The players people claim are poor; Granit Xhaka, Hector Bellerin, Sead Kolasinac, etc. are players that, with a different manager in charge, and a different style of play; brought the club to fourth, third, second, fifth and sixth place finishes.
Arteta has managed two consecutive 8th place finishes after spending a lot of money. Unai Emery managed a fifth place finish and was in 10th when he was fired.
Is the problem the players or the manager, the team balance, man management or more likely a combination of factors?
Arsenal played the last two seasons with their best creative player on the bench or out of the team. Last season Arsenal has virtually no goals or assists from the middle of the midfield and yet, after spending 75 million, have not signed a scoring #10 or central midfielder.
Setting the failure to get rid of players that did not even play last season (the players who went on loan and are being offered for sale), or who were widely recognized as having great seasons, like Xhaka.
The Arsenal management’s inability to manage the squad, manage transfers, and inspire trust is obvious to anyone watching. Mikel Arteta lacks the status and clout with the front office to actually manage the team – that was obvious during the Ozil saga and is now obvious with the Bellerin saga. Arsenal’s best fullback is being identified as a scapegoat and the manager is silent; secretly assassinating his player’s character and ability by remaining silent as pundits and fans look at a rare mistake in a friendly game as proof that Bellerin is the reason Arsenal will not compete.
That false narrative serves Arteta, because it lets him escape responsibility for the club’s performance.
Arsenal entered the transfer window with two critical needs one serious need and one minor need.
1. Urgent need – Creative #10 able to bring assists and scoring to the first XI
2. Urgent need- goal scoring, assist providing central midfielder
3. Serious need – reserve goalkeeper capable of providing cover and rotation for Bernd Leno
4. Minor need – Reserve left back to replace Sead Kolasinac, provided he leaves as expected – to proven injury cover and rotation for Kieran Tierney.
So far Arsenal have signed three players and addressed one of their needs; a reserve left back, their least urgent need…
The club spent the vast bulk of their money on a center back to replace David Luiz, despite having seven center backs on the roster – then sending two; Saliba and Mavropanos, both of whom played well on loan last year, on loan again.
The other player added is a young midfielder from Belgium with less experience than either midfielder Arsenal are looking to push out; Joe Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
That leaves three of the four club’s most urgent needs unmet, with only three weeks left in the transfer window. Blaming Bellerin, Willock, Maitland-Niles, Kolasinac, or anyone else besides Arsenal’s management team is stupid.
Paul35mm
2 young back ups and 1 overpriced (hopefully decent one) starter.
Havent sold anyone. Loaned out Guen and Saliba,to Marseille but couldnt workout a deal to sign their DM (Kamara) who wants out and is available for peanuts.
So ST, CAM/CM, DM, RB and GK still to be bought. I give us chances of signing ONE of those positions.
FFS we could sign Onana for peanuts too. Granted we would be stuck with Leno for first 2 months and January (AFCON) but I wouldnt mind at all. Onana is worth 20-40 million and he’s now available for less than 7 mils. And hes 25!!
What a ridiculous article….
It was a comment
Pulled out and turned into an Article.
@jaymee instrongly disagree!
Why don’t we wait and see what happens rather than having a go at the management before the season has started. We had a good end to the last season and the majority of that squad is still at the club. If we have another bad start and are in a similar position at Xmas to last season then serious questions should be asked but until then get behind the team!
Because he has not got a clue wot he is doing because he is unless if you believe we will get into the top 6 this season you or kindling yourself because we aren’t
You got that crystal ball out again?
There are 38 games to go, and you just love predicting failure before we’ve even started. It’s getting boring now….
It is a justified pessimism knowing we have yet to get a proper no 10… ESR is not our no 10 solution. He is not ready. And what if he gets injured? Will our mighty Elneny take on the mantle to fill in his position?
The secret Spud onJA strikes again with his almost illiterate nonsense that no one believes or even understands S.D OFF SPUD!
Quote ” BECAUSE HE HAS NOT GOT A CLUE WOT HE IS DOING BECAUSE HE IS UNLESS”. ????? Anyone? Me neither!
He claims to have been a fan for 42 years but has not had any education, for certain. I do not believe he is even half old enough to have been fan that long and I do NOT believe he is a Gooner either.
