Listen to Arteta when he says “Don’t get carried away” by Dan Smith
The most relieving aspect regarding the weekend was Mikel Arteta’s insistence that the club is still working hard in the transfer market.
It would be easy to get carried away by our opening 3 wins and think everything is perfect within our squad.
Some Gooners have done that already.
As Arteta said: “It’s just three games. It doesn’t mean anything, there any still other teams that have to play. What it means is that we have managed to win three games….”
Despite finishing a massive 38 points behind Man City, apparently victories over Palace, Leicester and Bournemouth Is enough to convince some that they we have closed a huge gap.
How defeating those three teams proves we have the mentality to handle the pressure of a Championship race when we couldn’t cope with the expectation of finishing in the top 4, I have zero idea?
That’s either arrogance from some supporters, or they are at an age where they think a definition of a fan is to say everything is perfect about the side they support.
Either way it’s music to our owners’ ears. The Kroenke Family are less likely to feel pressured to invest if they hear their customers are predicting a title challenge. It reminds me of January when the priority was to slash the wage bill. Not just were we giving the likes of Aubameyang away, some were patting the likes of Edu on the back for it, simply because they thought what we had on the pitch was better than in the reality.
We ended up cursing a small squad and not having a prolific striker, something we caused by own choices.
Since Silent Stan brought his first shares, there is a history of this happening at the Emirates.
I remember once being top of the table in the New Year yet it being clear we needed a better keeper then Almunia. Our board wouldn’t authorise a move for a new goalie.
Before the season kicked off rumours strongly linked us with Raphinha and Tielemans.
If we were willing to spend in excess of 60 million for the Brazilian surely that’s a sign that we have recognised the wing position as needing strengthening?
The links for Tielemans seem to suggest that it’s a deal we are dragging our feet over. If those in power were not convinced on the Belgian already, will they be after 9 points out of 9?
It would be foolish though to base anything on the short term. Edu gets a lot of money to recruit talent and that’s what he should have been identifying since May.
If anything happens to Jesus, we are relying on Nketiah to be our main source of goals.
Elneny remains our cover in the CM positions and there’s still too much responsibility on young shoulders to be our sole creative outlet.
If those were the areas addressed in the summer, then that shouldn’t alter based on maximum points.
That’s what big clubs do; they act from a position of strength.
In January the likes of me were jumping up and down stressing the squad needed strengthening, but I was told to be quiet as my peers were blinded by a few wins.
Dan Smith
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Arteta says it’s just three games and we shouldn’t get carried away. This is exactly my point in my latest article, preceding this one. I’m all for not thinking that all is well and we’ll win the league, get top four, etc because we won our first three matches. Posters are saying that we finished 5th last season and we have strengthened so we would finish higher this season. They forget that other teams around us have also strenghtened, especially Tottenham Hotspur. Anytime one tries to point out the loopholes or adress any pending issue, one is called negative and critical. I support Arteta in his comment which I would interpret as saying that we need not be carried away but should focus on being consistent because that’s what will give us the results we want at the end of the season. Not tipping is to finish 2nd or 3rd or even win the league as someone predicted off the back of three wins
Tielemans is not needed. Its a DM that is needed to allow Partey to freely express himself in more advanced positions. I have watched him for club and country and I know his best role will always be as a box to box player. Also I disagree about Nketiah since he proved last season and even in preseason that given time he can score goals. A player with his style of play can always score goals. I wish Arteta would play him with Gabriel as I see them both scoring more together and they seem to understand their similar movement. It will be difficult for teams to stop both.
Hi Kev, agree 100% Tielemans is not for us.. another top DM would be great and then take your pick of the next player we buy as load as we can sell 2 or 3 players that just are not up to the standard required
Tielemans not worth the £200k per week reported…
How about a swap …Pepe for Neto? Wolves might like that deal and saves us a small fortune !
Thoughts?
Swaps take a lot of time to negotiate. Too late for that. Now its “take it or leave it”.
The truth is slowly unveiling that Mikel Arteta and Edu is not prioritizing the signing of Your Tielemans from Leicester City. From their perspective, it seems that they are going to stick with the current personnel in central midfield. The above average performances put up by Granite Xhaka in this current campaign further convinced that manager that reinforcement in this area is secondary. The versatility of Zinchenko and Ben White to be deployed in this role do provide further assurances as well. The more pressing issue in terms of depth that Mikel is looking to strengthen is the right wing position. Bukayo Saka cannot be playing week in week out. Fabio Vieira may not be an answer to the issue. He is more suited to deputize Ordagard instead. No matter how much Marquinos might have impressed so far, he is still prodigy to his trade. As for Reiss Nelson, he has not shown enough to prove that he has the ability to come in and make an impact. We will see a significant drop in quality once Saka is absent. Of course, they can tingle with the deployment of Gabriel Jesus and Nketiah. This is again, an evident of lacking depth in the squad. If Arsenal is to ensure their top 4 finish and mount a serious title challenge, they have to sign this player. Wilfred Zaha would be the most ideal player amongst the rumored individuals to have an immediate impact. However, the downside of this is his future value at the end of his contract will be a concern due to his age. It is practically a one off investment to buy instant success. With the likes of Pedro Neto, if they do sign him it is good value for the future but whether he can make an instant impact is less assured compared to Zaha.
If Man U got Gakpo and Antony, and we manage to offload pepe, we should try to bid for Rashford instead of Neto
I have read so many of your comments praising Nketiah and degrading Martinelli, now I ask you would you rather destroy the already working formation in order to fit in Nketiah just to prove your point?
Nketiah is a good striker but would definitely not bench Gabriel Jesus, do you suggest Arteta changes formation just to accommodate Nketiah?
I did not degrade Martinelli please. I only said Martinelli is not better and rated abo e his actual quality. I would play Nketiah as an inside forward and keep the same formation.
I don’t know what Niketiah has proved to you….
I am sure we have given contract extension to Niketiah just because we couldn’t have budget to buy 2 new CFs as we wanted to funds to bolster other positions..
Otherwise I don’t see any reason to extend his contract..
If he was as average as you lot imply him to be the coach wouldn’t have given him a new contract and if he played him earlier last season we may have actually done better as it was obvious he was better than Lacazette and Auba when he was here before he left. I don’t care what people think about him and will continue to support him till he leaves and back it with sense.
As I said, contract extension given to Niketiah only because we wouldn’t have afford to buy 2 new CFs because we wanted funds to improve other positions…
If the coach felt he was average his contract wouldn’t have been extended which is another point you miss. He wouldn’t extend him just for money sake when its a critical position. You’re just showing your dislike for the player which I care less about. However, what you say must have context.
Jesus was used sparingly at M City and still scored goals. Nketiah played about 8 game or so at the back end of last campaign and scored 5 goals that’s about 60% return, more that Laca who played more games. What more should Eddie do to prove his worth? I agree with you that Eddie is a more capable CF than most fans think. Had he played more, he would have probably scored more.
If he’s given fair chance and he failed, then I would support whoever says he must be shipped out, until then, he should be given a chance.
If Arteta hadn’t ignored his preseason form and played him over misfiring Auba and Laca he may well have finished our highest goalscorer last season and that is a player who is called average. Now seeing what he did last season ad in preseason if we put him with Gabriel who is better than Laca our team would be better. Looking a the goals he scored I would never bench him as the team stands now.
A CM or DM then good to go ,surprised so far how we’ve come on since last seasons horror show ending .
Not sure on this winger transfer talk ,seem overloaded to me .
I think we need CM and another CF..
I agree with author that if anything happens to Jesus then what??
We Will have to reply on mediocre Niketiah till the time Jesus is back…
Niketiah shouldn’t even be near of Arsenal squad , let alone his contract extension..
Same old same old talk about what we all know already. I’m yet to see a fan who’s saying we have the perfect squad. Everyone so far wants some back for either Partey’s position, Saka or Tomiyasu’s.
You seemed to be the only one going on about us closing to Man City and still talking about how arrogant it is to think we are close to them. Yet to see a single fan say we are close to Liverpool, not to mention City.
Just the fact that fans are riding the waves and enjoying the bright moment the team is in now doesn’t mean we’ve suddenly lost track of the reality.
It also seems you’re the only one cooking about Kroenkes seeing title fans chant and backing out of more recruitment. What is it are you really cooking?
You just can never bring yourself to credit the Kroenkes once for the turnaround and investment they keep putting into this team since acquiring full ownership since 2018 can you?
You can’t bring yourself to admit they’ve been acting like owners who cares after they got full ownership so you’d rather go on about your witch hunt about how they’re selfish and don’t care about the success of the club.
It was all there few weeks ago for Pete’s sake, Edu and Arteta makes all the plan for the recruitment and they both run the club. KSE just makes the money available, if Edu or Arteta don’t feel they need to spend on a certain player, how is it KSE’s fault Dan?
Geeeez when will you ever acknowledge the fact that the moment they gained full ownership, they’ve been investing in the club? They’re the ones who chose to support Edu and Arteta in their plans by terminating contracts and getting rid of players for the good of the team EVEN THOUGH IT WAS AT A LOSS!!! And I’m supposed to believe they’re all about their own pockets and they don’t care about making the necessary funds available? Give the KSE witch hunt a rest man, over half of the fanbase have already done that. Perhaps you should get on social Media and see how fans are singing his name calling him Daddy Kroenke when trying to troll other fanbase. I’m yet to see a single supporter raving about the Kroenkes except you still.
