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Victory over Chelsea proves Mikel Arteta has done wonders with a weak Arsenal squad

Mikel Arteta has given us all something to be happy about! by Konstantin Mitov

Good evening lovely Arsenal people and congratulations! We’ve won the FA cup and we’re believe it or not deserved winners!

We played an outstanding semi-final against City and now we managed to dig ourselves back from a bad start to beat Chelsea 2-1, and get a trophy that secures European football for next season.

And again when it mattered I saw an Arsenal team that didn’t lack character, that wasn’t afraid to dig deep and eventually our team spirit and the immense quality of Aubameyang delivered a trophy. Sure we got a bit lucky, but fortune favours the brave and brave we were tonight!

It doesn’t take away from the fact this was a dreadful league season, but history remembers trophy winners and we’ve added a 14th cup and that number is so symbolic with Arsenal!

Our captain fantastic simply must sign a new deal. Give him 250k or whatever. He has been an absolute leader and I love the guy. He’s the one player of no-doubt-quality in the side and it’s a disgrace we have a person caring more about politics than football on 350k and our main man on less.

But a few other players have risen from the dead like Xhaka, who was almost out of the door. David Luiz had two redemption performances against City and Chelsea. Mustafi who was missing today, but has also vastly improved in recent times.

And this is all down to one man called Mikel Arteta. I’ve been sceptical and I was worried when we signed him, but I’m not gonna lie, I’m happy we got him.

He delivered wins against United, City, Liverpool and Chelsea. Think of the last time this has happened in one season. Sure, there were some shocking performances and some lackluster ones, but the task left at his hands was tough and it’s still not getting any easier.

We must be realistic that our squad needs massive improvements in every area, apart from Auba and the keepers. But with what he received, he man-managed brilliantly. Laca got dropped so he could prove a point and pick up form to earn his spot. So was Pepe and so was AMN.

We have a setup now and you must earn your place in it. You can be a high hopeful like Guendouzi, but if your attitude is wrong you are out. You can be Ozil, and not even be in the group. If you don’t fight, you don’t play.

The man has won me over from his stylish looks, beautiful smile and from his immense first press-conference to the way he has managed the situation.

He never hid the fact that we are miles behind the likes of City and Liverpool and he publicly said what basically everyone and their brother knew, that “there is no magic”. We need to spend to improve our quality. He asked to be backed in the summer and showed that he can be trusted.

The man had come into a state of misery, where fans had turned very hard on pretty much everything at the club – and he has united everyone. Look at the smiles on those player faces. I have not seen them this happy in at least 5 seasons and, even though we finished 8th, there’s something to look forward to. Arteta gave me hope and made me excited to watch Arsenal again and this cup is largely due to his work.

Of course it’s the players on the pitch who do the work in the end, and one player who I believe we all can agree needs a special mention is Emi Martinez. I’m sure you’ve heard of his story and how he helped his very poor family in Argentina by coming to play in England and after spending nearly 10 years being an Arsenal player without really playing for us, what he has done is immense.

And Leno was one of our best players before his injury, but I feel Emi has been superb both with his saves and his distribution, and he has given calmness and stability to a defense famous for it’s mistakes. I’m so happy for him and for me Leno needs to win his spot back, because at the post, we have a solid player right now.

We must remain humble and continue the hard work, because the way back to the champions league is not easy. But tonight is an evening to celebrate and we’ve really needed one of these.

