Arteta once again proved he can’t gamble with squad management and win titles and CL cups.
Yes, we ran ourselves into the ground in the first half, just keeping up with City’s movement all over the pitch, and also threatening ourselves in their final third enough to go in level at half time; feeling gratitude that City’s normally calm and clinical play was more like a disruptive of their cohesion as the game’s intensity and City’s over eagerness played their parts.
Pep sent out City for the 2nd half to finish the job and we were clearly no match for City’s players all over the park because we’d spent ourselves as usual in the first half where 15 minutes at half time offers little recovery to be able to maintain our 1st half levels.
Looking at our players selection and you have to ask why Xhaka and the marginally quicker Jorginho, who to be fair, managed to do half of Partey’s job in defending and organising younger players around him, which is to be expected considering his experience and age, started the game against City. Jorginho is a fading talent who has no place in our squad other than early EL cup rounds; however, full marks for effort in trying to rise above his aging limitations.
Xhaka probably ran half a marathon in last night’s game making 32 passes with an 81.3% (26) pass accuracy with 1 shot off target and 1 long pass completed, and 3 tackles won. The other main part of our midfield: Jorginho faired a little better at DM with an 88.7% pass completed of 55 passes/62. He had 2 unsuccessful long passes intercepted, 2 interceptions, no tackles and 1 shot on target.
Let that sink in.
What is most worrying is that Edu and Arteta are happy with their Jan TW buys. Jorginho was bought to cover Partey where it’s patently clear he’s half the player many of us complained about.
Gabriel at CB had a Xhaka magnitude of an off night. Regularly bouncing off Haaland as rugby players did off Jonah Lomu the Kiwi man mountain. Arteta knows Gabriel is capable of losing his composure when under pressure, as did Pep and Haaland. Saliba fared better against Haaland being quicker to cut off service or getting to the ball early enough to put him off.
Poor Tomi was ring-rusty for the game’s pace having been reduced to cameos recently, and then Arteta expects Tomi to be up to speed for one of the most crucial games of the season with a trip to Ethihad still to come. Zinchenko was kept quiet by the lazy Mahrez, which is really saying something, as to how well the City players know Zinchenko’s play and movement. When Trossard came on our left side had more nous about him and is why this poster keeps wanting Trossard in place of Xhaka.
Had we played a midfield of Jacub Kiwior (6), Ode (10) and Trossard/Zinchenko (8) with KT at LB hitting Mahrez hard with every tackle, which Mahrez hates that and becomes a whinny brat, we would have been in a much better shape and played better.
Saka just had a tag-team to try to elude while having lumps kicked out of him rotationally. Tomi managed a few overlaps: one Eddie should have converted. I thought Martinelli was more of an attacking force playing centrally. He’s looking better in tight spaces and learning how to navigate them as he gains experience.
Finally, player wise our version of Welbeck: Eddie who missed at least three gilt edged chances to at least put us level.
We know where it all went wrong: Arteta yet again out thought by his mentor, as he’s been by lesser managerial proponents in recent games. We are so predictable in our play and selections. We have no bench to speak of because Arteta is too narcissistically anal to do what everyone is telling him and add title winning quality 6 & 8s and a 9 who can regularly score goals. Yet Azeez, Patino and Bolagun, France’s league top scorer, are left on their loans instead of being brought back for the New Year and run in.
We can kiss goodbye to the title and our best shot at it since 2016 and Leicester’s title win. Arteta is proving to be as big a bottler as the king of bottlers, Brenden Rogers.
Villa away next and our poor old Manager Emery who will want to continue his winning streak against Arteta. Will Villa be the team we stop our current slide into mediocrity? Only Arteta can answer that question.
What of Josh? Will he finally see through the Arteta machine-gun patter of beautiful words about the beautiful game we’re playing so ugly at the moment? Looks like it’s becoming 4th or bust this poster isn’t the least bit surprised about.
This is not negativity from me, but our continuing reality that Arteta is a coach at best because managers who routinely don’t have plan ‘B’ and ‘C’ for each game is both tactically naïve and managerially inept.
