Mikel Arteta is steadfast in his belief that he can turn things around at Arsenal and that he has the full backing of the club’s owners who will continue to help him overhaul the playing squad this summer.
While it’s not yet confirmed, Arsenal are facing a first season without European competition since 1996 after a dismal run of domestic form was coupled with Thursday’s painful semi-final exit from the Europa League.
Having earned praise for last season’s FA Cup success, there is now growing discontent within the fanbase about the direction of travel under Arteta. If the Gunners faltering form continues into next season the Spaniard faces the very real prospect of being sacked.
“The squad needs changing,” Arteta told Sky Sports ahead of Sunday’s clash with West Brom.
“There were already a lot of changes in December, something that has not been done in years, but it tells us where we were. Things are going to have to change and the owners are going to back it up.”
It’s no secret that the Premier League has become more competitive since Arsenal last qualified for the Champions League under Arsene Wenger. On and off the pitch, the gap on ‘smaller’ clubs has closed and there’s a fear the decline under the Kroenke ownership is terminal.
“Time is catching up right now,” said Arteta. “It’s a trend, it’s years now that this has been happening. If the distance and the margins with the rest become too big, then it’s almost impossible to do it.
“We are still on time, and we have put some very strong pillars and foundations in the last few months to do what we have to do.”
Asked if he’s the man to turn things around, Arteta said: “Yes.”
“We know what has been going on inside here for the last 18 months. We know. We only know, the ones that are here. How we have built that is incredible.”
Fine words Mikel. I hope you can do it but the jury is still out
Many clubs would have removed a manager by now. AFC have always been more patient generally.
The choices from above will be to back him into next season or start next season with someone new.
I hope he is given longer but you never know if someone else is being lined up.
You’d have to think that one of the major orders of business for the board this summer is to line up a potential replacement in the event that Arteta and the team do not perform well out of the gate next season and show signs of being truly competitive. Adding that to all the other business they need to do to drag the club back up to where we believe we belong, and I think the twitter mills and blog machines won’t be having much downtime either!
A new manager now would be our fourth since 2018 – not really a sign of patience. I think, assuming he stays, that next season will be “make or break”. Getting into an EL qualifying place (which was the target this season) as a springboard for a possible Top 4 finish later is likely to be the aim. If we don’t manage that, he’ll probably be out.
Freddie was never manager, but your point stands
Give him until the end of next season. We HAVE to be patient. He was given a pile of shit, and one more season to rebuild is fair enough. Mostly, I’d be interested to really understand (and we never will) how he thinks the squad needs changing. It’s now starting to become a Arteta-built and Hale End-developed squad. Not many legacy players left.
I’m still trying to work out why I back the guy. It’s mental. Is it an Arsenal thing? Is just that he’s so good at communicating? Or do I just really respect him as a person? I should be calling for his head. I know that. Were it Brendan Rogers, or Unai Emery, or Carlo Ancelotti I would be. What’s going on here? Is Arteta Obi Wan Kenobi-ing us all? “Yes. I am the manager you are looking for”. “Yes. He is the manger we are looking for”. “I need funds”. “Can we get Mikel some funds please?”. “I will… Read more »
He isn’t the main problem, the owners and their poor recruiting are although I’m not sure how much I trust arteta and edu’s judgment as on one hand we got partey and Gabriel and on the other we got willian and Cedric (decent but still not up to standard). One things for sure though if fans were in the stadium arteta would likely be out by now with these performances. I don’t think he’s good enough (yet) evidenced by his dodgey tactics in both Europa games and odd selections – no continuity and a lack of getting the basics right.… Read more »
And how high is the chance, that he gets those basics right in a couple of months now? Do we want to be 2 seasons out of europe, to say: Oh yeah we gave him time, we didn’t have any faith after the first year, so we gave him another.
Arsenal sacked Unai who just proved to us, he was a better manager. Villareal played that second game exactly the way they should.
I am losing faith in Arteta’s methods, but quite frankly, if a seasoned manager beats a novice the way Villareal beat Arsenal, he is not necessarily a better manager as much as the novice is probably not doing too well.
How the hell he isn’t the main problem? The excuse of having a bad squads is really stupid when you look at Everton or Westham or Leicester. They are not that far better than us. This Mikel ‘talk only’ is the main problem.
Statements like that are the problem:
Leicester is one of the top 3 best run clubs in the PL. Everton have huge financial backing, and all 3 clubs have better balanced squads for PL sucess than ours.
He has Leno, Gabriel, Partey, Saka, ESR, Laca, Aubameyang. We can even add Odegaard to make it 8 top-four players out of eleven. What is his problem ?
Our squad is an upper midtable squad, which is where we are. As much as you bring up West Ham, we could bring up Liverpool
I think it’s down to people have invested so much hope in the idea that he can be the next Wenger who brings the club glory and stays for 20 years. Once Arteta goes we just become like every other big club who cycles through managers.
But let’s also be clear that what we’ve done this year is not how successful clubs operate. We were in a similar position to Chelsea at Christmas and look at the two clubs now.
«Once Arteta goes we just become like every other big club who cycles through managers.»
Then we just have to count our luck and hope the next George Graham will arrive.
I think that’s very true. The thing is, nothing is guaranteed in football. Earlier this season, pundits aplenty were passing around their memorials on this iteration of Manchester City and calling for a massive reboot. Six months later and they are up for the quadruple. Liverpool looked on course for another cakewalk to the title, until they dropped the cake and suddenly stopped scoring goals – for a while. They now might not even make Europe. Ole was looking very sackable, and now he’s got full support. Everton and Villa were punching way above their weight, until reality set back… Read more »
People focus so much on how much clubs spend on transfers without stopping to think about selling players is just as important as it allows for more mistakes on buys. Our net transfer spend the past 5 years has been almost twice that of Chelsea – crazy isn’t it?
Absolutely — a big mess to be cleaned up, and we have to change the way we behave in the market for squad recruitment and retention.
The critical thing is sacking the manager. Everything else follows.
“we have to change the way we behave in the market for squad recruitment …” true, very true. and if asset management is one of the criteria that is significant for a successfull rebuild than Arteta has not only failed but has spectacularely plummeted the value of almost every young talented player that was on the fringes of playing for the first team. Saka was established before Arteta arived and he was more forced to give ESR the chance than it was his decision. He is good at talking and press statement and awful in management. He might have been… Read more »
True. Chelsea are often overlooked as sellers, but they are (on the whole) excellent. They often buy quality quality, younger/youngish, players which have good sell on value.
We too often go for overpriced (Pepe, for example) or older players (Willian, for example). Neither type can we expect to make any profit from. We also allow contracts to continue to run down unnecessarily. Laca is the current one – 30 next birthday and only a year left. If we decide to sell, how much do we expect to get under these circumstances compared to, say, a year ago?
*quality (you can have too much quality sometimes.)
Don’t forget Chelski had a transfer ban on them or I’m sure they would have far higher figures. Also, don’t forget that they were up and down until Tuchel was brought in to replace inexperienced Lampard. This kind of quick decision is one Chelski are known for and our fans have resisted. Tuchel did not bring new players, just new style and tactics. Are our players really worse than those at Everton, Leicester, West Ham? Partey was hyped on this site before we bought him; Auba was the signing of the summer according to fans at most clubs; Willian was… Read more »
Chelsea stockpiled players and cleared them up for a lot of money ore covid. You’re painting a skewed picture using the last 5 years.
The jury is not out though.
The verdict is clear and beyond a reasonable doubt.
He’s been an abject failure and needs to go.
surely the jury has already returned and the verdict is clear. He needs to go. ‘Fine words’ don’t in any way match up to the actions we’ve seen from a managerial point of view. To be honest those words are quite sickening. Basically stating that we aren’t privy to all the good things that are happening and we’re unaware of how well HE is doing. It’s insulting. The ownership is the biggest overriding problem. Everything stems from that but Arteta is the guy who currently has the biggest influence on the pitch. It’s his philosophy and intricate ideas on how… Read more »
I don’t expect KSE to sack Arteta. See their history with their US franchises. They seem content with mediocrity. Coach Jeff Fisher’s tenure at the St. Louis/LA Rams is a case in point. One of the worst records in the league during his time in charge and it took KSE five years to make a change.
He is blaming the players. Doesn’t deserve any respect from them and will lose the dressing room if confirmed anyway. Edu knows football enough to know that tactics and management of players are wrong. Lampard was better than him and still got sacked. As soon as he puts the responsibility on the owners, you can see that some fans start hesitating which means they are preparing to back him. You will get the club you deserve.
did anyone really think the squad he inherited with him as a rookie in charge was actually going to do a whole lot better? i really didn’t expect much from this season and, if anything, what surprised me was arteta’s insistence we could get top four and his continued reliance on senior players who have proven over and over they are not good enough. yes, he has made many mistakes this season. but, he is a rookie coach. that comes with the territory. my hope is that he has learned from this season that there are a number more senior… Read more »
“Progress has been made”….?!!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The board isn’t backing you. They just don’t give a fuck either way
Arteta needs more than new players. He needs to stop rotating as much as he does.
