jones like I said before. I think we need additional forwards with different characteristics. But I don’t agree with this defense vs attack framing. I think there is just an issue getting that 4th or 5th top attacker in the team. But that’s not being stopped by the fact that we improved our goalie situation significantly. Can chew, walk and shit at the same time.
Official: Mikel Arteta is the new Arsenal manager.
Claudius it's not a framing of us having to do one or the other, it's an observation that one is clearly prioritised. Otherwise why don't we do all three at once then? Club didn't have an issue spending big on Ramsdale who was a huge gamble and was ruthless when he showed he wasn't up to it. We signed more goalies than attackers since Arteta and Cana joined the club.
Lets not rewrite history. Havertz is absolutely not bought as a centreforward for us.
He brought Havertz to be his Fellaini. When it became obvious that he was better as a CF, he brought in Merino to be his Fellaini replacement.
Now we have a team with no proper striker, our attacking play is based on getting crosses in for two Fellainis to score headers or getting corners and swinging them in for our 4 CBs and 2 Fellainis to score. If that fails, plan B is for Odegaard/Saka to create something out of nothing.
est and the thing about that is Havertz isn't really the type of CF who gets on those crosses that often. His movement just isn't there for that. He's more of a ball at feet player and good at getting on those lose balls from the byline. He's got the size to get some headers but its not his forte. You never see him making that little move from behind the centre back to nip around in front of him and get the header the way Giroud would routinely for instance.
Qwiss giroud is certainly better at that. What Havertz is really good at is working defenders. I’m sure they hate him. He’s constantly moving defenders around, and very physical with them. He’d actually benefit from more vertical movement from our midfielders into the spaces he makes defenders vacate with his movement. Guy’s a warrior
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Here's the thing - our midfield and attack are predominantly made up of players that are physically robust, hard working and tactically excellent. What we're missing is some guile, improv and creativity so we'll soon have to make a decision to sacrifice some of these warriors for an artist or two.
Clrnc i think the issue is that Arteta is buying players and thinking about positions differently from many people's fixed ideas of them. So what you see, particularly with players he has bought recently is a lot of malleability. Nobody knows what exactly Calafiori is, or Timber. Even Trossard. Havertz. He's more interested in sets of attributes that enable our way of playing versus fitting a traditional role in a 433 or 442 etc., as one might typically expect.
It also shows in how much formations and match-ups change within games, either during a transition or as game phases evolve.
A great example is Ben White. There are games where he has been a flying right back, inverted right back, and then right centre back; depending on what is required. And he does all of these roles well. You won't, for example, see Trent playing or Gusto playing all all these different roles in a single match.
Claudius He's more interested in sets of attributes that enable our way of playing versus fitting a traditional role in a 433 or 442 etc.
I'm fine with this, but at some point these attributes should probably be shot power and accuracy, vertical passing, dribbling and close control, speed, intelligent movement, and the feverish desire to score fuckloads of goals.
@Coombs Scott Willis / Cannon Stats has written a hand-wringing defensive blog post dedicated to you 
https://www.cannonstats.com/p/arsenal-did-not-screw-up-their-summer
Coombs I'm fine with this, but at some point these attributes should probably be shot power and accuracy
The problem with stat guys today is that they don't think shooting related skills are relevant. It's all about the xG, which is only about getting to the point where you take a shot.
QuincyAbeyie
If you ever find a credible stats guy who writes exactly what you have put down, please share that article with us.
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"who writes exactly what you have put down" lol
Point is no stats person has ever said you should not buy players who cannot score.
What they say from a basic numbers perspective, and we see this with Arsenal now, and over the last two years, the biggest contributor to scoring goals is actual chance creation. The best finishers in the league right now are doing 20-24% (Salah and Haaland), and your typical guys are doing around 16%, but what you also see the importance of taking tons of shots. Haaland has taken 55 shots to get to his 12 goals. If he had only taken 33 shots like Salah has this season, Haaland would have only 7 goals this season.
Guess what, none of our players have taken as many shots as Salah this season - with Saka and Havertz both around 27 shots this season. That much more than our finishing ability is what is holding us back. We are not getting the ball into areas to take shots.
We had this discussion last season - you said we Havertz was a waste of money, we needed to buy a striker in January. And then we started getting the ball into the box and had our best 38 game goal scoring output ever. Because we took shitloads of shots. And that's just a numbers thing - but no stats guy will ever say no to a Salah or Haaland because if i am faced with an individual chance, I want one of those guys.
