Time of the season when we look at the state of our squad and thank the lord that the season is over. We have been declining for a while, but even then, this season takes the pisscuits. I won’t be surprised, at all, if we ended up finishing ahead of Everton or Spurs and ended up celebrating qualification to the European Conference league.
Anyhoo, a quick list of who I would like to see moved on. Please feel free to add/remove your own.
Leno – Arteta chose Leno over Emi and in return Leno produced probably his worst season. He wants a new challenge and I won’t stop him.
Runarrson -
Bellerin – Good servant of the club, but he has declined massively after that big injury.
Kolasinac – Big Kola still has a year on his contract. In the BIN.
Xhaka – I’m not sure how Xhaka has stayed for this long, but fair play. Teflon Don. The embodiment of Arsenal in decline.
Guendouzi – I think he’s burnt his bridge now. Maybe somewhere underneath that ego, there’s a hint of a talent. I haven’t seen it, tbh.
Torreira – I’m a big fan of Lucas, but he actually is a cry baby and doesn’t want to stay here.
Elneny – Sad state of affairs when our midfield options are so poor, we have to rely on his bloke to help us out.
Willian - …..
Nketiah – Has never really developed into that striker that we thought he’d turn out to be, during his youth days. I don’t want anyone to stand in the way of Balogun’s progression, so Eddie has to go.
Lacazette – Not a great signing but not a bad one. However, he’s 29 and with a year left I would not hand him a new contract.
Aubameyang – A controversial one, given that I’m a big fan of Auba’s. But I always felt we were making a big mistake in handing him a mega ridiculous contract, and well, I’m right. Very much doubt anyone would be interested in a 30 somethings player on £350k pw, but just in case someone is, I’d sell.
Ceballos & Ødegaard – Dani can fack off. MØ I’d like for a full season loan, but not on a permanent.
End of Season Sale: 50% OFF
posted on 21/5/21
comment by Flamini'sShirtSleeves (U8186)
posted 1 hour, 47 minutes ago
comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 50 seconds ago
We keep on hinting abt replacements but there are some posters even on this thread who are ardent supporters of Arteta, like Crouch and Lex.
I just don't understand why. I try very hard to keep an open mind and would love anyone to give me a cogent argument why suddenly everything will improve next season beyond the abstract 'he will learn'. Learn what?
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Reasons to be positive about Arteta:
1. He has sorted out our woeful defending, so we don't routinely look like conceding on the break.
2. He is shifting the deadwood from our squad - with good sounds about moving on more of the past it players this summer
3. He has integrated some of the younger players well
4. He has learned (albeit too slowly) to stop putting faith in players that let this club down on a regular basis - previous managers kept faith in players that trained well and had a good reputation in the squad or cost a lot of money.
5. Our form since boxing day suggests he is improving us.
6. We have had very few games where we've not been able to compete with our opponents under Arteta, gone are the games where we find ourselves losing by four or five goals to City and Liverpool and completely flattened by superior opposition.
7. When he has set out to coach our team he showed he can do it - our FA cup run last season was all about having the whole team press as a unit and defend from the front and showed a blueprint for how we could compete against anyone. With a proper preseason and a full summer's preparation it's possible we could see a return to this disciplined, high-pressing approach.
Reasons to be negative about Arteta:
1. He changes the squad as much as Pep and seems to leave some players out for long periods if they make only one mistake
2. He hasn't been able to get us to play good attacking football for any sustained period of time.
3. His substitutions are too late and often difficult to comprehend
4. His formations/tactics in the Europa League were beyond bizarre, and should have cost us the tie in the first leg of the semifinal.
5. His treatment of some players has verged on harsh, with Saliba a particularly egregious example of the club failing to treat a player professionally and constructively
6. Our league form has been poor at exactly the times in the season we need the team to focus, suggesting he doesn't understand the importance of premier league results for our finances or the club's future.
I dunno, I'm pretty on the fence. I was still behind him until the EL semifinal, but that whole debacle and the lack of preparation for not having Tierney for that game have shaken my faith quite a bit. I think if the season starts badly next year then he will have to go. If I were the club I would start preparing a replacement just in case. But there's no way the club will sack him this summer and there are some reasons to be hopeful, so I don't understand the negativity of some people on this board - Arteta is not the sole cause of all our problems (the owners have a lot more to answer for), he isn't about to be sacked, it's not worth getting worked up over. I don't think we are clearly worse this season than we were last season (we may end up with 5 more points), and in the young players we have a lot of potential that could improve us in the near future.
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I'll go through it tomorrow
posted on 21/5/21
comment by Son Of Gunnersaurus a.k.a SoG (U1310)
posted 4 hours, 21 minutes ago
Aubameyang - should be banging 30 prem goals in a season, easy. Take it he just doesn't get the service.
That and constantly being changed positions. Don’t think his personal struggles have helped either this season
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posted on 21/5/21
Agree with all but would only lose one of Auba or Laca and given his wages we'll keep Auba.
I think if he played with Martinelli they could swap positions a bit more and he'd do better in that sort of system. Plus we're barely creating anything this season, when we do he will score. And finally he's had a hard year off the pitch too. I think he might come back with a point to prove/want to thank the club for backing him during it.
posted on 21/5/21
6. Our league form has been poor at exactly the times in the season we need the team to focus, suggesting he doesn't understand the importance of premier league results for our finances or the club's future.
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Over the last 23 games only Man City have got more points than Arsenal.
posted on 21/5/21
comment by SirCastic (U8772)
posted 1 hour, 56 minutes ago
6. Our league form has been poor at exactly the times in the season we need the team to focus, suggesting he doesn't understand the importance of premier league results for our finances or the club's future.
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Over the last 23 games only Man City have got more points than Arsenal.
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What an interesting and completely pointless stat
posted on 21/5/21
comment by SirCastic (U8772)
posted 2 hours, 22 minutes ago
6. Our league form has been poor at exactly the times in the season we need the team to focus, suggesting he doesn't understand the importance of premier league results for our finances or the club's future.
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Over the last 23 games only Man City have got more points than Arsenal.
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Brilliant. Shame the league season is actually 38 games long.
posted on 21/5/21
Sead Kolasinac is expected to leave Arsenal this summer with Schalke & Serie A side Lazio keen on signing the defender on a permanent deal, Football London understands. [@ChrisWheatley_] #afc https://t.co/B8o3AqLQnL
Happy days
posted on 21/5/21
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He's from Africa
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He’s Egyptian which makes him an Arab
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egypt is in Africa
posted on 22/5/21
Reasons to be positive about Arteta:
1. He has sorted out our woeful defending, so we don't routinely look like conceding on the break.
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I agree technically. But how he has done it is worrying. We sit back and sit deep and defend on mass. Now that works, as Fat Sam, Pulis, Dyche etc can testify. But it means we don't attack as a unit. And we sit back so deep that our tempo forward is very slow. Its the type of defending that mid-table clubs do or clubs who yo-yo between relegation and mid-table.
2. He is shifting the deadwood from our squad - with good sounds about moving on more of the past it players this summer
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Those who have left so far have done so when their contracts have ended. The players we have sold for any money are the ones in demand. For example Emi. I lost a lot of confidence in Arteta's judgement with the Leno over Emi business alone.
3. He has integrated some of the younger players well
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Has he? I can go through every youngster but I'll focus on ESR as an example. Just when he was settling and turned our game around forming an understanding with Saka, Arteta brought in Odegaard. ESR was moved wide to accommodate him. Odegaard has/had done very little to justify that. Youngsters need a career path to develop and managers stick to it. I remember how Wenger developed younger players and boy did it annoy me when he stuck by them through criticism. I understand why he did it though. Martinelli, Saliba, overplaying Saka, ESR/Odegaard, Gouen kicked out over one indiscretion, AMN dropped and ignored, Willock played in positions he has never played as a youth player and then ignored, Nelson - is he alive?, Eddie given chances over Balogun and then tossed aside but still expected to make an instant contribution or further vilified, I can go on.
4. He has learned (albeit too slowly) to stop putting faith in players that let this club down on a regular basis - previous managers kept faith in players that trained well and had a good reputation in the squad or cost a lot of money.
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Arteta stuck by Luiz, Willian, Xhaka, etc. till they were injured or suspended. It wasn't a conscious decision that they weren't good enough as you suggest. After that he has stuck by anyone who replaced them. Thats his style of management. However is it conducive to success? I don't think it is. One of the biggest skills required for management is the ability to rotate the squad and keep players ready to contribute. Injuries happen, suspensions happen, loss of form happens. At those points its vital for the replacement to contribute instantly without looking rusty.
5. Our form since boxing day suggests he is improving us.
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This is the most dangerous trap. Our form after Christmas has been better. But not consistent. We have NOT climbed the table. And our best run of games has come when there was nothing to lose after going out of the Europa. You can never extrapolate that over a season and next season we will be starting from scratch.
6. We have had very few games where we've not been able to compete with our opponents under Arteta, gone are the games where we find ourselves losing by four or five goals to City and Liverpool and completely flattened by superior opposition.
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Read point (1). When you play defensive football you won't lose by 5 or 6. But then you won't win those games you are supposed to win either. The Europa cup fiasco should be lesson to that. You need a balance and top managers find that. Those who don't never compete for the top honours.
7. When he has set out to coach our team he showed he can do it - our FA cup run last season was all about having the whole team press as a unit and defend from the front and showed a blueprint for how we could compete against anyone. With a proper preseason and a full summer's preparation it's possible we could see a return to this disciplined, high-pressing approach.
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I am afraid this is wishful thinking. I've thought the same way as you last summer. But after the FA Cup win I emphasised how we won. We played very defensively and relied on Auba's terrific form. The question was always could Arteta turn that into attacking play that is required to compete at the top of the table. And we did see a change of formation, in fact we have seen a lot of formations but we still set up deep and there was very little in attacking play. Arteta by nature is a defend first manager. And I don't think that type of football works anymore.
posted on 22/5/21
comment by IanWrightWrightWright (U12750)
posted 15 hours, 12 minutes ago
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He's from Africa
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He’s Egyptian which makes him an Arab
_________________________________________
egypt is in Africa
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It can be in Africa and be an Arab country, friend.