Mikel Arteta | Lego Pep watch

[GoonerBear]

From watching Gabriel etc this season halland will bully them.


He defo their weakest link in defence at the moment

He's defo going through a bit of a shaky patch the last few games. Just needs to get back to basics and try and defend with a bit of intelligence.

Unfortunately, with how we set up in midfield, we are always going to concede chances. We are trying to play like Man City lite just now. We are relying on dominating possession and pressing high to limit the actual defending we need to do, but we aren't as good at it as Man City. I was watching carefully first half especially when Liverpool were dominating and we were struggling to play out, at times Partey was at the base of the midfield and he was surrounded by Liverpool players because the likes of Jota was playing off him but Things and Henderson were actually ahead of Xhaka and Odegaard so we lacked confidence in possession and Liverpool kept turning the ball over.

That was addressed at half time, we grew more confident in our game and our possession, and played a lot better 2nd half. That limited the defending we had to do but Liverpool still managed to catch us out for Frimino's goal. They have very good attackers so regardless of form they are capable of doing that to anyone.

 

[GoonerInPeace]

He'll take that offer without blinking an eye and he'll also take Saka, Odegaard and Martinelli with him.

No he wouldnt. Arteta would back himself at Arsenal before giving up a potential legacy at Arsenal.

he has a burning ambition to carve out his own name and reputation.

if he was so mentally soft that he would chase the easy gig at City, then he wouldn't be able to do what he is currently doing at Arsenal in changing the culture from top to bottom.

If City offered him the job as Pep's replacement City would get a very kind no thank you

 

[Donaldo]

He's quite simply benefited from his connections, getting first dibs on City's cast offs.

fecking David Dein.

 

[Cascarino]

He's quite simply benefited from his connections, getting first dibs on City's cast offs.

I still see them dropping off at the end of the season.

I think the main risk of dropping off will come down to injuries. There bench looks a lot healthier than it did when he first came in, but losing Jesus or Partey for any significant amount of time will be a real challenge for them. Despite Jesus' great start it's a testament to how important Partey is that I think he'd be the one they'd struggle more to do without.

 

[Nish115]

Think Saka and Partey are the two which would cause issues atm.

 

[TheGame]

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[WeePat]

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[eire-red]

Watching Arteta feels like you're watching an actor playing Pep. It really makes him unlikeable in my eyes, along with the kicking the ball away from opponents, OTT whinging on the sideline...

He's got them playing some real good stuff though in fairness, looking forward to when they meet City.

 

[Suedesi]

Liverpool have scored 20 goals this season - only we and City have scored more (Tottenham have also scored 20). For comparison, United has scored 13 (and you have both played a game less than us, City and Tottenham). Scoring is not Liverpool's problem, they have too much attacking talent not to create chances. It's their defence and midfield this season that has not been performing well.

I regret not waking up for this - seemed like a cracking game. I found it interesting that Arteta started Tomi at RB ahead of Tierney (Zinchenko is injured). Not sure if that was a tactical decision or just protecting Tierney who played mid-week? Perhaps a bit of both.
I came into it expecting to drop points because Liverpool's had our number for years now. Haven't watched the game yet but from what I hear we did well to control the game for the most part. What a great start to the week.

That 9-0 against Bournemouth has skewed numbers imo

 

[RVN1991]

Very impressed by him. He had his doubters but their shrewd signings and their style of play is definitely to be admired. Our lego Pep is better though.

 

[ThierryHenry14]

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Both parties have moved on. Wish him well in Chelsea. He was extremely great for us especially before his contract extension, and won us the FA Cup.

 

[Suedesi]

I felt they played well but at the same time got super lucky on key moments. Goal in the first minute, goal in the last minute of the first half - the majority of which Liverpool dominated.

Then second half Liverpool started well and tied it up - until that soft penalty took their wings away. At 3-2 it was all Arsenal. Overall, it wasn't as dominating a performance as the media paints it, and it could have easily been a draw.

They just have an element of jamieness about them

 

[djembatheking]

I felt they played well but at the same time got super lucky on key moments. Goal in the first minute, goal in the last minute of the first half - the majority of which Liverpool dominated.

Then second half Liverpool started well and tied it up - until that soft penalty took their wings away. At 3-2 it was all Arsenal. Overall, it wasn't as dominating a performance as the media paints it, and it could have easily been a draw.

They just have an element of jamieness about them

Carragher? Redknapp?

 

[Suedesi]

Carragher? Redknapp?

Eh?

 

[Powderfinger]

I felt they played well but at the same time got super lucky on key moments. Goal in the first minute, goal in the last minute of the first half - the majority of which Liverpool dominated.

Then second half Liverpool started well and tied it up - until that soft penalty took their wings away. At 3-2 it was all Arsenal. Overall, it wasn't as dominating a performance as the media paints it, and it could have easily been a draw.

They just have an element of jamieness about them

Liverpool were slightly the better side in the first half but Arsenal really dominated the second half. They had all the play immediately after the break, Liverpool equalized against the run of play, and then it was all Arsenal for 20+ minutes until the penalty. Liverpool had one shot (the equalizer) in the second half until the 97th minute.

It wasn't a dominating performance by any means but Arsenal were clearly the better side against a Liverpool that had turned a bit of a corner recently and competed very hard. Liverpool certainly aren't the same team as last year but neither was this Liverpool the same side that was stumbling in an injury laden funk through August and early September. It was a high level match both in terms of tempo and tactics.

 

[Suedesi]

Liverpool were slightly the better side in the first half but Arsenal really dominated the second half. They had all the play immediately after the break, Liverpool equalized against the run of play, and then it was all Arsenal for 20+ minutes until the penalty. Liverpool had one shot (the equalizer) in the second half until the 97th minute.

It wasn't a dominating performance by any means but Arsenal were clearly the better side against a Liverpool that had turned a bit of a corner recently and competed very hard. Liverpool certainly aren't the same team as last year but neither was this Liverpool the same side that was stumbling in an injury laden funk through August and early September. It was a high level match both in terms of tempo and tactics.

I don't think Liverpool have turned the corner. Granted I don't see ALL of their matches, but I've noticed the same patterns and mistakes in defense (Trent - sloppy, Van Dijk - seems like a different player from the dominant CB of past seasons), midfield has lost legs (Henderson, Thiago) and then a lacklustre Salah who's being going on through a long post CAF final loss blues. Also the injury to Diaz didn't help. Darwin is a dud. Not the same intensity, very sloppy overall - in the runup to the penalty, LFC had 5 chances to clear the ball and they couldn't do it, they are so panicky, clumsy and unsure at the back, it's beyond funny

Anyways, good win, I think Arsenal are def on the up, here's hoping the wheels fall off soon :-)

 

[Powderfinger]

I don't think Liverpool have turned the corner. Granted I don't see ALL of their matches, but I've noticed the same patterns and mistakes in defense (Trent - sloppy, Van Dijk - seems like a different player from the dominant CB of past seasons), midfield has lost legs (Henderson, Thiago) and then a lacklustre Salah who's being going on through a long post CAF final loss blues. Also the injury to Diaz didn't help. Darwin is a dud. Not the same intensity, very sloppy overall - in the runup to the penalty, LFC had 5 chances to clear the ball and they couldn't do it, they are so panicky, clumsy and unsure at the back, it's beyond funny

Anyways, good win, I think Arsenal are def on the up, here's hoping the wheels fall off soon :-)

Fair enough, "turn a corner" might have been too strong. Let's hope they haven't (and won't) at least!

 

[Cascarino]

With all the bullying fans give Maguire - it’s quite crazy how many things fans get wrong as well.

Arteta was ridiculed here for ages and is now proving a lot of us wrong.

A lot of the posters haven't got an excuse either, I've spent the last couple years of in this thread (and any other football thread) teaching people, but like an unruly teenager some refuse to learn, or sit up straight.

I've posted positively about ETH this season as well, so United fans should feel very reassured

 

[R'hllor]

This thread is a gold mine

 

[Dominos]

With all the bullying fans give Maguire - it’s quite crazy how many things fans get wrong as well.

Arteta was ridiculed here for ages and is now proving a lot of us wrong.

The issue is, when you serve up 2 and a half years of shit, are people not going to comment on it?

People aren't going to caveat every post they make with "having said that there's a possibility he'll get Arsenal playing well in his 4th season". They're going to comment on what is happening at the time and not pretend they can see into a crystal ball whereby he eventually finally gets a top 4 finish and that negates everything that's happening in the present. The issue with Arteta is he had no previous track record for fans to point to to suggest he's a good manager, it was pure hope.

 

[Cascarino]

The issue is, when you serve up 2 and a half years of shit, are people not going to comment on it?

People aren't going to caveat every post they make with "having said that there's a possibility he'll get Arsenal playing well in his 4th season". They're going to comment on what is happening at the time and not pretend they can see into a crystal ball whereby he eventually finally gets a top 4 finish and that negates everything that's happening in the present. The issue with Arteta is he had no previous track record for fans to point to to suggest he's a good manager, it was pure hope.

That's not true. My post above was tongue and cheek, but I made a lot of really good arguments over the past few years in this thread as to why a lot of the people on here were wrong about him. I don't blame anyone for not agreeing with me at the time, but my position wasn't a random hopeful one, but rather thoughtful analysis from a world class footie poster at the peak of his powers, outperforming his xg

Admittedly a lot of the early negative stuff in the thread was more banter against a rival manager.

 

[ThierryFabregas]

The issue is, when you serve up 2 and a half years of shit, are people not going to comment on it?

People aren't going to caveat every post they make with "having said that there's a possibility he'll get Arsenal playing well in his 4th season". They're going to comment on what is happening at the time and not pretend they can see into a crystal ball whereby he eventually finally gets a top 4 finish and that negates everything that's happening in the present. The issue with Arteta is he had no previous track record for fans to point to to suggest he's a good manager, it was pure hope.

That's not really true. There were signs he was improving Arsenal. We were in a terrible state when he took over. He got us defensively more organised and won us an FA Cup in his first 6 months. Start to the second season was very poor, but he improved significantly in the second half of the season. An improvement of 5 points over the prior season. Last season showed an improvement in style of play for periods of games although we parked the bus after going a goal up. This wasn't by manager direction though because you could see him urging players to transition up the pitch. We fought really hard as a team to get 8 more points and 3 positions higher.

I was all for sacking him in Season 2. But after realising our second half of the season was improved I changed my mind. Season 3 I became onboard the train much more because you could see he was building a system and team ethic. But I certainly didn't expect to be playing this well and getting this many points. It's a very pleasant surprise.

There's several lessons I'm taking from this. The first one is you need to admit failing players with bad attitudes aren't the solution to your problems and your in a lowly league position largely because of this. The second is manager power should always veto player power. Arteta has been backed to get rid of personalities he doesn't rate and players he doesn't rate. I didn't really like Auba, Guen and Pepe being shifted but they had to go for squad cohesion. If you look historically, both Guardiola and SAF have been similarly backed. Getting rid of Ronaldinho, Deco, Beckham, Paul Ince would be unthinkable at many clubs. But the clubs backed the manager. Everyone who's left buys into the team ethos. This means they will run out of their skin for their manager, both pressing relentlessly and fighting every duel to do everything they can to win it. Every player knows if you don't buy in, you don't play and you might get shifted.

 

[Rooney in Paris]

The revisionism was inevitable I guess with a good phase of results, but the arrogance it's coming with is quite funny.

 

[GoonerBear]

The issue is, when you serve up 2 and a half years of shit, are people not going to comment on it?

People aren't going to caveat every post they make with "having said that there's a possibility he'll get Arsenal playing well in his 4th season". They're going to comment on what is happening at the time and not pretend they can see into a crystal ball whereby he eventually finally gets a top 4 finish and that negates everything that's happening in the present. The issue with Arteta is he had no previous track record for fans to point to to suggest he's a good manager, it was pure hope.

It wasn't 2 and a half years of shit though, that's the thing. If you look at things in black and white, you might think that, but there's a reason why the majority of Arsenal fans were willing to back him, there's a reason why the crowd were enthused at the stadium again, why even folk like Rio was going to the training ground and got a sense that everyone at the club was aligned and pulling in the same direction. Even the documentary that many were expecting to be an absolute car crash despite having a few cringe moments has left Arteta coming out positively in it.

 

[Nish115]

The issue is, when you serve up 2 and a half years of shit, are people not going to comment on it?

People aren't going to caveat every post they make with "having said that there's a possibility he'll get Arsenal playing well in his 4th season". They're going to comment on what is happening at the time and not pretend they can see into a crystal ball whereby he eventually finally gets a top 4 finish and that negates everything that's happening in the present. The issue with Arteta is he had no previous track record for fans to point to to suggest he's a good manager, it was pure hope.

As per posts above, this is a load of rubbish really.

He had a very had 3 month spell, beyond that he had constant progression.

 

[GoonerInPeace]

I felt they played well but at the same time got super lucky on key moments. Goal in the first minute, goal in the last minute of the first half - the majority of which Liverpool dominated.

Then second half Liverpool started well and tied it up - until that soft penalty took their wings away. At 3-2 it was all Arsenal. Overall, it wasn't as dominating a performance as the media paints it, and it could have easily been a draw.

They just have an element of jamieness about them

Scoring in the first minute and last minute of a half isn't luck. You can score your goals anytime.

As for the penalty. Ive been them both given and waved away. But the fact is when you are on the attack and getting the ball into the opposition box you can draw these type of half fouls and potentially get the benefit of any doubt, which is what happened. Infact our players had 46 touches in Liverpools box which ranks second to Man City getting 48 in 2019, this is for the entire Klopp era.

These are important statistics as it highlights how we want to play. Touches in the opposition box, touches in the final third. This is all indicative if a high press high pressure style of football we are trying to play, and it has to be said, we are executing it more often that we are getting it wrong.

We got it wrong at Old Trafford though. Badly. When Saka scored, I thought we were growing into the case, but we didnt manage the ball well enough chasing the second and the positioning of Saliba and Gabriel wasn't right.

I think Arteta is a genuine manager, not just a player turned manager like Ole, Frankie and Stevie.

 

[Edwards6]

The revisionism was inevitable I guess with a good phase of results, but the arrogance it's coming with is quite funny.

Agree with this, people are talking like he's won the league and made his doubters look like a fool. This time last year Chelsea were top and the year before it was Spurs, they came nowhere near winning it

 

[Edwards6]

As per posts above, this is a load of rubbish really.

He had a very had 3 month spell, beyond that he had constant progression.

Easy to progress from the 8th position he took them down to given the money he spent

 

[ThierryFabregas]

Easy to progress from the 8th position he took them down to given the money he spent

He didn't take us down to 8th, we were 12th when he took over

 

[Cascarino]

The revisionism was inevitable I guess with a good phase of results, but the arrogance it's coming with is quite funny.

No revisionism, I've been pretty consistent with my stance in this thread, and I've consistently outlined the reasons for my stance. You might say it's due to my crush (partly true), but I've got a very good track record on here when it comes to assessing managers.
Arrogant? Maybe, Warranted? Absolutely

 

[Wengerista]

No he wouldnt. Arteta would back himself at Arsenal before giving up a potential legacy at Arsenal.

he has a burning ambition to carve out his own name and reputation.

if he was so mentally soft that he would chase the easy gig at City, then he wouldn't be able to do what he is currently doing at Arsenal in changing the culture from top to bottom.

If City offered him the job as Pep's replacement City would get a very kind no thank you

I think people forget that Arteta doesn't actually have a connection with City, he has a connection with Pep, who'd necessarily be gone in this scenario, and with a handful of City players from his time there, some of whom have left and the rest aren't getting any younger. There are not a lot of sentimental factors drawing him back there, compared to his connection with Arsenal.

So what else can City offer that we can't? A somewhat higher transfer and salary budget are about the sum of it, but it's being shown that under full KSE ownership Arsenal are not going to be slouches in the transfer market either, and I highly doubt we'll be losing our best players for financial reasons, now several renewals are coming up we'll probably see that we aren't afraid to spend big on wages either so long as the circumstances are right and totally different to before - i.e. key players with years of their career ahead of them

 

[BurgerVan]

So what else can City offer that we can't?

They can offer more money and 100% guranteed success, so quite a lot.

That said, it's clear Saka loves Arsenal, and is invested in the project, and about to sign a 5 year deal from what I hear. So I don't think he is going anywhere in the near/mid future.

 

[ThierryHenry14]

I think people forget that Arteta doesn't actually have a connection with City, he has a connection with Pep, who'd necessarily be gone in this scenario, and with a handful of City players from his time there, some of whom have left and the rest aren't getting any younger. There are not a lot of sentimental factors drawing him back there, compared to his connection with Arsenal.

So what else can City offer that we can't? A somewhat higher transfer and salary budget are about the sum of it, but it's being shown that under full KSE ownership Arsenal are not going to be slouches in the transfer market either, and I highly doubt we'll be losing our best players for financial reasons, now several renewals are coming up we'll probably see that we aren't afraid to spend big on wages either so long as the circumstances are right and totally different to before - i.e. key players with years of their career ahead of them

A head coach/manager just like any player or employee out there, may want to work in different clubs, different countries for new challenges. I don't see any reason why Arteta will not do the same. Ancelotti is a very good example and he has an extremely successful coaching career in different clubs.

One of the biggest mistake Wenger made in my opinion is not moved to Real Madrid when Arsenal had no fund to improve the squad and had to sell our best player every season to balance the book.

 

[TheReligion]

Thought Luiz would be a shoe in January but just signed a new long term deal at Villa

Strange one

 

[Dominos]

That's not really true. There were signs he was improving Arsenal. We were in a terrible state when he took over. He got us defensively more organised and won us an FA Cup in his first 6 months. Start to the second season was very poor, but he improved significantly in the second half of the season. An improvement of 5 points over the prior season. Last season showed an improvement in style of play for periods of games although we parked the bus after going a goal up. This wasn't by manager direction though because you could see him urging players to transition up the pitch. We fought really hard as a team to get 8 more points and 3 positions higher.

I was all for sacking him in Season 2. But after realising our second half of the season was improved I changed my mind. Season 3 I became onboard the train much more because you could see he was building a system and team ethic. But I certainly didn't expect to be playing this well and getting this many points. It's a very pleasant surprise.

It wasn't 2 and a half years of shit though, that's the thing. If you look at things in black and white, you might think that, but there's a reason why the majority of Arsenal fans were willing to back him, there's a reason why the crowd were enthused at the stadium again, why even folk like Rio was going to the training ground and got a sense that everyone at the club was aligned and pulling in the same direction. Even the documentary that many were expecting to be an absolute car crash despite having a few cringe moments has left Arteta coming out positively in it.

As per posts above, this is a load of rubbish really.

He had a very had 3 month spell, beyond that he had constant progression.

Arsenal had finished 5th with 70 points the season before Arteta took over. Emery got off to a bad to the next season and left them 4 points behind 5th, and 7 points behind 4th in December when Arteta took over. When Arteta took over the points gap between themselves and 4th/5th increased. Now I'd give him a pass for this part-season, but revisiting this season is important for context. It's bordering on impossible not to improve them in subsequent seasons from this position, which was 8th place with 56 points. They had gone from the 5th best side and underperformed hugely on their way to a midtable finish, no one would expect them to remain midtable

Arteta's 1st full season he managed to improve them by 5 points, and finish 8th again, I find it absurd that this is somehow a clear sign of a great manager building something great. All we knew at the time was Arsenal had a laughably shit season under a manager who had no proven record as a manager prior. Getting excited for this "improvement" would be like United fans getting excited if ETH gets us a 5 points improvement on last season's calamity of a season. It's a rival forum and Arsenal had just had consecutive 8th placed finishes, you'll have to forgive the Caf for not heaping praise on Arteta for such monumental progression.

