I am not Arteta's biggest fan so let's get that out of the way. But I am very concerned about where he is taking this team. I honestly think he has an arrogance that does not befit a manager with one FA cup under his belt. But here are a few issues I have with him especially after watching him for 3 years.
1) He plays favourites. Havertz and Raya are flops. No matter what he thinks, they have been a waste of money and destabilized the team. I dare you all to show me one person who this past summer would have said we needed an upgrade on Ramsdale. Havertz was at Chrlsea for a very underwhelming 3 years. 65m on THAT is criminal. Nketiah is NOT Arsenal level. And if we can't trust Nelson, then why did we renew his contract? Pepe was binned but youa re telling me he could not have been an adequate backup? His numbers are pretty good even though his style of play does not fit...but Nketiah is still here.
2) Arteta believes his own hype. Last season, he came up with a style of play that made us amazing to watch. And it won us some amazing games. We lost the league due to injuries and loss of form. Partey and Saka tanked towards the end of the season. With Saka, it is due to overplaying. Tomi and Saliba got injured in the same game and Holding is LEVELS below them. What we needed was a backup for the defense, a back up/competition in DM and a Xhaka replacement. We then also needed a backup to Saka and Jesus. Instead, we got TWO out of the 5 players we needed. And our style of play has changed to give us more "control". But woth that, we have gone from a team you always thought could create chances to one I fear cannot overturn even a one nil deficit against any opposition. Not the right decision.
3) Arteta has been backed but our squad still looks pretty poor beyond the first 11. We have maybe 13 top players and then the drop off is steep either to poor buys or lack of trust from the manager. Nketiah, Havertz, Jorginho, Elneny, are not Arsenal quality. Vieira, Nelson, ESR are not trusted by the manager which is part of in my opinion his poor man management. So once again, a very thin squad even though every player we now have was either brought in or had contracts renewed despite many fans wishing we could sell or release the player.
Anyways..gonna stop here (I know it's a novel) but super frustrating to see little progress in the year I thought we'd kick on.
Also...why so many injuries???
Arteta is failing
posted on 5/11/23
The general feeling
If we beat Sevilla and Burnley then we are world class again and all is forgiven
posted on 5/11/23
comment by Striketeam7 - There used to be a football club over there (U18109)
posted 5 minutes ago
I think you are being somewhat harsh by saying “failing”
I know you lot don’t like acknowledging it but you were incredibly lucky last season, yes you nearly maximised that luck, but luck and momentum was the main driver of last season - not having to play Man City at all until Feb for instance.
I think overall Arteta has spent a fortune but has crucially improved the squad significantly, Declan Rice was a superb signing, Martinelli, Zinchenko, Saliba, Gabriel, Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, Odegaard - some cracking signings.
The bad - the man definitely believes in his own hype and is quite arrogant. He is the squad but a bit like Pep in his early days at City, he tinkers for the sake of appearing clever. Raya unnecessary, Havertz an absolute joke, Jorginho past it at this level. Arteta needs a humbling and then to refocus on the quality he has.
I am still scratching my head about Trossard on the bench yesterday. I know Partey is injured and Xhaka sold - but is Jorginho really the best partner for Rice that you have left? And faaaack me what does he see in Raya over Ramsdale that the rest of the world doesn’t
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You cannot be lucky over a 38 game season you can pick out the odd game here and there where you can say fortune favoured you but not over 38 games. We played some really good stuff and we got very close to winning it.
Possibly Arteta is a victim of his own success we aren't hitting the standards set last season in terms of performance and that seems mostly it's self inflicted by Arteta the confusion around the goalkeeping position which ultimately didn't need remedying. Wasting money on a player who nobody in their right mind would buy. Not using that money to either fund a competent replacement for either Saka or Jesus these are all obvious things which even the uninitiated could see and for professionals at the club not to act on these issues is almost unforgivable and could undo all the relatively good work they've done in recruitment over the last couple of years.
posted on 5/11/23
not having to play Man City at all until Feb for instance.
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So lucky not playing City until they are traditionally at their best.
It was so gutting we had to play them in October this season, in the time of the season they are more likely to lose.
posted on 5/11/23
Just as an outside observer I thought you played well yesterday away at a difficult place, you were technically by far the better team and only lost to a goal that VAR could have disallowed for three different reasons.
Havertz agreed is a strange one and changing your keeper was unnecessary but compared to the disorganised shower of shiite we are you look a well organised technically competent team you just need a top striker which I think you will go for in January.
Realistically nobody is catching Abu Dhabi but you will probably be once again the best of the rest.
posted on 5/11/23
comment by Franko Cantona (U22187)
posted 2 hours, 40 minutes ago
Just as an outside observer I thought you played well yesterday away at a difficult place, you were technically by far the better team and only lost to a goal that VAR could have disallowed for three different reasons.