QuincyAbeyie this is so true for me and it's why I don't like the way Arsenal vision have gone fully into this as the "only" factor. We are struggling to score in many games but xg is good so no problem we are clearly still the best side. It is one data point you need more rounded context and input. You will not score as many as xg if your forwards aren't up to it but they often hand wave that away as having any relevance.
Burnwinter stats guys are basically just pollsters in disguise
Good summary of how we have changed the way we play.
18 days later
Not bad for a defensive manager. A very impressive stat. Hopefully, we add to this total versus United.
If Slot wins the title in his first season it would unfortunately make Artera look very bad.
Sicario2 - Tier 1 it would make Slot look good.
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Claudius and Arteta bad, as all we hear is that he did not fuck up but City are too good, the league is impossible to win etc. It is not. Just that so far, Arteta has not been good enough. And there is no one who can do a better job then Arteta, that was the narative...well in fact, there are plenty
HomeSteak
look. if we go and have a good season overall, and another manager beats us, then massive props to that manager. If we have a completely fucked up season like the Leicester season, then the manager should be held accountable.
I'm just shocked by the number of people giving up and painting these terrible scenarios - and also eager to get stuck in to Arteta who has done nothing but build credit over the last 3 or 4 years. it's bizarre.
HomeSteak This is getting silly now.
Arteta is "not good enough", yet he was good enough to get us to eighty nine points last season. Only one man has bettered that tally in the 140 year history of this football club. If Arteta isn't good enough for you, who is?
Sicario2 - Tier 1 I get what you mean, but Arteta managerial capability is proven beyond doubt by now. He's a top class manager.
If Slot wins the title, it only shows that he's also a top manager and that it's possible to win the title against the machines of City if you don't make mistakes. Arteta has made plenty of tactical or personnel selection issues along the way and has his blind spots, but personally I feel that we made too many mistakes and went a longer route than we should have in the squad building.
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Every manager will have his faults and blind spots, the question is how does Mikel's faults compare to his peers. I personally think you'll have a hard time finding a better body of work, especially when it comes to squad building.
If there's anything that proves how fine the margins are and how volatile the world of football management is at the top of the game, it's the fact that Man City, managed by a man who many consider the greatest manager of all time won the league last season with over 90 points but are currently sitting in 5th, a point above a team that was battling relegation last season, who are managed by a guy that failed at Spurs.
There are a range of different variables that contribute to whether or not you meet your goals in a season and some are outside the control of a manager. And before anyone suggests it, this doesn't mean Arteta is infallible.
Long story short, let chill the feck out! 
I think you can appraise where we've got to and recognise that improvement and the fact we are in the group at the top of the table and in the mix again. While still critically looking at how do we get to the top and whether Arteta is able to do that.
He's a good manager but not in the same league as those that have won titles. In terms of Arteta's peers I'm comparing him to the managers that have won titles because that is the aspiration and what I feel he's targeting so that's the benchmark. If it is against any manager who has looked fairly good without winning the big honours then that's fine but that's what Tottenham, Rogers Liverpool etc did. If you were at that time praising those clubs for running it close being success fair enough but to me those teams had unique windows where they had the platform to do something and they ultimately failed and those opportunities are rare for most teams so you need to maximise them.
Don Pacifico also proves that we cannot keep having the mentality that we have to wait for 5 more years and 5 more years. Football doesn't stand still for you
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RocktheCasbah He has won 0 titles, he is not good enough to win it as of now. It's that simple for me.
This year he already fucked it up, he has one more year if you ask me.
We can’t keep using ‘fine margins’ as justification for not winning honours.
I think Slot winning the title will make Artera look bad no doubt about it. What will make Artera look even worse is not winning anything.
Suddenly that league cup quarter final game v Palace is bigger than it should be.
Clrnc
Exactly
Sicario2 - Tier 1 If Slot wins the title in his first season it would unfortunately make Artera look very bad.
Meh. Pool have been lucky so far this season. They haven't reached the levels we've been at past two seasons.
And Liverpool have just beaten City while not even playing at the level we were at when we played City before we got screwed by a red card.
If Liverpool win this season by 9 points from here on in, I'll give them plenty of credit, but as it is they're just appealing front runners which is exactly what you'd expect.
Them winning by less than 9 points would probably be enough for me to credit them tbf.