Nice read. But you oversimplified a lot of things. I don’t completely agree with your point on ESR. Selling ESR to Aston Villa at that time would have sent a wrong message about Arsenal. And who knew he’ll be injured for a very long time? Partey’s issue defies explanation looking from the outside in.
The wisdom is that Arsenal need a No 9 – but maybe more No 10s are just as important
But a new striker is unlikely to be a panacea. Arsenal’s attacking issues extend beyond the No 9 position.
Mikel Arteta’s side did not fail to win because they spurned a host of presentable opportunities, it was because they could not effectively turn dominance in territory and possession into clear-cut chances. It is not simply a question of finishing: it is a question of creativity.
......
Would a more potent striker than Mikel Merino have helped? Undoubtedly. The Spaniard, trying manfully in what is a totally new position for him, missed Arsenal’s best chance of that humdrum first half.
But what of the supply? Against a low block, the No 9 can sometimes be the most detached player in the game, desperately seeking space that does not exist. The onus is on the rest of the team to generate chances.
Arteta’s assessment was to call for more “efficiency” — but perhaps it is also a question of more imagination. There was a time when the archetypal Arsenal player was a technically gifted quasi-No 10 with an eye for the improbable. The tradition ran through the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Aleksandr Hleb, Jack Wilshere, Andrey Arshavin and so on. Arsene Wenger might as well have hung a sign above the dressing room saying, “You don’t have to be a diminutive playmaker to work here, but it helps!”
Under Arteta, however, Arsenal have largely recruited more for muscle than for maverick spirit. That has paid off. The perception of the team as having a soft underbelly and flaky mentality has been eroded.
But perhaps there is a balance to be struck. Only Martin Odegaard could be cited as an obvious successor to that list of playmakers. Ethan Nwaneri has the potential to fit that bracket, but this occasion showed that the 17-year-old still has much to learn.
As Arsenal have improved, they have played higher and higher up the pitch. That serves the purpose of keeping the action away from their goal, but it also compresses the space available to them. The defences they need to unpick are becoming ever more dense and they only really seem to have one skilled locksmith at their disposal.
......
It is surely Arteta’s big project for next season: unlock the low block. And now it will be Berta’s, too.
I posted this during the game: "Is the problem we don't have a #9 or a #10?"
The biggest issue in attack is slowly surfacing.
An excellent article but I disagree with James in one regard - our ONLY skilled locksmith is Saka. In a distant second place - Trossard. Somewhere scrapping in the end - Odegaard.
We need to add another one, ideally two (quite hard in one window). Our options are - a creative winger - like Nico Williams. A creative AM - we're lucky cause we've got Nwaneri who might be already developed enough next season. A third option - someone like Cunha to destabilize from a central position in a pair with Kai.
This team has completely bypassed and outgrown Odegaard. We are currently witnessing Jesus and Zinchenko's level of rejection from what the team needs. It's obvious to a lot of people now that the way forward does not involve the Norwegian. He's shown complete ineptitude of helping us open teams and when it was supposed to be the Saka and Odegaard show, it was never that. Saka was the best player in the league when Ode was injured. Ode is one of the worst #10s currently - no goals, no assists, no creativity. It's over.
We reacted late with Jesus and Zinchenko. We need to do the right thing for once and cut ties with a player before their value plummets.
Then go to the market and bring in creativity from the wide areas or additionally from the middle.
I think most people read that as needing more creativity while the likes of you read it as we need to replace Odegaard. Which is okay football isn't for everyone. Just an FYI had THIS manager bought a proper LB and an actual left 8 and balanced the team we wouldn't be nearly as bad or as predictable. That's on Arteta not the only creative output in the whole squad.
Another Arteta groupie who's surfaced and wants a medal for finishing 2nd (( maybe) and CL 3rd before the ko stages. Wonderful, what sort of idiot is this? The sort of weirdo who'll tell you to go and support Spurs, or has watched 2000 games in his lifetime. Can't have a word against Diet Pep, will tell you how bad it was in Emery's time, blah, blah blah. "We are second still and have no forwards" says the man. Whose fault is that? Whose fault was it that let go 4 attackers in the summer and replaced them with Calafiori and Merino? You are utterly clueless. Which other club with any ambition would sanction c £800m of spend and not win a trophy? This apologist probably wanted Wenger to stay despite overstaying his tenure by 10 years. The sort of person who supports the manager, not the club. Get lost you unambitious, idiotic, "fan".
Also I'm not sure if some arsenal fans are alluding to a conspiracy or lady luck when they bring up Liverpool getting 7 pens to our 2 this season. Think about it like this instead how are we going to get a penalty when we don't really take on defenders and instead pass it sideways just outside their box? In other words Arteta-ball
The biggest problem I feel that exists at the moment at Arsenal is the manager. It's not because of the inverted nonsense with CBs playing as fullbacks or a midfield 3 that constantly has a variation of two even sometimes three number 6's and asking them to be in any way creative and it's not because instructions are stifling what little creativity we had in the team. It's because he knows exactly what he's doing he's setting them up this way and that's the bigger issue. No balance to the squad, round pegs in square holes and an emphasis on work rate and defensive attributes over creativity and what do you get but shit struggling football. Two of the biggest examples of this are Arsenal needing an 8 and bringing in someone who is great in one on one duels and let's not forget the striker (another one time 8) with the work rate above all else. This is Mikel's team and this is the fruits of his labor.
