Mikel Arteta: Aston La Vista To The Title?

[TornadoTed]

I keep going around in circles and keep coming back to the same argument.

All of the big 6 have greater resources than us, even Sp**s is you consider CL and a +£60 m squad value.

All of the big 6 have better coaches than Mikel, surely even his biggest fans can see that.

There are only two ways to address this, we either up our spending massively or we get a manager who can defy the odds and get the squad punching two or three places above it's weight.

I don't think the Kronke's have the appetite to match the spending of the Manchester clubs or peak Abrahmovic Chelsea so that only leaves the alternative.

I don't want Mikel out because he is awful, he is a decent young coach with some good ideas but he has proved that he is a 'par' coach at best and that's not good enough if we want to challenge the best. Looking down the line say we have exceptional recruitment over the next couple of windows and a couple of Saka or TAA level stars come through the Hale End that raise us from a 5th/6th level club to a 3rd/4th level club I still wouldn't fancy Mikel to make us any better than 3rd/4th.

 

[Macho]

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.

Ah see, the problem with this is Amy is that when Emery went through his bad spell in his second season he had no fullbacks too. I don't recall any sympathy whatsoever.

Tierney (lmao) and Bellerin were both injured our first choices. Think Kola was injured for a piece too but someone can fact check me. Infact there were so many injuries that Litchsteiner ended playing way way more than what was intended when he was signed as well. Sounds like Cedric here.

The plus side was Saka rose to prominence and AMN got some minutes out of this too. Can you guys see my problem with Arteta though? these excuses are horrendous.

 

[Xln]

Ah see, the problem with this is Amy is that when Emery went through his bad spell in his second season he had no fullbacks too. I don't recall any sympathy whatsoever.

Tierney (lmao) and Bellerin were both injured. Think Kola was injured for a piece too but someone can fact check me. Infact there were so many injuries that Litchsteiner ended playing way way more than what was intended to when he signed as well. Sounds like Tavares and Cedric here.

The plus side was Saka rose to prominence. AMN got some minutes out of this too. Can you guys see my problem with Arteta though? it's really bad what's been going on during his reign.

For me, personally, the difference between Emery and Arteta is that even with both coaches lacking their fullbacks, one was somewhat stable and the other was getting 35 shots at target by teams sitting 12th and lower.


I rate Emery as a coach btw but I think he had some serious issues going more than injuries.

 

[Macho]

For me, personally, the difference between Emery and Arteta is that even with both coaches lacking their fullbacks, one was somewhat stable and the other was getting 35 shots at target by teams sitting 12th and lower.


I rate Emery as a coach btw but I think he had some serious issues going more than injuries.

It's the same. It's exactly the same.

One situation we bothered to look into the underlying issues and offer some perspective, one we didn't. From where I am standing it's just bizarre and I will never get my head around it. Plus I wouldn't call what we've seen in the last number of games stable at all, we just blame Elneny and Tavares/whoever.

Every time I start to feel for Arteta, something like this comes along and wakes me up. Furthermore, she's re-written history there Nuno had a very good start and these guys were waxing lyrical about the amazing transfer window we had and the young vibrant new Arsenal.

It's complete bollocks.

 

[Paperino]

For me, personally, the difference between Emery and Arteta is that even with both coaches lacking their fullbacks, one was somewhat stable and the other was getting 35 shots at target by teams sitting 12th and lower.


I rate Emery as a coach btw but I think he had some serious issues going more than injuries.

 

[chessygoal]

Arteta is a magician.
First, the pledge, building a very inexperienced team, the youngest in PL, to make you believe that an ordinary thing, arsenal finishing in top 4, would be an extraordinary achievement.
Then, the turn, not buying anyone during the January window. He can't risk creating new expectations.
Finally, the prestige, missing this "extraordinary" ending but arguing that it's still progress.
You see, his magic trick is making us believe that finishing 5th, behind our arch enemy is ok for Arsenal. You start arguing about what if : "we should have bought players in January", "we were unlucky with injuries", "we have the youngest team in the league" and you forget to just say "Arteta is not good enough for Arsenal"

 

[Rasmi]

I keep going around in circles and keep coming back to the same argument.

All of the big 6 have greater resources than us, even Sp**s is you consider CL and a +£60 m squad value.

All of the big 6 have better coaches than Mikel, surely even his biggest fans can see that.

There are only two ways to address this, we either up our spending massively or we get a manager who can defy the odds and get the squad punching two or three places above it's weight.

I don't think the Kronke's have the appetite to match the spending of the Manchester clubs or peak Abrahmovic Chelsea so that only leaves the alternative.

I don't want Mikel out because he is awful, he is a decent young coach with some good ideas but he has proved that he is a 'par' coach at best and that's not good enough if we want to challenge the best. Looking down the line say we have exceptional recruitment over the next couple of windows and a couple of Saka or TAA level stars come through the Hale End that raise us from a 5th/6th level club to a 3rd/4th level club I still wouldn't fancy Mikel to make us any better than 3rd/4th.

Resources is just an excuse. Arteta has been here long enough and spent enough money to produce a better team and better football. 2 weeks ago we played Leeds at home and lost last 70 mins 0-1 despite them being a man less for 70 mins

Southampton is probably the team with the worst form last 3 months. They won 1 game in 12. Guess who they beat? We rarely play good football and dominate even the smaller teams.

 

[Xln]

It's the same. It's exactly the same.

One situation we bothered to look into the underlying issues and offer some perspective, one we didn't. From where I am standing it's just bizarre and I will never get my head around it.

Every time I start to feel for Arteta, something like this comes along and wakes me up.

C'mon, we were a mess under Emery. It was like "lads get on the pitch and do your thing" type of mess.

Which perspective do you need here considering I said that there was more issues going on than injuries. (think he lost the dressing room)

 

[Macho]

C'mon, we were a mess under Emery. It was like "lads get on the pitch and do your thing" type of mess.

Which perspective do you need here considering I said that there was more issues going on than injuries. (think he lost the dressing room)

She's moved goalposts.

She's framed it like Tavares has played way more than he should when actually a number of his performances was keeping Tierney out of the team at the start of the season.

Do you not see anything wrong with this?
Would you call Sp**s and Newcastle plus other games we've even won stable games?

The only difference is Emery was deemed incompetent and lost the dressing room but this time round it's all on the players or certain individuals. It's no good and until we as a fanbase see this for what it is, this farce will continue.

 

[Makingtrax]

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.

Lol. ‘Ran out of legs, steam, of fitness, and mental/physical resilience’.

They only had one match a week. All that money on BT Sport and Sky Sports and they were hardly ever on.

 

[boonthegoon]

Ah see, the problem with this is Amy is that when Emery went through his bad spell in his second season he had no fullbacks too. I don't recall any sympathy whatsoever.

Tierney (lmao) and Bellerin were both injured our first choices. Think Kola was injured for a piece too but someone can fact check me. Infact there were so many injuries that Litchsteiner ended playing way way more than what was intended when he was signed as well. Sounds like Cedric here.

The plus side was Saka rose to prominence and AMN got some minutes out of this too. Can you guys see my problem with Arteta though? these excuses are horrendous.

Lichsteiner was not even in Arsenal for emery 2nd season.

 

[Macho]

Lichsteiner was not even in Arsenal for emery 2nd season.

He wasn't and I used past tense but I should have clarified, but the point remains he played more than what was planned like some of our current cover - it happens in every squad.

 

[Haphazard]

Ill say it again for all the Conte concubines... watch him next season.

People are talking about league challenges out here ffs, probably CL favourites now too.

He probably won't challenge because of the gap between Sp**s and Pool/City but given they are in UCL, have a better forward line and will invest in the summer they are favorites for top 4 again which is fantastic considering Chelsea and City have oil money and this is Liverpool's best ever PL side.

Meanwhile at Arsenal:
-25% of games we do not score
-35% loss rate
-Manager falls out with players on a regular basis
-Manager has crap talent ID
-Can't handle adversity or pressure

All this after 2.5 years and 250m spent and his acolytes are trying to troll superior managers and talking about how fantastic it is to finish 5th to protect Arteta.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

That thread is so f*cking stupid

Just sh*tting on a perfectly fine manager for no real reason.

Cope Mania. Ever since he was brought in I've seen serious amounts of cope on here. Say he'll only last 2 years to make themselves feel better, well we've had 3 years of Arteta and we're no closer to our goals than when he was appointed.

 

[Makingtrax]

He wasn't and I used past tense but I should have clarified, but the point remains he played more than what was planned like some of our current cover - it happens in every squad.

You said ‘when he was signed’. I thought that was clear when I read it.

 

[Makingtrax]

Cope Mania. Ever since he was brought in I've seen serious amounts of cope on here. Say he'll only last 2 years to make themselves feel better, well we've had 3 years of Arteta and we're no closer to our goals than when he was appointed.

Anyway, apparently he’s going to win the CL next year, so he said. Because he’s 100% the solution.

It’s obviously not what you do, but what you say you can do.

 

[El Duderino]

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

View attachment 6880

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.

The Athletic got Ami Winehouse writing for them?

 

[Macho]

You said ‘when he was signed’. I thought that was clear when I read it.

I can see why boon said that, but yeah I never said he was in Emery's second season. Changes nothing I've said anyways.

 

[Mraven]

A lack of goals this season is not really surprising considering the striker situations. We’ve been reliant on u21 players all season. What worries me is the complete lack of competitiveness in some games. It’s not getting better until we avoid these 0/10 performances

 

[Penn_]

A poor attack is no surprise given that our last forward signing was Pepe under Emery.

It’s like we’re living by that old Alan Hansen quote of ‘defences win titles’.

Which is outdated nowadays. If I go down the league table I can name quite a few attackers that can snatch points away, all it takes is a quick break.

Could you really say that about teams in the early 2000s?