Arsenal are out of the race for top 4.
Our season is over.
Let’s not pretend it can be any other way.
If you can be beaten by individual stupidity and the sheer drive of Brighton and Palace, you have next to no hope of finding the right tools against West Ham, Chelsea and Spurs.
There are a lot of hot takes as to why we failed. The main one is the January transfer window, but that is totally wrong in my opinion. If the right players weren’t available, then it was best we sit on the funds. I know that stings people because the obvious solution to everything is signings… but that mindset is old Arsenal.
The cold hard reality regarding our striker hunt is there are probably only about 5 players in the world that fit the profile of what we’re looking for. Vlahovic was one of them, but his agents pushed him to Juventus. Benfica and Sociedad both know the money will be the same in the summer as it is in January, neither is going to give up a season now. We’re not going to spend £40m on a backup striker, we’ll be looking at free transfers or promoting from within. If we get the striker signing wrong, we are fucked long-term. We don’t have infinite funds, so we have to be laser-focused on making the right signings.
The real problem is how Arteta has managed the squad. I’ve been writing for a long time that we need to give our backup players games. The striker solution is sitting in the squad, we didn’t need to buy, we just needed to give Eddie minutes. Those that say he’s League One are so, so wrong. He’s Premier League striker and when he’s given games, he will score goals. If he’d been given a 6 game run, we’d not be having these conversations about Lacazette right now.
Just think back to Tomi. He was overplayed, he broke down… and we all feared Cedric would break us. He didn’t. When he was given some minutes, he found a rhythm and he’s done an excellent job. Players need minutes, not everyone can hit the ground running. Just think back to Odegaard, the only reason he’s doing bits now is that we showed patience with him.
Nuno Tavares was the big one. He landed a run at the start of the season. He was so good, it was a legitimate question as to whether KT would get back into the side. Then Tavares was dropped for two months. When he came back at Forest, he was pulled after 30. Then he wasn’t given any time to address his performances. Is anyone shocked he hasn’t found his game?
If Arteta was as ruthless with Lacazette as he has been with Nuno, we might be in better shape right now. How Lacazette can offer up nothing for 3 games and face no recriminations is beyond me. Eddie did more in 30 mins than Laca has done in 3 games. The man hasn’t scored in open play in 2022. How is he still starting?
Arteta totally botched the starting 11 today. It’s not a hindsight thing here, putting Granit at left-back was a car crash idea. Sambi needed Xhaka next to him so he could do this thing. It was a tactical disaster. Granit can’t left back, Odegaard isn’t effective from deep, and because the system was so alien… the players performed like they didn’t know what was going on. That was all on Arteta.
We have learned many things over these past two games.
Arsenal are far too reliant on the brilliance of Thomas Partey. When he exits our system, our system crashes. We need to sign able midfielders this summer that can rotate with him. The Ghanaian is now officially injury prone. We cannot rely on him.
We need to put the Lacazette experiment to bed. He was a good bridge to get us on track, but he doesn’t score, he doesn’t cause problems, and now he looks dead to the world. Southampton needs to see Eddie given a run of games. Though the issue is now that Eddie is going to leave and he’ll feel the full force of being Arteta’s get out of jail free card. If he comes in and does what he’s capable of, we’ll see that a top talent was slept on. If he fails because he’s demotivated, we’ll be no worse off that where we are with Lacazette.
Arteta needs to think about his entire squad next season. He overplayed his favored 11 when he should have been giving out minutes to other players. That has bitten him. His ruthless approach to Tavares has now cost him top 4. It’s really sad.
I do have questions of some of the coaches around Arteta. Why didn’t anyone push an inexperienced manager on squad rotation? Seems like a real basic that should have been addressed. It seems like Arteta is the only voice in the room and his mistakes need to be learned the hard way. I’m a big believer in experience. Don’t make mistakes you don’t need to make. Overplaying the same talent killed Tomiyasu, that was the warning sign, but everyone watched on.
I also feel like we’re not as smart as other clubs, still. Why was KT allowed to go to those Scotland friendlies? He’s injury prone. He was crucial to our success. But he flew out anyway and broke himself. Liverpool would have faked a hamstring and given him two weeks rest.
