Said it before, guys like Holding & Elneny can have a place in a squad. Lowish wages, don't complain when not getting played, good in the dressing room, professional, do ok when called upon.
Of course there is. Or I can rephrase that to not first choice back up. Just now Holding is first choice if White or Gabriel gets injured. Saliba should be that guy, or Ben White but that's another debate.
You'll have the dreaded Thursday/Sunday routine to contend with also, just like us. Europa League campaigns are the worst, I feel managers probably have to end up deciding which one to focus on (league or EL) due to fatigue. Unless they are somehow able to get together a big enough squad. Arsenal this season had none of that. They had one of the best opportunities to get 4th and fecked it up.
That's true, I'm speculating a lot. But you'll agree that realistically it's 4 teams fighting for 3rd and 4th. Even knowing that life is unpredictable, I can't help but feel there's a better case for Chelsea and Spurs for those 2 spots. If you count recent history as the best predictor of next season, then Arsenal don't look strong enough for it and Utd only slightly better.
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Seen this earlier. Doesn't suggest we are as bad as you think. Suggests while we need to improve, converting chances is more of an issue. Hopefully new forwards help with that.
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The xG is seems to be a typo, surely, as 69 would have you 3rd in the league. Fbref has your xG down as 59.9 which is good for 5th in the league behind Chelsea 67.2 and Spurs 65.1, and of course Liverpool and City both just under 90.
I trust what I saw with my own eyes and whatever those stats say I can tell you that we were lucky to even finish 5th based on how poor we have been this season. We won’t be this lucky again next season the performances are awful and the results will eventually catch up.
Not sure to be honest, just posted what I seen. So have we out scored our xG according to Fbref?
One habit we need to get out of is how streaky we are. Lose the first 3 games, go unbeaten the next 8 winning 6, then lose 3 out of 4, then we win 9 out the next 11, then lose 4 from 5, then win the next 4 etc.
Yeah by a couple of goals. As did both Chelsea, Spurs and pretty much everyone in the top half except Brighton.
Yep, totally agree. Too big a drop in quality.
Some potential to do what exactly? Beat the likes of Klopp and Pep ? Potter is becoming this living myth that he must be wonderful with a bit more money.
He is better than Arteta for sure. Better football with a much inferior squad. Has a clear identity and has done a fabulous job at Brighton. Even eddie Howe is better than Arteta aka see Newcastle and his Bournemouth side. Both are much better manager than Arteta. Not saying they will help you beat Pep or Klopp but you could fare better with them at the helm.
There's more of a chance(Even if it's a very very slim one)happening under Potter than with Arteta. United have been shite for years now but there has always been the idea that the end goal will be winning the league, maybe I'm wrong here but with Arteta there doesn't even seem even the hope Arsenal could win a league title with him as manager.
I mean its because Arsenal fail to lure the best managers. Howe has shown what he can do this season.
This is a load of rubbish.
Who will beat Klopp and Pep?
If we sign Hickey I imagine he'll be backup to the two full backs. And, if we sign a midfielder to replace Xhaka, I imagine Xhaka takes up Elnenys old slot.
Eddie Howe has been super at Newcastle. Would have him over Arteta any day of the week.
Fantasy Football. Howe bill be cashing his Saudi check as soon as they get some higher caliber players.A bigger job for Potter could only be Leicester or Spurs if Conte does a madness. We always want the small unknown dude to become great, but i'll wait till i see it.
If by slim you mean 0.002% instead of 0.001% then ok. Not sure it's worth the trouble/gamble. Winning the league is the end goal of 6 maybe 7 clubs but realistically only 3 per year can really do it. And nor Arsenal or United are in that top 3 at the moment. It can change and will change but appointing Potter anywhere is definitely not the catalyst to that change.It is pure delusion or wum baiting to say so when you're facing these 2 monsters.
What has he shown ? That he can save a club from relegation ? Great ! Not sure who we actively pursued and "failed" to lure to Arsenal. Ancelotti would be a massive stretch and i'm not even sure he was really wanted (rightly or wrongly).
Conte was available
Arteta is a very small dude. Living off one cup win for 3 years now.
Does he ?
It's not really a gamble when your dealing with these types of odd. You play pretty shite boring football and can't finish in the top 4th, for most ''top'' clubs Arteta would be sacked already.
Financially they're in different worlds though. People go on about transfer fees but wages are the big indicator, United have a wage bill well over double that of Arsenal. Even with United being shite they're still a juggernaut, and will always be an attractive club for players.
Zidane
To be fair I doubt managers of the caliber of Zidane and conte would the Arsenal job.
Rooney? Martinez? Rodgers?
He's 5"8 which is respectable. One cup win is a good return for the absolutely rubbish manager that Arteta is. Better than some bigger names.
Yes he is one manager who is better for sure, but equally he wasn't right for the approach we were taking.
United could not convince Zidane with a blank check.
Do you think Arteta could do the job Rooney has done at Derby?
Fair point(Although some of the United wage bill is down to how badly run we are). Are Arsenal that much further behind than Liverpool in terms of finances ? Klopp is great but Pool aren't just one man machine who do everything he says. As an outsider it just seems weird for a club to be sticking with a manager that almost everyone agrees has no chance of winning anything other maybe the odd domestic cup. What the risk of getting rid of him and trying someone else(They've tied him down with a new contract this season, which is mad).
Do you think United or Spurs have a chance at winning anything other than the odd domestic cup next season or the one after ?
