Gooooood morning! I’m a bit late to the party today, football is exhausting sometimes, so is writing, tweeting and, podcasting. If I were on Facebook pre-2010, I’d have a text status update that said ‘Humph’ because that’s the sort of attention seeker I am. Talk about first world problems, right?
Arsenal finished the season by absolutely spanking a shocking, shocking Everton side. The scoreline wasn’t flattering, but the goal haul did maybe take the edge off our goalscoring issues this season – but let’s not gloss over the truth.
I’ll be using this incredz article for info.
Without those 5 peachy goals, we’d have finished 8th for goals scored behind United and West Ham. That fact doesn’t distract from the reality of our season, 4th was largely lost for two reasons, the main one being that we didn’t score enough.
I know I am all over the place with xG, but again, but here is my reiteration of when I will use it:
xG + eye test + context
The eye test is that we need a big boy upfront, and the above table is the context.
Our expected goals has us top 4. What is the context for us not matching our xG? We played half a season with a striker in massive decline, we spent the next chunk of the season with a striker that couldn’t score goals, then we finished with a 22 year that started 8 games and hauled in the most goals of all our strikers this season in the Premier League.
Then add the context that we had the 4th most shots in the league and were ranked 12th for conversion. Again, we have a young team and shooting accuracy under pressure is generally a skill that develops with age. Don’t believe me? Look at the top 20 scorers in the league late season and tell me how many are 24 or under. Not many. Look at Robin Van Persie goal stats at Arsenal, he only scored 15 or more goals 3 times in 8 seasons, despite making more than 30 appearances 6 of those seasons. That was with a squad with seasoned vets, in a league that was far, far weaker than the one we live in now.
Now look at the top open play chance creators in the league.
How many of those guys are 23 or under? How about 25 and under? The youngest players in that illustrious list outside our boys are 27 years old. Why does that matter? Because it tells you our kids will get better and we’re on the right path with regards to creativity.
Then we land on this list. Someone was digging me out on Youtube that they had listened to a podcaster debunk the myth of age being a factor when judging a season. Let’s knock that on the head right now because if that’s your view, it is a dross one, that wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny at any level, with anyone who works in football.
Let’s talk about why we are going young.
Firstly, there are two ways to build a super club:
- Spend outrageous amounts of money – City / Chelsea
- Grow a team of young players with a top coach – Liverpool
Even though City are a gross club, but they have a sustainable approach to the game. They have one style of football. They buy young players at the top of their game. They don’t cycle through a new coach each year, because stability is cheaper and better for success. Boom and bust managerial appointments might be seen less and less at big clubs, particularly with Chelsea moving on from Roman. It’s expensive and with each new manager you have a new list of players they want and coaches they don’t have. City are well run, one of the best, it’s just unfair they can do it with a states wealth funding a smart model
Arsenal don’t have an option on #1.
We could have a crack at buying a load of 27-year-olds that look like Champions League players, but by the time a project makes a big tournament, they have to rebuild anyway because those 27-year-olds are 30.
Big clubs want to move to sustainable models with their football operations, you want to be able to get to the top, then sustain it without mega cash outlays. You also want to make sure that when you do get to the top, you have young enough players to have a Liverpool like spell of success.
We have to take a longer route to the top. Our strategy is a simple one: Buy the best U23 players in every position or bring them through the academy, give them the best coaching possible, keep them at the club by progressing on the pitch, then when you make Champions League, your 23 yrs olds are 25/26 ready to bang and compete for years like Liverpool and Man City.
We are at year one of that project. You can say Arteta has been here 2.5 years, you can say he’s on borrowed time, but the truth is he’s here on year one and the graph above shows you how young we are in comparison to the teams doing the business right now.
Age is a factor. Yes, it’s our choice, but I’ve explained why it’s the only choice. Our young players experienced a lot of new things this season. Firstly, playing with each other, this is a new team in which 5 new players ended up being first-teamers. They had never experienced actually competing and the pressure that came with it. They had never experienced MEGA attention, some didn’t deal well with it… youtube, Twitter, Instagram follower counts blowing up, media expectations, fan expectations, international call-ups, new sponsorships. If you don’t think these things have more adverse impacts on younger people, honestly, you have no clue what you are talking about and you should step out of the conversation.
The final rip from this article is this nugget.
‘Arteta made just 63 line-up changes over the course of the Premier League season – the fewest of any manager.’
Lots of people are looking at the Spurs signings as the key difference between 4th and 5th, that is the defining narrative. But that assumes some things: that there was a player we could have definitely signed that was a difference-makers long-term and we passed on them.
Arteta is the greediest manager in the league, if there was a chance to do something big, he would have. We bid for the most expensive striker in Europe, that is proof intent was there if the talent was.
For me though, the biggest miss of the season was squad management.
Could William Saliba have been a better option than what we had? Could he have stepped into right back?
Could AMN have been treated better and made our 2nd choice right back?
Could we have been better about rotation with players like Tierney, Partey, and Tomiyasu?
Could we have found more goals if we’d given Eddie games from September?
The answer to all those questions is unknown, but I’m inclined to believe that they are all better bets than suggesting Wout Weughorst was a January transfer miss.
The things we messed up this season were not abstract notions of silver bullet players, they were sitting on our payroll and we totally botched the mix.
I say totally, like we didn’t win 22 games (4 short of what we did in our Invincible season), and rack up 69 points. We can all talk about what didn’t happen, but however you cut it, we missed out on a 4th place by 2 points that would have been good enough for 3rd the last two seasons. Spurs spent £70m in January and invested £20m in Antonio Conte… they also had the two deadliest strikers in the league, 28 and 29, who started 35 and 37 games, respectively… a feat that will likely never happen again, certainly not with CL next season, because they are both injury-prone and Champions League games in the early stages require big players. They also ended the season with Own Goal as their 3rd highest goalscorer, they were very, very lucky.
Spurs are a matter for another day, but their fans are in for a rude awakening, especially if Mbappe hires Conte this summer.
I would take where we are in our journey over what they are about the endure next season.
We have the most exciting project in Europe.
We have the most united fanbase we’ve ever had in the post-Highbury era.
Our path forward has never been clearer.
If we get this summer right, we are going right the way back to the top, so mark it on your calendar now.
Ok, now listen to our end of season podcast. It gets a bit spicy, Johnny and Matt were a bit sad, but I perked them up. Enjoy, thank you for being with us all season, we have PLENTY more to talk about this summer. Big Love xxx
“Arteta’s Arsenal are beige, bland, unexciting, uninspiring, safe football that demands very little of the more creative players.” Herbs, As succint a summary of Artetaball as is humanly possible. Goals and flair are what generally make the game exciting. Yet, we have neither in abundance under Mikel. I get worried when I see our style of play being described as “exciting” and “scintillating” by other Gooners. Our standards just keep dropping every year. Were it not for the fact that the Evertonians were already on holiday, we’d have scored the least number of goals in the top 7 this season.… Read more »
Rinsing the lemon.
Saliba said he wants to stay in France next season. I’ve not seen any enthusiasm from him, in any of his reported comments, for returning to Arsenal. That should be a matter of concern. It suggests he doesn’t seen anything exciting about Arsenal and that he doubts he will get an opportunity to stake a claim for a starting place despite his achievements over the last two seasons. We already know he has been virtually ignored by Arteta while on loan. Surely a young, £27m+ asset should be having weekly or fortnightly chats with the manager at least, to check… Read more »
“The ones showing undying love for Arteta at this time will be just as quick to get the knives out for Arteta if it goes pear-shaped as those that are not as enthused by Arteta” Very true, Ishola. Case in point, myself. I was still content with Arteta until that semi-final against Villarreal. Then, I actually started listening to the concerns of other Gooners and the arguments actually made a lot of sense. The PR hype surrounding Mikel is a real thing. It had me keeping faith in Arteta even during that absolutely dreadful run in the Autumn of 2020.… Read more »
Habesha Soft touch doesn’t necessarily mean bad, just feel we need more steel throught the middle. We already have Xhaka and El Neny and Odegaard as midfield options. None of them exaclty athletic and have the technical abilities to dominate games from there consistently. Partey is the only one who can and he’s injured half the time, i’d rather a Neves or someone who has a prescnce than another midfilder who only thrives in the final third. On Kulukevski, man did i get that wrong but again, he wasn’t exactly pulling up trees with Juve. was benched by the erratic… Read more »
NORGMay 24, 2022 09:51:30
Saliba does not want to play for Arteta and probably Arteta does not want Saliba in his team. OM are ready to make an offer for Saliba with Mr Clean himself likely to send the fax.
not true just paper talk and nobody uses faxrs anymore its not 2002
InsideRight Saliba said he wants to stay in France next season. I’ve not seen any enthusiasm from him, in any of his reported comments, for returning to Arsenal. That should be a matter of concern. — When people say Saliba would slug it out with Gabriel and Ben White next season, it just reeks of people dismissing reality. Saliba while here for 6 months didn’t play a single minute of club football. He wasn’t registered for the Europa league and an injured Mari was registered. During one of those group games, Xhaka played centre back while Saliba was in the… Read more »
What our centre midfield craves is that technical ball player, this seasons version of Thiago for example. I want to see someone come in of a high technical calibre.
Pedro, nice article as always. “Spurs spent £70m in January and invested £20m in Antonio Conte…” This is false, they got their 2 players on loan whatever the fees is after the 2 year loan to make it permanent we can discuss but they didnt pay 70 million in January. Additionally, Kulusevki has more than justified his loan with G/A same as bentancur. “… I say totally, like we didn’t win 22 games (4 short of what we did in our Invincible season), and rack up 69 points. We can all talk about what didn’t happen, but however you cut… Read more »
Olumide
“…If you think Saliba will be on the same level-playing field with Gabriel and White, then you’re dismissing the history of how Arteta has treated Saliba…”
Very good comment. Also, Saliba has a chance to play in the world Cup why will he want to come to sit on the bench when he can play regular football on loan? Not saying he will not return to Arsenal, but I guess we will find out
ES
I received that email yesterday also, with the renewals to begin next week.
It is fair enough but the club must properly strengthen where appropriate and plug the obvious gaps. We cannot have another slow start, or leave ourselves short due to injuries to some of our players that are very prone to injury.
Those 9 points lost before we picked up any points this year proved to be a hammer blow in the end.
Mr Serge
Mr Serge
Clearly you are out of touch with the recognised means of communication with transfers between football clubs. The fax machine is not dead yet.
Go into shipping where they still use Telex.
IAT-Robbie ” Were it not for the fact that the Evertonians were already on holiday, we’d have scored the least number of goals in the top 7 this season. When we look at the number of big chances created by EPL clubs in 21-22, we are in 17th place with 39. 17th!!! That signifies that the quality of the football has been poor. If it weren’t for our goals from dead-ball scenarios, we’d be even worse off….” Great comment. For all the creativity Pedro talks about to be 17th for big chances created is criminal. For a club that was… Read more »
I’m still not sure I buy the media narrative that Conte has worked wonders with Spurs. They literally have an incredibly potent striking pairing who scored 40 goals between them and yet still only just managed to get 4th. They really should have been way clear with that at their disposal.
benkindMay 24, 2022 11:03:07 Pedro, nice article as always.“Spurs spent £70m in January and invested £20m in Antonio Conte…”This is false, they got their 2 players on loan whatever the fees is after the 2 year loan to make it permanent we can discuss but they didnt pay 70 million in January. Additionally, Kulusevki has more than justified his loan with G/A same as bentancur. They bought beantacour never loaned him they loaned Romero and kulasevski Romero has a 40m buy clause that spurs have to activate before june 1st, Kulasevski has an 18 month loan if they trigger that… Read more »
NORGMay 24, 2022 11:07:47
Mr Serge
Mr Serge
Clearly you are out of touch with the recognised means of communication with transfers between football clubs. The fax machine is not dead yet.Go into shipping where they still use Telex.
Telex damn thought that died with the dinosaurs wow
Jaroda, Conte hasn’t “worked wonders” with Spurs. He solved their basic problem from the start of the season of not being able to give service to their front pairing. Conte looked in the market for a couple of players that would do the job of tightening up the midfield and transitioning the ball more quickly so they could attack at pace, turn the defence and create space for Kane and Son. That’s why there were so many own goals. Spuds had appalling stability as a club last season, yet ended up playing with rhythm and producing some good attacking football… Read more »
conte will leave them in the lurch soon enough
Mr Serge
The legal world hates e-mail hence they still use the old methods. Shipping lines still use telex a lot and of course charge extra every time they use it.
The first telex I used was so large it needed a room of its own. I can remember preparing a long message using tape only to stand on it and tear it before I could send the message.
They are only used for confirmation messages now.
Maybe so Mr Serge, but it’s worth noting that Conte joined Spuds at the start of November. They scored 58 goals from then until the end of the season to finish with 69 scored. Arsenal scored 61 goals in the whole season.
It is undeniable that he identified a solution to Spuds’ problem and despite some bumps along the way, got them into 4th after starting in his tenure in 9th. We moved from 6th to 5th in the same period.