Look at Manu, Leicester and even West Ham. They know who their 11 best players are and continue to play them with great succes. Arteta could have one great performance but somehow finds a reason to change half of the personel. We are not City, we can’t do that.
If you want consistensy: play the same team consistently!
Play it the same team consistently without rotation leads to predictability and burn out: two factors that combined to devastating effect when Olympiakos knocked us out of Europe last year.
Great. We found our next coach
This squad is imbalanced, a remnant of the various people responsible for requirement like Mislintat, Sanllehi, Emery, even Wenger, etc.
For the likes of Gabriel, Partey signings Edu and Arteta have also been involved in signings such as Willian, Cedric. Also, even the former set of players aren’t particularly setting the world alight, even proven and experienced players like Auba, Laca haven’t performed consistently this season. This is despite the coaching reputation that Arteta has built up.
Qs have to be asked if Edu and Arteta are on the right trajectory.
Auba and Laca haven’t performed to their strengths because they’ve had fuck all supply from the midfield into the channels, particularly from the No.10 position….
New players? Look at who he’s brought in: Cedric, Mari, Partey, WILLIAN. He’s also extended contracts to Aubameyang, Luiz, and Ceballos’ loan. All of them are players in the wrong age bracket for a rebuild who have either disappointed or underperformed, or Willian. The two positives are Gabriel, who he hasn’t played consistently since his bout with COVID, and whom he didn’t play in either of the two most important games of the season; and Odegaard, who’s only on loan and Arteta might not have had much to do with acquiring him. In general, Arteta’s preferences are experienced and safe.… Read more »
Fully agree on the experience vs potential. It’s been my view as well since the beginning of this year, that Arteta defaults to experience over potential, case in point is Willian vs Martinelli. Willian didn’t merit all the appearances and minutes, Martinelli also hasn’t managed it this calendar year. However, those minutes would have been better investment on the youngster. That’s not the only example though, another is Elneny vs one of the youngsters like Willock. Another example is Saliba, to say he wasn’t ready was bull! It’s disappointing that as an youngster in management, Arteta doesn’t trust the youngsters,… Read more »
I take your point but the danger to young players has been seen with Martinelli injuries. MA should be using a rotation of young players in each game but we have had to push them on quickly but let others go.
Citeh can afford to bring Foden in carefully, United, Chelski too, we need to know how to get the best from experienced players to cover development.
Absolutely agree if he doesn’t over play Saka or Tierney!
Thomas Partey is a good player, who, like the rest of the good players we have, isn’t being utilised properly by an idiot who clearly hasn’t got a clue what he’s doing. This squad that we have is far from the finished article – but should be far higher than 9th or 10th. West Ham and Leeds have far weaker squads – Leeds are newly promoted FFS – and done far better with fewer resources. With the exception of Willian, Ceballos, Xhaka and Elneny, this season’s pitiful performances have NOT been due to the players. It’s down to the checking… Read more »
Ultimately Arteta must take the blame. He has the resources, but choose to send out potentially good players like Saliba out on loan because he want to show he is the boss, and play marginal players like Elneny because as he mentioned once “elneny has absolutely no ego”. If he is not using the resources he is given, then he failed the club, full stop. I must admit I start counting how many touches of the ball Auba had per game. We simply cannot rely on his past reputation like Ozil.
Pointless rotation is one thing but the days of playing the same players all (or most) of the time are long gone. I think Liverpool still hold the record for winning the league with only 14 players – but that was decades ago now. If we did that in the (more) modern game, we’d pick up a lot of injuries which would defeat the object. I think what we need is a combination of greater strength/quality in depth and also a better tactical appreciation of how to use those players. It’s a balance – don’t go mad changing for changes… Read more »
Some coaching basics might help too
The only thing he needs to do is submitting his resignation.
I wouldn’t agree that he shouldn’t rotate players because the season is too long and you want to avoid injuries. What I would want is maintaining the team structure. I do not like the idea of players being moved into unnatural positions. What I mean is, he should be rotating Auba and Laca, rather than playing Auba on the wing. He should be rotating Smith-Rowe and Adegard rather than playing Smith-Rowe on the wing when we have hundreds of wingers. Why play Adegard in central mid, like he did against Villa Real, when Elneny could assist Partet in holding the… Read more »
The manager needs to be changed first. His numbers are worse Emery and he even lost to him. This man is all talk, just like most of the squad.
