Manchester United vs Arsenal goes down as the most frustrating game of the season. We lost. We shouldn’t have. That was a very hard dropped 3 points.
There are some pretty clear areas we need to improve in over the next 2 months if we want a realistic chance of winning things, and the first I want to talk about is confidence.
Arsenal controlled the opening phase of the game, we went a goal up (hilarious goal), then we replicated the familiar pattern of trying to see out a lead like it was the 88th minute. This is a confidence thing. It’s about the experience we lack at the moment. It is a problem because we let teams back into games when we shouldn’t. We’ve even played like this when we’ve won (Spurs / Leicester), the pattern is the same… we don’t know how to lead in games.
The next difficult topic we have to address is that once again, we’re in December, and it’s the senior players letting us down. Last year it was Willian and Luiz, this year it’s Partey and Auba. When I saw Big Mo on the teamsheet, I didn’t think he’d be bossing TP. But he did. The Ghanaian was at his imperious worst. His control was poor, he was giving the ball away for fun, and he just didn’t impose himself on the game. You can’t have that from your £45m centre midfielder. We’re getting to the point now that when Xhaka is back, it’ll be Lokonga partnering him.
Then there was Auba. Is he trying? Yes. Is he game for the cause? Yes. But he can’t player the Arteta system. He’s built for a counter-attacking side and that is not Arsenal. We need a brute. We need someone that can run the line, bully defenders, actually hold the ball up… finish. Our captain can’t do any of those things at the moment and it’s killing us. If Lacazette isn’t there, it’s like playing with 10 men. He was so anonymous.
Arteta gets rolled into this problem. He gave Auba a huge deal. Let’s be clear, there wasn’t another option. ‘I SAID SELL HIM’ doesn’t really wash, because if we had done that at the time, it would have been carnage. However, Arteta is now dealing with the burden of that decision. His richest player is also his captain… and our coach is shying away from benching him. In fact, he’s shying away from taking him off when he’s killing our game. If he’d removed him on 55 when he should have, maybe the game ends differently. The players don’t trust him with long balls into feet. They know he won’t keep hold of it. We spent 150m on defensive specialists that could hit a striker from 70 yards, now our issue is that the striker can’t hold onto it. The Odegaard penalty doesn’t happen if you have Lukaku upfront.
The last issue is errors. They’ve crept back into our game. All of those goals were avoidable. Ben White gifting United possession for the opener. Tavares and ESR having a total fail for the second. Odegaard with a wild slide tackle on Fred for the 3rd. It’s not acceptable to be doing that at Old Trafford.
All three of those goals were out of character for the squad. The sloppy passing with the most painful to digest because we’re too good for that. Part of the panic came from not killing the game off when United were looking extremely lethargic. We don’t have a kill mode at the moment. Part of that comes from not having a sharp point to our spear, part of that is that this team hasn’t had a lot of experiences together.
A few people were complaining about Mo Elneny starting. I’m with you, I don’t like to see him in the starting 11, but I suspect Lokonga had a tight muscle, so they didn’t risk him. Bit of a shame that AMN doesn’t have the trust yet… but let’s be real, he played well, he was the least of our worries.
We deserved to lose because we gifted a shite United the game for very little. The game was so weird. It was like a training match after 3 nights on the lash.
However, I have come out of that game pretty clear that we’re a much better team. United fans know this as well. We have better structure, our football identity is clearer, and the attitude is there. We just need to grow up a bit faster.
There were some good performances as well. Martin Odegaard is getting better with every game. He made a stupid error for the penalty, but that goal was stunning. He’s going to be good for us, I hope he gets more time on Monday to show his worth. There were a couple of United fans in my Twitch stream saying they were happy when he was subbed off.
Martinelli has his sparkle back. He’s powerful, creative, and he will impose himself on defenders. He was very naive not to pass when he was through on goal in the first half, a goal there kills the game, but he’ll make a better decision the next time. He should start the next game.
There were some good periods of dominance in the game. We controlled United and played some nice football when we had the bravery to do it. Problem is, we didn’t do it with enough intensity when the opportunity was there. Our game jolted back when we were chasing. That needs to get better.
So a painful loss. Some obvious areas of improvement. A chance to show what we’re worth on Monday against a very poor Everton side.
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Aaron, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Graham62: Sean Dyche would get us top 4
You’ve said the same about Graham Potter and more recently, PV4.
You’ve gone quiet about those two, but seriously, you think SD is that good! Sorry, but that’s laughable.
There is absolutely no way on earth, he would have been partly responsible for the signings we made in the summer. And there’s absolutely no way he could bring out the best in the likes of Saka and ESR
Pedro
Mentioning Dyche on here should be a straight yellow!
No doubt I’ll be called and derided as an Arteta fan boy but I don’t get the sense of doom. We competed for large parts of the game and we were the better team apart from the woeful finishing.
We have the beginnings of a very good squad filled with young players.
We lost because of a silly mistake on Odegaard’s part. They were lucky not us,
However in the big picture, last night’s doesn’t mean anything because they won’t keep the ball up.
We beat Watford they didn’t. Three points gained.
Samesong, you are right.
Leeds, I don’t think any of the people who have good football opinions on here are preaching doom.
Most people are just pissed we threw the game away.
Leeds
Arteta has called out the senior players and rightly so. They are supposed to be the mentors for the younger players in the team. Ode should never have been given that responsibility to make that challenge in the box.
The seniors need to take a long hard look at themselves after yesterday’s defeat. They haven’t been good enough.
Don’t look now Pedro but that appalling Spurs team with all that dross that needs to be removed are one point behind with a game in hand.
CC
If you say so.
Pedro
There a bit of an over-reaction from many here, maybe because of the old rivalries between the two clubs.
Matt B
All of these managers would get more out of our squad of players than Arteta.
Just an opinion.
Flip side of previous comment from another poster.
So many snobby Arsenal fans.
Sorry Pedro, I don’t agree.
Dyche has spent considerably less keeping Burnley up than Arteta has spent to keep Arsenal mid-table, and not even put a dent in the top three.
The fact that United held on to Solskjaer far too long also took a lot of media attention and forensics away from Arteta because United are expected to challenge.
Such is the relaxed laissez-fare attitude at Arsenal, no-one outside the fan-base cares if they challenge or not.
I doubt if any of our ‘big six’ rivals are remotely worried about Arteta catching them, with Arsenal or anyone else.
It was an entertaining match, though strewn with errors. A competent.striker and arsenal would have had at least a draw. Aubameyang had an absolute shocker. Whether it was physical or mental, he looks past it at the top level.
In my opinion…
Auba isn’t captain material.
Dyche isn’t a serious option.
Hopefully ESR Martinelli and Saka will be leading the line in a year or two, but to do it now? It’s too early to expect three young players to be doing so much week in and week out.
We need a striker in January.
“Most people are just pissed we threw the game away.”
And them some! The way that they lost to Liverpool is one thing and to be honest, expected given their ridiculous form. But the way we lost to ManU, a really really crappy team, you cant expect me or many to be thrilled in the least with that. This one, above all others is going to sting for a while.
It’s not doom and gloom as ( maybe stats don’t show it) but I think we have improved this season under Arteta. Not that the ceiling was overly high after a poor last season, but even so definitely improved. Just fucking pissed off we never seem to learn andame things harder for ourselves. Bar the games against top 3 , our performances have been far better than United’s since end of September. We really let them off the hook and the least I expected was a point off them. As usual we brain fart our way out of victory
Dyche lol, come on guys, seriously suggesting him you must be on a wind up.
For the record I’m not completely sold on Calvert Lewin either, not for the fee that he would likely command.
Vlahovic perhaps a better option, could even be got in January if we move on Laca and/or Lacazette.
I’m also not convinced Auba is finished just yet. Provided we sharpen our attacking threat we could extract more from him, although he is obviously not the complete player we need, the summer should be a good time for him to move on.
Auba or the forwards in general are always so far away from play. When we break they have to either cover or carry the ball too far.
