Arguments for and against Mikel Arteta’s stay at Arsenal
Arsenal have hit rock-bottom. There is no other way to explain the club’s decline in recent years.
Mikel Arteta was brought in at the end of 2019 to arrest that smooth slide down the Premier League charts. However, the Spaniard now oversees a team who are further down when they were when Arteta took over.
In this article we will put forward five arguments for and against on whether Mikel Arteta should carry on as the Arsenal manager.
For:
- In his 18 months, Arsenal have already won two trophies in FA Cup and Community Shield.
- He has made the Gunners’ defense more robust (only two teams have conceded less than Arsenal this season in the Premier League).
- Convincing several first team players such as Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Folarin Balogun, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli to extend their contracts at the Emirates Stadium.
- Making “huge calls” to dismiss popular first-team players from the squad such as Matteo Guendouzi, Sead Kolasinac, Mesut Ozil and Shkodran Mustafi.
- Better record against the Big Six.
Against:
- No clear gameplan.
- “Non-negotiables” which seem a bit biased towards the more experienced players in the team.
- Few players “flourishing” under the Spaniard’s tenure.
- Resistance to change when the initial gameplan goes wrong (late substitutions are a testament).
- A static rather than a dynamic attacking force which the Arsenal faithful were used to witnessing under Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery’s first season.
It is your call whether you want Arteta to leave Arsenal this summer or whether you want him to be the part of the process. Whatever is your opinion on that, the Arsenal board look confident that Mikel Arteta is the right person to take the club forward.
It is worth pointing out that people who recruit players for Arsenal deserve some blame for their current state. Countless mistakes have been allowed to be happen behind the scenes.
Signing Nicolas Pepe for a record fee, when his transfer value, a year before, was less than half of what the Gunners paid in 2019. Extending the contracts of Mesut Ozil and signing a 32-year-old Willian.
You can point the fingers at the owners for not putting in the right people at the right places, you can blame the manager, for not making the most out of their current squad.
My personal conviction is that it is more of a case of former rather than the latter.
Give Arteta six more months after a summer overhaul and if things don’t change, I am sure that not even Arteta would have any problem if he is sacked with the team still lying around mid-table.
The fact if the matter is the project was too big for afteta and still is. I think k he has some potential but I really wish he went to another club before hand.
What we need now is a manager who has some experience and who can manage the team and staff behind the scenes. Why on earth would you agree to willian ? Why just why ? IMHO we had reiss nelson as a backup and martinelli coming back just made no sense and was a weak love from the staff and manager.
.
Arteta had the new manager effect and got the best from some players who were playing with freedom. This is what often happenes when a new manager comes they let players play asses them and then start making changes. We have seen arteta turn auba into a crap striker basically. The poor performances come once arteta got settled.
As for the rest they are average because the tactics and style of play is average.
Fair point on the defence which has improved but at the cost of the attack
Shortboygooner. You start off by saying the fact of the matter without actually looking at the facts of the matter. So to start, Rome was not built in a day or Liverpool did not turn their season around in one, two or even three season under Klopp.
Fact. Our defence is now joint 3rd best in the league. That is down to the manger. We are better at defending set plays. Again down to the manager. Are the players more aware of their postional play without the ball. Again yes and that is down to the manager.
As a team we are getting better starting from the defence. We now need the midfield and attack to emulate the defence. We do have the nucleus of players to seed those areas such as ESR, Saka, Martinelli, Party and Pepe but we need more quality players to be brought in over the summer.
Other than those mentioned above. We have an average lot up front, lead by Auba. I think most will agree that he is not a blue chip striker. A player that needs lots of chances to score a goal, is poor at holding/keeping possession and average to weak in beating players. Arteta has made a start in removing the dead wood. I feel we are moving in the right direction with what we have and even done this season. Sorry but I like to focus on the positives. We have done well against to the top six. Better than for a long time. Have done the double over Chelsky. The last time we did that was 17 years ago. We do not go into Man Who matches thinking its about reducing how many goals they are going to score against us but now can we do the double on them.
I would sell, Auba, Laca, return Ceballos, Runarsson, Bellerin, Luis, Willian, Nketiah, Kolasinac, Totteira, Guendouzi, Nelson and return Odegaard as he will be too expensive.
But realistically can you see even half of those 13 players being sold ( or returned) in one season. No.
Next seanson is next season. The Arsenal is still a team that players want to play for with or without champions league football. The manage we have is working well be it learning on the job. Yes it would have been better had he cut his teeth esle where before Managing us but this is how it is. Place and Brighton are the remaining games for this season. COYG !
We are were we are first and formost because of the owner. No one else. Arteta was the cheapest solution and that is a fact but look what he has done in such a small time frame and with no managerial experience to fall back on other than being the understudy to Pep.
Well said. Some people are too narrow minded to realize what is really happening at Arsenal. Our position on the log was down to us having a shake up to get rid of Mafia running our dressing room. This left us with almost no options in both transfer windows. We have a bunch of useless players on our books we need to get rid of. Arteta has stabilized our defense and it is still improving. Now he needs to build a well balanced midfield and finish off the a balanced attack. Not to mention getting in proper cover for some positions in case of injuries. There’s still a lot of work to be done. And some players on our books are not willing to move on.
We are out of Europe so we will be buying in the basement No very good player will come to Arsenal knowing there is no European football
Seconded
Against-
No European football for the first time in 26 years
8th in the league
Making us like prime Stoke in their heyday
The 70s called they want their football tactics back
For –
👀
👀
👀
Well, I think not even you can disagree that we’ve been more robust against top opposition…We had a kinda weak and soft mindset going into games against but results under Arteta have changed this…Have a look at the results
We’ve beaten Chelsea away for the first time in a decade…Man Utd away for the first time in 16 years…Beat Liverpool for the first time since Klopp took charge…Beat Man City for the first time since that FA Cup semis in 2017…
This is not in any way to defend him from the sack (which I don’t think is possible) but merely to highlight that he’s bought something to us which we didn’t have under Wenger (under his latter years) and certainly not under Emery
HH, can you please give the stats against the “weaker” teams as well then?
We were finishing no lower than 6th, winning fa cups and playing European football at the top table up and until four years ago – by ensuring we accumulated points against all the clubs, not just the top six!!!
Equity and consistency in treatment of Arsenal head coac/managers;
What are the performance criteria and enc of season targets for any manager to meet?
I think the”dynamic” attacking play of the past is a bit of rose tinted spectacles. Obviously that was the case for the majority of Wenger’s time at the club but not so much towards the end. It was more that one or two players would spark into life every now and then, but generally I thought we had some better finishers that kept us going. I thought we were pretty boring under Emery as well and we were heavily reliant on Auba to finish off chances.
This was largely the same when Arteta first joined but it’s pretty clear to me that we’ve declined so s dramatically because Auba has declined dramatically. We don’t have that go to striker at the moment we can get us out of trouble and win us a tight game. I’m not saying the answer is to find that one striker to shoot us back up the league – we need to improve as a team – I’m just saying that comparatively I don’t think we’ve actually regressed as much as the take suggests as a team. We just don’t have that special player to paper over the cracks. So to be clear, this isn’t a really defence of Arteta, it’s more to say that we’ve been trash for a while and he hasn’t really improved us, or made us so much worse imo
*as much as the *table* suggests
Auba didn’t decline asking him to play as a dm and so much tactical rubb!sh made him look bad and isn’t his strength
His strength is in opposition box and this days he touch the ball in opposition box taxes to play as a defender most of the time
Yet most of his best times for us have come from him player as a nominal winger. Until recently it was pretty clear he was more effective there – now he’s hardly effective anywhere!
Last year he fed off scraps and was brilliant, scoring loads of goals and at critical times. This season he’s not been so capable, even when he gets the chances.
You can say it’s Arteta’s fault, and maybe it is, but the fact is he’s not been anywhere near as effective as last season and not been the Sanchez, RVP, or even Giroud level of player that scores crucial goals to paper over the cracks of this poor squad. If Wenger hadn’t had Auba at the end of his time here, or if Emery hadn’t had Auba, I don’t think they’d have finished much higher than we will this season.