The post is a a hope for reality that we’ll get something out of this season and Arteta finally wakes up and smells the coffee to at least finish with a CL spot, which could well be relegated to an EL cup Just think if we’d got Ten Hag instead of rookie of the decade: Arteta.
Thanks Tony for the post match review. Though I don’t agree with the title run slipping away (yet) I still believe if we beat the ones which we should, City will drop points too; but in complete agreement with a midfield revamp. We have neglected it in another transfer window and have to manage to play against City with Xhaka and Jorginho!
I would have given chances to Patino, Azeez or anyone else from academy rather. At least, that would have secured our future. Arteta shouldn’t forget it’s the kids delivering when it matters – Saka, Martinelli, Ode.
this isn’t a throw the baby out with the bath water experiment, as I’ve come to accept the fact that MA is here to stay for the foreseeable future, even though I’m not fond of this realization…as such, I agree with your last point Ambarish…if it’s to believed that we’ve produced far above expectations, I would have much rather that we allowed our academy pieces to have been given those minutes that we’ve now allocated to much higher priced and vastly older alternatives…the fact that we acquired some players who neither fit the profile nor properly address our most pressing needs, who will now take up valuable resources on our wage bill for the next couple of seasons, is just another example of the short-sightedness that MA has displayed on several occasions since his hiring…hopefully we were just being extra cautious with Partey and he will be back on the pitch sooner rather than later…likewise, I’m a little emboldened by the fact that Xhaka has been subbed off in the last couple of matches, which hasn’t been a common occurence, so maybe just maybe there might be some wiggle room in MA’s selection process…here’s hoping that we can reverse our present course against Unai and Villa on Saturday or we might just be talking about top 4 as our primary objective moving forward
Nice article Tony. Lots there to agree with. You and Ambarish could form a Watergate style writing partnership. You as Bernstein (given your roots) and Ambarish as Bob Woodward. Joint pullitzer prizes await. I hope you’ll invite me to the awards ceremony (as a latter day deep throat) and point me towards the beer tent.
Almunia and I were talking about us becoming the Clough/Taylor managerial axis redux – after last night’s Arteta farrago, I think we should get our joint cv in the post to N5.
It was a woeful defeat which has left me numb. Unless this bad run ends on Saturday, Arteta’s ability to lead and manage his squad surely needs to be questioned a-fuckin-gain. He’s had more than enough backing for what is now his third strategic stab at reinventing his football philosophy. I still think its salvageable but between now and Saturday lunchtime, there needs to be a wholly successful reset. He’s caught between a rock and a hard place with Granit – see what I did there? IF TP has recovered in time to play shit-on-the-Villa, he and Jorginho should start with Xhaka’s eagle-tattooed anus on the bench. Will it happen?Will it fuck!
OK, now for something different. As you know, I used to be a diplomat (yeah, unlikely given my frequent outbursts on here but its true). These contretemps on here are daft – we’re basically bickering about nuances. Disagreements are par for the course in these fora but let’s just move on. I was an egregiously argumentative bastard in Pedro’s land of doom but here in the relatively heavenly realms of LiR we should continue this refreshing trend of genteel debate and coexistence….
At least until those motherfucking ballbags like positive, negative, englandsbest, zacharse, arsehole forever, rambinho and Dear Little Pedro ever decide to stray onto LiR…. Now breathe. C’mon lads, we’re all massive gooners from all corners of the world and all walks of life. There endeth the diplomatic bullshit!
TRVL – couldn’t agree more with this!
“the fact that we acquired some players who neither fit the profile nor properly address our most pressing needs, who will now take up valuable resources on our wage bill for the next couple of seasons, is just another example of the short-sightedness that MA has displayed on several occasions since his hiring”.
Jorginho will turn out to be another Willian. No one has forgotten Willian’s first game in Arsenal color against Fulham where he was MOTM.
Either you get a stop gap of equal quality or if you gonna compromise on quality, get one of the youngsters, you would have a gem next season at least!
Tony
It’s refreshing for the blog too. People have been reading too much positivity from me, this is just a realisation that would hit after couple of pints in the pub and on the screen it flashes, we have lost all 10 last games against City.
I’m still hopeful for the title run, we have a game in hand and if we beat Villa, it will be ON again.
Watching Barcelona v Man United, and the intensity from both the teams is so poor compared to ours, yesterday, that it’s giving me a hope we are in much better shape. Or, they are poor. Both would do for now.
TRVL and Aitcho,
Lets keep it decent guys, criticizing opinion on football is what we need, we come here to celebrate the WIN or shake off the disgust after a loss. No hate, we all love Arsenal.
Nice piece and can’t disagree with anything in it.
The basic question is about the blip – is the recent run of poor results / performances a downward blip or a return to the normal form of Arsenal under Arteta and the first half of the season was a reverse blip.
Simple truth is Arteta’s done nothing yet and needs to be judged at the end of the season. But that judgement needs to be honest.
Hi Marc
I assume you were there last night. How was the mood after their third goal went in and leaving the ground after the whistle (I assume, like me, you’re someone who stays to the bitter end every time you watch football!).
Hi Kroenke – long time no talk.
No didn’t make it last night – crazy at work at the moment so I put my ticket up on the exchange. I do however have a rule about leaving early (only ever done it once) and that’s you follow your team to the end no matter what.
Ambarish—got it, my bad, I think the whole Tate jab struck a chord, as I have a daughter just slightly older than many of the alleged victims, so I reverted back to my old combative self…I’ve spent so many years going toe-to-toe with AKBs, then more recently with Artetites, that my negative Pavlovian-like conditioning sometimes overrides my typically more rational LiR demeanor…Cheers
Tony-to no one’s surprise we’re aligned on most things Arsenal, or should I say, Arteta-related…in his first couple of seasons Arteta adopted many of the most flawed characteristics of his and our former boss, Wenger, with his poor man management, shoehorning, window decisions, or lack thereof and, amongst others, monopolisitic tendencies, whereas in more recent times he appears to be drawing more upon the lessons learned while at City under Pep…now this might seem to be a reassuring trend considering the latter’s far more recent acomplishments, if it weren’t for the fact that in order to achieve a similar level of success, with that particular organizational model, personnel is paramount…unfortunately many of the choices MA’s made in this regards have simply underscored just how difficult it is to emulate such a financially and transfer-dependent model, unless one has the managerial chops to bridge that divide, which clearly isn’t the case, at least not at this juncture
now some might be willing to accept being little more than City’s fairweather stepchild, but I persoanlly have no interest in embracing Arteta’s version of the Wenger Cup model…in order to avoid this reimagined nightmare, we need to up our scouting game, become more tactically diverse, create an academy system that focuses on developing those who play in those positions that receive the greatest renumeration and/or are the most difficult to outsource(ie Striker & DM), and stop hiring overage half measures who will inevitably impact both our wage bill and future transfer decisions in a negative fashion…if we don’t make significant changes we will become the poor man’s version club, who will talk a big game in the public sphere, while privately settling on the notion of making noise then selling high
My thoughts on the Jan TW, neither Trossard nor Jorginho were our first choices we could have gotten Mickey Mudflaps, weren’t it for the financial bickering by Edu and the disrespectful approach to SD. For me Jorginho would have done for a pinch if Partey got a short term injury, but what I can’t understand is that everyone knew Jesus would not come back until mid to end of March we needed some attacking reinforcement.
What if Eddie is injured or has a drop in form there is no one else to bring on. Arteta will not change his formation or game plan he doesn’t trust the players he has to follow explicitly his instructions and therefor always the same starting players unless it is impossible and then the shit hits the fan.
On the positive side any misshapenings by Arteta hopefully will wake up KSE of what an apprentice they have entrusted a mega club to and make long overdue changes.
From James McNicholas in the Athletic basically admitting Arteta has no plan B:
“Before Arsenal’s crucial match against Manchester City, their goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was asked what manager Mikel Arteta had demanded of his players.”
“To be Arsenal. That’s it,” Ramsdale replied. “To be Arsenal — be the way we play.”
