Results have been a bit of a mixed bag for us since Friday, but still positive. Arsenal will be 3 points off top 4, regardless of how the rest of Sunday’s games go (United getting pummelled, so we’re on the same points as them).
That’s where we need to be on January 1st. Why does that date matter? Because my suspicion is that by then, our players will have bedded into the club, performances will be of a higher level because the cognitive style of the system will have matured, and we don’t have any Europe to contend with, so we’ll be fresher.
Post-Christmas last season was very good for us. If we’d been within spitting distance of top 4 by January, we’d have been in the top 4 at the end of the season. It wasn’t to be.
The big difference this season is that at about this time last year, we were about to go on a massive dip in form. We weren’t creating chances, we weren’t dining off low-margins games, and the mood at the training ground was spoiled by dickheads we eventually shipped out.
This season feels a little bit different.
We’ve had an absolutely horrendous dip and it appears we’ve moved on from it. Unbeaten in 7 games.
The football has been up and down but there are some consistent threads.
Generally, we’ve started well this season. It’s been high impact from the off. We were good against Chelsea for the opening 20. We asked questions of City until we collapsed. Every game we’ve started with a rocket up our backsides.
We’re creating chances now. We’re 5th in the table for shots per game. 14.6 so far. That’s including our disastrous Chelsea and City games. To contextualise the progress, last season we were averaging 12.1 shots p/g which had us in 11th. The season before 10.7, which had us in 15th. Our current clip of shots would have us equal with Chelsea for the whole of last season. So it’s good progress and chunky progress. If you are asking whether this new team can create with that data, you aren’t paying attention.
We still need to score more goals. Chelsea had a lower shot output against Norwich than we did… but they scored 7 goals without a striker. We need to find a more clinical edge. Goals can’t just be on the shoulders of Auba and Lacazette. We need Saka, Partey, ESR and our full-backs to chip in.
Defensively, there’s still some work to do. We’re giving up a lot of shots over the average of all our games. Part of that has been driven by our bad start, part of that is we haven’t shown a consistent ability to control games. We let Palace and Brighton have at us because we didn’t have the bravery to play through them. We also have a LOT of new players in our team, so it’ll take time to find our feet there. The first half against Villa was our best outing defensively. We hoovered up first and second balls. We attacked their outlets. We pressed with smarts. We used off the ball movement really well. That’s the standard, we have to do it more often.
The biggest improvement since the break is basically having one absolute banger of a performance. The Goldilocks football was going to grate fans if it didn’t improve. The club needed to show that all this new specificity we signed in the summer was going to amount to some sexy football. We saw a half of it against Spurs, then we saw 80% of a banger against Villa.
James over at The Athletic crystalised where are quite nicely.
Fans are waiting for the football to bang. Like it’ll be one moment and we’ll never look back. That’s not going to happen, it’ll be a slow fizz into consistency. Matt from the podcast teed it up nicely. At the moment, we’re 1 good performance in 3. Next move is 1 good performance every 2 games. Then we try to move to the Chelsea, City, Liverpool levels of hitting high standards in every game.
Not having to deal with Europe should help us get there faster.
I do find it odd that people come on here after a win and accuse me of crowing. We’re all Arsenal fans, if you don’t feel a win is yours as well as mine, what are you doing? I’m just an opinion, why would you battle me to the detriment of your support for the club?
I’ve said the same things all season… this will be up and down. Palace isn’t the last bad performance. Villa won’t be the last big performance. What people need to do is to move away from catastrophising every mistake or result that doesn’t go our way. It’s not helpful to anyone.
We have the ingredients for a good season:
1. The 6 players we signed this summer are all getting rave reviews for talent, specificity, and character
2. The football is getting better slowly but surely
3. Arteta is learning from mistakes. Someone accused him of tinkering yesterday like that was an insult. If you watched Brighton and Palace and didn’t appreciate the manager had to tinker with the system, then I can’t help you. Football isn’t a simple game in 2021, it’s a science.
4. Our big names are showing up for the club. Auba is BACK. 7 goals in 9 this season. Lacazette was a difference-maker yesterday. Gabriel is showing that he has no ceiling. Thomas Partey is FIT and apparently firing. If the seniors aren’t good this season, we’ll fail. I love that they are stepping up to the plate.
5. The fans in the stadium are creating the best atmosphere in YEARS. You love to hear it. It sounds like fun. Long may that support continue. It’s special.
Something that isn’t so cool…
There’s a bit of a thing going on in the Arsenal community where fans are starting to go after people they deem as for-profit catastrophisers. The trend is to spot a ‘personality’ that makes content, then video yourself doing something classless to them. There’s a horrible video of Ty, who I don’t know, being abused by fans who won’t let him exit the building.
I know that certain creators rile people. That guy that screams in his car is not my favourite, but it’s his right to scream in the car, it’s others right to enjoy his car shrieking activities, and if by chance his screaming earns him enough to buy a new car, good for him… I salute that he found a market.
No one speaks for you online. If you think AFTV embarrasses the club, fine… but I tell you what is more embarrassing. Boxing a man into the stadium so he can’t get out when he’s on his own. That’s cowardly. That makes Arsenal fans look bad. We can’t be applauding that. I hope we move on from it.
Finally, there’s a story doing the rounds that we’re going to sell Dino and Matteo for £11m. How do deals like that happen? What have we done to protect ourselves against Marseille and Stuttgart flipping those players like Atalanta flipped Romero? Why would you tie two high ceiling players to a shit fee? We are awful at selling, but these two deals just stink to me. I don’t want Matteo back, but I also don’t want him floating away for nothing when he’s getting called up the French national team.
Right, that’s me done. See you in the comments.
Too bad Klopp went into player preservation mode at 5 nil………it would’ve been so sweet to watch the red nose squirm in his expensive seat even more than he already was. Wenger’s side lost to Fergie’s 8:2 but that was a line up full of second stringers like Traore, Jenkinson, Djourou, Coquelin, and young Walcott and Ramsey. This Liverpool trashing is much, much worse. Got a kick out of British pundits saying Ole just needs a better number two on his staff, someone who’s been there and can get his massage across better….you know, kinda like someone who can actually… Read more »
I think the fair barometer, Pedro, will be to see how they spend say half a billion as we have in the last few TWS. Sure, after half a billion it isn’t fair unless KSE decides he wants to really challenge the top 3 for top honours. The Magpies at least can be judged against our similar player expenditure over say 5 TWs. Should we take into the account that the Magpies squad is currently mostly relegation fodder compared to what Emery had and then Arteta had, Pedro? What’s the barometer you want to make a balanced judgement between us… Read more »
This team is too tame we need high testosterone guys like Sampaoli, Guen
We need find out the Spurs player that dusted his broom with a managers daughter and sign him ASAP.
Pedro OGS is regressing with a hugely expensive squad. No plan, structure or vision… we are progressing across the metrics listed in the blog, with a plan, vision and structure. There is no doubt that with the money spent Utd should be in a far far better place than they are at this time . From the lack of technical ability that clearly is lacking in OGS skill set to the clear squad in balance and of course recruitment ( Ronaldo) based on commercial matters as opposed to squad requirements things are clearly not in a good place but and… Read more »
Great people of Bern, Switzerland protesting against the vaccine passports.
Empire think workers are farm animals for production and can be injected through coercion.
Sid
Think the player rumored is Dele Alli lol. There was noise during the summer he was dating Pep’s daughter
That Naija heritage means his longstuff is the size of yam
Sid
Vaccine passports = gateway to a social credit score
Tony
There is a huge difference between “constructive criticism” when it is merited and what some posters do even when the team plays well.
Stick to selling your daily life story when you post on here, because when it comes to sports
matters including management you are frankly clueless.
@Rich, thought you support Neoliberalism( socil credit score)?
Just hope they don’t sack Ole before we play Man U!
Pedro “… he (Guendouzi)soiled himself at Arsenal and will likely do the same at Marseille.” Surely , even you can see that selling Guendouzi for peanuts is poor management. Let’s hope that in the end it all comes good for this management as there is a possibility that if it does go tits up for them ( a possibility), they will leave the club in a far worse place than they found it and will have cost the club hundreds of millions through poor decision making.. Talking about Guendouzi, Saliba,AMN , Lacazette, Nketiah, Torreira, Ozil, Ben White , Willian ,… Read more »
“Matteo’s was reported as an option to buy but he has probably already hit the required clauses to turn that option into an obligation. Including this years loan fee it will result in a 10m transfer fee.Dino’s is even lower. It’s an obligation to buy that will result in a 3-3.5m transfer fee including this year’s loan fee.So we’re looking at somewhere in the region of 13.5m for both of them.”
that’s criminal waste ,unbelievably bad management of Arsenal assets
Like many have seen Mavropanos and Saliba are both decent and to be honest Mavropanos looks the more first team ready and is a beast who is not only defending but scoring as well .Honestly I don’t understand the 50 mil for White who looks alright and looks to be better than holding but why Mavropanos gets no chance at all and then sold for nothing is a huge mistake
Pierre I am sorry but I agree with Pedro and not you when it comes to Guendouzi. The player has been toxic at every club he has played in including by all accounts at Marseille. Rumours have been circulating that he has already fallen out with several players in their squad. Football is a team game and you cannot afford to have a “bad egg” in the squad even if he is a great footballer. Bluntly Guendouzi on the evidence of what I have seen does not fall into that category where some clubs might make allowances for his conduct.… Read more »
I agree also that selling Martinez was a mistake, but the player wanted a guarantee that he
would be first string gk at club. No manager is willing to make such a guarantee.
Alright Tony, perched happily, looking forward to seeing some youngsters against Leeds tomorrow.
400 mil spent since Wenger left and what has that given us. Goalkeepers..bought Leno and Ramsdale and sold Martinez who for me is a better keeper…so no improvement. Right back….bought cedric, Tomiyasu ….sold Bellerin and rarely uses AMN …….is Tomiyasu better than AMN, maybe ….slight improvement. Left back…we have Tierney /tavares…before monreal / kolasinac … For me Monreal.is the better full back….no improvement. Centre backs ..now we have gabriel,/ white / mari/ chambers/holding …..before we had koscielny/holding/mustafi / chambers …..improvement Centre mid …now we have xhaka/partey/elneny/lakonga ….before we had Ramsey/xhaka/ Elneny /wilshere ….improvement only marginal if any as xhaka is… Read more »
50m White + 50m Partey + Pepe + Ramsdale is incompetence the size of my longstuff
Bob N16 I don’t pretend to be an expert on football. My game was rugby, which I played to a decent standard. However, I have supported and attended games at Arsenal since the mid 1950s so I think that I have a reasonable insight in what has been going on since that time. As I have posted before there have been some good and bad periods at the club. I do think that when it comes to developing a sports programme including a football club I think that I have probably a better idea than most who post on here.… Read more »
Pierre, ESR and Saka our best young players are integral to the success of the team, both now and in the future. Young players don’t always reach their full potential and if they do it can be on a non linear route. Opportunity is possibly the biggest issue, not taking the opportunity is of course also relevant. I’m sure you could make a list, as you have done, of those players who haven’t reached their potential at any club you’d choose to focus on. Guendouzi: immature and difficult – may mature into a player you’d want AMN: insisting he should… Read more »
This is great, i have missed keeping up with the Tonys, then out of the booom! another great reality show on le grove, Keeping up with the EStrollers.
Internet fantasies go too far sometimes
“Surely , even you can see that selling Guendouzi for peanuts is poor management.” I don’t know man. All I can say is that he was out in the market but there are no takers even after an entire season in which he played. I don’t think he is difficult to sell if someone actually wants him permanently. Maybe there is but it could be a market of great divide. Either a club has the $$ or they absolutely don’t. Or perhaps because we do not want term payments which is a multi season loan masquerading as a transfer. It… Read more »
Nelson will Not amount to anything, he’s a meek lamb.