From there Arteta spent £150m in the summer for a further 8 point increase on his way to a 5th placed finish on 69 points. So, after 2 and a half years he managed to finish on less points than Emery managed in his only full season, and still has no top 4 finish to show for it. Maybe what they lack in substance they made up for in style with great attacking play? Nope, 5th highest xG in the league and a tendency to park the bus whenever they go a goal up.

It was all progression from a very low starting point. If a person's view was "listen, it's all a bit shit to watch but we're slowly improving and I'm willing to continue the slow progression for as long as it lasts, if we ever stop progressing then we'll have to pull the plug", fair enough. But let's not pretend there's anything weird about rival fans having a chuckle at a manager finishing 8th twice.

 

[Powderfinger]

Arsenal had finished 5th with 70 points the season before Arteta took over. Emery got off to a bad to the next season and left them 4 points behind 5th, and 7 points behind 4th in December when Arteta took over. When Arteta took over the points gap between themselves and 4th/5th increased. Now I'd give him a pass for this part-season, but revisiting this season is important for context. It's bordering on impossible not to improve them in subsequent seasons from this position, which was 8th place with 56 points. They had gone from the 5th best side and underperformed hugely on their way to a midtable finish, no one would expect them to remain midtable

Arteta's 1st full season he managed to improve them by 5 points, and finish 8th again, I find it absurd that this is somehow a clear sign of a great manager building something great. All we knew at the time was Arsenal had a laughably shit season under a manager who had no proven record as a manager prior. Getting excited for this "improvement" would be like United fans getting excited if ETH gets us a 5 points improvement on last season's calamity of a season. It's a rival forum and Arsenal had just had consecutive 8th placed finishes, you'll have to forgive the Caf for not heaping praise on Arteta for such monumental progression.

From there Arteta spent £150m in the summer for a further 8 point increase on his way to a 5th placed finish on 69 points. So, after 2 and a half years he managed to finish on less points than Emery managed in his only full season, and still has no top 4 finish to show for it. Maybe what they lack in substance they made up for in style with great attacking play? Nope, 5th highest xG in the league and a tendency to park the bus whenever they go a goal up.

It was all progression from a very low starting point. If a person's view was "listen, it's all a bit shit to watch but we're slowly improving and I'm willing to continue the slow progression for as long as it lasts, if we ever stop progressing then we'll have to pull the plug", fair enough. But let's not pretend there's anything weird about rival fans having a chuckle at a manager finishing 8th twice.

When the club is thoroughly broken at every level - too much player power and terrible attitude within the side, untalented aging roster, corruption among the footballing directors, poisonous atmosphere in the stadium - then progression shouldn't be simply measured in where you finish and with how many points. You can measure it that way, of course, but you'd be missing the most important things happening at the club.

With the exception of the low point in fall 2020, when Arteta really was deservedly close to the sack, Arsenal supporters have been able to see a lot of progress in the attitude of the team, the development and integration of young players, the patterns of play on the field, and also the environment in the stadium. The results on the field were not as good as many people hoped. But the broader process of turning around the club looked good. Rival fans simply didn't want to see it because its more fun to just beat your rival with a simple stick ("Har har you finished 8th twice").

I think there's a good chance you'll see some version of this yourself with Ten Hag. You could very easily finish 6th again this year with a point total around 62-65, leaving some foolish people to say "He's hardly improved us at all. He's worse than Ole. If you don't get top four you get the sack, we need to keep up standards, etc etc." But you could have those results and still be making tremendous progress as a club if he is changing the culture within the squad, marginalizing the malcontents, teaching everybody to play a different style of football, and getting the supporters excited again.

 

[Vapor trail]

It wasn't 2 and a half years of shit though, that's the thing. If you look at things in black and white, you might think that, but there's a reason why the majority of Arsenal fans were willing to back him, there's a reason why the crowd were enthused at the stadium again, why even folk like Rio was going to the training ground and got a sense that everyone at the club was aligned and pulling in the same direction. Even the documentary that many were expecting to be an absolute car crash despite having a few cringe moments has left Arteta coming out positively in it.

