Mikel Arteta: Aston La Vista To The Title?

[14Henry]

Özil is not an impact player. He's not a player you bring from the bench to change games for you.

You either start him or you don't.

I think it was the correct call not to start him

I get what your saying so in that case if we are paying someone 350k a week who cant do it in any game we dont dominate which is probably about 15 games a season then it's time to cut our losses pay the guys contract out and let him leave the club.

Özil doesn't add anything for that money and if he cant be counted on in nearly half of our games then the club needs to get rid. Because the Özil narrative is affecting the club and the supporters.

 

[MutableEarth]

The point is neither of them are balanced. 'ON PAPER' it looks good, but there is so much more to factor in. Pepe is weak defensively, Bellerin is fresh from injury, you have Ceballos covering the right who is naturally more comfortable on the left. Vs any winger he has no chance. Just dives in and sits on his arse. Then you have Özil who offers nothing defensively and is more likely to stay alongside the striker. So we have a big space in midfield filled by two joggers in Guendouzi and Ceballos. It's just as imbalanced as the first line up.

We simply do not have the players to play a two man midfield. It is that simple. We do not have the full backs to play inverted wingers in a 4231.

You know what was good with Liverpool. Even when Klopp didn't have the players he played the way he wanted to play and just conceded goals but tried to get his attacking going and the press working.

We have a manager who was with Man City. A team that played 4 3 3 . We have two players who have played as the base in a 3 man midfield. We have wingers who can destroy defenders 1v1. We have a 30 goal a season centre forward. We have full backs who are more able than most to played tucked in. On top of that we now have a number 10 who is being an idiot off the pitch. SO WHY ARE WE PERSISTING WITH A 4 2 3 1.

We literally have the players to replicate what city do, albeit at a much lower level, but at least it will be fun. At least we will attack. At least Arteta will see what he has ffs.

Sterling--------Jesus-----Mahrez

----------Silva-----------De Bruyne
-----------------------Rodri
Mendy----Cb---------cb------- Walker
-----------------Ederson

It's not rocket science. Play players who can do similar jobs. It's not about perfection. Does Jesus hold the ball up? Is Mendy good on the ball? Can Mahrez defend? Is Walker good on the ball? It's all a ****ing big NO. They have Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Mahrez and a ****ing system.

Martinelli------Auba-----Pepe

------------Saka--------Willock
--------------------AMN
Tierney----------------------------Bellerin


Is it perfect? No. Are there similar elements. Hell yeah. Martinelli and Pepe can beat men 1v1. Martinelli had the work rate of Sterling and Pepe of Mahrez. They can both score, they can both move off the ball. Auba is better than Jesus that simple.

Can Saka do what Silva does? Probably not. Willock do what De Bruyne does? Definitely not. But can Saka drift wide and whip crosses in? Can Willock arrive at the box and shoot. Ofcourse they can ffs.

Can Bellerin cover? Can Tierney pass the ball? Are they smart enough to tuck in? YES.

Here's the killer. Could you instruct all of those players to systematically foul. Are they fast and agile enough? Could you tell AMN to play it simple and just go around destroying. Ofcourse he could.

We would not be as slick. We would lose the ball more. We would make mistakes and get caught out. However, Saka, Willock, Martinelli, Auba, Pepe would all have an opportunity to shoot every game. In two games vs city we have had 1 shot. FFS.

Just play 4 3 3 and do what you have been doing at your previous club for years ffs.

 

[Hunta]

The point is neither of them are balanced. 'ON PAPER' it looks good, but there is so much more to factor in. Pepe is weak defensively, Bellerin is fresh from injury, you have Ceballos covering the right who is naturally more comfortable on the left. Vs any winger he has no chance. Just dives in and sits on his arse. Then you have Özil who offers nothing defensively and is more likely to stay alongside the striker. So we have a big space in midfield filled by two joggers in Guendouzi and Ceballos. It's just as imbalanced as the first line up.

We simply do not have the players to play a two man midfield. It is that simple. We do not have the full backs to play inverted wingers in a 4231.

You know what was good with Liverpool. Even when Klopp didn't have the players he played the way he wanted to play and just conceded goals but tried to get his attacking going and the press working.

We have a manager who was with Man City. A team that played 4 3 3 . We have two players who have played as the base in a 3 man midfield. We have wingers who can destroy defenders 1v1. We have a 30 goal a season centre forward. We have full backs who are more able than most to played tucked in. On top of that we now have a number 10 who is being an idiot off the pitch. SO WHY ARE WE PERSISTING WITH A 4 2 3 1.

We literally have the players to replicate what city do, albeit at a much lower level, but at least it will be fun. At least we will attack. At least Arteta will see what he has ffs.

Sterling--------Jesus-----Mahrez

----------Silva-----------De Bruyne
-----------------------Rodri
Mendy----Cb---------cb------- Walker
-----------------Ederson

It's not rocket science. Play players who can do similar jobs. It's not about perfection. Does Jesus hold the ball up? Is Mendy good on the ball? Can Mahrez defend? Is Walker good on the ball? It's all a ****ing big NO. They have Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Mahrez and a ****ing system.

Martinelli------Auba-----Pepe

------------Saka--------Willock
--------------------AMN
Tierney----------------------------Bellerin


Is it perfect? No. Are there similar elements. Hell yeah. Martinelli and Pepe can beat men 1v1. Martinelli had the work rate of Sterling and Pepe of Mahrez. They can both score, they can both move off the ball. Auba is better than Jesus that simple.

Can Saka do what Silva does? Probably not. Willock do what De Bruyne does? Definitely not. But can Saka drift wide and whip crosses in? Can Willock arrive at the box and shoot. Ofcourse they can ffs.

Can Bellerin cover? Can Tierney pass the ball? Are they smart enough to tuck in? YES.

Here's the killer. Could you instruct all of those players to systematically foul. Are they fast and agile enough? Could you tell AMN to play it simple and just go around destroying. Ofcourse he could.

We would not be as slick. We would lose the ball more. We would make mistakes and get caught out. However, Saka, Willock, Martinelli, Auba, Pepe would all have an opportunity to shoot every game. In two games vs city we have had 1 shot. FFS.

Just play 4 3 3 and do what you have been doing at your previous club for years ffs.

You’ve just put all my thoughts into one post. Well ****ing said that man!

 

[Bergkamp1988]

The point is neither of them are balanced. 'ON PAPER' it looks good, but there is so much more to factor in. Pepe is weak defensively, Bellerin is fresh from injury, you have Ceballos covering the right who is naturally more comfortable on the left. Vs any winger he has no chance. Just dives in and sits on his arse. Then you have Özil who offers nothing defensively and is more likely to stay alongside the striker. So we have a big space in midfield filled by two joggers in Guendouzi and Ceballos. It's just as imbalanced as the first line up.

We simply do not have the players to play a two man midfield. It is that simple. We do not have the full backs to play inverted wingers in a 4231.

You know what was good with Liverpool. Even when Klopp didn't have the players he played the way he wanted to play and just conceded goals but tried to get his attacking going and the press working.

We have a manager who was with Man City. A team that played 4 3 3 . We have two players who have played as the base in a 3 man midfield. We have wingers who can destroy defenders 1v1. We have a 30 goal a season centre forward. We have full backs who are more able than most to played tucked in. On top of that we now have a number 10 who is being an idiot off the pitch. SO WHY ARE WE PERSISTING WITH A 4 2 3 1.

We literally have the players to replicate what city do, albeit at a much lower level, but at least it will be fun. At least we will attack. At least Arteta will see what he has ffs.

Sterling--------Jesus-----Mahrez

----------Silva-----------De Bruyne
-----------------------Rodri
Mendy----Cb---------cb------- Walker
-----------------Ederson

It's not rocket science. Play players who can do similar jobs. It's not about perfection. Does Jesus hold the ball up? Is Mendy good on the ball? Can Mahrez defend? Is Walker good on the ball? It's all a ****ing big NO. They have Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Mahrez and a ****ing system.

