Mikel Arteta | Lego Pep watch

Them not having a proper ST should be no excuse for any failings. Didn’t city win the league with Jesus starting? Or with a false 9. Their problem is having Havertz, the guys useless most of the time. They should play Jorginho next to Rice and have Odegaard as a 10 with saka, Martinelli and Jesus.
 
The problem is replacing Partey and Xhaka with Rice and Havertz. Rice is the best of the lot but Havertz is so much worse than any of them it makes the Rice upgrade redundant.

I think a fit Partey is their best midfielder personally, but him going full seasons largely uninjured is the exception not the norm.
 
I find Arteta likes to try and fix things that aren’t broken yet neglects to sort the real issues.

Zinchenko v Tierney - What was the point?
Raya v Ramsdale - What was the point?
Havertz? - What was the point?

Someone will come to tell me it’s because Zinchenko can invert and is better with the ball.. he can’t defend though and Tierney himself if a good footballer and a better defender.

Mega money on Havertz. Why bother?

Persisting with the injury prone, non prolific, Jesus as the lead 9? Another odd one, especially when spending money in places that didn’t really need it.
 
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On his defense, Havertz is still relatively young and might had turned it arround, but I agree the transfer fee was absurd if you bare in mind there were other options on the market with better stats.
 
I find Arteta likes to try and fix things that aren’t broken yet neglects to sort the real issues.

Zinchenko v Tierney - What was the point?
Raya v Ramsdale - What was the point?
Havertz? - What was the point?

Someone will come to tell me it’s because Zinchenko can invert and is better with the ball.. he can’t defend though and Tierney himself if a good footballer and a better defender.

Mega money on Havertz. Why bother?

Persisting with the injury prone, non prolific, Jesus as the lead 9? Another odd one, especially when spending money in places that didn’t really need it.
Tierney can't stay fit, Ramsdale a bit too panicky. Those 2 were broken. He already corrected Zinchenko by using Tomiyasu at LB more often and buying Timber who looked very good before doing his ACL after 50 minutes.
Havertz is a bad one and we can only hope he improves massively. Doubt he will. A new striker will probably get brought in this summer.
 
It will catch up eventually. Another trophyless season with a mere top 4 after being backed so much would have to be questioned. Surely the end game must be to win the title or else what's the point.

It'll be the start to a season that gets him, I think.

It's very easy these days to quickly find yourselves outside of the top four, and a slow(er) start that sees them approach the halfway point in sixth or seventh could see him binned.

They're still in it this season though, and have the FA Cup and CL to play for too.
 
Tierney can't stay fit, Ramsdale a bit too panicky. Those 2 were broken. He already corrected Zinchenko by using Tomiyasu at LB more often and buying Timber who looked very good before doing his ACL after 50 minutes.
Havertz is a bad one and we can only hope he improves massively. Doubt he will. A new striker will probably get brought in this summer.

Feels like very pointless moves which barely upgraded anything (arguably nothing).

He’s spent big money but I’d say the target areas to improve were wrong.
 
It'll be the start to a season that gets him, I think.

It's very easy these days to quickly find yourselves outside of the top four, and a slow(er) start that sees them approach the halfway point in sixth or seventh could see him binned.

They're still in it this season though, and have the FA Cup and CL to play for too.
He is pretty much safe. I think a trophyless season with a mere top 4 finish wouldn't be a success. Ultimately one has to wonder what is the end goal with him. He has done a good job for stabilizing the club so kudos but what next.
 
Hang on i thought this guy was the benchmark for any new manager of ours in terms of rebuilding? Is he the highest spending manager in the league since he's been appointed?
 
Used up all the luck at the start of the season. :lol:

Saying that, Partey to come back in midfield and he'll make a difference. It's plainly obvious they need a finisher though. Nketiah and Jesus ain't it.
 
His move to two 8s/10s has completely nullified Odegaard/Saka/Martinelli in one swoop. It’s actually impressive how bad a move it was.

He can still salvage it if he goes back to playing Partey/Rice, moves Odegaard back to the main 10 and has the wide players closer to goal, but we know how stubborn these “top” coaches are.

By the time he accepts it hasn’t worked, the league will be gone.
 
Used up all the luck at the start of the season. :lol:

Saying that, Partey to come back in midfield and he'll make a difference. It's plainly obvious they need a finisher though. Nketiah and Jesus ain't it.

Though, remember last season when Jesus was being heralded as one of the best signings of all time :lol:
 
You can see the progress on the pitch for his team for the past couple of seasons and they're progressively getting better. They'll be near the top at the end of the season again and will look forward to next season unlike us.

No reason for us to get giddy about this. Do you who we've got? Any ideas? We've got Erik Ten Hag.
 
You can see the progress on the pitch for his team for the past couple of seasons and they're progressively getting better. They'll be near the top at the end of the season again and will look forward to next season unlike us.

No reason for us to get giddy about this. Do you who we've got? Any ideas? We've got Erik Ten Hag.
What has ten hag got to do with any of this. There are enough threads about eth and you can talk about him there. This is not a arteta v eth thread.
 
What has ten hag got to do with any of this. There are enough threads about eth and you can talk about him there. This is not a arteta v eth thread.

So annoying that we can't rib rivals anymore without our own fans getting emotional and crying.
 
You can see the progress on the pitch for his team for the past couple of seasons and they're progressively getting better. They'll be near the top at the end of the season again and will look forward to next season unlike us.

No reason for us to get giddy about this. Do you who we've got? Any ideas? We've got Erik Ten Hag.
These are facts but equally Arsenal fans were insufferable last year despite everyone pointing out the lack of injuries, over performance against xPts which is unsustainable and early exits from cups all contributing to their freak Leicester-esque season.

This was set along Artera doing his faux hardman act, berating referees and generally being a cretin on the touchline.

United are in the gutter but still enjoy Lego Pep being exposed as a fraud.
 
Arsenal after 20 games last season had 50 points. With €235m spent in the summer to improve their team/squad further it's certainly a surprise to see them 10 points worse off this season.

Then again perhaps Arteta isn't as good as the English media hype make out?
 
You can see the progress on the pitch for his team for the past couple of seasons and they're progressively getting better. They'll be near the top at the end of the season again and will look forward to next season unlike us.

No reason for us to get giddy about this. Do you who we've got? Any ideas? We've got Erik Ten Hag.
You're getting boring now mate
 
You can see the progress on the pitch for his team for the past couple of seasons and they're progressively getting better. They'll be near the top at the end of the season again and will look forward to next season unlike us.

No reason for us to get giddy about this. Do you who we've got? Any ideas? We've got Erik Ten Hag.
There is this myth about Arteta making progress on the way they play.
Last season is so far proving to be an anomaly.
His first two years at Arsenal he displayed some boring football in addition to losing games.

Last season they played good and won games, with the caveat that they were overperforming their expected points and goals scored, so it was hardly sustainable.

This season they play some shit/average to good football but still managed to win (so far) so please let me know where is this famed progress?

If he doesn’t manage to win at least one trophy or finish 2nd, his days will be counted in my opinion
 
His move to two 8s/10s has completely nullified Odegaard/Saka/Martinelli in one swoop. It’s actually impressive how bad a move it was.

He can still salvage it if he goes back to playing Partey/Rice, moves Odegaard back to the main 10 and has the wide players closer to goal, but we know how stubborn these “top” coaches are.

By the time he accepts it hasn’t worked, the league will be gone.
It’s amazing how both us and Arsenal have ‘developed’ our midfields, which were so successful last season….and both fecked them up completely
 
It’s amazing how both us and Arsenal have ‘developed’ our midfields, which were so successful last season….and both fecked them up completely

It is, and both wanted to do the same thing. Arsenal have got off with it better because they have better players, but both teams have managed to go backwards and both coaches are too stubborn to admit it.
 
It is, and both wanted to do the same thing. Arsenal have got off with it better because they have better players, but both teams have managed to go backwards and both coaches are too stubborn to admit it.
And neither have become more creative, despite (theoretically) moving towards a more attack-minded midfield
 
It’s amazing how both us and Arsenal have ‘developed’ our midfields, which were so successful last season….and both fecked them up completely

They're two points behind the first and are second in expected points while you're lucky to be sixth (possibly 9th) with a negative goal difference. In terms of ecpected points, you sit at 13th.

I think the phrase "fecked up completely" applies better to one club than the other.
 
They're two points behind the first and are second in expected points while you're lucky to be sixth (possibly 9th) with a negative goal difference. In terms of ecpected points, you sit at 13th.

I think the phrase "fecked up completely" applies better to one club than the other.
Look at the Leverkusen fan giving it to United because you’re top of the league :lol:

You need to remember your club’s history before dishing it out at Christmas

Come back in May if you’ve actually won anything because history says you wont
 
They're two points behind the first and are second in expected points while you're lucky to be sixth (possibly 9th) with a negative goal difference. In terms of ecpected points, you sit at 13th.

I think the phrase "fecked up completely" applies better to one club than the other.
Let’s be clear, they’re nowhere near the title.

Theyre only anywhere near top because City have been swanning around abroad and when they get into their usual second-half of the season they’ll motor away.

Arsenal have got worse, their loss at home to West Ham and today at Fulham were indicative of that. The fact they haven’t been as bad as us is neither here nor there
 
Look at the Leverkusen fan giving it to United because you’re top of the league :lol:

You need to remember your club’s history before dishing it out at Christmas

Come back in May if you’ve actually won anything because history says you wont

The concept might be hard to grasp for you but my self-esteem doesn't depend on the success of my club nor do I feel any more or less entitled to criticize other clubs because of it :) It is just fairly absurd to liken Arsenal - a club which has to be included among the best of the world right now and is playing an excellent season all things considered - to United. I would point out the same if it would be the other way round, regardless where Leverkusen sits at the table.
 
Let’s be clear, they’re nowhere near the title.

Theyre only anywhere near top because City have been swanning around abroad and when they get into their usual second-half of the season they’ll motor away.

Arsenal have got worse, their loss at home to West Ham and today at Fulham were indicative of that. The fact they haven’t been as bad as us is neither here nor there

Regardless of whether or not they are a title contendor, a club that's 2 points behind the first has hardly "fecked up their misfield completely".
 
And to think some people on here are saying this is what we can have if we just give Ten Hag 5 years…
Was thinking the same thing :lol:

At least reality has somewhat set in, to the extent that most of them are no longer invoking Fergie, Pep, and Klopp.
 
Arsenal after 20 games last season had 50 points. With €235m spent in the summer to improve their team/squad further it's certainly a surprise to see them 10 points worse off this season.

Then again perhaps Arteta isn't as good as the English media hype make out?

They have addressed the wrong areas, or simply not gotten enough bang for their buck in the market. The money and effort that went into getting Raya and Havertz would have been better spent on a striker. Not necessarily a direct upgrade on Jesus - those can be hard to find - but at least someone with a different profile to throw on, when something different is needed. Giroud saved them so many times, and now they have Nketiah as back-up, which is a problem, because he is essentially just a worse version of Jesus.
 
Assuming they don’t win the league title this year, would they have come back to the Wenger times when they’d win the top 4 trophy and not a lot outside of that?
 
The concept might be hard to grasp for you but my self-esteem doesn't depend on the success of my club nor do I feel any more or less entitled to criticize other clubs because of it :) It is just fairly absurd to liken Arsenal - a club which has to be included among the best of the world right now and is playing an excellent season all things considered - to United. I would point out the same if it would be the other way round, regardless where Leverkusen sits at the table.
United and Arsenal are comparable in the respect that they achieved a decent finish then spent a good amount of money on probably the wrong profile of players and took a backwards step. We’ve both done that this season.

Let’s not forget that even head to head in the two most recent games it’s gone down to the 90+ minute to decide the winner. They are better than us but not by a massive amount.
 
Look at the Leverkusen fan giving it to United because you’re top of the league :lol:

You need to remember your club’s history before dishing it out at Christmas

Come back in May if you’ve actually won anything because history says you wont

The German fans on here seem to have a hard on for Arsenal. It's odd.