Heading into next season, Arteta needs to take lessons from all of these problems, because tanking a great season against Brighton and Palace wasn’t the magical ending we had hoped for.
What I will say in his defence is this: Not many clubs could deal with injured first choice right back, left back, and central midfielders missing. Not to mention having no goal threat from a striker. This is a unique set of circumstances we hopefully won’t have to deal with next season.
That’s no help for today. This moment is one of sadness. Spurs are riding the luck train, they’ve scored 12 goals from 15 shots on target, Kane and Son are injury free, and their ascent to top 4 is now inevitable.
Right, I’m off for a beer and a cry. See you in the bar. x
Loan signings where an option but oh no
So disappointing. Palace game can happen, but players started off so flat, slow and ponderous today. Partey injury along with saka, martinelli and odegaard being poor last few games and laca playing like he is 45.
Got to reset expectations.
We not ready for champions league footy anyway. 5th place and europa and good signings and youngsters improving next year hopefully.
Tr4phy seems pointless today.
But here I am
We have a young squad…and a young manager. Both are making mistakes. It just stinks when they both make mistakes on the same day.
Too depressed
Honest question, Should Arteta get a new deal so quickly , assuming he hasn’t signed it already?
Not convinced that Arteta can bring success to Arsenal.
Good post Pedro, you just forgot to say one thing
Arteta is a shit manager!
I can see why people say football is like a drug, when we win Pete and others are “sky high”…and when we lose “the withdrawals” make us act out. Arteta botched today. No doubt about it, but to give up now is ridiculous. We’re 3 points behind 4th place…having played one less match…and we still have to play Spurs. Yes…it could go to bits…but it also could turn out to be a success. Pete is asking for perspective during the week, and now all of a sudden the world is ending and we might as well just end the season.… Read more »
Shit owner shit CEO shit manager.
This team should be top 4 no argument.
How stupid selling Auba and not playing Pepe looks now.
Tets is done at top level.
Heading into next season, Arteta needs to take lessons
————-
He better not be here next season.
The Pepe situation is pretty strange in our circumstances
The midfield was a car crash today. I could remember a number of games where we started Partey, ESR and Odegaard together and we had a car crash of performances. It was stupid to think Sambi could hold it down on his own. Out of fear of attacks down our left, Arteta completely destroyed our midfield structure. Xhaka with Sambi in there plus Odegaard ahead and one of ESR and Martinelli on the left and we win that game comfortably. One thing I am sure after today’s game is that arteta won’t be the manager to win a title with… Read more »
Pedro Thisnpost could have been written in April 2021 and it would be perfectly right That’s why we spend all summer saying the only splurged on Ben White could have been spent on a midfielder since we had Saliba – you disagreed His squad management isn lacking, explains his shabby treatment of players on the margins- glad you now see the obvious His man management is shambolic. He has too many favorites and this has whittled the options he now had at his disposal. You have spent the last 2.5 years maliciously attacking anyone that Arteta didn’t fancy, now it’s… Read more »
Pedro, one of the most disappointing aspects today was the lack of urgency. Where was the desire to correct the record after the Palace defeat? Where was the ‘Oi! This is our Patch’ attitude? Perhaps that went when Arteta ceded power and control in the midfield for a LB patch that further weakened the engine room in Partey’s absence. It was a gross error of misjudgment that waited until half-time to be corrected. As you’ve mentioned here and in the podcasts, the lack of minutes afforded back-up players has proven to be harmful. I have no issue with backing the… Read more »
All that nonsense about Auba being unprofessional blah, blah, blah
Arteta may be lacking in the nous to get his center forwards performing at their highest level.
He won’t play people in the right system. Lacazette is not as bad as Arteta has made him become; the dude does too much #8 work so how can he be effective?
A manager is supposed to help players succeed and sorry. Conte came in and brought players to restore Harry Kane and Son’s effectiveness in one transfer window.
