Arteta Can’t Bring My Arsenal Back by Dan Smith
I said there would be a cruel destiny if Vieira won on his return to Arsenal.
While that was seconds away from happening, the irony of the image of our ex-captain dropping to his knees, while our players jumped into the crowd to celebrate an equaliser wasn’t lost on me.
Here was a club legend who knows all about the ethos of the Gunners, the standard the badge once had.
Here he was disappointed with a 2-2 draw.
His players crestfallen over a point.
In his post-match interview, he spoke about being delighted that his players were angry in the dressing room, not patting themselves on the back for getting a result at the Emirates.
That’s because he’s a winner.
That’s the standard he’s set for himself when a player, and now for his squad.
When he was captain of the Arsenal, he wouldn’t have dared jump into the crowd to celebrate a 2-2 draw at home with Crystal Palace.
That’s because a Tony Adams, Lee Dixon, Keown, etc, had taught him the values of the club. If he wouldn’t tolerate that as a skipper he wouldn’t as manager.
Just say that out loud.
Arsenal in 2021 have fallen so low that their players now celebrate a 2-2 draw at home to Palace!
If that’s not final proof of our regression and how far we have fallen since Mr Wenger left, I don’t know what is?
That’s why Monday night was a pivotal moment for me.
I like Arteta and want him to succeed, I think he’s a nice guy who has love for the club.
Yet I sat watching and was overtaken by an acceptance that this just isn’t working.
It wasn’t at 1-1 or 2-1 down I felt this. It actually was in my head when we were 1-0 up.
I can tell you that others at the Emirates felt the same way.
To be 1-0 up at home and have a stadium so quiet and anxious takes some doing.
Quite simply the majority in attendance were bored. Bored because this wasn’t the Arsenal they recognised, grew up with, the one they identified with.
While I acknowledge we have been fielding the youngest 11 this season and therefore inconsistencies should be expected, we are not playing this way because of youth.
Look on the touchline and you could see Arteta after half an hour gesturing for players to retreat. Instead of wanting to add to his lead he cared more about protecting it.
It’s not our DNA.
Nor is at half time replacing an attacker player for a DM.
When Palace went 2-1 up, you no longer had the confidence that Arsenal would make lots of chances. That used to be guaranteed, that nothing else, we would make chances.
Our manager doesn’t seem to trust Martinelli, only bringing him on for 10 minutes, while he refuses to start Laca with Auba because Laca will be playing elsewhere this time next year.
The irony is that it’s the striker who isn’t extending his contract who showed the most leadership when he tried to encourage the crowd to find their voice.
Of course, the reason the atmosphere was so poor was they had been given nothing to cheer about.
I can’t relate to a sportsperson and am not trying to judge the adrenaline you must get for scoring in front of thousands of people while rescuing your team.
So, while I might understand a player with limited minutes happy to prove a point to employers who don’t value him, the whole team?
Our keeper ran the length of the pitch to jump into the crowd. Say that out loud, our keeper is running the length of the pitch to join in jumping into a crowd because of 2-2 draw at home to Palace!
In comparison when Laca got a late equaliser in a 2-2 draw with the Saints he barely managed a smile. That was when Uni Emery was in charge, even he had set a standard where dropping points at home was deemed disappointing.
Now we have fans calling 0-0 draws with Brighton positive and players celebrating 2-2 draws with Palace by jumping into the stands.
A section of our fan base that tolerates this is either in denial or actually believing what they are watching is okay.
That’s why players think 2-2 draws are now okay – because from top to bottom the ambition is so low.
No one is telling the players any different.
A Keown, Dixon, Parlour, Henry, etc would be having a word with players in training saying, ‘The Arsenal don’t celebrate 2-2 draws with Palace’.
Yet we don’t have those leaders.
An owner with zero ambition and a manager who is ordering players to try and protect leads.
After the Brighton game I read we were making progress, it was a good result, we were on the right path, that players would rather join us then Barcelona, etc.
On Twitter fans were saying pundits were too harsh on us at the start of the season.
We had lost to Brentford and conceded 5 at City!
What were the likes of SkySports meant to say?
Before Monday’s kick off some fans were saying how we could be back in the top 4 by next Friday night.
I read a Gooner say that players would now choose us over Barcelona!
I assume that’s due to their financial issues, but to suggest we are more attractive than a team who still won silverware last season and still play in the Champions League. Even with financial uncertainty Barca will win La Liga before we win a Premier League.
And let’s be honest, any Gooner making silly comments like that looks foolish when players are jumping into crowds because of a 2-2 draw that has kept us in the bottom half of the table.
If that were Spurs, Chelsea, etc celebrating a draw that moves them up to 12th we would mock them, correct?
We should be embarrassed by being 12th after 8 fixtures. We should be questioning how this has been allowed to happen.
How, that instead of using Brighton and Palace as a chance to close the gap on the top 4, why does now everyone seem so satisfied with 2 points.
We left Highbury for this.
We forced out Arsene Wenger for this?
Wasn’t it Arteta who said Arsenal not being in Europe was not acceptable?
Now no one seems to even question how we are no longer contenders for even the top 6.
We need someone to say ‘enough’ now.
A man barking players to stay behind the ball at home to Palace, a man who settles for draws at Brighton, a man who only brings on Martinelli in the 80th minute, that’s not a man who will get our Arsenal back.
Be Kind in The Comments
Dan
Is it possible we actually need Laca on the pitch to play well? It seemed that way last season – he doesn’t guarantee we play week, but without him I don’t think we can…
“doesn’t guarantee we play *well*”
Arteta need a worldclass forward to bail him in attack because he does not know how to set up goalscoring team. During his first half season, auba was in red hot form. Thats why we could win the fa cup.
Arsenal had the chance to add a quality midfielder like Aouar or Koopmeiners that would have excited the fans for £20m(peanuts nowadays) & instead gave Xhaka a long contract because of Arteta..
Unfortunately as long as ArtEdu are there the supporters have more of this rubbish like against Palace to look forward to the rest of the season!🦃
Fortunately, Arteta always learns, if the mistakes in a game are obvious
After Bellerin, Chambers and Soares lost aerial duels, Arteta immediately recruited Tomiyasu
After the excessive long goal kicks in Brighton were unsuccessfully directed to Aubameyang, Ramsdale distributed the long ball to our wingers at the Emirates
We all know that the lack of high pressing after the first goal made Palace take control, so I bet Arteta will also fix that issue when Villa visit us
He learns and makes new mistakes again.. What a joke..
The potential problem in the Villa game is a new bad decision from him. But he usually doesn’t repeat the same mistake, so hopefully he’ll complete his learning process in the future
I blooming hope so GAI
Lol, but makes new ones. Your faith in arteta is stunning… “He was too smart”, “he was too conservative” or whatever. How much time do we let him in his internship with us. We score no goals. We are the 4th worse attack. How many other signs will you need ? He is just not up to the task. Could have. I hoped he was the new pep. But he is just an average manager. Spent the most this summer, two years in charge almost. What clear style/identity did you find ? Also he keeps making stupid changes. Saka on the right, on the left, pepe on the right last year, now on the left… Look at what vieira is doing at palace, with a way weaker team…
Thats sad to see arsenal is the testbed for Arteta managerial internship. For me he proved he just is not a good manager. He might be decent / ok but he is not at all that jewell coach we might have had on the cheap when we made the move for him. What kind of good manager cones to a club that finished 5th, and was 8th, does not improve them for two years and sits now 12th… Some were saying he needs time, it is covid, he inherited emery mess, he does not have his own CF. Lol. I dont have anything against Mikel. I think we were very very patient. Signs are just piling up that he wont get us further. Sinply not good enough. No game plan that consistently work, not many goals etc…
We folded to Brighton’s press as well – that issue wasn’t addressed
Ramsdale made excessive long goal kicks in panic, because of Brighton’s high pressing. But he fixed it at the Emirates, by directing the long ball to Smith-Rowe and Pepe instead
So he addressed the problem but didn’t fix it then? We still couldn’t get out effectively?
Tbh GAI, I think we’re terrible with the ball now, we make so many bad decisions (trying to find at the wrong times, mistiming passes, trying clever flicks at the wrong times) which I think is largely because our movement is very poor.
We could get out of Palace’s pressing by using Ramsdale’s new long ball directions, yet there were still many misunderstandings and misplaced passes after the escapes
I agree our off-the-ball movements were poor. I’m sure we’ll see longer duration of high pressing against Villa, but let’s see what new mistakes we’ll make in that game
“the irony of the image of our ex-captain dropping to his knees, while our players jumped into the crowd to celebrate an equaliser wasn’t lost on me.”(it was not lost on many of us believe me)that sentence to me, perfectly sums up how far we have fallen and where we are as a club.
What is wrong with you gai, Arteta always learn?. Learn what exactly?? He was fortunate to have ever play football and coach it now. Once asked my us I assure you no club we employ him. He recruited Tomi because Bellerin wants out. It is want thing to fool us but to oneself is height of foolishness.
He’s been learning from his mistakes that are mentioned in my first post above
If he just needed to replace Bellerin, he’s got Chambers, Soares and Maitland-Niles at his disposal. Yet he needed a taller RB, hence Tomiyasu came
Gai
If Arteta is making this season a learning curve then we may have a big issue making the Top6. If the manager is prone to bad decisions my worry is how does he transmit a positive energy to the players. I have a cautious optimism. We fans are put in a hopeful situation that may never yield any outcome just like the “Titanic hopeless casualties” But just like you said Gai, “we don’t have much choice at the moment” but to keep supporting even in the face of obvious realities. Our Arsenal will return to the Top Someday.
The way the players play is the reflection of their manager. Our games in this season could tell us about the low confidence of Arteta, which has been transmitted to our players
Kroenke would likely not replace him in December, unless we have a big relegation threat. So we can only support the current management till Kroenke drops his axe
Exactly My thought..is there one team in EPL that arsenal is not scare to? What worrys me most is that se have more than a week to prepare this Match and there was any sign of it. What would happen when we would have marches in the week too?
Aston Villa will come three days later, so the outcome will be the answer of your last question
Funny comment!!
Arteta learning to fix the mistakes is like the Dutch boy who sticks his finger in the Dyke.
As soon as he does it, another hole appears.
Eventually you run out of fingers.
In this game the Arsenal youngsters played against men, and came off second best. How will Arteta fix this problem?
Nope, eventually there’s no more hole to fix. Arteta could fix the current problems by:
– Forcing three of his attackers to press high up the pitch for at least forty minutes and benching the ones who don’t have enough stamina to do it
– Move Odegaard back to the right side and Smith-Rowe to the left wing, so they can take on the opponents by dribbling towards the center and make diagonal passes
GAI, we are now approximately a quarter of the way through the season.
We have not addressed any of the issues from the first game and your waffling about this and that is absolutely pointless.
If Arteta can’t see what is wrong game after game, then your ideas and solutions carry no weight whatsoever…. just as mine are as pointless as well.
The only person who can and should be able to motivate a squad of very decent players is the manager /coach, but he keeps blaming the players.
If he could see that we needed to attack more, why wait until the game is nearly over before introducing two attacking players?
Your constant covering up of the way we are playing and the ideas that you have to deflect blame away from the source of our problems, does nothing to solve the issue.
Thank you Ken for discouraging his usual drivel from continuing any further…even if that wasn’t your original intent
I agree that only Arteta can fix his problems. Please don’t get me wrong, because I’m not covering up his mistakes or deflecting the blame away from him
I just like to make suggestions and choose not to add more fuel into our current problems, in the hope of transmitting my ideas to Arteta through a viral words of mouth
You may call me naive. But I believe any message, whether it is constructive or negative, could reach its distant target if it is interesting enough to go viral
WTF…absolutely delusional banter
I completely agree with Ken,my exact sentiment.
I feel Saka is more suited for your suggestion on Ødegaard.
Ødegaard is too one-footed and can thus thrive only in a lot of space.
There have been numerous occasions where a short pass with his right foot would let loose a deadly counter attack, but instead he had to return the ball to his left foot, and basically stop the attack phase.
Any team that is robust is going to give us a problem. Unfortunately most teams have it either as a playing style or in the tank when they need it.At the moment our 3 young mid field stars look skillful if given room but lightweight if not as indeed does our one holding player unless he has assistance beside him. To my eyes the mid field combo is vital to both defend and create for the team to click and they all seemed to operate independently without effect last night.With what we have it looks like Partey + Lokonga and 2 of the 3 kids gives us our 4.Lac or Aub up front and for heavens sake ditch Pepe and let Martinelli loose, he is a dynamic handful compared to Pepe who continues to frustrate. While your at it Mr A get a grip on the defenders who all seem a bit lost and bang average since the Spurs game.
The first eleven chosen yesterday was the best I’ve seen since Arsene left .
They were all technically gifted but lacked physicality, cohesion and style of play.
This makes me to conclude that MA has a great eye for talented youngsters and can improve individuals but not yet a coach , more so a Football Manager at the moment .
It’s rather unfortunate that Arsenal has now turned to a Laboratory for testing unproven managers . Let’s enjoy mediocrity while it last .
I tend to agree that the first 11 was very good on paper, but (aside from the points you made) our striker is very clearly on the decline* and is not the Auba of 2 years ago. The Emery side would beat this one primarily because he had a close-to prime Auba up front, who was a world class goalscorer.
* Yesterday Auba did play well in general and proved me wrong as it shows he’s definitely not completely past it, still has something, although I don’t believe he should be unquestioned starter as he appears to be – Laca is ahead of him by some distance imo.
@Davi
You are right as regards to the assessment of our striker . But a good manager will need to play his team based on their strength and not weaknesses.
You won’t say a Benzema, Lewandowski is past it .
Players need to be properly managed based on their present situations
“You won’t say a Benzema, Lewandowski is past it”
No but it happens to different players at different times – I just think auba’s game was based heavily on his pace, and his loss of pace will naturally hit him harder than it would benzema or lewandowski, who have both always been about clever movement and high level close control.
Some players also adapt brilliantly to it – Ryan Giggs is a great example but he changed his games completely from a winger to a CM. I don’t think Auba has it in him to become a more cerebral forward – although I was impressed with some of his link up play yesterday, and against spurs, so maybe there’s hope. He needs someone like Laca in the team with him, though imo
MA is a good man manager but he is that bad at being a manager under pressure. Auba will poach goals for a city side easily. Arteta is under a learning curve and an Auba will never want to improve with a side fighting for nothing.
His wage is secured, Laca still fighting for his .
A good man manager? Tell that to Saliba, Guendouzi, Ozil, AMN, Mavs, Leno, Martinez, Martinelli, Willock, Pepe and Lacs.
There are just three games where, in my opinion, he got the players all playing for him The FA cup final and Charity Shield plus the spuds this season.
If he is such a great man manager, why can’t he get his players to perform week in and week out?
The secret of man management is consistency from the team – we have seen little of this basic requirement.
agree. we have talented players that look like they dont know each other. I dont understand what goes on in training. I am not convinced Arteta has a clue what to do with the talent in front of him.
I dont think it was our best goal keeper since AW left, nor Right back, Nor Midfield. I do think that the signings this summer are not getting us any higher under this manager.
Hey the fayenood coach questioned the training intensity of arsenal!! That sums up the kind of coaching staff we have. The team plays exactly like Arteta used to play therefore don’t expect any changes that’s all Arteta can give to this team
Lacazette came on to prove a point. He celebrated because of the timing he scored and thats his first goal of the season…
Two draws in a row now. I dont want another draw against villa…
Its either a WIN or a DEFEAT and not another draw. Villa did a double against us last season I think. We should try and win on Friday against them and get one or two goals past Martinez. Oh well, don’t know the Arsenal team that will turn up on Friday…
Arsenal fans are just not realistic with themselves. You need like five good consecutive good transfer windows spending good money to buy quality players, but first, they need to squeeze into. then top 4 to get the. Quality players. For now, they should just concentrate on squeezing themselves. Up, qualify for champions league, attract the best players, that’s all.
I’m sure I’m not the only one on JA who was at the Emirates last night. I didn’t feel that the crowd were anxious at being 1-0 up but we were generally pretty quiet. Without doubt, seeming to settle for being 1-0 up was a serious misjudgment and allowed Palace a route back. The Palace away support when nuts after their first goal and that definitely set the tone and the players responded.
Why there was this overriding sense of torpor I do not know. This has been a problem and not just in the last 2 years. Is life at Arsenal just too cosy?
I can’t buy into the forcing AW out tack at all. With all his experience he ultimately couldn’t keep Arsenal in the top4 and Emery faired no better and he had the experience too. No doubting that the hierarchy have invested under Arteta but it was overdue. As Kroenke believes in his young manager so far then not investing would be counterproductive. AJ hit the nail on the head. The Kroenke mob are the wrong owners and the people at the top who they entrusted to run a big club were simply not good enough. Raul was a disaster. Ozil’s contract set the wage structure and the so called deadwood were also on the financial gravy train Some of the weekly salaries for second string players have been a disgrace. It’s all rather comfortable.
As for Ramsdale at least he showed some bloody guts and passion so I don’t have a problem with him being ‘happy’ with the draw. At 1-2 down with seconds to go, I was happy with a draw or more to the point, relieved.
Sad to say, I’m not sure Arteta can bring us back to the top, but I think he will develop well enough, but post Wenger the club needed the very best immediately. Lack of a winning mentality from the owners – unlike Abramovitch
If the club had invested as much under AW or UE,one thing for sure we would be in a better position right now and playing better football,I agree AW had to go but the club should have let him run his contract,giving themselves enough time to get a proper replacement and work on the transition,I mean we should have learnt from the mistakes made by Utd,as my dad would say to us when we were younger”if you can,it’s always better to learn from other people
mistakes than your own!”
That is entirely possible
This is entirely speculative. In his later years there is little evidence that the players Wenger bought were really value for money.
And why nobody is saying anything about Kieran Tierney and how shocking he is this season is beyond me… People lose form but Arsenal players lose identity as a whole..
If a player drops form at Arsenal u might be forgiven to think whether he has actually ever kicked a football before.. It’s very crazy and hard to watch how quickly we have declined..
I won’t be disappointed if we get relegated cos at the moment we are only better than Norwich and Burnley, which without being sentimental we are not that far away from them based on the football played..
Am not a fan of Arteta infact if I were him I would resign.. but what about the players do u really need a manager to show u everything on a pitch of play, Then why are they calls professionals then?
The Tierney issue is a time bomb , and it’s ticking
Will explode when it’s time for MA to leave ,
Totally agree Mizta A. Tierney is the latest player that was wonderful until Arteta knocked it out of him. Except for one shot he was awful against Palace – not once did he even try to get to reach the byline. He has been poor all season and like so many recently, may never be the same player again.
There is absolutely nothing i have seen so far to support Arteta to return us to the top 4. In fact i have only seen innept decisions and a worrying lack of ideas.
👍 Unfortunately true. Why were Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery moved on, payouts made and new players bought to support Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal project and “apprenticeship”?
Because Ozzie our owner and board are clueless how to run a top team.
I’m not excusing the performance, it was a abject apart from the first 15 and last 10 minutes. But please…
Show me a team that doesn’t celebrate a last gasp goal to get a draw. Show me the team that stomps off angrily after the last minute goal sends home fans into rapture.
And please don’t tell me that Viera wouldn’t have been celebrating if it was Palace that nicked the point at the death. Of course he would. Even if they were playing home against Norwich.
To draw any other conclusions is just looking for more reasons to pile on when it’s not needed, everyone knows it was an unacceptable performance. And that’s basically what the players and Arteta were saying in post match interviews. They weren’t celebrating.
Smh.
Excessive celebrations are the least of our problems, Voya (and also pretty rare!).
While I accept most of the matters raised, with respect, you are way off the mark in criticising the replacement of Odegaard by bringing on Logonga who is a CM not a DM.Palace were controlling midfield possession because Arteta made the tactical mistake of playing 2 attacking midfielders neither of whom are ball winners, and in the case of Odegaard, unable to retain possession for any length of time.We actually gained a foothold in midfield when Lokonga was introduced, and it was unfortunate that he and Partey were culpable in being dispossed, which led to the Palace goals.They were not directly responsible for the goals as Benteke waltzed past Gabriel as though he wasn’t there, and Ramsdale was unsighted in the case of the Edouarde goal.All in all a very fortunate point .In hindsight I suspect Vieira may regret putting on another CB to shut up shop, as Palace looked like scoring in virtually every counter attack as we pushed men forward in desperation.We need fresh legs and energy to support Partey in midfield against a very decent Villa side who will work their socks off.
I can’t criticise any of the players for that performance Grandad. The blame lies with one man:
– Tierney has totally lost his way but starts every game ahead of Tavares. Didn’t try to reach the byline once, it was like watching Willian play.
– Saka played on the left
– Ode played too deep as a HM/CM rather than attacking midfielder
– ESR played on the right as another HM/CM
– Partey isolated with two lightweight out of position players alongside him against a physical, pressing midfield
– Pepe not only picked but played in Saka’s best position on the right
– Auba picked ahead of Laca. He actually played quite well but his style doesn’t work in this set-up.
– CP pressed and blocked our passing channels. We didn’t press and no tactical adjustments were made.
– Resorted to long kicks to their defenders to break the high press.
– Subs made too late again.
Poor individual performances throughout, but that’s why. It looked like these guys had never played together before. We are a nervous, boring, negative mess. After almost two years.
Perfect analysis from Grandad.
Agree and Guy as well.
I don’t believe for one minute that the players were celebrating getting a last gasp equalizer because it was against Crystal Palace, they were just celebrating getting an equalizer regardless of who it was against, as I suspect every Arsenal fan was doing the same. I’m also pretty sure that if the tables were turned Viera would do exactly the same if his team had scored a last minute goal.
