Arsenal have been eliminated from the Europa League at the hands of Unai Emery’s Villarreal side, after we failed to get on the scoresheet at the Emirates as we were frustrated into the stalemate.
We started the match brightly, looking positive in the build-up, but it was Bernd Leno who was the first to be put to work as he was forced to deny Samuel Chukwueze’s long-range effort.
The visitors seemed happy to be happy in possession, but the Nigerian may have been the only one told to try and catch the goalkeeper off guard.
Arsenal continued to work their way up the field, and were gradually making waves into the final third, and Pierre-Emerick’s snapshot teased as it hit the outside of the far post midway through the opening half.
Auba had another effort before the end of the half but was unable to challenge the goalkeeper, and we ended the half with some disappointing crosses into the box, with nobody on the other end of it.
The second-half started with some gusto however. Nicolas Pepe had a great chance minutes after the restart, but he failed to guide his instinctive effort on target.
The same could be said for Emile Smith Rowe only moments after that also when the ball broke to him inside the opposition box, but again we fluffed our lines at the crucial moment.
Despite us having much of the game, Leno again had to pull out another great save to keep us in the match with 30 minutes still to play after the counter-attack, and the anxiety was building as the clock ticked down.
Martinelli came off the bench to replace Odegaard as we carried on in search of that all-important goal.
Our next big chance came on the counter. Nicolas Pepe picked up the ball to run down the right, before laying up the overlapping Hector Bellerin. The Spaniard picks out Aubameyang in the box who leaps high over the two defenders, but his effort bounces off the inside of the post and spins towards goal, but it stayed out.
This was PEA’s last action as he was replaced by Lacazette, and Willian soon followed replacing Tierney.
We continued to pump crosses into the box to no avail, and time wasn’t on our side as continued to struggle to force a real save out of their goalkeeper.
Despite five minutes being added onto the final 90, it wasn’t to be.
We certainly didn’t deserve it on today’s performance, and our bottle in front of goal has ultimately cost us in both legs.
Will the manager’s job now come under question with the severe prospect of not playing in Europe next season?
Patrick
Arteta out!
All who still want this man at our club are not real fans..
Fake fan here 🙋🏼♂️
Trust the process last season- we came out 8th and dumped out of Europa. Thankfully won the FA.
Trust the process this season- we have been swimming in 10th all through the season and now out of all competition.
Some Fans believe we need to overhaul the squad before Arteta can succeed. Give a good coach this squad and we won’t be in 10th in the league and definitely we won’t be beaten by an average Villarreal team. Our first bit of business next season is getting a first team coach.
A different manager may be able to get better results. However, your assertion that we wouldn’t be 10th or worse or that Villarreal wouldn’t have won over 2 legs is pure speculation.
is not fake fan. it is a fan that wants good results. you are comfortable with mediocrity
I want the idiot sack with immediate effect he is very poor in team selection
Jimmy Bauer
I agree. The best supporters would find Arteta’s reign unacceptable. He must go now.
So I reframe for a long while to write anything here until our season came to a close.
Here we see it. In a dismal 0-0.
Tactically MA got it so wrong, and in that we see the lack of experience he has at the top level.
But who can come in and manage arsenal right now?
Mikel will get another season unless the board make him the scapegoat.
We played against a well drilled defensive display and yet they managed 7 shots on goal against our dire 1.
Our midfield of partey alone in on his own was such a poor decision. He couldnt get the ball anywhere as all the lines were blocked. Our defence then kept passing sideways and when we got it forward, it was always too slow and passive…and forward being in wide areas with still alot of work to be done.
I know from a management point of view, shifting this squad as much as we have this season, it has had a huge impact on the stability of the team. Yet still more sales and deals will need to be done before we see a new squad shaped. Plus the number of scouts and backroom staff we have released it all totals to 20 members of arsenal playing staff and general staff leaving this season.
This shift must have a huge impact on the club. Is it for the better? Only time will tell. But I appreciate this shift has made major adjustment for everyone remaining at the club.
We are stripping back this club to its bare bones… is it in order to create new arsenal or to destroy arsenal?
The board has already gone through manager and football director twice over, will the axe now fall on the next 2 in Edu and Arteta?
Alot of sadness feels my soul, but for what it’s worth, Martinelli Balogun Saka ESR Tierney Gabriel Partey Pepe Wilock make me believe we have something of a core to work with
👍
Arteta has a better squad than what Emery had in his last half-season and still performed as bad or worse.
I’m pretty sure even a Championship manager would be an upgrade.
Fact
Sack the lot and where’s ek with his BID HE’S ALL TALK
Arteta says he’s devastated well so am I 41 yrs as a fan and to watch this crap I may well watch non league they av more passion then this shower of s–t anyway mikel here for another year so championship here we come
The worst season ive ever known!!! So many records broken. When have we ever been this poor at home??
5th year without CL, now no European football at all…. Will take some coming back from this!! Awful….
Kudos to Emery for nullifying our attacks, despite being lucky tonight. I’d be surprised and grateful if Arteta stays next season though, because I want to see his new ideas
Grateful? 😳
It’s not just Artetas fault The main erson to blame this, season is Aubameyang There’s been a lot of talk of who we need to buy in the summer but we need a top class striker Aubameyang and Lacazette whether he stays are not the answer Martinelli is too light weight Apart from Saka Tierney Smith Rowe and maybe Harding the rest of the twenty five man squad are not going to tske Arsenal anywhere I fear Arteta will go but that’s not the answer
Everyone lauds Smith Rowe but he’s just as ineffectual. Gives 35 minutes out of ninety and out of those thirty five….struggles and does very little
Hahaah how many teams would love to swap squads with us…Villarreal for sure…how many of those are today ahead of us no the league….
He hasn’t had a new ideas since he arrived. Just the same clueless approach game after game..
He’s a rookie, so he made some line-up selection mistakes and couldn’t minimize the defenders’ bad decisions. I believe he’s lost the dressing room, but hopefully Kroenke keeps him
Lost the dressing room means it is over. Emery lost the room and of he goes. Holding on will only hinder progress. I really hope you’re being sarcastic.
@gotanidea you hope kroenkes keep him ? What for exactly? We are a laughing stock in case you haven’t noticed 🙆♂️
For his new tactics. One transfer window will likely be enough to improve the squad
gotanidea
Are you on planet earth? Have you taken magic mushrooms? Did you watch this shite?
He has been hypnotized by Farteta’s dull stuff.
@gotanidea
Hopefully kranky satan helps him by showing him the door. It will take at least 3 seasons before he becomes a decent coach.
In the meantime, I’d rather any top 10 Championship manager. Every single one would be an upgrade on the Spanish Pulis.
Arteta has had a whole season, and 2 transfer markets. I don’t see new ideas. 4 shots on target over 180 minutes. Just not good enough
Not new ideas but he brought new players like Willian for 35m over 3 years. And resigned Ceballos… Oh and got rid of the keeper that helped him win the FA 👍
then he expect s results with his poor decision
My man Coquelin was also on his game too. They can surprise Utd. I was expecting Emery to bring this kind of intensity when he came here but then he failed. That home win vs Spurs in his first season was a perfect example of his style. A shame it didn’t end well.
Villareal’s defense were great, but I don’t think they could block all Man United’s shots
Lets wait and see. I don’t think they really had a proper go. Emery’s teams are hard to beat. He has a certain way he makes them press that makes you concede all the balls to them in midfield
gotanidea, give up today; your batting average is low.
kev👍
I am beginning to think you are anti-arsenal, what new idea can this man bring to this team? ARSENAL is not a learning tool for a rookie coach!
👍 Given the structural problems, player deficiencies and squad balance.
Nobody ia talking about xhaka?
Which new ideas? The man has no clue about coaching! We need an experienced manager ASAP! Sack Arteta bevor the summer window and let an experienced manager take over! Arteta brought nothing to our team, except some unexpected FA-Cup glory last year. Enough is enough! Kroenke out-Artera out!
There are only two available high-profile managers and I doubt their English skills. It will be very costly to hijack Ten Hag from Ajax, because he just extended his contract
GAI, there are a dozen managers available this night. anyone is available. Arteta must be sacked. Viera, Allegri are available. Anyone here who still supports arteta does not love this club. This is shameful.
how is viera great?
There are many experienced managers out there, who with the right price and projekt may would come to Arsenal. Just watch what Bayern did with Nagelsmann. If a club has ambition, it brings in the best players and coaches.
So Bielsa speaks English does he?what about Poch who used a translator for over 2 years and soeak Spanish in France now? the only fans who had a problem with Emery whom by the way made the effort to speak english straight away were Arsenal fans that tells the type of mentality (and not a good one)i also could name many more managers in others leagues who didn’t speak the language when they started so your argument is a non starter that’s what happens when you have a closed /secular view of the world!
Great comment, siamois.
Bielsa speaks worse English than even Emery, but with a proper translator it’s not an issue at all. Emery’s problem was that he TRIED to speak English to players before mastering it enough. Should have just used a translator the first couple of years…
Arteta is smooth, eloquent, speaks excellent English, but his ideas are mostly worthless – just look at his constant reliance on crosses.
@gotanidea
To be frank, Swansea’s Steve Cooper would be an upgrade, let alone a top manager.
The board never had an easier job. Replacing Arteta with literally any coach would yield positive results.
No. I don’t want to see his new ideas. Arsenal is not a lab experiment. Let’s all move on and ascend to a new beginning.
You no well @Gotanidea
Goi, your aren’t a real person are you! You saw his ideas tonight and last week, TRYING TO COPY PEP AND FAILING BADLY. He is a fake!
He just had one full season as a manager, so some mistakes are normal. It’ll be better to sack him in December if he doesn’t show any progress, to warn the players
sack him now. December it will be dejavu
right if chelsea stuck with lampard they would be out of top 4
We maybe in the relegation zone by December going at the current rate of decline. Are you really that blind, you cant see the awful football and stifling tactics he employs, to no real effect.
GAI, no offense my brother, But Arteta must be sacked this night. Pleae, there is no justification for him to keep his job. ARTETA IS A BAD MANAGER. The league table dont lie. i am very surprised you are still supporting this disappointment. He is a pretender. This is the height of it.
Gai You are such are berk and you are trying to wind up true arsenal fans as I suspect you are a fake so go and support your real club there’s a good boy
One might be forgiven to think he made that comment only to get a reaction. What is there to be grateful about?
Grateful to be knocked out of all competitions and leave butt marks on 10th because we have been sitting there for ages?
A fake fan wouldn’t stay on JA for years
I just like to see Arteta’s ideas. His plan doesn’t work now, but let’s see after the transfer window in the summer
I would like to see his ideas and plans too but not at Arsenal.
Are u serious?
His plan doesnt work. End of!
He has no idea what he’s doing!
Perry, GAI, may be misguided, but I consider it unfair to call him a “fake fan”.
Grateful? Grateful really? It is one thing to want him to stay but to be grateful? This one is up there with your best tactics ever seen.
His tactics are great, but maybe he made some mistakes in the training
I will be very grateful to Kroenke if he get us a “real” coach and manager. Someone like Brendan Rodgers.
GAI- his tactics were not great tonight were they? And have not been most of the season
Why on gods earth do you believe he will be better next season ??????
Dude do you ever read back what you write. Which part of Artetas tactics are great. they are pathetic and that’s why we have been found out all season. I can write a book how poor arteta tactics are and believe me not only figuratively.
Let us see this “book”. There is no doubt that Arteta has good ideas. Whether he has the tools to make them work is however questionable.
How can his tactics be great ?
@G Please ……your comments this season either proves you are a spud troll or that you have less than 5% football knowledge.
Give the novice another season? Ideas? And i thought the loser who lost the unloseable elections supporters were the silly ones
He’s an algorithm … clearly not human so not sure why we are getting all excited … it’s like when your sat nav starts giving out preprogrammed instructions when road layout has changed … best to just switch it off and revert to common sense
i dont know why people even bother responding. It’s very clear his opinions are not genuine either way.
Are you kidding or what?
We had no shot on target for 90 mins….
gotanidea, “lucky tonight”!? The semi final was over two legs. Arsenal were soundly beaten in Spain, with a 2-1 flattering scoreline, because of Leno’s two saves and a soft penalty and Emery’s conservatism when a man up. In the return match at the Emirates, Villarreal had more shots on target with Leno again saving further embarrassment.
Unfortunately, Arsenal under Arteta couldn’t beat a poor Villarreal team under Emery, who people on here rubbish as a football coach and manager.
There is a real problem with the characterisation of Emery who has shown that he is actually a very good manager. He is one of the the greatest in the history of the Europa league so any rubbishing of him is nonsensical.
👍 David, I agree with you and believe Emery should have been supported by the Board not sacked prematurely. Unfortunately others don’t agree with your rational assessment of Emery, who as well as his 3 Europa League trophies, won 8 out of 9 possible domestic trophies with PSG (second behind Blanc with 11) and has a higher win percentage at that Club, than Blanc, Ancellotti, Tuchel and Ponchettino. He is undoubtedly no mug coach/manager.
He has no ideas and neither do you!!!!
Well i won’t be grateful if arsenal finish 15th next season
Spineless performance. It’s better we lost. Man UTD would have thumped this team like anything.
Time’s up MA. Maybe you should play chess instead of football. You’ll fair better.
Shame to be the the team that spoils the much-hyped, all-English Euro final.
Congrats to Vill for being calmer, smarter and hungrier despite already having the goal advantage. Their pressing is very intense.
Wonder what is next for Arsenal. Oh well, MOTM is Coquelin.
I will always remember his 14/15 season and even that of 15/16. He never got the credit he deserved because he wasn’t expensive.
It’s unfortunate that everything is defined with money first before ability. I’m actually glad Coq is doing fine. He looks like he is enjoying playing football.
He was judged off perception than from the eye test. He could’ve had a far better career if not for injuries. They stifled him like many of our players. Crazy to think the guy has actually bossed every one of the top 6 teams. He even bossed Barcelona in the Spanish Cup at Valencia.
*top 5
Always liked Coquelin as an Arsenal player; good combination with Cazorla in midfield.
He made a comment about Arsenal being changed too much since he left, with all the players he kept in touch having left except Lacazette. So much for those still blaming the great Arsene for our current condition (in oxygenator).
No point correcting them HH. It’s so obvious yet they keep on singing the same tune on poor squad inheritance.
Arteta experiment is done. He’s far from ready. Get him out, and Kroenke’s need to sell because THEY DONT EVEN CARE! It’s frustrating when owners care about nothing beyond their own wallets!
Hi RSH, this defeat is the most painful defeat i have witnessed as an arsenal fan. i feel like crying now. ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE. #ARTETA OUT. that should be trending now
And yet, no one is surprised by the result and the state of our season.. same crap, different toilet! Thank you Arteta! Bye!!
Any result in the UCL final would be a big blow to us. Imagine City winning it before us or Chelsea, our London rivals winning their 2nd UCL. Pain either way. The Europa League was the only trophy that could save us some face. Having said that I believe UE’s experience shown and he’s prove n that he’s a master of the competition. I would not be shocked to see him beat Man Utd. Now there’s gonna be more backlash from fans on Arteta and the team from here onwards. At least I can take a break from here now.
Arteta Out!!!
Arteta has completely lost it!
Playing Tierney when he’s CLEARLY not match fit
Bellerin should never put on the Arsenal shirt again, terrible for years now
Playing Auba when he’s terrible at leading the line and leading the team
Martinelli on the bench
ESR and Odegaard together rarely works
Partey getting worse and worse the longer he’s playing under Arteta. Was fantastic when he arrived before MA tactics
Thought I was the only one from half the season gone that saw that Partey was playing totally crap. mind you he have good technique but dwells on the ball far too long and most often give the ball away. He needs to work on his decision making.
This loss is dedicated to all Arteta fans…..
A match we needed to win and we mustered a total of 1 shot on target..
Dominated by a weaker team on our own ground…
Emery head and shoulders over Pep’s ball boy!
And some we actually hounding Emery…
Sit back and enjoy as arsenal descend into mid table mediocrity..
👍 Why didn’t the Board and management back Emery in the transfer market and selection discipline?
Please sack Artetar now or the club will be doom for ever. Shame on the owner
Sweet revenge by Emery on Arsenal
But Man Utd will tear Villarreal apart
Don’t be too sure in a two horse race at a neutral venue. .
Arteta should be sacked tomorrow. Do not hire Maurizio Sarri….he is useless. Kroenke out. Half the players out. We need a TOP manager….it’s obvious.
Agree. RAFA!
GAI..you will be glad will you..
This guy works to just rile up fans…
He’d be happy to see Artetas new ideas he says
Manu would have done to us what Chelsea did to us at Baku. Let’s save ourselves the embarrassment. Same old same old….. if ex players aint scoring against us, then ex manager is defeating Atsenal in a crucial game…. I knew it was going to be a long night when Aubamenyang hit the wood work.
Good ebening everyone……..
The season is officially over. No European football next season whatsoever. We are now a mid table team.
Your words do really sink in pretty badly… But they are 100% true. Time to open a new chapter and start from scratch. Arsenal indeed isn’t any more an elite team. I don’t see us attracting any good players, if we don’t hire an elite coach.
That’s the best way forward.
Arteta can not beat an Arsenal reject when he has a superior team. The axe has got to come on his head that was an awful piece of management tonight, setting the team up like that and playing so much toothless football. The coaching from Arteta is a fraud, he is waaaaaaay out of his depth and the football is atrocious. Sack by tomorrow, absolutely useless.
Oh and dont let me see any idiot defend him, if they do they know nothing about football.
JustPoor.
Lacklustre, chase ball football with no real flow and system of play.
I expect arteta to be kept. I mean Kroenke doesn’t care and who of any worth would come to AFC with no European football and a weak underbelly anyway?
Release or sell the players like nketiah, willian,elneny, bellerin, and sack the rookie manager ,he is clueless he’s the reason where we’re at the moment, now he is killing our club , the board is laughing stock they will back him because he’s is a yes man to them, top players don’t come here that’s for sure
One shot on target in a semi final against a very average team lol. The humiliation is complete. No European football next season and we’re told to trust the process they can f##k the process get that clown Arteta out of Arsenal tonight! Pathetic!
Kev, there is no f*****g process.
Reggie I’m starting to think Arteta is unsackable he should have been gone months ago! I’ll wake up tomorrow and he’ll still be manager.. because that club couldn’t run a raffle absolutely clueless every single one of them! Fuming.
I was told today I wasnt a fan when I said Arteta should be sacked even if (a big if ) we won EL .
For me he has to go tomorrow,no wasting funds on him in the summer just to sack him 3 months into the new season ,else we are back to square one with a new manager and players he does not want.
And the first time in the 26 years with the European football ,but let’s trust the process 😂
Spot on Dan I would sack him tonight he’s been a failure let’s not sugar coat it, he’s out of his depth! You are a real fan mate, you would seriously need to have your head buried in the sand to think Arteta is the man to take this club forward! That was a semi final and I was bored out of my mind watching it, much like most games under Arteta!
Dan, so much for Emery being “clueless”. On the ability of the two squads, Arsenal should have played Villarreal off the park.
Don’t you think now that Arsenal could have performed better, if the Board and management had supported Emery more in the transfer market and player discipline, rather than sacking him?
It is the process of bringing Big Sam to Emirates.
Give it a rest Ozzie
Sounds like your happy we lost .
Emery was sacked because he was sh1t end of I don’t really care what his win percentage was at PSG or how many shitty EL cups he won ,he was sh-t here and rightly sacked ,the reason we lost this semi finale had nothing to do with how amazing Wmery was it’s all because we now have an even worse manager in Arteta.
Both sh1t managers (COACHES)who I wouldn’t want anyway near Arsenal ever again .good riddance to the pair of them .
Dan, I resent your inference that I am happy that Arsenal lost. If you can ever find any evidence on this forum (or any other) that I wanted or was pleased Arsenal lost any game, I would like to see it!
Was Emery sh-t here, or did the players reject the discipline he tried to implement on these pampered, overpaid, mentally weak unprofessional players?
I’ve gone down this whole thread and there is countless posts from you making Emery excuses and bigging him up ,you should be angry that Arsenal went out not talking about Emery and hat his win percentage was at PSG
@DanKit-sorry mate but I must pull you up on this one.
Ozzie has been consistently saying for quite a while that Emery was hounded out of Arsenal when in fact his record was not that bad. And let’s face it, it certainly dwarfs Arteta’s this season.
OG knows his football, and talks a lot of sense. And he is right when he has said it was the players who got Emery sacked. Let’s hope this continues with Arteta
Can’t agree on Emery
We are in this mess partly because of Emery ,this started going pear shaped in his second season and Arteta as taken over reins and continued this awful football we are witnessing,both managers who should never have been or be at a club like Arsenal . First time in 26 years with no European football and I blame both Emery and Arteta equally for this downfall .
Dan kit, with all due respect the problems with player power undermining the head coach, started in Emery’s first season with the run in at the end of the season when 4th or even 3rd was achievable and Arsenal had its best chance for the Europa League trophy. Emery wasn’t supported at that time and it continued into the second season.
Haven’t felt this much pain in a very long time…
My dear arsenal at the hands of a Fraud…being coaxed on by a heartless owner..
Dark days ahead Ladies and Gents
Nothing wrong with the Manager. I say he should stay on. He inherited that useless team. That team was not good enough. We have to rebuild on this no use sacking the manager. Was it not the same Emery that could do nothing with this team? And Everyone blamed him. It just goes to show we need a total revamp. Stop blaming the manager for players inadequacy. That’s it the season is done. The Manager knows how to fix this. A new manager would mean another season with nothing and than try and rebuild again. This is what some fans are not getting.
LogicMay 6, 2021 at 10:09 pm
Hope Arteta goes and takes fans like you with him, who have no ambition and desire to achieve anything. No football fan of any top club would even dare to take side of a failed manager like Arteta but you my friend have come up with tumphs. Being a loyal supporter is one thing but being blind and stupid is next level.
You want a relegation battle next season am i right , we have a decent sqaud comparing to villareal or other teams with the likes of west ham, everton, aston villa, or even Leicester . Look at our position in the table.
I agree 100% players on the whole not gooe enough The squad needs a complete overhaul Have been supporting Arsenal for fifty years and this season has been onof the worse apart ftom 75/76 and the Don Howe years Give Arteta next season A new manager is not the answer
Francis Coquelin has told The Telegraph that Arsenal have changed so much since his departure that Alexandre Lacazette is the only Gunners star he still speaks to.
The midfielder spent a decade on Arsenal’s books, making 160 appearances for the club before leaving in 2018.
He only left the Gunners just over two years ago. But Coquelin outlined just how much is different compared with when he left the Emirates for Valencia.
“There has been so much change at the club that a lot of people I was close to are no longer there,” he has told The Telegraph. “We [Coquelin and Lacazette] were team-mates in the national team at all levels. Now [I keep in touch] with no one else.”
Keyword “a lot of people”
Thank you Coquelin for countering fiction with truth.
Emery, got 5th place and a Europa League final fir Arsenal, before the players undermined him and the Board didn’t back him implementing discipline. .
This team is far better than you believe. what are we suppose to do, every time a manager fail we need to get rid of entire squad and start afresh. chelsea didn’t do that yet they are in FA cup and Champion league final. man u didn’t do complete overall yet they are in EL final. The coach is mediocre and we all know it. Wenger had worst squad than this yet always finish top four. Leicester squad is not as good but look where they are. Coach and his simplistic methods are what have made us poor as can be.
The great Cruyff once said something like”11 number one do not make the best team”
Please don’t finish whatever you are smoking,😂😂😂😂 where is Saliba
You look at Chelsea and you can’t help but envy them as an arsenal fan…..Tuchel came in and we can see progress in their play. They are playing in two finals (Fa cup and champions league). Who would have thought it two months ago.
After what Arteta did in a short time last season, I was looking forward to this season but it’s been really disappointing. Maybe he isn’t up to it yet. Very sad. Arsenal is going down…
And how much did Chelsea spend on players?
how much did villarreal spend on their players?
Good point RSH lol…. This excuse of less money started with Wenger (even if i loved him, honestly he was too much using this argument. Yes he has less money than man city or others but he also brought some terrible players for arsenal like her into, park chu young,Andre santos or others…)
👍
Doby, we have spent almost same as them in last 3-4 years. How much did Chelsea spent year before this. It’s about being ambitious, lampard’s Chelsea was above us and they won all group matches in champions League but still got the boot because owner garb the opportunity to hire a better manager and wanted the club to succeed. Where as our board kept hold of Arteta even though with team struggling big time and now look where we are. Now don’t bullshxt yourself with team building excuse how much time did lampard, Anchelotti and tuchel get for team building.
Logic, well said….
I find it funny when someone is asking how much chelsea spent. We are quick to forget we have spent some cash too…. if we leave sentiments aside, we can see Chelsea progressed while we regress….. again, it’s sad that arsenal are in this situation.
Imagine where they’ll be once Tuchel brings in some of his own players – scary!!
The market value of players that is required if you have ambition and want to actually compete for major trophies…
But Lampard mismanaged the players and see the improvement Tuchel is bringing. Pirlo has mismanaged juve and Arteta has killed our squad. You can’t tell me this squad isn’t good enough to at least finish 6th or beat this average Villarreal team.
This is part of the reason; Chelsea have a far better squad. Could another manager have done better with Arsenal’s squad. Difficult to say as Arsenal have an unbalanced squad.
The senior players are not good enough so the young players are being overplayed. This is bound to lead to variable results.
The lack of squad depth is serious and seriously underestimated by many on here.
It’s easy to blame Arteta but he really does not have a great squad. He needs everyone fit for the team to mount a serious challenge in any competition. Unfortunately, he does not even have this.
Could a different approach have worked? Quite possibly, but it’s easy to be critical when things have gone wrong. If one of Aubameyang’s chances had gone in it would have been have been a different story.
I concur… Good points.
David, who is talking about title fight with this squad, this squad is a top 4 finishing or there about squad. Any sensible person can tell you that. Do you think our league position and loosing to teams like Villarreal, getting dumped out of FA cup and Cardoba cup is justified. Team is not great but it’s not that bad either to be mid table somewhere. Did you look at Villarreal toady and their squad? You forget it’s not only EL but Arsenal have failed miserably on all fronts this season. We are not happy with these mid table team performances so no thank you but Areta can go.
@David
I was thinking the same things and usually I defend Arteta, because we had so many misfortunes that cost us many wins, and our season could have been way way better, but for a few games now I see just one slow toothless team and I can’t understand why we have to slow the pace down on every possibility for a counter attack. And here comes the second woodwork of Auba which came after a counter attack, possibly the only one we had during this match. There are some matches when our team creates many many chances and we miss them all, but then there are these matches like today, where the team is just passive and looks uninterested or uncapable of producing anything worth watching. And I can’t defend the latter performances. I really wished that Arteta will succeed, for the sake of our team, and because of the glimpses of great performances that we had here and there. At this point we should see how the team responds, and if Arteta has already lost the players, he will have to go. If he don’t get the sack and is given opportunity for the next season, I’d say if he doesn’t start with 3 straight wins, he will have to go then, and not waste more time.
David, luck can even out over two legs. Coulds and maybes don’t win football matches.
From Lampard to Tuchel, they spent zilch.
Exactly… now that is progress!!!!!.
Sue, scarier still if Chelsea buy Haaland!!
That doesn’t bear thinking about, Andrew 😄
I am Gutted like all arsenal fans. I really cannot see an easy fix to the situation that our club is in. Is it the ownership, the players or the management? Who knows but I certainly don’t.
Everyone talks about the incredible change at Chelsea when they replaced Lampard with Tuschell. I don’t think it’s as simple as that with our Club. We are in the Shite and sacking Arteta is not going to have an overnight change for the better.
Edward, so if you fail with an approach and you know it’s not working then an intelligent mind will always try some other solution or another approach. Spending time and money on a failed Project under a failed head Edu/Arteta will get you no where. If we stick with this we will fall into a much bigger whole. Ppl don’t get it here that being out of Europe is a big finencial blow for the club specially with pandemic. We will striggle big time with finances and slowly the club will shrink more we stay out of Europe.
👍
Shocking all round tonight and the sad thing is it didn’t surprise me, this is the sad reality of what we’ve become…
No European football next season and we only have ourselves to blame. This season has been absolutely horrendous and I can’t wait for it to end.
One shot on what was the most important game of our season – unbelievable.
Well done to Unai.. I’ll be rooting for him in the final.
I’m done with hearing how MA is the one to take us forward… Pep, come and get him in the morning please.
No sane person Sue can honestly think Arteta can take us forward, he has failed badly in his remit.
Reggie, wait for a day and all his fan base will start to crawl out from under the rock. You will see how it’s not Arteta’s fault for the team display this season, how we are rebuilding and what shxt players he has got. These guys are masters of excuses. I can already see one or two pop up 🤣😂
Logic, his tactics are stifling and poor. Its all Artetas fault. He is strangling this team and all its players with the slow negative sideways football.
Sadly, the spud trolls @gai and dboy have managed to infiltrate the site. Continuing to bait us with their praise of the novice
Don’t forget the sage Jon Fox and one with moniker The Art of Teta! Farty boy stank up the Emirates tonight.
Honestly Sue.
The most disappointing thing is that Villareal (assembled for a fraction of the cost) were the better team over the 2 legs and I too will be rooting for them in the EL final even though it may be in vain.
Sue, Reggie and IGL don’t underestimate Emery with players committed to playing for him against Manchester United. Imagine what Villarreal are playing for – biggest day in their history the chance to win the EL trophy.
Rightly put Sue, we need an owner like Chelsea and City in passion for football as well. You can say what ever to them but they take interest in the club as football fans not just as business. That’s why they are proactive and cease the opportunities where as we are not even reactive and just keep on making one excuse after another. First it was ozil, then Guendozi, then Saliba, then some sort of player rebellion, then not spending billions..etc etc. I think the whole club ppl need to be moved on including Edu the retirement planner.
But Logic, if we had Abramovich or Sheikh yermoney, they wouldn’t have Arteta. I dont get your logic. NO SUGAR DADDY WOULD PUT HIS FAITH IN ARTETA!
Reggie, you are absolutely right my friend but if one of them did have a brain fart and hired Arteta they would have got rid of him as soon as those bad results strat pouring in.
I’ll rooting for him too. Perhaps your son in law might regret wishing to face the EL specialist.
I bloody well hope so, HH 😄
Why, we only need one goal, Why Arteta……
We need change….. Arteta out.
First real…
Now arsenal…
💔
OT
I feel for roma as well,de gea what a matvh he had💯
Didn’t deserve it. I can’t lie. The manager is still serving his apprenticeship. The first half was dead. Second half he finally took off Odegaard. Needed Elneny energy imo as we ask too much of Partey. Auba was unlucky though given the scraps he was fed.
The team were not able to handle the occasion. Need quality reinforcements who can keep the ball. Surely AMN could do a job amongst this lot. Need strong keeper to play positive and quick. The revolution starts now!
Partey and ESR was so tired as they are Almost the only two who recover the ball in midfield.
Saka is obviously exhausted, he losses all duels, he lacked his normal energy (for few games already).
ElNeny would have helped but he wanted to attack more, bringing attackers in, snd list midfield.
Any we have no good headers, except for center backs.
Lol..
A team that needed to win mustered one shot on target vs Villarreal that mostly defended with 7 shots on target..
That says it all.
And the clueless gotanidea keeps talking trash about Arteta’s positional play when we are so dull, slow and lethargic in moving the ball forward.
Players lack ideas and don’t know what to do with the ball even after it has arrived. Shame
Arteta must be an Alchemist – he turns quality players into useless ones. Auba, William, Partey all suddenly becomes ordinary.
Thank you Arteta. It’s time you left.
*become
Add Gabriel to the list!
The owners need to be held responsible for this. When they should be investing in the team they were too busy milking the club to fund their other investments.Almost Half of that team is inexperienced at this level. What did you people expect?
@d
Still here? Didnt expect us to hire a novice. Still upset that moaner got sacked before a final?
This is the moment we all confirm our true position as Arsenal FC! The distance we have fallen over the years can finally be realised!
The club are where they are because of the way they are run. We are a mid table team and nothing more. As much as we might not like it or accept it, it is true!
Arsenal as a club may be one of the wealthiest but that will change now. The loss of revenue from European football will have massive consequences on the squad and the funds available!
This is a very sad day 🙁
Ray – it is misleading anyway to say Arsenal are one of the wealthiest clubs. WE ie the fans and local community only own the scarves, shirts, programs purchased over the years. Kroenke owns Arsenal, we own nothing, we are like serfs living on the Lord’s land – he can do what he wants, including moving it, selling it off in pieces or in one big block. All we can do is work the land…
So true unfortunately, guy.
Time for excuses is over. This most abysmal chapter in the history of this great club must end now. Arteta MUST be fired. Wasting 30M on Willian, stunting the growth of Saliba, lack of ability to lead the payers, no ability to identify and nurture talent….I could go on and on.
This decline started before Arteta came. Maybe you should start looking at the owners and the way they run this club. Since Stan Kroenke took over 100% ownership Arsenal have been in decline. No Manager can fix this. The Manager will become the scapegoat once again just like before and the decline will continue.
Cmon Dboy – you know full well that virtually everyone here regularly blames the Krankies – perhaps you didn’t notice the demonstrations? We KNOW we have substandard players. But we have all seen this squad play much better. So why does Arteta tinker? why can’t he motivate them for such a big game. Why did so many individuals play so poorly at once? That is Arteta not Kroenke.
Knowing any new manager will find it tough is NOT a good reason to keep Arteta
It’s not just Artetas fault The main erson to blame this, season is Aubameyang There’s been a lot of talk of who we need to buy in the summer but we need a top class striker Aubameyang and Lacazette whether he stays are not the answer Martinelli is too light weight Apart from Saka Tierney Smith Rowe and maybe Harding the rest of the twenty five man squad are not going to tske Arsenal anywhere I fear Arteta will go but that’s not the answer
Problem is, people are to blind to realize this
This is one of the issues. It is easier however to focus on one individual in this type of situation.
Let’s spin it the other way, a proven world class striker in different leagues who has been bailing us out since he joined the club struggles to score in one season because of your manager slow defensive minded tactics and you all of a sudden he is not good enough. So you are saying Auba, Laca, Partey even to some extent Arteta boy Willian is utter shxt??? Hahaha. Move on guys, you have been using same excuse since the start of season for every bad performance. This is way better team then what Wenger had in his last seasons and what Emery had. You can give him City as a team and Arteta will still find a way to fail.
👍
The irony of your name.. There is no logic to any of your comments…
Mark, please elaborate.
I think Arteta is out of his depths. He has succeeded in turning Arsenal into a mid-table team. I even like the way it turned out because we would have just gone to the final to be defeated by Man Utd. I knew he lost the tie from the first leg when he experimented playing a false 9. Arsenal is not a laboratory for Arteta. We need an experienced coach.
It’s sad to see that the lack of ambition and progress has rubbed off onto some fans.
The teams who succeed are fearless when it comes to sacking a manager who is clearly in over his head.
