Mikel Arteta was always facing an uphill battle when returning to the Etihad to face his old boss and their star-studded players, and so it proved. Pep Guardiola’s side looked fitter and hungrier and they totally dominated the game throughout.
Arsenal hardly ever had the ball, to be fair, as City kept 67% of the possession and attacked Bernd Leno at will, having 20 shots on goal to Arsenal’s three, and not one of those measly three were even on target.
Arteta was hardly overjoyed at the end, but he did try to look at the positives, like having to try even harder with only ten men for the second half. “Everything started in a really difficult way when we lost Granit after one minute,” Mikel Arteta told Arsenal.com.
“We had moments in the first 30 minutes that we were really competing for the game, that we were putting them in trouble.
“We had some really open situations to finalise actions much better than what we did. We failed to finish them even on target.
“After that, just before half-time we conceded the goal from an individual error. After that, straight away, the red card and penalty gave us a mountain to climb against this quality opposition. To play with 10 men for 45 minutes is a really difficult thing to do.
“We have to start winning football matches as quick as possible,”
“We have to see who we have available to get that starting XI after the injuries that we got tonight.
“The boys made a great effort here playing with 10 men for so long. So let’s recover first and then tomorrow we can start to think about that.”
So, let’s just put yesterday’s game down to ‘a bad day at the office’, and hope that we can get things back on track for Saturday. Come on Mikel, get your act together…
Darren N
Warning Bells! Alarm siren! If this coach thinks that was a good performance last night, sad he is not fit even to be a league 1 manager. Sorry not going to work Mikel. #ArtetaOut
He gave an overview of the whole scenario. Yes the boys really tried based on their quality and couple with the fact that 2goals came from individual error and playing with 10men after going down 2nil against a super team.
I beg to differ, 2 shots whole game? Poor defending by experienced pros and he picks up on something small and silly of AMN in training? Clueless substitutions! That is the reason why MC did not assure him the head coach role when Pep leaves them This is the difference in ambition between MC and AFC! Even Everton went in for a UCL winning coach! That is ambition! What excuses will he have for the next game? I was not expecting a win, but a draw and we had the resources for a draw. What training does he oversee? That players get injured without any rash tackle or so?
Accepting disgusting statements from this coach is giving in to mediocrity. Some deluded fans are talking of making it to UCL when we could not win a home match against Oly?We could not win against a junior squad of Liverpool in the league cup? And the man is pleased with things? Three red cards in 11 games for Arteta? What is he coaching or is he coaching them for red cards? He is a bigger disaster than Unai. Bring back Freddie as our head coach. Enough is enough #ArtetaOut
I replied to a post of yours on another article asking why you want Arteta out. Name me a manager that would have taken the job after Emery, knowing that there was a limited budget and a number of players who are not nearly good enough. Arteta has already proved to me that he can improve even the most inept of our players, but you cannot make a silk purse out of a pigs ear.
Man City are and were a much better team on the night. I thought we all knew that and I certainly didn’t expect a good result. I don’t agree with you that it was a dire performance, insofar as the team started brightly. The injuries and sending off completely changed the game. My positive is that the team didn’t completely collapse. It wasn’t an 8-2 drubbing
Sue, Carlo was interested in the job. Unfortunately since there is no winning mentality at AFC and mediocrity of the top order has found acceptability, we went in for Mikel as he was available on the cheap. Nothing has changed, coaching reflects on the pitch and as usual we were caught napping and boom in went three goals. Blame the players or who ever you may, but Arteta selected them when there were options available. As for the 8-2, yes it was coming and we got saved by Xhaka limping off, Xhaka guarantees you a goal or two and Ozil’s presence would give another couple. We were saved by the absence of these two or else a humiliation was around the corner. If Arteta is so great a coach, why does he not coach Ozil to pull the strings like how KDB did? Because he got no guts to take him to task. No accountability. Every man and his dog knows that Luiz was as fault at Brentford, and he makes it to the team sheet? Why? Pepe cannot follow his coach’s instructions then what coaching is this? Gabriel benched? Auba wide? Saka off position? Accepting these amateurish mistakes from an amateur coach is taking us down while CFC with Lamps are heading for UCL without any star names this year. Arteta was never a born winner as a player ( I don’t count the FA cup as a major, it is a feel good trophy to have) neither will he set his sights to be a winning coach. Since we are happy to make up the numbers for the EPL, Arteta is the right solution for us.No wonder Auba wants to leave, because he has set his sight on silverware which with Arteta we never will win.
Loose Cannon,
You mention Ancellotti but my point has always been that Arsenal would not give him or any other top coach the funds to compete so taking Arteta was always going to be a risk. My personal opinion is that Arteta will come good. (I don’t want to have to eat my hat.) He only had a few games in charge before the enforced lay off due to Covid and a very mixed bag of players to work with. There is a better reaction from the team to him. How can I forget the lack of respect the players showed to Emery. Freddie would not be my choice as a replacement.
Lampard had a year at Derby to cut his teeth and at Chelsea there was already a better squad of players. We will have to wait and see at the end of the season if he can get them a top 4 place. I do agree though, he has all the makings of an excellent manager
I cannot accept that Arteta could do much more than he has with Ozil, who I have lost patience with. To compare KDB and Ozil is like comparing chalk and cheese. KDB is total class and Ozil was world class but is now a has been.
We will all have a difference of opinion on who should start and where but I honestly do believe that to show him the door is hasty. Arteta has had a mountain to climb. Arsenal were in decline for some years and it will take time to rectify and a wee bit of investment from the owner.
Blame Arteta if you want but be honest when you look at the squad. It is poor. LC, you are talking about subing one okay player for another. I like Maitland-Niles but he hasn’t been great – good by times and mediocre by times as well.
As for coaching up Ozil, not happening – I am kind of surprised you are saying that is even possible. He’s done. He is old before his time. The contract should never have been offered at ridiculous terms – makes him unsaleable.
Also, I don’t really care what he says, it will be what he does. If Luiz is on the pitch again then your critique is more valid.
Auba is better in the middle but Auba also is getting really frustrated and in many games looks pretty lazy. I don’t think he wants to be there. Besides, it didn’t really matter because Arsenal was only going to get counter chances against City.
The difference in the teams is so stark – we could have a much better argument about who city plays as their subs are better than most of our starters.
I had hoped that we would get lucky yesterday, but I fully expected a beating – score is now 20-2 in last seven games. Can’t blame Arteta for all of that.
And Lampard has done a good job, but he has better tools – it may have been a blessing for Chelsea and Lampard to have to use some of their talent base over the past while. And of course now, they get to spend again. Arteta would have Chelsea moving well. Lampard would be equally frustrated at Arsenal.
I like the idea of the “manager-saviour” but you have to have the parts to do the saving. Arsenal is out of parts. I don’t care who you get right now, Arsenal is a multi transfer window project with a lot of cash. Mgmt has spent a lot on magic beans.
Arteta took a bold gamble on youth and it badly backfired. Truth is that the line up was so poor that we had absolutely no chance of a result even before the ball was kicked. Our midfield was so poor it was embarrassing. Why does he persist with Auba on the left wing? Nketiah may be one for the future, but could not muster a regular starting place in the Leeds squad! The less is said about Willock, the better. A few good games have turned the head of Saka who now fancies Liverpool apparently. AMN is a championship caliber player. Nelson doen not seem to have the gumption to succeed. Which brings the question: what is the point of our academy?
What was the point of spending 70M on Pepe when he is not deployed and our defense is so poor. My own view is that we are far more likely to be drawn in a relegation tussle next time around than mounting a challenge for top 4. While I am not a fan of Kroenke, money has been made available, but truth is that these resources have been used poorly. Sokratis, Torreira, Pepe, and even Lacazette have been underwhelming. Going further back the likes of Welbeck, Mustafi, Xhaka, and so on have also been relatively poor buys. Letting Sanchez and Ramsey walk for little return was criminal. And clearly no lessons seem to have been learned.
Of course folks will continue to talk about Ozil. While he is clearly past his peak, he remains our best creative player. He did not award himself the contract he is on. While Manu have dealt with Sanchez contract fiasco like a big club, Arsenal fans continue to show that we are not in the same financial league as them by continuing to bicker about one inflated contract. Arteta is surprisingly using the same vernacular as Emery about the exclusion of Ozil.
We were told that we would be able to compete with the very best. Now it sounds more like an Arthur Daley pitch. We are quickly turning into a mediocre lot.
Lets hope he doesn’t really mean what he says. Because he talks with fork tongue.