To start with Arteta did a good job of polishing a turd to win the FA Cup/etc last season. For a long term rebuild to achieve what he is aiming for requires lots of experimentation, tinkering, and transfers in and out. That’s what this season has been for. Also the sometimes bizarre events this season will have helped show who should and shouldn’t be here next season. So now onto the next stage, for Arteta to stop polishing turds and be able to pick a team from components that will enable it to work properly, by doing some good transfer business.
Excellent comment Yossarian.
Interesting to read your post. I had high hopes for Arteta but the semi final made me review my position – and I’ve swayed back and forth for a while. I get your point about experimenting but were those two matches the right place for that? However, I do hope that he can learn and quickly because any further decline would be disastrous
I think the false 9 issue was blown out of proportion – he didn’t have many options aside from Martinelli, who hadn’t played up front for us at that point, and doesn’t look quite ready for that role imo. Definitely should have been played more in general imo, but that’s another story
The Xhaka one has been far more questionable imo. It works against poor opposition but our opponents deserved a bit more respect imo
Same here Sue. I like him on Sun, Tues & Thurs! I lost it after the semi, and also a little last night as this wasnt the sexy football I wanted. But today is a Thurs, so I thought a win vs Chelsea is cool.
Loads to criricise him about and rather less to praise ATM, so tomorrow I rant again…
Tinkering. I get it and I don’t get it.
New manager, new system, adjusting. I get it.
A player is brought in. Has a MOTM performance then is dropped for the next 10 games. I Don’t get it.
Manager lists a “talks” a wonderful set of “non-negotiables” but then these don’t apply to his “favourites”. It’s a meritocracy but his favourites get a pass. Other than being a favourite, what has Willian done to MERIT 37 starts?
Now the manager is touting ESR’s greatness, but he did not start him till there was no one else left to pick. Manager didn’t see this greatness in training, back when we had nobody giving us creative options, in a period that cost us a top 4 spot.
A right back getting consistently turned by wingers, run by, left on his rump but used to start every week because he’s a favorite.
Refusal to adjust the gameplan mid-game when it’s clearly not working? Arrogance? Hubris?
I think football-wise he is a better than average coach, but the bias in his personnel management is a major issue for me
I’ll try to counter the cons:
1. No clear gameplan:
His plans when we played against Leicester, Leeds, Chelsea, Man United, Newcastle and Spurs were very clear to me
2. Biased towards the more experienced players:
He had to prioritize the senior players in his first full season as an Arsenal manager, because the senior players were more influential in the dressing room. Next season will be the younger players’ turns, hence Balogun was convinced to extend his contract
3. Only few players “flourishing”:
He’s improved more players than what his detractors think, as seen in Xhaka, Elneny, Pepe, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Chambers, Holding and Lacazette
4. Resistance to change when the initial game plan goes wrong:
Unlike Wenger, Arteta doesn’t have someone like Giroud on the bench. He’s got to be more pragmatic next season though, because we can’t always score from open play
5. A static rather than a dynamic attacking force:
Our wingers are more dangerous than the ones under Wenger’s and Emery’s tenure. Look how we score more goals from open play, as compared to how we did it in Wenger’s later years and under Emery
”He’s improved more players than what his detractors think, as seen in Xhaka, Elneny, Pepe, Smith-Rowe, Saka, Chambers, Holding and Lacazette”
How?
Xhaka – Wengers last year, 4 goals in 46 apps. Since Arteta took over, 2 gls in 84 apps. Has made more mistakes leading to goals than any other player in the EPL- improved my arse
Elneny – looks the same to me.
Pepe – 2 years in Lille, 37 gls in 80 apps. At Arsenal 20 gls in 87 apps.
Smith Rowe and Saka were NOT trained and bought through by Arteta – best look to Freddie for that
Chambers – how? He was player of the season at Fulham – so i would posit the talent was already being displayed
Holding – dont see a massive change from before- he is a solid defender and half decent wing back
Lacazette – oh please. Last 2 seasons in Lyon – 60 gls in 89 apps. Pre Arteta Arsenal 36 gls in 88. Since Arteta 29 in 82.
