Emotions are understandably high following the result and performance of Tuesday night against Newcastle. Arsenal acquitted themselves pretty well in the first half, after a strong start from Newcastle but once again after the break our opponents came out strong and we had no answer. It is not the first time Arteta has failed to respond to an opponent and I suspect it won’t be the last. Eddie Howe set his team up with clear intent and they executed the game plan perfectly, whereas Arteta went with the same old tactics and got found out. It is this rigid allegiance to his preferred method that has cost Arsenal points again and again, further highlighting Arteta’s inability to react to developing situations and adjust accordingly.
To add insult to a set of already grieving fans, he then goes on to blame the ball on this occasion, which is so absurd as to be extremely worrying; the ball didn’t seem to affect Isak when he smashed it in off the crossbar! These pathetic excuses for his own shortcomings are negatively affecting the fan base, and his dogmatic approach to game management is probably not doing the players much good either. These are his players, that he chose to buy or keep, and he has no one else to blame but himself. I do not even blame the players because they appear to have had almost all the individual flair beaten out of them, similar to what we have witnessed at City and what Pep has done to Jack Grealish.
But the real issue is that Arteta is mostly still getting good results, and from a business perspective it would make no sense to change him. As stated in a previous post elsewhere, the board doesn’t care about sexy football or the fans’ happiness, they just want a profitable business model. However, if that business model should fail and Arteta stops getting the results on a regular basis and the team begins to slip down the table, then I would imagine he will only then be relieved of his duties. But be replaced by who? With the way the team is currently set up to be solid defensively and essentially try to dominate possession and steal a win, I think the role is best suited to someone like Diego Simeone.
Of course, we can only speculate because we have no way of knowing who will be available and who might want the job, but speculation can be fun. So who would you want to take over from Mikel Arteta were he to leave his position as manager? Another club legend like Patrick Vieira? Maybe bring in Santi Cazorla as Sporting Director and let him have some influence over the decision. Or better yet, bring in Santi and let him talk some sense into Arteta because he has done a lot of good things during his tenure. He got Arsenal back at the top of the league challenging for the title but it is also his fault that we are unable to enjoy the experience due to the way he makes the team play.
Inevitably, I think we must endure this style for at least another 18 months until his rigid micromanagement is no longer getting results against most of the teams rather than just a few shrewd managers like Eddie Howe. It is perhaps his worst crime that Arteta instead of being a popular manager who restored Arsenal’s pride and status as one of the best teams in the country, has large sections of the fan base calling for his dismissal because of the way he appears to mismanage his personnel and suck all the excitement out of the game by stifling creativity unless it fits snuggly within his idea of how the game should be played. Something must change because this way only disappointment awaits.
Ben
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His possession based play is simply no longer working. All this passing sideways and back ways means nothing…..
If and when he moves ,or is moved on, two Premier League Managers who have impressed me are Thomas Frank and to a lesser extent, Eddie Howe..With limited resources,Frank has done a great job to maintain mid table respectability for Brentford.In terms of tactics, he has invariably played with a back three but with the resources available at Arsenal I suspect he would switch to a more attacking formation.As to Howe, I like his sensible attitude, the way he handles the press and his general calmness.Only one obstacle with Howe is his long term assistant who is a pain in the …..!
Absolutely agree, just leaves the door open for more errors.
Arteta’s high-ball-possession and inverted-fullback tactics have actually been working quite well, because we almost won EPL twice and have been sitting in the second place this season
Arteta has made us far more consistent in away games than we were during Wenger’s and Emery’s tenures
His tactics just need a few tweaks and a physically-dominant CF to play against ultra-defensive teams
If Arteta wasn’t so stubborn, he would’ve made his squad perfect with plan Bs and a Giroud 2.0
I’m glad that we’re one step closer from being eliminated from the mickey mouse cup competition. I hope we won’t take the FA Cup match seriously and focus on major competitions instead
Why do you some of you keep repeating this stuff about “stubbornness”? There is a limit to what he can spend. Is is being offered Harland and saying no I don’t want him?
Not trying to disagree with you, just want to bring things to context. AW had a severe funding drought for a long while. He built the team of the invincible, which has been the most consistent in Arsenal history. With the habitual captain selling fiasco, AW kept us in top 4 pretty consistently. What would have happened if AW had adequate funding would be just speculations, but MA had a stable period of consistent financial support which AW did not. Emery did not get the same support that MA has been enjoying. We have all seen how good AV can be under him. I think we are not really giving a fair comparison between MA and others.
A few tweaks could have been said for AW as I remember he always overlooked our defense as funding became scarce. Almunia was a gapping example back then. MA built up our defense but our offense is nowhere close to be adequate for our goal.
I do not think this is fair question to be raised to us fans of the club. Too many constraints are beyond us for this decision, but all we know is that MA needs to get things back promptly, or, fan support may not be a big deal, but owners patience can run thin.
Wenger only had Ferguson as his main competitor when he dominated EPL, but the league is far more competitive nowadays with richer teams led by more technical managers
Wenger defended his tight grip on the Arsenal purse strings by declaring: “We don’t sign superstars, we make them”
He was also given several high-profile players to work with, such as Arshavin, Reyes, Cazorla, Sanchez, Ozil, Mustafi, Xhaka, Welbeck, Lacazette and Aubameyang, whose values were considered very high in their eras
Kind of made up
All 3 of Wenger’s titles had different runner ups
I wouldn’t call this title race competitive
GAI – Why do you think AW only had Fergie as his main competitor?
Could it have been because they were the two best managers at the time, or have you another reason to say that?
As city130 have won the PL four times in the last five years, why do you think the PL was more competitive during that time?
Reyes = Invincible
Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez, Xhaka, Lacazette, Aubameyang =FA Cup Winners.
Arteta was given (or bought) to work with:
Ozil, Raya, Saliba, Rice, Odegaard, Califiori, Timber, Havertz, Trossard, Ramsdale, Zinchenko, Gabriel, Partey, Merino, Tomiyasu, Jesus, along with no tight grip on the Arsenal purse strings and very highly priced players that have won nothing….. so what point are you trying to make?
He makes it up ….
In 1997-98 runners up – United
2001-2002 – runners up Liverpool
2003-2004 – runners up Chelsea
Yet ‘ Wenger only had Fergie as his main competitor ‘
Again an attempt to discredit our most successful ever manager just because Arteta is failing
I don’t think that GAI was referring to the 3 years that we won the league when what you have quoted is correct
During the period that both Fergie and AW were rivals, Utd were far more successful. Only Chelsea won the title apart from Arsenal or Utd. Liverpool didn’t and featured in second just twice.
As for attempting to discredit Wenger, I think you are miles off the mark.
SueP, I suggest you read GAI’s first paragraph again and his use of the word “only” – if that’s not an attempt at discrediting Arsene Wenger, I’m a Chinaman.
Dan pointed out how, during Arsene’s most successful years, chelsea were already flexing their newfound and unlimited money, soon to be followed by sheik city 130, while pool were still around the corner.
To read such rubbish from a, supposedly, fan of the club is / was disrespectful to our most successful ever manager.
Ken1945
I am still trying to work out what GAI said was disrespecting AW by using the word ‘only’ During that period of time, SAF and AW were the most successful managers and were the closest rivals, with Chelsea emerging and LIverpool nowhere near the success of both Arsenal and Utd. I must be missing something in GAI’s intent or you and Dan are. My reading of it was that they were the best so there was no other competitor. They were the only two successful managers at the time.
But if there were other runner up they were competitors
Ken1945
That was the only issue I could find but then GAI can frequently make off the wall statements. It’s like something pops into his head and gets spewed out without proper reasoning
You’ve answered the point I made when referring to City. I think – rightly or wrongly- that the league is stronger these days as a whole, and that is what I thought GAInwas on about
If the three years we won the title two of the runners up were not Man United that proves we were not only competing with Man United
The discredit comes from him trying to argue Arteta now has it harder when in reality he hasn’t come close to what Mr Wenger has done which is what I argued for years
Dan,
Overall, from the time AW started and SAF left, there was little other sustained competition apart from what has already been written about above, and as Ken1945 pointed out, they were the best.
I genuinely don’t think that GAI had the intention of finding fault with Wenger. I would agree that the league is more competitive (obviously as Ken1945 has pointed out not at the very top) but certainly there appear to be more teams capable of challenging the usual suspects. Forest, Villa, Newcastle, are good examples of there being less decidedly average teams in the EPL these days. I just think what GAI wrote is open to misinterpretation. If Jon Fox was still allowed to post, I am sure he would have had a few words about making oneself absolutely clear. If GAI reads and responds to the back and forth and I have got it wrong, then I should enrol myself on a Use and Understanding of English Course
SueP, chelsea and Abramovitch in 2005, city 130 and the sheikh in 2008, pool as was the norm, manure and The Arsenal were all vying for the PL.
