Mikel Arteta was banking on an appearance in the Europa League final being a “great turning point” and admits his failure to guide Arsenal through their semi-final double-header with Villarreal has caused him a “deep pain”.
After a lamentable season on the domestic front, the Gunners only route back into the Champions League was to win Europe’s second-tier competition. Those dreams were crushed by former coach Unai Emery whose dogged side ground out a 0-0 draw at the Emirates to progress 2-1 on aggregate.
Facing the media on Friday morning, Arteta reflected on a devastating blow to his project.
“What I felt last night was a deep pain because the moment the club is in at the moment, with everything it has been through over the last months, I had a feeling that if we could take the team to the final, it could be a great turning point.
“I felt that responsibility and I was so eager to achieve that because I knew it could be a defining moment. Not being able to achieve it, has been really tough personally obviously.
“I know that we have disappointed a lot of people as well, and that really hurts because we want to give the best to everybody but one thing I made clear is that to do what we want to do, I have no doubts that we are going to achieve it. If not, I wouldn’t be sat here.”
It remains to be seen whether Arteta is still in charge at the start of next season. Having streamlined the club’s decision-making structure last summer and given the Spaniard a promotion in the process, it seems likely that the owners will give him more time.
Whether they back him financially in the transfer market remains to be seen. The club risks falling further adrift of its traditional rivals if they don’t strengthen the squad but at the same time, it’s clear that commercial, broadcast and matchday revenues, already pummelled by the pandemic, will take a further hit as a result of this year’s underperformance.
Arresting the downward spiral already has Arteta soul-searching.
“They are things to analyse more internally, I am sorry. We have done that. There are things that we cannot discuss here.
“I take full responsibility for my part, for sure, since I arrived here what I have tried to do, giving my life, my best ability, investing every drop of energy that I have emotionally to support everything that has been going around with my knowledge, with staff, with all the players that are trying to contribute with all the club to give our best.
“But so far it has not been enough and this when the question mark comes, why it is not enough? Is it just a thing? Is it the manger? Is it many other stuff? What is it? And then this is football. Again, I repeat myself, last night that ball goes in we win 1-0. You are in the final and it is a different world. But today that world doesn’t look very nice.”
He’s not wrong. It’s a grim state of affairs.
I think just Arteta doing this interview for Sky in the first place indicates that he isn’t going to be sacked. This club is doomed to mediocrity and it hurts.
it’s so easy to picture us in 5 years as an Everton or West ham. an average season is languishing around 9-12th. a good season is 6-7th. a poor season, and I’m sure we’ll have a few of those, is 15-16th. it’s also not inconceivable to see this decline go steadily for a decade until suddenly it’s 2031 and we’re playing in the championship. close your eyes and think. you can imagine it can’t you?
Yeah football is cyclical though. Teams have spells at the top and spells in the shitter. Liverpool are about the same size a club as Arsenal and they were 30 years without winning the league, their team in the 90’s is like Arsenal today, and they had many years not in Europe.
it USED to be cyclical. But with the disruptive nature of money today, it is getting less and less cyclical and more and more concrete at the top.
Good point. And the sad reality is that when things started moving in this direction (15 years ago) we were: the biggest club with the biggest stadium in the biggest city in the biggest football market.
The mismanagement from a position of huge competitive advantage by Gazidis and those who have followed has been extraordinary.
Hey ho, COYG
It’s still cyclical. You just can’t see it in the current cycle. Look at United on an upturn after a downturn. Liverpool and Juventus to finish outside CL spots. West Ham might be in the CL. Inter and Athletico. Leicester and Atalanta. Lille, Frankfurt. The Super League idea was born out of the fact that these big clubs are NOT guaranteed places and fans are hyper ventilating that footballs not competitive. It is and that’s the problem (to some owners).
Can’t up vote this comment enough, well said Stephen.
Are West Ham or Leceister cut out to be top 4 contenders? What do they have that is helping them succeed? 1 No fans are allowed anymore, home advantage is gone 2 Referees help is gone with advent of VAR 3 Physical play is not allowed, and tackles are arguably banned. I am not saying Arsenal should compete for the title, else all is lost. Today Arsenal are out of Europa League spots, and it all falls on the manager. Chelsea were ninth with a title chasing squad. Tuchel has taken them to FA cup final, top 4 and now… Read more »
They’re a hell of a lot closer than AFC
Quit the excuses.
We’ve already currently clocked up 17 years since our last league title and not even had a sniff of it for 5 years.
For this club, that just isn’t good enough.
KROENKE OUT
ARTETA OUT
With all that has gone during this season how the fuck can you down vote this and call yourselves Arsenal fans????
There’s some real beta males in this Arsenal fanbase. Simps for Arteta’s miniature dick which seems to be stuck in his brain cause he doesn’t look to have much of it
People like you aren’t fans, they’re not even decent people.
Beta males? Simps? What, are you literally five?
You asked the question – here’s your answer: because I’ve supported this club for 53 years because I’ve seen better – and far worse – than this current ‘blip because it IS exactly that – a blip – in over a century of huge highs, miserable lows, bad/good deals, ridiculous reds and fabulous goals, shit refs and rubs of the green…. because I believe, bottom line, that Mikel Arteta is a thoroughly decent man who loves this club, which is not a bad place to start rebuilding; because the creeping decline began way before Arteta and lies at the very… Read more »
I respect your long-standing commitment to the club.
But that “calm, quiet dignity to this club gained over 100 years of NEVER being out of the top flight” is already being spoiled because this club has been leaking class badly over the past few years. When you have a bunch of people who don’t know what the hell they are doing – from the Kroenkes down to Arteta – who are botching things left and right, I think you’ll find that what has been achieved over a century can actually go to shit pretty quickly.
We were in grave danger of falling into the relegation dogfight at Christmas. A few more defeats and then games against the bottom five would already have become ‘six-pointers’, increasing the pressure to breaking point. We were that dangerously close and people have got to realise that. Arteta owes a massive massive debt of gratitude to ESR and Saka for digging him out with that victory over Chelsea – he was two games from the sack. They saved his job for him. Do we have to go through that before this pathetic have-a-nice-day board and certain fans – especially one… Read more »
Yep!
*(go through that) again
Get Well Soon. 🍇
We’re over half way to 30 years ourselves now
Can’t believe it’s been 17 years since the invincibles
The worst part is in all of this being, there doesn’t seem to be anyway out of this for us. Because the way these KSE types work is, they would have access to some kind of Premier League ‘ratio analysis’ that would’ve been carried out by various consultants down the years. The kind of stuff that we wont be privy to as fans or ever heard about. But to put it into context, remember how or when they first started coming out with statements like needing X amount of points to guarantee Premier League survival — its kinda from the… Read more »
Chelsea spent before getting to 4th from 9th.
it was spending + change in management
Go from 9th to 4th in the same season? I dont get what you mean, Chelsea have finished in the top 6 since 96/97 season, and the season they finished 10th they won the champions league? They were on the up before the money came. But i agree i dont think we will spend the money needed to get back up the table.
We are already worse than both of those teams now. We have to improve to catch them presently.
It’ll happen far sooner than 2031 if we Arteta and the Kroenkes are moved on – PDQ.
*aren’t
Can’t see it tbh
I don’t get why this is getting downvotes. It’s the truth.
for many people voting is an expression of emotion and not believe. and its only a prediction, so it cant be true yet
He’s not going anywhere.
Kroenke’s not going anywhere.
This club’s not going anywhere.
All those that are backing Arteta and Kroenke are getting precisely what they deserve; more of the same shit next year.
#ArtetaOut
Cannot believe the downvotes this is getting. Seriously, do these people actually enjoy this relentless check-back pass-back bore-to-death brand of ‘football’….? Do they actually enjoy seeing this club fucking about in mid table after 13 defeats (and counting, with four left to play)….? Do they enjoy seeing Willian ponce about, barely breaking a sweat, whilst Martinelli sits out yet another game? Do they enjoy the fact that, for the first time in 27 years, this world famous club will not be contesting in a European competition? It’ll be more of the same next season. And the idiots that back Arteta… Read more »
I agree about Arteta not being sacked. Despite all the problems this year, I suspect that the owners will give him a further season to try and turn things around. Their thinking will probably be if Arteta goes now his replacement will be the fourth manager the club has had since June 2018 and that will be seen as crazy.
3rd if they bring Wenger back… #WengerIn
True. Not likely though.
This is why the owners will never understand. They have always thought that things would never change. But they do. The market changes. They assumed it wouldn’t. Bought badly. The competitors change and improve. They didn’t, assumed they only had to compete vs last years teams. They thought that commercially they are well ahead of everyone else with marcher income and the stadium that Wenger funded. Well hello, everyone else didn’t just sit there, they went out and found commercial deals elsewhere. They basically are negative people and don’t believe that anything can or will change if you try. That… Read more »
Some good points but I have to correct you on a couple: 1) Kroenke wasn’t in charge when the (then) new stadium was planned and built. 2) Wenger was certainly the champion of the stadium but he didn’t “fund it” in the way I think you mean. The last club accounts (for 2019-20) show we still owe £144 million on the stadium – over 35% of the original cost. Indeed the financial “drag” due to the stadium debt was the main reason why the owner had to re-finance the loans/bonds a short while ago. We certainly need to be critical… Read more »
Haha I can laugh at you, do you think KSE doesn’t understand shit despite being in successful sports business for years!! Haha . You can only assume you know shitloads but they know how to do business. Get a grip and accept that KSE is here to stay.
Not without fans they won’t
No sport franchise can survive without fans,
And if you read the transcript from the AGM recently you will see that how the fans feel…
Wenger is not a man given to profanities, but I think a big hearty “Look ehhh….listen, ehhhh….fuck off” will be the response to any calls from the Kroenkes.
If there’s anyone to blame then it’s all those so called custodians who made millions out of moving to the Emirates by selling this club to Stan. Danny Fiszman, Bracewell-Smith and David Dein are no angels, they took money out in the club’s name, built the Emirates, raised their share prices and went singing all the way to the bank. Hill-Wood, who was bitter till his last day was rinsed by Fiszman. He bought his shares for peanuts and then started the Emirates project. Hill-Wood saw the value of shares grow 10 fold but they weren’t his anymore. Fiszman was… Read more »
David Dein won us more trophies than Wenger. We need another DD
David formed the (then breakaway) premier league, holding other clubs to ransom. If you’re anti ESL, DD is the founder of the model that makes super rich clubs even richer at the expense of the rest of the footballing world.
Think of the positives – a club not earning any Euro cash with a team on a downward trajectory – might be more tempting to sell?????
oh man. He makes sense everywhere except for the football pitch. Now that there are going to be significant sanctions on 6 breakaway teams, i dont think our phussy owners would break bank in transfer market. The best thing they can do now is invest in proper footballing *pyramid* which means sack the likes of arteta-edu-vinai.
Sometimes football really is as simple as fifa. It is about balance and chemistry between players. So call me captain hindsight but last night for example: On the right Saka and Pepe together destroyed Sheffield. They complement and feed off each other so well. So don’t send them to opposite sides of the pitch ffs. Get them as close as possible. Saka at 10/8 instead of Odegaard. Who could easily play a bit deeper in the Xhaka role and support Partey. Also Bellerin has never had a good game with Pepe, so Chambers should have started, to overlap the two… Read more »
Odegaard as Xhaka’s replacement is not balance
So you think using nobody as Xhaka’s replacement is balanced? Partey was all alone in there yesterday. For me Odegaard is the closest analogue in the squad. Left-footed, can pass, can control the tempo. You pick a system as a coach and adapt the best players into that. I’d have used him there, and it would have been far better solution. I’d even argue he slowed down the attack yesterday and he was hooked, rightly on 60 minutes. My argument is not about balance per se, its about chemistry. Tierney, Smith Rowe and Martinelli on the left. And Pepe, Saka… Read more »
The matches are played on the ground and you need human fitness to play those matches.good god that you live in you fantasy fifa shit.
You miss my point. Fair enough
It was a reference to the fifa chemistry metric. Nothing I’ve said here is fantasy. Our best performances have come with these combinations in the attack. Forget fifa, it’s as simple as that.
And themselves – sell up and go #KSEOut
Can’t support this club if they make no changes this summer at all levels. At that point they are taking the piss
Fuck off will you! Don’t need toxic fans like you who have got no patience in a fucking pandemic!
Sanctions were announced, they’re no big deal tbh. We give up 5% of revenue in our next European season
Whenever that might be :-p
Hope it doesnt build interest in the meantime like my student loan did
I personally would give some time to Arteta! He seems to know how to run a club. He maybe spending more time managing up and the team, which is scary as a club. He has cleaned out deadwood, Raul and ozil!
Things are always going to be worse before it starts to become better.
Why do you say he knows how to run a club? The football we play is awful – the players are scared to take any risks which has resulted in almost a total inability to score. We’re comfortably mid table having lost 13 games in the PL and just went out in Europe without even putting up a fight. Squad building has been questionable to say the least. We likely just spent a huge chunk of our Ozil savings on Willian. Mari should be a squad player at best & Cedric can’t even get a game ahead of Xhaka at… Read more »
It’s not about immediately turning around anything; it’s about rebuilding, which takes time, patience, and understanding (if possible) amidst disappointment. I get it, and I think MA gets it, too, that most fans aren’t up for that. Absolutely reasonable anger and frustration. We suck right now: on that note, everyone agrees. We have shown signs under Arteta of playing good attacking football, though never consistently; we have shown signs under MA of nullifying the opposition completely, though never consistently; we have shown signs under MA of being able to win in high pressure situations, though never consistently. MA has it… Read more »
I think most fans are ok with the idea that the club needed to rebuild. The big issue is other than blind faith there’s really very little evidence to support the idea that Arteta is the right man to oversee that build.
There will be much more evidence available next season, and aside from a spiteful few, I think we’ll all be very glad we and the club were able to stick with MA through the most difficult period.
We said the same last season
The point is that you cannot put a man on rollerskates and then expect him push a car up a hill. Even the biggest Arteta-outers here cannot deny he inherited a serious pair of skates – the already-entrenched decline late-Wenger, the confusing chaos of Emery-ball; the Sanlehi skullduggery; the disinterested owners; gutted scouting system; similarly inexperienced Edu, and… Covid. My point, in agreeing with Futs above, is that strapping those same skates on even a more experieinced manager’s feet won’t improve anything – the hill is just a steep, the car still immobile. Surely better to do our best to… Read more »
There you go, being overly easy on Arteta again. Your comments sound as if we just missed out on a CL place.
I have no illusions about how disappointing this club has performed this year and last, especially. But, in a sense, we did just miss out on a CL place.
I’m not being easy on Arteta; I’m trying to understand the bigger picture of what the club is trying to build. That, against the majority of opinion, is anything but easy.
I admire you faith in him in a way…but he is not learning, that’s my biggest problem with him. Playing a formation/system for the first time in the first leg of a semi final was stupid. Having been incredibly lucky to be still in the tie after the first leg what does he do ? Play another different formation/system for the first time in the second leg. I just can’t get my head around how idiotic that was
Yeah, I get that, for sure. We’ve gone back and forth about the first leg, and we disagree, but weren’t you pleased to see the attacking formation yesterday? These guys are all professional footballers – a tweak in the formation (move the Ceballos/Xhaka role further forward) shouldn’t break their ability to play with one another. The loss of Xhaka in the warmup was a big one (perhaps playing a real left-back, whose big game is the overlap, was more of a change for the team since we’d been playing with a left-back quarterback for a while), but I still thought… Read more »
It wasn’t as ridiculous as the first leg but it was still nonsense. No problem with the formation in theory – but trying it for the first time in the biggest game of the season ? Just completely stupid. The players weren’t drilled to adapt & Partey was on his own for the whole game, And Xhaka pulling out ,? Should have been a bonus. Him at LB just hasn’t worked at all. Can’t for the life of me understand why Arteta has persisted with it. He should have been in midfield with Saka at LB in both legs. The… Read more »
Our record with Xhaka at LB:
3-0 win over Sheffield (they had 2 shots on target)
4-0 win over SP (they had 0 shots on target)
1-1 draw with Fulham (they had 1 shot on target)
0-1 loss to Everton (they had 1 shot on target)
1-2 loss to Villareal (they had 6 shots on target)
2-0 win over Newcastle (they had 1 shot on target)
I’d say there was some success in there.
Considering Saka’s insatiable play on the right wing this season, I see the sense in keeping him there, for both legs.
Again, you are proving my point that you are so desperate for him to succeed that you will find positives everywhere. The shots on target stat is only relevant if we are only talking about half of the game. I.e defending. Xhaka at LB has damaged us in attack too. There’s 3 wins there, 2 against teams with nothing to play for & one impressive win against a far inferior team in Prague..and 3 poor (& that’s being kind) performances….as I said – you see some success because that’s all you want to see. As for Saka….without him we still… Read more »
Wins are success. The draw against Fulham and loss against Everton – they had one shot on goal, and you know how they went in. What I’m saying is that leading up to the semi-final, we had some success in this formation controlling the game, and leaving it up to our attack to make their chances count. We played Xhaka at LB for four straight matches prior to Villareal; you are criticizing MA for changing things, trying things for the first time in big games — when was the last time Saka started at LB for us? Xhaka’s LB role… Read more »
I’m criticising him for that very thing of playing him there in consecutive games ! It wasn’t working & was weakening our midfield. Really stupid decision making. As I said before, you are trying yourself up in knots to justify his decisions. Leaving it to the attack to make their chances count ? We weren’t creating any (orat least far less than we should have been) on those games ! I give up mate. You say you understand the criticism of Arteta but yet you push back against every criticism of him. It’s just silly. I’m going to leave you… Read more »
Fair enough.
That’ll be the inferior Sparta that had not lost at home in almost 18 months! With a record number of clean sheets?
We clicked in Prague – we didn’t in the semis. I do also have some issues with Mik’s selection and subs, however I fully agree with Futs that the real issue is consistency – and you don’t achieve that by changing your manager 3 times in 5 years!
I think the loss of Xhaka was a bigger blow to the players than many think. He’s a strong leader and very popular with the players, with so many things going wrong at the moment it may have felt like one disruption too many. We had no strikers for the first leg and no Kieran, we start to get them back and Granit, who never gets injured, gets injured, we haven’t had much good luck lately. I also totally agree with your assessment of the situation, I want, and expect Mikel to be given next season to prove himself.
Then fuck off! Have you ever coached. Team playing in European semi final. If not then foff!
Stop being so aggressive and disrespectful
hear hear. Articulate your argument with a bit of dignity, or otherwise perhaps take your own crass advice and….
Clever response. Good lad.
Have you? If not, I suggest you start by reading the comment policy of this site. Not everyone has to agree with you for you to respect them!
Bro most people don’t understand how difficult things can be, for them measures are just money and numbers. Which are just one side of the coin. Thete are a lot more to a team than just goals scored, matches won etc. I am not advocating MA but want to convey that try to look at things which can be more obscure and hidden from us. As well.ad human and emotional aspects of that. If you think people earning millions are machines then good luck with that.
Perhaps this is the comment you should have made, rather than ranting at fellow fans to ‘fuck off’ ?
People here believe in instant gratification and will not understand your logic. But I do and believe we should invest in team.and the manager.
Have you ever invest in team.and the manager. If not then foff!
I’m with you, I have a good feeling we’ll be a vindicated minority that an Arteta Arsenal will do better next year. It’s like people have forgotten how many problems predate Arteta and how turgid it was before him. Chelsea came 10th a few years ago, Liverpool didn’t make Europe before Klopp turned them around, who are these Arsenal fans that are so arrogant they think we are above all of that?
That’s possible Canadagoon…..and fair…..but is it not possible to hold that view and also hold Arteta to account when he does get things wrong ? Attacking him for everything is wrong. Defending him for everything is wrong too.
I have to to say I don’t see many ‘blindly’ defending Arteta on here – rather, many who say he has made numerous mistakes since taking over, but has also shown us glimmers of what would justify giving him some consistent (that word again!) support?
Surround the young, committed, but inexperienced fella with the best resources rather than the current shit-show – then judge him after he’s had time to make the best (or worst) of those resources.
A desire for instant gratification comes – by definiton – with a very short, and conveniently porous, memory.
The reason i say he seems to be able to run a club is he has identified the problems at executive level that this club is run shit. He has taken more responsibility that is probably too soon for his experience but there seems to be nobody in the club that can take forward because it is run by shit people. I don’t disagree with points you have put out and that leads to my believe that it is little too soon for arteta to take all this responsibility and that’s my point about managing up rather more focused to… Read more »
The real question then becomes how much damage does it do to the club if based on the current evidence he doesn’t figure it out next year. Does Saka decide he’s ready to go play for a top club? Do players decide they don’t want to play for a club that’s no longer even in Europe? Can we attract a competent manager?
That’s a risk, of course; but the payoff could be immense. Don’t we want the team to take some risks?
We want the club to take intelligent risks. Taking risks with very little evidence to support that risk is just gambling.
For sure. I guess I just see more in the little evidence than others do, and I look at our young core, and what Arteta has to work with there, and see it blossoming next season. I’m willing to gamble a bit!
The young core he doesn’t trust fully? Martinelli, Smith Rowe, Saliba, Nelson, Willock, Guendouzi, Balogun and even Miguel Azeez. He gave debuts to the last two and I haven’t seen any progress with them. Any manager with half a brain can see that Smith Rowe is better than Odegaard at 10. Will be able to see the technique and goal scoring qualities of Willock despite his relative inexperience. Will be able to properly, integrate Azeez next to Party and as an understudy to G.X. But not the arrogant Legohair idiot. The only fool who actually sub’s Auba off for a… Read more »
“arrogant Legohair idiot”?
Don’t think I have a reply for that one.
I think this might actually be the best post I have ever read on here.
Mate, you are clearly a member of the Emirates faithful (if not, you deserve to be) and have restored my faith in Arsenal fans online in general.
Top post. 👍🍺
No, you’re talking about risking players careers here. Big clubs don’t risk their best players careers – that’s why under-performing managers don’t last long.
We seem to be the last of the big European clubs to learn this lesson, which is why we are no longer a big European club.
We’ve played ourselves into this mess, and we’re going to have to play ourselves out of it. There isn’t a quick fix available, I’m afraid. I’m glad we didn’t go with Ancelotti or Mourinho (can’t remember our other choices at the time?), and we kind of went all-in with the rookie manager — it is risky, but we’ve got let it play out a bit longer. One more season?
