Mikel Arteta | Lego Pep watch

[GoonerInPeace]

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.

No back up player is better than the starting player. Do Tottenham have a number 9 to replace Kane?

I think we should be aiming much higher than 4th or 3rd. We should be looking to push City for as long as we can, and as hard as we can. I am not prepared to surrender to Man City and I am convinced Arteta isn't willing either. Arteta wants to win.

Perhaps it is too early in our cycle to compete/beat City over 38 games. But 8 wins from 9 game is title challenging form and unless results sour then it is defeatism to surrender to Man City even though we are presently above them in the league and coming off successive wins against Tottenham and Liverpool.

'I would take 4th place now' is the exact mentality Arteta needs to kick out of this club.

I would not take 4th place if it was offered right now. Neither would Super Mik

 

[awop]

No back up player is better than the starting player. Do Tottenham have a number 9 to replace Kane?

I think we should be aiming much higher than 4th or 3rd. We should be looking to push City for as long as we can, and as hard as we can. I am not prepared to surrender to Man City and I am convinced Arteta isn't willing either. Arteta wants to win.

Perhaps it is too early in our cycle to compete/beat City over 38 games. But 8 wins from 9 game is title challenging form and unless results sour then it is defeatism to surrender to Man City even though we are presently above them in the league and coming off successive wins against Tottenham and Liverpool.

'I would take 4th place now' is the exact mentality Arteta needs to kick out of this club.

I would not take 4th place if it was offered right now. Neither would Super Mik

I applaud your optimism but i think you're in too deep with not even a quarter of the season played. Let's revisit this in January/February when our leagues games will be inbetween games against those 3rd CL teams, not Bodo Glimt.
Liverpool winning on Sunday would be a good start but i'm not getting my hopes up.

 

[tinfish]

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.

Excellent post. Rival fans just refuse to see it.

 

[ThierryFabregas]

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.

This is all ignoring context. In the 5th place finish with 70 points we were very reliant on Ramsey and when he didn't play our point average dropped significantly. We also had Ozil, Kosceilny and Monreal playing important roles. These players either left or became past moving into the next season. We also bad eggs in Guenduzzi and Torreira who had decent seasons but seemingly weren't onboard with the project.

Then you have the problem that following Arteta's first 6 months and FA Cup success our key striker starts putting in half arsed efforts continously.

 

[GoonerBear]

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.

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.

I'm not saying rival fans were wrong to look at results and draw their conclusions. Of course thats what they are going to do. However, the best judge of how the club is doing is their own support, which takes into account many things including results, performances, connection with the players, connection with the management, connection with the board and owners, atmosphere in the ground etc. In nearly every aspect of this Arsenal were getting towards lows not seen in years, decades perhaps.

Season tickets were still being sold as people didn't want to give them up, but there started to be more and more empty seats as fans simply couldn't be bothered turning up half the time. The fact the seats were sold but punters still didn't want to turn up told you everything you needed to know.

Now I totally agree it's not been a linear improvement on the pitch. There was initial highs of FA Cup wins, and there were real lows like the start of the 20/21 season, where every Arsenal fan admits he could easily have been sacked. However, he turned it around that Xmas and since then I think most fans started to wake up to what he was trying to do, could start to see an identity, and could start to feel a connection with the team. The positivity on the park and from the stands started to feed each other.

Even then it's not been perfect, it's not been plain sailing, but it was never going to be. At times it's been 2 steps forward, 1 back, and yeah, it's required patience from the fanbase and owners, but hopefully that patience is paying off now. Who knows, with Man City and the rest of the competition in the league it might not lead to any rewards in terms of pots of gold, but at the very least hes helped make the fans actually enjoy their football again however temporary it might be, and at the end of the day, with limited trophies available, thats the main thing.

 

[GoonerBear]

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

Strange one

I never thought Luiz was first choice. We didn't look like moving for him all summer, and only moved after the injury to Elneny, it seemed more like an opportune move thinking with Luiz contract status they could get him for a decent fee.

I think long term they are looking at another target. Danilo is a name we've been linked to and you can sort of see the thinking behind that, definitely in terms of making a move in January as the Brazilian season ends soon. In terms of squad planning, getting in a highly rated young midfielder to learn from and compete with Partey makes sense with our strategy. Whether thats Danilo or someone else remains to be seen, perhaps if we get back in Champions League that adjusts targets again.

 

[Dominos]

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.

The issue is, you could spread this narrative about intangibles for any manager. Remember Ole's "cultural reboot" narrative where he only wanted players who wanted to play for the club, and he had brought some positive vibes back from the dark gloomy days of Mourinho. He was making progress until he wasn't.

If ETH finishes 6th on 62 points and rival fans have a chuckle at us, you won't hear me telling them "this is fantastic progression and it's proof ETH is building something great and this improvement we've shown is all the evidence I need that he's bringing back the glory days in future seasons". Because we don't know that, we're just hoping that's the case. A more sensible approach would be "it's not much progress but give him a 2nd season to make some serious improvement because he joined as a highly rated manager and it's early days". At the very least we have ETH's previous managerial record to fall back on which we didn't with Arteta.

 

[GoonerBear]

The issue is, you could spread this narrative about intangibles for any manager. Remember Ole's "cultural reboot" narrative where he only wanted players who wanted to play for the club, and he had brought some positive vibes back from the dark gloomy days of Mourinho. He was making progress until he wasn't.

If ETH finishes 6th on 62 points and rival fans have a chuckle at us, you won't hear me telling them "this is fantastic progression and it's proof ETH is building something great and this improvement we've shown is all the evidence I need that he's bringing back the glory days in future seasons". Because we don't know that, we're just hoping that's the case. A more sensible approach would be "it's not much progress but give him a 2nd season to make some serious improvement because he joined as a highly rated manager and it's early days". At the very least we have ETH's previous managerial record to fall back on which we didn't with Arteta.

But thats all Arsenal fans were saying about Arteta. He'd made progress, he needs to make more progress. I think every summer the same was said, including this summer. And like with Ole, it's hard to have a go at a manager when that's happening.
When the progress stops, that's another issue, but the same can be said of every manager.

 

[Powderfinger]

The issue is, you could spread this narrative about intangibles for any manager. Remember Ole's "cultural reboot" narrative where he only wanted players who wanted to play for the club, and he had brought some positive vibes back from the dark gloomy days of Mourinho. He was making progress until he wasn't.

That’s true but sometimes you just have to use your brain and make a judgment about which aspects of a narrative are legitimate and which are false. In Ole’s case, I think the positive vibes stuff was legitimate but it also was clear as day that he was completely out of his depth tactically and in terms of knowing what kinds of players to recruit and that the positive vibes were partly due to simply coddling the squad. Arteta has been the opposite on all these dimensions. People who were really watching the club could see that he had very impressive tactical ideas and was trying to get them across, he was recruiting players with the technical and physical qualities to play those tactics, and he was getting rid of players who thought they were bigger than the club or who weren’t serious professionals. All these factors were reasons to back him even as results weren’t as good as hoped.

 

[ThierryHenry14]

A good read for Arteta's tactic this season

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/t...league-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics

 

[ayushreddevil9]

He is doing an amazing job this season.

 

[AshRK]

That’s true but sometimes you just have to use your brain and make a judgment about which aspects of a narrative are legitimate and which are false. In Ole’s case, I think the positive vibes stuff was legitimate but it also was clear as day that he was completely out of his depth tactically and in terms of knowing what kinds of players to recruit and that the positive vibes were partly due to simply coddling the squad. Arteta has been the opposite on all these dimensions. People who were really watching the club could see that he had very impressive tactical ideas and was trying to get them across, he was recruiting players with the technical and physical qualities to play those tactics, and he was getting rid of players who thought they were bigger than the club or who weren’t serious professionals. All these factors were reasons to back him even as results weren’t as good as hoped.

It's all fine and good to come and say that now when on top that it was always meant to happen. Truth is Arteta is very fortunate to have survived the job and fair fecking play to the board and even the manager for turning it around (if they have). But let us not change the narrative that he was always doing a good job. Any other top club would have sacked him 3 or 4 times.

 

[GoonerBear]

It's all fine and good to come and say that now when on top that it was always meant to happen. Truth is Arteta is very fortunate to have survived the job and fair fecking play to the board and even the manager for turning it around (if they have). But let us not change the narrative that he was always doing a good job. Any other top club would have sacked him 3 or 4 times.

But has that not been the point of the recent discussion, why people were backing him when we weren't necessarily getting the results or on top?

 

[GoonerGirly]

But has that not been the point of the recent discussion, why people were backing him when we weren't necessarily getting the results or on top?

Exactly. What's clear to me now is that Arteta and the board have always had a plan and are trying to build something. The fact we have such a young squad is testament to that. Didn't they extend his contract last season after we'd lost 3 in a row? At other clubs that would be sack time. I admit I felt like he should be sacked after he bottled top 4 with 3 games in hand.

 

[TwoSheds]

With the way Arsenal are favoured by referees and the FA, I'm starting to believe they could do it. City need to be better if they want to win.

 

[Daydreamer]

It's all fine and good to come and say that now when on top that it was always meant to happen. Truth is Arteta is very fortunate to have survived the job and fair fecking play to the board and even the manager for turning it around (if they have). But let us not change the narrative that he was always doing a good job. Any other top club would have sacked him 3 or 4 times.

This thread is the thick end of 300 pages. It is the polar opposite of suddenly saying it was always meant to happen once Arsenal are on top. It’s a discussion over whether Arteta has been building towards something or not.

 

[Donaldo]

This thread is the thick end of 300 pages. It is the polar opposite of suddenly saying it was always meant to happen once Arsenal are on top. It’s a discussion over whether Arteta has been building towards something or not.

Comprehension isn't his strong suit, you're expecting too much.

 

[GoonerInPeace]

With the way Arsenal are favoured by referees and the FA, I'm starting to believe they could do it. City need to be better if they want to win.

What favour? Bamford was into Gabriels back with more force than Odegaard was into Erikson.

It was also not a red card because there was literally no contact when Gabriel 'kicked' Bamford. Quite like Patrick Vieria's kick on RVN that missed by 5 foot.

 

[The Corinthian]

With the way Arsenal are favoured by referees and the FA, I'm starting to believe they could do it. City need to be better if they want to win.

That’s two weeks in a row they’ve had some crazy decisions go their way. One would hope their luck would run out but who can tell with the misapplication of VAR and substandard refereeing.

 

[WeePat]

Look, fair is fair. We had a lot of fun bantering Arteta when things were going terribly for him, it's only fair to credit him when his team is producing great football and showing signs of the elusive consistency we're all looking for. It's been an amazing start to the season for Arsenal, and it can no longer just be dismissed as a favourable early schedule.

I hope everyone's right and they start tumbling down the table, but they've shown no signs of that happening any time soon. Every week I tune into their game hoping this is the week the wheels come off and they always churn out a win, even when they don't play particularly well.

Very annoying but you have to respect the form they're showing.

 

[TwoSheds]

What favour? Bamford was into Gabriels back with more force than Odegaard was into Erikson.

It was also not a red card because there was literally no contact when Gabriel 'kicked' Bamford. Quite like Patrick Vieria's kick on RVN that missed by 5 foot.

Every week. And no scrutiny from the media.

 

[Nish115]

That’s two weeks in a row they’ve had some crazy decisions go their way. One would hope their luck would run out but who can tell with the misapplication of VAR and substandard refereeing.

What was wrong with the Leeds game? Do tell.

 

[The Corinthian]

What was wrong with the Leeds game? Do tell.

Bamford disallowed goal.

Gabriel red card for kicking Bamford and a penalty should have stood too.

Just awful inconsistent refereeing.

 

[Powderfinger]

Bamford disallowed goal.

Gabriel red card for kicking Bamford and a penalty should have stood too.

Just awful inconsistent refereeing.

The VAR replay clearly showed that Gabriel's foot didn't make contact with Bamford at all, that Bamford simulated that contact in an Oscar-worthy performance, and that all this occurred after Bamford blatantly fouled Gabriel by shoving him in the back without any attempt to get the ball. You really think a red card and penalty on Gabriel was the right decision for that sequence of events?

 

[The Corinthian]

The VAR replay clearly showed that Gabriel's foot didn't make contact with Bamford at all, that Bamford simulated that contact in an Oscar-worthy performance, and that all this occurred after Bamford blatantly fouled Gabriel by shoving him in the back without any attempt to get the ball. You really think a red card and penalty on Gabriel was the right decision for that sequence of events?

What about the Bamford disallowed goal?

I don't think it was a foul on Gabriel - Gabriel went over as soon as he felt Bamford on his back. He then tried kicking out on Bamford, the contact may not have been substantial, but the intent is clear as day and he did make actual contact. It's a red card and penalty all day long and another example of VAR's inconsistencies.

 

[AshRK]

This thread is the thick end of 300 pages. It is the polar opposite of suddenly saying it was always meant to happen once Arsenal are on top. It’s a discussion over whether Arteta has been building towards something or not.

Again, it's all hypothetical right now to say Arteta was in fact building towards something. He had major doubters from arsenal fans themselves, to the point had he been sacked , no one would have raised eyebrows. Everything is clicking this season so fair enough and I did acknowledge that in my post but one cannot sit here pretend he was doing a good job based on the results delivered in the last 2 and a half season.

 

[Lincm]

What about the Bamford disallowed goal?

I don't think it was a foul on Gabriel - Gabriel went over as soon as he felt Bamford on his back. He then tried kicking out on Bamford, the contact may not have been substantial, but the intent is clear as day and he did make actual contact. It's a red card and penalty all day long and another example of VAR's inconsistencies.

It's a red card all day. It is not a penalty. Because they would consider the foul by bamford first.

 

[Powderfinger]

What about the Bamford disallowed goal?

I don't think it was a foul on Gabriel - Gabriel went over as soon as he felt Bamford on his back. He then tried kicking out on Bamford, the contact may not have been substantial, but the intent is clear as day and he did make actual contact. It's a red card and penalty all day long and another example of VAR's inconsistencies.

You don't think that was a foul on Bamford when he intentionally runs into/shoves Gabriel without any attempt to go for the ball? Once its a foul it can't be a penalty. And its not clear at all that Gabriel's foot made contact with Bamford. If it did, it was incredibly minor.

When you find yourself arguing that incredibly dubious reds should be given out just because you don't want that team to win and you want players like Bamford to be rewarded for faking injuries and trying to get opponents sent off, you've lost the plot.

 

[The Corinthian]

You don't think that was a foul on Bamford when he intentionally runs into/shoves Gabriel without any attempt to go for the ball? Once its a foul it can't be a penalty. And its not clear at all that Gabriel's foot made contact with Bamford. If it did, it was incredibly minor.

When you find yourself arguing that incredibly dubious reds should be given out just because you don't want that team to win and you want players like Bamford to be rewarded for faking injuries and trying to get opponents sent off, you've lost the plot.

What about the Bamford disallowed goal?

And again - I don't think it was a foul on Gabriel.

You can bleat all you want, but your team has been given extreme fortune in your last two games.

 

[ThierryHenry14]

but one cannot sit here pretend he was doing a good job based on the results delivered in the last 2 and a half season.

In the Amazon documentary it is already well documented that the board appreciated his good work since his appointment and his work was not judged only based on result in the field. Josh Kroenke spoke enough about this in the documentary already. This is called vision.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-kroenke-interview-news-arteta-25398945

"Arteta's job was never in danger
At one stage last season, Arsenal went seven Premier League games without a win, suffering home defeats to Wolves and Burnley.
The Gunners also embarrassingly lost their first three league fixtures of the current season to Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City.
Despite their occasional dips in form, Kroenke insists the board have never considered sacking Arteta. He said: "There were never any doubts on my part.
"There was always going to be a tough transition. And as long as we understood that and stayed together there was never any doubt in my mind."
"There were only words of encouragement going on behind the scenes... with the power of positivity, we’ve come through it and everyone is stronger for it."

 

[AshRK]

In the Amazon documentary it is already well documented that the board appreciated his good work since his appointment and his work was not judged only based on result in the field. Josh Kroenke spoke enough about this in the documentary already. This is called vision.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-kroenke-interview-news-arteta-25398945

"Arteta's job was never in danger
At one stage last season, Arsenal went seven Premier League games without a win, suffering home defeats to Wolves and Burnley.
The Gunners also embarrassingly lost their first three league fixtures of the current season to Brentford, Chelsea and Manchester City.
Despite their occasional dips in form, Kroenke insists the board have never considered sacking Arteta. He said: "There were never any doubts on my part.
"There was always going to be a tough transition. And as long as we understood that and stayed together there was never any doubt in my mind."
"There were only words of encouragement going on behind the scenes... with the power of positivity, we’ve come through it and everyone is stronger for it."

