Mikel Arteta admitted that Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Norwich was tough going at times, but had plenty of praise for the Emirates faithful who were fully behind the team during a fairly open encounter.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the only goal of the game, and in truth, the Gunners should have scored more with some good chances from their 30 shots on goal that went begging.
Norwich had some dangerous moments of their own, and the scoreline meant it would only have taken a moment for a good day to turn less so.
Afterwards, the Arsenal boss was pleased with the result, particularly in the context of how the season has gone so far.
“Emotionally it was a very tough game to play, after the three defeats, playing here in front of your crowd,” he said.
“It was a must-win game and I saw us straight away come out of the blocks really quickly, really aggressively, wanting to score and please everybody.
“We had a period after 20 or 25 minutes where we started to look a little bit shaky, trying to attack too quickly and giving the ball away.
“It was an open game. In the second half, we took control of the game again and we should have scored many more.”
The pressure has been intense for obvious reasons, and Arteta was asked about the support from the fans inside the stadium who backed the side throughout.
“What I’m describing is probably what you guys don’t see – what happens internally,” he said.
“I had doubts, I had question marks because I had to read and I had to understand and I had to reflect a little bit on different opinions and criticism.
“I don’t know how much they’re going to be affected. I think the club has been extremely open to send a message across of what we are trying to do. I had a question mark, I have to be honest.
“But I just saw incredible fans trying to inspire a team, trying to tell them ‘we are ready to suffer with you and we’re going to support you’. The rest, it doesn’t matter.
“I’m extremely grateful and I got pretty emotional to see that because I think it’s pretty difficult to see in football.
“People are maybe expecting something or they want to go down other roads and try to transmit hate or whatever, and it wasn’t the case at all – so thank you so much.”
That made sense.
I want Arteta to succeed, I see him as one of our own. Having said that he need help himself with some of the decision making and team set up. He is a young coach and hopefully he learns from some of his mistakes.
Guy? Where are you?
I came here to read comments please, I like it in here when we win.
Guys*
I like to think all the negativity is just one dude named Guy with multiple burner accounts.
Relax everybody, Im here now.
Excellent!
Sadly, there’s not as much interest when it doesn’t support the “Arteta out” agenda.
The club have put it out there, they’re trying to build something different, and whether that’s right or wrong, I’m at least excited to see us try something new.
And god damn, we won! Let’s be happy about that.
Um, I for example haven’t commented on this article because I didn’t want to spread more negativity than I already do. I think Arteta should go, I don’t think he’s good enough (yet) to be tasked with this project. He usually just spouts Ted Talk bullshit, so I try to stay away from articles like this one. What do you want people like me to do, just comment “Time to go!” every time there’s an interview? Yes, we won a game of football. We scored a single goal against probably the worst team in the league. Wooptie-fucking-doo. Although I guess… Read more »
Precisely my stance as well.
It seems like there is a genuine belief amongst Gooners (who want Arteta to stay) that those who want him gone are just being negative for the sake of it. I simply just want a manager who coaches positive football, instills confidence in his players and is capable of the minimum requirements our club has become accustomed to.
It’s tricky because I think there is a proportion of fans who have a low tolerance for anything less than glory days and are also impatient to the point of wanting a new manager every season unless/until we’re back in the top 4. You may or may not be in that group, I’m not sure. I have to add that what you said you want from a manager is extremely reasonable, I want it too, and would hope that 100% of Gooners want those things. I think some people (the ones who want Arteta to stay) want to give him… Read more »
Look elsewhere on these threads and we’re being referred to as trolls who have all disappeared down to White Hart Lane.
Now, I don’t mind a bit of banter, but it’s a fifty/fifty whether or not Blogs will even publish this post, as most of the time, when I merely call these sort of people out, it doesn’t make it past the ‘censors.’
Democracy? Free speech? It’s a flip of the coin on here.
Q – as I’ve said before, I believe you’re red-blooded to the core, nor do I doubt your football nous. We gone at it a few times and I too would class that as ‘banter’. Let’s never forget that friction creates energy and therefor usually a good thing. My point is simply this: you’d have to be a blind, deaf hermit living in a broom cupboard not to be aware of the problems this club has had over the past seasons. Likewise the criticism of Arteta and consequent pressure he’s under. However, the club has made a ‘medium’ term decision… Read more »
Good god man – the bloke just admitted some fairly deep stuff about how he HAS indeed been reading and actually taking note of the criticism out there… and how it really does affect him. He then gives a really heartfelt thank you to the fans for supporting – NOT HIM, note – but the team. And yet you persist in demeaning that with puerile clichés like ‘Ted Talk bullshit’? And that, after you self-proclaimed desire NOT to spread more negativity (followed by FIVE paras of, guess what?). You’ve asked ‘what do we want you to do’? How about accepting… Read more »
I’m here. And since you’re talking from cloud cuckoo land all mighty and ho, next time we lose I better see you still talking out of your arse with glitter and gold. Read this again: ”we started to look a little bit shaky, trying to attack too quickly.” and there lies your problem. I suggest you start watching other teams, they actually counter attack very well. Something foreign to us. Multiple times Ramsdale looked for a runner to release early, but there’s none coming. Another massive issue is our inability to shoot on target. And the excruciating incoherence when we… Read more »
Bore off
Wow, you must struggle to get joy from anything.
Loving the self righteousness here. So “proper” fans can’t be critical of the team? I will find joy once we’re a solid contender for top 4 and more. And I’m definitely finding joy in how sensitive some of you guys are. Always wanting to be told comfortable lies just to feel a little bit giddy inside. Until the inevitable reality catches up, then I’m certain not one of you will have the balls to show and own up. Fact; many critical fans like me and others still follow the team diligently, watches our games without fail, and celebrate our goals… Read more »
I agree that anyone who thinks everything to do with this club is A-ok right now is delusional. But, you can be: happy with the win, happy with how our players put everything out there today (can’t think of a single player who didn’t give their all actually), and happy with how for the first time in a while they genuinely looked like they had some purpose in being on the field, thus being optimistic about the future, – feel all of these things, whilst also acknowledging that it wasn’t a perfect performance by any means, a lot of the… Read more »
Thank you for your perspective. I just have to ask
Wouldn’t it be nice again to have a manager under whom we can classify some games as “easy”?
It would be so nice! I personally think we’ll get there again, and I think we can do it under MA. Let me explain my thinking – it’s only the start of this season, it took a while but we got rid of some players that don’t suit our style, and brought in some who do. Once these players gel, I’m hopeful that we’ll start tearing through at least the lower level teams and we’ll shoot up the ladder. Sure, it might be overly hopeful to expect that to happen this season. But it’s pretty unclear to me whether any… Read more »
Fair comment.
I think a relatively ‘unseen’ problem we are going to face for the forseeable future is that every team we meet will fancy it against us. We’ve brain-farted and shot ourselves in the foot too often. It will take a lot of victories before anything resembling ‘respect’ creeps back into our opponents’ mindsets.
But let’s just take it one win at a time…
Those brain farts….. one of the things I enjoyed most about the game last weekend was the absence of any serial brain fart offenders. Thanks David Luiz for all of the experience and wisdom, but I’m definitely not going to miss the crazy things he would do out of nowhere and cost us games (shooting ourselves in the foot as you said). Xhaka had overall been doing so much better in that respect recently (before that he had tied with DL for Most Prone to Brain Farts), but I must have jinxed it because then he did that ridiculous lunging… Read more »
yeah… kinda refreshing to watch our team just play football, without the Keystone Cops factor!
Ignore the brown-nosing twats and critique away mate
And there speaks the eloquent, balanced voice of reason and positivity.
It’s not being critical of the team, mate – that is every fan’s right. So please don’t be deliberately disingenuous… It’s the repeated refusal to recognise on any shred of positivity (which, even you may agree, this club desperately needs!). We lost 3 in a row. Now we’ve won one… that’s a good thing, surely! Yet, still the predictions of doom persist – maybe, just maybe, the pendulun is starting to swing – isn’t better to watch it with hope to see what happens, rather than clamouring on about how bad things have been? We ALL acknowledge this is one… Read more »
Beating a team certain for relegation at home stadium, narrowly by 1-0 margin is not my definition of joy.
Relieved is more like it, at least we scored, and kept a clean sheet. Thank you Norwich, for missing the chances.
Rich against Notrich
from their one shot on target?
this is the definition of setting up a straw man argument –something easily torn down that makes th counter point easier to declare. no one buys into the argument you oppose– we don’t think everything is fine, rosie or whatever. However, I do like this years transfers (and getting rid of as much of our old dead weight as we can). Its incredibly naive to expect a finished product, particularly now, but really at all this season. I like the incoming transfers, but there’s obviously more to do. Especially now that some of the massive contracts (ozil, willian) are gone.… Read more »
We were 5th in league under Wenger and Emery, and had just lost a Europa league final. Its hardly a bottom three team that Arteta inherited, that he is trying to uplift.
Top 4 fight is the minimum requirement from an Arsenal manager. And we are right now, already out of top 4 positions, after 4 games.
That means Arteta is the straw man, that you are trying to defend.
Bingo. Arsenal is like that beautiful woman whose boyfriend has convinced her she is an ugly duckling. Words can’t even describe the depth the current leadership has sunken us to.
We need Arteta, Edu and Co gone so Gooners can rekindle the beauty of their club. No way is the bulk of this team supposed to be worse than Leicester.
It’s incredibly naive to expect a finish product after almost two years of coaching?
George Graham won the title in his third season at Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger won the double in his second season at Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta is in his second full season, and his third Pro Rata – and mucking about in the bottom half of the table.
And before anyone jumps in with ‘this is his first coaching post’, is that the fault of the fans? Are we charged any less for our tickets…..?
Like I’ve said before, this is Arsenal Football Club and not a college for rookie managers.
You know, standards….?
Your fourth line is the one that I think about most often. The fans are the only ones expected to bend over backwards
It’s an interesting point. We do get carried along with whatever the club’s decision-makers decide and that can be incredibly frustrating at times, especially when they don’t do things we agree with (which is a lot of things in recent years). Following the Emery period (fully acknowledging that it sounds like he is a decent and nice person) it’s clear that given the history of the club, and everything to do with the club’s philosophy, we need someone who loves Arsenal and would give everything to get back to where we know we should be. I’m having trouble thinking of… Read more »
Naive to expect a finished product, after two years? Are you even listening to yourself. Let’s give him 5 consecutive years finishing 8th or lower then shall we?
Viju Jacob
35s ago
It was a bit of a “meh feeling” for me while watching the game. I never felt we would lose but I could see that with all the talent available on the pitch things just weren’t happening and we won very unconvincingly, almost workmanlike.
Let’s hope Arseta climbs off his high horse and sets the team up to play attractive, fast-paced football. In the meantime, I’ll take the 3 points and being off the bottom of the table.
“Aqua vitam servavit, sed debuit in poculo aureo ministrari”
The Book of ‘Rursus in Diem.’
“the water saved my life but it should have been served in a golden cup”
Sad, but true.
Yeah those of us in the ground today did that weird thing. Think it’s called supporting your team!! Social media fans are no reflection of real fans!
Social Media thrives on trolls and they are just faceless coward bullies.
Best atmosphere I’ve seen for quite some time. Seemed as though all those there genuinely gave a shit.
Special shout out for the Clock End “we’re staying up, we’re staying up”- hopefully will be the first and last time I hear that at the Emirates but was pretty fucking funny.
To hear the atmosphere was brilliant, when we were bottom of the table at the start of the game makes me very happy. Real support when it’s really needed! We’ll done all who attended and played their part!
100% !!!
Support’s been amazing so far this season. From watching some of the away support staying behind to clap off the side after the City match, to the atmosphere today.
Long may it continue. Even if just for the purposes of confusing some pundits that think twitter & youtube are accurate representations of all arsenal fans.
*Some social media fans
Quite an elitist attitude.
Let’s just pretend like we’ve never sat next to that fan who calls X player names all match, only for them to cheer when X player scores out of the blue.
Let’s just pretend like match-goers weren’t holding Wenger Out banners during Arsene’s last days.
Let’s just pretend like Eboue wasn’t booed by fans for nothing other than simply having a bad game.
Yep. None of the toxic behaviour we’ve seen online NEVER happens in the stadium🙄
Love it when we win.
… and now a full week to prepare for the next game. I’ll be interested in how we then perform with this emerging younger team
Eskerik asko Mikel !
5th this year. 3rd next. Don’t worry, be happy.
I hope that the journey has a happy ending. I am both delighted and relieved we have won which, sadly, reflects how far we have fallen. For now, I rejoice in the win
The manager is alright.
Something to build on. A win in our next game, against Burnley, would be priceless for confidence.
Our season truly starts now.
Burnley should be treated to a Konga Partey from the start at Burnley.
The back 5 remains for me.
My other tweak would be ESR and Odegaard starting together.
Pepe comes in later to run at the tiring Burnley defence.
Also no AMN in there please. Too casual to play at CDM and tires by the 60th minute
You’re making this assessment after 1 game?
So what about when he was playing in a double pivot in for West Brom at more than 60 minutes per game.
The assessment is based on the seeing we have better options available. Had we drawn this game, the real sentiment about his sloppiness would have emerged. That’s a position where I prefer a high passcompletion rate
Okay that’s fair enough
I think it’s a good chance for him to get a run of games there while Elneny is injured, Partey is being eased back in, and Xhaka is sitting out for his red. I would pick him over Xhaka and Elneny for most games, for his mobility and willingness to move the ball quickly (and forward) – we bemoan Xhaka’s slowness and AMN provides an alternative in that regard. He’s an intelligent player and might look like he’s casual/lax at times but he was a beast in those final 2 FA cup games when we beat Man City and Chelsea… Read more »
A Sambi/Partey duo does sound exciting though… looking forward to this weekend!
Fans sounded great today from the stream I watched anyway!
Happy to see us win again, let’s build some momentum and keep moving forward
1-0 against Norwich is not an inspiring result. but the three points are more important than anything in the circumstances. need to find our Mojo back. not yet convinced. Arteta must shed Pep boy tag and become his own player in order to grow and evolve
Shhh…can’t say anything negative about Pepe on here.
Could be wrong, but I think he was talking about Guardiola, not Nico.
He may be a frustrating player to watch, but is the one that can make a difference and made the difference today assisting Auba.
He reminds of Alexis.
This winning thing is nice. We should do it more often
1-0 to the Arsenal and Spurs soundly beaten by our old friend Patrick. Not a bad day!
Obviously a snidey spursy spud has infiltrated our forum to down thumb your excellent analysis of a perfect day, we are far from being to where we want to be but at least it’s a start..
Let’s get behind the club! We are where we are for a multitude of reasons, but I’m at the pont where fuck it, let’s just make as much positive noise as poss and see what happens! COYG
Feel so good to see the positivity
As of this moment, this is the most sensible comment section of an Arseblog in years. 😃
He obviously has his doubtsrs but I live listening to him speak, big fan
1-0 to the Arsenal, Vieira beats Tottenham, Alex Ferguson celebrating Ronaldo goals at Old Trafford, and 9/11 all over the news.
I think tonight I’ll watch the movie Back To The Future.
where have all the trolls gone?
White Hart Lane.
Ah yes, the natural habitat of a creature that thrives on slagging off its own team for never winning anything.
Shh. Let them sleep.
I think what would reduce the negativity is the fact that we as fans have to accept that we are not the old Arsenal that was challenging for the title under Wenger or the Arsenal that always managed to finish in the top 4. We have to admit that we are just an average team and lower our expectations. We have to stop talking about the top 4 or Europe when Norwich at home becomes a must-win game. It will take us many years, probably managers, and players to get us back to where we want to be. Either We… Read more »
You can’t just show up to Formula One race with a Kia Rio and expect to finish on the podium.
In other words, an acceptance of mediocrity.
And I’ve been told a zillion times on here – even by Bloggs himself – that “no one wants to accept mediocrity..”
Yeah, right. I rest my case.
Well you cant tell other fans what to accept they have the right to have different opinion than yours
Didn’t see much negativity at the ground today.
So yeah, looks like most ppl (irl anyways) are just happy to get behind the side, win, lose or draw.
The atmosphere in the stadium today was fantastic. I think the team looked better when Smith-Rowe came on and him and Odegaard played as two ‘8s’ with Partey as the pivot.
This team has a long way to go before they can get where they want to go, but I hope its the start of Arsenal climbing up the table.
i hope we’ll see more of this lineup with partey behind odegaard and esr, especially against teams we are expecting to beat. with that front three and those two behind we should be causing serious problems for most defences.
Not sure what he meant by:
“I don’t know how much they’re going to be affected. I think the club has been extremely open to send a message across of what we are trying to do. I had a question mark, I have to be honest.