Arteta has got to go. He has been here long enough to have made at least some visible improvements to the club. He just seems so clueless.
I don’t know what his style or brand of football. Is it possession football? Is it defensive? Is it a mixture etc?
The way we play has no direction or definition. We are absolutely poor at everything. We seem to have stagnated into a proper mid table club right now and I don’t see us improving with him still in charge.
I wanted him to do well and have given him enough leeway since he joined. Now he deserves to be pelted by from all angles.
What a disappointment.
🤦♂️
.Apart from all being sacked for playing boring negative football by their clubs what also connects Moyes at Utd ,Allardyce at Newcastle and McCLaren at England?.Answer is Steve Round who was on the coaching staff with all three and was even booted out by Southgate at Middlesbrough for a difference of philosophy.Now he is Arteta s assistant and we are playing side to side boring negative football.
https://twitter.com/FootyHumour/status/1450198672642301956?t=JUv5msqgI6NUVPMfP_kXgQ&s=19
150 mil wasted this summer for me. A great chance to really boost the team with strong top players and we didn’t.
I do agree to a certain extent Reggie
But Ramsdale who as exceeded my expectations and Tavares look a great bit of business .
Odegaard less said the better
White ,there is a player in there but not for 50 million that for sure
Tomi ,last 2 games not so good but before that he looked great ,hope he gets back to that form
Lokogo ,jury’s out for me on him ,but he’s young and hasn’t really been given enough minutes to make such a decision as of yet .
But the main 2 who are now mainstays in the team have both got their work cut out for me
But will we ever see Tavares, DK? Tierney is playing really poorly and continues to be first choice. Ironically it was only when he was on fire he got injured every fortnight!
I can’t criticise the players though (I wish I could, it would be a lot easier) as our esteemed genius played ESR, Saka, Ode all out of their best position last night. And as usual he is incapable of adapting during games. An embarrassing sham masquerading as a football match.
The man’s getting worse…
This is exactly why I tried to tell anyone and everyone who would listen, last spring, that it was absolutely imperative that our indifferent owner didn’t buy into the Arteta/Edu “rebuild” reboot narrative and retain their respective services
not only are we going to lose another year or so in the process, he was likewise given the largest transfer kitty in the history of our storied franchise, which was always going to be problematic scenario should things continue to go sideways and a managerial move is in the cards
it’s already taken us 3+ years to unravel the mess left by Wenger and Raul, which still hasn’t been fully completed…of course, some of the incoming players have the requisite abilities to handle a significant tactical shift, but we’ll never secure the services of a credible replacement without allowing them to put their individual stamp on the squad…as such, this could be an incredibly arduous transition consider the fees, wages, term and assurances given to those who just arrived
In December 2017 Grioud celebrated a late equalizer against Southhampton as if it was a winning goal.
He received plenty of stick from supporters, but I heard none from the manager. And who was the manager? Wenger.
So the concept of settling for less was introduced a long time ago, and there is no reason to say it was different under Wenger.
so true Anders…there’s no doubt, albeit some will undoubtedly vehemently deny it, that expectations were forever changed during Wenger’s latter tenure…even if it’s not entirely fair, there’s a reason why the Wenger Cup became a bone of contention amongst many within the largely fractured fanbase and why it was almost laughable when Wenger would still claim that he didn’t make a particular signing simply because he couldn’t find a player who could meet his exceedingly high “standards”, even though he had previously signed a myriad of bang average, at best, players
probably the most disheartening aspect of the whole stadium ruse was that it ushered in an era where mediocrity could be construed as acceptable so long as there appeared to be a long-term vision…of course, the latter part was a completely fabricated notion meant to quell obvious concerns that might arise from within the fanbase…just imagine how that all would have played out if parity arrived even sooner and Wenger wasn’t around to help massage that despicable lie
I’m glad to see it is now abundantly clear to everyone (including the writer, Dan Smith) that Arteta is simply not good enough for this club and needs to GO. We need to get our Arsenal back. Time is not on our side.
This was a poor performance. There’ s no doubt about that.
However, suggesting that the celebration of the equalizer is evidence of decline since Wenger is frankly ludicrous.
Arsenal were already under decline whilst Wenger was at the helm so people really need to stop these poor attempts at re-writing history. And Arsene’s Arsenal also celebrated late equalizers against teams they were expected to beat.
Of course they did and what the fuss about celebrating a goal in the 95th minute is all about I have no idea.
What made it sweeter was the fact that Dean couldn’t disallow it 😂🤣😂🤣