We should moan and complain all we want during pre season. Give pressure to the board to get us better player. But make sure to back whoever is playing when season starts.
Absolutely spot on
No, not at all. Deadwood have to move before signing qulaity players. Ben White replaces Luiz, Sambi replaces Cabellos/Guendozi. Tavares to depute for Tierney. If deadwood do not move out, how can new players come in? What do we do with the existing average/poor players then if we sign all the required players? Do we repeat the Ozil/Socrates saga with Kolasinac/Elneney/ Xhaka? Edu is working on signing either Odegard/Madisson/Aaour as being reported, so they are working on the no 10 issue to complement ESR. Just leave Mikel’s back, let him do his job.
We can only hope that the next 3 weeks are very active. Even though most of us know where this is likely to end. And that is with us looking pretty much like we did last season. The fact is, no one wants to buy who we have on the “out” list and that is effecting our “in” list. A situation that the club are guilty of creating. For years they have failed to be creative in the market leading to some pretty poor decisions. Arsenals DNA has been destroyed and MA is just as bad as the rest, if not worse for failing to build a team is obviously disjointed. The only way this story ends is with MA taking a short walk out the back door.
I’d be interested to know how you envisage any manager could bring back that DNA? What has to be put in place to achieve it?
Change the manager for a start. MA doesn’t have a clue about attacking football. Bring in Bergkamp and Henry as trainers with someone like Simione as manager. Even offer Brendon Roger’s a chance if he wants the job?
Thanks for answering GunneRay
That was a pretty good wish list but what are the chances of that happening?
Lol..
Np SueP. My problem is, is I have no patience. I admit it. But if we do start the season as we are it will be exactly as I predicted ten weeks ago. I would love to be wrong!
Not wanting to gang up on you Sue P but getting rid of Xhaka would have been a decent starting point. As someone mentioned on Twitter, Arsenal have gone from Viera, Diabi Fabegras Carzola to Xhaka. It reminds me of one of those repressive evolution T shirts. And he remains the manager’s darling boy. Enjoy the new season. Hope we won’t be looking forward to 2021-22 before the new year.
Go for specialized players while looking out for those rare geniuses. In a bid to sign all round players we’ve signed very mediocre players. A DM should be an out and out DM, complement with a creative player, leave the CBs and GK alone to do the defensive duties. Stop tasking the forwards to run back like they are Olympic runners, its too tasking for our old ST. Its painful to watch really. We need flair and creativity and we end up signing a 50m defender ffs!!
How to bring back our DNA?
1. Stop with the high pressing nonsense. It is affecting the performance of players like Bellerin. To me making Cedric our RB over Bellerin is a big joke. This also blocks the path of many of our players who is technical but not so defensive (eg. Martinelli, Joe Willock, Nelson, AMN, Ozil(left 🙁 )).
2. Buy technical players. We have yet to find someone who can replace Cazorla. Stop filling the team with more “Xhaka” type of players.
3. Worry about defense only after you fix our attack. We need more goals up front!!
1.No, M A did not spend a lot of Money.
2. He did not fail to get rid of under performers. That process is still underway and it seems that the writer does not realize these players have contracts and other clubs must actually want them.
3. Ozil was a cancer that needed go.
4.Bellerin is made a scapegoat.
No Bellerin is not performing to standards.
5. Needs are being addressed to positions where there is need. As far as we all know the transfer window closes on 31 August 2021.
When Arsenal come knocking for players ridiculous amounts are charged.
5. Arsenal’s management team is stupid. As they say : “It takes one to know one”.
Are you saying smart people can’t recognize stupid people?
According to you, Holding is good enough or 20yo Saliba should be relied on all season, no need bringing in White.
You argue we need goalscoring midfielder, what about ESR and willock? Remember both are 1yr older and more experienced, or are you suggesting we sell them both just because we have to buy ?
