Arteta ‘Eliminated’ The Mole by Dan Smith
I should stress that Mikel Arteta has not confirmed that Ozil and/or Sokratis were the ‘mole’ but when asked in his recent press conference if either were the culprit, the manager’s response was ‘ no comment’.
Obviously, you can say a lot by not saying anything at all.
If, for example, the leak was the kit man there would be no reason for the ‘no comment’, you would simply say ‘no it’s not them’.
The timing also seems convenient.
The week Arteta seems to have worked out the mystery happening to be the same week the club have paid two players to rip up their contracts.
He said this all with a smile on his face, and it’s worth acknowledging he labelled Ozil a ‘brilliant footballer’ and thanked Sokratis for his ‘professionalism’ and ‘support’ during a period where both men knew they wouldn’t play no matter how well they trained.
Arteta mentioned improving the harmony of the dressing room is his priority, something he felt ‘impossible’ when long term you are working with talent not registered to play.
I have always disagreed with how Ozil has been treated and maintain he was a better option then zero creativity. Yet my priority is Arsenal and if he (and others) were leaking out information then that is wrong.
While anyone is an employee of the club, they should have the clubs best interest in mind at all time.
While Ozil and his agent have a right to correct any misinformation about themselves, it would be disappointing if they were spreading other news that’s meant to be confidential.
The German himself felt let down that the press knew about his original reluctance to take a pay cut. The midfielder then used social media to involve himself in discussions that were between Gunnersaurus and his bosses.
David Luiz’s scrap with Ceballos should have stayed private.
In a sense it doesn’t matter who the mole was or how many they were. The crucial point is our manager feels that he (or she) has been ‘eliminated’.
The happier the squad, the more likely we can rescue the season.
Be kind in the comments.
Dan
Nope thanks to whoever leaked the Ceballos fight against David Luiz because it shows Mikel favouritism. Ceballos fought two players and yet we haven’t heard any disciplinary actions while Guendouzi……
I’ve always been interested in this view that managers shouldn’t have favourites. Everyone has favourites and I’d think that a manager’s favourites are the ones he thinks can win him a game.
It seems to me when fans accuse any manager of having favourites what they are really meaning is that the manager’s favourites aren’t the same as their favourites.
Exactly Trudeau, well put.
I agree but I expect the response from Ceballos was to keep his head down apologise and insist it won’t happen again, which most people would do in similar circumstances. However, with Guendouzi firstly the altercation was with non Arsenal players, the subject was belittling players getting paid less than he did at Arsenal. This is a serious abuse towards opposition players, not a scrap with can be remedied without too many complications. But Arteta we understand wanted Guendouzi to make good his misdemeanour, by understanding what he’d done was wrong, seriously wrong, then an apology to the team, because he did it during a game and let down his colleagues. Then he needed to show that’s he has learnt the error of his ways and means to correct it and fall into line. But we understand that he didn’t. The door was open for. Period of time after which Arteta had nope other option left open to him which was to deal with Guendouzi with discipline, something Guendouzi lacks. I read over the weekend he was at it again with his colleagues.
Look I’m not goody goody two shoes, but people learn from their mistakes or they don’t. And when they don’t they carry on displaying poor behaviour. It’s a real shame because I really liked Guendouzi, I loved his cheekiness and his motivation to win and get upset when the opposition were applying pressure he would try even harder to outplay and perform them. I still think he’s a special talent but without discipline to carry out the managers, captains instructions he can’t be trusted and this will impact the teams performance.
Good news if the mole is gone, but a larger question still remains. Have the conditions changed that gave rise to the mole to begin with?
Different treatment for different players; Willian for example. Treatment of Ozil was appalling; yes he was overpaid, but should he have said no to wages? Would you or anyone else?
I’m not defending anyone, not players or the club. Poor behavior on both sides quite frankly and no one’s hands are clean in this mess. Don’t believe it’s all sunshine and rainbows yet, not until other conditions change internally.
Personally I like moles….the one’s that burrow underground. The dressing room type are only found when the dressing room is unhappy with the manager. Our manager does some things well, but it seems human relationships he is shite at. If you treat some players differently from the others then you deserve a mole burrowing up your you know what. I send my regards to William Saliba, who is the football equivalent to an abused child. Well done Tin Man Arteta.
Spot on.
I agree with every word. They both had to go in any event ! Onward and upward Arteta! Now you can really go for it!
Cheers Ozil- thanks for nothing!
Dan If you don’t mind I want to pay you a compliment, though it is more factual thought than a deliberate compliment. I admire your intelligence in how you have so cleverly pointed out who the mole actually is and you are of course right. I admire intelligence in any person but conversely I DO NOT SUFFER FOOLS GLADLY AND THAT IS PLAIN TO ANYONE WHO READS MY REGULAR POSTS.
BRIGHT PEOPLE CLOSELY OBSERVE SUCH THINGS AS BODY LANGUAGE, TONE OF VOICE, WHAT IS NOT ACTUALLY SAID AND A HOST OF OTHER CLUES THAT LESS BRIGHT PEOPLE NEVER EVEN THINK ABOUT.
Less bright people take as gospel truth every syllable uttered and do not see any other factors which you, for just one Gooner, have clearly seen and pointed out. So as an intelligent man Dan, you have my admiration.
I still suspect Kola…why would you get rid of your only real LB cover, without having a replacement in your hip pocket for January, unless there was a more pertinent reason to get him out of the locker room…btw he’s been given the armband since arriving at Schalke…what a strange set of circumstances…the only real leadership he exhibited while in North London was during the attempted car jacking
Wasn’t Kola intended to go on loan already in August, like Saliba, but they just ran out of time?
I have thought about it too, it can be him but Ozil is two-faced, he’s been a bit too happy and nice in his some.
only issue for me is that ever since we used the media to sewer Sanchez’s rep, during his contract dispute, this club hasn’t shied away from employing such weaselly tactics…that said, why wouldn’t they use that “mole” info more effectively, if it was Sokra and/or Ozil, to further cultivate the already divisive relationship between the fans and these players, as it would have been in their best interest…Kola might have been doing Ozil’s dirty work, as they appeared to be quite close