As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
Lose this weekend and I have the feeling we are starting to see the beginning of the end. Its all feeling a bit like Di Matteo's half a season at Chelsea which remarkably saw them win the Champions League (for us read FA Cup) by getting a short term reaction out of the players who had failed the previous manager. However, once the euphoria died down he was quickly found out to be too inexperienced and let down by the players who had failed before.
Arteta did a great job getting this bunch to somehow knock over Man City and Chavski to win the FA Cup and get us into Europe, but the league football if anything seems to be going backwards. I was shot down last season when I listed all the dull games he had overseen - and there were tons of them in between the cup wins - but there seems to be little different this season. We've lost 3 of the last 4 games in the league and never looked like getting that elusive away win at one of the top six, and the Leicester game was as pathetic as it got. The home games against Sheffield United and West Ham had 10 minutes of decent football in them at best
I don't really know what his philosophy is. If its making us hard to beat then I question why the fuck Mustafi is being offered a new deal, why Kolasinac still plays and why David Luiz got a year extension. GG swept aside practically all of our defenders when he took over and some big names too - Anderson, Sansom etc - and bought hungry lower league players like Bould, Winterburn and Dixon. Are we really saying we can't find the likes of them playing in the lower half of the PL or Championship and mould them into something coherent?
The philosophy certainly isn't playing expansive football, or a high press, or making use of set pieces. Is it a direct style, or a possession based style. When I watch us I honestly don't have a clue what the game plan is
Arteta has no history or experience of getting raw/inexperienced players and coaching them up - his coaching experience was with ready made stars, and there was fcuk all he could bring to that table to make it better. If coaching was a big priority for arteta he would have grabbed players like guendouzi, saliba, nelson, saka etc and tried to develop them to be top players - instead he has pushed them out the door or to the sidelines in favour of senior players like xhaka, willian and mustafi.
I agree - Willian looks like a journeyman greedy prick like the helmet headed c.unt before him.
The "clueless" Emery had Lacazette, Mustafi and Xhaka heading for the exit door about to join the other 20 has beens and never will be's at the club he fucked off
Arteta has sold 2 players with first team experience- and one was probably the pick of the cup winning team in Martinez
If he picks Lacazette, Mustafi, Xhaka and the usual rag bag old tried and tested goons at OT and we get rolled over it will feel like going back to Wenger.
When I look at the teams above us in the league already, I can see Everton, Liverpool, Wolves, Leicester, Scum, Leeds and Chavski remaining there, and once City and United win their games in hand, we'll be competing with the likes of Southampton for the higher mid table spots
There's no long unbeaten run coming from this lot, and worse still any reasonably organised side from the lower reaches of the league will come to the bowl and take points too.
8th would be optimistic. 10th to 12th realistic
Still, all I hear is that the manager has a plan and we need to stick with it
I think this question was asked before the season started and the common consensus on here was 6th-8th.
I bucked the trend and was quietly confident we’d grind out 4th
I haven’t quite given up hope on that yet (I promise I haven’t been drinking) but I’m definitely a lot less confident after the last few shit results.
A limp dicked defeat tomorrow would be a another nail in that coffin but if we can somehow come out of there with the 3 points It would give the season some major momentum that would see us in the mix for it throughout.
I think this question was asked before the season started and the common consensus on here was 6th-8th.
I bucked the trend and was quietly confident we’d grind out 4th
I haven’t quite given up hope on that yet (I promise I haven’t been drinking) but I’m definitely a lot less confident after the last few shit results.
A limp dicked defeat tomorrow would be a another nail in that coffin but if we can somehow come out of there with the 3 points It would give the season some major momentum that would see us in the mix for it throughout.
Am I fucking completely deluded?
Optimistic rather than deluded I think mate. What pains me is that outside of Liverpool and City, i don't see enormous quality. Man U and Chavski's defences are both utterly gash. Leicester produced the mother of all collapses last year, the Spuds without the window licker and Son are utterly average, and then we're into the likes of Wolves, Everton and Leeds.
