Our next 5 games...

[Red London]

They're literally letting Arteta play how Emery did while giving Mik the players he wants, they're even giving him players Emery wanted ffs.

Yeah we should have done this under Emery. Back him properly and get rid of a large chunk of the team. I think we realised this recently but will struggle to do so during covid.

I don't get what manager unless you bring in a top top top one, just comes in and makes this broken team play beautiful football without some creative signings... I don't see it. Klopp and Pep spent **** tonnes on their issues.

 

[Red London]

Let's turn one of the Villa/Wolves wins into a draw though. I'll just about stretch to that, anything else and we're accepting mediocrity.

That makes it 16 points out of a possible 30!

Well I think accepting mediocrity would be accepting a PPG from those games which is below the average in the top 4. But yeh we need to be hitting the upper echolons of top4 PPG to be clawing back.

Rememeber though that it a tough run of games. The average PPG I was talking about is from clubs playing every game of the season which involves more easier fixtures than the run we are talking about. But yeh I'm being pedantic, we need to do well to catch up now.

 

[Macho]

So our inability to change the culture in the dressing room and our poor cohesion between the boardroom and manager is what made Emery fail here, as well as his own shortcomings like not really improving at English after the first few months, playing people like Torreira at 10 and stuff like that (of course there were more issues but this was more about our side of the blame).

That’s all fair enough but let’s not forget Arteta played Willian as false 9 and had Auba out wide and Laca benched - he’s equally not serious.

The English thing is overblown, Bielsa is sitting at Leeds with an interpreter. I just think the club were not as supportive of Emery and maybe learned their lesson like you are hinting at.

As for Raul getting sacked over Pepe, people say it like it’s fact I’ve seen nothing to back this. If anything getting KIA players on loan and promising permanent deals before checking with the higher ups was more of an issue.

We almost got juiced for 92 mil for Lemar under Wenger- it is what it is.

If the price tag for Pepe was that deep for the club, then Arteta would be under much more pressure to get something out of him. Cause right now he’s not even worth 10 mil and the club seem more than fine with that. Contrast this to Werner/Havertz where Lampard is kinda getting the blame.

Maybe you’re right and the club have learned, but yeah nobody has convinced me as to why Arteta has gotten all this support and backing.

 

[Red London]

That’s all fair enough but let’s not forget Arteta played Willian as false 9 and had Auba out wide and Laca benched - he’s equally not serious.

The English thing is overblown, Bielsa is sitting at Leeds with an interpreter. I just think the club were not as supportive of Emery and maybe learned their lesson like you are hinting at.

As for Raul getting sacked over Pepe, people say it like it’s fact I’ve seen nothing to back this. If anything getting KIA players on loan and promising permanent deals before checking with the higher ups was more of an issue.

We almost got juiced for 92 mil for Lemar under Wenger- it is what it is.

If the price tag for Pepe was that deep for the club, then Arteta would be under much more pressure to get something out of him. Cause right now he’s not even worth 10 mil and the club seem more than fine with that. Contrast this to Werner/Havertz where Lampard is kinda getting the blame.

Maybe you’re right and the club have learned, but yeah nobody has convinced me as to why Arteta has gotten all this support and backing.

The English thing depends on other factors too. It can certainly be a disadvantage, but if you are charismatic and well respected it is fine (like Bielsa as you said, and also Pochettino).

I think the reason Raul got sacked is for the same reason we paid 72m for Pepe: his dodgy dealings with agents. Its not necessarily down to just the Pepe transfer but the same reason Raul was investigated was the same reason we signed and overpaid for Pepe imo: Raul being a contact based head of football, and quite a dodgy one.

I think it would be wrong of the club to put pressure on Arteta to get the best out of a player he didn't even sign. Lampard at least was the manager when they signed Werner and Havertz. He may have been forced to sign them anyway but comparing Chelsea to Arsenal isn't right in my opinion. They have built a culture on repeatedly sacking their managers and getting the cheque book out to sign players. They're a unique side who sacked Carlo Ancelotti a year after winning the double. They signed Kepa for the same price as Pepe then repalced him the next season, there's rumours they wanna sign Haaland a year after spending 50m+ on Werner.

But anyway I think it would be incorrect to force a new manager to solve your previous issues which dont align with what he wants to do. It would be counter-productive. But yes I am dissapointed Arteta gave up on Pepe.

 

[Gooner416]

Southampton - W
Leicester - D
United - D
Villa - W
City - L
Leeds - W
Sp**s - D
Wolves - W
Burnley - W

That’s fair right? I think that’s pretty generous really. I’m gonna go off if we do worse than that.

Think that's very generous but this is what one would expect. Draws against United, Leicester and Sp**s would all be solid results at this point tbf. I also think we'll probably drop points against one of the Leeds, Villa or Wolves fixtures.

