Where is Arteta’s Arsenal team that won the FA Cup?

Maybe it is time to find hope in patience…. by Amagore

It was another home defeat that left me wondering what had become of the Arsenal team that defied the odds when they lifted the FA cup for the fourteenth time.

The manager was none other than Pep Guardiola’s protégé Mr. Mikel Arteta. His immediate impact left me believing that Arsenal had finally made the right appointment following the sacking of Unai Emery who had become unpopular due to poor results. Mikel Arteta’s meteoric rise and capture of the oldest FA Cup made football look easy. He had managed to inspire a group of players that looked lost under Unai Emery. Maybe it was because the lessons learnt from working with Pep Guardiola were still fresh in his mind.

Those in the know say “Education is what remains after what was learnt has been forgotten.”  I felt his four years as Pep Guardiola’s right-hand man had taught him the intricacies of managing a big football club. However, the results and performances from Arsenal players in recent weeks have left many of us who believed in Arteta having doubts in his capability to take Arsenal to the Promised Land.

I appreciate that Arteta is nothing but a rookie who is lucky to have been accorded a chance to learn from the job, but I find it hard to accept mediocrity from someone who exuded so much confidence and self-belief when he was appointed that day in December 2019. Maybe I need to take it easy on him but watching a boring and lethargic type of football has been really painful to accept.

After the final whistle against Wolves I could not help laughing at myself for trusting Arteta. I quickly reminded myself of one Roberto Di Matteo who defied the odds and helped Chelsea win a champions league trophy, which the Chelsea fans are still using to troll all of us who dare stand by the Arsenal through thick and thin. As Chelsea Manager Di Matteo also won the FA Cup too after beating Liverpool with the same score line as Arteta’s Arsenal against Chelsea in August 2020.

Remembering Roberto Di Matteo’s conquest in the Champions league helped me wake up from the dream that deluded me into thinking that Arteta is worth my emotional investment. We all know that Di Matteo did not last long at Stamford Bridge despite winning the biggest club Competition in Europe. Unlike Arteta, Di Matteo had tried his lucky elsewhere before he was appointed caretaker coach.

The Chelsea owner is known for his affinity for instant gratification and he has every right to demand instant results given his willingness to invest in top players. However, that is not the case when it comes to Arsenal because investment in top players remains sporadic, as the owner has a different approach to Roman.

 

Arsenal has lately become a destination for free agents, let alone an opportunity for players nearing the end of their contracts to bargain for better deals. Aubameyang was recently awarded a new contract that reportedly comes with an improved pay check. This is a player we all know can be lethal in front of goal, but he has suddenly become an average striker.

 

The body language of our captain doesn’t inspire any confidence in me, and I am sure a lot of Gooners have made the same observation. There may be other factors linked to his goal drought, but our captain does not seem have a clue what wearing the red and white jersey for Arsenal means. I appreciate his contribution for the club in the last two seasons where he was amongst the league’s top goal scorers, but I long to see him pushing harder and pull his troops to his side. Against Wolves the only players who seemed to be interested in fighting were the youngsters, and I feel if the big players are not putting in some decent shifts Arteta must be prepared to bench them. There is nothing as bad as watching your team struggle to prove that they are worth any respect.

 

Arteta has been honest and willing to accept responsibility for the team’s poor showings ,but I feel it is not enough to accept responsibility without also making an effort to change the script. I have painfully noticed that it is now easy for our opponents to defend against Arsenal, mainly because of lack of quick movement off the ball on transition from defence to attack. The team is playing too many aimless passes which eventually help the opponent reorganize to defend against any threat.

 

By accepting responsibility Arteta is indirectly admitting that his players are playing according to his game plans. At this moment I do not see the board making any drastic measures which will see Arteta leaving his current position. If the board is willing to accept having Ozil out of the Premier league squad despite his huge salary, then we can expect them to accept the current mediocrity from both the manager and his troops.

At this stage of the season I feel our only hope as Arsenal fans lies in patience. The current season has already presented itself as the worst in terms of results and some records. Maybe the footballing Gods will smile at us and give us our Arsenal back.

 

By Amagore

15 Comments

  1. Putting all in nothing is never a good gamble. It’s always going to be a risk asking a college graduate to takeover as CEO of BBC.

  2. When Arteta says he needs five or six new players to have the team he wants, how does he expect all the current players (many of whom are likely to be frozen out) to play with heart and passion? The team can’t be that bad otherwise they would not have won the FA cup. The danger with this situation is that some good players will go and the ones he wants to sell don’t sell because they are paid too much. Obviously the players don’t agree with his tactics!!! Where is the flare of the old Arsenal? Also, if Arteta truly believes in giving youth a chance, now that Arsenal are through he should rest ALL first teamers and play all the youngsters to give players like Balogun a chance. Let the players play with passion and for goodness sake tell them all to shoot at the goal!!! Otherwise it will be Farcenal!

  3. The real measurement of any manager’s ability n calibre is how he performs in league. It’s not particularly winning the league but what he can achieve with the resources and players at his disposal. Cup runs are some times like fluke or luck, you don’t have to be genius or top class manager to win it once. If you win it back to back then you can be called a cup expert and you prove your self as a good manager. History is full of all one time one cup hit managers who actually were crap even Di Mateo won champions league.

  4. What is the team…. that won the FA Cup? The goal keeper is at another club, which is four places above Arsenal. The team has lost heart as at least on of them is being badly treated.

  5. Arteta is not a Manager. He is at best a support coach. No Manager SLags his team. He has believed the hype he is PEP. He needs to get off his high horse and let his players play football. He has taken away their natural instinct for descision making while playing in favour of his restricted tactics that other managers have figured how to counter. And he has no plan B because he is so arrogant he feels he knows best. What he has done is destroyed the players. That’s why Willian ,Auba,Laca et al look like crap. He has lost the dressing room especially now that he says the team is not good enough. AFTV can say that but not the Manager. ARteta needs to go to school and learn the psycology Of Management. Payers are happy to collect their pay and tag along.If the board retain him Arsenal will not recover for many years because they will be lower table team and the top players will never want to play for them.

  6. The bitter truth:
    1. This Arsenal team is an average team in terms of quality
    2. Arsenal lost it’s mojo the day Kronenke became the owner
    3. Arteta is a Rookie manager that is still learning
    We can only get back to where we suppose to be if there is serious investment in bringing quality players and employing a world class coach. My take.

  7. Nice article, Amagore.
    Yes, patience is required… although if we’re spanked on Sunday, it will be wearing thin!!
    Will have to see where this month takes us, hopefully back into the top half of the table. I’m really disappointed to find ourselves in this position so soon into the season! Although there’s still time to turn it around.. here’s hoping!

  8. MA is nearing his peak. He cannot improve again. The FA Cup entered his head. He has destroyed himself. Arrogance is a killer.

  9. Arteta won the FA Cup.And so what? Wigan Athletic won the FA cup and were relegated. Birmingham City won the Carling cup and were relegated too. These two teams are yet to get promoted back to the Premiership. So, a warning for Arsenal. MA is too arrogant and fixated in his tactics and he think he knows it all. Somebody should please tell him that he is not Pep Guardiola .W e are in a relegation form at present and only a drastic change can help us.

  10. So the writer actually ADMITS that he laughed at himself after the wolves game for trusting Arteta. IN OTHER WORDS, HE CHANGED HIS MIND ABOUT ARTETA AFTER ONE GAME. He himself said that by his own words and publicly condemns himself as a fairweather fan by his OWN words.
    Some unwise fans don’t even know how their own words condemn them when a sharper mind is reading and can seize on the self inflicted error that betrays them! What a pillock he is!

  11. In Australian Rules and the NRL(rugby league) contracts are terminated.So why is it that Arsenal has to keep all the over paid deadwood on its books.Is there a “gentlemans agreement” in the Premier League?

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors