Rumour has it Pep is oiling himself up at this very moment for his inevitable return. Lucozade bottles and cones in hand.
He can't wait for a good grease down and a shiatsu.
Mikel Arteta | Lego Pep watch
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He can't wait for a good grease down and a shiatsu.
There is absolutely no chance Arsenal will be relegated
As bad as they are unfortunately there are at least 3 or 4 teams worse than them, Sheffield Utd, West Brom, Fulham and Brighton are the ones I'm thinking of.
The fact it's even being brought up as a possibility is hilarious though.
As bad as they are unfortunately there are at least 3 or 4 teams worse than them, Sheffield Utd, West Brom, Fulham and Brighton are the ones I'm thinking of.
The fact it's even being brought up as a possibility is hilarious though.
Imagine how weird it would be for him facing the City players again.
Like yeah, I know I'm clearly quite shit, but I need you to ignore that whole Arsenal fiasco and go back to thinking I'm mint.
It's like Neville having a mare at Valencia and then going back to punditry times by about a thousand.
I don't think it has to be like that necessarily. He's obviously a pretty good coach from what we've heard. Just not a manager. Don't think there is any shame in admitting it. We've seen it a million times.
I don't want to believe a professional coach in 2020 said something like that, but if I was the owner and listened to something like that I would advice him to shut up and deal with real facts. One of the biggest cancers today in modern football is the sensationalization of over analysis. I mean, we have literally idiots shouting on Social Media that if a player doesn't touch 20 times on the ball he must be crap, or if someone like Bruno Fernandes tries 3 shots or 4 high risk passes it's terrible because player X made 10 short sided passes and had a 100% passing accuracy.
That he believes in this lunacy in private is something, but after an horrific serie of results making public this idiocy tells something about him. This after the other week making a similar argument to the number of crosses. I think there's a lot of idiots around the game today trying to explain with numbers simple things. I would have loved this nonsense when Maradona played really.
For me personally I've always thought he's being trying way too had to show everyone he knows tactics. Maybe it's because of all of the Pep comparisons got in his head.
It's obvious to everyone that his 3-4-3 doesn't really work and his persistence with it has been a bit weird. They are desperately lacking in creativity so surely the first thing you do is switch to a more offensive formation to try and create chances/score goals. If he has any intention of succeeding he really needs to just go back to basics and start doing those well. He absolutely has the players to play a basic 4-2-3-1 and I don't understand why he hasn't reverted yet. Is he really that stubborn?
I get the argument that they have prepared/trained to play in a specific way for about a year now but there is time to know when to stop. He doesn't have a squad of extremely limited players technically so I have little doubt there would be an issue with switching in that regard.
It's obvious to everyone that his 3-4-3 doesn't really work and his persistence with it has been a bit weird. They are desperately lacking in creativity so surely the first thing you do is switch to a more offensive formation to try and create chances/score goals. If he has any intention of succeeding he really needs to just go back to basics and start doing those well. He absolutely has the players to play a basic 4-2-3-1 and I don't understand why he hasn't reverted yet. Is he really that stubborn?
I get the argument that they have prepared/trained to play in a specific way for about a year now but there is time to know when to stop. He doesn't have a squad of extremely limited players technically so I have little doubt there would be an issue with switching in that regard.
Can honestly see West Brom grinding out a 1-0 win over them, Big Sam has plenty of victories over Arsenal at all clubs he's managed, can remember Palace beating them down 3-0 when he was briefly there and I went to Sunderland-Arsenal which was 0-0 and Sunderland should've won that.
West Brom under Bilic were actually quite decent low blocking the better sides, 1-1 v Man. City, could've quite easily got a 0-0 off Spurs who created very few chances, played pretty well at Man. United and were 3 up v Chelsea with mad first half display so I don't see that as a given win for Arsenal at all.
Brighton beat them home and away last season, imagine if Welbeck scored the winner..
Really don't see Arteta making 2021. Arsenal don't win any of their next 3 and they'll probably be 18th.
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We'd been rubbish for about 6 years. Our last top half finish was 9th in 2011 (and that season we were about 15th at start of April so was a flattering finish) and after that was constant relegation struggle for 5 years.
Arsenal do have elements of what took us down though. Uninterested owner, poor managerial appointments and disinterested past it players. We signed Kieron Richardson, Micah Richards and Joleon Lescott. They sign David Luiz, Cedric Soares and Willian.
Probably closer to Newcastle's decline. In 2004 they'd finished 5th and sacked sir Bobby. Then Souness took them down to mid table and Shearer retired (similar to Wenger for what he represented to that club). Another two botched appointments and they went down in 2009 with squad that again had past it experienced players like Owen, Viduka, Alan Smith and Nicky Butt.
Didn't Carlos Quiroz leave us to be manager of Real and when he got sacked he came back to United as assistant to SAF again?
Yes.
Queiroz returning back with his tail between his legs worked out ok for you guys.
Some coaches just suit being a #2.
That was a strange pick from Real Madrid. Did they just want him to help Beckham settle in? At the time him being number 1 consisted of coaching Portugal under 20s (to world title in fairness), Portugal, Sporting clube, New York metrostars, Grampus eight (took over from Wenger), U.A.E and then South Africa who he took to 2002 world cup.
At least Arteta had playing history with Arsenal so you could sort of see the logic, he was going to get the job straight after Wenger but they u turned last minute and give it to Emery instead.
Maybe Figo played a part? But Perez at that time wanted a yes man and wanted someone who is going to play all the star players. I doubt the best managers would be willing to accept that.
Del Bosque was perfect for that but he also commanded complete respect from the Galacticos.
Was a really mad summer that. They sacked Del Bosque and Hierro and then sold Makelele to completely unbalance their midfield. Would be like next summer sacking Zidane, sending Ramos on his way, selling Casemiro and Modric and replacing them with just attackers and Juanma Lillo (number 2 at man. City).
Cost them nearly a decade in european wilderness as they only started making semi finals again when Mourinho turned up.
They need to give all the time in the world. Give him a lifetime contract! (Coming from a United fan
.)Arsenal vs Grimsby would be the first thing I look out for in the new 2025 fixtures, with a greying bald, pudgy Arteta in charge.
When I look at Arsenal’s fixtures, every game is a banana skin on paper. The first game that I can say with real conviction that ‘yup this should be a comfortable win’ is the Fulham game, at the end of April.
They’ve put themselves in a position where every game is suddenly a chore for them. The likes of Fulham, WBA and Brighton are used to dogfights. The games aren’t really a chore for those teams because they come into every season knowing they’re in a relegation battle.
I can imagine the likes of Big Sam and Potter absolutely licking their lips at the thought of facing Arsenal during the festive period. They’ll prepare their men as if it were a cup final. These games are now 6 pointers that Arsenal can’t afford to lose.
The stats are damning for Arsenal. In the last two months they’ve been the second worst team in the league. Chances created they’re even worse than Sheffield. A trend like that isn’t flipped overnight. They’ve got 5 points in 10 games, that is relegation form over a 25 % period.
Dyche won’t go down, he’s not done overachieving at Burnley. Potter and Brighton are passing the eye test, results are surely just around the corner. Big Sam is a master of saving sinking ships. Even Fulham have tweaked formations and stopped losing games.
If Arsenal get less than 4 points from their next 3 they’re well and truly in a relegation battle.
Arsenal and Everton still the only ones not to taste the drop. If Arteta carries on this way, they'll sack him and get a manager to bounce them out of trouble. I would love to see the misery continue, but it will have to stop soon.
can they even afford a proper manager
or will they sack him and get another llungberg type seeing whispers of mertersacker that doesnt change anything
I think they'll go established and have the money. I bet Rodgers would leap at it.
Absolutely no chance rogers takes it Leicesters squad and situation is far superior to arsenals.
I don't think that can possibly just be xG, not with those figures. Got be something else or xG in combination with much, much more.
I'd be very interested to know and have a play around with it whatever it was. I dream of being able to forecast sports based off stats to give myself a betting advantage. Unfortunately I'm lazy, don't have much understanding of anything but basic maths and am not particularly good with excel.
Here's a couple of tools that make me think it can't be xG alone:
https://sinceawin.com/data/tools/poisson (has Burnley at 16%)
https://danny.page/expected_goals.html (Burnley around 13% when inputting each shot by both teams)
Now I'm not saying they're bang on, the first one for example uses poisson and that tends to underestimate draws/clean sheets slightly, but between them and my own dabbling I can't see how Burnley could have been 3% just from xG. Arsenal would have had to have dominated much more for such a figure.
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Ahh, but Arsenal are a club matching Rodgers's ego.
You can't really remove the club out of the equation though.
If Fulham were on this kind of form with Scott Parker, it would be acceptable considering who they are and their circumstances (they're actually doing worse, and don't look like sacking Parker any time soon).
But the fact that this is Arsenal makes it all the more egregious. It's unthinkable for them to be in this position. Arsenal having a contingency plan for relegation? Unthinkable.
I would love for it to happen though. I think fans of some of the big clubs need to experience a year or 2 in the Championship for some much needed perspective. God knows our fans needed it. Arsenal fans have become spoilt and entitled by Wenger who they hounded out of the club. They also turned on Emery so fast.
I think Mikel Arteta's percentages, show he is just a massive fan of Fort Minor to be honest. Some of the lyrics fit perfect, including the bit about his Clique staying up .
"You ready? Let's go!
Yeah!
For those of you that wanna know what we're all about
It's like this, y'all, c'mon!
This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name
Mike, he doesn't need his name up in lights
He just wants to be heard, whether it's the beat or the mic
He feels so unlike everybody else, alone
In spite of the fact that some people still think that they know him
But f*#! 'em, he knows the code, it's not about the salary
It's all about reality and making some noise
Making a story, making sure his clique stays up"
."You ready? Let's go!
Yeah!
For those of you that wanna know what we're all about
It's like this, y'all, c'mon!
This is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill
Fifteen percent concentrated power of will
Five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain
And a hundred percent reason to remember the name
Mike, he doesn't need his name up in lights
He just wants to be heard, whether it's the beat or the mic
He feels so unlike everybody else, alone
In spite of the fact that some people still think that they know him
But f*#! 'em, he knows the code, it's not about the salary
It's all about reality and making some noise
Making a story, making sure his clique stays up"
What team you a fan of ?
Exactly! If different things are needed he just hired different coaches. Management is much more then that.Imagine the scenes if Ole had said that. The absolute state of Pep’s Golden Boy!
Mikel Arteta is learning the HARD way that there is a HUGE difference between a coach and a manager.
Ole may not know Pep level tactics/coaching but he can manage egos better than many in the league. Arteta chooses to kick them out of the team. Eg Ozil, Saliba.
This was Sir Alex’s key strength. He was the greatest man manager of all time. Tactically he was no genius. He was just the greatest motivator around. He just hired some great coaches : Kidd, Mclaren, Quieroz
Arsenal is 12 points off 4th place with 24 games to play.
If they are truly creating contingencies for relegation then it’s damning for that whole club from top to bottom. I watched some of the AFTV lot and they were like ‘what is sacking him now gonna achieve? Give him the Jan window’, which is strange as feck since everything besides the title is still there to be played for.
If they are truly creating contingencies for relegation then it’s damning for that whole club from top to bottom. I watched some of the AFTV lot and they were like ‘what is sacking him now gonna achieve? Give him the Jan window’, which is strange as feck since everything besides the title is still there to be played for.
I agree but disagree purely because you look at their fixtures and think which of the games can they realistically win in the next 6-8 weeks?
You never know with a new manager’s bounce. Which is the thing. They are going only one way with Arteta this season, down. Get someone else in, the players become happy , win a couple of games and suddenly the vibes carry you to safety in the table and contention for EL.
Let’s say he got sacked after the City game tomorrow. They can draw vs Chelsea at home, after that Brighton, West Brom, Palace and Newcastle are a nice run of game before they play Soton and us again. But persist with this current set up then yes, every single one of those games look like a banana skin.
Arteta and Arsenal just need to strike gold in the mould of Bruno this January
Overtime, plenty of evidences eg. mostly games, decisions makings, players transfers selection, etc, seems to suggest he quickly becoming one - a tactical genius, silently. It's usually not rated often, but most of his final 4-5 seasons are him showcasing his tactical variations and prowess, even often get the better of his opponents, in return he get to 3 finals around the late 2010s, sacrificing bits of entertainment along the way.Imagine the scenes if Ole had said that. The absolute state of Pep’s Golden Boy!
Mikel Arteta is learning the HARD way that there is a HUGE difference between a coach and a manager.
Ole may not know Pep level tactics/coaching but he can manage egos better than many in the league. Arteta chooses to kick them out of the team. Eg Ozil, Saliba.
This was Sir Alex’s key strength. He was the greatest man manager of all time. Tactically he was no genius. He was just the greatest motivator around. He just hired some great coaches : Kidd, Mclaren, Quieroz
SAF is always learning as a manager and coach, which is interesting. I'm sure he also learnt a lot of tactics from his assistants.
Also about the Ole part. What are you saying. Ole also kicked egos out of the team eg. Lukaku, Sanchez and Smalling. Yes even Chris have egos. Also he couldn't manage Gomes well. Matic too is one of the ego player kicked out before both made their u-turns. Look, it's not only up to the manager, the players also is part of the relationship problem.Apparently Holding is getting a new deal at Arteta's request.
https://www.teamtalk.com/news/mikel-arteta-new-arsenal-contract-rob-holding
Genuinely starting to wonder if he's there for some sort of social experiment...
https://www.teamtalk.com/news/mikel-arteta-new-arsenal-contract-rob-holding
Genuinely starting to wonder if he's there for some sort of social experiment...
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Loyalty reward.
They’d need more than Bruno
Players like Bruno don't grow on trees, you know. Even I am surprised by the impact he has had at our club. What a player
As for people saying that Arteta needs creative midfielders to make it work, wasn't he supposed to be the wunderkind who learnt from one of the greatest managers ever? Shouldn't he be able to make Arsenal attack even without an attacking midfielder? Where are his system and patterns of play? His main tactic this season seems to be 'just cross it in'.
A prime example of a top club prioritizing style of play over player quality.
Actually Arsrnal lost their 'style' under Arteta.
No, he'll probably coach Molde for a few years, hoping the experience will turn him into as good a manager as Ole.