Southampton have beaten Arsenal by a 1-0 score-line this afternoon, leaving pure disappointment on the faces of our fans.
The Gunners went into today’s match knowing that we needed to take advantage of Tottenham’s failure to beat Brighton earlier on today, but once again we leave disappointed.
Despite being winless in their last six matches, they put in a solid display of focus and used their more experienced players to get the better of a tactical game, although it wasn’t always destined to go that way.
Fraser Forster put in a number of saves in the first-half which he had no right to get to, with Bukayo Saka’s close-range effort one that is stuck in my mind, although the youngster should have done much better to find either of the low corners of the goal instead of hitting it towards the centre of the goal.
We were punished right before half-time at a point in the game where we had been looking dangerous, and they came out after the break with a purpose. For the majority of the second-half, while our players were trying to scrap, they couldn’t get close enough to the goal, and Forster isn’t the type of goalkeeper to be beaten from range.
The Saints stopper is by far the Man of the Match for me, although it was a strong team performance to limit us to very little opportunity to beat the keeper also.
This team simply doesn’t have enough experience in it to deal with the challenge that was set for them, with our players showing plenty of frustration as they continued to lack the guile to break down the resilient Southampton defence.
We saw last week that this team was lacking in ideas, and losing Alexandre Lacazette may or may not have affecting our chances, but what I do know is that we need to be adding real leaders into the squad for next season. I’m struggling to believe this side has what it takes to fight for a strong finish, and am already writing off our side for the top four, despite us being no worse off than we were last week.
Do you believe we could have won if we scored the opening goal of the game? Other than leadership, what do you think we lacked most this afternoon?
Patrick
We dominated the game, but Forster as brilliant and we didn’t have Giroud or Vlahovic to convert our crosses
GAI give it up.. Arteta has to go this is beyond embarrassing
100% and edu with him
Of course he brought aomething new in the way of buying some enhlish youngsters and odegaard. But he is not a good tactician. At least today he reverted to the normal refular lineup after the shameful shake up of last week with xhaka left back and lokonga alone in DM (how can you shake it up like that a schema that was working). GAi will tell you “as far as we end up 6th blabla”. Yeah sure. Except that when you are 5th on budget and payroll and 1st in summer spending, you should definitely be 6th with that being seen as an OK achievement but not being seen as an something great…
If we finish in the 6th position, he’d better stay and sign his own CF
Nonsense! You always come up with one stupid excuse or the other. Arteta is simply not good enough period.
Kev82 terrible all around, hanging on to the math. Regardless of where we finish going forward I have my doubts on Arteta
He’s out of his depth Kenya we could realistically lose our next 3 games, that could be 6 defeats on the bounce. Can’t see where the next points is coming from!
Losing 6 games on the bounce won’t be new. Didn’t we lost 7 out of 8 last season or was it 6 breaking every bad records along the way. He was rewarded with 150m to buy his own players and power to throw away our players.
Yet his fans can’t get enough of him Adiva.. surely it’s not the football that’s impressing them? I think they just like Mikel Arteta as a person rather than his coaching ability
Too bad Emery didnt get the same amount of patience and sympathy that Arteta is receiving from the Arsenal Board and “supporters”.
Totally agree
We weren’t good enough .The dominance was only in possession but it was not effective. Saka should’ve scored but after that any goal we could’ve scored would’ve been down to individual brilliance. This is a team that conceded 6 last week and see how they fought to secure three points.
@Kev. I keep saying the possession stats is utter nonsense when it comes to arsenal. We play the ball around our half for like 30 to 40 seconds each time which is no direct threat to the opposition or ourselves. We only want to play when the opposition scores. Even Southampton uses 4 to 5 passes to get out there own half, for arsenal it is a useless 20 passes. Smh. Team need proper coaching and that’s the truth. It’s still the same schoolboy football every week most week.
It could’ve been different if we had a towering CF on the bench
Would not change that 20 passes reality LOL
Really.
Arsenal had more than 70% possession with 16 shots; twice as many shots as Southampton on target.
Arsenal had 6 shots on target
Chelsea scored 6
Same team same ground
😅 that chelsea twam we were supposed to catch in the table ?! 🤦🏻
it doesn’t matter mate. What was the score?
That CF will still be useless under Arteta. Just in one season Emry made the combination of Auba and Lacazette dreadful to opponents but for 2 the same players struggles to score under Arteta. He must go.
2 seasons
GAI, yes we have all heard your LP record; please play another title.
We will be lucky if we finish 6th given the very tough schedule. Momentum has changed again. Very sad because Spurs made us a gift losing today. The afteta project that was supposed to “bang” as arteta stated more than one year ago havent yet LOL. Though there is some positives for sure from this season (ramsdale, white acquisition). Arteta in the meantime is also the guy who got rid of two french internationals and fighters (giendouzi, saliba), though we might be lucky to be able to welcome back saliba. I am not sure we deserve him though. Especially now that he is with a team that will play UCL, in a bigger stadium.
That’s one of our flaws. Always crossing to who. It must be to the keeper because it couldn’t be any arsenal player with little aerial ability.
Crossing to the invisible man Kori… Arteta will say we dominated possession and put in 263 crosses but we need to improve blah blah blah can’t listen to the man anymore he’s truly bang out of his depth and any other club would have binned him long ago, it shows how unambitious this club truly is.
Wenger sold RVP to Man U and they won the league. That movement to beat the center back to the ball. Cavani has it Ronaldo has it. But the blind ones look at numbers not movement in the box. Not any Kronke, not Adu, not Arteta, can see this man we need. Then you need the crosses. Get Pochettino.
We should’ve signed a taller CF in January to complement Lacazette and Nketiah, but I guess Kroenke told Arteta to make it or break it this season
Again that CF theory you have had for more than 1 year… I dont buy it. Problem is bigger. Maybe to fight with the top4 yes. But to fight with Palace, brentford and co ?! Arteta is already lucky to have so much more asset compared to vieira, potter… Yet he seems always outmsarted by these guys.
You have gone from inverted left footed winder to towering CF. Give it a break buddy, he is simply not good.
If not having a tall CF is the problem then why do we keep putting crosses in? Is that not poor tactics if it never changes
@GAI turn it in. We could have a ten foot tall striker and still not hit the target. Do you know why? Arteta is the manager!
Foster wasnt brilliant. Hes a terrible keeper (shown against Chelsea) which we made, once again, looking like Neuer.
He made at least three great saves
GAI you must have been watching another game. The first have especially was Sunday league level.
Our ball possession was 76% and we produced eighteen shots. Six of the shots were on target
GAI did we win?for all those stats you just pulled you would have thought we hammered Southampton 4 nil
Kori 😂😂
Some people!!!!! We lost to SOUTHAMPTON, and the after BRIGHTON and that after PALACE. Stop making excuses of what we should have because its just glossing over the reality that our boss is out of his depth. ANYONE who cant see that is kidding themselves.
Reggie, I dont know what it takes for some people on here to get a reality check. Which team in the EPL fears to play Arteta’s Arsenal – the gift that keeps on giving three games in row. If you dont turn up to play and dont bury your opportunities, you will lose.
👍ozzie
@GAI what’s your point mate? We lost!!
Soton couldn’t even win the ball possession in the first half. They just sat back after scoring
@GAI. I would have sat back too if I was the opposition. We know darn well arsenal don’t do much when trailing. Let them have the ball in there most dangerous area. There half of the field that is. Pathetic.
Arsenal most of the time talk about lack of depth. But we are the one shooting bullet in our own head. We had one of best central midfield in guendouzi but we got rid of him so cheap. Same might be happening to Saliba. Imagine if we have retained all Guendouzi, Saliba, torreria, AMN, Auba then we would not be facing depth issues at present. Don’t know how many players will be sacrificed for arrogance. It’s not possible that one player cause toxic environment in one club and perform great in another club. If player is talented no matter what , it’s duty of manager and administration to keep them happy and motivated.
Be true to yourself, once on this site. Arteta is crap
Points are not awarded for game dominance. I think you of people should know that.
I am struggling to remember when last we lost 3 games in a row twice in a single season
Saka had the best opportunity, but he shot directly at Forster instead of to the opposing angle. And he has done this at least 3 times this campaign. Still, he doesn’t learn from his mistake
GAI, how observant, you are so so right in what you are saying!!!!!!! Well the bit about we didn’t have Giroud or Vlahovic at least.
Out of depth. With injuries of Tierny, Partey, Tomiyasu and Aubameyang then these gonna cost AFC 4th position.
And tactically, we need somebody like Giroud for plan B, we do not have had any. In additional, without Tierny, quality of cross from wings were not good enough.
The chance for top 4, is slim than ever.
3 straight defeats vs midtable clubs should mean immediate sacking of the manager.
Goodbye Arteta, you won’t be missed
Arteta won’t be sacked even if he manages to lose all the remaining games…
His fan base is just too large they will rather give him extended contrack and more control
Gun down his fan support is disgusting they are watching absolutely horrific performances and yet he has unwavered support! Never seen anything like it.
Agreed. Remember Emery got sacked for less and now he has led his team into CL semi final
They enjoy watching horrific soccer. To them is not punishment but enjoyment. They are born to suffer.
Kenny I call it the Arteta rose tinted glasses they see beautiful free flowing football through them.
I call it delusional
I posted earlier here arsenal is the best team to play when you are off form and needed a response…
I just hope my response won’t be deleted again this time
My response was deleted too. Guess they thought I’m being pessimistic.
We are gonna lose to Chelsea again on Wednesday.
@Qutie, Arsenal can lose 2 mid table teams, but won’t lost 2 Chelsea. Don’t 4get about last season 2 soon Boi!!!
There were calls here for Nketiah, Tavares and Pepe to start with Xhaka being in his original position. Three of these calls were heeded to but alas it clear the problem wasn’t necessarily about just about the players but the bigger issue is that the attacking tactics are just not good enough. I get sad sometimes when I see our midfield so slow and lacking ideas. Even our defence at times is so poor. See how White can be so weak in the tackle, poor in timing challenges and how he’s easily beat at times. The inability to score is down to tactics. Our moves have been telegraphed. We weren’t properly able to break down Southampton. The 4-3-3 shape we use looks very bad for us and we might get massively exposed by Chelsea. I’ve never seen a season where Arsenal, MAN Utd and Spurs can be equally as bad. Utd may have won but were also por. I still tip us for the 4th spot because I don’t see us losing to both Spurs and Utd and they are just as inconsistent.
There is no way Pépé is staying,no matter what he does,the guy can’t get a game.you have to admire his patience, professionalism,having said that there has to be something going on between him and MA that we don’t know about.he will probably be banging the goals for his next team.
He is out. The mission of MA is not top 4 but clear away all former managers’ players. This is his achievement.
We have no midfield reliables. But Torreira and Guendouzi are excelling in their clubs who will own them almost for free at the end of the season. Shameful!
Yes, exactly how it is.
From the start, MA has not been able to manage and get full respect from players with strong personality, likes Guendouzi, Torreira, Aubameyang .. Club had to choose between him and players, then players had to leave, club has been weaken while budget was limited.
Pepe, yet another player Arteta has cut off his nose to spite his face for. And we have suffered for. Arteta needs to be judged on his mistakes and they are plenty.
👍 spot on! What a waste.
I suspect you are taking this position because we lost.
>70 possession with 16 shots and at least twice as many shots as the opposition on target suggests that the problem is more likely to be due to player quality than suboptimal tactics.
The attacking tactics aren’t good enough .I’ve seen these kind of games many times under Arteta and it was just repeating itself. The only time we should’ve scored was when Saka was through on goal. As for the shots we had they are just deceptive. They were more out of frustration and not being able to breakdown Southampton. I actually believe we will finish 4th cos I fancy us over Spurs and Utd. More quality personnel could’ve created some moments of individual brilliance but the system will still make them struggle to do so.
So David, now you are saying Saka(England International) Martinelli (Brazil International) Esr (England International) Odergaard (Norway International, captain) Pepe (ivory coast international) Xhaka ( Swiss international, captain) are not good enough for one of them to score against (for arguments sake this debate) Southampton and their vast array of stars and it not be down to the way we may play and dare i say Arteta!!!!!! Mmmmmm interesting.
In a given game against a team like Southampton it is quite possible for those internationals to find it difficult to score. None of those you have highlighted is a proven consistent top level goal scorer or striker.
And Southampton players are? I really dont get the excuses.
I’m so sick of this arsenal team we are just shit every year its the same
Embarrassing stuff. But who didn’t expect it.
We will be lucky to get top 6.
How to ruin an Easter weekend
Team was passive until Southampton scored. We don’t do enough with the ball and all the saves that Southampton made were routine saves. No chance that we could say was definitely going in. Arteta lack of experience is showing at the business end of the season as usual.
3 defeats in a row.. toothless displays, Chelsea, Man Utd and West ham next, it could possibly be 6 defeats in a row.. trust the process ? Anyone who is supporting this don’t give a toss about the club they care more their genius manager Mikel the Matabore Arteta.
Not a fan of his mate 🤭
Haha how did you guess Dan 🤣
6 to 7 defeats may be on the way. Never say never.
Kev82 all the bullsh**t talk of stop talking and start doing it on the pitch and we turn up like this
You know what Kenya if a club is going down the youth route then it’s a must you get an experienced manager to guide them not an inexperienced assistant manager with an ego taller than the Burj Khalifa
Arteta is clueless
Arteta is NAIVE
Arteta is Arrogant
Arteta is destroying Arsenal
Arteta must be sacked ASAP.
It is not rocket science to figure this out
💯 Skill he’s awful
No arteta is the greatest. We had injuries, the players didn’t do what arteta sent them out there to do. Southampton played too defensively, we were a bit tired after playing in mid week, the tactical tweak didn’t work as plan, we were mentally jaded after the last two losses, we were away from home and the long trip didn’t do much for us. OHH WAIT, those excuse have all been used before,what will arteta fan base say now. OHH WAIT,our aim is top six guys we are on course to finish the season positive. LMAO.
That’s why Arteta should go didn’t he see this coming, you loan players like Matteo en you replace with Lokonga seriously. You let players like kolashinac move without replacing, Hector bellerin with tavaraze seriously. Let him Go
Is he still better than AW?
This is a problem of our own making, selling or loaning too many players so that when you have just 4 injuries, the team looks thread bare.
We need a striker with pace that will give more space for Saka and ESR. We also need a more creative midfielder. Look at Diaz for Liverpool and what he brings compared to Lakonga or Xhaka.
I always thought top 4 was a big ask this season. As long as we make Europa League I will be reasonably happy. I think Spurs and Man Utd have a better strike force compared to us and we are lacking goals right now
Better strike force even mk dons have a better strike force then us please tell me what other top half pl club would take our strike force there is none
No Sd.
Europa league is not good enough.
We have a clueless manager.
Tuchel inherited an underperforming team from Lampard and turned them to champions league winners.
That is the work of a good coach.
How did we get to this point of acccpeting top6 as a target?
Arteta is the problem. Him and Edu should be sacked
Tuchel inherited a very strong squad with a number of established world class players.
He mentioned UNDERPERFORMING.
Yes. They were underperforming.
As at the time Chelsea sacked Lampard,
WE WERE ON THE SAME POINTS AS THEM IN THE LEAGUE.
we beat them in the FA Cup Final.
We had a red card against them way. in the first half, and we ended the match with a 2:2 draw. That Martinelli goal comes to mind.
World class players depends on how you look at it.
Aubameyang is a world class Striker.
Chelsea had Havert, Tammy Abraham and Giroud at that time.
Tuchel made that team world class.
Reece James wasnt world class as at that time.
Mount wasnt world class also.
So, they were an underperforming team.
That chelsea team has a top quality coach.
The difference is the coach and not the individual players.
Anyways, when a teams wins trophies, the Manager takes the credit.
We are under performing because we have a clueless manager who is also NAIVE AND ARROGANT
I disagree.
The Chelsea team may have been underperforming but they have had a stronger squad than Arsenal for years.
This is a team that could afford to bench or rotate players like Kante. At right back they have said Reece and a long term solid player in Azpilicueta.
We do not have the strength in depth of teams like Chelsea which is a likely contributor to the drop off in performances. With a full first team available we are able to compete but the thinness of the squad has become a real Achilles heel. Tuchel has done a great job at Chelsea but he was given much better ‘tools’ to work with.
I agree with what you just wrote.
But honestly, this season was the season we had the opportunity to make top4.
All ARTETA needed to do was to sign a striker in January. at least a loan deal.
Arteta is arrogant. You cant keep falling out with your players.
Klopp had Jota, Mane, Salah and Firminho. They added Diaz to that list. the Guy has been scoring goals.
ARTETA’S EGO IS WRITING CHEQUES HIS BODY CANNOT CASH.
His ego will cost us top4 this season.
I am very disappointed with this result.
My reaction is not knee jerk. I have been seeing this downward trend for a while now.
Am just disappointed. Am losing interest in football. Yet I can’t support any team apart from Arsenal☹️
David, read the post, he said underachieving with a manager that couldn’t get the best out of what he had. Mmmmm rings a bell.
Did you really think at the start of the season with our team we would be top 4?
Man Utd bought Sancho and Ronaldo. Chelsea bought Lukaku. Spurs kept Kane. Arsenal did not buy any striker and had 2 in the final year of their contracts who weren’t scoring. At least we had Auba until Xmas.
I think there is delusion if anyone thought we would be in the top 4
Scott, yes, spending 150 mil in one go and the players he has/had at his disposal, top 4 has to be the aim. Why would Kronk spend. I hope that Arteta is judged by his success this season pr lack of. Everyone said and i would think the owners expected, no European football, huge investment, 30 months in charge, talented young players and the need for 4th, it would be achieved. If not, then we have lowered our sights and we cant keep saying, next season or the season after because it will never come if we do.
I say let’s go for Sean Dyche!😂
I have massive respect for the bloke and i honestly expect a big club to go for him.
Hear hear, Dychce is an unsung legend. What he has achieved on a shoe string negates all the above whimpering from the Artetaheads.
Joe Burnley will pay dear for what they or the owner has done. The guy has done miracles with what he has had at his disposal. LEGEND!
👍👍👍re Sean Dyche. Who do Burnley think they will get to do a better job?
I hold the same opinion at this point, Dyche would make men out of our boys.
Arteta won’t be sacked even if he manages to lose all the remaining games…
His fan base is just too large they will rather give him extended contrack and more control
Oh Arsenal
I knew we were gonna lose somehow after soton lost to Chelsea… Arsenal ain’t ready for champions league. That’s the truth…
This are games that we should be getting points. Win or draw (Palace, Brighton and Soton). Ok maybe not all wins but 2 wins and a draw…. Two wins and a defeat isn’t bad either for a team gunning for champions league spot. It’s so sad we throw away opportunity yet again during crucial moments. It’s becoming a norm now In Arsenal history. I m gutted but it Is what it I’d. Our thin squad is telling now. Not getting anyone in jan is now affecting us with key players injured..
Sad…..
The natural 8th position since Arteta came on board looming again. Our lack of squad dept due to removal of ‘deadwoods’ and reduction of wage bill bitting back. Trust the process.
Do you have confidence problems? Play against arsenal!
Arteta has to go, there ia no progress at all. Yo cant call the absenties because we have a lot better team than southhampton, as well as brigton and palace. If arteta only can win with citys team, so he is not the right man for arsenal.
Next season utd will have ten hag and there will be a lot more difficult to get top 4.
😒
Well, our travelling fans did us proud if nothing else.
Southampton understandably sat back after the goal but our shape looked much better when Saka moved to right back.
Eddie confirming he’s not the answer unless we are asking the wrong question. Who gets wheeled out at 9 on Wednesday? ESR? Martinelli? Pepe? Bierith?
Incredibly, as unlikely as it feels, season can still be salvaged.
Spot on voyageur, wasted saka on the left for the whole first half…we probably would have scored earlier or put them on pressure which would have prevented their goal….
No matter what happens to man city or Liverpool..most influential players play at their best position eg Salah,mahrez,debryne etc….saka is best suited to the right-wing, Pepe /martinelli left wing…
Laca was obviously missed for the flicks and holdup play that frees up space for the wingers and odegaard….
Tierney for the extra width on the left wing which allows martinelli drift to the centre….
Partey for the smooth turns and transition to attack, sambi is good but not dominant enough…we need bissouma or guendouzi back
Arteta needs to drop the 433 for 3 at the back for the remaining games. Prolly 352..
It is a bright sunny day. I do not know why I did not go out for a walk instead of watching this depressing stuff. No urgency except for the last 10 mins.
Dyche did a great job at Burnley but sacked.
Arteta must be sacked tonight before we don’t get a point from rest of season
We may not secure any point in the remaining games. The season is practically over for arsenal.
Man United and westham may finish above arsenal.
Well done our amiable apprentice.
TRUST THE PROCESS..
Can’t wait until I hear Arteta’s fan club excuses Mrcool
Emery was rediculed for losing top 4 by 1 point. But I have seen tons of excuses lined up already for the teta club
This is funny
Absolutely. Poor emery. I mean, i am happy that he proved himself. He kicked (totally outsmarted him) arteta’s arsenal and Man u last year with 1/3 or 1/4 of the financial power. Now kicked bayern. The guy should have derserved more time but thwre was a gang against him at the time and he was not given the same backing as arteta.
👍 Top comment!
@Kev82. Sure they will find some excuse to boost him arteta up and themselves also. SMH
Have you ever seen anyone get so many excuses Kori? it makes you wonder if they care more about Arsenal or Arteta because you can clearly see his reign as Arsenal boss has been a disaster.
This was so frustrating! Ramsdale had nothing to do the entire game, our defense was under hardly any pressure, and Forster just saved everything!
We weren’t brilliant, but no way did we deserve nothing from the game.
No issues with MA today, other than I would have got Pepe on earlier. The players were just not at it.
I strongly support your idea to keep MA for a decade. I respect your perpetual support for MA.
Slow but sure progression over the last three games though, wouldn’t you say Jonbo?
0-3… 1-2… 0-1..???
Maybe Pepe from the start playing CF? Pepe obviously needs to change his deodorant.
Aha, I guess we’ll be going our games without a win, come Wednesday then. This team has gone back to being depressive. Arteta seems like someone with no flipping idea.
I don’t understand why we don’t play Martinelli as the striker then have Pepe get back on the wings too, that way, we have a more direct threat.
We only have ourselves to blame for the way the season seems to be ending.
Is an end to this torment soon?
Sorry but this bottling is bigger than the season Emery bottled the top four, and I’m saying this as one of Arteta’s supporters.
Emery didnt “bottle”; he was undermined by certain players and lacked disciplinary support from the Board.
Arteta has let the Club down with poor loan (eg Saliba, Guendouzi, Torreira, Mavropanos) and selection decisions over the season.
👍as it is Ossie
Ohh well, three supposedly easy games for our run in over with 6 goals conceded and 1 scored. Not too disimilar to our start of the season. While I dont think a miracle will happen, there might be a sliver of a chance we might win the rest fixtures like we did at the start. Although no new players or new tactics to save us, if it happens it will happen purely by law of averages.
No point saying anything about Mr. Arteta as whatever happens to him is the concern of the board. Lets see how the season pans out now.
Today proved to me that we aren’t ready for champions league.
Lokonga is far from the level we need at DM.
We need to sign at least TWO strikers and a DM for this “project” to kick on
Unfortunately Arteta won’t be sacked and unfortunately we avoided the relegation fight through a string of false dawn results mid season to raise the alarm.
We most certainly will lose to both Chelski and Manure so our beloved 8th place under Arteta is in full view
Cheers guys
Just an internet fan, but 55 and 45 will get you 6-8th three years running.
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what have lokonga done in the pitch? what I only saw of him is walking around the pitch, I never saw him running even other players next to him trying hard to seek space ready for take the ball. His team mates seems have not been willing to pass the ball to him even he got the space
Shitty unproductive dominance…
Who can justify to me why elneny is not playing and lokonga and zhaka are on the field Always ?
Arteta froze Aubameyang out of the first team. He allowed him to go to Barca without any replacement. Not even trying out a loan Option.
Lacazette wasnt scoring goals. Why didnt Arteta change things a bit? He could have tried Martinelli as a CF.
Pepe could not even get a start in almost all league games. A manager who has a clue would start Pepe a times ahead of Saka. We invested 72m pounds on this guy. You have to use your squad well. Pepe deserves game time. All this talk of him not tracking back enough to help the full back is nonsense
This season was our best shot at top4. But The clueless/Naive Manager pressed the self-destruct button.
i wish the club can sack him this evening
Agree on Pepe – he can play both sides, though, and has probably looked better on the left since he’s been here. He protects the fullback as well as Saka imo, so I don’t understand why he plays so infrequently
No Skills because Arsenals ambitions are equal to Arteta’s tactical ability. Zilch
Eddie confirmed he’s not the answer for about the fifth time. Whether he scores or not, we’ve been 100% reliant on laca for the past 18 months and we don’t play well without him. Of course sometimes we don’t play well with him, but that’s just form.
For all the Ben White celebrations we’ve had recently, I think we’re seeing now why it was not wise to drop 50m on him when auba was showing such bad signs and our midfield was weak. Those areas are where we’re badly lacking – same as last season… This summer we should focus on addressing our weaknesses rather than strengthening areas where we’re OK.
This is being stated with the benefit of hindsight. It was not possible to determine or expect that Aubameyang would both continue his poor form and also become a divisive figure.
If Aubameyang had played himself back into form Arsenal would clearly have been in a much stronger position. Without a top class striker it was always going to be a considerable challenge to get in to the top four. Added to this is the overall thinness of the squad.
The real disappointment for me was that we could not get any cover for certain key position during the last transfer window. This for me has been the biggest mistake of the club.
the earlier you guys realise artetas tactics and style of play or if I’m to better state it (no style of play) is the reason our strikers are not scoring….I repeat …. there’s no way 3 strikers can be that bad….auba wasn’t scoring, laca not scoring nketiah not scoring and lots of you believe if we suddenly buy a 60+million striker then they will start scoring….I’m sorry you might be deluded …..auba was awful this season at arsenal yet he has scored 10 times already at Barcelona whereas he played half season here and scored only 3….. the earlier you guys stop blaming the striker and question the coach on how he sets his team up not to create quality chances for the strikers the better……
The team was scoring when laca was playing well – just get a striker who is a better finisher and can bring a bit of what laca brings, and we’ll be good.
It’s a question of quality and motivations of the forwards – watching the games, this is clear as we have been very good for long periods when laca has been leading the line well. This suggests the system itself is at least ok.
Auba was good until the fa Cup final and then mysteriously stopped, and Nketiah had never shown himself to be capable of scoring consistently at this level.
I was saying he was finished a year ago and banging the drum about the striker situation in the summer. I was incorrect in thinking that auba was simply over clear hill, but i think it’s fair to say it was chart that he wasn’t going to recover his form at arsenal – he was checked out and it was definitely possible for the club’s management to know he would become a divisive figure. We should have known that last January because 6 months is too long for a player of auba’s ability to be so poor.
The thinness of the squad was evident at the start of the season (its just a list of names) and even more obvious in January, when we could have done something about it, so it’s not just something bad that happened to the club, it’s something we had control over.
When some fans stand against extending arteta contract along the way without knowing we will finish, it was like they don’t know what they are saying.
I can’t even blame Arteta, this is all on the board.
Appointing Arteta in the first was a wrong choice, now trying to extend his contract when we don’t know we are going to finish in the table shows lack of ambition.
They won’t be sacking Arteta even if we miss on European competition again.
And for those who told us to go and support another team for every critism arteta face, how will you feel if we tell you to follow Arteta when he’s sacked.
We all want what is best for our team but some of us decided to choose the team first and above anyone.
Very difficult to write anything positive-especially when listening to the first half which by the sound of things we dominated but gave away a soft goal.
Dodgy DAB signal but all I picked up from Talksport2 was that Arteta threw the kitchen sink at it and Forster played a blinder
Not being able to score a ruddy goal is painful but we have hardly been prolific this season anyway.
Should have been able to capitalise on Spurs cocking up… instead we cock up iurselves
And regardless of whether I have supported Arteta I’m not going to make excuses for a poor string of results
He’s made improvements imo SueP, but it feels like the wheels are falling off now because the squad is too thin, and he has to take some blame for that.
He does have to because the squad is too thin
As JF has pointed out below we are not there yet
It is plain that we have no strikers of real quality and that is the prime reason why we have faded ad scored so very few goals , though I do still think MARTINELLI IS A TRUE TALENT BUT EVEN HE IS NOT EFFECTIVE ENOUGH OF LATE.
Our whole squad is too thin of proper quality, esp compared to our main rivals and that has now meant top four is beyond us .
I know we have a chance when you study the table but in practical terms we have blown it now and will IMO finish at best in 5th place , quite possibly 6th though.
We have still some way to go to increase the quality and depth in our squad enough to tackle the CL, so another year outside it will be frustrating but ultimately will mean we have more chance to be ready whenever we finally make it.
@ Jon,
Arteta should have considered a loan Option in January.
There were descent options in january. Luka Jovic, Haller, Daupay.
He wasted his time chasing Vlahovic, when we all knew he was not interested in Arsenal.
A loan signing is 50/50. If it turns out bad, the player can go back to his parent club.
It baffles me why Arteta did not replace Aubameyang.
I still dont understand how Nicholas Pepe cant start any match at all.
Quick change of tune Jon!only yesterday YOU’RE WERE TELLING US THAT MARTINELLI WAS THE ANSWER TO OUR PROBLEMS!sadly for you,today you can’t blame Laca whom you’ve accused of being a smoker,any proof by the way??actually it was worse,we struggled to get in their box and had to rely on speculative shots from outside.i’m not saying Laca is the future of the club but today you could see how Saka MØ..all looked lost and short of ideas.where were the leaders today?
Not a smoker! You totally fail to understand my point which I deliberately did not wish to specify. I am not surprised, as so many on here have not the slightest idea about what really goes on.
Is that a realist opinion, a optimistic opinion or I won’t admit I’m wrong opinion🤔🤔🤔
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Jon weren’t you saying a while ago it’s only 1 game we lost and the fans that are unhappy are pathetic? Then we lost the 2nd game and you said the same thing, it’s only 2 games. Now after 3 loses in a row you look like you are starting to finally learn. Good that you are learning.
Maybe stop calling fans negative just because they have foresight and you don’t Jonny Boi.
I’ve re-read your post Jon, especially the last paragraph and here’s what I don’t understand:
You’ve been saying for many seasons that we had a squad of dross, lazy players that have been holding the club and MA back…. We have now seen that MA seemed to have agreed with you, as every player you described such, has either been sold, sent out on loan, given away or (Arteta’s choice) signed new contracts.
MA, meanwhile, has been busy bringing in his chosen replacements, ably supported by the owner with approximately £250,000,000.
Now though your saying “We have still some way to go to increase the quality and depth in our squad enough to tackle the CL”….
However, the squad of dross, as you described them, competed in the CL quarter finals, the europa league semi final and the final itself, for the last seven years at least, while the new bunch of players MA has bought in are struggling to impress you enough to have any idea when European football might return to the Emirates.
The lack of depth was the decision that MA obviously made, when he decided not to buy any single player in the last window, despite having money to spend – and also deciding to send more players out on line, or selling others.
So, in your opinion, where has it all gone wrong for both MA and your views regarding those dross players?
Arteta just not good enough. Collapsing as the season ends, can’t get a response from the players, and he refuses to divest from “Artetaball.”
Can’t wait for the excuses to roll,
1. Young team
2. Injuries to Partey, Tierney, Tomi
3. Needs more time
4. Needs more money £250 million not enough
5. Wenger or Emery’s fault
6. Deadwood from 3 years ago
7. Lacks a bench
If we finish 7th or 8th again will his fan boys have enough?
Arsenal before Arteta, Mikel is drowning, it’s too much for him, time to replace a failing clueless arrogant coach.
You forget to add
8. He has a nice hairstyle.
Are Torreire and Gouedouzi dead wood?
If only we had hired Klopp when he left Dortmund, we could have been a top team by now.
The board had a chance to move Wenger on then, rather, the man stayed a little longer and Klopp went to Liverpool. the gulf in class btw Liverpool and Arsenal is so wide.
If we dont make top4 this season, Arteta has no business staying any longer.
No emotions. This is a result oriented business
No manager is beyond sack.
PSG sacked Tuchel.
Leicester sacked Ranieri even after winning them the PL.
Arteta deserves a sack immediately
Real talk Skills 💯👌
Skills,
Let me give you these example then – if Arteta hadn’t stayed after finishing 8th last season we could have had Conteh, Dan Haag or Tuchel.
It was said yesterday, that there are slow but sure signs of progression with MA🤔🤔.
Can ANYONE tell me one example of progression from our last three defeats that manifested itself today as “progression?”.
Our playing out from the back is so sloooow. Xhaka is sooo sloooow. Ben White is a good footballer but he plays at a sloooow pace without urgency. At least we will have William Saliba next season. We could have done with Guendouzi this afternoon. Arteta promises us much but plays a sloooow build up football with no urgency. 💤💤💤.
Spot on .. it’s actually painful to watch .. I sit there shouting at a screen like some crazy guy telling them to shift up a gear … it’s the managers job to change that but he can’t as the man clearly thinks in second gear!!
Sean, after his treatment by Arteta, don’t be surprised if Saliba is not sold before returning, or if he does return sees out his contract to leave on a free.
Arteta needs more time 😈
I genuinely think Azeez should be given a chance in midfield
Only Arsenal can make the porous Southampton defense looked like prime AC Milan with Dida Cafu Costacurta Nesta Maldini
Arteta Will Stay. There is no need to panic. There are other top teams that have also dropped points. Our team is still inexperienced and we need to complete bringing of new players. There are lots of players leaving and lots more players to come in. I still trust the Process and back the Manager. COYG!!
What exactly is the process DBOY. I don’t know. Enlighten me please?
Yeah dboy please enlighten us all what exactly is the process? Because to me it looks like the last 12 years only worse.
Dboy or David. This team will get relegated and they will still come out with process nonsense.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course but certain posters will come out in defense of the manager no matter what are the results.
For some it is Arteta not Arsenal at all. For what exactly I can’t seem to figure it out. Not that I want to anyway.
what process dboy?
The only process i see is a process that is taking us into a mid table team and into mediocrity at the speed of light
I actually cringe when I see someone write trust the process .
Are you boy or man?
Very balanced Jon. Whenever we finally make it. It could be 20 years under arteta until we “finally make it”. Am dying inside. Who’s fault is it that we don’t have a striker of real quality and faded away. COULD IT BE ARTETAS’?. We had auba and gave him away. Reason he wasn’t scoring is because the set up of the team is pathetic and the football have a lot to be desired and arteta think he is some top notch manager who knows all. Am dying inside.
No use crying over a player that wasn’t doing anything for us. Auba was good riddance. We are still in top four race and it will go down to the wire.
Top 4 race 😂 yeah if that helps you sleep at night 👍
Aubameyang was Arsenal top scorer for 2 seasons, then fell in a hole due to Arteta’s structure of the team.
Now 6th and soon to be 7th tomorrow. What’s the betting at the end of the season we finish 8th……again.
Arsenal lost the match but Arteta won our hearts with his beautiful football. Let’s give him a chance, trust the process
Lenohappy 😂😂 we had 70 odd percent possession and more shots than Southampton all these reactionary comments 😜 it’s just one defeat afterall haha.
Exactly I don’t know why people are panicking, the process is just getting up. Trust the coach trust the process, we are getting there
It’s definitely happening we’re launching more crosses into the box that’s progress 😜
And to important matters, has anyone heard from Sue? I noticed she hasn’t been here for a while, or maybe I have been here
Kobin I wonder myself she’s vanished
3 defeats in a row against teams we needed to win against as we play Chelsea, Utd & WHam next to which we thought would be the games we drop points, possibly 0 wins in 6 by the end of the Wham fixture.
I predict a 7th place finish the way the table and fixtures are looking. If this is the case and no Europa League then Mikel has to go, only way he should be in the dug out next year is with UCL football.
We have blown so many opportunities this season and made some huge blunders with players leaving or being forced out due to Mikels management.
This isn’t good enough gunners and we know it. All that hard work just to be maybe a few points better off and 1 place higher than last season considering no European football, £150m spent, stars forced out & playing awful to be fair.
Auba, Matteo, Dino, Hector, AMN, Saliba all forced out and we buy Taveres, Lokonga & White for £75m or so, money wasted & time for a clueless rookie who shouldn’t be in this position.
Matteo could easily have slotted in beside Partey, Saliba could of slotted in beside Gabriel, we need Auba & Hector now. Dino again could of been the understudy which means no white purchase to be spent elsewhere. Niles is better than Lokonga & Taveres has completely lost all confidence.
If You Fail to Plan, You Are Planning to Fail.
Arteta was NAIVE AND ARROGANT at the same time.
He was NAIVE in January to think that not signing a replacement for Aubameyang was the wisest thing to do.
He is ARROGANT in failing to acknowledge and correct his mistakes.
These guys hardly resign nowadays. They keep staying till they sink the team further with the hope that if they get sacked, they will be paid off.
Arteta should do the honourable thing. he should resign. im sure he will get some coaching job in spain.
Arsenal is a bigger club. It is time to end this experiment.
we need a high profile manager at this moment in time.
Great points guys, some of us said at the beginning of the season, why buy white when we have Saliba, Why get Lakonga to replace Gouendouzi, why buy Odergaard when we have ESR and why did we keep AMN after a 20 mil offer, then loan him out?
