How Little We Know… by Matty Barnes
A few weeks ago, before Spurs hired Mourinho, I suggested it was time for Arsenal to address the key problems. Emery and our defence were the problem and the simple solution was Mourinho. He is a huge character, big enough to keep our big players under control, plus also able to get some cohesion in our team, not least the inept defence.
The article met with a fairly negative response saying we don’t want Arsenal playing like a Mourinho side because it’s not easy on the eye….
How stupid do the people who said that feel now? I can say with some certainty they don’t feel stupid at all because, despite what statistics and results show them, they genuinely believe they are right.
Here’s some simple facts…Arsenal haven’t played beautiful football for years. This is how poor we have been in recent history: We had to get Henry back from America to save our blushes in recent history when he was well past his best and nobody flagged that up as there being a serious problem. The demise has been so slow that nobody really identified the poor transfer policy or AW’s failing abilities.
Here’s where the future lies: Short term goals – and the first of those is a short-term manager to come in to stop the losing streak. If anyone watched Everton against Chelsea today, you would have seen exactly what Arsenal need. A manager who will come in and deliver results, nothing more than that. Results are what confidence is built on. Defeats destroys it in in the same manner.
That manager doesn’t need to reinvent how the future of Arsenal will be, he just needs to make us an unbeatable unit again. Part of his role would be to fire those players who don’t respond to being shouted at for being useless. (I noticed many of you jumped to the defence of Willock when Auba roasted him for being rubbish the other night). If you’re old enough to play in the first team then you’re a man and that means you can be shouted at without people jumping to your defence.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and expect the incoming manager to reign supreme for the next 10 or 20 years. He comes in, gets rid of the deadwood, steadies the ship and we go from there. We’ve been spoiled over the Wenger era when we played beautiful football and won games at the same time. Those days are done so don’t dwell on the nostalgia of it. When we won under George Graham it was often terrible to watch but nobody complained when we beat Liverpool at Anfield to lift the Premier league for the first time in a couple of decades.
So, to the here and now. We have a mediocre squad that are incapable of playing beautiful football that can deliver results at the same time, so we have to settle for win ugly. I can assure you that’s what Spurs will do under Maureen and absolutely why we should have got him.
My final point, when we discuss people who aren’t good enough to manage us, like Poch, Arteta, Ancelotti, (I even read on here someone said Rodgers wasn’t good enough), is that we are currently sh#t, we’ve been sh#t for a while and we will continue to be sh#t while we have this current group of players. The object of the immediate exercise is to stop this sh#t group of inadequate players from losing every week.
Is that too much to ask?
Matty Barnes
No no never ever.
But if all you care for is to win at all costs and you have the money yes.
And if you accept that he will stomp off in acrimonious circumstances
in year three hating on the owner the players and fans well ok he is your man.
He did that twice at Chelsea and at Man U spent gazillions and got
2nd then left a hated man.
The same will happen at Spurs. He might win the CL this year or
the league next season then he will bomb in season three and leave in a huff
pocketing his huge compensation pay out. Then on to the next sucker club.
I much rather have Freddie who genuinely loves the club and is loved by the fans.
Mou? No just no.
Besides Arsenal does not have an owner who spends gazillions on the club.
Kroenke has never spent as much as one cent on the club in ten years.
Not the sort of club Mou would be considering..thank goodness.
Unfortunately the players aren’t putting in for Ljundberg, like they undermined Emery. Mourinho would have sorted these prima donnas out in the short term.
Obviously the “Mourinho effect” is immediate results and a trophy at the end of the season. But after that, the results become stale because the players get tired of him. It’s happened at every club he’s been sacked from, the last of which he didn’t even win the league for.
Sorry, I didnt want Mourinho then and I wouldnt want him now. (Or at any point in the future.) I actually feel quite grateful to Tottenham for their swift action to put him out of our misery.
No, still not for me!
Sue you know I’ll always have your back, but getting Mourinho was meant to weed out our poor players and fixing the defense. I’m willing to put my personal dislike of the man aside, and let his ego get rid of the bigger egos and spoilt players we have.
That’s all. Nobody ever said Mourinho was to be given a 3-5 years contract.
2 years contract with a clause to extend for one more year was all we needed.
Right now we are all begging and hoping the next coach would be someone who’ll have the balls to drop our defenders
Well it’s too late anyway, Eddie. I’m sorry about us having to agree to disagree 😜
Sort out our defence?! Sheesh, who’d want to buy any of ours? They don the Arsenal shirt and their value plummets!! I am looking forward to Saliba coming and I’d shove Tyrone Mings next to him…. but no doubt we won’t be able to afford him!
We really have got an average team (bar 1 or 2)…maybe they’re all better individually, but put them altogether – and what a sh*t show we have!
They really need to wake up and start earning their money.. if only we could dock their wages every time we had a poor performance.. well they wouldn’t be paid for about 6 months!!
I can understand the Jose question but I don’t want him at our club. We should have sacked Emery before the break to give Freddie a fighting chance & brought Keown in to help him. Buying Pepe for 70 odd million but a defender ( clown ) for 8m was a joke. We should have signed Nzonzi to sort midfield out, Beast of a CD plus a young striker.
Freddie needs to be brave and get the two CDMs playing deep & keeping their shape. Drop papa and Luiz immediately while telling Bellerin to sort his sh&t out. No point getting Paddy or Arteta as no real experience. Ancelotti for me and I’m happy to give Freddie a little time as he’s saying & doing a few good things. Just need to ensure he’s got the balls to make the big calls required
👍
People will give you sentiments and all sorts of BS.
I was among those saying I would welcome Mourinho.
Mourinho never had any war against Arsenal, his war was against Arsene Wenger. Just like the Klopp Vs Pep battle that has been going on right from Germany.
Excuses were created, be leaves in the third season and leaves the team bad.
For phuck sakes!! Are we really planning to keep a manager for 5 to 6 years?
We are in deep shît, and currently we are beggars. We had one of the very few coach available who will come and put average and poor players like Sokratis,Luiz to the sword. A manager who has enough pride to never take nonsense from our spoilt brats we keep paying, people said all sorts of stuffs about him
Oh, sorry, lookie! Beggars trying to choose the kinda gifts they get.
Well right now we are stuck here aren’t we?
Spurs moved on haven’t they?
Probably by next summer, Mourinho would’ve weed out every poor player he can and replace them if he can, and we’ll still be stuck with the same spoilt brats we have.
All we needed was to get Mourinho to fix and weed out the poor players we have, fix our defense then at least in the future we can think about stability. Right now, Stability? Zero! Defense? Zero! Attack? Apart from PEA, blooody Zero!! Enjoy it
ANOTHER MAN WHO THINKS HE HAS THE RIGHT TO INTRODUCE PARTY POLITICS ONTO THIS SITE. A plea to you Admin Martin, please warn this socialist fanatic off from using his PARTY political views so openly on here. This is Just Arsenal , not just “we hate Boris Johnson”. If you do not so warn him, then you are breaking your own sensible rules. Ironically, though I totally reject his Mourinho comments about we Gooners wanting him as comically false, the writer does make a lot of sensible and interesting points. But I for one do NOT want openly partisan PARTY politics aired on this fooball site. I asssume you do not either. Am I correct Admin Martin?
Good morning my Lord.
I don’t think this is a party political statement by a rabid socialist lol, in essence he is only stating a fact!
But you (and Admin Martin) are completely right that politics should not be brought into a football site, so I will remove that line so it doesn’t offend thine eyes any longer, My Lord!
Admin Pat
Plus *Everyone* if you look to the top left of the article title, you can see the name of person who posted the article, and I have now changed my name to Admin Pat so there can be no ambiguity…
Thank You Admin Pat and welcome back, as I for one had no notion of whether or not YOU were still active as an admin. Glad to see you are though. SHAME YOU FELT YOU HAD TO GIVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL OPINION ON BORIS THOUGH. Please note that I do not say that I disagree with your view, nor that I do, but only that such views are out of place on here.