I’m sorry to say Pedro, but MØ is not all that, he might have scored, but he is so pedestrian. Laca should always play before him, contract or not.
At least Martinelli looked sharp, he looks a the real deal when he’s firing
Guns of SF @16:30
“When he is ready, would like to see KT take the armband. Someone who doesnt do this millenial BS. Old school attitude- It starts from your captain… the fight, the grit, the encouragement on the pitch, the toughness, etc.”
SPOT ON
Not saying I necessarily agree with KT but your sentiment is right
Chris
I don’t think anyone is advocating Dyche, merely pointing out that he is a better manager than Arteta has been, up to this point in time given the resources both have to work with.
You cant be serious to be bringing up Sam F’n Dyche again? He of the perpetual relegation equation year in and year out?
The only thing more ridiculous than losing to Shitty Shitty ManU is thinking that Sam Dyche is even qualified to be managing any club other then Burnley, the anti-everything club of the EPL. Now I’ve seen and read it all, Fu*k me and all!
Plus what they said about Saka in commentary needing to be not so far out with his position, when crosses come in I thought was quite correct, he had a couple of really good chances
Herbs Army
Totally agree.
Double Double
Let’s hope Arteta pointed this out to him.
Are Arsenal doing significantly better than Burnley, on the football perspective, Ernest? So they’re in a relegation scrap, but because Arsenal spend significantly more, we’re out of that, but just like Burnley, we’re miles off challenging for the PL title too.
But why not go hyperbole and exaggerate our superiority over theirs. Good for you.
The blasé attitude to losing a game is just incredible.
That’s Arsenal FC for you.
Everton next.
What’s everyone’s expectations?
Got to be a win.
No ifs or buts.
@Graham 62
Agree. A win, nothing less
*ball?
*momentum
Herbs
Dyche has performed a remarkable job at Burnley, but that’s his level. It’s almost an irrelevance to a conversation regarding a future Arsenal coach and therefore any debate on Arteta.
Dyche? I don’t think full-on Brexit football is the answer to our problems.
We need more movement and unpredictability in the attack. Right now Martinelli and Tavares are the only players who are breaking the mold and popping up in positions where defenders aren’t expecting them to be.
Other teams have already figured out how to neutralize ESR. Just put two guys on him. He’ll just stay in his lane. As will the rest of our team, so no need to worry about someone exploiting the gap.
Arsenal do have an incredibly elitist and snobby fan base.
It seems we attracted this entitled lot over the past 25 years.
Can I put two and two together?
Chris
Graham asked the question to make a comparison. Dyche could never do the Arsenal job, equally, Arteta couldn’t do the Burnley job (not enough money to splurge!).
Chris
How do you know “that’s his level?”
Tavares gave Saka 2 golden chances…
Normally our crosses are woeful but those 2 chances….damn
Well Graham, I guess that’s the price of success and having tasted good football. Call us snobs if you want but many of us aren’t interested in reviving 80’s football. And like so many teams in the PL and around Europe have shown, there’s no need to if you’re a club that knows what they’re doing.
Good evening Graham, I hope you are well.
I would suggest that no other top club has come in for Dyche at any point points to him being at his level. He is a fine manager for a club of Burnley’s stature. A comparison is almost meaningless because it would never happen (Dyche at Arsenal).
Herbs
It could be debated that Arteta should have started at a club of Burnley’s size, perhaps smaller.
For me Arteta has to qualify is for continental competition this season. Failure to do that and his position should become a serious discussion amongst the Board/Josh etc
Burnley’s net spend over the last five years has been about £7m per year and that includes the season Dyche got them up to 7th, one place below Arsenal in 2017-18.
I guess falling back to where his finances dictate he should be is a clear sign of failure.
Excellent podcast Pedro.
I have to admit that I was not a fan of Matt Kandela and thought he was mostly superfluous to the discussions you and Johnny were having. However, he’s been excellent on the last couple of podcasts and made some really incisive comments.
