Arsenal took a massive hit to their title aspirations losing to West Ham United 1-0 at the Emirates this afternoon.
The Gunners began the game in top form as they looked to build on their last win, with Martin Odegaard, Leandro Trossard and Mikel Merino looking to make things happen early on.
However, West Ham were also in good shape and prepared to make a statement on this visit to the Emirates.
Both teams continued to get some chances as the match went on, but none were exactly big chances, and neither side looked like scoring.
As the half continued, Arsenal laboured to get close to opening the scoring, only for things to go from bad to worse.
West Ham opened the scoring with Jarrod Bowen scoring a fine header against an Arsenal team that did not need that type of shock.
Without a striker, Arsenal began to struggle and went into the break behind despite bossing possession.
After the interval, the Gunners kept struggling, and Mikel Arteta introduced both Oleksandr Zinchenko and Myles Lewis-Skelly to help them turn things around.
The Gunners kept bossing possession and piling the pressure on their opponents, but they could not make it pay.
Things became tougher for them as Lewis-Skelly was sent off for stopping a goalscoring chance as the last man.
Arsenal continued to dominate possession in the fixture, but the Gunners simply had no one on the bench who could change the match.
Ben White had a chance at the end of the game, but the returning defender shot wide, and Arsenal were beaten.
Home loss to 15th place team..
If Im honest, I dont think we will even make it to top 4 this season. We have no attackers for the next month. And no strikers for the rest of the season. Criminal squad management.
And MLS needs to be benched. Sorry but 2 reds in 3 matches is serioua lack of discipline and a complete liability.
This is what happens when you think you are smarter than everyone. Everyone under the sun knew we are short upfront even before Kai’s injury but what did Arteta do? Nothing.
There is actually no hiding here dor MA. Its was so obvious we needed a striker even if was an Ivan Toney over a CM or LB in the summer. What an opportunity missed. Its going to be even more difficult next season to win the league or Champions league even if we eventually sign 2 strikes, other teams will surely be better. What a shame of team management.
The trouble is when we do buy players they are normally rubbish.We don’t have a good record on that front.Uni Emery on the other hand buys great players so if he was till our manager and given all the mon ey Artera as spent we would have won the title for past 2 years
@Highbury44
👍🏾
I really do not know what Arteta has against strikers. I can count 4 goal keepers that he has signed in his 5 years as arsenal manager but Jesus is the only recognized striker that he has signed and he is not an out and out striker.
Jesus is not a striker.
Sorry but incorrect, just one red card, the first you refer to was ruled out so it doesn’t exist.
The first red for Lewis-Skelly was overruled, but TBH, it was still a very careless card-worthy challenge. He needs to be coached on when not to engage in this manner when an opponent beats him, or we’ll have a new early-days Xhaka in the squad.
We are stuck if not regressing. Whenever we have a chance to gain ground on Liverpool we found a way to screw up. Poor planning and using square peg is what go us here. This team can not beat PSV.
I can only go by what the Arsenal radio commentators said which was along the lines of having no spark and nothing seeming to work. Not much in the way of chances created. Nwaneri injured. Skelly sent off because Raya was miles off his line. They blamed Partey and Calafiori for West Ham’s goal and on the strength of their commentary Wednesday at Forest looks ominous. Season as good as over as far as I’m concerned for the league.
Calaforini and Rice for their goal, Rice let Bowen go, he was marking him badly.
I read an earlier report of yours regarding Rice. He was obviously having an off day like the rest of them and if I was listening correctly got subbed off.
Rice switched off Sue, he let Bowen have an easy header. Very poor.
If my memory serves me right, I don’t think Rice has played well whenbwe played WH. Thats probably why he was subbed.
David Raya should start next match as out number 9 😁. Never in my life did I ever think I’ll say this, but Raya is faster than Sterling.
This is me coping trying to find happiness from a sad situation.
Absolutely shocking today, literally nothing positive from today’s match.
We continue to choke when opportunities arise yet again. Arteta struggles to coach; can buy players but struggles to step up and coach us through adversity.
Same approach, same tactics, I seriously wonder if Arteta can coach players or only manage a system.
I’m not Arteta out, but certainly am for putting him on notice.
Have to address holes in the squad like legit striker, winger, B2B midfielder.
Have to rebalance the team; we are also too slow in midfield, and still have no plan B.
We need a DOF to come in and set an agenda for this Summer. Let Arteta focus on managing in the present and DOF can plan for 3-5 years for the club.
Arteta is risk averse and like to control every aspect of the game. He likes complicating even things that are simple to do. Look at how tedious and bad our throw ins are. His system can only work when everything is working at 100%.
If we had Christiano Ronaldo and Lionell Messi on the wings we would still lose with this coach , captain, and goalkeeper.
The fact that this administration has all Arsenal fans written all over it has been known for years, the fact that the coach seems to be licked by this administration is again a fact…they are christening straws gold, and the lack of creation. Eins like the crooked lying politicians, and the Arsenal world? What is he doing? He goes to the stadium to applaud a team without a championship for 21 years? That’s it a divided habit of defeatism and stupidity. Don’t fill the stadium again until the end of the season, that way you show that you don’t mind and that you are happy anyway. How soft you all are
Could you say that again in English please, though I think I got the gist of it, which seems like you really don’t understand what a true supporter is.
Another crap performance from Arteta’s Stoke City, oh sorry I meant Arsenal, I struggle to tell the difference at times! 😀 At this rate I’m seriously thinking this season is a success if we drop out of the top 4, it will guarantee Arteta gets the sack and we can find a new manager with fresh ideas, it could be a blessing in disguise.
@Dave
I can’t agree less to all what you just said.
It is very obvious
The Odegaard drop off this season is shocking. Even when he did have Saka to play with he wasn’t carrying his weight. Finishing in the gutters too. Rice looked tired from the starting whistle sloppy all game, Calafiori can’t defend, Partey slow as molasses. Rest of the season is just damage control and solidifying top 4. Shame.
Rice is the most over hyped Player I’ve seen. What is so special about Rice that made arsenal to spend £105ml on him, Vila spent less than £15 on Rogers, Liverpool spent less than that on gravenbeck and sobozlai combined, and they are all doing well. Arteta can not win titles for arsenal, if you like give him a trillion pounds.
105ml on one player 🙆🙆🙆🙆 and yet you don’t have a striker!!! SHAME indeed… How many times have we called for a striker? His friends go for real shopping while Arteta goes for Window Shopping and later saves all the transfer money for a holiday trip to Dubai 🛫✈️ 🛀🪂🏇🕺💃 it’s because of this trip… We lost Harvetz 🧑🦽. The only option now is to sign one of those finished products (Free strikers) being paraded in the media.
It’s surprising seeing the sheer number of people who genuinely think we stand a chance to win the title.
You mean you imagine this Arsenal team going all the way to the end of the season with who? Merino leading the attack?
For starters, it will definitely call into question the standard of the EPL if a team with our kind of attack goes ahead to win the league.
A team relying solely on a 17 year old with no single attacking substitute on the bench should not be dreaming of winning the league.
For those who held hopes of winning the league, I think you can now rest easy knowing fully well now that IT IS OVER!
The fear now is that this season will fizzle out with us being knocked out of the CL in the next round and dropping down out of the top four in the EPL. It’s nothing new to Arsenal fas though, which is why I feel it’s More frustrating. We’re a club that always “almost” reaches its peak without ever reaching its peak. On paper we have great players but in reality performances can be so average. I just don’t understand where the problem lies? Player or manager? Mental or physical? Confidence or nerves? One thing is for sure, this season is merging into the recent Arsenal history books of finishing the season on another low..
If it’s going to be the end of Artetaball, then so be it. Empty handed after 800M investment, 8-10 players need to be replaced, another 300-400M investment, to win what? Preseason Emirates Cup? No style of play, getting conned by agents and clubs, no silverware all hallmarks of Arteta. And worse he is being consulted on the appointment of the DoF, another yes man for sure. Wait for another 5-10 phases. Good luck Artera Fan Club, can we here some new excuses?
Just like the seasons before, I can’t wait for this one to end.
I wait for an explanation why we’ve never beefed up our attack when all and sundry knew we needed to.
When Zinchenko plays better than Rice in that midfield like today, it leaves alot to be desired.
Arteta cannot win us premier League title. He has reached his highest in as far as improving Arsenal team is concerned. We simply need another coach to take us higher than this. You can’t be second best two seasons in a row and third season you’re still struggling to be second best again. We have blown up our chances of catching up with Liverpool. And if Man City win today, it will be Man City we are going to concentrate on than Liverpool because point difference will be 6. And this is nothing with Man City to catch us up.
Top 4 is no guarantee with this lot.
Same system, same tactics, shocking Arteta has not evolved or adapted to navigate this crisis.
Arteta looks every bit a checkbook manager who manages a system, but cannot manage players and mold a team around their strengths.
Every team faces injuries, but our lack of options is squarely on Arteta.
We are relying on a 17 year old kid to get us through matches FFS! A DM as a striker, and Sterling was the backup for Saka; in 5 years he is the backup?
Criminal negligence from Arteta, who looks as lost and meek as an academy player on the pitch.
Only a lemming would defend this shambles Arteta has led us to. A dogfight for top 4, relying on Artetaball to see us through.
It is finished.
We go again next season. Netflix FC.
Not signing a ruthless striker was just the downfall of this season.
I won’t bother to watch the remaining matches again. I’ll just follow online.
Not striker alone. Arteta can’t coach. Arsenal, in attack, horrible whole season due to Arteta’s clueless tactics and rigid coaching.
Players regress under Arteta because his pragmatic style stifles creativity, because he coaches the team not to lose rather than to go out and win at all cost. Also, his buys are terrible.
On the pitch, the single greatest problem is that we play our football in front of the opposition, always sideways and backwards, never seeming to have any player with the footballing intellect/vision to thread balls through the line nor runners willing to get in behind to threaten the opposition’s attack.
Blunt, Tortoise-slow and predictable rubbish with all Arsenal Players unadventurous and happy playing the ball in front of the opposition for 90 minutes. That is an issue of coaching 100%
Arteta’s pathetic and predictable tactics easy to defend against confirming he is not a top level coach which is what we need. Emery is far better. That Brentford, few days ago, easily dispatched the same Leicester we struggled to beat last weekend reveals how awful Arsenal is.
This does not make sense. Certainly, there are issues that need to be addressed. However, a team that is second in one of the strongest leagues is highly unlikely to have a “clueless” coach.
No Saka in the team and here we are. Transfer Saka for 150M, and we will be fighting relegation.try it out.
No shot on goal no win. Passing do not win games. Ateta not fit for Arsenal, should be coaching championship team.
We had two shots on goal, Calafiori in the first half and Trossard near the end. Both saved by the keeper.
Imagine going into the season with 2 strikers:
Jesus (known for injuries)
Havertz (been a striker for 3 years)
Whats the worst that could happen?
The worst would be signing Sterling as our striker next season! Knowing Arteta it may just happen..
😂🤣🤣
Haverz has never been a striker?
Arteta will never get us a top striker , never as long as he remains Manager at Arsenal. That position is for Havertz believe it or not. 2 years we have just been talking about a striker, he wants to justify why he spent £65m on Havertz when Chelsea dumped him.
@Peter Bwalya
I can’t agree less from you have said here.
It no bargain to see Arteta still remain couch of AFC come next season.
A friend was blindly defending him that he maintain 2nd best twice in a row and less than a week he get sacked that other big team will rush at him to employ him so I laugh and said, then we shall his tactics once he gets there over time.
Shouldn’t be so disappointed, the writing was on the wall after the first half against Leicester but I got carried away by the second half turn around and started to fantasise. Today’s performance was pretty much a continuation of that first half at Leicester and pretty much tells us where we at.
Totally agree Joe.While I accept the impact of injuries,the imbalance of our squad and the inverted tactics deployed by our Manager was never going to win us the League not any other trophy for that matter, and I would not be surprised if we fail to stay in the top four by the end of the season.Our only natural left back is permanently benched and our lack of pace in midfield is becoming more pronounced with every game.Add to that our lack of top quality forwards and it’s not surprising that we flatter to receive when the going gets tough.The next transfer window becomes absolutely critical and if I were holding the purse strings I would be very reluctant to entrust MA to invest wisely.
Grandad Arteta is SO predictable in his tactics and player choice. He is TOO rigid in his ideas, even when they clearly do not work. Time for change before its too late.
You raised a salient point about Arteta’s inverted tactics @Grandad.
Been sayin this for couple of seasons now. Arteta is a one trick pony and lacks the ability to adapt his tactics to suit each team we face.
This is similar to how we fell flat against Newcastle in the Carabao cup.
Eddy Howe already knew what Arteta will be coming with and just needed his players to be patient and maintaining a good defensive shape while giving Arsenal all the possession. And then do the damage with a counter attack when our full backs invert and are too high up the pitch.
Graham Porter studied our losses against Newcastle to prepare his team for this game and we weren’t helped by a toothless attack either.
You’re right. WH goal came through the flanks when Timber was caught high up the pitch. We lost possession at the arc of WH and the ball sent straight to Wan-Bissaka who ran over 30m without any challenge before crossing to Bowen to nod home
Title gone now. Inconsistent performances, stupid red cards, injuries and poor squad management. We never deserved it. Unfortunately this was the season when Man City folded and we should have grabbed the opportunity with both hands but congrats to Liverpool who have consistently played better. Let’s see what the summer brings but if no trophies next season then time will be running out for MA considering the investment he has had.
Such a disappointing game and such a disappointing performance. Something we are and have become used to under Arteta. This Wet Spam team sre so poor and we were not upto besting them, the way we set up today. I hate the way we play under Arteta, it is so negative and relies on vall retention and not forward thinking. Please don’t anyone use the excuse we are missing a striker. It would not have mattered today, we were again, to slow and poor to create any quality. Personally, I can’t wait now for Arteta to leave, I have had enough of watching bland spineless football. Our football under Arteta is toothless. Another long long run in coming under this manager.
Relies on BALL retention.
It nothing new. Till we get it right from the board, arsenal will never win the UCL and EPL
What you mean sack Arteta?
As a realist I have no need to be disappointed as I could see this coming a mile away.
With Arteta in charge good performances are the real shocker when we have one.
Can’t you all see the progress we are making from 2nd to 2nd to top 4.
I have said it before, the money spent has got us up the table. A manager wins things with it. Arteta has failed for 5 years. He will keep failing because he is not good enough.
5 wasted years. Poor cup runs and failure to follow through on anything.
Reggie
I love the comments about who we would replace Arteta with.
Like it would be difficult to find a manager and give them 750 million to spend over 5 years with no accountability, and no trophies to show.
Honestly nothing special about Arteta.
So-called “tactical genius,” yet it’s the same lineup, same tactics, same style of play.
We need Arteta to step up; evolve and adapt to our situation, coach up players, change tactics.
Unfortunately he is a system coach, hence no change and unlikely he will coach us out of this shambles.
Nothing special at all. Average manager at best.
Absolutely right, a change could be good next season. Liverpool is a good example of what fresh ideas can achieve.
They could win league and CL this season.
So are you able to explain the “fresh ideas “ are or how they actually relate to Arsenal?
Yes David, I will. He has come in and made them title and cup contenders. And has improved them from Klopp. In less than one season. No BS phases.
Reggie
Your post is totally hypothetical.
Liverpool have been contenders for years under Klopp. They were again contenders again last year, overlooked mainly because of the strength of MC and Arsenal. If MC’s implosion had occurred last season Liverpool would have competed with us for the title.
As usual, Mr Reggie comes up with these unreasonable comments due to his agenda against Arteta.
We will see how hypothetical in about two months. Neither of you will bet me I am wrong. And David, whst are you smoking?
And David hypothetical is saying Arteta is a top coach and can not be replaced. When he has won nothing and failed every year.
Of course it is hypothetical. Klopp isn’t in charge to prove it one way or the other. It has nothing to do with Arsenal ripping up the league and winning. It’s his team after all and one that was improving last season
Yet some said there was nothing in January that made us better
The arrogance of our fan base is astounding
Finally some are seeing it
I started to question my faith in Arteta when he blamed the ball after we lost to Newcastle.
Yes,injuries and questionable referee decisions haven’t helped as well, but he seriously needs to wake up otherwise all the hard work from past few seasons will be in vain.
Why he keeps falling for the same trap everytime we play Emery,Porter,Howe is mind baffling really. The same can be said about why we haven’t signed a striker and back up for Saka for 3 seasons now when we all can see we badly needed 1.
Let’s hope we get our 2 wingers back and finish the season strongly maybe?
The perspective here is all wrong all I see is Arteta this Arteta that but you all forget there is a whole management team from the Kroenkes to the higher ups they have failed the process by stopping at phase 3 or whatever. Our consistent growth was because of impressive business in the consecutive transfer windows and then at the moment the club needed to finish the job with recruitments the signings of last summer and this winter window were awful. We failed in squad building which was what got us here in the first place. The players on the team just can’t deliver they needed more bodies in players who could come in and threaten Odegaard Rice Saliba Martinelli etc. My 2 cents
The higher ups gave Arteta over 750 million to spend, no accountability over 5 years, and control and decision making over players.
I blame owners for lack of oversight and giving 1 person too much power; like Wenger all over again minus the trophies.
This is on Arteta; his team, his recruitment, his tactics, setup, and play. Maybe now accountability will come to Arteta? Or will he blame the ball again?
What “accountability” are you actually referring to? Keeps getting repeated by certain fans whenever we have a setback.
Once again Arteta has never “blamed the ball”. Although, I expect that you need to keep repeating this falsehood to support your narrative.
It is certainly the case that Arsenal’s squad is not strong enough to amount as good a challenge as we would like. This is a multi faceted issue which is not just about which manager we have. We had a relatively thin squad and unfortunately a lot of injuries.
Also, 5 years with make shift strikers not up to the task, who is accountable for that?
The first backup for Saka in 5 years is Sterling in final hours of transfer window, who is accountable for that?
Or yet another LB, and unnecessary Merino who is more DM than B2B or attacking midfielder, who’s fault is that?
750 million for an unbalanced team, no legit strikers, and they play some of the slowest, blandest, most predictable football I have seen from Arsenal.
If not Arteta’s fault then who? This is his hand picked team, playing his chosen system.
Lastly, Arteta brought up “the ball” after Newcastle match, not the fans or media.
Please if I may ask, what did Arteta spend the 780 millions, on which players???
Disagree greatly. Don’t try to blame the krankies. They have provided the wonga. Don’t try to deflect the real reason. That is they did hire the wrong manager and that is all you can blame them for.
You can’t say they hired the wrong manager when we have finished 2nd two years in a row. But I don’t think he will win the league or anything else at this rate.
I said right at the start, Arteta will not ever win the league. He hasn’t let me down and I bethat is the only mistake the krankies have made.
Believe that is the only mistake
I agree, Reggie. I was on here a couple of years ago declaring my dislike for Arteta and I don’t like him anymore now then I did then. However, I have to begrudgingly respect what he has achieved. All those that state he has done nothing need their heads checking because when was the last time as a fan base we went into each season with belief rather than entitlement.
Ben, my belief each season is, top 4. Arteta has nothing that makes me think success.
Sad to say, our season is over!
Damage limitation from now to the end of the season will be Arteta’s main priority. But should we really expect better after screwing up the last two transfer windows?
Don’t think so. And have we progressed under Areta? Welcome back so the Wegner era when we competed just to make top 4.
Sad but true.
True, only difference is he has spent clos eto a billion to achieve same results.
I still can’t get over the 65m pounds signing of Havertz two seasons ago.
That was the beginning of Arteta’s downfall.
Then this last summer he screws it up and goes to sign a midfielder and left back instead of redeeming his mistake of signing Havertz by signing a lethal and ruthless striker like Gyokeres or Oshimen who were both available for about 70 – 80m pounds.
My faith in Arteta is reducing each passing year.
The season is over now. We won’t get pass PSV without a striker so it’s over to next season now.
He dare not mess the summer window up by not signing a striker again.
So you’re just blaming Havertz? I feel like no one will ever cut the guy some slack unless it smashes 25 league goals but then then they’ll say he should’ve got 30.
No, I don’t blame Havertz.
I blame Arteta for signing him to replace Xhaka in central midfield, then move him up top after he did not perform well in midfield.
We are at the stage where we need a ruthless finisher for us to cross the line and Havertz is definitely not that person.
Think you missed the point SJ was trying to make. Seems quite clear that he wasn’t just blaming KH. He’s blaming MA for messing up
Maybe, but Havertz is not the issue and the poor guy wasn’t even playing in this match and still gets called out for it. Havertz would be great if he had some actual support. Playing false 9 in the 90s with another striker would suit him but that ain’t gonna happen here and now and he can’t replace Odegaard.
Sorry to say Arsenal Fans deseve this, for the Ill treating they gave to Arsene Wenger. AW did so much this club, What did he get from fans? abuse. Where arsenal is today all for Arsene Wenger. I stopped supporting Arsenal when AW left the club.
That very day that ‘Breaking News’ flashed on Sky was the day I ended my fandom and became an observer. Can’t forgive the fan base for the ill treatment. Come to think of it, that season was a relatively strong one contrary to the narrative the media drove. I was confident that Wenger was going to strengthen the team the next season:
League: 15 home wins, 2 draws. Undone by a poor away record:
League cup: runners up.
Europa Leauge: Semi-finalist. Undone by koscielny’s late error vs Athletico.
Well, the rest is history.
Arsene is gone. Yes, he didn’t go at the right time he wanted but at some point he had to go.
We are talking about our present and future success so Wenger has nothing to do with it.
Like many have said before, if AW continued to deliver top 4 he would probably still be our manager. The issue back then was he missed out on top 4 for 2 consecutive seasons at a time when most fans felt so entitled to be in the top 4
Just to show how twisted our human nature is (some of us anyway) you will find most of the Wenger abusers are the biggest Arteta apologists of them all.
Just here on JA over the 5 years I have seen some people saying the worst about Wenger they can think of (example Herr Dier and TMJW) and others try to hide it but it’s obvious when you read between the lines (example Suep) yet treat Arteta like Jesus second coming.
I hope the sin against Wenger won’t continue haunt us for a long time to come.
Go and support Wenger then, who the f cares?
Arsene Wenger still wouldn’t have stayed in the club forever.
He was getting older and approaching retirement age of 65 – 70.
Yes, he is our greatest manager ever but at some point he still had to leave.
He did not want a sporting director that he would answer to so they had to make him leave.
If he had agreed to work with a sporting director he would have stayed for a few more seasons, so he has part of the blame for leaving.
Arsenal were around long time before Wenger and will remain long time after, Arsenal don’t need armchair fans like you.
Juventus who already have a striker in Vlahovic went on to sign Muani on loan in January.
AC Milan got Gimenez for 35m pounds.
So if we had gotten Muani on loan and signed Gimenez for 35m pounds we would have been covered by now.
Muani(LW), Gimenez(ST), Nwaneri(RW)
Trossard comes in from the bench for any of them in the second half.
I choose to believe Kroenke did not want to release funds because Arteta and Edu misused the funds provided to them this past 2 seasons.
I have been a big fan of Arteta.
But 5 years in charge.
We had our chances last 2 seasons.
So close but sad we need a new manager
Seriously sick of Arteta, Arsene Wenger era “Dejavu”.Sick of management and owners. Always an 80% squad, Always missing 2 or 3 main positions and no back ups. 20 years that’s insane. Sadly we keep buying kits, tickets etc…. and we think we support the team we love, but we are supporting the owners pockets and that’s why they don’t care how we feel or be frustrated. We should find a solution and start with not attending games and leave the stadium empty.
Asensio now has 2 PL goals more than Sterling. It took Asensio 2 matches. Hes also on loan.
Rashford now has 2 more PL assists than Sterling. Its his second match for his new side (also on loan).
MA didnt want ”just a body”. He rather uses Merino as striker than were interested in the temporary deals like Kolo Muani, Rashford, Asensio, Morata, Tel etc.
@Dejahu ,I will never understand why we didn’t sign a forward in January when it’s all we needed to put serious pressure on Liverpool
Who is fooling who?
Ive said it before and I’ll say it again. We are NOT in a title race. That ship sailed when the transfer window shut. What we are in is a desperate struggle bto hold on to 4th place. Look at our starting attackers right now. Its one of the worst units in the league.
I like your optimism
Dented is not the correct word unless you believe in major miracles 😂😂
Speaking as a former referee again, I can be sure that Lewis-Skelley should not have been sent off for Denying the Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity DOGSO for short. The crucial test is for the obviousness of the opportunity. There is a Four D test, all four necessary. First Distance between the foul and the goal. The halfway line is way too far from the goal. This failure is enough. Second is distance between the attacker and the ball. Close enough. Third is Direction. Was the attacker headed toward the goal or away. Good enough. Fourth is the number of defenders in the neighborhood. Good enough also. That first failure is enough to reduce the card to yellow. We will see whether this one stands up.
It was a 100% red card. I also speak as an ex ref. He was through on goal, and only the keeper to beat. 100% red card.
Title hopes are doomed, not dented. Arteta should be fired for not getting a striker who can finish in January. He needs to go!
That was the boards decision. Arteta was begging all month for reinforcements.
Lucy78,
Your statement is just not true.
Go back to early January, Arteta when questioned about bringing in a striker, replied no we’ll find the resources from with in the club.
Then in the last week of the window, the club put in a bid for Watkins, and if we’re honest with ourselves we know it was only done to make it look like the club were trying to sign someone. It’s not the first time the club have done it either, they did it under Wenger.
And no doubt they’ll do it again in the future. So, please enough with the Arteta was begging for a striker all month, that was clearly not the case. If it was, Arsenal would have bid for Watkins in the first week of the month, and not the last.
Yet again, someone refuses to hold Arteta to account.🙄🤦♂️
Derek
At the beginning of the transfer window we still had Jesus and Havertz.
By the time the bid for Watkins was made, both of them were out for the season. Why do you consistently avoid mentioning that?
I’m disappointed that nobody got signed to relieve the pressure A loan was the only answer at that stage as buying a stop gap player on an expensive 3/4 year deal could easily mess up the summer plans.
SueP,
You say I consistently forget mention the injury’s to Jesus and Havertz. While I’ll agree that with Jesus’s injury, it highlighted the need for a striker. But in all honesty, with or without Jesus’s injury, we still needed a striker.
And as for you telling me my consistent avoidance concerning Havertz injury, we’ll I’m going to accuse you of conveniently using Havertz injury as an excuse for Arteta. Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Havertz get injured in the boys recent jolly up in Dubai.
Which I believe happened once the window shut. 😉👍🤷♂️
Good catch there Derek. I have found ardent Arteta apologists to be dishonest more often than not.
My mistake Derek regarding Havertz (slapped wrist time and I bow to your superior knowledge) My problem is that I just can’t help apologising for Arteta
What I would like to add is that the loss of Jesus in mid January did prompt the Arteta to seek a back up. My overall point is that somewhere along the line, the club pursued Watkins and someone or others within the club decided not to act beyond that point. That could be Arteta alone or with input from the board. I don’t know, do you? If Arteta at the beginning of January was on about keeping everything within house, I suspect that it was a corporate decision to wait until the summer. I think he would be a fool not to add to the squad if the opportunity was offered.
SueP,
Thank you for your response. You say that if Arteta was offered the opportunity to add to his squad, he would be foolish to turn it down.
Well I would call the man a fool for ignoring the obvious need for a striker over the past three seasons.
All the talk before this season started was we wanted Sesko, but he turned us down. So what does Arteta do, he then totally ignores the fact we still need a striker, and turns his attention to buying the likes of Calafiori and Merino. Two defensive minded players.
Arsenal have improved regarding better finishes under Arteta, but the mistakes he makes in the most part regarding his transfer dealings are laughable at times.
It’s high time he was held to account for these continuing errors.
Now I haven’t got a problem with anyone who happens to like Arteta, that’s their right. The one’s that get me are the ones who seem to like Arteta more than the club.
Remember as fans it’s the club we support, and whether you like him or not, his decisions are hurting the club.
So to the fans out there who appear to like Arteta more than the club, just remember that. 😉👍
I’m afraid I have to take issue with your comments. The fans who also support Arteta are no less a fan of the club and claiming that some are supporting the manager more than club because you have a different perspective on the manager is inappropriate.
Arsenal have contended for the PL even when we were not expected to and we have been up against some of the best teams in world football.
Some balance and perspective is called for.
David,
I stand by my comments. There are definitely fans out there who seem to love Arteta more than the club, that me and you are going to have to agree to disagree on.
And as for your comments regarding us being up against the best teams in the world of football.
Well if your team have any hopes of winning the League, you don’t lose at home to the power house that is West Ham United 2 seasons on the trot, lose and draw at home to Aston villa, and draw at home to Fulham 2 seasons on the trot.
What was that you were saying about best teams and world football again. 🙄🤦♂️🤷♂️
Rubbish
There are so few who have anything at all good to say about Arteta- and that includes you on a regular basis – that anything remotely positive written about him gets us labelled as loving Arteta more than the club. Total rubbish from you Derek. I mean, total bl00dy rubbish.
Hit the nail on the head there mate
I am an Arsenal fan, Arteta is an employee. End of. I have no passion for Arteta but I have gor Arsenal. If he could have took us back to the top, he would gain respect. Until then, he has failed. Employ someone who can.
You are simply reiterating your personal animosity towards Arteta which is silly.
This is not about passion for Arteta. There should be a balanced assessment of what is good for the club. Calling people apologists because they do not agree that’s the manager should be hounded out is unreasonable and thankfully unrealistic.
Obviously he’s going to publicly big his own players up, but he and his team would have been well aware of the mounting problems.
And Arteta said many times during Jan directly and indirectly that we needed someone. That is a fact!
Whilst none of us know for sure who called the shots during Jan, I find it impossible to believe that Arteta was offered players, and that he decided to not sign anyone. No manager would turn down the chance to make their job easier.
So you need to look at the facts, and hold not just Arteta to account. I personally am not bias like many fans, and I have no problem holding him account for the summer.
Lucy78,
You talk about bias and then claim not to be biased, but you clearly are. Your constant defending of Arteta fly’s in the face of your statement.
I stopped believing in Arteta durring his second season. The guy loves to defend too much, his team plays under strict instructions with no freedom for creativity. There is nothing new in all our matches, same tactics same style, he is easily predictable. He is just catching cruise with arsenal. If he leaves arsenal fc, you will hardly hear about him
BB
Spot on with your observationa. The person…i dhave such a low regard for him so much that using man is high praise….is such a control freak that ALL our players have regressed badly under him. He appears to dislike creativity that our players in frobt of ball ALWAYS heaitates to remember his instructions. We only score when they play their natural way.
But sadly, its the end of wenger period again
Our squad from the beginning is unbalanced.
Havertz* – Jesus*
Martinelli* – Trossard
Odegaard – Nwaneri
Saka – Sterling*
Rice – Merino*
Partey – Jorginho
Calafiori* – Zinchenko*
Gabriel – Kiwior*
Saliba – Timber
White – Tomiyasu
Raya – Neto
That’s Arleta’s first and second team listed above and 8 of them are on asteriks and those 8 players are not very good at the positions they play in.
This shows that Arteta has signed wrongly for the past 5 years.
He needs to start correcting his mistakes from this summer.
When you put it like that, it actually doesn’t look quite so bad apart from the striker situation. The only *s I #fully# agree with would be sterling and zinchenko – and zinchenko is well below 2nd choice left back (I’d have him below timber, Tomi and calafiori at the start of the season, and now Skelly as well). Not to say the front two and some of the others are ideal – far from it, but at their best, they work well enough in their primary positions.
The most serious problems with the squad are 1) how many of those players have had injury problems and 2) the fact we don’t even have a third player who could cover CF even half as well as our less-than-ideal strikers as a last resort.
You make some good points. Some of us have said that we have a relatively thin squad.
A fully fit Arsenal squad would be competitive against any team in world football. However, to consistently mount a challenge for the biggest titles we need upgrades in a number of positions; and more options.
Except Haverz and Jesus are NOT strikers. Martinelli is a headless chicken. Odergaard has regressed. Neto is on loan and has looked dodgy. Saliba has looked like he has struggled. Strangely Timber has gone backwards. Stirling, Zinchenko, kiwior and Merino are not good enough. And our best LB doesn’t even figure.
Hmmmm…very quiet on the arteta apologists front today. Even they cant find excuses for the dross display.
Why change a winning team?? Its not the players. Its the tactics….or lack of….using the same style of play against every team….so end of wenger days like. And like eow, stubborn and arrogant. Plays not to lose instead if to win. Then wonders why its so hard to score.
I hear they’re talking of changing the club’s name. Bedwetters United.
Did any of you bladder-challenged chumps ever stop to think…
When was the last time a club sacked a manager of a club who finished 2nd in the PL last season and are currently 2nd in the PL in the current season. And being in the last 16 of the CL…
I think I know the answer. Could it be…. Never?
Do you ever stop to think about who decides which players are bought? That’s why the director of football role was invented, to take the power away from coach/manager roles who in the past often left clubs with a bunch of mis-matched players for the next manager.
So how much of a miss is it when Edu leaves as he did, at the time he did?
No, of course, it doesn’t enter your thoughts, does it? All you can think about is drooling over shiny trophies.
Every time I read this site I end up feeling less interested in football as I leave it – not long after – shaking my head in disbelief.
Well there is a few examples of finishing 2nd or better and getting sacked the next season if you can’t progress
It’s true that some teams have historically done this. However, there are a limited number of top level teams that can afford to operate in this way.
Neutral,
Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t Chelsea once sack a manager who won the League one season. And Real Madrid sacked a manager who won the Champions League with them.
That shoots down your argument right there.🤦♂️
We were doomed from the moment Edu and Arteta commit criminal negligence with the planning of the squad.
I thing the Kroenkes were not prepared to spend more money in the last transfer window in view of the bad decisions made by the pair. I also thing they are content with the top 4 position. Hopefully we can keep it!
Problem with some of our fanbase is that they’re not realistic because they refuse to accept the current circumstances.
We’ve had a colossal injury crisis all season, no striker for the second half of the season and FIVE red cards so far, three in the first half of games, which must be a EPL record! And the board through everyone, including Arteta, under the bus in January.
Yet some think we should still be competing or even ahead of Liverpool!
I was laughed at for saying, forget the title, we’ll struggle to make the top 4 now, but you can see why. Struggled to create against a poor Leicester and West Ham teams, and already 3 points dropped since this striker-less period has begun.
And we laugh at what you have put. Lets take just this game for context. We were playing Wet Spam, who incidentally lost their main striker, to a road accident, lost 3 of their last 4 games, drawing 1, near the bottom of the table, at home, fully fit defence, fully fit midfield and a decent wide attack put out. We were missing a striker but Arteta hasn’t played with one for at least 3 years. Even this game our team value was somewhere around 600mil pounds and Wet spam value around 250 mil pounds. And you want to still find lame excuses. I don’t mind but lets put it in context.
So because of squad value, we should have won then? What are you smoking?
Given your twisted reasoning, please then explain to me how City and Chelsea are getting on this season, in relation to their squad value? Cannot wait to hear this!
Also, regardless of squad value, and how good a team is – if you’re missing multiple key players, have a position you cannot even fill with a specialist, then that will weaken any team, and handicap any manager. And in relation to this game, a man less for the last half an hour.
Somehow it’s ALL Arteta’s fault. 5 red cards where we have dropped 10 points, that’s down to Arteta’s! Wow! A crazy injury crisis – blame Arteta as well.
I wonder if Slot got 5 reds in his remaining games, and lost Trent, Salah, VVD, McAllister and others to big injuries, and they missed out on the title, if that would be all Slot’s fault?
Complete and utter waffle. We had better ( supposedly) players on the pitch. The team was still expensively assembled. WH had cast offs and free transfers. Players who would never get in our team and beat us comfortably. We were sent out with the wrong way to beat a ramshackle WH. No excuses. Arteta is not helping this team one iota.
And you haven’t referenced anything about a poor WH team. Because thats what they are.
And regards to your TWISTED logic. Slot wont probably find himself with all these errors of judgement and coaching because he is a better MANAGER.
You didn’t answer my question, I wonder why?
Reggie
As you know I listened to the game and only saw minimal highlights later. It wasn’t a great performance from any area on the pitch and West Ham were able to exploit our lack of bite, soak up any pressure and then counter attack.
You have implied that our wide attack was decent but the reality is the opposite. as whether you like Havertz and Jesus or not, they are our 2 unavailable main attackers. The Merino goals last week got us out of jail and suddenly we think he’s a striker. The reminder of this season is going to be extremely difficult.
We generally sit on different sides of the fence regarding Arteta. I’ll grant you that this season has been more structured and slow, but to say that in the previous 2 seasons we were devoid of good football is wrong imo. Not always good but mostly much, much better. The league positions and goals scored must count for something. It was the mentality at the end which was so devastating.
You asked me if I would have wanted any of the Liverpool players and I didn’t think I did. The ones I would covet were covered by Saka and Saliba. Both VVD and Salah have remained fit and Salah is having an awesome season. I looked on every site I could, and nowhere have Liverpool been subjected to the same level of injuries to key players as Arsenal (not even at the beginning as those injured were not necessarily starters).
Whilst a lot of money has been spent, it’s part and parcel of renewal. Other clubs are also spending.
Sue the team was not that weak or poir. Truth is it did not perform. It was flat, it was slow and it was lacking ideas. That team was good enough to win and it did not. Not for the first time, we are searching for excuses for an innept manager.
Poor.
I still fail to see, what Arteta is bringing to the team, except expensive players.
It clearly didn’t perform. I’ll judge Arteta at the end of the season and if he’s still got the backing of the club, what the transfer window looks like. Just as important is who the board bring in to takeover Edu’s role. I thought it was all very fishy. I’m not going down the route of being careful about what you wish for as 3 years ago that was my opinion and to an extent, still holds true . As I say, I’ll have to see what transpires. The title is gone and a lot will depend on how Saka and Martinelli cope on their return. Some serious soul searching required before season 25/26. I’m just not in favour of Arteta out now conversations
Interesting Sue. What do you expect at the end of the season to satisfy you? What makes you think next season is going to be different?
I have kept an open mind all along about Arteta and where we are as a club. You closed yours a long time ago regarding him and as much as I am called out as an apologist, I have tried not to jump too quickly into the fire and ending up wishing the opposite had happened. I think that I tried to put that observation in my post above. I think it demeans any writer to call another person with a different opinion an apologist
My points about who we sign and who we move on, as well as what happens with Edu’s role is all part of that process.
Asking me what would be satisfactory depends on how we finish the season. There isn’t a team in the league apart from Liverpool who look likely as results are not following the norm. Injuries, not just our own, have played havoc and the beneficiary has been Liverpool who have escaped the worst and also have a very good squad. All the other contenders are not stepping up, in my view largely because the injuries. Nobody is giving Liverpool a run for their money and frequently a team that does well one week, falls off a cliff the following. Lets see if Arsenal can muster up a revival to see off the chasing pack.
Sue from the start, I was not happy with Artetas appointment because I thought it was wrong. I couldn’t see how he could lead us to league titles or top 4. BUT we are top 4 material BUT I didn’t expect the expenditure and still do not understand the logic of spending like we have on a manager with no experience of winning the league or CL. Without the expenditure, I would be happy to where Arteta has taken us. With it, tge demands from me (and many others) is win the thing NOW. I don’t see a set up that can win us what we should. I feel all this money (and it isn’t never ending) will have been wasted. I just don’t see Arteta has what it takes. We are wasting our time now and the years are ticking away. Plus I am getting to the stage where I hate the way we play, it is so pedestrian. I want my Arsenal back. Arteta is not doing that. He has had long enough.
For a team to be a consistent challenger for major titles you have to spend money. Teams like Liverpool and MC had a major head start if you consider where we were 5-6 years ago.
There were many who doubted Arteta from the beginning but he has outlasted some great managers at other top teams. Why is that? Have you considered that other big teams such as MU and Chelsea have also spent huge and are struggling to make the CL?
To expect any manager to take us from where we were to challenge for the PL without spending is unrealistic. Even then it is never possible to guarantee that you would win when you are up against other top teams. Liverpool have put together a great season up till now. Salah, who is already an all time great, is putting together one of the greatest PL seasons we have every seen. In the last few years we have also been up against one of the PL greatest sides.
We are all disappointed in how the season is panning out but the demands you are making are unreasonable and unrealistic. It is also increasingly clear that there are a bunch of fans like you who are not at all fair in the assessment of the challenges we have faced this season.
David yet again, you are making apologies for Arteta and they are not backed up or true. Arteta has had more money than ANY other manager. He has gone 5 years and not a sniff of a trophy. Two abortive attempts and twice throwing the league from positions of strength is his only clame to any fame. Forget any other comparisons. Arteta has done NOTHING special with tge money thrown at it. What has he won? Where is the quality football? Why are we so boring to watch? How many more excuses are you going make to cover up his ineptitude? Arteta is not that great!!!!!
5 bloody years and NO CIGAR. Get real.
All the apologist forgive him for our injury issues BUT his buys have got injured upon arrival…..timber, calafiori, merino,…then rice, white, havertz, odegaard…AND saka. I get unreasonably criticised for blaming injuries on the manager but if it wasnt for the tactics, a coincidence?? End of era Wenger never had a full squad but notice the same style of play with now? Coincidence??
