Are we getting carried away with the doom and gloom?

[IBK]

He hasn’t lost the dressing room, quite the opposite actually. They’re following his instructions right down to the last letter and they kick and scrap for everything now. Which is why him going is a non-starter.

Yes it is OTT to suggest he should be gone this second, it’s still early days and a lot can change. However I believe I’ve seen enough to know what kind of a coach he is and what sort of system he favours. I have no issue with being a defensive team but not if it means sabotaging the attack. We have a striker who is capable of scoring 30 goals but has been a statue so far. If he’s going to turn us into a slick attacking unit as well then great but I haven’t seen any evidence of seeds being planted for that. Even the games we do win are often narrow affairs that could go either way, there just isn’t anything convincing about what I’ve seen from Arteta’s Arsenal.

All fair points. I suppose it comes down to whether the current unhappy situation is a base from which we can build, as the manager works out how the systenm is bluntin our attack, or a more permanent state of affairs. It is a worry that against Leeds he did what we all wanted and played Auba in the middle but we still looked toothless. My take is that Willian did not help and Pepe's head was clearly not on, and things looked better in this regard when Saka came on. But I guess I don't think the experiment has failed altogether. Yet.

[Marc Overmars]

All fair points. I suppose it comes down to whether the current unhappy situation is a base from which we can build, as the manager works out how the systenm is bluntin our attack, or a more permanent state of affairs. It is a worry that against Leeds he did what we all wanted and played Auba in the middle but we still looked toothless. My take is that Willian did not help and Pepe's head was clearly not on, and things looked better in this regard when Saka came on. But I guess I don't think the experiment has failed altogether. Yet.

Nah it hasn’t failed, yet. One could argue it has been successful given the cup win.

Maybe we need better players but my gut feeling is I don’t see us moving away from this type of football any time soon. I’d feel the same frustration if we were scoring loads but conceding them as well. Improvement has to be all encompassing and I look at the football some of these sides with less resources than us play and I’m scratching my head as to why we shouldn’t expect to play in the same vibrant way?

I can’t be positive or patient when the end result is still the same, only we’ve gone about getting there in a different way now.

Hell, right now I wouldn’t really mind drawing our next game 3-3 or something if it meant showing we’re still capable of doing some damage up front. Whatever we do at the back without goals from Auba and the supporting cast we will be firmly rooted in mid table for the season, that is for sure. So getting them going again should be the priority, rather than overly regimenting the defence and neutering the team in the process.