4 games ago, at the beginning of November, it was stated here by Pedro that there are 10 games left in 2021 and 20 points from them is a must. Well so far from 4 games in November we got 6 points from 12 that leaves to get 14 points from 18. Doable but difficult as there are a few 6 pointers like West Ham and Wolves plus Everton, Leeds and Southampton are no pushovers yet most here expect AFC to win these. Basically what is means is AFC has to go on a 6 game unbeaten run of games… Read more »
The funniest thing about Arsenal fans in general is that we are the only fan base who complain Burnley grow their grass to the league highest allowed limit to make it harder for opponents to play their game.
Personally Chris, he should have Arsenal a lot further along the road by now, given where the club were after sacking Emery.
He needs to implement an identity that includes attractive attacking football, because his ‘vision’ isn’t working for me.
But as we’re stuck with him for the foreseeable, yes I agree, qualifying for the Europa League has to be the very least requirement, and a line in the sand if he fails.
Graham It’s not a blasé attitude Some of us just don’t act like petulant children after a disappointing result, recognising that within our current trajectory, we’ll drop plenty of points, and throwing the toys out of the pram every time that happens, is exhausting…. We’re not competing with the top 3 teams this season, we’re competing with the rest, United have superior quality overall, and there’s not much difference in quality between ourselves, Spurs, West Ham + Leicester We’ve a good chance of edging them teams out, and we’re currently in the mix Finishing 5th with an ageing team is… Read more »
Rich , interesting thing about Arsenal having the youngest team which, what it really means is Arteta picking the youngest players over some of the older ones……. so his choice really.
Remember when the 24 year old Tierney was a shoe in for future captain’s arm band and one of the first names on the starting sheet?
Tom, I don’t Arteta expects the young players to be ready-made now. Just fans like Graham who don’t understand that this process will have ups and downs.
The third most successful club in English football history.
Arsenal are colossally underachieving.
We should have never lost last night’s game. Our defensive attitude when we were 1-0 up is typical of Arteta’s lack of ambition.
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Tom I suspect you know why Arteta has a young team on the pitch.
If you’re uncertain I suggest you read Josh Kronke’s last interview where he states that this is the clubs policy moving forwards.
“There were some quick fixes that we tried along the way, involving breaking transfer records, trying to fill positions of need, but when you really examine the squad and the club from top to bottom we had to redefine our culture, redefine our strategy and we had to get younger on the pitch.”
I like Aubamayang as a footballer , but i get a feeling that he is in the wrong place at the wrong time,. Sometimes this happens to players, there is a change of manager, including a change of football philosophy and it just doesn’t suit a player, and that’s where we are with Aubamayang.. I reckon if you asked a peak Thierry Henty , Ronaldo or Messi to play in this present Arsenal team they would struggle And the reason they would struggle is because football in the premier league has become more about what you do off the ball… Read more »
Terraloon lol
“But why not go hyperbole and exaggerate our superiority over theirs. Good for you.”
Bombastic response Herb, stunningly so. You want to play that game, go it alone. All things being equal, Burnley are shit and that is game, set and match. Shame on you for being this blatantly ridiculous Herb, you are loads better than this.
Karsa, I’m assuming Tierney is no longer in the future team captain picture then.
Tom
Why do you assume that?
Pierre, JDP isn’t about tackles. It’s about being positioned in the right place to win the ball back.
Gabriel (CB) also registered no tackles. Our biggest tackler made 3 (Ben White).
Who really gives a shit what Joe Willock is doing in a Newcastle team that sits back all day and gets thoroughly abused by nearly every team they play.
14 appearances and 0 goals this season. Not sure they paid £25m for him to make more tackles than Odegaard.
Ernest dishing out the necessary disciplinary proceedings.
Tom, KT will be back in the starting 11 very soon.