Yes I am in!
As you see fans are bold, they are bunch of cowards. Shame on you!
Should we have sacked Emery? Arteta’s results are much worse with arguably a much better squad than Emery had.
What, risk relegation?
What do you reckon? 16th by next Christmas? 17th? 18th? Bottom? 🤣
I know you jest, Q, but I really do think we’ll be drastically better next season, and if we’re not, I am confident that the board will make the necessary changes early enough in the season not to sacrifice another one.
Genuine question – is Arteta more suited to being a Director of Football than management? His clarity of thought, communication, squad cleaning seem admirable but – in the heat of the sporting moment – he looks increasingly lost
He has clarity of thought but given he’s in charge of squad building (manager not coach) there’s been a lot of extremely questionable decisions regarding the squad. Remember for the squad cleaning we paid everyone off or gave them away for free- that’s not really a sustainable model.
Ozil contract, Mustafi, Sokratis etc weren’t Arteta’s buys though…
He could have used Mesut Ozil but ostracised him for Willian.
By Christmas, we were crying out for a decent number 10 and 15th in the table.
Now, we’re scratching around 9th and 10th.
And he still plays his mate Willian No Goals at every opportunity.
‘And he still plays his mate Willian No Goals at every opportunity.’
Willian has started 2 of our last 12 games.
Mate – Q is not one to allow logic to get in the way of a good rant.
Oh, and super work again relating to your vow never to mention Ozil again.
Sure. But Mari, Cedric & Willian were. As was his failure to even get the paperwork done so Saliba could go out on loan. Calling Eddie so important that we wouldn’t listen to offers this winter and then basically not playing him again. Nelson. Etc. long list of questionable decisions for guy who has only been in charge 18 months
This is spot on assessment of Arteta’s situation. He isn’t bringing anything to the table right now. Whatever he did bring in the form of FA cup was pretty much down to the football we played during the transition from emery to Arteta ball. Now that is being clearly found out day in day out by managers and we are bloody predictable. The way we set out approaching a game is timid, and especially last night we were trying so hard not to concede that we forgot to rack up the numbers and stats that would have surely got us… Read more »
Well atom, you madethe best point
Well said atom, you made the best point
It means if Ozil was a deadwood, Arteta is a livingwood, then what is arsenal?
Anyways, I’m sure #Wengeroutbooboys are enjoying their new arsenal!
Club PR in full swing
Some “deadwood” has gone for sure, but I think we could trim a few more players (separate to those we could probably sell for a reasonable fee). The reduction in income because of the likely lack of European money on top of the club’s generally poor financial condition means that further cuts will be almost certain.
Give him a place on the board then. On the pitch, he’s yet to convince me, pretty average atm
I honestly don’t know where to start with this post….🤣
And yet, here you are…
Yes, after having frozen Ozil out we had zero creativity for months and went on an absolutely shocking shit run of form. Not exactly genius level there.
Always talks a good game. But fuck me, that hasn’t translated to any coherence on the pitch lately. Give him til December then if its still not happening look elsewhere. Would love it if we could prise Bielsa away from Leeds. Least if we would go out of competitions fighting!
Bielsa now please
”Madman aka El Loco” is 65 … perfect. Perhaps Arsene, 71, could be director of football … no more 0-0 bullshit.
No please!
Last thing we need is another Maniac at the club.
For me, an admitted novice with far more opinions than sense, the crux of the problem was sending out a team designed to “win 1-0.” Treating sport like a PhD level math equation has paralyzed creativity and, at least for this supporter, enjoyment. Could it is just as simple as, when you have the better, more dangerous side, act like it?
One could dispute that, though. ESR, Odegaard, Tierney,Bellerin, Auba, Saka, Pepe is a set of players that could definitely have contrived to score more than one goal. Not that they did, mind you.
Yes – last night was weird. He unbalanced the team with too many attackers I felt. I’m not an Elneny fan but if Xhaka (were he fit) or Elneny had been alongside Partey we might have been a more coherent threat
Agreed. And if Arteta wasnt so bloody minded he’d have made that sub at half time. People slate the egyptian but he seemed the obvious half time sub to me in both legs, to replace Ceballos in the first, and Odegaard in the second
That’s primarily because we started on the backfoot and managers seem to know that. Arteta is learning but he’s being found out more often than not. We’re far too predictable
If that little list doesn’t tell you that there is something seriously wrong with the tactics and coaching methods being implemented, then nothing will.
That line up is more than capable of knocking in three or four at home to Villarreal.
It all depends on how much checking back and sideways and back passes you have those players under strict instructions to implement….
We played with some very good players but without passion. Boring, flat, nervous
So is passion comes from manager or the player’s appetite?
It’s the manager’s job to motivate those players to play for each other as a team.
All we do at the moment is remember what the boss said last week and check backwards and sideways. It turns a potentially beautiful exciting and breathtaking game into a fucking chess match.
That is why no matter what we do in the transfer market, under this manager we will still be churning out the same shit, regardless of the personnel on the pitch.
That is why he has to go. Not next season. NOW.
It’s a very weird place to be in… we have consistently been getting lower and lower for the past half a decade and now we’re at the lowest point we’ve ever been but the scariest thing is, it’s not inconceivable that we go even lower from here. winning the europa league honestly would have been a hail mary. Who is going to sign for us now? how many players worth their money will settle for at least a year without European football at all and very likely at least 2-3 years without champions league football? we’ve been on a downward… Read more »
I think perhaps one of the reasons that people are so invested in the Ek takeover is that they see new owners = new arsenal, that if we change whoever is at the very top, somehow everyone below will also change. and its true new owners could change a lot, especially with fan co-ownership and arsenal legends in advisory roles but I wonder how much of our current situation has become inherent? as in we haven’t played “good enough” football for, what 17 years now – if by good enough we mean winning the league. 17 years without a league… Read more »
Yes, but fan co-ownership is pie in the sky until/unless anyone can come up with a satisfactory formula for compensation should the owner not wish to receive equity in the club (and/or wants recompense for all his stake). Where’s the money coming from for the “fan co-ownership”?
Mate, there are some seriously wealthy Arsenal fans out there. The two Nigerian billionaires and Flamini for starters.
When you have a global franchise like Arsenal Football Club that has serious global marketing potential (thanks to our illustrious history, not the current circus in town) then there are plenty of opportunities for growth.
We just need a majority shareholder who actually gives a shit about this club – and not some fucking stadium in Los Angeles.
Just not Piers… please! Don’t know why Dangote hasn’t had a punt yet – he could buy and sell Stan 50x over.
When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change.
We just need rid of the Kroenkes and Arteta.
well good. i dont think signings are the answer. how many signings have helped us this year? i don’t deny partey, willian and gabriel are/were good players but those marquee signings didn’t elevate the level of our game. it was the youth that carried us this year. we need better coaching, tactics, game management, passion, teamwork.
Which players will come? Hopefully up and coming future stars who want to play. I’m sick of Chelsea and Real rejects, please stop buying trash from big clubs. Get players like Bissouma who want to play for Arsenal and will put a shift in, instead of messed up big egos like Ceballos and over rated Odegaard, not to even mention Willian and Luiz. If we end up out of Europe next season we will need a smaller squad and the summer will be huge in determining who will be brought in, who will be sold, who will be loaned. Every… Read more »
Oh Mikel, you shipped out 2 of our most exciting midfielders (4 if you count AMN & Willock) and played Partey as a one man midfield.
I want Willian and Elneny sold for free this summer!
Give them away, yes, as kinder surprise egg additions
Good luck with that – especially Arteta’s best mate. We’ve got two more seasons of him.
It’s certainly not all his fault, but he does singularly have to take more of the blame than anyone else, and frankly he should be the easiest person to replace to change things up.
If you think that way you are delude. In business, things change when leadership change their thought process and mindset. If you believe firing and employee and hiring a new one solves the problem, then trust me it doesn’t!
Have you ever firing and employee and hiring a new one. If not then foff!
If he’s kept on, we’ll be relegated.
It means if Ozil was a deadwood, Arteta is a livingwood, then what is arsenal?
Anyways, I’m sure #Wengeroutbooboys are enjoying their new arsenal!
In the photo at the top of the article, Arteta has MA printed on his jersey. Kroenke could replace him with Massimiliano Allegri and save a few quid on new clobber.
I don’t think he has the experience to get us into winning ways. I can’t really put it into words but it feels so stale and by the numbers, there is no soul, no one seems inspired. I am sure all of the players are doing exactly what it is they’ve been asked to do (other than the awful mistakes) but that doesn’t cut it when margins are so fine.
We need someone with managerial wisdom not managerial knowledge.
Artetas biggest issue is the tools he has to work with. We have Cedric, Luiz, Willian, Holding, Chambers, Bellerin, Elneny as examples of players in and around our first team competing with teams none of them would get anywhere near, who each year invest and continue to get stronger. Reality is we have a big club expectation but operate like a mid table club. No proper team would be so reliant on loans and free transfers like Arsenal. At a board level to replace Wenger with Emery then u turn from that and bring in a novice in Arteta shows… Read more »
Spot on. Peeps talk about Chelski and Tuchel but the group at Stamford Bridge is far stronger, no wonder, they have invested much more in it
Why didn’t we have the same thought process for Wenger or Emery in that case?
those players are good enough for at least 6th place in the league and better than villarreal. none of our mega signings have improved the team whatsoever.
None of our players with exception of Tierney would get into the spuds 1st 11. Even Saka would not get in ahead of Son, Bale or Kane. That’s how bad we are
Yet we schooled them 2 months ago. FFS
Yes i know Bale just got a hat trick against Sheffield united but id have a prospect like Saka over him any day
“Football is a game of inches” – one inch to right and we would´ve been through
* Isn’t
If Arteta isn’t going to go, his coaching team needs to be changed so that he has an experienced hand that can challenge and guide him when things aren’t going well l. Round and Stuivenberg clearly are not helping Mikel grow and get better at the job.
don’t worry mikel, i disappoint myself every season too. i don’t get why some people have higher standards for you than they have for their own lives. life’s hard and no matter how hard you try some things just don’t work. i know you’re still trying your best and i support you all the way. win or lose we’re on the same boat. thank you for giving your life to this club for the past year and a half, i still believe in you
I really, really wanted Arteta to succeed – and with a trophy, technically, he is definitely more successful than Emery as an Arsenal coach. But such comparisons aside, Arteta’s “way” always seems to be about square pegs in round holes, except a few games where the team plays so very well (United at Old Trafford, Chelsea Home), that expectations increase, as they should, because Arsenal, should be targeting the title. It is frustrating to no end. This season has been disastrous, and Arteta and Arsenal do need to part ways. Before things get acrimonious. One just hopes it doesn’t get… Read more »
I still back him. The squad he inherited has been on the decline for year sand needed a complete rebuild and that can’t be done overnight. Our recent recruitment has been good but it’s clear theres a few more pieces in the jigsaw that need to be filled. Yes he’s made a few mistakes as do all managers but he doesn’t have the previous CV convince critics these are just mistakes as opposed to incompetence. Giving him one more transfer window is fair and naturally if we don’t start next season well we should look elsewhere.
How many Willians, Cedrics and Ceballoses do you need before being convinced that Arteta just isn’t that good with transfers?
i really believe its not about signings or players. coaching, passion, confidence, organization is more important.
