Life is a competition. In life, we need to earn whatever we get because it won’t be given to us on a platter of Gold. In Football, every team, every player, every supporter, and everybody related with football, all want to be seen and known as serial winners and competitors. When people you compete against in football recognize you as a strong competitor, then you may want to do more in order not to disappoint people.
Before Arsenal went in for Mikel Arteta, many people had blown Arteta’s trumpet! To many people, Arteta was a success waiting to happen; to others, he was ready to step up from being Guardiola’s assistant, to be the main coach of a football team and while to some others, he was the perfect fit for Arsenal. Well, he got the Arsenal job and is doing reasonably well so far. The accolades have been coming in for Mikel. Not a few have been impressed with him. One person who actually believes that with Arteta Arsenal would be competitive again, is no other person than the current Liverpool coach, Jurgen Klopp.
In a recent story by talksport.com, Jurgen Klopp is reported to believe that Arsenal are not too far from taking the next step under Arteta. Talksport reported Klopp saying: “……..Arsenal, for example, is a team offensively that are still a really good side but defensive organization doesn’t work out yet. The moment they sort that, they make the next step.”
Well said Klopp. Arsenal are truly showing signs of about moving to the next level, but before that happens they have to sort out their defensive issues. It is not a hidden secret that for so many seasons now, Arsenal’s undoing has been their leaky defence. We have bought defenders who were doing well in their club, only for them to come to Arsenal and switch off.
Last season we suffered greatly in games we should have won because our defenders found it hard doing their jobs. Games were lost because of our porous defence. It was based on this that we set a target to get defenders in the summer. We did actually buy a defender but we didn’t address the defensive issues. This season has not been different from the last, defensively. We have conceded a lot of goals and this has weighed negatively on us.
Let us hope that we can get one or two defenders on loan this January to solve our defensive issues and then by summer, we would go all out and spend the money needed to address our defensive issues once and for all. Arteta needs to fulfill the prophesy, but the board needs to help him do that.
We are Arsenal and we are proud.
Sylvester Kwentua.
I wrote this Klopp quote I two posts today, you make a all article repeating!
Of course if Klopp says so, we can approve but we see it as he does and all world.
Koulibaly is that top defender he means, as how Reds did with Vanjik, end of issue!
Such a player boost all defenders, frees midfields and attacking players totally confident!
We just have a cheap owner and assistant coach!
All he needs to do is swap Kolas and Torreira + 30M to get Koulibaly! He doesn’t, Kroenke be fine with this.Idiotic retarded stuff! Insane!
We are just not very good. At the moment Arteta has a poisoned chalice. We have a weak squad and are looking at cheapskate options. The truth is the truth. We have owners who know nothing about football and are betraying our supporters and our history. We need at least two real players, quality players. Not just freebies. Just a fact. Will the Kroenkes let us sink even further? Arteta will be ground down by having nothing to work with. Shame he could be a great manager.
I’m out, this is same BS, different games!
the defence is not the problem it’s the midfield we have – 2 goal difference we are not creating chances at all
mike, you are completely right about the lack of attacking threat from midfield.
As far as Klopp’s comment about the Arsenal defense “no sh*t, Sherlock. Klopp came to Liverpool, saw what he needed after a season and bought Van Dyke and a goalkeeper. The results are for all to see.
Arteta has to be supported in the transfer market, full stop; 18 days and counting.
I am not particularly bothered about the defence at the moment, problem is we usually can’t seem to score more than 1 goal per game. We seem to have a mental block when we go 1 up.
More than the defence, MIDFIELD ought to be sorted out. Ozil has NO place in contemporary football. No goals… no assists… awful passing
The team is crap basically. We cant win with how we are at the moment. Okay the defence is poor. But so is the attack. Why because we are not scoring. 1 goal a game is sugar honey ice tea. Liverpool before they started winning were scoring 3 or 4 goals and conceding many. We are just doing nothing. The whole team.needs a good look and a better formation where we score more.