“would suggest that no other top club has come in for Dyche at any point points to him being at his level” Not sure that is right. There were rumours about him getting an invite to interviews at Everton and WHU Personally I think he is an outstanding manager who has been able to keep Burnley in the PL when without doubt the likes of Arteta, OGS, Lampard & Mark Hughes got better gigs because they we better players. Not one of those 4 would be able to setup the resources available and achieve what he has done. Would he… Read more »
“We should have never lost last night’s game. Our defensive attitude when we were 1-0 up is typical of Arteta’s lack of ambition.“ Actually it’s more typical of young players who understand the pressures involved and look to protect a favourable advantage. Our behaviour and attitude when we take the lead in big games needs managed so much better by the senior figures on the pitch at the time. Arteta can spend a full hour screaming for the team to get up the pitch, but if you’re not brave it doesn’t happen. Auba, Partey, Elneny had an enormous amount of… Read more »
LOL Pedro!
Honestly, bringing Dyche into the conversation- thats like bringing a knife to a gunfight.
Do pro footballers still need agents? Nowadays are they better off with them or without them? No question they had a role when wage limits were removed. A fair balance emerged between players and clubs with players in the middle. But after Bosmann, the balance of power swung to the agents. They did the negotiating, they called the tune. Their motivation? Money. They ave an armoury of dirty tricks. For example an entitlement to a percentage of any profit made by the club on a future sale of their player. A loss to the Club and no benefit to the… Read more »
He’s been on the bench four games straight so he should be fit, otherwise why the inclusion?
Nono, whom I like, hasn’t been flawless exactly, so Arteta clearly prefers him over KT and that’s fine. But that’s three years of football experience we allegedly could be using to our advantage right now from a player 90% of Legrove were touting as a great buy and the future captain.
That was to Karsa
“Actually it’s more typical of young players who understand the pressures involved and look to protect a favourable advantage.”
Interesting point Charlie. As a youngster i recall in such instances driving continuously forward with great enthusiasm. The lead was ours and they would have to come to us, which was difficult because we kept coming at them. Didn’t work all the time, but it worked the majority of times.
Nuno
Tom.
I expect Tierney to return to the team on Monday.
Tavares has done well and, up until now, has deserved to keep his place. Now that games are coming on a more regular basis rotation comes into play, and Tierney will return.
Tierney is a young player. He fits into the grand scheme.
“Do pro footballers still need agents? ”
They came to be EB as a direct result of unscrupulous owners who took every advantage of players. Are they still needed today, thats a really good question and i think, like me, you will find a lot of pros and cons to be had.
Pierre, pressing is about shutting down angles, not necessarily getting as closets you can to the player you’re pressing
Pedro
“Pierre, JDP isn’t about tackles. It’s about being positioned in the right place to win the ball back.”
I think they call that interceptions of which Aubamayang has had the grand total of NONE.
Odegaard 3 interceptions in 12 games
Wiĺlock 10 interceptions this season
Obviously willock has understood JDP pretty well compared to Aubamayang and Odegaard
Tom, Tierney/Tavares dilemma is a good thing, direct competition is healthy
Full back is the most physically demanding role in the team, particularly the way we favour the left side, if we hadn’t brought in adequate competition, we’d have definitely buckled Tierney sooner rather than later
We’ve now got a healthy dynamic going on, the rest will hopefully recharge Tierney’s batteries, and he’ll come back looking to prove a point
Rich The goal of pressing is to generate turnovers. Arsenal occasionally do it well but compared with Barcelona and Man City, we’re not even close to where we need to be. Pedro-‘you miss 100% of shots you don’t take’ is a pretty lazy cliche for top level football. Most top teams will prefer to trade low percentage distance shots for higher percentage opportunities all day long. Nothing wrong with having some well-timed cracks from distance (eg. if the player is running onto the ball and to avoid being too predictable), but with our talent level from long distance (Partey, Nuno… Read more »
England’s
They ave an armoury of dirty tricks. For example an entitlement to a percentage of any profit made by the club on a future sale of their player
That’s quite amusing because it’s commonplace for managers to have an agreement that should they sign and then sell a player then a certain % of the profit finds it’s way into the managers pockets.
Players contracts are far more complex than just agreeing pay of say £x a week . You have issues such as image rights irrespective if the clubs don’t want to pay then just say no
Rich
“Pierre, pressing is about shutting down angles, not necessarily getting as closets you can to the player you’re pressing”
I can guarantee you that the closer you get to an opposition defender or keeper , the more pressure they will be under and the more times they will concede possession..