Arteta won’t be sacked because of the owners…..Arteta cannot win from a losing position….the Kroenkes can’t see that
Remember Arteta told us we will win champions league in 3 years, so don’t panick we are definitely going to play in the champions league next season
The effort was not there again. Lack of urgency also missing. It looks like the player’s don’t care, playing with no pride. I won’t accept the excuse that it’s inexperience. If that’s the case, they shouldn’t be getting paid ridiculous wages. Would love to see them try to do proper work,, something like working out in the cotton fields. With this lack of effort,,,, I often wonder about the mentality of these players. Do they put the effort in when they are in bed with their wives and girlfriends,,,, probably not,,, probably just go through the motions. As for Mr Arteta, he’ll be here still next season. Sean Dyche would get more out of these players. He would toughen them up. Another huge problem at Arsenal is fitness. Something isn’t right in that department, and also medical team. Some of the decisions that have been made with players is a huge concern. The bad culture is still there unfortunately. And the buck stops with Mr Arteta and puppeteer Edu. The Kronkes made a massive mistake in making Arteta manager. Head Coach yes, but Manager no way. There’s a massive difference between being a Head Coach to that of being a Manager. There should of been a huge carrot dangling off a very long string with incentives. With Arteta starting out as a Head Coach,,, and being promoted as Manager if Arsenal gain entry to Champions League football within a set period of time. Being Manager of Arsenal Football Club is way too big for the man. I was pro Arteta, but since the Burnley 0-0 and the Nottingham Forest 1-0 defeat, I’m drifting away from the man. And no one can use injuries as an excuse. Every football club suffers injuries. It’s nearly 4 o’clock in the morning here in Australia and I’m still dissecting the game apart. I’m watching the match a second time round. Their passing and movement looks so awkward. The basics are not just there anymore. We give up easy possession through simple fundamental mistakes. I can’t see things improving. Dan Smith did have his concerns a long long time ago, but some people on here shot him down in flames and also hurled abuse towards him. The Chelsea match will be very interesting
Shit show. End of chat.
Absolutely terrible.
Three consecutive losses against mid table fodders.
Wow.
Now how are we going to be able to get any point against the likes of Chelsea, Spuds and United?
I am going to be crying Arteta Out soon. This is absolutely ridiculous.
Please let me wake up and see Arteta has gone.
No Europa out of FA cup in January.
No league Cup.
And this is the rubbish we have to suffer.
At least we don’t have to worry about being embarrassed in the Champions League.
In my opinion, these last three games were lost in the January transfer window.
We needed two new players, another top DM (I mentioned Bissouma: he was voted MOTM today against Spurs) and a forward who could score.
We got neither, and our squad depth has been fatally exposed!!!
I think we have missed our window for inclusion in the UCL, BUT we may also miss out on the Europa League too.
Buying “quality” players in the summer might be all but impossible if that is the case!!
I wonder on whose doorstep the blame should be dropped.
Why did Arteta bring on Pepe and ESR to replace the fullbacks? Is he beginning to lose it?
He appears to have NO Plan B!
It is not just the players who are showing immaturity, I think Arteta is too.
I believe he will stay thru the end of the season, so lets see if he can at least get us in the Europa League (a task that maybe made more difficult if Leicester win the Europa Conference league and West Ham win the Europa League)
Arteta is not good enough. Simple.
Inept stubborn arrogant.
Not good enough for a club of our status.
The problem isnt just the individual parts .. where we can blame one or two of players for falling short each game … or in the case of xhaka every game … it’s the team and the style of football that our journeyman manager gives it … sensible observers of the game could see after his first 12 months in charge that he didn’t have it in him to get us back even to where emery had taken us to let alone what the builders of the new temple had promised … but the cultists clung religiously to something they called the process and asked us to ignore what was going on on the pitch and instead blindly follow the man with knowledge to unlock It’s secrets and deliver football nirvana … dismissing his critics as heretics with misplaced loyalty to high priests of a bye gone era or worse ozil puppets blind to the miracles the spiritual leader had brought to our team … as with all cults reality eventually brings in its revenges … and shockingly for us it will take the form yet again of a bunch of average footballers in white and black from around the corner … arteta needs to go and sooner rather than later
Foster didn’t beat us, we beat ourselves.
Look at how easily we conceded the goal!
Like Kev was saying here, White is poor not just in this game. Strangely enough, White has recieved very little criticism. He is always passing the ball sideways and we paid 50 mill pound for him, supposedly, we wanted him for his ability to bring the ball up field, doeshe do that?
RW1.
Great article.
He should go tonight.
See if we can salvage something from this dreadful season .
Won’t happen overnight but Patrick waiting.
Today’s defeat had me take a glance at the league table. Of course I know a defeat today will drop us to 6th position but what I didn’t expect to see is the number of match we have lost this season. I don’t know we have lost (11) that much in 32 match. Two less than we lost last season. We are on course to lose more this season. Arteta is truly working wonders with arsenal
It’s going to be nigh on impossible to secure 4th now. Still, I live in hope.
I really can’t see why it takes us so long to get into the game and make a concerted effort. Brighton, we came into some semblance of our own in the last six minutes. Today against Southampton, we left it pretty much until the last 30 mins before we penned them back and had them constantly defending. If we know we can do this from in the final 6 or 30 minutes of a game. Why do we arse about in the initial stages of games and not get at teams from the get go? We could’ve penned back Southampton from minute one and I think they would cracked despite Forster’s heroics but no, we had to feel our way into the game and make them feel comfortable in the vain hope that they would reciprocate!
I did see some good play from our boys out there today. Some decisive passing into feet, even directly from the back. There was a bit of tenacity and fight but…… it was all in patches and too little too late!
I really wouldn’t be surprised if we turn over Chelsea as we only seem to really get everything together in certain, statement games ie we put on a performance as a needs must. Then we pat ourselves on the back and revert to type in the next game against the likes of Norwich.
I think we’ve got the potential, even with the players we have, to really make inroads in the premiership but….. in order to do so. We can’t keep having this jeckyll and hyde attitude.
We got to be ruthless in every game from the second the whistle blows in the first half. I don’t mean florid and colourful either. I mean like ‘vengeful’ ruthless.
We moan about referees, VAR etc etc. Go out there and get dirtied and bloodied, make refs and VAR earn their corn.
Right now we’re reliant upon the misfortunes of Man U, West Ham, Spurs in order for us to make a top four finish as it seems, this might be our only saving grace as we’re not going to achieve it in our present state and frame of mind. And, we know, none of those three will do us any favours!
