When will Arteta be sacked by

[Mac76]

I am losing faith that Arteta will change.

The more I think about it, the worse his recent transfer decisions seem. Last Summer was pretty much a disaster, really. Sterling maybe the worst transfer for a decade - and to usurp Willian is going some. Merino - £32M wasted on a 28 year old journeyman who was clearly not what this team needed and has not raised the floor, let alone the ceiling of our team. We could have sourced a player of his limited ability in the Championship. Calafiori - £42M for an injury prone 'unicorn' player who might be a useful alternative in certain games, but was not what was needed; is a CB not a LB,, and has been usurped by an 18 year old academy player. All set against letting 4 forward players go, and self-evidently making us far too light in attack.

Frankly, the manager's blushes have been saved by MLS and Nwaneri - who have played far more minutes and done far better than the manager could ever have anticipated this season.

Even if we go back to 2023 - our signings were Rice; Timber; Havertz and Raya. Decent signings all, but Rice has not been utilised in his best position; Timber is not really an upgrade on Ben White, and Havertz is not a striker - and didn't really move the dial at left 8. Perhaps only Rice and Raya are league winning signings.

And the strand running throughout...tumbleweed in the top half of the pitch. As we have all observed, we are stuck in a rigid system that lacks dynamism; technique on the ball and flexibility and seems to discourage flair and real difference makers. It overloads players and leaves us short of alternatives other than in MF and defence. The chickens have come home to roost this season, and I am not hopeful that either club or manager can have the Summer needed to get us where we want to be.

agreed and to cap it all, as some others have said, we could buy the ideal attacking player(s) and still see Arteta play him/them out of position and/or in too rigid a system to get the best out of them

[HCZ_Reborn]

Ultimately the one thing that needs to change is to stop playing two defensive midfielders in most games. There’s no need for it. At the moment, there’s really next to nothing we can change barring a few tactical tweaks (such as swapping Partey and Rice around) but when Saka returns. Odegaard needs to shift to 8, Saka to 10 and Nwaneri to the right wing

Apart from anything else it’s ironically making us less defensively secure because the proper defensive midfielder in Rice is caught too far forward too often.


As for next season, not really worth commenting on tactical change until we know for definite who is coming in. Whether we bring in a type of midfielder that can pass quickly into space for runners to get onto before the defence can get back into shape. I’m hoping either way that enough money is spent that Arteta will know that he has to deliver or else.

I think the injuries and outrageous refereeing gives him some excuse but he’s as much to blame as anyone else. In terms of results this season hasn’t been a disaster but it’s been a profound disappointment for many reasons

[Chippy]

I am losing faith that Arteta will change.

The more I think about it, the worse his recent transfer decisions seem. Last Summer was pretty much a disaster, really. Sterling maybe the worst transfer for a decade - and to usurp Willian is going some. Merino - £32M wasted on a 28 year old journeyman who was clearly not what this team needed and has not raised the floor, let alone the ceiling of our team. We could have sourced a player of his limited ability in the Championship. Calafiori - £42M for an injury prone 'unicorn' player who might be a useful alternative in certain games, but was not what was needed; is a CB not a LB,, and has been usurped by an 18 year old academy player. All set against letting 4 forward players go, and self-evidently making us far too light in attack.

Frankly, the manager's blushes have been saved by MLS and Nwaneri - who have played far more minutes and done far better than the manager could ever have anticipated this season.

Even if we go back to 2023 - our signings were Rice; Timber; Havertz and Raya. Decent signings all, but Rice has not been utilised in his best position; Timber is not really an upgrade on Ben White, and Havertz is not a striker - and didn't really move the dial at left 8. Perhaps only Rice and Raya are league winning signings.

And the strand running throughout...tumbleweed in the top half of the pitch. As we have all observed, we are stuck in a rigid system that lacks dynamism; technique on the ball and flexibility and seems to discourage flair and real difference makers. It overloads players and leaves us short of alternatives other than in MF and defence. The chickens have come home to roost this season, and I am not hopeful that either club or manager can have the Summer needed to get us where we want to be.

The only hope that we have is that the board will eventually see that Arteta is a rookie and has spent £750m and only won a single FA Cup. That is a shocking return.
We also play terrible "tippy tappy" football.

[Letters]

The only hope that we have is that the board will eventually see that Arteta is a rookie and has spent £750m and only won a single FA Cup. That is a shocking return.
We also play terrible "tippy tappy" football.

I think some of that is a bit harsh. We got 89 points last season, we pushed City to the last day and had it not been for their juggernaut (and we all know how they got to that level), we'd definitely have won one title, maybe two. Our net spend - I'd suggest that's more relevant than the figure you quoted - is less than Chelsea (lol), Man Utd (rofl) and Spurs (chuckle). His first full season we finished 8th and last two seasons we were genuine contenders. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's going to get us over the line, but I don't thing "a single FA Cup" is the only metric we should judge him by. He's also been a part of restoring the relationship between fans and club, which had become quite toxic.

