Mikel Arteta says he’s aiming to get Arsenal playing in a 4-3-3 formation but says he doesn’t currently have the right personnel in five to six positions.
When the Spaniard joined from Manchester City just under a year ago, he was quick to set-up his side with a four-man backline. He’s since tinkered with the use of wing-backs, toyed with midfielders dropping into defensive positions and again returned to a (sort of) traditional four.
While he’s stressed a desire to become more flexible and to adapt to the threat of opponents, in recent weeks – with results going south and creativity drying up – the switches, have looked a bit more desperate; almost like he’s searching for any set-up that might flick a switch in his underperforming players.
In an interview with Dazn journalist Nacho González (snippets of which have been translated from Spanish by @elspanishgooner), Arteta made clear that formations are not the be-all and end-all, although he does have an end goal in mind.
“For me the way we occupy space and who is going to move in there is more important than the formation,” he said.
“And from there we have some very similar players that are not used to play in those positions so we have to keep changing the formation a little bit.
“We want to move to a 4-3-3 but for that, you need a lot of specificity in every position but now in five or six positions, we don’t have it.
“The aggressiveness, the effectiveness, the amount of steals we make in opposition half I think we have been very steady against some big clubs.
“I think that what we miss is in the opponent’s area and the last part of the pitch. We have to find the key in the attack, that last decision, that last pass, that last cross to create a goal situation, a goal, a shot, a corner, etc.”
The boss went on to outline his plans for the club in the long, mid and short-term.
“Long-term being able to compete for every important tournament we play, play on the Champions League consistently. Mid-term to experience an improvement in the way we play, our style and the DNA of the club.
“And short term to keep competing like we have in every game and improve every phase of the game and that’s the minimum we have to sustain now to aspire at the end of the season to be close to the other big clubs.”
One thing is clear, for Arteta to stand a chance of implementing plans beyond this season, he knows he has to withstand the imminent pressures that have come with a rapid tumble down the table. A drop in player confidence in him could be disastrous.
He’s taking heart from Pep Guardiola’s first season struggles at Manchester City and the fact that even when things look bad from the outside, they may not be a true reflection of the progress being made.
“For me the most important when you are building a new project is that you need to have very clear what you want to do and the people around you have to know what you want to do, believe in that and be willing to defend that for a sustainable and reasonable period of time.
“Change to what we want has risks and the way we want to play requires a lot of precision, a lot of game lecture. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. We have very clear where we are going and in this path, there’s going to be times when the project is going to suffer.
“There we have to be stronger than ever, keep our idea and keep trying to bring the players we want, keep the players we have and evolve them. For me, that’s the main secret.
“At Man City in our first year, which was complicated, I saw the reaction of people around Pep, the people in the hierarchy…they didn’t have a doubt, they knew the path to follow – this year something has happened – but we are going there, the following years it was different.
“And I think that’s the most important, to make the people around you believe [in you and the project].”
__
We suspect more will come out from this interview – judging by the original link the content has been pulled by DAZN or his geo-blocked. But in the meantime, thanks again to @elspanishgooner for taking the time to translate and to Nacho for eliciting some interesting answers from Arteta.
The team seem to be behind him. That’s the most important thing for the short term. Let’s hope things improve and players returning from injury can help.
I’m not sure about this – they look pissed off to me, absolutely knackered already and are either being held back or deliberately hiding in games
Comments from MA implying ‘only 4 of them are good enough’ won’t help – on top of several players being frozen out, or criticized in public – can soon sour the support from the team.
Where’s our captain to rally the troops?
and so on…
Sorry, I’m usually very positive but some severely worrying signs!
Yeah i think you are right. When he first came in he really sorted them out and got them believing and working their butts off again. We were in a shit state and he sorted it out.
If that is still there at this point I can’t see it. When you look at some of the stuff that has been said and done, that might go some way towards explaining why.
yup, support of the dressing room is so fragile and irreparable once gone. Let’s hope we’re not there yet, and they all still believe. Arteta needs to find some magic, a win on Sunday would be just that!
I feel your frustration, and don’t blame you for not being positive. We don’t have much to be postive about in the leauge. If feel like the blame for of poor results sholud be spread around. The board for poorly running the club, Arteta for his poor management, and the players for not turning up and changing gears. We can sack Arteta and roll the dice with another manager, or give him more time. The problem is if his stats are worse than Emery with same amount of games , we can’t have him around just because we like him.… Read more »
Blame flying in all directions at the moment.
We should stick with Arteta and let it develop – need to think longer term imho
(until it becomes untenable with the players, hopefully it won’t/hasn’t)
Top post, well said.
Don’t apologise for stating a few home truths, neither.
The team and it’s management are a crock of shit at the moment, end of story.
I tend to disagree with you. I think the players look frustrated because they are not winning, frustrated because they are suffering defeats. Thats relatable and reasonable. It’s a very different thing to being ‘pissed off’ and losing faith in the Manager. It really wasn’t that long ago – that everything was roses. Yes, it’s far from that now, and I don’t expect any major miracles. This will be a very slow path. But it’s worth noting, as blogs did, that this season is far from black and white. The margin of points which currently separates teams isn’t significant yet… Read more »
Your points are logical. However one thing I’ve noticed in the last 5-6 games is that we’re not at the same level as last season. The basics – movement, pressing, quick passing all seem to have dropped a few levels. When’s the last time we’ve seen the Arteta hallmark of playing out of the back and having an attempt at goal? When is the last time David Luis, Tierney found Auba with that quick long ball over the top? For some reason (I doubt it’s tactics) whatever we did well last season is not being duplicated now. I’ve been thinking… Read more »
‘but we are going there, the following years it was different’ – yes they spent £600m, good luck with that
We are going there too. That’s Gabriel and Partey in the bag. I don’t think the grand plan was always a total overhaul as some of the players we had already filled the roles. Just a couple of transfer window and hopefully we are there.
As for the changes, I think defensive solidity was the key. We so look like a wing back team for now and maybe we just needed a little more urgency in our attacking passes and not shifting to a more open back four and killing the central striker’s position
true. Gabriel Partey were solid buys. Tierny too. Saka is brilliant. we really need some oomph in midfield (creative movement type player). baby steps. we’ll get there.
