The EMEA region was terrible for our assets this time - 'Kai Havertz' twanged a hammy and had to be put down like a lame horse. Output is down 33% YoY as a consequence.
Mikel Arteta | Lego Graham Taylor
- Thread starter Samid
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Yes we get it he has made arsenal a hard side to play against. Good job and he has been praised for that. What people are critiquing him is his inability so far to take them to the next level. It is all fine and good to keep on bringing the 2016 to 2019 era for arsenal (which for all his flaws still won trophies and reached European final) but right now they look to have stagnated. If you guys don't win a big trophy soon then even the loyal arteta supporters will start questioning.
I get that, he still has a fair amount of proving to do, we all agree on that. I'm certainly not trying to suggest he's some generational manager or whatever like you see some of the twats saying on Twitter / X.
I was just pointing out, as much as he's though of as a bit of an intense tit, someone like him was needed to lift the club out of the slumber.
He's finished 2nd 2, maybe 3 seasons in a row. Now, you don't get a trophy for that, but this is also a club that has finished 2nd once since the Invincibles and that was only because Spurs fecked up when Leicester won the title. Of course hes been backed much more than Wenger ever was and I'm certainly not trying to belittle him.
But yeah, he has to give the same priority now to improving the attack as he has the defence and midfield so far.
We have stagnated this year. No doubt about it. What's stagnated the most is our attack obviously. There are some excuses....a ton of injuries for starters....dodgy refereeing (half of the red cards, somehow we are in the relegation zone in terms of penalties with 2...Pool has 9!)... but Arteta himself has the team playing without too much drive to make things happen a lot of the time. I want to see the team more adventurous, we have the backline that can deal with most teams. Less reliance on wide players in general.
Most teams have to deal with injuries, why do Arsenal act as if they get more than others? Whilst you can use injuries as an excuse, Arsenal have had 2 years injury free for their core players. Even this season, its Saka really that is missing, Odegard at the start too. You still have the keeper, back line, CM's all fit for majority of the season.
Regarding decisions, again this evens out over the season, its not like Arsenal have been hard done by more than others.
Meh, this season has been rough on refereeing decisions. I don't think it evened out. Usually when you are at the top of the table, you get some favorable refereeing. We have had some weird first time ever calls, that have not been carried over with any consistency. This only accounts for a small amount of points. We would have lost the title even with the favorable calls Pool has received.
With the injuries, the problem is both in depth and which position has been hit by injuries. We are sitting 3rd in the injury table but what hurts is that it is ravaging our attack. On top of it Odegaard has been pretty poor since coming back from injury, to the point that I am not sure if he is maybe not carrying another issue. Liverpool on the other hand has been able to keep its stars away from the treatment table. This all helps. We have had good luck in recent years...bad luck this year. Liverpool had bad luck with it last year.
I don't even look at players like Tomiyasu and Jesus. (And unfortunately probably Calafiori when I talk about injuries...I assume they will get injured. It's the relatively sturdy ones like Havertz, Saka and Odegaard that are more disturbing to continuity.
But the biggest issue is that we have become really stale and predictable in attack. Arteta has some soul searching to do...this is a bit of a fork in the road for him early on in his managerial career. He can choose the Mourinho way, or revert back to the attacking success he had in his first two years. We have been in large a real boring team to watch this season.
I think most Arsenal supporters will state that there is a problem in attack. I don't know if Arteta will ever get over that last hurdle. I would say he should give it another year and see if he can push his team over the line. After that maybe a change of scenery might be good for both. No guarantees at all we would find anyone capable of making it though. Lots of mediocrity out there as Man Utd fans should be painfully aware of.
I agree with majority of the things you are saying apart from the last 2 paragraphs.
You need luck yo win a PL title, Liverpool have had it in abundance, people will say its me being salty but they have not had any injuries and they get alot of decisions go their way. To add to that, they also got lucky fixture wise, in that they got to play teams that were not in form most of the time. For example, playing Arsenal early, City, Spurs, United, Chelsea all when they were struggling themselves.
Whilst United fans including me love to banter Arteta, if you actually take bias out the way, I dont think Arsenal should replace Arteta, he is a top coach imo. Just have a look at when you play, 90% of the times, Arsenal dominate football matches, barely concede chances. The grass is not greener and I love it when I see so many Arsenal fans change to Arteta out, because like you say, its not easy replacing him.
They play the best football imo, they are so dangerous. Funnily enough, I think you get closer to the title if you have a Bruno Fernandes in the team, someone who can get those goals and assists.
These three teams have struggled all season.
And weren't Chelsea flying earlier in the season when Liverpool played them? They even got talked up as title contenders for a bit.Think you basically answer your own point there mate.
Although we've had injuries in defence (White missing a few months, Tomiyasu missing the whole season, Calafiori missing chunks), we've by in large been able to rely on a core of Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Rice and Partey.
That part of team has been able to perform, And because of this, we've had the best defence in the league.
However, our attack has suffered, and that's where we've suffered more injuries. However, even outwith that, many don't think the attack is good enough anyway, even without the injuries, hence why everyone wants it addressing in the summer.
Arteta is definitely a good manager. Remains to be seen if he is a great one. Think people forget how new he is to this. Hoping he can make that next jump, but I feel there is some uncertainty masked in his behavior. I believe he overthinks it sometimes.
Glad we went with him in the end, but there might be a point soon we have to part ways. Tough to say where he would go....because he will have to change his team's current style of play to go to a Barca or Real. Hence maybe why the weak City links.
Glad we went with him in the end, but there might be a point soon we have to part ways. Tough to say where he would go....because he will have to change his team's current style of play to go to a Barca or Real. Hence maybe why the weak City links.
These three teams have struggled all season.
You think Arsenal who are 2nd have struggled all seaon
We have different struggled description then.There are three teams whose names have been made bold in my reply and I say "these three teams have struggled all season".You think Arsenal who are 2nd have struggled all seaon
RIP reading comprehension, I guess?
If Arsenal had any ambition they would have gotten rid of him by now, no top club would have him as long as Arsenal have.
I think that’s harsh. They were as bad as we were when he took over, and look at the difference over that time period. We had Ole and Ten Hag drag us to new depths and they are 2nd in the league, in a CL semi final and most of their top players aren’t even in their prime yet.
Could he have won more trophies? Yes, he could have, but it could have been so, so, so much worse. He has them in a great position for whoever comes next.
He(or whoever was in charge of their signings) actually created a decent team over the years, lacks maybe one or two very good players to be an excellent team, but not being comfortable to rest the players 4 days before the Champions league semifinal in really really bad from him. They were fighting the title few weeks ago and now they are not even comfortable of finishing in top3-4.
They've not been fighting for the title at all.
The closest they've been to Liverpool since getting second was within 4 points back in January, and even then Liverpool had a game in hand. Literally all they've done since then is fall further behind, and now, with three games left, could still find themselves as low as 7th come the end of the season.
17 points in last 11 games.
6 of the 17 against relegation fodder.
11 points in 9 games against the rest.
6 of the 17 against relegation fodder.
11 points in 9 games against the rest.
I mean, they were never going to win the title, but you get my point. It's pretty much embarassing situation.
he's a weird manager sometimes
I mean, he could've rested a few lads surely
I mean, he could've rested a few lads surely
This is a very similar ‘title challenge’ and cup run to us in 20/21. Granted, I don’t think they will fall off anywhere near as bad as us next season, but I think failing to win anything this season and finish scrambling for top 5 may see them unravel a bit next season and Super Mickey sacked. It will be his 7th season there at that point and this group of players may stop being responsive, even Guardiola ran into that issue.
They've gone backwards even though the foundations are there for a good team. Their attack is woeful and bench lacks talent.
Be interesting to compare how many points they've dropped from winning positions vs Liverpool - that probably tells you why they'll finish empty handed again.
I think City will win the title next season so it felt like this season was the now-or-never moment for Arteta.
Be interesting to compare how many points they've dropped from winning positions vs Liverpool - that probably tells you why they'll finish empty handed again.
I think City will win the title next season so it felt like this season was the now-or-never moment for Arteta.
After spending over 600 million on player acquisitions Arsenal under him have won one trophy the FA Cup in his first season five years ago in front of empty Wembley which is a poor return. Liverpool and Man City supporters will be delighted if he's kept on longer while the Arsenal board should know he's taken them are far as he can go as he simply doesn't have the tactical nous to do any better.
The one trophy he won was also won with someone else's squad.
are the fans still in his corner?
united fans would be chomping at the bit by now
united fans would be chomping at the bit by now
Does he not like resting players? Look at the line ups the other teams left in the UCL have put out. Two of them are still in title races and they still changed majority of their team
Lots of criticism of his team selection today at least, but I think a lot of them are reserving judgement for after Wednesday. If they crash out, I'm sure the fanbase will be divided.
I hate to defend Lego on here, but those players have their sights set on the champions league game. Could very well have not played them today.
I didn’t catch the game but it’s just human nature to preserve yourself for the bigger, more rewarding stuff. Wouldn’t have mattered if they put 6 past Bournemouth today, ultimately their season comes down to that one game in Paris really, and a very winnable one too.
I didn’t catch the game but it’s just human nature to preserve yourself for the bigger, more rewarding stuff. Wouldn’t have mattered if they put 6 past Bournemouth today, ultimately their season comes down to that one game in Paris really, and a very winnable one too.
That's true and had reached the Europa League final the season before he arrived.
They gave up on the league 2/3 months ago to concentrate on the CL and where has it got them.
They should have been challenging for the league and they'll end up finishing 3rd and another season without a trophy.
He's never going to win anything at Arsenal, but any alternative who comes in will be even worse.
They should have been challenging for the league and they'll end up finishing 3rd and another season without a trophy.
He's never going to win anything at Arsenal, but any alternative who comes in will be even worse.
I hope they keep him anyway I quite enjoy watching him have his little tantrums now bless him
Couldn’t be happening to a more annoying manager.No, they didn’t.
They have been average since the start of the season and have never had any real momentum. They would have one off performances like against City and Madrid, which would then be followed by poor performances. They have not been consistent enough to challenge for the league unlike the previous two seasons. Giving up suggests that they took their foot off the gas, which isn’t the case as they are not good enough. Teams have worked them out in attack and the only thing they got going for them these days are set pieces. Arteta needs to refresh the forward line and have a new captain.
Yeah I agree with this. You can see from their results in the league pre/post Madrid game that they have their eyes and minds elsewhere. I do think if they lose that game big questions will start to be asked, not just by their fans but by their players too. Can see some of them (Saliba) have their heads turned by Madrid.
Some players may have taken their eyes of the ball in the league, but others will not be guaranteed a starting place in the semi or maybe the final should they get there.
I would have expected a better display than that today, was abject, passive and very poor at times.
It's difficult to turn form on at the drop of a hat.
I would have expected a better display than that today, was abject, passive and very poor at times.
It's difficult to turn form on at the drop of a hat.
Their attack is dreadful. Havertz, Jesus are unreliable and Sterling was their only reinforcement in the summer.
You can see why he put all his eggs in the knockout competitions.
Surely he should have rested them then? Playing the full strength side wouldn't be as bad if they got a confidence boost from a good league win. Alternatively he could have played a weakened side, and a loss would be deemed meaningless considering their next game. Now he got the worst possible outcome. Everyone except for Rice played practically the full game and they lost at home, which is a blow to confidence.
Arsenal lack squad depth.
What is Arteta going to do exactly ? drop Odegaard for an 18 year old ? Martinelli for Sterling ? The starters are nailed on and they know that.
Why did he buy Sterling?