yeah hopefully that's the plan though i'm getting worried abotu Arteta's attitude to Holding - anyone who's watched over the last two seasons knows Holding is better than Mustafi but i don't think Arteta's rating Holding highly enough - it's all very well talking about togetherness etc, but Arteta freezes people out and that's not good for their confidence.
similarly I'm really fed up with all this crap about Guendouzi, we need someone with balls in that team but the first time someone lays into the opposition for maiming one of our players they get grounded for good, it's why we're such softies
It didn't help that Holding had an absolute shocker the first time Arteta started him. It was that game against Leeds in the FA Cup and Holding had probably his worst ever performance in an Arsenal shirt. Not just defensive mistakes but losing possession all the time and putting us under pressure. Not great for first impressions.
But it's unfair for Arteta to hold that one game against him and honestly I would rather see Holding being given a run in the team instead of relying on dead weights like Luiz and Mustafi. Those two aren't long term options anyway and in the short term they aren't even dependable or consistent. Why not give Holding games to see what he can do?
I doubt very much that Arteta is holding one bad game against Holding - plenty of other players have had shockers on his watch, and they’ve all had second / third chances, if they’ve shown the right attitude. I certainly haven’t seen any stories about a problem there - not in the same way we saw leaks about AMN at the start, and now Guendouzi.
Doesn’t mean there’s not some issue there, but I doubt it’s personal - could just be the medical advice he’s getting about the player? Or maybe we’re just putting other players in the shop window? It’s not like we’re playing for much. Who knows.
With Guendouzi, I guarantee you he hasn’t been dropped for anything he did or said to the Brighton players - it’ll be because he’s gobbed-off to Arteta and his team again when they’ve tried to have a word with him. I’m fully behind their efforts to stamp out his attitude - I like my players to have a bit of fire about them, but that fire needs to be controlled. Wild temper and childish petulance is no use to anyone, and we’ve had far too much of that over the years. It certainly can’t be allowed to spill into open disrespect to the coach in front of the other players (especially not from a junior member of the squad) - if you let that go then you’re saying that that behaviour is acceptable, and that’s the moment you lose the dressing room.
(Also wouldn’t be at all surprised if we were protecting his fitness ahead of a swap / sale - again, it’s not like we’re playing for much right now.)
Last edited by I am invisible; 11-07-2020 at 07:38 AM.
Yeah, ok, you might be right, i've heard similar things said elsewhere, and it looks like he might go, but i think of games like the one against Villa (i think) when he came on and added energy and directness and won a pel, and just think that can be useful, sometimes it comes with a bit of attitude, and you have to try to accomodate it
Yup, and the game against spurs too - pretty sure he dragged us back into that to.
No one’s questioning that the kid’s talent or that he’s not a miss, and it’s a shame it has to be him who’s ended up being the example, but what can you do? He’s the one that’s acting up. The thing you have to remember is this isn’t just about Guendouzi - the attitude of this whole squad was fucking appalling when Arteta took over, and it needed to be stamped out, hard. The other players need to see that there’s very real consequences for this kind of behaviour now, just as much as Guendouzi needs to learn it.
Unfortunately this is how you go about establishing high professional standards and a winning culture - there can’t be any deviation from the rules you set, and you can’t flinch or back down just because it’s one of your better players. The moment you do that is the moment the rest of the players know that there’s nothing you can threaten them with and that they can walk all over you. Too many of our players have become way too comfortable at this club and they need to start fearing for their Arsenal futures if they don’t fall in line.
As I said, it’s it shame it had to be Guen who pushed it because it might end up costing us one of our better players, but you have to say it’s having the desired effect with the rest of the players. And if it leaves us with a club where the players hold themselves to high standards and start holdI got each other to account (have you seen anyone come out in support of him yet?) then, for me, that’s big-picture thinking and planning. Pandering to a 20yo, no matter how talented? That’s small-time thinking for small clubs - we shouldn’t be eating that shit from anyone.
Also, let’s not forget in all of this that all Guendouzi had / had to do is say sorry. That’s it! One word and he’s back in, but he can’t do it. Would it really cost him that much? Who’s really keeping him out of the side here?
Last edited by I am invisible; 11-07-2020 at 04:38 PM.
Bournemouth accept a bid from Citeh for Ake of £40 million.
lol what
NOTE: The location of this post has been moved and the thread title (which was previously Wenger is Leaving) has been manipulated by a notorious pro-Wenger moderator. What was previously a message that contained no profanity and made a comment on a real life event has now been manipulated by a deliberately provocative title. An old and crude propaganda and censorship technique.