We are out of the Carabao cup, losing 2-0 on aggregate to Liverpool. With them missing Mane and Salah, it should have been a close contest but it didn’t look like it. You can, in defense, say most of our players didn’t have a training session before game, Partey had to come as a sub when he travelled back in afternoon from Afcon and we were out of options.
But… Does this defense counts? Mikel Arteta prioritised a £50m Center Back when he could have integrated Saliba into the team. We went and bought a CB in £27m only to loan him back and spend another fortune. I can understand Arteta has his preferences and he wants certain attribute in players in different positions but should that come at a cost of midfield? We are playing Patino against Forests and losing. Lokonga needs couple of season before he can be a starter. Partey has not really done much since he joined us and Xhaka is Xhaka.
Last night, we were very poor. With a non-existent MF, any team would struggle. Not only this CB prioritisation baffles me, we also decided to send AMN on loan to Roma. Guendouzi was considered a future prospect under Emery and started most games under Arteta until he was ostracised. It could have been dealt better, he might be playing for us or we could have sold him for good money. But nope, he is on loan, we are not gonna get any considerable money for him while our MF struggles.
I understand every managers wants a certain type of player in each position. If he prefers Ben White and Odegaard, it’s not a problem if we are not so short in MF and CF.
We are out of both FA cup and Carabao cup now. The only thing to fight for is the Champions League position. It should be the minimum to expect from a manager at Arsenal who is in his 2nd full season and have spent 150m+ to build a team. You can always find excuses but then football is a game of results and expecting a top 4 finish when every team apart from City and Pools are struggling is not a big ask.
These losses will be counted in hindsight. Preference of a CB over midfielder, sticking to Xhaka when we know the outcome and sending Guen and AMN when we could have used their service will be counted. Throwing an unfit Partey is not a great thing either.
All will be forgotten if we make it to Champions League.
Mb/Ambarish
Good analysis mate. This is Tets’s fragile ego and failure to man-manage coming back to haunt him. That Liverpool loss was not just expected, it was typical of the lily livered, ill-prepared chaos we’ve come to expect since Wenger started going astray. If you look at players as a stable of valuable assets (which in the modern game is a must) Arteta is making a terrible job of managing them. Christ only knows why the Kroenkes continue to tolerate him.
Keep it coming mate. I see that Almunia posted on here earlier. If you have his support and interest you’re definitely on the right track.
Turning to Burnley, my confidence is low despite the fact that the opposition is akin to a pub team.
I can see where this ego comes from. Pep has it, you could see with his treatment of Aguero. However, he is probably the best manager currently, managing a team with unlimited resources and can afford to even bin KDB and nothing will change. On other hand, we are not in a position and every good sell buys another Martinelli.
— Hopefully we will bounce back and win against Burnley. 3 point will bring the confidence back and we have only top 4 to fight.