Mikel Arteta: Aston La Vista To The Title?

[fute]

We are still weak mentally. We made some traction this year, but still far away to go.

Arteta looked dejected after the post-game conference against Villa.

For what? The season isn't over.

Might as well be with the way he looked and some of our fanbase acts.

Yes, City has 100+ charges. Yes, they spend a lot of money.

But City rarely fumbles an opportunity. They seize it.

The question is, if they do fumble, would we even take advantage of it? Pool goes down and we follow suit by going to down at home.

We just can't seem to make that next step when we are in the driver's seat and seize the opportunity for the taking.

That starts with Arteta and begins with Arteta.

6 games remaining and a 2nd leg in the CL.

Manage. How does Arteta manage it?

That is how you are really judged as a good manager. A title winning manager. Not how you start, but how you finish.

For the last 2 years,we have not finished strong under Arteta.

If we don't finish strong again for the 3rd year in a row, then we have a bigger problem that more money spent on players can't solve.

 

[DJ_Markstar]

We are still weak mentally. We made some traction this year, but still far away to go.

Arteta looked dejected after the post-game conference against Villa.

For what? The season isn't over.

Might as well be with the way he looked and some of our fanbase acts.

Yes, City has 100+ charges. Yes, they spend a lot of money.

But City rarely fumbles an opportunity. They seize it.

The question is, if they do fumble, would we even take advantage of it? Pool goes down and we follow suit by going to down at home.

We just can't seem to make that next step when we are in the driver's seat and seize the opportunity for the taking.

That starts with Arteta and begins with Arteta.

6 games remaining and a 2nd leg in the CL.

Manage. How does Arteta manage it?

That is how you are really judged as a good manager. A title winning manager. Not how you start, but how you finish.

For the last 2 years,we have not finished strong under Arteta.

If we don't finish strong again for the 3rd year in a row, then we have a bigger problem that more money spent on players can't solve.

Stuff like this is more rhetoric than actual objective analysis

Given this rhetoric, you'd have people believe that finishing 4th was "finishing strongly" two years ago and yet finishing 2nd is "finishing poorly" since then. We could have won one of our earlier losses in the 21/22 season, lost 2 of the last 3 and still finished 4th.

The reality is that you are going to drop points here and there and before the villa game we had won every game this entire year before the draw at Man City - if that isn't finishing a season strongly I don't know what is.

6 games to go of course but have some perspective FFS, its not like we were 10 points clear and just lost 4 in a row, we lost to one of the best teams in the league, a team who are very likely to be in the CL next season and our first loss this calendar year.

 

[fute]

Stuff like this is more rhetoric than actual objective analysis

Given this rhetoric, you'd have people believe that finishing 4th was "finishing strongly" two years ago and yet finishing 2nd is "finishing poorly" since then. We could have won one of our earlier losses in the 21/22 season, lost 2 of the last 3 and still finished 4th.

The reality is that you are going to drop points here and there and before the villa game we had won every game this entire year before the draw at Man City - if that isn't finishing a season strongly I don't know what is.

6 games to go of course but have some perspective FFS, its not like we were 10 points clear and just lost 4 in a row, we lost to one of the best teams in the league, a team who are very likely to be in the CL next season and our first loss this calendar year.

We could have...

That is the perspective.

 

[MartiSaka]

This is the next level for our team I'd say. Being able to bring in a killer upfront, but also add more to our creative game.

Teams know exactly what we are doing, they can track it in their video analysis pre and post game. The reason why they cant do much to stop it is because it happens automatically and before you can react the chance to react is gone and the gap has been created and likely exploited.

What teams are now doing is completely compacting the spaces between their lines, and have added the offside trap to that. Having to play through a midblock and stay onside is a good way to slow us down, particularly if we dont have enough line beaters upfront. This is one of the last things teams can do to reallslow us down, and I expect this to be addressed over the summer.

Think this is where having a couple of fast players, say a striker and winger, might be critical. Ooregaard would have created at least three 1-1 chances with Martinez in the 1st half if pacey players where on the end of his passes.

 

[DJ_Markstar]

Think this is where having a couple of fast players, say a striker and winger, might be critical. Ooregaard would have created at least three 1-1 chances with Martinez in the 1st half if pacey players where on the end of his passes.

