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Opinion – A look into Arsenal, their form and Arteta’s future

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Arsenal are on a rollercoaster ride when it comes to their form. From victories against Ipswich and Brentford to a draw with Brighton, followed by defeats to Newcastle and Manchester United, they then won against Tottenham before drawing with Aston Villa after surrendering a 2–0 lead. There is still uncertainty within Arsenal, and that is due to several reasons. Injuries across the team have led to a lack of depth or quality in certain positions. The attack is too stale, with a lack of aggression and threat in their passing. The major issue the team faces is a lack of clinical finishing.

With Arsenal crossing the ball for most of the game, it makes it easier for teams to defend if they are tall enough. Arsenal have good control of the game; however, when there is a lack of urgency going forward, it allows teams to retreat into their half and set up defensively. Arsenal need to capitalise when the opposition is disjointed, attack quickly, and commit numbers to the attack. Pressure must be applied when chances are missed, and they need to fight for the second ball. Even if extra chances are created on the counter-attack, Arsenal need a guaranteed goal-scorer.

It is a difficult market for acquiring a striker, with very few transfers in the window thus far. Many names have been linked to Arsenal, with players desperate to move and clubs eager to offload players. It is only a matter of time and willingness for Arsenal to sign a striker in this window. As the window slowly comes to a close, Arsenal must look out for market opportunities. Teams like Lyon, who are going through financial trouble, could sell their players to Arsenal. The likes of Cherki and Fofana could be viable options.

Rayan Cherki
(Photo by Franck Fife/Pool via Getty Images)

During this awkward time for the club, the team does have some bright spots. Lewis-Skelly and Nwaneri are future stars for the Gunners. Lewis-Skelly has the strength and maturity to compete at a senior level. Nwaneri’s progress has been stifled by injury; however, he has proven he can be a creative option for Arsenal. Declan Rice is growing into his role as an 8. He needs to be more direct with his passing, but he is capable of being a box-crashing midfielder. Arsenal must consider moving on injury-prone players like Tomiyasu and players out of favour, such as Tierney and Zinchenko, to make room for new transfers.

There is room for improvement within the team, but now is not the time to exaggerate and call for the manager to be sacked. We must applaud him for what he has built, and if he fails to win silverware in 18 months with the full backing of the owners, then it will be time for a change in management. Let’s see who comes in at the end of the window and judge from there. This season is unpredictable; any team’s fortune can turn in an instant, so let’s hope it turns Arsenal’s way.

Vuyo Mataka


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54 Comments

  1. One article saying how good we are at scoring from crosses, while the next one says how easy it is to defend against them.
    Someone must be right🙄🤣

  2. Personally I thought there is a lack of crosses going to the box and i saw that especially in the DZ Game.
    Still a bit tippy tappy and the perfect goal
    When we did KH scores.
    Be interesting to see some stats that BS has been out and MO taking them from the right how many corners we have scored from that side now. Seems his accuracy isn’t as good a BS
    Imo the season is far from done and would rather take stock at the end of the season and see how we do and then voice if we need a change or carry on with MA. One thing guaranteed is he will leave sacked or by mutual consent but it is when.
    Ps on the kronke family. I blamed them for many a year for not supporting the manager but fair play to them in recent times they have given a lot of money over to the manager. Weather it has spent well on players is done to indiviual opinion.
    Lots of people to blame for our demise over the past 20 plus years including the old board who sold out for money and not loyalty to the kronkes.
    Football is a business now and the bottom line will always win unless you were someone like
    Roman Abramovich who we have seen found out was just washing money. If the kronkies want to keep giving then we should be happy, I remember back in the day each window just came, and went with nothing going on.
    Allegedly £800m has been spent which is a heck of lot of money. Some wisely spent, some unwisely but better to be on tbis side of the fence now then the other with no funds available
    Nothing is guaranteed in life apart from death and taxes so live for the moment and we have had more good moments then bad in recent times

    Onwards and upwards

  3. Agree with some of your comments such as how predictable it is to defend against Arsenal’s set pieces. So much time wasted and the end result often being, ” much adu about nothing”. There is a need to be more fluid. This could also occur if we had decent wing backs and a more lethal go forward focul point than Harvetz. Also, the writer advocates the need to move on players who are out of favor, but is this the player’s fault or the fault of a stubborn manager who clearly has his favorites and stubbornly clings to a system that he believes is the right way forward. We’ll see, for better worse as the saying goes.

  4. When he came it was “judge him after 3 years” from nearly everyone, then his apologists said “after 5 years if he has no trophies.”

