Can't disagree with any of that, and I feel the soft approach is something Art has been missing. Players just disappear from the face of the earth when he has a disagreement with them or they don't follow his rigid instructions down to a tee. I still can't work out exactly what Maitland-Niles did to offend him, but the bloke is probably our best player in three positions at the moment and yet he only gets scraps.
Art has the right to do whatever he wants with the squad, but when you're one spot away from relegation in december, never create any chances and the team hasn't scored from open play in 13 hours people will judge you on things like dropping Özil entirely from the squad. Arteta was willing to die on that molehill, and now he will. Which is another hallmark of typically bad managers in my book: they can't compromise for the greater good for shit. Every single decision is a line being drawn in the sand.