Arteta blaming the players after the game not his selection mistakes which put players in their wrong positions and unbalanced the team
There was always the fear that when it came to crunch time Arteta would crumble as he has done previously. Have the players looked to have real belief that they can get top four in the last two matches? Did they look to have real belief when they stepped out on the pitch today? Not anywhere close is it and this ultimately reflects on the manager. If this trend continues Arteta will be marked down as a manager that when the real pressure is on he becomes overly introverted, cautious and conservative. Fortune favours the brave. Arteta has yet to… Read more »
“Heading into next season, Arteta needs to take lessons from all of these problems, because tanking a great season against Brighton and Palace wasn’t the magical ending we had hoped for.”: Has he earned a new contract? I think not Is there any certainty that he will do better next year? No This was a unique opportunity that United shittiness created. Next season, they will get Erik Ten Hag and ion the spigots. Conte will attract good players to spurs with his presence and the CL qualification. Arteta can learn all the lessons and it wont be enough to take… Read more »
I wonder if the sluggish start was a combination of the players being uncomfortable in the unbalanced line up plus tactical overload. When positional play tactics were thrown out of the window in the last 20 mins we were apparently a lot more effcetive
Arteta post game press conference was as bad as his team selection & in game management
as for someone who speaks fluent English his conference was full of utter nonsense & BS
ESR and Odegaard are pure 10s at this point in their careers. They both looked lost out there today. It is gross mismanagement to think they can do what Debruyne and B.Silva do for city. He also exposed Sambi by not giving him a partner to work with. I can’t blame any player today. It is all on Arteta.
No having 3 big injuries is not unique, Emery lost Welbeck, bellerin and Holding to long term injuries in quick succession in his first season with nothing to back them up.
Pedro
I admire your tenacity.
Arteta is just not good enough.
Try and say it yourself.
It really isn’t that difficult.
His weaknesses and failings are systemic.
This has nothing to do with being inexperienced.
This is all down to the fact that “Arteta is just not good enough”.
Klopp would have played an academy player at LB [if he didn’t fancy the back-up LB] and kept his midfield at the highest level possible.
Arteta has ground Tavares. confidence too dust. Expect him to throw him in against a strong side and be shocked the young man is so poor.
*He should learn those lessons on another club’s dime, the same transactional manner he treats his players.
That he glosses over or completely ignores his error in playing Xhaka at LB and isolating Lokonga in midfield in his post match presser would suggest we will see Xhaka at LB again before the season is out.
My stance has always been clear. Give him another year if he gets at least Europa league football. Reward him with a new contract if he gets top 4. And Sign his targets and fire him if he gets anything below 6th. Unfortunately top level football is fine margins.
All the Arteta haters out in force today. I think that on the one hand one can crow about their promising young manager, but (I’m sure he would personally agree) that always comes with the caveat that they probably have a lot to learn, and you don’t learn from the good times, but from Fergies famous Squeaky Bum times. How ‘fit’ your team and squad is in terms of how they are able to recover from defeat. To carry on that analogy the heart and lungs still aren’t as strong as we think, and as Pedro said, we haven’t rotated… Read more »
He did blow it. He realized too late that we needed Xhaka in mf as well as he was missing at LB for the 1st goal. Botched in 2 ways.
We are in trouble as Spurs are peaking.
10 of our players had a shot at goal today though one player who played the whole 96 mins didn’t I will give you a clue it wasn’t Ramsdale
Arteta has been making the same mistakes for 3 years and will continue to do so.
This collapse was predicted months ago because Arteta doesnt change and isn’t good enough at the business end of the season. Or in transfer windows.
We should have bought a striker in the summer. Plenty were available then.
We also had no production from our left in the 1st half.
This was the year we had unexpected opp to qualify for UCL. With MU and THFC stuttering.
All we had to do was beat CP, BHA and Soton.
The guy is a loser, period.
Nigel Tufnel
“We also had no production from our left in the 1st half.”
Yes Xhaka is not going to get up and down the flank like a conventional fullback.
So Arteta’s error in putting in Xhaka in at LB was in fact three fold problems rather than the previous mentioned two fold problems = being out of position for the Brighton goal plus Lokonga isolated central.