If Arteta persists with Ozil and xhaka, he needs to get results or he will lose me. Left and right back are not Artetas fault, he has little option but they, while not perfect are not letting him down. The midfield is, xhaka is not quick enough or good enough to get into attacks, he flits around the edge, someone has to get into the box from midfield, he isn’t capable. Ozil needs to actually want to score and create goals and give players another option in the box, he is nowhere to be seen and doesn’t want the responsibility. We dont get any goals from midfield to support the forwards. Xhaka and Ozil are impotent in that regard. We have too many passive players who are happy to pass the ball and the responsibility to someone else in the middle of the park. I thought we would be more dynamic under Arteta and move the ball forward quicker, i dont see that with some of the players he is relying on. We need energy and dynamism, those two are not providing that. We need movement and snappy passes, bodies making runs into the box. His message is either not getting through or the players he is relying on are letting him down. He must see that and make efforts to change that. Not changing will inevitably bring the same results and that is happening. I see seeds of progression but i also see familiarity to wenger and Emerys time creeping in. He said that every player has a clean slate, well ditch the ones who aren’t taking it, it is letting us down. Even Artetas enthusiasm he showed cajoling the team when he first came has subsided. I fear we are drifting down a familiar path.
I partially disagree with your comment. Arteta is left with bunch of average players that are not EPL level. The EPL has transformed so much that, what we have is not enough to be able to slap lesser teams. This team cries out for injection of solid investment. Arteta cannot play the 4-1-4-1 system of City and Leicester because, we don’t have a DM with a strong physical presence. Torreira is descent but as a pair. We need a DM who will link play and break up opposition attack,hence,this is why Ceballos and Ozil upfront is very risky. We need to buy pacy, technically gifted midfielders and Ozil and Ceba don’t fit that. Arteta knows coming to change the whole system totally will mostly likely not end well as we lack the personnel. Gradually everyone is seeing the problem lies with the board. At least 150 million worth of talent is needed to bolster our midfield and back line, if not, Arsenal will be a mid table team for a long time
@ Reggie.I agree 95% with your comment,the other 5% will be to introduce Bellerin to have more creation on that side;the defence is not the problem at the moment as I see them more organized and they should keep Saka there.But the remedy to fix the midfield is to bring 2 new players;mission impossible now.
Has anyone here ever seen a donkey win the Epsom Derby???
Those people running the show who think that Xhaka can actually play football need to be removed. I don’t blame the player himself, if someone gave me £100,000 per week for gormlessly strolling around for a couple of hours a week passing a ball back and forth to my mates, I’d take the gig,, phuck I’d bite their phuckin hand off.
Is there another club in the top half of the table or the bottom for that matter, who would want our midfield players??? What’s happened to him moving to Milan? Or Newcastle? No one him except us. We will not have a team until he goes.
@Mogunna.. I can’t believe ya comments at times, wanting to swap two AFC players(Kola Torriera) for one Napoli Defensive player(Koulibaly) plus 30m on top! Mehn!! You’re stone cold..
Do you think Koulibaly will perform better than Lewis Dunk Who AFC can purchase for a fee not more than 40m?
No doubt Koulibaly is a baller but you personally hype the living hell out of Satan! Asif he’s British.!!
Dunk is a Modified Shawcross, Vidic And Ferdinand join together..
Even Tyrone Mings would go alot better for Christ sake! Not Koulibaly for he seems like someone that’ll be prone to injuries in EPL or Maybe Not.
Tony, you are spot on regarding Lewis Dunk; a proven EPL CB.
I’ve been saying for a long time why don’t we try to sign a proven English centre half who’s played in the premiership…Dunk would be the perfect one. Can’t understand the obsession with foreign players we have.
Im more worried about lack of goals/creativity. we shoildve put the game to bed earlier when we had the time to but only pepe seemed to want to. The rest were all over. Liverpool/City concede but score more,lets face it our defense has been impressive in the last few games its our mids and forqards. Fix yhat and we’ll see a shift we need to score more.
The answer in my opinion is NO, defence is only one aspect, and as much as people rave about our attack, in reality they struggle to score more than one goal.
