Mikel Arteta: Mid-table Mikel

We lack creativity. We could do with Özil. Btw are we even allowed to mention his name or do we have to pretend he doesnt exist?

 

We need a prime Özil, but he died 3 years ago. A 2020 Özil isn't the answer.

 

Özil lacks creativity. He creates the final pass. But everything before that, he needs supplies from others. He need others to create for him.

 

Yeah and I really don't think we need the wheel being reinvented here. Its just that a formation needs to be settled on and our best players playing in their preferred position. Watching the game those are the two missing elements and tactical tweaks will fall into place.

 

I think Arteta deserves to be executed for the abominations he’s serving us tbh.

 

I watched us yesterday losing 0-1 and unable to even create a half chance. Not saying he should start every game. But he could contribute. I feel as the season goes on this will become more clear and people will have to dismiss Özil even more to back the manager. You have him, you paying his wages and dont want to use him even for situations like this is just weird

 

I wouldnt go that far, but if he continue like this he will pay for it in the afterlife for crimes against football together with Pulis

 

Yeah at the height of Wengerball, Wenger had a rule where they could only make something like 2-3 sideaways/backward passes before having to pass forward.

 

Do you remember how we played 07-12?
We were the English Barcelona and like to pass the ball around having possession. That's wengerball.

 

I remember 07-12. The media/pundit were saying we pass the ball too much, not direct enough, and not shooting enough.

 

It's true that there's generally too much impatience among fans, that's probably always been the case. But it's also true that this current state can't go on forever.

It's not just about momentum and buy-in from fans, but from within the squad too. The FA Cup helped a lot with that, but scoring goals would help even more. A free-scoring team generates its own positivity and achieves buy-in from fans, cos they want to see more goals, and from the players cos they want to get in on the action.

Maybe if you're Burnley the players would accept sufferball cos they know it's their only option, and they're happy with it. But Arsenal players aren't going to be.

Results since Arteta's arrival have been good, he has a good win %, and players like winning obviously. But I don't know how long they're gonna stay committed to a coach if the team is scoring so few goals.

I feel like we're obsessing about results and solidity, and we've totally lost sight of the positivity that good attacking football brings. That positivity is something you can build around, and without it I think eventually everything falls apart.

 

Solidity is important because the main thing we should strive for is to be competitive. Under Wenger we played nice attack football but would get blown away with 4, 5, 6, and 8s at the other end. Now with Arteta we're limiting chances at the back but barely mustering anything upfront. It's not one extreme or the other. Even if we don't win games I just want to come away from a match feeling like we gave a good account of ourselves across all areas of the pitch.

 

I am staying quietly optimistic that Arteta will eventually try out the front 4 which against Sheffield looked really threatening for a 20m period, which gave us flashbacks to Wenger ball a little. I feel like it is the right formation to play in easy games or games vs teams who are playing quite defensively like we saw yesterday:

----------Saka---------Auba------------Pepe---------
-----------------------Willian--------------------------

In this formation both the wingers are capable of scoring goals and putting in good deliveries. The 3 players surrounding Auba can link up and take players on, covering for Aubameyang's poor ability on the ball.
Behind them we can play Partey and Ceballos who can both sit and take turns joining the attack if needed.

In more tougher games we can make this more of a solid midfield, a 3 man midfield:

------Willian-------Auba-----------Pepe----------
------Saka--------Thomas-------Ceballos-------

This would make us more hard to break down but still dynamic going forward. Saka would be in the midfield as he is capable of acting like a left sided midfield player and can even cover KT at left back if needed. If required Xhaka/Elneny could play in the place of Ceballos.

By playing these two set ups, our striker wont need to be the false 9 type and we could get the best out of our strikers. Nketiah would suddenly be more useful as an option. Martinelli would be able to play there when he returns too. Lacazette's career here starting in the PL should be over.

 

Well it's a matter of opinion of course, others will value solidity more highly. Ideally obviously you want both, but we're nowhere near that yet.

I'm just talking about momentum, and the fact that solidity without positivity will run out of momentum eventually.

Look at sp*rs right now. They're not very solid. They gave up a three goal lead to West Ham. But they have positivity - every game they believe they can score a good number of goals. And that positivity is going to buy Mourinho time to work on the solidity.

Goals give hope, they encourage fans to watch the following game and they encourage the players to contribute in the next game. If you have limited capacity to score goals I think it leads to a negative cycle and evntually you probably lose the solidity too, cos the players just give up.

 

Can we open the Özil thread do we can post stuff like his?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/f...cielny-backs-Mesut-Özil-row-Mikel-Arteta.html

 

it shouldn't really be closed he is by far the most polarising figure at the club.

 

They're not prime Catenaccio or anything remotely close to that, but they're still decent defensively. 5 games in and I think they have a better balance than us.

 

Should be in the squad for me.

 

He definitely should be in and around our match day squad.

 

Kos? He would be a machine had Wenger totally ignored attacking and parked the bus like Arteta does.

Imagine Kos in a team with defenders all around him, everyone behind the ball and 3 midfielders sitting in front of him.