Reading between the lines it seems that he is saying 343 to 433 will take time to transition.
He may also be hinting at the work Edu has to do to ensure the squad is built correctly and prioritising the right signings in the right order.
It is obvious now that we needed Aouar first, then Partey. Since the club will never sanction two quality players simultaneously
Arteta wanted Aouar first but he didn’t want to play for us.
Compare it to Chelsea who have always looked at their rivals and see what they need to do to get ahead, they signed half a team. Which isn’t wise but it gets results. We signed one player in Gabriel and had to get some ‘special approval’ as if it is a special birthday treat to get Partey.
Signing two quality players to effect change is the BARE minimum required for a clubs management who want to be seen as serious.
Maybe things would have been different if we could have sold on some of the players we don’t want anymore. Maybe that would have enabled the purchase of one or two more players.
I’m not saying this as a certainty. I’m throwing it out there for those in the know.
Yes exactly. A whole lot of the piss we find ourselves myrking in right now is on Arteta and his decisions. Xhaka was ou the door already when he came in and would have been long by now but Arteta came in and proceeded to woo him all over and practically dropped Torreirra, a much better player all rounder for him when it was pretty ovbious Xhaka was limited. Same for Mustafi. Holding. Ceballos. Luiz. All bang average players; save for Luiz maybe. Now we are stuck with them. It’s been poor decision after poor decision. The biggest let down… Read more »
Definitely. The fact Ozil, Mustafi and Sokratis are still here hurts my soul everyday. Nobody even seriously bid or inquired about them. Ridiculous wages on top of being shit. Somehow couldn’t get buyers for Torreira and Guendouzi and had to sell our better Goalkeeper just to get the rest of the money to buy Partey.
It is hurting enough to still have Özil, Mustafi and Sokratis on our books. But adding Willian to the list was like rubbing salt on the already hurting wound.
In regard to Willian hindsight is a wonderful thing… I was quite optimistic on him after the signing was made and he did well in the first game (yes ok it was Fulham), but clearly now you can see why he wasn’t guaranteed first team football at chels*^%
Yeah, great analysis. Blame the players that are not playing.
I’m so sick of the Martinez is such a great keeper nonsense. There is some evidence he’s decent, nothing more.
Jog on with this bullshit, the lot of you.
Totally agree mate, let’s judge Martinez at the end of the season to compare him to Leno.
Personally I think Leno is the better keeper, he’s proven it for years,Martinez only over the course of 25 games max.
I think it is fairly clear that whether Leno or Martinez is “better,” it’s not by a lot, and not the sort of difference that would have much influence on our results. It’s not like comparing Vieira to Xhaka.
So Martinez made no visible contribution to the team last season. Being in goal isn’t just about shot stopping..Martinez had better distribution and actually was an imposing presence both on other teams and on our defenders. When have you seen Leno ever say anything to those infront.
I said better keeper.. What the fuck has Leno done.
The shit players that are not playing are taking up wages and cost us money because no one would buy them. I suggest you go back to the strat of the discussion because it wasn’t about the on field shitness but the behind the scenes shambles. Fuck you about jog on you know nothing about football.
There should be ins and outs every season, to keep the squad fresh. Our recruitment last 5-10years has been the worst in the world.
Yes, but we don’t have any money and Chelsea can keep spending as long as Comrade A keeps loaning them the money (£2 billion or so to date I think).
Other teams have more cash, but it doesn’t absolve our poor recruitment generally over the past few years.
Exactly knowing we have limited funds, we must emphasize on perfect recruitment.
No more wasted signings with a significant price tag. e.g Mustafi, Xhaka, Pepe
Who is going to get the ball to Aouar..Our entire midfield is shit. It needs a complete overhaul…I would keep Willock because he is young but the rest can fuck off. Just watched Moutinho who is in his twilight years dick on all of them the other day without much effort. Elneny has been solid but hes not good enough either.
Too true.
Xhaka, ceballos – both uneven, unreliable, fairly poor.
El Neny should play every game until Partey is fit again.
Arsenal have NO MIDFIELD. Shits gonna be bad for a while.
Agree centre midfield is our biggest problem, especially now Partey is out for a few games. Gutted…
Isn’t it pretty amazing that we are (I think, rightly) clamoring for more El Neny?
Honestly, in the games he has played he has been more progressive than our other midfielders and he is much more assured on the ball, even willing to retrieve it from deep and actually move forward with it! Crazy idea!
and thats fucking frightening, that Elneny is our most useful midfielder.
Moutinho is a really good player. The fact that ruben neves who is arguably better than all of our midfielders bar Partey started on the bench really fro “Wolves” shows how alarmingly Average our midfield is. Wolves have a better midfield and depth than us. I hope we buy some quality in January but dont think its gonna happen.
I agree. and its not just wolves most of these so called lesser sides are have better personal all over the pitch.
Interesting, but that supposes Arteta will be given the required time. It’s the usual Catch-22 isn’t it. You need time to change direction but results continue to be bad while you’re trying to do it. It’s then down to the patience of the owners. As to future signings, press reports suggest that Aouar won’t be joining anytime soon – and, frankly, who could blame him (or anyone else) given our current troubles. Money is extremely tight now anyway – the next financial results will be terrible – and I doubt that the owners will come up with another Partey-type cash… Read more »
If there was a clear style of play and some coherent plan towards squad construction then I think most would accept a period of poor results as part of the necessary process. Right now there’s no obvious style of play or plan & our recruitment still is handing out major deals to 30something year old players.
Did you read the article above, which outlines Arteta’s plan in his own words, and his admission that he needs new players to play his ideal style?
Things aren’t working at the moment; give the guy some time to fix it.
You realize he’s doing the exact opposite of everything he says in terms of how he keeps saying he wants to play right? He talks about how he wants to be on the front foot & play aggressive attacking football. Instead we are pretty much the most passive team in the league in terms of offense & defense. We attempt less dribbles than almost any other team, less attempted tackles and spent close to the highest amount of time passing around in our half with close to the lowest in the attacking 3rd. So while he keeps saying the right… Read more »
Right, he’s out of his depth. Clearly we’ve got the wrong guy to manage, and the wrong people upstairs, and the wrong players on the pitch. Hopeless stuff. At least our kits look awesome this season!!
Most people want the guy to figure it out (myself included) but I genuinely don’t understand your view that there is clear progress & a style of play as the stats are extremely clear that’s not the case. If he wants to be an attacking team that plays on the front foot then go out and do it & stop complaining about not having quality players as he’s at least partly responsible for that at this point. But just sitting back and refusing to take a risk on offense or defense and complaining that we don’t have the players to… Read more »
We had Alexis, Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey and even Ozil in the past. Now, This team doesn’t have good dribbler, I can remember Nelson, Partey and Saka as good dribblers. Elneny can do it to some extent. Xhaka cannot dribble, he can’t do anything except passing, and Ceballos when he has the ball looks like a bee trying to come inside a closed window.
.
“looks like a bee trying to come inside a closed window“ Now that is funny! Remember after the Man U win we were excited because it seemed like Partey-Elneny was going to be the midfield axis we needed…? We need a strong spine. Reinstate Elneny. Not sure who partners him until Thomas returns but Xhaka / Ceballos have shown they are not up to it. We need a result vs Spurs and more than that we need to show fight. Auba’s half hearted header vs. Wolves was inexcusable, as was his effort when he nicked the ball from their goalie.… Read more »
yup. back in the days we were complaining that there were too many creative players and no real drive or the fabled DM. now we need creative players
HAHAHAHA that was a good one.. aghh the wenger times.. i miss Alex Song
I rememeber we used to be harsh on those guys at times but i would sell our entire midfield for a prime version of one of them. Also finally Someone else sees how Overrated Ceballos is.
I suppose the question is–and if the frustration coming from him in his comments is reflective of this–if he’s asking the players to do these things but they’re not capably executing what he’s asked of them. I do think that’s possible, because since the restart, we have seen them do these things you laid out–at times. Not consistently, though. Which makes me wonder. Of course, that gets to a different issue, then: Since this is the lot he’s stuck with for now, he has to figure out how to get them to execute with more regularity. Because the last thing… Read more »
The counter is so many times in games when the players look like they’re going to take an actual risk he barks at them and they don’t. We just look massively over coached at the moment but without any real plan as to how to beat teams that sit back and counter us. We’re so inept on offense I wouldn’t be shocked to see Sp@ds or other top 6 teams start to do that to us as well
I agree with the over coached stuff.. Its why we play this horse shoe shape around the pitch…But its because the middle is such garbage. The two in the middle and the 10 area are our weakest spots so Arteta does not even try to do anything with those areas. We also have deeply stupid footballers in terms of knowing the game. Our early 2000s sides you rarely saw Wenger on the touchline for long because you had on field leaders and people like Adams, vieira bergkamp who understood football and took the initiative in responding themselves. Even recently to… Read more »
I think he knows if he goes gung ho we will get ripped apart. We are too slow and unathletic as a team across the park.. Tierney and Bellerin are meant to be two of our quicker players and i saw them time and time again roasted by Traore or Neto. Not even going to mention the planet Xhaxa or ocean liner Ceballos. Laca looks slower than Giroud, Auba seems to have lost something. Then the players that are quick are weak. Such an inbalanced and stagnate squad. The villa game was the real eye opener for me. Watkins and… Read more »
There’s 2 big issues I see that have relatively obvious solutions IMO. 1. Let the creative players like Pepe or Saka actually take risks and be creative. We must have the least fluid attack I’ve ever seen which is amazing given it consists of Auba – a wildly fast mobile striker who scores 30+ goals every year, Saka – one of the real up and coming players in Europe & Willian – the guy actually performed pretty well last year for Chelsea/Pepe who chipped in a solid goals/assist record last year and is extremely fast. 2. Play actual athletic midfielders… Read more »
City have money we don’t hence he needs to work with what he has at his disposal. Other teams have not spent near enough as we did and they look better on the pitch already. It’s about getting the right players with the right deals. Willian for three years is a massive error instructed by Arteta himself I believe. Someone at the club needs to tell him NO you are not having this guy. It’s pathetic even short term.
“I believe”? And what inside information do you have to suggest he initiated that one? He may have sanctioned it given our budget constraints and the fact he was available on a free, but I highly doubt he would have pointed that one out as his desired choice. Willian has been a solid performer the previous years, so if he could re-discover that form, he would serve a purpose. As of now, he looks like he’s lost a step and never recovered his fitness post injury. Arteta was manager to oversee only 6 signings so far. 2 have appeared to… Read more »
I think his styfling 3-4-3 was being played for a reason..He knows full well how shit the current squad is.
I think we need to stick this out, there’s been too much turbulence at the club. If things aren’t moving forward again after he’s had a proper summer and pre-season, then I’d worry.
“the reaction of people around Pep, the people in the hierarchy…they didn’t have a doubt,”… Because that was Pep, a proven and experienced top level coach with lots of money at his disposal…
Yeah, you can tell just how hard Arteta’s job is going to be here …
A couple of years ago I would have argued that the Arsenal job was possibly the hardest in club football. A club with a history of huge success, one which the fans demand challenge for the title every season (because that’s what we used to do), but with a squad nowhere near able to achieve that success, and one of the most incompetent and stingy ownerships in top European football. Recently the job has been made a bit easier with an expansion of the wage bill and loosening of purse strings, but that largesse has been partly squandered on expensive… Read more »
and a foundation of already world class players and leaders in the team.
Yes, but based on recruiting Arteta has chosen the rebuild to start with experienced guys – Partey, great signing IMO in his prime. Gabriel the same the only young guy we signed (apart from academy talent). Much need. Willian – looking worse by the day past it. Soares – less said the better (how on Earth that improved our squad in anyway is beyond me and in the end has cost us massive loan fee, signing fees and wages). Mari, ??? again aging, but injury has blighted that one. Still the choice to pick him in Europa over Saliba is… Read more »
The reality is Arsenal needs someone with enough football knowledge to tell Arteta no on these types of deals as they’re an absolute waste of resources. It makes no sense to take a long term view with a rookie manager and then blow a bunch of limited resources on older players. Not to mention not only has Willian been truly awful
(& a real challenge to the idea that Arteta is running a meritocracy) but he’s also appeared to have a massive negative impact on Pepe who is one of our only real goal threats
Yeah, then you look at our head of recruiting. Another rookie – Edu, replacing a guy that was an absolute disaster because he thought he was still at bottomless pit Barca, who he has also played a massive role in destroying financially. Again just more fuck ups from a club that is completely rudderless. It’s farcical.
Here’s the thing – I would be totally ok with crappy results as part of the process IF Arteta actually had a plan as to how he wanted us to play and stuck to it. He talks about wanting to be on the front foot but then instructs us to be the most passive team in the league on both offense and defense. We spent most of our time passing backwards, no one even attempts to dribble anymore & we try less tackles/pressing than almost any other team. Right now all we’re witnessing is Emery part 2 but with more… Read more »
Can people please, please give Edu and Arteta the season to work things out before casting them in the pit?
Sure, but we’re 1/4 through looking like refried dog turds and arteta is talking about lack of quality that he is now partly responsible for. Sorry for judging the signs, but in the famous words of frodo baggins ” that’s cause we’ve been here before! We’re going around in circles Sam“
and before that we had Gazidis and Wenger losing their fucking minds…Where we are in the league now has been coming for more than a decade of internal stagnation and terrible recruitment. Worryingly i see no solution.
Sacking Arteta wont do it, we have those pussy type players who would just cry that a new managers methods will take long for them to get used to.
Can we stop saying the W I L L I A N.. The name just invokes rage in me nowadays. When it was clear Wenger was losing it i thought he would make a good director of football but then i lost all faith in his idea of a good player when he signed Xhaxa over Kante.
Basically.
5-6 players away. Does that mean we are only sure about leno gabriel partey tierney and maybe auba (doubtful).
it means he just took a big dump on all his players who are already lacking confidence
I dunno so much. It’s not like he named names.
Alex Ferguson once started pre season with a talk to his squad; “one of you is going to let me down this year”.
Now everyone is desperate not to be “the one”.
Same here. You want to be an elite level athlete at arsenal. You better be fucking good at your job.
Lol, that was Brendan Rodgers.
I think Jesus said something similar at the place he last ate.
Did Judas pass the ball to Demba Ba?
Even if he did, that was Sir Alex
He was just being very honest about the process, which is exactly what we wanted.
People will complain about everything…
leno is not worthy of no1 at arsenal, maybe at some mid table team- oh shit sorry
..but all these players “train” well apparently, and do well in training.
Cos its against each other.
Given we’re at max of about 1-2 improvements each season (Partey & Gabby) that means we should get to the squad we need … never. Considering we are losing at least 2 players of relevance each season. Ozil and Papa last year, Laca, Willian, Luiz probably this year. Our club is and has been one-step behind for the best part of the last 15 years. Always almost there and always being promised more – just show faith, and yet we’ve actually been slipping slightly backwards.
Answer:
No.
Bellerin, Gabriel, Tierney, Saka; keeper’s not a problem. Almost certainly Pepe (I know people don’t agree–forget the price, just “has he shown enough that he can be turned into a very good player?” My answer is, absolutely.) Quite possible: Martinelli; maybe Willock, maybe Eddie, maybe Nelson. Hopefully, one of Mari or Saliba. Aubameyang short term, Partey mid-term.
Steal in the opposition half ,,, lol steal the ball and do exactly what with it–hes sidelined the only player in the squad that could find , that last decision, that last pass, that last cross to create a goal situation’, what a shit decision, who will do this, i can see us ending in the bottom half of the table and if that happens arteta and his project needs to be removed to an uninhabitable island . hes just making excuses and will continue to do so i dont buy any of it , we look piss poor–even villa… Read more »
“For me the way we occupy space and who is going to move in there is more important than the formation,” I find this quote interesting. The way Mikel keeps barking orders from the sideline during a game, it comes across as either micromanaging – or over-coaching – the players or that the players simply don’t know who is supposed to go where. I like the idea of a fluent formation, but I’m just not seeing it on the pitch lately. No give-and-go’s, no runs from midfield into the box, no running in behind from the striker… Arteta needs to… Read more »
Cant remember the last give and go that actually had real purpose. Luiz did a decent one with Leno in our 6 yard box last game.
I would seriously consider getting Giroud in January. The way we’re playing now is screaming for a player of his abilities!
Giroud will go someplace, not Arsenal, where he has a realistic chance of heavy playing time. His career is ending, he wants to play in the Euros, and Dechamps–though he clearly likes Giroud–has told him he must play regularly for his club to figure for France.
32 crosses into the box–that might work if you have someone like Giroud at CF, not Auba. Maybe you’re onto something!
He was better than Lacazette even when Laca was ‘firing’. Hate how ARsenal fans treated him.
“I think that what we miss is in the opponent’s area and the last part of the pitch. We have to find the key in the attack, that last decision, that last pass, that last cross to create a goal situation, a goal, a shot, a corner, etc.”
There is a guy who could help but he is out for football reasons.
Argh, groan. We get it. Ozil is not playing. Can we please not make every comment section a referendum on this decision.
Yeah, that’s it. Let’s sweep the main reason our midfield is starved of creativity under the carpet.
You hate Ozil – we get it.
While Willian and WIlock continue to get minutes in his specialist position because they ran around abit Ozils name should be mentioned. We should be rid of him but we are not so play him. If we had better no one would be saying his name but we dont.
‘for the good of the team’, he said.
You know, I was almost as pro-Ozil as you, Alex. I hope, in a few years, we learn the whole story. But this is finished, for good reasons or bad. Finished.
Ozil is not worse than Willock in that position or fucking Willian.
Egos won’t allow that to happen. Besides if there’s no improvement by January and we sink further, it might not be Arteta’s choice to make. Chin up, saying more than half of the starting XI are not up to it should get them motivated.