I might be in the minority on here, but I think Arteta will become a good manager, the problem is, he will make his mistakes on the way with us, because he will likely be indulged by the board. If he was at the likes of City one day , he would have a bigger and better squad , but his ways and whims would not be tolerated as they are at this club. I realise he has limited resources now, and that he has the sort of injuries to key players rivals do not but today was a shambles… Read more »
Complete regime change, Nothing Less.
Lacazette surely needs to be dropped now. Eddie did more in the limited time he was given today than Lacazette has done in the past 3 games.
Wow that was depressing. I do wonder if more needs to be made of this over-training/over-thinking point. We had no reason not to be prepared to beat this Brighton team. Likewise, the Crystal Palace game. Why does it feel the players are not prepared and ready to put in the effort needed for a win against inferior opposition at this crucial stage of the season? For Brighton to score two goals like that, for Arsenal to put in that diabolical first half performance, no something is not right for sure. I don’t blame Sambi for playing safe and being overwhelmed,… Read more »
Do you think if Arteta’s English was poor, and the subject of some ridicule, he would be granted the same indulgence he is now, allowed to blame all and sundry except himself, while intimating the only solution is to spend more colossal sums of money (with mixed results)?
Don’t really blame Laca for this, he is being asked a lot without his strike partner
Pedro “There are a lot of hot takes as to why we failed. The main one is the January transfer window, but that is totally wrong in my opinion. If the right players weren’t available, then it was best we sit on the funds. I know that stings people because the obvious solution to everything is signings… but that mindset is old Arsenal.” Codswallop. Players were available. People weren’t demanding £50m+ players to be brought in, just capable loan signings to ensure the side had enough depth not to be left in a position where, for example, Lokonga was alone… Read more »
So now the season is over. Yet when some people said this just one game ago, Noisy Nigel and the funky bunch were doing the usual and saying how people were overreacting and wetting beds. As I said at the time, we weren’t reacting to the result in isolation. We knew it meant seeing Xhaka at left back, and the rest is history.
The likes of Palace under Vierra and Newcastle will make even a safe EL placement unattainable next season.
Palace have a scouting network that can spot and sign Olise for £8.9 million last summer. They have lots of young players that will improve come next season. They have lost lots of close games and the league table understated Viera’s performance.
Arteta has the same flaws of his mentor; overthinking and tactical overload.
Kudos to you Pedro for at least attempting to provide a half-hearted dressing down of the manager, especially considering your overtly pie-in-the-sky predilections leading up to the match…that said, it’s a shame that someone who’s so clearly well-versed in all things Arsenal-related couldn’t seem to see the writing on the wall, especially considering the circumstances surrounding Wenger’s long kiss goodnight…the shoehorning of players, the picking of favourites, the tactical inflexibility, the failure to capitalize on opportunities due to the failure of others, the pursuit of wants before needs from a recruitment perspective, the disdain for “star” players who might usurp… Read more »
‘Klopp would have played an academy player at LB [if he didn’t fancy the back-up LB] and kept his midfield at the highest level possible.’
Actually Dissenter, Klopp was faced with the same decision last season and weakened his midfield by plating Fabinho at CB. Their midfield suffered as a result.
What price will Arteta actually pay? It’s the fans who will be hurting today.
So disappointed and disappointing with Arteta today for starting Laca. Xhaka at left back was just him being timid.
Livid. I can understand losing. I can’t understand the complete lack of fight.
Regardless of the name of the club you loose your crucial player (s) to injury you suffer in all kinds of manner. As BIG stated Liverpool great example of that last season with VVD.
It’s not even an elephant in the room this was all inevitable. It’s not about team selection or players making mistakes it s the folly that was obvious in letting so many players go and thinking that every other club, every other manager that demands, no that needs a 25 man squad hasn’t a clue because St Areteta of The Emirates is super cool and clever Night follows day and anyone , be they a bedwetter or not could see this coming it was only those Idiots that are far too naive and blinkered that couldn’t see this all happening… Read more »
Dissenter….I think the real problem stems from the fact that MA has tried to marry the worst traits of the latter days Wenger with the largely unteachable traits of his former boss, Pep, which is why never has a single soul come out of his coaches room and carved out a name for themselves as a full-fledged manager of some consequence
pete is becoming less believable than putin.when uni had a bad finish to a season he was crucified and sacked.the teflon manager sails on and on
We are in a bad patch, no doubt. Top four looks impossible and even Europa might be a stretch given the performances we are serving up. Zooming out and taking a birds eye view, where is this going? It has been two years and hundreds of millions spent, and we still utterly collapse when Thomas Partey isn’t available? At this point in the process, that is not acceptable. Arteta has some serious flaws as a manager that do not appear to be improving. It seems as though everything must be perfectly just so for this team to click. Arteta seems… Read more »
C’mon Bacary, not exactly the same when the three of VVD, Matip, and Gomez were out all at the same time.
