Clean sheet, clean slate, clean house

Xhaka off

According to unnamed Arsenal sources (reported by ESPN) Hertha Berlin have put in a bid (£20m) for Granit Xhaka. According to other sources, Xhaka has even agreed to personal terms and will sign on January 1.

Some folks will see this as a loss for Arsenal but Xhaka’s initial pricetag of £40m has already been amortized over the first three and a half years of his contract so £20m would be written down as a profit on the player.

Best of luck, Xhaka.

(source, espn.com – https://www.espn.com/soccer/soccer-transfers/story/4017459/ex-arsenal-captain-xhaka-in-talks-over-move-to-hertha-berlin-sources)

Arteta on Clean Slates

One thing that hasn’t been said about the Arteta appointment is that he will be bringing new ideas and experiences to our club. This is hugely valuable. Not only is Arteta a smart guy by himself, but he has intimate knowledge of how City train and prepare for games. He’s read the scouting reports for every club in England for the last three years. He’s been at training sessions for individual players and for the Manchester City team. He knows how they were successful in many different aspects of being a club and brings all of that institutional knowledge with him to Arsenal.

Manchester City didn’t win the League and play football the way that they do just because they have expensive players. His expectations of what a top quality scouting report or training session should look like are going to be transmitted to Arsenal. In fact, he’s already asked why Arsenal don’t have drones to record their training sessions. And at the press conference today he said:

We analyse opponents, we have to try to nullify them as much as possible, and make, as I said before, as predictable as possible for us so when our players jump in that pitch they know what they are facing.

That infrastructure is going to take time to get set up. For now, he’s working on the players’ attitude:

The priority, as I said before, is what we are going to transmit on the team, is a reflection of the demands we are going to put on them every day in training. That’s commitment, accountability, aggression and passion to play this sport and to represent this football club.

He’s also given everyone a clean sheet but there’s a caveat, if you don’t do what he asks, you will be dropped. That means every player from what he’s said.

With me, they have a clean slate. I told them that. You’re not going to be judged on things you’ve done in the past, whether they are negative or positive. This is evolving every day and I’m expecting you to perform and be in the right mindset every single day for me. If you do that, you’ll have a chance to play. If you don’t, you won’t.

Guys who say things like “defenders should defend” are going to be dropped. Guys who don’t work for the team are going to be dropped. Honestly, this is a dream come true: that not only would an Arsenal coach say this out loud but now that he has said it, I think he will have to follow through.

Some folks think that these are just words. We shall see, but frankly I don’t think they are. And man, are they some sexy words!

(quotes via arsenal.com – https://www.arsenal.com/news/arteta-pre-bournemouth-every-single-word)

Clean sheet

Arteta’s words have already infected some of the players on this team. Arsenal kept a clean sheet against Everton, and our 2nd consecutive away game with less than 0.5 xGA, largely because of the workrate from this team.

Bernd Leno gave a frank assessment of why we were defensively better, and basically it’s a warning shot to any players who think they can coast on the new manager:

“We didn’t let them have chances, like Freddie said and the new manager. I think the lineup was very good because everybody was fighting for the team and we showed great mentality. Unfortunately we didn’t score, but I think at the end of the day we can be happy with our performance and especially with our mentality.

We didn’t let them have any transitions like in the other games. The distances [between our defenders and their attackers] were much closer and I think this is the only way you can play, because the Premier League is too strong to have one, two or three players that don’t defend. This is the only way we can play and we can be successful.”

(via arsenal.com – https://www.arsenal.com/news/leno-reason-our-defensive-improvement)

Ouch… one, two, or THREE players who won’t play defense. Absolutely savage on some of the lazy players that we have had in this team for too long. Is that negative? I don’t think so. It’s a criticism, yes, but it’s very constructive.

Saka

When I watched the game on Saturday I was struck by the workrate the players put in. Saka and Martinelli in particular were attacked time and again by Everton but did so well to shut them down and basically pocketed their attackers.

I have admitted in the past that I like Saka as a left back. It shouldn’t be a controversial opinion but I guess it is so let me make a case.

A lot of teams now play with very creative fullbacks, Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold is basically an attacking player. And as long as the midfielders tuck in to cover and the forwards apply pressure to limit long balls, this can be a huge benefit to the team.

But in particular with Saka his crosses are so good. Barring Ozil I think Saka may be the best crosser on the team. Plus he can dribble, his touch is excellent, and he can play defense – which he will have to do no matter where he plays under the new Arteta system.

