Super Mik Arteta

The yoith policy is actually club policy. So whoever comes in has to be agreeable with it. Needs factoring in on so called replacement managers and the bigger picture here.
That’s not a defence of Arteta. Just the facts of the club.

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I like that we have a youth project style. I don’t mind. You can go far with it, look at clubs like Dortmund and Ajax. We’re richer and a bigger brand (nowadays) but in return the PL is tougher in competition than Ere/BL. Winning the league requires consistency, reliability and squad depth which is something you don’t associate with young teams, and to be frank it is incredibly hard to compete with oil teams in that department, but you can get pretty far with that approach once in a while.

The thing is though that if you want the benefits of that method it is key to have a manager who excels in it. I think it’s one of several ways you can be successful but I think what all of them have in common is that while committing to a method doesn’t guarantee success, it helps optimise the outcome. It doesn’t look like Arteta is the guy for a youth project style atm but I suspect the board thinks he is, or at least they’re content letting him try, we are really stacking up on youth, this window we blew £150m on 7 players who were all 20-23 yo, it’s obvious that we’re trying something along those lines.

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I agree that the board are backing Arteta and his youth policy but it’s not like we’re buying young players on the cheap.

We’ve just spent 80m on a White and Ramsdale, who might be young but are we going to recoup what we spent on them?

There are plenty of other new PL managers at smaller clubs who have spent almost nothing and are doing a far better job than Arteta.

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Behind Everton…

This is exactly my issue. They’re hiding behind this supposed youth development whilst splurging millions on players with years of consistent football. They’re not risky seriously out of form players, they’re not unknowns.

A youth project is us after Highbury

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So after 94 games in charge (all comp), Arteta has win % of 53.2%.

Unai Emery had 55.1%.

Loss % Arteta: 27.7%
Emery: 24.4%

Sample sizes are quite large enough now (78 under Emery, 94 under Arteta)…

And this season so far: 50% win (that includes two easy games in Caraboa - take those out and we are at 37.5%)… 30% loss rate (same comment - we would be 37.5% if you use just Prem).

One more note - the list of teams we have beaten so far this season:

  1. Spurs
  2. Wimbledon
  3. Burnley
  4. Norwich
  5. West Brom

The teams we have failed to beat:

  1. ManCity (destroyed)
  2. Chelsea (handily beaten)
  3. Brighton Hove Albion
  4. Crystal Palace
  5. Brentford (capitulation)
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16 losses, 51 goals conceded, only 62 scored.

25 of our last 46 games have ended with us not winning. That’s a ridiculous record.

Emery was sacked for so much less. Wenger was let go for finishing 6th.

Insanity that Arteta still has a job

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Sorry first post - been reading over the last while and thought I would add 2 cents!

There a few members here that seem incredibly negative about everything Arsenal, players, manager et al. Unless we win the league it won’t be good enough, because the first loss and the toxicity is in full force.

To start with and why I chose this thread - Arteta - I am not a massive fan of him but I definitely feel he is better suited to Arsenal than “good ebening!” and a number of other names touted.

Harping on about squad price and using that to measure success or failure of the manager seems disingenuous when the squad age is omitted from the equation and also the state of the club prior to that investment. Arsenal have literally the youngest starting line-up in the League Premier League - Average age of the starting XI | Transfermarkt. With such a young squad whether you like it or not, we are going to have inconsistencies and players are going to make mistakes.

The club has been badly run for a number of years, recruitment has been poor and how contracts were allowed to run down has been inexcusable. The real problem is not the manager or the players but we are a poorly run club.

Change Arteta - I won’t necessarily complain, but who are you putting in his place? No “top” manager is coming to join project Arsenal (Rogers is not an upgrade and he wouldn’t come to Arsenal) and fans are deluded to think Potter is an upgrade. Conte will never come either, so if Arteta is binned off it will be a new/inexperienced manager that Arsenal owners go after and after 6 months of enthusiasm the fan base will be exactly where we are now…

There is talk on here of Arsenal being a top 4 calibre club, that too is deluded, we are in and abouts Europa places which will be competitive so finishing 6th/8th is the reality of where we should finish and if we did well potentially 5th or sneak in 4th. That is the reality, talk of anything else is being blinded by historic positions and not the reality of where we are at this minute.

Am I happy with the position, no, would I rather we were challenging City/Pool/Chels 100% but that is not happening this year or next and getting rid of Arteta wont change that.

Last nights game, the team scored early (I remember this happening in the last days of Wenger and often under Emery) the players then sat back and invited pressure (cringe and wait for opposition to score) but even though it was ugly we were not under serious pressure and were doing just about enough. In the 42nd minute McArthur had to see red and Palace go into half time with 10 men. The entire game is different come second half (Mike Dean and VAR do their level best to shaft us) - thankfully Ramsdale made a brilliant save at the death. Second half we started better again, Partey takes too long on a ball when he had a simple pass, gets disposessed and we concede (sure White should have done better too). 2nd goal Lakonga looked to be trying too hard held onto the ball too long instead of taking the simple pass, was dispossessed and they score. We looked to run out of ideas in build up and too many slow sideways passes (I believe that comes largely from lack of confidence because I can see the intricate passing in the warm up drills) but I could see players that cared. Laca came on and was asking for (demanding) support from the crowd and they boys fought for that equaliser (messy as it was they showed determination). A season or two back and we would have lost that game. Not the result I want, doubt it is the result the team would want but considering we were on the brink of a loss, I will take that and hope it gives the players a little more confidence.