Klopp also tried Henderson at CB a few times. Desperate times call for desperate measures I suppose, but the two aren’t exactly similar.
Fucking spuds scored 9 in 2 games and we only managed a deflected one.
Insanity is keep playing laca all that time and still expect him to score!
Conte doesn’t look like a fool now ,doesn’t he?
Pedro
You are an enabler of mediocrity and I thought you were more intelligent.
bacaryisgod
Not so fast
It’s one thing to slot a defensive midfielder into a center back role, everyone does that in a crises withe a physical midfielder. Wenger used too play Song there. There’s a natural fit, even Javier Mascherano who was 5′ 9″ played center back for Barca at a high level, when called upon.
I’m talking full backs here. Has Klopp ever slotted Fabhino into Robertson or Trent Alexander-Arnold’s position. When Trent got injured in 2020, he turned to Neco Williams from the academy…
Agreed Pedro, There are lot of blames to be thrown about here in the last week. The fact we have a 47m quid striker who is utterly shit and offers nothing and can’t score in a brothel, as well as offloading the ball as quickly as possible rather than holding up and linking up. We get into good positions out wide and when it comes to deliver to there’s nobody in the middle, Lacazette seems to be having a wank on the half way line or edge of the box. I knew that without a striker of any note and… Read more »
Sal
Regardless of the name of the club you loose your crucial player (s) to injury you suffer in all kinds of manner. As BIG stated Liverpool great example of that last season with VVD.
Feeble excuse all clubs have players injured the reality is that save the odd the odd player missing Arsenal really haven’t suffered much up till a few games ago indeed most teams are missing on average 5 players at any point in time. Without European football, without a decent FACup run their can’t be any excuses
ours is a systemic problem of epic proportions because the longtime debilitating variables that having negatively effected our club aren’t just of an in-house variety, as those who keep opting to support a cult of personality narrative have enabled this club to go down this incredibly dicey road once again
Terraloon Don’t be so triggered mate, I may no excuses for this club recent results. Said it in the last post this summers folly was born in squad building last summer not refreshing up top. Christ Wenger would of axed both our options at their age. We are far more competitive with Saliba/Holding/Gabriel as CB options with Tammy leading the line than blowing that money White and going with Laca. My point was you loose a player like Partey, he’s irreplaceable and you will suffer. Doesn’t help that we’re playing single fixture weeks and have no other outlet to keep… Read more »
This season presented a golden opportunity for us to get back into the CL, cannot believe we have undone the hard work effectively inside five days. Tavares can only pick up form through game time, and in the losses to Palace and Forest he wasn’t the only player playing badly so why he has been targeted is beyond me. The whole side looks to be going through a slump, at the wrong time. For example, Gabriel was awful today, too slow and ponderous on the ball and too slow with his decision making and Ramsdale isn’t making the saves he… Read more »
Now it’s the coaches fault for not speaking up. Yeah, that would have gone well with the little dictator. LOL. Whatever happened to the youngest most exciting project in all of EPL? Sauce? Special brew? Give it up, Peds. If Arteta gets credit for barely getting by against Wolves and Villa, surely he deserves all the criticism coming his way after horrendous showings in the last two games. Pathetic.
