Because I’m humble, I don’t get too despondent about Arsenal going out of the FA Cup.
The key to not being arrogant is you don’t make bets that we are going to win the Champions League or lie that Arteta has improved our record against Man City and Liverpool just because we finished in the top 4 once in 6 years.
You therefore equally stay level-headed when your team loses a few games.
Are we in crisis? Of course not.
Have some Gooners been brought down to reality? Yes.
But that’s different.
All the last few weeks has confirmed Is what we secretly all knew.
Whisper this quietly …. Arsenal have some decent players. Mentally though we lack the mindset to win the title, don’t have enough leaders, and have a good but not great manager.
You see there is a way to lose a match.
I was angry how we lost at Fulham. I can’t have that same emotion from Sunday.
My love for the Gunners has never been defined by how many trophies we lift.
I have long accepted I will never see us Champions again under the current ownership.
All I want is my team to be the best they can be.
I can’t question our attitude at the weekend.
Play like that again, we will win more often than we lose. Klopp won’t want us playing like that when they next visit the Emirates.
The issue is …. Liverpool’s smash and grab wasn’t a one off.
That’s what makes our manager not great. Because by now he should have seen the warning signs and done something about them.
Incredibly, this was our 4th fixture this season where we failed to score.
That used to be unthinkable for our club. Even in Mr Wenger’s darkest days, you could guarantee his teams would make a chance late on.
For the third consecutive game, once behind you gave up on the idea of us scoring.
Do you remember when I said at Newcastle, I was hoping Arteta focused more on our lack of creativity then a 50/50 decision by the officials?
He didn’t!
Havertz was guilty of too many chances against Liverpool. Yet we knew after years of evidence from across London, he can’t be relied on to finish. Our boss chose to invest 65 million in him!
Reiss Nelson was through on goal in the opening seconds, his heavy touch took him wide.
No one was shocked. He’s played 82 times for us and still looks like a Championship level player.
Eddie Nketiah only came on for the final 10 mins, hopefully acceptance from the gaffer that he’s not at this level. He’s played 157 times for us.
How does he and Nelson get 100,000 pound a week when Pepe gets a contract ripped up?
We over-rely on Odegaard as our sole piece of midfield flair, yet Smith Rowe can’t get a start.
The Spaniard was too busy changing goalies just…. because.
Just like the whole ‘Partey at right back’ experiment which only ended because he got injured.
Classic examples of a rookie coach being told he’s better than he is, believing in his own hype and trying to be too clever.
That’s the issue ……
A manager and squad not as good as so many make out.
Dan
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Dan, I started reading this and was impressed with the way you were expressing your opinion and giving clear examples of why you thought that way.
ALAS – it ended up, as usual, having a go at Mikel Arteta and, no matter how you try, you just can’t help yourself.
I thought your “My love for the Gunners” paragraph was spot on and DEFINES what a true supporter of the club is all about by the way.
What happens for the rest of this season will show what MA is made of and signing a proven top class striker will completely change the goals for numbers – but no top four and trophies (if that happens) will see him gone.
A top four place (how that was ridiculed before!!) will see him given more time at the helm in my opinion, but I will support him whatever this season brings… writing endless articles bemoaning him will not change things.
Having ago ?
He’s the manager
It’s his responsibility
You want me to say well done for buying Havertz or giving contracts to Reiss Nelson and Eddie Nketiah?
It’s funny isnt it how when we win some want to compare him with Mr Wenger and say we will win CL , that his tatics revolutionised Arsenal
Yet when we lose , it’s ……Dan can you not point out his mistakes
Dan, I’m not comparing him to Arsene Wenger, anyone who does needs to have a reality check.
Neither am I saying that Nketiah, Nelson and Havertz are great moves.
Who’s responsibility was it for not putting to bed before half time the games against WHU and Liverpool?
Once the players go out on the pitch, they have to earn their grotesque salaries and they didn’t.
What I’m saying is that, no matter what weaknesses MA has, to keep writing negatively has no purpose whatsoever.
It’s there for all to see and we can only support him and hope he can see them himself before the end of the season.
Perhaps mentioning the purchase of Declan Rice, the coming together of the fans and players (make no mistake, Arsene had polarised that area in his last two seasons), the way he decided (rightly or wrongly) to dispense with those who HE deemed were not his type of players – these are some of the positives, along with his determination to confront officialdom – interesting to see how others have followed him.
You are comparing him to our most successful manager ever in your last two paragraphs, why?
Because fans are here have mate
He’s a good manager but he’s made allot of mistakes
Mistakes that when I pointed out when we were winning I was called negative
That Newcastle game was moment I said ….out of his depth
I agree it’s the players who need to finish those chances ……yet he picks those players
Give you an example …..he now wants a left back right ….he loaned out Tierney
We start Reiss Nelson not Smith Rowe
We rip up Pepe contract but give worse players extensions
We lack leaders yet sell Xakha
He plays Raya no matter the errors
So yes , it’s fair to blamdoes not have Havertz , Raya , Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah at our club
Soz phone played up lol
A club serious about being champions does not have Arteta , Havertz , Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, David Raya at our club
Let me stress ….we have a good manager
But he makes too many errors to be great
Yes Dan I have fallen off that high horse and brought squarely back down to earth, still devastated by the lost at Fulham.
Have long suggested the gaffer needed a season hand like Roy Hodgson as his number two in the dugout.
But all is not lost we must now stand up, brush ourselves off, peruse those above us with blood in our eyes
Ken and Dan, I agree with all KEN writes in both his posts, ENTIRELY.
Much the most puzzling thing to me, as KEN RIGHTLY SAYS and so do very many others,is WHY you, Dan, keep feeling the need to constantly try to belittle MA.
Not a single fan who is respected on JA even tries to compare MA favourably to the glory decade of AW, and rightly so.
Yes, one or two non widely respected posters DO trumpet MA achievments – which I thought KEN laid out realistically well – and then way overhype them. I would add that he has harmonised the fan and club bond and instilled a discipline into the squad, one that a was badly lacking when he first came.
He is intolerant of slackers, which delights ME personally, as I loathe all slackers, who are in reality cheating the club and we fans, as well as betraying their profession, themselves and their teammates
But NO respected and mature fan on here seriously compares his relatively small achievements to date with the glory years of AW.. Not a single one!
Dan you are right to point out some of MA s widely accepted mistakes.
However, it is the complete lack of balance that irritates fair minded fans like KEN, myself and many others too who have told you constantly.
It is now ridiculous to call MA a rookie, over four years into the job. with another three and a half as PEPS assistant.
That is just your own anti MA bias showing clearly.
I love truth and honesty and I deplore fan biased unthinking comments in EITHER direction.
You are an enigma DAN; definitely a keen , passionate, knowledgeable and hard working fan , yet essentially unfair to MA and clearly, for whatever reason, loathe to use balance in your pieces.
All I can say now is “SIGH”!
Jon , can I ask what I have written about Arteta that you disagree with
Do you think Havertz is a good signing ?
Do you rate Eddie Nketiah?
Has he not released allot of players ?
Do you think we will win title or Champions League ?
Difference between you not wanting to hear something and me being wrong
I’ll make you bet Jon …..Arteta will leave Arsenal having not won title and you will say I’m wrong lol
Thanks for that telling. It’s so much easier to be critical than correct like some wise dude said. If MA didn’t do anything right we wouldn’t be competing at the top of the table but some simply decide to focus on the negatives like they get it right 100% of the time in their own lives. Great manager, my foot like all the great managers started off winning every competition they were in. MA may not yet be God’s gift to football but he’s shown that given time and the right resources he may yet get there. He won’t be the first manager to buy players that ended up as duds and he won’t be the last. The least we can do is support his endeavours, stop nitpicking and look at the big picture.
I’m with you Ken. I think MA is on the right path. There are many “top” PL teams who would give an arm to be at Arsenal’s position.
A good CL finish (semifinals or better) and another top four finish would be ok for me.
Support the manager in another summer window and we take it from there. I see a young manager and a young team learning continually on the job and improving every day
Can I ask did other teams not wish to in our position when Mr Wenger was doing the same ?
Yet he was verbally abused
Now that I can agree with you 100% Dan and the abuse still goes on today from certain “fans”.
I do wonder what said fans will say if, at the end of the season, we have just a top four position?
Ken
Too many would laud it as a success; and justify it based on the increased level of competition.
They will blindly ignore how we fell from 2nd place and celebrate finishing in the top 4.
Not want to debate about not building on last year’s success; meaning continue the exciting style of play and how he should have reinforced with a legitimate B2B midfielder and goal scoring striker.
Unfortunately it will become about players and further spending on top of over 700 million spent.
My question is at what point will standards be reintroduced? Wenger and Emery had hard standards to meet, for them early cup exits and regression saw their job security threatened.
Let me be clear, I am not Arteta out, but I am certainly Arteta change and evolve. Drop the inverted fullback, drop the possession based Artetaball, and get in a striker to change up our all to predictable play and attack.
Durand, can’t argue with anything you say regarding holding MA to the same standards as AW and UE.
But it gets tedious reading Dan’s never ending attacks – just my personal opinion of course.
Team and manager could prove me wrong Ken ?
They certainly could Dan, so why not support them until the end of the season and THEN evaluate MA?
They will say it’s progress lol
And not see the irony
I was never surprised, I saw people ranting about whats happening and its funny, arteta has been average at best, only managed a champions league place once and suddenly he is elite, his use of players and substitutions is even below average,, I can bet you it will only take a while for saka to get injured as the amount of games he has played for his age is insane, I’m yet to see a young player survive such minutes
Arsenal didn’t deserve to lose the game, but their finishing was atrocious. This month’s transfer activity could be crucial for our EPL and UCL journeys
@Gai, Yes I agree Arsenal don’t deserve to lose the game. In all football games there is a stroke of luck otherwise how can at least one goal not enter the back of the net considering how many chances created? And then an own goal from Kiwior set Liverpool in motion after the advantage.
There is an uncomfirmed report from daily mail that Arsenal want to sign Onana from Everton to help in Midfield. Well, we still need a Striker. This January just doesn’t look like it in my opinion.
Perhaps Arteta wants to convert Amadou Onana into a false-nine 😂 because he is very strong and tall
I could imagine Onana holding Van Dijk and Konate off to keep the ball for Jesus, Martinelli and Saka
😁 I bet it’s just to add bite and physicality in the midfield.l like Rodri of ManCity. I personally don’t mind Onana. But he seem injury prone.
On point Dan. We are only competing by trial and error from the gaffer. If it works , fine, but it doesn’t always work. The gaffer sometimes put round pegs in square holes and expects result. For me I doubt if we will win any trophy with his style of coaching which is so predictable.
Did not deserve to lose. We lost because on the day Liverpool got the goals which count. Dan is right in that although we have some good players some are not quite as good as many would have us believe.
I was thinking after the Liverpool game, assuming all players at both clubs were fit, how many Arsenal players would get a regular place in the Liverpool team. Bearing in mind Klopp is not Arteta and has no hesitation of benching underperforming players. Two or three at best.
“The ‘Spaniard’ was…” WTF?
He’s Spanish
So that’s how he’s regarded now! Someone who’s spent half his life in the UK is being dismissed as “The Spaniard.”
Glad we don’t have a Chinese or Dutch manager.
So Bergkamp was never called the Dutchman ,.Henry was never the French striker ?
I read the other day , regarding Halland ..
The Norwegian won the ……
Is that not okay ?
And it’s no less disrespectful.
In your opinion
Literally read any paper or website , that’s how they write
Is that called for? How about Guardiola? Isn’t he a Spaniard as well?
Yes if your from Spain your a Spaniard
Like Wayne Rooney was called English lol
Not sure his point
You’re knocking your head against the wall on this one Dan.
I don’t get his point lol
Must admit, as an Englishman, neither do I.
Maybe he doesn’t like Spanish people ?
It’s dismissive, and unpleasant. But that’s always been your style.
Perhaps Ken, because that’s how the Scottish folk see you, couldn’t care less about your name.
I’ve had to put up with this in Wales.
Then that constant knocking against the wall would account for his head not working normally, as it otherwuise would.
He is the one CHOOSING to knock his head against the wall. No one makes him do it, only himself!
My point is: People Have Names.
Can we let this go now. It’s all very irrelevant thankyou
Yeah, I’m outta here now.
” IRRELEVENT”? Only if you consider nationality being more important than names are.
Pat, I was brought up since very early childhood to respect peoples actual name – by that I mean the precise name they wished to be called and not necessarily their one given at birth – and to USE them , both in verbal and written speech, as it is coinsidered both polite, being good mannners, and an inportant social skill.
IF making a fellow human being feel comfortable and valued as an individual, rather then aa a foreign national is not important to YOU, then by all means lets “LET IT GO”!!
You’re ;looking for issues where non exist
Well summarized.
It’s east to forget that Liverpool are the “in form” team at the moment. They are top of the league for a reason. Because of that, I’m not too surprised by the result. Having said that, we had good chances to put the game to bed in the first half and we couldn’t do it. The fact, is our form is a concern. We’ve only won 2 in the last seven. We’re not winning. Even when we play quite well. I believe we will turn it round but by then it may be too late. It’s the cause of this bad form that needs to be figured out. Maybe it’s poor rotation or a lack of tactics. Maybe it’s just bad luck? One thing is for sure. It’s not right to bad asking for the managers head. I can understand how people will blame the manager, and yes, there are some valid reasons (on paper). But we just don’t know the whole story and what goes on inside the club. And while we might all be shouting for a creative striker, It won’t happen mid season. We don’t have the money. In fact we still need to off load some to balance the books. For now we just need to stick together and support the team. We can turn this round after the short break!
I have followed the arguments with keen interest as an Arsenal fan, but my take on the whole issue or rather matter, is that our recruitment in terms of players is abysmal when compared to other teams in the EPL. A team like Arsenal should not be thinking of winning the league with the likes of NKETIAH, NELSON, ZINCHENKO etc in our team. Just compare it to what is happening at ASTON VILLA and you will understand the point i am trying to make here. We lack depth as a team, the moment some players are not playing on the day, the match is as good as lost. Arsenal as a team has become predictable and to a large extent it does not portend well for the team.
The team’s form is an issue at the moment but as they say form is temporary, class is permanent. The form is going to change very soon and we shall go back to winning ways. I don’t know why many people lose faith so easily! Any team can be hit by bad form. Right now it is Arsenal suffering a blip, soon it will be someone else. The season is just at the mid point. Perhaps it is good we suffer this blip now when there is still plenty of time to recover. The next five games will show us the likely direction of the team. I strongly believe by March we shall be in the top two positions. Why? I believe by then Partey will have recovered and possibly, even, Jurrien Timber. Once we have these two players we shall become difficult to play against. Let us remain optimistic and see how far we go this season.
The reason is that we have seen this movie on repeat mode so many times. We go through this every year and with a bad consequences. Teams like Liverpool and Mancity have a luxury to go off form as they can easily overcome it with the players and coach they have. For us it’s an annual tradition and it’s not just a blip but more of a chicken coming home to roost. We could see this coming with the type of players at the front and the slow build up tactics.
Dan,
I really think you should be following Ken1945’s advice and also to stop looking to be proved right that Arteta isn’t good enough. The instant there is a blip, you can’t resist putting the boot in. Any credit given is rare.
I don’t think anybody thinks Arteta is an elite manager after just 4 years in charge. He may elevate himself, or equally, stagnate, but either way, Mikel has done many good things and deserves better than being demonised by so many after this recent blip. And I do not have my rose coloured specs on either. Time will tell whether or not there is a more serious underlying problem, but at the beginning of 2024 with CL football returning and the remaining games in the league to contemplate, I think it is too soon to be bashing him.
Sue, Blissful full context from definitely the fairest minded, most mature minded and most balanced thinker on JA!!
Don’t need to be proven right ….I am lol
Again what have I wrote that you disagree with ?
And wait …..i have read this season how Arteta has revolutionised Arsenal with his tatics
How only Man City are better then us in the CL
How our record at the Ethiad and Anfield is so much better
Dan
You are unwilling to see how your words appear to others at times.
I’ll try again lol
What have I written not true or you disagree with?
You can group managers. Guardiola and Klopp as group 1, simply because they have been at the top for a long time. I’d then call Arteta, Emery and Howe as group two. The one point there is Arteta has had a little longer in post so you’d expect Arsenal to be ahead of Villa or Newcastle in their development. Finally its too early to say where Postecoglou ranks but he could turn out to be exceptional. On that basis Arteta is a decent manager but not a world beater.
Fair minded my foot. MA not only makes bad purchases, he also makes bad tean selection. Why on earth did he spend 65 million on Kai Havertz?What is Raya doing in our team? Why bench ESR when we all know he is much better on the left. Fact is A plumber chooses his tool box, piicks his tools. If he can’t get these basics right, he will blow your house. MA cannot be protected. Period!!!
Let us be fair. Our only strong enough Dept is only the defense which consists of white, Gabriel, and saliba we only have one additional quality player in midfield in Rice. all the rest are below average weak players trying to prove that they can play. You could also exempt Trossard and Partey. If one of our defense guys gets a long term injury, we can forget about everything. Top four. All other departments are completely average. I said we should get ready for a beating from the merseyside guys and it came to be. Now I can see a downward spiral trajectory if we do not get a quality left back, striker and winger/box to box midfielder. Plus quality bench replacements for Martinelli and Saka who are completely tired/ relaxed with no competition for their squad numbers. Case closed. If we continue being adamant of not taking kneejack/ urgent action on this matter Europa league qualifiers awaits us gladly.
If only the writer knows what Mikel Arteta Amatriain is capable of, i’m sure this disrespect will not be happening. Mikel seems to be okay with it though as his career as a footballer and manager suggests. I’m confident we will win the league with the so called “not good enough” signings playing a pivotal role in it and extensively till the end of their Arsenal careers therefore shutting his critics by so doing.
I agree mate
He wins the league he shuts the likes of me up
He does that then we can discuss him as a great manager
Yeah, I’ve been brought back down to earth a little as I believed because of our defense this season that we were stronger than last season and I believed that our attacking flair and pace would kick in right in time for the second half of the season also I thought we’d be mentally tougher this season compared to last again based off of our defensive capabilities.
I agree with Dan regarding Nketiah Nelson and Havertz. I expect Arteta to bite the bullet and bring in a box-to-box player who’ll start ahead of KH And I want to see us trying our damndest to get EN and RN off the books because they aren’t good enough players and those are two huge spots in our lineup which should go to players more deserving
That said I am still on board with Arteta and I hope to see him rectifying a few things when the summer transfer window arrives
Me too Dan. I was never surprised as long as our rookie coach who refused to learn is still in charge. Why won’t Nelson lost that chance when you refused to play him often to gain confidence? I will continue to say it that even if we bought CR7 in his prime and our coach can not be dynamic and have tactical ideas on how to use him and other players, we will still not achieve anything. Granted we need a goal scoring striker, but our major problem is coach. A coach that is so predictable that even a championship coach will adequately manouverd tactically.