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err, he isn't choosing Tavares, and Elneny's doing a very good job for us - Nketiah oughtn't to be our No 1 next season but he's won us a good few points lately - i have to say though, i thought he froze in the early stages yesterday - he had a really good couple of early chances to run down defenders and/or the goalie, but he just stood thereQuote:
Originally Posted by Chippy
but i agree the EL might be better for this squad, as a gentler introduction to European level football
Yeah - I don't really get this attitude that Europa League football is worse than not being in Europe. As a stepping stone back to the CL it has its metrits and by offering more games/playing time it could be a good way of developing some of our younger players. That said - like Letters on the other thread I'm not ready to throw in the towel re CL football next season.
CL, EL, I don’t think it really matter too much at this point - the next step for this team is learning how to manage regular mid-week football (and travel) and building out a squad to cope with the extra games, so either competition is fine for that. I know all our goals as fans are very immediate and centre around what we can do in the season at hand, but when you look at the profile of player we’re investing in I think the club are clearly looking at building towards something over more of a 2-3 year period.
Look, we’re not winning the CL on our first attempt with this young team, and I don’t think it will effect our long-term plans too much if we don’t make it, so there’s not too many worries here either way - mostly I just want it now so spurs can’t have it! If we can halt their plans and take another piranha out of the tank then let’s fucking go for it! But let’s also not stress too much if it doesn’t happen.
I wouldn't call a decade "immediate". It's more about "when". When will there be a sign that building blocks are being placed, rather than confetti thrown?Quote:
Originally Posted by I am invisible
So...I thought that analysis of Arteta's fall at the last fence should be on this thread.
First the negatives:
- I said that he should be judged on his January gamble at the end of the season and so it falls to be judged now. It was a mistake not to try to bring in a striker and it's certainly cost us the 1 or 2 points that we needed to get top 4. The gamble was that other players might step up to give us the goals we needed, but when you look at the return from Laca; Eddie; Saka; ESR and Martinelli and our 'goals for' column - it's there in black and white.
- The naivity of a rookie manager in approaching these last 2 games is there for all to see. Gung ho against Sp*rs when our first objective should surely have been to stop them scoring, then timid against a Newcastle side treating last night's game as their cup fineal, when the precise opposite should have been the case.
- Folding when the pressure was on. This was not only true of the players last night, but the manager as well. The performance last night in particular - but at times the SP*rs game was for me horribly reminiscent of the Europa League semi last year against Villareal. I think that the tactics exacerbated a palpable nervousness among the players. A game plan requires precision football and freedom of thought is not the one to ask young and inexperienced players to execute when the pressure is on. Manager and players looked so flat and inflexible last night. Arteta clearly did not plan for Newcastle's high press and his players simply could not deal with the ferocity of them closing down high up the pitch. You have to ask why he got it so wrong.
- A similar question applies to our inability to shake off a loss. Throughout the season one loss has left a hangover in subsequent games, and for me this is down to a failure to revert to a simple, easily executed game plan to restore confidence. Either there is a worrying inflexibility in the manager's approach, or a lack of realism in terms of his team's ability or resilience.
- Squad management has at times been poor this season. Last night, and again for most of the game last Thursday our players were running on fumes. They looked utterly spent. White and Gabriel clearly nursing injuries; Saka the same; ESR a shadow of the player he has been. Tomi injured yet again after probably being rushed back to soon. Odegard looked exhausted...the list goes on. Arteta had few or no options last night, but his failure to trust understudies earier in the season contributed to this state of affairs and IMHO has cost us a few points this season.
But having said this:
- There have been clear improvements over the season that have been overshadowed by the debacle of the past week.
- In a way, its a miracle that top 4 was on with 2 games to go - with the youngest EPL squad decimated by injuries to at least 3 of the most important players in the first team, and a very small playing squad in the first place. If we are being fair, we do need to recognise the manager's achievement as a rookie, with rookie players, in getting to this point. Not pushing to top 4 when it was in our hands is a failure. Finishing 5th counts as par in terms of expectations more generally.
- I'm still not going to kill Arteta for binning Aubameyang in January. We have to accept that we are on his 'long term' train - and that trying to root out players who don't buy into the vision is part of this. We are yet to see whether we have lost the battle but made progress in the war when we see whether our targeted signings in the Summer are transformational.
- Arteta lacks managerial experience. That's a fact, and its no surprise that there have been some glaring mistakes as a result. He has shown some ability to learn from previous ones and despite the disappointment of today writing him of is not at this point justified.
There’s nothing I’ve seen that gives me any hope that we will improve under Arteta, I think he did an exceptional job winning the FA cup but it’s been all down hill from there.
One of the most alarming things about him seems to be his personality, it’s ok to be an unlikeable prick if you’ve got something to balance against that like managerial achievement. It seems he falls out with so many players, from Auba to Pepe to Guendouzi (that’s just the tip of the iceberg).
Why the hell were the players so nervous last night, I don’t know but they certainly aren’t getting any confidence from the Lego haired passive aggressive sociopath on the bench.
If we couldn’t bring anyone in, in January don’t get rid of Auba….it’s a move completed motivated by ego and the need to be the big man, and only people who are incredibly insecure behave in such a way.
I don’t think the players believe in him, I don’t think they respect him given his mediocre playing career and it shows how far the Kroenke mob are removed from the reality of football that they gave him a new contract when he’s not remotely come close to deserving such a reward.
But it’s their money, if they want to spaff it up the wall when invariably they have to pay him loads of compensation for firing him that’s their lookout.
All I know is that 31 defeats in 95 league games coupled with only 143 goals scored in that time is absolutely abysmal record . Not only are we rubbish, but we are boring and we are stifling the careers of players with potential because we have as a coach someone with no personality, who doesn’t trust his players enough to rotate and has broken the ones he has used repeatedly.
Unfortunately I fear keeping Arteta on guarantees that we will end up losing Saka to a bigger club within a year or so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
It’s not that much of a surprise though, the only thing you can say in Arteta’s defence is that the stats for us coming back into games wasn’t much better under Wenger or Emery.
We are easy to defend against, one is because we aren’t great at transitioning from defence to Attack (mainly because we have central midfielders who aren’t especially technically good, athletic or confident in playing through a press)
So many times we rely on the full backs or specifically Tierney when he’s fit, crossing the ball into the box to no one
Out of the regular front four I note it’s only Saka who will try and win possession from deep
And when we do build up an attack, we rarely try and press to keep the ball in play in the attacking third because we are worried about losing possession and being countered
Partey is good at sitting in front of the back four and protecting it, but he’s also been used too often as the link between defence and attack when that’s not really what he does. Xhaka is a lazy shit, he plays well when he’s got space and time like the amount Chelsea awarded him but when teams close us down he’s unreliable as he’s forever needing time to get the ball onto his favoured foot.
We really should have gone with an experienced Manager. Even someone like Moyes. Look at what he's done with West Ham. They are hard to beat and play some good football.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollie the Optimist
Read a stat earlier that said we've fallen behind 16 times in matches this season and only managed to equalise 3 times. Basically if we concede first it's almost certain to end in defeat.
That is rancid and really illustrates how weak our attack has been.
Ooft. That's not ideal. I wonder how often we've let a lead slip though, I'd bet it's not often. Closing out games is one thing we do seem to have got better at.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars