• The Arsenal

  • Official: Mikel Arteta is the new Arsenal manager.

FEBravo I read Arteta saying to see a winger track back 70m to defend made him happy. That's the crux of the problem.

It's so cringe. Omg.

    Qwiss Its one thing if you have issues causing you to end up with draws against Liverpool and red cards costing you vs City but the results against Fulham and Everton back to back are not good enough and you can't blame Odegaard being out or whatever else.

    Agree that those last two results aren't good enough but I'd also highlight the fact that they're made to look a hell of a lot worse as a result of the bad luck we've had earlier in the season with red cards and injuries. If we draw against Fulham and Everton in a season where we're already leading the league (for example), then those results are frustrating but not as calamitous as they feel now because the margin for error feels so fine.

        Don Pacifico I think the way we've approached these fixtures is a bit too cowardly. We are playing teams that are unlikely to be pinning us back at we should release some of the control ball for more offensive threat even if it means we are slightly more at risk because that's what the game needs. I don't feel Arteta is willing to do that good whole game is focused on zero risk give the opposition no chances and we'll probably win maybe with a set piece. That is just not good enough for titles, maybe 1/50 you might get a perfect storm for it to come good but it's such a hard low probability outcome it's not a good approach for dealing with all the normal variance that happens in sport.

            HomeSteak I fully support the club if they go after and get them closed down. Hell I'll even contribute to the clubs legal fees.

              awooga83 I don't disagree but I'd add two points.

              1. The margins have been fine at times - we've all commented our profligacy of late.
              2. I'm willing for you/others to disagree with this but I'm not convinced Arteta's expressed desire is to be defensive, per se. He's commented in the past to that fact when things haven't worked in games. I think the main issue here is less about level of risk and more that the way we play is so dependent on all parts of the system working that when one part doesn't, it falls apart. It's why I'd like an Alexis 'Plan B' to be recruited as I think it's really tough (unrealistic) to expect our system to operate effectively 100% of the time

                I really struggle to read some of the excuses conjured up for our inability to win against Everton at home, a team that just shipped 4 goals at goalshy United 2 weeks ago.

                Every season the same few excuses will be made for our team and manager, as if we live in a vacuum and these same reasons does not affect other teams. I remember vividly when we went out against Sporting Lisbon few years ago, some mentioned that because we lost Saliba through injury, there's no way we could play well against them at home. Completely ignoring the fact that Sporting was missing half of their entire first team through injuries.

                It's the same now, because we are missing Ben White, and also missed Gabriel for 2 games, it's understandable we can't score or create chances much. Completely ignoring the fact once again that our inability to create much chances in open play has been a constant under Arteta's reign. Our structured and controlball is the main reason we generally don't pepper opponents goal and often struggle to score, not some contrived reason like missing one defender or that we don't have enough training time. When we were flying after Dubai, we were also playing midweek and you don't hear these excuses ironically.

                Also, people like to big our manager and team up and keep saying next year is our year, it's okay not to win this year again because the process is right, the boardroom is sound, structure of the club is good etc. Shit on Chelsea's joke transfer strategy and horrible boardroom and they will never win anything. Suddenly they change a manager and is firing now, so narrative became "Chelsea has the deepest squad and best attack, we can't compete. They have signed many brilliant players". The same players that was shat on just weeks ago in the summer.

                If Liverpool or Chelsea win it, they are lucky, despite the fact that their xG shows that are not lucky to win. If we win last minute games through set piece or penalties, we are not lucky because our set piece xG proves we deserves to win. The hypocrisy is really funny. How's it that every team can change it up and not affect their performances but we miss one defender or midfielder and then "theres no way we could win, our injuries are horrendous"? It was barely 1 month ago we were so happy with the our squad depth and how many different midfield permutations we could change for games.

                Every year we need new players, our players ain't good enough. We can't expect Arteta to do much more than that. For 5 consecutive seasons now. From ""inherited terrible players > not his squad > not fully his squad > squad depth not good enough > his squad but we have injuries > Edu's fault"". We need to be real. Stop with the excuses, the real reasons we always falter is far simpler than that.

                  Who is conjuring up excuses for failing to win at home to Everton Clarence? Nobody has done that here as far as I can see.

                  In a more humorous vein, I've just been alerted to another merch drop, I think we've had more merch drops over the last week than wins this month...

