Quote Originally Posted by Letters View Post
Certainly the people I have spoken to don't, I do seem to be in the minority - which is unlike me, I'm usually the super patient one.
But my reasoning is that while I fully acknowledge he has done a lot of good, and were we not up against the juggernaut of City we'd definitely have one title, possibly two, it feels like we have peaked under him. The areas of weakness last season weren't addressed in the summer and we look to have gone backwards. I just don't feel that Arteta is the man to push us over that final hurdle and land a major trophy.


I don't think the part in brackets is as true as it used to be. There does seem to have been a real investment and push to do a bit better than just endless top 4 finishes. From All or Nothing it did feel there was more of a plan and more ambition.
Yes, the concern definitely is that Arteta may have peaked. There are some mitigating circumstances - look at Liverpool last season after they had been pipped by Citeh to the title by a point the previous one - off the top by 9 points, there can be fallout.

But I agree with others that the issue could well be that our manager's natural focus is on defence/possession and not in sharpening our attack. Given what we are seeing in the league - even Pep, the manager who seemed previously willing to play without an out and out striker revised his approach when buying Haaland - this seems a somewhat outmoded approach (could Arteta be living a bit in the past from his Citeh experience?).

Its funny how we have gone so quickly from having what was considered the most cutting edge tactical manager in the league (with Guardiola) to the likes of Iraola; Maresca; Slot and even Espirito Santo and Emery showing that their tactical nous is equal to his.

It's Arteta's blind spots that may prevent him from making further progress with us. It's too early to assess whether our current form will continue, but the signs are suddenly not particularly optimistic.