Lol @ Sid
Pierre “”””So to recap…for 400 mil spent , the improvement is marginal compared to when wenger left, “””” There has been zero improvement at the club post Wenger (PW) with the exception of one department- the bullshite department. PW , we continually overpay for overated players , players that are simply not needed and ignore the talent that is there ( eg Saliba, Martinez ,Mav) Take this Odegaard. £30 000 000 and a Five year contract As Liverpool proved last week, with their incredible x13 away goals- players that slow the counter attack are obsolete in the modern game. Arsenal… Read more »
ES, I haven’t and wouldn’t question your credentials! I have always followed rugby too (and cricket, tennis, golf etc) but nothing compares to my lifelong obsession with Arsenal(first game attended 1972 – essentially the double team). My Dad’s boss was Denis Hill Wood so I had an excellent seat until I went to the terraces from the early 80s. ST since we went all seater in 1993. Yourself and Tony appear to rub each other the wrong way. Unfortunately both of you seem to have got into the habit of putting each other down. I have got into similar ‘relationships’… Read more »
Well said ES. I did not know you had all this experience but I have always enjoyed your posts.
Bob, not sure we’ll see many youngsters on Tuesday
Think we’ll have to give minutes to our squad
…………..….Leno
……..Holding Mari
Cedric…………….Tavares
………Elneny Sambi
Pepe Odegaard Martinelli
………..,..Nketiah
Take a strong bench in case we need a push in the last 20-30 minutes
You’re right Rich, it would be enough to see Martinelli tear it up but a cameo for Patino would be a highlight!
Without European football there are a lot of players who need game time. I’d start AMN, maybe at RB with Soares at LB. KT being out means Tavares is in the first team for now.
Esr replaced ozil and he’s far better. You want us to use niles,nkethia,guen,ozil etc over much better players and you support arsenal? Lol.
Paedro you say you don’t want Matteo back and I agree with you. Mavropanos? You want him back. I would take him back in the morning.
Tavares is such an exciting player, could both win or lose us a game at any moment He’s got all the raw ingredients to become a top class modern left back Pace + power, brilliant in the air, 2 footed, good delivery, a real competitor If we can improve his decision making and positioning, then £8 million will become a bargain Early days, but so far looks like a good low risk punt that could potentially pay big We’re gradually changing the athletic profile of our defenders, if we bring back Saliba next season and tie him down, we’ll have… Read more »
I was an ardent member of the WOB. He just had to go. Emery was never going to be the right fit. He was not geared for the PL. As for Arteta, no matter how poor a decision it was to hire him and, imo, it was a poor decision after Emery, it looks like he’s going to be staying for the foreseeable future. I’ve questioned Pedro massively these past few months and consequently got into trouble because of this. Arteta still has to prove himself, of course he does and I hope that he has learnt from the games… Read more »
With Saliba (hopefully) returning for next season, we’ll have four very capable CBs ( I include Tomyasu in that group). We should sell Holding, Chambers, Mari and Soares and get in another RB who we’d be very happy to see start.
Can’t disagree Graham- Arteta still has to prove that he’s the best man for the job- leading this improving squad back to be the best of the rest (top three are away in the distance).
Im yet to see the improvement by Diet Pep, its been a case of one step back one step forward, at best.
Great shame that Liverpool eased up when Pogba got sent off yesterday.
7 or 8 nil would have been just brilliant.
God, I hate everything about MU.
Don’t we all.
Raulishuss “Esr replaced ozil and he’s far better. You want us to use niles,nkethia,guen,ozil etc over much better players and you support arsenal? Lol.” I was just making the point that 400 mil spent with little or no improvement. If Smith Rowe achieves half of what what Ozil achieved in his career then he will have had a very successful career… I love smith rowe and he and Saka have saved Arteta his and edu’s job Let’s hope the new signings have the same impact as those 2. Tavares , what a performance v villa …the question is , has… Read more »
ESR did Not replace Ozil, Odegaard did
Why do Diet Pep fanboys twist the narrative?
Pierre …400 million You’re better than this , marginally . Your comparisons pay scant respect to the forces of nature or the evolution of PL. Injuries ,age, intensity requirements have all moved on, yet your assessments seem to be taken in still life. Monreal better than KT and NT? NOW? Last time I checked we didn’t have a cryogenics lab under the Ems. The quality of player we’ve lost to horrendous injury or just timing out justifies paying big money for their replacements. When Mr Wenger was ousted , we were left in weaker recruiting position than we’d previously been,… Read more »
I have to say I don’t like villa and putting them in there place was very high on my list and the same goes Rodgers and Vardy but the humiliation of UTD possibly gave me even more joy on top of the spuds losing great weekend lol…………………lol
The current Ronaldo is a box striker. He’ll need support to be effective. OGS plays Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood next to him. They are run and gun type of player. Manure needs more setup players to help Ronaldo out.
ESR was an Arsenal player while Ozil was still here, Odegaard came in as soon as Ozil was frozen out
Right on the nail, Pedro. Arsenal are better in every department bar converting chances into goals. My view (oft expressed) is that the team would do better with a slugger, rather than a lurker, up front. Of course Auba is a masterful lurker – one of the best – and he still scores and it’s hard to argue with seven in nine games. But what if we had a masterful slugger up front, how many would HE score? And, equally important, how many would others score with him around? Like many of us, I expect the team to have gelled… Read more »
Bob N16 I have asked Tony on many occasions to stop commenting on what I post, but he persists. More often than not I ignore what he posts, but sadly there comes a point when my hackles are raised and I react, which I accept I should not do. I made a mistake in the past revealing too much information about my background which I regret. Over the last 12 months until today I have avoided doing so. I assume that your father worked for a Merchant Bank if his boss was Hill-Wood. Hill-Wood was also closely connected to Danny… Read more »
Sid
Is it beyond reason to accept that they both can fill the Ozil position?
Ozil did have a great career, an unbelievable talent, but PL was his undoing. Ode gets way more stuck in than Ozil, but still needs to up that side of his game. Worth 30 mil IMO. ESR is a different beast, I love how he plies his trade,….. but he was fragile last year, and needed a non Ozil backup 10.
As we are seeing ESR can damage oppo from many positions. The flexibility in game management options is a strength surely
ES,
De Zoete and Bevan- stockbrokers which turned into BZW after the Big Bang and then eventually became Barclays.
Its now clear where the superfan mentality stems from.
The world has moved on, it doesnt matter whether my grandma was Rothschilds seamstress
A good TD wouldve fought to get better deals from mavro and matteo. These players are worth way more than the prices being thrown around. Another clear reason why Edu should be replaced by a good TD. Btw wasnt he part of the group that negotiated the awful pepe deal that cost raul his job?
Kris
It is a fact of life that individuals prosper and develop in different environments.
Mavropanos wasn’t given a chance under either Arteta or Emery. At Stuttgart he feels loved and at home.
Can also be said about Saliba.
The reasons we’re rubbish sellers is simple We have an oversupply of players, and an undersupply of squad places, and every time we buy a player without selling one, we further decrease our selling position Nobody pays top money for surplus players, that there’s no demand for, we’ve got a first team squad of 27, and no European football, with another 7 senior professionals out on loan We either accept what’s on offer which is either lowball offers, or loans? Or we keep a large surplus of players? The value of a player to a club is always be on… Read more »
The grudging admission by some of the anti-Arteta brigade that Arteta might be the man for the job is invariably conditioned by ‘but he still has to prove himself’. Well, of course he must ‘prove himself’, as does every other manager in PL every season. For some managers just staying in PL is enough for him to ‘prove himself’. For others it’s finishing in top 6 or top 4 or winning a major trophy. So let’s define what Arteta needs to do to ‘prove himself’. For me, it has to be noticeable progress in the process of returning Arsenal to… Read more »
Englandsbest
So noticeable improvement but finishing outside of the top 6 and he should remain. What would your expectation be of him next season then – same again?
Englandsbest Arteta has to get minimum 6th this season, he might get away with 7th/8th, but he’d need to win one of the domestic cups I want him to be given the season, we’ll have ups and downs with a young team, and I expect it’ll be tight between 5th-9th But if Arteta doesn’t deliver minimum Europa League, then his position becomes untenable, he can’t get away with another fine margins failure, and he certainly can’t get away with dropping off completely Arteta like Emery before him, has had plenty of legitimate excuses up until now, but this is now… Read more »
Englandsbest, you are of course right when you say that every manager has to prove himself- if they don’t they get the sack. The timing of when they get the sack has many variables but mostly it’s down to whether there is an insufficient confidence in their ability to progress the club. Arteta survived last season’s lack of ‘noticeable progress’. The owners have backed him to the tune of the biggest net spend in the league. You clearly have greater confidence in Arteta than the majority of the fanbase. You talk of him failing to make top 6 and retaining… Read more »
If the manager keeps his ego in check and plays it simple the team potentially can have a good season. What I fear, because he has got in his way soo many times over the last two years is that the manager will once again buy into his own ego and tinker with the side. Saka-odegaard/Laca – ESR playing behind Auba. That is the forward line. Pepe should never come in ahead of Saka on the right. If you want to play Pepe play him on the left where he can at least go on the outside and cross because… Read more »
Sure, we are progressing in the metrics listed in the blog. It’d be a foolish bit of business if we were not yes? And this plan, this iteration of the plan anyway, looks good. However, we are still unproven as is our manger. The only metric that matters is the table. 8, 8, now 10. So far we haven’t covered ourselves in glory…yet. Spurs are garbage, Villa are on the slide, What statement win are we talking about that justifies the theory that we’ve now turned the corner? I know, the Villa win felt good, but are you going to… Read more »
Matt
My expectation at the start of the season was a top 6 finish and a final under his belt. It still is, the signs are good.
As for next season expectation, that depends a lot on what happens between now and then
I don’t know why everyone keeps on about Everton. They are very average.
If you take a peek at the Everton fan forums they don’t have much belief in their side and even more so after what they have witnessed so far overall this season
Englandsbest,
Agree with you that there needs to be a target set. Nobody at the club wants to do it because no one wants to be accountable. For me it’s 4th place finish. 5th place would be acceptable if we put up a proper fight. Anything less than than that and he should go. The investment has been too big.
On a separate note, Mourinho seems to already be unraveling. It used to take him a season and a half to get to this level of toxicity. This time it’s a couple of months. Incredible.
Ishola70
Everton’s level is roughly 7th-9th
They won’t be great to watch, but they’ll get enough results playing the fine margins, particularly once they get Richarlison + DCL back into the team
Everton apparently set to spend some money again in January
Rich
Fear not. Come what may, Arteta will stay.
With the top teams involved in Europe, Arsenal have a realistic chance of a domestic final. Winning it is another matter, very much depends on the day – injuries, illness, referee, etc
Englandsbest
If he doesn’t get top 6 this season, and you are OK with him not getting top 6 next season, regardless of what else happens, then it seems like you are happy to keep kicking the can down the road.
Does your local pub have a sign saying, ‘come back tomorrow – free beer’?
Everton have potentially more cash behind them than we do.
Bob N16 My faith in Arteta is in the man himself. In his honesty, in his commitment, in his long-term view. The last thing the Club needed was a patchwork job. Looking back at where we were then and where we are now, noticeable progress has been made. The turning point was last Jan, since then the results on pitch have been good overall. There have been ups and downs but luck does play a part, and at the start of the season Arteta was unlucky with Covid. I hate to say this, but if it hadn’t been the opening… Read more »
Sixth most valuable squad in the PL with the fifth highest wage bill, third season in charge, and Englandsbest who thinks Arteta’s the greatest thing since sliced bread doesn’t have any expectations for him that might be higher than making par, to use the golf analogy, And that goes for the season four as well. Whatever happened to your Wenger era high standards ? Sixth in the table come May would be underachieving all things considered. As for Arsenal having the youngest squad in the PL excuse…… it’s a good one. I’m pretty sure it’ll still be the case next… Read more »
“My faith in Arteta is in the man himself. In his honesty, in his commitment, in his long-term view. The last thing the Club needed was a patchwork job.“
Replace Arteta with Ole in that sentence and you’ll get the reason why he’s still the United manager today.
Janky
If you can’t find a justification that Arsenal have turned the corner, it’s because it hasn’t quite happened yet. We are still in the process of turning the corner. The road may straighten if/when we beat Leicester City
Tom
This weekend a friend watched his team hold the league leaders to a 0 – 0 draw. A twenty year old CB kept Mbappe and Neymar in his pocket and his 22year old Captain drove the team forward.
Both are Arsenal players.