I’m trying hard to not lash out because of the disappointment but it’s impossible. After 2.5 seasons with Arteta, the best that can be said about him is that he brought in some very talented players this season. Not necessarily the ones we needed the most but we’ll get a lot of happiness out of this group eventually. But as a manager, he just seems to lack some very basic things. He doesn’t seem to be able to manage people, except for the handful of players who are in his good graces. He lacks the ability to to build, maintain,… Read more »
Just read Arteta’s interview. He blamed the players playing with no purpose. Most of the fans including Pedro realize that the set up was wrong. Xhaka was bad before as left back. He is out of position in the defense and couldn’t run the channel for the attack.Playing Sambi Lokonga as the lone DM is also a brain dead move. The whole system didn’t function. Our two CB’s spent most of the time passing the ball between themselves. Our game became slow and boring. Under this condition, how can any player can play with purposes. For me, not all hopes… Read more »
I was referring to you saying Klopp would have kept his midfield at the highest possible level.
I think Arteta’s just falls back to his education under Pep when in crises Slotting Xhaka to left back was similar to what Pep did when rapist Benjy Mendy got injured in 2017-18, he put Fabian Delp into that role. The difference was that Delph was a bench player for as club that had KDB, David Silva, Ferhnadinho, Yaya Toure , Gundogan and Foden available to play in there middle. It’s not the same as putting your only experienced midfielder as left back and leaving the midfield is the hands of a young player starting his first game since Jan… Read more »
Not that long ago Xhaka was deemed our “best” midfielder and now from a few months ago after being quesioned Partey is “irreplaceable”
I think all this just shows that Arsenal were on very thin wire in regards being in with a shout for top four before inevitably taking a tumble.
Tom/Dissenter
It was a decision that Klopp was criticized for at the time. I agree it was a much tougher call for him though as he had 3 CBs out at the same time. It made sense to move Xhaka back there when we needed his experience alongside Sambi in midfield.
Vieira had killed off Arteta’s coaching career on Monday night.
I’m telling you this for free.
Bac
“I was referring to you saying Klopp would have kept his midfield at the highest possible level.”
Liverpool have a surfeit of good midfielders, even when Fabhino dropped back they had coverage in the middle. What they missed was a world class central defender in VVD that was out missing. Their midfield, even without Fabhino was still better that 17 clubs in the division.
Leftside “Ramsdale isn’t making the saves he was making a few months ago.” Ramsdale was being over-rated no doubt just like Partey is at this time on here tonight. Leno had to be replaced no doubt because he lacked that real character and grit so Ransdale was a breathe of fresh air in comparison and he did make good saves when he first came in. But he was also making routine saves that fans were kidding on were superlative. The dust was always going to eventually settle regarding Ramsdale after the initial furore over him. Good to some extent but… Read more »
Sal My point was you loose a player like Partey, he’s irreplaceable and you will suffer. That really is the issue he shouldn’t be irreplaceable he at best is an ok player and like a few others that have been overplayed because the squad is wafer thin. As for fantasy signings yep every club can say they would be better with this players or that player the simple fact is players like Tammy weren’t signed . Vast sums have been spent on the defence and the stats suggest that at seasons end very little in terms of goals scored will… Read more »
When we criticize Arteta for a lack of man management, look no further than the curious case of Saliba
To think we’ve been dealing with this lad solely through his agenthis diabolical.
I wouldn’t blame Arteta if he was head coach in an arrangement where the tech director wields most of the power but he’s manager in a co-arrangement with the “tech director” so he has to get lots of blame.
Partey aint irreplaceable because of some extra-ordinary quality
He’s irreplaceable because of the incompetence in how we set up this squad. We had 50 million to spend last summer and we opted to get yet another central defender when he had an exciting talent in Saliba. That 50. million would have reduced our dependence on Partey.
Anguissa went to Napoli on loan with a £9 mil option to buy.
I bet Saliba is watching closely how Arteta handles Pepe. He knows he’ll never be one of Arteta’s favorite. He won’t risk his career and his world cup spot playing for Arteta.
Think thats quite harsh on Ramsdale overall season thus far Ishola, likley he’ll be England #1 in Qatar. But I do agree this Arsenal makes keepers look better than they are from sheer amount of work they must do. Terraloon “he at best is an ok player ” This is where we differ, since December Partey has been on very high level overall this season integral. Read a stat stating this season we collect 2.1 points per games he features and .8 without him which translates to 68% vs 20% win ratio. No question he was shit vs Palace, the… Read more »
For me it’s the fact we knew Tierney and Partey were injury prone from the start of the season so they should have been rotated frequently. If you’re going to rotate a thin squad start there ffs!
