Mikel Arteta | Lego Pep watch

Start of the season many predicted them to be in top 4. Nothing nonsensical about that. Many predicted top 4 to be City, Liverpool, SPurs and Arsenal. The fact other teams have been better and Arsenal have been crap shows why Emery was doing a terrible job.

I never said Emery was doing well, same as Poch clearly under performing, but if predictions were always fact gambling would be easy.

I'm not following your point. We have money, we've been spending it.We supposedly bid €60m for a centre-back at the end of the window as well.

Arsenal's going to be an attractive job for 99.9% of managers. Picking one who brings us up the table is the challenge... I'm hoping it's Arteta.

My point is where this all steamed from, I don’t see Rodgers just easily jumping ship considering how well he is doing so soon into his contract.
 
eh? Why?

This next appointment is too important to be fecking about with unknowns. Break the bank for Rodgers, or Poch in second place with Allegri a distant third. Maybe we can do like we did with Alan Smith and let Leicester keep Rodgers till the end of the season!

Sorry this is what I’m talking about why the feck would Leicester bend the knee to Arsenal? They are a team with a very good squad playing well. If Brendan wants Arsenal it will become apparent very soon. I honestly wouldn’t be that bothered if Poch ended up with you, I would be very surprised though.
 
Sorry this is what I’m talking about why the feck would Leicester bend the knee to Arsenal? They are a team with a very good squad playing well. If Brendan wants Arsenal it will become apparent very soon. I honestly wouldn’t be that bothered if Poch ended up with you, I would be very surprised though.

I think you are probably surprised by lots of things.
 
I think you are probably surprised by lots of things.

Not really, again your just resorting to cheap shots to end a discussion/debate, fair enough. Emery had no real pull when he was appointed but all of a sudden you think managers will be dropping over themselves 2 years later. Why not target Rodgers less than 2 years ago?
 
eh? Why?

This next appointment is too important to be fecking about with unknowns. Break the bank for Rodgers, or Poch in second place with Allegri a distant third. Maybe we can do like we did with Alan Smith and let Leicester keep Rodgers till the end of the season!
I'm a dreamer. Rodgers would be fun, but I'm not enamoured by Allegri, and have been seduced by the idea that Arteta could be a Pep-in-waiting.
 
Well as a swede, I have soft spot for Freddie and I hope he proves himself to be up for it. Always seen him as classy as a person like Henrik Larsson is/was. Much more likeable than as person than Ibrahmovic is. I still hope we will se a day in the future where we and Arsenal will regularly compete for the title.
 
I'm a dreamer. Rodgers would be fun, but I'm not enamoured by Allegri, and have been seduced by the idea that Arteta could be a Pep-in-waiting.

Arteta is a completely unknown quantity. We can't risk another 18 months on that. Let him go to Everton and show us what he can do.
 
Roy Keane might fancy a managerial dabble again..... That would be fun.

:lol::lol:
 
If Poch goes to Arsenal.....I don't think I could hate Ed Woodward and the Glazers more If they allow that to happen while we keep a P.E teacher in charge while talking more and more bullshit about a rebuild that's never happening

P.E Teacher :lol:
 
I wouldn’t be that annoyed tbh. We sacked him so he’s free to go where ever. I can’t see it happening but nothing would surprise me.

cant see it happening either - too soon and not a good enough job.

if the arsenal job was a cracking opportunity then he might be attracted to it - but it’s not. He can hold out for Real, Utd or Bayern.
 
cant see it happening either - too soon and not a good enough job.

if the arsenal job was a cracking opportunity then he might be attracted to it - but it’s not. He can hold out for Real, Utd or Bayern.

He should definitely go for Real if it opens up for him. Arsenal looks more like a project for somebody like Rodgers to really get his teeth into.
 
He should definitely go for Real if it opens up for him. Arsenal looks more like a project for somebody like Rodgers to really get his teeth into.

Eddie Howe? Definitely a work in progress.

cant see Rogers leaving mid-season (I know he did at Celtic), but if he gets 2nd/3rd this season that will serve him better in the long run.
 
Eddie Howe? Definitely a work in progress.

cant see Rogers leaving mid-season (I know he did at Celtic), but if he gets 2nd/3rd this season that will serve him better in the long run.

We know Brendan has a huge ego. I think he'd love the chance to rebuild Arsenal. Deep down he knows Leicester isn't really a viable long-term project. They are having a good run but they will never be a giant.
 
We know Brendan has a huge ego. I think he'd love the chance to rebuild Arsenal. Deep down he knows Leicester isn't really a viable long-term project. They are having a good run but they will never be a giant.

Arsenal are clearly a bigger club than Leicester. But they are in turmoil and he’s only been at Leicester a short time.

would be a good option if Arsenal can get him, but I don’t think they will.
 
Arsenal are clearly a bigger club than Leicester. But they are in turmoil and he’s only been at Leicester a short time.

would be a good option if Arsenal can get him, but I don’t think they will.

Not really in turmoil. Just made a bad choice and have owners that aren't prepared to throw silly money around. There's enough there to compete for all the cups and make top four. I don't know what Leicester have in terms of resources but they seem to be more of a selling club than a buying club.
 
Both were also true for Conte and he won the league at a canter in his first season at Chelsea. The language and PL experience arguments are done to death and they simply don't matter.
Conte inherited a fantastic squad at Chelsea with world class players, whilst the current Arsenal squad is awful by comparison. I didn't say he needs PL experience, I just feel a manager with experience in different leagues stands a better chance of success in the PL because it's Europe's toughest and most competitive league. Anyway, I'm not saying he would fail, football is unpredictable.
 
It doesn't matter who they hire. United and Aresnal issue is there management they need to get there act together and be more ambitious or sale the club.

With that kind of management you won't get the likes of Pep or Klopp. Even Allegri is probably waiting for something better. This is the type of managers they'll get even if there is a manager with potential they won't have the platform.
 
Not really in turmoil. Just made a bad choice and have owners that aren't prepared to throw silly money around. There's enough there to compete for all the cups and make top four. I don't know what Leicester have in terms of resources but they seem to be more of a selling club than a buying club.
yeah I wouldn't say turmoil either, even though there technically was some turmoil as long as emery was around it was more about getting him out than it was about the whole club failing.

to me, emery's biggest problem was that he never had his best XI out there starting games. a lot of this has to do with "sending messages to the team" i.e. showing everyone the even though Ozil is the highest paid player on the team he isn't going to even sniff the bench on matchday unless he does everything Unai wanted him to do and thensome. And this begs the question: who is this lesson for? Vets like Aubameyang and Lacazette don't need lessons. Guys like Sokratis Mustafi and David Luiz don't need lessons, bad as they might be. so essentially you're sacrificing your highest paid player to make a point to guys like Willock and Reiss Nelson and Saka? Seriously?

then you come off of a 18-19 season where Arsenal were.markedly better / more-productive with Torreira on the pitch as opposed to off of it (during their 22 game unbeaten streak I remember a stat like Arsenal was -8 GD without Torreira on the pitch and +20 with him on) so after a first season where Torreira started off as a sub who came.on in the 2nd half when Arsenal.got better and earned points you immediately start him.on the bench because you've decided to build your team around Captain Granit Xhaka? Seriously? A few months after Arsenal.got Xhaka a buddy asked me "what is it exactly that Granit Xhaka is supposed to do well? " and.the only answer I could muster was "Get yellow cards?" - - nobody has ever given me.a.better answer to that question. so not only are you benching your best DM and.starting a useless albatross of a player, but then you're playing torreira out of position as a CM when he does.come.on which only exacerbates the problem that is the 19-20 Arsenal midfield. insanity.

Then there's stuff like Nicolas Peepee (Pepe) finally gets a bit of.form in the Europa league and then he sits.for the next 2-3 games, maybe getting a token sub appearance or two? What exactly is Emery thinking? Then Ozil looks like the MOTM against Liverpool in the league cup and he's off like clockwork circa 73 in either a 5-4 or 5-5 game when it was patently obvious you needed to score again to win the game... And then you don't see Ozil in any more games.

This could be a.situation akin to the Lucas Perez era at arsenal. Early on when he got.chances against crap competition in cup games Lucas Perez was averaging a goal or assist every 42mins (through ~17-18 apps) to start his arsenal career, yet he couldn't sniff the pitch in the PL because Wonga didn't rate him. you could say he got those impressive results against crap competition, but then again what are you supposed to.do against lesser competition? Exactly what Lucas did and what Ozil did against Liverpool C. yet still even looking great and performing at a MOTM level wasn't enough to get Ozil back on the pitch for a team.with legit issues moving the ball.up the pitch! you figure it you're going to move anyone to help at CM you could move Ozil there instead of Torreira.

so yeah before i try to see how much it'd cost to have Alan Davies read the audio book version of this post, I reckon the first big step.for arsenal going forward is to see if they have a manager who can get his best players in the pitch early and.often to put Arsenal in a position to win, as opposed to not-losing, which is how Emery managed. Seriously when you start a XI with 5 in the back against 19th place Southampton you're playing to not lose, akin to a prevent (The win) defense in American football. whenever you take off possession/attacking players in favor of "defensive" players you're practically begging the other team.to.come attack.you early and often because you're now in a situation where you're not going to possess the ball as much as you can, which means the other team is going to have the ball more.often than you and thus they're going to attack attack attack and the results will all too often be what we've been seeing lately.

My apologies about the extra periods but this tablet is awfully unforgiving today!
 
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I've got this weird feeling that Nuno Espiritu Santo is going to be an excellent coach for them.
At this point I'd honestly take Rafa. Anyone who has a clue of how to play football with a figurative+literal spine is ok with me. Preferably someone who is able to see who the quality players are and then get them out on the pitch together more often than not.
 
I'm a dreamer. Rodgers would be fun, but I'm not enamoured by Allegri, and have been seduced by the idea that Arteta could be a Pep-in-waiting.
I would be interested to see what either Rodgers or Arteta could do but we need somebody with a powerful personality and will ensure defensive discipline and tactical awareness. Arteta is too soft and so is Rodgers and so is Poch.

These days, a successful coach doesn't take BS and demands a high line, pressing, ball circulation and defensive discipline. We should bring in Leonardo Jardim or Joachim Lowe
 
I've got this weird feeling that Nuno Espiritu Santo is going to be an excellent coach for them.

Santo & Benitez? Arsenal fans will soon be in revolt with either of these two in charge, when they start playing like Wolves & Newcastle. Benitez must be one of the overrated managers around. When at Liverpool he had massive funds & many really good players, & yet only came close to the title one season. At Newcastle he did no better than Steve Bruce, yet the latter is deemed a dinosaur & Benitez as some sort of tactical genius.
 
I will be surprised if it isn’t Negelsman or Rose. They would be a Wenger esque appointment. However, Arsenal fans seems deluded and rather want someone who is a winner. Won’t be surprised if it is Ancellotti or Allegri.
 
Nuno would be very good for Arsenal. All of the Wolves fans I know are cacking it that it's going to happen. Please let it be so.
 
Santo & Benitez? Arsenal fans will soon be in revolt with either of these two in charge, when they start playing like Wolves & Newcastle. Benitez must be one of the overrated managers around. When at Liverpool he had massive funds & many really good players, & yet only came close to the title one season. At Newcastle he did no better than Steve Bruce, yet the latter is deemed a dinosaur & Benitez as some sort of tactical genius.

Have you seen Wolves play?
 
Santo & Benitez? Arsenal fans will soon be in revolt with either of these two in charge, when they start playing like Wolves & Newcastle. Benitez must be one of the overrated managers around. When at Liverpool he had massive funds & many really good players, & yet only came close to the title one season. At Newcastle he did no better than Steve Bruce, yet the latter is deemed a dinosaur & Benitez as some sort of tactical genius.

Benitez won La Liga with Valencia prior to the Liverpool job where he won the UCL, FA Cup and made it to a 2nd UCL final, he's closer to Mourinho than he is Steve Bruce. It's Benitez's past CV that was the reason he was so revered by the Newcastle fans (and their opposition to Bruce are his past ties to Sunderland and how poor he's been at the likes of Hull and Villa)

(Benitez also won the EL with Chelsea during his temporary manager role in circumstances where the entire fanbase hated him the minute he was appointed)

Arsenal fans won't revolt, most of them were singing Emery's praises exactly 12 months ago and after slating Poch for the past 5 years many are now clamouring for him to take over at Arsenal, they'll buy into anything that's new until it inevitably goes to shit because like us their problems are a lot more deep rooted than just the manager
 
Not really in turmoil. Just made a bad choice and have owners that aren't prepared to throw silly money around. There's enough there to compete for all the cups and make top four. I don't know what Leicester have in terms of resources but they seem to be more of a selling club than a buying club.

Can't see him leaving Leicester, everything is just clicking for him this season. Players carrying out his tactics to perfection and playing great football and he gets on with the key players like Vardy in a way Puel never did. Bar some key injuries think Leicester will be in the top 4 and CL next season.

Whereas he goes to Arsenal now and he has to decide whether they play back 3/4, what to do with likes of David Luiz and Ozil who I certainly wouldn't want on the battlefield with me, Xhaka aswell. To many issues and think it would take Arsenal a year to fully sort everything out.

Arsenal is certainly a bigger club but I'd say at Leicester tbh if I was in his shoes.

I'd love to see Eddie Howe get a shot at things but it would only take a bad result or two or bad tactical choice and you could see AFTV already slagging him off as their David Moyes equivilant.
 
Smart money is on Freddie Ljungberg to get the job on a permanent basis.
 
Can't see him leaving Leicester, everything is just clicking for him this season. Players carrying out his tactics to perfection and playing great football and he gets on with the key players like Vardy in a way Puel never did. Bar some key injuries think Leicester will be in the top 4 and CL next season.

Whereas he goes to Arsenal now and he has to decide whether they play back 3/4, what to do with likes of David Luiz and Ozil who I certainly wouldn't want on the battlefield with me, Xhaka aswell. To many issues and think it would take Arsenal a year to fully sort everything out.

Arsenal is certainly a bigger club but I'd say at Leicester tbh if I was in his shoes.

I'd love to see Eddie Howe get a shot at things but it would only take a bad result or two or bad tactical choice and you could see AFTV already slagging him off as their David Moyes equivilant.

I'd imagine Rodgers would jump at the chance to go to Arsenal though like you eluded to he'd be mental to do so, the current Leicester side is not only performing much better than this Arsenal side but man for man they're better in almost every position, on par GK, better RB, better CB's, better LB, better CM's, the debates will come at the top of the pitch Vardy or Aubameyang? Perez or Pepe? Barnes or Saka? Lacazette is the only one from Arsenal that 100% makes a combined XI for me
 
There is a line. Football is a bit tribal, and sometimes that isn't a good thing, but I kind of like it most of the time.

I thought I'd seen it all when Redknapp went from Portsmouth to Southampton.

I see that some bookies are taking bets on Benitez going to Everton. Hell's teeth and buckets of blood.

If Poch goes to Arsenal, then we should all take a step back, and realise what contempt everyone in football holds us fans in.

That lines been well trodden all over back and forth..

George Graham to Totteham
Sol Campbell to Arsenal
Cantona to Manchester
Figo from Barca to Real
Mo Johnston signing for Rangers
The list goes on..

We’ve been basking in their contempt for decades.
 
That lines been well trodden all over back and forth..

George Graham to Totteham
Sol Campbell to Arsenal
Cantona to Manchester
Figo from Barca to Real
Mo Johnston signing for Rangers
The list goes on..

We’ve been basking in their contempt for decades.


Christ I'd forgotten that Graham managed those cnuts. Won 'em a trophy too. Bet that still bothers them.
 
We know Brendan has a huge ego. I think he'd love the chance to rebuild Arsenal. Deep down he knows Leicester isn't really a viable long-term project. They are having a good run but they will never be a giant.

I’ve met Brendan about 3 times, a big ego isn’t something I have ever came away with. He is a bit smarmy, grinny and touchy thou. He grew up about 15 mins away from me.
 
We know Brendan has a huge ego. I think he'd love the chance to rebuild Arsenal. Deep down he knows Leicester isn't really a viable long-term project. They are having a good run but they will never be a giant.

I’d love to have him but I have trouble seeing him coming. Arsenal have much greater resources than Leicester but if I were a manager I’d be wondering if I’d ever be allowed to use them effectively.

Meanwhile, he has Leicester playing beautifully and if he keeps that up he might have an offer from a potential CL winner. Of course the idea of managing Arsenal, with its large fan base and facilities, must be attractive but at the moment (like managing Manchester United) it looks like trying to run through treacle. But then the right manager could sort it out and maybe he’ll think he’s the right manager.
 
Freddie's at the wheel ...
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I’d love to have him but I have trouble seeing him coming. Arsenal have much greater resources than Leicester but if I were a manager I’d be wondering if I’d ever be allowed to use them effectively.

Meanwhile, he has Leicester playing beautifully and if he keeps that up he might have an offer from a potential CL winner. Of course the idea of managing Arsenal, with its large fan base and facilities, must be attractive but at the moment (like managing Manchester United) it looks like trying to run through treacle. But then the right manager could sort it out and maybe he’ll think he’s the right manager.

We could offer to let him have that portrait of himself put up in the boardroom.

They play to 32,000 and their income is rarely above 100m. I think he always viewed the Leicester job as a stepping stone to another big club. Well, here it is.