I’m so devastated right now, Arsenal winning would have made me a millionaire. I’m not one to call for any manager’s head but Arteta surely has to go by the end of the season, we have no clear pattern and there’s no single sign of improvement. #Arteta out
Even my friend who’s a Spurs fan feels sorry for me, This is so humiliating.
That’s awful, Gibson, sympathy from a spud 😞
Thanks Sue and Yes, he actually see my bet ticket and was rooting for me genuinely, something that has never happened for the past 24 years we’ve known ourselves. I feel so empty right now.
*saw
Aww keep your chin up.. there’s only one way to go ⬆️
Arteta was an experiment
He had no managerial experience, was cheaper than alternatives and easy for Kronke to control
I’m not ungrateful for the FA Cup. In fact I was happy for him to continue after that. But he’s simply not good enough
Time for him to go I’m afraid
A failed experiment!
I’m supposed to be angry but i guess this defeat is for the best. Now we can all agree that this false coach should leave arsenal by tomorrow morning.
Kudos to ESR the only positive from tonight, he worked his socks off and was the only player out there who came to play tonight, kept pushing team forward while others kept passing backwards and sideways.
Agree Son – Im more just numb now than angry. We cant say we were unlucky, or beaten by a good team. Given almost a free pass all the way to the final, and we even blew that. Nothing good we can say about our club at the moment. It’s just such a sad night for all of us.
I don’t know what to think.
After watching the first 20 mins I didn’t think we’d win to be honest and as disappointed as I am with this result it will make the club act I’m sure.
Yup
Arteta is on thin ice and I had high hopes but tonight has shown that the club must be at a crossroads with him
If Arteta does go I’m not confident that the club will bring in the right man anyway
Very bad news indeed
Agree. Arteta, is not right, the next guy wont be right, the owners are definitely not right. Bad time to be an Arsenal fan.
SueP, the way we played in first half was surely the manager tactics to not concede and play with caution. Sorry but we were poor over both legs and Areta got done by Emery. When you play away from home in first leg you need to be more adventurous and brave because your away goals count so much. We played cautious both first halves away as well as home that cost us the tie. Arteta’s mistake, he tried to nick a own nil advantage and also in last part of second half why take striker off. He should have kept Auba on and substituted one of the defenders. You need to be brave, plus you need to go all out for victory specially when your whole season depends on it. Liverpool went out to Madrid as well but boy did they give them a match at Anfiled we needed to do the same for 90minutes not 45 minutes of conservative football.
Some players played well tonight: ESR, Pepe, Partey, Holding. The rest was mediocre or abysmal like Ödergaard, Saka who should have been brought down at halftime. The major problem was nevertheless the clueless tactics from Arteta. Every attack in the exact same way, the only change was Saka and Pepe changing sides. This is worse than AW last 2-3 years or Emery’s last year… We are so one-sided, every team can defend against us. So it’s apparently a coach issue, cause we do have some good players in our squad and we should be doing much better. I would expect Artetas contract to be terminated next thing in the morning. He’s done a pretty good job offloading some deadwood but he’s not the type of manager we need right now. He has nothing more to give to the team
Partey was awful. Was also set up to fail by Arteta by not even giving him a midfield parnter. I guess he would’ve placed the disastrous Ceballos there if he were allowed to anyways.
Agree RSH, Partey can’t do it on his own, as a virtual one man midfield.
I don’t think Partey was awful yesterday. He just can’t do everything on his own. The same for Pepe. Saka and Ödergaard had some underwhelming performances for sure. The main problem was the luck of tactics, luck of a Plan B, wenn Plan A doesn’t work. Arteta is just as stubborn as Wenger was, maybe a bit quicker on his changes but was still outsmarted by Emery.
Pepe!!!!! The man is actually more clueless about football than xhaka .. I don’t think I can recall a player with so little understanding of the game .. even bendtner had a basic understanding of positioning and movement off the ball .. have to take a big loss on him and move on .. along with whoever thought shelving out 70m plus was a sensible buy … he’s a low energy player in a low energy team … the effort gap between us and just about any other team in Epl is shocking and solely down to the manager … on that grounds alone arteta should be fired as the blame for that lies solely at his feet .. the excuses on this site for him are beyond pitiful … Unambitious owner Unambitious manager unambitious players Unambitious fans … indescribably bad state of affairs we are in
Not a long post, as right now it would simply be a stream of abuse.
Emotionally invested in this club since the early 60’s.
This is killing me.
A word for Unai Emery.
Over two legs of football, the man totally nullified us.
We had ONE shot on target tonight.
Emery played two banks of four, leaving no space between the lines leaving us totally clueless.
So laugh at his accent all you want, he’ll enjoy the final !
👍 Unfortunately Emery will have a very “good evening” at Arsenal’s expense.
1st half, with his tactics, you woukd have thought we were 2 nil up.
Really sad to be right all the time.
Not a single one here commented that the novice wasnt the right one for us after the FA Cup. Ooh…give him a season and even some bullies here @JF regularly shouted at sensible posters here who pointed out the novices shortcomingd. He had some fortune during that FA run and sure I relished the win BUT I saw the lack of philosophy, poor tactics and thought then, his luck was not going to hold and true enough.
My heart held hope but sadly the head proved correct. Unfortunately, poor decisions by the idiots running the club has dragged us to this level. Hiring a novice? Only consolation is the yanks purse has just snapped shut and he will decide to sell.
So pissed off at the novice that I would not even give him the grace to last out the season
Arteta’s approach in the FA cup run was clear, conservative and designed to maximise the use of what opportunities came Arsenal’s way.
It has been clear for some time and Arteta himself had admitted that Arsenal do not have a squad on the same level of Man City etc.
Arteta still deserves much respect for winning the FA cup..
It’s also easy to forget that Arsenal have gone further in Europe than a team like Spurs who arguably have a stronger squad and certainly have a number of players who would be rated significantly higher than their Arsenal equivalent.
👍 Credit where it is due, something others didn’t get.
Let then sack arteta
When we look at this team, who do we think could make a difference? We don’t have the tools be in any final. We’ll get messacred. Everybody keeps crying for Martenelli but what does he bring to the team? Saka and ESR have shown what they can bring. Let’s face it we need to spend close to £200m to get this team back on track. Where is the owners?? What are they going to do about it?
Can we sack Arteta now?
Anyone would gave serous complains?
If Arteta is sacked, I am afraid his managerial career might come to an end.
Who cares?
He can Gary Neville in the pundits’ room. They’d make good pals as failed coaches.
👍
10th game at home without scoring in a season. First time ever happened in our history!
And Big Sam rocking up on Sunday….
Oh Hail the mighty Arteta.👏👏👏👏
I don’t see any reason why Arteta should remain at Arsenal after today. Up till now, he hasn’t got any idea of how to improve the team, lacklustre performance week after week and i don’t see any process to trust here. Arsenal needs an experienced coach to manage the team, definitely not Arteta.
Enough of it Arteta. He’ll be gone tomorrow…surely.
This game was played by two teams with very average players. Villarreal won because they were better coached and organized. I wonder if the heaped on praise Arteta gave to the Kroenkes’ in response to their Super League proposal will save his job? Still, we didn’t get relegated, so perhaps Ebenezer Kroenke will keep Arteta because it is cheaper than sacking him!!!!
(There is a rumour that the Glazers will buy Harry Kane this summer to placate the United fans. The Kroenke’s will probably buy Bamboo Cane to motivate the team (six of the best for Arteta?).
JW, you a giving praise to Unai Emery according to some the worst football coach on the planet, yet the only coach to win 3 Europa Leagues, second highest trophy winner at PSG (8) and a higher win percentage than Blanc, Ancellotti, Tuchel and Ponchettino at the same club.
Emery lost the dressing room ozziegunner which was plain to see. Whatever his achievements elsewhere, the players had the power at Arsenal and he didn’t have the power to change it
As bad as things got under Unai, Ozzie, were they as bad as this? MA has taken us to a place I never thought I’d see….
SueP yes, Unai Emery “lost the dressing room” and the players downed tools in the run in to the end of the season, when Arsenal could have secured at least 4th, if not 3rd. The performance in Baku in a Europa League final, which many players will never get a chance to play in let alone win, was a disgrace. This was due in my view to the players rejecting the discipline (not selecting the team they wanted and powerful players being benched) he tried to implement on these pampered, overpaid, mentally weak unprofessional players.
At this stage the Board and management should have supported Emery to clean out the dressing room of the main instigators, something they did later with Arteta. One bad apple is all you need and Arsenal had the German clique.
Sue, when Emery was sacked, Arsenal was in 8th place, having lost 3 from 8 games and ahead of Manchester United. Under Arteta (following Ljundberg’s caretaking) Arsenal finished 8th. This season Arsenal has lost more than the 11, lost by Terry Neil in the season he was sacked and the season isn’t finished. So yes Arsenal under Arteta is far worse than under Emery, yet some still believe he has the support of the players! Maybe because he tolerates mediocrity, making excuses for the inexcusable at this Club.