As for Laca In hindsight Eddie should have been given more minutes, it worked playing Laca when we were winning but no doubt there was data beneath that we didn’t see that showed he would a liability…like now.
Laca has been woeful this year but it wouldn’t surprise me if when he moves to a new club he finds the net regularly. Auba has been a prolific player for the majority of his career but was largely unproductive here over the last 18 months. In a new system that plays to his strengths he’s now back amongst the goals regularly. Arteta’s system isn’t designed to get the most out of our strikers. Strikers are almost tasked with being a defensive/creative outlet whilst allowing our wingers to succeed. The issue with this is that are wingers are not consistent… Read more »
Bac, all managers make mistakes. Even someone as experienced as Klopp when faced with circumstances new to him ( the amount of injuries to key players ) will try things that might misfire badly.
Sal “Think thats quite harsh on Ramsdale overall season thus far Ishola, likley he’ll be England #1 in Qatar.” And that shows the quality around for England keeper. Everton fans slate Pickford. We do get this idea that if a player gets capped and becomes an international then it seals his standing and that he must be undispusted top class but we know it doesn’t always work that way. Of course you have to perform to a certain level to attain international status but it can also boil down to what overall quality there is for these international places for… Read more »
Leftside, agree completely.
Arteta took two regular double digit strikers and turned them into duds.
And one of them is playing out of his skin for a new contract, is only 30, and has been injury free.
After 2.5 half years Arteta hasnt been capable of equal Emery’s record, that is an aboslute disgrace. If Emery is a bum like Pedro says the Arteta must be the hair in that bum. Emery got 5th and an Europa Legaue fibal with Mustafi Sokratis, Leno, Torreira, Guen, Auba, Ozil, Bellerin, Xhaka all this players that Pedro says arent good enough for Arsenal ( I agree), the bad thing is that Arteta cant equal that record with a MUCH BETTER SQUAD after spent more than 250 million. Lego Hair has to go, this is the time when his manager credentials… Read more »
I certainly wouldn’t be clamoring for Eddie if it weren’t for Laca’s abject ineptitude…as I spoke of earlier, Eddie’s only been effective when we’re either playing a second tier squad or when we’re chasing the game with two Strikers up top, as opposing defenders don’t seem to account for him the same way as our other forwards/Strikers….fact is if you think he’s the answer, you’re asking the wrong questions
Do we have a single youth on our books that arteta has developed?
The events in the last two seasons with gutting the squad of 23 players and now this ramshackle affair with one key player missing speaks volumes about coaching ability
Arteta has a pep blueprint a few pages long and if he strays from it even a jot the walls come crashing down
This expensive experiment will only get worse
All the original concerns are back front and center
Yes there is a big clamour for Eddie N now.
Perhaps he does deserve a go because of his recent showings but as Vera Lynn warns his showings have come in certain situations where the team is chasing the game and he is thrown on with support uptop.