City130 won four of the last five PL titles, with pool being the other winner.
If anything, it was easier for city130 to win the PL than both Arsene and Fergie.
Why list the players and mention purse strings if one wasn’t eluding to comparisons?
Disagree go back to say 2000-2010 we were getting like 3 English teams in last 4 of CL
This season is a one horse race so I don’t see how this is competitive
Because Ken fans are starting to realise they got it wrong with Arteta so are now trying to downplay what Mr Wenger did
So now the narrative is Wenger had less competition then Arteta lol
Or maybe just maybe he’s not as good as some said he was ?
Why don’t you actually read what I wrote, digest it, and hopefully comprehend that I qualified my statement about City.
I think, Dan, that has time has moved on, most fans now realize just what a brilliant job Arsene did.
Maybe not the trophies we wanted, but what he achieved despite the Emirates build, despite the hesitancy of the owner to back him and the backstabbing of Gazidis.
That’s not my issue – it’s when someone starts saying how “easy” it was during Arsene’s time.
He walked into a culture of drink, drugs, gambling, poor dietary standards and within eighteen months changed it around.
If fans like GAI took the time to read what players like Parlour, Keown, Adams and Bergkamp said about AW, they would realize it wasn’t “easy” – just as it isn’t “easy” for MA to win anything, while having the purse strings opened!!
SueP, if you were asking me to read, digest and comprehend what you wrote, rest assured I always do!!
To Ken1945
Ha ha!
No definitely to Dan. He seems to think I have it in for Wenger. I don’t of course.
Never understood this talk of the league being more competitive now compared to the wenger years
The top 5 points total
Man City 100 points -2017/2018
Liverpool 99 points -2019/2020
Mancity 98 points-2018/2019
Liverpool 97 points 2018/2019
Chelsea 94 points 2004/2005
Between the years 1996 to 2005 the average Points total to win was 84 points
Between the years 2014-2024 the average points total to win was 93 .
So how on earth can the league be more competitive now compared to 20 odd years ago .
Strange excuse once again .
It’s a myth obviously
It’s called selective memory! The article asks the question if not Arteta then who? Gai interprets it as a slight against MA so tries to compare his record to AW’s. You will notice he deliberately avoided comparing like for like, that is their first 5 years with the club. I won’t embarrass him by going into detail.
As for the article, I do not see a suitable replacement for Arteta, we’re 2nd in the EPL and still well placed in other top trophies. Someone recently mentioned Graham Potter as our new savior. Well let him save the Hammers instead!
Wenger also won more trophies in his last 5 years compared to Artetas first 5 years .
But OFC trophies don’t matter 🙄
@Gai I kind of agree with you on certain front, Arteta got Arsenal believing again that we can win the league. And Epl have become more competitive compared to Ferguson & Wenger days. I also agree with you Gai that winning FA and community shield is not considered a big deal by fans who want their team to win Epl after over 20 years.
IMO, five years going to six with a good financial backup from club owners is enough time to question if a coach can ever win Epl for Arsenal.
Like you you said Arteta’s *stubbornness plus lack of flexibility to tweak his tactic” may be his undoing and reason for other coaches to be considered.
IMO, another coach can come in get one or two needed players in already good team and win us Epl.
How can Arsenal not be heavily active in the Tmarket when Saka & Nwaneri are out? what of if Havertz or Jesus gets injured? why should a coach be comfortable?.
Alwaying seeing positives when there is obviously non at times
I think Kroenke doesn’t want to buy more players for Arteta until he sees our final results at the end of the season
If Arteta gets the boot by then, I’d like Kroenke to gamble on Thierry Henry, Xabi Alonso or Peter Bosz
Who’s your choice to replace Arteta?
@Gai, in order of priority
1. ThierryH -I love what he did at the Olympic with France. He is also Arsenal legend
2.. Xabi Alonso.-His record speaks for him.
3.Hansi Flick
The great Thierry is a far inferior manager compared to Arteta who also is a midrange manager.