I can only agree ozziegunner.
I did think the players were on side but that has changed.
Sacking the manager would not solve our problems. It’s starts at the board and owners. We supporters should put pressure on the Kroenke all way!!
…..we supporters? Never seen you before, never heard you slam the owners before, now you come on to rub salt?
You do realise the yank doesnt micro manage and he has not shut the purse? I still want him gone but our decline has been at the feet of the middle management who hired a novice .
Base less again, you guys need to understand that we have spent a lot of money in last two transfers so I don’t think owner can take the blame here. For long term, yes he is to blame for our condition but not since Wenger left we have been one of the highest spenders in EPL last 3-4 years. If your shxt of manager Areta and so called Brazilian retirement planner Edu could not buy decent player and blow money on sub power players then they should be first to go. I can bet my house on the fact if we had same onwer as city or Chelsea Arteta would have been out of the door by mid season along with you lot with your excuses.
That was for Doby. Lets start with Arteta and Edu followed by owner.
For one Arsenal was never in this game,Emery took out the whole team from the get go. dont let auba two shots on the post fool us. we were poor. I said from the first leg our pressing need to improve, but for sure our pressing it was worst than the first leg. How can we sit off a team let them every player have the ball for 10 to 15 seconds before we start pressing. so awful. where is the drive to know that we are behind and that we need a goal and let villareal come at us. we played crap, and we got crap result. Emery shows arteta how to manage a game without coming out of first gear. Arteta is a novice that needs to go. no more learning on the job. so pathetic. I hope the arteta fanboys will quiet down now. nothing more to play for in the season. ARTETA DEFINATELY OUT FOR ME.
Project Arteta has FAILED! He should be thrown out at the end of the season.
Big time, QD!!
Why wait, GET RAFA IN BEFORE WEST BROM!
QD, what do you think of “Dracula” now? Don’t accidentally fall on that stake you had handy. (LOL) 😊
Hé’s a league 1 or championship manager at best..
I’m sure they lining up for his signature..
Too many, comments to read above,and they’ll probably also reflect my opinion, but what a spineless shambles. Still as a moment’ of truth it told us a lot about the manager and confirmed what has been obvious for a long time. Some players are simply not good enough. Pepe, Auba and Laca are over rated. Would anyone pay 30 million for Pepe? Has Martinellii really shown anything, yet. Partey, what’s going on there? Bellerin, turf him out or get ready for the championship. Odergaard brings nothing that ESR can’t do and he definitely has to do better. Saka needs to be properly managed or he will fade away. The sight of Nketien of the pitch meant that the game was lost. A pointless substitution. Why take Auba off in the first place? Arteta can’t be allowed to get away with this result. So many blunders and as usual it’s hard to grasp that 55 jobs at Arsenal have been lost while he and his coaching staff continuously fail to earn their wages. Final gripe, although there are many more. It’s not the defeat which hurts but the gutless way the team performed. I hope I’m not alone in saying that Arsenal fans are sick of watching,” Pep Ball for Dummies”.
“Pep ball for Dummies” that is the only thing that has made me smile all night.
Aubameyang, along with ESR, is the only player looking like scoring and Arteta takes him off!
Despite poor results in the last decade, I believe Arsenal is still a big club (financially, historically and in terms of club infrastructure). Any self-respecting and big club or any company for that matter does not allow incompetence like Arsenal. It baffles me that Arteta is not getting pressure or not fired a long ago. This is strange.
If this was the meaningless WBA game I’d shrug my shoulders. But its the SF of the EC. Some very poor individual performances, but I lay this awful display solely at Arteta’s door.
1) Over-cautious throughout the first half- has to be on MA’s instructions.
2) Why can’t he motivate his team for a semi?
3) Picking Bellerin
Except for Laca being needed earlier, I wont criticise the subs – those that came on were no better than the subs. But why were the whole team so lacklustre?
4) Partey poor but still the ONLY one trying to carry and play through the middle. Left totally isolated with too much to do alone
5) Saka and Pepe poor and negative – they really need to look at themselves
6) Auba CANNOT PLAY in this formation. Starved of service? Then how did he waste 2 chances? Supposed to be a lethal striker ffs!!! When Laca plays there he sees plenty of the ball.
This game was the acid test of where we are, and Arteta failed it – badly. Set them up like a rookie, overthought and tinkered, moving people to new positions as usual. can’t motivate, overcautious, this team is now playing worse than the day he arrived.
My patience with a manager out of his depth and still not learning has run out. Crap manager, crap players, no backbone or spirit in the team, no discernable direction. Keep him and give him more money will be the same as p***ing it down the drain.
I am embarrassed to have stood by him for so long, and I feel like a character in “The Emperors New Clothes” because…
THERE IS NO PROCESS
Told you all so last season
Guy
It’s been a bitter pill to swallow
I held out hope for too long but did have a good deal of faith that he could turn the corner. My problem over the last month or so is that I cannot see any form of lifeline offered by the club at a senior level to address the deep rooted problems that persist.
SueP, can you list some of the deep rooted problems. We have shot ourself in the foot by trying to kick start a new project all together when we had a working model which needed a bit of tweak because it yielded us FA cup trophies and also champions League spot for soany years, not to mention the league titles. All we needed was to tweak the system not to completely replace it with a new project. But it will be interesting to know what root problems you think we need to address that have been there for ages.
I readily admit that I thought Arteta could bring success albeit not as quickly as some expected. I was in favour of waiting to see if everything could meld together. Seems unlikely now
I’d say the deep rooted problems can be laid at the door of the owner who has no interest in the club apart from at a commercial level. If you don’t understand the ‘product’ you are buying, then it is essential to hire the best people to run it for you and clearly Arsenal has been run very poorly. The ESL fiasco showed how far removed from the fans Kroenke is.
The buck stops with him. He hires the people to hire Arteta and deal with contracts and transfers so yes, Kroenke’s years at Arsenal have been a disaster
I completely agree with you sue on having an owner who should look at the club with passion and has some sort of interest in football, not treat it as just a commodity.
Me too Sue. Trouble is the whole club is riddled with dryrot. I can’t see one aspect of Arsenal that gives me hope. The owner of Arsenal lock stock and barrel has no interest in selling. We as fans own nothing, have no influence or power. Any income goes to him not the club. Any assets are his to sell, and in any case have depreciated enormously. Players can either stay and such large sums from us regardless of whether or not they earn them, or can leave this sinking ship.
We are performing badly, will no longer sit at the top table, and have nobody inside the club we trust to give us direction.
We will of course continue to follow our team, but into a new, frugal era, possibly never to return to those recent, proud days. Bragging rights could soon be disputed with Orient!
This has been a disastrous season, with the culmination and realisation that there will be no European football for The Arsenal – the first time in 25 years.
We need to let that sink in and ask the question about ourselves as a fan base.
This is where four years of moaning about not winning “major” trophies, only finishing in top four, forever pilloring our players, believing we were entitled to be successful and belittling our past achievements has come home to roost.
I’m listening to Martin Keown and Freddie Ljunberg and what they are saying, sums up what I feel at this moment in time.
The players we have should have seen us in a european final, challenging for the top four and looking forward to next season.
MA has bought in 7 new players, set new records in relation to negative results and yet we STILL have “fans” bleating about humiliations and trying to blame others for the situation we find ourselves in tonight.
Every Arsenal fan wanted MA to succeed, to think otherwise is ridiculous – but those of us who questioned the treatment of players, queried the style of play, asked why there was no playmaker, were called all the names under the sun, asked about our allegiance to the club over player and told it was time for patience and how nieve we were.
Well, the time for patience has now become a time for vindication for those fans and it will be interesting to see what excuses they have after this game.
Make no mistake, we are in real danger of becoming the club we were in the 50’s, 60’s and 80 ‘s….. and that is down to the people in charge NOW.
The 25 year proud record of continuous European football has ended…. I await with baited breath to see who will be blamed!!!!
Its true
I remember being called all kinds for questioning not replacing Ozil properly
Disrespecting the Cup
Saying players were not good enough
Pointing out how we gone backwards since Mr Wenger left
Yet two of the main accusers are suddenly nowhere to be seen /heard from Dan.
Maybe those few will think twice about ramming their opinions down people’s throats with that we’re right your wrong attitude, Ken.
Mohsan where are you? Please I need to apologise in person.
It’s good that God did not allow luck to keep smiling on incompetent MA and his miserable cronies. That luck that smiled on him to win FA and Charity shield and deceived many that recklessly threw their sentiments filled support behind the clown, the unqualified Pep’s understudy. Much of the blame goes to the penny pinching cheat Satan Kronke, who never have any passion for football, it has been said that one will excel in what you are passionate about, if you are just passionate in making money and neglect the mechanics and Dynamics of what really matters, what will make your focus – the money to keep rolling in with flare then you are bound to run the business to a stand still and that’s exactly what Kronke and everyone that is backing MA are doing right now, we are heading for ship wreck. It all started when Wenger was allowed to over stay and 4th place became a glorified trophy, after him Arsenal have been on a steady downward slip. The club must be wrestled out of Kronke’s grips unfailingly this time around by all means. The man’s attitude to football business as concerns Arsenal is very highly absurd and we can’t take it anymore. Common Arsenal fans what the heck is going on with this Stan of a man that should never have come into the business of running a premier league football club when you don’t have desire or interest in the game in first place. Please let the fans gather and make Emirates very turbulent until that fake man sells. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH HABA! I CAN’T SHOW MY FACE IN STREET.
Where was the intensity from the players tonight, where was the leadership on the pitch. Aruba as Captain is a complete joke. Back in 1970 when we played the second leg of the Fairs Cup Final 3-1 down we had players like McLintock, Storey ,Radford who would run through brick walls for the team. We should have been all over them in the first half but it was like it was a training session. Where was the captain geeing them up.
Who appointed him as manager?
Why were we not pressing them?
This present day Arsenal, both on and off the field, cannot possibly be linked with the 71 double winning team under Bertie Mee and Frank Mclintock.
Going out alone to Emery is enough for the sack, HE RELACED HIM !
Marty you are so right! It all starts with the deteriorating mentality at all levels in this Club. The pride, both professional and in playing for the badge, commitment to giving your best for the Club, guts and determination to fight to the final whistle we saw in the players you mention, has slowly disappeared.
When the owners can’t be bothered, appoint people who mismanage the financial and player assets of Arsenal FC and the players can’t lift themselves to win 1-0 or better in a Europa League semi final, the mentality of the Club is a losing mentality.
Leicester
Villa.
Palace
Burnley.
Olympiacos
Everton.
United.
Scouse.
Man City
Not one goal at home.
Tamping.
Wanted this guy to succeed but he is hopeless.
Baggies to come….
Arteta just cannot motivate players. He just hasn’t got what is needed. We all wanted Martinelli to play. We knew, how come he didn’t? Let’s hope he leaves as soon as possible.
I’m not even sure Arteta REALLY wants to win. He seems to ‘bite his nose to harm his face’ as the old saying goes.
Well, at we can’t blame Ozil for either ‘not caring’, ‘being a passenger’ or simply ‘a disruptive influence’ even when he was being frozen out of the team, anymore.
And Ozil’s pulling up trees with Fenerbahce, so would have made as much difference as he did against Chelsea in Baku.
Emery ruined Ozils career ,then tried to act the victim
Dan, Ozil’s play was on a downward spiral, before Emery even arrived. Just check his contributions in goals and assists the previous seasons at Arsenal.
Deal is a deal. No EL Trophy no Arteta. Time to move on without Arteta. I been behind him all this while with the deal. Now it’s gone and he should too.
I second that
Lol King – it takes two to make a deal. Did you discuss this with MA? Is this in his contract?
Its what we want yes, but there was never a deal.
Arsenal gave a try… They thought they could have found a Pep Guardiola bis. They just found apparently an average manager. One year and half and worse bilan than Wenger or emery. We would have as fans hope for better. But it did not and that’s sad. Time to move on. The club already gave lot of time thinking we were in the process but we are nowhere in a process. No stability. Team change and change. No link. Even keown and
Ljungberg (“I hope i am not the only one noticing passivity”) more or less directly beg for a change.
Brilliant rant by DT on AFTV, but true.
Sean, he didn’t mince words.
Wow – loved it! Saving it on favourites as a (de-)motivational tool!!
Better managers make thier player better.
Pep made Sterling a world class player.
Who did Arteta made better this year?
Saka and ESR were talented already but there is no real signs of major improvement because of Arteta.
Everyone else is plaing below their ability. We can’t say that we have a bad group of players although some individuals should not be here.
Willian and Luiz should have never been signed.
Partey looks like a shadow of himself.
Wher eis the progress.? Tactically we are inept, the manager is tactically cluelles or too smart for his own good and the only hope is that Kronke may miss the revenue from European football and decide to hire a legitimate world class manager who could in 2-3 years put a team together.
Watching the game today was gut wrenching.
Villareal looked at times light years ahead in tactical understanding and game management.
Mid table may be out of reach next year.
The game management by Emery was an A+. the players understand what they had to do and did it without much fuss. Arteta can watch that game again and learn how to manage a game.
Read a lot of comments tonight. We are all saying pretty much the same thing. What is interesting is that even those NOT giving Arteta the “win the EC or youre out” ultimatum are now saying he must go.
Its not that we lost. It’s our performance. The biggest game of the season and our team selection, tactics, performance, morale, motivation, basic ability, were all abysmal. We were left in no doubt that Arteta has got it all wrong, and he is incapable of fixing what he has broken. Tonight was the reality check that some of us needed. Shame indeed.
Now though, when virtually all fans are united in their wish that Arteta goes, is not the time for “outers” to wade into those of us who previously wished Arteta had more time by gloating “I told you so”. If we had all agreed 6 months ago, would it have made any difference? We are all equally down now, and being spiteful to others when we all want the same thing is unnecessary.
Well said Guy
I’ve had an I told you so
But at least I’ve not been referred to as a fake fan – yet!
Will be checking the sports news on the hour every hour til I hear Arteta have been sacked.
Patrick, so much for the 3-0 win to Arsenal at the Emirates.
The difference was MENTALITY. Emery had Villarreal playing for him to make the Europa League final for the first time in that Club’s history.
Manchester United will take Villarreal lightly at their peril in the final.
We got what we deserved, Ozzie – nothing!
I am surprised that Arteta wasn’t sacked on the spot right after the game
And Unai Emery is having a very “good evening” at Arsenal’s expense.
No even thinks he is the man of the situation lol… Like when he arrogantly showed his chest few months ago “hit me with your bullets” lol. Or saying “yes i am the one to blame” for not playing martinelli… And keeping ignoring him. Or saying the process will explode soon…. Today it is granit xhaka injury that totally changed his plans ? Emery had to deal with Samuel Chukwueze injury too and capoue suspension. And a less complete and expensive squad. He just outsmarted arteta on these 2 games. Awful substitutions again today. Willian or nketiah with 3 min to go ? I think we saw enough tries and line ups changes from him. not the man of the situation imo. Let’s see next games though, who knows. Maybe all wins with fantastic game plan. I would like that but unfortunately i guess we won’t do better than during this whole year and end up even lower than last year.
Xhaka injury AND 90% of the players that were without experience of a semi final. Come on. What does that mean ? Leno, partey, belle run, Aubameyang inexperienced. Pepe is not a 18 years old either. If it was down to experience, why not play Cedric or Willian from the start ? Just go his selection wrong again. Playing xhaka at left back again while he was begged to replace him next to partey. Playing odegaard next to partey thinkimg more attacking players would do better than a more balanced team. Whole has been experiment it seems. Auba on the left. Them Auba starting. Then Auba on the bench for laca.
J., these players are internationals!!!!!
As an aside, the anti Kroenke/KS&E demonstration on match night was 300-400 people (not the 3-4,000 last weekend) and according to reports, very civilised. Fight the good fight, but keep the “class”.
I was excited when Arteta came on the scene last season. I also imagined a marked improvement in our playing style, initially. We were energetic, pressing as a team, and playing as a team.
Although I expected ups and downs and pleaded for Arteta to be given this whole season, I now in recent months, see nothing of this energetic cohesive style.
I see a manager who is out of his depth and whose tactics are singlehandedly responsible for having gone out against Villareal. In the first game, we played without a striker (for the first time this season as far as I can remember) in the second gamer we play essentially with one midfield player and a squad that seems paralyzed rather than energized.
Arteta has been given his fair time and has shown no improvement this season at all. It is time for him to go. He has turned into another Emery who would constantly change the way we play to finally end up with a squad that wasn’t playing anymore because of confusion and lack of belief in the project.
I don’t think Ten Hag would do much worse and at least he has an attacking DNA coming from Ajax and is used to work on a low budget with young talented kids. With Ten hag Marteneli would not be on the bench.
I saw a bit of improvement after the January, but i seems like we became stale.
This is the season I said I would be expecting more from him, but unfortunately he just seem like a proper rookie.
Apart from being a strong personality when it come to player discipline he struggles on the field.
This is how I saw it Goonster. There was a glimmer of hope that we were on the right path.
Recent poor results have caused me to reassess but I’ve felt that Arteta was no worse than trying a new man trying to pick up the pieces and us all expecting a miracle
I stand by my belief that unless Kroenke changes his approach to Arsenal, I don’t see anything better happening.
Yes, Tuchel has been fantastic at Chelsea but I can’t see the powers that be at Arsenal doing the same
Emery had a decent CV and it didn’t work. Instead of going higher, they took a punt on Arteta.
I really now don’t think that Arteta has anything to add to us.
Lets replace him at the end of the season.
