Arsenal fans need to come to grips with the reality that this team isn’t winning any trophies this season and they will be hard pressed to make the top 4.
by Eric
Like most skippers at the elite level of professional football, Mikel Arteta is a master of “coach speak”. Unfortunately, there is no amount of “support the players who are here” or “we deserved to win the game” and “we are in a difficult period right now” he can mix into a word salad that obfuscates the truth that this team is miles off the pace in terms of championship credentials.
The average Arsenal fan is more likely to hit the Euromillions than they are to witness this year’s team win an EPL crown or the Champion’s league. The club’s weaknesses, namely the substandard finishing that has characterized their play all year long, are simply too pronounced for this group to win a major trophy. The sooner Arsenal fans accept that harsh reality, the sooner club management can meaningfully address their own failings in this area.
Gabriel Jesus Isn’t Getting Any Better
Gabriel Jesus is a nice guy, but Arsenal fans are not looking for someone to marry their sister. They’re looking for a stone-cold killer who dispatches goal scoring chances with the ruthlessness of a US Marine Corps sniper. Gabriel Jesus has never been that and more importantly, he will never be that. Ever. On his best day, Gabriel Jesus is a backup forward or supporting winger for a clinical striker.
On a “normal” day, Gabby is a guy best subbed on, or off, at the 60-minute mark. On his worst days, he is dreadfully wasteful. That’s why Guardiola never trusted him at CF in must-win games. Arteta, who saw Jesus up close for several years, should have known this. Lauding Jesus for his “pressing ability” is like chatting up a sports car because it can carry multiple golf bags in the trunk.
That’s a nice bonus, but it’s no substitute for a world-beating quarter mile time or high performance on the skid pad. There is a reason that Man City never won the Champion’s League while relying on goals from Gabriel Jesus. It’s the same reason Arsenal will never win while relying on goals from Gabriel Jesus. He’s not good enough, he can’t stay fit, and his understudy is even more ineffective than he is.
Neither is Eddie Nketiah
It’s obvious Mikel Arteta has a lot of faith in Eddie Nketiah. What’s not so obvious however, is why. This is a guy who has 19 goals in 108 EPL appearances. In other words, he scores one goal every five games. That’s hardly an impressive return on 100kGPB/week. At this rate, he will have to break James Milner’s all-time EPL appearance record to score 100 goals. Nothing about Eddie Nketiah’s game says championship caliber striker.
He is also going on 25; an age at which most elite strikers are already producing at a high level. You can watch Eddie Nketiah every week for a year (or more) and you still won’t see a single aspect of his game that is, or projects to be, “elite”. There isn’t a defender in the entire EPL who loses sleep wondering how he’s going to contain Eddie Nketiah the next day.
This begs the question of why Arteta has turned down multiple offers for Nketiah. The fact that the interest is mainly from mid-table sides like Crystal Palace and not title contenders in any of Europe’s top leagues should speak volumes about his low ceiling. Unfortunately, Arteta isn’t listening. Eddie Nketiah is not good enough and he’s not getting any better. The sooner Arteta accepts that and moves him on, the better.
The Likelihood of Winter Reinforcements is Slim
Arteta can preach faith in Nketiah and Jesus all he wants, but it’s painfully obvious FFP is hindering the club’s efforts to add reinforcements this Winter. That only underscores the folly of burning up 65 million quid and 300k/week on Kai Havertz. It all adds up to another season without silverware. At this point, 3rd or 4th is probably the best Arsenal can do.
The Current Results are Unacceptable and There Needs to be Accountability
Five years and 700 million quid into the Arteta experiment, the current state of affairs at CF is unacceptable. At season’s end there MUST be a THOROUGH and RUTHLESS inquest into why Arsenal went into another season so woefully ill-equipped up front. In the meantime, there will be some thrills and some good wins. Unfortunately, as long as Arsenal fields second- and third-rate players at center forward, Arsenal fans can forget about major trophies.
That’s an unpleasant reality, but the truth hurts. If this issue is not meaningfully addressed in the off-season, Arsenal will be in the same place next year: short of goals with Arteta trying to “coach-speak” his way out of a problem that’s largely of his own creation. At that point, it will be time for a very different inquest; the subject being whether Arteta and Edu are the right men to lead this club forward.
Eric
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You have to relax.
Well, if you say so.
Top four has to be minimum requirement and a big mug to go along shouldn’t be a distance dream.
Was Wenger not called names and fans wanted him out for this top 4 you claim is a minimum?
I am.not saying you were one of the fans, but why the different standards?
👍
There was a time in our history when top four felt like a given right
Yes a large section of the fan base was not impressed and wanted more including some players, but he did extremely well on a shoe string budget if you ask me.
Think the thing was he had became too obsessed with balancing the books and that may have caused a few fall out.
I personally think he should have thrown in the towel, somewhere around 2013 -2014 as he began to lose the appetite.
Remember about the lucky Porto and Mourinho? Or Inter and Mourinho. We could end up like them, if lady luck smiles upon us
As for the new CF, we’ve still got time to ship Nketiah out and sign Giroud 2.0. I’d prefer an immovable lamp post than Aubameyang 2.0
@gai, I would prefer a movable lamp post in the mould of Halaand ie Victor Boneyface, Solanke etc..😂
I want an upgrade from Wenger last days strikers. This things are slightly possible if Arteta can make his demands and we can sell Nkethia.
Yeah, we still have till the end of this month to make the deals
Amazing you can actually compare Porto to us right now.
Arteta is not Mourinho and has a long way to go .
But dreaming is free!!
Arteta is more adventurous than Mourinho, but he needs more experience
What does adventurous got to do with the fact that for now mourinho of that that was miles ahead of arteta
Are you actually comparing the two?
GAI, Arteta’s lack of experience in management was there in his CV for everyone to see. A bit late to recognise that experience is important now.
hilarious
Giroud 2.0
don’t get me wrong, i love Giroud, one of my favourite (and under rated) Arsenal players ever
but even in Giroud’s day his style of play was out dated and condemned by Henry et al as never winning us anything
to think that Ivan Toney (valid comparison) is going to bust it open for us to win trophies is the fantasy to end all wet dreams
get over it
the low block we face every week with 11 behind the ball is not going to be unlocked by a guy who has never experienced that and hasn’t kicked a ball in 8 months
even his best was 20 goals, a big proportion being penalties, not PL trophy winning in any team, let alone ours
Lady luck smiles on those who try, not idiots who arrogantly think they know it all or wannabes who should not be in the place they are.
If anyone thinks that we can win majors with Raya, injury prone Tomiyasu, Kiwor, Ziiny, Elneny, injury prone TP, Jorginho, Viera, Nelson, GabJ, Eddie – that is a full team of masqueraders on our rolls. Then we have Tavares, Lokonga, Marquinos, the lesser we speak the better.
I know this is pedantic of me but saying Arteta is 5 years into the job isn’t correct
There are problems that Arteta needs to address- that’s pretty plain for all to see and I hope he can see that for himself. As yet, the signing of Havertz hasn’t brought dividends so the jury is out on whether this can change.
I don’t recall much in the way of concern when Jesus was signed. His injury record is yet another cause for concern along with other repeat sick notes from other leading players. As for Nketiah, I could never understand why his contract was so generous (along with RN). I read that tying them down was better than losing them on a free. His ability doesn’t warrant that kind of salary.
What I think is easy to forget is the moving on from the Wenger years took some time – in the same way that ManU haven’t recovered from SAF’s departure. It took City a long time to reach where they are now and they had the benefit of a bottomless pit of money and after some managerial trial and error hit on the crème de la crème in Guardiola
Klopp is the only other manager in the premier league who is close. This leaves a pool of other very good managers who are fighting to make inroads and I include Arteta in this group.
Well said
Man U and Chelsea making mistake does not mean we can’t to better.
The Problem with Arteta is he is doing basic mistakes and regressing this year.
Example
– everybody know Havertz will be useful for that much fee and wages.