    Now we give him “18 more months” meanwhile the apologists are conceding he is not capable of winning trophies hence the new “trophies do not matter” narrative.

    They mattered when we were giving Spurs grief over it for years on end.

    1. HH,

      I have to say that I agree with your piece. But there will be some who don’t. Which is their right of course.

      But they won’t be slow in responding to your piece I shouldn’t wonder.

      1. I gave up on Arteta apologists when they refused to criticize and came out in unison to defend him after yet another early FA Cup exit, at home, against a sorry 10 men Man utd side.

        How in the world can you defend that? How can you defend 4 years of terrible and pathetic cups record?

        It’s putting manager before the club no other reason and they dont bother to hide it anymore nowadys. It’s one thing to not want the manager sacked but it’s pure dishonesty to defend performances like that.

        1. Did you moan about our terrible cup record between 2005 and 2014 ? Losing at home in the FA Cup to Championship side Blackburn. Losing 3-0 away to Sheffield Wednesday, losing away to a Bradford City, a team 3 divisions below us, both in the League Cup. Losing a Cup Final to Birmingham City, a team that ended up getting relegated.

  5. Most of us on JA have lost objectivity in our discussion because of this profiling each other as either Arteta haters or protectors.
    However much we will console ourselves for being second,I believe all of us will be over the moon if we were in Liverpools position and finally winning it.
    If you imagine all the good work we do in defence and midfield would have been crowned by having a prolific scorer you wonder why it has not been done for the last 3seasons.
    Goals change matches and those games that we finish 0-0,1-1 or 2-2 would go so differently had we had the capacity to kill off games that are winnable by scoring more. This is the difference between us being just a good team and being champions.

    1. Cliff,

      This is one of the reasons why I’m one of Arteta’s biggest critics.

      Three seasons two and a half seasons have passed, and still no striker.

      And yet there are still some fans who won’t hold Arteta accountable for that.

      The striker situation was always the priority, but instead Arteta goes’ for everyone but a striker.

      He needs to held accountable for that. But sadly he won’t.🙄🤦‍♂️

      1. @DEREK. You are forgetting a very simple thing here. A top quality striker (number 9), are usually arrogant by nature. Maybe,,, just maybe, Mikel Arteta can not handle that particular kind of player. Arteta likes to dictate and rule the roost. He couldn’t handle Aubameyang’s head strong attitude. Just saying,,, word for thought

        1. pjennings,

          If Arteta is the dictator that you suggest, then I think that the club needs to hold him to account even more.

          As that won’t help the club trying to reach it’s targets.

          And if Arteta can’t handle a player with a bit of arrogance as you call it, then maybe he’s in the wrong job.

      2. Some people like to stress about something they have little or no influence to change….. Arteta will only be removed if he’s out of top 4 and no more European competition income…. why hold someone accountable for something you’re not in a position to change….. It’s not that many are not seeing what Arteta, other staffs and the owner are doing wrong but they are just wise enough to enjoy football matches whenever they can…. As a fan you can not determine which player a club buy, the players that play regularly or the ones on the bench, you can’t dictate to the owner the amount they are willing to spend.. the earlier you realize that football is like a movie which is only meant for viewing consumption the better. know this and know peace… Or has anyone buy, stream or download a movie and was able to change the actors to the ones he prefers before and after watching the movie?….

        1. “It’s not that many are not seeing what Arteta, other staffs and the owner are doing wrong”

          You are new maybe in JA and you haven’t browsed the Arsenal subreddit?

          1. @HH believe me when I tell you that I’ve been on here for a while now…. I just thought life is easier when we remove our personal emotions from football… expecting anything aside watching and enjoying matches when you can… can be dangerous to some people’s health and mental health… I want to believe football was created for entertainment at it’s conception.. but as Fans we allowed the the organization to pry on our emotions to control our pocket, our time and our reasoning.

            1. I agree Junking, imo you see the big picture very well, but I think it’s just human nature for our emotions to be in control from time to time when it comes to activities in our lives including football. I also see the need to control it to the point of at least trying not to be bad to others (o.k. except maybe Spuds fans).

  6. If I were the owner I will give him next season and if he wins nothing next season then I will sack him.

    This season looks gone already.

    My trust in Arteta reduced when he used 65m pounds to buy Havertz when we needed a clinical Striker.

    For me Havertz is only good as a backup player and he is not worth 65m pounds.

  7. Very brilliant insight @Junking

    I agree with you, so we are buying match tickets and other merchandise at our own risks.
    They literally did not force us to support the club.