My greatest disappointment is with people who keep parroting the same thing that our squad is not good. How do you judge that when you have a manager who is clueless? This squad would, under a better manager, perform much better. Arteta has two many weaknesses: favouritism, hatred, poor team selection, no clear goal, arrogant, intransigent and any other negative traits. He has failed to appreciate his lack of experience as a manager and behaves as if he were Arsene Wenger or Pep Guardiola. He should be relieved of his current misery
Probably believing in his own hype. Legendary players who have gone on to manage have all started small. Arteta should’ve known that it was not time yet for him to manage a big club especially since he hasn’t managed anywhere before.
I used to like him as a player and as a person when he was at Everton, at Arsenal and even when he joined as a coach but because of the worst results in history I can’t help but notice some of negative traits you have mentioned too.
We reportedly didn’t buy the players Emery wanted, we openly ridiculed our own manager’s accent, we wished for an instant return to the golden era of Wenger.
We should have been careful what we wished for!
Or support the discipline of recalcitrant players.
Bitterly disappointing last night but alas not wholly surprising. Commercially for the owners, I feel it’s forced a decsion point based immediately around MA&Edu – keep or go based upon a downhill spiral. If go, then go very soon, no point giving them money in the transfer window to only then sack them 10 games in next season when it’s the ‘same old same old..’ We need some hard nosed, rock hard, Premiership experience at the forefront – so forget Allegri, Rogers is at a better club and get a winner in – for me that Benitez and get him in before the end of May.
What would he inherit – a squad of players all of which could be put up for sale apart from Martinelli Balogun Saka ESR Tierney Gabriel Partey and Saliba.
Many of those out there last night should never be allowed to wear the shirt again. To a point, the tactics over months have been so conservative, so predictable, so slow that if we had Messi, Mbappe and Neymar out there we’d look clueless.
Finally, personally, I’m immensely frustrated that MA has not been able to shape a team and tactics to maximise the players at his disposal; for example, we could try the odd long ball over the top and let Auba run after it, that’s how we won the FA Cup.
Instead, he’s trying to impose a style that the players either don’t understand, believe in or are not good enough to execute. So, it’s easy to look as if, as Shakespeare said, he’s trying to polish a turd.. The Season ended last night, kids only for remaining fixtures..
Has he not gone yet. He’s lost the players ages ago. No one can play his football. They don’t like him or trust him. He treats some players DISGUSTINGLY. Saliba, Martinelli, Guendouzi. We’ve loaned out Guendouzi who is three times Ceballos. Now Arteta is deluded and saying we were unlucky. This Rookie moron has destroyed our club. OUT!!! Arteta has the wrong character and is a failure…..truth.
I’ve said it for months. I’ve never seen a young coach with so much arrogance in my life. According to MA
-Training is perfect
-Game plan is perfect
-Team selection is perfect
After EVERY SINGLE draw/loss he turns around and says either we were unlucky but deserve to win or that he can’t understand how we didn’t win we played exactly to the game plan.
In his mind everything he does is right. You can’t improve and learn if your cup is already full.
Please tell me he didn’t say we deserved to win after that rubbish??!!!
Sue, unfortunately he did in the post match interview.
I couldn’t believe that press conference. The guy has no humility. Even when he takes responsibility now its like he is really saying “I have to say that because I’m the manager, but its not true”. So passive aggressive when he had no right to be. Yes he did say we deserved to win, that Xhaka’s injury destroyed his whole game plan. His belief that he does everything right but was let down by luck and his players not doing their jobs, He has developed a Mourinho-like ability for self-delusion. The Special One may have gone, but welcome the New Special One.
His last form of defence – the media charm offensive, appears to be crumbling, again as it did with Mourinho…
Note the class, manners and graciousness of Emery in comparison.
At Arsenal there is a disease of delusion. Arteta thought we were unlucky. I saw the real game. We were shite.
Arteta out, Board out, Kroenke’s out. A clean out. Arsenal have hit rock bottom with a deluded manager who thinks we played great and we’re UNLUCKY. Arteta can destroy us because he is mad….deluded. He can damage us MORE. Useless manager who is dangerous to Arsenal.
Delusion or either arrogance/ignorance!i mean using Xhaka’s injury as an excuse when he was going to play as a LB come on now also apparently Cedric was in hospital 48h ago but is now fine 🤔 MA has shown that he doesn’t learn from his mistakes that is obvious but on a human level i am delighted for UE as they say karma is a b….!
siamois, don’t say that even “on a huma level” or Dan kit will accuse you of wanting to lose!
😂
Forgetting arteta in or out for a minute I’d like to focus on some other thoughts.
For many many years now at our.club there has been something wrong internally with players mental/emotional mindsets in game and likely before after and every day.
For me 2 things need to happen.
1. New ownership is vital ideally someone who loves and understands football like the Leicester Thai ownership.
2. We need to tackle then mental issues within our club, how much of it stems from negativety created by walking into the stadium that For so many years had oozed negative vibes and pressure from the fans, (rightly so unfortunately)
I think of sides like Burnley small budget, and an inferior squad to ours but year after year they do well with what they have.
If we went through the Premier league and identified stalwart players that are rock like men not boys and filled some gaps with a few of these I think it would bring a postive change.
We must also remember it’s been a strange 2 years for us, (and all clubs) with the covid situation.
Players injured, playing multiple games in quick succession and our talisman striker and captain catching malaria which will effect him for months and months fatigue and energy wise. I also believe he got covid earlier in the year and we kept it quiet, there was a clear period where he disappeared from the set up and then came back looking off it and he never got better.
So the.covid period has impacted us largely and maybe more that other clubs due to the mental fragility within our club.
Other mistakes have been made such as not being able to pull guendouzi into line as I think he was class but a loose cannon and a bit of a prat.
Also letting Kolasinac leave and putting everything into Tierney was a huge mistake.
Having cover with players that ‘can sometimes play there’ meaning they have a left foot is not good enough we need a specialist x2 at RB and LB.
There’s talk of Thilo Keher of.Psg personally what I’ve heard I’d live this as he can play at a good standard all across the back line and dm.
I’d also like to know why Willian isn’t firing yet? Someone needs to work with him 1 to 1 and do what ever it takes to get him going again.
What we really miss though is a mf player of city s standard.
Since the days of Ramsey, Santi and cesc and ozil we’ve really missed this and putting it on a new loanee of odegaued or a kid in ESR isn’t going to work.
Just one player out of the likes of Foden, de Bruyne, gundogan, bernado silva, mahrez would hugely transform our team and style of play.
Personally I think we hugely miss Giroud who had good feet and vision if you think back to the wilshire Norwich goal and also gave us another option in hold up play and an aerial threat.
Lots to do some artetas fault some bad luck, some bad signings but firstly bad ownership and a bad aura created and imprinted within the Emirates stadium. Everytime I’ve been in there it’s been silent and with a nervous negative vibe reverberating throughout the crowd that no doubt reaches the players on the pitch.
Lastly one thing arteta has been totally responsible for is tinkering with our squad and formation too much.
Keown said yesterday why not play a 3 at the back and then attack with free will down the flanks and from the front.
Leaving pArtey on his own and playing 2 cbs meant the whole team had too much of a defensive role or worry in their mind, needed to score but a goal conceded would finish us.
Personally I was looking forward to seeing what arteta could implement with our team as I think he’s a bright young dynamic and well coached coach who clearly up until now had not been able to get the ideas across to these players.
He does however have many weaknesses and needs to resolve these quickly!
You hit the nail on the head with “mental fragility”; something that has infected Arsenal players for some time. The whole league now does not fear Arsenal, the players falter when the going gets tough and the Emirates is certainly now no longer a fortress.
They have been pampered and overpaid for too long, (just check the average wage in the Arsenal squad to other teams in the EPL). What this Club needs is a strict disciinarian, similar to George Graham to reintroduce them to hard work and football fundamentals.
Agree 100%. What is it at Arsenal that we have for several years muuuuuuch higher than average a) injury problems b) relapses after injury c) slow return to fitness and form after injury d) disciplinary problems e) mental frailty, lack of confidence to play with freedom or assert ourselves over inferior opposition f) no leadership skills g) turning good players into bad ones.
Surely big clubs invest in decent sports injury teams, psychologists, motivational experts, even hypnotists? Or have we sacked them all?
Ps I think writing this was actually just therapy for me as I clearly needed a good rant.
Bless you
Can I make one simple request to some of our delusional members to desist comparing Arsene Wenger, our best manager in history and a football icon worldwide, with jokers like Arteta?In fact it is an insult to Wenger. Whatever some detractors may want to say Wenger is one of the world’s top managers and nobody can take that away from him. He kept us competitive on a shoe string budget and made Arsenal a worldwide football club. Most Arsenal fans today love the club because of him. It is no surprise that FIFA also recognised his special skills and appointed him to a position of developing world football. How would anyone in his right mind compare such a man to Arteta or Emery. Wenger’s class is unique. Hate him or love him he is a special coach.