Arteta is not up to the task. We all want Arsenal to succeed and clearly that may involve backing our manager, but that doesn't prevent us from assessing if we have the manager that we deserve.
I'm an Arteta Out since the beginning. For me it was astonishing that the club bet on Arteta after the disastrous experience of Emery. It was clear that we needed a top-tier manager, a well-regarded and experienced guy that would equal to zero rookie mistakes (I wanted/want Allegri). This is Arsenal, not Newcaste nor Brighton. And even if the club wanted to gamble, they could have appointed some of the very promising up-and-coming coachs.
But no, the club picked Arteta. And we are starting to see the results. Up to this date, Arsenal has played 21 games (not 15, like some example I have read in a previous post). That is more than half season.
The result? 10°.
Half of the table. And it is sound to argue that our team (and our economic resources) are more than enough to be, at least, within top 6. And I say top 6 because this is the best league in the world and this is Arsenal.
I really don't get the arguments of the style 'we are 3 points short from 6th'. They are wrong for two main reasons. First, S'ton (11th) and Leeds (12th) have a game in hand as compared to us, and A. Villa (9th) and Everton (8th) have two games in hand. Second, and most imporant, the margins at the Premier League are very tight. How large is the difference between ending 10° and 6°? Let's see: last season, had Burnley won 17 games instead of 15, they would have ended 6th instead of 10th.
By the way, it is not only about results. I really don't feel that tactically we have stepped to anything decent. We are clearly less worse than a few months ago, but that does not change the fact that the team has several problems and the manager --who is not in his first year-- is not capable of solving them. On the contrary, it seems that many of those problems are due to the manager: Rigid tactics, awful player-management (e.g. the Saliba case and to a lesser extent, the cases of Pepe and Saka). So, are we actually improving or just becoming less shit than before?
The club is instituting a mediocre mentality. If we start to celebrate being 10th at half season "with just 4 points short from 6°" or if we start congratulating ourselves for finishing 8th, we are lost. And yes, Arteta may reach 8° (and maybe not) and the occasional mickey mouse cup. What we should ask ourselves is:
Is that what Arsenal deserve?
