Could Arsenal’s poor form actually be a good thing? ThirdManJW
Although the Arsenal job has been the toughest in England since Arteta took over, this is the first real difficult period for him, externally at the very least. Criticism is coming from all angles, with some fans even calling for his head. The results are still good (10 wins from 15 games, and the first trophy of the season), but the performances have dipped, especially in attack. Arteta is certainly going through a tough period at the moment.
I think this difficult period could actually benefit us though. We are all aware of such sayings as “whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” and “you learn from your mistakes”. I hope this works for Arteta, as the club will benefit in the long-term. Up to this point, he’s done extremely well, but he’s now under some real pressure, and he’ll either sink or swim. If Arteta can find the solution for our poor attack, it will make him a better manager. He’s still learning the game, but if he can sort our attack, then we could have some manager on our hands!
What Arteta has done with our defence, with fairly poor players, has been brilliant! If he can do the same with our attack, then will have a very balanced team on our hands, and a quality manager.
The question is – Can Arteta solve this issue, and how long does he get? I don’t like seeing us struggle as much as we currently are, but it will be interesting to see how Arteta deals with our current issues. It’s already promising that he has acknowledged our issues and is actively trying to solve them.
Bar Willian starting, it’s almost as if he listened to the fans what with his changes against Leeds. Because of Pepe, we didn’t really get to see how it would work out, but hopefully over the next few games, we’ll see if there is any progress. I didn’t want Arteta, but he has won me over, so I hope he can come through this tough period, a better manager.
In my opinion, we learn more about a person in defeat than victory, and given we’re so early into the season, our dip in form has actually come at good time. I would rather now, than at crucial stage, like what happened towards the end of Emery’s first season.
Could Arsenal’s current struggles make Arteta into the manager we all want, or is this the beginning of the end for him?
ThirdManJW
Though defeat can become the cause for victory in the future, I would still hope Arteta can do his learning in the top half of the table
Many people seems to have forgotten he’s a new manager and he needs to be given time, Last year jose didn’t have a great season and look how experienced he is ,a couple of months ago we were saying arteta is going to be a top coach and so on,he just needs a bit of time
Arteta is still young in managing and has done a good job.give him a chance .it took Ferguson klopp and pep a few seasons to get it right.he is trying and hopefully he’ll get it right.
I hope you are right and see the logic but the thought of going through another poor season is too painful. I also like Arteta and wish him the best for all us Gooners sakes but can’t help notice how bad we have become in keeping the ball, accurate passing and quick and threatening attack, all these problems can be blamed on the manager.
I beg to differ, players like Xhaka are too slow for the modern game. Lust like Freddie mentioned for all the glory in the world, Mesut is finished as he is not quick enough. Mikel made a mistake with Willian and Cabellos, hope he has learnt from this. Need better players in the midfield, Partey is one, required two top notch players to complement him – one CAM & CDM. Forget about Xhaka, Ozil, Nelson, Elneny ever walking into a top four side , so there lies our problem. Defense was our Achilles’s heel, has been sorted out, now the midfield trash has to be binned for good. Attack will work if the transition from defense to attack is proper which ain’t good at the moment. No need to blame Auba or even Pepe for the midfield woes.
MA hasn’t made our defense better but our team better defensively as a unit and harder to beat, there is a difference and it has come to the detriment of our midfield which in turn affects our attacks, there is no creativity or flair in our play it’s all too(struggling to find the right words) rehearsed, choreographed…
The terms of the penultimate paragraph of your article TM are very well put and I agree with them wholheartedly.I believe Arteta has the strength of character to get us back on the rails.
Going full counterattacking is an option if we are not able to play well. Drawing in opponents like Villa and Leeds and then hitting them on the break could have gotten us the wins. Too bad we were confused most of the time and only started counterattacking effectively at the end during the Leeds game.