When Arsenal were going through their worst patch of form for over 50 years before Christmas, no-one could possibly have imagined that we would go on a six-game unbeaten run in the League from Boxing Day onwards.
We have gone the whole of January with just dropping two points in the 0-0 draw with Crystal Palace, and we could make it the perfect January if we could end the month by doing the Double over Man United.
Even that was looking like a really tough task until we destroyed Southampton on Tuesday night, and then we witnessed Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s side get beaten 2-1 by Rock Bottom Sheffield United, which must surely have given us an extra boost ahead of Saturday’s game against United.
Now it is Arsenal’s turn to have the momentum going into the game. As Arteta said yesterday on Arsenal.com: “We’re keeping the momentum going, the run going, being very humble and understanding that there are a lot of things we have to improve. There is so much we have to do to catch up with many other teams still, and go game by game. Let’s see where we get.
“We know it’s going to be really difficult [against Manchester United]. They’ve been in top form. They’ve been top of the table, playing really well. We know they are a real threat so we have to be at our best to beat them on Saturday.
“They have the capacity and the quality to beat any side in the world. We know we’re going to have to be at our best because the demands of these games are huge. We need to be better than what we were on Tuesday again to beat them and that’s the way we’re going to prepare.”
Just imagine if we do beat the Red Devils, who were top of the table only last week, we could be only seven points behind them in the table, which would be an incredible achievement considering where we were before Christmas.
Is there anyone still calling for Arteta to be sacked now?
Lets beat them first
Exactly.
I never had doubts about Arteta…dude is top notch!and its fun being an arsenal fan these days the turn around in fortunes have the massive in past few weeks!
I still have doubts but happy to give him rest of the season to prove himself
It will be difficult to do the double over them.
A draw will be a fair result. I will be over excited if we win though.
Yes. Because Solskjaer has already known Arteta’s tactics and Man United players’ confidence is sky-high now, despite being dented a little by their recent defeat
However, we’ve seen that Solskjaer’s tactic in the Sheffield game was pretty lame, because he just relied on his players’ brilliance as what Lampard did. Therefore Arteta could still beat him if he has other tricks up his sleeve
Win or lose against Manure,the muppets who were calling for Artetas head are your typical knee jerk reactionists who haven’t a clue how football works.Expect the premier title & champions league on a platter in his ( Artetas) first season.Glory hunting muppets to the bone.At the first sign of a hiccup or bump in the road throw their toys out the Priam.Do not accept or understand that ARSETETA has a rebuild job that will take at least 2 seasons to sort out due to the mess The Ditherer & snake oil salesman left.still such is the fan base these days….
Lmao
A bit surprised to read stuff by Uwot who seem to be an extremist who criticised extremists, so who is allowed to say what he thinks?
Now if I may, it will be nice to beat United at Emirates which would put us in a good position. Another spurt of 3-4 games would put us in enviable position and start dreaming of champions league. All these are dreams and mine are not better than yours, only different at best.
I would be a hypocrite if I did’nt mention satisfaction with Epl competition resulting in Man utd losing to Sheff its and giving rise to our present chit chat. Marvelous english footie.
I was one of the fans who called for arteta to leave but I dont believe that makes me a muppet as I didn’t think we would challenge for the top 4 but I also didn’t think we would lose 4 home games against teams we should beat. We all want what’s best for arsenal but turning on each other just makes us look foolish to other clubs and insulting our previous managers just make you look silly and small minded. I also think that was a good result on Tuesday but we will have to up our game massively for Saturday
Ooh I will be so so happy if we can beat them again, although I think a draw is more likely
Our recent meetings with them gives me confidence that we’ll beat them.
The boys must know this too.
Also like Arteta said, it’s a good chance to move up. If we win, we’d be just 5 points away from top 4.
I like the fact Arteta, Tierney and the boys say they don’t look at the table, they just want to win each game that comes and see where it gets them.
Expecting another mastercly from Xhaka-Partey again.
Ole is clueless and his tactic stays the same, always play and hit opponents on the counter. The full defense would need to stay alert.
We need to win, it’s th Emirates, let’s do this double as we’re going away to the Molineux days later.
The ArtetaOut boys are just reactionary kids, who expected him to have sort all the issues the club’s been facing for years under 8 months. Expect him to just walk into the top 4.
When we lose games, they’re all over here talking and moaning, you get over 200 comments, but when we win, they suddenly become ghosts and the comments on here reduces drastically.
Says a lot about what they want, always want to pop up in time of negativity and dull spirits.
Eddie we should name and shame these self entitled , glory hunting, immature children, masquerading as real fans. Next time I read unwarranted criticsm of our fine manager from one of these gloom merchants, I will name all of them. I know exactly who they are, as do most of us realists!
Agbaya!!! Not right!
Lol, Stephen
@Stephen & Gogo
Madala in our language haha
What does this mean?
We can defeat them
Jon I’d rather not do that, WS they’re entitled to theury opinions.
Definitely they can spread doom and gloom all they want but I’m not gon let it rub on me or change my views. Also I’d rather not get into a war of words with them
Eddie I mush respect your personal view but we have all to be true to ourselves , I hope you will agree.
My life long philosophy from which I will never quail is to challenge unwarranted and hasty criticsm, esp from self entitled people and I speak at all levels not merely in football. I cannot deny that I do not suffr fools gladly, as I happen to believe we almost all have a perfectly adequate brain but that a small section of humans choose not to use it properly. That to me is being lazy minded and I will always challenge that too.
Conversely, I much respect thoughtful posts, quite irrespective of whether or not I agree with the thoughts behind them We are all entitled to have our own thoughts, that is freedon of choice but some do NOT actually think; they merely react and hastily too!
Jon I must admit you never fail to amaze me. At times I feel like telling you to stop being a snob and then as I am about to put pen to paper you come up with a thoughtful piece like the one above. This is indeed what a balanced person is. You criticise when you feel it is necessary and give commendation when it is deserved.
Good attitude. With seven of our next 9 games coming against top ten sides (and the other two being Wolves and Burnley) there is a good chance that the glass half empty folks will reappear
At least they are nothing less than Arsenal fans too and are entitled to their opinions too. Win lose or draw we all want the best for Arsenal.
Ironically, the only reason ANY of us can be this optimistic is that Arteta finally was forced to make changes to the lineup, which gave opportunity for more productive players and game play, leading to our current run.
His REPEATED use of Willian, Bellerin and Pepe (albeit the latter being somewhat justified only very recently) tells you enough.
Being tired of the same drab, ineffective, passionless players and tactics that left us in a horrendous place than even Emery =/= being a “doom and gloom” fan – or a plastic one.
Hopefully, Smith-Rowe, Partey and Tierney are fit to play.
Those 3 players are essential to our game flow.
Lacazette.
Martinelli. Smith-Rowe. Saka.
Xhaka. Partey.
Tierney. Luiz. Holding. Cedric.
Leno.
I would love to see this selection on Saturday. Aubameyang, Pepe, Odegaard can come in second half.
Pepe’s been good at the left. I think he will start
Pepe can’t survive against Wan Bissaka.. This isn’t Southampton and Valery.
Arteta out? He showed the red card to the “assist king? ” Most commentators were of the opinion that Arteta would walk before the king completed his hat trick of managers sacked. No chance of Artetaout. We will try and get all 3 points against ManU as no team in invincible today. With the utter rubbish gone, and better players in, we will get better. Our season starts now.
I think it really depends on who’s fit to play, especially Partey and Tierney.
If those two play I thnik we’ve got a chance to win yes. A draw would be fine too, let’s not forget that they’re the best at away games
Mikel for manager of the month? Won’t be surprised if they rob him like they did Unay. We are 5 points from top 4 now. A winning run in February our title quest will get back on track.
We are beating Man utd comfortably. They don’t stand a chance. I am so sure of it if we lose I am going to shave my head and beard and wear rags for the rest of the season.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Rags?! Better than nowt 🤣🤣🤣
😂😂 Survived going nowt from our home defeat to Man utd in CL semis 2009. It took weeks for the lump on throat to go away.
👍 it’ll be fig leaf time before long 😂
title quest ?
Yes Dan. Until it is mathematically impossible to be on top we are one of the challengers. A good run in February and I will put us as favourites.
Imagine what?
We are going to win. Not imagining.
We’ll do a double on them this season.
It is must win game if we want to stay in the fight for top four finish. From fifteenth position and we are in the fight for top four positions. This they say is FOOTBALL.
Three wins and two draws from our last five games against United, eleven out of fifteen points, and I see another win to complete a rare double.
Would love to do the double over the Norwegian PE teacher so much!!!
We’re on a good run… confidence has returned… should be a belter COYG
So true Sue!
🙂👍
Could be nice doing a double but if it mean going another 9 games without a win id rather we loose and we win the next 9
What is very funny, is how the former “Arsenal has no ambition”, types are now so easily pleased.
The last 15 possible points were points that had to be won or else.
13 out of 15 is acceptable.
Before you get too giddy, have a look t the next 15 points.
The tide has turned for us against Man-U and am confident we can score two against them. Fans nowadays are impatient with results ans so is most of society. Am Prince from Ohio, USA. Be blessed people.
What a joke!!!!!!!
So the manager who took Arsenal to a 50 year low has won 3 games and now we should all believe.
Talk about foresight and ambition. Give Arteta a lifetime contract will you.
Well actually Arteta has a fantastic record against the top 6. Especially when considering it’s barely been his squad, and he inherited the worst Arsenal squad in over 30 years. Not to mention all the other problems.
For the last decade or so we wouldn’t feel confident about these games, but we do know because we FINALLY have a manager who applies tactics, and accountability.
Arteta has yet to complete a full season, so lets wait until he does before judging. But so far, extremely good!
Wouldn’t say fantastic
So winning around half his games against top opponents (including two finals and a semi), with a dreadful squad, and one that wasn’t his, is not good enough for you Dan Smith? Also note that we’re not getting absolutely battered in these games, which has been a regular occurrence for the last decade or so.
What on earth were you expecting then?
Under arteta he’s lost to Chelsea at home
Twice to spurs
Twice to man city
Lost to Liverpoo l
No wouldn’t say that’s fantastic
Wenger beat city and Chelsea in cup
Emery beat a spurs , Chelsea , man u
So Arteta has already beaten Liverpool (the best team in the world over the last 2 years) three times in four, but you’re focusing on that one defeat? You’re kidding me, right?
I think overall under Arteta against top 6:
Played 16
Won 8
Draw 1
Lost 7
(including 100% win ratio against top 6 in finals)
I’m sure Wenger’s last 16 games against top 6 wouldn’t be as good, despite the squad being 100% his, years coaching those players, and there would be some thrashings in there as well.
Clearly you are not impressed with these results under Arteta, so what would you find impressive? Remember context when answering, e.g. the state of Arsenal and the squad when Arteta joined.
Well I meant Leauge
But even so 7 losses in 16 games isn’t fantastic
For the record Wenger last 16 games
Lost 7 , drew 4 , won 5
So hardly ground breaking by comparison
Dan where did you get this stat from? In Wengers final 2 seasons in Arsenal in the Premier league against the top six, Arsenal had 3 wins, 6 draws and 11 losses, scored 23 and conceded 39 goals. This does not include other competitions.
You conveniently failed to answer my question Dan Smith.
In those 16 games, what were you expecting then? And remember context.
Okobino he asked me to count Wenger last 16 in all competitions
Im not having ago at arteta , I just don’t think 7 wins in 16 ( not even half i) s fantastic as claimed
AH OLD PESSIMIST BLOOMERS IS BACK ! IT MUST BE A RAINY DAY!
We the gunners, we’re going for a sure win. No matter what they say
I think this gona be tough again of ole .he has been doing well actually not untill to his dismay over 1-2 deafeat agaist shefield. If he flavours up his team /squad.i think he would triump over arsenal.a big team shall ever be no matter the happening of a silly mistake being made.
So we have fallen so low that we are boasting that we need to win to only be 7 points BEHIND a tram who finished 4 th ?
Dude nobody’s boasting, Jesus do you ever have anything positive or free spirited to say instead of moody and depressive statements?
Everyone’s just excited and looking forward to reduce the gap between us and the top teams.
Do we have to cry and wail every single time before you think we all want the club to move forward?
That club you said finished 4th, please do remind us what position they are in right now?
Fans are looking forward to reducing the points between us and 2nd team on the table right now and you have an issue with it.
You guys would rather this fan base stay depressed 24/7.
I can’t even deal with y’all
Yeah but I can’t deal with the overreaction all the time
We lose a game we get carried away , we win we become arrogant
The truth is somewhere in the middle
If I said to you start of season we be 7 points behind Man United, would you be walking around saying ‘ wow imagine that ‘
It’s music to Stan Koronkes ears
We are 8th , not competing and he’s got fans thinking that this is okay ?
@Dan Smith
So Arteta hasn’t even completed a full season, and you’re complaining about not competing in the league. Well Wenger didn’t compete in the league for his last 14 YEARS!!!!!!! You must be absolutely disgusted, going by your own logic.
Don’t remember 8th
Or our worst start in decades do you ?
Don’t get me wrong I support Arteta but beating Man United to only be 7points is nothing to crow about
Like I said, Arteta has not completed a full season yet. He was our third manager of last season, and inherited an absolute mess.
Do you think qualifying for Europe and winning the FA Cup from the horrendous position the club was in when Arteta joined was not an impressive achievement?
Last season was decent
This season not so far
Its easy for anyone to say #Artetaout during our poor spell. How can we not put out a fight against teams like Burnley and Palace? The team was so poor it looked lke the manager was clueless.
There were times I look for what to hold on to but didn’t see and yes I was Arteta out and still sitting in the fence now but just because you are not Arteta out doesn’t make you a better Arsenal fan.
The only reason I am still calm is because of the talk of a mole in the team and that could really be a reason for the divided dressing room. Auba look lost and even scoring an own goal.
Things have changed now and i am happy we are picking up points. But there is no need to still divide the fan base with your naming and shaming any group that believe contrary to what you believe. We are Arsenal…
Spot on gogo
Gogo, Its true that “just because you are not Arteta out doesn’t make you a better fan”. But it makes you a WISER fan, for being able to see his qualities that those who wanted him out OR are sitting on the fence fail to see. So not better, thats true, but wiser and that is also true.
I WOULD ALSO SAY THAT WISDOM IS REALLY AN ABILITY TO THINK PROPERLY AND BEFORE POSTING WHAT IS OFTEN NONSENSE. More an ability to engage and use the brain properly, than actually having a better brain. Thinking FIRST always helps avoid saying stupid things.
Finally, it is not a case of “dividing a fanbase” but all people everywhere either having their own properly thought through OR UNthought through opinions.
There is always a divide between those who think first and those who do not and in all walks of life, not merely in football.
Spot on Gogo, The team was playing garbage before the recent run of games, and we have every right to question the manager for the bad performance. Most of the issue the team had was of Arteta’s doing. He kept on playing the under performing players and sticking to a useless rigid tactics. Arteta didn’t had the worst team than the later years of AW or UE team. It’s his job to get out the best out of his players and find a winning formula (which he finally did). If we are calling out for under performing players, then why shouldn’t we mentioned when the manager is under performing too? MA had no record to show that he was here before and knows how to turn things around. I support MA, but that doesn’t exclude him from anger. Arsenal before anyone else
“we have every right to question the manager for the bad performance”
Mahoosive difference in question the performance and outright saying “arteta out” or “hes a clueless manager” or “your delusional if you think hes the right man for us” or the CONSTANT pre match complaining. All of which are frequent on here.
And havent you noticed there are usually less comments on here when we win as opposed to when we lose? People just use this platform to vent there own sh%t.
I think we ‘destroyed’ Southampton is an exaggeration. They controlled the match for the whole middle period 15-20 minutes each side of half time and could have scored/equalised. But I liked the way we played overall.
We need to not switch off.. and work a lot on not giving the ball away cheaply.. which Pepe still does quite a bit… and also when another key pass in and around the box to a player in a better position would give us a better chance of scoring.
I don’t think we’ll lose to utd but it depends a lot on which Arsenal and which utd show up….