Mr Serge
They bought beantacour never loaned him they loaned Romero and kulasevski Romero has a 40m buy clause that spurs have to activate before june 1st, Kulasevski has an 18 month loan if they trigger that claue now its 25m if tey wait til the end of the laon its 33m they have to factor this £65m into this summers budget
Far easier to factor that sort of money into a budget when you are likely to get at least that sum
extra playing in the CL as opposed to EL
The first telex I used was so large it needed a room of its own. I can remember preparing a long message using tape only to stand on it and tear it before I could send the message.
Get the pigeons out. LOL
InsideRight Conte didn’t do anything special. He finished two points above us with an experienced team and arguably the best front two in the PL. He also had OG. Spuds had already beaten Manchester City before he arrived. He also had the luck to have his key players fit for virtually every game, racking up between 34 to 37 PL games each. All hConte had to do was overcome a young, inexperienced team, in their first year together, which had made poor summer signings of relegation standard players. A team that also lost experienced players to key injuries and had.… Read more »
i am the same with conte its not as if he has pulled off anything extra ordinary
Norg The first telex I used was so large it needed a room of its own. I can remember preparing a long message using tape only to stand on it and tear it before I could send the message. When I started work in 1974 we had our own switchboard PBX located in quite a sizeable room with a mountain of noisy mechanical equipment in an ante room .The operator answered all calls and then had to push a Jack on a cable into a socket to get the call to the right extension alas probably 5 out of 10… Read more »
Terraloon damn you is proper old init lol
Top post, Pedro, but I do not think that Arteta is the right man to deliver that.
Bellerin bemuning the fact that betis cannot afford his 100k a week wages, take a paycut then if thats where you want to play, its not as if he is a pauper ffs
Benkind We bottled 4th. This was what you said about Brendan Rodgers last season. We were 4th with 4 points ahead of Spurs with 4 games to go and still ended with 2 points behind them. Crazy. Now we are at the end of the season, let us indeed judge this team in May like was said severally. We were bottlers, but made Europa league and now have less money to spend. — Don’t you know that Arteta never bottles anything? Arteta is a genius who has a grand plan. Even getting 5th is part of the grand plan. James… Read more »
Hope springs eternal.
What’s going to be extremely interesting to see over these next few weeks/ months is the incomings and outgoings at the club.
Will Eddie stay or will he stick his middle finger up at Arteta and say “Thanks but no thanks”
My suspicions are that there are many players that are not happy, even the good ones!
Let’s watch this space.
Who said fax is dead?
Jaroda I’m still not sure I buy the media narrative that Conte has worked wonders with Spurs. They literally have an incredibly potent striking pairing who scored 40 goals between them and yet still only just managed to get 4th. They really should have been way clear with that at their disposal. — Wow! Conte must have been a really lucky man. Imagine having two good forwards, getting the best out of them, and not falling out with them? Imagine taking a team from 9th to 4th with just 2 good attackers out of 11 players? The same team many… Read more »
Fax Failure
If I recall correctly there was a telecoms problem with the transfer of Ozil from RM. AFC had to have agreement from the governing body to go past the deadline.
AFC Forever, I don’t know if you were trying to imply I had claimed Conte had done anything special. If you were, then you’re wrong. In fact I had made clear he had not “worked wonders”. I merely stated some facts about outcomes. I certainly wasn’t hanging out any bunting for the man. But it is clear that so far he has done a better job than Arteta. That grates with me and it should grate with every Arsenal fan, especially as Arteta has had two and a half seasons and Conte has had 6 months.
the two deadliest strikers in the league, 28 and 29, who started 35 and 37 games, respectively… a feat that will likely never happen again, certainly not with CL next season, because they are both injury-prone and Champions League games in the early stages require big players.” Pedro, you think Spurs aren’t somehow aware of all this? You think they don’t have a plan? The EPL is not in stasis. We are not the only team that’s looking to improve. You continue downplaying Spurs/Conte. Theyr not armatures and as much as we all loathe them, you can’t ignore what they… Read more »
“our dead ball goals were very important. Kudos to Arteta for getting a coach for that. This also, means teams will pay more attention next season”
@benkind
Yeah, that’s definitely something Arteta should get lots of credit for. His recruitment of Nicolas Jover has been a good one. Without goals from dead-ball situations, we’re not winning West Ham (A), Wolves (A), Leicester (H), Burnley (A), Villa (A) and we’re losing Crystal Palace (H). That’s 11 points gained from the alternative outcome.
A lot of businesses still use faxes as proof of messaging. Same with telex. Old technology but cheap, reliable, pretty much idiot proof and near impossible to hack.
Different requirements means different solutions. For point to point, cheap, reliable and not technology taxing those solutions are unbeatable.
InsideR
” [Conte] got them into 4th after starting in his tenure in 9th. We moved from 6th to 5th in the same period”
Well said.
Let’s put the Conte debate to rest. He beat us to 4th and on every parameter since his hire. Anyone debating that is delusional. Now, we have chance to correct that next season. Proper and timely recruitment coupled with on+off field strategies should see us do that. Ten Hagg is here now. He’s the new unknown with ,probably, a handsome transfer kitty. Are we going to write him off as another newbie who will be eaten alive by the EPL? He’s worked with less money anyway. Tuchel, as much as we thought he’d sink after the takeover debacle, managed 3rd… Read more »
Arteta is actually an idiot. Listening to him you’ll think he’s won Champions league back to back and topped it up with the World cup. About Saliba he says ‘HE HAS TO COME BACK. HE HAS THE EXPERIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT TO BE COMPETITIVE WITH US. : Mr Tingummu Saliba don’t have to do anything. Every year since we signed Saliba you’ve signed a central defender just to spite him. This is where Saliba decides what Saliba wants. Guarantee me a starting spot or sell me? We all do know hell start speaking rubbish percentages like he did with Emi… Read more »
Mr S
Terraloon damn you is proper old init lol
Tell me about it!
” The Spuds squad is a poor one. Kane wants out, Dele Alli plays more like comical Ali and Levy hasn’t got a clue. They are the classic banter club. 30 years for an FA Cup and 60 for a League Title is too embarrassing for words. Chelsea can hire and fire because they have the best players and spend whatever is necessary. Conte can’t do anything with that Spuds squad and maybe the PL isn’t his bag. It’s not Italian football and he struggled at Chelsea” The above from AFC poster the day Conte was hired. And this from… Read more »
What the anti-arteta brigade conveniently forget is the mess he inherited at the Club. That ought to be starting point from which to judge him. A mess which accumulated under the Wenger dictatorship, and worsened with the Don pulling strings. Though not in any way to blame, a mess which well-meaning Emery could not clean up. Another point in judging Arteta’s performance is his lack of experience – IMO a point in his favour, not a negative as the anti-arteta’s would have us believe. It makes the progress made under him even more praiseworthy.. Of course now he IS experienced.… Read more »
And this is what I wrote on the same thread when Conte was hired: “I have to disagree with Jamie , WE and Middy. Conte would’ve made United title contenders but they have enough talent to finish above us even with Ole at the wheel. Conte to Spurs is a bigger deal and not a good one as far as Arsenal are concerned. Also, look at what his merit was at Chelsea, what it would’ve been at United, and what it most definitely won’t be at Tottenham. He doesn’t have to come close to a PL title and still be… Read more »
FYI, I’m not posting these quotes to prove someone was wrong with their predictions. We all make predictions that turn out wrong.
No, I did this because certain posters act as they are the only adults in the room, when in fact they are anything but.
There were rumours that Arsenal tried to highjack Boubacar Kamara move to Aston Villa at the last moment, but that he flatly refuse to entertain that.
I can imagine how the call went.
Hi Boubacar, This is Mikel the Arsenal Manager. Is this a good time to talk?
Yes, I am just chilling with Matteo Guendouzi, William Saliba and Sinead Kolasinac.
Sorry to disturb you. Enjoy your move to Villa.
😂😂
🙊🙈🙉
englandsbest – “What the anti-arteta brigade conveniently forget is the mess he inherited at the Club. That ought to be starting point from which to judge him.” I’m judging him on this season, having had a full season and a half to start getting his act together. The “mess” he inherited had just missed out on top 4. It was good enough to win an FA Cup even though we finished 8th in the league. Pretty much everyone knew he could not be judged on his half season. But the “progress” in the first full season – which is his… Read more »
“What the anti-arteta brigade conveniently forget is the mess he inherited at the Club”
What is this “mess” they keep yapping about?
His predecessor missed out of 3rd/4th place narrowly and got to the finals of the EL with a lesser squad and very poor backing from the owners
Aretas has had the backing of the owners to clear it the players he dislikes and has spent enough money to get in his players. He has had ample time to do whatever was needed.
Why do they keep repeating the same nonsense about Arteta inheriting a mess?
The absolute “mess” that is kept being talked about is the league position Arsenal found themselves in when Emery left and Arteta first walked in the door.
This absolute “mess” occurred over just a few months of that season in that slump of form that occurred.
So of course this absolute “mess” that the club was in when Arteta first came to the club is hugely exaggerated and looks to have been put forward by those with a certain agenda.
I turned 60 recently.
I went for my complimentary eye test.
My eyesight remains top notch.
Don’t need analytical data to try and convince me that everything is hunky dory at AFC.
The mess you highlight built up once Arteta arrived.
a friend of mine provides a running commentary for a blind Southampton supporter at their home games. When playing AFC the blind man said to my friend ‘why have you stopped commentating’ – my friend replied ‘Arsenal have the ball and they are not doing anything with it – you can have a knap and I will wake you if anything happens’.
“While the botched nature of his appointment did Nuno little favours, he was also to blame for the way things unravelled. Discipline and professionalism had become a problem. One source close to a squad member claimed “some players were getting away with murder” with poor performances. Cristian Romero, Davinson Sanchez and Giovani Lo Celso were all fined for breaching club rules and flying to South America for international duty with their respective countries without Tottenham’s permission.” The above from ESPN at the time if Conte hire. “The club was a mess “rhetoric can be used by any club that fires… Read more »
Sounds like arsonist Conte “lit a fire” under them both…
I’ll get my coat.
InsideRight Dissenter You choose to ignore the Club was in a mess from top to bottom – but let’s stay with the football personnel. Let’s remind ourselves that Ramsay left on free, that a bid of £60 million for Sanchez was turned down, and we ended up with Miki who went on a free, that Koscielny went for next nothing – our three best players. An uncommitted ageing bunch of players with low morale, overpaid with long contracts. Players impossible to sell because of their ridiculous salaries. A squad assembled on a hand-to-mouth basis. A Club that was spiralling downwards.… Read more »
Spurs announce £150m transfer fund
Dissenter, To be honest,, I’m one of those who call it a mess… whether we were or were in for top 4 and going deep in Europa, I never felt as positive (late Wenger, Emery) for the club as I do now. That squad made no sense and had no plan and no future, even if we came close to top 4 and winning Europa. For the record, Emery is a great manager, and allowing him a full rebuild might have been very interesting, but we’ll never know. I just felt that we needed a big clearout and a re-set… Read more »
@ Tom
Indeed I’ve found it so silly to call a serial winner “lucky” and he’s just proven he can get results without a check book.
But it doesn’t suit the narrative that managers can’t get instant results.
It’s ok to admit our manager is learning on the job and it respect to someone that’s been there and done it many times over.
“They have no money@ is another hope posted as fact then they announce £150m maybe getting into champions league helps?
englandbest
I don’t think anyone has overlooked what Arteta has done especially when you consider his age. But the moment you praise his accomplishments at Conte’s expense( with all facts and data consider), it pales on favouritism.
Question, where do you think Arteta would’ve gotten Spurs had he inherited it from Nuno?
‘Spurs announce £150m transfer fund’
..to support the club on and off the field. No chance they’ll spend all that on players.
Nigel T Interesting statement about Emery. He was the scapegoat to cover the Raul mess. The club was already a mess before they arrived – a long time before they arrived. Raul took advantage of absentee owners – Emery had his hand tied. Had Emery been allowed to have more say in team purchases what a difference the team would be now. Zaha instead of Pepe, Guen and Saliba would be nailed on first team players. Partey was on Emery’s list but came later (Edu over ruled Arteta), Xhaka would have gone. Emery had already introduced Saka – no doubt… Read more »
The painful truth for all the Arteta lovers out there is that in the 2 most important games of his tenure, he was gapped by 2 better managers:
vs Emery’s Villarreal
vs Conte’s Spuds
No arguments needed. He lost both games. First one with Xhaka as LB and ESR as false 9. Second one, with high line Holding and RB Cedric vs Son with Tomi on LB.
Galaxy brain lost both games for us with his idiotic ideas.
He also lost us the games vs Brighton and Soton when he played Lokonga instead of Elneny. The improvement was instantenous when the Egyptian slotted in the place of our 20m 4th choice CM.
There are far too many posters who continue to find fault with the manager and performance of our players. Before the start of this season the expectation of most media pundits and so called experts was that Arsenal would finish mid table and after three games the same people were talking about Arsenal finishing in relegation zone. During the second half of this season the expectations rose slightly but still the same people expected us to finish behind Man Utd and Spurs. The reality is that finishing 5th behind clubs with more experienced squads is a good outcome even if… Read more »
It goes without saying that none of us wanted Conte to go to spuds because we know he produces results almost without fail. Hopefully his negatives will start popping up soon. We just need to stay on our plan and truly execute. I think we are almost all in agreement on the goal for next seasons finish. I do think though, that it’s typical legrave losers who will get on the d1ck of someone like Ten Hag before a ball is kicked. It’s just another attempt for them to try and recapture former glory. He has a huge amount to… Read more »
ES – I predicted 5th/6th for this season so challenging for 3rd/4th next season in my opinion is the minimum requirement. If we don’t make the champions league via league position and somehow finish 5th again or even lower next year, I suspect the only thing that will save Arteta from the sack will be a Europa League trophy.
