Are we getting carried away with the doom and gloom?

[Niall_Quinn]

If he could give the younger players a go. Smith rowe. Neilson amn etc then perhaps the fans could see there is a plan. Give the kids a go. Its the only way to save his job.

The problem as mentioned before is that we have been so poor that its got to must not lose territory.

We're losing anyway. I can't imagine he went into any recent game thinking we could afford to lose. But if he has a plan at all, the team he has shown faith in has spat back in his face. I've seen it, the lazy bastards (with a couple of exceptions) strolling around, second to every ball, picking the easy option every time. If he now goes back to them and says, help me out here, he deserves everything he gets. Which will be nothing. Drop the big name, do nothing losers and tell the kids this is it, a chance to win the hearts and minds of the club, the fans and each other - if they choose to accept the mission. We have some good kids at this club. Let them play. They might lose, but we're doing that anyway. But if they do lose, I bet it's with 100% more effort than the bunch of losers who have spent more time negotiating their wheelbarrow loads then performing on the pitch.

Instead of an over 30's policy, let's have an under 23's policy. We have absolutely nothing to lose and at least a chance of gaining something.

[Niall_Quinn]

Plus, we are now living the dangers of relying on a few big names. I think everyone agreed Auba had to stay. So he stayed. Got paid big. And now he's delivering nothing. Hasn't Eddie scored more goals than him? Haven't checked because I no longer care that much. Big names, big transfer fees mean shit. We need a cohesive team that plays for each other. One that hasn't had time to get comfortable in the Arsenal Way.

The youngsters are the only realistic option. Roll of the dice, but at least we get a roll. With the current crowd we might as well pack it in before a ball is kicked. They had their chance and failed every time.

[IBK]

I heard somewhere that Arsenal's huge problem with our huge contract renewals for existing players is that while other clubs pay big because of what they expect players to bring in future, we pay big because of what players have done in the past - when they have already been paid for those performances. It is symptomatic of the club's lack of direction. Arteta sold us a 3 year project. What he should be doing is looking at which players fit into his vision of how he wants his team to play. Instead, like all of our managers over the past few years - he seems desperately to be trying to find a system to make a bust flush of players work. It won't.

The reason Klopp has been so successful (along with being a genius manager) is that he arrived at Liverpool with a clear vision of how he wanted to play; recruited players to suit this, and got rid of those who didn't, or didn't buy into what he wanted to do. Noone expected Arteta do do all of this in a single year, but in many respects he has done the opposite to Klopp at Arsenal. I was happy about Auba's contract renewal, but the bottom line is that he is 31 and been given a 3 year contract. You would have thought that we would have learnt from Ozil. Willian - 32 and massive 3 year contract....despite us having Pepe who while flawed is a much better bet to take us forward. AMN - performs superbly and is praised for it yet doesn't play. Luis - 33 years old and often a liability yet an ever present when fit despite us being hugely over stocked at CB. Lacazette - 29 and fading before our eyes...

...and let's not forget that if, as it would appear, there is trouble in the ranks - it is precisely the above senior players who will be stoking it.

Arteta has done precisely the opposite of what he has told us he wanted to do, and in trying for short term results has also gone the opposite way. Its stupid and spineless - lacking vision and conviction which are precisely the attributes that we thought he was bringing. That's why its feels so disillusioning.

[Gooner23]

I heard somewhere that Arsenal's huge problem with our huge contract renewals for existing players is that while other clubs pay big because of what they expect players to bring in future, we pay big because of what players have done in the past - when they have already been paid for those performances. It is symptomatic of the club's lack of direction. Arteta sold us a 3 year project. What he should be doing is looking at which players fit into his vision of how he wants his team to play. Instead, like all of our managers over the past few years - he seems desperately to be trying to find a system to make a bust flush of players work. It won't.

The reason Klopp has been so successful (along with being a genius manager) is that he arrived at Liverpool with a clear vision of how he wanted to play; recruited players to suit this, and got rid of those who didn't, or didn't buy into what he wanted to do. Noone expected Arteta do do all of this in a single year, but in many respects he has done the opposite to Klopp at Arsenal. I was happy about Auba's contract renewal, but the bottom line is that he is 31 and been given a 3 year contract. You would have thought that we would have learnt from Ozil. Willian - 32 and massive 3 year contract....despite us having Pepe who while flawed is a much better bet to take us forward. AMN - performs superbly and is praised for it yet doesn't play. Luis - 33 years old and often a liability yet an ever present when fit despite us being hugely over stocked at CB. Lacazette - 29 and fading before our eyes...

...and let's not forget that if, as it would appear, there is trouble in the ranks - it is precisely the above senior players who will be stoking it.

Arteta has done precisely the opposite of what he has told us he wanted to do, and in trying for short term results has also gone the opposite way. Its stupid and spineless - lacking vision and conviction which are precisely the attributes that we thought he was bringing. That's why its feels so disillusioning.

I was hopeful Arteta would be more ruthless with the squad than he has been. I don't have any issues with binning off Ozil and Guendouzi, but the fact some players (like Xhaka) appear to be completely immune is not a good look. It's certainly not the youth letting him down right now.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Wenger, Emery, Ljungberg, Arteta.....

Doesn't seem to matter who is at the helm.

They all do the same things and make the same mistakes.

How are some of the same old, shite dross we have, still starting games each week - with the hope of them suddenly coming good and turning into top club players?

It's genuinely baffling.
Arteta convinced Xhaka to stay for example - what the fuck?!?

[Marc Overmars]

I can imagine a player like Xhaka must be quality in training. Having all the time in the world to spray passes around and look world class. All the managers have fallen for it.

Edu has said they're all training well. Which means absolutely fuck all considering we can't score and we're losing every game.

[Letters]

I don't think they're actually bad players.
But something isn't clicking right now and we're much less than the sum of their parts.

[Globalgunner]

I don't think they're actually bad players.
But something isn't clicking right now and we're much less than the sum of their parts.

Sorry, a lot of them are actually bad. Xhaka, Mustafi, Kolasinac. These are genuinely bad players and too old to be coached to the required level. Ozil is retired and deadweight. Bellerin has stagnated badly, so badly it still beggars belief that he plays for Spain at all or is picked regularly when fit. The problem in my mind is that we train these players but they are not coached. they are physically fit but tactically illiterate. There is no discernible strategy in the way we play. What this team longed for after Wenger left was a tactical coach who would force our mentally weak bunch of players to UNlearn everything they had been taught by Wengers dysfunctional methods. We needed a strong manager not a myth with absolutely no track record. I would take Benitez till the end of the season, though my first pick would be Allegri

[Letters]

They're all international players
I mean, none of them are superstars but they're not actually bad players.
Initially Arteta did seem to have got them playing better, there was more shape and organisation. We stopped shipping so many goals and were actually getting decent results.
Now we're a complete shambles. We're not getting hammered but we're not able to score goals which means any mistake at the back and it's a loss.
It's very worrying, you can't see where the next goal let alone win is coming from.

[Niall_Quinn]

I can imagine a player like Xhaka must be quality in training. Having all the time in the world to spray passes around and look world class. All the managers have fallen for it.

Edu has said they're all training well. Which means absolutely fuck all considering we can't score and we're losing every game.

These managers buy into their own bullshit. Statistical analysis of every single aspect of the game that goes flying out the window on the first random ricochet or dodgy reffing decision. It looked, for a short while, Arteta had managed to get them playing the basics proficiently. Keep the shape, cover the space, play as a unit, keep up the effort for the full 90. Absolute basics. Which, sad to say, was a sign of progress for us. He's tried to progress to stage 2 of the rebuild, actually do something with the ball, and everyone has been found lacking. He missed a step where the players should have been taught how to take throw-ins. You can't take anything for granted with this lot. He probably had to show them how to lace their boots too.