over the next 4 games We have his team in place now, I’m curious to see what he can do with them over a stretch of games Arsenal fans imo will really back this team if they see courage and effort. Glorious failure… Read more »

Dissenter

Like Raptora kindly stated above
Ben White has had two 50-50s go his way, the suicidal back pass to Ramsdale at Turfmoor and the very close challenge on Kane.
My Arsenal bias tells me both were the correct decisions but my head tells me they could easily have been two penalties

Ben White is at the same phase of development to Saliba, or even less in my opinion.

raptora

The notion that Arteta sends an error-ridden Saliba to Marseille, and after a season there, he’ll be the 2nd coming of Jesus makes me burst to laugh. Not only is Saliba making mistakes but he’ll be “back a more experienced + refined player next season”. The excuses are always lined up, right? We weren’t allowed to watch Saliba not even in 1 single game when Kolasinac played 2 games as CB but you see, Arteta has the best plan for Saliba. The player says he’s hurt that he wasn’t given a chance but it’s all for the greater good, right?… Read more »

Sid

How does a midfield of Torr, Guen and Ceballos achieve EL? Managed by a bum

Useroz

If Saliba is scrutinized (and he should be), what’s the current tab for Whiter?

What’s White’s “mistake allowance” per 90min, given his £50m price tag, nearly double that of Saliba?

Dissenter

Sid
You forgot to add Jenkinson and Stephan Lichtsteiner too
Then you recall that the rebellious group led by Ozil were in full swing, the same ones that the club had to ditch to give Arteta breathing space,

Sid

Iwobi too, loool

Dissenter

ooops, I forgot
THOU SHALT NOT MENTION SALIBA, unless of course it is to slag him off.

Dissenter

Arteta should be made manager for life, If we can replicate that 45 mins against Spurs, for 90 minutes , every full moon.
No targets for me.

Emiratesstroller

White has played in 5 EPL games this season and there are posters like Raptora who made a judgment based on his first game for us. May I remind you that in the other four EPL games we have conceded 1 goal and as I posted White was diagnosed with having Covid immediately after Brentford game. Saliba is a decent footballer, but having watched him recently there are shortcomings in his defensive game. Nevertheless I am sure that Arsenal will review his situation at the end of season. Hopefully we will qualify for Europe and need at least three decent… Read more »

raptora

White’s challenge on Kane:
https://streamwo.com/W6EZ3QS

That’s a foul and a pen. We got really, really lucky there. Just like we did vs Burnley. That could have been 2 goals entirely on White in addition to the dreadful performance vs Brentford.

Sid

Either the Bum is better than Diet Pep or
Guen and Torr are better than Partey and Odegaard.

raptora

Yeah, ES. White has played 5 EPL games for us. In one he was dreadful and in 2 others he made errors leading to goals that he got away with. Fantastic stat.

Dissenter

Every single one of the six players we brought in this summer are going to make mistakes to get better, that’s how it works. Even super-Tomiyasu had a so-so game against Brighton- he made lots of errors and then adjusted to average in the second hald.
It’s wrong to use single out Saliba’s errors at Marseille to justify his exclusion from Arsenal.

Up 4 grabs now

Defensively we have a good base to build on, midfield will take time to gel, but the worry is the front line. there isnt enough goals in it. auba is good for certain games laca for others. but if there off form who is scoring? we either need to change the system from midfield and front line on wards, or change the players to get the front line working. switch to an old fashioned 442 The back four takes care of its self. play saka & pepe as wingers with partey and smith rowe or odegarrd in midfield. Then you… Read more »

raptora

Dissenter: “It’s wrong to use single out Saliba’s errors at Marseille to justify his exclusion from Arsenal.”

Voila.

Anything to prove Arteta right though.

CG

”””The Brentford game was the first match in which White played for us and the team was missing several key players. Also White may well have been suffering from early stages of Covid.””’

Basic Poor management ES.

Brentford were ready and they have been waiting 70 plus years for top flight soccer.

In fact they have been ready since they beat Swansea in the play off final.

Excuses.

Dissenter

Regardless of how much anyone rates White, it’s obvious that he’s not the finished article.
He’s at the high phases of development, FFS this is his second season in any top division.

He will make mistakes, not different from Saliba.
Don’t try whitewashing one player’s errors while you’re feverishly trying to suggest the other guy isn’t ready because he made errors.