Palace vs Arsenal - August 21st KO: 20:00

[HCZ_Reborn]

You implied it by accusing me of appeal to authority and "ours is not to reason why". That is you strawmanning me.


Well, he does. Clearly. But that doesn't mean he can't be questioned or criticised.


And from your descriptions they're reasonable ones. See above about how it's reasonable to question or criticise a manager.


Of course, but given your certainty about the first two games and your pre-season prediction last season I wonder why you continue to be so confident. You might be right of course, but I'd suggest two games in is not enough evidence to be sure how this season will pan out. I personally would be surprised if we end up as champions, I'm pretty confident we'll do no worse than third but it's impossible to be definitive after two games.


I had to remind myself but ouch, yes that was awful and I think I'd briefly hopped on the Arteta Out bandwagon. The win vs Chelsea on Boxing Day probably saved him

I'm interested to know what this impending disaster will look like. What in your mind would be acceptable this season? It's surely not the title or bust for you, is it?[/QUOTE]


I think given the money that we’ve spent and the state the other clubs are in, we absolutely should have been looking at winning the title this season yes. City have lost two key players, they have De Bruyne out for months. No nothing in life is a sure thing, but absolutely we should be in the same place Liverpool were in four years ago with the cash we’ve spent.

If you’re serious you will admit that we are no where near that. Despite us being in no worse of a position arguably than Liverpool was when Klopp took over and spent like a drunken sailor to get their single title.

[HCZ_Reborn]

But what am I worried about, I’m worried that this will resemble the last few months of Emery’s time in charge where despite significant outlay (and winning albeit unconvincingly our first two games) we end up mid table, and out of Europe by Christmas. Because of lack of goals and a stubborn imbecile of a coach

[Letters]

But what am I worried about, I’m worried that this will resemble the last few months of Emery’s time in charge where despite significant outlay (and winning albeit unconvincingly our first two games) we end up mid table, and out of Europe by Christmas. Because of lack of goals and a stubborn imbecile of a coach

Ok. Well I guess we’ll reconvene around Christmas then.
I do think we should be aiming for the title this year. We just finished second and we’ve spent big to try and push on. The board has backed Arteta and the pressure is on for him to deliver. I don’t think it’s the title or Arteta Out, but we have to be in the race till the end.

[Mac76]

do I think that if Tierney had anything about him he would have done more to force himself into Arteta’s plans also yes

how about i repeat myself until it gets through - Aeteta doesn't like traditional fullbacks it's blindingly obvious, that's why he doesn't llke Tierney and there's nothing Tierney can do about it

how can anyone watch how Arteta manages the team and think that any player can force themselves into contention, when his leading trait is picking his favourite 11 week after week after week?

[HCZ_Reborn]

how about i repeat myself until it gets through - Aeteta doesn't like traditional fullbacks it's blindingly obvious, that's why he doesn't llke Tierney and there's nothing Tierney can do about it

how can anyone watch how Arteta manages the team and think that any player can force themselves into contention, when his leading trait is picking his favourite 11 week after week after week?

I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that the inverted full back nonsense has only been a favourite toy of Arteta for the last year?

And his favourites do change, Willian was a favourite for ages but ultimately he was dropped, same with Smith Rowe.

Last season was far more about his unwillingness to change things up when we were winning. Which on one hand made sense on the other hand, showed that he’s still very green.

For instance that’s why Tomoyasu kept playing at left back even though was clear he wasn’t up to it.


Plus you seem to think I’m saying Arteta is right to play Zinchenko there, not really but when Tierney did play last season he hardly did anything to mark Arteta think twice.

I thought Tierney looked ok in his first season with us. After that? Never really seen the fuss. Think we can do better frankly

[HCZ_Reborn]

Ok. Well I guess we’ll reconvene around Christmas then.
I do think we should be aiming for the title this year. We just finished second and we’ve spent big to try and push on. The board has backed Arteta and the pressure is on for him to deliver. I don’t think it’s the title or Arteta Out, but we have to be in the race till the end.

Title or Arteta out? No

Title or serious inquest into how effective our transfer spending has been, how the squad has been utilised and the teams put out yes.

The title for me is out of the question. This time last week I thought top four was out of the question, but I’ve been shocked as to how poor the likes of United, Newcastle, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs have looked.

That said I thought the same four years ago (probably swapping Newcastle with Leicester at the time).


Where I think the potential to really become unstuck is playing Man City and Chelsea back to back, and then playing Newcastle and Brentford away in November.

[Mac76]

This time last week I thought top four was out of the question, but I’ve been shocked as to how poor the likes of United, Newcastle, Liverpool, Chelsea and Spurs have looked.

this has to be the worst PL season for a long time quality-wise, if anyone of those teams gets their act together they're nailed-on second

[Marc Overmars]

this has to be the worst PL season for a long time quality-wise, if anyone of those teams gets their act together they're nailed-on second

I’m sure this is said every year but I think the reality is that the PL is just an incredibly competitive league where pretty much any team can beat one another on their day.

I always felt the quality was far poorer back in the day when it was us and United slugging it out.

[Mac76]

I’m sure this is said every year but I think the reality is that the PL is just an incredibly competitive league where pretty much any team can beat one another on their day.

I always felt the quality was far poorer back in the day when it was us and United slugging it out.

not sure, I don't see Liverpool, Moan U, Chelsea or even though i hate to say it Spuds playing anywhere near the level they were when they have been at their respective peaks, admittedly for Moan U that's some time now, also Chelsea, but still they all seem to be below par atm

[HCZ_Reborn]

Whilst I think he overstates his case, I do find myself agreeing somewhat with NQ that the standard of football in general has reached a nadir