Going forwards, we needn't scoff at the odd £10-15 attacking signing. They are the ones lighting up the league with mid table clubs now.
Before the usual mophead [you know who you are] comes in start suggesting they aren't at our level, have a look at our attack line.
Even with Saka and Havertz, out attack is hardly top 6, without Saka it's not in the top half of the table.
Too many players are at this club on hefty wages, just because of the manager's patronage - he signed them so he feels like he has to play them.
You have to ask, is Martinelli a £190k weekly player? Who decided to prop up Jesus on about £260k weekly?
Berta has his work cut out for him, that is, if they let him.
I don't mind if we pay 300k weekly to 3-4 generational talents like Saliba and Saka, after they get us over the line. Until then, we do need to stop doling out big wages for average players.
I'm afraid we gone past that phase, I doubt if we still have scouts who have eyes for rough diamonds again. They have all been released using Covid and lean resources as excuses. We've gone full cycle Madrid now. We now pay super agents to give us their players on mega wages. The reason they instruct most of their mouthpieces to keep repeating the same line 'not our level' even when we are celebrating calafiori as the new cavani.
Those are the ones that I had in mind before even doing research
I'm not talking about world beaters here, just decent players on the periphery pushing starters hard and keeping them honest.
Our attacking starters aren't world beaters, other than Saka and maybe Odegaard when his head is screwed in correctly.
We need to be scouting some of the players that the best academies are discarding, there's value there. We need to go back to south America again and start hunting down the very best talent.
Right but one they're not 10-15 million players anymore and two you can't say let's buy 10-15 million and then kinda shit talk Martinelli who was a 7 million signing. It kinda ruins the point you're making.
I'm all for signing up young red hot prospects always have been. It's getting harder to find them for 10-15 million. Hopefully Berta changes that. He is known for unearthing Oblak and not being afraid to sign young talent from South America
Although the world class keeper that kept them singlehanded in the PSG game missed eight EPL games vs all top clubs save Southampton first half of the season.
Take our Raya out for 8 games vs top competition and see how we do with our No2 ( not sure everyone even knows his name) between sticks.
We really need to have objective insight into the truth about Arteta and this team. 15 points behind Liverpool is not good at all. Yes, Klopp left good players but I do not think this Arsenal team is 15 point and a final worse than this Liverpool team at the beginning of this season. So what happened?
Is Arteta overplaying players? Timber was out injured now he has played almost all games this season is that not another injury waiting to happen next season. Saka and Havertz are very robust guys and now injured. I fear for Gabriel, Saliba and TImber. They are the ones playing so much games that have not gotten injured.
We have scored 90 goals this season i think so we can score but then why are we still looking like not scoring in several games?
What do we need to do for the rest of this season? Is Arteta the person to move us to Silverware?
Is Odegaard enough to create for us even if we get this striker?
We know Arteta will be here next season so what is the objective for Arteta?
Roy Keane asked what is the evidence that Arteta can win a premier league?
We need to have these discussions. Slot has shown things can be done. Like i said, i never believed this Liverpool team was far better than us. I do not know anyone who felt they will win the league even Liverpool fans. The performance yesterday was so bad. Really, we have to ask questions. 5 years no trophy is not good, this is worse than the banter years.
Arteta came into a team that came 5th, and lost a European final. Took us down to 8th and 8th and 5th. Yes we are 2nd twice and maybe 3rd time but we cannot be a nearly team.
Did you also never believed Liverpool was far better than City? That's what the table shows, currently 23 points ahead of the defending champions.
I have a simple explanation:
- City have an aging squad and lost their best player
- Arsenal's early season was fucked by PGMOL + we had bad injuries to our best player, our second best offensive player and to basically all of our full backs
If you look into the games we've failed to win we either:
- play Partey at RB (due to injuries)
- PGMOL had us doggy style
- Saka and eventually Havertz got injured
In the PL we are:
- 1 win, 4 draws, 1 loss with Partey at RB (7/18 points)
- 5 wins, 1 draw in the PL without Saka but with Havertz (16/18 points)
- 1 win, 2 draws, 1 loss in the PL without both Saka and Havertz (5/12 points)
White's injury ridden season has been felt in the games Partey had to play RB.
We were still holding the fort after Saka's injury with Havertz (and Trossard) helping us big time.
After both Saka and Havertz' injuries, it was truly over.
Liverpool had the highest amount of points at this point last season. It's not like they were a huge distance behind us. Klopp had a Hail Mary and attacked all 4 trophies and I assume it wasn't in their power to compete with a fully firing City + Arsenal and play for all the other cups.
Put that in perspective when thinking how weaker or stronger a certain team is that all 3 teams were neck and neck.
There isn't much between the 3 teams and when 2 teams have had the issues City and Arsenal have faced, it's normal that the 3rd, almost equally good team, will capitalize from it.
There is an academic research to be made over where would Liverpool be if Rodri and Saka were healthy but Salah had a season ending injury in October or November. We'll never know but last time Liverpool went through a season with a bad injury to one of their best players (VVD), they managed a season of 69 points.
A lot of what-ifs and buts.
Reality is it's been a bad season and there's a lot of work to be done going forward.
The biggest mistake for me in the Summer TW was not selling Tomi, Jesus and Zinchenko. If we had sold the three, maybe we would have raised enough money for a level-raising forward. My plea to sell Odegaard in the summer and bring in a proper, modern AM doesn't look that wild of a take now, does it...
We still have the best defence in the league, we've got world class CBs and a potentially world class GK with 2 full backs emerging in Timber and MLS.
Up ahead, the obvious way to improve is to become less reliant on Saka and Havertz in attack. We'll surely bring in at least 2 offensive players in the summer - LW + CF probably. Even if the 2 players aren't Saka quality but can have Havertz' level of contribution to the team, we'll become a much, much stronger team.
We've got an issue at AM that's been glaring for a while but maybe Nwaneri will be able to help there.
We go again next season. I agree Arteta needs to deliver. Next season is do or die for him.
No one knows what injuries will hit them in the season. So everyone goes into the season with enough players to cover each position. That is the normal way. Injuries are sad but we are allowed to have a big squad. When White was out, we had players that could play and they did. Ther has never been a season in the history of football every top team had all their players fit. So injuries do not matter in my opinion.
In January we had the opportunity to buy, we knew Saka and Jesus was out. That was all. WE refused and fair enough, Nwaneri has been good. SO if we have the best defence in the league and world class CBs, Goalkeeper and all these things we do not have the highest clean sheet in the league. Liverpool has conceded 3 goals more and have scored 17 more goals with 15 more points.
Every team has a reason why they could be better. Why did we loose out of the FA cup and League cup was it injuries and PGMOL? There is supporting the club and then there is investigating why. Your comments indicates some valid points but you are asking for perfection and that is not possible. WE do not have the worst PGMOL or ref issues in the league, we do not have the worst injuries and fair we are the best of the rest but that is not good enough. We should not be 15 points behind Liverpool, there are days to see the positive and blame everything else but today is a day to ask why?
How are we sure Arteta will deliver next season, there is no evidence. His team crashes when there is massive pressure and that is concerning. Next season there will be ref issues, injuries and we will not get all the players we want, so how are we sure Arteta will deliver?
Regardless if we had all of our players healthy, it would have been a struggle. Even in the previous seasons when we achieved a very high points tally of 84 and 89, it was a struggle.
The reason why? I don't think our offensive players are that good. I don't think it's Arteta who's making them look bad, I don't really think this attack should win a PL title and it's a massive feat we were that close to winning the title with our front line.
I believe we were 2 solid offensive transfers away in the summer of 2024 from where we need to be. We are still there since the owners/directors didn't give the management the much needed funds to bring someone of quality in. Or maybe we weren't in a position to spend much because of PSR... I don't think so. It was probably the owners/directors saying how we've spent enough in the last few years so this was a year to take it easy and relax. Well, that cost us the opportunity to bring in an important offensive player/s in.
I do believe from an ownership point of view, they knew we were suffering but still closed their eyes and said "let's wait for next summer". I'm not judging, they have their reasoning.
I also admit it would have been quite stupid to spend a lot of money in the winter for someone we don't see playing for us on a high level long term on an outside chance of coming back from a deficit against Pool.
Maybe it will be proven the right thing to wait. Bring in 2 top quality attackers in the summer and we'll be so set. We might win a title, then another back-to-back, who knows... We'll see.
We have the best defence in the league statistically and in every way. We need that extra oomph in attack and I'll be quite optimistic.
As far as Arteta, we can't know for sure. All I know is, the rise to a proper team again was done under him. Yes it took time, yes it took money, yes it took patience. This season has been a disappointment but we should give him another season to see if his Arsenal chapter should end on a failure and a sacking, or he will deliver what I believe he should have won already. Honestly, 89 points with the squad he has, is an epic achievement and on another day it would have been a title-winning season.
There's something I'd like to think - Arteta's football is built to perfection up until we reach the final phase of the attack. As Pep says: "My job is to take you up to the last third. Your job is to finish it."
Let's finally get the attackers we've been so desperate for, that we haven't brought already for whatever reason, and see where that takes us. I hope the new main man Berta is given good enough funds and I believe his experience will make a huge difference. Next season is do or die for Arteta and the boys. I'm already looking forward to it.
I get you and I agree to a good extent. Like Henry said, we score and we are not a striker away from winning the league, our offence play is good but not title winning.
We are to choreographed and we are not going out to win games but more not to loose it. I do not think anyone in the top 4 will want out offensive players (asides SAKA of course). That is a problem. I hope you are right on next season but to be honest, I am don't have any hope in Arteta again wining the league but I support Arsenal always. If we win i will celebrate but if not, I will not be shocked.
True, my stomach turned when I listened to Roy Keane questioning our mentality as a team. Cause, he is right. Until we win, there is no evidence of it. I dislike Evra for his Men vs boys comment when we played them in UCL, now his Netflix comment is so true and really more annoying
Slot was hired in part because Feyenoord had a 90% plus player availability under him over three years he was there, according to Liverpool’s DoF.
Meanwhile Arteta believes 70 games a season is a benchmark all players should be striving for, and he injured our only front line player left on a Dubai winter break trip.
Circumstantial evidence says it’s more than blind luck.
You are right and with the number of games Gabriel, Saliba, and timber have played in the last 2 seasons they look like the next guys on the chopping board.
Really really not good enough that Klopp leaves, City are terrible and we are not there. Just like the Liecester season. So what are the solutions? Is it managment, players. Next year same amount of games even more if we progress in the Cups.
This was the same thing Matt said on the Podcast. Yes we have injuries but we have 9 of our starting 11 playing. Also, we ere behind liverpool before the injuries.
Saka and Havertz have carried us in the last 1.5 seasons. Our two best offensive players. Saka obviously elite but Havertz as well has given so much. The rest of our offense is at a lower level.
Havertz started playing well for us after dubai holidays, so it's wrong to call that two seasons. And by the way he's been anything but superb this season. He's gone some games without a goal this season... Before being save by the injury instead of being revitalized as some of his fans were hoping.
I don't think Arteta believes anything is wrong with the way his side play football. He'll buy similar players to rotate with the ones that are here. His x factor is the system.
Not sure I get the outrage over this United result if I’m honest, the league has been done and dusted and we aren’t dropping out of CL places.
The more frustrating one was the fa cup exit at home when we played our strongest Xl minus Saka, refs gave us a floppy pen and sent one of theirs off.
You really couldn’t have asked for more.
I’m kidding of course, it was a terrible ‘luck’ facing a historically FA cup most successful club in early rounds when league two clubs were still on offer.
Also it's a top 5 for CL this season as the English teams have down well in Europe and our coefficiency cannot be caught if 2 of our teams got through to the next round.
Not when everyone has been dropping points all season and theyre still playing in cups or face one another.
The CL is all that’s left, have a good showing vs Real to take it into next season , unless of course Atleti shithouse their way into the next round in which case we will be a slight favorites, maybe.
It's not so much that we miss xhaka because he was sliced bread. He was awful at times and just ok to good at best. Was very easy to replace him.
Arteta had the opportunity to buy Sandro, Bruno, Kudus, Paqueta to mention but a few and Xhaka would have been a footnote. But in all his wisdom he chose Haverts and later Merino.
I'm somewhat happy that Xhaka gave us something okay towards the end but we don't miss him
Nice read. But you oversimplified a lot of things. I don’t completely agree with your point on ESR. Selling ESR to Aston Villa at that time would have sent a wrong message about Arsenal. And who knew he’ll be injured for a very long time? Partey’s issue defies explanation looking from the outside in.
James McNicholas (gunnerblog), The Athletic
The wisdom is that Arsenal need a No 9 – but maybe more No 10s are just as important
But a new striker is unlikely to be a panacea. Arsenal’s attacking issues extend beyond the No 9 position.
Mikel Arteta’s side did not fail to win because they spurned a host of presentable opportunities, it was because they could not effectively turn dominance in territory and possession into clear-cut chances. It is not simply a question of finishing: it is a question of creativity.
......
Would a more potent striker than Mikel Merino have helped? Undoubtedly. The Spaniard, trying manfully in what is a totally new position for him, missed Arsenal’s best chance of that humdrum first half.
But what of the supply? Against a low block, the No 9 can sometimes be the most detached player in the game, desperately seeking space that does not exist. The onus is on the rest of the team to generate chances.
Arteta’s assessment was to call for more “efficiency” — but perhaps it is also a question of more imagination. There was a time when the archetypal Arsenal player was a technically gifted quasi-No 10 with an eye for the improbable. The tradition ran through the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Aleksandr Hleb, Jack Wilshere, Andrey Arshavin and so on. Arsene Wenger might as well have hung a sign above the dressing room saying, “You don’t have to be a diminutive playmaker to work here, but it helps!”
Under Arteta, however, Arsenal have largely recruited more for muscle than for maverick spirit. That has paid off. The perception of the team as having a soft underbelly and flaky mentality has been eroded.
But perhaps there is a balance to be struck. Only Martin Odegaard could be cited as an obvious successor to that list of playmakers. Ethan Nwaneri has the potential to fit that bracket, but this occasion showed that the 17-year-old still has much to learn.
As Arsenal have improved, they have played higher and higher up the pitch. That serves the purpose of keeping the action away from their goal, but it also compresses the space available to them. The defences they need to unpick are becoming ever more dense and they only really seem to have one skilled locksmith at their disposal.
......
