The Arteta Thread

[I am invisible]

Good points there - and food for thought. Thank you.

No doubt Arteta is feeling the pressure - and he should be in terms of our performances/results on the pitch. Part of me would think that (in circumstances where we know he isn't going to be sacked) this is a good thing - he knows results are not good enough. However, I think I agree that he is beginning to become unstuck under the pressure - both football wise, and in terms of the massive issues at our club that are effectively being laid at his door as a resut of the administrative vaccum above him. It's as though the club knows no other way than the Wenger way - in which the coach is also manager; football director; chief scout; club administrator and mouthpiece. A combination that is obviously too much for anyone - let alone a rookie.

Given that the club is going to persevere with Arteta - what this situation is crying out for is someone in a kind of football director role (although probably not in name, given the unwise decision to make Arteta manager). It's a sign of his inexperience that Arteta has failed to bring in a wise head as assistant coach - who could take some of the decision-making strain off him, and act as a mentor. It's also a sign of hubris - but I suppose understandable in the circumstances. A solution is not going to come from the manager, though, and Edu - from what we have seen - is not the man to do this either. So we are loking at a real risk that the Arteta project will go down in flames for lack of support - as well as his own pride and inflexibility.

I suppose I grouped the ESR and Willian comments in with his savaging of Pepe and the Saliba situation, and maybe you are right and this is unfair. The problem is that while some of Arteta's unpopular judgments - eg our baying to see Martinelli up front where clearly he is not ready for this, or his reticence to use Pepe at times when there is some substance in the fact that he can't retain possession are justified to a degree, his favouritism of certain other players and his constant chopping and changing tends to drown this out.

A genuine DoF is exactly we need. Let's be clear on this, promoting Arteta to club Manager wasn't a reward for steadying the ship and winning us an FA Cup - it was a cowardly decision made by owners and a CEO who bottled a decision that needed to be made on Edu, and who were more than happy to shift all of the responsibility onto an inexperienced rookie. They basically took advantage of a good PR moment and used it to lessen their own load.

It's not the first time they've hidden behind him either - remember when they sent him in to negotiate a 12.5% pay cut with the squad after just 3 or 4 months in the job? Cowardly, unnecessary given that we have billionaire owners, and utterly deceitful now we know about their ESL scheming, and how much extra they assumed they'd be making from it.

Making Arteta manager was a disastrous decision for the playing side of things, too - straightaway it would have created a rift between him and a significant portion of the squad. Think about the sheer number of players we had last summer (and still have now) who know that their Arsenal futures are uncertain: as Head Coach, new contracts aren't really Arteta's call - he can put in a good word, but he's basically in the same boat as them, with the TD / DoF deciding his future as well as theirs (the players may even see him as an ally in that role, if he makes them look good); as Manager, though, he's the guy who has final say on whether they get a new contract or get sold. How can that not be a problem? How can you possibly ask a player to perform for you after it becomes abundantly clear that you have no plans to keep them? And this is the problem we've had all year, mostly with the senior players who know that they're living off unsustainable CL-level contracts that can't continue - the closer they come to the end of their deals, the less they give a shit and the more unmanageable they become.

This is actually one of the things I've found really interesting - the younger part of the squad still seems to be massively behind him. Players like KT and Ødegaard have waxed lyrical about his ideas and methods. ESR and KT have also recently said that they're willing to sign new deals, but they want assurances over his future from the owners first. There's been a lot of talk about the treatment of Martinelli and Balogun not getting minutes, but neither of them are causing problems or making noise through their agents? Balogun could have easily walked this sumemr, but he chose to stay. I couldn't tell you why that is exactly, but I wouldn't mind betting that they've been given assurances about next season, and maybe been told in confidence that the club is going to clean house this summer and pave the way for them. Whatever the reason, he still seems to command significant loyalty and respect from the younger players, and that includes guys we have on loan from Real Madrid.

[Mac76]

Yes I saw this. It's a further worry, along with his comments re ESR and Willian, and ironically had he been referring to the latter in his press conference (he wasn't), then I don't think anyone would disagree - although it is never a good sign when players are being outed by a manager - even obliquely.

What I'm afraid these comments - and the decision making in relation to the team - point to is a narcissistic manager who is not alive to his own faults. It is down to Arteta, not the players, that he has f*cked about with his system and playing positions so much that his players often look like they have no clue what they are doing; who has picked fights with some players and shown blatant favouritsm to others - destroying team unity - and who has rewarded underperformance by continuing to favour certain players over mostly younger players who deserve better.

All managers need a streak of narcissism - but Arteta's seems increasingly off the scale and the real problem is that he is surrounded by yes men who wonlt reign this in. It's a really concerning situation now, going into a Summer that could be a car crash transfer wise...

agree with all of that

[Marc Overmars]

The only thing I’ll sympathise with Arteta on is how useless his senior players have been. These players are an embarrassment to the club and I wasn’t surprised to hear from Ornstein the other day that many of them have indicated they have no desire to stay.

They will certainly not be missed.

[Mac76]

The only thing I’ll sympathise with Arteta on is how useless his senior players have been. These players are an embarrassment to the club and I wasn’t surprised to hear from Ornstein the other day that many of them have indicated they have no desire to stay.

They will certainly not be missed.

i think Laca has been able to hold his head up this season, but Bellerin, Xhaka, Luiz, to a great extent Auba and of course Willian have been awful - even Leno has only been just about good enough, letting Martinez go was a huge f**kup

[I am invisible]

Amazingly, we’re still 3rd in the form table since Christmas Day, and only behind the two Manchester clubs. I’m shocked by that, if I’m being honest - feels like we’ve been utter shite for at least the last couple of months.

I’m not sure it really says much about our progress as a team under Arteta - we all know what we’ve witnessed at times - but it does perhaps go to show that everyone has been a bit crap this year, and not just us?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/talkspo...el-arteta/amp/

[Marc Overmars]

We always seem to fare well whenever these arbitrary samples are looked at. “The table since <insert whenever we stopped being completely shit>“. Happened a lot with with Wenger too when we were second half of the season champions a few times.

Things like that just need to be taken with a pinch of salt because the outcome of the season tells us everything we need to know. No use looking at what shade of shit, as those other teams who’ve apparently been shit will be playing in Europe next season and we probably
won’t.

The standard is just what it is. City and Liverpool have been a million miles better than the rest over the last few years. I don’t think being able to keep up with them makes the rest necessarily shit, but it does maybe suggest there is a smaller bar to reach there than the one required to challenge for a title.

As always though, it doesn’t matter where the bar is because we always seem to be struggling to reach it.

[Letters]

We always seem to fare well whenever these arbitrary samples are looked at. “The table since <insert whenever we stopped being completely shit>“. Happened a lot with with Wenger too when we were second half of the season champions a few times.

True, but it's a tempting piece of reasoning - especially with a new manager. You could make the argument that he was finding his feet in the first half of the season and the second half is more representative of what we could do under Arteta. It gives some hope for next season.
I'm not sure I buy it really - the Villareal game was an example of him just not getting things right. A game in which we just had to score and we were feeble.
But I think we have to accept that Arteta will be our manager next season and just hope that the second half of the season is an indication that things will be better next year. It will be an interesting summer, sounds like there could be a lot of changes and without being in Europe it might be hard getting players in of a level who will push us on. That said, we've been in Europe for a bazillion years in a row so I think if players buy in to the ambition that I'm sure Arteta has then it won't be a problem. The question is whether Arteta can realise that ambition, I suspect not.

[Mac76]

True, but it's a tempting piece of reasoning - especially with a new manager. You could make the argument that he was finding his feet in the first half of the season and the second half is more representative of what we could do under Arteta. It gives some hope for next season.
I'm not sure I buy it really - the Villareal game was an example of him just not getting things right. A game in which we just had to score and we were feeble.
But I think we have to accept that Arteta will be our manager next season and just hope that the second half of the season is an indication that things will be better next year. It will be an interesting summer, sounds like there could be a lot of changes and without being in Europe it might be hard getting players in of a level who will push us on. That said, we've been in Europe for a bazillion years in a row so I think if players buy in to the ambition that I'm sure Arteta has then it won't be a problem. The question is whether Arteta can realise that ambition, I suspect not.

I'd adapt what you say there and say that the second half is more representative of what we could do under ... a new manager. Don't forget Arteta stumbled on the younger players when injuries forced his hand, but he then played Saka and ESR into the ground plus success made him bolder about fiddling around with the system to the point we sank back into mediocrity

[I am invisible]

I was just shocked by the fact that we're still 3rd since Boxing Day, that's all - didn't think we'd be anywhere close to that, the way we've been playing, even in a cherry-picked sample? Felt like we saw maybe a 6-week bounce after ESR came into the side, but beyond that we'd fallen away badly again...

[Letters]

I was just shocked by the fact that we're still 3rd since Boxing Day, that's all - didn't think we'd be anywhere close to that, the way we've been playing, even in a cherry-picked sample? Felt like we saw maybe a 6-week bounce after ESR came into the side, but beyond that we'd fallen away badly again...

This has not been a high quality season, no-one has been that consistent so that's a factor.