Mikel Arteta: Aston La Vista To The Title?

[Riou]

The Premiership has always been a tough league, we just had a much better team back in the day which made it seem "easier", but it's always had quality teams imo.

 

[Macho]

That's a myth.

Big myth, Wenger had to compete with peak Man U and Chelsea & City at the height of financial doping when FFP was yet to kick in.

Even when he joined he didn't come in as a big name managers apprentice, he came in to be greeted with a lot of scepticism and actually had to earn his way. Survived several eras of the premiership too.

People bring up Wenger to add gloss to whatever it is they think Arteta is doing but when facts are mention that make Arteta look questionable they then plead to ban talks of Wenger. Arteta should only really be compared to Emery if anybody.

 

[say yes]

I'm always a bit confused when people act like the Prem is a weak league at the moment. Are you watching the same thing as me?

The entire league is stacked with talent, and it's getting stronger every year. The big 4 is now undeniably a big 6. How long before Leicester make it an official big 7? Then you have clubs like Everton and Villa who are spending heavily and have some fantastic players. Wolves with their agent connections etc.

There's a drop-off in the second half of the table, where the money hasn't fully filtered down yet. But how long is that going to last? Even relegation fodder like Sheffield United are spending hundreds of millions on transfers these days. What happens if clubs with big potential like West Ham and Leeds continue to invest? We've spent £85m odd since Arteta joined, and that's only 8th in the league!

This is @Makingtrax 's squad-cost model in action, but across the league as a whole. And the marginal gains of spending are much greater the lower down the table you are.

Before people try and twist my comments this way or that: this is not an excuse for our performance this season (not good enough), or a criticism of what Wenger did (exceptional). But I think people need to wake up to the new reality. There are few easy games in this league at the moment, and the top of the table is increasingly congested. The big 6 aren't guaranteed anything any more and, to be honest, that's fantastic for the PL.

 

[Makingtrax]

Big myth, Wenger had to compete with peak Man U and Chelsea & City at the height of financial doping when FFP was yet to kick in.

Even when he joined he didn't come in as a big name managers apprentice, he came in to be greeted with a lot of scepticism and actually had to earn his way. Survived several eras of the premiership too.

People bring up Wenger to add gloss to whatever it is they think Arteta is doing but when facts are mention that make Arteta look questionable they then plead to ban talks of Wenger. Arteta should only really be compared to Emery if anybody.

Poverty posting, hitting on our greatest manager just to big up a mid-table successor.

 

[Macho]

Good to see you've finally resurfaced @Macho ! Was starting to worry about you.

You ever going to respond to this? It's ok to say you were wrong you know. We all post things in the heat of the moment now and again; I know you want to be "fair and reasonable" in this thread.

I wasn't hiding I just find your style of posting seriously grating and I literally have no interest in going back and forth.

So many people on here think I am this shocking poster yet they follow me around seeking my response.

If it makes you feel better, no Arteta didn't literally use the word crap, so enjoy.

 

[Makingtrax]

We've spent £85m odd since Arteta joined, and that's only 8th in the league!

Every manager who comes into a new club works with the players he has. Arsenal have spent nearly £300m since Arsène left, to boost this squad and some 18 players been acquired. There’s no way this squad should be mid table.

 

[Riou]

Even when we dropped down to being a Top Four side under Arsène, he still had to hold off some great teams that wanted Champions League...for example, that Everton team of the late 2000s/early 2010s with a peak Mikel Arteta in it...Big Wengz was always competing against top sides!

 

[Makingtrax]

I wasn't hiding I just find your style of posting seriously grating and I literally have no interest in going back and forth.

So many people on here think I am this shocking poster yet they follow me around seeking my response.

If it makes you feel better, no Arteta didn't literally use the word crap, so enjoy.

Shocking poster? Lmao. One of the few posters with no agenda.

 

[Macho]

The Premiership has always been a tough league, we just had a much better team back in the day which made it seem "easier", but it's always had quality teams imo.

Exactly bro.

I mean Arteta isn't wrong about the quality of the squad, to point it out publicly though just rubbed me the wrong way our previous managers didn't really do that.

It's a tough league and always has been - which is why Arteta gets sympathy. I get annoyed when people insinuate Wenger had it easy though we should stop saying stuff like that.

 

[say yes]

I wasn't hiding I just find your style of posting seriously grating and I literally have no interest in going back and forth.

So many people on here think I am this shocking poster yet they follow me around seeking my response.

If it makes you feel better, no Arteta didn't literally use the word crap, so enjoy.

No one's following you around big man. You're posting non-stop in the same thread as me.

And I like to grate on people who lie to suit their agenda, so cheers. Of course, Arteta didn't call his players "crap" literally, figuratively, metaphorically or through any other medium you could choose. But it's been fun watching Mr "fAiR anD REaSonAblE" squirm.

 

[Makingtrax]

Even when we dropped down to being a Top Four side under Arsène, he still had to hold off some great teams that wanted Champions League...for example, that Everton team of the late 2000s/early 2010s with a peak Mikel Arteta in it...Big Wengz was always competing against top sides!

Looked up the most wins yesterday in the EPL having seen City lost their unbeaten run. Sure enough Arsène was in there with 14, in the top 5 best. Along with the oil teams and United (12).
Interesting that City’s and Liverpool’s longest runs are in the last couple of years. So much for the league being harder these days.

 

[Oxeki]

I don't mind us finishing 10th to be honest. The club clearly has a lot invested in Arteta. What's really frustrating is some certain posters claiming that Wenger finishing top 4 all those years was stagnation but us finishing 10th now is fantastic.

 

[Riou]

Looked up the most wins yesterday in the EPL having seen City lost their unbeaten run. Sure enough Arsène was in there with 14, in the top 5 best. Along with the oil teams and United (12).
Interesting that City’s and Liverpool’s longest runs are in the last couple of years. So much for the league being harder these days.

That post you just quoted, is one of my favs I have made...managed to praise both Arsène and Arteta, in a natural way that wasn't just me going off topic in a random way...elite stuff from Riou!

 

[say yes]

Every manager who comes into a new club works with the players he has. Arsenal have spent nearly £300m since Arsène left, to boost this squad and some 18 players been acquired. There’s no way this squad should be mid table.

Yeah, I said that in the rest of the post you cut that quote from.. Are you actually disagreeing with the rest of the quote there?

Surely you agree that squad cost applies to clubs outside the top 6 (how could you not)? And given how much weaker clubs are sending, that the league is stronger than ever before, and will continue to get stronger with each year of continued spend?

 

[Macho]

Shocking poster? Lmao. One of the few posters with no agenda.

I definitely have an agenda I want to see Arteta have some accountability.

I always try to give Arteta kudos where I can because I regret my words and perspective under Wenger and have learned my lesson. There were times he genuinely did good right up to the day he left but I only ever saw the mistakes. I wasn't a vocal abuser but I definitely wanted him out thinking we were going to hire a big name manager.

I credit Arteta for the improvement of our defence, Xhaka playing some of his best football since joining and even some of our losses like Wolves when I'm like nah, Arteta got it spot on and etc.

I don't think he's the right manager, but if he turns it around I will just say safe - I'm wrong. I'm wrong all the time I'm not afraid of getting football wrong

 

[ClubLevel]

I'm sure at least half the league were spending more than us even in Wenger's early years. Ironically since we've started to spend ourselves we've gone more backwards and almost become one of them very clubs.

 

[Macho]

No one's following you around big man. You're posting non-stop in the same thread as me.

And I like to grate on people who lie to suit their agenda, so cheers. Of course, Arteta didn't call his players "crap" literally, figuratively, metaphorically or through any other medium you could choose. But it's been fun watching Mr "fAiR anD REaSonAblE" squirm.

Yeah, first of all - I said I tried to be fair and reasonable basically admitting I am struggling.

Secondly, I don't think I'm wrong, nobody is squirming - but yeah enjoy whatever it is you think you're doing.

 

[Dutch D]

The Burnley game may have broken me. I got some hope that we could finish in a Europe spot when we beat Leicester with quite a good game, but the Burnley game was back to being completely sh*te. Of course, it's not Arteta's fault that Xhaka had one of his blinders, but the team just completely fell apart after that moment, while we should've been 2 or 3-0 up.

I said in the Pepe thread watch him being binned after putting in a motm performance and of course Arteta stuck with Willian, who did **** all in the game except for a nondescript pass that became an assist.

I was in the 'give Arteta the season'-camp, and then decide at the end of the season whether our game had improved enough to stick with him. Now I'm just hoping we somehow manage to get a spot in one of the European cups and just sack him and go for a Tuchel type trainer if one becomes available (or get Ten Hag). I don't see enough improvement and I see him binning the future prospects for aging clowns and I've had enough.

 

[say yes]

Yeah, first of all - I said I tried to be fair and reasonable basically admitting I am struggling.

Secondly, I don't think I'm wrong, nobody is squirming - but yeah enjoy whatever it is you think you're doing.

If you don't think you're wrong, why can't you provide any examples of Arteta calling his players "crap at every opportunity"? You act like I'm being unreasonable, but I'm really just asking for you to justify your claim?

Or is your source a secret spycam at Colney that you can't reveal?

 

[Makingtrax]

Yeah, I said that in the rest of the post you cut that quote from.. Are you actually disagreeing with the rest of the quote there?

Surely you agree that squad cost applies to clubs outside the top 6 (how could you not)? And given how much weaker clubs are sending, that the league is stronger than ever before, and will continue to get stronger with each year of continued spend?

There’s only a £200m gap between all the clubs outside the top 8. That’s the same gap between City spending 1st and United 2nd. That means there’s 12 clubs pretty much bunched on similar spending.

The top 8 it rises exponentially arriving at City. So those 8, Leicester, Sp**s, Everton, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, United, City, have an ever increasing advantage over the rest.

The gap is actually growing not diminishing and it’s a function of mathematics. 2015/16 City was spending around £450m and the bottom club around £50m. That’s 9 times the difference. Now City are spending around £1bn and the bottom £100m, that’s 10 times. Not much in it you might say. But now let’s look at the difference. In 2015/16 it was £400m, but in 20/21 its £900m. That’s a lot of extra player quality right there.

The league is getting easier for the top clubs and all these record number of points and longest winning streaks are showing it.