Konstantin

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72 Comments

        1. Super Hilarious Sue. I can’t start to imagine how depressed they must feel after last night. Having to go play in europa league playoffs despite finishing ahead of us. 😂

          1. Oh I love it, Kstix!! I bet Maureen isn’t jumping for joy anymore now!! And I also saw that their new kit is made.out of recycled plastic bottles – taking ‘bottling’ to a whole new level 🤣🤣

        2. This victory belongs to Aubameyang. I am a Arsenal fan and very happy, but I don’t think Mikel Arteta is so great.

          2. Calling yourself an arsenal fan are you?what a joke! can’t even give credit where it’s due,how sad!

          3. Arteta is a great manager. give him opportunity to buy 2 or 3 players to make arsenal great again !!!!!!

          5. Do u need to be great or have great players to win the league or a trophy??.. Look at pep’s mancity or Liverpool’s klopp, how many great players or world class players were came before they started winning trophies?… Everyone knew Salah was a flop, mane and van dijk were struggling at Southampton and even the star man at Southampton then was Morgan schinderlin left, rejected Arsenal who needed him when we had DM issues and ran to mourinho’s united cos he felt he’d win trophies and make a lot of money but where’s he today… This proves a point that a player should go to where is needed and where would force him to deliver… And that’s who Arteta is. He came to Arsenal cos he knew the problem and that’s what Wenger missed and emery failed to know. Emery never knew arsenal’s problem. Even on the road to Baku, I was scared on many occasions that we would lose b4 the final but our strike force always bailed us out. Klopp knew Liverpool’s problem and that’s why they’re premier league’s champions and as u can see, Arteta has won his first trophy in less time than any other Arsenal manager, with a 12th position squad and u say he’s not great???… Think again

          6. This is a stereotypical statement to make. For me the Victory and our Successes this season is down to Arteta he made the difference… U can sarcastically say its cos of Auba it happened or was he not there last season wen same Chelsea thrashed us in the Europa league?

    5. Hmmm Chelski or Spuds fan? Doesnt matter because they both have no trophies this season 😂😂😂

  2. Transfer Checker:
    Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is set to sign a 3-year contract extension with Arsenal in the coming weeks. #AFC

    1. That’s a great news. I hope it’s true. Then kip ceballos, sign partey, coutinho ( I believe he will find the form he left in England with us) and szobalai. Let’s go back to 433

    2. Hope so Sue I just made a comment on a prev article saying i was not confident Auba will stay as his body language and the way he brushed off the are you staying questions to me it was the perfect opportunity to come out and say hes staying but I recon he had already made his mind up to move on hes 30 will he win prem league or champions league with Arsenal in the next 3 years not a chance in hell so if its about winning trophies then I can’t blame him if he did leave!!

      1. Just do it now already 🤣 I had my doubts, Danny, but I think yesterday helped. He’s happy here and with Arteta, plus we’re going to give him what he wants… and hopefully bring in a few players, so if we can get back in the CL at some point – happy days!
        A player of his calibre should be in the CL…
        I’m so looking forward to another 3 years of those goals and that celebration flip 😁 love the guy!

    4. I called it Sue. All you needed to verify was Arteta’s post match Interview. He sounded really confident Auba was gonna sign especially now that he’s won a trophy and going to play in Europe next season which were the guarantees Auba needed to get before signing. Apart from signing new players of course and this europa qualification just proves we will sign players which ticks all his conditions. Happy to have him sign. Best goal tally of any player in the epl since he arrived in February 2018. What a striker, what a phenomenal player we have. Only wish he was younger so he could play the next 5 to 10 years for us. He’s done enough to be an Arsenal legend. His 4 goals took us through the semis and the final. Phenomenal

      1. You did indeed, Kstix 👏👏
        I will breath a huge sigh of relief once it’s signed haha!!
        The guy is a machine… I reckon he could go on for longer than 3 years!!
        This will be the most important bit of business we do this window, for sure.
        You’re right, he is a legend… and it will only get better over these next 3 years and we will enjoy every bloody second of it!! Awesome Auba 👌

        1. I’m looking forward to next season with the inclusion of Partey and maybe coutinho. Not to forget we have saliba back. I wish ceballos’ deal could be made permanent rather than a loan deal. He seems to really love Arteta and enjoys playing for Arsenal as he has massively improved his game. when Auba signs, we have a champions league team on our hands. I hope the board doesn’t fluff the signing of Auba and Partey. These two will be very crucial for us next season.
          If Partey does come in Sue, who do you see him replacing in the first team assuming we play a 4-3-3. It’s hard right now to not see any of the players we had yesterday in the first eleven if Partey signs. Especially AMN, ceballos and saka. It will be a good selection headache for Arteta.

