I thought these guys were the real deal and the monumentally overrated Declan Rice was gonna elevate them to all new levels. They're lucky to even have as many points as they do, the jammy tossers.
Arsenal 2023/24 - Born to be runner up
- Thread starter horsechoker
- Start date
If we keep faith in Ten Hag, he may also end up being a giant loser like Arteta too.
Nketieh simply isn't good enough for Arsenal level.
What is his actual goal record in last 12 months?
I know he had a purple patch last January that got him a new deal but he seems a bit of a pad statting CF, gets a hat trick v a Sheffield United but very little in the tight games v top half teams.
Edit: Did not score a single prem goal in 22/23 after his two v Man. United on 22nd January 2023.
What is his actual goal record in last 12 months?
I know he had a purple patch last January that got him a new deal but he seems a bit of a pad statting CF, gets a hat trick v a Sheffield United but very little in the tight games v top half teams.
Edit: Did not score a single prem goal in 22/23 after his two v Man. United on 22nd January 2023.
Lacking creativity to keep up. They just don’t threaten enough.
No excuse, that's football. We have some injuries (midfield in particular is light, Jorginho and Partey still not ready) but ultimately I think everyone has hit poor form at once. Not going to panic as there's still half the season to go, but I think teams have now found us out also. We need a more clinical no 9, that's for sure. We're creating chances just not finishing them off (in the last game v West Ham in particular).
Oddly enough he’s their top scorer in the league
He's scored 5 all season in the prem. That hattrick v Sheffield united and he scored two in August v Forest and Fulham.
So scored in one prem game in the last five months.
Been saying their footy this season has been underwhelming. They were better last season.
They're not going to win anything of note under Arteta tbh. I hope they stick with him, they're going to waste a talented crop.
That’s what happens when you barely rotate, CL football midweek, and reverting back to the norm.
Last season Arsenal overperformed, while they have some good to great players, their squad is not strong enough not to be able to rely on a bit of luck.
Also bar last season, Arteta mostly proposed shite football (in spite if all the claims you can find on the Caf that the process was clearly visible and so on)
I think their squad is very overrated just like their manager.
Nowhere near bottling it yet. Level with Liverpool whom have a game in hand but even if Liverpool wins that game, a 3pt gap is nothing significant at this stage.
That's basically it. They create chances but don't have a proper finisher. It hasn't helped that Saka and Martinelli have hit a bad run of form. It also sounded like Fulham stretched Arsenal with ease which is what other teams should be doing.
Probably the only solace for them is the collapse is happening now instead of March/April.
You can never pin your hopes on them
They're 2 behind. Liverpool win and the gap is 5. City win their game in hand and they're 3 in front with Spurs only 1 behind now. A loss could see them drop out of top 4 depending on other results.
So City could already be back on top after the next round (depending on Liverpool)
No trophies in 3 years, £250m spent in the summer and 13 points worse off than last season.
Any other club apart from these media darlings and the manager would be under pressure.
Any other club apart from these media darlings and the manager would be under pressure.
Disagree, not excuses but explanations for our two losses in a row. Everyone has hit poor form at once. Teams have figured us out. And we lack a clinical striker. Overall, we haven't been good enough and as it stands the title is a pipe dream.No excuses, proceed to list various excuses
Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli and Saliba are genuinely class tbh.
Their support players are very overrated like Jesus, Rice, Zinchenko. I think with the platform they had last summer, they actually did a poor job of building on it.
Said before this season started that Arteta may be under pressure at the end of this if they don't win the title or win a trophy...and he seems determined not to win anything. The Havertz experiment is one of the weirdest self mutilating tactics a manager has decided to unleash.
He won the FA cup and turned us around. That probably gives him some credit in the bank.
They have been the luckiest side injury wise. If they lose saliba and saka or rice to an injury, they will be doomed.No excuses, proceed to list various excuses
Hmm, annoying that Liverpool are back on the inhalers after their year cycling off them, and immediately looking like winning the league. Guess I'm rooting for Mancheater City again...
The 4 you mentioned are good, but I think Saka is very hit-and-miss.
It's their overall squad that's overrated. People were making out the likes of the Rice, Jesus etc. were absolute worldies at various points.
Man. City go 3 clear of them if they win their game in hand with a far superior GD. Will basically be like end of April/start of May but a few months earlier this season.
Man. City have been the clear winners over this xmas period and all set up for them to predictably win the league yet again by 5-10 points.
Arsenal don't have the depth, but most importantly they don't have big characters in the squad.
They're still second on xPoints, should make CL which is success in itself.
The best chance for the league was probably last year when they were 8 points ahead in April. Yes you could say it was mean reversion... A grittier team would have done it.
Yes City favorites, again, they're better without Haaland and Kdb back soon probably.
They're still second on xPoints, should make CL which is success in itself.
The best chance for the league was probably last year when they were 8 points ahead in April. Yes you could say it was mean reversion... A grittier team would have done it.
Yes City favorites, again, they're better without Haaland and Kdb back soon probably.
Yes!
Yep.
Tbf to Arsenal, they are two points off top with half the season to go. Traditionally teams step up in the last 18 matches so it wouldn't be crazy to think they could get their act together. But City are City - their squad is build for titles and they will click at some point. Their hardest fixture between now and March is Newcastle, by which point they could be top.
We have had 2 players in what's probably Arteta's preferred 11 out almost all season ( Timber and Partey). IMO Arteta was planning to move on from Zinchenko and use Timber there. Tomi has also been in and out of the squad due to injury. ATM our midfield is quite light with Partey and Jorginho out.
On the left?
I think so, though I won't pretend to know what he's thinking exactly. For instance, I never thought Ben White would turn into a very good RB.
Timber was playing LB for us when he got injured v Forest. Arteta likes versatility and Timber can play anywhere on the back line (like Tomi).
Those daft over celebrating moments after every win really do look even worse now
Jorginho is not injured. Unused sub in last 3 games.
Timber may have played over white but even then that's not a given.
Partey has been injury prone and based on rumors harvetz was purchased to replace xhaka and partner rice.
So in grand scheme you guys have been lucky with injuries.
Imagine if we were relying on this lot to stop Liverpool.
Mate we've been through hell and back the last few seasons. Now that we're finally good again, I'm glad the players are enjoying themselves. Love seeing them over celebrate myself.
Was really hoping they would mount a more serious challenge for City.
City winning isn't just 4 in a row, could easily be 5 or more in a row with nobody looking at all near their level.
City winning isn't just 4 in a row, could easily be 5 or more in a row with nobody looking at all near their level.
I don't think Timber would have replaced White, but probably Zinchenko. Yes it looked like Rice-Havertz was Arteta's plan for our long term. But Partey was still a big part of his plans this season and as Havertz has not exactly hit the ground running (though has been better lately), I have little doubt he'd have used Partey most gsmes if he was available.
Should've known not to trust Arsenal to stop the usual suspects.
Still a lot of time to go in the title race, but the best hope they got is City not repeating their usual second half of season run of form.
Still a lot of time to go in the title race, but the best hope they got is City not repeating their usual second half of season run of form.