“Arsenal’s players listened. They stuck to their principles at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night, playing out from the back in a pressurized first-vs-second scenario — a high-stakes game of risk and reward. A tightrope walk.
In the end, it cost them, as two needless concessions of possession were punished in ruthless fashion by back-to-back champions City.”
WTF is “To be Arsenal — be the way we play” if this is the generational one’s so called Arteta ball then shit can it because as stated it cost us. Sadly, I can only this change coming with a manager’s change whenever that will be, which for me can’t be soon enough.
One of my biggest beefs with our offensive zone tactics is that we’re kind of a tweener gig, in that we have some Klopp Championship Pool-like pieces…we have two forwards with pace and 1 v. 1 capibilities and a more than capable Jesus to assume the Formino false 9 role, yet we’re not nearly clinical enough to truly follow this tactical model without having a more offensively productive player in the more advanced Xhaka role…maybe Trossard could be a feasible short-term fix, but so far he’s been deployed only as a Mart’s replacement, which can be a tad problematic…he’s not fast or physical enough to do the things that Marts can typical do, which means that he needs some wide side protection…this can’t logically come from Xhaka, so instead our LB is required to come further up the pitch, thereby exposing us from a defensive standpoint
we likewise have some similar components to Pep’s City model, as Saka can take on defenders and get the ball on his more dominant foot at the edge of the box, like Mahrez or Silva, and we have the two-footed Marts, who like Grealish, can somehow find space along the end line and create chances…unfortunately, unlike City, we lack a real dominant presence in the middle of the pitch, so as to make life infintely easier for our wide side players…having Xhaka in a more advanced role or Ode playing primarily on the right side, is a vastly different proposition for opposing defenders than having the likes of DeBruyne, Silva, Rodri or even Gudogan taking up more advanced central spaces, as they can provide both more direct service, make proper runs into the box and take quality shots from distance
as such, I would suggest that we pick one of these two tactical lanes then find the right players to properly execute this plan…right now, we have an above average Plan A, when things are clicking on all cylinders, but not a “world-class” Plan A, so when we face adversity or have an off night we don’t have the kind of individual brilliance, from a goal-scoring capacity, to manufacture wins when the balance of play doesn’t flatter us or when we’re facing the best and the brightest or even when an opposing manager sets up deep and plays off the counter
so I get why we pursued Mudryk, as he’s shown the propensity to get beyond defences and he does seem to possess some finishing boots…of course, he’s not as polished as Trossard, but he makes far more sense as a cover piece for Marts, or even better, playing along side Marts, who would then tuck inside instead of Xhaka…as for Caicedo, he likewise makes some sense, if we’re really trying to fix our lack of directness and pace in the center of the pitch…conversely, Jorghino in no way addresses those concerns…so whereas he’s certainly not a scrub, he simply allows our manager to lean into his most defenisve tendencies, which solves nothing…these are the reasons why I felt it was imperative that we found legit pieces in the winter window and not half measure coin toss propositions who could complicate matters further should we struggle to recapture our pre-Cup break form
Excellent points raised once again by one and all.
The beauty here is we tell it like it is from our eyes first. There’s no sugar coating and we try to offer solutions while directing questions to Arteta and the club for others here to comment on.
That doesn’t mean we always sing from the same footballing sense sheets. Aitcho (Japanese decent?) was a little heavy with the wasabi accented words when moderately sharply prodded by TRVL who I would suspect was wondering about Aitcho’s authenticity at the time.
The sad thing is we’re in a slump with a manager who’s never managed a team in a slump of his own making. The last 3 TWs are the core of our current issues from buying White when we needed a Partey replacement or at the very least a high level midfield utility player who can play 6, 8 and10 costing around £50m+ at the time.
Our TW planning seems non existent as does our ‘Plan B’ tactics, where ‘Plan A’ playing instructions require following under the threat of pain from falling off Arteta’s Pets’ list. Xhaka’s and Jorginho’s stats are not what is required from a title challenging midfield. When you consider all the side and back passes and zero tackles by Jorginho at DM, well, words fail me.
