I?m afraid I have even less confidence after that that we?ll win anything
And I?m not sure I understand how Arteta has allowed it to get to this
Ah well, should be an interesting summer :-)
Printable View
I?m afraid I have even less confidence after that that we?ll win anything
And I?m not sure I understand how Arteta has allowed it to get to this
Ah well, should be an interesting summer :-)
A win is a win when you?re playing that poorly. We just have to hope it inspires confidence going into the next game.
If we can get Saka and Timber back to some kind of fitness the odds will improve.
Never thought I?d say we?re missing Merino but his contributions were the difference in a lot of games, even though I never saw him as a 90 minute player.
Trossard really has crashed and burned this season. Arteta needs to think more about rotating Martinelli with Jesus along that flank as the lesser of two evils.
COYG
Was it playing badly though? I mean, I guess it depends on your benchmark for good and bad. It certainly wasn't free flowing, attacking football with the handbrake off. But if you think Arteta is going to play like that, with this team, at this stage of the season in a game like that, then you are setting yourself up for disappointment. I have no doubt that if Arteta wanted to go out all guns blazing, he could set the team up like that. It is a choice, and one based upon data and statistics that guides him to approaching games like this, or most games now at the moment, in a controlled manner with low risk. The more attacking you play, the more the risk increases and the more you fall into the hands of lady luck on the result.
If you think we're going to go to Maine Road in a few weeks and play ANY different to last night, you're dreaming. 0-0 all the way with the potential to nick a win. It's how he has approached all of the big games ALL season and it's how he is approaching basically every game now due to the importance at this stage.
I've been saying since Jan he's our player of the season. I actually felt guilty for it - it was when I read an interview with Dec saying he's up for the ballon d'or and I thought "But he's not even the best player at Arsenal, Daveeeed is."
Seems now others are coming 'round to my opinion.
And in the spirit of Rich apologising to Vik, can I apologise to Kepa. I wanted you to start the final as I thought you'd deserved it. I was wrong. **** off back to Chelsea you ****. I'd rather have Alex Manninger or a 66 year old John Lukic for his third stretch. Why oh why oh why didn't we get Sir Chez? Loved him.
Everything finally went wrong for us when we got rid of Sir Chez for that Cech twunt.
We have been playing this way pretty much consistently all of 2026 you all realise this right?
That?s my problem with Arteta. He?s gone from fairly free flowing, quick on the break football to this pedestrian sludge in the space of two seasons, and with the added bonus of some expensive reinforcements.
Fully expect him to continue in this manner until the end of the season. He couldn?t change too much now, even if he wanted to. 3pts v Bournemouth gives us a 12pt cushion before City go to Chelsea on Sunday. Anything less than a win there should see us home and dry.
Not quite the victory procession run in of Champions past but we?ll all take winning ugly, as opposed to implosion.
As an aside. There was an abundance of unforced errors in that Madrid v Bryan game last night so I?m not completely giving up on big ears just yet either :-)
I watched the highlights. That game was a ****ing mess!
I expect it from Real but was surprised at Bayern. I still dont think we'd stand a chance against them.
To expose defensive weaknesses you have to get at them. Liverpool have been a defensive disaster this season but in two games against them we barely managed a meaningful shot on target.
It?s a combination of factors, R. Zubimendi isn?t anywhere near as effective as an inform Partey. Odegaard?s way off the pace but this could be injuries. Arteta has yet to workout how to get the best from Eze and Saka, normally a Houdini of a player in tight spaces, just hasn?t turned up in the second half of the season, again, probably as a result of injuries.
But that is exactly the point. He had a go at winning the title playing free flowing attacking football and came unstuck. Whether that was injuries or whatever else is down to how you see it. But he has gone away, predicted how football will evolve and has come back with this approach. If he wins the league or the CL this season, then his approach will be vindicated.
Well that was the first game in the CL this year that we have been that conservative. Munich, Atl Madrid and the rest of our CL games we played with a lot more adventure.
Watching PSG last, specifically their 2nd goal. I found myself thinking not how brilliant K-man is (he is) but whether any of our attacking players would have made that run, and if they had would the player on the ball have played that pass.
The answer to both questions is no, sadly. And it has nothing to do with tactics or team selection. Neither of those stops that run from being made or that ball from being played.
It has to do with mentality. And mentality is Arteta's responsibility.