Havertz was on the end of a few chances but he fluffed his lines, the pace isn't the problem its the clinicality in those instances. Could have been 3-0 up and coasting if it was Mbappe on the end of those. Obviously dreamland stuff but you get the point.

 

[Makingtrax]

Two consecutive titles races in a row, I'm backing him until we don't look like we could win the league. Its not like we're up against jokers either, if we were losing the title to Leicester City or whoever the context would be very different.

Well if we lost to Leicester City spending €850m since 2019, the context would indeed be very different. Lol.

 

[OnlyOne]

I still back him tbh.

Surely there’s no other option? I saw someone post saying Arteta can only take us so far and we need someone else to get us to the next step and I had to laugh.

There isn’t another manager out there who can topple this city side across 38 games.

 

[North5]

Surely there’s no other option? I saw someone post saying Arteta can only take us so far and we need someone else to get us to the next step and I had to laugh.

There isn’t another manager out there who can topple this city side across 38 games.

Klopp only managed to do it once. They are a financially doped juggernaut with one of, if not the best Manager.

 

[LookingForEric]

The difficult part for me we’ve taken 4 points off City this season and are still likely to miss out.

If we title challenge next season under Mikel but don’t win any trophies I think conversations need to be had.

However as of right now we’ve still got a chance at two cups so…

 

[GoonerJay24]

It wasn't a dig at Wenger in the sense that I want to have digs at Wenger, more that even great managers struggle to compete when not funded properly, you'd have to imagine that if Wenger had a decent budget in that time period he'd have destroyed Leicester in that title race - seem to see budgets used to detract from the success of managers a lot and its kinda weird honestly. Even guys like Maureen and Fungus needed a budget to regularly win things.

Wenger was a genius that season. We faced numerous injuries throughout the campaign, thus constantly rotated players while juggling three competitions. This was amidst facing criticism from fans and British pundits who don't understand football on a high level.

I don’t want to dramatize, but given our circumstances of then, its one of the best managerial performances I've ever seen.

 

[LookingForEric]

Wenger was a genius that season. We faced numerous injuries throughout the campaign, thus constantly rotated players while juggling three competitions. This was amidst facing criticism from fans and British pundits who don't understand football on a high level.

I don’t want to dramatize, but given our circumstances of then, its one of the best managerial performances I've ever seen.

The only real injury of note that season was Cazorla. Rosicky and Wilshere were injured from game one. Welbeck came back at a key point as well. Alexis missed 8 games in the middle of the season. Özil missed 2 games all season and our backline was injury free.

I don’t want to dramatise, but finishing on 71 points and losing some of the games we did that year was a disgrace of a season overall. We were up against Sp**s and Leicester in a title race ffs.

 

[GoonerJay24]

The only real injury of note that season was Cazorla. Rosicky and Wilshere were injured from game one. Welbeck came back at a key point as well. Alexis missed 8 games in the middle of the season. Özil missed 2 games all season and our backline was injury free.

I don’t want to dramatise, but finishing on 71 points and losing some of the games we did that year was a disgrace of a season overall. We were up against Sp**s and Leicester in a title race ffs.

Not true at all but we know you have an agenda already, so no point

 

[LookingForEric]

Not true at all but we know you have an agenda already, so no point

Which part isn’t true? All of the injury information provided was factual from Transfermarkt.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Look, I think it’s worth analysing things like this so don’t take this the wrong way.

But it’s not a “bad” thing at all for our manager (or any manager) to continue to try different line ups and tactics and formations in the first half of the season in my opinion.

It keeps things fresh and it keeps opponents guessing and makes it harder for them to find “the one” game plan that best nullifies our game. This is exactly how we managed to string together our best run in the second half of the season when results matter the most.

Pep does exactly the same thing - and it’s a big part of why Man City are notorious for being incredible finishers imo.

The caveat here is that I don’t think you should keep fking around and finding out with 6 games left of the season. But we’re also in an awkward position because that **** conceicao gave the world a playbook on how to effectively nullify us at the worst possible time.

Every system has a weak spot and an effective counter, it’s simply not possible to have an all conquering style. Ultimately the only thing that you can never counter is individual brilliance. What city has in spades, and we don’t, is this mercurial quality. We have a team of Goose (geese?) without any Maverick. (Ok that’s harsh as I think Saka could be that guy someday but he isn’t yet).

Arteta’s tactics and coaching have done an incredible job at lifting the performances of the team to a level where we really do have to start applying @Trilly ’s “Arteta Tax” on some of our players - they aren’t as good in clutch moments as some of the best of their counterparts, regardless of how well they function in his system. Havertz is the quintessential example of a player who is putting up numbers way above his level because of the system he plays in.

Adding individual brilliance needs to be the final part of this fking process, both for my blood pressure and for our quest for trophies.

If we spend another summer buying “systems players” who can fill in at 15 different positions on the pitch without being truly world class in one well defined role then I worry we may see a repeat next season where we ultimately fall short in the clutch moments when you need more than just tactics and coaching.

The lack of links to a world class CM really worry me. At this stage last year I’m sure the Rice links were already in overdrive.

What bothers me most about Arteta is his talent ID! The reason why he tries out these weird formations and lineups is because he is forced to due to the lack of specific profiles. I could excuse him for that when we were poor but after £600M spent it's inexcusable.

A squad is like a diet. Walk with me. A balanced diet compromises proteins, carbs, fats, fibre, calcium, minerals and vitamins for the body to function. If you remove one of the above, the body will adapt to these changes; however, if enough time passes, the body will suffer from a lack of nutrients.

The lack of natural 8 has caused us problems all season, but we survived until now. It's why Arteta brought back an out-of-form Zinchenko to compensate for our midfield issues. Think about it, and let me know left-back (who can't defend) was brought in to fix our midfield. The worst thing is that Arteta identified this issue years ago by trying to sign Locatelli and Bruno Guimaraes.

We have no natural overlapping fullback, instead, Arteta expects our wide forwards to hug the touchline. It's a testament to Saka's quality that he can put up decent numbers. But we should expect more.

We have no CF who can regularly score goals. Even Auba suffered under Arteta, and fans blamed it on Auba's old age. The CF has to be a facilitator but is that right when the CF is facilitating for wide forwards who are acres away from goal?

Arteta is like one of those diet extremists on social media who tell you to completely remove carbs from your diet and now you're pissing blood and you can't stay awake at work. Arsenal are now at the mercy of one man’s vision, and we see if it is worth it. It better be.

 

[lomekian]

Games did cost us the league:

1. 2-2 draw v Fulham
2. 2-2 draw v Sp**s
3. 2-0 loss v Villa
4. 2-0 loss v West Ham
5. 2-1 loss v Fulham

I am here to expose Arteta's mistakes so I have my own conclusions, make your own. What I see is patterns. I show what some don't remember about the manager, his stubbornness and how he bottled last season (Partey RB) and now this one because he went so long with an idea didn't work and experiments in the worse moment for that.

1. Partey RB, Arteta still trying what made us lose the league last season. Havertz LCM experiment startedView attachment 23540
2. Zinchenko is back, we still had no CF, and Arteta was trying with Viera.
View attachment 23541
3. Zinchenko LB exposed, GJ back to CF and Havertz LCM. This was peak of his Havertz late runs experiment, also our poor form started with this.
View attachment 23542
4. Everything remains the same but Havertz. Arteta tried with Trossard doing that SS role he was obsessed with Havertz instead of using Jorge to as mid to help Rice control the game.
View attachment 23543

5. Arteta still trying with Havertz in the middle, putting Eddie instead of him in top. Team unbalanced as result.
View attachment 23545

6. The more recent, after a lot of games of solid defensive games with Kiwi left, Jorginho displaying great games, Partey back and Havertz doing good job as CF.... suddenly our manager decided to go back to exactly the same made us lose against Villa. Back to GJ CF, Zinchenko LB exposed and the worst one Havertz LCM and Rice alone giving nothing because he is not enough progressive.
View attachment 23544

While it is certainly of both interest and value to observe trends, its less helpful when one is so selective....far more useful to look at aggregates to see where certain tactics were effective and where they weren't, takiing into account strength of opponent etc. And also to look beyond just scoreline.

I think we've seen enough to kjnow that certain combinations can be effective against some teams/set ups and less so against others. But of course the only way to find that out initially is by doing it enough to form a picture.

Also worth remembering that Fulham (a), Porto (A) & City (a) are the only games this season where we've been outplayed. In most of the dropped points you highlight, we created more than enough chances to win those games comfortably.

So yes we are lacking another quality midfielder, and our team has been unbalanced at times, but we are also lacking players in advanced areas who are killers under pressure. While one probably can't get away with an Ian Wright-esque lone striker any more, if we could find some more of that degree of certainty in front of goal (or just an xG monster like Salah, Haaland etc), it would transform our results in tight games

 

[dka1]

Klopp only managed to do it once. They are a financially doped juggernaut with one of, if not the best Manager.

Not only that but from 18/19 onwards in chronological order Liverpool got these points totals;

97, 99, 69, 92, 67

Sure there were dips with 69 (giggity), and 67 points in 20/21 & 22/23 but to finish with 97 and 92 points and still miss out is a little cruel .

Honestly f*ck City and their fans that try to justify their historic, completely unfair advantage, just because their net spend has been smaller more recently after the ridiculous levels of spending they had (relative to other clubs), when the Abu Dhabi Group first took over.

 

[Makingtrax]

The Kroenke's deserve that recognition for sure, but for the wider point, Chelsea and Man Utd say hi...

I had this discussion with @db10_therza the other day. If you look at the top spending clubs on players in the league and count the number of times they’ve dropped out of the top 6 in the last 20 years:

City 1 (since 2008 when they bagged an oligarch), United 1, Chelsea 2. Money is like a cork, it keeps you buoyant. Arsenal 2, Liverpool 4.

A study of the prem shows us that the more money you spend the better your odds of winning. If you’re expecting a closer relationship like predicting exactly where you’ll finish, you’ll be disappointed. Let’s say for example that money is 70% of where you’ll finish, the other 30% - manager effect, injuries, transfer success etc can affect positions. What is it you don’t understand, same goes to @DJ_Markstar?

 

[lomekian]

It wasn't a dig at Wenger in the sense that I want to have digs at Wenger, more that even great managers struggle to compete when not funded properly, you'd have to imagine that if Wenger had a decent budget in that time period he'd have destroyed Leicester in that title race - seem to see budgets used to detract from the success of managers a lot and its kinda weird honestly. Even guys like Maureen and Fungus needed a budget to regularly win things.

Yup. And if the previous owners had been more interested in supporting the club than enriching themselves and invested when Wenger was at his peak 98-06, we would have probably become the dominant force in European Football. Never forgiven them, the bastards

 

[lomekian]

We are still weak mentally. We made some traction this year, but still far away to go.

Arteta looked dejected after the post-game conference against Villa.

For what? The season isn't over.

Might as well be with the way he looked and some of our fanbase acts.

Yes, City has 100+ charges. Yes, they spend a lot of money.

But City rarely fumbles an opportunity. They seize it.

The question is, if they do fumble, would we even take advantage of it? Pool goes down and we follow suit by going to down at home.

We just can't seem to make that next step when we are in the driver's seat and seize the opportunity for the taking.

That starts with Arteta and begins with Arteta.

6 games remaining and a 2nd leg in the CL.

Manage. How does Arteta manage it?

That is how you are really judged as a good manager. A title winning manager. Not how you start, but how you finish.

For the last 2 years,we have not finished strong under Arteta.

If we don't finish strong again for the 3rd year in a row, then we have a bigger problem that more money spent on players can't solve.

tbf EVERYONE in England has crumbled when Pep has got his groove on bar Covid Klopp. Its their record of late season invincibility that puts on so much more pressure than previously in football history.

There are only about 5 teams in the EPL era that have accrued more points than the Pep title challenge everage. You literally have to be historically good to beat them, so every dropped point feels a disaster.

That said, all it takes is a ligament pull to the right player(s) there and its game on again, so no time to feel dispirited. Shame Sergio Ramos isn't still at Madrid to maim a couple...

 

[lomekian]

Think this is where having a couple of fast players, say a striker and winger, might be critical. Ooregaard would have created at least three 1-1 chances with Martinez in the 1st half if pacey players where on the end of his passes.

Amen. Without Martinelli we lack that scare the opponent pace