We could have had Mbappe, Neymar, Ronaldo and De Bruyne out on that pitch the other night and Arteta would have had them checking back and passing sideways.
Look at that 40 yard back pass that Partey made and dropped Leno into a potentially dangerous situation.
Pathetic. Arteta Out.
Honestly, as much as it is a time for reflection for the manager, Vinai, the Board, Koenkes etc, it is also a time of reflection for all of those who wanted Wenger out. In hindsight it was a poor decision to get rid of him in that timing, largely driven by the fans´ sentiment at that time. A fan group who is capable of making such a poor decision that literally has had a massive impact on the club´s future should not be allowed to have the final decision making power. That is why I am against the 50+1 rule… Read more »
The downward trajectory started under him. He is a major reason for the mess Arsenal is in. The club became bereft of ambition off the field and of fighting spirit on it on Wenger’s watch. Spineless Arsenal, spring collapses, atrocious track record against top clubs, 1-5 laughing stock are all his achievements as much as the FA Cups. “Pretty football”, “young team”, “British core” – all his chimeras shattered and gone by the end of his reign. What exactly would you gain by keeping him?
When he said: ” Irepeat myself, last night that ball goes in… we win 1-0. You are in the final and it is a different world”….
I think he is either equivocating or lying to himself.
Despite of the result yesterday our league position is just disappointing – to say the least.
We arrived to the semi final through Slavia Prague and Olympiakos and then failed against Villareal! The combined value of these clubs are at about the 60% of ours.
1-0 and a “Different world”?
I doubt it.
To play such passive tactics last night and leave the push until the last 10 minutes is disturbing to say the least.
The rigid tactics make it look like everyone is told to keep possession or else. Players like Pepe and Saka never used to stop a breakaway as they enter the final third and pass it back to our defence. No player dares to go past a defender anymore.
We create so few chances this season, that it is dire to watch. Even in Wenger’s darkest days, at least it was entertaining.
Time to go. Sarriball time please.
allegri, hassenhutl, low, bielsa, gerard to name a few. plenty to choose from.
We should throwing the bank at Hansi Flick too, Germany and their Nationalmannschaft can wait
Not Low…nothing to shout out about at club level and well beyond his 2014 peak with the national squad
Honestly I don’t get this talk of “1-0 and we would have been through”. Yeah, we would have, but barely on the basis of an away goal. How is that a gameplan based on confidence? A smash and grab job against villareal would have set us up for a solid thrashing by United if recent forms of both clubs is to be considered!
I still can’t make heads or tails of the insipid display last night.. We needed to play with waaaay more purpose, but what the hell did we do?!
His interviews are only slightly less boring than the ‘football’ he peddles.
Wanting to win 1-0 is the problem. Pretty sure Wenger wanted 10-0 in every game. Even when we were up 3 we would go for it and lose or tie… people hated that but we always went for it. Arteta is Emery 2.0… he’s pragmatic and trying to fix the problems at the club by putting attacking players in defensive positions and giving them instructions to play that way. Wenger, took players that were attacking players and said, attack, who cares about the goals we let in at the back so long as we outscore them. I’d rather watch us… Read more »
At last. A sensible post.
👏🍺
He has been second guessing a lot in this season and his troubles are more highlighted when even after almost 2 years of charge he still cant make his team do what he wants and him not knowing his strong 11. He has always struggled with subs but we were asking for voice on the board…how much does managers and staff listen to voice of fans. How can they play Willian and take off Auba … Here whatever words Arteta spoke might make sense…but his decisions dont. So for me wanting to give him more time even when we were… Read more »
It hasn’t worked, it’s sad because I desperately wanted it to. Now it’s time to get an experienced manager who will allow the players to actually play. It’s more like watching someone try to play chess than football. Love him or loath him, Wenger empowered his players to play. Arteta micro-manages everything and the players are scared to take risks. It’s so dull and boring. I see people saying give him till Christmas, next season could be over by then also. What has happened to my club…
Give him until end of the year. If we’re still as painful to watch as this year then he needs to go. It’s true he probably doesn’t have a CL level squad, but neither does Leeds and at least they’re a fun, attacking, brave team to watch. If he was a good manager he’d’ be getting more out of these players. Clock’s ticking Arteta.
Like a second rate politician clinging on to power.
There is no question that Arsenal have had a dismal Premier League season, but their absence from Europe next season does seem absurd. The failed ESL attempt was contemptible and was rightly criticized, but the strength in depth in England makes qualification for Europe increasingly difficult for clubs like Arsenal. They are ninth in the table, but they are certainly not outside the top 32 clubs in Europe that compete in the Champions League or indeed the other 48 who will contest the Europa league and Europa Conference. I understand the European competitions need to appear as representative of the participating nations,… Read more »
What’s worrying is the talent we have in young players is exceptional, but how long will they stick it out? 1 year outside of europe before they move to a champions league club?
Saka and ESR are Arsenal fans and may give us a bit longer, but players like Martinelli and Tierney are not, and have shown they have the quality to play in the CL.
If teams bid for them this summer, how do we keep hold of them?
Taking off Auba with 10 minutes left after he’d just hit the post is criminal. That alone is justification for his sacking.
not a scakable offence but, yes, it was nuts
I remember the great trolley dash of 2011 when we signed Arteta. From player, captain, coach and manager he has represented Arsenal well. But as much as I respect him, it just isn’t working. Most of that isn’t his fault, some of it though is and those parts are cause for concern. A lot of challenges face this club over the next few years and (combined with our clueless, incompetent owners) there is currently so much youth/inexperience on and off the pitch, including his own that even if you are inclined to believe he can turn this around, he simply… Read more »
Arteta signings/loans in: Cedric (Not trusted by manager does not start) Gabriel (Not trusted by manager does not start regularly) Partey (Regular but mismanaged initially and seems to have regressed) Willian (Not even worth summarising) Mari (Meh, nothing special although career been stop start due to injuries etc) Runarsson (really illustrates incompetence of our recruitment) Luiz (I think was a decent stop gap signing but we relied far too much on him but need to question why when we had so many CD on our books already) Ceballos (Disaster of a re-loan signing looking at season he has had) Odegaard… Read more »
It isn’t the players that are the most dissapointing. It’s you Arteta. You have been rubish most of the season and should really have som time off for the rest of the contract.
its been a poor season but remember, alex ferguson took nearly 4 seasons before winning anything. personally i think he should use more of our youngsters.