To close, I think as a fanbase we need to be realistic of where we are currently - accept that this is a young squad and they will be inconsistent and they will make individual mistakes. We are not a top 4 side any more and that is just how it is finishing 6th will be an improvement and that needs to be our aim. If there is a better manager out there who will in fact improve us, go for it, but there is no need to spout Rogers, Potter & Conte, they are not coming. While our owners are the Kroenkes this is our reality. Where we are now, the decline started in ernest in 2011 and we over-achieved in a few of Wengers years after that. (peak Ozil and Sanchez @ Arsenal plastered over cracks temporarily and gave fans a false hope). Our problem is an ownership structure with little ambition.

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tl;dr :wink:

In all seriousness great opening post

Welcome

Welcome aboard made. Lot to dissect here but you’ve made some really good points.

Definitely stick around. How long were you reading for before you signed up?

No, this so called coach is a key part of our woes. Your post is incredibly defeatist and shifts blame.

Our recruitment whilst not setting the world alight has been decent and yet this is what this scrub is extracting from these players? We’re playing one game a week, yes we have garbage ownership but this guy has been backed to the hilt and he continues to flounder with a team with no identity, no nous, no clue, can’t score or create like a supposed top team should be able to and also we’re not resilient unless given a cushy fixture list and even then the way we play is uninspiring.

This guy has zero excuses anymore, don’t want to hear about being a poorly run club when he couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag. Contrary to popular belief we don’t necessarily need a super coach, we need a good one that can instil a viable philosophy and identity and actually improve and extract more from our players.

This is something a good coach can do in spite of shitty ownership. What is this guys excuse when coaches with limited resources in comparison are able to make their teams perform better? And yes the likes of Potter and Thomas Frank are upgrades, what football have you been watching to suggest otherwise? Frank had a week to prepare for Chelsea and his team should have won that match whilst we get bullied like its boys against men.

Letting Arteta off the hook is a joke when he’s been given funds to sign damn near all the players he wanted.

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The club policy is going cheap.
Arteta going young just matched what the club/owner wants.

Of course, you could be right also.

@InvincibleDB10
Our young players are “cheap” already.
Consider if we buy established and experienced players, the cost will go much higher.

I always say, Emery was treated unfairly.
Or I should say, if our standard was high enough that Emery could not reach, then we should have fired Arteta long time ago.
Not any chance this fucker should be here still, if we got rid of Emery because of the “results” and expectations not met.

@SeanG79
Welcome to the forum
Emery is not a “great” manager, but he won 4 EL.
It takes way more than just cheap talks and luck to win 4 EL.
He is a professional at least, Arteta is just a talker.
No way we should hire him in the very first beginning.

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Yeah I wasn’t trying to make a case for Emery tbf, although I think some of the statements about him all along and a priori were over the top (negative). I was in favor of firing him that summer (and not hiring him in the first place).

What I am saying is more that “if that standard was poor and resulted in dismissal, with less time and less investment…”

Now we are back in this stupid cycle of mid-season panic firing and hiring… we really need to plan ahead and just get the best possible guy available next summer, even if that means a long stint with a caretaker.

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I would put my trust on the hands of experienced people… DOF, coaches, managers…
It is a long term plan and takes enormous visions and experience to make it work.
Rookies like Arteta and dumb fuck Edu are not on this at all.

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Welcome to the forum mate, cracking first post.

I’ll be honest, I disagree with a large amount of what you said haha, but I appreciate the effort and thought that went into your arguments and its always good to get a fresh perspective when most of us are wallowing in our own misery and being depressing bastards.

Stick around, if you can bear our (100% justified) pessimism :grin:

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You get a like for the Potter comment automatically from me.
There’s plenty in the locker. Stick around mate.

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about 6 weeks and signed up an account 2 or 3 weeks ago

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Welcome aboard Sean…
Nice first post, unfortunately I do not agree about your Arteta comments, he is NOT good enough to be our manager, and should never have been given the job, but I love your optimism…Good luck on here mate…

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I am not defending Arteta or Emery.

But what I am trying or was trying to say is that we are in a shit place. That is the reality.

Who is going to sign for us now…look at spuds, they took their 12th choice in Nuno - who of calibre is going to take on this role at Arsenal with the direction the club want of youth.

I don’t think Arteta is the right/best coach necessarily but I dont think he is quite as bad as most of the people on here and I think he also has limitations in who we signed and he had to be on board with “project youth” - whoever comes next will be in the same boat (which will put most top managers off the job). What also I think is the horse bolted, we had a chance of signing a top manager when Wenger left (all be it we kept him longer than we should have) - instead we chose Emery and then Arteta (the Arteta choice made sense because it came with some goodwill).

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We are still a big enough club to attract capable coaches, I don’t buy the assertion that we just stuck in this place at all.

Like we couldn’t attack the likes of Lopetegui for example? I have no doubt a better coach can get more out of these players, they are not as bad as they are playing.

As for this whole project youth excuse Arteta is a driving force in getting these players, there has been no indication that the club is imposing age limits on the players he can sign indeed when he first arrived, he started signing more experienced players and when that inevitably blew up in his face he’s now gone full on project youth which I’m sure has nothing to do with him and Edu having ready made excuses and attempting to buy themselves more time. Why when we are a team that struggles to create and score did we not sign a single forward?

Bottom line is though whether we have a younger squad or not they should be playing much better than they do, he is absolutely as bad as some make out.

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