Arteta has assembled a young Arsenal team to grow into winners

We all know that Mikel Arteta was the captain of Arsenal back in the Wenger days, and he saw how Le Prof would nurture young players into the squad having trained them to play the Arsenal Way.

We all know that Wenger was handicapped by paying for the Emirates Stadium loans, so the only way he could compete with the rich moneybags teams (mostly Man United in his day) was by buying potential and famously pointing out “Arsenal don’t buy stars, we make them”.

well, it seems to me that Arteta is trying to do the same thing, and he has invested heavily in bringing in a lot of young players that could potentially stay together for years and grow into title winners if coached correctly.

This summers purchases are clearly pointing in that direction, with Ramsdale 23, Tomiyasu 23, Odegaard 22, Lokonga 21, Tavares 21 and Ben White 23.

He has also given long term contracts to talented academy graduates like Saka 19, Smith-Rowe 21, and Balogun 21.

Gabriel 23 was signed last summer on a long term contract, and extensions have been given to Tierney 24, Martinelli 20, Holding 25 – and Arteta persuaded Maitland-Niles 24 to stay as part of the squad.

There are more than enough youngsters there to have a core of the side for many more years to come, and if Thomas Partey 28 and Granit Xhaka 28 can stay fit and be the calming influences.

So it is obvious that this is a building plan for the future, and hopefully the new arrivals will gel quickly with the existing youngsters and we can start building a winning mentality very soon.

As Arteta said: “You can see and tell from the recruitment that we’ve done and the really young squad that we have at the moment and it cannot happen overnight.”

So, can we just show just a modicum of patience and let Arteta and his youngsters grow together.

No matter how hysterical you geet, we are NOT going to get relegated, and we have more than enough talent to get us into the Top Six.

Be Patient…

94 Comments

  1. I am taking snapshot of this post. Really gonna rub the salt to your face when this project will fail 100 percent cause all our signings are below par bunch of losers. Our club will be below 10th place. Arteta will be sacked, Edu most probably pocketed millions by signing avg duds. That day will be very cruel for you my friend.

      1. How many players does he need in order to prove his worth?
        He signed:
        Willian
        Gabriel
        Mari
        Cedric
        Partey
        Runarsson
        Ramsdale
        Lokonga
        Odegaard
        Tavares
        Tomiyasu
        Any good manager who can be given a chance to sign 12 players, win definitely challenge for the league. Unlike Arteta who is sitting bottom of the log.

    1. ” all our signings are below par bunch of losers ” ?

      Constructive – not.

      White
      Odegaard
      Lokonga
      Tavares
      Ramsdale
      Tomiyasu

      Not necessarily the breadth and “names” that many of the fan base would have called for, given the outlay.

      However for me, overall good additions – but are we “right” still …. no.

      But ” below par bunch of losers ” – I think not, a rather pathetic statement really.

      Player who has taken the eye to date – oh, let me think for a second a certain “Sambi Lokonga” ( a loser apparently) !

      If you don’t “rate” our new players, just say so in reasonable language – and giving your reasons would be nice.

      Welcome to The Arsenal boys, all the very best one and all.

      1. AJ, it is clear to the minority of deeper thinking and true fans on here who are against childish rants and hysteria , that reasoned argument and balanced articles are becoming as rare as hens teeth.

        As a person who tries to foresee happenings before they become obvoius to all, I say this to Ad PAT:
        “Pat, your site is rapidly losing quality of proper debate and will continue to do so, while you allow constant doom mongers to post essentially the same article – albeit slightly rephased- by such ranters as Konstantin, daily.

        I advise you to let him and his ilk know in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, that constant virtual repeats of the same unthinking, unbalanced article wil no longer be welcomed.

        I note Pat that your own article on JA right NOW, is as different in tone and quality from Konstantins cheap rant as it is possible to be .

        I will not remain long term on a site that constantly regurgitates the same old repetitive rubbish. I predict others who share my intense dislike of childish rants will also leave. And what will your site be worth then??

        1. Jon,

          If you think that FOR ONE MOMENT that I would consider censoring the opinions of my readers and writers, then you obviously don’t know me as well as I thought you did. I am certainly not a “doom monger” as you call Konstantin but… ‘I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it,’ (As long as it’s not abusive, sexist, racist, etc. lol)

          First of all you want me to ban transfer rumours, now you want me to ban negative articles. Shall I only post stories you agree with, and change the name to justJonFox?

