Average player, shit haircut, dogshit manager.
Mikel Arteta | Lego Pep watch
- Thread starter Samid
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That always gets a bit lost in this. The only reason he ever made it to Arsenal in the first place was because they were skint - he'd never have a hope of playing for the better Arsenal sides of the past (i.e. the invincibles).
Why would anyone care about that, his playing days are well over.
He wasn't a bad player. Should've been picked up by a bigger team years before he finally got that move. And he was good for them. Especially in that first season when they panic bought him after a dismal start
I don't get the praise for Arteta. Ultimate con job to convince everyone that he's some genius tacticianHe was always an Everton level player who was just as he was a manager overrated, for some strange reason.
Not bad yeah. But nothing great. He doesn't get into genuinely quality football sides. There was nothing stand out about his game.
what's annoying is that even now when some criticize him they start with "He's tactically astute but ... " with absolutely no evidence.
He didn't even have to convince anyone, all it took to get biased hacks like Ogden and Delaney onboard was to have been Pep's assistant for a couple of years. Didn't really matter that he'd done no managing at all and that there was no frame of reference, Pep's Spanish assistant must clearly be Pep 2.0, so they were going to write about him as if he was regardless of what facts and their own eyes told them.
I don't think I've ever seen a manager assumed to be great like Arteta before. It's not like he was some unbelievable footballer with an aura either. He was just alright, never good enough for great teams, a level or three below the metronome everyone actually wanted.
Ogden is the biggest moron. He's painfully boring to listen to, and offers no insight either. Not sure why he's highly regarded by some.
The Athletic were much, much more egregious than anything those two conjured up. Even as late as last Wednesday before the first leg they were peddling the Arteta hype and made denigrating comparisons between him and Emery. And how can we forget THAT article on Arteta when he first went into the job?
Ah yes I remember Tifa up on Arteta as well. Some hype trainThe Athletic were much, much more egregious than anything those two conjured up. Even as late as last Wednesday before the first leg they were peddling the Arteta hype and made denigrating comparisons between him and Emery. And how can we forget THAT article on Arteta when he first went into the job?
I think Arsenal need to grow a pair and have some ambition. Protest against the owners all the time if you have to. 13 times English champions and they're settling for a mediocre manager and pretending they're fricking Bournemouth. Great club, that needs to wake up and stop believing all this 10 year plan rubbish.
Tell me Arteta's tactics don't remind you of Moyes when we crossed more than 100 times against Fulham.
Skillful wingers, pass the ball to the flanks and cross!
Arsenal is even in a worse position because there is no one like Felliani up front!
Skillful wingers, pass the ball to the flanks and cross!
Arsenal is even in a worse position because there is no one like Felliani up front!
Did anyone watch the game?
When they hit the post twice, did it happen from patterns of play?!
When they hit the post twice, did it happen from patterns of play?!
The first one was due to Villareal failing to clear the ball.
The second one was actually a good counter attack. I was surprised that there were 4 players in yellow in the box but Bellerin took a gamble with that cross and Auba did well by squeezing in a header between 3 players. Arsenal just didn't have enough in the box most of the time.
Ole had more to build around (including a lot more money and a better side to begin with) but there's no doubt that the arguments about their respective merits are now over and Solskjaer has done a vastly superior job.Ole says hi
They drew, but they know why they drew.
Ogden and Delaney are finished.
I dont mind Ogden and Delaney getting it wrong but the usual nonsense that Delaney comes up with is just ridiculous. "No one in the footballing world respects Ole" as if anyone with bit of self respect even talks to Delaney or gives their opinion about Ole to him.
Apart from Willian I don’t think they did that bad a job in the summer to be fair.
They needed a left back, centre back and midfielder. On paper Tierney, Gabriel and Partey at the time looked like good signings. Whereas we spent 45 million on a player we didn’t really need.
The difference has been the managers. That Arsenal team is not weaker than the likes of Villa, Everton, Leeds, West Ham and Spurs yet it’s been behind those clubs for a majority of the season.
This Arsenal team when they’re on the pitch look like they’d rather be somewhere else. They seem to lack motivation and don’t express themselves. Arteta also seems to be trying to force a style and system that they’re not suited too.
Basically he’s really really shite.
Tierney was signed the summer before.
Im glad we didn't make the final. Already been humiliated by a premiership rival. In Baku, probably best it didn't happen again in Gdansk.
Wonder if these two and the other journos who praised him as Pep 2.0 are going to stick with it or finally admit they were talking shite
Didn’t realise he’d been there that long!
And yes, I was disappointed you went out. Was looking forward to shattering your dreams in Gdańsk.
@Bobcat, no they won't.
Delaney has never had an original thought in his life. His arrogance comes from proximity to tactics boffins Michael Cox and Jonathan Wilson. Don't forget these two who have spent the last two years slagging off Solskjaer even when he wins. Wilson's an excellent writer but gets away with a lot of bullshit because he browbeats everyone around him.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...than-they-have-had-for-years?CMP=share_btn_tw
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...arsenal-faith-belief-purpose?CMP=share_btn_tw
Delaney was still trying to will Arsenal to victory last night. Note the other clown in the comment section - Carl Anka (formerly of BuzzFeed).
I really respect people who can admit they were wrong. We all do mistakes, it is only human. The problem for some is that they hate to get something wrong, so they just stick to it. Problem with sticking to it that it will only be worse. I do not expect to see them admit they were wrong.
Some people like to use other teams, or people's temporary success to take shots at United. It's embarrassing really, especially when United fans do it.
Nah, they'll blame players and lack of investment. They won't admit they don't know what they're talking about, they'll never work again
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Can’t see how he keeps his job it’s been a terrible season. Mid table playing some terrible football he can’t really say he wasn’t backed either they spent a bit of money in the summer.
I expect his sacking in the late evening tonight
I still don’t get what he did that hyped him up so much
On here it was simply because he wasn't Ole
It could be because of how he is as a person and how he looks. He reminds me of a manager on a football game to be honest
basically everyone got all excited and thought he would be a pep clone and get arsenal playing cityball and to the top 4 again.
in reality bad manager, worst arsenal squad in memory, financial issues and a divided fanbase.
I do think a lot of it is optics, he looks the part and talks a good game which convinces a lot of the media he speaks to plus the fact he worked with Guardiola which ignored the reality that Guardiola was hugely successful before working with Arteta and has been since.
It was that FA Cup run that did it. Everyone thought Arsenal were the weakest side remaining in the semis yet they still beat City and Chelsea to win it. There was that win against Liverpool too in the League. That mixed with the whole Pep understudy thing has given the media this image of him being the next big thing.
That's about it. A good run of games has everyone calling him some sort of tactical genius.