Kiwior, Ode and Trossard/Zinchenko would have been far more effective, but what if’s don’t help the result.
Onto Villa and hopefully 3 points.
Ambarish, in a way I’m tempting fate by saying our title shot has passed. Like when a commentator says they have no chance of scoring now and then they score moments later. Posters curse I guess they’d call it.
A loved child has many names, so curse away if we win the league: I’ll be flying higher than a Chinese spy weather ballon. 🙂
I watched the game Wednesday night and deliberately stayed away since then because I think my perspective would have been derailed badly by disappointment, anger and a rebirth of cynical apathy (KP,is that last one even possible? Feels like it should be). Anyway,I still read the thoughts on here and was helped by the realism and sense of shared suffering. Like Tony said it’s comforting that most don’t feel the need to wrap it up in spin with illogical premises based on refs,var,financial irregularities or bad luck. We lost. We deserved to lose. Our problems were predictable. Our manager has not answered the serious questions that have constantly plagued his tenure. And our club has still not proven to us,it’s fans,that it is intent on becoming a serious force again. The short term answer,look at the league table, is exactly that,short term and short sighted. Consider the more pertinent questions. If Arsenal don’t win the league this year are they more likely to win it next season? Or the season after? Because that is what the young team/ inexperienced manager argument is designed to imply. Yet if you believe that our rivals will repeat their calamitous seasons (en masse) again,then I’m afraid you haven’t been watching. This season has been an anomaly like 2016 when Leicester took advantage. This is our chance and we are making excuses as to why we don’t need to grasp it. It’s a bizarre mindset that convinces itself that winning the title this year isn’t a priority. No. The priority is to use this year to build up the experience required so that in the near future we can achieve our ultimate aim……..win the title.
And a reminder. Nobody with a functioning brain in 2016 thought that Wenger still had the magic,that finishing 2nd to Leicester was proof that we were on the way back. For many of us his failure to catch Leicester that year was confirmation that he should have departed years before. A golden opportunity wasted. Many of those same critics are now trying to twist that exact same logic into a positive for Arteta. The butchering of a title winning opportunity is actually a step in the right direction? It beggars belief really.
I was looking at BBC football earlier and I came across this. Found it fascinating and eerily similar to the conversation that TRVL and I were having last week. Aitcho,if you read this,there is a sense here in this article of what I was feeling over the last few decades. This guy had the courage to act. Fair play to him.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/64641090
Tony,
Lovely work on the write up btw, enjoyed reading it immensely. Both you and Mb have very soothing styles,it doesn’t feel like I’m reading an ad. Thanks for that.
Thanks Almunia feels good to post here with us all sharing our deep rooted feelings from love for our club and strangely friendships we’ve developed over the last couple of years. Faceless posters we may be, but our spirits and emotions gel with our words said.
Long may it last. 🙂
I’ve noticed today that our excuse monger of a manager has gone to the airwaves to express his disgust for our early start on Saturday…now of course I understand the sentiment, as more often than not the League tries to accomodate those who play mid-week or later by providing them with either late Saturday or Sunday fixtures, but this certainly isn’t written in stone…the real problem here is that you can’t have the manager publicly providing a built-in excuse on the day before the game, it just reeks of desperation and misplaced entitlement…let’s face it, nothing he said or did would ever change the circumstances at hand, so one must ask why even bring it up…was he worried that others might not have raised the obvious scheduling concerns, so he felt it best that he took charge of the narrative, or is he feeling the self-inflicted heat that naturally comes with a series of public bedwettings…I just don’t think it’s a good look, much in the same vein as I detested Wenger’s post-game excuse-laden diatribes…the only difference here is the preemptive strike nature of MA’s approach, which fits the all-too-common contrived media script under his tutelage…maybe he should spend considerably less time manufacturing headlines and more time devising a viable gameplan…just saying
TRVL
All it does is give Emery an easy team talk.
