That can't be true, or else...Quote:
I don’t agree with the evil.
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That can't be true, or else...Quote:
I don’t agree with the evil.
There's two things. Firstly, I don't agree with you that they're evil.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
Secondly, I continue to believe pragmatism is preferable to not engaging.
HCZ didn't vote because he deemed none of the candidates worthy. You didn't vote for the same reason and you don't believe in "the system" either.
The end results is you still have an MP, that person still "represents" you, or is supposed to. You not voting didn't change that, the only difference is you didn't get a say. So what have you actually achieved? A spoiled ballot would have been preferable, at least then "they" would have known your view. As it is there is no way to distinguish you from the lazy and the apathetic.
The main difference here is while I don't agree with your stance I do respect your right not to vote - although as I said elsewhere I quite like the Australian system where people have to do something even if the something is to spoil their ballot. Or maybe a "none of the above" option or write ins.
I think I've explained this as much as I'm going to.
Well think he’ll be given until Christmas and if we’re nowhere near challenging for the title he will be sacked.
Biggest failure is that we don’t have a competent forward line after so much money and time invested in building this squad.
Need a massive summer really, even if it means having some difficult conversations about existing players and shipping them out.
We've invested a lot in this squad but comparitively not much in attacking positions.
Most of it has been on defenders, we can't sign any more of them in the summer but I'm sure we will.
Out:Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
Zin
Partey
Jorg (only because already confirmed)
Tierney (likewise - a huge mistake IMO)
Cala
Neto
Odegaard
Arteta
In:
Tierney (immediate re-signing)
Two strikers
DM
Right 8
Good goalie to put Raya under pressure
A manager who knows what they're doing
That's weird.
Partey was our best player tonight. He's CL standard and many aren't. What about Odegard?
Tierney is our best attacking fullback. Can't blame him if the manager doesn't twig how to use him.
Just get Gyokeres in - that's it - league title, good chance of CL.
Hmm, not sure about Arteta - he could coach Gyokeres into playing backward passes.
Doesn't matter because you are blind.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
The cunts just signed a deal with India so their lazy cunts they send over don't have to pay NI.
Work it out for yourself for a change.
You endorsed evil. You want to lie ( a sin), but the reality is self-evident.
You pitch up at chapel and virtue signal, but you already committed the ultimate sin. And you even defend it. If you said sorry, God would forgive. But you double down.
:gp:Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
Let’s face it we are in the position of a rebuild again this summer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
5 years on, £700m spent and we are almost back to square one.
Seriously!?!
Don't forget we've won 2 charity shields! Its a legitimate cup according to Arteta.... :shrug:Quote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
Failure to plan. It makes me crunch my own teeth and spit them out in rage. Knowingly walking into failure in the hope some miracle or random set of events will fall your way. Looking back at history and seeing that never happened. Thinking you'll be the first.Quote:
Originally Posted by KSE Comedy Club
Sterling on loan and he's so bad we can't even play him anyway? Because we were WAITING to get Sesko? And all those other bastard teams refused to wait and just got on with the season! Wankers.
Two transfer windows to set ourselves up for what turned into the easiest title to win in living memory, and the easiest CL to win in living memory. And the plan was, let's get Sterling on loan.
Somebody has to pay for that.
The loan I mean, 200K a week or something like that I suppose? Because obviously nobody will take responsibility for this fuck-up of a season.
The club is excellent at one thing - the false dawn.
Suddenly we can defend, until we can't.
Suddenly we are making important signings, until we aren't.
Suddenly we beat City 5-1 until we go on a shit spree collapse in the league.
Suddenly we beat Madrid and then forget to turn up.
It's a rollercoaster ride alright, not a great one though. A flat track with a three exciting bumps. That's be 2 grand please! Stay in your seats while we take you for a ride.
I think an ambitious club would see that it’s time for us to part ways with Arteta.
For what it’s worth, he’s definitely exceeded my expectations of him as they were three years ago. To challenge for the title and get to the semis of the European cup is far more than I would have thought him capable of.
But this is his ceiling. It’s hard to know who to blame for last summer. It felt more like an exercise in someone deciding that a) we could make do with what we had and b) we can make the squad a lot thinner by getting rid of a lot of players and easing up the wage bill.
So it’s fair to say we have a problem even if he goes, but that’s not a reason to keep him. Ultimately last night wasn’t the problem, we made errors and they were punished but the real problem was the position we put ourselves in from the first leg. Like NQ I don’t think PSG are anything special, they’ve got some good players but also a lot of “meh ok I guess” players but they are well drilled as a unit and knew how to punish us.
That Arteta couldn’t find a more creative solution to being without Partey in the first leg shows his limitations. I’m sure he’d do ok with a team like PSG where the money and creative accountancy is there to allow you a steep learning curve.
But all throughout his Arsenal career, he’s made fatal errors in judgement, both in the transfer market and in tactical judgement and been too slow to correct.
And just in case people thinking im overlooking it, the striker or lack thereof situation is so glaring that it almost goes without saying. Who is responsible for that fiasco again not sure, but if Arteta wanted the power he now has at the club he also takes the responsibility.
Unlike some here I don’t think a rebuild of the squad is called for, but I think it will be if we keep Arteta on past this season
Never was keen on Arteta from the start but he has shown us undoubtedly that he has a ceiling, and it is 2nd tier at best. New manager rocks up at Pool and wins it at a canter in his first season with virtually the same players as last year. Arteta never broken through in 5 years. Ill say that we have a good squad, better than I assessed at the start of September last year. Im impressed with Raya who is an upgrade on the chap getting relegated with Southampton but he lost me when he chose Havertz over Alex Isak and signing Sterling shows he doesnt actually have a clue. Arteta is like a recurring decimal. Same result no matter how hard he tries. Perfect Wenger replacement.
It is all rather depressing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Globalgunner
Like a fool, I had hope a few months ago that we had a chance to win the Premier League or the Champions League, but as many times before, we have fallen away.
Who can we get if we replace Arteta?
To make things even more annoying this morning, I have my Spud colleagues saying they will be champions of Europe come the end of May <_<
I couldnt even be bothered to remind them what Champions of Europe actually means.
I personally think Arteta should be given one more season. If we can nail the recruitment this summer and we all know what we need, and if we win either one of PL or CL next season because these are the expectations now, then he rightfully stays.
A season similar to this and I think Arteta should be shown the door next season.
Some of the issues this season could have been avoided if we were smarter with our recruitment, not just last summer but over the past few seasons....and whilst that is clearly Arteta and Edu's fault, I don't think any manager in World Football would have won us the big trophies this season with the squad we currently have given all our injuries this season etc
I definitely think Arteta is owed one more season, because up until this season we have been improving and those improvements were clear for all to see.
A bastard like Simeone would be worth a punt. Somebody who can teach this lot that if you want the massive wages and all the trimmings that go with the privilege, you need to give back on a consistent basis. You need to earn it. Some of the performances this season have been a piss take. Players like Odegard checking out at the halfway mark and coasting home with the captain's armband, that can't be allowed to happen.
Well he's definitely getting at least one more season, I don't think that's in doubt. If we get a proper striker in and take care of the same mistakes that keep on happening, who knows? We'll likely get the striker - even they can't get away with that one for a third window. Whether Arteta can clean up the lack of consistency in the performances, so far there's no indication he can. He'll have to change the way he does things and I wonder if he's capable or willing to do that?Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
Isn’t our football devoid enough of entertainment?Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
:gp: Quite a measured post from you this morning.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
Apparently Arteta believes we were the better side across both legs and PSG only have Donaruma to thank for going through.
He basing his argument on Xg , which is interesting.
AW and all other football people I've heard this morning dIsagree though, and are saying the same thing, we didn't do enough.
As far as I am concerned, Arsenal does not exist in a bubble.
Despite all the sacrifices made in the league, you couldn't compare our semi final efforts with what Barca and Inter gave in both matches; and when you look at the things that really matter, not Xg, not reaching semi finals, not coming second in the league every season, you realise the pattern of Arteta's Arsenal falling short by consistently being unable to go the extra mile when it counts.
Like Sky points out, we have had 4 semi finals after the FA cup win, playing 8 games in these ties and not won a single leg.
We've come a close 2nd twice in the league, losing each title in the business part of the season. Even this season, Liverpool's results in the business half shows they could have been caught, if we replicated the form we had last season in our last 15 games (we took 40 points from 45, we'd be 13 points better off and only 2 points behind Liverpool, with Anfield to come).
Looking at the players yesterday I never saw belief that they would get back into the game, not once, not even after the penalty save. Again, we don't exist in a bubble. Barca came back from a 2 goal deficit in 2 legs twice!
With all the Xg, we were only comfortable enough to get a goal when it was clear the game was done and dusted. This is a game that was easily our most important game in 15 years or so. BTW, that goal was only our 2nd goal across 8 semi final matches!
Arteta's belief in small incremental steps will encourage this team to stay comfortable and never ask themselves tough questions. They'll never be able to reach within themselves to unleash that extra and bring out their full potential. This idea of being comfortable in your skin is not a mentality that can make you no1 in a truly competitive sport.
Nothing to lose. Can't see Arteta abandoning that soul crushing possession game in 90% of the matches. At least Simeone would introduce a bit of lumping and bone crushing - something to watch.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
Well if by that you mean thuggery and actually cheating. Prolific divers and time wastersQuote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
We’d get the same amount of red cards, only this time we’d probably deserve them
I personally think we need more than a striker. At the bare minimum we need a striker (top class one, not a project), we need a top class winger to effectively relegate Martinelli to a bench / rotational player, I also think we need a creative midfielder to properly challenge Odegaard. Backup keeper is required too of a decent standard.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
For sure Arteta needs to be a bit more flexible in his approach, but some of what we are seeing is more down to who we have available because the football we saw from a fully fit squad January 2024 to the end of last season was a damn sight better than what we have seen for a majority of this season.
Wenger's curse still lingers. The club has never shaken it. The Top 4 Trophy! Now we are "Champions in Waiting", apparently. Ah, the waiting period... Roll on the summer and the wanting period, followed by the what-the-fuck period.Quote:
Originally Posted by 21_GOONER_SALUTE
Like I said, nothing to lose.Quote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
Absolutely, several players required to shake up the luxury some of the current crop enjoy due to the lack of competition. And just for the squad depth. We literally went into those big CL ties with half the academy on the bench. When you look at the squad depth of all the teams we are supposedly challenging, there's no comparison. I wonder how everyone else can afford the wages when we can't, especially in light of the ever increasing commercial efforts. Trouble is, it's a vicious cycle. If you aren't winning then you need to pay over the odds and pay early to keep hold of your talent. And when you bring in cover/ competition you risk players running off who don't fancy it, because they can benchwarm at far more successful clubs. I can imagine it's not easy to juggle it all - but they bring it on themselves. Just a little bit of ambition last summer and where might we be today? Every make do and mend, jam tomorrow decision has potentially many knock-on effects. Same as the momentum argument - winning is a habit and everyone likes being involved in a winning environment. And the benefits accrue from there.Quote:
Originally Posted by selassie
Hopefully the fanbase won't settle for, "We didn't do too badly, second (fingers crossed) in the league, semis in the CL!" Hopefully they won't be able to slide that one past and make the oweners and manager feel as comfortable as some of these players are.
There's an incredeible amount of revisionism going on on social media, apparently our lack of a stiker is nothing to do with Arteta and it's all the board/owners fault for not backing him, never mind that he prioritised Merino and Calafiori over the summer while getting rid of ESR, Vieira, Nelson, Eddie - Ok, none of them are that great but he replaced them with ... Sterling
I get that they clearly wanted to sell off some players to bring some money in (and I'm not unhappy with any of the ones they did sell), but it's where he put the money available that's on him - he honestly thought Havertz and Jesus would be enough...
The thought process as I understood it was that Merino and Calafiori were more necessary because it was expected that if we were going to be in midfield and defence (I think we all can agree that Partey playing as much as he has this season is not something any of us thought would happen).Quote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
Where as Trossard, Saka and Havertz who got the majority of our goals last season did stay fit, and with them we got 91 league goals
To clarify, this is not my view….this is what I believe the view of Arteta and those around him had (although there is a question mark over how unified they all were, as the reasons for Edu’s departure still remain speculative)
It was a Gamble and one that clearly failed.
I can’t remember whether it was you or someone else who said that they were mainly happy for the fringe players to go because the expectation was that they would be replaced (which was much how I felt at the time), to a degree I guess they have been with the promotion of Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly.
But selling off Nketiah and not bringing someone else in felt particularly rum, simply because there are a lot of games where he could have played and not risked Havertz with soft tissue injuries by being overused.
And that’s before you factor in the very big assumption that all these players would perform as well in front of goal as they did last season. And that there would be more goal contributions from Jesus, Odegaard etc
As I said in a post this morning, Arteta wanted the power, he also takes the responsibility
But equally the owners are not absolved from blame, they clearly wanted to make sure that we didn’t spend more than we brought in. Whilst I understand the main issue was the wage bill rather than transfer spending, the consensus appears to be that we had more than enough elbow room to be ambitious.
The owners are focused on expanding the stadium so they can rinse more mugs.
I’m assuming someone like yourself will have at one time watched The Magnificent SevenQuote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
“If God did not want me to sheer them, he would not have made them sheep”
one of big concerns about Arteta, that he to an extent can curb players' attacking instinctsQuote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
You can tell the difference in a game, like last night, when he's told the team to be attacking - we nearly score twice in the first five minutes - then other times it's clear they've been told to focus on possession and we end up in the horseshoe of death.
all the signs say Edu didn't agree and he was rightQuote:
Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
So I’ve seen stuff that said he was specifically against the signing of Mikel MerinoQuote:
Originally Posted by Mac76
What seemed less clear was whether he was against signing that particular player or signing any player in that position
Who knows…in many ways who cares. Even if the club held an inquest into this season, it probably would be less than transparent
Ah so the speculation is that Edu was also unhappy that we sold the Nigerian lad whose name escapes me, to United
But it seems to be as much that Edu was unhappy with his agent who was pushing for the move
Edit - only ethnically Nigerian, born in Denmark and represents Denmark at under 21 level
Injuries and a drop in form from many of our leading players has definitely played a part in the stalling of our progress this season. As has Arteta and our poor recruitment over the past year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Niall_Quinn
The make up of the squad is too defensive with a lack of quality in attacking areas, this is Arteta's squad so the blame lies with him.
We absolutely have to nail this window this summer IMO, if we don't we could quite easily fall back into the chasing pack which has appeared to happen this season.
I agree that we should not settle for second best, money has been spent and we have performed well over the past few seasons, so the expectations are to now win the big prizes. This is honestly where I am at now.
https://youtu.be/64pJCG9C3kM?si=-VA-Fz1Jm1WHLFU-
Though their is a lot I disagree with when it comes to his conclusions, I think the analysis of tactics in both games are good and I definitely agree with the end where he identifies the weak players/positions in our team.
Yeah I don’t believe we were the better team so I think he starts from a false premise. I never felt there was ever more than a few minutes over the 180 where they weren’t in control of the tie. Plus if you go through 3-1 on aggregate, unless you’ve benefited from outrageously poor refereeing (I don’t think the refereeing was great in either game but certainly not that it made any particular difference).Quote:
Originally Posted by 21_GOONER_SALUTE
I'd say it was fairly even, overall. First 20 minutes of the first leg we were getting a spanking but after that we got back in to it and could have scored a couple - they could have scored more too of course.
Second leg we were dominant in the first 20 minutes, after that it was more even. But the main difference, as he says, is they put the ball in the net and we didn't.
A fairly useful skill in football.
Overall we held our own. This wasn't like the Barca games back in the day when we were hanging on for dear life, or the Bayern ones where we got our arses handed to us.
Though I agree with you, I can't help but compare the 2 legs of tie with the previous 2 legs of the Madrid game.Quote:
Originally Posted by Letters
On that night we also had a keeper that was on form and we didn't score with our first few chances.
However, almost at no point in the 2 legs did I feel we wouldn't score, or we'd lose, and I doubt we created as many chances in those 2 legs than we did against PSG.
So it's strange that one never felt comfortable during the games in the PSG tie. There was just something so despondent about the way the team approached both legs of the tie, especially the first leg that was pretty shocking.
It was like there was no plan at all for PSG getting an early goal, almost like Artera prepared them to win 1- nil or nothing, and once that possibility was ruled out they started playing on like Zombies and crumbled under the pressure. They obviously repeated the same mistake in the 2nd leg despite the excellent example set by Barca and Inter in the 2 legs before our game which they must have watched.