Cook up imaginary statements that we’re close to City, then still write about it being arrogance. Leicester City wasn’t close to any of the top six when they won the league. I’m not saying we’ll win the league or we’re close to City, but get the point.
Allow it man, these fans just want to enjoy some good game of football and cheer up the performance of the team always. Don’t be doing this, it gets tiring.
So they didn’t slash the wage bill in January ?
We should’ve left players that were of no use to the manager and the team on the wage bill because it’ll tell you otherwise about KSE?
What are you on about? We should’ve kept paying poor players just so KSE proves some misguided point to you?
Actually now I realize you never gonna drop your agenda against him
Aubameyang was better option then Eddie Nketiah surely ?
And Maitland Niles
Once compared to Kante
Now not a good squad player ?
@Eddie
True. There is a never ending agenda against the Kroenke’s. Sound arguments and facts simply don’t matter. Quite tragic, really.
What arguments ?
They took us to our worst finish in quarter of a century
I have read that Arsenal are one of the 20 Clubs on the FFP watch list being some £213 million in debt. I have not seen the latest accounts so do not know exactly how the debt is structured and if the debt comes under FFP rules. If FFP is becoming a problem then before we can bring in any other players we must sell/loan and get unwanted players off the wage bill. Obviously Kroenke may or may not have a way of mitigating any FFP problems but to spend another £50/60 million on players seems to me as unlikely particularly if players are not needed.
It’s all just some media BS to create unrest among the fanbase. Ironic how it suddenly comes out when we’re doing great.
We’re on the watchlist but it was immediately reported by multiple journalists that we are safe and we can actually spend more money this summer. The media won’t add that to the headlines. Funny how City, Barca, PSG, Juventus are all on thelist but the name headlining each report is Arsenal
You well may be right but the fact is we are on the watch list. If anything will come of it is highly unlikely. However we are over £200 million in debt and I am sure that Kroenke will be keeping a track of things as any responsible owner would. Although you are also right , in that he leaves the running of the club to the club management, I still think that any major expenditure will ultimately be signed off by him.
Its not debt, its accumulated losses of that amount.
I might tell you that “Her In Doors” is on my FFP watchlist.
I agree with you regarding the Kroenke bashing. People wanted Usmanov to take full ownership but we are lucky he didn’t and Kroenke became full owner, since then they have steadily invested and quick to correct their mistakes as soon as possible. We are also better off with an owner with an expertise in running sport teams as oppose to a billionaire in an entire different industry. Kroenke have other sport teams who are winning and so they are in it to win as oppose to the general consensus.
Didnt they agree for us to join.the super League ?
And finsih in our worst position in 25 years ?
Mistakes they made before had as well when they were majority shareholders ?
As a person who grasps only the fundamentals of what goes on, financially, at our club, I expect the owner to look after his investment in Arsenal Football Club.
I have been critical of the way we have given players away and, if chelsea sign Aubameyang, the media will attack the club once again.
However, if that’s what Stan Kronkie wants to do with his money and is supporting Mikel as he undoubtedly is, then why worry?
It does make me smile when Dan reminds us of the gap between us and city – Wenger was crucified when he was behind them and pool, but I don’t remember a 38 point gap!!!
I’m pretty certain that there won’t be such a gap this season, even if we don’t sign anybody else, as we now have more depth – but we WILL, hopefully, sign two further players as competition in midfield and upfront.
Let’s enjoy the turnaround in Mikel’s results – I’m still buzzing!!!
“I remember once being top of the table in the New Year yet it being clear we needed a better keeper then Almunia. Our board wouldn’t authorise a move for a new goalie.”
Remind who got crucified time and time again for those type of decisions.
And same people who did that mate now defend 5th
I am not going to get involved in certain matters which actually have no relevance to how our club will do. I refer to various people opinions about DAN. IMO, whatever DAN writes is of no relevance to how our team will do, so why bother commenting on it, is my reasoning.
What does matter though, is that we are still short of key players, IF we wish to seriously challenge for the title THIS SEASON.
IMO, we still need a proper DM- Gilberto was the last one we had of real quality, a very long time ago. We also need another quality striker, a central midfielder AND a right winger.
To my mind THOSE ARE WHAT MATTERS, but what does not matter one jot is what DAN writes, EXCEPT that he does agree with my view on the vital importance of some of those positions and has said so.
Jon what did you call xhaka after we beat Palace ?
Not even reading your comment mate until you admit what you said
Moment you wrote that your argument falls down
Essentially you don’t mind negativity as long as you write it
Eg you can critique Wenger but no one can question Arteta
You can pick on Ozil and Xakha but not Eddie Nketiah
A perfect response Dan.
day he wrote that Ken I was like , he’s got nothing for rest of season lol
Unless i have missed some rule change that goal scored(99-61=38) will now considered pts, pretty sure we finished 24 pts(93-69) behind man city.
