Good day one and all.
We got into the game against Chelsea this weekend in a weakened state, both squad wise and mentally. The mood is flat and the rampant optimism of pre season has retreated like the turning tide. We have been playing poorly, losing regularly and all hope of improvement and revival is pinned on one player returning. Yes one player, Martin Odegaard, is expected to turn the tide, well he’s a good player, but King Canute he is not.
Mikel Arteta has been at the helm for 5 years now, I think that makes him the second longest serving manager in the league. It’s a long time. The first two and a half years were diabolical really. Two 8th place finishes and dire paint by numbers football, where effort was king and technique seemed to have been pushed out and paid to leave for Turkey. However, despite people like me being critical and unable to see how a revival could happen, the board stuck with him and spent north of £700m backing him. Then low and behold, I, and many others had to consider that we had been very wrong. Suddenly , for 2 years we appeared to be challenging for the title. We were still spending like drunken sailors and it looked like we might continue on an upward curve and actually win the title this season. It was a magical time for fans, and Arteta was promoted to a position of demigod where any whisper of criticism was met with a salvo, nay a broadside, from his adoring worshipers.
Despite having been unable to sell players, some atrocious value when purchasing, even paying players to leave, due to the two “challenges”, Edu was also promoted to almost demigod status. Not much praise for Stan funding it all, but still, who cares? We had our very own dynamic duo, and they were going to sweep all before them. Marvelous.
But the warning signs were there, ignored by most, but there all the same. When we bought Jesus and Zinchenko, I said we couldn’t expect to pass City by buying their rejects, and expecting them to be our best players. Now, the two who were going to transform our professionalism, experience and technical levels, have morphed into anchors holding us back. So perhaps I was right?
He heart of a team is the midfield, we lost Xhaka and tried to replace him with Havertz, well he was awful in the Xhaka role. However, when Jesus got injured, he was asked to play up front, and luckily this work, in so much as the £65m no longer looked like flushing £ down the drain. The guy, Rice, who we had clearly bought as a 6, was asked to play as an 8, and that too, for a while seemed to work. But, the chickens have come home to roost.
The mood on twitter and other social media sites has massively changed of late. Now I know, people will insist that this isn’t a true reflection of the fans base, but it’s the only one we get to see. Those that had to be quite, for their own digital safety, have turned. It’s open season on Arteta, Edu has flown the coop and Jack has slung his hook as well. The gloves are off and we have gone from not tolerating any criticism of Mikel, to the very opposite.
It’s a pivotal time for the club and the fans, don’t let it turn into an ugly time.
I think Arteta has enough credit in the bank for us to hold off, but that credit is diminishing rapidly.
Pedantic George.
Positively Arsenal 
Although I agree with a lot of what you say I feel this has come a game to early at the very least.
If we finish top four and win a pot or two then it will still be regarded as a successful season. If we beat Chelusa and city and Liverpool don’t come of their games then we go in to the international break in a reasonable position.
Football is cyclical and this definitely feels like the end of the first “Process”. Arsene built and rebuilt many sides with no money so Mikel might just have to show he can evolve and produce a new squad.
I said at the start of the season I thought the stripping of the squad and the lack of replacements might cost us and in the last few games it has, however that doesn’t mean we won’t get away with it in the future.
While I’ve never thought Martin was the be all and end all of the team his injury has coincided with our struggles in creativity. Personally I think it’s just poor form in many area’s of the pitch.
Chelusa are a very good side, in fact the most expensive squad in the PL and maybe in the world. They now have reached a stage where they are cohesive and have a very good manager who has a solid vision and strength to keep the hierarchy at bay.
The top teams will pull wins out of their arse when everything is against them and I think we are about to find out if we are a really top side or just pretenders who have done well when other clubs were struggling with a host of different issues.
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credit? He spent 700m. Hardly genius stuff is it. Plus the style of football is the least entertaining to watch in the whole league!
5 years, 700m and 1 cu would get home sacked at any other club in the top half!
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I’m seeing it Ian, my TL is a fact.
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I was away games in 2006 when supporters I had known for a long time were calling for Arsene’s head. So I’m sure it’s on your timeline George.
