Mikel Arteta | Lego Pep watch

SinNombre

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We weren't outplayed. It was a nothing game that Pogba gave a stupid pen away in.
so many Trump-ians around

Keep repeating lies until it becomes the truth.

Every other page on this thread, there is someone talking about how Arsenal outplayed us.
 

Adisa

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They must be up there in terms of record red cards in a manager's first x amount of games. How many is that now?
Their red card problem has been going on for years now. Upon being shit, their players lack discipline.
 

Sandikan

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so many Trump-ians around

Keep repeating lies until it becomes the truth.

Every other page on this thread, there is someone talking about how Arsenal outplayed us.
You can find someone stating any old turd on any page pal.
That's no backing for your mis-rememberance.
 

Chief123

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They were clearly the better side that night. Let's not rewrite history.
Have you just made that up? There was nothing clearly better. They weren’t even “better”. They did absolutely nothing all game except park the bus. Apart from the penalty they had 1 shot on target. Not sure which match you watched mate.
 

Cassidy

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They were clearly the better side that night. Let's not rewrite history.
They were poor IMO so being better doesnt count for much

EDIT: Poor is harsh but they offered very little threat
 
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Pagh Wraith

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That United v Arsenal was the most 0-0 game I've ever seen. There wasn't enough playing going on for anyone to outplay the opposition. The penalty counts for nothing as well. It was at the edge of the box and Pogba's stupid foul didn't stop any sort threatening attack from Arsenal.
 
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Teja

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I mean it's easy to laugh at them but I've been catching most of their extended highlights and they don't seem quite as bad as their results suggest. Saka in particular looks amazing - If we weren't stacked in that position already, I would've loved for us to sign him. In fact, other than just someone putting the ball in the back of the net, attack wise they look really good - especially when they play their 4-2-3-1.

I looked at their xG from their recent games and that suggested something similar as well. Over the course of their season their xG from open play was 11.26 while actual goals scored was 8. Typically top teams out perform their xG (score more than what's indicated by xG). I think once Auba finds form they'll look good again but remains to be seen if Arteta will survive until then.

Defensively they're pretty terrible. Not convinced by a single one of their defenders (Gabriel, Holding, Tierney, Maitland Niles) - probably not even good enough to play for a mid table PL side.
 

simonhch

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How much is he getting paid by his pr team?
We talk about standards falling at United, but by god, anyone saying Arteta is doing well is deluding themselves. Even worse coming from an Arsenal legend. They don’t have a great squad but the manager should undoubtedly be betting better from them than he is. One could reasonably expect with their squad they should be sitting 7th or 8th if they perform just on par. And you really want a good coach to get more out of his team than just the sum of their parts. They are so far away from being a top four challenger again, so that budget is just going to keep shrinking.

They rely so much on the form of Aubameyang, but he’s 31. When he goes, who are they going to be able to replace him with? They need investment all over the pitch. The answer is that they need a bold progressive coach who is going to get way more in the way of output, than he revived in inputs. I feel like they took a punt on Arteta for this reason, but he doesn’t have any real pedigree, other than being a Guardiola disciple. They need a Nagelsmann or Rose, and to rely heavily on their scouting network to turn up some real value for money gems. Unfortunately they just dismantled that, and seem to be delegating most of their transfer activity to Kia Joorbachian.

Firing Wenger has turned out to be one of the worst big club decisions of the modern era. It really caused the curtain to be pulled back, and we saw the shit show that lay behind. People say United is run badly, and in many ways it is, but Arsenal are the third biggest club in England and their current management and trajectory is just appalling.
 

Gasolin

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I find Ian Wright hypocrite when he praises Arteta and slams Ole, while both for me are on the same trajectory.
I do think that Arteta had a similar job to do with Arsenal then Ole with United, which involved more than just making the team play: he needed to reshape the team.
He has some ideas, but again, players are not performing and it impacts their results.
Who knows though? In a couple of years, we may talk about Arteta being a genius.

That is, if he keeps his job.
Of course, I pray for their lack of luck to continue, but you can see how he wants to play.
At some point, it will pay off.
 

tjb

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We talk about standards falling at United, but by god, anyone saying Arteta is doing well is deluding themselves. Even worse coming from an Arsenal legend. They don’t have a great squad but the manager should undoubtedly be betting better from them than he is. One could reasonably expect with their squad they should be sitting 7th or 8th if they perform just on par. And you really want a good coach to get more out of his team than just the sum of their parts. They are so far away from being a top four challenger again, so that budget is just going to keep shrinking.

They rely so much on the form of Aubameyang, but he’s 31. When he goes, who are they going to be able to replace him with? They need investment all over the pitch. The answer is that they need a bold progressive coach who is going to get way more in the way of output, than he revived in inputs. I feel like they took a punt on Arteta for this reason, but he doesn’t have any real pedigree, other than being a Guardiola disciple. They need a Nagelsmann or Rose, and to rely heavily on their scouting network to turn up some real value for money gems. Unfortunately they just dismantled that, and seem to be delegating most of their transfer activity to Kia Joorbachian.

Firing Wenger has turned out to be one of the worst big club decisions of the modern era. It really caused the curtain to be pulled back, and we saw the shit show that lay behind. People say United is run badly, and in many ways it is, but Arsenal are the third biggest club in England and their current management and trajectory is just appalling.
It's been like this with them for a while. I've been watching commentary on them since Arteta went there. For some reason, they still have these grand delusions that they are and have been anything other than mediocre. It kind of reminds me of us under Moyes. There's always that hope that he's actually building something when week after week there are barely any signs of progress, from the very beginning. LVG was trying to build something; the problem was he was buying the bad players he would later criticize, after selling better players. Mourinho was building too; we didn't just like what he was building and how he was going about demanding and requesting. It's note like Ole either, at least the squad's improved significantly and there are major signs of progress, despite the inconsistency. This is Moyes at its finest. Hopeless weak on weak, masked under the guise of being Spanish and working with Guardiola
 

meamth

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I find Ian Wright hypocrite when he praises Arteta and slams Ole, while both for me are on the same trajectory.
I do think that Arteta had a similar job to do with Arsenal then Ole with United, which involved more than just making the team play: he needed to reshape the team.
He has some ideas, but again, players are not performing and it impacts their results.
Who knows though? In a couple of years, we may talk about Arteta being a genius.

That is, if he keeps his job.
Of course, I pray for their lack of luck to continue, but you can see how he wants to play.
At some point, it will pay off.
What is so amazing about pattern of play, well oiled machine, systematic play if all bottom half team can find mild success with it?

We've seen if over the years,
Swansea coming to the PL, play systematic football 1 season, failed miserably and relegated. Brighton, Sheffield, all of these teams will suffer in the long run when they got found out sooner or later.

Big clubs need a balance of both, style and individual brilliance, we're not seeing it with Arteta in charge. Not one single player in that team shines at the moment.
He is a terrible manager.
 

Gasolin

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What is so amazing about pattern of play, well oiled machine, systematic play if all bottom half team can find mild success with it?

We've seen if over the years,
Swansea coming to the PL, play systematic football 1 season, failed miserably and relegated. Brighton, Sheffield, all of these teams will suffer in the long run when they got found out sooner or later.

Big clubs need a balance of both, style and individual brilliance, we're not seeing it with Arteta in charge. Not one single player in that team shines at the moment.
He is a terrible manager.
I think he's too much like Pep, even though his principles are not like him: the way he wants to play require phenomenal players, and average players have a hard time executing it.
I don't think too much about the patter of play, I think Arteta game principles are a bit similar to what we see in some very energetic team:
- Counter press hard in the final third
- Quick passes to move the ball forward
- Try to leverage the sides for attacks

Isn't their problem more the fact that the players in general are just positionally not understanding what they need to do?
And also technically making mistakes.
It's hard to blame the tactics for this in my opinion, that's really all from me.

Maybe Arteta is too complicated. But maybe his players are simply not good enough to understand that level of play.
 

NoneBmStore

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I think he's too much like Pep, even though his principles are not like him: the way he wants to play require phenomenal players, and average players have a hard time executing it.
I don't think too much about the patter of play, I think Arteta game principles are a bit similar to what we see in some very energetic team:
- Counter press hard in the final third
- Quick passes to move the ball forward
- Try to leverage the sides for attacks

Isn't their problem more the fact that the players in general are just positionally not understanding what they need to do?
And also technically making mistakes.
It's hard to blame the tactics for this in my opinion, that's really all from me.

Maybe Arteta is too complicated. But maybe his players are simply not good enough to understand that level of play.
And maybe it’s maybeline
 

UNITED ACADEMY

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You can put into argument about Ole’s squad when he lost Lukaku and Herrera, those two are not ordinary or small loss at all and we didn’t replace them in 19/20 summer. But Arteta didn’t lose any of his main players from 19/20. He had the same players as Emery with additional of Willian, Partey & Gabriel. In logic, he has better squad now compared to when he first took in charged and what Emery had.
 

Ace of Spades

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Arteta could be a good coach, but all this shows is they should never have let Arsene go in the first place.
 

theklr

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Arteta could be a good coach, but all this shows is they should never have let Arsene go in the first place.
They had to do a rebuild/fresh start at some point.

As much as I sometimes loathe Arsenal as a United fan, they belong in the top of the table.
 

Feed Me

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I find Ian Wright hypocrite when he praises Arteta and slams Ole, while both for me are on the same trajectory.
I do think that Arteta had a similar job to do with Arsenal then Ole with United, which involved more than just making the team play: he needed to reshape the team.
He has some ideas, but again, players are not performing and it impacts their results.
Who knows though? In a couple of years, we may talk about Arteta being a genius.

That is, if he keeps his job.
Of course, I pray for their lack of luck to continue, but you can see how he wants to play.
At some point, it will pay off.
I don’t see how Ole and Arteta are in any way comparable tbh.
 

Ace of Spades

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They had to do a rebuild/fresh start at some point.

As much as I sometimes loathe Arsenal as a United fan, they belong in the top of the table.
The problems are with the owners and the way the club is run though, Wenger at least was keeping them around top 4 even with all the crap going with the running of the club.

Even if they get some top managers, don't think it will change much. Wenger was a top manager, them being a top 4 club was because he was able to keep them there despite all the mess at board level.

Without Wenger at the helm, they have exposed how much of a mess the club is on the football side of things.

And no, they don't 'belong' at the top. You earn your place in the league, no club is entitled to anything if they can't earn it on the pitch. If there are other clubs doing better with a smaller budget because they are better run, then they deserve to be there based on merit.
 

Gasolin

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I don’t see how Ole and Arteta are in any way comparable tbh.
Or on the same trajectory! When people have an agenda its amazing how they see the world and want to fit things into their own narrative regardless of reality.
They both have more to do than just make the team play, they have to reshape the squad to instill a new mentality.
So in that regard, they are the same.

And don't you think Arteta at the end of the day wants a quick football with lots of counter pressing in the final third? It seems pretty obvious that he wants speed in execution. Ole thinks the same.

So for me, they are in the same trajectory. I don't know if Arteta will keep dropping pts or not, but Ole has been through a difficult time as well and had to steady the ship in the 2nd last season and the season before, so it's possible the same happens to Arteta.
 

Tony247

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You can put into argument about Ole’s squad when he lost Lukaku and Herrera, those two are not ordinary or small loss at all and we didn’t replace them in 19/20 summer. But Arteta didn’t lose any of his main players from 19/20. He had the same players as Emery with additional of Willian, Partey & Gabriel. In logic, he has better squad now compared to when he first took in charged and what Emery had.
I am no (longer) fan of Ole but boy Ole has done far better job than pep lite.
 

redshaw

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They will hold on tight to Pep's assistant, they believe they have something special and looks trendy at the side of the pitch, he must be good.

Still, it's too early so I'd give him more time.
 

Feed Me

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They both have more to do than just make the team play, they have to reshape the squad to instill a new mentality.
So in that regard, they are the same.

And don't you think Arteta at the end of the day wants a quick football with lots of counter pressing in the final third? It seems pretty obvious that he wants speed in execution. Ole thinks the same.

So for me, they are in the same trajectory. I don't know if Arteta will keep dropping pts or not, but Ole has been through a difficult time as well and had to steady the ship in the 2nd last season and the season before, so it's possible the same happens to Arteta.
I’m happy with the comparison if it is based on positive sentiment.

It’s people who lump Ole in with the likes of Arteta as a criticism that I disagree with.

I don’t think Ole is top drawer – although he has done a good job of getting us nearer where we should be – but do think he gets a lot of disrespect.

To my mind, while they may be on the trajectory, Ole has scaled better peaks than Arteta.
 

cyberman

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They both have more to do than just make the team play, they have to reshape the squad to instill a new mentality.
So in that regard, they are the same.

And don't you think Arteta at the end of the day wants a quick football with lots of counter pressing in the final third? It seems pretty obvious that he wants speed in execution. Ole thinks the same.

So for me, they are in the same trajectory. I don't know if Arteta will keep dropping pts or not, but Ole has been through a difficult time as well and had to steady the ship in the 2nd last season and the season before, so it's possible the same happens to Arteta.
We have no idea what kind of football Arteta wants to play. He keeps talking about putting in cross after cross as if its the be all and end all and played shit house football from day 1. All that was excused by saying of course he had to, he had to protect the defence first of all.
The man played Auba as a defensive winger ffs
 

Inigo Montoya

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Isn’t undeniable that anyone who wishes to manage a massive club like Arsenal needs the experience of managing one or two smaller clubs first?
Depends on the credentials of said candidate. But usually yes!

SAF did say that players need to go somewhere else first before taking on a big club. Don't think he was wrong personally
 

Hansi Fick

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The guy sold the wrong goal keeper and kept the worse one.

Played Aubameyang on the left with Lacazette in the middle.

Made some poor decisions and its obvious it's not just tactics - he just doesnt have the eye for it.
Think the bolded part might have been the most fateful decision.
Leno is basically the German Mignolet, makes standard saves look like superman heroics and then lets his team down, every once in a while, when it hurts the most.
The backline looked so much more assured with Martinez behind them, while when Leno returned the sensation of lingering panic was immediately palpable again.

I thought Arteta was going to be great too, at the beginning, there were positive signs in his first weeks and months, and you always like to concentrate on potential with youngsters.
But I was wrong. He's clearly not up to it; the football is trash, the results unacceptable, and it's puzzling how a club like Arsenal refuses to act in a situation like this.