          1. Yes I’d love for him to stay… even Danny Murphy said he was the best player on the pitch yesterday!! He’s been top notch, he really has!
            Do you know what, Kstix, I don’t know now. I always thought Xhaka.. but I don’t think MA would drop him. Apparently he’s been a long term admirer of Partey, so he’ll slot straight in, but not got a scooby for who!! That is one headache I would not want to have 🤣
            I’m so happy to see everyone on top of their game, putting in brilliant displays, it’s a joy to watch!!
            Thank you, Mikel!! 👍

    5. Morning Sue (and all). A very heavy night but I’m still alive – Fantastic day yesterday and if you are right Sue and Auba does sign it will be another piece of silverware! Speaking of Auba and Silverware, how funny was that cup celebration!

      How reliable is Transfer Checker, Sue?

      1. Afternoon, GunneRay!! Glad to hear it 😉
        It was hilarious!! Loved it!!
        It’s the only site I go by… so now we just have to sit tight and wait… hope it won’t be too long though – I’m not very patient 🤣

  4. If we moved on Ozil, we could afford a much more improved contract for Auba at over or around £300k. The question would now be, is Auba worth £300k? Can we risk giving another aging player £300k+ after the Ozil 4 year saga? In the Coronavirus economy? If the board reject the chance to extend Aubameyang by refusing to pay whatever his agent is asking for, I will respect the decision. I only ask Auba leaves the EPL and does not come back to bite us in the bum!

    1. Auba is worth every penny QD, He’s one of the most consistent players we’ve had for years unlike the one season wonder Ozil. In case you forgot, let me remind you of some of his stats which are crazy considering he has not scored all his chances (otherwise, he’ll just be an alien like Messi and Ronaldo).

      Scored 22 goals in the epl last season and this season. First arsenal player to reach 50 goals for Arsenal. Highest goal scorer in the league since he joined in February 2018. Scored 4 goals, 2 in semis and 2 in the final. The 4 goals got us the trophy. His pace is second to none. His second goal against Chelsea was spectacular. Now with all these, why would you not want to keep this guy on anything he asked for, for 3 more years.

      Ozil passed double digits of assist just once in his over 5 years of playing for Arsenal and has been poor or average for the rest. Aubameyang has broken a couple of Henry’s records already.

      I just hope ozil has gone to Turkey to complete his medicals for a Turkish team

      1. A good argument Kstix! His overall performance is amazing when you look at the bigger picture though he has also come under fire for “disappearing” when he doesn’t score. If he extends I’ll be thrilled, if he refuses he leaves as a legend! As for Ozil, @gotanidea had mentioned to me he was in Turkey when we were winning the FA Cup trophy so it must have been something super important! A transfer I hope 😛

    2. It’s a complicated one there, but 250k a week isn’t bad, and AUBA isn’t anything like Ozil, since his (Ozil) arrival, his body language has been showing how he may not be able to ‘trackback’ /be agile, only that we were overwhelmed with the joy of finally having a ‘big name’s in our team after a long time, then we turned a blind eye to his inefeciencies, we started to blame everyone around him for his lack of effort, we made O. Giroud bear the brunt, he only had one good season and the board fear of losing 2 big name in same windows, got him his ridiculous wages, however this is a different scenarios, AUBA is such an important player who has consistently proved his goalscoring abilities even while not in form, still, if he didn’t extend, and decide to leave, I wouldnt complain and am sure most fans will understand

    3. Is Ozil the kind of “person” to sit on the bench for another year? Just to get his ridiculous wage for doing nothing. With every week that goes by he loses his status as a great player. He’s fading into history. We need to move him on, yes. But how many clubs are now likely to take him on (knowing now what we all know about him)?