On another note, and though I am perfectly relaxed to be addressed as “My Lord”, I merely wonder why someone who merely, albeit fiercely, seeks the unbiased, actual,truth, should be considered a “Lord”. Neither can I be fairly blamed for having a way with words and being literate. I do not mind in the least – and I do not have the right to mind – those who do not have this facility , PROVIDED their posts can be properly understood. It IS true that I do not suffer fools gladly. On that I am guilty as charged!
Jon, Pat did not write this article. He posted it after it was submitted. The author’s name is at the top.
It’s a metaphor… look it up in the dictionary and stop being so sensitive.I dread to think how you’d react if Auba shouted at you..
I don’t care at all about sentiment, I just want Arsenal to win or even just be competitive for once and if that meant getting a man who dissed the club then so be it! We need a manager who can give these overpaid prima Donna’s a good kick up the rear and that’s not Freddie Ljungberg, Patrick Vieira, Mikel Arteta or Thierry Henry!! The next manager doesn’t have to have Arsenal DNA he needs to have a winning mentality who picks the correct 11 and get these donkeys playing! Allegri, Pochettino, Tuchel the Ajax coach or Gus Hiddink until May if we can’t get the latter 2 right now.
Obviously his records speak in every ways, of course it would have been upgrade from Emery, we would all wish to be in Spurs shoes today of course! He changed the spirit of the team in a matter of a game and shaping up as team who will beat Reds and anyone. I love football, watch entertaining exciting football, is best team to watch!
Now, this is a useless debate, not concerning Arsenal, Kroenke is a cheap bastard who will never put money for a top Manager to replace Wenger!
Mourinho contract is 17M, bonus of additional 3M if he makes TOp 4 and 5M if he wins CL! Renewed contract upon one of this target! Kroenke paid Wenger 10M because he built club Values and stadium paid for under his management.
Wenger agent is an idiot, he should have put in contract, a share to Wenger who took club value from 1 to 3 Billions since Kroenke bought first 10% for 100M and rest if it with money generated by Wenger’s amazing work! Emery took job for 4M!
The only relevant topic today is, why we must move fast and who is available today because we can not wait January first and hope to negotiate for Ancelotti.
Napoli are not crazy, they will keep him til end of season, can’t replace him with Emery, lol!
Please bring those 2 topics to JustArsenal. If people don’t get it, bring the response in a third topic:
Why only Wenger can to save Arsenal as we speak today!
and
Who sould Prof pick to develop as next coach to work with him? Viera, Freddie, Arteta…?
Was Wenger sacking was good and right for Arsenal? Is another question, looking at overall effect, total chaos in a matter of a year, it is obvious, facts, we heading to relegation before or by new year; image, football, team & club spirit all gone!
Anyone realise that it is as kick out Sir Alex from Man U? Why do they keep him there, it is great pleasure and spirit, football beauty, values! They are on the way up because as one, club, players and fans!
Kroenke used us fans to sack Wenger from this club and stadium forever, his greed over football! That’s billionaire ways, all business and profit, empty stadium had them sack Emery in order to see us back as we are! Losing money is what had him react; he has only one goal, have us in stadium! Money!
Mogunna, You really need to get over this unhealthy obsession with yesterdays man. Wenger is NOT coming back, however much you torment yourself by longing for the past and his outdated methods. When the club very soon now appoint our next permanent manager, whoever that is, it is FOR CERTAIN it will not be Wenger. In fact, he would not come even if asked, which he won’t be. Get real man!
We can’t have wishes or such topic with Kroenke greedy owner, Mou cost 20M!
Topics should be who and why we need to move fast, by Monday have Wenger on bench! We won’t find better and no hope if he wait til January, we will be condamn in relegation by then!
As long we in stadium, Kroenke makes cash, to see it empty is why he sacked Emery or way before that! Not even a replacement, they never thought about it but money lost. We back, as long we fill it up, Kroenke is find even in Champinship! We can win a cup and make it to EL, win it too! Look! Kroenke plays us as retards!
But indeed, he bought last shares which was fans’s, but realize we still make the call, an empty stadium kills Kroenke! No tickets sales, no TV wants to show an empty and totally useless to advertisers and sponsors! It kills Kroenke Arsenal!
According to Sky’s Sunday supplement, we have started interviewing Arteta.
First in with Edu.
Then in with Raul S.
Then Josh K (presumably, as silent Stan couldn’t give *hit).
The “Apprentice” ring a bell ?
If there is any basis to the above ,and IF Arteta gets through “Lord” Sugar, Claude and Karen would you take him ?
AJ, Yes I for one , would leap at him and believe he WILL be installed this coming week or next. But do not expect miracles. God Almighty could not make our current clowns defend properly and Kroenke will give him no PROPER money to use in JAN. But he will improve things and instill fight and shape. If you think deeply about it, a man of Peps standing in the game would never have had him so involved with City and spoken so warmly and highly of him, were he not the real deal. Bring it on and be thankful, as I believe he is now the strong favourite for our job.
I also watch Sunday Supp and always do, as the journos are far football smarter and more clued up than us “mere fans”. Note that I DO NOT say more intelligent than us but more clued up and smart in the football know how. It is their full time job and all are true football fans. For football knowledge it is a must not miss programme, at least for me!
@ jon fox
Whilst respecting all opinions on here (not always easy), I often find myself in agreement with the likes of yourself, Grandad and the like.
AJ, the feeling is entirely mutual. My position is that there are a number of folk on here whose posts I usually respect and tend to generally agree with but not necessarily. It is a question of their innate intelliegence and whether or not they show a large degree of having thought properly before posting. I respect healthy and robust discussions, even arguments, with folk with whom I respect but I find those who are obviously lacking in thought to be intensely irritating and am prone to tell them so. I detest fan bias and always seek the truth, even though on most things it is opinion rather than fact, as we know. But it is HOW that opinion is thought through, or not, as the case may be, that makes me respond or not.
At the risk of sounding arrogant, I have found that having far more life experience now than when I was much younger, has greatly helped my ability to find the actual truth, both in football matters and in life generally. I firmly believe this is a natural benefit of being an older person and given to most older fans.
If it goes like most of the times Mourinho/Spurs will win a trophy or two in the next couple of years. It could be PL, CL, or “just” the FA- or Carling Cup. And within 3-4 seasons he will leave the club in chaos. Or maybe he/Thye won’t win anything, or maybe he has developed as a manager and will be able to make a sustainable success??? Maybe he will play more entertaining football??
Nobody knows for sure.
Personally, I would have accepted him as a short terme solution for us, but what does it matter now?
What is more interesting – are we looking for a short terme solution, or are we looking for manager, that can build us a competitive team within 2-3 years?
@AndersS
You use a key word towards the end of your post i.e MANAGER.
Given we now employ a “head coach” who ultimately has to implement / satisfy the vision of three suits in the stand, will we ever get the strong minded broad shouldered individual we so obviously need.
”Yes Men” to be avoided at all costs !
👍
He would not come short term – Tottenham were forced to give him a 3 and half years contract to get him.
He would not choose us. Tottenham have a more balanced squad and play in the CL.
Will he win trophies with Tottenham?
Not guaranteed.
CL is beyond Spurs. They were lucky to get to the final last year. They could get lucky again, but their defense is not good enough to win it.
The Prem is not realistic – City and Liverpool will dominate the next 3 years (If Mou lasts that long)
Will winning the League cup justify him joining Spurs? And will they win it, considering how weak they usually get in deciding cup matches?
Not a bad signing for Spurs, but he was never coming to us. And yes, we can do better for the long term, and short term we ain’t winning anything even with Mou in charge.
Just because Mourinho is currently doing well with Spurs doesnt mean he would’ve done well with us. If we had approached him when he was free im sure he would’ve turned us down. He’s a good manager but toxic. He’s also not an idiot and he knows the huge amount of work that will be required over several years to turn us around. Mourinho isnt a manager with a great track record of developing youngsters and we have half a squad full. At Spurs he has a squad capable of winning trophies. It shouldnt surprise anyone if he wins a cup this year or next and challenges for the title next season. He will probably prove that Pochettino under achieved.
Don’t know how any true Gooner could even suggest Mourinho. I’m guessing the writer is a newbie fan, who jumped on the Arsenal bandwagon after Wenger’s early success.
Nigel I wish I was a newbie but I’m 54 years old and we’re watching Arsenal no doubt when your dad was trying to get your mum a bit tipsy…
Many fans would obviously hate the idea of Mourinho becoming Arsenal manager. If we are honest however he would likely make Arsenal much more difficult to score against.
Whether Arteta is the man remains to be seen. At the moment he would be a gamble. He would be taking over a team with lower quality than he has recently been used to and that is low in confidence. We have no idea how good his man management skills are which would be essential at this stage.
Please please no more small fish managers. Would you give Ferrari keys to a teenage driver? But we’ll give manager job to inexperienced guy; so Arsenal isn’t it?
Man City have injuries in defense, and they are weak and currently struggling with CB’s.
People credit Arteta with Sterling and others; ok fair enough.
Does Arteta also get blame for how poor Stones is as a CB?
How will Arteta improve our soggy and lifeless defense? What experience does he have? Pep isn’t renowned for coaching up defenders, he just buys new ones.
It’s high time this club gets serious. Bring in top manager, pay the fee buy out their contract if necessary.
Sell players that we can, and put every penny into proper defenders. Raul should listen more to managers choices, as they know better.
Until our sorry owners stop looking for shortcuts and viewing short term costs over long term competitiveness, nothing really changes.
Nice one, Durand 👍
Durand, couldn’t agree more in the short term, but I do think Arteta will become a very good manager, because he followed the sensible road in management, rather than Thiery Henry or Gary Neville, who went in at the deep end and drowned imemdiately!!
Your comments regarding kronkie in previousthreads, leads me to wonder if you really think that, when we do sell players, will that money be re-invested?
I sincerely hope that we get a “proven mature MANAGER” who will have the sense to obtain written guarantees in his contract regarding transfer monies, his own responsibilities in those dealings and based on performance related results.
This is, surely, the only way forward, having seen in just three years the results of gazidis’s new regime.
has kronkie settled out of court regarding St. Louis?
As for the article, really enjoyed the way our history under GG and AW was broken down and what is needed today…not next year etc.
But cannot agree with mourinho, he would take us into the same position we are now, in three years time and at an enormous cost to the club.
My choice would be the At.Madrid manager on a two year contract with options.
Kronke has a couple court cases on his plate currently, haven’t seen anything where he has settled any court cases.
His precious Rams may not even make the playoffs this year; I said they would fail and miss out when I said they would lose the Superbowl.
Kronke loves Real Estate and money. Look at our move to Emirates; consequences, and Kronke’s comments on competition.
He moves Rams, builds new stadium, and spouts lies again about being competitive.
He’ll sell Rams players too; he has shops, resturants, hotels, and business district around new stadium to make money.
I curse Dein and that board for 2 things;
1. Stupidly not doing proper
Research on Stan Kronke
2. For being greedy; millionaires lusting after a few extra millions more than their love of the club.
If they desire money, then sell their shares to people that have Arsenal in their hearts above money.
@Durand.
“Would you give Ferrari keys to a teenage driver”?
Ferrari hired Leclerc when he was still 20 does that count 🙂
Not in the slightest, Maureen is not for Arsenal and he most definitely isnt for spurs either. I would rather have nobody if it was a choice between the two. He is poison and is only interested in himself.
Kronk and moron would have been a compatible partnership. Both only love themselves.
Let’s see how long the players/coach relation will stand…
Football is about winning and I was hoping that we would go for Mourinho. He is a proven winner and would have fixed the defense for sure. He would kick butt too. But all this is academic now. When people talk about ethos etc remember these were not upheld by the former board members who sold out to Kroenke even if they didn’t want his sorts….
Nope – never Mourinho.
We all acknowledged that there would be an arduous rebuild phase when Wenger finally left. We’re enduring it now. We will bounce back when we hire a ‘World-class manager’ not a cancerous stop-gap manager like Mourinho etc…
Most importantly, the fans must take this opportunity to pile relentless pressure on the Kroenke family to sell as this may be our best and only chance. Stop buying tickets, stop buying merch and we’ll stop making Silent Stan and Josh the joke even richer than they already are. They have no passion for the club, only the profits.
No way Jose !!!!