Mikel Arteta has urged the Arsenal fanbase to be patient with Kai Havertz and pointed to a series of examples where players who’ve been loved have produced their best form for the club.
The Germany international has been feeling his way into life at Emirates Stadium, scoring a couple of times in pre-season but also being given game time in a variety of roles. Last weekend against Fulham, his performance was found wanting in certain areas and one poor decision to pass backwards, when he might have turned on the ball, was greeted by groans from a frustrated crowd.
The state of the game played a part but there’s no doubt the fact Arsenal spent £62.5 million on a player who had plenty of doubters at Chelsea also contributed.
Sensing the backlash, Arteta was effusive in his praise for his summer signing.
“I tell you what I feel about him, that I love him, that I see his qualities every single day in training. His work rate is excellent, a lot of the things that he’s done for the team is so good,” the Spaniard told his pre-Manchester United press conference.
“The visual one, the one with the stats at the moment is what is missing to put the ball in the net and to arrive on those zones and have a different impact in the game, but for the rest is that.
“It’s difficult to ask, especially our people in our stadium and our supporters for more, but my feeling is, give him love and we will get the best out of him.
“I think we have some very, very, very beautiful examples in the last few years with players that we have given a lot of support and be behind them and give them love and they have felt that and they just have exploded. A lot of good examples.
“So I will stick to that because not everybody is going to be willing for Arsenal to do well. But the ones that really by heart and soul, they really want the best for the club, let’s do it because there is a lot there to give us.”
Pressed on examples of players who took time to convince the fans, with Martin Odegaard cited as one, Arteta continued: “More than two months [for Odegaard]. And with Gabriel Magalhaes, it was the same. Ben White could not play as a full-back, he could not play as a full-back.
“Aaron Ramsdale wasn’t good enough..and now we have signed another keeper [David Raya] and it’s a catastrophe [in the eyes of some]. But Aaron Ramsdale wasn’t good enough for Arsenal. Bukayo Saka was a left-back and now he’s playing at right-wing.
“Granit Xhaka…we have so many examples, good examples. But the players have to love what they do. And I think they love more what they do when they feel supported.”
Pressed on where he sees Havertz thriving, the manager stressed that it was too early to be definitive. Instead, he’s happy to try new things and for circumstances to dictate the player’s future.
“We’ll see [about a best position], because things will change, you know, and you will find chemistry. Granit [Xhaka], if he wasn’t playing with Alex [Zinchenko] maybe he’d have been different. But something was there but that chemistry built and not just on the pitch but off it and that helped the whole fluidity.
“If you put Fabio [Vieira] and [Gabriel] Martinelli together, something good is going to happen because they are like brothers. And it’s something that is not in the tactics, it’s not in the formation, it’s something else. But they look for each other, they look at each other, they understand each other and they love playing with each other. And that’s a plus and we have to be all the time trying to sense that.”
Back on Kai, he continued to spread the love and also pointed to the need for good relationships and consistency with those playing just behind him.
“He can play in so many different roles and play it so well,” said Arteta.
“He has a football brain, how he understands when to move, how to move, when to stay, when to run. It’s phenomenal. At the moment, it’s true that he’s played with three different people behind him (Jurrien Timber, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jakub Kiwior) and they are the ones that have to make him good.
“These guys depend on the ones in the back. I was a midfielder, if, the two central defenders are like this [with their eyes closed] and they give you the ball all the time to the wrong foot at the right time with the wrong pace. Disaster, I look bad. If I have good players behind me they make life much easier. So let’s do that.”
On Havertz striking up a relationship with a full-back that sticks, he ended: “That’s what we are working for and what we are hoping. And I’m very convinced that that will be the case. Like we were with other places, it’s never a specific science.
“But when we have to add ingredients to something to taste good and to look good and to enjoy it, I think they need to feel supported, they have to feel loved. He’s doing the rest. Believe me, his work rate is incredible.The amount of speed that he runs, the distances, he won more duels than anybody else in midfield.
“So there are a lot of things, but the one that’s going to make him the player that we want, the difference, there are other things as well. But make sure that he doesn’t lose t those basic things that are really important in our way of playing. way of playing.”
It’s late, we’ve all had a drink…
If you bothered watching the press conference it was actually a banger from Mikel, one of his best. Heck, even reading the transcript you know Mikel was on to something. If that was Mourinho, SAF or Pep you lot would be creaming your pants, but since it’s Mikel you trod out the same old overused BS.
I feel we have one of the most negative fan bases out there, loving a good moan at every opportunity. Most of us watch the Arsenal to get away from stresses in our lives yet we stumble across moaning whinging grown men instead. Goodness.
Totally agree but don’t think it’s just our fanbase.
Everyone expects instant results now. A team loses a game, they’re shit. Then they win, what a team! It’s just bonkers and not something I really like.
It’s a problem of society as much as anything else.
Back in the 70’s and 80’s, it was hooliganism.
These days it’s internet ignorance – and hooliganism, although the latter is thankfully nowhere near as bad as it was in the past.
Have to agree. Most people are so impulsive nowadays.
Or is it the fact we get wound up when 90% of last season the formation and selection was spot on and tinkering with both in games where there’s no need is what pisses us off.
I think 100% agree Benjamin at right back was almost 100% bang on last season. Best RB in the league. So why change it? That’s why we get pissed off and negative.
Wouldn’t bother mate. These comment sections don’t allow for common sense or any deviation from an optimistic narrative, even if it just a perspective on certain aspects, you are either fully on board with the message or downvoted. Which is bizarre as the website itself is the epitome of common sense and balanced viewpoints on Arsenal.
Yiou change it because what made that work was Zinchenko at LB. No Zinchenko, no left sided double pivot, suddenly White has a totally different role in the team as the more technical and creative of the two wide defenders. Without Zinchenko, the formation flips to the right sided wide defender tucking in. Only Partey isn’t as good at it and the team isn’t as used to it, so it’s not looking as smooth.
Mate, Arteta’s the one who has done everything to get us where we are today. For me, it looks like he knows what he’s doing.
Support the club, the players, and the coach.
We’re Arsenal.
This “support the club” BS is nonsense. This is a fan site where we discuss the team and what we think we are doing well, what we’re not, and getting excited about wins and less so excited about dropped points. No one is making death threats here, some people just feel the decision to play partey at RB over a world class white-Saliba-Gabriel combo just to pigeon whole certain players into the team (at the expense of one of our most consistent and uninjured) players is very strange. If you feel that is some heinous act, that’s great, but it’s… Read more »
He can’t play the same formation as last season because they same players aren’t available. If Zinchenko is available and we still don’t play that back 4 from last season, then I’ll agree it’s strange. As of now, I don’t get the gripe about changing when we have to change. Ditto up front. No Granit Xhaka, no Gabi Jesus, it’s not going to look the same as before. I’m not sure it’s working great just yet either but I’m really far from any genuine concern about it on the back of what I’ve seen thus far. It’s a long season… Read more »
Tinternet, instant gratification, entitlement…..as a YouTuber said, try writing a letter to Arsenal supporters trust (as done in the past) and see if you make it to licking the stamp.
Havertz has to be watched off the ball. He’s covering distance to be an option and an out (at least last week), at his own expense, I’d be reluctant to be that mule. Also, Vieira is more rapid than people know.
Yeah, you seemed to have grasped the wrong end of my stick with some enthusiasm – I was responding to the notion of Mikel ‘coming out swinging’.
Thank you for this. The level of entitlement is unreal.
The deal is not as if we all hate Havertz, far from that, but nobody should belittle the fact that we can see when a player is impactful. Did you see Vieira for 30 minutes against Haveryz’ 60 minutes? Are you saying we have to have technical eyes to see that one too? If MA is ready to give this chance to Havertz, fair game. Has that same opportunity been extended to Smile SR? Why not him? Just look at the teams that were rumoured to be interested in him, what do they see? Why weren’t teams lining up to… Read more »
😂😂 I think I’ve had enough and feel a bit nauseous now. Wheres a fosters advert when you need one?
He sounds more like Pep every day. If you watch this video on YouTube and don’t feel positive about the comments and the direction maybe just wait until December to make your mind up. Something wonderful is brewing at our club.
I have to agree. The lack of patience with him from some corners of our support is really a shame, he wanted to come here and Arteta clearly see something in him, and we’re much more likely to see it if we show him love and support and not this immediate frustration and impatience after every game he doesn’t score in. How about we show him instead how different we are from Chelsea fans, how we support our own and don’t just cry to our owner to spend 100mil on a new toy every time we get bored or impatient… Read more »
Sure, but he also forced this situation by playing havertz every game. There was an opportunity here to bring him into the mix slowly. He had to adapt to a new role and style, whereas with partey and rice we have a ready made CM pairing, it always allows a natural RB and Gabriel-Saliba pairing that was world class last year. I think the havertz signing is likely a good one, but Mikel had put him in the pressure situation from the outset, no time to adapt and the expectations of a big money signing playing and not bringing the… Read more »
I actually agree with this to a large extent. I wouldn’t have started him from the get go and would’ve let him settle more slowly into such a new and complex role. Just plug Rice in Xhaka’s role and let that gel first before making further changes… That said I really wouldn’t put too much thought in what the headlines might or might not be. So far it hasn’t 100% worked (hasn’t 100% failed either) but that doesn’t mean it won’t. Last season Vieira got chances where he didn’t impress, went back to sitting on the bench, then last week… Read more »
Can’t agree more with what you and Daveo said. You saved me time typing the same thing. Give Havertz time, ease him into the system and show him love. Simple!
Around this time last year, Saliba scored an own goal and the crowd built him up. Now, Havertz plays it safe, the crowd is on the verge.
Granted, Big Billy started much stronger, but Kai hasn’t been a disaster either. Two solid games, one shakier.
He seems to do better in clutch games. Let’s hope that shines through on Sunday
You’re right. I never like it when pundits and fans criticize the same player relentlessly. In football, Maguire is getting the worst of it. Hope the Havertzion to Kai stops.
Yeah, if the fans showed Maguire some love he could be fantastic
I think you’re being facetious here. Maguire could actually be fantastic in the right system, like he was in Leicester or even the current England setup. If you put him out on an island against quick players on the halfway line or ask him to build play through midfield he’ll look like a disaster. That’s exactly what Ten Haag has been having him do and quite predictably he’s failed spectacularly. That’s why they bought Varane and Lisandro and will even play Shaw back there ahead of him. He’s not Gvardiol or Ben White. He’s Rob Holding with more bulk and… Read more »
I’m ready to show him my support right now in as much as Arteta doesn’t push Partey to RB just to accommodate him. He should be coming from the bench either to replace Rice, Odegaard or the CF.
Well if he needs to have his confidence boosted to perform Mikel just provided it! Not been convinced so far but it’s early days and people who know more than me have pointed out he hasn’t had a consistent position or teammate pod. So let’s not get on his back , give him support and time and hopefully he’ll come good for us.
Let’s bear in mind how funny it’ll be when we take a misfit player from that lot and show he’s actually a good player . 😁
Basically support our team you fucking spoilt fuckwits! He played well for 3 games then had a poor one as most others did. Our fans have been fucking embarrassing! And it’s hurting our own club! So odd!
An excellent manager needlessly scrambling to apologise for the worst element of his teams fanbase
What a load of bllx. What, you’re not allowed to (constructively) criticize when players don’t perform? He cost 65 mil, he’s been nowhere first 3 games, and quite rightly got called out for it. But fair enough, support the guy in the hope he finds his form soon-but he doesn’t get a free pass, nobody does!
The underlying statement from the manager is he has performed well off the ball, doing everything the manager wants but on the ball he hasn’t established a partnership with one of the three left backs he’s played with. If the manager likes what he’s doing, then support the player. People have seemed to have lost the ability of patience and understanding events with context. Reprogramming a player to plat left 8 from leading the line might take more than 3 games for constructive criticism to have any validity.
Well said.
So nice.
Least you spared us the pillow fights on mammy’s bed.
The frustration is all about the overpay. We paid 65M for a guy who failed as a 62M transfer… and failed in front of us for 3 years. And in doing so, we bailed out the clowns — rivals — who paid 62M for him. If we’d bought for 30 or 40, fans would be fine. But we didn’t, so until Kai starts performing, it’s going to be rough.
I look forward to you clowning yourself
They paid 75M for him, but nice to make things up ey. Also, I remember a handful of Arsenal fans (myself included) were worried Chelsea got him from Leverkusen.
The problem is that Havertz did nothing for three seasons at Chelsea, certainly nothing to justify us spending 65 million on him & he has done absolutely nothing so far to suggest he’s suddenly going to change.
He just doesn’t look like a player who can thrive in the premier league, he looks too languid & weak, he’ll be fine in another European league.
Unfortunately this signing is a dud & deep down Arteta knows it. Hopefully we can get rid of him to the Saudi league in January, he already looks finished here.
Everyone at Chelsea was a dud… Get off his back Glockenspool
It’s not Havertz I blame, it’s Arteta & Edu, we have another Willian situation & they haven’t learned.
Finished, after 3 games? Talk about knee-jerk.
It’s not a knee jerk reaction, is it?
It’s based on three years performance of the player in English football.
There is more fact and common sense in that opinion than in your belief that somehow he will turn out to be a great requisition for Arsenal.
Perhaps he will, perhaps not but the evidence suggests not. Aside from last season Chelsea have not been a bad team and as they say great players perform regardless.
He was top scorer for Tuchel under Chelsea, where he was played out of position as a CF. Outscoring players like Lukaku, Werner, and Ziyech in the process. Was their key player in the semi final win against Real Madrid, and also scored the only goal in the final when Chelsea won UCL.
Backtrack to Leverkusen he was the highest scoring teenager playing from midfield, and won the Fritz Walter award, equivalent to Young POTY in England.
But let’s not let facts get in the way of a good moan ey?
…and arteta is an idiot…
I agree with you. We dun need to be football coaches to know if that player is good or underperformed.
We know that seeing players like Fabio, Trossard coming off the bench and winning matches and thriving.
We are not judging Kai for Kai.
If Rice is playing like Kai, people would jump onto him as well.
So that comes to another point, why are people not berating Rice but Kai. It’s plain to see.
There is a certain expectation when 65mil is spent on a player with 3 years of PL experience and have won the CL.
You can drop the knee bit
It’s not knee jerk, it’s based on what he has produced for the last three years & his performances so far.
Everything about this transfer (to me) feels wrong. If he plays well tomorrow & bangs home the winner I will be very happy to be wrong & you can quite rightly give me grief in the comments tomorrow…but I just don’t think I am.
I hope you’re wrong but we won’t know until we have a larger sample size and he gets to play with the same left back for half a season. Trying to guess the Havertz outcome after 3 games is silly and counterproductive to our interests in seeing him come good.
Would we have kept Ramsdale in the post over Leno of he had performed at this level when given the chance? It’s not as if we don’t have other players who could play, we actually have and ESR immediately comes to mind, why is nobody worried that boy is not being given any chance? Yet we seem to think it’s bad to question Havertz? We all hope he succeeds, until then don’t give him preferential treatment!
Because ESR isn’t a starter. He doesn’t have the defensive presence, work rate or stamina to be a 90 minute player.
He needs to significantly improve in 1v1 duels, pressing and tracking back to have a chance to start.
I like the lad a lot but he has major work to do to prove he is a starter.
It’s not that. Fans are frustrated that the entire shape of the side is different to accommodate Havertz. We are playing with considerable less fluidity and consistency compared to last season. For me Havertz match-day form doesn’t merit a start on Sunday. Bringing back that shape of last season will breed confidence back into the side. Better to reimplement him in then.
The tactical schemes, structures and relationships that Arteta is implementing are far more complex than any of us can see without repeated watching and study.
Until all the keyboard warriors and armchair experts get their coaching badges and achieve something professionally I’ll choose to believe him when he says the team is functioning much better to his vision this season.
Arteta most definitely knows what he is doing, of course he does,
But it is utterly brainless for you to say that the fans should not have an opinion and blindly accept everything.