      1. GunneRay, Yes, he has amply proved he is exactly that kind of mercenary and dishonourable person. Surely you don’t need to ask , after all the proof he has given these last four years! A man who refuses to ” EARN” his wages is a cheat and is defrauding the club and us fans.

  5. The reality is, MA is a fast learner, he has shown how he can be flexible and adapt to different condition. He made mistakes as a rookie coach and he quickly bounce back, he might have discovered our team isn’t equipped enough to go toe-to-toe with the big boys without losing, probably spur match gave him the idea, I hope we buy smart in the summer, can this countinho play as our creator? Behind the striker? Fingers crossed,
    And those that blame him for playing AUBA in the wing, what else do you want to complain about.
    I can’t wait for our first markey signings.
    And the ‘play from behind ‘? It’s now beautifully perfected. Thanks to UE who introduced it, and MA who perfected it, seeing Xhaka playing with such concentration is a joy to watch

  6. Good morning everyone here,I love you guys wining the FA CUP is very important for us thank you AUBA

  7. the squad is not weak….

    we have a number of international players and young, inexperience and talented youngsters…..

    we just lack of a good playmaker and the core players

    most of our players have not played together for at least 2 seasons in the league

  8. It was a season of 2 halves
    The first half I lost all hope under Emery
    No one could know for sure if Arteta had the mentality and desire that he has shown. Working under Pep is no guarantee of greatness. Already he has shown what so many other managers will never get to.
    I’m ecstatic we beat Chelsea and equally chuffed that Spurs haven’t won anything yet with Mourinho

    We have the future and they have yesterday’s man

    Rock on!! COYG

    1. That was a historic trophy lisfting.
      Both the dropping and the reaction by the team were priceless. We keep making history.

  10. Its funny how all arsenal problems are being directed at mesut…

    And i know for a fact that mesut is not playing because of something behind the scenes,its not the workrate or training problems because ornstein revealed earlier in this year that mesut is one of those who has really impressed MA at training and ornsteins reports are rarely wrong.So is it the paycut or the system being used,i dont know….

    Then Aubas contract,i dont know if he will sign but i will not be disappointed even if he did not.He is a superb player and superb human off the pitch i believe,no doubt in that and i dont want him to get the stick that mesut gets because auba is not gonna sign a small contract and he is going to have off days.

    COYG
    JUST MY OPINION

  11. Come on now, we won FA cup and save our mediocre season.

    Lets not lose our mind each time we win a game then everyone trash team on a lost.

    Overall we have a good squad, miss a DM, CB and playmaker.

    But it is really up to coach to put formation on pitch. Often he had it wrong which makes tac tic wrong, can’t apply it with wrong formation.

    Let’s be humble and not forget this alll season til last 2 shitty games we lost, watford is no win, we all saw the game.

    Arteta is still in devellopment to become a head coach he was appointed from assistant this season.

    Or we do not lose and lucky draw so many games against so called smaller team. Win City to lose Villa is simply not acceptable as 3 points we did not take against such teams since restart.

    I remember Man U behind us then, they in CL we had shot for at restart but this formation issue had us miss as we did EL in EPL by losing to such teams.

    Arteta is still experimenting and dont have it yet, no regularity at all.

    I want more from him, not a Cup but top4; he must make better choices when he has players available; not wait for injuries to realize Sokratis is behind mustafi who is behind Chambers and are all above Luiz at CB spot.

    he extends our weak spot and sign another average CB injured since he arrived; Mari.

    .

    He is very much still develloping, experimenting, guessing; not me saying it but his formation and results in EPL.

    I want him to progress to a head coach faster than he does by making more good choices or we will be in CL; we had opportunity at least twice since he got there; same for EL; all ruined by games as Villa.

    Such game or watford makes city win useless as Auba goals most season we end up draw or lost in the end.

    To sign Luiz to lead our defense next year cant be a good news; if cup win had you forget all season; it shows how desperate we got.

    Reach EL is okay to jump for midtable team, not Arsenal but our reality, 10th before last game we almost trashed; 2 points above 10th spot; we in midtable.

    Im not happy at all but glad for players we at least made it to EL and Cup win or it would have been really sad for them first.

    Coach is rated upon results which come with regularity and consistency we do not have.

    We have a better overall squad than Chelsea, Wolves or Foxes, but behind them…

    I cant possibly happy to see that he is resigning our less consistent player in defense to continue as where he left it at in EPL.

    Napoli wants Torreira and Kolas for a year now; but instead to save money to make space for Koulibaly; he signs Luiz as leader and Mari. Choices!!!

    If anyone here can argue that we should not think and beat around the bush but sign Koulibaly having this opportunity; then it best to not even bother…

    Reds did just that, cut all BS, brought Virgil; ended their defense issue.

    That is Arteta lack of experience, not a money issue; we can sign Koulibaly for a all year; but Arteta in winter refused to lose Torreira to end up not using him since injured…

    Wrong choices and totally retarded move on Luiz instead.. If some of you expect us to strenghen with Luiz as our defense leader; goid luck.

    And please dont bring money; o just pointed Torreira been Napoli priority since winter season and ther new coach.. If you familiar with him you can get why he also want kolas; he was a warrior on the pitch…

    Technically Auba or Laca should be sold to facilitate Koulibaly deal. A matter of choice; we have options kn attack and need that beadt CB in priority. Matter of Arteta choice.

    Main issue we have is injuries; how can almost every CBs be injured when we had them all back at mid term?

    Why Virgil or others are there all season long? If we bring Virgil he will be injured same; as all our big boys.

    Something is not right for us to not solve this for ages…Key in success!

    1. Mogunna, Mikel Arteta, like Unai Emery before him, needs the financial support of the Board and senior executive to sign the players he wants. You have, in my view, rightly identified the major deficiencies in this team, which have been evident for some years: DM, CAM (box to box) and CB.
      The coming transfer window will show whether the necessary support will be given to Arteta (unlike Emery) to address those deficiencies. The Koulibaly’s of this world do not come cheap.
      You see Arteta experimenting as a weakness as others did with Emery, making comments that he “tinkered” and didn’t know his best team. In Emery and Arteta’s defense, particularly in defense and midfield, injury and sometimes suspensions, limited players available for selection. Tierney, Bellerin, Kolasinac, numerous CB’s, Ceballos, Ozil, Torreira and Xhaka have been unavailable for numerous matches over the past two seasons.
      This FA Cup win has shown the potential to build on, when players are available for selection. All that is needed now is financial support for Arteta in the transfer market for quality players addressing player deficiencies.

  13. I dont think partey is a good player for asernal.He is slow and this attribute will make him not a good fit

      1. Don’t just dismiss his thoughts. I am hyped for Partey as well based on what I have read here but I have never watched him play and I knew he exists here on JA. If you have watched him play okay but if you haven’t maybe Happy has seen him play regularly to make that comment?

  14. Ozzie agree with you regard 11 players, but we wouldn’t have won this cup yesterday if we didn’t had Auba and that is the absolute truth

    1. Not disagreeing, but you need a team to defend, win the ball back and provide opportunities for Aubameyang to score.

    2. Martin, we won’t have won that final if it wasn’t for Bellerin run, Pepe’s pass and the long range pass from was it Luis or Xhaka. My point is all the players contributed hugely for our triumph and not just Auba. Except you want to say we hall 11 Auba on the pitch

    3. And of course if Auba hadn’t scored those goals. Every player on the pitch played their parts. The second goal came from the defensive position from our players which Auba wasn’t part of at that particular time as he was waiting for all a long passing from his teammates.