Until Tierney returns, which looks like maybe April, I would love to see Saka given some time in the left back position. I think he’s better than Kolasinac, or at least has more upside, and I trust Arteta to get him up to snuff in terms of defending.

All that said, I’m playing a bit of “football manager” here and I won’t spend any time complaining if Arteta picks someone else to play LB. Nor will I do that thing that I see so often with Maitland-Niles where people say “you got to play him in DM” which isn’t even remotely his natural position. Nope, it’s just my little pipe dream that I’m sharing with you.

Racism

There was another incident of racism in the Premier League yesterday and once again we are reminded that football is like many other aspects of life and a certain percentage of people are bigots.

Tim Stillman made a great point, we shouldn’t be saying that this is a Tottenham problem (even though last year one of their fans threw a banana at Aubameyang). This is a problem at every club.

I have witnessed Arsenal supporters singing about “gassing the Jews” and for the longest time we used to sing about how Adebayor’s “dad washes elephants”. AFTV also peddles in bigotry, Claude called Elneny “Tutankhamen”, Troopz has made several bigoted remarks about Bellerin and Xhaka, and just last week there was a guy on there calling for a “Brexit” on Spanish and Americans to get them out of the club – much cheering ensued. We are definitely not above bigotry at Arsenal.

I see this the same as many others, a massive issue that needs to be dealt with at the highest levels. The Premier League, the FA, the PFA, the clubs, and even other supporters all need to say that this is simply unacceptable and that they will do something about it to get it to stop. When we see it or hear it, we need to say something (if we can) and when we say something the authorities have to do something about it. That may mean abandoning games. That may mean stadium bans for certain fans. But we can’t continue on the way that FIFA and UEFA have been doing with tiny little fines and almost no real reaction. It has to be dealt with.

Qq

46 comments

  1. Go piece. Things are feeling more positive.
    In the arsenal video, Arteta asks if they have drones, and the answer was positive. Maybe there was more about training, but I didn’t see it.
    I agree about the racism, we all have to stand up to it wherever we can.

  2. On Saka – many wingers get successfully converted to fullbacks, Bellerin being an example of one very close to home. Frankly, there’s a dearth of top drawer fullback talent and if I were a young player I’d see that as opportunity. But from what Freddie’s intimated, Saka’s not interested in playing full back long term, in which case he won’t be likely to apply himself to learning the position.

    What I think might happen with our fullback situation is Arteta installing a City-esque inverted full back- a midfielder (like Fabian Delph) who defends wide, but when in possession pinches inside to control the middle rather than rampaging down the flanks. This helps contain counter attacks and allows us to use a more natural midfielder (i.e. AMN, Xhaka even) as a left-back. This is the kind of Pep tactical tweak I expect to see us trying out.

    I am so excited for January now – more because I want to see who gets cleared out rather than who gets brought in. It might be addition by subtraction. Xhaka can go. Ozil can go. Mustafi. One of Auba or Laca can go to bring some resolution to the starting striker role.

    I wonder if we could bring in Everton Soares (Forward) from Gremio or Samir Santos (CB) from Udine. Edu knows the players from the Brazil national team (so they could get work visas easily) and Joorabchian ties, they’re both young, can play multiple positions, and we could afford both if we offload Xhaka and one or two others.

    I understand it’s a bit of fantasy to think we’re going to bring players in in January, but it’s undeniable that regardless of Arteta’s talents, you can’t make chicken soup with chicken sh*t, he needs some better players, especially at CB and DM.

    1. Maitland-Niles will not play MF for Arteta. That I can guarantee. Sorry dude, his touch and speed of thought is just dreadful.

    2. Full backs today are defenders first. Kyle Walker, Mendy, Aurier and Wan -Bissaka are physically robust, even if Aurier has struggled. If Kolasinac becomes anywhere near defensively sound as Walker and Mendy (who gave Pepe absolutely nothing whne we played them), he would have become an incredible player for us. I feel more secure watching Chambers handle developing danger down the right flank than Bellerin, who, terrific player as he is, can more often than not look like he’s still learning defence. He’s terrific young footballer though, and technically, significantly better than Chambers. But, D.

      It’d be interesting to see how Arteta develops Bellerin defensively, but Id much rather the young Spaniard be a RW option that a RB option. Chambers may not be good enough to be our regular starter, and I reckon we need to upgrade at RB. Lauren was slight, but tough. Sagna was the real deal defensively.

  3. If every players have clean slate now with Arteta, so Xhaka is going nowhere. Because he’s certainly the most combative player of this squad. You can’t rely on Guendouzi and Toreira to rebuild the mentality of this Arsenal midfield.