– It was obvious we were lacking towering CF, Strong CM, good left back
But he did not fix these.
He did not rotate his team. In these years he never given chance to academy players. He is just destroying players value by frizzing then then paying to depart them.
I disagree with the “basic mistakes” suggestion. If it were so easy Chelsea would be top of the league since they had money to spend like no one else.
Getting a high quality CF who fits Arsenal’s game is not straightforward and will be expensive. There are only so many CM about and they too cost a lot now and come with no guarantee. Consider Caicedo, for example. He was touted as one with great potential but his performances this season have been inconsistent. We got a possible option at LB in Timber but unfortunately he is injured. Havertz was expensive no doubt but it needs to be remembered that this he is still fairly young and this is first season with Arsenal. Also, whether we could have got a different player who would have fit immediately into the team and been much more productive is not as clear cut as some think.
Well said, SueP. What does confuse me though is; if you do tie players down with big contracts because you don’t want them to leave, you are taking a gamble on them improving to the point that you can sell them for good profit? At this point, I doubt many of our players on these ridiculous salaries would ever attract the kind of money we would hope to get? Saliba excluded, of course. Saka and Martinelli will have to step up big time to justify their new contract!
GunneRay
Couldn’t agree more. £100kpw is ridiculous. Both EN and RN must have hard bargaining agents. Neither are likely to leave for less salary than they are currently earning so the asking price would have to be lower to attract bids. Potty.
👌Suep
Sue P, such a shame to let mere facts get in the way of a good rant though!
On first reading it I only realised it was not by DAN, when I noticed Eric using proper paragraphs, while DAN USES SINGLE SENTENCES AS PARAGRAPHS.
Much the same twaddle though, all the same!
Ouch!😊
Because your two work was spotted and that got you invited to a film premiere to meet Mr Wenger , Arteta and Arsenal players…
Wait that was me ……ouch 😁
I know Dan
You let us know on the odd occasion
I also think it’s fantastic to have been recognised for your writing and AW is very much a hero to you. There are plenty worse and very, very few better
Thanks Sue
Not a hero , just factually the moat successful manager in our history
Sue, you continue the trend of taking my muddled thoughts and articulating them beautifully. Couldn’t agree more.
I agree we nor gonna win any trophy with this players.i am Arsernal fan and support from South Africa. Players who want to get with the ball in the net as they pass and pass. They don’t shot.not all players must be dribbles you must shot when Get chance Hazart did pass liverpool goalkeeper which his left foot which strong.we gave Hartz more games I think Smith Rowe can give us more.please coach Arteta listen.last we lost league because Saliba injury and this year now we shot upfront because players want score beautiful goals in soccer need luck too with ball kick can deflect. In this FA we should have not lose if players we shot in time not want show their three games in succession doing the same thing it questions too what is say to them they ball unnecessary or want to win?
Couldn’t agree more. Jesus maybe gets in the team but not number 9. Nketiah should not even be on the bench. He is just average. Good enough for the bottom half of the table. Maybe, but I wouldn’t want to rely on him in a relegation dog fight. Arteta isn’t stupid. He must know that.
Only problem is that here is a dearth of top strikers. Toney, I’m not convinced. Solanke, not convinced either, Vlahovic, he has lost his shine lately. Osimhen, maybe, but will he come to us? Calvert-Lewis not convinced by him either. Who else is there?
I agree we won’t win anything without a striker c]but where from?
“Where from”? Why , from Bryant and May of course!!
They have been selling ultra skinny wooden “strikers” for a century or so already!
Gabriel Jesus’s eyebrows make him look surprised all the time. This must be disconcerting for his team-mates. If he could get them fixed to a less alarming angle, I’m sure that would result in a calmer Arsenal attacking line and therefore a lot more chances would be converted in front of goal.
As for Arteta, he only wears black and is starting to look like the leader of a Satanic cult. This must eventually take its toll on team morale. Perhaps he should experiment with wearing some different / brighter colours?
Sort out the above and it will result in a strong title challenge and probably at least a Champion’s League Semi-Final. Guaranteed.
Yossarian,
You made me smile. MInd you, when Emery was with us his greased, combed back hair gave him the appearance of Dracula so maybe Arteta should plump for a wardrobe of Hawaiian shirts going forward to cheer us all up 🙂
😂😂😂
Maybe that’s why Emery always looked familiar!
👍
Hilarious line about his eyebrows. Comedically excellent altogether,
When he was at City , my private nick\ame for him – I have private nicknames for a great many footballers BTW- was “quizzical ping -pong cheeks” His cheeks look like ping pong balls when he smiles. And his eyebrows do turn up in quizzical style.
KdB is “Pinkie”, as his skin is a noticeable bright PINK all over his face and neck. I have other nicknames too. If anyone is remotely interested, just ask and I’ll gladly give them.
All very NON PC of course. But them I AM determindly anti woke!
That’s just the truth. 100% agreed!!
We can’t have all players been skillful others must know basic passing but score goals which lacking at moment because everyone want dribble and where they suppose to shot and score still want to dribble
Arsenal have spent the least money on forward since arteta came, 65m on jesus,trossart and William, arteta has bought about 10 defenders and seven midfielders
Bought havartz, viera and renewed Smith Rowe contract yet we are been linked with another midfielder when we are bare bones on forward options, we are looking at left back yet sent Tierney away, winger has never been on the blink of ffp rules yet this manager has taken us so close with many deficiency still in the squad
I think top four could be a race between six or seven clubs. And that’s if Manure stay where they are. We shouldn’t expect top four based on last season. We will have to earn it much harder than last season I feel.
There are rumbles that Arsenal are interested in Amadou Onana? That would make me laugh to be honest. I mean, Why buy a decent striker, when you can have another midfielder?!
GunnerRay, would that take us over the 50 plus attacking midfield players we had when AW signed Mesut Ozil? 😂
I think top four could be a race between six or seven clubs. And that’s if Manure stay where they are. We shouldn’t expect top four based on last season. We will have to earn it much harder than last season I feel.
There are rumbles that Arsenal are interested in Amadou Onana? That would make me laugh to be honest. I mean, Why buy a decent striker, when you can have another midfielder?!
Arteta has become the new version of Wenger unless the entire mentality of this club is to give average players huge money (Nkethia-Nelson) or
sign flops and pay them as worldclass talent (Havertz-Wllian)
We could have won the league 3 times with DeZerbi
and the Brighton scouting chiefs and saved millions in the process.
I knew there was a great reason to maintain some faith in MA.
Brilliant sarcasm BB brilliant!!
CFA, I wish Arteta was a new version of Wenger, but he is far from it. Wenger’s CV and ability to spot talent were well advanced on Arteta before he joined Arsenal. As for the time in charge for the period thus far, the less said the better about the comparison.
I know this is hindsight. Well actually I stated this opinion when we signed them. And this isn’t a criticism of Havertz and Raya. They are trying their best. It’s more of criticism of MA
We shouldn’t have signed both players as we needed a top goal score
You don’t win a PL Title without a top goal score ie Haarland, Salah
Jesus and Nketiah just won’t cut it
This was a big mistake
Knowing that both players will cost close yo 100m with atrocious wage is just unthinkable, it’s these decisions that have gotten us at the blink of ffp rule… the whole world was against this two signings but arteta and edu thought otherwise, just imagine what different that money could make had it been invested in a proper world class player, if this ends up destroying our season someone should be signed
Some good points, but holding our strikers, Jesus and Nketiah, responsible for substandard shooting is not the way to go. Need to look at the full picture.
Osimhen, Levandowskiplus other top strikers (even Toney) would struggle to score under our system of play.
Our attacking game so slow and predictable, it invites defenders to drop deep….blocking shooting lanes. Last season our attack game was faster and more dynamic…with more players making runs from deep.
Blaming Jesus and Nketiah is easy but if you look deeper, our of play – boring, slow, artetaball – is the main culprit.
Nketiah has 19 goals in 108 EPL appearances but 70 of those were as sub, often in games when we were winning and he had little rondo but run the clock down in the 10-15 minutes that he was on the pitch.
I agree he is not the answer but no need to rubbish the guy with skewed stats.
MA has done some good work in cleaning up, but he has also failed in some areas, giving contracts to Eddie and
Reiss, who are never going to be starting in the X11. He is
in desperate need of a critical voice working with the team !!
It’s a must we strengthen the following places for a chance to dream of any top four finish. Or ANY FURTHER PROGRESS In the CL.
1. Quality Left Back. I. Recall Tierney/ sign Digne on loan.
2. Center Back. ( Back up). Yerry mina could be an option.
3. Box to box midfielder/ creative Midfielder. Must be a skilled dribbler and can create long through passes. Must also be burly/mascular/strong ie Douglas Luiz.
4. Right winger.( Back up for Saka) must be able to bring crosses. Ie Adamant traore.
5. Central striker. ( Must be a good finisher with both feet and head.) Therefore tall and mascular. To fend off. defenders. Ie Ivan Toney, Furguson, Vincent Aboubacar. Are a few options.
– We must dispose Nketiah
-We must bench Martinelli completely and give warnings to Saka if he continues missing sitters. He will also see bench and give way to a goal hungry player. But for now give him a few starts.
– We must start Trossard upfront as a fal9 or.striker as our new striker adapts to the system.
– We must change tactics upfront and start bringing crosses (instead of cutting in) or use both tactics interchangeably.
-We must be clinical/Ruthless if we get chances on goal.
🤣🤣🤣 Digne? Adama Traore? Yerry Mina? Have you ever watched actual football? Those players are all awful! And Trossard is a rank average, slow, Poundland Eden Hazard and no striker.
Ivan Toney is very good but Brentford have improved without him, so what does that tell you. Ferguson is 12 and over-hyped and until he’s replaced Welbeck as the main striker for Brighton has no business being priced so high. As for Aboubacar, despite having a funny name is also average and no improvement on Nketiah. He’s also 30+ so no thank you.
We can sell these players: Soares, Party, Jorginho, Vieira, Harverts, Nketiah, Nelson, Rowe, Tavares, Runarsson, Lokonga, Tierney, Okonkwo and Elneny. Some of them we love them but they are doing nothing for the team
Sue P, Jon Fox etc. Sometimes the voice of reason can also be a sign of denial. While it’s just a bit too early to discount Arteta I think four years is a good run especially when you were dealt with Saka, Saliba, White and Smith Rowe and a fairly decent goalkeepers in your stating package. Add to the money spent and the hit and miss nature of his investments I think Arteta has been dealt a good hand of cards which so far he hasn’t been able to maximize. Does that make him a ” good” manager, let alone a future great? At this stage of the season it’s up to him to demonstrate that he is flexible, willing to learn and reshape this group into a team that can win a title within the next two seasons. No excuses, please.
Sorry, that should have been Martinelli, not White. The jury is still out on the “inverted” fullback.
Joe.S.
It’s a good question to ask, whether I’m in denial or not, but many were in denial in their belief that it would be a quick fix to reach the upper level of the Premier League again. In many ways, I thought that Emery was going to waltz us back to the top but it was easier said than done.
As a club we have had to embark on a massive change – of personnel and also mindset. Neither are satisfactory yet and it just goes to show that effecting change is time consuming- particularly in the upward trajectory.
I’m watching Chelsea who are currently losing to Middlesbrough. Who would have thought that a club that was so extraordinarily successful under Abramovitch could be where they are now and with such levels of investment?
My view on Arteta is generally very positive but I’m not yet in a state of denial. Neither am I afraid to accept the possibility that Arteta has reached his ceiling and that at a future date we may need a new direction and new manager.
Throughout the early years of Arteta at Arsenal I championed him for his efforts to improve the culture and loathed the insults posted on JA. I also knew that approaching 3 years in the job that another poor season would almost certainly bring about his sacking.
I also considered who would replace him. Klopp and Pep were in great jobs and of those put forward by JA posters none have done brilliantly (although Nagelsman hasn’t done badly) TenHag, Potter, Rodgers were all part of the second coming. I’ve always been pragmatic about what I’ve wished and I apologise for a very long winded post
Sue, surely its the many who post a one line comment which says NOTHING of any consequence who should apologise and NOT you. You have given chapter and verse and a proper explanation.
THAT is the sort of post I, for just one, TRULY RELISH!
Cheers Jon
I feared that it may be too long but it’s worth being truthful and the pros and cons of Arteta- or any manager – can’t really be discussed in a sentence
Agree with Jon, a good read SueP.
There are, probably, two or three fans who are 100% sure that MA is the man and the same amount who are convinced he isn’t… in my opinion anyway.
That leaves one hell of a lot of us who are sitting on the fence and I seem to have one leg over it after one game and then I’m struggling to get it over the other side the next.
Was it different last season either?
Yes, we were top of the league for over 200 weeks, but did I really feel confident enough to say we were going to win it? No
But why is that? What is stopping me from saying we will or will not succeed under MA?
Four and a half seasons into Mikel’s reign and I still don’t know what to expect to see.
Forget about favourite players, signings or injuries – we have 25 highly paid players that are now all handpicked by MA, costing well over £700,000,000.
The likes of Rice, Saka, Martinelli, Ramsdale and Saliba would all be of interest to ANY club around the world, such is their status and there we have the spine of, what should be, a club that doesn’t lose to the likes of Fulham, WHU or a down to the bones Liverpool side.
Think how we played against city in the CS and our league game – we matched them in every area, yet if we were to play them tomorrow, I would expect a drubbing and to be completely outclassed!!.
The only single thing that I can drill down to and I really hate singling out any Arsenal player for criticism, is the introduction of Raya.
Our defence doesn’t look the same and yet I know there is only a paper thin thickness between him and Ramsdale’s performances.
We can’t blame the fact that we haven’t got an out and out striker, as that was the same situation last season.
I guess I’ll still be sitting on the fence when I watch us play Palace and, whether we win or lose, still unsure of Mikel.
Love the guy, his enthusiasm and obvious feelings for our club, but that fence is becoming mighty uncomfortable…Any suggestions?!?!
SueP – I think I’d better apologise for going on as well!!
Ditto Ken1945
I’d say you are more on the fence than me.
In all fairness, I wanted the experienced Emery replaced and wanted Arteta to have time due to his lack of experience and the sense I felt that he was on to something. Chopping and changing can be disruptive so yet another manager was a last resort for me.
Nothing stays the same. You mentioned Raya and I wonder if the departure of Xhaka has been a bigger miss than I’d have thought possible. Anyway, i don’t think we are far away, but not capitalising on chances made is costing the club dearly. I hope Arteta and the players can stop the rot whilst they’re in Dubai
Amazing how you have managed to put into words exactly how I and probably majority of fans feelingsl on supporting Arteta. Especially in the second paragraph.
Personally when he is doing well I support him 110% but have no problem whatsoever asking for his head when things are not well. I can’t bring myself to have patience with him for the following reasons:
1. After 4 years and 5 seasons in charge I think he does not qualify for patience anymore.
2. He has been given extraordinary backing and authority compared to his predecessors and even the managers of other clubs.
3. The most important thing for not having problem calling for his head is that all our troubles are of his own making. The man has a talent for subbotaging himself.
I also agree with your second from last paragraph. He has a passion and love for the club. But so did Wenger in much much much greater quantity than his.
Two great replies SueP and HH that makes the situation as clear as mud! 😂
I can’t argue with any of your points HH, but I do believe that, at sometime in the future, Mikel Arteta will be up there with Pep etc
The gnawing doubt is will it be with The Arsenal?
