Mikel Arteta was in confident mood going into yesterday’s game against the Champions Liverpool, and was calling it a must-win game if Arsenal were going to make a concerted effort to get into the top six before the end of the season. ” We need to get on a run of winning matches and the only way to do it is to start against Liverpool. We don’t have any margin and we have to win that game.” he said.
But sadly, he must have forgotten to tell the players and they totally and utterly failed to turn up. All the possession was conceded to Liverpool, but we managed to keep the Reds at bay until half-time and we went into the break at 0-0.
The second half was much worse, with Jota finally breaking the deadlock halfway through the second half, with Mo Salah quickly doubling their lead.
Of course it wouldn’t be an Arsenal game without the usual brain fart in defence and Gabriel gifted a third goal to that man Jota again.
Mikel Arteta seemed at a loss to understand the performance and simply offered the fane an apology. “First of all, I apologise to our supporters for the display and the show that we saw today that I am very, very disappointed about,” he told Arsenal.com. “When you don’t do the basics right against a team like Liverpool, you don’t have any chance even to complete in the game, which is exactly what happened.
“It’s unacceptable. At that level it’s unacceptable. To not be at 100% is unacceptable to our people and for a lot of work that we put in, so what happened today is nowhere near what we want to do.
It gives you a really bad gut feeling. It’s a big shock to the system that one. We weren’t expecting that one the way they were training, the way they’ve been playing, but I can put it down to the level that Liverpool played today, which was really, really high as well. But ours was so far [below], so bad – it was unacceptable.
“Talking on the pitch, outside the pitch, in the dressing room, in front of the cameras is easy,” Arteta added. “We have to put our head down, take all the shots and the criticism because we deserve that and show a different face on Thursday.”
I posted a comment and it was deleted are we not allowed to criticize Arteta
Come on now.
We are all criticing Arteta and our comments are not being deleted or moderated.
People have been criticising Arteta as far back as October and all comments aired on here.
Our league run in is very reasonable with Chelsea away by far our hardest game while Everton at home will be tough.
But though 6 wins and a draw 19 points and a 61 points tally is entirely possible I fear 61 points may not be enogh to make 7th.
So the only real path to European football is a death or glory tilt at the EL trophy.
I firmly believe our sub par performance
v Liverpool can be put down to the team already eyeing Thursday’s game and thus resting key players.
We must win by at least 2 and unlike Spurs finish the job in the second leg.
The semi final is definitely winnable against moderate opposition while in the final will likely face Ajax and Utd neither of whom are powerhouses.
In fact Slavia is as good as any left in the competition thus another reason for our sacrificing the Pool game..
COYG.
Wyoming, sorry but utter rubbish. Liverpool have to play Real Madrid in two days and didn’t rest players or take it easy. They used it as a hit out and unfortunately Arsenal complied by providing only a training run.
Slavia Prague will not be shaking in their boots after watching that Arsenal performance. Arsenal will have to really put this performance behind them and put in much improved effort and application in the Europa League. This Arsenal team is not good enough to turn form on or off and to get any result if they decide not to turn up.
Should Arsenal make the semi final either Villarreal or Dinamo Zagreb will be no pushovers, yet you believe Arsenal has a clear path to the final.
👍👍
I believe Liverpool who have totally given up on the league title ages ago have little confidence about winning the CL and therefor are targeting top four as their way of avoiding the ignominy of playing in the EL. That is why they absolutely had to arrest their 2021 horror run by beating the Gooners yesterday. Arsenal by comparison have no chance of top 4 from the league in fact the EL is also unlikely from the league so Thursday’s game is doubly important.
Arsenal has to win 8 games to make the El from the PL but can win a place in the CL with just one more win in the EL.
What exactly is he apologizing for, is it that he packed the bus or what. For goodness sake we have the players that should at least scored one goal yesterday, but the coach decided to defend against a team that everyone is having a go at. I really want us to win the europa cup but I’m not even sure we can get to the final with this coach. Why didn’t he introduced Martinelli sooner, Liverpool made a smart decision to bring in Jota but what did our genius coach did, he introduced Elneny to do what exactly. I’m not even hurt I’m just disappointed, and for the first time in a very long time,I’m not going to blame the players all the blames goes to the coach.
Exactly Lenohappy.
All the pregame talk about going for it and taking off the handbrake.
What did Arteta do? His typical negative football; 10 men behind the ball, and decided to play the game defending in our final third rather than attacking.
Is anyone surprised, truly? Nearly 18 months and can’t play out of the back, STILL no clue how to fix anemic attack, and can’t even get them to play as a team.
And he is tasked with rebuilding the club? Negative football extraordinaire, club worse than under Emery. 8 players of his choice he wanted (I count Leno over Martinez), and he is deserving of the criticism.
That’s the real dilemma moving forward Durand…how can we trust someone who clearly speaks out of the side of their mouth to be tasked with this absolutely crucial rebuild that has been in the offing for such a ridiculously long period of time…can we even afford to give him unquestioned autonomy, when it comes to all things asset management-related, if he’s functionally living on borrowed time…when will a plausible solution arise to this ever smoldering tire fire…sooner rather than later, I hope
Klopp was taking the piss. I remember the commentators thinking firminho was gonna be subbed for Jota. Klopp showed his contempt for us by introducing a front four as if to say ‘youve offered nothing in offense and we don’t have to defend. Instead, we’ll run riot in front of your goal as your defence is worse than your offence’
Anyways MA is not Arsenal standard and can only apologize with a resignation letter. He has not improved this club and those who fail to see our reality will insult and deride those of us who do.
A really embarrassing time to be an Arsenal fan right now .
Time for him to move on at the end of the season unless he grabs us the EL cup and I can’t see that happening .
Yesterday was as bad as I’ve seen it ,25 shots conceded compared to 5 from us it just isn’t good enough against a side which have been playing awful recently.
He needs to let the players play instead of micro managing every little detail ,I spent the whole match yesterday distracted with him shouting constantly form the touch line .
Time to part ways and get an experienced manager in to steady us for next season else this will cost us in the long run .
And to think some believe that this guy is better than Emery😂😂
Let’s be honest Leno Emery is the worst manager seen at the club but ,even the board came out and practically said this
Arteta seems to be in the same mould as him so I can’t see him being here much longer .
I still don’t understand you Dan with this your”our worst manager in 25 years” how can you call someone who missed champions league by a single point in his first season and take us to our first European Final in 14 years and in his second season we were top of our group in the europa league, we already qualified for the fa cup second round and we were still 8 in the league when he was sacked, and you called him our worst coach in 25 years.
Well you must have missed the football we played under him then .
The board came out and said it was the worst time in our clubs history with him in charge ,what does that say ..
And I didn’t say the last 25 years I said ever
Arteta has done a good job offloading the deadwood and bringing in some good players like Party and Odergaard. Apart from that, he still doesn’t have the experience or stature to make this team a winning one. Certain players should go or be benched, Auba, Lava and Willian for example should be starting on the bench, cause they have been extremely poor lately. An attack with Martinelli – Smith-Rowe – Odergaard- Saka would be much better I think, if they get time to play together.
Our only chance to go forward is winning the Europa league. We’ ve deteriorated since last year, I’m afraid…
exactly. he has the cojones to rid some players, but then keeps Auba in the side, who has been awful. Benches martinelli, ships off Saliba for god knows what reason. Arteta is clueless. Why can’t people see this. So far out of his league.
Dan, results wise Emery is far from the worst head coach/manager Arsenal has ever had.
By the way quoting the opinions of some members of the Arsenal Board as being experts on football, players, coaches or managers is drawing a long bow. Given the way the financial and player assets of this Club have been managed, you can’t give them much credence.
Thank god your not on the board then Ozzie when it comes to manager recruitment else we would be playing 1 st division football next season
Emery’s time at arsenal was bad, but he’s built enough of a record before and after to show that he is a good manager. I personally think he was screwed at arsenal as he wasn’t backed properly (e.g. with Pepe) and didn’t realise the magnitude of what he’d taken on.
I like Mikel and had given me hope but I think an experienced winning manager in someone like Allegri could be what we need after this season is done.
This season has been an absolute embarrassment we cant argue with that. I said before Mikel is a great COACH, training methods ar fantastic apparently he is more suited to the role he was doing at City… a no2!
He has had alot to deal with behind the scenes and especially trimming this squad the way he has but that’s maybe what he is for as no other experienced manager would want to do the job he has had to do…. & cheapest!
This rebuild when we get a few more players out in the summer needs to be rubber stamped with an experienced manager at the helm for next season.
Maybe I’m wrong and Mikel deserves another season but his tactical side of things isnt quite there yet and can be seen when we are compact under strict rules from him. Just like Pep does but he is a serial winning monstermind
Sean Allegri turned down our approach two plus years ago. Did you not know! He, nor his elite level ilk, will not work under Kroenkes non spending policy!
Kroenke disgracefully allowed GAZIDIS LEEWAY TO WASTE COUNTLESS MILlIONS. Any owner who cared enough to be interested in what is happening at his club would have known this years earlier BUT HE IS ABSENT AND NEITHER KNOWS NOR CARES LESS . Thats the truth, so face facts!
At the start i used to find it refreshing that our manager would take the blame and apologize but truth being told it no longer means anything(to me anyway) there are so many times someone can say sorry what about doing something about it!as someone already pointed out the substitutions made by both managers (Jota&Elneny ) told the whole story ..Klopp being positive was going for the win as opposed to MA negativity trying not to lose the game sometimes attack is the best defense did he expect us to be constantly under pressure in our own half and not concede a goal?we needed early changes to our attack players willing to press defenders that keep/carry the ball fowards with a positive mindset..ok my rant is over!
that wasn’t a rant Siamois, it was just a well-intentioned and honest account of the situation…empty promises and hollow apologies are an all-too-familiar refrain under this manager…at what point does one need to be held responsible for his on-field tactical failings…it’s getting more and more difficult to see a way forward for this manager
Nico Pepe = Chicken Cottage
but then he’ll have on good game and people will beg for him to start. this is the problem. we are so reactionary. We need to see the big picture and realize many of these players are no good. For goodness sake, half this website now seem to rate Granit Xhaka as if they haven’t watched his incompetence for FIVE YEARS NOW!
Thank you for bringing some commonsense to the discussion RSH…what exactly has anyone seen from this player that would suggest that his presence would have allowed us to overcome the almost obscene negative tactics of our manager…what an absolute absurd notion by those naïve fans who think that Xhaka represents a way forward out of this negative mess
For ages some players have shouldered artetas blame: xchaka, luiz, ozil, kolasinach, mustafi etc. Those guys are long gone or missed yesterdays humiliation, at least that exposes artetas inferiority.
I wanted him badly but he has proven to be worse than emery, who fought fire with fire, losing by margins to lpool and city but recording a goal here and there. I don’t want to talk of Wenger – he lost holding into his philosophy of beautiful football. What exactly does arteta offer? Is he an attack or defense minded manager? Does he attack through counters or open play? Is artetas game build on midfield penetration or wingbased attacks? Defensevely, is he a man to man or zonal based marking manager? I can’t make up my mind on this watching artetas team.
As of having a poor set of players, did emery or wenger have better ones in their first or last 50 games respectively? Does moyes, rodgers, bielsa, or even ole gunnar have better ones. I respect arteta as a man, as a player he was magnificent: but as a manager, he is a fraud.
Let’s be real, on the basis of artetas inability to learn from his past mistakes, I’ll take wenger at his worst, emery at his average and freddie at his best over the best arteta can offer.
Apologies all the time won’t be acceptable, Arteta is a glorified midiocre coach,his tactics are as foolish as a sheep
mediocre is generous. He couldn’t even achieve what Big Sam is at WBA right now. Which isn’t much.
The FA cup credit goes to Arteta which should not be the case as Emery had also contributed to keep us in the FA cup competition now the cup win is being used to shield Arteta against critism.If winning the europa will make the board stick with a rookie coach,I would rather we get knocked out and get a top manager next season.Im tired of the rebuilding myth we want success now.
‘A bad workman blames his tools’. If Arteta cannot motivate he is not fit to be Arsenal manager.
sean williams, i totally agree with your comments. arteta can actually apologise all he likes, but it will not fix anything.it is a very easy thing to apologise, in fact, we all do it, day in,day out.but why should arteta get away with such dross week in week out. yes , i know, we get the very odd good game every now and then, and most fans are fooled into thinking that the good times are back. the good times will never come back with this amateur coach. i was prepared to give him as much time as possible to make us great again. well i am blind, and, i can even see his many many mistakes on and off the pitch.would be be better off watching paint dry i wonder ?. footbAll is meant to be an exciting game, a beautiful game, but alas, we are sadly lacking in both departments.the buck has to stop with the manager, the players are absolute shite too, but, the manager is paid big money to motivate and prepare and coach this set of prima ballerinas. he is not doing his job, so something has to go ,we are back in the land of wengers last few seasons with us where he was shite also.one can only take so much of this, and i am sure there are a lot more like me out there.
@Sean Williams
But what if the workman inherited broken tools?
To absolve the players from blame is as ludicrous as to deny Arteta is responsible for the disgraceful performance yesterday.The Manager and players are equally culpable, and they have much to do to restore their credibility with this particular fan.The fact that KT is likely to miss the game on Thursday is a major blow which we may not be able to overcome.After playing his fourth match in 12 days it’s hardly surprising he has succumbed to injury .Let’s hope the Manager and his players get their act together against a very decent Slavia Prague side.
I’m sorry but I honestly feel that they can’t, unless ESR and Saka play… we need the missing transition from defence to attack and quick passing which ESR brings….partey loses the ball too much, Ceballos plain useless, El neny not good enough.. Willian too slow..
Maybe he could try chambers in the midfield but I know he won’t do it…
I still expect them to start slow again against slavia …our best bet is getting an away goal…. I hope laca would get that for us….
Till then, let’s see how our clueless coach sets up his team.. Fingers crossed
Can one remember the last time we put in a decent performance after an international break? I’m still with MA (just), but how can we expect Holding to put in a performance after more than a month sitting on the bench? He should have been rotated with Luiz to keep him match fit and sharp.
Artetas game plan was awful and help contribute to our defeat. Sitting duck tactics come to mind!
You’re right Reggie…plainly and simply awful…I still think there’s a systemic component to the issues we’re facing…that’s 3 managers on the trot that have adopted these same sort of negative tactics far too often for my liking…Wenger had a well-established relationship to lean on, Emery was subsequently torched for his lack of “communication” skills, whereas Arteta seems to have earned a longer leash because he’s willing to do those things that Wenger was unwilling to do and Emery unable to do, when it comes to the media and public relations…unfortunately it’s marked by a whole host of empty promises and hollow apologies…at some point this approach will fall on deaf ears, then what???
I think we should accept the fact that this season is a write off. Some of us did that sometime back. We should look ahead to next season. Our main problem has been that Arteta gave us false expectations when he won FA and the Community shield. He also forgot that he was a novice and began to behave in a bullish manner! He has now been put where he belongs and will realise the enormity of the task ahead of him. Much as we are disappointed, I feel it is a blessing in disguise because next season Arteta will have a lot more experience and a better team at his disposal. Thus we expect a better season than this one.
Notwithstanding the above, I strongly believe many of our fans have also not been helpful! Their level of negativity is simply not acceptable. This began as a genuine protest against Arsene Wenger’s long tenure and the attendant decline but it has now degenerated into permanent apathy against whoever they feel is not doing what they want! This is now a group of malcontents under the guise of fans. Let the wise people discern between genuine constructive criticism and harmful propaganda which is only meant to do damage.
Correction: Instead of apathy it should read antipathy.
Apology, not accepted. The fact that a day later, I and many other Gunners are still seething after using up such explatives as disgusting, disgraceful, pathetic and worse only touches the tip of the iceberg at how badly Arsenal were thanks to Arteta’s tactical and motivational meltdown. He now has injuries as another excuse for what is likely to be the longest two months Arsenal fans will have had to endure, but must be held accountable for his job nevertheless.