It’s true that we would be better of with Ozil being used than not. He is is very useful in helping us retain the ball in the opposition half
If Arteta felt that he needed 5-6 new players just to play his preferred system, then I wonder what the plan was for this season… Bet everything on the Auba and Willian contracts, along with the Partey transfer, and just hope that the 3-4-3 would be enough to secure CL football (whether via the top 4 or EL winners’ route) to fund the transition to 4-3-3? Would signing Aouar have made any difference? Are the positional requirements for MA’s 4-3-3 so specific or demanding that he can’t even give it a test run against weaker opposition in the EL group… Read more »
Also, if Arteta thinks the current squad is so unsuited to his ideal system, then was there perhaps a case for a more drastic summer rebuild? Could Lacazette and maybe even Auba have been sold (since there were supposedly decent offers for both), and Willian and Cedric passed over (and the Luiz extension binned), to fund transfers for younger, but less expensive players in the key midfield and foward positions? (Guys like Soumare, Szoboszlai, and perhaps even Watkins or Benrahma or Buendia – I’m sure others with more knowledge can suggest better options.) I’m probably being naive, but I feel… Read more »
I never heard about a decent offer for Laca. It seemed like we would have considered one if there had been one.
David Ornstein (who is usually pretty reliable) said there was a “substantial offer” from Roma. Supposedly didn’t meet Arsenal’s valuation, but substantial sounds better than a tenner and a bag of crisps (or letting Mkhitaryan join Roma for free a few months after turning down a 10M trnafer offer…).
Right now I’d take the tenner and crisps, tape them to the tele and watch them sit there for 90 mins. I would get more enjoyment out of that experience knowing that at the end of the 90 mins there is something to look forward to: crisps and the 6-pack I could buy. Surely better than watching Laca waddle around a pitch resembling more Mikael Silvestre being asked to play up front than an actual striker paid 5-10M quid a year. He gives away more fouls than even Mikael could must in defense.
Mkhitaryan who is tearing it up at Roma with goals and assists…
I think we have enough evidence from his time with us and United to know that Mkhitaryan just didn’t fit well in this league for whatever reason, even if he is a player of some good quality.
Italy is as technical as any league but their tempo is awful.. Suits players like Mhki.
Yet this plan seems to contain alot more common sense and nous, than what the people payed millions came up with.
He tried against Wolves. We have alot of mediocre/average players, especially as time goes by and the prem continues to evolve. More than people care to admit. Our best player Auba isn’t even that good all round. If he isn’t scoring what does he do very well. Molde and Dundalk gave us fairly competitive games.
Wasn’t that more of a 4-2-3-1 against Wolves? According to fbref, the only games Arteta has started out with a 4-3-3 are Sheffield this season (where he went back to the 4-2-3-1 in the second half, IIRC) and Southampton and Brighton last season (plus a league cup game against Liverpool). Fair points, though. No question that Arteta inherited an unbalanced trashfire of a squad with some significant weaknesses in key areas (especially CM) built up over years of poor and inconsistent player recruitment. However, Bielsa inherited what was basically a mid-table Championship squad at Leeds (they finished 13th the season… Read more »
Im sticking up for Arteta in terms of i get what he was trying to do but not in the last 3 games. We would struggle in the championship as we are now. Leeds are much more dynamic and athletic than we are. Im telling you we have fallen further than fans are prepared to admit. I watched Fulham the other day and i can tell you we won’t beat them 3-0 next time we play. They play better football than us and look a more accomplished side.. You think we could go away to leicester and give that performance.
Asking for 5-6 players and a few transfer windows seems to me like saying ‘don’t sack me!’
Okay so I guess that confirms that CL qualification is an agreed long term goal, meaning all Gooners should just manage our expectations yet I do feel that more emphasis needs to be put on at least trying harder to maintain our brand and give the supporters some joy. The poor form and bad press around our struggles seriously decreases prospective future signings confidence in our club which is a serious risk in us signing our no 1 targets for those 6 positions needed to move to the 433 discussed.
I think Arteta would agree with you, completely.
What are the odds that Partey will go to the mean? From what he was, to being another insipid midfielder who is afraid to tackle and pass forward?
and than Man city buy him as Fernandinhos replacement and they go on to wrest the title away from Liverpool.
I increasingly have the sense that while he’s very articulate, he never really says much, e.g. these are his plans:
“Long-term being able to compete for every important tournament we play, play on the Champions League consistently. Mid-term to experience an improvement in the way we play, our style and the DNA of the club.
“And short term to keep competing like we have in every game and improve every phase of the game and that’s the minimum we have to sustain now to aspire at the end of the season to be close to the other big clubs.”
It took Kloop four years before he won a trophy at L’pool so Arteta needs time and Afc supporters support.
The guy inherited a squad full of duds,last window he brought in Partey and Gabriel,given the same amount of time as Kloop had Arteta will have Afc back on top,keep the faith.
Come on you gunners……
Klopp was an experienced manager with a track record Arteta is not.
Oh Jesus fun sponge.
Your comment is true. But what model would you follow? we are not going to spend like Chelsea or city and no manger is going to make these rag tag footballers into CL regulars.
Have faith in the project. Come on the gunners!
So you have a squad full of duds and some quality young players. You have two choices: Roll out the duds until you eventually get replacements you need, frustrating the fans to bang average display after bang average display and getting piss-poor results that make it harder to attract the talent you need. Turn it over to the youth. realise it will be a bumpy ride, but get behind them, mould them into the style of driven focussed talent you need, show other young talent around the world that youth gets a go, you end up with probably a similar… Read more »
I agree with you. If he was going your number 2 route we as fans would be more patient as we could say we building for the future. We however cannot say that with our starting lineup as most of the starting lineup are senior players.
Another Ozil hater wondering why our midfield is shit. 🤣
As mesut’s arseblog PR Manager, im Intruiged to know how much you make?
Judging by the number of avatars/pictures on here with your name, I’m intrigued as to how many Arseblog accounts you’ve got to vote yourself up.
What are the odds that Partey will go to the mean? From what he was, to being another insipid midfielder who is afraid to tackle and pass forward?
The ‘he inherited a squad full of duds’ argument doesn’t wash. 5th place in the league eighteen months ago, an EL final, the following year we won the FA cup. Not the best squad ever but nowhere near duds.
Football moves quickly now.. Before it took 3 – 5 years. Now a season. West ham nearly got relegated now there 5th,
Why would Arteta be giving an interview if the intent was not for it to be leaked out to the public. I am very sure that there will be future snippets filtering out into the ether……
By the way, for some reason I feel deeply sorry for him every time I see him speak after a loss or poor performance. Better I read it than watch.
We do not have the squad balance to finish in Top 6, we will be extremely luck if this happens by any chance. I will take anything between 6-10 because that’s how average our players are. I wonder why him and emery both found there second season more difficult than first. It cannot be a coincidence ? they suddenly forget how to set up their team ? when we talk about change of mentality that is something which won’t change until we dispose those who are culpable of having that and acquire new personnel, who not only has the superior… Read more »
The area I thought Arteta would get right is recruitment, but this is where he fell down in my opinion. Heavily investing in old players on high wages and they have left him high and dry: Soares – Ageing Southampton reject somehow gets long and big contract – 11 appearances in a year Mari – expensive loan fee and big wages – 3 appearances in a year Willian – Ageing underperformed that can’t get dropped on astronomical wages Saliba – Not an Arteta signing, but a big asset being wasted. How they didn’t loan him during the summer is a… Read more »
I’m not sure if Mari or Cedric should really be looked at as Arteta signings. I’m sure he was just happy to be getting some cover in those positions, but I doubt he instigated those particular moves. With Ceballos, is there even a loan fee this season? I thought we were just paying his salary. I’m not going to blame Arteta for that, either, as he had gotten good production from Ceballos after the restart and another year seemed to make a lot of sense. And who even knows how much of a role Edu played in any of these.… Read more »
and completely failed to shift the garbage.
I can’t recall hearing a manager say he needs 6 players to make his first eleven work. What kind of message does that send the current squad? Plus we’re not city or chelski so that ain’t happening any time soon.
You can’t take the job on and then say just about all the squad aren’t good enough. Football and our competition doesn’t stand still. He has to deliver this season with what he has.
I’m sure his objectives set by the owners are to make a damn good fist at CL qualification through the league this season.
Yeah it’s a bit hard to swallow. If we are 5-6 players short, then take those 5-6 players and fuck them off to the bench and give then youth a chance. 1.Xhaka, 2. Laca, 3. Willian (incredibly an Arteta pick so he can only blame himself), 4. Luiz/Holding (both been decent, but easily upgradeable), 5. Ceballos, [6. Leno – yeah we picked the wrong goalie – sorry said it!] Bring in: 1. Partey (injury so give Willock the job), 2. Auba up top, Saka on left, ESR at AM, 3. Nelson, 4. Saliba (he can play in the EPL –… Read more »
The key question for the club and Arteta is was he brought in to work with what he’s given and coach improvements? Or a more ‘rip it up and start again’ strategy? I think it’s more the latter which makes the extension of Auba, not shipping out Laca, signing Willian and all the other daft decisions we’ve made recently look even more stupid. If you’re rebuilding for the future buy youth, develop youth and sell everyone over 25 years old. It’s where Dortmund and Leipzig are at and it’s what bold young coaches do.
Yeah, and frankly, if you’re that far away personnel-wise, there’s probably another plan that needs doing.
It sends a terrible message snd is compounded by his active involvement and desire to sign Soares and Willian in particular. So he’s putting the players offside and hamstrung our ability to obtain these players.
It’s all down to what actually happens on the pitch, of course. Formations, tactics and all the rest will only be effective if the players are able to put them into effect on the grass over 90 minutes. Said formations, tactics etc. used so far this season by Arteta either aren’t effective to start with or haven’t been translated by the players properly because (a) they don’t understand them, or (b) they’re not good enough, collectively, to implement them. Anyway, we’re only at the start of a very tricky run of games as we all know. Even trickier given out… Read more »
Sounds good as usual but what im seeing…… “We want to move to a 4-3-3 but for that, you need a lot of specificity in every position but now in five or six positions, we don’t have it” Been saying for a while that Arteta knows just as we do where we are weak…Which is everywhere, playing ultra defensive 3-4-3 was by design because these lot are shit. Its the only solid way to hide the deficiencies and even then its not foolproof. Unlike City we cant throw 200-500 mil on 7 different players whenever we feel like it.. We… Read more »
He fucking insisted on Willian and if he isn’t included in that 5-6 players then we’re truly lost. He can’t just go around making excuses and pointing fingers, he had a summer of recruiting and performed very averagely at it with two major wastes of time and money that can only be pinned on Arteta – Willian and Soares (arguably also Mari – who basically cost us any chance of seeing Saliba).
His inexperience was put on full display. Cedric and Willian are the two worse buys ever. Mari looked decent and im willing to give him a chance..But yeah Saliba, while Holding is still around and Chambers is coming back…and Mustafi and Sokratis are still here. WTF is going on.
Press, pass, run, shoot. Everything we do in attack really boils down to those 4 components, and every forward and midfielder should be able to contribute in some capacity via those components. We’re not doing nearly enough in this aspect and any formation, any personnel choice will be in vain until we do. It’s merely moving the deck chairs while the titanic sinks so talk of 4-3-3 seems a bit irrelevant to me.
“Iceberg, right ahead!”
“Trust the process.”
Also he might want to re-evaluate that 5-6 players away comment, he’s not gonna get 5-6 players!
Short Term: Arteta Out
Mid Term: Qualify for UCL consistently
Long term: Not just challenge, but win UCL & PL
Mission should always be to win, not just compete or give a fight! We are not Sp*ds!
Players can be one for the future..
Manager should be who can drive results NOW!
Lets have someone who is proven at this level & has achieved results..
Brainwashing the fans but somehow true
I’m giving The Arsenal a wide berth for the rest of the season. It’s clear where the problems stem from and if those responsible will not invest then I refuse to hate on our team for some perceived failure. The board and the owners have had easy Street with us for years as we accepted it all and turned on players and management. The biggest tragedy was what happened to Arsene. All because the man is too honourable to dis our club.
Kroenke out. Fairweather fans out.
Give us back our club
I kind of agree with most of your comment other than the bit where you say ‘I’m giving The Arsenal a wide berth for the rest of the season’ and your ‘Fairweather fans out’ statement. They don’t seem to align.
The Fairweather fans I talk about are the ones who only go to the Arsenal when we win. I used to go Highbury on my own when I was about 13. We were dire then but the fans that were there knew the club, the history and the magic. I used to love talking to these guys who had so much passion for the club. Now when I go there are many who seem to be there as tourists. Not watching the game, not at all bothered. Maybe I’m harsh but it often feels like they keep the real fans… Read more »
I really wouldn’t waste your breath with the tired old “Kroenke Out” arguments – it just isn’t going to happen (or at least not because fans say it). I’m not a supporter of the owners by any means but they never said that they would back the club in the way that the owners of Chelsea or City have. The “Arsenal model” was always, basically, self-sufficiency, providing financing from our own resources. Yes, they’ve provided some support – putting the club’s (still considerable) debt on to a lower interest rate and it seems certain that the Partey transfer money came… Read more »
Yeah, I’m not sure what fans are supposed to do about KSE ownership. They clearly don’t give a shit what fans think. It’s purely an investment for them, but no amount of protesting is going to get them out. And if the Kroenke’s do end up selling, look at all the owners able to splash hundreds of millions on signings, they come with their own issues. Unless we can somehow compete with United/Liverpool commercially (we really can’t, not without major sustained sporting success), we’ll never have that kind of money to spend. So there’s really no point in pining for… Read more »
Fairweather fans out while you give the club a wide berth for the rest of the season? What a clown
Not a clown. In all seriousness It gets me down because I hate losing my temper over how badly we play and this effects me for days. This is because it’s been a steady rot and I fear the worst. Years ago I had no expectations but at least we had the blood and thunder to fall back on. Now it’s just meh….
Talks the talk Mr Arteta… With his talking he can win the Premier league very comfortably…
He was the one to Sanction : Willian , Soares & Mari all waste… Only Gabi & Partey are decent signings.
Loose to Spurs – be a man & resign
Agree with his propensity to say whatever is good to say. That’s not good communication like so many fans seem to believe.
I don’t even care if we finish fifteenth. As long as Arteta gets more investment and we continue to build, im fine. People lately have been overlooking how crap MANY of our players are. But we have made some good investments in signing key players to the spine of our team. We need to continue in that trajectory, the results will come.
Eh. For one, those two things go together. If we finish 15th we’ll be deeply hamstrung on acquiring players. Further, Arteta has overseen more bad signings than good, so not really sure how much he can be trusted to get the right players.
I have confidence that he sees all of the problems we do.
I also believe he has a vision of how he wants us to play eventually.
Can he make it happen is the big question but barring a relegation battle I’m willing to give him the rest of this season and the start of next to see if he can make it happen.
I see Yaya Sanogo is a free agent and Gervinho still plays in Italy. Let’s bring them both back. At least it would give us back the “chaos factor”
If the new attacking strategy is to pump 30+ aimless crosses into the box every game, then Sanogo might be quite useful. The January window’s not far off, so Arteta might as well add Giroud and Fellaini while he’s at it. Perhaps Chamakh could be tempted out of retirement too.
Reading the comments here is always so cathartic, especially lately while being so cut off from everyone.
What did Klopp win in his first full season? What did Pep win in his first season at City? I’m sick to death of knee jerk reactions. Yeah we are struggling, but patience is a virtue man! Social media just makes it worse. I want to give him time.
None of them were 14th. and had clear history as good managers.
Klopp won the Bundesliga…
Pep won the La Liga & Champions League..
They all came with a great CV, therefore patience was warranted…
Arteta ? Rookie… AFC is too big a club for him especially being his first job
Rewatched the wolves match. Man, Arsenal are a mess. A total mess. We could well get spanked by spurs. Next up are: Spurs – A Burnley – H Southampton – H Everton – A Citeh – H Chels – H (boxing day) Based on that we may get 3 points from Burnley. None of those others look like we’ll get a result because ya know: we’ve no midfield. Arsenal to be sitting on the edge of the relegation zone by the new year. THis is gonna get worse before it gets better, and I don’t think MA is going to… Read more »
God, you willingly rewatched that?
You think we will beat Burnley?
To me, the best/smart coaches use what they have in their disposal. Klopp did the same when he came to lpool, he even transformed duds like Lovren until he could replace them with better ones. Ranieri did the same with Leicester. That means maximizing what you have. We are clearly not operating to the max, maybe not even to 60%. It’s easy to say that our players are just not good enough, but they could surely play much better. It looks like they downed tools already and that is most worrying to me. Saying publicly that the squad lacks so… Read more »
I disagree about the players having downed tools, but otherwise I think you’re right. Who has Arteta improved? Maybe El-Neny? Maybe Mustafi, slightly?
Yes, maybe a bit harsh from me but I don’t see urgency or desire to win, do you?
And Arteta should have improved many, especially the young players we have. For someone who has allegedly developed Sterling he should enjoy having such a disposal of young academy product, more than any club in the PL.
He did at first.
When you look at smaller teams like Leeds, Wolves, they come up and start firing on all cylinders.
While teams like Manu and Arsenal talk about 5 year plans to build squads, which essentially means we have no clue whom we are buying but after 10 transfer windows, and half a billion spent, 11 of them can form a good enough team to win something… or we will sack the manager
This is Arteta telling the Kroenkes he needs better players because the current squad is full of clowns. Will he even get the quality of player he needs? For as long as Stan owns the club he might get one quality player a year. So if he needs 5-6 it will take 5 years minimum. This is why fans need to put the pressure on the Kroenkes, not the manager. Give the manager the players he needs or sell the club. Sacking managers will change nothing for as long as the Kroenkes maintain the same mentality towards the club. It… Read more »
We spent a ton of money the past few years including this year which was clearly funded directly by the Kroenkes. We signed Mari (10m plus wages), Cedric for somewhere around 10m in wages/loan fee etc, gave Auba a new deal worth 60m plus, gave Willian a deal worth over 30m, signed Partey in a deal worth over 100m and Gabriel in a deal worth over 50m and gave Luiz a contract extension worth over 8m. Wenger had the highest net spend in all of Europe his last few years (largely bc he never sold anyone). Arsenal managers have spent… Read more »
If we are to believe in The Project, does this mean that these current results, this current performance and this style of play were expected?
