Are we getting carried away with the doom and gloom?

[Mac76]

The NLD is going to be a horror show - I think i might 'forget' to tune in...

[Letters]

Absolutely no chance I'll be watching. Why put yourself through it?
I'll check the score afterwards, tut and then get on with my day.

[IBK]

So like Letters I am trying quite hard this morning to cling to the hope that Arteta needs more time. I still believe that we committed to this project so have little choice but to do so. I think also that further disruption at our club is the last thing that we need - and this alone means that we cannot change again now.

But the lack of a response in this team is worryng me now. As is the fact that every team in the league fancies itself against us, and most seem to have managers that can easily work Arteta out. As is the fact that our players are not looking like they believe in what they are being asked to do (the most worrying thing of all, for me - is this what happens when you are a rookie manager - that players lose faith incrediblyy quickly when they are not winning).

Definitely shades of Emery's decline ATM.

Against this, I cannot understand why Arteta seems suddenly so tactically bereft when he has not so long ago mixed it with the best managers on the league and come out on top. Or why we looked so inept defensively yesterday when we had looked solid at the back in the main.

The obvious issue for me is the fact that our MF is not linking with the forwards. This was supposed to be addressed in part by Partey, and it's not Arteta's fault that he is injured (worryingly for the medium term too), but it is admittedly a concern that we cannot compensate tactically for this.

My head still says that we have to ride this out, but patience is very short - particularly at AFC, and it is difficult not to feel despondent...

[Marc Overmars]

Tactically it’s been the same all year long, he hasn’t done anything different. The statistics are similar win, lose or draw. We don’t play football, we set up to shut out the opponent and then maybe spring something on the counter. This happens even against so called lesser teams. He’s been found out, that’s why we we’re not scoring goals or winning games now.

I don’t see him being sacked because I think the club have gone all in on him. However if things continue to go as they are they’ll need to make a decision. We’ve spent a lot of money and have some decent players, there’s no way we should be floating around in the bottom half of the table.

Maybe the fans being allowed back now will shake them up into finding their mojo again, however I struggle to see how they can find it again with such a huge disconnect in the team. They don’t know how to make each other tick anymore because the tactics have beaten that out of them. Wolves started to panic after 70 mins or so last night but we couldn’t even lay a glove on them. That summed up everything for me.

Everything Arteta has shown so far has been learned from a book. Coaching for dummies. He’s no visionary or pioneer that is for sure.

[Letters]

I can't remember the last time I've seen us really dominate a side.
Basically anyone feels they can have a go at us and get a result. Given the money we've spent and the resources we have it's pretty pathetic.

[Bumble]

I can't remember the last time I've seen us really dominate a side.
Basically anyone feels they can have a go at us and get a result. Given the money we've spent and the resources we have it's pretty pathetic.

Dundalk? didnt we dominate them. maybe the plan is to win the Europa league as relegation wont happen as the bottom 4 are truly dreadful and will be a while before they pick up points just to catch us up with what we have now.

[Bumble]

if we are going to lose games we might as well lose by playing exciting football. bring back the 4-4 5-4s.

[Chippy]

The bookies have us as one of the favourite's for promotion next year so maybe not that bad

You can see the headlines in May 2021;

"Gunners slip to first ever relegation, whilst Spurs snatch their first PL Title"

[Letters]

"Gunners slip to first ever relegation

People who don’t know their Arsenal history

[Niall_Quinn]

if we are going to lose games we might as well lose by playing exciting football. bring back the 4-4 5-4s.

We do okay when we play at a higher tempo. If you remember back to the days when we used to score goals from open play (youngsters will just have to take my word for it), once we start moving the ball at a higher pace it plays to the strengths of Auba, Pepe, Ceballos, Saka, and anyone who has a technical bone in their body. That's how we unlock the extra cash we have spent on these players and gain the advantage over less affluent opponents. Up the tempo. Move the ball faster.

Instead the priority is to keep it tight, keep it organised, at the expense of all else. That way we don't suffer from those blowouts against the bigger teams, but we also lose out on the flat track bully status we had going for us and allowed us to mingle in the top six. And it's boring. Even the canned audience groans at it.

Arteta is afraid to fail which in turn means he's afraid to win. His better players will get bored, and you could see that with Auba last night. He just was't interested.

Arteta is also stubborn. He's going to need Ozil if he wants to pick the pace of the play up. But I'm not sure he does, he shows no signs of changing anything.