True, we are going through our annual 3 game drought, which I expect will continue on Sunday, before a recovery with a fully fit Odegaard. But you still have to look at the paucity of answers when one of your stalwarts is out. Trossard has been woeful, Havertz such a limited player, and the rejigged midfield an ineffective force. Not a single shot on target at Newcastle speaks volumes.
Arteta looks out of ideas to me, despite the squad he has.
The biggest criticism of him for me is the random signing of Sterling, because he was cheap and available. Yes, he was once an electric player, the promise was that Arteta would revive him and give us cover and versatility. Yet he has hardly featured and even then with next to no effect. That's down to Arteta, for either signing him, or failing to get him going in any productive way. If Sterling is of no use, i would much rather preferred Arteta gives a chance to a young buck who might mature into a first team player. Looks like another Willen, another feeble Chelsea reject signing.
With the money spent and the time invested I just think we should be able to cope with injuries and dips in form more convincingly as well as feeling that new players are coming through and refreshing the squad. It doesn't feel that way. Arteta seems stuck with a first eleven with no variations or room for tactical change and flexibility. He didn't have the relentless European and domestic treadmill so much before, and now it is challenging the unbalanced squad he has built and his tactical inflexibility.
This season will test him much more, we'll see if he really is able to manage when the going gets tough.
Arsenal by name will always be held to Ransom by other clubs around the World.? Opportunity was there when Eddie went, to try and get Eze on a cash/ swap deal.
Sometimes we forget that the primary goal of the Havertz transfer was an abysmal failure
We set out to sign a #8 that summer, that fell flat on it’s face. Credit for the player and the manager for configuring the player as a striker which has redeemed the signing.
Thats why I’m a bit skeptical about Merino because the same people that thought Havertz is a #8 brought him in. He’s not athletic and does not have the dribbling or progressive passing ability to mitigate that weakness.
I’ve already hearing that we have to wait for Ode to come back to see the best of Merino, presumably because they played together 6 years ago. When all the conditions have to be perfect for any player to perform, that player can’t be that good.
It’s not that Merino is a bad player, it’s the profile of #8 midfielder that we chose to sign.
What about Sesko justified going without a striker for one season where we’re supposed to be contesting for a league title?
All this nonsense is happening because our transfer business is clustered around what one man wants. It is all about Arteta, same as it was with Wenger.
Why wasn’t there a plan b or plan c?
We sold attackers and used the proceeds of the transfers to bring in non-attackers.
We got rid of five attacking players and didn’t replace them.
Instead Arteta and his goal keeping coach were doing side negotiations for a la Liga b goalkeeper in the last days of the window.
I get the impression that so many of our attacking payers have regressed under Arteta to the extent that there needs to more questions about his coaching and imposed tactics. The list includes ESR, Reiss, Willian, Pepe, Vierra, Jesus and now Martinelli and Trossard. The first three all recovering form once moving to lowly Fulham! Too much choreographed play perhaps and not enough freedom of movement and expression inhibiting their natural talents, maybe similar to what has happed to Grealish under Pep. Odegaard and Saka are the only real exceptions as they are very technical rather than flair players, but maybe Saka would be an even more exciting player given a freer mandate maybe like Robyn used to have.
I think the arguments are right, but the question is: did we do enough to mitigate the mentioned circumstances? Does Arteta's trust in a tight circle have a negative impact on a player selection?
1. Could we not play Partey at right back and consequently trust Kiwior more at left back? Not only call him up when there's literally no-one else, but give him occasional practice when Calafiori got injured?
2. Could we (knowing Odegaard is out) give Nwaneri more time vs bottom-half teams and Shakhtar so that he will produce more output against tougher defences?
3. Could we work personally with Jesus so that he doesn't need to impress Arteta with every cameo on the pitch and actually be productive?
We could have done all these things but the person calling the shots didn't do them..that's what matters. His reasons maybe justifiable only to him but so far it's not helped the club in any reasonable ways.
You can't be worried about the back ups when the starters aren't good enough.
Harverts as a starter isn't good enough. He doesn't score enough, he doesn't make enough striker moves. He's actually better known for winning duels and harrassing defenders. That would have been ok if we had wingers that their main work is to score. But wth Arsenal it's not so. Saka and Martinelli are advised to do A LOT OF DEFENSIVE work.
The whole system has shifted towards defensive football. If Arteta doesn't shift this back, like last season we won't score many goals this one.
Exactly, the fact that we defend in 4-4-2 might be hard for the opponent, but it also means a lot of work for our wingers, who are currently our main threat.
Liverpool, for example, defends in 4-2-4 with Salah and Diaz being on the line with the other two, which means that the wingers are closer to the goal if they intercept the ball. They also can occupy spaces behind the opponent's wingbacks faster.
We'll be okay. Arteta is 100% the right man. Doesn't mean you can't question him. We are going through a blip. Unfortunately it happens. I still back is to come back strong.
Would I like an upgrade up front. Of course, let's see what Jan brings.
The next game will really show where things are heading.
Whether Chelsea are a credible threat - they’ve been looking good and their squad depth obviously is crazy.
Beat them and the doubts will go away. Lose / draw on a ground where we have won the last 3/4 games, and the doubts will continue to creep up about our ability to score, to defend, our squad depth, our predictable patterns, etc.
Also, Pedro, our biggest weakness has been our talent identification. So when you say we buy with the next 2 years in mind, I strongly disagree. Maybe, the last 3 windows, but definitely not before that. Jesus and Zinchenko are clear examples of us splashing serious money which only came good for us for a few months. Jorginho, Sterling, were clear stop gaps. And before that, Willian, Runnarson, Turner, Mari, Cedric, Tavares, Sambi….we were absolutely shit.
And look maybe this is why Edu has been let go. Maybe, the club and Arteta needs someone who can bring and impose their talent ID on the table. Maybe the lack of options forced Mikel to say, hey, in the absence of credible options let’s just go for players I already know, like the Sterlings and Jesus.
Why would someone who is our main attacking target of the summer be a guy who is supposed to come and sit on the bench behind a midfielder who is just trying his hands - maybe legs as a striker? I'm not saying I believe those trash, but suppose that was actually true, does it make sense? Those it portray us as a club that seriously want to compete? Anyway, it's not true. Our main targets in the summer were calafiori and merino. And we got them. The way I see it, we were even more linked with osimhen than sesko in the summer. Every rumour about him died after his mute performance in Euro.
And talking of one more season in Germany, did he sign a year extension to his previous contract or what? Anyway, the guy is not good. The only positive I see in the whole trash. How I wish merino did extend his contract as well in Spain.
Pedro XG man and Arteta stooge. As Ally McCoist said the stats lie. Arsenal never really threatened Inter with goal scoring chances . Inter just soaked us up. As for strikers no mention of the elephant in the room and the highest paid player at club on £280k a week - Havertz. Saka and Martinelli are paid half his salary. Another game like Bournemouth and Newcastle where he did nothing. Arteta has built the team to accommodate this guy. It’s a failed strategy. The football is boring and predictable and the players coached to death. Rice looks a shadow of his former self. As for Arsenal knowing who they want two years ahead prove it. Was signing that reject Sterling planned? Check what Petit said about him or is the view of a real player not valid? It was a desperation buy. Pathetic transfer planning. I think Edu had come to the end. Failed in the summer to strengthen the squad. Didn’t move quicker to get rid of Eddie and Nelson who smart people knew 3 seasons ago were never going to make it. Spunked money on Vieira. Inter are a side put together with a fraction of the Arsenal spend. Some reality check is needed. Top 4 is best we can do.
There is also a counter-counter argument here re our forward issues. Arteta sold Reiss and Eddie but then bought no one to replaced them?? So we have 2 players where one (Eddie) who could have definitely helped out here potentially.
The problem is that we have forward players that are not performing as well as they should in Jesus and Martinelli.
Jesus is finished. To be spending 9 months in between scoring goals in a competitive game is abysmal.
And as for Martinelli, as much as Aasim is right that the system is not helping him, we still have a winger that is not scoring as much as he should do.
I find it really curious that Arteta is not making sure that the left wing is just as threatening as the right wing is with Saka.
When is the start date for semi automated offside in the premier league
It’s embarrassing that it’s been held up
Lesser leagues have deployed it without drama.
True, we are going through our annual 3 game drought, which I expect will continue on Sunday, before a recovery with a fully fit Odegaard. But you still have to look at the paucity of answers when one of your stalwarts is out. Trossard has been woeful, Havertz such a limited player, and the rejigged midfield an ineffective force. Not a single shot on target at Newcastle speaks volumes.
Arteta looks out of ideas to me, despite the squad he has.
The biggest criticism of him for me is the random signing of Sterling, because he was cheap and available. Yes, he was once an electric player, the promise was that Arteta would revive him and give us cover and versatility. Yet he has hardly featured and even then with next to no effect. That's down to Arteta, for either signing him, or failing to get him going in any productive way. If Sterling is of no use, i would much rather preferred Arteta gives a chance to a young buck who might mature into a first team player. Looks like another Willen, another feeble Chelsea reject signing.
With the money spent and the time invested I just think we should be able to cope with injuries and dips in form more convincingly as well as feeling that new players are coming through and refreshing the squad. It doesn't feel that way. Arteta seems stuck with a first eleven with no variations or room for tactical change and flexibility. He didn't have the relentless European and domestic treadmill so much before, and now it is challenging the unbalanced squad he has built and his tactical inflexibility.
This season will test him much more, we'll see if he really is able to manage when the going gets tough.
Arsenal by name will always be held to Ransom by other clubs around the World.? Opportunity was there when Eddie went, to try and get Eze on a cash/ swap deal.
Our bargaining when buying is pretty naive.
Sometimes we forget that the primary goal of the Havertz transfer was an abysmal failure
We set out to sign a #8 that summer, that fell flat on it’s face. Credit for the player and the manager for configuring the player as a striker which has redeemed the signing.
Thats why I’m a bit skeptical about Merino because the same people that thought Havertz is a #8 brought him in. He’s not athletic and does not have the dribbling or progressive passing ability to mitigate that weakness.
I’ve already hearing that we have to wait for Ode to come back to see the best of Merino, presumably because they played together 6 years ago. When all the conditions have to be perfect for any player to perform, that player can’t be that good.
It’s not that Merino is a bad player, it’s the profile of #8 midfielder that we chose to sign.
Transactional is like Mourinho who let Salah and KDB go because they were too young for defensive football
What about Sesko justified going without a striker for one season where we’re supposed to be contesting for a league title?
All this nonsense is happening because our transfer business is clustered around what one man wants. It is all about Arteta, same as it was with Wenger.
Why wasn’t there a plan b or plan c?
We sold attackers and used the proceeds of the transfers to bring in non-attackers.
We got rid of five attacking players and didn’t replace them.
Instead Arteta and his goal keeping coach were doing side negotiations for a la Liga b goalkeeper in the last days of the window.
I get the impression that so many of our attacking payers have regressed under Arteta to the extent that there needs to more questions about his coaching and imposed tactics. The list includes ESR, Reiss, Willian, Pepe, Vierra, Jesus and now Martinelli and Trossard. The first three all recovering form once moving to lowly Fulham! Too much choreographed play perhaps and not enough freedom of movement and expression inhibiting their natural talents, maybe similar to what has happed to Grealish under Pep. Odegaard and Saka are the only real exceptions as they are very technical rather than flair players, but maybe Saka would be an even more exciting player given a freer mandate maybe like Robyn used to have.
I wonder if they actually practice shooting at all.
It feels like they don't sometimes.
I think the arguments are right, but the question is: did we do enough to mitigate the mentioned circumstances? Does Arteta's trust in a tight circle have a negative impact on a player selection?
1. Could we not play Partey at right back and consequently trust Kiwior more at left back? Not only call him up when there's literally no-one else, but give him occasional practice when Calafiori got injured?
2. Could we (knowing Odegaard is out) give Nwaneri more time vs bottom-half teams and Shakhtar so that he will produce more output against tougher defences?
3. Could we work personally with Jesus so that he doesn't need to impress Arteta with every cameo on the pitch and actually be productive?
We could have done all these things but the person calling the shots didn't do them..that's what matters. His reasons maybe justifiable only to him but so far it's not helped the club in any reasonable ways.
You can't be worried about the back ups when the starters aren't good enough.
Harverts as a starter isn't good enough. He doesn't score enough, he doesn't make enough striker moves. He's actually better known for winning duels and harrassing defenders. That would have been ok if we had wingers that their main work is to score. But wth Arsenal it's not so. Saka and Martinelli are advised to do A LOT OF DEFENSIVE work.