“I think that what we miss is in the opponent’s area and the last part of the pitch. We have to find the key in the attack, that last decision, that last pass, that last cross to create a goal situation, a goal, a shot, a corner, etc.” This paragraph is alarming to me. It suggests he thinks these are the issues. These are the last steps. These are the defining actions of a game for sure but the real issues are the ‘what comes before’. The things you do to get you into dangerous areas and we are woefully… Read more »
Very true. You have to tailor to your current assets not try and reinvent them at this stage. We don’t have the luxury. I think if Aouar was added, we could have tried a new paragdim Arguably even with Partey, we are one or two short of pushing a new system. many of these players have strengths in certain areas which dictate they play in certain role. Example trying to put Auba up top does not work unless the team we face are generous with space. He starts well left berth bc he gets the extra yard or two to… Read more »
“Find the key” in attack.
“A lot of game lecture.”
Will be interesting to see how these two are related.
Pure nonsense. Arsene Wenger had a midfield anchored by Denilson, with djourou and sendersos at CB flanked by eboue with B52 upfront and we were a more functional side. Sort it out or fuck off.
Lol…Wenger worked miracles with real duds and shit squads. Got a 3rd place finish with an aging Campbell Silvestre and Almunia in goal.
Its true, Wenger was punching above his weight for a while. Part of it is his fault bc his strength frugality in market is also his weakness. But considering some of the sub standard assets he had to deal with, it was surprising we were still so competitive year in year out. That said the league has changed over last 5 seasons since Leicester gave a rude awakening. BC of more equitable TV money, many of the also rans have also crept up in terms of technical quality. This has eroded our advantages previously and not been properly addressed particularly… Read more »
It’s the untimely FA CUP victory which killed Arteta. He thought he has made it before he even started. Remember the pep and toure situation @ city. No manager has banished 2 senior players from playing
I don’t understand some of the reaction here. Mikel comes in and we basically tried to play more front foot football but it didn’t work. We quickly changed to a counter attacking style whilst still working on the safest progression of the ball which is down the flanks through careful rotation of positions. Because our defence was too shte to play four at the back or even three without a lot of screening by midfield. It worked, we won a cup. Now we have signed two decent players, but obviously (at least to those who don’t always keep falling for… Read more »
He got ahead of himself.
Arteta is trying to adapt and move in the right direction but Partey is still new to system and we do not have other assets higher up that may help with 4-3-3. It takes time. Meanwhile we are bleeding. Best bet is to revert to tried and tested that plays to function of this team and idiosyncracies of players on hand, as he did last season.
Sounds to me like Arteta sees issues in the attack more than the defense. It certainly requires more flair but weirdly I feel like that’s where our personnel is best. Auba – top 3 goalscorer in the league and recent golden boot winner Pepe – understand frustrations but he has end product and is not integrated in a way designed to get the best from him. Hasn’t even had a run of games – the minimum we should expect for him. Saka – just great Midfield is where the issue is. I will say it again – Willian had Hazard… Read more »
His issue is balance. We should try to go to a 4-3-3 but we don’t have the full deck of cards at the moment.and that is work in progress. Arguably even with Partey there are issues.
Meanwhile 3-4-3 worked if somewhat predictable for teams but having made an excursion to 4-3-3 unsuccessfully, they may not be as prepared for us to revert back to 3 at the back.
Off-topic:
Whenever we go for an European Title, seems like one of the Spanish heavy weights stand in our way – Barca, Atlético, this year maybe Real Madrid!
More chat. Chat is all very well when you have a clear plan. Can anyone out there seriously put their hand on their heart and say that they still have any idea what the fuck this team are doing? If there’s a ‘process’ at work, then I’m fucked if I can see it. He’s going to need to sign a top drawer attacking/creative midfielder in the summer. Quite why the hell he had to omit a perfectly good player (I’ll refrain from mentioning his name – it only makes certain individuals on this page wet the bed) for the rest… Read more »
Get out of the club mate.
Without Partey this team will struggle at both ends of the pitch. With Partey we’d still struggle to score because we have no creative midfielder. Grealish. Bruno.
We have two slow midfielders who do not compliment each other.
All we do is overlap on the wing and cross. Nothing through the center.
Who will we beat this season. The only way we can play with this team is on the counter. That’s how we had success last season after arteta took over. You don’t need a great midfield to play on the counter.
Not true.
We had some very good results last season without Partey.
But you do need to move the ball quickly. We can’t even manage that. Sideways doesn’t count
His best bet is to return to 3-4-3 Because I don’t think we can function in 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 for long duration without Partey. Likely for weekend all critical match up with Spurs, 3 at the back will provide better defense against fast attacks. And it is a system we had success with which the players are also more familiar with. It also needs to play to the strength of the players on hand. As mentioned, Laca and Auba had a good partnership, there was reason why Auba profited from left berth cutting in with clips from the back by… Read more »
The thing that gets me is plenty of other teams , wolves , villa ,Leeds to name a few with limited budgets and so called lesser talented squads are playing far better stuff than us , at the moment it’s painful to watch
So basically he’s saying we have a Partey, so we just need 2 creative mids (de Bruynes), and a whole new three forwards (e.g. a Sterling, a Mahrez, and an Aguero.. or Sane, Firmino, Salah) to make the 4-3-3 work. Simples. On paper an Aubamayang, Lacazette, Pepe front three should do nicely. But they’ve all been shite and, well, about those two creative midfielders.. I’m starting to wonder how many of those front three will be here at the end of January, and again at the start of next season. I’m guessing 1, and it’s not El Capitan. He looks… Read more »