Remains to be seen whether he is cute enough or effective enough as a starter playing in a more disciplined role along with a more disciplined style of play
The big mistake was indeed January. Clearly we wanted Vlahovic but if the plan was to let PEA go then we need to sign two established strikers anyway, because next season we’ll have just Gaby and Balogun. After losing out on Vlahovic, why did we not sign a number 2 striker? Someone who would give us options now and do a job for us now? It was very short sighted and unambitious not to mention, a massive mistake! We were supposedly keen on Kulusevski but let Spurs get him, he’s been fantastic! He is 21 and will only cost them… Read more »
agreed Sly…we simply must see some further development from both our blue-chippers, who play regularly, and from those waiting in the wings, before season’s end or this mixed bag of an experiment must come to a timely end…we can ill-afford to allow this to proceed any further without something more tangible on offer or we might lose some of our key assets along the way…our most appealing features for any future managerial candidate will almost assuredly be our high ceiling prospects and our greatly decreased wage bill, which should open the door for some serious recruitment options in key areas
Sly He has developed no one. Saka and Smith Rowe were developed by Ljunberg. while Tierney has massively regress. Bellerin became not existent, Auba dropped tools, Laca became a passenger and Gabriel is becoming the new Mustafi. We scored 73 goals with Emerey now we cant get 50, defense will end with a worse record than last season after spending 80 millions in tha zone. We are regressing each year. Add to that all the players Arteta gave for free including Auba who is doing great at Barza FOR FREE he is leading them to CL. Problem is Pedro mental… Read more »
It was quite obvious today: we’ve got NO striker. Laca is finished. Eddie did more in 30mins than Laca did in 96! The young guns who have been carrying us all season (Saka, ESR, Martinelli) have been run into the ground & are now knackered. Arteta does NOT do rotations. Evry coach in the PL can predict Arsenal’s line-up days b4 they play us. The man ran Tomi into the ground too until he cant stand on his feet anymore. He doesn’t motivate anyone who isn’t in the starting 11. Instead he crushes their spirit & suddenly expects them to… Read more »
Saag
I concur
We’re in trouble
All the teams will have progressed by next year and spurs most likely will be in CL with conte at the helm
Arteta can’t function outside of his favorite 11 and even with them is getting found out and spanked by lesser teams
I cannot accept that in the transfer window there were no players available that would slot into our team. What about the lovely old days when a loan for a player from down the leagues would be an option. Mr Wright came from down the leagues,Vardy too. I get the impression Arteta does not like to listen to opposing voices,this is folly- I would still keep him around if he finishes no less than sixth,however nothing less than fourth would be acceptable next season,and if he doesnt think he can deliver that,then we wish him all the best on his… Read more »
Many hours after the game has ended and I still can’t believe what the fuck was Arteta thinking by ruining the midfield AND the left back positions with 1 move. Especially when we’ve been there, done that vs Villarreal a year ago. Absolute lack of brain activity when a random viewer would know better than the manager of one of the biggest clubs in the world.
Ahhh classic Pedro. Even with another disaster season on the horizon he can’t bring himself to blame his man. Elite scouting and analytics but can’t find a striker better than laca or a midfielder faster than a corpse. Let’s his injured LB play two friendlies and only has one way of playing but anyway, trust the process. Bored of being wed to xhaka and listening to artetas excuses. Next
Lack of quality and not putting in a shift in the last two games is on the players. Binning off Saliba, Guendozi and Maitland-Niles, meaning we are paper thin as a squad. And playing Xhaka at left back and leaving Lokanga isolated in midfield are on Arteta. I would love Arteta to take us to the heights of competing for the title. But, honestly, I feel any half competent Manager could have us where we are now. There are plenty who would make us better. In fact, with 1 or 2 exceptions, any other Premier sides Manager would have us… Read more »
I’m honestly so upset that after all the hard work the players, the manager, everyone at the club put so far, we’re bottling it. Top 4 was sooooooooooo important… Still time but today was a game where we needed a result and we needed it badly. It’s crunch time and we’re showing weaknesses.
Raptora It was huge error no doubt. What is concerning is that we cannot be sure that Arteta will not repeat the mistake in the next game. Xhaka at left back, as pointed out earlier in the thread, weakens us three fold It’s been a shitty week, but hell, I still have a chirpy optimism about our overall future. We are still in the fight this season, despite the odds we now face. If we have learnt anything at all from football, crazy stuff can and does happen. I know that somewhat flies in the face of logic, but we… Read more »
Why are you all whinning? Don’t you see that the atmosphere at the emirates is the best it’s been for ages.?
All hail Arteta, the changer of stadium atmosphere.I think we probably hired an amazing steward…to do the work of a manager.
SAGG
Wise up, Freddie didn’t develop ESR or Saka, he was only at the helm for a year and incharge of the U23s for the same time, both players have been at the club long before that. Tierney has been playing well, if not consistnetly. Bellerin had been non existent for many seasons before and Auba was putting away every chance her got under Emery, he wasn’t even hitting the target for for Arteta. You need to look deeper at the issues than just reading the post game stats.