Ken Sometimes I think its a little unfair to blame Arteta for all the percieved lack of this player or that player. Yes, at the end of the day he is responsible for team selection and pefomance. However, I ask a simple question where does Edu and the team responsible for identifying and recommending player aquisitions come in to it. What about the the person responsible for player contracts . We are not able to see or understand the financial
accounting system used by the club so how do we know the true reasoning behind the renewal of contracts at what seems a rediculous figure. Surely Arteta can not do any of those things by himself and almost certainly without approval the owners. What I am saying Arsenal is a Club of many parts and and sucess or failure rest on all those parts not on one man.
Yet another great response patH and I suppose the only answer I can give, is that it has always been seen as the buck stops with the manager scenario.
We rarely see a manager survive, while his “backroom” staff get the bullet and, of course, Edu was even more inexperienced in his role than MA when it came to the PL.
Thanks for making me think outside of the box.
SueP, I should have added that you make a great point regarding Xhaka.
One of the first things MA did was to persuade him to stay at the club, much to the chagrin of, I suggest, 90% of the fanbase
He saw something in Xhaka and unlocked it, a task that neither Arsene or Unia, two very established coaches couldn’t do
The rest is history, but you give a perfect example of what MA is capable of doing and then he brings in Raya!!!
No wonder I’m confused.
I do not like Arteta, and I never have. He was an average player with some nice touches but very little substance and I think his managerial style is much the same. I said this even last season when it was going well.
His man-management is awful and we are likely to lose Kieran Tierney, Ramsdale, and ESR because of it, meanwhile rank average players like Reiss Nelson, Nketiah and Trossard continue to be picked.
This mess is entirely of his own making; this is his team. His obsession with the inverted full back will ultimately be our undoing. It was something different for a season but has been found out now.
What’s worse is that he isn’t even using the players he has bought properly! As stated in the article Gabriel Jesus is a hard-working winger, but not a striker. The Havertz midfielder is gone, he’s now an ok CF.
I don’t like this manager and I get no enjoyment at all from watching this team. Even the good starts like against Liverpool can’t be enjoyed because it will inevitably end up with our backs to the wall.
My questions are:
1. What is Arsenal’s style of play under Mikel Arteta?
2. When scouting and buying players to play various positions for Arsenal what profile or playing style, does Mikel Arteta look for to suit his “system”?
3. What is the “process” Arsenal is supposedly following and what are the benchmarks after 4 years?
Arsenal’s style of play of slick passing and quick build up from last season has regressed; high ball retention, high percentage in possession, but less goal productivity from all players this season.
Pessimistic article. Cone on mate we are 5 points off the top.
And going backwards
Not a good spot considering we lost to West Ham and Fulham. The schedule will get tougher
therefore climbing back up a lot harder to accomplish especially been short on the goal production.
All good points regarding Arteta and me personally i believe he is solely responsible for us not winning the title last year.
If you can’t rotate to plan for the business end of the season after watching Pep for 3 years you are either an idiot or too arrogant for your own good.
The team hasn’t regressed in my opinion.It has failed to change and we always play the same way. Free flowing football was there last season because of the way the opponent played and it’s not there this season because we earned the respect and due to that they now park the bus, so you can’t compare the 2 seasons in the way we play. It was always gonna be harder this season because we are not a surprise package.
We were actually found out in the 2nd half of last season and the same problems were not addressed and have extended to this season. If you analyse the last 10 games of last season you can clearly see the same team deficiencies. Have you seen how experienced coaches change the players and the way they play halfway through the season. We dont have that luxury, our bench is mostly rubbish.
What the Arsenal coaches didn’t do was to have a clear plan B . You can’t also have plan B if your reserve squad is not good enough.
It is a given that Arsenal need a ruthless striker to finish off the job. What I say next has been said before and I got shot down. White is slow and gets owned by skillful and more agile / fast attackers. Zinchenko is also a libility. Both of them needs an upgrade. Timber will be welcomed back. Zinchenko drifts into the center of the pitch and thus isolated Martinelli. He also leaves the left open. We saw this against Liverpool when Salha received crosses unhindered.
The biggest concern (if no major trophies) are won is bigger / trophy winning clubs attracting Saliba, Martinelli, Odegaard, Trossad away with big money and promised of medals.
Go on – crit what I said, not the person