Arsenal vs Manchester City 21.09.2025 - KO 16:30 GMT

[HCZ_Reborn]

Playing 3 DMs, scraping a draw at home after spending shedloads on attacking talent = Arteta out

My brother text me and said “i’ve never seen City park the bus before”. I mean why wouldn’t they when we are so one dimensional.

Even if we’d won, i think that would have just papered over the cracks. I’m gratified Arteta gambled enough to change the formation shape of the team, but it was far too late in the game and only done when Ming the Merciless bought off Haaland.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Again, it's not necessarily about the points, it the whole context that needs to be looked at.

When this game is analysed, this will be the least possession Pep has had not only in Citeh, but in his whole managerial career.

What Pep came out to do today, was not to win and avenge himself, but "not to lose".

Once he scored the goal, he had no intention of doing more and was ready to sacrifice his legacy as a supposed brilliant maestro of the game, to stay back and play like Burnley of the olden days, a team he would have criticised if they took points off him through this approach.

It is the exact same thing Arteta setup to do today even though he's playing at home!!

Also, the respect Slott and now Pep have given Arteta by making their teams contain themselves and play unnaturally against him, undeniably reveals who everyone thinks has the better squad.(And if you'd still want to debate this, don't forget that In Peps case he's played the Spuds and United and didn't make any concessions)

Despite this, Arteta still doesn't realise, that he is the only manager under pressure, not Pep, and definitely not Slot. None of them have anything to prove, people are convinced of their quality and their ability to manage top teams .. can Arteta say the same??

We could have drawn both games , or lost both....it doesn't change the fact that everyone can see that Arteta is struggling under the expectation and wishes he was the underdog again.

Yeah i have to say, i agree with you here

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Martinelli on his goal, I wonder if Merino sees beyond the grass when he has the ball in that position

On his goal, he added: "I saw Ebs [Eze] getting the ball and I tried to make eye contact with him and once the ball was open, I made the movement and it was a great ball from him. I just tried to put it in the back of the net."

[Letters]

I don't think it should (be a stay of execution), draws killed us last season and we nick a goal out of nowhere but that doesn't override what happened before it.

But this is the only draw so far this season.
It’s the way we are playing which is of a bigger concern than the results actually. Anfield aside - and we were a bit unlucky to lose that - results have been ok. But the performances haven’t been ok and Arteta going into these big games setting us up not to lose isn’t good enough with our squad.

I reckon it’s a bit premature to sack a manager when we are second in the table having had a tricky start in terms of league fixtures.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

This level of football and failing to win these games is unacceptable I think.

First draw this season sure but that looks like exactly how it ended up going against teams last season.

[Letters]

This level of football and failing to win these games is unacceptable I think.

First draw this season sure but that looks like exactly how it ended up going against teams last season.

The big problem last season was we dropped an insane number of points from winning positions.
We haven’t done that so far this year.
But what we have done is gone into the bigger games trying not to lose them. Which given our squad now I agree is unacceptable. But what it all adds up to so far is only Liverpool are above us. And they surely will stumble soon (yes I know that’s what we thought last year!)
Big alarm bells ringing but I don’t think we’ve hit the iceberg just yet

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Carragher on the game:

"I think Arsenal are a brilliant team, for me the best squad in the Premier League, and I thought they would not win comfortably, but would win 2-0 against Man City today," said Carragher.


"And Arteta has got a team and a squad that are that close to being really, really special in terms of winning a Premier League and maybe even winning a Champions League, I think they are that good.

"But time after time, when it comes to these big games he picks a team that feels like he is thinking more about the opposition and that does not mean you cannot win the Premier League, Jose Mourinho won it three times and he was a little bit like that.

"But, for me, that was a waste of 45 minutes [in the first half]. And the reason I am saying that is because I played for managers like that at Liverpool and we were really close and a very top team, but we never won a Premier League.

"I always felt at times under Gerard Houllier and Rafa Benitez, maybe we had the handbrake on in certain games and that is what Arteta is doing.

"Liverpool were there for the taking in that second half at Anfield, Man City were there for the taking at the start of this game and he has allowed them to come into the game.

"It is just a recurring pattern season after season and if you are Arteta and an Arsenal supporter, you just have to hope that does not cost you at the end of the season as they are a brilliant team with a fantastic squad, but the margins are so small."

[21_GOONER_SALUTE]

Roy Keane also talked some sense but I dislike him too much to be bothered to quote him.

https://www.skysports.com/football/n...fensive-minded

[Mac76]

But this is the only draw so far this season.
It’s the way we are playing which is of a bigger concern than the results actually. Anfield aside - and we were a bit unlucky to lose that - results have been ok. But the performances haven’t been ok and Arteta going into these big games setting us up not to lose isn’t good enough with our squad.

I reckon it’s a bit premature to sack a manager when we are second in the table having had a tricky start in terms of league fixtures.

We weren't unlucky to lose at Anfield, it was odds-on due to the attempt by Arteta not to concede a goal and hope we scored just the one - football doesn't work that way and our 'manager' shows no sign of learning which is why I'm now firmly Arteta out

[Letters]

We weren't unlucky to lose at Anfield, it was odds-on due to the attempt by Arteta not to concede a goal and hope we scored just the one - football doesn't work that way and our 'manager' shows no sign of learning which is why I'm now firmly Arteta out

Slot literally said that 8 times out of 10 that game is a draw.
So yes we were.
That can be true but it can also be true that Arteta’s safety first attitude made us more susceptible to the infamous “moment of magic”