I've got:
Southampton - W
Leicester - L
United - L
Villa - W
City - L
Leeds - D
Sp**s - W
Wolves - W
Burnley - W

 

[#254]

Yeah we should have done this under Emery. Back him properly and get rid of a large chunk of the team. I think we realised this recently but will struggle to do so during covid.

I don't get what manager unless you bring in a top top top one, just comes in and makes this broken team play beautiful football without some creative signings... I don't see it. Klopp and Pep spent **** tonnes on their issues.

Who would have thought people would miss some good ebening

 

[RunTheTrap]

Southampton-W

United-W
Leicester-L
Villa-D
City-L
Leeds-W
Sp**s-D
Wolves-W
Burnley-W

 

[Oxeki]

Southampton-W

United-W
Leicester-L
Villa-D
City-L
Leeds-W
Sp**s-D
Wolves-W
Burnley-W

You believe we'll beat United and then lose to Leicester?

I don't think so. I think both games will end in draws.

 

[RunTheTrap]

You believe we'll beat United and then lose to Leicester?

I don't think so. I think both games will end in draws.

I think Arteta has Ole’s number. As for Leicester, I think they have a very industrious team that can outrun us in every position and a strong defence that I can’t see us troubling.

 

[Multipass]

You believe we'll beat United and then lose to Leicester?

I don't think so. I think both games will end in draws.

I also think we can beat manure but will have a tougher time against the counterattacking Leicester.

Arteta has generally been good against the top clubs , and with a recent run of wins against the bottom half it bodes well for the rest of the season.

Only certain loses are City and Liverpool later in the season for me. No chance in either.

 

[HairSprayGooners]

@Trilly are we playing the same way as Emery? Because from what I can see we are 100x better defensively than we were under Emery.

 

[Sweet'n'Soulful]

Okay I give permission for someone to delete this thread. Sorry for posting ****.

I only logged in to say this thread was a ****ing awful decision and I thought you knew better. Apparently not. Was you stoned or something?

 

[Sweet'n'Soulful]

But still, if someone offered me nine points and no defeats from those games I would be ecstatic.

 

[Trilly]

@Trilly are we playing the same way as Emery? Because from what I can see we are 100x better defensively than we were under Emery.

Attacking the same way.

I think it's fair to say that it's 'easy' to get better defensively at the expense of chance creation. Things have looked better recently but we've faced some of the worst attacks in the league. If we continue to create chances and maintain defensive solidarity against the Southampton's and Villa's then full credit to him.

I'm actually looking forward to this run we have against the top-middle sides in the league, might go as far as saying that we'll learn if Arteta is the man to take this team forwards after it.

 

[A_G]

You believe we'll beat United and then lose to Leicester?

I don't think so. I think both games will end in draws.

The Leicester game is at the end of February FWIW, not after the United game.

 

[HairSprayGooners]

Attacking the same way.

I think it's fair to say that it's 'easy' to get better defensively at the expense of chance creation. Things have looked better recently but we've faced some of the worst attacks in the league. If we continue to create chances and maintain defensive solidarity against the Southampton's and Villa's then full credit to him.

I'm actually looking forward to this run we have against the top-middle sides in the league, might go as far as saying that we'll learn if Arteta is the man to take this team forwards after it.

Has chance creation increased due to being less frugal with our defending or has chance creation increased due to ESR being in the side?

Considering his recent stats in nearly every game you'd like to think its ESR, a proper number 10 with good movement, quick passing etc making the difference. Which I said all along would be the case, because not only does it add something centrally but it frees up Tierney and Bellerin on the flanks. And of course adding Saka to the right hand side has helped massively.

You're correct, the next few games will tell us a lot. I'm also excited to see how we get on.

 

[OnlyOne]

I only logged in to say this thread was a ****ing awful decision and I thought you knew better. Apparently not. Was you stoned or something?

Lol stoned, I haven't been stoned since I was about 12. The only narcotics I use involve a spoon and needle.

 

[Iceman10]

These next two months are crucial for Arteta:
Southampton, Leicester, Benfica x2, Man United, Villa, City, Leeds, Sp**s. And two toss up away fixtures against Wolves and Burnley.

Literally not a single easy game upcoming. Make or break really.

This was the bump that restarted this thread @OnlyOne . Isn’t really five fixtures, but maybe update the thread title?

 

[Gooner416]

This was the bump that restarted this thread @OnlyOne . Isn’t really five fixtures, but maybe update the thread title?

I didn't bump this thread lmao, my posts and the following responses were moved from the Arteta thread.

 

[Iceman10]

I didn't bump this thread lmao, my posts and the following responses were moved from the Arteta thread.

lol, sorry, ok.