I said that it would take years to rebuild after Wenger and that his final years did as much damage as he did good in the early ones. We're on our third manager since the senile old c.unt left and we're still moaning about Mustafi, Ozil, Xhaka and Lacazette amongst others - all gifts from 'the great economist' who spunked >150m on that quartet and tied them into contracts beyond their wildest dreams. He also left us with 180k per week to get off the wage bill with Mkhitaryan following the Alexis debacle, and allowed contracts to run dry on a consistent basis, ensuring any manager following it up would have the initial impossible task of offloading a lorry load of shite before any rebuild could take place
If any manager manages to get us within the top 4 in the foreseeable future, I'd say it would be a miraculous achievement
That’s my Saturday fucked after reading your post SteveO.
Utterly depressing the damage Wenger was allowed to inflict on the club, especially those last few seasons.
We endured so much suffering and helplessness during that era that I just badly want to feel that we’re on the right track now at the very least. I’m throwing my weight behind the manager (mostly through blind faith and sheer hope although the cup win gave me great confidence) and I’m just going to buckle up and see where the season goes.
Lots on here including yourself are flagging up the warning signs to be fair and trust me I do see them, but I’m just hoping and praying that we somehow manage find some serious form and become a proper outfit as the season progresses because we’re far from that at the moment.
I reckon the title and poll question should be changed to “when will we finish”
Can’t see sport being allowed to continue for much longer, when the next lockdown begins.
If work should only be “essential” then how can sporting events be allowed in any format?
In the past I have compared Arteta to Graham but I think we forget that GG cut his teeth getting a team like Millwall promoted into 2nd division from bottom of the 3rd division. Is being the first team coach of a club that wins back to back league titles and a clean sweep of all domestic trophies and alongside the best coach in the modern era, equal to cutting your managerial teeth in the lower leagues?
I hope arteta is not a manager who tries to get rid of predecessors signings as I think Pepe has qualities to do really well and given that Saliba was talked about as being the best CB to come out of france since Varane then I think he might be letting himself down. He already regrets leaving Saliba out the europa league squad, a competition he could have used he really well.
In the past I have compared Arteta to Graham but I think we forget that GG cut his teeth getting a team like Millwall promoted into 2nd division from bottom of the 3rd division. Is being the first team coach of a club that wins back to back league titles and a clean sweep of all domestic trophies and alongside the best coach in the modern era, equal to cutting your managerial teeth in the lower leagues?
I hope arteta is not a manager who tries to get rid of predecessors signings as I think Pepe has qualities to do really well and given that Saliba was talked about as being the best CB to come out of france since Varane then I think he might be letting himself down. He already regrets leaving Saliba out the europa league squad, a competition he could have used he really well.
Is there another stage later in the competition when he can be included ? After group stage?
I can only assume that he was fully expected to go out on loan ( which is pointless, seeing how he was on loan last season )
These group matches would have been ideal to blood I’m in, to give a confidence boost.
Surely if he's the intelligent coach he is held up to be, today's midfield partnership of Partey and Elneny must have stood out a mile compared to the other options of El Twirly and the Swiss dollop.
Elneny is not all of a sudden the new Vieira but sometimes an important player is one who learns to accept his role in the team - and if he runs and runs, breaks up play and looks to move the ball forwards and at pace......then he's already leagues ahead of those other two
If Arteta decides however to bring back his Thursday night captain and El Twirly and watch the game reduced to a snail's pace week after week, then today will be no more than a flash in the pan
Lets hope today marks the start of those two numpties being relegated to fringe players
Surely if he's the intelligent coach he is held up to be, today's midfield partnership of Partey and Elneny must have stood out a mile compared to the other options of El Twirly and the Swiss dollop.
