We are basically saying the same thing, I think. I'm just being... me about it.
Arsenal @ Nottingham Forest 19h30 GMT
RocktheCasbah Another year like this one, his contact renewal will be on the agenda and maybe would be the right time to part.
???
It would be insane for us to part way with a coach right after he won us two Champions League titles in a row.
RocktheCasbah I’m in agreement. He gets one more season otherwise we are in danger of things getting stale. Only so much the same guy can motivate the same players coming 2nd.
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The club demonstrated their level of ambition in January. It’s really hard to want more from the club when the powers at be don’t. We’ve got nothing left to play for this season and this feels like the start of the end for Mikel. The attacking personnel are cooked and we need a complete overhaul which we won’t do.
I don't see how we can get past PSV.
I guess that's the final nail in the coffin for us now. It's hindsight but Watkins for £60m in January looks a really missed opportunity.
I thought we generally played okay, at least better than vs West Ham but that lack of cutting edge up top is really hurting us. Merino coming on up top for 20 minutes as an aerial threat to chase a goal is okay, but I don't think we should be starting him there.
I'm not massively keen on Trossard at false 9 but at least he has a little bit of pedigree there and has moments of class.
I quietly thought Sterling on loan would be a clever bit of business for us but man, he's washed. I almost feel sad for him at this point.
Get Saka and Martinelli back after the break and we'll look much more threatening even without a proper striker. Shame all of this has cost us the title though.
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Dom we will beat them. I think this brand of haram football will actually suit the CL. We can 0-0/1-1 it until we get Saka back.
You have more confidence in that than i do.
RocktheCasbah
On the other hand we invested a lot in the squad and Arteta had been here for quite a few seasons, so we had a lot of stability. In this circumstances having a single very good league season is rather expected than surprising, especially that we didn't do much in the cups or CL.
I mean Arteta has been backed significantly and while last season was a great run it didn't deliver us a title when things were running for us and it might end up being the high water mark. The summer was a really bad one, we bought two players who may have added depth but they did not improve the team. At the same we gambled too much on martinelli, havertz and Jesus being enough in the front line. These were decisions made by Arteta and he got them badly wrong. I think that should lead to an assessment at the end of the season but I recognise maybe lots of people aren't there.
But next season has to be the final straw. We look very good but falling into the same old problems Arsenal have faced since our last title. Most opposition fans recognise we are good but we'll never win it's just not in us and psychologically that will sleep into the team. I worry about PSV it would be typical arsenal collapse to go out meekly at this point.
Keep the boat floating until Saka and Martinelli are back
Watch us desperately rush em back in and suffer the consequences
this season is completely forgettable. we've been turgid before and after the injuries.
0-0...huh...who could've seen that coming?
Guess I'm glad I had to miss it. Anything of interest happen?
truth serum
Stating the obvious but without goals you can’t win games and points so we’re now likely to end up in a situation where a CL place becomes a battle to hold onto with 0-0 looking like best case scenario for the foreseeable future. Although if the extra money earned won’t be spent on addressing the weakness in the team again, is there even much point in making it?
Admit I switched it off in disgust when Sterling was brought on. Genuinely what was the point? This season's "thanks for your interest in our affairs."