I think one thing Arteta should be commended on is some of his ruthlessness in upgrading on players who had up to then been nothing but good for him (Ramsdale, Zinchenko, Tierney, Smith-Rowe). I think a problem at United over the years is a lot of players outlast their usefulness whereas at Arsenal there have been players who at the time looked unfairly shoved aside but Arteta decided that if you can incrementally improve on these players in the starting eleven, then they drop to the bench for a period of time and improve your bench and this cycle has made it possible for their squad to now be stacked with quality.
Mikel Arteta | Lego Graham Taylor
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In the latest edition of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) chats to author, Dan Williamson, about his new book 'If I Hadnt Seen Such Riches' which chronicles our 1990/91 European Cup Winners Cup victory, which is a trip down memory lane for those old enough to remember it and a vital history lesson for those who don't.
Assuming they'd probably not lose their last game, if they needed to, that puts them in the mid-80s for points which puts you in the conversation for the title regardless of what happens around you. We can discuss the way they play, but the rest is just noise.
No, not all the time, just this time.
I’m not saying Arsenal haven’t been consistent. But that kind of unimaginative, rigid football is exactly the sort of thing that’s easiest to make consistent. To me it’s the refuge of the mediocre. I didn’t like it when Jack Charlton parked Denis Irwin and Ronnie Whelan on the bench to achieve it with Ireland, and I don’t think spending a billion pounds to arrive at the same conclusion should suddenly make it admirable.
If that’s what people think football should aspire to, fair enough but I just won’t agree. And what I said still stands: we were literally the butt of jokes for half a season and still finished third. Liverpool were a mess, City were the worst they’ve looked in a decade, and Chelsea are a basket case. Maybe there’s some universal reason for all of that and Arsenal were the solution, but if their style and “philosophy” become the trend, football is in trouble.
Lego Graham Taylor 
I think so, he's won them the league? They've tried basically everything in the last 20+ years and he's the one that did it. There isn't an Arsenal fan in the world that will now tell you they would rather play/act in a different way over winning the league.
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True - and the club also deserves enormous credit. Arteta inherited a total mess in terms of the squad and player contracts. They backed him by paying off nine (!) unsellable players - rather than grin and bear it for the duration of their contracts - which made the space to bring in players who met his standards. Needless to say, if we had waited around for Mustafi, Sokratis, Kolasinac's contracts to end, it might not have worked out like this - and Arteta might not still be here.
I see your point. The type of football is unsustainable and dreadful but it comes down to competing against Man City's state backed cheating might who pipped them twice despite Arsenal playing progressive football those seasons. If City weren't around, I'm sure we'll see a very different Arsenal.
And assuming they win their last game and reach 85 points that would have been enough to win the league 9 times out of 32 in the premier league era I believe.
Been a weak as piss season at the top as you've stated.
From a tiki-taka lego coach to latest rugby-football prophet a la Pulis... yet smart enough to allow some flair here and there. Congrats and good luck on the CL final. As for legacy and that, I'm not sure.. efficiency only takes you that far. We will see.
I don't think that's the only choice though, play like this or you won't win the league. He has won the league playing like this, but I don't think it's sustainable at all to build an exciting future for as a club - the idea that they're ruthless sucess is nonsense, City and Liverpool (as previous champions) had to throw it away for them to win. If he wins the CL playing like it as well, then I think a league and european double is well worth it, but I don't see it as repeatable at all.
But we haven't been playing unimaginative, rigid football for the last 4 years. When we first finished second in 22/23 we scored 88 and conceded 43 goals in the league. We were playing pretty exciting, flowing football. It was similar in 23/24. We scored 91 goals and were playing good, attacking football. It's only been boring and rigid in the last 2 years. So our consistency doesn't really have much to do with our style of football.
Would rather have the camera cut to Jogi Low indulging in a nice big huff of his taint juices every five minutes than have to watch the way this horrible weasel of a man carries on. That's before you get to the actual football.
Any United fan feeling the urge to come in here and give him a pat on the back needs a straight jacket and a room with rubber walls.
Any United fan feeling the urge to come in here and give him a pat on the back needs a straight jacket and a room with rubber walls.
Sorry this doesnt even make sense had this been a Vintage City this Arsenal side with How they have gone about would have finished even further away from them compared to those second place finishes .
It's a base to work from, though. The monkey is off their back. Either Arteta evolves or they go a different direction if that's what they want, but they have now won the league, Pep is leaving and Liverpool are fairly shite. The world is their lobster.
