Mikel Arteta: Mid-table Mikel

All action CM. Can do everything a CM is required to do well. Unlike say Xhaka who can't do anything a CM is required to do well

 

Dude, I remember Premier League managers during post match interviews asking how do Arsenal get into their final 3rd so quickly. We used to attack teams for fun. Our offensive transition was less than 20 seconds.

 

ah so not a DM then

 

No. Who said he was that?

 

I reckon Arteta may have an experience/seniority bias.
Would explain his insistence on Laca and why Saliba and so many youngers are missing.

 

Is that a good or bad thing?
I was thinking the same though, reminds me of cazorla when he would play there.
Think if we can maintain artetas defensive structure and work rate, with a good spine with guys like gabriel and partey, which wenger didn't have in his later years, with a more wenger esque attack we'd have a pretty good balance.

 

When is he going to add continuity? How are we going to win games when the line up is different every single game. How can you gain any sort of rhythm with a different midfield or different full back and winger combination?

 

He'd be coming inside though. Interchanging with saka and willian/martinelli. The width and pace would be coming from the full backs as they are now. And Auba and possibly martinelli using their pace in behind.

 

I would't be against it. Ramsey played out there and did well, though this board was in full Ramsey hate mode at the time and pretended it was a disaster.

 

When? Against who?

 

I do think Saka could be tried more centrally, we need someone who will get on the ball in between the lines.

 

it takes man-management ability and acumen, not to mention hard work, to be able to guide, select and manage youngsters. Its far easier to bung in all the senior pros one can find into a rigid straitjacketed system and escape with a 1:0 defeat that looks respectable.

I think he is feeling his way into the job after getting derailed by the covid + raul + Özil saga's and finally coming face to face with the ****heads in the board and realizing what he is up against. Now he is doing what used to be called in sales " no one got fired for hiring IBM as a vendor"

 

Not necessarily good or bad, more so a midfielder playing wide on one side and a more direct forward type on the other side is very Wenger-esque. (Examples Alexis left/Ramsey right or Cazorla left/Walcott right). But like you said Wenger didn't have a Partey type in midfield which would have aided a lot and in general we all saw the flaws in all of Wengers sides. Balance is of course the most important thing now. We used to suffer committing too many forward, now we seem to be constantly playing with a bit of caution to our game. We need balance.

 

I recall his goal getting us a point against Sp**s. Overall I remember him having a series of very good games.

 

He did have a pretty good 18/19 until injury.

 

The way we played was wrong but not sure how Arteta can succeed when he has players like Xhaka and Mustafi on the pitch. He needs to be brave and drop Xhaka and Mustafi

Look at their positions FFS

 

Play the superstars in their right positions. Fill the 5 attacking channels with attackers not full backs.

Auba, Pepe, Partey, Gabriel, Tierney, Saka and one of Willian/Esr/Nelson should be the the first names on the team sheet. Invert one full back and allow Pepe to move infield to get closer to Auba. If you are scared of the counter play the fullback who can pocket Zaha and have him sprinting back and inverting seeing as he is comfortable doing it.

Stop rewarding our limited players because they ****ing train hard.

Saka------Auba----Pepe
-----------Willian
--------Partey---Elneny
Tierney---------------AMN
----------Gabriel-Luiz
----------------Leno

 

Thought the first half was really good. In classic Barclays fashion, if you waste possession it will come back to haunt you.

That said, Mikel needs to get the midfield playing through the lines better. Cannot rely on Luiz opening them up from centreback.

There is no chemistry between the midfield and front three. No midfielder pushing beyond the forwards either. Need more dynamism. At the moment it's all looking very much like we just look for a Luiz long ball or overlapping full backs

 

That and that!

 

For a guy who has very little managerial experience, I do find it ironic at how little he seems to trust his least experienced players. Apart from Saka and Nketiah, who is he willing to give time to develop? He came into this job knowing full well about our resources and our direction to use youth so you can’t waste them. Arteta can send them out on loan, sell them, or use them but hoarding players you have no use for is financially irresponsible, especially in this climate.
Look I’m not saying the youth will save us but they can provide us with much needed competition or funds. Saka is being run to the ground, Willian and Pepe are both inconsistent and Auba should be central. Would a Nelson or ESR be such a problem?