Originally Posted by
IBK
You know what? I'm done today putting the other side of the argument. Here's the case for the prosecution.
Arteta and the club have done a good job up to this season re-establishing us as potential title contenders. Anyone who thinks otherwise is IMO being unfair. But we supposedly had a 5 stage plan for success. I'm all for being sensible and trying to ensure long term foundations and a base for sustained prosperity, but there comes a tipping point where ambition needs to be questioned. We are at this place.
The sad truth is that we have never, in the past 20 years, been in as good a position to push on and win the league as we were coming into this season. We were like an athlete in second place at the end of a long distance final on the shoulder of the front runner - ready to push for a win off the back of the last bend. Almost everyone had us as champions elect. We had narrowed the gap on Citeh, had seasoned players and arguably the best defence in the league and players ready to come into their prime.
But we had also lived a charmed season in terms of injuries, and generally been surprised with the form of the likes of Havertz (an unconventional front man) and Trossard's eye for a goal. It was hubris to expect these conditions to continue uninterrupted. With the huge demands on players over a number of cometitions injuries are to be expected, and the simple fact is that the club failed to hedge against this risk.
It's madness for a team with aspirations in the league and the CL to have gone into the season with such a small and limited squad in the forward department. We were already short of title-winning quality in this department, but instead of bringing in a single player to elevate our level, we cleared out 4 forwards in the Summer and guaranteed that we would have to rely all season, over 4 comps, on Saka; Odegard; and Havertz. Even if you argue that there was Jesus and Sterling - there is no way you can maintain that these 2 players came anywhere close to raising our level. Jesus wouldn't have done so even if he had replicated his most effective season for us, and was a clear risk. Sterling was a panic last minute punt at best. We have to remember that back up players are not just injury replacements, they are there to enable a manager to rest players and step in when they inevitably lose form.
As pleased as we are with the progress of MLS and Nwaneri, there is no way this was really planned, and no way that a serious title contending team would place their fortunes on 17 and 18 year old rookies.
And the inevitable chickens have come home to roost. To use my althetics analogy we have hit the wall. It has become obvious that this team is vulnerable to loss of form, injuries and the inevitable process whereby other teams work us out. In the absence of a reliable goal scorer we resorted to set pieces that suddenly seem quite easy to score against. Teams like Newcastle (and even Brighton; Bournemouth; Fulham) have worked out how to nullify our attacking threat. It's almost embarrassing looking at how all the teams in the top half of the league have striking options that humble ours (we have only 2 players in the top 40 goal scorers - Havertz 12= on 9, and Martinelli 28= on 6.
Don't get me wrong, I am not pearl clutching like a little brat - I know we are second in the league - but we need to judge our team's performance by the standards of potential title winners, not also rans. Forget Liverpool (whom I suppose could be regarded as a surprise run away league leader), there is no way on earth that we could have expected Citeh to drop off the way they have, and our squad was not strong enough for us to be confident of overhauling them.
So spare me the tears about January, Arteta. You were as complicit as the club hierarchy in sending us into this season undercooked - and champions elect do not take the risks that we have done in trusting that good form and lack of injuries will continue unabated. We will finish top 4. But this will be a season when we threw away the chance for your project to reach fruition. Maybe Edu knew something after all.
a really good post with which I almost entirely agree...
) - is that abusive misogynistic stereotyping really necessary? does it really help you make your point? not for me
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote