It’s time for the excuses to stop and some of our fans need to finally accept that Arteta’s poor management has been part of the problem so far this campaign.
I sat there for the duration of our first leg encounter with Villarreal believing that we have the players to beat them but sadly, at no stage did it look like we had the manager to do so.
Having no fans inside stadiums has been frequently used as a excuse for some of our poor results this season but supporters not being in attendance has no impact on poor team selections, substitutions and in game management.
Another one we often hear, is Mikel’s lack of managerial experience, yet if fans who have had no involvement in professional football can see the basic errors he’s making, why can’t someone who has been professionally involved in the sport for two decades. And what use are Arteta’s coaching staff if they don’t offer him any worthwhile guidance. It was predictable that Ceballos would be sent off, most fans said he should be substituted before he was, yet the one man who matters, ignored the warning signs.
Had his false nine experiment paid off, our manager would have been seen as a genius but unfortunately, it didn’t. Taking a gamble in our biggest game of the season to date, is always likely to be greeted with anger and frustration when it doesn’t work but what disappointed me the most, wasn’t that Arteta tried something new, it was his lack of nous to quickly recognise his plan wasn’t working and change it.
Managers can influence games and ironically, it was our former manager Unai Emery who played a significant role in us remaining in the tie ahead of the second leg. By replacing Alcacer with Coquelin, Unai helped relieve some of the pressure we were inviting on to ourselves because of our tactical set up.
Rather than Arteta conjuring up any inspiration from the sidelines, we were largely helped by the injury to Foyth, who had been causing us problems and bizarrely, Ceballos’ red card too. The team seemed to improve collectively following Dani’s dismissal and his lack of pace, where he often looks like he’s walking through treacle, wasn’t missed.
We are told that Mikel’s plan is obvious to anyone who understands football. The man must be a genius because he disguises it so well that very few can actually see it. Many want to believe in the idyllic scenario about Arteta being Pep MK2 but unfortunately, the reality is not so appealing.
Despite my current lack of faith in Mikel, in truth I’m struggling to see any evidence that he’s a good manager lately and consider his leadership to have been disappointing nearly all season, I still believe we can advance to the final. However, I won’t be putting any money on it for obvious reasons.
Our away goal could and should prove to be crucial because I’m of the opinion that our tactics and poor defending made Villarreal look a better team than they actually are, particularly during the first half. If Arteta gets his team selection and tactics right, then I certainly believe we are capable of beating them by a sufficient margin to progress.
If we somehow win the Europa League, it’s true that Champions League qualification will mean that Mikel has done what was asked of him this campaign. You could say that by winning a trophy, he would have exceeded expectations. Whatever happens though, I think it’s fair to say that we will need to see a massive improvement in his management if he’s to remain in charge next season.
Put simply, we won’t get away with delivering the performances we’ve been getting away with in the Europa League, when we face a better standard of opposition in Europe’s premier competition. Neither will Arteta have such an easy ride when supporters, hopefully, return to stadiums for games.
Some fans appear happy to give Mikel a free pass this season, I’m not one of them. Every supporter judges the players based on their performances so why shouldn’t the manager be judged on his? He will rightly be praised if he’s successful so by the same token, it’s fair to criticise him when he’s not.
The ones who say it’s not the managers fault and that the players aren’t good enough, will be the the same ones who will laud Mikel as a genius if we win the Europa League. You can’t have it both ways and the manager is either an influence or he’s not. I’d say we’ve been let down by both at times during this campaign.
Some Arsenal fans have a strange mentality about success though. I saw a poll on social media recently where many voted that they’d rather not win the Europa League and finish below that lot from down the road if it meant Kroenke sold the club, than win it, finish above the enemy and for him to remain our owner. Not wanting success because they want us to be successful, go figure.
As an Arsenal fan, unless us winning a game has a direct impact that would result in our aforementioned rivals winning a trophy, not that they can remember what one is, I will always want us to win every game we play. I also want to feel like we are winning games because of Arteta and not in spite of him….
Passionate Gooner born in 1984. I often get called negative but personally, I prefer the term honest and honesty is something that I pride myself on. I joined the Gunners Town team after penning several ‘Dear Arsene Wenger’ letters on my Facebook profile, several years ago, and sharing them in Arsenal supporter groups. These were met with praise and the encouragement to start writing my own blog, from fellow Arsenal supporters, who felt my words summed up their own feelings perfectly. So here I am…..
It’s not Arteta’s responsibility that we have become a mediocre team, that process started several years ago. State of club when Arteta got hired was total chaos with lots of internal and external conflicts. Three months after his appointment we got lockdown due to the pandemic, not particularly beneficial for a struggling club with a young manager. This season started more or less without preseason preparations and no proper break for our players, not particularly beneficial for a struggling club with players lacking confidence. Facts you blatant are ignoring. Arteta has done many mistakes, but we can’t ignore state of club when Emery left and all the conflicts he inherited from the past. From my point of view we do have a top six squad, but that depends that our presumptive best players are in form and deliver match after match. Auba has kept us floating, but this season he has had lots of problems. He has been our most important player, but hasn’t delivered this season, which is one reason why we are dropping on the table. This season is the most complicated since the 50s, with same number of games in a shorter time span, how do that influence on a struggling club? This season have been really bad, particularly the first half, but I do expect some perspective before you are blaming our manager for problems he can’t be responsible of. You should blame our owner / board they are responsible for everything also hiring and sacking managers. No manager do arrive with success guarantee, but they need proper time and normal circumstances to have a fair chance to succeed ⚪️
presidents are given 100 days to turn a country around. He has been there almost 2 years. The players are no fools. They don’t believe in his project because they know it would not work
Arteta arrived in December 2019, three months after we got the pandemic and lockdown. Three weeks after the previous season finished we started this season without summer break and proper preseason preparations, how do that influence on a struggling club with a relatively new manager, not particularly beneficial. This season we are playing same number of games in a shorter time span then ever before, not particularly beneficial for a struggling club with lots of obstacles.
Arteta has been our manager for approximately 16 months, no manager since the 50s have ever faced a more challenging 16 months in the chair. Arteta has done lots of mistakes in a very challenging time, we can sack him tomorrow and find an experienced manager. But, we will never get a success guarantee, so we will have to sack him as well…
Perhaps we are just a mediocre club with a mediocre squad, and need better players? How many top class / world class defenders do we have? Not many, Tierney? What about our engine room? Only Partey, when he can play. If we have had a normal season we could managed top six, but we don’t have a normal season and there have been too many internal and external obstacles, therefore do we finish seven or eight in the league. It’s not good enough, but I don’t believe that any other manager could have done better in the same situation, with our unbalanced mediocre squad. We should give Arteta at least one more season, next season do we finish top fifth with a better squad. COYG!
Put a sock in it you daft wassock the manger DOES NOT HAVE A BLOODY CLUE imho
Another disrespectful muppet, been watching AFTV recently
Its true. Artera is an angel sent form heaven right? Like he’s so so so good. Give him any other team in pl and he would win. All the teams above us in the pl. had artera manager them they would be winning the pl. good managers have a plan and stick with it. They don’t change their tactics based on their players ability or the players they have at their disposal. No no, like artera good managers stick to their guns and if their players don’t deliver it’s the wrong players. The players are shit.
But also, most of the arsenal fans are uneducated kids in their 20s that have no clue what so ever about tactics, economy or mana management. He speaks to them also. Simple easy words.like Q. Trust the process. Artera is Q! So he’s kinda like trump. The less intelligent you are the more you like him. It’s kinda weird that… but he does yea simple words though. Easy to understand words. It kinda helps… especially when you are a young male…
Trust the process guys! It’s simple, QAnnon was right so is artera! Logic and intelligence doesn’t really matter. Only the process. Trust the process. Trust the process. It’s not artetas fault. It’s not his fault the players are shit and can’t follow his instructions. And who changes tactics to suit the players huh? Nobody! Trust the process….fotball isn’t about results anyway. It’s about loving artera and trusting the process….
It will take time for Arteta to get the players he wants. This squad has a couple of great youngsters in Martinelli, Saka and ESR so I would like to see a team built around them with Lacazette and Partey kept on with Tierney. Willian hasn’t worked out and Chambers is injured more often than not. Holding switches off very quickly. Can’t see Odegaard signing permanently so he’ll be back in Madrid or elsewhere next season. Xhaka seems have become versatile suddenly but Cedric has done well when he’s had a chance. The rest have been there since Wengers final years and need to be moved on. As for Arteta would Europa league success be enough to keep him in a job if we don’t qualify via the league? Not sure it will.
Syrup bonce and his bloody cronies wont sack the clueless fool im sad to say
So All that needs to happen is for Arteta to get “his” players.
Really.
How many of the players who started on Sunday were bought or introduced by Wenger?
3, 4?
That excuse, together with our being in transition is just plain nonsense.
A good coach is able to utitlise what he has with, perhaps, one or 2 additions.
Arteta has had more then enough additions and look where we are?
We are worse now than we were with Emery and that is saying something.
I find watching Arsenal thunderously boring and cannot eait unti the end of the game.
Is that good mangership and coaching?