                    Clrnc Also, people like to big our manager and team up and keep saying next year is our year, it's okay not to win this year again because the process is right, the boardroom is sound, structure of the club is good etc. Shit on Chelsea's joke transfer strategy and horrible boardroom and they will never win anything.

                    Firstly I've gotta apologise for cherry-picking, but I think this section of a long and thoughtful post sums up my problems with it.

                    Thing is, I support what's been done as far as the Project™ is concerned and I've also been warning we won't get endless opportunities with this squad, and that it'll cost us badly not to convert the investment into trophies. These two things aren't exclusive. The structure and process at the club are pretty good and much better than before, but structure and process still aren't a cabinet full of silverware.

                    Most of us have been worried about that since at least the back half of 22–23 (that draw to Liverpool, fucking hell), whatever we think about Arteta, recruitment or any other aspect of Arsenal.

                    For all this fresh chat about Liverpool and Chelsea, both clubs were shit last season. We were runners-up in the league then because City happened to still be very, very good. And Chelsea's transfer strategy is a joke and all those seven year contracts are still going to fuck them.

                    It's a crying shame we're off the place, but we're not witnessing a huge trailing off and decline of the Project™ at the moment. We'll continue to be competitive. It's good if there's a bit of angst about where we're at, because I sense we're still very close to winning a major trophy. As with the past two seasons, we're at a moment where we actually could win the league or Champions League and frankly that's still a pleasantly unfamiliar feeling.

                    The rest of this season looms as a personal test for Mikel Arteta. The way I see it, he needs to get us ticking over again properly in the league, and we need to be pushing things further in the Champions League. Can he do it? It seems to me that both objectives are entirely possible at this point. If we do what we did from this point last season now, we'll probably win the title.

                    I'll be ready to gnash and wail with the best of us if the season truly disintegrates, but it hasn't happened just yet.

                      Qwiss it is lush, that. I'd have bought it myself but I know how much I've worn the blue and yellow Originals Beckenbauer which was put out a year(ish) ago.

                      Think I'm getting a bit tubby for trackie tops... 😱

                        Last season Odegaard would have put one or two of those chances away and it's a different game. This season just feels like everything is a bit off - fitness, injuries, sharpness, cohesion, referees, scheduling. These are not excuses mind - we should be doing a bit better to overcome them - it's an observation of how I feel that nothing seems to be quite right.

                        Well against Everton as well they aren't a great team and we really couldn't do anything but throwing crosses in which is so stupid and it's hard to not look at the manager why were we doing that.it isn't just the players for me and we've had some bad luck but I also think our football and limitations are really showing this season.

                        I like Arteta. A lot even, and I'm proud of the direction he has helped take the club in since he became the manager. I just wish he would take more risks. I'll give two examples.
                        My heart sank at Bournemouth, twice. First, seeing the line-up ahead of the game realizing we were starting SEVEN defensive players. Then, when Saliba was sent off, watching Arteta sub off Sterling. The same Sterling who looked to be the only offensive threat on the pitch, and this after a few minutes without subs where we showed that we could actually cope with the players on the field.
                        Second example is our last game, against Everton. Still can't for the life of me figure out why Arteta would take Odegaard off 'for tactical reasons', as he said in the post game presser. In a game where we are completely dominant, chasing a goal, it would have been so nice to see Arteta being willing to play both Odegaard and Nwaneri. Instead, we ended up making 5 subs but not really changing anything structurally. We basically just ended the game with 5 lesser players on the pitch.
                        Hopefully, this is something that Arteta will improve. And soon. He is a smart man, a really good manager, and I hope he will evolve as a manager when it comes to being willing to take more risks on the pitch.

                        Normal people who are chasing a goal sub a defender for an attacker. Not old Mik though. Need those four defenders to play against the lone target man.

                          When Jesus first arrived, we were an unknown force. Games were more back and forth, and he was dominant. Helped us to 12 more points than we have now.

                          the decline of jesus really fucked us. at his best he was a more useful asset for the team overall than havertz imo, because of how creative and brave he was with the ball. that dynamism through the middle alleviated putting too much creative burden on ode and saka, which is what we're seeing now. he was the 3rd man. every team needs a 3rd man creatively, or even a 4th man. even a creative powerhouse like KDB still needed a supporting cast of bernardo/gundogan/foden/mahrez to really get over the top. havertz is more of an off the ball guy, which is fine when the rest of the team is functioning creatively, which we're not.