I was reassured by Mikel Arteta’s pre match Champions League press conference.
He rightfully stood by his convictions from Saturday, but stressed that he also looks inwards and asks himself what could he have done better?
It’s almost like someone had a quiet word and said, while happy to back him with the club statement, from a PR perspective he needed to take some accountability as well. Or at least pretend in front of the public.
I hope our manager wasn’t just saying what we want to hear.
I pray he has the ability to recognise his errors.
While the best coaches don’t get pressurised to make decisions, the greats can also recognise when something is not working.
They put their ego to one side and admit they were wrong for the sake of the team.
That’s why our starting line up on Wednesday is crucial.
Let me stress, we should be beating a team 15th in La Liga on home soil.
Long term though, who starts against Sevilla could give us a sign of how realistic a title challenge is.
Because you rarely become Champions with an average keeper and striker.
Now is the time to see if our boss understands that.
I understands the need to protect Raya’s and Nketiah’s confidence.
Yet if your able to be ruthless towards Ramsdale and drop him based on small details then by the same criteria, Raya’s body of work is enough to be dropped.
The keeper in his 10 fixtures as a Gunner has made more errors then Ramsdale has in two years.
Given Arteta claimed he didn’t have a number 1 and would select based on game from game it’s getting harder for Ramsdale to be on the bench without questioning from Gooners.
At the other end of the pitch, we need a plan B until we can buy a striker in January.
It’s not just that Eddie doesn’t score enough it’s he’s not as busy as Jesus. Jesus is unpredictable in his movement, moving to the wing, coming short for the ball.
Eddie is old fashioned; he comes alive in the penalty area but is invisible elsewhere.
A Martinelli through the middle or Trossard as a false 9 gives us unpredictability, with defenders then not knowing who to mark.
If Raya and Eddie start both of the next two games, we don’t win the title.
It means Arteta can’t admit he’s got it wrong.
Dan