Sorry – I cant subscribe to this ‘improvement’ claim – look where we are in the League
– Xhaka has improved defensively and is more influential in midfield. We can feel that when he doesn’t play
– Pepe and Lacazette are more consistent under Arteta, as compared to their time under Arteta’s predecessors
– Smith-Rowe and Saka weren’t that good before Arteta came
– Chambers rarely played well as RB under Wenger, yet he’s better in that position now
gotanidea You cannot change like your changing your boxers stick to which side of the fence you are on and stay there sack him or not
Doesnt happen often but gotta agree with GAI today Iain. And youre only talking have a team here – you cant just say we should be top because a few players have got better – but mostly thay have.
Xhaka – even many of the haters say he has improved
Pepe – comparing French league with EPL? Tenuous that one. Again you cant remember how he played under Emery?
ESR and Saka not better this season? Give me a break.
Agree with you re Chambers & Holding.
Again with Laca – try comparing similar leagues, which would be a pretty obvious thing to do for most people.
Not excusing Arteta – just thought your argument here was lame.
Gai, with all these improvements, why did we lose to Villareal and are currently 8th in the EPL? Bad luck?
The players’ confidence are currently poor because of the accummulation of our silly mistakes in the back and red cards. They still can build from the back if playing against less pressing oppositions, but they need better self-belief when facing the high pressing ones
Alexis Sanchez?? GAI defend Arteta as much as you like but 5 games into the new season it will all end in tears. He hasn’t got it. He coaches sideways as much as he played sideways.
Each one to his/her own opinion and respect that, but I for once seem excited approaching the summer window/new season for the following 5 reasons
– out of Europe – we were never there to win it, so why bother. One UCL finals in 22 for Arsene and 1 in 1 for Unai, unfortunately then and now the players let their managers down. More so under Unai, as CFC was easier to defeat than Barca. No mid week distractions, can focus on the league
– No big name signings on mega wages.They come here to trot, jog, crawl and post some nonsense on social media. Wage and transfer fee savings can be used to reward genuine players
– We go back to spot raw talent and develop them like the past and we played better with Nasri, Fabrigas, Hleb, TR, Carzola, etc, better football than with Ozil, Laca, Pepe, Willian,
– Football culture and discipline standards will be enforced – shape in or ship out will be the norm under Arteta. Discipline brings commitment and commitment produces results. Good to see the backs of the error prone,social media savvy, overpaid underachievers.Some dross were tossed out this winter, balance will be tossed out in the summer.
– One year of learning for Arteta, he will come back stronger. Beating the Chavs – a double after a decade! Wow!We will be taken seriously by the elite and no longer be their whipping boys.
I go along with your views Yossarian.
Nothing has or will change, we are where we are through rank bad management. For this club to get better we need Arteta gone, he has proved his style and ability are nowhere near good enough. Our football is not taking us anywhere but inconsistent and unattractive.
The worst factor counting against Arteta is without doubt his failure to learn from his countless mistakes.This presumably comes from a obstinacy which borders on the verge of megalomania.He was at best a reasonable player in his heyday and he is at best a mediocre football coach along side being a dreadful man-manager.He should never have been promoted following the team’s FA Cup win and should not have been allowed to surround himself with his own hand-picked team of coaches.Steve Round’s pedigree is dreadful… and the fact that Arteta chose to ignore any proffered assistance from ex-players wishing to help Arsenal return to former glories was borne out of a desire of self-preservation rather than any wish to see his team succeed.
Frankly Arsenal’s tepid elimination from the Europa Cup by a former Manager who’s tactics were at best pragmatic was reason enough for Arteta to be relieved of his duties.Add to this his decision to sell Martinez (definitely his decision);his constant tinkering with team tactics without ensuring that his players understand them;his poor man management skills particularly of the younger players and his inability to get any form of consistency or improvement from most of his players… I cannot personally justify his continued employment in a role that is patently above his ability.
Luckily for him Arsenal are owned by a man who has no real desire for the Club to be successful as that could potentially end up costing too much money and wouldn’t necessarily add to the value of this particular asset…So mediocrity is rewarded with continued support…and Arteta continues to greedily hold on to his job…This should not really be open to debate amongst fans…It is an absolute disgrace that this squad of players…which actually includes a solid spine of good young players…is not the sum if its parts as it continues to be managed by a man who is not capable of doing his job in a competent manner.
50 years of supporting Arsenal and this is the most annoyed I’ve felt in all that time.
Kudos for the frank assessment Joel…keep it coming
Yash, I’m afraid the against file is stacked too clearly against Arteta. For any big club in Europe it would be the red light to have him turfed out. Unfortunately Arsenal are not an ambitious club and he will be around in August. I just hope that yesterday’s game was an anomaly because if we play like that again we will get whooped.
Facts, stats show that Arsenal are as bad as they have been for many a year. There seems to be a fear that if we fire Mikel Arteta, the new manager might be worse. He or she would have to be ridiculously poor to be worse. If we at least tried, somewhere behind the scenes, tried to get a real seriously good manager, like Brendan Rogers, Max Allegri, Julian Nagelsmann.
It’s clear and there is no doubt that Arteta has little ‘true’ experience and Arsenal is not the place to learn on the job. The fear of change is strange. Change in the right circumstances is a good thing…….right now change would be good because we are stuck. Don’t be scared of it. We need to change Arteta…..”if things don’t change they stay as they are”.
I’m sorry to be a party pooper but let’s not forget this wasn’t the Chavs strongest 11, had it been i’d be on cloud 9 right now!! I’m still on a downer I’m afraid and 2 wins against West Brom and Chelsea’s B team aren’t going to change that.. if only we’d taken things seriously when it mattered, we’d be in a much stronger position and the smile on my face would be broader!!!!
A Chav fan said to me earlier it was an awful game and how he’s never seen Arsenal play like that – Maureen-esque…
We were lucky and outplayed as well as end of season games are no yardstick. Your season results, finish and performance overall are.
I agree with you Sue, when you see Auba defending in the penalty area with over 30 minutes to go, it’s embarrassing. One of the newspapers reported Auba telling Saka to take his time walking off when substituted with 26 minutes left!! Not a good watch.
AUBA face when he was taken off says it all
Andrew, I seem to remember someone saying on here, that every player should be able to defend, attack, create chances and run himself into the ground… not you of course!!
So why are we suddenly querying the fact that Aubemeyang was back helping out his defence… Ive seen Kane do it on plenty of occasions for example.
No, what we now have, is what so many fans wanted “A jack of all trades team, but masters of none” and that includes MA and Edu.
There are a lot of variables to factor- covid, inheriting a poor and inbalanced team, learning on the job etc.
Sadly they dont add up to what your eyes tell you – he seems to have NP appreciable style, cant improve players as was suggested his main strength was – and despite being inexperienced stubbornly sticks to poor decisions – Willian, Xhaka at LB, Partey left alone in mid.
For me he has been found out- not good enough for whats needed now. Who knows if he inherited a City like team – but not this Arsenal. Look at what Tuchel has done with Fat Franks team. That says it all I think.
Clearout is needed for sure – starting with the owners (not happening) the manager (not until far too late) and a load of aging primadonnas living off past feats and enjoying a ponderous retirement at Arsenal. (far too late) The backpass specials need to go. They are an embarassment to the Colney Youth lighting up the team – again a factor almost in spite of Arteta – he hasnt bought them through and only played them when he had no choice.
I watched Liverpool the other evening – they may not have hit the heights of last year but the speed and dynamism of their play is simply a different world to the strollers we have playing horseshoe football.
Not good enough all round – BUT I THINK WE ALL KNOW THAT
You’re on f’ing fire today lain…hope there’s more to come as our season winds down
You need to look at clean sheets, not goals conceded.
I’d rather concede 2 -3 goals in a few really bad games and have more clean sheets in a season than concede one goal a game. We are 6th on the list which is still pretty decent to be fair.
If you don’t concede you can’t lose, if you concede then it becomes a lot more difficult.
STOP STOP STOP.
dropping managers after 18months because the team can’t climb the table is what teams do…. this is normal. we may never find a wenger like manager again. and that’s okay, many teams do not. so we just keep trying until we find success.
compare how chelsea has dealt with their managers since we played them in Europa final?
Correct and compare where they are now because they outed an under performing manager to now.
Well, FA cup & Comm’ Shield success, long gone. No improvement in the league-today we are watching teams bove us which we used to challage for 1st & 2nd sport. No doubt we need change & it has to be early enough for preparation.
We are also seeing teams above us that were never there before, as we slide down the table.
I don’t think owners want to invest in club overhaul, because if they really want to invest in club overhaul then why they will risk of giving money to such rookie, inexperienced and mediocre manager… Instead they make those funds available for manager like Allegeri…
What shameful performance against Chelsea…
I still don’t remember Arsene Wenger playing such a defensive game…
Even Unai Emery never parked a bus with Arsenal Squad just to win the game..
One want to park the bus when they lack attacking creativity which Arteta does..
Actually Kedar, I don’t mind the defensive game against a better team (I wish that Wenger had been a bit more pragmatic in the last few years of his time). Now yesterday was taking that to the extreme and we were lucky, thankfully.
I may not be a fan of the manager but I want the wins!
I don’t mind a defensive gameplan that is truly effective. Pre Wenger we were built on a strong defence and u have no problem with teams like atletico – you can get behind them when they’re competent
I don’t believe Arteta is going for a defensive gameplan at all, it’s just that we can’t get his gameplan working often enough and end up having to sit back and take it. What he wants is for us to pass from the back, break the press and sustain attacks while in full control of the ball – we just haven’t been able to do it in far too many games. And yes, very very lucky yesterday
I don’t think that he is a good manager, have said this a fair bit.
I do agree with the comments that this is not all on Arteta – we have had a pretty poor track record for years in our transfer business – have spent a lot of money on mediocre players for the most part – a champions league wage bill for a non-European mid-table team.
But bad decisions have happened in the past 18 months and the results don’t lie.
He bugs me with his ridiculous commentary post-game. We should have won just about every game – he obviously was watching different ones than me – we have had some good ones but more stinkers. I am not sure how to rate yesterday, glad we held and hats off, but we got really lucky.
My only worry, and a few of you have said this – what do we get with a replacement? We need a good manager and with the squad we have, and only if we are lucky and the cards break for us, no Europe (personally I won’t celebrate 3rd tier Europe).
We would have to take a flyer on an up-and-coming person to turn things around, maybe an experienced Championship-type. We ain’t getting Rodgers.
Conversely, and this is why I am so disappointed, we take a flyer on Arteta and give him time. Maybe it works out and I hope that the Arteta Optimist Club (no disrespect) is right. I fear that you will be wrong…
Regardless of your view on him, this summer is absolutely critical for the club. If form continues in transfers (already the rumours for older/underperforming or both players from the continent abound) and Arteta’s game management we could be really sunk.
Good business and a smarter Arteta (and he has to improve this summer in many areas) then we are in a good place for rebuilding.
Fingers crossed that whatever course we take is the right one!!
It’s amazing how the article states that the manager has no game plan. ESR just stated in an interview how practiced the high press which led to the goal last night. But the Justarsenal experts seem to now more.
If we recall Laca’s interview after our 3-3 draw with Westham, he stated, the players did not respect the Manager’s game plan. And I quote: “We didn’t respect the game-plan from the coach and we conceded three goals… ”
They don’t seem to realize that we are in this position because of the players not the manager.
I personally think Arteta is extremely brave to stand up to these players,and he is on the right track. As painful as this process is, it is absolutely necessary for our success.
Let me remind you what Mustafi said when Ozil left: “Bro, you have been the most unselfish player on and off the pitch, I have ever shared the dressing room with. You will be always remembered as the #AssistKing. Unfortunately we as a team haven’t been able to assist you when you needed us the most…” Tell me that dressing room was not devided.
A shake up like we had was bound to be put us on the log position we are in.
Look at how William Saliba was taking a dig at the manager week in and week out when interviewed in France. Don’t be surprised if he has fallen out of favor with the manager.
Now it is up to the board to be absolutely ruthless during this transfer window, and continue to rebuild this team. COYG!!! COYG!!! COYG!!!
High press? We didn’t leave our end most of the night. We sat back for most of the game. Chelsea screwed up and we were close enough to capitalize. We weren’t in their faces…
And I don’t question you on what Smith Rowe said, I saw that as well and chuckled.
They were pressing high when it led to the goal.
@dboy.
I should give up mate – it’s getting embarrassing from the Arteta out brigade now, particularly regarding this game.
Of course you could SEE our press leading to the goal, and indeed throughout most of the game.
Abuba was high left, Odegaard high right forcing Chelsea to go inside.
AS SOON AS THE BALL WAS PLAYED INTO JORGINHO ESR CLOSED HIM DOWN, leaving the back pass the only option (given Auba & Ode’s press left & right).
If ESR “just happened to be there” , how come he covered ten yards to get to Jorginho ????
Absolutely we pressed, if not we ‘d have dropped off to halfway letting them have their half.
Of course we dropped deeper as the game went on, legs began to go & the yards became harder – hardly surprising.
Arteta on Emile Smith Rowe stepping up to score ;
” Yes, he did it. Pressing really high, and the commitment that those players put in to try to be as high as possible and try to create difficulties, he got rewarded.
ESR on the goal ;
“We worked on the pressing in training, high press and we did well to make them make the mistake and Auba set me up which was good.”
Oh, how daft of me to quote them – they’re all lairs and frauds !
Having a different opinion is natural – that’s one of the elements that makes our game what it is, and we have to respect that.
But when it leads to simply denying FACTS before your very eyes ???????????????
Think Chelsea had a high press, don’t think that our press was quite the same.
Yes Stuart, our high press resulted in a goal, theirs didn’t.
Arteta has been manager at Arsenal for One and a half seasons and we are worse now. That speaks for itself. He just hasn’t got what is needed. Sad for sure, but true. He is time should end and he should be fired.
We are all entitled to our own opinions and free to support any team that we wish, there is no right and wrong here just different views, which is healthy so thanks to the original post for a balanced piece setting up a fairly balanced debate.
My twopenny worth is that I am prepared to be patient, I don’t think we are as far away from real improvement as some former Arsenal players have publicly said recently, it’s not been a good season but we are far from being “rock bottom”
Ancelotti was appointed at about the same time as Arteta and we look like ending up in a very similar position to Everton so maybe not all about Rookie V Experience, Mourinho not being able to break Spurs’s trophy duck or get them back into the Champions League also talks to that
I look at the ManU situation, they tried Ferguson’s preferred successor, then a couple of tried, tested and experienced trophy winning Managers before settling for an ex player in Solskjear who they have had to be patient with through some very dodgy decisions, results and times but given that time that particular Rookie is now having some success that I would take for Arsenal after a similar amount of time before they got there
The points you make about Arteta’s record with Ancelotti speaks volumes to me. The Everton ownership have spent good money and the league position is almost the same.
This is a very unusual season. Although for the most part now, results have been easier to predict, there were some during the first few weeks of the season that were off the scale and have really affected the look of the EPL.
LEAVE
Arteta to be given benefit of doubt as he should be fully supported by club owners. Bring in some good experience players to assist available stars. The current football is not like Wenger’s time. However, Arteta should stop delay even when there is nothing good in the pitch. He lost in Europa because of very late substitution. Laccazette & Marteneili was the right choice to start. He should have audio review regularly for almost all the matches to correct mistakes / blunders.
I think that Arsenal went into their defensive shell as soon as Arteta realised that his players were totally incapable of breaking through the Chelsea press. A fortunate gift from the Chavs helped and after only ten or so minutes in the second half it was all about Arsenal running down the clock. Would have been a great win had we been Sheffield United but I don’t think it was part of theoriginal game plan.