The Arteta Thread

I dunno, when it comes to playing players out of position I think he generally gets it right most of the time. Tierney at LCB in a back 3 worked. Xhaka dropping to LB has kind of worked a couple of times now. Auba was scoring at the same rate as a CF from the left last year, and has been off the boil wherever we’ve played him this year. Chambers is doing ok at RB - morning special, but solid. AMN was great at RB and LB before he decided he didn’t want to do it anymore. Saka is just brilliant everywhere. It’s only really the false 9 fiasco with ESR last week that I thought was a step too far.

Don’t forget these aren’t preferred team selections by any means - they’re workarounds that are forced on us by injuries and suspensions to key players and a badly unbalanced squad, and they’re probably only meant to see us through 2 or 3 games until we can get other players back. The problem here is that we have to find these workarounds so often.

Where I do agree that there’s an issue is the favouritism that’s shown to certain players (usually in their correct positions) - it must be absolutely soul-destroying got some of the younger players when you see guys like Willian and Ceballos getting chance after chance, and you make one mistske (probably not even that costly) and you’re out for months. This is Arteta’s major weakness - I think he can coach well, but he has too many blind-spots when it comes to team-selection.

That being said, I’m not sure I’d include Martinez or Saliba as victims of his favouritism - Martinez wanted to be guaranteed first choice, and no top club is going to agree to that, and a loan for Saliba was the right move for his development (he needs to be playing 90 minutes every week somewhere, not making erratic appearances here and there as our 4th choice CB). The big fuck up with Saliba was how we handled his summer - should have let him play the cup final and should have got his loan arranged before the season started.

for me, a lot of what goes right feels like it's accident rather than design

don't forget he was playing Willian and other losers game after game until he was forced to try ESR and Saka etc

plus one of the big reasons Xhaka is an improvement at LB is it means he isn't slowing things down in midfield

and Chambo wasn't getting a look in until Bellerin got an injury

he never sees anything until it's put in front of him so he just can't miss it

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Originally Posted by I am invisible

I dunno, when it comes to playing players out of position I think he generally gets it right most of the time. Tierney at LCB in a back 3 worked. Xhaka dropping to LB has kind of worked a couple of times now. Auba was scoring at the same rate as a CF from the left last year, and has been off the boil wherever we’ve played him this year. Chambers is doing ok at RB - morning special, but solid. AMN was great at RB and LB before he decided he didn’t want to do it anymore. Saka is just brilliant everywhere. It’s only really the false 9 fiasco with ESR last week that I thought was a step too far.

Don’t forget these aren’t preferred team selections by any means - they’re workarounds that are forced on us by injuries and suspensions to key players and a badly unbalanced squad, and they’re probably only meant to see us through 2 or 3 games until we can get other players back. The problem here is that we have to find these workarounds so often.

Where I do agree that there’s an issue is the favouritism that’s shown to certain players (usually in their correct positions) - it must be absolutely soul-destroying got some of the younger players when you see guys like Willian and Ceballos getting chance after chance, and you make one mistske (probably not even that costly) and you’re out for months. This is Arteta’s major weakness - I think he can coach well, but he has too many blind-spots when it comes to team-selection.

That being said, I’m not sure I’d include Martinez or Saliba as victims of his favouritism - Martinez wanted to be guaranteed first choice, and no top club is going to agree to that, and a loan for Saliba was the right move for his development (he needs to be playing 90 minutes every week somewhere, not making erratic appearances here and there as our 4th choice CB). The big fuck up with Saliba was how we handled his summer - should have let him play the cup final and should have got his loan arranged before the season started.

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Some fair points there mate - and I understand the necessity of the manager having to play players out of position. But IMO we have to look also at the other problems with doing so. Xhaka has been OK at LB, but as you say, Saka is very versitile and would be a better replacement for Tierney there, as he gets into attacking positons from LB and Pepe can supply a fair amount of the attacking quality we need at RW. More to the point, Xhaka is our second best MF, and against half decent teams we need him there. The effect of putting Ceballos into his role is there for all to see.

No issues with Chambers at RB per se, but the needless chopping and changing with all 4 defensive positions is asking for trouble, as players are left unble to build connections with playing each other. I know that Bellerin has not exactly been pulling up trees, but LB is his position, he has the experience of big games and it was folly IMO not to play him last week.

Overall, Arteta tends not just to play one, or two players out of position - he chops and changes numbers of players game after game, and therefore compounds the effect of maybe an enforced change by disrupting the rythm of an entire team. The reason there was so much anger at last Thursday was I think because it felt like the manager was leaving common sense in the toilet in favvour of trying to be too cleaver by half. We are not Citeh, and don't have world class players in every position (plus subs) trained over months and years in a particular playing style. The fact that Arteta doesn't seem to understand that he has to walk before he can run suggests a lack of footballing, and common sense basics, and this is a worry.

Bye felicia

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GET HIM OUT NOW!!!

Off you fuck :wave:

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Originally Posted by Letters

Off you fuck :wave:

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yeah. out of his depth. dont know who could replace him though.

He has to go, it honestly isn't up for discussion. He has tried and failed, it's simple as that, hire somebody that knows what their doing and has experience of managing a squad of decent-ish players.

Thanks Mikel, but off you go, you have been remembered for breaking all the records and for the wrong reasons.

Benitez is available :unsure: