Mikel Arteta: He Who Must Not Be Named

[Artemis]

It's kinda crazy he's probably their most successful manager in about 50 years.

The problem is they have got it into their tiny minds they are some kind of elite club now since they got given a free shiny big stadium.

Also his football is not seen as being the 'West Ham' way.

Consistently finishing top 10 and European adventures is likely as good as it's realistically ever gonna get.

I have to give credit to Moyes. He actually did an amazing job at West Ham.

You're right - it's not going to get better for them. Unless an oil tycoon/State takes over.

 

[Blankety Blank]

Been saying this for a while now, feel the same way. I think a lot of what we’ve seen so far was purely with the final 3rd of the season in mind. Including the sufferball that saw us expend minimal energy to try and strangle out wins, the conservative defensive base to give a platform to build on and the tactical experiments to keep opponents guessing.

Could also just be “arteta luck” mind…

I also think he realised we couldn't play the way we did last season without it taking a toll both physically & mentally.

You also have to factor in some personnel changes & players adapting to different style of playing.
While this season hasn't been as fun as last seasons rollercoaster I do think the players will benefit from it & become a more balanced team overall.

Last seasons title tilt was unexpected at the time really but raised expectations.

 

[Blankety Blank]

Lose to Inter over two legs?

Is this some kind of a joke?

I don't think we should but it's cup football & easily can happen.
Inter are wily experienced campaigners.

Look Man City took many years to win the Champions league even though they likely had the best squad & manager.

Don't forget that It's our 1st year back after a long gap.
Our squad & manager are both young & developing.

 

[jones]

Have to give credit where it's due, I did not see this turnaround and performance coming. We were decisive, very committed in our positioning and overall expertly coached.

Knows exactly what you need to succeed in this league even if it's ugly, and overall one of if not the best coaching performance since the last time another Frenchman was in our dugout.

There's only one Nicolas Jover.

 

[blrgooner]

Dude, at some point we have to win the CL or PL. You do realize that?

Europe isn't going to get much weaker than this for us.

If we lose to Inter over 2 legs with the squad we have today, I guarantee that Arteta will never win the CL for Arsenal. It's that simple. He is not going to do it.

Whether you're happy with that or not, that's up to you. But it's never going to happen with Arteta if we crash out to Inter.

So when Pep lost in QF against Sp**s and Lyon what was it? Did they have worse squads than lyon or Sp**s? IF not, did you "guarentee" that Pep will never win the CL?
I am not comparing anyone with anyone here. I am just testing out the consistency of the idea that one can "guarentee" something based on the idea that "better" squads always win over 180 games unless they have a poor coach.

 

[Xln]

We are better than Inter in literally every single position.

No. We aren't. They play very good football and even last season should have won the UCL.

Inter is clear, better than us by miles. We can win vs them but we would need luck.

 

[Multipass]

Dude, at some point we have to win the CL or PL. You do realize that?

Europe isn't going to get much weaker than this for us.

If we lose to Inter over 2 legs with the squad we have today, I guarantee that Arteta will never win the CL for Arsenal. It's that simple. He is not going to do it.

Whether you're happy with that or not, that's up to you. But it's never going to happen with Arteta if we crash out to Inter.

not sure why you’re losing it over a hypothetical? We haven’t even drawn inter at this point. We get past Porto into the quarters and the truth is Arteta’s job is already safe, much to your dismay.

We’re playing good football atm. Just had our biggest away win in premier league record. Doing it with a number of key injuries, following 4 seasons of consecutive year by year improvement. Smile. Things are looking ok.

 

[MauveGunner]

Even after a win with a dominating performance, people will find a reason to whine.

Last 2 games were perfectly played and we can really build forward in this half on the season after some awefull matches we had earlier this season.

 

[ArsenesCoatMaker]

If we get a relatively easy draw in the quarters (basically anyone besides Real Madrid/Man City/Bayern Munich) then I expect him to progress past that stage.

You realise Pep has been knocked out by Lyon, Chelsea, Sp**s, Monaco, Liverpool?

 

[Makingtrax]

Even after a win with a dominating performance, people will find a reason to whine.

Last 2 games were perfectly played and we can really build forward in this half on the season after some awefull matches we had earlier this season.

Don't think anybody's whining about a performance like that. And there's never been any doubt that Arteta ia a very good coach. He's been bankrolled and he's now got sn excellent team with no holes.

The only doubt comes whether he's a good manager. Can he inspire when we're at the sharp end of the season against the other teams with a similar spend, like City and Pool.Or will it get too much for him, get too intense and start his manic yelling that we saw on AON. There is some evidence that he's calming down. Maybe he's learning this aspect of the job too. We won't know for a few weeks.

 

[db10_therza]

No. We aren't. They play very good football and even last season should have won the UCL.

Inter is clear, better than us by miles. We can win vs them but we would need luck.

I do think we are better than inter and would have us as favourites but marginally. They have some big game players and at least a couple that are better than ours (Martinez/Barella). Most importantly as you say they have pedigree in the CL and that really counts when the pressure turns up in the latter stages. Pedigree is what got Real all those big ears ahead of City and Liverpool when they weren’t close to being the best team in Europe.

After being spoilt with so many consecutive appearances in the knockouts we’re basically like a toddler finding our feet again. The arrogance of some fans thinking that European royalty will just lie down and let us tickle their belly is laughable.

 

[MauveGunner]

Don't think anybody's whining about a performance like that. And there's never been any doubt that Arteta ia a very good coach. He's been bankrolled and he's now got sn excellent team with no holes.

The only doubt comes whether he's a good manager. Can he inspire when we're at the sharp end of the season against the other teams with a similar spend, like City and Pool.Or will it get too much for him, get too intense and start his manic yelling that we saw on AON. There is some evidence that he's calming down. Maybe he's learning this aspect of the job too. We won't know for a few weeks.

Yeah, but there is a lot of what iffery in some posts. I applaud what I've see, and hope we build on it instead of suggesting we will fall off to bad form.

 

[MartiSaka]

Im really really hoping this is the start of a run of form like we had prior to WC last year. The underlying stats have been improving as the season has progressed, so hopefully this is the start of a period of dominace where we continue to strangle the opposition and our attacking players score freely.

If we had another run like that, albeit its probably more difficult for us in the pressure of the run in, we will win the league.

 

[Dennis_Bergkamp_10]

Im really really hoping this is the start of a run of form like we had prior to WC last year. The underlying stats have been improving as the season has progressed, so hopefully this is the start of a period of dominace where we continue to strangle the opposition and our attacking players score freely.

If we had another run like that, albeit its probably more difficult for us in the pressure of the run in, we will win the league.

Our next five games are very winnable: Burnley (a), Newcastle (h), Sheffield (a), Brentford (h), Chelsea (h).

 

[HagnSprayGooners]

Our next five games are very winnable: Burnley (a), Newcastle (h), Sheffield (a), Brentford (h), Chelsea (h).

City play three times in a week to catch up with games.

They have Copenhagen away in the CL and then Chelsea this weekend followed by Brentford on Tuesday.

Not that the fixture schedule will be an issue, both league games are at home.

 

[Makingtrax]

Have to give credit where it's due, I did not see this turnaround and performance coming. We were decisive, very committed in our positioning and overall expertly coached.

Knows exactly what you need to succeed in this league even if it's ugly, and overall one of if not the best coaching performance since the last time another Frenchman was in our dugout.

There's only one Nicolas Jover.

Priceless

 

[dka1]

Our next five games are very winnable: Burnley (a), Newcastle (h), Sheffield (a), Brentford (h), Chelsea (h).

Trueeee....but, I'm taking nothing for granted. Newcastle and Chelsea tend to be trickier than they seem on paper, though tbf our record against Chelsh!t has been good of late.

Perhaps you can call it "mental risk aversion", but I just want to think one game ahead and we'll steadily get there.

 

[Dennis_Bergkamp_10]

Trueeee....but, I'm taking nothing for granted. Newcastle and Chelsea tend to be trickier than they seem on paper, though tbf our record against Chelsh!t has been good of late.

Perhaps you can call it "mental risk aversion", but I just want to think one game ahead and we'll steadily get there.

Yeah but if we want to be in this title race we have no room for error in these games. Anyway, game at a time. Let's hope Liverpool and City drop some points along the way.

 

[Gooner Zig]

West Ham got lucky last time really, today some of the shots/headers went in

Can't remember how many shots or times we entered their box last time but it was an obscene amount to the point where fingers were pointed at Jesus and others on here.

I know our "main statistics" were similar to the reverse fixture at the Emirates which we lost but apart from Saka hitting the post and Jesus heading wide when he really should have scored, I can't recall many other "big chances" from that game whereas we no joke could have scored 10 goals yesterday. Saka himself could have had a hattrick in the first half alone.

Without seeing the stats, my eyes tell me that the quality of our shots have improved.

 

[Macho]

I know our "main statistics" were similar to the reverse fixture at the Emirates which we lost but apart from Saka hitting the post and Jesus heading wide when he really should have scored, I can't recall many other "big chances" from that game whereas we no joke could have scored 10 goals yesterday. Saka himself could have had a hattrick in the first half alone.

Without seeing the stats, my eyes tell me that the quality of our shots have improved.

From my perspective it was an identical match, everything just went in.