I have yet to see any evidence this seasòn that Odegaard’s “pressing” puts the opposition under pressure, whereas Eddie’s pressing v leeds put their defender under pressure , leading to a goal.. .
Pierre, when it comes to Ozil, Willock, Nketiah, you’re only ever going to see things one way, and then cling onto anything little detail that helps you confirm your own biases
Yes, Ernest, because Arsenal are currently proving to be so much better than little Burnley, aren’t they? If you add expenditure into the equation, no matter how ‘shit’ Burnley are, they are still getting better value and more bang for their buck than Arsenal. Dyche can only fantasise about what Arteta has spent for his Arsenal to be a few places above them. We all know Burnley are a second-tier club, that isn’t what’s being debated, it is the Dyche factor that helps them punch above their weight, and it is unknown whether he could take that to a higher… Read more »
Herbs Army, A very good talking that you and Graham have brought up. Arteta often resorts to smash and grab football. So I think his tactics are more suited to bottom half teams (minus playing out from the back), so I somewhat see Mikel being able to keep Burnley in the Premier League. Only just though. 17th place probably. As limited as Dyche’s tactics can be, even he has a more defined playing style that suits his players better than Arteta does. Burnley always play with 2 strikers who rely on vertical and diagonal long balls. Their 4 forwards press… Read more »
Ernest
I know you didn’t just try and draw a parallel to football in your youth to PL top flight football today for one of Englands biggest clubs.
Herbs,
I absolutely agree that Burnley fans are getting far more value for their money than we are. Even most clubs above us in the table charge their fans less for European football with the exception of Spurs. Must be something in these North London streets.
Champions League prices for midtable football coached by a risk averse manager. What’s not to like?
Herbs
👍
Rich
Ref: Your 19:00 post.
Good for you.
Not fantasising over Dyche. Just said I rated him above Arteta
IAT-Robbie
Yes I agree, Dyche has a tactical structure unique to Burnley which has to compensate for their lack of funds against the bigger clubs, and their fight against relegation.
You and Pedro both think Arteta would keep Burnley up, I’m not sure he would get the money to build a solid defence, so the jury is out for me.
Rich,
Watching AFC coached by Arteta for 103 games is exhausting.
Exhaustingly borrrrring.
No press, no turnovers in oppositions final third, for easier chances against a defense that is not set or on the front foot.
He better get the team ready to go against Everton or it will be a long December.
Cheers Terraloon 👍
Pedro, sorry I missed your earlier comment re experience. I don’t think anyone can argue in good faith that experience doesn’t matter, or that it’s overrated. Clearly playing young players will cost you points and that’s beyond any doubt. My point was that having KT fit for four games already and clearly more experienced than Nuno at this level…………. Arteta by picking Nuno for his first OT game, which is not an easy place to go to, kinda dispelled the notion he only picks younger players who are better than their older Arsenal counterparts. And btw, I did catch your… Read more »
Graham, You’re right. Some of us do have a snobbish attitude in this fanbase. Not sure how much that has to do with Wenger though (if that’s what you’re implying). You can see an example of this in the way Pedro talks about the prospect of Conte and Rangnick managing this team. . I remember debating with many Gooners during the summer that that risk taking midfielders like Nkunku and Szoboslai were far more needed in this team than metronome players like Ødegaard. The general sentiment was that Ødegaard had been a generational talent since age 15 and that Arteta’s… Read more »
Tom
“Ronaldo taking a speculative shot instead slotting the ball to Fernandes in opening minutes says strikers can be selfish.”
Yes , Ronaldo was as wasteful as Aubamayang in front of goal early on , 3 half chances , 3 poor strikes.