    But that’s not fair because without our support their business won’t flourish so they should listen to the fans sometimes.

    But after all, this system/matrix ruled by the elites is not fair.

    Even a massive boycott is nearly impossible because there will always be people willing to use their hard earned money to fill up the stadium if others boycott.

    I really don’t have to care too much anymore and just accept whatever they give and control what I can control.

    1. SJ,

      Can we get one thing straight here. Don’t think for one minute that the club cares about the Supporters.

      They spout on about they do, but they clearly don’t.

      Just look at the examples of it.

      1. Ticket prices.
      2. Once in the ground the food and drinks are extortionate.
      3. The club shop prices for there garments are way over the top.

      Don’t get me wrong, it’s up to the said individuals if they want to pay those kind of charges.

      But as I said earlier in my piece, don’t think for a minute that the club cares for the supporters, the only thing they love about the supporters is their hard earned money. Nothing more, nothing less.

      1. Derek, the price of the food and drink that is bought on the concourse has nothing to do with the club. It’s run by Delaware North, and the club gets a small share of any profit Delaware North make.

        As for the shirts, Arsenal get 15% from every shirt sale, Adidas get the rest.

        As for tickets, we’ve always been one of the dearest clubs, even going back to the mid 70’s when I first started going to Highbury.

        1. Herr Drier,

          I stand corrected on two points, for which I thank you for putting me straight.

          But I still stand by my opinion of the club not caring for the fans the way that they continually say they do.

          The price of tickets are extortionate in my opinion. I used to be season ticket holder for a couple of seasons in the early George Graham era. And although I wasn’t a season ticket holder in the Wenger years, I did go to games a fare bit over the years.

          I don’t go now. But I totally understand a fans frustration and anger at times, when having payed such price’s for their ticket to then have to listen to the managers drivel after a loss.

          Thanks again for your response, very much appreciated. 👍

          1. Just a follow up HD and Derek.. We are not the dearest seats now, just check the spuds out for example.
            It’s easy to say the club doesn’t care about the fans as a blanket statement, but personal experience tells another story.

            My grandson was at uni studying to become a physiotherapist and was feeling the pressure.
            He wanted a year where he concentrated solely on his uni work and wrote to the club, explaining the situation.
            They agreed to hold his season ticket for that season and renewed it for him the next.
            No problem for the club, as they looked after him and that’s The Arsenal I know and respect Derek.

  8. Interesting article with some salient points to ponder over.
    I take on board the points that HH makes and let’s not forget that it was said we would win the CL within three years of MA taking over.
    He’s also done sone things in the transfer market, both by giving players away and some good and bad recruitment.

    However, unlike HH, I do see progress within the club.
    The owner seems to want MA to be a success and has backed him to the hilt – such a difference to when he had a majority share abd and the backing of the board.
    MA has also brought together a sense of partnership from the top to the bottom, along with the supporters making the Emirates our home at long last.
    On the field, although the football this season has been frustrating versus the last two campaigns, we have been vying for the PL title and we are doing that this season as well.
    Injuries have been consistent and involved our top players, not an excuse but a fact.
    I strongly believe that, if MA could field his strongest squad, we would be a match for any team in europe, let alone the PL.
    He has also restored us to the CL and, as a supporter, this has been key to the club in financial terms.
    It means that Mr Kronkie can see a return on his backing of the club and Josh Kronkie has kept his word regarding that.

    Finally, I’m sick to death of the phases and the dire football being served up.
    The time wasting, the needless sideways and backwards passing, the, seemingly, refusal to let players express themselves and the ridiculous insistence of putting square pegs in round holes.

    I’m not one of those who say if we don’t win a trophy this season he should go, but MA needs to bring back the style of play that we saw for the two previous seasons, otherwise I believe he will lose both the fans and the players.

    1. I agree with both the positives and negatives you point to in your analysis of MA’s tenure. Unfortunately, there are those who refuse to see potential validity of both sides of the coin and place labels like “apologists” on anyone daring to go there. Thanks for the detailed review which I happen to agree with fully (only I’d like to know who was predicting CL trophy within 3 yrs, lol).

        1. I must have missed that or perhaps more likely just didn’t pay much attention to it as imo it would have been wishful thinking at best no matter who said it.

    2. Good piece Ken1945.
      Although am not convinced about our squad beyond our starting 11.
      Apart from the upcoming Myles&Nwaneri most of them are either past it or below the standards. That is why an injury to some players hits us so hard coz we have no adequate for them.

      1. Cliff, here is my starting 11 with the bench to follow.
        Raya
        Timber Saliba Gabriel Skelly
        Rice Odegaard Partey
        Martinelli Havertz Saka

        Bench to choose from :
        White Tomiyasu Kiwior Tierney Zinchenko Sterling Trossard Nwaneri Califiori Merino Heaven and I’m sure I’ve missed one or two others!!
        . When one looks at the depth and breadth of that group of players, the only REAL negative is up front – but we scored enough goals the last two seasons to finish second on both occasions.

    3. Replying to @Ken1945
      “and let’s not forget that it was said we would win the CL within three years of MA taking over”…

      Said by whom? If it wasn’t said byy Arteta, or the Kroenkes, then it carries no weight. It may as well be witterings from some random bloke down the pub.

      Good to see someone else realising that the owners are looking at the vlaue of their investment – by a strange coincidence I just posted exactly that down below, a minute ago.

      I also agree re style of play – but I wonder how much injuries and loss of form have contributed to that. You can only play to the strengths of the players you have available.

      My take is that the rebuild is not yet complete. As I’ve said before, the people still out on loan who couldn’t be sold, people yet to leave (KT for example) will eventually free up space and financial headroom for more players to come in and improve squad depth.

        1. It was not Arteta who said it Ken. It was Willian. Willian was asked what convinced him to sign for Arsenal and he replied:

          “When I talked with the manager he told me why he needed me for three years.

          It was that he first wanted to qualify for the Champions League and win it by the time I left. That was what I wanted to hear.”

          It’s true that he planned to win it within first 3 years of his tenure but we heard it from Willian.

          1. Yeah I remember being mocked for saying it was an arrogant statement given we had just finished 8 th and were not even in CL lol

    4. @Ken1945

      The era I enjoyed most watching Arsenal play is the post Highbury era with the squad of Fabregas, Flamini, Hleb and the others.

      The football we played was otherworldly. I didn’t ask for the trophy then because three things were hindering us;

      1. We couldn’t compete financially with Man utd, Chelsea and later Man city.

      2. We kept selling our best players season after season instead of building.

      3. An extraordinary number of injuries every season.

      Fast forward to today and the first 2 points are the exact opposite while the third has stayed the same.

      What Arteta has achieved so far is not something I haven’t seen before countless times. Did the owners withhold the funds from the previous two managers only to release them so we can return to the same situation we were before?

      1. HH, yes the owner did withhold funds and yes he didn’t back AW or UE in the way he has backed MA, I’m not disputing that, because it’s a fact.

        Thanks for clearing the who said what scenario, as I was being questioned on it, I did begin to doubt my own memory – please excuse a 79 year old man’s fading faculties!! 🫣👍

        We agree on many things HH, but I just don’t agree with the view that we haven’t progressed both on and off the pitch.
        Neither do I agree with all this labelling of people, it happened under Arsene and we see it happening now under MA.

        I read people’s comments and, if they make me think about the subject in hand, I reply and debate.
        I can’t think of anybody who has arrived at a club and gone about changing it in the way MA has done with The Arsenal. Some of it I agree with and some I don’t…. but there can be no denying we have progressed since he took over.
        Is he anywhere near the level of Arsene Wenger? Nowhere near in my opinion.
        Could he be? I think he just might, if we could only field his best squad…. but that’s just my opinion mate.

        1. I also realized that I had got the Kovacic tackle wrong, as it wasn’t Odegaard it was Rice who he clattered into from behind!! 🫣
          Next thing I’ll be on the JustSpud website 🙄

      2. KSE acquired 100 percent ownership of the Club in August 2018. They started to spend their resources more or less from the same time. Did you expect KSE to spend their resources before acquiring 100 percent ownership?

        1. Or mate look at it like this ,
          Since 2008 he’s been on the board
          Since 2011 he had over 60 percent control of the club
          So for well over a decade he’s had serious control of the club and showed zero ambition as we regressed
          That won’t chang 17 years later

          1. It’s business and you expect them to spend their resources without 100 percent ownership? I don’t, and I would have done the same. Don’t forget that Alisher Usmanov had 30% of the shares and tried to get control of the club himself. Finally, I don’t support our owner but it could have been better or worse. We are definitely not in a bad position.

            1. I understand your narrative but it’s too easy to conclude like this. I have not been in their board meetings but there have obviously been a conflict among majority owners.

              I blame our old share holders for selling to KSE. It wasn’t a good decision and created a long lasting interest conflict between strategic owners.

