Many were impressed by Arteta’s first press conference as Arsenal boss.
The way he spoke was of a man who understood the values of the club and in his own words, those who could not follow them could leave.
The improvement of a few individual performances left many gooners assuming our new manager has a ruthless streak. We will learn in the next two weeks if that’s true.
Today the squad are off to Dubai for a winter break having already had the last few days off to do what they want.
I have long been against the idea of a winter break. It’s offensive to the average person in the street who has to leave their house at 7am to work a 9-hour shift for the sake of a minimum wage, to suggest these millionaires need a rest.
There’s also zero evidence that fixture congestion is a problem based on how many sides you see win Doubles and Trebles.
Of course, as we have already seen, if you give an inch some want to take a mile. Not satisfied with 14 days off, there is now a campaign to make further changes to the FA Cup.
It should also come as a warning that the top sides in La Liga start their winter break by now playing the Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, purely for the money.
How Arteta handles the next fortnight could be crucial to his reign and really highlight just how ruthless he is, or not. The fact he has invited everyone’s families for a free holiday is worrying. While you could argue the aim might be to build team spirit, I would much rather hear that intense training was going on, the way our new boss likes to play means we need to be fitter.
Jose Mourinho is keeping Spurs in England based on only having worked with them before Xmas, it’s interesting Arteta would take the opposite approach.
Arteta talks about the standards of the club. In reality these group of players haven’t come close to meeting those standards.
Being 7 points above relegation in February is shocking, unprecedented! Everyone should be embarrassed to compare themselves to the legends who have worn the shirt. Imagine a Sir Alex Ferguson or a captain like Roy Keane in this situation?
I think they have too much pride to be accepting any kind of rest and be demanding that everyone is on that training pitch working harder to improve the situation.
Yes, the modern-day player has changed but how many of our dressing room post on social media how much they are hurting?
I would respect them so much more if they said they don’t deserve any break, certainly not for wives/girlfriends and children to be given a free holiday.
I thought we could only afford loans? My money for tickets/shirts can’t fund new players but can pay for millionaire’s families flights and accommodation?
Also, if we have any leaders (a big if), then I hope someone is evaluating what went wrong the last time we made a similar trip. Knocked out of the FA Cup early, Uni Emery saw a gap in the schedule to get in some ‘warm weather training’.
While there is zero suggestion that anyone was unprofessional, our form took a nosedive on our return, form we still haven’t recovered from. At best, our players got too comfortable and lost focus.
So how strict Arteta is or is not in the next 2 weeks could be crucial going forward.
Dan Smith