When will Arteta be sacked by

[KSE Comedy Club]

A few more results like this and the fanbase will be vocal.

You cannot build a billion pound squad and play like Stoke.

[Chippy]

A few more results like this and the fanbase will be vocal.

You cannot build a billion pound squad and play like Stoke.

Exactly this!

We have been playing poor for ages. A good manager would be able to make this side play more attractive football.
His excuses are wearing thin.

[IBK]

I've just been listening to the Times football podcast, and while I don't always agree with what they say (Alyson Rudd can be an annoyingly partisan Liverpool fangirl), I thought they analysed Sunday's game very well, and it has refined my view on our manager.

There were 2 telling points made. The first is that while both teams were conservative for much of the match, Liverpool's goal came from Van Dijk taking a risky 40 yard pass through midfield to Jones, who then drew the foul from Zubi. Szoboszlai then risked a free kick from 32 yards out to score the winner. Letters challenged my observation that champions find a way to win when not playing well by pointing to our result against Manure, but the truth (as well as my response that Liverpool consistently do this and we do not), is that their ability to do so is not an accident. Liverpool take risks in attack that bear fruit. We are risk averse. Arteta wants to play percentage football. It works to a degree (we wouldn't have 3 second places if it didn't). But my feeling is that if a team that has the talent to win things wants to do so, it needs to make it happen. This means having the bravery to be the match winner - and taking the risks that are needed to do so.

We do not try that 40 yard pass in the game, because this team is obsessed with possession and control. We know that when Rice took his free kick against RM that was against team instructions - which were to play for the more conservative option of a set piece. This is percentage football. The problem is that where the teams at the top are so equally matched, percentage football leaves us vulnerable to a moment of magic from the other team that does not follow the script...and when you think about it this happens very regularly to us. Football is, ultimately not down to pure stats.

The other point made was that when you looked at our bench on Sunday, it ws brimming with attacking talent. Odegaard, Nwaneri, Dowman, Eze, Trossard. This is a stark departure from last season. Fair enough - use a defensive line up for the first half. But this showed a Liverpool far from their fluid best, so why wasn't it changed up sooner? Arteta's post game comments that we set out to win the game are worrying. Because if he believes this, he thinks that our starting 11 was one that could score the goals needed to win - and therefore a belief that a stolid defensive set up will do more than preserve a statemate against a team of Liverpool's quality. I'm far from a footballing expert, but my point above applies. To win a league you need to take the game to the opposition, not simply try to stop them scoring. If you do - as happened to us on Sunday and happened so many times last season - you leave yourself vulnerable to conceding an unexpected goal (our defence is good but not invulnerable), and turning this around takes a change of tactics/personnel and mindset - on top of having to face an opposition that can now focus on defence. In other words you have created a mountain to climb.

I'm struggling to see how - based on the last 12 months - Arteta is going to step outside the rigid mental and tactical risk-averse approach that has now become hard baked into his team.

[IBK]

A couple of further points that make my head swim a bit.

While we are (and should be) delighted with our Summer business, unless we change up our approach to games by using our attacking options properly, it might be said that this business is simply more playing percentages. Clearly Arteta has seen injuries as the reason we fell short last season. So we have recruited replacements in almost every position. But if this is seen as trying to manage risk rather than a committment to more attacking football then the Summer suddenly seems less exciting.

There is also a real contradiction in our team's approach to risk. We do take risks playing out from the back - and this was on display against Liverpool. But get the ball near the half way round and the situation reverses. So even the risks we do take tend to be for no real purpose.

[Marc Overmars]

Risk is everything, not just in football but successful people in all walks of life take chances to achieve what they want.

We just aren’t going to win the league playing the way we do. I’ve got no issue at all with being a defensive team but what I cannot accept is playing the percentages and not being imaginative and brave enough to show some initiative during games that are deadlocked.