An awful lot of money has been spent in the past 5 years and a lot of it unwisely. For me, I think buying Havertz as our main striker for £65m plus around £14m per year for, I believe, 5 years has come round to haunt us. It cannot have been based on the data because he has never been a prolific striker. I made a similar comment when we bought him. He reminds me of Darwin Nunez, great technical ability, hardworking but little end product. But Liverpool have Salah, that’s the difference. If we do finish in second place that would be a good result based on our current line up. I don’t believe Arteta will be sacked unless we have a catastrophic end to the season. Perhaps those who are calling for his head can suggest his replacement? It’s not easy, ask Man U, Chelsea and Spurs.
But we are not replacing a great manager? Quote the failures but dont quote the successful one, Liverpool. Chelsea have had their manager less than a season. And I repeat, we would not be replacing the irreplaceable. He been underwhelming for me. He most definitely has not overachieved. I for one don’t see why we should be so desperate to keep him. He is on top top money producing average to poor results. Our cup results are testament to that. He has not and will not lead us to the promised land.
I didn’t call him a great manager I merely gave my opinion on why I don’t believe he will be dismissed by the board. I could have added that he has been given a new contract so a change will be a costly business and as long as Arteta keeps them in the UCL they will be happy. You’re absolutely right that Slot is the only ONE success in the recent managerial merry-go-round which implies the difficulty in finding the right replacement. And like you I have always supported the club first and foremost, managers and players come and go and so far Arteta has not impressed me and it appears he has taken HIS team as far as his ability allows. But I still do not believe he will be replaced at the end of the season.
So what would be your plan for Arsenal’s progress? A number of so-called fans here have no real plan. Their suggestion is to just replace the manager. Yet you have just highlighted the relatively low yield of replacing managers. Many managers who have already had great success in their careers have struggled to make the expected impact at other top PL clubs.
As for the criticism of the spending, consider that despite spending around £200m in the last transfer window MC have been taken apart by other top sides in recent weeks.
Chelsea have spent upwards of £1b in recent seasons yet are also struggling with their striking options.
Don’t ever change the manager then. Give MA a 20 year contract. That would be the best plan
I merely stated the difficulties and risks involved in replacing a manager. Also the Kroenkes are probably happy Arteta is keeping the team in the top 4 and hence a UCL spot – it’s just $ to them. It’s not for me to suggest how we progress, I haven’t a clue and I suspect neither have you.
As to my point on overspending in the past, I referred to Havertz in particular. Man City spent £180m on young players planning ahead for next season and beyond having spent little or nothing in the last summer window. They don’t make too many mistakes nor do they over value a player. They are just better at recruitment than us, do you think they would have paid £65m for Havertz or taken Sterling back on loan?
I agree with your assessment of the Kroenkes
I also agree that they don’t often make glaring mistakes but in recent times Kalvin Phillips at £42m has been money down the drain. It also strikes me that they overpaid for Grealish in 2021 as he’s not really established himself as a regular starter for £100m. I’m actually one of a small group who is generally happy with Havertz although his price tag was a bit steep coupled with his salary package. I think it will be interesting to see how City fare next season with de Bruyne almost certainly going.
Bringing in a new manager would mean replacing one of Europe’s top managers whether the naysayers like it or not. Liverpool are the only team that keep getting referenced in these attempts to discredit Arteta. There is no easy route and we have seen great established managers struggle when things were not set up very well for them. Slot has done well but it is quite clear that he walked into a great setup.
Top managers !
😂😂
Dan Kit,
If Arteta is one of Europe’s best managers, then were really in trouble. 🙄🤦♂️🤷♂️
How on earth can you say he is one of the top managers?🤣🤣🤣🤣 What has he done ? What team has he built that has won something? What cup competition has he even gone any distance in and done well? Do top managers cock up time after time? What are you on?
Is that you Arteta?
Any manager could have done what Arteta has or more to the point hasn’t done.
Hahaha
I’m so tempted to say you’re high on some expired drugs but my home training won’t let me. Arteta is one of Europe’s top managers, really? How? Since when?
Since David said so. Forget all the top managers who have won leagues and CLs they are no good. Throw leagues and bomb in the cups and David loves ya.
Yet he thinks people here call him an apologist just because of differing views. Just look at all his posts. Every single one exhibits classic apologist rhetoric but god forbids anyone calls him an Arteta apologist
Apologist is Just Arsenal’s current buzz word. Best to ignore it and it’ll go away, like the trolls here.
Liverpool just hired Slot, top of champions league table, top of premier league’s table, still in FA cup, still in Carabao cup. What bullocks are you talking about? For how will arsenal fc remain a laughing stock because of one clueless guy
Lost to Plymouth in the FA Cup
Again, apologists go on about who can we get as a manager…. as an aussie, we could tell you that Ange would be a sucess in his 1st year then bomb after that. Just too stubborn. He wasnt a sucess but has met expectations, just shows EPL IS the strongest in the world. Cant use chelski as we all know its just laundering for them BUT if they dont burn and slash again, they will be a threat. 2 trophies under Ten Haag, one a.year, not a poor return compared to 1 in 5 yrs but shows the clubs ambition eh?
Who heard of arne slot 6 months ago? Names??……er Zidane, Klopp, Xavi, Allegri, Mancini, Low, Benitez, Sarri, Terzic, Fonseca….even (gag) Southgate but if it was the last, I’d burn my membership and finally have proper weekends. As it is, cards in the bin but love for the club keeps the agony going
Don’t worry everyone, we will get back our injured personnel next year and add 1 striker and be ready to go with our THIN squad!
Will add, Mikel will break more players next year too, and AFC will fall further down the table.
Admint Martin:
Where is my comment?
You made a mistake logging in and so it was held in moderation as all first posts are.
Just to rub it in, word is that Obi Martin looked good making his 20 minute Manure debut. My gut feeling is we are going to have many,” if only memories for letting this guy get away. As one of the ” bladder challenged”, cry babies I think some one is a mug punter if they clearly can’t point the finger of blame for who is responsible for allowing this season to fizzle. What a waste.
20 Attempts on goal, only 2 on target. These are meant to be professional Footballers. Now while I accept we won’t score from all attempts, the amount of times we miss the target completely is criminal in football terms.
You’ve got to at least have a better rate at hitting the target and making the opposition keeper work at the very least. It didn’t just happen yesterday either, it’s a consistent theme, even when we have our full squad.
5 Opportunity’s to close the gap on Liverpool, only 1 opportunity taken. And even then we gave the 2 points back to them in the next game.
Just think people, at the end of today there’s a strong chance that we’ll be 11 points behind Liverpool, going into a weekend where we had a massive opportunity to get within 5 points and put the pressure on them going into the City game.
As for Skelly, there’s no defending him this time I’m afraid, not that it won’t stop some trying to defend him no doubt. Out will come the comment, Oh he’s only young he’ll learn. As wrong as the first red card was at Wolves’, someone needs to coach him on when to tackle and leave well lone, or we could be faced with him spending more time suspended than playing.