It is surely Arteta’s big project for next season: unlock the low block. And now it will be Berta’s, too.
__________________________________________________
I posted this during the game: "Is the problem we don't have a #9 or a #10?"
The biggest issue in attack is slowly surfacing.
An excellent article but I disagree with James in one regard - our ONLY skilled locksmith is Saka. In a distant second place - Trossard. Somewhere scrapping in the end - Odegaard.
We need to add another one, ideally two (quite hard in one window). Our options are - a creative winger - like Nico Williams. A creative AM - we're lucky cause we've got Nwaneri who might be already developed enough next season. A third option - someone like Cunha to destabilize from a central position in a pair with Kai.
This team has completely bypassed and outgrown Odegaard. We are currently witnessing Jesus and Zinchenko's level of rejection from what the team needs. It's obvious to a lot of people now that the way forward does not involve the Norwegian. He's shown complete ineptitude of helping us open teams and when it was supposed to be the Saka and Odegaard show, it was never that. Saka was the best player in the league when Ode was injured. Ode is one of the worst #10s currently - no goals, no assists, no creativity. It's over.
We reacted late with Jesus and Zinchenko. We need to do the right thing for once and cut ties with a player before their value plummets.
Then go to the market and bring in creativity from the wide areas or additionally from the middle.
You keep bashing Odegaard but then you defend Arteta who's created the squad imbalance .
Odegaard is not a #10
Rice is not an #8
Merino and Haverts are not #8's
There are too many square pegs in round holes.
Arteta's stupid versatility signings just means jacks-of-all trades are strutting around on mega wages.
Let's move it to the new post.
the issue is the 433 is always plays.
I think most people read that as needing more creativity while the likes of you read it as we need to replace Odegaard. Which is okay football isn't for everyone. Just an FYI had THIS manager bought a proper LB and an actual left 8 and balanced the team we wouldn't be nearly as bad or as predictable. That's on Arteta not the only creative output in the whole squad.
Stop lying to yourself. The only consistent creative output isn't Ode, it's Saka. And there's the problem.
You're not getting it.
Another Arteta groupie who's surfaced and wants a medal for finishing 2nd (( maybe) and CL 3rd before the ko stages. Wonderful, what sort of idiot is this? The sort of weirdo who'll tell you to go and support Spurs, or has watched 2000 games in his lifetime. Can't have a word against Diet Pep, will tell you how bad it was in Emery's time, blah, blah blah. "We are second still and have no forwards" says the man. Whose fault is that? Whose fault was it that let go 4 attackers in the summer and replaced them with Calafiori and Merino? You are utterly clueless. Which other club with any ambition would sanction c £800m of spend and not win a trophy? This apologist probably wanted Wenger to stay despite overstaying his tenure by 10 years. The sort of person who supports the manager, not the club. Get lost you unambitious, idiotic, "fan".
"Which other club with any ambition would sanction c £800m of spend and not win a trophy?" Since you directly asked...
Last 4 full years was not spent 800 pounds, rather around 700m (696m) euros, quite a difference.
And other teams apart Liverpool and City (795m) which had a very different situation to begin with:
Arsenal 696m, Spurs 722m, United 834m, Chelsea 1 488m.
I still would say that Arsenal is doing the best out of these 4...
I know it is also about the sales, a piece of business Arsenal doesn´t excell in, but that is also because of Edu and the management.
You've got way too much time on your hands mate ;)
Also I'm not sure if some arsenal fans are alluding to a conspiracy or lady luck when they bring up Liverpool getting 7 pens to our 2 this season. Think about it like this instead how are we going to get a penalty when we don't really take on defenders and instead pass it sideways just outside their box? In other words Arteta-ball
We prefer corner kicks to penalties. Free kicks even more.
The biggest problem I feel that exists at the moment at Arsenal is the manager. It's not because of the inverted nonsense with CBs playing as fullbacks or a midfield 3 that constantly has a variation of two even sometimes three number 6's and asking them to be in any way creative and it's not because instructions are stifling what little creativity we had in the team. It's because he knows exactly what he's doing he's setting them up this way and that's the bigger issue. No balance to the squad, round pegs in square holes and an emphasis on work rate and defensive attributes over creativity and what do you get but shit struggling football. Two of the biggest examples of this are Arsenal needing an 8 and bringing in someone who is great in one on one duels and let's not forget the striker (another one time 8) with the work rate above all else. This is Mikel's team and this is the fruits of his labor.
Going forwards, we needn't scoff at the odd £10-15 attacking signing. They are the ones lighting up the league with mid table clubs now.
Before the usual mophead [you know who you are] comes in start suggesting they aren't at our level, have a look at our attack line.
Even with Saka and Havertz, out attack is hardly top 6, without Saka it's not in the top half of the table.
Too many players are at this club on hefty wages, just because of the manager's patronage - he signed them so he feels like he has to play them.
You have to ask, is Martinelli a £190k weekly player? Who decided to prop up Jesus on about £260k weekly?
Berta has his work cut out for him, that is, if they let him.
