Gurgen wrote:
Now that it's clear we're not getting top 4, let's evaluate this season's journey. What Arteta has done is:
Pains me to say it, but … good post. I think there are other ways to frame what we've been through this season but you make a strong case.
This season I went from having few expectations, to seeing glimmers of real calibre in the squad, and the summer signings for that matter, to believing we'd probably scrape into the top four.
It's hard to argue the aggregate effect of Arteta, from recruitment to selection to man management to tactical changes (or their absence) has been to deny us that outcome.
Not much point flailing around about the specific failures for the whole summer—for me, the winter window was probably the single biggest, with even one decisively good signing in midfield or up front probably pushing us forward the couple of points we needed. But for things to go well next season we'll need a fairly unlikely set of things to happen:
- Arteta experiencing rapid growth as a manager
- The players backing Arteta and improving themselves, despite the lack of decisive progress this season
- Pulling off some solid gold transfers to patch our deficiencies
If KSE was at all open to replacing Arteta, then the first two might not be necessary. They're asking a lot of a man who, though I personally like him, seems stolid, unimaginative, and very very far from being guaranteed to deliver them.
I hope we're not sacking Arteta ten or twenty gruelling matches into 22–23. Really hate that sort of season, just feels like watching the clock.