And finally, a comment on my favorite manager. Arteta said that he was very angry after the game, well I would just like to say to you Mr. Arteta, welcome to the fans world. A lot of us have been angry for a good part of this season.
As regular followers on here will know, I’m not and never have been an Arteta fan, and I never will be if I’m honest.
But I have said it before, and I’ll say it again, and no doubt I’ll say it again in the future. This club will never, I repeat never win the League with this man in charge. It’s just never going to happen.
At the end of another trophy less season, I personally hope the club grow a backbone, and get rid of Arteta, and he can then take his phases and Win the dog with him. 🙄🤦♂️🤷♂️😣
It’s not Arteta fault, blame the owners, fine, but the current malaise is not Arteta or the players fault, it’s the ownership and the director of football.
Blame the owners??? Yes, but only for the fact they are allowing this novice to continue. Which sane business man would spend 750 mil and continue a loss making exercise?
👍
Rice didn’t perform against West Ham, he must be cracked of this nonsense loyalty to West Ham, when Eddie plays against us, even though we were a major part of getting him where he is, he tries even harder to score against us. This is all on the ownership. Arteta and the players were saying they needed player in the January transfer window, if they were saying this publicly then, they must have been pleading with the ownership in summer as well. Realistically, the only striker we could get was Ollie Watkins, and the ownership didn’t think he was worth 60 million, even though things probably would’ve looked a lot better now.
Gmv8,
What a short memory you have. Rice scored away to West Ham last season, so if your suggesting that Rice has a conflict of interests versus West Ham, that rather fly’s in the face of it I think.
It’s not Arteta fault, blame the owners, fine, but the current malaise is not Arteta or the players fault, it’s the ownership and the director of football.
Whole game was sickening.the worst part was being blessed with two free kicks at the end of the game.in perfect position for left footer.Ode passes back to Saliba instead of curling into box.then edge of box lets sterling take it. What are you doing?captain?Arteta call for that?
Gmv8,
What are you talking about. Now I’m not the owners biggest fan by a long way. But in this instant, I’ll stand up for them.
They’ve fully backed Arteta with the funds to buy players, but when Arteta then goes and wastes millions on the likes of Jesus, Zinchenko, Kiwior, Havertz, Calafiori, Merino, and then laughably gets Sterling in on loan.
With all that money wasted, you then have the cheek to blame the owners and director of football, and don’t in any way hold Arteta to account. That sums up what’s wrong with some of the fanbase of this club.
They continually refuse to hold Arteta to account, no matter what he does. Some even appear to love him more than the club.
Your are having a laugh, right?
players who are supposed to be loyalists to Mikel have deserted him in crucial moments. rice favored more his parent club wh. ex man city players like zinchenko sterling jesus try to find every excuse to evade their responsibilities. i did not expect rice to be too soft hearted to irons preferring them to winning the title in his life time. ex cities are dead woods in fact. dispose them all at once. delusional rice thought he paid all his dues by last season performance. moreover who once said you can not win with kids. right saying at this moment in time considering skelly’s and nwaneri’s inconsistent outputs.
We were doomed from the moment Arteta and Edu confectioned the squad; they were very negligent. In 5 years they made many mistakes and now we are suffering the consequences.
The club needs to appoint a very good SD to correct the way Arteta is conducting business.
Arsenal are doomed. We are second in the PL??
City are getting destroyed so bad like they never stood a chance. League is well and truly dusted for Liverpool. I only hope we can hold onto 2nd spot till the end and then get a striker, winger and Odegaard replacement coz man’s been rubbish for months.
May be Arteta and the management know football, they don’t know human body. A team with 6 proper forwards, Liverpool (Saha, Nunez, Gapko, Jota, Diaz and Chiesa) lasts longer than a team with 5 proper fwds with one injury prone (Jesus) (Nwaneri was too young at thw start of the season).
Lols
It’s funny how everyone are now talking about the cluelessness and how raw and crude Arteta is in coaching. From my records, Arteta has spent just a little below £1b to build this current team. I’m not talking about salaries, I mean transfer fees. But because of his cluelessness, Arsenal have only managed to be second best. Tell me how stupid someone can be. Zaka, Martileni, Jesus, etc., were all injured before the January transfer window. What did Arteta do? He thought he can do magic without a striker or forward players. After all the money spent, look at our bench, mediocre at best. Now arsenal is out of Carabao cup, out of FA cup, out of premier league, is it the UCL that we’re gonna win?
Talk about a joke of a club I have one here for you….
Wenger fell victim to money scraping ownership, we then went through a terrible period of mediocrity before we got Arteta. Yes he is not perfect, but Guardiola is supposed to be the best ever, and he’s having problems. It is ridiculous to say get rid of Arteta, we will end up like the Spuds.
Gmv8,
Guardiola has had one bad season. Look at his previous seasons, I think he’s got quite a bit of credit from his success, for the fans to let this season slip.
It seems to me that you are determined to defend Arteta no matter what. 1 trophy in five years, Guardiola one bad season and you use him as an example to defend Arteta.
Laughable, absolutely laughable.🙄🤦♂️
We are doing better under Arteta, than we’ve done since 2003/4 under Wenger. Everyone wanted Wenger out then, and we did terribly until Arteta arrived. Football has changed a lot since 2003/4, there are a lot of foreign billionaires willing to spend big, and we didn’t have a sniff of the EPL championship, between then and when Arteta arrived, so will everyone stop complaining about him.
No!!!!
Yess!!!!!!! You are living in a fantasy land. Arteta is not the problem, just like the Spuds had all those great managers, but they weren’t the problem, it was Levy., now no decent manager will go to them, which is why they are keeping hold of Postecoglou.
Of course he is tge problem. Look at our cup record. Look at the awful way we play football. His refusal to buy a proper striker for 3 years. His lack of flexibility. The fact we have massive holes in the squad. The fact he only wants god loving, mummy loving players. The fact he has won zilch for 5 years. The fact he has done nothing exceptional. Of course he is the proplem.
Lets get a manager who will actually achieve something. Like the Liverpool manager.
Reggie your wasting your time going back and forth with Gmv8.
Sadly he’s been infected with the Arteta can do no wrong bug. And sadly it seems to be terminal. 🤷♂️
Not in the real world.
Gmv8, please check yourself in at your local medical center and have yourself examined. Something might be wrong somewhere if you think. “If you believe. We are doing better under Arteta, than we’ve done since 2003/4 under Wenger”
after city v liverpool match i checked if ARSENAL official website sent congratulatory text to liverpool fc on winning the 2024 25 epl title but they have not yet done that. maybe they will do that after Arteta conducted appraisal meeting with his players when they meet on monday morning as he told us in his post west ham interview. yes rodri you thankfully told us well the thing is here …ya mental hurdle!
Hey….cant have you bagging a fellow aussie….Ange will come good…..one day, when he steps off his high horse and admit he isnt 50% right..at least he has won titles. Has our novice? Ever admitted his errors or won titles?
Gunner,
While I hear what your saying, if you can’t win titles with Celtic in Scotland. Come on now.🤦♂️