  15. I wish to concur with most of the objective views expressed in here and disagree with those who have made it a habit to demean our team. Former world heavyweight boxing champion Mohammed Ali said that ” I may fall a thousand times but my heart will never fall.” That should be the thinking of a true Gooner.
    I wish to categorically state that our team is not weak at all. We had a false start last season but we are not weak. It is not by accident that we won yesterday because in the season which has just ended we beat Man U, Man City and Liverpool. This is not withstanding the fact that we had a number of injuries including Pablo Mari, Calum Chambers, Gabriel Martinelli, Bernd Leno and Mustafi. How then can anyone claim that we are weak? We only need about 2-3 additions and our team will be competing with the best.

    1. Concur DR – We must also remember the injuries we had at the start of this season season and the fact that mustafi, mari and martinelli will miss the start of next season!!!!

      That’s why it’s imperative MA gets the backing he deserves from the kronkies.

  16. To me, we have nothing to prove to the spurs cos we are not in the same category. I want us to catch up with the big teams not spurs.

  17. Im not sure the squad is weak but it is unreliable and not trust worthy. The league will be a different proposition to the cups, we have been a cup team for the last 5 years but the league as been slipping down every year.

  18. Your right David, the acquisition of 2/3 quality players to strengthen the spine of the team, could well be enough to make us real challengers again.

  20. Please don’t mention Xhaka because instead of marking the goal scorer, he raised his hand to pressurize the referee in blowing the whistle

  21. Undoubtedly Arteta is a great Manager. To take over a average team(except auba) and mturn them into mentally strong and resilient players, beating Utd. Chelsea, Liverpool and Man City in the same season, that requires some great man management and intelligent thinking. For sure Auba is our messiah, but full credit to Arteta for having turned our team into a trophy winning one. The future looks bright and could look even brighter with some signings, which I think could be: Partey, Coutinho and Sarr. Up the Gunners!

  22. Hi Mobella
    I agree with you soccer is an 11 players game, all 11 need to play together everyone knows that, but how may strikers will score 4 goals in 2 games against City and Chelsea. You think Lacazette, he can’t hardly score 4 in 10 games. Our FA cup is 300% due to Auba and. Arteta is not so great and that is my opinion, you don’t have to agree with me, if fine if you don’t agree with me. You can’t be great just after winning the FA cup, Wigan also win the FS cup not so long ago and look where they are now. I am 300% Arsenal, but I don’t like what Arteta is doing with Arsenal.
    He already made a lot of mistakes
    1. Playing Anba out of position, don’t tell me that he is scoring a lot from the wing position. He is scoring gaols even since he is playing soccer. Auba is not happy playing on the wing, his own brother said it already.
    2. Poor Introducing of Saka in the team, just 18 old and coming in, playing all over the pitch, and not in his position, left wing, I don’t know if you realize that Saka never start a game after the Liverpool game, this is after he came in as a sub and had to change position twice (and he was a sub). He threw the ball to the ground at one point like Mateo did early in the season
    3. Keep Xhaka & David at the club
    4. Depression of Matteo value
    5. Doesn’t play our best front 3 together, Auba in the middle, Saka on the left and Pepe on the right, 7 months in and he can’t pick our strongest team
    6. It took him 3 months to realize that Ceballos was key to our midfield
    7. Cost us the game against Villa, with a poor team selection, now Villa is not relegated and Jack Grealish is worth 80 mil
    8. Subs that make no sense, in one game it looks like he forgets make a sub.
    9. The players already signed are all average players
    10. Now this rookie is in charge to rebuild our team, the one area where we really need to improve, I don’t have much confidence in him.
    There are a couple of good things he did.
    1. Keep Ozil out of the team
    2. Pick Mustafi over Sokratis
    3. He improving tour defence a bit
    4. Look, Xhaka is playing a bit better, but I don’t see us in top 4 with him there.

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