Marc
as if he needed to supply anymore bulletin board material with Emi and Calum in the room…we better have our shooting boots on tomorrow because if I’m Unai I’m pushing for goals from the onset so as to test our resolve, which is an infinitely easier tactic to deploy when you have Emi between the pipes…here’s hoping that we get some early bounces and make them have to chase the game
Arteta is under pressure and it shows. The players believe every word coming out of his mouth and now this nonsense before a massive game. Whoever the reporter was that put this to him only one answer should have been given, “We are ready for the game and are looking forward to it”. End of story none of this whinging about schedule and early kickoffs not being rested.
Now he spews this shit out publicly, perhaps putting doubts in the players minds, and they might think we have a handicap in this fixture, FFS we are the Arsenal, we win games! Sorry lads, forgot for a minute the Achilles heal here the manager in training.
He has to go since 3 years ago and he will be found out this Saturday one way or another. As I see this he is cracking under the massive pressure he is under and he might be just the cause why this team will not win the league.
I’m afraid we’re back to wait-for-the-line-up to determine if Arteta is changing anything selection wise for us to make any kind of prediction.
Emi has no respect for Arteta and why should he? He waited nearly 10 years to have a shot and then took it, then Arteta sold him he went on to win the World Cup with Argentina with brilliant form he once had for us. Not rehashing Arteta’s faux pas, but with our shooting boots being well below par, Emi will be confident of keeping a clean sheet at home.
Not seen much of Emery’s reign thus far, but respect him as a manager for at least getting us to within a point of a CL birth and sadly losing the EL Cup final. Arteta’s in his 4th year and only has a FA cup to his credit, but where it really matters, he’s steered us on the road to nowhere other than mediocrity, and still no CL Cup football since Xhaka arrived: probably up there with Kalstrom in stupid buys when Kante was cheaper.
When you consider the way Emery was so badly used and abused by Raul & Suits Emery did really well. Just think if he’d been allowed to buy Nkunku, Zaha and his own DM?
Emery is a winner of sorts and has won more Euro cup glories than Arsenal has to date. However, his league performances have been less successful across leagues.
Arteta has been out thought so far by Dysche, Frank and Pep in his last 3 games. Emery has bested Arteta in the EL cup’s 2 rounds.
We badly need a win and to do a U-TURN from our predictable play. I’m hoping for unpredictability where for once Arteta out thinking his opposite number. Shocker, I know but colour me hopeful along with junior.
Maybe Arteta’s whinging is all part of his master plan.
Tell you what, though, they’d make perfect dancing partners on the touchline. I’d love to see unedited footage of both managers to edit together. 🙂 🙂 Throw in a few of Steve Cooper’s exasperations for good measure and you’d have a winning selling video.
Sorry couldn’t help letting a bit of cathartic sarcasm go there. Nearly slipped into full on K’Phobe then.
Sorry Almunia have you spat coffee over Mrs A again? 🙂 Well, you’ve had Junior and me mopping up during & after your satires. Do give Mrs A my profound apologies and suggest she sits behind you in the future. 🙂
After all this silliness to cover my absolute cluelessness as to what the result is going to be. I honestly can’t call it because Emery is a very capable manager who will have a better grasp on the PL 2nd time around with a club who completely supports him.
Going to have to think about this one and see if Partey is fit.
If we have Xhaka & Joginho facing McGinn, Kamara, Luiz & Buendia even with inverted fullbacks helping, that’s a tough Villa midfield who know how weak we are in midfield. Baily and Watkins up top should be manageable, but not if we are overrun by Villa’s supporting midfield runners because Xhaka and Jorginho can’t keep up with the game.
Going to be a nervous games where nerves need settling with a quick goal. Managing that should get our mojo back, shouldn’t it?
Ever hopeful, lads.
Simple question regarding Partey being fit where it’s being reported that a late fitness test is making Arteta sweat.
Why?
We know Partey is fragile so, if it’s a late test, he shouldn’t be risked, as he was before, because the chances are he’ll aggravate his injury to be a long term one.
Too risky for my thinking.
Kiwior at 6, Trossard at 8 Ode at 10 Zinchenko at LB Tomi at RB
Xhaka and Jorginho on the bench.
Let Partey fully recover.
What’s your thinking Ambarish/Lads?