Havertz agreed is a strange one and changing your keeper was unnecessary but compared to the disorganised shower of shiite we are you look a well organised technically competent team you just need a top striker which I think you will go for in January.
Realistically nobody is catching Abu Dhabi but you will probably be once again the best of the rest.
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Fair play mate
Defensively we were great apart from that one situation. Upfront ...meh...
posted on 5/11/23
comment by Vladimikel Artutin - committing war crimes against football since 2019 (U18355)
posted 9 hours, 36 minutes ago
We are on course for a top 4 finish and can still shiiithouse our way to the latter stages of the CL.
Would that be seen as failure? How can anybody expect any better from a team that had Eddie and Havertz as regulars?
We clearly need to spend big money in 2 positions (at least) if people expect us to win the league
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The reason I a. Frustrated at this is because your regular armchair fan with an ounce of football knowledge would tell you we should have sold Nketiah a while back when Palace came knocking. They can also tell you that Havertz has been Schitt for 3 years. So why does Artets persist with them? We can't turn around and say "how can we expect more from the team with who we have" when the manager has gone out of his way and against common knowledge to get/keep those very players!
posted on 5/11/23
comment by Vladimikel Artutin - committing war crimes against football since 2019 (U18355)
posted 9 hours, 32 minutes ago
The football is mostly shiiit to watch but if it wins us a trophy (CL or FA Cup), I don’t think many will care about the style of play.
I have been saying for a while that this team looks far more equipped for knockout football than a league challenge this season.
Obviously if we go out of the cups early then questions should be asked if Arteta.
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I dont know if we are equipped for cup games to be honest. Historically, Arteta has thrown those games and that schitt mentality is now firmly in the squad. We withered away to Lens and West Ham due to the atmospheres and the opponents simply wanting it more. We are too Jekyll and Hyde for me to have any confidence in getting a performance at any given time this year and even more so in cup games.
posted on 5/11/23
comment by Franko Cantona (U22187)
posted 9 hours, 11 minutes ago
Just as an outside observer I thought you played well yesterday away at a difficult place, you were technically by far the better team and only lost to a goal that VAR could have disallowed for three different reasons.
Havertz agreed is a strange one and changing your keeper was unnecessary but compared to the disorganised shower of shiite we are you look a well organised technically competent team you just need a top striker which I think you will go for in January.
Realistically nobody is catching Abu Dhabi but you will probably be once again the best of the rest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We played like how we have played for much of this season. Slow, side to side, pretty solid st the back and creating VERY little going forward. I have ZERO confidence in us coming back from a losing position against any team this season whereas last season, I believed until the final whistle
posted on 5/11/23
comment by MaineGunner (U10130)
posted 6 minutes ago
comment by Franko Cantona (U22187)
posted 9 hours, 11 minutes ago
Just as an outside observer I thought you played well yesterday away at a difficult place, you were technically by far the better team and only lost to a goal that VAR could have disallowed for three different reasons.
Havertz agreed is a strange one and changing your keeper was unnecessary but compared to the disorganised shower of shiite we are you look a well organised technically competent team you just need a top striker which I think you will go for in January.
Realistically nobody is catching Abu Dhabi but you will probably be once again the best of the rest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We played like how we have played for much of this season. Slow, side to side, pretty solid st the back and creating VERY little going forward. I have ZERO confidence in us coming back from a losing position against any team this season whereas last season, I believed until the final whistle
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To be fair we've done it three times already this season. Having said that the style of play is not good and needs to improve.
posted on 5/11/23
comment by Admiral Ozil is my new favourite Star Wars character (U10178)
posted 2 seconds ago
comment by MaineGunner (U10130)
posted 6 minutes ago
comment by Franko Cantona (U22187)
posted 9 hours, 11 minutes ago
Just as an outside observer I thought you played well yesterday away at a difficult place, you were technically by far the better team and only lost to a goal that VAR could have disallowed for three different reasons.
Havertz agreed is a strange one and changing your keeper was unnecessary but compared to the disorganised shower of shiite we are you look a well organised technically competent team you just need a top striker which I think you will go for in January.
Realistically nobody is catching Abu Dhabi but you will probably be once again the best of the rest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
We played like how we have played for much of this season. Slow, side to side, pretty solid st the back and creating VERY little going forward. I have ZERO confidence in us coming back from a losing position against any team this season whereas last season, I believed until the final whistle
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To be fair we've done it three times already this season. Having said that the style of play is not good and needs to improve.
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We got a very lucky v Chelsea and Fulham at was a shocker v 10 men and still couldn't break them down.
When we go away to the likes of Luton, forrest and teams like that, if we don't score the first goal, we are not getting back into the game.
Our style of football, away from home, is to be solid and try and score a goal with the very few limited chances we create.