New players or not, it is evident he cannot get the best out of the players he has. The weaker squads above us tell the tale.
Sad but true.
Precisely. We currently have the squad to finish above 8th in the league and beat Villarreal over two legs. The current underachievement of the squad he has is fully down to him. He needs to acknowledge this, and either bring in someone who can help him or move on
Yeah exactly. I don’t think we have a top 4 squad, but we do have a top 5-6 squad and one that should be beating Villareal,
Well said. 👍🍺
Maybe the superleague can help. Behind realbarcajuve the 4th place is granted.
Spot on. 👏
Weaker team above us, is it because their manager is so good? Or because their manager is there for the past few years? I agree with Arteta. Stay another year.
I’m done ranting about the manager. Doesn’t matter if he remains or if he’s sacked. #KroenkeOut
This is spot on. Focus on the manager is exactly what Kroenke wants to get off the hook. He hid behind Arsene, now he will let Arteta absorb all the anger.
How is kroenke any different than other club owners?
Erm…..look at Manchester City? Look at Chelsea?
Hello? 🙄
Because some of the other owners actually want their club to do well. The focus is shifting to Arteta and if the protests getting too much then the owners have a ready made scapegoat in Arteta.
Not being racist, but USA owners seem to regard soccer as an added trinket to their main concerns. Abramavic and Leicester owners show interest as fans. Citeh can just throw money around as suits.
So he’s blaming the players. But he makes players worse. Look at West Ham, their squad isn’t as strong as ours. OK maybe Chelsea have a stronger squad but weren’t they a point behind us when Tuchel came in and look at them now. I love what Man U supporters have achieved so far in getting a game postponed and a sponsorship cancelled. I don’t think we should stop with Kroenkes out. See you at the demo guys.
True. I wonder why did we stop staging protests against the owner.
Correction – He’s blaming the players and now the players are (if they weren’t already) fully aware he’s blaming the players. Booking myself into the Mikel Arteta School for Staff Motivation.
A bad workman blames his tools.
A saying that’s never been more applicable than describing Arsenal’s current ‘manager.’
Who are those weak players Mr Arteta? Names please
The man is a disgrace.
An Arsenal manager slagging off his players in public. Pathetic.
“The squad needs changing,” Arteta told Sky Sports ahead of Sunday’s clash with West Brom. “There were already a lot of changes in December, something that has not been done in years, but it tells us where we were. Things are going to have to change and the owners are going to back it up.”
The squad does need improvement. Willian, Ceballos, El-Neny, Chambers, Holding, Mari. None of these players would make the big six’s starting 11s. Not sure Pepe would either. We have no back up LBs, and three RBs. Add in the players on loan (Kola, Torreira, Guendozi, AMN). Again, these guys aren’t getting into a top six side. To me, it’s no surprise that the performances went to shit when Tierney and Odeegard got injured. Up to that point, we recently had been dominant in matches (although we self destructed and lost a few of those matches). None of it matters anyway… Read more »
“The squad needs changing,” Arteta told Sky Sports ahead of Sunday’s clash with West Brom. “There were already a lot of changes in December, something that has not been done in years, but it tells us where we were. Things are going to have to change and the owners are going to back it up.”
“The squad needs changing,” Arteta told Sky Sports ahead of Sunday’s clash with West Brom. “There were already a lot of changes in December, something that has not been done in years, but it tells us where we were. Things are going to have to change and the owners are going to back it up.”
The guy never takes responsibility for anything. We had a lucky cup run last season and he let it get to his head and now he sees himself as Pep 2.0. What a joke! His record last season outside the FA cup run was bad. He got us knocked out of Europa with poor team selection, tactics and game management. This season is even worse. Nothing we have seen so far points to the fact that he can turn things around. The Kroenke’s won’t sack him so let us fans sack ’em all. It’s within our powers. Boycott the shite… Read more »
A combination of factors, coaching ability and a strong squad! We cant put all the blame on Arteta, the players have let us all down, look at Willian for example, he was playing well at Chelsea, in the premier league, he comes to AFC, plays shit, the same goes for may players, they just dont play to their full potential!
I just want Willian sold. What a waste of a squad place and funds. This team needs £200m minimum investment if we’re to arrest the slide and i’m not sure Arteta is the man for the job.
I doubt that will happen and it seems Arteta was responsible for signing him. Had a few phone calls I believe to convince him to join us. I get he can’t come out say I fucked up royally signing that xxxx but by the same token don’t throw the squad under the bus.
Arteta sell his best mate?
Yeah, good luck with that one.
Good luck getting even a penny for him
We don’t need to get a penny for him, just need to free up his wages..
We get 189 million for villain
I back Arteta but if things don’t noticeably improve after the next transfer window then I think he’ll have to go. Certainly a good coach, I think many players have improved individually under him (more than Emery) but collectively were missing something.
Who exactly improved? Some players are the same as last year, while more are worse. Partey (great player) now a lot worse, Willian brought in after a great season, now horrible. Auba, Ceballos, Bellerin, Leno all worse.
You can make a small case for ESR, Saka, maybe Laca lately, but I don’t know if that’s down to the manager.
I’m not saying arteta hasn’t made mistakes, one being letting Martinez go instead of Leno but he has a chance to put that right in the summer by signing a keeper who is comfortable with the ball at his feet. His tactics and touchline decisions have been bad at times but we have to accept we hired a rookie manager (who everyone backed at the end of last season) and we have to allow for some of it. Next season will be the big test to see if he learns from his mistakes. Some older players are in decline but… Read more »
Saka and Smith-Rowe were free spirits playing without fear when they broke through but they have both become noticeably more cautious in the last few weeks. Arteta needs to trust his players more.
yeah too much of a control freak
He’s more Pep than Arsene
If only he’d find the middle ground
He’s neither.
Just a wannabe.
Diet Pep at best.
Arteta wants to tell us that Aston Villa, Leeds, Westham etc have a better squad than us? No, boy! You are just unable to glue together what you have. And there is no assurance you will be able to do that with better players. You always get the basics wrong. Oodegard and Smith Rowe should not play the same match. Martinelli should not earn the bench until the 70th minute. Bellerin is now a shadow of his former self. Gabriel deserves to play. You need a box-to-box midfielder. And if you think you can’t defend with a 4-2-3-1 just play… Read more »
What exactly does he think they have “built”? Everything about this club says rot and decline. How can he possibly say they are building anything?
The guy lives in a dream world.
He genuinely thinks his boss is ‘excited’ about Arsenal. It’s beyond pathetic.
“The squad needs changing” is a bit of an exaggeration, right? There are a few positions that need to be upgraded – RB, CM, AM and maybe CF. With reliable backups needed for GK and LB. In my book that’s not the whole squad being unfit for the task at hand – especially as we’ve had the AM and backup GK on loan for the 2nd half of this season Sorry, just read a little to me like he’s throwing his players under the bus to protect his own neck. There’s this narrative that Arteta needs his perfect squad before… Read more »
Anyone with a grasp of the game knows what needs changing.
Most of these players are full internationals – who didn’t get to become full internationals playing for Arteta……
CF? We have one of the best finishers in Europe at the club who has scored for fun under every manager hes played for, but he’s being starved because of the way we play. Unless we start creating more chances no CF will thrive at our club feeding off scraps.
You nailed it.
We need to start scoping out out next manager now. Identify the perfect man for the job (a proven winner in European football is the basis for me), and start tapping him up now.
Arteta has the solution and it’s only him who can save us, sounds like a gambler putting his house on red to get his losses back to be honest, it’s not just the squad though is it Mikel?
A bad carpenter blames his tools!
Can you imagine what the dressing room must be thinking now?
If he hasn’t lost them already, he has now.
You give praise in public and bollockings in private. Any manager worth his salt knows that – it’s one of the basics.
This carpenter didn’t cause the rot and will need new tools and time to remove remaining deadwood. A full preseason and a few months of the new season without the fixture congestion of European football and we should have a more accurate picture. If it’s still the same then start again.
The players that need changing are the players you resigned/brought in Arteta. Auba, willian, Luiz, Cedric, ceballos.
You’d replace an top international striker who’s recovering from malaria and has had fuck all service from the midfield all season…..?
Way to go mate. 🤣
The only thing that is “incredible” is our league position and not in a good way.
Kroenke mouthpiece !!! Stan & Mikel out
Amen.
Talking gibberish sounds like a man who knows he’s on borrowed time. Turning on the players mouriniho style. At least he thinks he’s doing incredible work
If only he were on borrowed time.