Had we played Ozil in the first half of the season we’d be fighting for a Champions League spot now. Just look at the table and remember how shit we were without a 10
My thoughts exactly, for the entirety of this absolute pigs breakfast of a season. Of course, I’m not allowed to express those thoughts on here without having certain individuals foaming at the mouth.
You can criticise Mikel but he still has some poor materials to work with.
Sure change Mikel, blame Mikel.
But would that actually change anything.
As a fan base we need to work together to unify our voice and be heard.
Let’s focus together on what is fundamentally important to our enjoyment.
Let’s not get bogged down with fighting our own.
The owners would love that spotlight being cast elsewhere. Even if their own Arsenal family is burning.
THEY
DON’T
CARE
The only teams who are making finals at the moment are the ones with deep Squads and pockets, built over seasons. Not sure why we are judging his whole tenure on one injury ridden game of the back of one of the worst pr disasters which he has had to tread a fine line, rather than work on the periodisation needed to train for this game. Why doesn’t anyone blame Kroenkes for allowing success to be undermined by a quick Buck? Isn’t it strange btw how there are so many ‘oh the Kroenkes aren’t so bad’ commenters. Any fan who… Read more »
The only teams who make it into finals are ones with deep squads built over seasons.
You need foresight to get that.
It doesn’t happen by chance or there is some cyclical nature to winning.
Winning European trophies are hard as shtt
If I hear Arteta saying the bloody word ‘process’ one more time….GAAAH! Bollocks to the ‘p*****s’.
The other word is ‘moment’
(Mistake, balls up, cock up, disaster, fuck up, Mustafi, etc)
I’m sad to say that the mistakes he made over the two legs have cost Arsenal a chance at the final. His mistakes have been a sign of his inexperience and unfortunately are unforgivable. As much as I wanted Arteta to succeed I just don’t think he’s the right fit. Perhaps it’s time to try again with somebody new.
Can we just rate Arteta based on his football tactics? Is it a coincident that Arsenal loses to low rated clubs? Any team can come to the Emirate and beat us now. He refuses to play attacking football and screams to control everything on the pitch. He has practically sucked confidence out of the player, they don’t even attempt to take on their man, they just pass back or sideways. This guy has no clue, if he is not sacked, he will only take us to relegation. The Kroenkes have ruined this club.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/arsenal-engarsenal/story/4379245/arsenal-boss-arteta-i-know-reason-for-clubs-declinecant-say-in-public
Issues to the core 1) Ownership – Likely we will have to live with it for a while. 2) Executive level. This has been manipulated by ownership to create a more pliable environment for them to push their preferred agenda. with Arsene gone, gradually anyone who had some clout to stand up and oppose them were removed too. Instead we now have Venkatashem (a Non footballing man) in charge. He maybe good at finances and books but he is also beholden to owners 3) DoF – This has also been steadily compromised first with the over glorified scout hit and… Read more »
If MA’s hair stays pitch black after the season, he didn’t do enough. Just saying.
I’ve been an Arsenal fan for around 20 years. I finally want to throw a towel and just boycott our club. I believe in power of fans. If we stop buying tickets, merchandise and watch games on TV, something has to change. I mean, am I wrong? How do you guys see it? This season drained my batteries to the empty empty.
A Wenger in decline was infinately better than this.
I miss Wenger…
Infinitely – you bet.
It’s like comparing the palace of Versailles to a Spanish beach shack.
I want a manager who can identify, sign, train and encourage players who will not only attempt things that shouldn’t be attempted but they COME OFF when they do.
Like Fabregas scoring against Spuds at kick off. Arshavin left-foot blaster for 4-4 v. Liverpool. Giroud scorpion kick.
It’s all gone while he’s here. No soul.
It’s almost painful hearing him try and figure out why it went wrong etc. But there is a time and place to learn on the job and this is not the job to do so. We are Arsenal: We don’t wait for you to be ready; you arrive ready. Go and cut your teeth somewhere else. This was never going to work.
If Man U and Man C wins their finals, how many extra euro places will be thrown down the table?
Who cares?
With the current regime in place we’d be outclassed and this club’s good name dragged further through the mud.
Thanks to the Kroenkes and Arteta this club is the laughing stock of football.
9th in May. It’s pathetic.
Update: We are now 10th, with four to play.
None I am afraid. Both teams are basically qualified for the CL through the league anyways, so the CL and EL winner spot goes to a club from a smaller league, allowing their champions to go into the group phase straight away instead of the qualification play-off. There would only be more European competition places for England if the CL or EL winner would not be in the Top4 of the PL, and would therefore be “needing” the CL or EL winner spot to get into next year’s CL. However, if Chelsea end up outside of the top4 AND win… Read more »
I think he may well leave in the summer. Shame it didn’t work out but his first managerial position was always at risk of being a poison chalice and a steep learning curve. I have no doubts he will make a great manager one day and wish him all the best of he does leave and wherever he ends up.
You might think the best managerial career for him would have been Barcelona B, Rangers, Everton and then Arsenal… he had a template for that somewhere.
He won’t leave.
Kroenke won’t sack him, because Kroenke doesn’t give a shit.