Opinion: Make no mistake, even Aouar won’t be the final piece of the jigsaw

The few months that Mikel Arteta has spent as the Arsenal manager has been some of the best few months in the club’s recent history.

The Spaniard took over an Arsenal team that many people thought had nothing to offer and needed to be disbanded, and he turned them into FA Cup and Community Shield winners.

The Spaniard has been a breath of fresh air after the terrible time we had under Unai Emery before him.

The club has also done the right thing to back him in this transfer window, signing some of his top transfer targets.

This transfer window has seen the likes of Thomas Partey and Gabriel Magalhaes join the team.

The former was seen as the player that would complete the team finally and now that he has joined, the likes of Ian Wright are claiming that we need to sign Houssem Aouar to make the team complete (The Metro).

It is fine for anyone to think that a certain player can make our team complete automatically, but the fact remains that a team needs a good set of top players to be “complete”.

Just like Partey, Aouar would make Arsenal better than it is at the moment, nevertheless, he will not transform us into league winners overnight.

I trust the job that Arteta is doing, but I don’t think that we’re at a point that one player will make us “complete”.

An article by Ime

Tags Houssem Aouar

47 Comments

  1. Fun fact, prior to the Leicester game MA had the highest win rate of any arsenal manager (probably still does just cant say that as a fact) speaks volumes given the team / time he took over.

    1. Arteta loves his 5 defenders. Against Leicester Iowa’s xhaka neva a 4-3-3

      Could moureen be inside Arteta and the real arteta inside Maureen

      Arteta out
      wenger used to lose but lord we created, it was respectable but now West Brom is the only team with more shit football

    2. In how many games ?? Stats over such a short time interval are useless. By this he is probably way ahead of pep, zizu and klopp as well. Neketiah is the best young English striker as he broke all the record under 23. We can go on and on.

      1. Google how many games lol and hence why I said ‘fun fact’ not ‘arteta is the master!’ And definitely not “useless” , would it be useless if he had the lowest winrate? No people would be going ape sh$t if it was so it does have some value, just not to you.

  2. Who ever we buy..as long as the manager and his tactics are negative..Arsenal will be delivering boring game. Arsenal bought Pepe and Saliba and see what happened to them. How much money was wasted. Who knows what will happen to Aouar. Sack Arteta and bring Bergkamp as our manager. Our current squad will start attacking football. Bielsa is showing magic without any super stars. Look at Ancelotti how he has transformed his team without spending much. Instead of spending millions on players and trying luck change the manager with negative tactics. Arteta is not at all Arsenal quality. Time to give Bergkamp a chance now…Save Arsenal Soon…

      1. Aour is just an ordinary player, he’s being overrated. Arteta doesn’t have an eye for good players. Mari, Soares, and Gabriel are just average players. The board will get to taste their own medicine by appointing Arteta as Manager

    1. Rubbish. Areteta is doing pretty job. That is how you people push that Emery on us . We all witness the disaster. We have stop conxeeeding cheap goals. Now we lack creativity, that will be fix soon. If yiu are Ozil fan forget it , we are done with him. We stick with Arteta.

  3. It will not complete the jigsaw but it will go a long way. For now Arteta should use the players he has at their best position.

    Our next epl match against Man.U, if they are fit I will like to see this selection.

    Willian, Aubameyang, Pepe,

    Saka, Partey, Ceballos,

    Tierney, Gabriel, Mustafi😟, Bellerin,

    Leno.

    The 3 players that performs least the most in the first half should be replaced with similar players on the bench.

    1. Yeah I would like to see auba as CF especially for a game like away to man u, better for counter attacking as the mancs will have more of the ball on home turf, coupled with the fact laca is pretty piss poor at scoring away from home 👌

  4. Agreed we have a great striker in Auba, I feel he’s trying accommodate Laca at the moment up top shout be Saka Auba and one of Willian and Pepe.

    We seriously lack in midfield and Partey has only been the start of a much needed overhaul. Box to box as well as Partey, We need Aouar or Szabolazie type player. Another deep lying midfielder, for all Xhakas strengths his lack of pace is a huge problem and ability to cover ground.

    Our Midfield lack the athleticism to impose us on the game. They just can close the spaces quick enough or move the ball fast enough to cause teams problems. We are going side to side and we don’t move the ball with enough pace in the final third were easy to defend against.

    Arteta knows this and thats why we rely on conter attacking to get in behind. Hence why Auba is pushed out wide cause we need the pace and finishing ability on the flanks as they are statistically score more goals whilst countering the opposition.

    It will slot into place I think it was always going to take arteta 3 summer windows to get us sorted so being patient is the need at the moment

  5. Still far too much dross in our squad.

    We need a world class keeper a world class centre back a world class creative player in midfield and we need our captain to find his form again a bit bloody lively.

    The likes of Soares, Kolasinac, Mustafi, Sokratis, Luiz, Xhaka, Elneny, ozil and Lacazette seriously need to be moved on.

    1. You are so honest you say it as it’s. You are brave. So true!
      These guys are simply not good enough!
      Most of our players are bottom club type of players. Recruitment has been sooo poor.

  6. Auoar is similar to Dani C.
    I do not think he is the answer. We need two to three players at least.

  7. Ime…

    A nice opinionated article! I consider your opinion as instructional, particularly to many “Arsenal fans” who may hurriedly fly off again to wonderland if and only if a player like Aouar is added to the squad. We should all note that “a tree cannot make a forest”.

    That said, I also must commend the manner in which you have built up the body of your article, especially with a appealing sense of flow and connectivity from one point to the other, please keep it up! It demonstrates clarity of mind and deployment of thoughts.

    All the same, you failed to address why you think the Arsenal team can’t be transformed into league winners even by the addition of Aouar. Maybe a clue for your future articles, wherein we could lend our opinions in this regard. I would look forward to such an article soonest!

    Cheers!

  8. I wasn’t impressed by Ceballos in the last game, should seriously consider playing Willock instead, and Elneny replacing Xhaha to join Partey in the midfield. Since, Mustafi doesn’t have a future at Arsenal, it’s time to give Saliba (cb)his chance,alongside Gabriel (cb) , Tierney (lwb)and Bellerin (rwb).Also, Nelson (lw), Aubameyang (cf) and Pepe (rw) should head the front three. Leno in goal ,should complete the starting line-up for the next game. However, in the January transfer window, Arsenal must buy Houssem Aouar (cm )and Dominik Szoboszlai (am) to strengthen the midfield with creativity and attack. It is mandatory to get rid of the fringe players in the squad like Mustafi, Kolasinac, Sokratis and Chambers. Ozil and Lacazette should be sold too.

  9. We are all behind Arteta but he’s got a lot to prove. Against teams who sit back we are as poor as I have seen. Shame we don’t use Willian as a deep creative midfielder, or disguise Ozil as Xhaka. Masks look like the real thing nowadays. Nobody would notice because Xhaka is slower than Ozil.
    Arteta’s lack of experience is a big problem.

    1. Sean..

      You are indeed correct that we are poor when we encounter teams that keep a low block… And maybe a few thoughts may be applicable in this regard…

      I think its quite easy to explain in my own opinion, because a low-block implies that the opposition has deliberately squeezed and reduced the amount of space for us to play in. Thus, we can only break through by being able to play in tight spaces, and this for me is the problem of the Arsenal team. They are unable to play in tight spaces because they all have very poor first touches, poor ball control, as well as dribbling skills… And hence the reason for the safe sideways and backward passes we are observing at the moment… Without these qualities, it is almost impossible to break a low block; one may therefore rely on long balls over the line, which must be controlled with great first touches, and which can comfortably be countered by opposition by keeping a disciplined line to use the offside trap, and in the worst case the ball becomes too close to the keeper to enable him easily catch it…

      Another solution will be to have players with long shot capabilities, which again we lack in the Arsenal team. A use-case of this approach was seen in the Tottenham Westham game with that last minute equaliser. In the Arsenal, Xhaka in this regard does not get close enough to take those shots… Infact, most low blocks have been improved enough to stifle the spaces needed for such long shots, and thus we are seeing fewer long shots across the EPL (needs some citations though).

      These for me, are only a few of the reasons why we are poor at the moment, and this I feel the team must improve going forward. Such type of players must be acquired, while only those ready to learn and develop such characteristics should be kept… In as much as it may be an inherent quality, nevertheless, I feel it can be learnt and developed…

      Cheers!

      1. Fire
        Pretty well explained. To pick locks you need safebreakers and we dont have one. In those types of games I would have (calm down everybody) had Ozil on the ready. Obviously, that’s not possible. Who can be our Santi, our lock picker in those games. Just about only Willian. Not that he is a lock picker-in-chief.

  10. If I were a club owner and had sanctioned millions of pounds to be spent on new players I would want those players to prove themselves before spending millions more.

  11. Just an observation regarding the signing of Aouar and his suggested impact – it seems that one man will not be the answer to all our ills…on the other hand, it seems one man is the answer to all our ills.

    I’m of the opinion that, if we sign Aouar, along with the improvement that MA has made in players such as AMN, Elneny and (to a lesser extent) Pepe, there is no reason at all why we cannot challenge for the top four as a minimum.

    Jax, I agree with your point, but it does seem that kronkie is still willing to pull out his wallet – we just need to buy the right players and the likes of Partey, Gabriel and Tierney seem to suggest we are.

      1. Not 100% with you yet RSH, perhaps a decent run and a little faith from MA might help?
        Remember how Robert Pires started at the club o h you of Little faith 🙏

        1. Ken Not a very true comparison. Pires did not start like a train but by his second season was miles ahead of where Pepe is. And Pires showd far more desire to get into the game.
          Pepe is lacking much, confidence work rate, desire and has a long way to go to convince many of us.
          At very best for him, ID SAY THE JURY IS STILL OUT. SOMEOF THAT JURY, ME INCLUDED, MIGHT SAY HE IS ALREADY PROVEN GUILTY! Nowhere near PIRES, so a poor comparison.

  12. You are so honest you say it as it’s. You are brave. So true!
    These guys are simply not good enough!
    Most of our players are bottom club type of players. Recruitment has been sooo poor.

  13. I’m not sure Aouar is the answer. We had the answer. Santo Cazorla. He was the last magic player we had. Now all our magic has gone and Arteta has no magic of his own. It’s all boom, ooof, bang, bang with him. He hasn’t got any subtlety at all. He doesn’t know what it is.

  14. He’s got to figure out how to use the players he has. He’s not the only manager that doesnt have the players he wants. He’s got Auba, Partey, Willian, Ceballos and some talented youngsters. That’s a lot more than several of the teams that are ahead of us right now.

    1. The way they played against barca i thought they would win by atleast 3 goals,tge hope is always there😂.

      Great comeback,not happy with the result though😔

      How many games will hazard play without getting injured….😟

      Will have to wait to see ronaldo vs messi I am always team ronaldo💯

      1. I was surprised they didn’t win, but a draw is better than nothing!
        Hazard has had a nightmare… if he isn’t injured, he can’t find the back of the net – certainly not the Hazard we’re all used to!
        Ha, I’m team CR7 also… he’s still tested positive… 😫 Barca breathe a sigh of relief!! Rambo!!!

        1. Rambo,dybala,morata, juve looks pretty strong but barca are too.The RB of barca,his name was Dest or something and is still a teenager OMG he is a superb player….

          Ronaldo will be missed but its still a clash of the titans…Watching barca lose will certainly help me recover for the europa game🙄 after tge week we have had.

          1. I’ll keep an eye out for him then! After all the hype, it had better not end up a boring 0-0 😂 I think we all need a pick me up!!!

  15. I feel sad for Arteta. He clearly has no experience at the full managerial level, and it shows. He has enthusiasm galore, but thinks running, running, running and tactics win games. Sometimes, but they will only get you to the middle of the table. Burnley do that. Arsenal need some class. Santi Cazorla, Ramsey and Sanchez were the last class players we had. I have never seen and Arsenal team so frightened to play. It was like that under Emery and it’s not a lot different under Arteta. If the players are scared to play it will be down to the manager one way or another. Leeds should be an example of a manager giving his team license to play. Arteta is mistakenly taking away the license to play. Where are all our 007 players.

    1. Yes true. Problem is with the manager and his tactics. It wont change even if you bring Ronaldo and Messi to this team. Because the manager loves negative tactics. No use of spending millions. We need a manager like Bielsa

  16. Sean, a little harsh!!!
    Tierney, Bellerin, Gabriel, Partey, Leno, Aubameyang, Saka, Martinelli, AMN.. surely that is the backbone of an excellent team?
    I feel we just need MA to decide on his best formation and let them express their natural talents… a little like AW did.

    1. Excuse me KEN! Bellerin? Exactly what is “excellent ” about him as a player? Decent human I can agree but we talk about players on here , at least in the main! I suppose 8 out of 9 is good pass mark though!

  17. By the way, Liverpool does not have a specially creative midfielder like debruyne of City, yet Liverpool mostly do well. This means that tactics, formation and right personnel at right places play a major role in success if we do not have a player with certain capabilities, like a specialist attacking midfielder. Agreed Liverpool depend more on their high flying wing backs in Robertson and Arnold for creativity but at the same time their 3 forwards make maximum use of the chances they get. This means that even if Arsenal do not have a specialist creative midfielder we can still get success if we utilise our wing backs and forwards to a greater extent, The following line up would be providing greater impetus in attack and stability in defence:
    Lenno
    Bellerin Gabriel Louis/Mustafi Saliba Tierney
    Partey Ceballos
    Pepe Auba Saka
    Willian could be a option playing just behind the strikder instead of Ceballos.
    I would still go with a back five because it plays to our strengths and if you look at the recent results, statistically we have got maximum success with a back five. The main thing is to play to your strengths and stick to a certain winning formation. In the above formation, Louis can also make forward runs or provide long incisive balls if need be. One has to realise how poor our defence was in Emery’s days and the priority was not to concede when MA took over and hence the concept of back five. Of course there will be hicccups on the way, even City and Liverpool are not having it easy, but one has to analyse how we play to our strengths of our players and make maximum use of the available players and their talents and I feel that whatever it is , till now MA has done a great job and we must all support him. Even Lampard with all the money and talent at his disposal is not having it easy at Chelsea. Fans should realise now that all teams are playing with improvement and there is no easy game in the PL, as seen from the table this season. Let us support MA and give him time to jell more with the players at his disposal and I am sure success is round the corner. The season is till long and MA has time to put our tactics and formation right.

  18. If we go with a mid of Saka Partey Ceballos then either Saka or Ceballos should be at the centre of the 3 as we saw last match Ceballos looked lost at as the right midfielder

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