As far as am concerned the priority now is a reliable RB, and CF that’s good in the air, that’s our weakness, and maybe CAM, if not we can switch to 433, lokonga, willock and ESR are capable, in fact if we continue with 4231 we might not get ESR full potential utilised, playing him on the left side of 3 midfield formation is better suited to him than using him as lone creator behind the striker, though we all want fancy ‘no 10’ but I feel we might not get to see any except we are ready to sacrifice one of our own
Agree with you, we just need a good lethal finisher and get rid of the midfield of Xhaka/Elneny/Partey. We can do much much better with AMN, Willock and Sambi. And for goodness sake, can some club either in Europe, America, Asia or Africa place a bid for Leno?
You lose any semblance of credibility by declaring Bellerin ‘Arsenals best full back’. Bellerin is rank average at best.
At some point Bellerin used to be highly regarded like Tierney..
I wanna answer the question from Paul35mm, the article writer: “Is the problem the players or the manager, the team balance, man management or more likely a combination of factors?”
The main problems would likely be the complacency culture at the club and the owner’s lack of involvement. Arsenal have had four managers and various players after the Invincibles left, yet only one person remain at the club
Kroenke has spent hundreds of millions for the team rebuilding, but he doesn’t seem understand football nor is he able to hire correct people. About what we have achieved this summer, we can’t judge Arsenal yet because the transfer window is still open until the end of this month
One major principle of leadership is that everything rises and falls on leadership. If a club wins a trophy two persons will be praised before the players. 1* The Coach 2* The owner/board and lastly the players. If the team is under performing, the first person to take the stick is the coaches. Coaches/team managers are blamed for their tactics, the training they employ and the type of players they buy. The owner of the club/boards are confirmed for not investing or support the coach with funds while the. Players are lastly judged by not been ambitious or good enough. I opined that from theses pre season matches, Arteta should know the kind of players he needs and make his demands there are a few dead woods in the club that are beyond improvement. Eg Kolasinac Elneny etc..
Agreed bro. But I liked what I saw from Kolasinac and Elneny in pre-season, aside from Elneny’s two big mistakes
GAI
I always enjoy reading your perspective on articles and opinions
I’d only mention that Elneny( who I class as an honest pro) has made 2 mistakes. How would that pan out over a season, possibly?
Thanks SueP. Elneny seems to be a hardworking and focused person, so I expect him not to repeat the same mistakes
I hope you’re right
Seriously GAI – so you were impressed with Kolasinac’s defending against Chelsea, and the two goals conceded when Elneny tried to beat players inside his own box?
I think we were watching different games my friend!
GAI, agree with you.👍
Let’s see how the rest of the transfer window and the season pans out. If Edu and Arteta fail in their duties, Arsenal fails. Surely we all want Arsenal yo be successful?
Wow! How cynical… Arsenal are light years away from challenging, but blaming Artery? Really?
We had a pretty solid defence, yet can’t score.. Everyone keeps saying Auba needs one goal to get going, yet he is now in his second year of mediocrity.. Surely that is not Artetas fault too?
We had a pretty solid defence, not because we had four pretty solid defenders who can handle the defensive responsibilities among themselves, but because our forward players were playing much closer to their own 18 yard box than the halfway line for much longer time when we didn’t have possession of the ball. When all the players are confined within the defensive third of the pitch, the probability of the team scoring a goal is almost next to nothing. Unless, any of our player can successfully lob the opposition GK from the halfway line and into the back of the net at least once every game. I wonder who is responsible for this masterful game tactics.
By the gods, it couldn’t be the sole person responsible for team selection and match strategy.
O…O
“We had a pretty solid defence, not because we had four pretty solid defenders who can handle the defensive responsibilities among themselves, but because our forward players were playing much closer to their own 18 yard box”
VasC I agree with you on this point, the way Arteta setup the team is much of defensive because we don’t quality defenders that is why I believe he decided to get a quality Defender first to support the one we have currently and to allow other players to move higher on the pitch attach wise.
Personally, I too believe that’s the reason Ben White was brought into the first-team fold. Is signing Ben White alone enough to unshackle our forwards from defensive responsibilities is the 50 million Euro question.
No argument with those points Vasc – our defenders are not as good as our record suggests, but being helped out by the other 6 outfield players is why we haven’t let many in… or scored many either!
And only one man is responsible for us playing that way. But lets turn that around – do you think MA would feel the need to drag outfielders back if our defenders were higher standard? In that respect isnt White a good buy? And sorry to all – I love the guy too but Tierney is a great attacker but a poor full back.
No matter what, I’ll keep Tierney in the starting eleven, as long as he declares himself fit for the full 90 minutes, just for his character on and off the pitch. We don’ see many players in their early 20s like him in the game anymore.
Absolutely achieved nothing still got all the dead wood on the books and made mediocre signings doubt any prem side are quaking in there boots prob all cant wait to play us for a easy 3 points pathetic manager and club!! Arteta Out!!
Who do you actually support Danny? Leave the club out of this
What a ridiculous article man.
Lot of people keep saying our defense is not that bad yet we barely kept any clean sheet. Look at the kind of goals we’ve been conceding in these so called friendlies.
Is Bellerin being scapegoated? I don’t think so. He’s really been poor and needs to sort himself out or leave. Just look at that error and it’s not a one off stuff. Himself and Xhaka are too prone to errors but at least Xhaka offers much more and quite consistent. HB should be a leader at this point but he seems less interested in football these days.
How much of this is up to the coach? very little if you ask me. Auba is up front missing chances, Xhaka and Bellerin are there giving away goals. Do you know how hard it is to succeed with saboteurs in your team>
For all the noise about Willock’s performances on loan, how many games did he really started? Yes he scored lot of goals but was he even a starter for poor Newcastle?
Can he score those goals for us in tight games? He’s always prolific in early Europa leagues and cup games but has he ever convinced you in tougher games?
I like him a lot and I see him as the perfect replacement for Aaron Ramsey but he’s not yet at that level to be frank.
Same goes for AMN. He seems a better player at LB/RB but not in the midfield. He’s too laid back to be our holding midfielder. Will Sambi become a better player? only time will tell but if I’m to bet, my money will be on him.
Errors leading to goal in the past four seasons for Bellerin and Xhaka are 1 and 4 respectively. As a team, our errors leading to goal in the same period is 42. So, Xhaka and Bellerin contributed to 1 and 0.25 goals due to their errors each season against the teams 10.5 goals each season. This is NOT TOO ERROR PRONE under any circumstance.
Errors leading to goal – 20/21 season
Arsenal – 6
Man C – 6
Man U – 7
Chelsea – 13
Liverpool – 21
Wonder why we finished at 8th last season when a couple of teams in the top four made twice and thrice the number of errors leading to a goal compared to us.
Poor Willock started only 11 games and made a further 3 substitute appearances when he scored those 8 goals at poor NUFC. That’s 7 more goals and 2 more starts than the world class talent brought in on loan from Real Madrid during the same January transfer window when Willock was deemed surplus to requirement at Arsenal and loaned out to poor NUFC.
Great comment Boluwatife, I agree with you,
Newcastle weren’t ready to alter their first 11 for Willock , speaks volume,
Sambi and Tavares bring energy to the team and that’s great,
A midfield of Sambi-Partey-Smith-Rowe, makes good creativity
I think what arsenal need now is an additional CAM , a goal keeper and a Tall CF,
Maitland-Niles can play RB.
We certainly see some out going.
“Newcastle weren’t ready to alter their first 11 for Willock , speaks volume,”
Wonder what you think about us shunting ESR out to the wings to accommodate a loanee (Odegaard) in the No 10 position.
Great balanced comments Bolu (it helps that I agree with them!). People are too extreme here – players are all seen as awful or great, whereas the truth is somewhere in between.
I do blame Arteta for a lot of our problems, but he can’t stop error prone players making mistakes in big games with any amount of training. Its down to mental attitude of the individuals.
Whether a player is on the field for the whole match or 5 minutes, it is the goals scored that count. Joe Willock scoring 8 goals in 15 games cannot be ignored, particularly 7 in 7 in the EPL equalling Alan Shearer’s record (elite company) and greatly contributing to Newcastle United up.
Joe Willock showed in the trial against Chelsea, what he has to offer. He is greatly improved and deserves opportunities.
Unlike what Boluwatife says, ESR played 960 minutes in the league and made 11 starts and 3 substitute appearances at NUFC during that loan spell. Odegaard featured only 860 minutes during that same period for us.
VasC, don’t you mean “JW” instead of “ESR” playing 960 minutes in the League for NUFC?
My bad 😉
Sincerely Arsenal need a player like Aouar in the team, we can keep on blaming Auba or laca as we want in terms of goal, but we need a creative player that can deliver that killer passes to our attackers, smith Rowe is like our prime Ramsey and Aouar will be like our Nasri or Carzolla, hence Aouar and Rowe can play together….. I watched yesterday match and I observe that we are lacking only a creative player that’s difficult to predict and would open Chelsea defense up with his decisive passes….
i thought we signed a new LB to cover KR, maybe Taveres is just a mirage……
I just made an observation about Chelsea first goal.
When Holding comes out to press, Elneny is ball watching as Chelasea clear the ball.
As Wener receives the ball, Tierney hasn’t started retreating yet. If we’re going to play a high line, everyone has got to pull their weight.
Chambers(who was ballside) reaching our box before Tierney, who should have been retreating right when Chelsea stole the ball should be punishable.
I won’t even explain what Elneny should have. Done. It obvious.
Whats obvious is someone with Holdings pace shouldn’t be instructed to play such ahigh line and follow a man out wide.
Management error 100%! I know you are a hugely bias MA fan but the facts don’t care. Poor tactics and instructions, play to your players strengths. Forcing Leno to play out the back is another example…terrible management.
Correct Joe – Tierney is NOT an intelligent defender. We all praise his attitude and attacking skills while ignoring his defensive naivity which is almost on a Bellerin level. Elneny cant defend, unlike Xhaka, and shouldnt be allowed near his own area. Hes lost us 2 goals in friendlies doing Ceballos tricks. Holding has started wandering forward trying to be Luiz, leaving Mari, who is slow, on his own. Disastrous
Joe, Mikel Arteta could do worse than bring in the great George Graham and his string line, assisted by Adams, Keown and Bould to conduct defensive drills at Arsenal. They have a lot to learn about defenders tactics, positioning and discipline.
There isn’t a ‘bellerin saga’. Bellerin isn’t Arsenal’s best fullback.
And for the record, Lokonga perfectly meets need #2
What a underwhelming summer we have had.
An article consigned to my dust bin.
Bye the way, Paul35mm, Arsenal was in eighth position, not tenth, when Unai Emery was sacked. At the end of the season under caretaker Ljundberg and then Arteta, Arsenal improved by zero places to finish eighth.
Arsenal just need a #10 who knows how to hold the bal and when to deliver.
I just think the expectation been placed on smith Rowe is too high that it might backfire.
We need a player who can really pair with smith Rowe in midfield and not talking about odegaard cos their pairing were not exciting.
Arsenal fans lets get serious with our thinking for once.
Will Bellerin be in the starting line-up of any of the top 4 sides in the Epl, yet we want to make top 4 next season. Well if he’s our best RB then we truly desearve an 8 place finish next season.
Now lets say we sack MA and employ Kloppe or Pep, it’s still going to be the same tactics of playing out from the back and possession play
Some people are saying he’s scapegoating, omo las las the player no good be say him no good, get the deadwoods out and get upgrades
MA has made some questionable decision with regards to tactics and management and ultimate will be made to answer for them. If by mid season the team is still floundering in mid table i believe he’ll get booted just like his predesessors(Wenger was given more time because of his Legendary status, which nothing can change). So if i were MA i would be doing all i could to get the results, even if it means benching Auba or selling anybody.
Well said Son. I think even the most loyal of us have doubts that Arteta will succeed, but he inherited a truly poor situation, and binning him now achieves nothing. Lets give him a couple of months to turn it around.
My sentiments too.
What happens if Arteta can’t turn it round? I dread to think what the top brass will do
See nothing different than the teams that finished 8th twice. Over 10 new players have been brought in under Arteta and results have not improved.
Maybe poor tactics and negative football more to blame than players?
1. It’s only preseason; fair enough but still same tactics and same mistakes.
Let’s see where the club is in December. By then Arteta will be starting his 3rd year in charge, and more than fair to judge him and hold him accountable.
For me its a bit of both D. And the line up and performance in the first hour vs Chelsea gave me that horrible feeling of deja vu (as did another injury to Partey).
But hope springs eternal, and blind hope is all I’m surviving on atm!
The argument is right. Arsenal have spent a minor fortune on their defence, with relatively little to show. Ben White has his good points, but is rather lightweight. Look at what Man U got in Varane. The club should rather have spent on getting a top-rate manager (not that Arteta isn’t drawing high wages). Imagine if we had the foresight to chase the likes of a Thomas Tuchel.
It is funny n disheartening that both the coach n some fans are not identifying the main problem….This Arsenal have problem with transition from midfield to attack n a better striker is needed. The current midfielders don’t give those defense splitting passes n hardly move forward to create other attacking options. The attackers are not chance creators n funny enough d midfielders they depending on for creation of opportunities, are also solely depending on the attackers for chances. Finally, the strikers have poor positioning n they don’t mk movement for doz passes (I loved van per sie for diz). So for me focusing on d defense n buying defensive midfielders is not d way out. If the team is still like diz den, I don’t see a better performance this season
It is combine factors, starting with Kronkes not being football enthusiasts who shouldn’t have ventured into investing in a football club not to talk of owning majority shares, had it been that he knows and understands that football game/business is not just to participate and pick the small extra money that comes in doing so but it is real competition and winning. It is in competing and winning that the money he is looking for will be rolling in, that’s what will lure people, companies and quality players to the club. If Kronke fits into this he would have gotten himself involved, he would have taken appraisal on the competence of the the corrupt and woefully underperforming Board and send them packing long ago. The board is responsible for the purchase of wrong players and highly paying average players that are not really delivering which in turn makes them difficult to sale, but they were fast to sell the player they called headless chicken for $40m yet other midfielders with heads retained have not been marketable. It’s the board that also recommends and renews the contract of a manager that is obviously on decline, it’s the board that recruited by the recommendation of his declining former boss, an overwhelming green horn of a manager MA that have consecutively played us out of Europa, out of top 6, a manager that have virtually turned his players to defenders with no defined offensive pattern of play yet they are shipping goals. The same board have failed to lay him off. Chelsea was ahead of Arsenal when Lampard was laid off for a seasoned manager to come in and we all witnessed the effect and results. Until Kronke gets involved in the right way and address Arsenal’s cancer – “The Board” then the issue of wrong players and coaches will linger on SIMPLY!🤷
Bellarin!!!!!!! Didn’t Arteta himself sign a right back??????? Now fans are screaming for Kreonke to Buy a right back for Arteta again. Is this manager Arteta expected to coach any of the players. He Arteta is the only manager Aubameyang can’t score for.
Will help everyone with the math.
Keep defense close to 3rd best in league, and score 15 goals more than last year.
AFC will be in for a run in the top 6.
If not, dead on arrival.
Simply put, AFC needs help in midfield or it is all over.
On the strength of your first paragraph alone, in my opinion, to blame Arteta for the performances of Xhaka, Bellerin and Kolasinac now against those of other managers then isn’t relevant. If nothing else, injuries, ageing and new playing partners will make a big difference. Would Wenger do any better today with Bellerin in the here and now?
I’m unaware that Bellerin is being scapegoated. Most of the first team get their fair share of flak. As for your assertion Arteta is in some way using this to hide from his own performance is plain weird to me.
Arteta has 2 chances. Succeed and keep his job for next season or just a few months if it goes t*ts up. As well, Edu managing to secure the players on the club’s wish list is important. Even greater will be his ability to get the surplus players off the books. The season hasn’t started and the window hasn’t shut and until we are a few weeks in then we won’t have the pointers. A lot can change between now and then
Arteta is definitely worse than Wenger. No argument there. Mind you help me check when was the last time we scored fewer goals in the league than this last 2 seasons. Honestly that stats alone should be enough to sack Arteta. MA was too busy with our defense and it didnt even improve by much.
Bellerin’s injury sure does impact his performance especially his blistering speed, but MA’s tactic does not help the team. We played with relatively low defensive line, slow tempo football with high pressing demand. (Correct me if Im wrong). This exposes Bellerin who is not the best defensively, cant utilise his speed to chase after opponents, thus bad performance. To me Bellerin epitomize Wenger’s team post highbury. Quick player, technical, dont know how to defend, and I dont recall we do much pressing as a team. Despite that, we played better, more fluid football under AW. And more goals.