    1. You would rely on Xhaka though to rebuild the mentality? No way.

      Question – how has Xhaka improved at Arsenal over the past four years? It would be hard for me to say.

      Part of the cultural imprint Arteta needs is a culture of constant improvement. Almost every City player that goes there under Pep, gets demonstrably better. They are far from finished products when they arrive. That needs to be here as well. Xhaka has flat lined for years, you can’t rebuild around that type of player. You can blame coaching but the bad defending, the silly fouls, the mental farts – these speak to a player who lacks introspection and the initiative to improve himself first and foremost.

      1. i agree completely about xhaka. with that, tim posted that one thing arteta will require is accountability…i.e. no excuses for ball-watching. this, i like.

        i’ll tell you guys this, mikey doesn’t just sound like a coach but a leader of men. i’m excited to see what he does.

  4. Sorry for this, it may be irrelevant to the post but I have been thinking about this aspect of Arsenal’s play which I have wondered about for a while. It’s about our way of progressing the ball in between departments and how we get from our goalkeeper and all the way into the opposition box.

    We have two players that are not really loved but have defined our transition for many years now, and their absence causes serious issues. These two might have very clear weaknesses, but they have been our go-to way when we have had no base to fall back on. Those two players are Xhaka and Ozil.

    Xhaka is a ball dominant player, and if you have played football, you will know that the players who get the ball often are those who are trusted to receive the ball and keep it safe, progress it well or produce a moment of brilliance. Xhaka is trusted by numerous coaches and his teammates at every club or national side to dictate the play for the side and to provide a certain pass that he specializes in, not the long pass but the throughball that goes between the lines and into the final third. He really thrives at playing passes into the final third.

    Ozil is a master of finding pockets of space in the opposition structure, recieving the ball in dangerous areas (which are the highest pressed areas on the pitch, even by non pressing teams) and either exploiting the room he has or moving the opposition by causing panic and confusion behind the midfield. He also has the ability to play ball in behind, create chances and score goals.

    The connection between these two is in their specialties. The passer between the lines into the areas between the opposition defence and midfield, which comes from Xhaka. The identification of space, movement into and recieving of the ball in the areas between the opposition defence and midfield, which is done expertly by Ozil. They are actually, statistically the best in Europe at these two simple things.

    Torreira and Guendouzi are good young players, as well as Willock, Smith Rowe and even Lacazette in those areas, but we have the best at that in our ranks. They offer us the best hope for progressing the ball centrally as well as we kinda did in moving it forward in wide areas under Emery. We do not have strong runners through the centre of the pitch, we do not have dribblers centrally or even good enough passers to move the ball fast enough. The best way for us, currently, to move the ball through central areas is from Xhaka to Ozil.

    Only problem is, they have very obvious weaknesses. Our opposition targets them and uses our best way of ball progression against us by pressing them and forcing our play to go through other avenues which, compared to the effectiveness of the Xhaka and Ozil combination, is just not good enough for this level. I am sure you have all seen that Guendouzi isn’t good enough yet to replicate what Xhaka does or even slightly improve on any aspect of Xhaka’s play, outside of running with the ball more.

    My question to you guys is: Outside of these two players playing, what other way can we improve our ball progression through the departments and offer a bit more balance in the focus of our attacks through the left, right and middle parts of the pitch?

    *For ball dominant teams: If the balance between left, right and middle is close to being equal, it means the team is moving the from side to side quickly. If the middle is far lower than the sides, it means we are playing the U-Shape.

    1. I’m not sure I can agree on your evaluation of Xhaka.

      First, I don’t think he comes with enough urgency to collect the ball of the defenders, like a deep pivot should. His movements aren’t sharp enough to find gaps in the press that the defenders can locate him in.

      He does not have the 360 degree awareness you want from a modern pivot and hence when he does manage to collect the ball off the defense, facing our own end, it’s more often than not a pass out to the fullbacks who is in his line of sight or back to the CBs. He lacks mobility. I can’t recall seeing him let a ball run past his body and then he turns with it, or collect the ball and pivot to face up-field. If he gets the ball facing up-field, say on a pass back from the midfield or forwards, then he’s got pretty good vision and touch for spraying the ball around. But you almost need to by-pass him as the outlet pass, playing it into more advanced midfielders who can then lay it off back to him so he’s not asked to move with the ball or make adjustments to his body position.

      His lack of mobility then sees him using the fullbacks as outlets. But one of the basic precepts of football is “build through the middle”. Using the flanks to build from your back third allows the opposition to use the touchline as an extra defender. We see it time after time – our team getting trapped on one side of a field. Then inevitably Xhaka or Guendouzi or Ceballos, with the best of intentions to come relieve pressure of Kola or AMN or whomever, get drawn out of the middle and then when we lose the ball, boom, our soft belly is exposed.

      IMHO, the key to improving our build-up through the first 2/3 of the field is for the three midfielders to stay closer to each other, keep the passes simple (one-touch), use the flanks but only as walls to bounce the ball off of, not asking them to advance the ball to any measurable degree.

      I’d like Xhaka in Serie A or a league where he’d have time to get the ball in space facing upfield. Like international football which is a lot less urgent. But I think he is part of the dominos that make our build-up look laborious, lop-sided and ends up exposing us to counter-attacks through the middle. I’d much rather find a younger, more mobile alternative.

      1. I appreciate your points, but I wasn’t remarking on the build up. Like I said though, Xhaka’s weaknesses are known by all, especially the opposition who target his inability to turn quickly or dribble. But I do feel that people exaggerate how bad he is at picking the ball up from the defence. He isn’t as inept as he has been made up to be and constantly moves the ball or beats a man more often than Torreira or Guendouzi. He just looks more vulnerable and his lack of pace makes him unable to correct any mistakes, if he does any. He isn’t the best by far, but lets not make him out to be an amateur.

        He does more in build up than any of our other central midfielders, and I am sure the stats can back that up. It’s just that he seems to generate such hate that an accurate analysis of his contributions seems unlikely whenever he is the topic of discussion. There is a video on YouTube on the squakwa page termed “know your squad”, and it showed how people make Xhaka out to be a really bad player unfairly.

        I think we can find another way to progress the ball, but lets not forget that Xhaka’s play is such a vital part of this club’s play and has been, objectively, one of our most outstanding players this season.

  5. Who is famous for this line:
    “Send in the drones…”

    A) Judy Collins
    B) Gen Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.
    C) Jeff Bezos

    (Open to interpretation! 🛸)

  6. “With me, they have a clean slate. I told them that. You’re not going to be judged on things you’ve done in the past, whether they are negative or positive.”

    I get that every new manager must make this a tenet of his new boilerplate for their new club. But in this case? Here’s hoping he’s secretly omitting #20. Otherwise, as Freddie learned the hardest way possible– there’s no ‘clean slate’ with #20.

    You’re going to drop those 3-points.
    It’s etched in stone somewhere, I’m certain of it.

    Pay heed Mikel.

    1. 2029 Arteta/Arsenal Press Conference Highlights.

      Q: Mikel, congratulations on your 10 year anniversary as Arsenal Manager. How does it feel?

      A: Oh, thanks. Yeah, it’s unbelievable. Where has the time gone? I am so proud to have helped continue the winning traditions of this great club.

      Q: What’s your proudest moment of the last decade?

      A: I think after the difficult beginning and transition, finally to win the Champions League with Arsenal and to have Arsene hand me the trophy in front of the team. It doesn’t get better than than that. 2nd, if I can say, was to win the league again at Tottenham!

      Q: You’re only 47, what’s next for you and Arsenal?

      A: To be here another 20 years, like my old manager and maybe a 2nd Invincibles season? I think we can do it.

      Another start, another beginning. Let’s dream big dreams while we can.

      Vamos, Mikel, vamos!

  7. Totally agree with most of the comments. Ozil and Xhaka aren’t particularly bad players. They both have sweet left feet. The problem is they both have massive shortcomings, both technically and temperamentally. Arsenal will never be a vaguely successful team with either of them in the side. A shame, but that’s how it is. I sometimes trying to imagine them walking up the Wembley steps to pick up medals. I just can’t do it. My brain doesn’t let me. If they’re going to leave in January, I’d be quite happy to drive them both to the airport.

    The defence didn’t look too bad against Everton. I thought Saka was a revelation at full back. Like Bellerin, it might suit him better. Full back is a far easier position than up front. He doesn’t have his back to goal for one thing and he’s got space to run into. If we assume Martinelli is going to be a shoo in on the left wing, then Saka might want to rethink his priorities. AMN and Chambers both looked fairly comfortable, even though Everton were poor. If Sokratis, Luis and Mustafi also need a lift to Heathrow, I don’t mind hiring a minibus. When is Holding back?

