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Thread: 2023/2024 Season prediction

  1. #21
    Member Mac76's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn View Post
    No they are mutually exclusive, if the reason for his lack of diplomacy was lack of self esteem he would not have the self esteem to make the decisions he has, and certainly wouldn’t be so bullish about it either. You’d be too worried about being mocked and ridiculed, that’s how self esteem works…you’re constantly worried about what people think about you. Arteta does not care what people think about him.
    People who lack self esteem often look for constant reassurance and validation from others and apart from your let’s be fair nothing burger that Xhaka existed to boost his ego there’s just nothing that suggests he seeks validation/reassurance. I’ve previously suggested he could be narcissistic but I think that was wide of the mark, because for instance I think he would have become defensive over comments around his touchline antics and he’s largely indifferent.
    I wouldn’t go as far as to call him Schizoid, but there is a definite lack of interest in forming relationships with people.
    wrong again, people who are genuinely confident have no need to bluster and throw their weight about

    as Abraham Lincoln said "speak softly and carry a big stick"

    Arteta has plenty of power, i.e. the big stick, so he shouldn't need to overreact and make it so public when he disapproves of a player showing any individualism or questionning anything he says

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mac76 View Post
    wrong again, people who are genuinely confident have no need to bluster and throw their weight about

    as Abraham Lincoln said "speak softly and carry a big stick"

    Arteta has plenty of power, i.e. the big stick, so he shouldn't need to overreact and make it so public when he disapproves of a player showing any individualism or questionning anything he says

    Again No

    I’ve seen no evidence that Arteta has gone massively public about fall outs with players, he’s largely responded to questions put to him and he’s been matter of fact about it. There is no comparison to someone like Mourinho who has publicly attacked players….as narcissism is usually a sign of projecting confidence when there is none. Which I’m glad to see you recognise, but I don’t see that’s what Arteta has done.

    And more so, when Auba made the comments he did about Arteta, I don’t recall Arteta making much if any response

    I think isolating Auba the way he did was over the top but it seems far more likely that it’s because he had no further use for him in his mind. The common thread if you look at comments from players who have left the club is that Arteta didn’t engage with them at all, which suggested he’d made his mind up what players he rated and which ones he didn’t. And once Arteta doesn’t rate you, he has no reason to give you the time of day.


    Don’t get me wrong I don’t think this is a good attitude, and for me it shows someone who isn’t a people person. But there simply isn’t evidence that he lacks confidence and needs an ego massage from anyone.

    I think Wenger, Emery, Arteta and now Xabi Alonso are wrong about Xhaka but can you honestly say that Xabi Alonso wanted him at Leverkusen because of this supposed tendency to be obsequious?.
    Last edited by HCZ_Reborn; 31-07-2023 at 01:39 PM.

  3. #23
    Member Mac76's Avatar
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    I'm not necessarily talking about publicly, but there are some examples, e.g. he was publicly heavily criticising Pepe when he got sent off once, despite letting Xhaka off every time he got dismissed

    but ok, he doesn't always bluster, sometimes he just as you say freezes people out but again, that's because he hasn't got the confidence to have a quiet word and seek to sort things out, he just ditches them - which is very costly to have good players frozen out like that on a regular basis
    Last edited by Mac76; 31-07-2023 at 03:49 PM.

  4. #24
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    I’m sorry but you’re reaching, there really isn’t any evidence that suggests a lack of confidence. And ultimately it feels like you’re trying to fill the gap. Where as there is plenty of evidence of him being over confident to the point of hubris.

    When you look at Auba he was dropped from the Spurs game in 2021 but that was the extent of it, and this was no different from how any other coach would behave to a disciplinary breach. But he was back in game after that

    It was only when Auba got to the point where he couldn’t score in a brothel that Arteta went full no tolerance on him

    And it’s quite likely that Arteta (wrongly in my view) considered Xhaka to be more use to him than Pepe in that Leeds game you cited….but even then Pepe wasn’t frozen out, and as much as I’m glad Xhaka is gone he was probably one of our best players that season (which probably illustrates how terrible that season was)

    His body language as I said can be closed off and defensive, but I know people who are on the spectrum who have this kind of body language because they aren’t good at interacting with people. And we agree that Arteta isn’t good at interacting with people, where I disagree is the reason for it. I think it’s more that he sees people as expendable.

    They often say the difference between men and women is that men are more interested in concepts and things, women are more interested in people. That’s definitely the case if you’re partly autistic (which generally tends to account more for males than females)

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    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66437506

    Arsenal supporting mate often accuses the media of pro Liverpool bias and I think you can see it here. Liverpool are in my view weaker than they were last season, even if they sign Labia and yet somehow they are expected to finish runners up.

    I would argue Aston Villa have just as much chance of finishing top four as Liverpool do.

  6. #26
    MOe Marc Overmars's Avatar
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    I’d say it’s based on recent history. Klopp and Liverpool have been a thorn in City’s side for years.

    Their attack is still excellent but I’m not sure what’s going on elsewhere. The midfield somehow looks weaker and that was already their weak spot.

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    Quote Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn View Post
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66437506

    Arsenal supporting mate often accuses the media of pro Liverpool bias and I think you can see it here. Liverpool are in my view weaker than they were last season, even if they sign Labia and yet somehow they are expected to finish runners up.

    I would argue Aston Villa have just as much chance of finishing top four as Liverpool do.
    I would be shocked if Liverpool finish 2nd, don't think they are good enough and they have holes all over their squad, even holes in the first XI in Central Midfield and Central Defence. I don't think they are even guaranteed a top 4 finish.

    I am still undecided about us too, squad wise we are closer to City than any other team in my opinion....but....I am not convinced we are going to challenge like last season and think it will take a bit of time for some of the new boys to bed in. I do think we will finish top 4 and quite comfortably, but it could be anywhere from 2nd to 4th IMO.

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    Quote Originally Posted by selassie View Post
    I would be shocked if Liverpool finish 2nd, don't think they are good enough and they have holes all over their squad, even holes in the first XI in Central Midfield and Central Defence. I don't think they are even guaranteed a top 4 finish.

    I am still undecided about us too, squad wise we are closer to City than any other team in my opinion....but....I am not convinced we are going to challenge like last season and think it will take a bit of time for some of the new boys to bed in. I do think we will finish top 4 and quite comfortably, but it could be anywhere from 2nd to 4th IMO.
    I don't think City will be as good as last year either though.

    Gvardiol looks great, clearly, but they weren't exactly weak in defense, so I'm not sure how big an improvement he is.

    Kovacic is fairly uninspiring.

    They've lost some good players in Gundogan & Mahrez.

    Looks like they're still looking for another AM but as of now, I'd say they're slightly diminished compared to last season.

  9. #29
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    Not to say I think we'll challenge.

    I think our true level is closer to the second half of the season, rather than the first.

    I don't think the team has been optimized for the money spent either. I think the same money could've been spent on different players for different positions and the team would be a lot stronger than it is now.

    Something like...


    Partey
    Odegaard Paqueta

    Jesus Vlahovic* Trossard

    Is a lot better than anything we can put out with the current squad, imo. Probably cost less too.

    *Even push the boat out for Osinheim and the net spend would still be fairly similar to what is is with Rice, Havertz and Raya. I'd keep Timber in there as RB is clearly a huge problem.

  10. #30
    Member Mac76's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mandela8 View Post
    Not to say I think we'll challenge.

    I think our true level is closer to the second half of the season, rather than the first.

    I don't think the team has been optimized for the money spent.
    I have a similar gut feeling which ultimately comes down to Arteta

    First of all his failings in terms of organising the team and giving everyone enough
    minutes (I'm expecting him to freeze out at least two significant players next season, one of them being Trossard, due to 'disciplinary' reasons, i.e. their not being happy at being neglected)

    Also while I don't dislike the player I think Havertz was a mistake, too much money on a player I feel we didn't need, meamwhile we're crying out for a striker, which leads me onto another huge failing, namely the belief that Eddie is good enough - which he totally ain't

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