For all the bashing Mikel gets from fans (me included), he not a bad coach or manager, neither is he an elite manager. He has taken us from 6th to 2nd twice and maybe this year too. Something Pat Viera, Frank Lampard, Rooney, Henry could not achieve with their teams. Nistelroy too is having a hard time at Leicester. Can Mikel take us from 2nd to 1st either in EPL or UCL.I doubt. Having a full strength team, playing at home we went down 0-2 to NU. Shameful indeed. At least Arsene used these cup ties to give exposure to the academy players, thereby saving himself from the embarrassment. We need a change, it has been 5 years, mega investment, no returns with silverware. Maybe he has a phobia towards established players , so he prefers to work with castoffs, that’s the reason for Kai, Sterling, Zinny, Gabby J., being hired. As to owners seeing the return on investment, they are billionaires for a reason, they invest wisely. They gaze will be on Mikel as well, knowing that Forest and Newcastle are not far behind with an player investment nothing compared to ours.
Utter bedwetters. Lose one game at home and all start crying.
Think it’s the whole 5 years mate
As this is purely hypothetical and it would take more than this current hiccup for me to want to see the back off Arteta, I quite like the quiet manner in which Iraola goes about his work. Bournemouth are not a fashionable team and his start was the stuff of nightmares, but since then I think he’s been very good.
Couldn’t agree more, I have been impressed by him since he took over Bournemouth same with the Fulham manager
It’s grossly premature to start talking about replacing Arteta. The man still has a lot to offer. I believe that his rebuilding of the Arsenal squad is still a work-in-progress. There are still a few tweaks needed to complete the process.
Good thing is that the bulk of the players around whom the team is buildt are still young and have years of good football ahead of them.
So, yes to patience; no to any knee-jerk action.
Arteta has not been bad enough to get sacked, but also has not been good enough to be deemed “irreplaceable” in my opinion.
A serious question about him taking us as far as he can is relevant. I think his system has maxed out and taken us as far as it can.
Without an upgrade in the striker position, without a more balanced midfield and not 4 DM’s on the roster, I don’t see us winning a PL or CL title.
Inverted fullbacks are a good situational tactic, but not a good system IMO. You need a striker at times, you need that cold-blooded finisher whose primary job is scoring goals; not just interchanging and dropping deep into midfield to help with buildup.
IMO next year should be focused on results, not the project, or process, or stage 6 or whatever else. It is time Arteta’s masterplan starts delivering, not an endless carousel of players, reshuffling the LB and GK positions.
Arteta must go!! My opinion
Reason: trophies, trophies , trophies , trophies and trophies are what we need. He’s not bringing them.
Do you know how stupid this sounds? I’ll explain…
By the statement you have just made if Arsenal under Arteta played incredibly aesthetic football, beautiful attacking play, fast build-up exciting stuff but finished 2nd every year and lost in the final of the ECL every year he should be sacked?
But… If this style of turgid, boring, sideways passing nonsense that gets nowhere but keeps us close enough to the leaders and then Liverpool fall apart somehow in the final few league games and he manages to sneak a league title he’s golden?
No one is guaranteed to win trophies, we can only hope to compete and hope the football is entertaining along the way. You have to start regulating your expectations. History will get you knitting except a divine sense of entitlement.
@Ben, you’re the one sounding stupid with your explanation.
Just listen: “ But… If this style of turgid, boring, sideways passing nonsense that gets nowhere but keeps us close enough to the leaders and then Liverpool fall apart somehow in the final few league games”
If you truly believe why you wrote then that says it all. Funny
*what
I have never liked this type of question, because “whoever” replaces Arteta is irrelevant.
The only question needing to be answered is – do we need a change in manager?
At the moment, definitely not! We haven’t been great this season for sure, but it’s not all Arteta’s fault. Those 3 early sending offs cost us a potential 7 extra points, and we’ve had a massive injury crisis since day one. which only seems to be getting worse by the week!
That said, it does feel like even the sensible fans are starting to turn a little against him. We really need a good signing or two in January to give everyone a lift.
It will be a disgrace if Arsenal don’t sign at least one quality forward this month.
Lucy78, so if we don’t sign at least one quality player this month, would you deem it such a disgrace that you would then call for his sacking?
No I wouldn’t, but it would be terrible squad management, given we knew we were short in the summer, and now throw in the injury to our only quality forward in Saka, and poor form of all other attackers (including Odegaard).
I would only ever call for a sacking during the season if it were clear a manager had lost the dressing room, which was the case with Emery.
Thanks for the reply.
Like you, I would see it as terrible squad management and if it was to happen (no new signings that is) who would be to blame and what should be the outcome of such a scenario?
Well I am not exactly not the financial situation is now and during last summer, but I believe they are in a position to make a big signing this month.
The huge problem they’ve left themselves is trying to make a quality signing mid season, when no one wants to sell, or you have to massively pay over the odds.
I agree with the main thrust of your comments. At this point there is little to suggest the need for a change in manager so to speculate on a replacement is not really helpful.
The squad is light in some areas and some of us did actually note this at the beginning of the season. Based on Arsenal’s transfer activity and other available information one can only assume that the club was being relatively cautious with spending. It is worth noting that over a 5 year period our net spend has fallen below that of Spurs according to some sources.
Whilst I agree that many fans would like to see a top forward come in I think it is unlikely that Arsenal will go big in this window unless we have severe setbacks.
Considering this is his first real endeavour as a manager, I think he’s not doing that bad as to call for his sacking, just yet. Yeah, I’m quite critical of certain aspects of his managerial style, but feel he does have it in him to take us to another level. Can’t speculate on what it is he needs to do in order to achieve that, but I’m sure he’ll come to the realisation as to what it is. Hopefully sooner rather than later. Just sayin…
NY-Gunner,
Arsenal are not a Youth Training Scheme for up and coming managers.
He’s had 5 seasons now along with his phases, and it looks highly likely that we’re in for another fruitless season trophy wise.
What is Arteta doing, treating Arsenal as his learning school, until Manchester City come knocking, should Guardiola decide to leave at some point.
I doubt he can manage a club like Man City. To win big trophies big personalities are needed and Arteta won’t have them in his squad because of his sensitivity and fragile ego.
All great managers who have achieved great things knew how to tame those big personalities, not run away from them.
Exactly HH ,he doesn’t like those big ego players because his is as big as it can get .
Hes a controller ,Narcissistic pretty much .
Just hoping if we go empty handed this season the club gets rids before the few good players we have decide to move on .
So much monies spent over the last 6 seasons to still be in the same predicament.
Haha one of the most ignorant comments I have red at JA, impressing level. How much money have the other top clubs spent? We had a “very competitive squad” when Arteta got the job in December 2019, only between 25 or 40 points behind ManCity and Liverpool 😂😂
In addition, where are we nowadays? We need to win a title no doubt, but now we can at least expect it to happen. Winning the FA cup in 2020 was nice, but I doubt they could have done it again, it was against most odds.
Thanks buddy ,I appreciate that ,means a lot
I don’t like to write like I did, but your negative narrative provokes me. I don’t think Arteta is perfect, nobody is, but I’m going to support our players and manager and do whatever I can to help them be successful. When it’s time to replace him we will do.
A new manager doesn’t bring any guarantee of success. If you worry about money spent you should also worry about the total cost of replacing a manager and his staff. From my perspective Arteta has done a very good job, it could have been better and it could definitely have been worse. I don’t see any reason to replace him yet.
That’s cute mate ,you gave me your full force and took it back because I made you feel guilty .
My advice would be “just give it to me ,no offence taken or given .
I don’t get offended)unlike some on here ).
Next time give me your best ,and I’ll give you mine (just hope you can take it )
” next time give me your best, and I’ll give you mine ( just hope you can take it ) “.
What a pathetic thing to say, what are you 10 years old.
Alittle but older than that buddy .
But thanks for you output
Sorry mate, had nothing to do with that, but me not liking my approach even if I get provoked. Now our team have trouble and they need our support. COYG
I can bet he Will be one of the managers City will look at should they need to replace Pep……
Derek
Think about your training school remark. He’s the employee and the Kroenke’s didn’t employ him to be that
@DEREK
I never said it was a YTS. Most managers come into a new team with something under their belts and still have to figure how best to make their situation work for the better. Mikel came in with zero. I’m sure he was overwhelmed by the scope of the task before him, who wouldn’t be. Nd yet, he has made some improvements. I’m sure those little successes inflated him somewhat. And my guess is, he’s at the point where he sees he has to get grounded or get gone. But, the call for his sacking reminds me of what the fans did to AW in his final days. And it turns my stomach. As soon as the fans turn ugly on the manager all chaos ensues. Leaving the team in turmoil once again. Only making it difficult for whoever may replace him. And possibly putting a damper on any developments we have made thus far. Just sayin…
Thank you NY_Gunner nice writing 👏👏
With you on this NY_Gunner. Big gamble to change course now. Thierrys a lovely fella but does he want to totally destroy his legendary status with us, someone suggested him😁
Putting everything into context, he is 2nd place in the league, consistently making UCL. His job is not in danger. This isn’t Real Madrid. Things can fall apart very fast though if we keep not winning trophies and the Saliba’s, Odegaard’s, Gabriel’s start pushing for transfers somewhere else.
Top comment 👏
Which is a sad state of affairs if we don’t win anything this season
“Utter bedwetters”, best comment of the year so far 👏.
Wow you’re easily pleased GB .
Mind you you did say this year ,only 10 days in so I’ll let you off .
I gave up on Arteta at the end of last season, he should have won us the league 2 years in a row and somehow managed to gift it to city again, we might as well stick with him until the end of the season then make a change in the summer, the football is so bad to watch and on top of that we don’t win trophies anymore.
I like the chap at Bournemouth who is doing a great job on a shoe string budget, would he be any worse than Arteta?
When are we winning trophies?
Next season is my final chance for him to win something or leave.
With a good offer we can get Zidane, Simeone or Allegri.
For the record, and I wrote the article, I do not think Arteta should be sacked. Certainly not now and not after what amounts to one bad result against a very good team that was set up perfectly to play against our style.
The article was more intended to invite conversation and allow others to express their views and vent a little! As someone mentioned this is Arteta’s first appointment as manager and in 5 years he has finished 2nd in the league twice in succession. On the face of it anyone would have to admit that is an excellent record, despite the relative lack of trophies. It is more this apparent unwillingness to stray from his preferred method and adapt on the fly that irks.
For a manager MA is still young as has many years to learn and hopefully adapt. I think given his record since being appointed he deserves a lot of credit and a lot of time to see if he can bring home a couple of trophies.
I truly welcome your post
I’m sure the handful of clubs that have won the league since the inception of the EPL over 30 years ago respect that achievement and are proud to have done so. It wouldn’t go amiss to have the good grace to accept that winning isn’t a divine right – however big you consider Arsenal to be.
This is the path that Arsenal are on right now. Far better than most fellow premier league teams and yet the calls for a change don’t have a sound base in reality
I’ve just scrolled up to NYG who has firmly hit the nail on the head. It’s not just a case of being careful what you wish for but having the common sense not to undermine this season
SueP you are definitely amongst the top set of pupils in this weird class we have here.
I honestly think now is the time the club should be looking at replacements with a view to making a change in the summer. I think arteta has done a fantastic job in changing the mentality and perception of the club, and has built an excellent foundation for success, but he now looks out of ideas – he’s focusing on defence and defenders, but realistically, we have one attacker who makes it into most teams in the league, and the others don’t – and that’s after spending a ridiculous amount of money. I don’t like calling for him to be “sacked”, but if we want to progress and take advantage of the positive changes he’s made, we need to make the change of management – otherwise all that good work will be undone. As others have said, our top players aren’t all going to stick around to be nearly men forever.
There’s a league full of nearly men Davi – not just at Arsenal
Well, I wouldn’t say that – there’s winners, former winners, up-and-coming potential winners, average players, and some perennial nearly men – no one wants to be in that latter group, which is why they don’t tend to stay at “nearly clubs” forever. Those players will feel they’re good enough and want to be winners, so they’ll move to get what they want if they have to. We simply can’t reliably replace players like saliba, saka and the like, and we can’t expect them all to be loyal to arsenal forever – we’ve seen this before with nasri, fabregas and van persie.
Arteta has imo fostered a firm and genuine desire to win competitions, which is admirable because I don’t think that’s what we had when he first joined, but now he/arsenal has to deliver asap or it will all fall down and we’ll have to rebuild again.
I would imagine players find the process of continually nearly winning but just missing out extremely draining – I could see that as a strong motivator for moving clubs after a period of time. Just getting over the line once must be a real relief, as then they’ve proven they can do it.
So all these players are going to rock up where exactly?
Other clubs. Real Madrid seems likely for saliba.
I take your point, Davi
I was making a general point that the majority are nearly men as there is only a small pool of players who will ever win anything, even more so over the last 9/10 years due to City’s dominance in all domestic competitions . Of course, the players should be ambitious for themselves. I’m sure they recognise the risks involved and the possibility that leaving doesn’t always work out as hoped – Kalvin Phillips springs to mind. The very best talent has a far better chance of success as in Saliba who is on RM’s radar which is the player you mentioned. Timing matters too
👍
I’m not sure I agree the majority are nearly men – it’s probably just semantics. I’d imagine most players know quite early on that they not going to be premier league champions and will be happy having a good career by playing as many seasons as possible in the top league. That’s what I mean by “average” players. I suspect most will have at some point hoped to become among the best in the league, but were ultimately hit by reality (not as good as they thought, held back by injuries etc), so in a sense most were “nearly men” at one point.
It is getting more and more frustrating to read articles on justarsenal. Even in case of an intriguing topic, quite often you have to read through emotional blabbering and “arguments” with no regard to facts and reality. And the intriguing topic itself? “Someone like Simeone”? Wow, thank you, what a refreshing idea. Vieira with no success behind him. Santi with no experience at all. No thank you. Please focus more on quality and analysis or try to be funny or give any other added value, this is just a bad therapy for the author and other fans in a bad mood.
Let’s be fair, a few years ago we were struggling to get into Europe, now we are in a similar position to where we were with Wenger, always getting into the top four but very few trophies, and people weren’t happy with Wenger, and look where that got us. My main worry at the moment, is that over the past two transfer windows we have made a lot of sales / give aways, and very few new players. Our squad is wafer thin, and that’s why us as a team and the individual players are suffering.
Correction mate
Only time we struggled to get into Europe was under Arteta
And that’s the point
We pushed out the greatest manager in our history because only finishing 4th was not good enough to 7 years later accept top 4 ?
In reply to your last paragraph, I didn’t know he was pushed out for only finishing 4th. Didn’t it have something to do with finishing 5th and 6th?
@Dan
Contrary to what Wenger haters in a closet would make themselves believe, you are right that fans started pushing Wenger out because of the top 4 trophy, long long before he finished 5th or 6th.
Peeps were crying for trophies and were not satisfied with only top 4. Some of those Muppets nowadays have taken a 360 because they are smitten by our politician manager.
Are you not crying trophies now?
Actually Dan, the only time we were OUT of Europe….
I’m not sure the fanbase is “accepting top four” Dan, otherwise we wouldn’t be having this debate.
The call is “where are the trophies” as if following the club means one is entitled to have them!!
As for pushing Arsene out, the only two people who can REALLY claim to have done that, are Silent Stan and Ivan Gazidis and, in my opinion, only did that with the consent of the great man himself.
I love Wenger and will always back him, but we treated him really bad and it started long time before he left in 2018.
I travelled from Norway to say merci Wenger against Burnley the same year. It was worth every penny spent and for him I would have done it again. He gave his heart for this club, but we treated him very bad! To ask for a change doesn’t mean being disrespectful with Merci Wenger.
Thierry Henry
In any case, an exciting week ahead. Three big games, four managers with a lot to prove. I wouldn’t be surprised if we won all three, but then at the same time I wouldn’t be shocked if we lost all three such is the fine line with this Arsenal team. So close to being champions or imposters. Wil be watching with the enthusiasm of a 16 year old.Hope to get egg on my face for being a doubter and who knows Angus might come out of the woodwork to once again to put scorn on the non believers.
Joe.S
Is there a supporter anywhere who doesn’t get the pre match jitters?
I think the match today is a really tough one to call for all sorts of reasons. Utd managed to surprise Liverpool and Almorim will, see the game as vital to their recovery. Arsenal are fighting on many fronts with 2 important league games approaching. The fact that the recent disappointing results are in everyone’s minds will only serve to put plenty of pressure on Arteta’s shoulders and to the players themselves. This is heightened by the high scoring games yesterday (albeit against lower league teams) where Liverpool and City battered the opposition
We will know one way or the other when we see the team sheet where Arteta’s priorities lie
If we don’t win anything, then he must be replaced. No more trusting the process, or we are building a team; it is that simple!
I do believe that Nuno Santo is the man for us.
I don’t see this issue being discussed elsewhere, so why here? Will you be sponsoring an “Arteta out” banner soon?
Perhaps it’s because we have a cross section of fans who enjoy debating all things Arsenal Jax?
Yeah Ken but why something that shouldn’t even be an issue at this time. I’ve not seen it even hinted elsewhere, although I don’t see everything.
The answer (for me) is in the number of advertiser pleasing hits this has generated.
Jax, if we lose today, you can be certain that MA ‘s future will be the story of the day!!
Ken, goes with the territory I guess.
Hope you were happy with Arteta’s coaching and the performance of his chosen ones Jax. Spineless!!!