Mikel Arteta: Aston La Vista To The Title?

[OnlyOne]

Not sure why you think I'm angry, this is just my posting style.

mix of @jones x @rich 1990

 

[Trilly]

The average life of an EPL manager is about 24 months, so most of time owners and boards get it wrong. The likes of Fergie, Wenger, Pep and Klopp balance out dozens of mistakes.

We've seen football clubs go into administration, get fined for mistakes, point deductions, countless fan protests and so on. We've seen our own billion pound institution have a board member get scammed and earn a promotion, rely on a 60+ year old man as a single point of failure for years and take out a massive bank loan (that relied on our manager literally being one of the greatest of all time) that our club till this day has not really recovered from.

This belief that Arsenal football club know what they are doing and therefore Arteta must be good...is one of the more bewildering Arteta defences I've seen tbh.

 

[Riou]

I bought into what a lot of the pundits, media outlets, ex players even, fans and friends were saying at the time.

A mistake I haven't made now that I am older, experienced and can form my opinions based on more sources than I had as a teenager. That's why I have called out those very same people trying to paint Arteta as a saviour.

As much as I was Wenger Out, I was never quite as against him as I am Arteta for 2 reasons.

1. The difference between Wenger and Arteta is accountability.
2. Wenger regardless of the squad he had, he always felt like 2 or 3 players away from doing something. Arteta needs a whole squad and all sorts.

Yeah.

It was actually how successful Arsène had been before the stadium move, that got him in the end.

The fans were used to the best, and the majority couldn't adjust.

 

[Paperino]

We missed 2 first 11 players against Newcastle. The way we fvcked up in january cant make me forget about this fact.

 

[Makingtrax]

Yes, that's how ruthless the game is, and how quickly you can go from a very strong position to literally losing your key income streams. Look at what Burnley did to Dyche this season, after 10 good years.

It further strengthens my belief that there is a lot of work being done behind the scenes to ensure key objectives are met and improved upon. The days of having a genius like Wenger or Ferguson, with few team members to work with are long gone.

Today its critical operations, with hundreds of professionals at a club dealing with decision making on a daily basis. Not some rookie galaxy brain having the last word on every key decision, and everyone just going along with it.

That’s a myth. Wenger only finished in 2018 not 1918. There are about 600+ regular employees at Arsenal, not including match day stewards. Doubt it was much different when Arsène retired, he had all the analytics guys, medical staff, set piece coach and many others. Don’t forget they sacked about 50+ coaches. This idea that the last couple of years can be called ‘modern football’ now, and Arteta is somehow shielded by a wagon load of experts aiding his learning curve seems a big stretch to justify several seasons of underachievement while we wait for the predicted Big Bang.

 

[Baki]

We've seen football clubs go into administration, get fined for mistakes, point deductions, countless fan protests and so on. We've seen our own billion pound institution have a board member get scammed and earn a promotion, rely on a 60+ year old man as a single point of failure for years and take out a massive bank loan (that relied on our manager literally being one of the greatest of all time) that our club till this day has not really recovered from.

This belief that Arsenal football club know what they are doing and therefore Arteta must be good...is one of the more bewildering Arteta defences I've seen tbh.

One of the funniest Arteta defences I’ve seen in a while. I guess when there’s nothing tangible to defend him with, tetsexuals are forced to clutch at straws.

Speaking of which, where is @AbouCuéllar ? We’re due for one of his essays.

 

[Trilly]

One of the funniest Arteta defences I’ve seen in a while. I guess when there’s nothing tangible to defend him with, tetsexuals are forced to clutch at straws.

Speaking of which, where is @AbouCuéllar ? We’re due for one of his essays.

Heard this one is gonna be one of his greatest essays of all time. He's at the store getting a new keyboard, the last one broke halfway through his post.

 

[Makingtrax]

One of the funniest Arteta defences I’ve seen in a while. I guess when there’s nothing tangible to defend him with, tetsexuals are forced to clutch at straws.

Speaking of which, where is @AbouCuéllar ? We’re due for one of his essays.

He doesn’t come on that often, like all the great authors he spreads out his publications to keep the fans wanting more.

 

[Paperino]

The new excuse from the Tetasexuals: Sp**s had Kane and Son. Arseblog used it today for example.

 

[berric]

It's been 2 days and I just can't get over the epicness of this man's fckup.

Almost every decision this man has made since he arrived at the club 3 years ago was not only wrong but will probably have major negative implications on our club and clubs around us.

Not only did he bottle the CL - but he springboarded Conte's Sp**s into a spending spree and probably a nice run in Europe next season.

I got to tip my hat off to the lad tho for the shamelessness. Don't know how he can sleep at night knowing that every big brain move he made actually took the club backward. Crazy really.

 

[Riou]

As I said.

Right now, he's a Europa League level manager...his handling of the Auba situation, shows he's not ready for the players/egos of Champions League level and thus the competition itself.

Until he learns how to handle the big name players, he will never get to were he wants to be... that's his next improvement to make.

As they are pretty meek now, but if the likes of Saka keeping improving, the egos will come...as you need an ego, to reach your potential.

I am not sure if the club are even aiming for Champions League anymore, tbh...but if the Europa results in him flopping in the league again (something which it should never do, competing in both the league and Europe shouldn't be that difficult) if he misses out on Top 6 again, they will definitely sack him next season.

(Not saying I think Top 6 should be the fan's minimum, but it does feel like it's the board's now)

 

[jones]

mix of @jones x @rich 1990

I don't appreciate being put in the same sentence as the fat Simpsons bloke.

 

[Makingtrax]

Doesn’t hold much weight since I was 11 years old when I posted this. Doesn’t compare to my experienced and insightful posting now.

That would be about right. 11 the magic number for Wenger haters, that being the IQ of DT and Troopz. Hope DT’s enjoying what he’s helped bring about from his prison cell.

 

[Malky]

We missed 2 first 11 players against Newcastle. The way we fvcked up in january cant make me forget about this fact.

What the **** are these excuses - tired and over stretched squad? Really? They had one ****ing game a week, one! They're pro footballers, on mega money contracts, if they can't play one game of football a week without being tired then they need to give it up and get a job elsewhere.
**** sake, man. Pathetic.

 

[Macho]

Right, let me do the only thing I am tolerated for around here and find that Athletic article for the city of Gotham.

 

[Xln]

He crushes Xhaka who frankly without his pretty switches is a Championship player with horrific defensive stats. Do you rate Guendouzi more than El Neny or Xhaka, because those two helped decide our failure to qualify for Cl. For two months every midfield we have played has pretty much had their way with us I rate Xhaka as barely a bottom half player

Wait did you just say Guendouzi crushes Xhaka with his defensive stats?

We were a free hit through the middle with Guendouzi. He lacked serious awareness and speed to cover anything. In Marseille he plays further up front cause Sampaoli knows.

 

[Macho]

Arsenal's string of gambles across team look to have backfired

Arsenal look likely to have missed out on the Champions League places - and decisions in January may be a root cause

theathletic.com

Spoiler: Arsenal and the top four: String of gambles across team look to have backfired

Arsenal and the top four: String of gambles across team look to have backfired​

By Amy Lawrence 4h ago

Many moons ago, after spending a day shadowing a manager on matchday, a former player poured himself an oversized glass of wine and got to the crux of management: “When we win I’m a tactical genius and when we lose I’m a dickhead,” he shrugged. Judgement tends not to exist in shades of grey.

In today’s even more hyped age of instant opinion, managers are used to being scrutinised match by match. But in assessing what went wrong for Arsenal against Newcastle, or Tottenham, or lamenting last month’s destabilising hat-trick of defeats to Southampton, Brighton and Crystal Palace, the greatest factor in Arsenal’s top-four fade has its roots in deep conversations and big decisions made in the offices at London Colney in January.

Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal hierarchy made a series of critical calls that led directly to this point. If his team had managed another win somewhere along the line since then, perceptions would be extremely different to how they feel today. One too many losses leaves Arsenal clinging to Champions League aspirations by a half-ripped fingernail, with the manager’s choices firmly under the microscope. The likely return to the Europa League is still clear progress but with emotions still raw it is hard to shake the feeling it could have been more.

January was fundamental. As far as the Premier League was concerned, winter was generally a period of promise. From December 11 to March 13, Arsenal won nine times, put in arguably their most fascinating performance in a last-minute loss against Manchester City, and drew once with Burnley. A haul of 28 points from 33 gave them justifiable reason to believe.


But January was also fraught with complications and red flags. Arsenal tumbled out of both domestic cups, overstretched the squad, and at the same time made a hugely significant change to the player pool with their approach to the transfer window. It seemed like the obvious time to bolster and they did try. Ultimately though, Arsenal thinned out instead. That calculated risk, barring a Norwich miracle to trip Tottenham at the last, looks to have cost them the top-four finish they yearned for.

Arsenal pursued a dominating striker in January, most notably by courting Dusan Vlahovic, before the forward ran off into Juventus’s arms. They also tried for an experienced midfielder in Arthur Melo, which never happened. Meanwhile, they controversially parted ways with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who rediscovered his mojo at Barcelona, and allowed a handful of fringe players to move on. Ainsley Maitland-Niles’s loan to Roma and Calum Chambers’s sale to Aston Villa were sanctioned. Sead Kolasinac and Pablo Mari, a couple of defenders Arteta did not want to rely upon, were farmed out unlikely to return.

The Aubameyang situation was obviously the one most likely to sting. But overall, the inability to strengthen as desired in attack and midfield, together with the cutting down of defensive options, left Arsenal with a slimline squad. Too slim on quality as well as quantity, evidently. Even if it wasn’t the right time, purchases, or a loan or two who might have increased their options, or come through with some goals, had to be welcome.

Arteta essentially gambled on a whole bunch of factors. He needed key personnel to stay fit. In essential positions, particularly at full-back and anchoring midfield, that didn’t happen. He needed his attacking players to score consistently. Given the make-up of the squad, they couldn’t.

The scale of over-reliance on back-up players during the run-in has been too much to cope with. Every club has to make do with deputies filling in here and there, and the challenge to step up can sometimes be the making of a player. But the drop-off in quality at full-back position is obvious, and a look at the number of games players have played in that position outlines just how damaging that has been: Kieran Tierney has made 22 Premier League appearances, Takehiro Tomiyasu 21, Nuno Tavares 21, Cedric Soares 20.

Moving into midfield, the Premier League minutes played by Sambi Lokonga and Mohamed Elneny together are not too far off the total managed by Thomas Partey.

Partey has been missed by Arsenal (Photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Up front, the scoring difficulties at centre forward have been problematic all season. That loaded the burden onto Arsenal’s talented yet young group of supporting attackers. Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli have all stolen the show at points this campaign but whatever the ins and outs of the Aubameyang falling out, expecting the kids to get Arsenal over the top-four line without a meaningful contribution from centre forward was a gamble and a half. Saka in particular looked like he hit the wall in the last couple of games, which is not a massive surprise given the cumulative effects of the intense couple of years of his young career.

In the first half of the Premier League campaign, pre-January, Arsenal scored 32 times from 19 games. In the second half that dropped to 24 as Alex Lacazette strained for goals and Eddie Nketiah came in and chipped in — but not quite enough.

All in all, in January Arsenal took gamble upon gamble upon gamble — in defence, midfield and attack. The principle of gambling on a streamlined squad could have been a stroke of inspiration but that required good fortune in terms of injuries and form. There was no room for error or misfortune. Now, as things stand, unless there is a freakishly unexpected twist on the final day of the season it has to — being generous — be something Arsenal and Arteta learn from. Arsenal backed Arteta with a new contract and they will not be revising the wisdom of that any time soon. But they can all make sure they learn regarding squad management over a whole season.

The strategic move in January, part of the long-term rebuild required, was agreed by the manager, executives, hierarchy and staff — these things tend to be made in the spirit of collaboration. If there is a shift in strategy that comes out of this experience it is the dilemma between calculated gambles versus speculating to accumulate.

Arsenal are likely to miss out on the top four by fine margins — just one game with a better scoreline almost any time this season could have done it. Arteta valued the unity and collective desire of a small, together squad and a tight dressing room. But in the end they ran out of legs, of steam, of fitness, of mental and physical resilience.

Arsenal’s young players in particular have made huge strides this season, and the club must do their best to reward that this summer by strengthening around them.

 

[Macho]

Arteta takes responsibility for Arsenal’s drop in form

Mikel Arteta has taken responsibility for Arsenal’s drop in form in their push for a Champions League place. The north London club lost 3-0 to Tottenham Hotspur last Thursday before falling to a 2-0 defeat by Newcastle on Monday night. Those two results, combined with Tottenham’s 1-0 win over...

theathletic.com

Spoiler: Arteta takes responsibility for Arsenal’s late-season drop in form

By Amitai Winehouse

Mikel Arteta has taken responsibility for Arsenal’s drop in form in their push for a Champions League place.

The north London club lost 3-0 to Tottenham Hotspur last Thursday before falling to a 2-0 defeat by Newcastle on Monday night.

Those two results, combined with Tottenham’s 1-0 win over Burnley on Sunday, means Antonio Conte’s side need just a draw at already-relegated Norwich City to likely secure a place in the top four. Arteta’s side are two points adrift of Tottenham.

It represents a remarkable drop off for Arsenal, who needed just two wins from their last three games to earn a return to the Champions League for the first time since 2016-17.

Granit Xhaka questioned other members of the squad after the defeat on Monday.

However, Arteta refused to blame his players: “No, I am the maximum responsible (person) all the time.

“If somebody has created an expectation this year that no one in this room probably would talk about at the start of this season, it’s those players that are there.”

Arsenal face Everton in the Premier League on Sunday and Arteta added: “We will still have five days to prepare for that match. We know what we have to do.

“There’s not a lot of words that are needed after the performance.”

Arsenal lost courtesy of a Ben White own goal and a Bruno Guimaraes effort five minutes from the end.

 

[Paperino]

What the **** are these excuses - tired and over stretched squad? Really? They had one ****ing game a week, one! They're pro footballers, on mega money contracts, if they can't play one game of football a week without being tired then they need to give it up and get a job elsewhere.
**** sake, man. Pathetic.

Its written by Tetas mistress tbf.

 

[MikelHadADream]

Arsenal's string of gambles across team look to have backfired

Arsenal look likely to have missed out on the Champions League places - and decisions in January may be a root cause

theathletic.com

Spoiler: Arsenal and the top four: String of gambles across team look to have backfired

Arsenal and the top four: String of gambles across team look to have backfired​

View attachment 6879

By Amy Lawrence 4h ago

Many moons ago, after spending a day shadowing a manager on matchday, a former player poured himself an oversized glass of wine and got to the crux of management: “When we win I’m a tactical genius and when we lose I’m a dickhead,” he shrugged. Judgement tends not to exist in shades of grey.

In today’s even more hyped age of instant opinion, managers are used to being scrutinised match by match. But in assessing what went wrong for Arsenal against Newcastle, or Tottenham, or lamenting last month’s destabilising hat-trick of defeats to Southampton, Brighton and Crystal Palace, the greatest factor in Arsenal’s top-four fade has its roots in deep conversations and big decisions made in the offices at London Colney in January.

Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal hierarchy made a series of critical calls that led directly to this point. If his team had managed another win somewhere along the line since then, perceptions would be extremely different to how they feel today. One too many losses leaves Arsenal clinging to Champions League aspirations by a half-ripped fingernail, with the manager’s choices firmly under the microscope. The likely return to the Europa League is still clear progress but with emotions still raw it is hard to shake the feeling it could have been more.

January was fundamental. As far as the Premier League was concerned, winter was generally a period of promise. From December 11 to March 13, Arsenal won nine times, put in arguably their most fascinating performance in a last-minute loss against Manchester City, and drew once with Burnley. A haul of 28 points from 33 gave them justifiable reason to believe.


But January was also fraught with complications and red flags. Arsenal tumbled out of both domestic cups, overstretched the squad, and at the same time made a hugely significant change to the player pool with their approach to the transfer window. It seemed like the obvious time to bolster and they did try. Ultimately though, Arsenal thinned out instead. That calculated risk, barring a Norwich miracle to trip Tottenham at the last, looks to have cost them the top-four finish they yearned for.

Arsenal pursued a dominating striker in January, most notably by courting Dusan Vlahovic, before the forward ran off into Juventus’s arms. They also tried for an experienced midfielder in Arthur Melo, which never happened. Meanwhile, they controversially parted ways with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who rediscovered his mojo at Barcelona, and allowed a handful of fringe players to move on. Ainsley Maitland-Niles’s loan to Roma and Calum Chambers’s sale to Aston Villa were sanctioned. Sead Kolasinac and Pablo Mari, a couple of defenders Arteta did not want to rely upon, were farmed out unlikely to return.

The Aubameyang situation was obviously the one most likely to sting. But overall, the inability to strengthen as desired in attack and midfield, together with the cutting down of defensive options, left Arsenal with a slimline squad. Too slim on quality as well as quantity, evidently. Even if it wasn’t the right time, purchases, or a loan or two who might have increased their options, or come through with some goals, had to be welcome.

Arteta essentially gambled on a whole bunch of factors. He needed key personnel to stay fit. In essential positions, particularly at full-back and anchoring midfield, that didn’t happen. He needed his attacking players to score consistently. Given the make-up of the squad, they couldn’t.

The scale of over-reliance on back-up players during the run-in has been too much to cope with. Every club has to make do with deputies filling in here and there, and the challenge to step up can sometimes be the making of a player. But the drop-off in quality at full-back position is obvious, and a look at the number of games players have played in that position outlines just how damaging that has been: Kieran Tierney has made 22 Premier League appearances, Takehiro Tomiyasu 21, Nuno Tavares 21, Cedric Soares 20.

Moving into midfield, the Premier League minutes played by Sambi Lokonga and Mohamed Elneny together are not too far off the total managed by Thomas Partey.

Partey has been missed by Arsenal (Photo: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Up front, the scoring difficulties at centre forward have been problematic all season. That loaded the burden onto Arsenal’s talented yet young group of supporting attackers. Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Gabriel Martinelli have all stolen the show at points this campaign but whatever the ins and outs of the Aubameyang falling out, expecting the kids to get Arsenal over the top-four line without a meaningful contribution from centre forward was a gamble and a half. Saka in particular looked like he hit the wall in the last couple of games, which is not a massive surprise given the cumulative effects of the intense couple of years of his young career.

In the first half of the Premier League campaign, pre-January, Arsenal scored 32 times from 19 games. In the second half that dropped to 24 as Alex Lacazette strained for goals and Eddie Nketiah came in and chipped in — but not quite enough.

All in all, in January Arsenal took gamble upon gamble upon gamble — in defence, midfield and attack. The principle of gambling on a streamlined squad could have been a stroke of inspiration but that required good fortune in terms of injuries and form. There was no room for error or misfortune. Now, as things stand, unless there is a freakishly unexpected twist on the final day of the season it has to — being generous — be something Arsenal and Arteta learn from. Arsenal backed Arteta with a new contract and they will not be revising the wisdom of that any time soon. But they can all make sure they learn regarding squad management over a whole season.

The strategic move in January, part of the long-term rebuild required, was agreed by the manager, executives, hierarchy and staff — these things tend to be made in the spirit of collaboration. If there is a shift in strategy that comes out of this experience it is the dilemma between calculated gambles versus speculating to accumulate.

Arsenal are likely to miss out on the top four by fine margins — just one game with a better scoreline almost any time this season could have done it. Arteta valued the unity and collective desire of a small, together squad and a tight dressing room. But in the end they ran out of legs, of steam, of fitness, of mental and physical resilience.

Arsenal’s young players in particular have made huge strides this season, and the club must do their best to reward that this summer by strengthening around them.

Quite a fair and balanced article by Atheltic standards imo.