Elneny is not all of a sudden the new Vieira but sometimes an important player is one who learns to accept his role in the team - and if he runs and runs, breaks up play and looks to move the ball forwards and at pace......then he's already leagues ahead of those other two
If Arteta decides however to bring back his Thursday night captain and El Twirly and watch the game reduced to a snail's pace week after week, then today will be no more than a flash in the pan
Lets hope today marks the start of those two numpties being relegated to fringe players
It was in my opinion the winning of the game (alongside pogba's stupid tackle of course) - like you, most of us have severe doubts though that he will keep elnenny ahead of xhaka in the starting line-up but time will tell
The only thing that slightly rankles with me about yesterday's game, is this notion that arteta got his tactics spot on yesterday - arent they the same tactics that he used in the defeats in games like leicester, and scrappy wins against the likes of sheffield utd ?? Did we play a more attacking game yesterday ? Did we score from play or seriously have any real good chances from play ? We (with exception of willian and laca) played really well yesterday and absolutely deserved the 3pts, but in honesty we didnt do anything different from games where we were shit, but yesterday manure were dogshit and they gave us a stupid penalty, so praise the team and manager no problem, but lets not hail it as a tactical master stroke
Surely if he's the intelligent coach he is held up to be, today's midfield partnership of Partey and Elneny must have stood out a mile compared to the other options of El Twirly and the Swiss dollop.
Elneny is not all of a sudden the new Vieira but sometimes an important player is one who learns to accept his role in the team - and if he runs and runs, breaks up play and looks to move the ball forwards and at pace......then he's already leagues ahead of those other two
If Arteta decides however to bring back his Thursday night captain and El Twirly and watch the game reduced to a snail's pace week after week, then today will be no more than a flash in the pan
Lets hope today marks the start of those two numpties being relegated to fringe players
It was in my opinion the winning of the game (alongside pogba's stupid tackle of course) - like you, most of us have severe doubts though that he will keep elnenny ahead of xhaka in the starting line-up but time will tell
The only thing that slightly rankles with me about yesterday's game, is this notion that arteta got his tactics spot on yesterday - arent they the same tactics that he used in the defeats in games like leicester, and scrappy wins against the likes of sheffield utd ?? Did we play a more attacking game yesterday ? Did we score from play or seriously have any real good chances from play ? We (with exception of willian and laca) played really well yesterday and absolutely deserved the 3pts, but in honesty we didnt do anything different from games where we were shit, but yesterday manure were dogshit and they gave us a stupid penalty, so praise the team and manager no problem, but lets not hail it as a tactical master stroke
The tactics weren't any different, but the crucial difference was not having Ceballos and Xhaka slowing it down to a snail's pace in midfield and stopping any sense of forward momentum. Like you however, our complete lack of cutting edge alarms me and without Pogba's rash tackle we'd be talking about a 0-0 in which we dominated the midfield battle but probably one forced one or two saves out of De Gea.
If he keeps that as his first choice midfield - until such point as we add a natural creator I will be happier, but it certainly doesn't sort out the fact that whether its Willian or Pepe, Lacazette or Eddie - we have some major issues up top. Whilst Auba hasn't been firing on all cylinders recently if anything happens to that guy, I genuinely can't see where our next goal is coming from
If I was picking the front line to start the new year it would (injuries permitting) be auba flanked by saka and martinelli - however if I am honest I cannot see martinelli being first choice under arteta, and I cant see willian being a back up under him either. I dont think arteta would be worried about dropping laca, but as you said it would only see him pick nketieh in there instead
I think the Europa league squad does get updated after the January transfer window. With mustafi deciding not to extend his stay, there will be a slot for Saliba, and I think Arteta will include Saliba in January.
The ozil saga does affect other players in the squad. He does have his "german" posse and they will no doubt, unfortunately, hang on in the squad with him. Although, hopefully we can sell Mustafi, Kolasinac and ozil in january
It makes absolutely zero sense to have ozil anywhere near the club now - we have no intention of playing him and havent bothered to register him in any competition, so why not tell him to fcuk off to turkey for next months and we will post him his wage cheque ? I honestly wouldnt want him around the place and see no need to have him there
"As you can see we tried to get him a game in the last few days" - where have you tried to get him a game, cos you didnt even have him on the bench on Sunday ??
Last week he was talking up saliba's progression with the team and now he is again pushing to fcuk him out on loan to another club in January - I would say that if anything he has done his very best not to get saliba game time when you leave him out of the europa league squad where we are in a piss easy group. You can understand why he wants to fcuk him out on loan again now that he has superstar mustafi back
