Don Pacifico wrote:
Don't agree with the pressure being an issue here. But I also think it's lazy to suggest it's therefore Arteta's fault. Sometimes players don't work out a club - could be language, could be culture, could be unable to play in a different system...could be a myriad of things.
Yes, could be a myriad of things and one of them is Arteta's management. Pretty much everyone agreed last summer that we needed a CM first and foremost, even those of us who think the squad is mostly fine agreed Xhaka should be replaced and it would be too early for Lokonga to start every week. Some were even suggesting we needed more than one midfielder because of Partey's injury struggles and AFCON.
Then we declined a 15m offer for Xhaka, extended him instead and spent 80m on CB and GK instead. We now start every match day with a 20m backup goalie and a bloke who started 40 matches at CB last season on the bench, Mari doesn't even make the squad any more while Elneny somehow managed to start at United. Those are all Arteta's calls.
What is lazy is to suggest it's not Arteta's fault when there are so many players currently underperforming. Partey looked like a world class midfielder or one in the making his whole career so far, some of us have been wishlisting him since around 2015. He was dominating teams by himself in Spain, CL and for Ghana yet his issues here "could be" because of other things than the rookie manager with no track record (other than telling him to run on the pitch when he's injured and slamming him for it later) not knowing how to play him and who to partner him with.
Pepe looked like a world beater for Lille and CIV, now he hasn't even played a minute in more than a month despite being fit the whole time. When or if he gets another minute and looks rusty and devoid of confidence I know some will proceed to say Arteta was right to bench him
Auba banged them in his whole life including for us, he looks completely shot now despite no big injury or anything to that tune happening, only thing that's changed for the first time in his career since his ASSE days is he plays for a team that creates as many chances as relegation fodder on average.
All of these guys could be struggling for different reasons, even if we ignore that most of those reasons are still very much within the managers power to fix. But do you have any reasons to believe its not down to the manager other than your lazy reflexes to defend the man whenever someone criticises him?