              1. Well it’s not
                We know that the reason he fell out with Usmanov was essentially one wanted to spend money and try to compete
                Stan Koronke wanted Arsenal to be a self sustained model , not invest a single penny of his own money and make money off Arsenal the brand
                Which of course is his right to do but don’t think In 2025 at his age he’s suddenly going to care
                If he cared , we would have a striker start of Jan

                1. Well, from 2018 to 2024 we have spent a lot and it was necessary. Wenger increased his spending from 2013 adjusted for inflation he increased his spending significantly, compared to what was spent between 2005 and 2012.

                  Which striker should we buy? Should we buy a striker not for sale in this window? Perhaps we should by their club if they don’t want to negotiate with us 🙂 I agree, we should buy a striker, but if we can’t get a top striker we shouldn’t buy in this window. This is what we used to do before and it wasn’t always worth the effort or the money…

                  1. No we finished 8th our worse league position in 25 years and outside of Europe
                    Combined with the backlash of the Super League they had to start spending money to get us back into the top 4 . It also made PR sense to manipulate certain fans that things have changed
                    You dont have to get a world class striker this month , you simply get someone who can help
                    You don’t think there is anyone better in front of goal available then Havertz ?

                    1. Unlike you I didn’t believe it would be easy to replace Mr. Wenger, and I expected a difficult time for several years.

                      You seem stuck in the past mate, last two years we have been runners up. We haven’t achieved that many times since 2006.

                      I hope we will get a world class striker. If it’s not possible in January we should wait to the next window.

                    2. Dan, if you Google Tim Lewis interview in the Telegraph your find the reason why Silent Stan didn’t authorise big spending before becoming 2018.

  9. The football on offer often breaks down in the final third. Plenty of technical passing and possession prior, but there is little pizazz afterwards as the opposition fill the box by the time we have taken a circuitous route to the edge of the penalty area. Lately, I’ve noticed Jorginho lofting balls over with good effect but I’d prefer a bit more speed and directness. I’m in two minds regarding this being Arteta’s preferred game plan or as a result of an unsettled side due to the ongoing injury problems because our play in the previous 2 years was generally pretty good

    As for keeping Arteta in place, that depends on the view of the owners. A league trophy or the top4 trophy. I don’t believe a manager should automatically face the chop for not winning the league in a given year but neither do I see the point of years of accepting 2nd, 3rd or 4th places without looking to be at least viable champions.
    I 100% agreed with Ken1945 that our best 12/14 players would give any team a serious run for their money but this year has been a pick and mix.
    All will become clear in May when not only Arsenal but all the other contenders show what they’re about. It’s not possible to judge now and a rather pointless exercise imo

  10. “…and if he fails to win silverware in 18 months with the full backing of the owners, then it will be time for a change in management”.

    Yeah, nice try, no cigar.

    An old trick – go through the motions of aparent reasonableness, then throw this in, trying to establish a point in time when the manager gets sacked.

    The owners are businessmen first and foremost. Their eye will be on the club’s value relative to their investment. If they think there’s a possibility that it could be worth significantly more by changing manager then they will weigh that against the risk of getting a dud.

    And that happens all too often in football – the next Messiah turns out to be just another Ten Hag.

    The bad news for all you bedwetters is that they will be very, very reluctant to get rid of someone doing as well as Arteta, because he has taken the club from the doldrums to being a major force in top-level competition – consistently over 2-3 seasons now. And that adds significant value to their investment.

    So just get over yourselves, go and lie down (wear some rubber pants).

    1. So I can’t have an opinion then Neutral, unless it’s the same as yours?
      If it isn’t, you come up with this complete load of BS about bedwetting and rubber pants!!
      Sounds to me as if your very experienced in this subject of personal hygiene, or the lack of it in your case.
      Actually, you sound a little potty.

    2. Good points Neutral.
      Fascinating to see how some come out all high and mighty when the derision is directed against those with an anti-Arteta agenda. Venture to support the manager and insults are considered acceptable.
      We have seen Spurs hire some of the best managers in the last couple of decades and win no trophies. MU have won trophies but many fans are unhappy and they are at risk of being stuck in midtable for the immediate future. Yet the malcontents think the way to improve Arsenal is just to change the manager at an arbitrary time point.

  11. I’ll say it again for the umpteenth time. Not because the team he coaches scored five goals yesterday, nor because he conceded four at Newcastle. I’m saying it about his overall image since he was coaching. in Spain. And then the profile he has given to Bournemouth since he took over. The coach we need is Iraola. Opothos sees and takes his mind off football, this will He said… I would like to see this charismatic guy as a coach and as a person who coaches on the bench, his way, in a big team… I think it would be the best. But it’s a An opinion and a suggestion entirely my own.

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