Englandsbest – honesty and commitment is all very well but his competence is the issue. Our points accumulation since Xmas last year was certainly acceptable – all be it we’d played most of our more difficult opponents away in the first half of the season. Despite that PL form I was incredibly disappointed with Arteta’s management of the EL semi final. I was upset enough to want his removal after that debacle! Progress has been made but when you get 5pts from 10 games, the only way is up! Part of me loves your confidence and I hope it’s not… Read more »
Honesty. That’s great. I wonder if he can manage a football club?
In all seriousness, I was delighted to see the energy, desire, closing down and hard work against Villa. We might be inconsistent in our performances, but if we can work as hard as that each week, Arteta will win lots of fans back.
After that financial outlay, Arteta is going nowhere. I still have doubts about him, but happy to eat crow if we finish 4th or 5th.
Bob N16
Agree.
Arteta has made so many basic mistakes, mistakes that he really shouldn’t have been making. This concerns me greatly.
Irrespective of the positives from our win against Villa, Arteta has to show he is changing.
I’m still not convinced.
Bob N16
Where do you think we should finish this season?
Where do you think we’ll finish in comparison to your expectations?
How many points do you think we’ll get?
NORG
Did he mention that PSG were 10 men for 35 minutes?
I’m delighted to hear reports of Saliba growing in stature.
From the highlights I just watched , there were a few holes in his pockets in the first half, and he could have been wearing speedos in the second and he’d have still been untroubled.
“””””his 22year old Captain drove the team forward.””””
After the narrative, he is a headless chicken failed miserably, the new narrative is that he is a disease that needs chemo,
but managers keep selecting him to their squads.
Bob N16 First let me say that Arteta has become a top coach. He wasn’t that when he came, but he has learnt game by game. I am not a football tactician, my judgement is based on what I see. And what I saw against Villa was a well-drilled side that, at times, performed spectacularly. A coach doesn’t get that by accident. We have passed the point of doubting his competence. Certainly his players trust his capability. And so too do the people who turn up at the Emirates and at away games. A momentum is building – and that… Read more »
I like the Kris metric…
“bettering three out of Everton, Leicester, West Ham & Spuds”
…as a measure of progress
we are one point from being sixth…
and one point and a better goal average from being fifth
that’s after capitulating in the first three games and drawing two very winnables
so there is room for optimism if you want to let it in 🙂
Rich, ‘Where should we finish?’- with our wage bill and our recent investment, we should finish 4/5th. “Where will we finish’ – anywhere between 4th and 9th! I know that’s fudging the issue but I though we’d win against Brighton and Palace and lose against Villa. We will improve as a team as the new combinations get more games under their belts. We could go on a run but equally we could stall. Very hard to know how convincing Arteta and his tactics are to the players. Our squad depth in certain areas is limited so much will depend on… Read more »
Englandsbest – Villa was a great performance. How were you feeling after the previous two games against Brighton and CP – still pleased or underwhelmed?
Arsenal are a football club that should be in the ucl and lowering your expectation because Arteta is the manager is not an excuse
Shaun, agree our expectations should be high.
After finishing 8th for two seasons in a row, to finish 4th would be brilliant- bearing in mind that three of the top 5 teams in Europe are in the first three places.
Is it a realistic ambition? With United shitting the bed, it is more likely but it’s not unforgivable if we finish outside the top 4 as long as we start next season with real hope and belief that we can be the best of the rest.
Bob Other than full unshakable Arteta believers, and I don’t think Pedro is among them, I think all the fence sitters, like myself, were concerned that Toots might be a one off after the next two games, despite fleeting glimpses of decent strategy . Villa was better game than Spurs, best team application I’ve seen in a very very long time. Is it another false dawn? Only time will tell, but I’m allowing some optimism in. We have a good squad, who Can play together. Arteta has to be allowed some credit for this for now, though obviously it needs… Read more »
Bradybunch -agree but it feels like every time I start believing that we’ve turned a corner, we produce a performance that makes me lose any faith that might have been gained by a decent performance.
I know we’ve got a young team and we’re told to expect inconsistency but it felt Potter and Vieira had the beating of Arteta tactically. The players have to take some responsibility but the buck stops with the manager -either they are not implementing his tactics well enough or he’s setting them up wrongly.
Bob
I too feel hesitant to be too optimistic…there are very good signs but also abrupt reversals
If winning in different ways is good then being disappointing in different ways [Brighton and Palace] is worrisome