I thought Arteta was a bit more old school. That he was getting the wasters out and bringing people in who had something about them. Instead he's made Arsenal even more devoid of whatever it is that made football so compelling. Chelsea were also really boring to watch, mostly won due to our incompetence rather than any brilliance on their part. I held out hope we'd start this season like a house on fire. Instead, we're back to watching a bunch of children whose job is to go to a spa pretend to compete. I hate it.

I miss watching a bunch of borderline psychopaths with chips on their shoulders fighting for their lives on a football pitch. It's not a refereeing problem like all the pundits claim. It's something simultaneously less and more tangible than that.

I am now convinced I was wrong about Arteta, but that doesn't make me the slightest bit hopeful for the future.

Also, why the fuck are they not required to be vaccinated for fuck's sake? It's absolutely ridiculous.

Coombs wrote:

I miss watching a bunch of borderline psychopaths with chips on their shoulders fighting for their lives on a football pitch.

That's not happening under Arteta. Clrnc posted this the other day, this is his right hand man Steve Round:

On building an elite culture…

“We’re continually working on emotional intelligence and leadership styles within the group, whether that’s the head coach, the two assitant head coaches or even the captains’ group within the team. How you formulate that is bringing togetherness, spirit. Humour is always a very good energy developer. You’re forever trying to build a resonant environment and take it away from dissonance. Discipline, self-discipline and making sure that our behaviour, positive behaviours are continually reinforced. Negative behaviours are pulled up, there are certain things we will not accept.

“If a teammate is showing disrespect to another teammate, perhaps the ball hasn’t come to him and he’s thrown his arms up. That’s telling the world this guy has made a mistake. We don’t blame like that. We don’t do that. If the guy has made a mistake our responsibility is to help him overcome that mistake. Our responsibility, me personally, is to try and make sure the next time he doesn’t make the same mistake again.

“You’re forever showing the players this and making them accountable and responsible for their actions. It’s making sure the environment you’re in and the culture you’re trying to build is consistent and consistent at the elite level. You’re consistently giving them the information that helps them become better players or helps them become a far better team and then you’re consistently enforcing the quality of behaviour that you want to see. There is no magical formula to generating a resonant and elite culture. It’s just every day getting all the little things right. Every day.”

Elite culture

Haha was reading most of the pundits and ref's view on Saka/James incident and all agreed a coming together cannot be a penalty. "simply a tangle of legs"

Yet when Luiz one which is really accidental, it is definitely a red.

Fuck off

It doesn't have to be toxic to be genuinely competitive. The problem is that getting dropped doesn't mean anything, losing has no consequences, contracts rule the day, and everyone believes that comfort is not only deserved, but some kind of right. You'd have to be a fucking philosopher to find any value other than money in the game. Philosophers these guys are not.

I'm frankly stunned at the level of performance we've displayed in these games. It's nothing to do with tactics, I'm certain of that. They're way overblown anyway. I woke up this morning disgusted and depressed, because I feel this part of my life slipping away and I'm terrified of having to replace it, because it'll probably just be with more work. I really hope Arteta is replaced and the new guy can create some reason to love this club - or at least the team - because I'm finding this entirely unbearable. 3 coaches have produced the same feeling, so I'm less and less convinced it's a coaching problem.

Clrnc wrote:

Haha was reading most of the pundits and ref's view on Saka/James incident and all agreed a coming together cannot be a penalty. "simply a tangle of legs"

Yet when Luiz one which is really accidental, it is definitely a red.

Fuck off

 
Refs and the media are biased against us.

If the exact same incident happened against Chelsea, there would be screams for a penalty.

I'm reluctant to write off Mari or anyone else. Even Saka is often somewhere between shit or mediocre for us. This is on the manager.

yeah after watching players i rate like tierney and saka look like absolutely shit, i'm rethinking how i view the players i don't rate.

No surprises about our playing style either after seeing that our coaching staff is made of Man United rejects from the Moyes/Van Gaal era.

Shady wrote:

I'm reluctant to write off Mari or anyone else. Even Saka is often somewhere between shit or mediocre for us. This is on the manager.

I don't buy the idea that the defenders were bad either:

There were some mistakes, most notably collective ones where players weren't sure who to pick up or how tight they should stay in their marking, but the game could easily have ended with a tennis score in Chelsea's favour if it weren't for the individual quality at the back.

mentalvortex wrote:

No surprises about our playing style either after seeing that our coaching staff is made of Man United rejects from the Moyes/Van Gaal era.

That's exactly it. If you put in trash you'll get trash in return too. I've never seen a team where the output is bigger than the input. You hire horrible people, you're going to end up with football that is well horrible to watch and play.

https://arseblog.com/2021/08/arsenal-0-2-chelsea-accepting-the-reality-is-painful/

I don't trust that guy anymore considering his criticism regarding Emery and his current view toward Arteta. He should be fuming and asking for Arteta's head-

Who’s brave enough to open the City thread?

We have a game against West Brom first.

Coombs wrote:

Instead, we're back to watching a bunch of children whose job is to go to a spa pretend to compete. I hate it.

I miss watching a bunch of borderline psychopaths with chips on their shoulders fighting for their lives on a football pitch.

This will never happen while footballers' developmental years are spent in club environments. You're right though, when football is removed from its class origins and from broader life struggle, a lot is removed from football.

The greater dynamics of the system thread ceaselessly through the psychology of its subjects.

Burnwinter wrote:

Coombs wrote:

Instead, we're back to watching a bunch of children whose job is to go to a spa pretend to compete. I hate it.

I miss watching a bunch of borderline psychopaths with chips on their shoulders fighting for their lives on a football pitch.

This will never happen while footballers' developmental years are spent in club environments. You're right though, when football is removed from its class origins and from broader life struggle, a lot is removed from football.

The greater dynamics of the system thread ceaselessly through the psychology of its subjects.

AW said much the same thing when he was talking about forwards from Sth America & Africa as less privileged origins.  IIRC he was talkig about the likes of Sanchez and how the best forwards weren't coming from Europe.  He said too much of European football is now played on parks and not in the streets that breeds resilience, close control and determination.

Clrnc wrote:

Haha was reading most of the pundits and ref's view on Saka/James incident and all agreed a coming together cannot be a penalty. "simply a tangle of legs"

Yet when Luiz one which is really accidental, it is definitely a red.

Fuck off

they'll talk some shit like "he should not be in that position in the first place" actual victim blaming shit.

Klaus wrote:

We have a game against West Brom first.

hopefully they kick us out of that damn cup. i can't take more than once a week of this shit.