Doc wrote:
Nice post Kurt. Personally I think we already have the replacement. Partey. His passing is decent when he is not trying to be too ambitious and not under pressure, which suits being the main recycler and keeping it simple, defensively is much better as well... He was sold as this game changer when he came, that dominant midfielder who could transform our play.. Not so much (didnt think it myself), but I do think he can play that role really well.. If you watch yhe Norwich game you will see it was Partey more in that position and I think it worked well... Add next to him a proper baller, someone with technique, mobility and vision... dream would be someone like Bernado Silva for me and Id say we are pretty set..
Honestly also I dont mind Xhaka as much as most.. Think he would be a quality second choice, especially when we hopefully get into Europe and will need to rotate more.
I love Partey, I'm one of those who thought he is this dominant game changer and I still think he can be. The problem with him though, is that while he has every kind of pass in his locker, he can't hit them consistently enough. I don't think he ever will either, because his instinct as a player will tell him that he can hit a 50 yard through ball, as he's done it before. So as soon as he sees a player making a run, he will try to hit the ball to him. It's what makes him so good, alongside a dominating physical presence of course, that he's always looking to make something happen. It also means he'll attempt passes that are too ambitious every once in a while. But if you tell him to sit deep and keep it simple, he'll lose focus, because he'll have to curb his instincts and that second in your head where you have to tell yourself to not attempt that ball, but rather play it back to Gabriel, is an eternity on a football pitch.
He's too old to really reinvent himself as well I think, so unfortunately I don't think he will ever really be able to do the job Xhaka does, because Xhaka's game at his best is, ironically enough, really restrained and controlled, while Partey thrives when he's allowed to play without restraints and just dominate. I'd love to see it work, because it means we could get one more really talented player like ESR, Lokonga or, god forbid, Auba on the pitch in favour of Xhaka, but Arteta seems to have us set up in such a specific way, that we simply require someone of his skillset.
We place a lot of emphasis on our left fullback joining the attack, that seems to be by design, and Xhaka is always the one dropping in to cover for Tierney, so that too seems to be by design, allowing Tierney to attack without restraint and our centre backs to push up higher as well. So that's one very specific job for the deep lying centre midfielder. The other one is collecting the ball from the CBs and start our attacks by playing accurate diagonal longballs to our wingers, who then proceed to make something happen, because they're fucking awesome. Seriously, Saka especially is fucking awesome. For ages now what I just wrote has been our only plan to attack, and Saka is the one who makes it work, because he can receive the ball on the halfway line and just run with it, he gains so much ground for the entire team and he's usually instrumental in creating the goal at the end of a successful attack as well.
Anyway, praise for Saka aside, Xhaka really is the only one who can do the above described job, because he is the only who will consistently hit our wingers from deep accurately and reliably. You're right of course that Partey could do it as well, he can absolutely cover for the fullback as he's played as one before, and he can absolutely hit accurate long diagonal balls, I just think the latter won't ever happen consistently enough and the former shackles him as a player, while he should be allowed to body people in midfield and win the ball higher up, where his high risk passes have a higher chance of leading to a goal. I think Simeone had a reason to always play an accomplished playmaker alongside him.
All that said, recently we've been playing a lot more through the middle. I'm hoping it's because Arteta has learned to be flexible. I'm a little sceptical though, too much has been said about him being super specific and obsessed with detail, which for the record I think is not necessarily a good trait for a manager, but you never know he is still learning. And he did want Odegaard. I think the latter is more likely the reason for our improved play through the middle though, we still deferred wide up until a few games ago, but since he's found some form the other players look for him a lot more, he's been more vocal on the pitch and that confidence has resulted in him having the ball more often, which can only be a good thing. No matter whose responsibility, I like it and I hope it continues, brillant combination play through the middle has always been a feature of Arsenal football for me, and it's been gone for far too long. More importantly than that it would take some pressure off of Saka. Teams have started catching on to him a little and him being our only threat, so he's had a hard time, coupled with mental and physical fatigue from the World Cup. It's no coincidence that his form has gone up a level once again since other teams now also have to worry about the likes of ESR, Martinelli and Odegaard.
And while I'm apparently writing a novel I might as well comment on Arteta having truly turned it around once again. Because I don't think so. I personally feel he's too rigid in his approach, too technical, too far up his own ass sometimes. Guy is obviously obsessed with football and he has absorbed all the technical knowledge, people like Pep call him a genius, and he might be, but only in theory. I feel he's lacking when it comes to interacting with his players and actually getting his message across. He seems frustrated with his players, our players seem confused with his message, all points to there being a problem with the players playing like he wants them to, and that's a huge problem, because that is his job. It doesn't matter if he has all those genius ideas if he can't get them across. It's like a freshly graduated philosophy student thinking he'll now spend his days drinking wine with intellectuals and change the world with the wisdom of Socrates, Hegel and Nietzsche (the fucking cunt), and then he sits there in an office with Charlie and Matt and has to listen to their stories about last Sunday's barbeque with the missus in between pushing files around, because that's what your job really looks like. I'm sure Arteta has a lot of bright ideas about how to create the ultimate football team, the reality of it is that as a manager you have to adapt to the players you have at your disposal and it is your job to make them play good football, not their job to realise your ideas, and the fact that Arteta doesn't seem to see it that way with how frustrated he gets with his players, with how disciplinarian he's being and based on his comments rubs me the wrong way and I'd rather see him gone. I don't think it will work either. I mean we're out of Euopre. Like, entirely. I also think he will improve, because it is his first experience actually being a manager for a professional football club and I'm sure he will eventually have lots of success at a club, I'm just not sure it's Arsenal.
The most important thing though, is that if Arteta has turned it around might not be of any consequence, because as long as Arteta doesn't stand in the way of the likes of Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe, Martinelli, Tomiyasu, Tierney, White, Ramsdale etc. we will eventually have success with or without him. And he will deserve credit for it if he's still here or not, because he assembled this team and in my opinion that at least has been a job well done so far.