[Chippy]

I think some of that is a bit harsh. We got 89 points last season, we pushed City to the last day and had it not been for their juggernaut (and we all know how they got to that level), we'd definitely have won one title, maybe two. Our net spend - I'd suggest that's more relevant than the figure you quoted - is less than Chelsea (lol), Man Utd (rofl) and Spurs (chuckle). His first full season we finished 8th and last two seasons we were genuine contenders. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's going to get us over the line, but I don't thing "a single FA Cup" is the only metric we should judge him by. He's also been a part of restoring the relationship between fans and club, which had become quite toxic.

Ok, maybe slightly harsh because we were unfortunate last season with 89 points. And yes, Arteta has restored the relationship between the fans and the club which looked completely broken at the end of the Wenger era.
But, we should have kicked on this season with at least two new signings. In addition, why has our style of play gone backwards? This is why I mention the tippy tappy, back and sideways movement.
It seems like the players are scared to attack and shoot.

[Letters]

But, we should have kicked on this season with at least two new signings. In addition, why has our style of play gone backwards? This is why I mention the tippy tappy, back and sideways movement.
It seems like the players are scared to attack and shoot.

Yes, agreed on this point. We've gone backwards. It's very frustrating that the first season in years that City stop being a juggernaut and it's Liverpool who nip in and the title race is over before February. We have been unlucky with injuries but we didn't do the right things last summer to help us push on.

[IBK]

Ok, maybe slightly harsh because we were unfortunate last season with 89 points. And yes, Arteta has restored the relationship between the fans and the club which looked completely broken at the end of the Wenger era.
But, we should have kicked on this season with at least two new signings. In addition, why has our style of play gone backwards? This is why I mention the tippy tappy, back and sideways movement.
It seems like the players are scared to attack and shoot.

Yes - a fair summary. We shouldn't knock Arteta's achievements, but I think I agree with the Le Grove boys who are saying that this Summer looks more like going back from Stage 4 of Arteta's masterplan to stage 3, rather than pushing on to Stage 5. Last Summer we needed maybe 3 players to push on, because our MF and Defence was mostly there. Now, with the left 8 position still unresolved since Xhaka's departure; Jorghino (who IMO makes us better in MF most of the time he plays) going; Partey to be relegated to occasional player even if he stays; and Odegard showing that he has regressed badly, we are starting to look like we are going to have to rebuild in MF as well as up front. Plus we are most likely going to buy outside the EPL, so adjustment/bedding in for all our new players. When 3 players - striker; winger and dynamic midfielder would probably have seen us over the line this season, we (IMO) wasted money on a single MF addition (another member of stodge FC), and have mis-cast Rice all season. its so frustrating.

Another thing occurs to me also. Aretea's obsession with Swiss army knife players has hurt us. It has made us no less vulnerable to injuries/loss of form, and has resulted in a few players who are neither one thing nor another - when many of our competitors simply buy the best available player for a position, and play them there.

[Mac76]

Ok, maybe slightly harsh because we were unfortunate last season with 89 points. And yes, Arteta has restored the relationship between the fans and the club which looked completely broken at the end of the Wenger era.
But, we should have kicked on this season with at least two new signings. In addition, why has our style of play gone backwards? This is why I mention the tippy tappy, back and sideways movement.
It seems like the players are scared to attack and shoot.

That's the point, Arteta inherited attacking players but has pretty much only signed defensive players - signing Havertz for left 8 is I think the only attacking positon he's recuited for - albeit he spent a lot of money on it.

The longer he's here you could argue we're seeing more and more what he wants the team to look like and how he wants them to play - and it often ain't pretty, even before we had so many injuries

[KSE Comedy Club]

Ultimately the one thing that needs to change is to stop playing two defensive midfielders in most games. There’s no need for it. At the moment, there’s really next to nothing we can change barring a few tactical tweaks (such as swapping Partey and Rice around) but when Saka returns. Odegaard needs to shift to 8, Saka to 10 and Nwaneri to the right wing

Apart from anything else it’s ironically making us less defensively secure because the proper defensive midfielder in Rice is caught too far forward too often.


As for next season, not really worth commenting on tactical change until we know for definite who is coming in. Whether we bring in a type of midfielder that can pass quickly into space for runners to get onto before the defence can get back into shape. I’m hoping either way that enough money is spent that Arteta will know that he has to deliver or else.

I think the injuries and outrageous refereeing gives him some excuse but he’s as much to blame as anyone else. In terms of results this season hasn’t been a disaster but it’s been a profound disappointment for many reasons

My concern is that Arteta will continue to try and play Rice in a 'Xhaka' role to be a driving/attacking mid.
Then it won't matter who we bring in as we will still be stuck with two def mids.

[KSE Comedy Club]

I think some of that is a bit harsh. We got 89 points last season, we pushed City to the last day and had it not been for their juggernaut (and we all know how they got to that level), we'd definitely have won one title, maybe two. Our net spend - I'd suggest that's more relevant than the figure you quoted - is less than Chelsea (lol), Man Utd (rofl) and Spurs (chuckle). His first full season we finished 8th and last two seasons we were genuine contenders. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's going to get us over the line, but I don't thing "a single FA Cup" is the only metric we should judge him by. He's also been a part of restoring the relationship between fans and club, which had become quite toxic.

Ironic that he also may be partly responsible for it going back that way in the not too distant future too.