    Generally speaking our first touch was appalling. A bit like watching a Sunday morning pub side. You can talk tactics and stats till you are blue in the face, but if you can’t control the ball, it’s a complete waste of time. You need a good first touch to be able to do something with your second touch. Instead we end up passing it backwards. The more we had of the ball, the less we knew what to do with it. Lack of confidence? I think Arteta is the right hire, but he has taken on one helluva job. I wish him luck.

    1. ‘I sometimes trying to imagine them walking up the Wembley steps to pick up medals. I just can’t do it.’

      That’s kind of funny because the thing you can’t imagine them doing has been done by Xhaka once and by Ozil 3 times in the recent past.

      Not saying they’re likely to do it AGAIN, but there’s definitely pictures out there of what that would look like if you want to check it out and see what it would look like. 🙂

  8. Arteta interviews and articulates his thoughts startlingly well. The one thing that the Arsenal players will not lack is clarity. He is a superb communicator. We knew he was whip smart, but hearing him navigate his way easily, openly and honestly through 2 TV interviews and one presscon was revelatory. I may sound corny, but I got goosebumps listening to the guy talk about understanding what changed in the culture, getting buy-in from the players, and about how some of his core tenets are non-negotiable. He’s not interested in being Pep Lite or Pep II… he will be his own man. he has no experience, he smiled in admission, but that’s a fact and he isnt going to try to change anyone’s minds. But such is his respect for Arsenal, he would not be taking the job, he said, if he felt that eh wasn’t ready for it. He’d prepared for this chance for a long time.

    Looking at the staff introduction video on arsenal.com, he managed to radiate affability and authority. The man is special. My doubts have melted. I’m in love, and he hasnt yet gained us single point. God help me to manage my expectations. That isnt rational… it’s a heart thing, and goodness knows that the club needs to find the love again.

    So it’s a clean slate for everyone. Should X, Y or O fail to grasp the opportunity to start over, it would be on them. The task is big, the head coach has never head coached before. But this club feels in safe hands. Come back and plet me with rotting fruit if I get this wrong 🙂

  9. Reports had Freddie leaving to become head coach of Malmo. Im glad he is staying to work under Arteta. Freddie struck a proud and dignified figure on the sidelines, and we owe him an enormous debt of gratitude for taking on a big and difficult job without resources. Per is an admirable gunner but he did not constitute a coaching/backroom staff. FL had pleaded with the board to fix things quickly, and they have. But not before he was made to carry the slop buckets. The results haven’t been stellar, but he brought some feelgood back. He spoke about how hearing the fans sing his name again made him emotional, and you can feel how much he cares.

    He’s also a player’s coach (look at Torreira thanking him after the game). He’s honest, he doesn’t hide behind platitudes, and it appears that he treats everyone equally. It seems from the outside looking in as if he does not indulge cliques or prima donnas. His attitude to Ozil’s dissent was spot on. Freddie made it clear that if Mesut hadn’t been injured he STILL wouldn’t have played, because he does not expect Arsenal players to behave like that. I like that. Values.

    But on Saturday, I was disappointed in his game management. He seemed more intent on scoring points than gaining points. Lacazette came on on 76 mins. Nelson played the full 90, and, with a game to win, Auba came off. I mean I get that you don’t have to do like Arsene and play 5 strikers when chasing a game late, but Laca for Auba (when the admirable Martinelli had run himself into the ground and the lightweight Nelson wasn’t doing anything) suggested tactical rigidity, or something else. I’m one who thought that it’s right that they should fight for the spot, but with 15 minutes left, we needed both of them. Pepe didn’t play. I’m sorry, are you trying to win a game Freddie? Or as they say in Jamaica, were you more intent on “mannersing” some players? Or intent on playing youth no matter what? Freddie’s DGAF metre seemed firmly in red.

    Quick comment on Saturday’s game…
    It’d be great to watch Arteta improve Smith Rowe, but right now he isn’t ready. He’s a willing colt, and works hard; but he isn’t at the level we need a player in that position to be, tactically or technically. This is not an argument for Mesut, whose race seems run (barring fresh starts) and whose overall effectiveness hasn’t been great of late. And it’s not ESR’s fault. When we were debating bringing the energy and giving 120”, someone here pointed out that it still needs to be sensibly channeled energy. ESR gave the perfect example of ineffectively channeled high energy. He’s a kid, that sounds harsh, but it’s true.

    Torreira was good (again) according to my eye test. I’d love to see his numbers. Xhaka was solid and played more progressively (even carrying the ball), although the TV analysis showed him failing to see runs by Auba etc., and not having the required vision. He was in nosebleed territory sometimes. Fully agree with Tim about Saka. He has a big, big future. In addition to being a superb crosser, he is a fighter, is tougher than he looks, is technically solid, and he can see a pass. Guy’s a gem. As is Martinelli, about whom I’ve said enough.

    It is a shame that Arteta can’t bring the weekend’s 2 best players – Mahrez and De Bruyne. BTW, is there a better midfielder in the game than KDB? That is the level we need to get to, and it’s going to take some doing.

    1. I think KDB is the best player in the league and probably the best midfielder in the world. I wanted to turn my TV off after the third goal went in but I couldn’t cos I wanted to see how he was going to torture us next. He is a generational talent like Xavi/Iniesta before him.

      Agree on ESR. He is not ready and I don’t know yet if he has the vision to be a great attacking midfielder but he does show signs of promise. Against WHAM his forward passes in the final third came about half a second too late and he is physically not quite there yet. He needs match time.

      Agree on Freddie’s subs as well. I wouldn’t mind seeing a 4-4-1-1 or a 4-1-3-2 type formation in the last 15 minutes if we need to score. Laca’s passing isn’t the best but he does fight for the ball and he’s an absolute pest in the box. He is also offside a lot and playing him just behind Auba might help with that.

  10. I am afraid that Arteta is beginning to sound like Emery.

    If we are simply going to have 11 players rushing around like guendouzis, without any real skill and inspiration, then we might as well have kept Emery, or preferably Wenger.

    Ozil and Xhaka represent the antithesis of Emery. Players who do what is right, not what they are told.

    1. The difference is the tactics behind that energy. Emery gave no direction as to what that energy should be expanded on, where to press, what our triggers are or reactions throughout the squad to our own press. That’s why people who have coached will tell you that the players gave Emery everything they had and ended up as the hardest running team. Unfortunately, Emery wasted that by not doing his part and putting tactics behind that energy.

      On a manager/coach’s part, you want total buy in from your players,but you need to have tactics too. A good press is tactically prepared defensive tool, not just running around. I’m sure Arteta, having worked with Pep, didn’t recognise that or didn’t know it in the first place.

  11. If Arteta’s game management skills are anything like his interviewing skills, we are all in for a treat.

    I am looking foward to the winter transfer window. If we only do one piece of business, it should be showing Xhaka the door and bringing in a defensive minded CM – hopefully not just a tackling type but someone who can break the defensive lines with his passing. If we can get this done properly, it will make the summer transfer window a lot easier. I will consider any business beyond this a bonus. I hear the noises about Ozil but I don’t see it happening. At best he gets a loan move but then we’ll need to replace him with an attacking midfielder. Ideally we can get someone in the 24-25 year range but I doubt a pivotal player like that will be available during the winter window. Might be easier to offload one of Socrates/Mustafi and bring in a defender but like I said, anything more than the Xhaka business during this window will be a bonus.

    1. Can quit searching for the ephemeral ‘Cazorla Replacement’.
      Bring back Cazorla for the remainder of the season. Comes cheap.
      He’s having a good season at Villareal. (5G/4A 14 apps)

  12. Hoo boi happy xmas everyone.

    I am very very happy with the Arteta appointment, it’s what we should have done 18 months ago, and he’s hitting all the right notes at the moment. What a massive relief. He could still fail, but I will be fine with that.

    Interesting to read that Xhaka maybe leaving. I have not loved Xhaka recently if ever, but I did think that Arteta would be a very good coach for him, and in the second half at Everton I thought he woke up.

    He was still way too conservative – bouncing a pass back to a defender when he had time to turn and pass forwards; passing sideways when he had a run from a forward to pick out; not driving hard enough into acres of space in midfield when Everton were pressing and the Arsenal player on the ball needed a quick outlet… I know this is a list of criticisms but honestly for the first time in ages I could see that he was fighting, and I could see that by fixing those fixable things we could have a Henderson-type CM only much better than Henderson. A real CM, not a DM or an AM, not a Ramsey-style box-to-boxer, maybe one for the left side of a midfield 3. Like Henderson maybe not a world-beater but a perfect player for a team that needs to be greater than the sum of its parts.

    I don’t care about his ability to tackle or turn under pressure – he’s not a DM, that’s not his game, and he doesn’t need it if he can play a different way. At Everton he protected the ball well, showing nifty footwork at times, defended strongly and smartly, read the game and communicated well, and as others note he’s trusted by his teammates.

    If he goes, fair enough he goes, and we might well be able to get in someone more productive either going forward or defending – but I have an inkling he might be coming through his tough second act and I personally love a redemption story.

    Anyway, I didn’t really mean to bang on about Xhaka who’s probably leaving, the bigger point is that with Arteta at the helm for exactly 0 matches I can already see a way forward for players that I had already given up on under Emery.

    1. Against Everton, Do you guys think Xhaka passed back so much because he was being conservative or because the forward players didn’t have good positioning and couldn’t hold onto the ball in the central areas just outside of the opposition box?

      We had Aubameyang up front who couldn’t hold up play, Smith Rowe wasn’t really safe with the ball in the half spaces or centrally, and the wide players seemed to like running in behind or just receiving and passing the ball back. We didn’t have a safe option to hold possession in the final third, and if a midfielder keeps playing it to places where the ball keeps getting lost, it gives the opposition more opportunities to attack our vulnerable defensive systems.

      I thought our midfield played a very tactically astute game against Everton. Chelsea tried to force matters and got countered mercilessly. We took the sting out of the game whenever we could and kept their energy levels low. It was good and composed play from our midfield.

    2. The only reason Xhaka was able to read the game well against Everton was because Everton did jack squat with the ball when they won it in midfield. If you move the ball quicker, like most premier league teams usually do, Xhaka will get found out. The Everton match played out like a Serie A game (except with substantially worse tactical display by both teams) and it only cemented my belief that the pace of Serie A would be perfect for our ex-captain. Time and time again Xhaka has shown us he is pretty bad at reading premier league games. He is nothing like a Pirlo or Busquets whose lack of physical speed is more than compensated by speed of thought and reading of the game. If anything he comes across as a bit of a duffer. There is absolutely zero reason to believe that the Everton match is somehow indicative of his true abilities. It’s recency bias and I would steer clear of that trap.

      1. Did they purposely fail to do something with it, or did we stop them from doing anything with it. I have watched them over the last few games and to say that they just decided to do nothing with the ball is the negative way to view the situation and bend it to your opinion. We didn’t give them any major issues upfront because we played cautiously in attack to protect our defence. They have been countering and we didn’t give them the opportunity to play like that.

        In defending Xhaka isn’t close to being one of the best in the Premier League, let alone Europe. No one can dispute that. But what he is and how he performs what he is good at is what I am judging. Pirlo and Busquets are not the sole prototype of ball playing deep midfielders in world football, so to judge him against the greatest ever proponents of these role is a bit unfair. I definitely know that he is better than almost all Premier League midfielders outside the top 6 and also some within it.

        I was also looking at his contributions throughout the season and over his entire time at Arsenal. It might be hard to believe for most that Xhaka isn’t as they assume, it is true that he has been one of the best midfielders to make the most passes into the final third in Europe over the period he has been here.

        What happened at Everton was Xhaka not being isolated, not him performing amazingly. It’s no recency bias to see our team be more solid and Xhaka not get exposed in the same game, it’s just what happens.

        1. We played relatively better team defense and made it easier for Xhaka, but the bigger point is the game was played at much slower pace than what you typically see in a premier league game. I saw Everton play against Chelsea and they looked like a different team. I do think that while we did well in closing them down quicker, they were also inhibited by the presence of a new manager, unwilling to take any risk.

          Perhaps it is unfair to compare Xhaka to Pirlo and Busquets – two of the world’s best after all as you say, but he is so many notches below in terms of their skill level that the idea of speaking their names in the same vein sounds preposterous. And that’s just the problem – if we want Arsenal to be a world class team which I’m sure we all do, we need better than just a serviceable CM, which I’m not even sure Xhaka is.

          1. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I refer you to the Henderson comparison above. Milner’s another one – never has he troubled anyone’s top midfielder lists, but right now both are extremely comfortable with what’s being asked of them and are important players for Liverpool as a result.

          2. Oh – and both of those players are slow, but Liverpool play FAST. The two things are not incompatible – in fact you need the steady ones to balance the electric ones.

  13. If there’s a Christmas wish you could make happen, please use a darker and thicker) font in the comments section. Thanks

    It’s a pain in the eyes to read and my eyesight is quite normal and so are my smartphones eg iPhone. Thanks.

  14. Good piece Tim.
    On Xhaka, getting 20m for him is about what could be expected from a club outside of PL and we all knew there wouldn’t be many takers for his services here.

    I don’t think there’s a single senior Arsenal player who can fetch is a higher transfer fee going away , than what we had to pay to bring him here. Which in itself is a pretty damaging assessment of our talent pool and previous transfer dealings.

