Mikel Arteta: Aston La Vista To The Title?

[Blood on the Tracks]

Top teams are probably better now than they've ever been overall, technically, tactically, physically.

From a fans perspective it's more boring now though, the games micromanaged to a ridiculous degree. There's very little room for spontaneity or real individuality.

Football's 'better' now but it's much less fun than it was 15-20 years ago or even 10 years ago.

 

[Riou]

We finished above a Sp**s team that had Modric and Bale in it in 2010/2011

 

[Rasmi]

It's bipolar on here at times. At the same time you've got people wanting for us to focus on youth and develop that way while at the same time pointing out the obvious that we need to finish top 4 now.

Either we accept mediocrity for 2-3 years while we develop a cohesive team of youngsters who can develop together or we go for the here and now top 4.

Arteta or whoever will be the next manager is going to stuck between a rock and a hard place. Finishing top 4 with a team full of young and developing players isn't happening.

Ajax, Dortmund etc may do it, no disrespect to their nations but there's not the depth in those leagues, they can afford to develop that way and still get Champions League qualification. Try doing it when you're competing against Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester, Man Utd, Sp**s etc for top 4. Won't happen.

Even in the Wenger years the competition for top 4 was less. We could have a poor season, miss important players through injuries and have to rely on kids and still only be in a dogfight with a pretty average Villa side for 4th.

Those days are long gone. You can debate whether the pinnacle of the league is at a higher standard than previous era's or not but the level of competition for top 4 is undeniably levels above what it was 10 years ago.

outside of smith rowe and saka who are the youngsters we are focusing on? Willock has been moved out on loan. Nelson has no future here, Saliba was binned to france, nketiah hasnt played for months and being rumored to be sold and Martinelli doesnt get game time. Im sorry but unless you are watching another Arsenal team Artetas team isnt full of young players that need time

 

[The_Playmaker]

The competition wasn't a lot different in the Wenger years. 70 points got us top 4. Which it will in the post Wenger years as well. It's not like the competition has improved significantly. We're on course for a second season with a points total less than 60 points. The only oddity is the very compressed schedule.

We are level on points with with a promoted team after 30 games. Let that sink in a bit.

It's not bipolar at all. Both can be done and has been done at this club before and a bunch of other clubs. People are angry cause we've done neither, committed to youth nor are we higher up the table. We literally wasted half a season playing a bunch of seniors with zero upside. They didn't give results in the short term at all. We could have easily used those game to blood the likes of Saliba, Nelson etc. Even now Martinelli can't get any significant minutes since he's come back. . There were projections of top 4 after the Partey signing, we are sitting in 10th with 42 points after 30 games. Before the Chelsea game we had 14 points from the opening 14 games. That's relegation form. What was the silver lining at that point? Since then the emergence of ESR is pretty much the only bright spot so far this season along with Saka's progress. Martinelli has barely played since he's come back and he was ahead of both of the former last season. The former 2 have saved Arteta's job for the most part.

Despite all that, it's April and we're still seeing likes of Ceballos, El Neny and Willian get significant minutes stinking out the place. Auba back on the left wing pretending to be a footballer and suffer ball tactics from last June.

ESR and Saka are masking what Arteta has done to our youth players.

 

[Makingtrax]

I think they’re allowed a stinker by their standards after their exploits the last few years. Wenger would’ve loved to have run us into the ground after a CL final, a CL win and a title. I put their predicament down to a hangover, which I predicted, and the absence of the Anfield factor

Lol, you're acting like Liverpool are the pinnacle of achievements.

They've only won the EPL once in 30 years. Wenger won it 3 times and 7 FA Cups and got to a CL final. But most difficult of all to beat is the invincible's year. Liverpool will never manage that in the next century. They've had their day in the sun.

You're supporting the wrong club bro.

 

[yorch44]

I'd forgotten two things. One, just how **** Almunia was, second, just how depressing the words, "Chamakh is onside" are. Almost as bad as "Willian on the ball now"

People thinks we have bad quality... With no goalkeeper and Chamakh we played so much better than now.

 

[Macho]

It's bipolar on here at times. At the same time you've got people wanting for us to focus on youth and develop that way while at the same time pointing out the obvious that we need to finish top 4 now.

Either we accept mediocrity for 2-3 years while we develop a cohesive team of youngsters who can develop together or we go for the here and now top 4.

The call for youngsters mainly came when the season went down the pan and top 4 started to look unlikely (we were near the bottom of the table). That's when the call for every teenager on the books amplified as Auba, Laca, Willian, Xhaka, Bellerin, etc weren't performing.

We started the season with Willian in the lineup and no Özil, which if you remember correctly was hotly debated . Despite this, people rolled with it and gave Mikel the benefit of the doubt until we saw it was clearly bullocks.

Nobody sensible truly expected Arteta to achieve top 4 with kids, but watching Lampard do it with academy products and Willian.. maybe some did. I didn't though.

 

[yorch44]

We fired Emery with his LB tactic to sign Handsome Catalan Emery with his LB tactic.

I don't remember a good team where his main creator is a FB. Definitely not my manager.

 

[Riou]

Just looked it up, Arteta was apart of the PSG team that won the Intertoto cup in 2001.

My manager has experience of winning in Europe that could prove crucial in the coming weeks, he knows what it takes to get the job done against top European sides!

 

[Finesse]

ESR and Saka are masking what Arteta has done to our youth players.

Both robots !

 

[Blankety Blank]

Edu is the biggest disappointment to me, all he's done is just create a route for Kia to come to the club ffs

Loved Edu as a player too, shame.

Edu has imho done ok. He has shifted out some deadwood & brought in Partey & Gabriel who should prove decent & Mari who as backup is fine for the fee.
Certainly better than 80m for pepe and a good few quid for... Raul
I get the Kia thing but what was it really Willian & Cedric on frees? People & other clubs have had far worse dealings with kia & lots of other agents tbf.
Came out recently how much money had gone to agents in the prem. We paid a lot less than some in fees.
Gazidis was hardly a master either.

 

[Oxeki]

We're going to be midtable next season.

 

[Blankety Blank]

Thats a disingenuous crock of smelly balls. Even still, in 22 years? What about the most important part, like, the bit where he got desperate and abandoned youth for experience and spunked 73m on players that have taken us back 10 years? Where was his youth development in the last part of his tenure?

While i think you are being a bit harsh on Mr Deep there is no denying than Wenger spunked shedloads on older players in his last few years to try & go out on a high. It failed & we are now paying the price by having to give away a 50m washed up Özil & 30m joke musti in jan.
He only got us fa cups in the last 10 years with better teams than Arteta & peak Özil, Sanchez etc.

 

[Blankety Blank]

What youth was Wenger ‘developing’? We’ve got higher quality young players in our first team now than ever before. I’m not talking shyte like Denilson and Bendtner. Or wonder kids like Anelka and Cesc, who we poached.

Wenger liked to give youth a chance but its a total myth to say than he was ever successful with loads of kids.

 

[Blankety Blank]

It's bipolar on here at times. At the same time you've got people wanting for us to focus on youth and develop that way while at the same time pointing out the obvious that we need to finish top 4 now.

Either we accept mediocrity for 2-3 years while we develop a cohesive team of youngsters who can develop together or we go for the here and now top 4.

Arteta or whoever will be the next manager is going to stuck between a rock and a hard place. Finishing top 4 with a team full of young and developing players isn't happening.

Ajax, Dortmund etc may do it, no disrespect to their nations but there's not the depth in those leagues, they can afford to develop that way and still get Champions League qualification. Try doing it when you're competing against Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester, Man Utd, Sp**s etc for top 4. Won't happen.

Even in the Wenger years the competition for top 4 was less. We could have a poor season, miss important players through injuries and have to rely on kids and still only be in a dogfight with a pretty average Villa side for 4th.

Those days are long gone. You can debate whether the pinnacle of the league is at a higher standard than previous era's or not but the level of competition for top 4 is undeniably levels above what it was 10 years ago.

This is one of the most sensible posts you will ever read on here .

 

[Blankety Blank]

Van Persie, Nasri, Ramsey, Ade, Walcott, Song, Clichy, Toure from the top off my head. All came here young and improved, and nearly all left for bigger clubs at big fees.

Thats not including Anelka, because of your daft argument, because technically EVERY signing is “poached”.

Then you got Wenger playing Iwobi who went for a big fee, Wenger giving playing Jack as a kid, Cole etc. I’m sure there are others I missed.

You’re not really going to argue Wenger didn’t sign young and cheap youth/younger players and improved them? Because there is a list who say they owe their career to him, including Henry.

I think its fair to point out that it is pretty disengenuous & biased to compare/cherry pick Wengers best young buys over a 10 - 20 year or more period with those of a manager who has been here 18 months.

 

[squallman]

Good old days! When we managed to win and score.

Are we really reminiscing about these days now with Almunia in goal and Denilson in midfield?

The sad part is I'd take them over this lot we have now (kids excluded).

It makes me sick to see how far we done fell

 

[Jury]

Lol, you're acting like Liverpool are the pinnacle of achievements.

They've only won the EPL once in 30 years. Wenger won it 3 times and 7 FA Cups and got to a CL final. But most difficult of all to beat is the invincible's year. Liverpool will never manage that in the next century. They've had their day in the sun.

You're supporting the wrong club bro.

Liverpool have done better in the last 24 years than Arsenal have. 2 CL’s and a title beats 3 titles and domestic cups.

 

[Blankety Blank]

Top teams are probably better now than they've ever been overall, technically, tactically, physically.

From a fans perspective it's more boring now though, the games micromanaged to a ridiculous degree. There's very little room for spontaneity or real individuality.

Football's 'better' now but it's much less fun than it was 15-20 years ago or even 10 years ago.

Yes All teams/managers are & have to be better prepared now
Its just that the level required to win the league is usually a lot better than in the days gone by.
Wenger won the league with 76 points. It was simple US v Man U
There were only 2 top managers in the league Wenger & Fergie.
Since Chelsea & Man City through billions at it all things changed.

 

[Blankety Blank]

This is the worst season in PL history. The closest we got to PL in recent years was with Emery, even that with mainly a Wenger team.

In recent years we’ve seen maybe the worst UTD in PL history, the worst Chelsea since their takeover etc, West Ham are 4th now, Wolves have had 1 good season etc, get people will try to kid themselves we’re in some PL supremacy to suit themselves.

The league was better 10 years ago.

Wenger should have won it when Leicester did, The big teams were all in transition with new managers but we bottled it as did spuds thankfully.