          1. Now that is wisdom there Jon. You can learn a thing or two from Pat in your quest for truth.

            In my early days of commenting I thought Pat was authoritarian but over time I have learnt to respect him and the way he runs the site. In my life as Arsenal fan JA has become part of it and I believe I am not the only one in that.

            You keep threatening to leave the site as if that will have any impact to it. You may be overestimating yourself or to borrow your only words, delusional.

            Regular contributors will come and go, that is the way of the Internet. Since I started commenting there was always a Dan Kit in every article but now he is not there.

            A few months back I was browsing JA through the Internet Archive to see how it has been throughout the years and there was none of the current contributors except for Dotash and to my surprise, GAI!

          2. Jon Fox you do not respect opinion and if it is different to yours sling the insults. You are what people would call a bully and what Jon Fox says is what it is and excepts nothing that contradicts that.

          3. Ad PAT you completely miss the precise point I so clearly made about articles that are constant repeats of the same article, albeit slightly differently phrased.

            I said nothing about banning opinions or articles; JUST NOT TO ALLOW CONSTANT REPEATS. WHY DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND PLAIN ENGLISH?
            I PERSONALLY STAND FOR FREE SPEECH FOR ALL, BUT NOT THE SAME “ARTICLE”, TIME AFTER TIME, AFTER TIME, ATFER TIME,THREE TIMES DAILY AFTER MEALS!!!

            You will drive all the serious thinkers away if you go on in this silly way !

        2. Jon, nice comments. But dont you think even qfter saying these a few times, you still come back for more? Not only you, many people like AJ, Ken, Sean, Grandad, Ozzie, David, Andrew, Declan, SueP and many other senior, respected Sirs and Ma’ams visit the site and give their opinions. AdPat must be doing something right then, don’t you think?

        3. Jon – you of all people should champion freedom of speech and opinion. Whilst I echo your view regarding many of the postings, I feel they are simply reflections of our club’s current serious plight and a general fan disillusionment with management.
          I find here a longstanding core of contributing readers with varying viewpoints that far outnumbers any other Arsenal site I have frequented. Readers are loyal, comment almost on a daily basis, and by and large put their points intelligently and eloquently. Opinions may differ, but respect remains, as does our common obsession!
          I can’t see many of us leaving probably the busiest and most opinionated Arsenal forum out there. Far better to either fight our corner from within as you have done here, or simply ignore those postings we consider either fatuous or subversive.

          1. GUY I do not sharewv you view at all I passinatewly want as many DIFFERENT articles as this site can get But my comment referred to the SAME ARTICLE TIME AFTEWR TIME , but simply SLIGHTLY rephrased to give the appearance of adifferent artive ,m while in realis saying th e same thing constsntly Ther are only so many times an intelligent thinker can read the same article without getting cheesed off and bored . I long for NEW and proper opinions that say something we have not already read many times, but that rarely happens.

            My philosophy if I do not like a service or product is not to walk silently away, never to appear again, BUT to let the business owner know how poor that product/ service is.

            That owner is PAT and I TRUST YOU NOW UNDERSTAND MY PHILOSOPHY.

            My frustration with PAT, whom I have emailled many times over the years with my views, is that he either ignores my email OR chooses to misrepresent what I say in the court of popular opinion.

            Indeed Guy, just above this post he has once again chosen to misunderstand my PRECISE point. That misunderstanding was, IMO, deliberate , as he is clearly an intelligent and able man, and not a fool.
            I now ask you to understand my point about CONSTANT EFFECTIVE REPEATS and not misrepresent what I say above or traduce my perfectly clear view, by distorting it.

    2. Are you really wishing and praying we fail just to see Arteta and Edu fail so you could be right and say I told you so…

      What does that make you ?!
      #smh.

    3. Yup! Saka and ESR will leave in a few years just like Fabregas and Nasri and RVP. The only reason Ramsdale came here is to use us as a stepping stone get into the world cup squad for England.

      Can’t believe some arsenal fans are actually excited, it’s only going to get worse. We are officially a midtable team for the foreseeable future unless there are some drastic changes in the ownership and management.

      1. Vinai talks about developing young players for the future. What future did Saliba, Guendouzi, Martinelli, AMN and Willock have at Arsenal.
        Saliba has had one game against Milton Keynes, before being loaned out again and Kolasinac, Chambers and Holding being considered better CB’s. Under Unai Emery Guendouzi was bought for £8 million and at the end of the first season was rated one of the best young midfielders in Europe valued at £40 million. Now he is on loan to Marseille, has been selected for the French squad and with an option to buy for a measly £9 million. Similarly Martinelli under Emery scored 9 goals as a CF, what has he done under Arteta? AMN declared at the start of the season he was happy to play RB. Despite playing a leading role in the FA Cup run, AMN can’t get a look in.
        As for Willock he went on loan to Newcastle United, performed under Steve Bruce, increases his value and is sold on.
        The Vinai “project” for developing youth is failing these players.

        1. Spot on OzzieGunner. The facts speak for themselves. We need a proper coach who creates a squad spirit. It is clearly not there as the best players are not played. Why don’t we sell Chambers as he is not of the level? I am really worried also about our goals output. Preseason was really poor and we can’t expect our youngsters so short scoring regularly.

    4. The problem Arsenal has isn’t the manager, Edu, nor even the Kroenke’s, it is fans like you who project their own loser mentality onto the club. Unfortunately, Arsenal have attracted quite a few of these in recent years.

      If you can’t do the one thing that a fan should do, which is to support, then you’re better off finding another club that can satisfy your deep rooted inadequacies.

    5. Thank God other fans are not like you Lola. While many of us are critical of Arteta you have gone one step further and decided how awful our new signings are before they have kicked a ball. Wow you are talented.

    6. Yeah, that’s it! Keep the faith. Have we not watched our team over the recent years come 2nd/3rd/ 4th best or even worse last season? Where are the real supporters when times are not so good? Also, we do NOT have the money from our owners to buy the finished “stars” that the league winners have, so the alternative is our only option. Buy youngsters with a good ability, then develop them into an unbeatable force who will remain loyal for a good many years to come. This may well be Arteta’s plan so, let us give him the time to show this. What exactly have we got to lose?

  2. I think this window shows we are going down another ‘youth project’ the and fans are rightly sceptical about another ‘youth project’ as we’ve been here before. First we had the era of Fabregas 2006-2011 where we did well to finish top 4 and had some what of a title push 2007-2008 where injuries derailed us and 2010-2011 Injuries again but ultimately put the nail in the coffin was the collapse after the shock defeat to Birmingham in the Carling Cup final, remember there was talk about doing the quadruple at that time! Then there was the ‘British core’ era which didn’t quite work out either. Bottom line is there wasn’t enough ‘Top quality’ experience to support the talented youngsters especially in the earlier Emirates era. Fast forward to the present and it looks like we are about to repeat the same mistakes by resting our hopes on Saka S. Rowe etc which adds unnecessary pressure on their shoulders when we should have proper experienced leaders to lead the way and I’m not talking about Xhaka or Elneny or Auba or Laca…

    1. @ 03 gooner

      You can agree to me that the failures of the youth project of years back was bcos Wenger had a salary cap for his top players and also a policy of offering only a year to 30 plus players while a need to sell players to repay stadium debts all these contributed to our top players leaving.

      In this new era top players are paid well like all top clubs, we give long contracts to our experience heads and there is no need to sell players to raise fund like before.

      My only concern is, will Arteta and his coaching crew be able to develop these players to super stars, if yes then we are in save hands and good to go for the foreseeable future.

  3. Don’t forget about Moller, who could be promoted if Martinelli, Nketiah and Balogun can’t perform well as CF

    1. If Arteta project “process” did not yield enough dividends via good results and league position in time, my fear is will this talented youthful players stick around? Clubs will come for them. And no one can bet on Arsenal not selling. The reality is Arsenal board won’t be patient with Arteta for long? Only A. Wenger enjoyed such a long spell. Arsenal Business template seem about making profits rather than been ambitious to win trophies. Getting a good EPL position ie Top6 starts with an ambition to win trophies. Top 6 will be more difficult this season than the last considering the preparation of other teams. But there is hope for Arsenal if we can stay injury free and Arteta can be dynamic in his tactics. The team training should also improve players need to fight for balls to win matches their attitude s must improve.

      1. Hi Sylva

        I think your last points are overlooked so
        Much, no matter how rubbish the managers tactics are(or lack off), the players have to fight for every ball, and there professionalism should not be up for debate.

        If we get say Conte as our manager and the players still can’t put a shift in, the results won’t change ‘enough’ for what us fans want.

        Personally I’ve lost my nerve with Arteta
        I had hoped he would of improve us, but that last performance!! …annoyingly I’m not over that yet.

        1. Ya GoalDan, sometimes I wonder what they tell them in training. In Man City game it seem City players are more fit that our players. Our players fall easily. I think this should be a part of their training drills. And right attitudes. A team was 2-0 down yet G Xhaka has the nerves to be careless and take a red card. Arteta need to be firm regarding players attitude on the pitch. Any player not ready to give 120% should be benched

      2. If that happens, of course the young players will leave. But Arsenal would most likely replace Arteta if things become too bad

        Erik ten Hag’s contract will expire in 2023, so Arsenal could afford to hijack Marc Overmars and him from Ajax in the end of this season

    2. GAI, I wish Nicholaj Moller had been loaned to a Championship club rather than the third tier of German football.

  4. It will take YEARS to succeed with youth players.

    And do you think likes of Saka, Tierney or ESR will stick around until then?

    1. It’s clear to see what’s going on here. The whole MA project failed epically so management has lined up their best excuse yet.

      All of a sudden our whole club has been relabelled as a youth project to save face and bide time with the fans.

      MA fans will gladly follow this new narrative.

  5. Just imagine if we started this project on youth at least last season…
    I believe many of us would have accepted 8th place finish with the kids and we would have had kids who played together for a full season then we would have only strengthened the core this season then the team will only get better but no we didn’t
    What did we spend last season doing?
    What was the plan prior to this window?
    What was the process that they said we should trust?
    At least this window and season it is clear that they are now fully building a young team
    Which is why i asked initially what was the process and did the first process fail? That we have to start another process…..
    Regardless i believe it’s better to see positives and still try to be optimistic as it’s better health wise to find positives than criticising at every article that doesn’t impact our health positively….

  6. I think our fanbase has been very patient(contrary to public opinion which is mainly spewed in the media and by fans of other clubs who ironically call for manager sackings more quicker and far more often than us) dating back to when moving into the Emirates stadium. So forgive us for the impatience and lack of trust in the current hierarchy at present. So to ask for more patientence which we have have already been given spanning multiple years just shows the ignorance and arrogance of Arteta Edu(board) and the Owners.

      1. thats just a stupid question admin, a fan demanding instant success is at least 3-4 years too late and some would argue over 10 years too late, one cannot really say with a straight face that an arsenal fan is demanding instant success after such a long period without success, except he is being ignorant and arrogant like you are now, but I know you, you would never accept your mistakes

        1. 👍 Especially when Mr admin makes a very conclusive and definitive claim about the said fan without knowing him personally and will not be able to produce any evidence through my previous comments to backup such a claim on this wonderful platform.

      2. What instant success Pat? The only things Arsenal fans can’t be accused of are glory hunting or wanting instant success.

      3. Admin we’ve been patient enough.
        17 years without a premier league trophy is patient enough if you ask me, within that 17 years Chelsea has won 2 Champions League and 4 premier league trophys.

  7. There is no doubt that Arsenal have a fair amount of talent within their squad of players.
    Unfortunately they also don’t have much in the way of proper leadership…amongst either the playing or coaching staff.
    Most importantly of all they have a Manager who seems to flit from idea to idea and doesn’t have any defined tactical strategy to impart onto his players for them to follow.In addition his man management skills are virtually non existent.
    All in all this Arsenal squad are an amalgam of young players who have been allowed to go onto the pitch in a wholly unprepared way and the results have been wholly inevitable.
    Unless Arteta and then Edu and Vinai are relieved of their so-called duties and replaced with people who know how to run a top tier professional football Club then Arsenal will just stumble on and continue to achieve far less than they should.

  8. It takes time to transition from a 20 year manager. Man U are in year nine searching for their next title despite supposed world class managers and a 750 mill spend. Liverpool took 30 years to win the PL title. Spurs have been rebuilding since 1961.
    Arteta was not a super star. Far from it. He was grounded, incredibly determined and loyal to the bone. These are the qualities he wants in a player. So none of our new signings are superstars. They have been chosen more for their work ethic and absolute devotion to the badge. That’s why Guendouzie and Saliba are at Marseille.
    Our first three games included the CL winners
    and the PL holders while our squad was ravaged by Covid and injury. Although we will not be fully match fit or match ready for a month at least I believe we will find a way to beat Norwich and Burnley and win the home game v Spurs.
    We will only get better as the season proceeds and with out Europe we will be well rested
    So I predict 10 wins 3 Losses and 3 draws from the remaining 16 matches of the first round. 33 points and top 7 by Xmas and at least 6th/5th by May.

    1. Please are you arteta’s assistant?
      Arteta was average at best as a player and doing worst as a manager
      There is no footballing reason that justifies his treatment of saliba and many others.
      Based on what evidence do you believe that arteta can improve young players?

      Evidently seen on the pitch many players even the one’s he bought has not improved under him
      And you can ask well predict us to win all our remaining games and win the league it’s totally your opinion i am sure you didn’t predict 0 losses 0goals, -9goals and bottom of the league after 3games
      City being league champions didn’t stop spurs beating them, Chelsea being European champion didn’t stop Liverpool giving them a real game…
      When ever it comes to arsenal it’s one excuse to another…. Every team will lay down and get spanked 5 by city because they are league champions but when you then ask what about Brentford then they is a different reason that justifies the lose it’s our young stars fault
      Ridiculous excuses after excuses sometimes i choose to ignore comments like this but laying it down every article is so irritating that a club as big as arsenal has a fickle fan base that represents a club of the status of newscattle

      1. I’m having a big yawn over your last post Fairfan. I hope you weren’t part of that rabble singing, “get out of our club, aftv” after destroying WBA’s youth team. What have aftv done exactly? Vent their frustration at the boring football and weird decision making by the manager? Everything else is envy and spite.

    2. At fairfan,
      You keep on amaze me with your prediction of where we will finish at the table this season. I reserve my comment.

    3. Positivity is a word which seems to have escaped many Arsenal fans ,who take the opposite view to align themselves against Arteta at every opportunity.The man, aided and abetted big time by Edu,has made numerous errors of judgement, but the basic concept to bring in good young players to build a solid platform for the future is sound.The way it has been constructed does not meet with my wholehearted support.There was no need to buy White,when we had Saliba and Mavroponas available and the signing of Odegaard does not improve our midfield, whilst, Bissouma would have been a great capture.Despite these flaws in the make up of Arteta, as an Arsenal supporter I look forward to seeing our new signings where it matters on the pitch.I am not expecting miracles this season but I will continue to support the team with a positive outlook not the utter negativity displayed by many on this site.I am a realist and if we lose to Norwich and Burnley I expect our Manager and Edu to be shown the door, which would be entirely justifiable.Like fairfan however I think we are capable to amassing 9 points from our next 3 matches and I believe we can make the top six by the end of the season.I respect your article Pay other than to challenge the use of the word “calm” in relation to Xhaka.

  9. I like the profile of the incomings and the fact our key young players (Tierney, ESR and Saka) have been locked up into long term deals. The next class coming through seem special (Patino, Azeez, Hutchinson etc) although admittedly the promise always seems greater than the reward.

    The future seems bright but this year will be a struggle. I’ll take top eight with progression in young players, 100% effort and a consistent, entertaining style of play.

  10. Time to think ahead now; what’s done is done! No good huffing and puffing (believe me I’ve done plenty!) as it won’t change a thing.
    We have a huge game coming up against the mighty er… Norwich. Time to get behind the team and send Delia home absolutely bladdered 😄

    As Yazz once sang – the only way is up COYG

    1. Hi Sue

      That’s where I am now, I can’t be going over this
      All the time. Paradoxically, if you split the fan base in two (which I don’t ) if the fans want Arteta sacked , replaced by Conte and we win the league every fan would be happy, and if Arteta wins the league every fan would be happy also. Ultimately we want the same thing, we are one big dysfunctional Arsenal family….😁

  11. I want to be positive, and yes the season restarts next week against Norwich. But then I look at the above photo of oily palms Edu and phlegmatic Arteta and my optimism quickly deflates How can anyone trust their process?

    1. Joe
      Here’s a bit of advice
      Keep your eyes closed
      It’s going. To be rocky season
      Good thing.is at least we wont.be dropping 3 points this weekend
      I live in hope we turn.it around
      Losing faith quickly though
      We have stopped being a big club and for that we cannot attract big players which everyone wants
      Cheer up.my fellow gooners
      As I always say onwards and upwards as we can’t go.any lower this season

  12. I’m an Arsenal fan to the core! I always support the team but the truth must be told. It is so glaring that Arteta cannot guide this team to Glory. So many unwanted records after more than 18 months since taking charge. Get a proper and experiencced Manager and you will see the difference even with the same set of players.

  13. Don’t mention Xhaka in the process of building the team. He’s even worse than these youngsters. Wenger included the youth in his set-up but he always finished in top4. There’s no time for mediocrity after spending around £200 million.

  14. Sorry Pat, I don’t see Xhaka as a calming influence, he has been sent off eleven times and told the fans to “F” OFF, if that’s being a calming influence I must have missed something.

  15. I agree with the “idea” of signing youngsters to form a team that should be together for a few years. What I haven’t seen is anything resembling a working, adaptable team formation on the pitch. The high press is poor, Chelski played right through our midfield. The defensive shape can change from a back 3, to a 4 and even a 5 in the space of 10 mins, our defence is rank rotten and I hope Gabriel and White can form some sort of effective centre back partnership. Cedric and Kolasinac are woeful. I have high hopes for the midfield but very disappointed they extended Xhaka’s contract. The red card showed what a liability he is. We have talent up-front BUT need a functioning midfield to create the chances for them. I’ve said before I don’t rate MA but as it stands, we might as well get behind him and the team and hope he starts getting it right! A change of manager now would be a disaster and lets be honest, at this point in time, who would want the Arsenal job anyway? I humbly await my execution by post!!!!!

  16. Signing youngsters and trying by all means to sell other youngsters? What is he trying to achieve? We know that he want to sell Maitland-Niles, Nelson, Nketiah, Gouendouzi and Seliba. He managed to sell Willock. Arteta has never achieved anything in the past. So, why do we have to keep our hopes high? His time is up. He was given a glorious opportunity, and he didn’t make use of it

  17. Moving the discussion away from our manager in my comments, and if this leaves some fans bemused, just scroll pass my comments.

    I’m tired of the fans constant discussion being centred around the manager. Guess what? Our football club is about far more and his article is implying so.

    Firstly, the decline from holding onto top 4 and falling outside can be better understood as we can review the mistakes now. (We can forget about the decline of fighting for the league as that chapter is closed and we only connect to it inasmuch as what came after was a continuous decline).

    When we demanded big purchases that the squad needed, we went for Ozil and Sanchez but the issue was, the squad was imbalanced and it has been ever since.

    Consider Ozil’s debut. Our match day squad had Jenkinson, Gibbs, Wilshere, Frimpong, Miyaichi, Akpom. I highlight these specific players because they all went on to do nothing in the game.

    If these guys were in our match day squad today we would be rightly crying at our disaster of a club

    I have always felt we need to have progressive years of building the squad, unlike the Chelsea, City approach – which we cannot do (get over it).

    So, to see us bring together a whole team in each position that are 24yrs or younger is so important for our next step.

    For me that next step is to replace the William, Outgoing Laca and salaries paid to the likes of Luiz towards the men who will support the young cast.
    The issue is, who will want to come right now?

    So the focus and pressure is really on this squad and this is a concern but also a test.

    Look at the others, spend 80% of our transfer budget on 1 or 2 players. We are not there yet. We need a whole squad.

    Personally I’m excited at this very situation of young talent. Granted these guys will be sold in the future, and if they are selling for 60m or more then as a club, we must be doing something good in the league!

    Our route to success will not be able to compete in transfer right now like how Man U or Chelsea do it. Our route will be build, we need long term planning again. Something we didnt have when we moved to the Emirates.

    1. So essentially we will play better as current young players fulfil their potential and as that happens, they’ll be sold?

      So we go from English powerhouse to relegation candidate into youth-powered selling club? Essentially, we will be the new Southampton?

      1. Look at Anelka, Overmars or even someone more in your timeframe and look at Ox.
        Players who were brought and sold. That has and will always be key to how we succeed as long as we have owners believing in a system of self-substsinable (which as much as I respect, it wont always cut it against the big spending owners like psg,city or chelsea)

    2. Super comments Tom.
      I wish more fans would understand that we cannot financially (blame Koenke, fine for that. but while he’s here its a fact) compete with Man City, Man Utd or Chelsea. We need a whole team they need one player a season (blame whoever you like that’s also a fact).
      I don’t rate Arteta but I like the buying policy. It is necessary, and I wish fans would not tie Arteta and the young players together. There are some EXCELLENT prospects there, whether Arteta stays or goes. Demand instant success all you like, it’s impossible.

      1. Agree with you points about balance, Tom since 2005 Arsenal have always been two players short of being a Champion team But, your take is basically it is what it is and we fans should just accept it
        Be like West Ham in other words. This is who we are, enjoy the game, laugh off a bad result like last week’s and live with it. However some one should take responsibility for how we got here. If not the Kroenkes, then who? The board which sold out the heart and soul of the club? Wegner for playing along and not walking out in protest? The people responsible for giving Edu and Arteta their current power? Yeh, sure be good fans, keep the turnstiles ticking but the good times ain’t coming back baby. I’ve mentioned before that I’m ok with a youthful rebuild. It’s needed. But it’s been so lazily done. Odergaard will not resolve the dead whole in the midfield. He is really only a Xhaka Mark2, there to spay out simple passes to those who can create. Others have pointed out that White is not an aggressive terrier who fights to win the ball but more of a sweeper who picks up the pieces. The terrier should have been Saliba but Arteta has banished him
        Then there are the question mark players. Xhaka and Elneny, both easily expendable. Aubamayang and Lacazette aging,neither of whom have ever been comfortable playing Arteta ball. Pepe a mistake. Yes, he will surprise but inbetween those moments will be games of shear exasperation, where he will be a passenger. None of these issues have been addressed?, so at this rate the club will be indefinitely treading water, but that’s ok because it is what it is?