    No PL club wants our players so we take a hit selling them abroad. We all knew this would be the case.
    Arsenal have become the MLS of European football for the likes of Ozil or Mustafi.
    Why would the want to leave?

    On Arteta, he does sound very impressive and comes across as someone you don’t want to take lightly.
    I hope Arsenal fans give him enough time but I won’t hold my breath.
    There’s this real time experiment going on right before our very eyes, where we will be able to see and judge two clubs choosing two different avenues in appointing new coaches.
    Everton went the old and tried safe pair of hands way with CA , while Arsenal did the the opposite.
    We’ll see in May who made right move.

    On monkey chants from the stands, it isn’t just plain wrong, but also stupid to the extreme when done in the PL environment with black players on your own team hearing it while they need to come back from two goals down and create some positive momentum.
    So congrats to those guys for hitting the dumb racist trifecta.

    1. I’m not sure a judgement in May is giving Arteta “enough time”, given challenge he faces in rebuild a team from the ground up, with questionable resources. May 2022, perhaps?

      1. This wasn’t meant to be judge me in May Arsene style, where the league position was largely at play, but rather an indication of general direction Arteta wants to take the club, which should be fairly obvious by then.

      2. But you do raise a valid point JAYKE.
        How much time should he be given to turn this Arsenal around?
        I was more patient than most with Wenger and then Emery, but I doubt very much Arteta has till May 2022 to show real progress.
        Even I wouldn’t wait that long to let him go in the event of failure.

        1. I think the answer to your question is totally dependent on the team showing some kind of positive response in the short term. Klopp’s performance with Liverpool is frequently offered as an example of giving a manager time through some rough spells, and I would give Arteta at least the same leeway, in spite of his relative lack of experience. The reason Emery had to go was not because of a few bad results but because the team steadily regressed under his watch. As long as we can show we are moving in the right direction, I would gladly write off this season and next to get us back to challenging for the title. But it’s not all down to Arteta (as it wasn’t with Klopp); some shrewd moves in the transfer market will be a big part of how quickly we can get back in the top four.

          A realistic time-frame might be: any kind of improvement this season, regardless of final standings; productive summer transfers followed by solid performances and challenging for top four in 20-21; top four and challenging for title in 21-22. Although it will surprise me if it actually happens that quickly.

  15. Tim, re your Maradona tweet, I don’t know his assist stats but one thing that stuck in my mind watching him play was how many double and triple teams he attracted when on the ball this creating all kinds of space for his teammates.

    Also the amount of red card tackles by today’s standards teams put in trying to slow him down was off the charts.
    Skillful dribblers don’t know how good they have it these days.
    It’s like comparing NFL tackles on quarterbacks from 30 seasons ago and now.

  16. Great post Tim

    It’s going to be a tough job fir arteta. We need to completely rebuild the attitude and culture in the dressing room and rebuild the squad at the same time. After several games with a new manager and new tactics I think the evidence suggests that our biggest problem was not Emery’s tactics. Our performances have looked almost exactly the same since Freddie took over. I still think the team is due for a run of good form and hopefully that will start soon.

  17. Excellent analysis. Mind you, I enjoyed reading Devlin’s as well (I always do), but Im with you on this. Indeed Ive said much the same thing after watching games. Xhaka is often pressed out of a game (rendered null and void) as the press beating option, simply by having a man on or near him. How is he going to hurt you? But an interesting thing happened for the Everton game. Freddie had him ferrying the ball more. If my eyes did not deceive me, he even did a pirouette or 2 past an opposition player. Perhaps theyre belatedly trying to teach the old dog new tricks.

    Whatever we get for Xhaka, we’re going to pay 4x for a Fabinho, one of the best players in that position (him, Busquets, Casemiro) just patrol the passing lanes, stave off danger and keep things tidy and simple. They dont try to do too much with the football. Progression is a bonus.

    How stupid do we look now getting rid of Ramsey, who was a one of a kind player in the squad. Willock has the potential to be B2B, but will need time to get to the level we need him to be at. At one time with peak Wilshere and peak Ramsey, we had a deep midfielder who could run with ball at feet, and a deep midfielder who could run in behind. We also had Santi, our marvelous Swiss Army knife.

    Now we’re ponderous and static as f*** and Xhaka is a big part of that problem. He’s just wrong for the fast-paced football that Arteta says he wants to play — with short quick passes, high energy and mobility. Rosicky, Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey…. oh man.

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