Martinelli------Auba-----Pepe

------------Saka--------Willock
--------------------AMN
Tierney----------------------------Bellerin


Is it perfect? No. Are there similar elements. Hell yeah. Martinelli and Pepe can beat men 1v1. Martinelli had the work rate of Sterling and Pepe of Mahrez. They can both score, they can both move off the ball. Auba is better than Jesus that simple.

Can Saka do what Silva does? Probably not. Willock do what De Bruyne does? Definitely not. But can Saka drift wide and whip crosses in? Can Willock arrive at the box and shoot. Ofcourse they can ffs.

Can Bellerin cover? Can Tierney pass the ball? Are they smart enough to tuck in? YES.

Here's the killer. Could you instruct all of those players to systematically foul. Are they fast and agile enough? Could you tell AMN to play it simple and just go around destroying. Ofcourse he could.

We would not be as slick. We would lose the ball more. We would make mistakes and get caught out. However, Saka, Willock, Martinelli, Auba, Pepe would all have an opportunity to shoot every game. In two games vs city we have had 1 shot. FFS.

Just play 4 3 3 and do what you have been doing at your previous club for years ffs.

Forward this to Mikel's Gmail

 

[Oxeki]

 

[Aussie_gunner123]

Forward this to Mikel's Gmail

Reading that post, that is exactly what I was thinking aswell haha! 433 would probably be ideal for us I'd say, no idea who I'd have in the back 4 though.

 

[MutableEarth]

Reading that post, that is exactly what I was thinking aswell haha! 433 would probably be ideal for us I'd say, no idea who I'd have in the back 4 though.

Thing is, he tried it in the pre-season and it looked pretty good up until we eased off of Brentford. I don't know why he decided to go back to 4231. 433 is clearly the best allocation of resources available to us - especially if you're not even gonna bother bringing Özil.

 

[Aussie_gunner123]

Thing is, he tried it in the pre-season and it looked pretty good up until we eased off of Brentford. I don't know why he decided to go back to 4231. 433 is clearly the best allocation of resources available to us - especially if you're not even gonna bother bringing Özil.

Makes you wish any protests were that easy to start & get enough people haha.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Reason why I don't think Arteta trusts us to play 4-3-3 Is because we don't have the 6 to play there effectively. When you play in a single pivot you are isolated and especially when bo6h your interiors push up that leaves lots of space. To counter this, you need a 6 that can distribute well, drop deep to collect from the CBs and cover space quickly. Now that's a position that probably suits AMN to the tee but mentally I'm not sure he's there yet. Hopefully, he gets the chance to play there till the end of the season.

Also, in the city game Bellerin hardly came infield when we had the ball. I suspect Arteta told him to stay out wide to counter Mendy's runs but he couldn't shuttle out and in quick enough. He's physically finished. If we had a better right back to tuck in when we have possession, I reckon we would of had numerical advantage over City in midfield and an extra option to pass to. We could have man marked but had the spare man in Bellerin too.

 

[The_Playmaker]

Thing is, he tried it in the pre-season and it looked pretty good up until we eased off of Brentford. I don't know why he decided to go back to 4231. 433 is clearly the best allocation of resources available to us - especially if you're not even gonna bother bringing Özil.

That's the key thing. We may have an imbalanced squad. But we have resources. We have one of the best strikers in the world and potentially one of the best 1v1 dribbles in the world. So why don't you gear the team to them?

For the Mahrez penalty Jesus won a header on the touchline and Mahrez ran inside. We couldn't do the same thing with Auba and Pepe? Auba isn't amazing in the air, but he is better than most full backs.

This strange style of cautious football is killing us. Watching us try to build up and get closer and closer to our own goal under half pressure. That part where Leno stands on the ball and waits for movement kills me. Because I know what's coming. A long ball that isn't even organised. Ffs even Wenger had targeted long balls to players who could head.

It's getting to the point where Arteta needs to show his philosophy and stop trying to adjust to what he has.

 

[MutableEarth]

Reason why I don't think Arteta trusts us to play 4-3-3 Is because we don't have the 6 to play there effectively. When you play in a single pivot you are isolated and especially when bo6h your interiors push up that leaves lots of space. To counter this, you need a 6 that can distribute well, drop deep to collect from the CBs and cover space quickly. Now that's a position that probably suits AMN to the tee but mentally I'm not sure he's there yet. Hopefully, he gets the chance to play there till the end of the season.

Also, in the city game Bellerin hardly came infield when we had the ball. I suspect Arteta told him to stay out wide to counter Mendy's runs but he couldn't shuttle out and in quick enough. He's physically finished. If we had a better right back to tuck in when we have possession, I reckon we would of had numerical advantage over City in midfield and an extra option to pass to. We could have man marked but had the spare man in Bellerin too.

Only reason AMN isn't mentally there yet is because he hasn't been trusted there yet. Chicken and egg for me.

 

[The_Playmaker]

Reason why I don't think Arteta trusts us to play 4-3-3 Is because we don't have the 6 to play there effectively. When you play in a single pivot you are isolated and especially when bo6h your interiors push up that leaves lots of space. To counter this, you need a 6 that can distribute well, drop deep to collect from the CBs and cover space quickly. Now that's a position that probably suits AMN to the tee but mentally I'm not sure he's there yet. Hopefully, he gets the chance to play there till the end of the season.

Also, in the city game Bellerin hardly came infield when we had the ball. I suspect Arteta told him to stay out wide to counter Mendy's runs but he couldn't shuttle out and in quick enough. He's physically finished. If we had a better right back to tuck in when we have possession, I reckon we would of had numerical advantage over City in midfield and an extra option to pass to. We could have man marked but had the spare man in Bellerin too.

 

[Garrincha]

Maybe we should just expect a few changes in formation over the next 6 / 12 months.

The guy is only 16 game in to picking teams / tactics. He seems to have a very clear philosophy but it must be incredibly hard to put onto the pitch with another managers squad, **** senior players & alot of kids.

 

[MutableEarth]

That game was one of our best midfield performances of the last 5 years, and we had Jeff, Ox and AMN in a 3. That's 3 mobile midfielders who can dribble, pass and win duels. Welbeck dropping in to help was useful too (scored a hattrick that day). This was a game that showed AMN has the capacity to play this role and this should have been the building block. Instead, they put him at RB/LB and everything went to ****.

EDIT: One other thing that's noticeable about AMN in this clip in comparison to our midfielders now: didn't take too many touches before passing the ball. Moved it on just that little bit quicker.

 

[Garrincha]

To be fair to Wenger in the next few games after Southampton he put Ox in CM for a run including away at Chelsea & Liverpool... We lost most of them.

 

[The_Playmaker]

That game was one of our best midfield performances of the last 5 years, and we had Jeff, Ox and AMN in a 3. That's 3 mobile midfielders who can dribble, pass and win duels. Welbeck dropping in to help was useful too (scored a hattrick that day). This was a game that showed AMN has the capacity to play this role and this should have been the building block. Instead, they put him at RB/LB and everything went to ****.

EDIT: One other thing that's noticeable about AMN in this clip in comparison to our midfielders now: didn't take too many touches before passing the ball. Moved it on just that little bit quicker.

I remember it clearly as I got so excited. Then the next game all the ' first teamers came in and played horrible football. We may have even lost.

 

[Hunta]

I’ve always wondered what Wenger’s plan was with AMN. After the MOTM CM performance at Old Trafford, I thought that was his future. Then Emery joined and the rest is history.