I wasn’t one of those who wanted Mikel after Arsene or Uni. George you were right all those years ago when you wanted Mikel.
There are lots of reasons I don’t think Mikel won’t win us the league, but he was right for the club at the time and the situation and although I will keep criticising him, I will also be backing him for a while yet.
Amorris444, like I say I’m not Mikel’s biggest fan but look at spuds, manure and recently chelusa. All three spent a fortune to fail to even get in the CL.
Unless you have unlimited money, it’s the clubs that stick with their manager that are the most stable. With Edu fucking off this is not the time to be changing Mikel…… until someone better comes along.
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I agree Ian, but it’s a watershed moment, because the football is not entertaining, fans won’t put up with bad results and bad football. This time the excuse of not spending has all but gone. Logic won’t come into it.
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I warned at the end of last season that the back to back second places had build a rod for Arsenal’s back, the endless PR nonsense from Arsenal too only contributed to it. The trust the process nonsense is all well and good and is lapped up when everything looks to be heading upwards and to an ultimate destination of success trophywise and onwards and upwards to more and more, leagues and yes the holy grail of CL success, but the expectations it has garnered has to met or the fans turn, and although its early yet to say they are turning, but it is reasonable to say they are doubting.
Many were not happy with the summer transfer business, both in and out, no big signing brought in that would push us up that next level, ESR sold, others loaned out, Sterling who was not a target taken in on loan, leaving ourselves 3 players short, was all less than inspiring, and now 10 league games and 4 CL games in and we’ve failed to win half of them, there is a major lack of goals, especially from open play, the football is again paint by numbers, there is nothing that gets you on the edge of your seat in awe, its more likely to get you on the edge of your seat as you get up to go do something more enjoyable.
As Ian said win on Sunday and other results go well and we are in a good enough place going into yet another god awful international break, but lose and other results go poorly for us and fans will stew on it for the break, and it will not calm many of them down.
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reports are that two of the leading contenders to replace Edu are Per Mertesacker who is head of the Arsenal Academy, and Tomas Rosicky who is CEO at Sparta Prague
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just seen a stat that in the last 12 games that we conceded first we have lost 9, drawn 1 and won 2
the 2 games we came back to win were at home to southampton and at home to everton.
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just seen a stat that in the last 12 games that we conceded first we have lost 9, drawn 1 and won 2
the 2 games we came back to win were at home to southampton and at home to everton.
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I don’t think there is an excuse of not spending, in fact quite the opposite. We have spent and given away a fortune under the Arteta/Edu axis if you look at our compound account.
The problem is more about the evolution of the squad and as it morphs into a new look each season the balance has to be right and this is where we seemed to have struggled.
We do have to remember our fixtures have been harder than in many previous seasons and certainly the hardest under Mikel.
Injuries and the stop start nature brought on by the international breaks haven’t helped but as ED and George have both said it’s the style that’s killing the manager at the moment.
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Arsenal U18’s lost again today leaving them with only 2 wins from their 9 league games so far this season, sitting 9th with a -2 goal difference, they have not won any of their last 5 games.
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City lose their second game, must surely mean that their title hopes are over? COYG!
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well mills liverpool are currently winning and if they do they go 10 points clear of Arsenal, I don’t know about city’s title challenge being over, but if we sit 10pts behind liverpool after we play tomorrow I’d say its a safe bet we won’t be winning the title.
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We have overturned a ten point lead from manure and that was with only about ten games to go.
Its been done before and this season there’s lots of teams that can beat Liverpool. Of course the same teams can beat us but it’s doable.
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14 year old Max Dowman trained with the first team today.
I’m not saying he will be in the match day squad tomorrow, but its actually mad that as far as I’m aware he under the rules could play for the first team tomorrow but he is not allowed play for our U18’s in the FA Youth cup as he is too young. He does play for our U18’s in the league but is not allowed in the youth cup
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ian of course it can be done, what I’m saying is this arsenal team won’t do it, and I’m still putting man city as favorites to win the league again this season.
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liverpool won 2-0 and so go 10pts clear of us,
spurs are at home to ipswich tomorrow and if they win the will be above us before we play Chelsea and we’d be in 7th, but a win for us and we’d go top 4
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