It’s this club’s reputation as a big club that’s on borrowed time.
Okay, I get it, our squad is not the best in the country or even London. But we do not have the 9th best squad in the land. We are bettee than this and Arteta and his coaching has to take some blame for that.
I think he’s had his day sadly , a coach maybe a manager not. Changes the team around week in week out playing people out of position and with no direction. Shame as I thought he would be good. Can’t keep blaming the squad and wanting new players but who would want to come to mediocre club that we are these days . Take a leaf out of Leeds book , good coaching , decent manager and players playing for the team with drive and ambition . I’ve supported Arsenal since 1971 and this season sadly is probably the worse… Read more »
The problem is that even with better players, moving the ball around the back and halting attacks for the opposition to reset will still be dull.
I still think this squad should be making top 6 with their quality. Arsenal will never afford a team of Man City quality, which is what Pep has had at every team he succeeded with.
As I said the other night, we could have the best XI in the world and Arteta would have them checking back and passing sideways and backwards.
Just re-watched the closing stages of the game and we were STILL passing sideways and backwards on the 95 fucking minute.
That’s why this clown needs to go. He’s ruining good players before our very eyes.
Am I naive to think we actually have 90% of a pretty good first 11 for next season? I’d be happy to see Aubameyang, Saka, ESR, Martinelli, Partey, Tierney, Gabriel, Saliba and Leno (and maybe Pepe) starting regularly next season. Need to add a midfielder and RB to that.
There’s a lot of other squad players we might want to move on, or replace. But since we don’t have Europe next season, the drop off after the first 11 doesn’t matter as much.
We need a quality attacking midfielder. That would make a big difference. Attacking potency is our main issue. I do think the manager has a lot to answer for on that though, rather than playing personnel.
ESR is fine but needs support. I actually think the key issue aside from the obvious backup left back & keeper and probable replacement of Bellerin is the central midfield depth. Regardless of what people think of Xhaka, he and Partey form the only functioning midfield partnership at the moment. You get the odd decent game out of Elneny but that’s it. Between Elneny, Willock, AMN, Torreira and Guendouzi, a decision needs to be made which (if any) to keep and ensure we have a couple of decent backups that provide good cover / competition, with Azeez also in the… Read more »
Delusional, misguided, cowardly. We’re 10th. We’re out of Europa League. He’s brought in a 30-something has-been on 10 million a season to play ahead of the 24-year-old club record signing. He refused to even register a 19-year-old defender the club had paid 30 million for and instead relied on aging David Luiz. He sent our midfielders on loan and instead gave opportunities to a mediocre Real Madrid property. He publicly made an example of Guendouzi, tanking his transfer value in the process. He kept playing Lacazette at 10, despite the clear and abundant evidence that it wasn’t working. His one… Read more »
Sadly you’ve probably only covered the tip of the iceberg. Completely ineffectual substitutions, the false 9 farce, refusing to rotate players until they are shot and on it goes…
Yet his sycophantic followers will justify all of this and have nothing but hope as evidence he can turn it around.. better men have fallen for less.
yeah he won a FA cup but so to did Roberto Martinez and Harry rednapp
di matteo also won the champions league.
So true, best post IMO. The only thing I disagree – xhaka at LB is a failure, obvious exciting choice for that role is saka, since we effed up and haven’t found a backup for Tierney – cedric is not that, being right footed.
That has destabilised our bot great, but solid midfield pairing of xhaka and partey and has put a slow midfielder in LB. Crazy stuff.
Mikel needs to go, delusion in his words is beyond belief. With this attitude we could see players down tools today for him.
Oh, I was being sarcastic about Xhaka.
I completely share your opinion.
If the owners back him then they really don’t care about any level of success at this Club. Whilst the squad undoubtedly needs changing it would be throwing good money after bad if Arteta and Edu were allowed to make adjustments. The two great minds who decided to give Willian a contract…sign Soares as backup and then refuse to use him fir that express purpose…resign CeCeballos on loan when he offers little to nothing to the squad…persuade Bellerin to stay having received a couple of decent offers fir a player who had lost his main asset ( his speed)…treated with… Read more »
I fear that most comments here are very short-termist. I am old enough to remember when we were a consistent mid table team, whereas the “I want instant success” attitude now prevails. There is a massive overhaul needed, hopefully it happens over the next twelve months, whoever the owners may be. A season of bedding in, then start objectively judging if you must. So many Premier league managers on here, I assume you all have the top coaching credentials!
Sorry but I call bullshit. How can he even say that with a straight face when all season he insisted so much on playing Willian ahead of Pepe, Martinelli, ESR – the youngsters who will bring the very change he says we need. His words mean nothing of they’re contradicted by his actions. This man is fast becoming a pathological liar. He’s a Mourinho but without winning the CL with Porto.
See what he does next season and judge him on that. This has been a tough season, he’s new to the game, and he’s had to work with a lot of shit that Wenger brought in, who were not good enough and not sellable for any decent fee to improve the squad.
If Allegri were to show an interest, I’d say take him now, but I have been saying that for the last 3 seasons.
he also working with alot of shit that he brought in himself
I see Lille are top of the French league with two games remaining, on the back of presumably smart reinvestment of the £100 million received for Pepe and Gabriel.
This comment has no point but I thought it was interesting.
I know a lot of Gooners are understandably cross about Arteta apparently staying, but it’s not really that surprising. On balance, it was pretty unlikely the owner would sack him – even after failure in the EL. Apart from anything else, I imagine that the calculation of (what would then be) four managers since 2018 was too much to consider on top of everything else going on. Also, getting in a top class (and we would need someone in that category) replacement has it’s own difficulties – we’re not as attractive as we once were – and we couldn’t afford… Read more »
I was just about to say ‘You sound just like Biggles.’
Then I scrolled back up and saw it was you anyway…. 🙄
I knew it wouldn’t be a popular post! I think we’re still stuck with it though.
Sweet Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus and the wee donkey…. you can’t claim squad poverty after eighteen months in the job!
It’s not the squad. It’s not the squad that has us in 10th or causes us to bollocks those two legs of the semi final.
We had more than enough to much better.
It’s him.
How will they get rid of Pepe & Willian? How will they replace Odegaard’s influence? How will they replace a required better candidate for Ceballos? Is Arteta skilled enough to use our Academy grads such as Saka / Falgoun / Willock to fill these gaps and get us into top 4? Is there enough cash to pull tranfers across What is going to be done about Laca & Luiz? The gauntlet has been set and pretty clear to see! If Arteta is confident to take this across, there can has to be transparency from whole board and management. Cannot use… Read more »
Why on earth do you want to get rid of Pepe….?
When used properly, the guy is a good player.
Lot’s of questions, good ones. If only we had the answers. My thoughts: 1) We will only be able to sell Pepe at a big loss. I think we’d be doing well to recoup more than half his original fee in the current market. Willian – who knows? The only way to offload him is probably to buy out his contract – but do we have the spare £millions for his two remaining years? 2) Odegaard is almost certainly going. If the owner stumps up some additional finance we may be able to bring in a replacement. 3) as in… Read more »
I suspect after seeing what Willock is doing on loan, Arteta will give him one last chance and he’ll take Ceballos’ place in the squad next season.
As for Odegaard I reckon there’s a chance Madrid will let us have him on a further 12 month loan and then he’ll replace Modric in the Madrid team in 2022 when he retires.
I hope Willock is given a chance – he’s exactly the kind of young talent we need to bring on, more so than ever now.
I’m not as optimistic as you regarding Odegaard. Madrid seem to want to bring him back asap as one of the talented young players they can build a future team around. In any case, I’m not sure we’re in RM’s good books over our “desertion” from the ESL (as they may see it) to consider a further loan even if that was a possibility. We’ll know soon enough though.
I hope you do succeed Mikel, and quickly because in a post-COVID world with full stadiums again, you would be sinking fast against the unavoidable backdrop of public opinion
Just wait until the Emirates faithful let him have it.
He may have the backing of an absent fraud, but the real life blood of this club – its fans – want him out.
Well, a vast majority of us do.
The others must have some sort of a mid table 13 defeat fetish.
I’ve posted on here so many times and will continue to say the same thing…this all ends in tears and arteta will be sacked believe me! His tactics are unbelievably bad and if your telling me the players we have can’t finish 7th or higher your fucking crazy!
It’s got to the point when no matter what he says just sounds like bullshite now.. It was a risky decision to hire a novice but I got behind him and hoped he could be be successful.. he hasn’t had the right conditions to be successful but omd some of the decision making has been truly awful and head scratching. Common sense will say we need to stop this now. But I imagine he’ll stay and spend money in summer only to be sacked 10 games into next season.. sigh.. and double sigh
Why do you wait years to repair something for when it’s only completly broken?