 

[scytheavatar]

We have a manager who was with Man City. A team that played 4 3 3 . We have two players who have played as the base in a 3 man midfield. We have wingers who can destroy defenders 1v1. We have a 30 goal a season centre forward. We have full backs who are more able than most to played tucked in. On top of that we now have a number 10 who is being an idiot off the pitch. SO WHY ARE WE PERSISTING WITH A 4 2 3 1.

We literally have the players to replicate what city do, albeit at a much lower level, but at least it will be fun. At least we will attack. At least Arteta will see what he has ffs.

Sterling--------Jesus-----Mahrez

----------Silva-----------De Bruyne
-----------------------Rodri
Mendy----Cb---------cb------- Walker
-----------------Ederson

It's not rocket science. Play players who can do similar jobs. It's not about perfection. Does Jesus hold the ball up? Is Mendy good on the ball? Can Mahrez defend? Is Walker good on the ball? It's all a ****ing big NO. They have Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Mahrez and a ****ing system.

Martinelli------Auba-----Pepe

------------Saka--------Willock
--------------------AMN
Tierney----------------------------Bellerin


Is it perfect? No. Are there similar elements. Hell yeah. Martinelli and Pepe can beat men 1v1. Martinelli had the work rate of Sterling and Pepe of Mahrez. They can both score, they can both move off the ball. Auba is better than Jesus that simple.

Can Saka do what Silva does? Probably not. Willock do what De Bruyne does? Definitely not. But can Saka drift wide and whip crosses in? Can Willock arrive at the box and shoot. Ofcourse they can ffs.

Can Bellerin cover? Can Tierney pass the ball? Are they smart enough to tuck in? YES.

Here's the killer. Could you instruct all of those players to systematically foul. Are they fast and agile enough? Could you tell AMN to play it simple and just go around destroying. Ofcourse he could.

We would not be as slick. We would lose the ball more. We would make mistakes and get caught out. However, Saka, Willock, Martinelli, Auba, Pepe would all have an opportunity to shoot every game. In two games vs city we have had 1 shot. FFS.

Just play 4 3 3 and do what you have been doing at your previous club for years ffs.

Dude Arteta is no Guardiola and our squad is not on the level of Man City's....... if Arteta tries to play Guardiola tactics with worse players he's just going to end up doing worse than Emery. Arteta's biggest success as our manager was to tighten our defense and get us leaking less goals than we did under Emery. He knows the limitations of our squad and that he's going to turn us into title contenders overnight, his first job was to stabilize us and get us on the right direction. He's still in the process of doing that. Don't expect things to be different had we hired someone like Pochettino to be our manager, any manager we hire has to deal with the super imbalance squad we have. Cause like it or not our attacking players are not so good that we can get away with a terrible defense. Auba is no RVP and Pepe is no Sanchez.

 

[GunnerShy]

Pepe needs to play. If he's going to be the player we need him to be. He needs a run of games. It's not like he's been piss poor. At times he's looked the real deal with some sun optimal end product. Been robbed of some penalties too.

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

Dude Arteta is no Guardiola and our squad is not on the level of Man City's....... if Arteta tries to play Guardiola tactics with worse players he's just going to end up doing worse than Emery. Arteta's biggest success as our manager was to tighten our defense and get us leaking less goals than we did under Emery. He knows the limitations of our squad and that he's going to turn us into title contenders overnight, his first job was to stabilize us and get us on the right direction. He's still in the process of doing that. Don't expect things to be different had we hired someone like Pochettino to be our manager, any manager we hire has to deal with the super imbalance squad we have. Cause like it or not our attacking players are not so good that we can get away with a terrible defense. Auba is no RVP and Pepe is no Sanchez.

I think you're ignoring most of what he said tbh. 4-3-3 is one of the most widely used and adaptable formations out there, the main thing you shoudl be looking at is if it actually suits us which it would and let us get more ahrd working players in while playing auba in his strongest position. We're looking slightly more stable but we're still wide open and our attack is at 6s and 7s, we've seen the issue with how our players don't suit a 4-2-3-1, we just dont have the players to execute it properly right now