I don't mind if we pay 300k weekly to 3-4 generational talents like Saliba and Saka, after they get us over the line. Until then, we do need to stop doling out big wages for average players.
you mean maghales
I'm afraid we gone past that phase, I doubt if we still have scouts who have eyes for rough diamonds again. They have all been released using Covid and lean resources as excuses. We've gone full cycle Madrid now. We now pay super agents to give us their players on mega wages. The reason they instruct most of their mouthpieces to keep repeating the same line 'not our level' even when we are celebrating calafiori as the new cavani.
What 10-15 million attackers are you talking about?
Semenyo was about 9 mil in Jan 2023
Kluivert from Roma was only 10m in June '23
Callum Hudson-Odoi was only 3.5 mil
Elanga was about 15 mil
Those are the ones that I had in mind before even doing research
I'm not talking about world beaters here, just decent players on the periphery pushing starters hard and keeping them honest.
Our attacking starters aren't world beaters, other than Saka and maybe Odegaard when his head is screwed in correctly.
We need to be scouting some of the players that the best academies are discarding, there's value there. We need to go back to south America again and start hunting down the very best talent.
We need proper scouting again.
Right but one they're not 10-15 million players anymore and two you can't say let's buy 10-15 million and then kinda shit talk Martinelli who was a 7 million signing. It kinda ruins the point you're making.
I'm suggesting we sign them before they take off.
Martineli has reached his ceiling and should have been moved on. You know we actually signed him 6 years ago. He's given as much as he can.
It's keeping him for too long and paying him like he's exceptional talent that's grating.
I want us to go back to trying to make those types of signings.
I'm all for signing up young red hot prospects always have been. It's getting harder to find them for 10-15 million. Hopefully Berta changes that. He is known for unearthing Oblak and not being afraid to sign young talent from South America
Any serious discussion on the struggling boring football under Arteta? Or are we still talking about Odegaard or Martinelli or whoever?
Pool blessed by injury gods, maybe.
Although the world class keeper that kept them singlehanded in the PSG game missed eight EPL games vs all top clubs save Southampton first half of the season.
Take our Raya out for 8 games vs top competition and see how we do with our No2 ( not sure everyone even knows his name) between sticks.
That’s Arteta’s fifth year of squad building.
You really can’t make it up.
We really need to have objective insight into the truth about Arteta and this team. 15 points behind Liverpool is not good at all. Yes, Klopp left good players but I do not think this Arsenal team is 15 point and a final worse than this Liverpool team at the beginning of this season. So what happened?
Is Arteta overplaying players? Timber was out injured now he has played almost all games this season is that not another injury waiting to happen next season. Saka and Havertz are very robust guys and now injured. I fear for Gabriel, Saliba and TImber. They are the ones playing so much games that have not gotten injured.
We have scored 90 goals this season i think so we can score but then why are we still looking like not scoring in several games?
What do we need to do for the rest of this season? Is Arteta the person to move us to Silverware?
Is Odegaard enough to create for us even if we get this striker?
We know Arteta will be here next season so what is the objective for Arteta?
Roy Keane asked what is the evidence that Arteta can win a premier league?
We need to have these discussions. Slot has shown things can be done. Like i said, i never believed this Liverpool team was far better than us. I do not know anyone who felt they will win the league even Liverpool fans. The performance yesterday was so bad. Really, we have to ask questions. 5 years no trophy is not good, this is worse than the banter years.
Arteta came into a team that came 5th, and lost a European final. Took us down to 8th and 8th and 5th. Yes we are 2nd twice and maybe 3rd time but we cannot be a nearly team.
Did you also never believed Liverpool was far better than City? That's what the table shows, currently 23 points ahead of the defending champions.
I have a simple explanation:
- City have an aging squad and lost their best player
- Arsenal's early season was fucked by PGMOL + we had bad injuries to our best player, our second best offensive player and to basically all of our full backs
If you look into the games we've failed to win we either:
- play Partey at RB (due to injuries)
- PGMOL had us doggy style
- Saka and eventually Havertz got injured
In the PL we are:
- 1 win, 4 draws, 1 loss with Partey at RB (7/18 points)
- 5 wins, 1 draw in the PL without Saka but with Havertz (16/18 points)
- 1 win, 2 draws, 1 loss in the PL without both Saka and Havertz (5/12 points)
White's injury ridden season has been felt in the games Partey had to play RB.
We were still holding the fort after Saka's injury with Havertz (and Trossard) helping us big time.
After both Saka and Havertz' injuries, it was truly over.
Liverpool had the highest amount of points at this point last season. It's not like they were a huge distance behind us. Klopp had a Hail Mary and attacked all 4 trophies and I assume it wasn't in their power to compete with a fully firing City + Arsenal and play for all the other cups.
Put that in perspective when thinking how weaker or stronger a certain team is that all 3 teams were neck and neck.
There isn't much between the 3 teams and when 2 teams have had the issues City and Arsenal have faced, it's normal that the 3rd, almost equally good team, will capitalize from it.
There is an academic research to be made over where would Liverpool be if Rodri and Saka were healthy but Salah had a season ending injury in October or November. We'll never know but last time Liverpool went through a season with a bad injury to one of their best players (VVD), they managed a season of 69 points.
A lot of what-ifs and buts.
Reality is it's been a bad season and there's a lot of work to be done going forward.
The biggest mistake for me in the Summer TW was not selling Tomi, Jesus and Zinchenko. If we had sold the three, maybe we would have raised enough money for a level-raising forward. My plea to sell Odegaard in the summer and bring in a proper, modern AM doesn't look that wild of a take now, does it...
We still have the best defence in the league, we've got world class CBs and a potentially world class GK with 2 full backs emerging in Timber and MLS.
Up ahead, the obvious way to improve is to become less reliant on Saka and Havertz in attack. We'll surely bring in at least 2 offensive players in the summer - LW + CF probably. Even if the 2 players aren't Saka quality but can have Havertz' level of contribution to the team, we'll become a much, much stronger team.
We've got an issue at AM that's been glaring for a while but maybe Nwaneri will be able to help there.
We go again next season. I agree Arteta needs to deliver. Next season is do or die for him.
No one knows what injuries will hit them in the season. So everyone goes into the season with enough players to cover each position. That is the normal way. Injuries are sad but we are allowed to have a big squad. When White was out, we had players that could play and they did. Ther has never been a season in the history of football every top team had all their players fit. So injuries do not matter in my opinion.
In January we had the opportunity to buy, we knew Saka and Jesus was out. That was all. WE refused and fair enough, Nwaneri has been good. SO if we have the best defence in the league and world class CBs, Goalkeeper and all these things we do not have the highest clean sheet in the league. Liverpool has conceded 3 goals more and have scored 17 more goals with 15 more points.
Every team has a reason why they could be better. Why did we loose out of the FA cup and League cup was it injuries and PGMOL? There is supporting the club and then there is investigating why. Your comments indicates some valid points but you are asking for perfection and that is not possible. WE do not have the worst PGMOL or ref issues in the league, we do not have the worst injuries and fair we are the best of the rest but that is not good enough. We should not be 15 points behind Liverpool, there are days to see the positive and blame everything else but today is a day to ask why?
How are we sure Arteta will deliver next season, there is no evidence. His team crashes when there is massive pressure and that is concerning. Next season there will be ref issues, injuries and we will not get all the players we want, so how are we sure Arteta will deliver?
First of all, I'll put my cards on the table...
Regardless if we had all of our players healthy, it would have been a struggle. Even in the previous seasons when we achieved a very high points tally of 84 and 89, it was a struggle.
The reason why? I don't think our offensive players are that good. I don't think it's Arteta who's making them look bad, I don't really think this attack should win a PL title and it's a massive feat we were that close to winning the title with our front line.
I believe we were 2 solid offensive transfers away in the summer of 2024 from where we need to be. We are still there since the owners/directors didn't give the management the much needed funds to bring someone of quality in. Or maybe we weren't in a position to spend much because of PSR... I don't think so. It was probably the owners/directors saying how we've spent enough in the last few years so this was a year to take it easy and relax. Well, that cost us the opportunity to bring in an important offensive player/s in.
I do believe from an ownership point of view, they knew we were suffering but still closed their eyes and said "let's wait for next summer". I'm not judging, they have their reasoning.
I also admit it would have been quite stupid to spend a lot of money in the winter for someone we don't see playing for us on a high level long term on an outside chance of coming back from a deficit against Pool.
Maybe it will be proven the right thing to wait. Bring in 2 top quality attackers in the summer and we'll be so set. We might win a title, then another back-to-back, who knows... We'll see.
We have the best defence in the league statistically and in every way. We need that extra oomph in attack and I'll be quite optimistic.
As far as Arteta, we can't know for sure. All I know is, the rise to a proper team again was done under him. Yes it took time, yes it took money, yes it took patience. This season has been a disappointment but we should give him another season to see if his Arsenal chapter should end on a failure and a sacking, or he will deliver what I believe he should have won already. Honestly, 89 points with the squad he has, is an epic achievement and on another day it would have been a title-winning season.
There's something I'd like to think - Arteta's football is built to perfection up until we reach the final phase of the attack. As Pep says: "My job is to take you up to the last third. Your job is to finish it."
Let's finally get the attackers we've been so desperate for, that we haven't brought already for whatever reason, and see where that takes us. I hope the new main man Berta is given good enough funds and I believe his experience will make a huge difference. Next season is do or die for Arteta and the boys. I'm already looking forward to it.
I get you and I agree to a good extent. Like Henry said, we score and we are not a striker away from winning the league, our offence play is good but not title winning.
We are to choreographed and we are not going out to win games but more not to loose it. I do not think anyone in the top 4 will want out offensive players (asides SAKA of course). That is a problem. I hope you are right on next season but to be honest, I am don't have any hope in Arteta again wining the league but I support Arsenal always. If we win i will celebrate but if not, I will not be shocked.
That's why it's annoying that we have them on £180-275k weekly, barring Trossard.
Yes, and I've always agreed on that with you.
8th, 8th gets you fired before you get a chance to be 5th at Chelsea , United, City, Pool, and probably Tottenham as well.
Maybe that’s part of the reason Arteta’s the fifth winningest coach to 200epl games.
True, my stomach turned when I listened to Roy Keane questioning our mentality as a team. Cause, he is right. Until we win, there is no evidence of it. I dislike Evra for his Men vs boys comment when we played them in UCL, now his Netflix comment is so true and really more annoying
Slot was hired in part because Feyenoord had a 90% plus player availability under him over three years he was there, according to Liverpool’s DoF.
Meanwhile Arteta believes 70 games a season is a benchmark all players should be striving for, and he injured our only front line player left on a Dubai winter break trip.
Circumstantial evidence says it’s more than blind luck.
You are right and with the number of games Gabriel, Saliba, and timber have played in the last 2 seasons they look like the next guys on the chopping board.
Really really not good enough that Klopp leaves, City are terrible and we are not there. Just like the Liecester season. So what are the solutions? Is it managment, players. Next year same amount of games even more if we progress in the Cups.
The league is done. We have to throw everything at the Champions League.
We also have only TWO key players out: Saka and Havertz
I don’t count Jesus because he’s been shite for too long and crocked for even longer.
Tomiyasu has been out since the time of the pharaohs, so I don’t count him.
Why are we so off with two players out, with the massive wage bill we have
We were in a big chance creation famine before the so called injury crises.
Saka has been carrying us for too long and Martinelli has been just a warm body.
This was the same thing Matt said on the Podcast. Yes we have injuries but we have 9 of our starting 11 playing. Also, we ere behind liverpool before the injuries.
Saka and Havertz have carried us in the last 1.5 seasons. Our two best offensive players. Saka obviously elite but Havertz as well has given so much. The rest of our offense is at a lower level.
Havertz started playing well for us after dubai holidays, so it's wrong to call that two seasons. And by the way he's been anything but superb this season. He's gone some games without a goal this season... Before being save by the injury instead of being revitalized as some of his fans were hoping.
I’m glad the media is asking tougher questions of the manager now.
It was very heartening to see that last interview finish the way it is.
No more fawning from reporters, eh?
The whole Arteta project has gone stale
He too has to do some retooling, maybe bring in new assistant managers. Even the set piece FC thing has been found out.
This season is a complete waste of time, when it’s all said and done
We came close to the zenith last season and will end up even farther away than we were when we first competed.
Sad to say that we have bought badly in many instances, large portions of the squad are not good enough, even when they are available.
There are big questions to be answered by the manager and I’m not certain he can meet the moment.
I don't think Arteta believes anything is wrong with the way his side play football. He'll buy similar players to rotate with the ones that are here. His x factor is the system.
Young coaches who are loyal is his way
Not sure I get the outrage over this United result if I’m honest, the league has been done and dusted and we aren’t dropping out of CL places.
The more frustrating one was the fa cup exit at home when we played our strongest Xl minus Saka, refs gave us a floppy pen and sent one of theirs off.
You really couldn’t have asked for more.
I’m kidding of course, it was a terrible ‘luck’ facing a historically FA cup most successful club in early rounds when league two clubs were still on offer.
We just can’t catch a break can we
I’m not so sure our CL slot is guaranteed the way we are playing.
I think we can be caught by the chasing pack
We have a big chance creation problem and a glaring lack of attackers. We have wasted the last two transfer windows.
Don’t forget it’s a massive 10 games to play for
We will finish second no way we drop out of top 4
Also it's a top 5 for CL this season as the English teams have down well in Europe and our coefficiency cannot be caught if 2 of our teams got through to the next round.
I’ll buy into your optimism when we win a game in the league
Not gonna happen Diss,
one or two chasing might catch fire but not four.
Not when everyone has been dropping points all season and theyre still playing in cups or face one another.
The CL is all that’s left, have a good showing vs Real to take it into next season , unless of course Atleti shithouse their way into the next round in which case we will be a slight favorites, maybe.
I'm happy you think we'd be slight favorites against Atleti.
If we had our main offensive players back, healthy and in-form, absolutely. Now, not so much...
We have two points from the the last three games, all winnable games.
This is the low or mid-block we will have to face from now till the last game of the season … and we’ve got no clue about how best to handle it.
Premier league managers aren’t as naive as Peter Bosz.
Honestly, I don’t know where and when we get another three points.
It's not so much that we miss xhaka because he was sliced bread. He was awful at times and just ok to good at best. Was very easy to replace him.
Arteta had the opportunity to buy Sandro, Bruno, Kudus, Paqueta to mention but a few and Xhaka would have been a footnote. But in all his wisdom he chose Haverts and later Merino.
I'm somewhat happy that Xhaka gave us something okay towards the end but we don't miss him
Please don’t bring up Kudus.
Makes me wanna throw stuff at the wall and at
Edu, Arteta and Viera
It is painful cause we have no UCL to worry about. We could have been more aggressive and beat united