Not something the owners of this forum would want to hear.
For me, reading and listening to the opinion of others is as important as the game itself – it would be a meaningless sport without that..
Don’t disagree, but brainless fans who say Havertz is done, that they can see it and we should move him on in January don’t really provide fertile ground for a reasonable debate. It’s just another armchair manager who is incapable of understanding what Arteta is cooking. So they moan.
Utterly brainless? Wow
It’s one thing to observe what is happening and have a humble opinion about it. So many people now act like they built the team and know what it needs. I’m so over it. Have some perspective.
We just significantly underperformed against Fulham and threw away 2 points. What’s complex to see about that ???? 🤨
Yes that is obvious. That’s not what I’m taking about.
What people do not want to contemplate is that that system that worked last season might have been figured out by opponents who sit as deeply as possible to nullify our threats and exploit our weaknesses. Havertz is Arteta’s way of combating that reaction from the opposition. The coach wants to win. He wants to succeed. There is no way he keeps on with Havertz if he isn’t seeing reasons to. It’s really ludicrous that a section of our fan base think Arteta has so much an ego to admit the Havertz thing isn’t working and opting for a change.… Read more »
The nearest example to rebuff…. Aaron Ramsdale. 25M for a keeper with teams relegated 2 yes in a role; we had Leno and we just sold Martinez…. Why the fxxx Mikel was trying to bring in someone like Aaron!! Fans were yelling afoul! Fast forwarded to a few games later….. that was my reaction 2 summers ago…. Let’s trust Mikel….. it is normal to feel frustrated …. We would call ourselves gooners if we do not care about the team, right? But we have already endured so much for the lowest point of this millennium and get thru, let’s continue… Read more »
Mikel knows.
How did Salah and De Bruyne do at Chelsea? Just asking because I could have sworn they did nothing much, Chelsea sold them on and the rest is history 🤔
‘Nothing’ 😂 Other than winning them the Champions League Final of course….
Hardly a solo effort, they were part of the team that one but didn’t do an awful lot at Chelsea otherwise they would still be there. Since leaving Chelsea they are now arguably 2 of the top 10 players in Europe at the very least.
I do completely support Kai Havertz and anybody that pulls on the Arsenal shirt. I also understand the skepticism around him. I do think there are a few loud mouths who have been given too much air to talk about him, but I don’t think it’s out of bounds to wonder how much better he has made us commesurate to the financial outlay. It’s obviously much too early to draw any conclusions, but at the same time it’s ok to comment on what we’ve observed to date. The sample size is not THAT small if you include pre-season games, which… Read more »
I also think we’re not doing him any favors by pairing him with other more direct players like Martinelli and Nketiah. He would also look better playing ahead of Zinchenko and Timber instead of Tomiyasu and Kiwior. I think he will be able to express himself much better after a run of games alongside a forward who knits play together more, like Gabriel Jesus or Trossard, and with a left wing partner who is less direct.
Havertz needs to feel at home and welcome. He’s the type that needs a positive environment to thrive and perform to his potential. Hopefully he can have a few standout performances to build his confidence- the fans will come along for the ride.
The anti Havertz agenda low key displays the worst elements of our fanbase. When we decide to be reactive about a player it turns into a free-for-all. I do think we’ll see a great player in Havertz eventually, let’s just give the kid time and support in the meantime…same way we are for Eddie, ESR, Viera (now) and the rest of the players in his age bracket (22-24) trying to hold down first team places.
I’ve seen sensible City fans on YouTube shows shaking their heads at the way we behave. They say they know if they get on a new player’s back it creates tension and is counter-productive.
I guess it was the same with MU fans in their 26 year title drought and Pool fans in their 30 year drought.
The frustration and angst is perhaps understandable but not helpful. Supporters need to be supporters otherwise it doesn’t work.
Well said! Spot on! COYG!
100%
Vieira is the same. Now after one good game the fans who have been bashing him and calling him lightweight all of last year have calmed down a bit, but as soon as he has 1-2 less than stellar games again they’ll be back in full force. I guess patience for them isn’t a virtue. Imagine yourself starting a new job and not being the best at it straight away! Imagine needing a bit of time to settle in and get better at it. Crazy though huh… then imagine trying to settle in while hundreds of thousands of people are… Read more »
Oh please….cry me a fkn River when mentally fragile multimillionaires can’t perform because the crowd are being nasty to them…Havertz needs to shape up soon or we bench him. Simples.
Guess they all need to learn mental toughness from a nice lovely person such as yourself, you should offer your services. Thanks for the insightful contribution too.
Anytime snowflake, here have a Kleenex.
Arteta is only stating the obvious. If you’re on his back he’s more likely to fail. And why do you want him to fail if you’re an Arsenal fan???
So they can say “I told you so” and prove they’re smarter than the best football managers in the world, it’s much better for boosting your fragile ego than supporting your team properly
This is it in a nutshell.
Cedric is like a new signing!
Pepe too!
Somehow he’s in every one of the reveal photos and video segments, even the new signings for the women’s side!
What stands out for me when I watch Havertz is, he’s playing without confidence. He seems scared to try things and always looks for the low risk pass, or gives the ball to a teammate like he’s scared of the ball. Support from fans could help him loads
For the fans to support a player they expect to see the player showing enthusiasm, passion, hardwork and putting in effort to do things on pitch. We see none of it on the pitch and that’s the reason the fan base is angry and skepticle. Let Havertz show what is he made up of to fans and see his stock rising. It works both ways. It’s always the fans who are problem who pays from their pocket and see these players with no passion for team making millions. It goes both ways. Havertz needs to earn fans support.
I don’t subscribe to this philosophy in love. If you show someone love before you think they have earned it, they will show love back. If you wait for them to show it until you think they have earned your love, you may never see it. Support works the same way.
Great point 💯
I have not seen Arteta calling for patience and understanding from the fanbase for any other player like he is doing for Kai now. Am used to seeing him freeze them out while the fanbase often clamor for them to at least be given an opportunity. to play and prove themselves. I remember him dropping player even when they seems to be coming into form and contributing much needed goals to the team, so this appeal seems very odd. I am still not convinced this will work, out, I love the Arsenal and i want this team to do well.… Read more »
What new signing did he freeze out 3 games into the season?
Why wouldn’t he support Havertz? Your comment is the odd one to me.
Certainly not Willian
Unfortunately.
I’m old enough to remember similar comments in press conferences about William. I remember it being the fans’ fault for a few months that they couldn’t see how he was going to win us the Champions League.
You should trust Arteta’s judgement. If he could see the talent in Willian, who were we to challenge that? We just needed to give him time.
they are all the same!
We could all see the quality in Willian when he was at Chelsea. We can all see it now he’s at Fulham. The problem was when he came to us he treated us as a retirement home and turned up in body but never in spirit.
There are parallels with Willian and Havertz, but its also totally different. On the surface, they are both Chelsea players who came to Arsenal and (so far) have underwhelmed. But Willian came after spending several years at Chelsea, near the end of his prime, with the idea that he could be re-purposed as an attacking central midfielder, essentially the role Odegaard is playing. He had never played that role at any point in his career, but for a free transfer it was not outlandish to try. It didn’t work out. In fairness the team around him also wasn’t that good… Read more »
Havertz was signed to play as a hybrid 8-9 and his value partially lies in his ability to do that. I’m not sure how many other players in world football can seamlessly slot between those two roles.
I also think Havertz is not a talking point if Palinha doesn’t score against us. Sound football analysis is not results based, but fan opinions always will be.
No one is talking about Nicholas Pepe. It seems he didn’t go out on loan or to Saudi Arabia (which just goes to show how very averse we are when it comes to making money everybody seems to be getting a share of). I really hope we give him a fair chance.
Their transfer window isn’t shut. Come back in two weeks and make this point
Proof will be in the pudding. If he starts producing fans will get off his back. If he flails / he’ll go down with Willian as a horrid signing
Also – can almost guarantee after reading this presser that Havertz is starting Sunday
The one major difference is that Havertz is trying whereas Willian rarely looked like he gave a shit.
Well, he would come out in defence of Havertz wouldn’t he?
Arteta was the one who sanctioned this move, and it will be Arteta who shackles the blame when it becomes clear that signing Havertz has been a disaster.
And it will be a disaster basically because Havertz offers nothing to this team. In fact, he has dragged the team backwards so far this season.
It is not so much trying to find his best position it is more realising that Havertz is pretty useless in all positions – an “attacking” player that neither scores, goals or creates chances, Useless,
I would be delighted to be proven wrong in this, but you base your opinion on a player on his performance at his previous club and how he fits in your tactics – that is why you sign a player and not on the hope that you can turn things around – especially when you spend £65 million on transfer fees and are paying him £17 million a year.
You cannot polish a turd…
I base my opinion of a player on how they perform for my club when they’ve had a decent run of games in a settled team. I also have faith that our management base their decisions on knowledge and data rather than hope. Finally, I think characterising a 24 year old Germany international as a turd is incorrect on many levels.
No you base your opinion on how incredibly he played for Leverkusen rather than how he played for that trashfire of a club for whom not a single player has played well in the last year or two, where he’s had two new managers every year, no stability, shit fans and an utterly depressing environment. Then you have the confidence that with us he’ll get back to his best, especially if we’re not such shit fans as that lot.
Nah. Still think we’re suckers for buying him. Dont want to wait for 5-7 years before he comes good and fans get the old i-told-you-so like how we justifiably felt bout xhaka before his last season. Stupid purchase when we have rowe and vieira there.
I think he is a good player and I am happy that we bought him, but I definitely believe we could have got him for less. If we have waited few weeks until the end of the window, Chelsea would have made concessions, like we did with Holding’s price yesterday. But we wanted Kai early, so that he has the time to understand the system, to get the philosophy of the club. So this is why the club believed it is worth overpaying, but in this case the fans are right to ask why that synergy is not here yet
you meant 5 – 7 games, didn‘t you?
If think at a moment let’s give credit where it’s due. Kai is good but at a moment I think he should not start maybe come in as a substitute as he gains his form because he has failed to catch-up with our game
Fortunately Kai is six or ten times better than last year.
If Vieira and Martinelli are “like brothers”, maybe they should be starting together on the left? Just saying.
Apparently you CAN polish a turd, Mikel.
This fanbase has been infiltrated and infected over the past 20 years with the biggest set of clueless ignorant entitled wankers ever. There always were one or two numpties on the North Bank back in the day, but now we have an idiocy pandemic. And I’m sorry, but it’s largely down to the internet generations of recently acquired global supporters that want instant gratification and instant success regardless of the circumstances. You can tell from their rhetoric that many of them probably haven’t even watched a game live, never mind visit the Emirates. They’re pathetic and an embarrassment. Thankfully this… Read more »
Why I think it’s sad is because the manager didn’t have to plead the case of a particular player. We have had player who have difficult times and we all let it be as we expect them to come good. Kai is a player we have watched in the premier league for the past three years
I’m not even having a dig, but you were what you just mentioned.
2 seasons ago, 3 games in, you were the biggest twat on this site, with your ####### Arteta out nonsense.
Football just brings out the idiot in passionate supporters
Or his nuno hate campaign…or his Cedric hate campaign…or his “buy rice for 500m”meltdown tantrum…etc etc etc 😂😂😂
Says the guy with the Odegaard hate campaign.
And when exactly did I say we should buy Rice for £500m….?
As usual, your posts are pathetic.
In mitigation, we were in free fall at the start of that season and at least 80% of the fanbase were rightfully pissed off.
But, after we beat Tottenham a few games later, I got behind Arteta AND took ownership for my mistakes and admitted I had been wrong.
Not blowing my own trumpet, but I’ve seen precious few admissions of that variety on here. Johnny a couple of times, but that’s been about it.
Nothing makes me angrier than the “worst fan base in the world” tweets that highlight a particularly terrible take from someone who happens to have some sort of Arsenal nickname, as if that person’s view was universally approved by all other Arsenal fans by virtue of supporting the same club.
Maybe that’s why they do it, to troll us. Among a million(s) strong fan base, there are going to be some bad apples, hot takes and lots of bad judgment. And that’s what gets the spotlight on social media.
Look, Mikel is absolutely right here, but I also get the frustration from fans. Personally I like the lad, he seems to be trying hard, it’s not like he wants to fail. And it is still very very early.
Bottom line is Rob Holding left as a highly appreciated servant of the club the other day, even though nobody really wanted him to start games for us a while back. Let’s not forget these are young people at the end of the day, trying their best to succeed in a difficult job.
Havertz is a great footballer. His hold up play up front reminds me of Giroud. He just needs to find his form. I just hope we aren’t accommodating him at a detriment to the rest of the team.
We should play our best 11.
I’m guilty of it myself and really we should stop tribalism getting in the way of accepting new players. All it does is make for a toxic environment for them and ultimately that inhibits their performances and that of the team.
even Henry and Bergkamp had relatively slow starts so let’s get behind Kai now he’s a gunner.
The jury is certainly still out on the Havertz signing, but the two issues that really have people complaining about him is the price paid for him (esp when we suck at selling and practically have to pay people to take the players we don’t want), especially to our hated enemy to allow them to buy more players, and on the field the perception that he kind of glides around out there with no intensity. Adding on is the fact that his being in the lineup in the midfield has caused Arteta to bench Gabriel and play Partey at right… Read more »
Let it go, Arteta. Let Havertz do the talking on the pitch.
Leaders who are about progress and change always make the kind of mistakes required to learn. Some may not really be mistakes but rather a part of the process for learning new things. Arteta is willing and even eager to embrace and play with change. Current society and our fans ( remember Xhaka ) will struggle with this in many ways that put lots of pressure on all, especially individual players, some will not succeed. It will take years for me to give up on Arteta and these players. Even if they have a bad year I will retain hope… Read more »
So well said
Very well said, and such a positive message, why on earth would a single person give that a downvote. Sometimes people really bewilder me.
Why? Maybe because they think that real-life elite level football management is just like Football Manager.
Today Chelsea was 6 or 10 times better. 😂
Gold
Arteta defines ‘better’ as the amount of control his team has in a given match. We could not have had more control over a top flight game of football than we did against Fulham, but the end result is 2-2. The reason he’s a top manager is that he reacts to and manages performances, not results.
That is steril superiority.
Superiority is superiority. Whether it’s sterile or not comes down to whether you can score youself. We put two in the bag. That’s enough 99% of the time with the control we had.
The illusion of control is what we had at times under Arsene Wenger. We had the ball but the opposition created the better chances. That’s not true of us this season. We have the ball and they create nothing through their own play. That’s the hallmark of an elite system.
Well said. Chelsea had a ton of possession today but 2 shots on target, less than their opponents did. Last week v. Fulham we had 11 shots on target plus a bunch of clear chances that didn’t result in shots. We had 2.55 xG to their 0.54. Normally a performance like that gets you a win, but probability dictates that occasionally it won’t. That doesn’t mean the performance was bad. There’s still stuff to be improved in it, probably v. Fulham at home you want to be around 3.5 xG and keep them to 0.3 xG. But you also definitely… Read more »
Fk your XG bs…city just hammered Fulham 5-1…that’s the fkn difference.
There are so many things wrong with this sentence.
Look around, this isn’t last season. Keep tinkering and trying to accommodate a player at the expense of team fluidity. The other teams are not waiting. I just hope to still be in the title race by end of October. By the way, respect is earned, not demanded. Expectations are high, there’s no room for experiments. The money spent on Halvertz could have been increased to 100m for a proper striker. MA also needs to work on his man management skills.
In all fairness, I’m still not convinced by Kai, but I’m hoping and will be happy to be proven wrong by MA. Referencing to the content in the post, it just seems odd. 1) MA wants players to be able to play in the system that he wants, so off goes KT cos he doesn’t fit the profile well, yet when it comes to Kai, MA needs to tweak to accommodate him into the system. Shouldn’t it be the other way round? But then again, most including me probably dun see Xhaka play play so far up the pitch and… Read more »
I’m convinced.