I like Arteta unlike many on the forum but I think that first two years at Arsenal was nowhere near the narrative you have described. Incremental improvements in performances is correct but if Arteta had the same trajectory at any top four club not just in England but Europe he would have been sacked without hesitation of it even being considered a questionable decision.

Arteta has benefited from two things the which are a young squad where the expectations have been fairly minimal and a very transparent board member in Kronkes son who has had patience in the transition. This is a situation where Arteta owes Arsenal more so than the club owing him.

 

[croadyman]

Shame that Arsenal v City game is postponed this week due to PSV game moved, would have been interesting to see how they fared.

 

[GoonerInPeace]

Intangible and tangibles. The intangibles cannot be measured in numbers. The intangibles Arteta has improved is getting rid of player power and formatting a team culture with himself as the undisputed boss. Any player not putting in the effort required wouldnt be tolerated in the present Arsenal. Where as prior players dragging thier feet would

Recruitment has been sensational in the past two seasons. Tomiyasu, Ramsdale, Zinchenko, White, Odegaard, Jesus have been amazing signings. Tavares will likely be sold for a profit given he is going alright in Marseille, jury well still out on ASL. Getting rid of the high earing underperformers, PEA, Bellerin, Kolsinac, Torriera, Guendouzi , and Pepe is likely to be the last one. He has transformed the squad.

Develpoment of young players. Martinelli & Saka doing wonders, ESR and Nketiah more than capable players with a good future.

This has all been going on in the background even despite the consecutive 8th place finishes and last year's disappointment of losing 4th. Our current level of performance has been three years in the making and its not an accidental or 'purple patch'. Its an accurate representation of the quality of work Arteta as well as Edu has put into the squad.

I do not feel we will 'drop off'. I think our current level of football will remain throughout the season and teams will need to do well to get points from us. Because Arteta wont just accept players falling to a casual attitude. He was backed against PEA and this is the precedent, Arteta is the boss of Arsenal in more than just name.

He is showing all the signs of being a top quality manager.

 

[awop]

Intangible and tangibles. The intangibles cannot be measured in numbers. The intangibles Arteta has improved is getting rid of player power and formatting a team culture with himself as the undisputed boss. Any player not putting in the effort required wouldnt be tolerated in the present Arsenal. Where as prior players dragging thier feet would

Recruitment has been sensational in the past two seasons. Tomiyasu, Ramsdale, Zinchenko, White, Odegaard, Jesus have been amazing signings. Tavares will likely be sold for a profit given he is going alright in Marseille, jury well still out on ASL. Getting rid of the high earing underperformers, PEA, Bellerin, Kolsinac, Torriera, Guendouzi , and Pepe is likely to be the last one. He has transformed the squad.

Develpoment of young players. Martinelli & Saka doing wonders, ESR and Nketiah more than capable players with a good future.

This has all been going on in the background even despite the consecutive 8th place finishes and last year's disappointment of losing 4th. Our current level of performance has been three years in the making and its not an accidental or 'purple patch'. Its an accurate representation of the quality of work Arteta as well as Edu has put into the squad.

I do not feel we will 'drop off'. I think our current level of football will remain throughout the season and teams will need to do well to get points from us. Because Arteta wont just accept players falling to a casual attitude. He was backed against PEA and this is the precedent, Arteta is the boss of Arsenal in more than just name.

He is showing all the signs of being a top quality manager.

That is very unlikely. Any mid-term injury to Partey/Martinelli/Jesus and the level drops off immensely. All the good will and right attitude in the world doesn't replace what we'd miss.
Even without injuries they are bound to suffer a dip at some point and when it happens it hopefully turns into a few draws and not embarassing defeats to lower teams like the 2 previous seasons.
Third or fourth would be a very good season, i don't believe we'll be challenging (as in stay comfortably 2nd) City all the way.