But i guess Dan was itching so much to write another one of his ‘i told you so’ yapping that he forgot to fact check his article.
Still allot lol
Ramdales / lehmann
White / lauren
Saliba / sol
Gabriel / toure
Zink / Cole
Partey / Gilbert
Xhaka / Vieira
Odegaard / Bergkamp
Martinelli / Pires
Saka / wiltord
Jesus / Henry
I still don’t understand why some people believe arsenal would have made top 4 with Auba in the team. How many goals did he score last season before his misconducts?
Was he not missing chances upon Chances?
Arsenal missed out of top 4 last season not because we didn’t replace Auba in January.
We miss out of top 4
1. because both Auba and laca failed to deliver last season.
2. Because we suffered injuries to key defensive players.
Nketia was on good form in the preseason last season before he got injured. And arteta chose to play Auba and laca ahead of him, not until Auba was released and laca got injured. Of which Nketia was called upon and he delivered.
I don know why you keep going back in the past where as, the future is there at your face. Arsenal is getting better while Liverpool, Man City, Chelsea and Man United are all struggling at the moment.
I won’t say that arsenal cannot win the league, as much as I will not say we can’t.
What I will say is we are top of the table, top with goals and point after 3 games played by all the Clubs in the EPL.
we are better than any team in the EPL at the moment.
Do you want me to type that again? I will do that over and over again in case you are missing the fact and the point.
Edu, Arteta, KSE and the Players have all improved in spirit and morale since the beginning of the season. Only a fraction of the fans are left out.
However, I know some of them we never be satisfied, even if arsenal should go on to win the league this season they will still be complaining that arsenal did not replace someone in the past therefore, there’s no improvement or that we won because other teams did not perform well.
On to the next game
Arsenal 3:1 Fulham. Another 3point to extend our winning mentality to 4.
👍 what he said ☝️
How many did Auba score for Barca ?
Trust me mate we win title this season I’m not complaining lol
We won’t though
Manchester United 34 players
Chelsea 31 players
Liverpool and Tottenham 27 players
Arsenal 26 players but including Bellerin and Maitland-Niles to be loaned.
Manchester City is frugal with 24 players, but they are worth 1 billion, ours 26 only 671 million.
Just for reference: Newcastle and Leeds 29 players, Everton 28 players and so on.
Yes! We need more players that can be good backups of our best stars (defensive team is good in my opinion).
There is a saying where I come from that there is no restructuring without distruction and effective restructuring takes time, it is never sudden. Buying all the stars you need at once doesn’t garantee the team will blend and will succeed.
. We may be lacking in some positions but at this point I think we should just trust Arteta and his developmental work on the squad, I remembered he said he will need time to achieve taking us back to the glorious days. He is achieving this in his way in my opinion, he sees the Boyz in training everything day, he knows his short, medium and long term plan hence he knows what he needs immediately and knows what he can defer for the future.
Arteta is not a perfect being but we can all see his works, let’s Support him
Without added quality to the midfield we will struggle to be in top 4 come end of season or rather will depend again on usual rivals faltering .. which predictably is what happened to us as partey got injured and we were back to an elneny xhaka midfield that on any measure is not a top 4 indeed top half combo … we refused to go for guimaraes last window seems like hammers are serious about pacuetta didn’t even test the water for de jong this time .. tielmans would be better than nothing at least at the right asking price though am not fully convinced myself but he’s better than what we have … the promotion of xhaka to an attacking AM beggars footballing credibility of any kind and appears to have crowded out any sensible discussion of our weakness in middle on the grounds that we dominated Bournemouth !!!!!! Given that this has been a blatant problem for years failure to repair it after hundreds of millions spent will mean another window failed .. even with the excellent raiding of the city squad
RW1 you have this inexplicable fixation on Xhaka- he’s all you ever talk about on this site and it’s always negative even when he performs well. An article totally unrelated to Xhaka will be written and somehow you always find a way of making it about him. The guy already has a goal and two assists this season, second only to Jesus in terms of goal contributions. Give the man a break!
Am reminded of a big Lebowski line but To damn right it’s a fixation .. the middle of the field is where we do or do not make progress ….would have thought 6 years of failure to meet top 4 would be enough for caring fans … including 8 8 5th under arteta … but apparently not … the progress and confidence built in last 3 games will only be sustainable if we get this part of puzzle right .. and xhaka is the wrong piece … that previous managers have found out to their cost …
If we don’t make our final couple of signings of the Window, we will fall short. So far it’s a good window, BUT without another top midfield player and wide man we will collapse later in the season, when injuries and fatigue come into play. Although we are playing well, with a couple of injuries the team can still struggle.
The next signings should be player from Europe. Too much Brazilian will hamper the team someday during Copa America…
Are you serious????