I don’t get this sort of mental gymnastics. He’s built them a great and relatively young squad (they were absolute garbage when he took the job), had them compete with both attacking and defensive football over the last 4 seasons and now got them across the line for the first time in over 20 years, while reaching their second cl final in their history btw. Anyone thinking he’s not a really good manager and done fantastic over there is just being delusional. They’ll continue competing for many years to come with him in charge unfortunately.
That broader consistency you’re talking about is basically what the “big six” are, largely driven by financial muscle, which is why the Amorim situation was so appalling. With the resources at our clubs, you almost have to actively try to underperform that badly. But within this season specifically, Arsenal’s consistency is as i said. It takes real talent and bravery to sustain consistent results while playing expansive football over a long stretch.Arsenal have moved away from that. The control and risk management model has taken priority. And I see a few people are now assuming that winning the title will somehow reset things and let them take the shackles off. Once a system like that is locked in, success usually reinforces it rather than changes it.
So what, you pretend to be a United fan every 20 posts or so and every single other post you've made is sucking off Arsenal?
Southampton intern coach levels of subterfuge there, mate. Kindly feck off.
He will have to evolve, no doubts about it. The FA will definitely do something about the MMA fighting on corners and he still has a monster job to get the midfield working when both Odegaard and Eze are fit. Trossard might also leave so he has to rebuild that left side and find a way to replace all his clutch goals and assists.
I think next season will start pretty similar in style unless we're in a position to do something crazy like sign Kvara+Alvarez type of players that would completely change our attack.
Sure, I guess if you think that's all that's needed for them to kick on. Maybe he will be vindicated, but I think they will definitely have to evolve to compete long term, not sure where the vindication is then.
I'm not saying he's not a really good manager, I'm saying I don't think it's sustainable the way he's playing. Much like you could never deny Mourinho as a good manager, but his siege mentality style also didn't last.
I don't think you can look at this season and think it's replicable. He's not had a single red card or penalty given against them in the league, they've had champions who might not break the 60 point barrier, their main rival had to drop points in the run in (which historically they've not done) and their route to the CL final has been Leverkusen, Sporting and Atletico. I don't think anyone can say he's blown everyone away whilst doing it, he's just grinded his way to it. The results will speak for themselves, but I do not see a manager and team that will dominate.
I was gonna say you're being a bit harsh on @gold but a quick check of their posting history suggests you're right! I honestly don't get the fans of other clubs who stealth post here posing as United fans. Like, why do it?
I do think Arteta has proven himself as a good manager at this point, mind.
He is a truly top shelf manager for today's football and fully deserved this title. If you really want to know about Arteta, listen to how other managers in the PL speak about him, his team, and the experience of playing them. All the rest is just noise.
People underrate the difficulty of playing these 60 match seasons in the PL at a league challenging level with the league's unprecedented current level of intensity and competitiveness and, even more so, doing it year-after-year-after-year while keeping your levels up and figuring out different solutions through all kinds of situations with injured players, dead tired players, fixture congestion, opponents posing very different challenges in the PL and CL, etc. Only Pep and Arteta have really cracked that code. Even Klopp's Liverpool by the end was in a one season challenge, next season collapse rhythm, which Slot has continued.
Arteta has evolved the team consistently over time and I expect him to keep doing it. The side's evolution over the last 18 months or so was in many ways just a response to the three critical attacking players from the last title challenging 23-24 season - Saka, Odegaard, and Havertz - suffering major injuries or being non-factors. Saka hasn't been able to hit consistent form since the major hamstring injury in December 2024. Havertz remains our best striker and started seven of the last 50 or so league matches since his own big hamstring injury in February 2025. Odegaard has had about 1000 injuries himself and shown form only in small patches. Arteta figured out a way to grind to the title without his best attacking players available and in form for most of the season. In the future, if we can get those players back into some kind of consistent health and form, plus the evolution of players like Dowman and if we find a new LW in the market, the team could look very different.
All in all, the future is very bright. I'm not expecting domination or anything. The PL is just too competitive, staying on top is too hard, and other top sides are right on par with Arsenal in terms of talent. But with Pep gone Arteta is the best manager in the league until proven otherwise and the core of the squad will be together for the next 3-5 years. So we'll likely be right in the mix for a good while.
People underrate the difficulty of playing these 60 match seasons in the PL at a league challenging level with the league's unprecedented current level of intensity and competitiveness and, even more so, doing it year-after-year-after-year while keeping your levels up and figuring out different solutions through all kinds of situations with injured players, dead tired players, fixture congestion, opponents posing very different challenges in the PL and CL, etc. Only Pep and Arteta have really cracked that code. Even Klopp's Liverpool by the end was in a one season challenge, next season collapse rhythm, which Slot has continued.
Arteta has evolved the team consistently over time and I expect him to keep doing it. The side's evolution over the last 18 months or so was in many ways just a response to the three critical attacking players from the last title challenging 23-24 season - Saka, Odegaard, and Havertz - suffering major injuries or being non-factors. Saka hasn't been able to hit consistent form since the major hamstring injury in December 2024. Havertz remains our best striker and started seven of the last 50 or so league matches since his own big hamstring injury in February 2025. Odegaard has had about 1000 injuries himself and shown form only in small patches. Arteta figured out a way to grind to the title without his best attacking players available and in form for most of the season. In the future, if we can get those players back into some kind of consistent health and form, plus the evolution of players like Dowman and if we find a new LW in the market, the team could look very different.
All in all, the future is very bright. I'm not expecting domination or anything. The PL is just too competitive, staying on top is too hard, and other top sides are right on par with Arsenal in terms of talent. But with Pep gone Arteta is the best manager in the league until proven otherwise and the core of the squad will be together for the next 3-5 years. So we'll likely be right in the mix for a good while.
This is true to be fair. I'm excited for next season though, I think everyone should up their game and with 5 teams in the CL, we should be able to bring some of the best talent to the league. You'll obviously have your pick of the litter, but it should make for a more competitive league.
Wouldn’t Lego George Graham be more fitting with the Arsenal connection?
His brown envelopes are used for picking up the shit from the Arsenal Dog™ and hopefully nothing more than that
His brown envelopes are used for picking up the shit from the Arsenal Dog™ and hopefully nothing more than that
That George Graham team was built on defensive meanness but they could play. Even Big Sam's Bolton played football by accident occassionally.
"Im telling you zis unoseptable"Lego Graham Taylor
I agree. I think its going to be a very competitive league. The quality of the football I'm less sure about unless something changes with the rules but I see a future where there are regularly 3-4 sides that could win the title in any given year and that's a good thing.
The rules have to be seriously addressed, but I don't hold a great deal of hope with that. Definitely, but if 3-4 teams are all on a knife edge to win it, you can forgo a bit of quality - as long as it's exciting, for the right reasons and not VAR/Refereeing nonsense.
Issadisgrace
Ever since then they've got the rub of green with plenty of VAR decisions.
He is a truly top shelf c**t…
It's oyster, not lobster. And shithousing their way to a league title/CL final basically means we're guaranteed to endure the same excruciating shite from Arteta/Arsenal from here on in. When did any manager ever get his team to play more expansive football over time? The only entertaining managers, long term, played entertaining football en route to their first major trophies. The most likely outcome by far (assuming they keep winning stuff) is a Mourinho trajectory of getting more and more universally despised and shit to watch, year on year.
Yep, their points tally is worthy of being Champions. Things kind of got distorted in the Pep/Klopp peak years of ridiculous points tallies, but mid table teams are so much stronger now, that 95+ points might not be seen again for a long time.
Since 22/23 i thought arteta was a great manager. He could perhaps have a career like wenger, benitez, simeone, mancini or klopp, which would be excellent. I do not admire the wrestling at corners and impeding the keeper though.
Agreed on the Mourinho point, but I think Mourinho at least had some charisma.
If nothing else, Arteta has proved that he actually is actually really adaptable.
From taking the job and playing 3 at the back to win the FA Cup, to changing to a 4231 with Smith-Rowe at number 10 and traditional full backs, to changing to a more 433 with Zinchenko inverting, Odegaard in midfield and Jesus up front, to replacing Zinchenko and Jesus with more physical players and working on set pieces.
Even this season he's tweaking between his traditional 3 in midfield and a double pivot with Eze at the 10. I wouldn't be surprised if we see more of Rice at 6 with Odegaard and Eze ahead of him like we saw against Burnley as well in some games.
Given that people used to call arsenal a city b team as praise for their football to what we see now it suggests he is flexible. I could picture him at city or barca in the future. He could perhaps do a schuster or Pellegrini there and win a league there even though my feeling is Liverpool and arsenal is most likely his level and he may not be good enough like Guardiola ti take the highest pressure if jobs like barca or city and do as well there. It will be interesting to watch though.
You say that as though I - or any other neutral fan - could give even the tiniest of tiny shits about any of it. It’s shit on a stick football. We all know that. Nothing else matters.
Yeah, true. Although that all evaporated as he got older and grumpier. God only knows how big an asshole Arteta will become over a similar timeline.
Funny that people say he’s won them their first League in 22 years but forget that he’s directly responsible for a third of this period where they didn’t win
Ha! Good point.