I think most of the players are just plain lazy and turning up for the money with no personal credibility or passion for the club, which is not just limited to our team.
There are too many players that we need rid of that will have to run down their contracts, as no other teams either want them or prepared to pay their salaries, which is problematic with high salary clubs.
I also cannot see Kroenke spending big money upfront to enable the replacements for Arteta to build the team he needs but may possibly over a few transfer windows.
The good news is that most of our opposition are in the same boat, just check the points table and the results.
We have Auba 56 mil, lacca 52 mil, ozil 42 mil pepe 72 mil, i dont get your ” i can not see kronk spending money up front ” not sticking up for kronk at all, i just dont get your statement.
I also forgot Sanchez 43 mil, in the last 5 years we have spent more than enough on players to bring this team success, its the whole set up that is letting us down.
Agree Reggie, it’s the makeup of the squad. The midfield just does not work as a link between defence and attack. Just replay the game yesterday in your mind and ask yourself: how many times did an Arsenal midfielder get the ball from a defender while facing his own goal and promptly pass it back to the defender, who then passed it sideways for the situation to repeat itself. How many times did our midfielders actually turn with the ball and open the game up? Now think of the SU players and how they moved and passed the ball, always going forward. If their forwards were better (or our defence hadn’t stood up) we would have lost this one. Out midfield is NON-FREKING-EXISTENT. That’s where the problem is. We hold onto the ball far too long, slow the game down, movement off the ball doesn’t happen, and we expect to win games against hard running teams that play ball? It ain’t gonna happen. Our wingbacks are part of the attack, but again the midfielders or wing forwards are not assisting by crowding the touchine. They should be waiting for the INSIDE pass.
And this is going to repeat itself until the first passing option on the field becomes either forward or inside, NOT backwards or to the sideline.
Hi Reggie,
I am not suggesting that Kroenke has not spent big money in the past on quality, but the players you mention were not all bought in the same transfer window or season.
Arsenal and many PL sides are paying big money for the weekly wage bill and in Ozil.s case, 380k per week for mediocre football is not what we need and similarly with Lacca,s and others performances.
Similarly Man U are still paying a huge wage bill for Sanchez that you mentioned to play elsewhere and they are in a similar boat with wage bill and may possibly reflects the similar mediocre football.
If we are expecting changes of players and strengthening of defence or midfield etc, then there has to be players out as well as in to balance the wage bill, and I do not believe Kroenke will give Arteta any big money upfront to do this. He may support one profile player but not many
Arteta has to either work with the cattle he has or take time (Several Transfer windows)to rebuild.
Last transfer window with outgoings v incomings, Kroenke outlaid approx 25 mil and still has a debt of 54 mil over the next 3 seasons to pay for Pepe.
It will be interesting to see what happens this window. I hope this explains my viewpoint.
I dont get your viewpoint. You said we haven’t spent big on attack, im sorry that is wrong, we have spent massive up front. No team in the prem spends 200 or 250 mil in one window on strikers, it a progression. Ffp does not allow you to blitz spend like that, we have spent fortunes on our strike force. Ffp dictates how much money a team can spend. Liverpools strike force did not cost as much as ours, Chelsea didnt, cities didn’t, utds didn’t, spurs didn’t, we probably without checking, have spent more on strikers in the last two years than anyone. Tell me who has spent 180 mil on strikers in the last two and a bit years, lacca 52, auba 54 pepe 72.
Hi Reggie,
I totally agree with you regarding the money spent in attack. I have read my previous posts and I have not stated we have not spent money on attack. I stated that people rave about our attack and in my opinion they are not delivering and struggling to score more than one goal, which if I understand your reference to other team attacks, you feel the same.
The original question was regarding to sorting out defence, and appears people want to now start spending big on defensive players. I do not believe Kroenke will spend big upfront on defensive reinforcements unless we get rid of some players and lower the wage bill.
Tony, you put “i can not see kronk spending money on our attack” maybe we were at cross wires. We have already spent money on our attack. Maybe we wont spend much more in the near future because we have.