englandsbest – “InsideRight, Dissenter. You choose to ignore the Club was in a mess from top to bottom – but let’s stay with the football personnel.” Sure, let’s do that. EB – “Let’s remind ourselves that Ramsay left on free, that a bid of £60 million for Sanchez was turned down, and we ended up with Miki who went on a free, that Koscielny went for next nothing – our three best players.” OK. Let’s remind ourselves that Aubameyang didn’t just leave on a free, we are actually paying him to play for Barcelona. Let’s remind ourselves how we made… Read more »
No one can predict if a manager will be a success for a given club or not, but the 2 managers that I fancied us to bring, when Emery was sacked, were Conte and Ten Hag.
Can’t say it’s a coincidence that they were signed by our direct competitors – clearly they’ve demonstrated enough qualities to be given a job.
Apparently, they didn’t have what it takes to be considered for the Arsenal position. Namely – zero managerial experience ever.
Welp every Spurs transfer just got 20% more expensive lol
NORG,
I fully agree, but you made a small mistake. David Luiz was already there when Arteta joined. It was a gift for Edu to replace Koscielny on the cheap that turned out not to be a gift (performance ,ise) and financially not cheap either.
@ EB, is your memory defective or are you just spouting drivel off the top of your head? “You choose to ignore the Club was in a mess from top to bottom – but let’s stay with the football personnel. Let’s remind ourselves that Ramsay left on free, that a bid of £60 million for Sanchez was turned down, and we ended up with Miki who went on a free, that Koscielny went for next nothing – our three best players.” First of all Alexis left the previous season, so that’s irrelevant, Ramsey had his injury problems as you well… Read more »
Imagine Artea demanding that Saliba return, when he hasn’t bothered to text or call the young man since 2020. The last time he was at the club in 2020, he was still grieving the loss of both parents
This is a manager who has a personal assistant paid by the club that could have done the texting on messaging on his behalf
That’s what you call an absolute mess of man management.
*This is a manager who has a personal assistant paid by the club that could have done the texting or messaging on his behalf
Imagine if Conte pushed an injured player back on the field and converted a simple injury into major one?
The hard facts are that CFs in current market are costing ridiculous transfer fees. There are
no bargains in the market apart from possibly Nketiah!
However, I do think that Arsenal can pick up Full Backs and Central Midfield Players for
realistic prices.
Dissenter
Do you know for a fact that Arteta has not spoken to Saliba since 2020?
I appreciate that you don’t like Arteta, but please don’t create stories which has absolutely
no factual basis.
“Hi Boubacar, This is Mikel the Arsenal Manager. Is this a good time to talk?
Yes, I am just chilling with Matteo Guendouzi, William Saliba and Sinead Kolasinac.
Sorry to disturb you. Enjoy your move to Villa.”
🤣🤣🤣🤣. Just what I needed to end a stressful day. Good stuff, Valentin👍
Emirates
Arteta was asked in a press conference and confirmed that he has not communicated with the player
Saliba’s agent has also reported the same; we have dealt with the player through his agent
I appreciate that you my post may displease your sensibilities, but don’t create rebuttals that have no basis in reality.
ES you make a salient point. It’s all very well having a shopping list of players but signing them is a whole different kettle of fish. Finding a top CF who would like to come and play for us in the current market is pissing in the wind. We are in the market for a second rater or a talented kid. We missed the boat in Jan when there was less competition and CL was still doable. As I have posted Im not against Arteta per se its just he’s inexperienced and learning the job at a club like Arsenal… Read more »
Dissenter
That may be the case when he played at Marseille, but it does not follow that he did not meet
and have a discussion with player last summer when he was between clubs.
Arteta has made it very clear this season that he plans to bring Saliba back to the club and that message has been presumably relayed to the player via his agent.
ES- Why via his agent? Don’t managers speak to players other than through an intermediary these days? News to me….
andy 1886
Do you think that most club managers are talking to loanees who are playing for other clubs?
Also I suspect that the point of contact at Arsenal would be Edu rather than Arteta. Every club and manager has a different modus operandi.
Arteta is clearly not a “cuddly” type of manager.
“Koscielny went for next nothing”
EB,
Koscielny was pushing 34, on strike against the club, recovering from a long-term ankle injury and had 10 months left on his contract. Yet we (Raul) managed to sell him for £4.5 million. In this context, that wasn’t “nothing”. Compare this with Mavropanos, a young and blossoming CB (with national caps) who Edu managed to sell for only £2.8 million. A figure that was less than what we received for a semi-retired Kos.
Can you at least try to understand why some of us have concerns over this club’s management?
I don’t recall makin any comment on Conte. Short term we might have done well with him. But I doubt he would have wrought the longterm improvement Arteta is making
ES, yes to be honest if a manager wants a player to feel wanted then I would expect him to find a few minutes every now and again to speak to a player on loan. It’s a basic courtesy especially if that player had been given the impression for whatever reason that the manager wasn’t keen on them. It’s not being ‘cuddly’, if you want to take the unemotional view it’s simply protecting the club’s investment.
The definition of man management.
The control and organisation of people.
So hands up who thinks that Mr Arteta has succeeded on this front over these past two and a half years?
Keep your hands up if you think Saliba wants to come back to the club? Also do you think other players in our squad have been poorly man managed?
Ok, whilst your hands still up there, who thinks GX is a pivotal reason why Arsenal are not progressing the way they should?
Now you can take your hands down.
How long is long-term if I may ask?
If we’re in “year 1” into the project and have spent some 250k on transfers, how much more time and money is needed before we above City/LFC around? As it’s been mentioned somewhere in the comments,were looking at spending another +100k in “year 2”.
All in all, can’t wait to hear what Edu and Arteta will say about next season’s goals.
InsideRight
Thanks for quoting me word for word, it reinforces every point made. Reading your responses, people will note that you choose to ignore factors over which Arteta had no control -for example the crazy salaries of Ozil, Auba, etc that made them impossible to sell. Lastly, yes Arteta signed Willian (a signing which many on here applauded at the time) but he was inexperienced – which is no longer the case.
ES
If you had a young man who had lost both parents when he resumed to work under you
Wouldn’t you have at least reached out from time to time to check on his well being, regardless of whether he’s on loan.
When the same individual starts to thrive, wouldn’t you have reached out; a text message or a one minute phone call to give out words of encouragement
Thierry Martinelli
Patience is a virtue.
What do you expect them to say? What do expect ANY manager to say? Even the manager of Bayern Munich doesn’t proclaim he will win Bundeslig.
That unemotional empty management style of Artea doesn’t come from Pep Guardiola
Guardiola would coach opposition players after games if he got the chance.
As an Arsenal fan I want to act and pretend as though Conte is not as Spurs, but boy is he. The proof is in the fact that he just clinched our 4th position.
The process/jet has to bang next season.
*Ject
Dissenter
For heavens sake. Next you’ll be telling us he picks his nose when nobody is looking. Who the heck knows or cares whether he talks to Saliba.
“For heavens sake. Next you’ll be telling us he picks his nose when nobody is looking. Who the heck knows or cares whether he talks to Saliba.” Who the hell cares of he builds a working relationship with the player that he [and Edu] almost destroyed his career before it started? The same player that Arteta is using press conferences to order back to Arsenal If he had a skeletal relationship with the lad, he wouldn’t need to be yammering so much about him coming back in his press conferences. Glad to see that your cluelessness extends to not seeing… Read more »
Englandbest,
Whatever they say should be ambitious,honest and realistic.
Pedro I heard Saliba has already been given the number 2 shirt
A little heavy on the negativity here and that’s to be expected after the collapse.. but it does get tiring to read. It’s one of the problems on this site. Pedro tries to keep things upbeat, but there is such a downside bias from some of you. So much hate dropping in the comments. Charming lot. We didn’t expect top 4, especially with the bad start and 3 new starting players who were somewhat unknown. All 3 starters worked out quite well, and we were fighting for 4th, almost 3rd. Yes, we choked at the end… (extremely young squad). Don’t… Read more »
With the possibility of the world cup coming up, Saliba is unlikely to trust Arteta that it will be a fair competition between him and Ben White. Nobody (and surely not Saliba nor his agent) can genuinely think that Arteta will willingly acknowledge that he made a mistake in forcing Ben White purchase at such inflated price. If Saliba stays at Arsenal, Arteta will start Ben White and will bench Saliba destroying his chance to be selected for a WORLD cup. BTW, according to newspapers Arsenal is trying to purchase a left footed CB to deputise Gabriel. Pablo Mari is… Read more »