MA’s tactic sounds appealing, but we dont have the players to pull them off. He was just forcing it to the team til the team played so badly. When will MA finish building his team? Surely not this season (as of today the team looks almost the same as last season). Simple math shows: same manager + same team = same result aka 8th position.
The question we must ask is:
1. How many more seasons do we afford to give MA? 1-2seasons?
2. Will MA’s Arsenal ever be good?
A load of rubbish, generated a load of clicks, job done!
After seeing our pre-season, and I have watched all the games, it seems we are playing exactly like last season. Quite poorly. I really hope we can get a right back and two quality midfielders. When I saw Elneny and Xhaka together on Sunday it was like we were flashbacking to last season. Surely Arteta realises we cannot play the same style and tactics as last season.
Sean how do we get rid of a host of players no other Club wants for one reason or another.The lack of interest in these players reflects their lack of quality , but Arteta is faced with a situation where he is obliged to play some of them or throw caution to the wind and give youth a chance. To me,the likes of Lokonga and Azees have the natural talent to make an impression in the EPL along with ESR , Saka and Martinelli and perhaps Willock .We are well endowed with classy youngsters and I do hope Arteta recognises the weaknesses in certain senior players who are clearly never going to improve the team and puts his faith in the young guys.Until we unload our sub par performers we are simply not in a position to bring in ready made upgrades .
You’ve chosen exactly the 5 I would have picked as our main young hopes, Grandad. Have my doubts re Willock though. I will be really hacked off if Azeez or Lokonga don’t get game time this seson – for me perhaps MA’s biggest fault remains his often strange tem selections.
Grandad and guy, what does Joe Willock have to do to raise your confidence in him? It will be impossible if Arteta doesn’t give him opportunities.
It seems to me Arsenal have gone back to the Gazidis era.
When Season Tickets were on sale, and the club was desperately trying to encourage fans to buy them, amazingly Arsenal were said to have a large war chest and were linked with a plethora of possible top transfer targets.
This happened quite often towards the end of the Wenger era. Gazidis would let slip that Arsenal had a (for the times) large war chest to spend on transfers. Inevitably the amount available was much less, and Wenger would be maligned over the paucity of his spending.
Have you noticed that this season there is noise in the bushes that we have a possible $250m to spend.
There are lots and lots of rumors about all the top players Arsenal are looking at.
It will be interesting to see what new players actually arrive, beyond the 3 we have. It will also be interesting to see how many of the season ticket holders have fallen for this subterfuge!
Preseason is very uninspiring. It looks like more of the darned from Arteta.
Defensive, unsure, disjointed, lacking confidence and no real flow to play.
Dead wood and ideally sold still here, signings hardly setting the world alight (Ben’s a good signing though).
I don’t expect a great turn around this season, auba is a shadow of his former self, there is no midfield to attack transition and the stupid mistakes keep happening.
I for one will probably spend more time doing other stuff than watching AFC if as I suspect this slide continues.
to answer the titular question, as it currently stands, little to nothing has been achieved so far, minus addressing the 3rd or 4th most pressing issue…once again the season will start with a myriad of unanswered questions, so get ready for the typically frantic and oft-times knee-jerk 11th hour maneuverings
Definitely, Arsenal’s major problem is multifactorial, no one reason is for all the continued bad seasons, but the most important is from top.
While you were stating some reasonable points about the players and lacking the ability to deliver decent passes to the strikers, I was smiling as if we “Fans” know where is our main struggle, why people in charge can’t see this?
WE NEED A PLAYMAKER NOW!!
Finally, I disagree about the LB. However, I think we need an RB and changing the play style from match to match is our key to success this season. All in all, MA should realised he can’t win the PL without a “miracle” and start thinking of winning all the cups. YES, we need titles, we need something now, the players are eager to win and in this way, this will boost them.
No problem
I was genuinely asking the question. It was about Arsenal DNA which has been diluted over the years.
I echo your sentiments. I’m not confident – hopeful at best
Great article. Nail being hit on the head by you, nail completely lost by arsenal management.