I said to my son at the time , it’s just a matter of time before Ronaldo scores if we keep allowing him half chances and of course the inevitable happened
Tavares has kept his place in the side so far because he just has little bit more physical robustness about him over Tierney. Tierney is no slouch when he isn’t going down injured but Tavares just has that bit more in the physical stakes. I think it’s clear that Arteta is going in big in having two very physical fullbacks involved in Tavares and Tomiyasu and it’s been overall beneficial so far despite the team blips at times and with Tavares himself. Tavares has surprised a lot of people but of course he has had a few slip ups as… Read more »
Herbs,
I am as unconvinced as you are as to whether Arteta is even a competent manager, let alone good enough for Arsenal Football Club. I just think he is risk averse enough to avoid Burnley getting relegated from the EPL.
Then again, he has taken risks at the most inopportune times before. The False 9 against Villarreal comes to mind. There’s always a chance he’d be in the mood test out Pep’s latest experiment during a relegation 6-pointer as Burnley manager.
Someone should tell Pedro and Rich that football is a contact sport ..
IAT-Robbie
I have to confess, it was one of my most disappointing days as an Arsenal fan when his signing was confirmed in 2011.
So it’s now the players fault. It’s their inexperience and not the manager’s inexperience that is the problem. It’s like it’s not his team. Poor, poor Mikel, lumbered with over £150 million worth of talent that he simply didn’t want. Not only that, his captain and main man in midfield, with all their experience, let him down. The swine. As for starting well and defending an early lead for the rest of the game, well this is now also down to inexperience and not as Einstein once defined as stupidity; trying the same thing over and over again and expecting… Read more »
Inexperience is usually associated with being naive and over comitting. Not being over cautious.
Join the dots.
But of course some divert away from Arteta for some reason. Don’t know why as he is the manager after all. He owns this certain trait we see with the side.
If Arteta does fail at the end of all this he can’t complain about the lack of support and backing. He is in a lucky bracket of managers that can clean sweep a lot of his side with new signings and fans are still demanding more new signings. In just a few seasons we will see that Arteta has virtually a brand new side from when he first arrived. The clear out may have been necessary but Arteta is a lucky boy to be afforded such options in regards new players. He must now kick on and show the results… Read more »
Pierre, ask Pep Guardiola if lots of tackles is relevant, you know, the guy that won the league being bottom of that table.
Ish, 5th after 14 games, 1 point outside top 4.
Join the dots.
Pedro
I’m on about the reluctance of some to hold Arteta responsible for some of the less pleasing traits we see with this side such as over caution.
I’ve already said I am more hopeful this season than the last term but it could go either way still.
Very tight from 4th down to midtable.
Ish, it’s a young team. There’s no rule of thumb when it comes to the output of inexperience. Our team doesn’t lead games well. Our game is based on confidence and bravery. That isn’t Arteta saying ‘please drop deep’ it’s just something he needs to coach out of them. I don’t know why you need pitchfork after every game. We made too many mistakes yesterday, we lost our bravery when we needed it, we have things to work on.
Saw this on Twitter and it illustrates the absurdity perfectly: “Arsenal players: We’re told to play higher and pressure Mikel Arteta: We need to play higher & pressure Arteta on the sidelines: *gesturing for team to get up the pitch & maintain high block* Conclusion: Arteta wants them to fall off“ The idea we back off after scoring because of the manager is such a shit strand of criticism. Nothing supports it other than a shared agreement between those that don’t like him. Dull as fuck analysis. We stand off and stop playing when we score because our team is… Read more »
Amen CC, it’s a problem that he needs to address, but not a problem he’s unaware of.
So we are agreed it’s a problem that is down to Arteta.
He signed these players so as manager he needs to get them into shape regarding this certain aspect.
The same heart attack causing problem when playing out from the back. When will Arteta fix that he had 100+ games to do it, yet it still happens.
I do admit that when Ben White has the ball more confidence for an excellent pass is there but still, why does AFC still have this play out from the back difficulty?
Agree that KT should have been preferred over NT as LB but then we are talking Diet Pep here, so no surprise to through the kid under the OT bus.
Pierre
Man City consistently amongst the very lowest when it comes to tackling, Liverpool under Klopp, not far off
So far this season City are 20th, Liverpool 19th, and they’re the 2 best pressing teams in the league