If he is kept on and we’re doing badly by November we need a change of manager. I hope he does well for our sake. But if there are any more Willian type signings in the summer I’ll be extremely worried. We need players who are entering their prime and hungry. Not overly pampered comfort zoners.
He needs to go now.
Why should next season be ruined too, due to this idiot…?
Not sure it’s smart to publicly not back your squad
It’ll be a difficult market, we’ll have a first team squad of 29 this summer, and we may be stuck with the bulk of what we have
It’s not like KSE haven’t backed Arteta
Aubameyang £300k p/w
Willian 3yr deal reported £200k p/w
Gabriel €30 mill
Partey €50 mill £200k p/w
Soares 4yr deal
Runarsson 4yr deal
Ceballos + Odegaard on loan
Paid players to leave in January, which while necessary, may have set a dangerous precedent
Arteta has been given too much responsibility and if he is smart he should try to get away from some of it. Shouldn’t Edu or Vinay be making these kind of statements and not Arteta?
I think Arteta would do well to concentrate on the team and game management – get his first XI right, get the best formation for it, improve his game management, improve the players in training etc. Trying to lead the project and rebuild Arsenal while we can’t have a shot on target against Villarreal at home is a bit daft.
Not only the squad that needs changing ; the recruiting and coaching too!
This squad may not be good enough for the title but it’s not so bad as to be languishing in mid table.
What did the likes of Everton, Villa, West Ham, Spurs,etc invest in their squads to be lording it over Arsenal in the PL?
Thanks to everyone for adding to this debate. I read it with interest. For what it is worth, if the shareholders wish to maximise their asset and brand value, which should be their only objective, if they are not vested in just owning a football club then, like any well run company, there needs to be a strong executive team that is held accountable by the board. It is not clear to me that we have that depth of executive experience nor the competence at board level. Start here and solve this problem then, in my experience everything else falls… Read more »
Obrigado Arteta!! When Wenger was replaced by Emery, I felt that the soul of Arsenal had left. We were very negative in our approach even against the teams from lower half. There were flashes of old Arsenal (against Leicester) which gave a flicker of hope but by the end of the season that had left as well. When Arteta came we were so, bad that we accepted that we can loose without putting fight even at home. Then we won against the big-6 a few matches and I thought we found our mojo back. The next season started and I… Read more »
It is NOT the squad. Arteta has got perfectly good players (Martinelli being only the most obvious) who he just refuses to play. He has bought over-the-hill strollers (Willian, Soares) and sent out on loan younger sparkier players (Guendouzi, Willock). He never picks the same team twice. He plays dull tippy-tappy of the type that even makes the later Wenger years look good. I can think of no question to which Arteta and Edu are the answer.
Nice of the Kroenkes to give Arteta the chance to get us relegated next season. Apathy all around. I wouldn’t trust Arteta to spend 10 pound wisely let alone millions but this club is run by imbeciles so I’m not even gonna get worked up by this no more. Arteta isn’t the man to take us anywhere but down. But who put such a novice there in the first place? Get em both out. Doesn’t matter which order: just get them both out and try pretend this was a bad dream.
How we have built that is incredible…uhmm built what exactly?? We are literally no better off than we were 15 months ago, after a reasonable amount of investment. Totally agree this squad needs a major overhaul, but do I trust the people who signed Cedric, Willian and gave Auba a huge contract? It’s a stretch. I want Arteta to succeed, it’s a very romantic proposition and it would mean Arsenal success but my faith is waning. To make this club instantly successful might require Stan to drop half a billion in the summer. Not gonna happen is it. And if… Read more »
One year out of Europe does not mean a death knell on the club. It might even turn out to be a blessing – the point where reality sets in. United and Liverpool have been there in not too distant seasons.
Let’s hope the Kroenkes live up to their promise… to Arteta. But is he the man to ensure a quick return? I hope so.
I genuinely believe that Arsenal could be in contention for the 4th place maybe even next season if the club focuses on building a game plan around our younger players who are all exceptional talents. But then I quickly remember who our manager is and my optimism fades away.
Joachim Lowe is free after Euro?
This situation beautifully demonstrates the difference between the successful clubs and losers like us.
Do you think that Arteta would still be the manager at Chelsea in these circumstances? A ruthless club that actually cared about winning would have jettisoned Arteta by now. But not us.
Arteta has no future at the club and must go now. Any fool can see this. His remaining is an abomination.
Maybe Stan wants to give Arteta more money to waste on thirty something pensioners.