Mikel Arteta | Lego Pep watch

[Djemba-Djemba]

I've said it before but at least with Lampard and Ole both of them are legit legends at Chelsea and Utd. Both weren't good enough managers but both had a ton of goodwill and affection with the fans.

Lampard is their highest ever goalscorer and maybe their greatest ever player, Ole was a hugely beloved player who scored the most famous goal in our entire history. Both won multiple titles and cups and the CL etc.

Arteta was a journeyman midfielder who was at Arsenal during the start of their banter years, and won an FA cup or two maybe?

I don't understand the leeway the fans give him.

 

[Blood Mage]

I've said it before but at least with Lampard and Ole both of them are legit legends at Chelsea and Utd. Both weren't good enough managers but both had a ton of goodwill and affection with the fans.

Lampard is their highest ever goalscorer and maybe their greatest ever player, Ole was a hugely beloved player who scored the most famous goal in our entire history. Both won multiple titles and cups and the CL etc.

Arteta was a journeyman midfielder who was at Arsenal during the start of their banter years, and won an FA cup or two maybe?

I don't understand the leeway the fans give him.

It's because they consider him to be a student of Pep so he must be harbouring some secret tactical knowledge that will be unleashed when he gets his hands on the right players.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

Their signings have been poor and a waste of money.
But let's be real here, that Arsenal XI/squad, where does it finish in the league with a good coach?
They're not better than City, Liverpool, Chelsea or United.
I'd have West Ham and Spurs' XI over Arsenal's too. I'd say it's up for argument for Everton too.
They've got a 7-8th place quality XI/squad. That's where they belong.

The difference in points between 4th and 8th isn't that big. It was 6 points last season and 10 points the one before. I'd be surprised if a better coach can't get one more win and draw out of this Arsenal team.

Setting aside league positions: Arsenal had the 2nd worst attacking record in the top 10 last season. They currently have the 4th worst in the top 10, with Spurs getting close to overtaking them after their terrible start. There are also six clubs below the top 10 with better GF record than Arsenal.

I simply don't buy that Arsenal's squad is uniquely bad at scoring goals.

 

[giorno]

It's because they consider him to be a student of Pep so he must be harbouring some secret tactical knowledge that will be unleashed when he gets his hands on the right players.

Auba, Laca and Xhaka are the only players who start with a certain frequency that weren't signed under him. He's got the players he wants. He also is absolutely nothing like Guardiola tactically

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

Ole aged a few years from the Utd job.
Is Arteta dying his hair, no greys

He didn’t put enough effort behind the scene to stress himself. Lazy manager.

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

It's because they consider him to be a student of Pep so he must be harbouring some secret tactical knowledge that will be unleashed when he gets his hands on the right players.

He doesn’t play like Pep. Recycle the ball from forward to full back, and then switches the ball from one flank to another flank by passing the ball across the back, after that the wide players will put cross in, and then repeat the same process.

 

[SAFMUTD]

Arteta got to arsenal at December 2019. He's bought Partey, Gabriel, Ben White, Tomiyasu, Odeegard, Ramsdale and Lokonga, and a bunch of others that are not above 10M that I don't think are worth mentioning.

That's regular investing to be honest, not little but definitely not enough to improve on a squad like the one he inherited. His best players are youngsters such as Saka, Smith Rowe and Tierney. I don't think Arteta is a top manager of course, but it's not like he's failing with a top team. Arsenal current's squad is clearly below City, Liverpool, Chelsea and ours and arguably below Everton, Spurs and Leicester. So they're on average where their squad should be placed around 8th.

 

[GoonerBear]

Thing is, Arteta's target for this season is apparently European football, so a top 6 finish you would imagine (not counting that Conference League nonsense).

While he's in and around that, I don't think the board will have the appetite to make a change. Things might get hairy if we lose to Southampton or West Ham in the next couple of games for examole & things start drifting like last season to 6 or 7 without a win, then I think the fans will force a rethink, but like Ole, while he's still picking up results and keeping them roughly where the target it, they won't change it unfortunately.

 

[giorno]

Arteta got to arsenal at December 2019. He's bought Partey, Gabriel, Ben White, Tomiyasu, Odeegard, Ramsdale and Lokonga, and a bunch of others that are not above 10M that I don't think are worth mentioning.

Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney, Thomas, Lokonga, Odegaard. That's 8/11 of their starting lineup. The other 3 are two academy players and Auba, the guy Arteta decided they HAD to PAY

That's regular investing to be honest, not little but definitely not enough to improve on a squad like the one he inherited.

....then what the hell did they spend that money for???

Arsenal current's squad is clearly below City, Liverpool, Chelsea and ours and arguably below Everton, Spurs and Leicester. So they're on average where their squad should be placed around 8th.

WHAT

 

[Sviken]

It's because they consider him to be a student of Pep so he must be harbouring some secret tactical knowledge that will be unleashed when he gets his hands on the right players.

They should learn from us. How many students of SAF ever went and achieved anything without him? Can't think of one. There are few assistant managers in football history that ever went on to be successful.

 

[SAFMUTD]

Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney, Thomas, Lokonga, Odegaard. That's 8/11 of their starting lineup. The other 3 are two academy players and Auba, the guy Arteta decided they HAD to PAY

Yes Auba was definitely a mistake, but he was their main, and one of the top of the league, scorer. It didn't seemed such a bad decision at the time.

Him replacing 8 players doesn't mean he replaced them with 8 top players. Besides Thomas and White all the others have been regular/average fees. I'm sure they weren't Arteta's first options.

....then what the hell did they spend that money for???

Well they needed to replace most of their squad, they had an incredibly poor squad and after spending around 200M they ended up with an average one.

WHAT

That's why I said arguably, Richarlison, Calwert Lewin, Doucure and Digne would easily walk into Arsenals XI. Players such as Allan and Kean arguably could as well.

I don't think there's a lot of difference between Arsenal's and Everton's current squads to be honest.

 

[Mastadon]

My biggest problem with him is he has us playing awful boring football that barely keeps us above water. I understand he doesn’t have his final team and won’t be able to play winning football until we have 11 City level played on the pitch but for the love of god show us something else. The performances have been awful we don’t create and we don’t score. Whatever process this is it certainly isn’t very nice to watch.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

Well they needed to replace most of their squad, they had an incredibly poor squad and after spending around 200M they ended up with an average one.

The incredibly poor squad had higher league placements than the average one.

 

[SAFMUTD]

The incredibly poor squad had higher league placements than the average one.

5th and 6th to 8th. Like I said, they got an average squad with average results. I dont think you can ask Arteta to get top 4 with that squad. He'll need to overachieve with it, Im not saying Artera is a good coach, not even an average one all Im saying is Arsenal results are on par with the quality of their squad.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

I dont think you can ask Arteta to get top 4 with that squad.

Since the beginning of last season, Arsenal have been below the top 10 for 21 games, or 40% of the time. Last season, they were lower than 8th from matchday 5 to matchday 37. This isn't "not getting top 4", this is barely making it to 8th.

 

[SAFMUTD]

Since the beginning of last season, Arsenal have been below the top 10 for 21 games, or 40% of the time. Last season, they were lower than 8th from matchday 5 to matchday 37. This isn't "not getting top 4", this is barely making it to 8th.

Yep he's failing, but where do you think the average manager would have Arsenal placed? What do you think it's a fair requirement?

 

[giorno]

Yep he's failing, but where do you think the average manager would have Arsenal placed? What do you think it's a fair requirement?

Average manager? 6th to 8th. But it's arsenal. Their manager should not be average

 

[SAFMUTD]

Average manager? 6th to 8th. But it's arsenal. Their manager should not be average

Totally agree, but it is what it is. Arsenal have an average squad with an average manager.

 

[Iker Quesadillas]

A fair requirement is to compete for European places.

 

[maniak]

I don't understand the leeway the fans give him.

We're all kinda half-dead on the inside. If they appointed gunnersaurus tomorrow you'd have fans saying why not let's give it a go.

 

[Samid]

Was a big relief seeing him get the win yesterday. Fan unrest was getting a bit too much after the Everton game so he needed a result that will buy him another couple of months.

 

[GoonerBear]

Was a big relief seeing him get the win yesterday. Fan unrest was getting a bit too much after the Everton game so he needed a result that will buy him another couple of months.

Get another result on Wednesday & rather weirdly we'll go above the much praised West Ham.

 

[FootballHQ]

Interesting who they target as new CF. No way will Lacazette and Aubameyang be there next season (will probably try to move at least one out in Jan) and Nkeiteh isn't good enough at all so will be a fair bit of reconstruction in that part.

I actually like other areas of their team even if it's not top 4 standard as Saka and Smith Rowe are very good young players and Odegaard hitting some good form so plenty of good potential to work with.

 

[awop]

Interesting who they target as new CF. No way will Lacazette and Aubameyang be there next season (will probably try to move at least one out in Jan) and Nkeiteh isn't good enough at all so will be a fair bit of reconstruction in that part.

I actually like other areas of their team even if it's not top 4 standard as Saka and Smith Rowe are very good young players and Odegaard hitting some good form so plenty of good potential to work with.

Vlahovic (unlikely due to the price and early signs that he doesn't want to join us at all )
DCL: massive meh especially for the inflated price we'd have to pay Everton.
Isak: possible, doubts he can be a right fit in the PL though.
David (Lille): strong "one season wonder" vibes from him. And he's not exactly having an insane season either. Similar frame to Lacazette is not ideal if we keep making so many crosses in the box.
Watkins: would be an okay complementary signing to whoever the main man is but Villa will also ask for a big fee. Probably one that could happen in a year or two.

That's not a great list to choose from... There will probably be one or two names that nobody is talking about for now (Richarlisson, En Nesyri...)
We have 5 months to find 400M€ and get CL football so we can reunite Odegaard and Haaland.

 

[crossy1686]

Vlahovic (unlikely due to the price and early signs that he doesn't want to join us at all )
DCL: massive meh especially for the inflated price we'd have to pay Everton.
Isak: possible, doubts he can be a right fit in the PL though.
David (Lille): strong "one season wonder" vibes from him. And he's not exactly having an insane season either. Similar frame to Lacazette is not ideal if we keep making so many crosses in the box.
Watkins: would be an okay complementary signing to whoever the main man is but Villa will also ask for a big fee. Probably one that could happen in a year or two.

That's not a great list to choose from... There will probably be one or two names that nobody is talking about for now (Richarlisson, En Nesyri...)
We have 5 months to find 400M€ and get CL football so we can reunite Odegaard and Haaland.

For a club that once took a punt on players like Henry, Pries, Ljundberg and Bergkamp, you've dismissed a couple of very good players there who have proven they can do it in a good league. It doesn't matter who you sign if you haven't got the right structure upstairs, United have shown that over the last 8 years.

 

[awop]

For a club that once took a punt on players like Henry, Pries, Ljundberg and Bergkamp, you've dismissed a couple of very good players there who have proven they can do it in a good league. It doesn't matter who you sign if you haven't got the right structure upstairs, United have shown that over the last 8 years.

Different times and the PL itself is a different league. There is no chance we get anyone bar David on this list under 50/60M so we're far away from a punt. Especially on the striker role that brings its own sort of pressure. Would you take any of them to lead the line for a club aspiring to top 4 ? I'm not discounting them completely, i just have my doubts. This summer window was very scary and turned out ok in the end so i trust them to find the right player.

 

[crossy1686]

Different times and the PL itself is a different league. There is no chance we get anyone bar David on this list under 50/60M so we're far away from a punt. Especially on the striker role that brings its own sort of pressure. Would you take any of them to lead the line for a club aspiring to top 4 ? I'm not discounting them completely, i just have my doubts. This summer window was very scary and turned out ok in the end so i trust them to find the right player.

Isak is the only one I would consider as I've followed him since he played for AIK and has been in the Swedish national team, but United are shopping in a different market from Arsenal. We're still able to slap £80 - £100m on the table for players like Sancho, Pogba, Lukaku etc who you would consider to be 'proven' more than the likes of a £50m Isak, which is the only thing that has kept United relevant in the last 8 years (along with some minor trophy wins). Arsenal unfortunately aren't that relevant anymore and can't guarantee anything other than 'maybe' some form of European football or a minor trophy if the wind blows the right way.

 

[Zoo]

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[tentan]

Did the right thing. Time for him to get rid of some players as well.

 

[Maluco]

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You can absolutely guarantee that if Arteta had done nothing, this guy would have tweeted about how Auba was a failure as captain and disrespecting a great club.

He is a a complete waste of time and makes a living being contrarian. Tiresome.

 

[Bebestation]

If that's true that it's about seeing his sick mother then that's quite rough and unnecessary what Arteta has done.

 

[Mastadon]

Big name player at Arsenal signs a massive final contract and his form drops off a cliff the next day. What a surprise. Arteta is going to handle this as poorly as he did with Ozil.

 

[Samid]

Easily the most classless manager in the league.

 

[SalfordRed18]

Easily the most classless manager in the league.

Did he celebrate a banter goal again?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

The frantic Arteta dick sucking from every tv pundit and commentator has to be the weirdest thing in this season’s PL.

 

[Samid]

Did he celebrate a banter goal again?

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[SalfordRed18]

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That's actually embarrassing.

 

[Amadaeus]

I don’t understand the criticism of Arteta on this forum. As stated before, he is an good manager and what he is doing at Arsenal is installing the right philosophy to get them back to where they should. I see who are criticizing him though and then I don’t become too surprised. Their next major transfer window will be important for them if they want to challenge for top four consistently. Getting rid of Auba and getting someone like Vlasic or Lewin will be a good step forward for them

 

[Djemba-Djemba]

I don’t understand the criticism of Arteta on this forum. As stated before, he is an good manager and what he is doing at Arsenal is installing the right philosophy to get them back to where they should.

He's finished 8th two years running for feck sake.

They're currently top 4 but their away form is atrocious.

 

[M Bison]

Class finish for their first goal, in danger of looking a decent side imo.