I’m not going to start to make calls for Arteta’s head or to start singling out individual players as this would be the easy route. I just hope that Arteta and his players just take a different approach and attitude for the remaining games and for the new season ahead
Pochettino is available. Duh
Lack of experience BS unless we are talking about the man at the helm. Very poor fair and is living upto what many of us thought. Too big a job for him.
Chelsea Wednesday.
United Saturday.
Could be nasty.
Not looking forward to the week.
I think it could be a defining week, we will be either back into 4th or the manager will be sacked. Two wins against them would prove some of us premature, two defeats plus 3 already on the trot would prove he needs sacking.
What about Arteta out and go all out for poccettino it’s a long shot but he’s the best manager out there that could be available at the of season!
People are a bigger fan of Poch than me but he has to be better than Arteta.
Poch was my choice all along but it was not meant to be.
Arteta just seems to be very very inconsistent.
We have lost 3 straight games against poor poor mid table sides. I just don’t know what to say.
We are not scoring enough goals. It seems our attack players are not goal scorers on a whole. When was the last time Martinelli, Laca, Smith rowe, Odegaard etc scored?
We know that Laca is dead as a goal scorer but even his all around game had disappeared, that’s the only reason I still preferred entertained him staying till the end of the season. On the other hand Martinelli and Odegaard have to start scoring too can’t just be this blunt.
Arteta is still very pragmatic, tentative and too cautious, for these 3 loses there’s been a pattern, very slow amd ponderous starts. Very cautious to start off with instead of coming in and going for it like we did in that mini run that saw him win manager of the month.
It’s so frustrating.
Finally sombody noticed POCHETTINO missed MU and wants out of PSG. Please Stan wake up to QUALITY.
Arsenal must get ride of Arteta should the progress to the envious European elite stage next season.
Arsenal a coach with rich pedigree who would have the right tactics to. move the team. We’ve messed up big time.
The board should reconsider the thought of a new contract for Arteta.
One guy waiting at Palace.
He comes from Senegal he plays for Arsenal.
You know the rest.
Anyone know where Angus is? Seems to to be missing?
Sssssshhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!
He’s fled to brigadoon … hopefully for good!!!
Whats the use of having 90% possesesion and 30 shots at goal if u ca nt win.Ma is replicating Wenger.
Tactically MA has been sussed out.
Against Chelsea and MU,a hdl and obsessession with possession could be fatal.
The gunners cant break out from defence fast enough.Suddenly the defence seems to have gone awol after being lauded
Gabriel,White and Ramsdale have suddenly been exposed as average.Ramsdale,imho,has suffered a dip in his high std.
If this continues,forget about cl
⁰
Since Arteta came, we have find it very difficult to score goals, our game is boring and we are now finding it difficult to win games we suppose to win. I still cross my feet and await where we will be at the end of the season. IMO, we better get another Manager, seems Arteta has lost it.
I hope this comment gets across to everyone that is arsenal.. Yes we have been dropping points lately and to me is solely due to lack in depth, it’s not a coincidence dat we start dropping points when tierney n partey got injured, tomiyasu too (although we were still coping without d later).not to mention laca. I think maybe dis is d cause of the great drop in morale n confidence of d players esp saka n martinelli, saka could Av put dat martinelli pass in d net on a good day but he was too careful to hit d ball n datz wot happen when u lack confidence. And to arteta, I really want to shame him like everybody has been doing and those who have been shaming are not entirely wrong to do so but here is the tin, arteta can’t just buy n change d whole squad like Chelsea, man city did n our other top rivals eg man u coz we don’t av d money so arteta has to tune up the squad he has, some players like saka, martinelli, Smith rowe became better and so other players like pepe elnely nketiah soares and ever basic xhaka( although better Dan d 4 earlier mentioned) who won’t step up can’t be blamed on arteta coz he gave everybody fair time to prove himself and finally he got a first eleven dat is working before injury struck. So moving forward, I still hope for the best this season and for next season, yes we need a striker and a mad winger that can challenge saka and martinelli and an assured central midfielder to replace xhaka. I hope arteta will get his signing right coz ramsdale n co have been a coup signing( save for tavares n lokonga which are cheap signings). Finally it was a beautiful act to let auba leave but ugly to not av gotten a replacement, even if dey av to loan. And presently I’m worrying about smith rowe declination. Up gunners!
Auba is not world class
He is EPL class or Spanish league class
Please get it right
He has done nothing on the world stage
World class is exciting in the world cup
Enough
I see world class as meaning the player could feasibly play in any team in the world and shine – otherwise only players from a relatively small number of nations (which definitely excludes Gabon) could ever be considered world class. By your metric, calling lewandowski World class might be a stretch, and giggs and George best definitely weren’t world class, and Zidane was only world class because he played for France and not Algeria…
Why no Elneny? Not understand.
Once again it is exasperating to watch Arsenal games! The team’s energy levels are very low, the hunger is gone and the ambition seems completely absent. It is simply pathetic! Who is to blame for this situation? I believe both the manager and the players in equal measure. The manager for poor team selection and the players for not making things happen. For an how long will Arteta persist with Eddie Nketiah? The fellow is simply not ready to take on responsibility. He is just a bench player. Why does the manager overlook Pepe who is an experienced player and by all standards better than Nketiah? Why was ESR left on the bench? If Arteta doesn’t change his ways he might hurt his young career.
Unless we sign players with some physicality to their games and not just flashy tricks and skills, there is no competing in EPL. We had such players in the past that weren’t physical but they were some of the best in what they did so they somehow used to navigate that limitation of being less physical. Players we have are far from being best at their crafts and they lack physicality too. Even if they play to their full potential, they look like some teams from LaLiga and Seria A. Not an EPL team.
I hope the next signings would be of the required traits, or else nothing will happen. On paper, our squad was better than Saints, if we consider technical prowess, but they weren’t any match again in terms of physicality, like against any other team in EPL right now. We don’t have budget to sign world class dribblers, playmakers, wingers and such. So Arsenal shouldn’t go for such player types. Even if we found such players, they would already be second, third or fourth best at what they do, as the best are always snatched by the clubs with big budgets. So you can’t imagine competing for UCL with second best players, the best we can hope is Europa. Or Arsenal seriously needs to reconsider its hiring policy. Get some brutes in all areas, and coach them the finer skills. But don’t think that will happen though. We will always go for Pepe instead of Zaha.
What we lack MOST is any strikers whatsoever who have even average PREM QUALITY . I DO NOT COUNT THE TALENTED MARTINELLI AS A TRUE STRIKER.
Our whole squad lacks quality in enough depth, clearly.