  18. Hope was all that was left from Pandora’s box. Hope has no reasoning behind it….it is blind….”blind hope”. Enough has happened to suggest it won’t work and supporters have all clearly seen that. If somehow we develop a winning, dominating team I will be very happy. Reasoning says it is unlikely as does the present team play. Even I hope, but hope against reasoning is a dangerous thing.

  19. We have been down this route of youth revolution one too many times since 2004 and it all have failed. When we made them super star they have turned there back and abandoned us. to name a few Fabregas,nasri,sagna,cliche,van Persie,even song. so will it work this time , I doubt it very much. Most these guys are mercenary just looking for the biggest bucks, it’s not about playing for awesome arsenal for most, if not all of them. But am hoping for the best.

  20. I’ve witnessed a number of clubs playing the Project Youth card with Aston Villa being the most memorable one in recent times. And like most before it, their exciting youngsters failed to come good despite showing great potential on the early stages.

    This goes down to the lack of leadership and a role model to nurture them. Our project youth during Fabregas managed to yield great results and this is due to the abundance of world class players leading them to greatness.

    Then there is the time of Cazorla. Santi proved to be a massive asset as he became the most likeable guy in the locker room which, in a way, motivates his peers to do well. The same can be said for the dominant barca squad from a decade ago.

    For Arsenal today, there is no leader to look up to hence there is a great chance for the project to fail – not that I want them to fail. Lola has made a fair point.

    We’ve gone from a retirement club in recent years by signing experienced players that can’t even become an influential figure in the squad, to a team that is operating on a youth project. The lack of balance in the squad may just be our demise.

    1. Good point about the squad age balance. We’ve gone from signings of average age 30 years old-ish to a squad of early twenties. I still think that’s an improvement from previous transfer policy, if you could call it that!

  21. An encouraging stat of Tomiyasu.
    Only ONE mistake led to shot and ZERO mistake led to goals in two seasons with Bologna. 17 mil is a steal for such a solid defender, especially in today’s market.

    1. Bologna is not exactly a top team in Serie A and they have to defend a lot during matches. So to have zero mistake led to goals in two season is quite a good achievement

      1. I believe he is a good right-back? Hopefully between him and AMN that’s a problem position sorted?

  22. I’m sorry to pee on the parade here but this is just naive thinking and positivity for its own sake.

    And I’m not gonna sight all of the reasons why as I can’t do that everytime someone takes happy juice 🥤.

    I’m willing to be wrong and hope I am but EVERYTHING about the club is broken. Doesn’t mean I don’t love it because I do but I have eyes and won’t let my love for it cloud my judgement or reasoning.

    Like anyone else if we are all guns blazing, playing dynamic and fearless football where every player is like a finely tuned cog in a cohesive and efficient machine I will happily eat my words…

    HOWEVER, logic and past events aid me in forecasting the most probable future.

    Anything is possible but some things are more probable than others;)

    1. AOT when you have 0 from 3 and no goals and not sacked your manager but bought 6 new young players anything we write here is de facto unsubstantiated, so yes of course it is blind hope if you want to call it that. It tends to be most football fans philosophy btw – Arsenal fans are just spoilt from success of 20 years ago.
      But conversely (I admit to partly playing devils advocate here), if we haven’t had this squad before, isn’t it also blind pessimism to just assume they can’t succeed, either with or without Arteta in charge?
      I may not want to give Areta more time, but I DO have patience with these players.

      1. Hey Guy.

        Can’t speak for all other football fans or human beings in general but my thinking and deductions come from past experience as it’s a teacher.

        I in normal life remain as optimistic as possible and yes of course (some of these) players can come good. More likely so under another manager than under Arteta IMO. However, I do not believe in blind faith be that for football or figurehead beaded religions.

        Actions / results speak louder than any words spoken by chairman or Rah Rah fans and based on this you will not find me getting carried away on the crest of an optimistic wave in relation to AFC WHILST Kroenke Holding company own the club and his apathy and general ownership takes us further away from glory on the field.