And whether Partey and ESR play is major.. Tierney a big bonus but Cedric is on form so he would be missed but not as seriously as Partey and ESR.
Man utd
Wolves
Aston villa
Leeds
Man city
Leicester
Burnley
Little Tott
West ham
Liverpool
Get through these huge fixtures with a very good pts tally and we could be close to the top with how crazy this season is.
how are we ever going to raise our standards if some within the fanbase continue to coddle this organization…several site regulars got all righteous when we had a fairly decent result versus a bang average Southampton, and started venting about where all the naysayers had disappeared to following the game…how terribly sad…in fact, I actually considered offering up a far more realistic critique of the game, but upon seeing the comments I reversed course, feeling that how could I have a rational back-and-forth with such an obviously irrational audience… of course, I’m incredibly pleased with the 3 points, but the slathering of praise was both disconcerting and borderline delusional…why can’t you just come on and say it was great to get a positive result and make note of Cedric’s better second-half performance or talk about Pepe showing a few glimpses or even mention the fact that we had some good pressing moments etc…instead it’s a smattering of absolutely nonsensical gibberish, like we had just discovered the next Ronaldo or Messi….this sort of misguided banter reflects poorly on our fanbase and not because there’s anything wrong with positive feedback, but when those comments fail to pass the eye test it devalues our opinions as a whole and actually promotes the lowered expectations that have plagued this club for years…maybe some of you don’t get the fact that these sorts of sites gained considerable prominence when teams started to limit fan interaction with both players and management, so many fans searched for a forum to vent their frustrations with other potentially like-minded individuals…this doesn’t mean that positive commentary isn’t valued, but there’s a reason is why the numbers on this site shrink considerably after a victory, once the initial euphoria has worn off…furthermore, maybe many of you don’t actually watch other football, minus when Arsenal is playing, so you don’t have the ability to properly critique what you’re actually watching…the bottom-line is that until we show some consistency regarding our recruitment policies(no more long-term over 30 luxury buys) and team selection process(actually have a best 11 who start regularly) we will remain on this roller coaster ride for the foreseeable future…seeing some problematic players and contracts being dealt with is definitely a positive step, but we still have a myriad of similar issues that must be dealt with in the summer, let alone addressing a handful of pressing needs…this club needs “tough love” now more than ever, so that it truly understands just how hard it must work to actually regain our respect and the respect of the footballing community as a whole
TRVL, you always think properly before writing your mostly well detailed thoughts. I often agree with most or all of what you say and do with your post here too.
But a little too much euphoria is not a bad thing, AS LONG AS it does not feed through into OVERhyping still developing younger players, thus overpressurising them. THEN it becomes counter productive.
Can I respectfully ask that you use paragraphs and full stops instead of a stream of dots though, as that makes reading your interesting posts much easier? Thank you!
Will do Jon…I should have realized the length of my comment and acted accordingly…Cheers
The match against United on Saturday is giving me the heebies to be honest but, am having a feeling that we will come out tops. United is not the only team having a good time, we also are having a good time bar the fa cup misfortune against the saints. Am a Gunner from Biafran Land, hope I am welcomed to this Noble family ?
Auba’s mum’s health has improved. Great news for him, her & hopefully us.
Last time we played Man U, OGS was the bookies favourite to be the next manager sacked. Fact!
Let’s get that ball rolling again.
A very very very very premature article.
Reggie please not you..😐
Jon I must admit you never fail to amaze me. At times I feel like telling you to stop being a snob and then as I am about to put pen to paper you come up with a thoughtful piece like the one above. This is indeed what a balanced person is. You criticise when you feel it is necessary and give commendation when it is deserved.
If ManU play it deep, I don’t think we can hope for more than a draw. The game against Crystal Palace has shown that Arsenal still struggles against low blocks.
The reason for arsenals inconsistent season has been due to parteys injuries. If he doesn’t start against United that’s it points dropped, we have been in good form of recent because we have been dominating midfield battles, he is the spine of the team and without him we are just an ordinary. Check the stats this season of games played with and without partey. He is our main man
I believe today we will win 3 . 1
I just wish we can beat United. Their team is nothing special.
Lets go at them. Don’t give them any encouragement.