Yeah read my original post again, I already said fair fecking play to the board. But still doesn't mean Arteta was doing a great job result wise for 2 and a half season.

 

[ThierryHenry14]

Douglas Luiz just renewed his contract with Aston Villa. Now I am not sure who Edu will target as back up to Partey. Tielemans is still linked.

 

[Changeisgood]

It was never a penalty but the red card should have stood imo. Incredibly silly move by Gabriel and I would consider letting him sit the next game out just for that let alone his rather erratic performances.

Arteta still has things to learn. The one thing Leeds did so much better in the second half is press our players high up to the point even our the more calmer players like Tomi and Saliba could not handle it. Good thing Leeds was pretty inept in the final third but it took Arteta 20 minutes to figure out a new gameplan was needed along with changing some tired legs. Way too slow to make the necessary changes. We were lucky we were not behind at that point. Do that against Man City and you are behind.

 

[Chesterlestreet]

He's done better than I thought/predicted at one point. He's due that admission from me (I'm sure it means a great deal to him).

That said, he could easily be back in a proper Lego/clown/whatever category before this season ends.

In which case, I will deny ever having made the admission.

 

[BurgerVan]

What about the Bamford disallowed goal?

And again - I don't think it was a foul on Gabriel.

You can bleat all you want, but your team has been given extreme fortune in your last two games.

Fortunate last 2 games? Leeds I grant you.

Are you counting the League game with Liverpool where they barely got into our half in the second 45 or the Europa game on the fake pitch, where the home team were going for a record 15th straight European win? Good fortune comes and goes, and the facts are, the best team doesn't always win, as Leeds saw yesterday, and as we saw at Old Trafford last month where your opinion on Bamfords disallowed goal holds true for the minimal contact for the Martinelli goal.

With respect, were Utd fortunate to just about win away from home, coming from behind, and then score a 94th minute winner against the 7th best team in Cyprus? Maybe.

Despite what I read from the odd one or two on here, you can't fluke 12 wins from 13 games.

 

[BurgerVan]

Douglas Luiz just renewed his contract with Aston Villa. Now I am not sure who Edu will target as back up to Partey. Tielemans is still linked.

I don't understand why Luiz would do that, Villa is a sinking ship under the current management and he knows bigger clubs want him. Baffling.

 

[GoonerBear]

What about the Bamford disallowed goal?

And again - I don't think it was a foul on Gabriel.

You can bleat all you want, but your team has been given extreme fortune in your last two games.

There was also an offside in the build up to the incident for Saliba giving away the penalty, so we got unfairly punished there.

 

[Nish115]

What about the Bamford disallowed goal?

I don't think it was a foul on Gabriel - Gabriel went over as soon as he felt Bamford on his back. He then tried kicking out on Bamford, the contact may not have been substantial, but the intent is clear as day and he did make actual contact. It's a red card and penalty all day long and another example of VAR's inconsistencies.

It very obviously isn't a penalty and red card all day long when basically nobody thinks so apart from you. No pundit. No referee opinion. No forum really.

The Bamford one was soft, that was the only decision really that was tight. But equally, there was a player offside in the build up anyway.

 

[GoonerGirly]

I definitely understand rival fans' ongoing disbelief and unwillingness to believe that this is the new Arsenal. I can barely believe it myself - 10 games in and we are 4 points ahead of Man City. After the painful disappointment of missing top 4 last season, I never thought we'd start the season like this.

But I think to dismiss what we've been doing as an "easy start" or "lucky" is really inaccurate. You don't win 9 out of 10 games by fluke or accident in this league. And the Leeds game IMO really cemented this new-found resilience we have. Yes, we were fortunate with the penalty miss (which shouldn't have even been a penalty anyway), and on another day maybe Gabriel's red card and penalty would have stood. A game as frantic as that was always going to have controversy and Leeds pressed us so hard, a shame for them they couldn't finish the plethora of chances they had. But while we didn't play well and didn't get going in that 2nd half at all, I am proud (and perhaps a bit surprised) at our ability to get through the game with all 3 points. This was easily a game we would have lost/drawn in recent times, Leeds were that dominant in that 2nd half.

 

[danamann]

Nothing will ever convince me that Arteta is a good manager. After all the time and money spent and 3 years of underperforming, they finally look like they assembled a decent squad to finish top 4. But when the pressure is on he will fail as he has already shown plenty of times in his tenure.