        1. LOL AOT I’ve had 50 years of that from this lot. What I have seen tells me it comes and goes. We’ve had more good times than many fans but it never lasts for any club. It always came full circle eventually though in the past, and unscientific though that is that’s my blind hope. Thats probably why the longer you follow them the less you allow yourself (other than on matchdays!) those highs and lows. my views change a lot just to retain that middle ground. But this time it’s so poor on so many levels maybe I will trade in the “blind hope” logo for “clutching at straws”!

  23. Get rid of Kolasinac, Cedric and Chambers, those three musketeers are universal errors to football.

  24. I’d love it if the club would manage to get into the top 6 under Arteta. But being that West Ham, Leicester and spuds have significantly better squads and management, I don’t see anything better than another 8th.

    Tell me what are the positions where we have a better player than the last season’s 5th 6th, and 7th clubs? GK no, central defence no, RB no, LB yes, midfield pivot no, wings yes and no, creative mid, with all due respect no, forward gigantic no.

    And then there’s the manager. Arteta is progressivelly worsening and he wasn’t better even at his best.

    There’s absolutely nothing pointing at us having a shot at the top 6. I’d love it if it weren’t like that but it is.

  25. Arsenal fans have been waiting far too long waiting patiently or not. Unless Arteta delivers instantly success after what has happened, another manager will reap what has been sowed, good or bad in the future that is plainly obvious. Football fans dont do patience, its too expensive too be patient in more ways than one.

  26. In the last video release by Edu and Vinai, they stated, in no uncertain terms, that the main objective was Europe and top 4. And now, according to Arteta, we should be patient and wait for the young squad.

    If you are still looking for more evidence of a dysfunctional senior management team, there it is…in plain black n white.

    The HEAD doesn’t know what the TAIL is doing….or in this case…The TAIL doesn’t know what the HEAD is doing.

    ARTETA OUT! EDU OUT! VINAI OUT!

  27. To put things into perspective Arsenal have spent £156 mill with a net spend of £131 mill this last transfer window on relatively underwhelming players. This is the highest spend in the Premier league. Watching Arteta in Action over the last few seasons as a manager I don’t believe he has the ability to get anything out of these signings so if this is the so called process it’s going to be a very expensive one.

    1. Do you remember the open mouths when we bought Bally for £220k in ’71?
      It’s like house prices – we’ll laugh about it in 10 years from now (or maybe not!)

    1. Cmon Daniel – we all know its gone way beyond that by now. He won’t necessarily lose his job if he doesn’t, nor will he necessarily keep it if he does get top 6. The Krankies make the rules not a cabal of fans arbitrarily deciding that’s what he needs, and even the fanbase has varying views.
      Personally I would be stunned if the second variant was even up for consideration.

  28. Please do not include Xhaka as potential part of the process. Unless by “process” you mean “failure”

  29. I am still puzzled whether freedom of speech includes freedom to insult and instil hatred as some on this site do. The way some people refer to certain individuals smacks of hatred! I might dislike a certain individual for whatever reason but that doesn’t give me the right to influence others to do likewise. I believe this is due to lack of guidance from Admin much as he may wish to hide under freedom of speech. Freedom of speech must be exercised within certain agreed parameters and practised with individual restraint, common sense, civility and rationality. Freedom of speech should not be a pretext to insult and demean those we don’t agree with or who hold different views to ours.
    Several Arsenal management officials have been turned into figures of hate rather than being genuinely criticised for their failings. The way some people talk about the owner of the club could lead to violence against him if he ever walked alone! How about the extreme hatred for Arteta as expressed in many of the writings? Lest some people have forgotten Arteta was once our club captain and therefore has a lot of feeling for our club. He is may fail to deliver as expected but we should not treat him as an enemy of the club. Moreover this is still a young and inexperienced coach who is still learning his trade. He should be helped to improve but not torn to shreds. We can criticise constructively without emotions that border on hate and desire to harm the individuals we are criticising. There is general degeneration and intolerance which defy any form of civility and these should not be tolerated by any civilised individual. It is not right to insult those we disagree with. We should use the power of reason to drive our points home and avoid unnecessary provocation of other people.

  30. I do not buy this stuff about buying in youngsters for future greatness. Truly great players, Rooney, Fabregas, Ray Wilkins, Shearer, Mark Hughes, Brian Kidd etc etc were performing at the top level at a young age. The years slip by and in 3 years Arteta will have another ageing bunch of players he cannot offload. 21, 23 is not especially young. Jack Wilshere is barely 29 yet, sadly, already retired. AFC need to buy class performers in the important areas of the pitch.

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