The whole system has shifted towards defensive football. If Arteta doesn't shift this back, like last season we won't score many goals this one.
Exactly, the fact that we defend in 4-4-2 might be hard for the opponent, but it also means a lot of work for our wingers, who are currently our main threat.
Liverpool, for example, defends in 4-2-4 with Salah and Diaz being on the line with the other two, which means that the wingers are closer to the goal if they intercept the ball. They also can occupy spaces behind the opponent's wingbacks faster.
Chelsea weakness last season was defense. They were better than us at attack.( progressive distance, open play)
We will see if their squad has matured to defend especially setpieces and aerial balls.
We'll be okay. Arteta is 100% the right man. Doesn't mean you can't question him. We are going through a blip. Unfortunately it happens. I still back is to come back strong.
Would I like an upgrade up front. Of course, let's see what Jan brings.
Up the Arsenal.
The next game will really show where things are heading.
Whether Chelsea are a credible threat - they’ve been looking good and their squad depth obviously is crazy.
Beat them and the doubts will go away. Lose / draw on a ground where we have won the last 3/4 games, and the doubts will continue to creep up about our ability to score, to defend, our squad depth, our predictable patterns, etc.
Also, Pedro, our biggest weakness has been our talent identification. So when you say we buy with the next 2 years in mind, I strongly disagree. Maybe, the last 3 windows, but definitely not before that. Jesus and Zinchenko are clear examples of us splashing serious money which only came good for us for a few months. Jorginho, Sterling, were clear stop gaps. And before that, Willian, Runnarson, Turner, Mari, Cedric, Tavares, Sambi….we were absolutely shit.
And look maybe this is why Edu has been let go. Maybe, the club and Arteta needs someone who can bring and impose their talent ID on the table. Maybe the lack of options forced Mikel to say, hey, in the absence of credible options let’s just go for players I already know, like the Sterlings and Jesus.
Why would someone who is our main attacking target of the summer be a guy who is supposed to come and sit on the bench behind a midfielder who is just trying his hands - maybe legs as a striker? I'm not saying I believe those trash, but suppose that was actually true, does it make sense? Those it portray us as a club that seriously want to compete? Anyway, it's not true. Our main targets in the summer were calafiori and merino. And we got them. The way I see it, we were even more linked with osimhen than sesko in the summer. Every rumour about him died after his mute performance in Euro.
And talking of one more season in Germany, did he sign a year extension to his previous contract or what? Anyway, the guy is not good. The only positive I see in the whole trash. How I wish merino did extend his contract as well in Spain.
Pedro XG man and Arteta stooge. As Ally McCoist said the stats lie. Arsenal never really threatened Inter with goal scoring chances . Inter just soaked us up. As for strikers no mention of the elephant in the room and the highest paid player at club on £280k a week - Havertz. Saka and Martinelli are paid half his salary. Another game like Bournemouth and Newcastle where he did nothing. Arteta has built the team to accommodate this guy. It’s a failed strategy. The football is boring and predictable and the players coached to death. Rice looks a shadow of his former self. As for Arsenal knowing who they want two years ahead prove it. Was signing that reject Sterling planned? Check what Petit said about him or is the view of a real player not valid? It was a desperation buy. Pathetic transfer planning. I think Edu had come to the end. Failed in the summer to strengthen the squad. Didn’t move quicker to get rid of Eddie and Nelson who smart people knew 3 seasons ago were never going to make it. Spunked money on Vieira. Inter are a side put together with a fraction of the Arsenal spend. Some reality check is needed. Top 4 is best we can do.
There is also a counter-counter argument here re our forward issues. Arteta sold Reiss and Eddie but then bought no one to replaced them?? So we have 2 players where one (Eddie) who could have definitely helped out here potentially.
The problem is that we have forward players that are not performing as well as they should in Jesus and Martinelli.
Jesus is finished. To be spending 9 months in between scoring goals in a competitive game is abysmal.
And as for Martinelli, as much as Aasim is right that the system is not helping him, we still have a winger that is not scoring as much as he should do.
I find it really curious that Arteta is not making sure that the left wing is just as threatening as the right wing is with Saka.
You say it like it is, I’m no expert but surely we must go with Haevertz up front and Nwaneri in place of Trossard if Odegardvnot back