Arteta gave a press conference today in which he spoke briefly about injuries, Aguero, “pulling a Liverpool”, our loanees, and whether we are going to offer Lacazette £100m a week this summer. Here’s my report on the report.
I took the week off and played golf. Monday I played a fairly challenging course with a slope rating of 132, lots of bunkers in the fairways and tough greens. The greens were extra tough because the grass wasn’t very even and sometimes they were just regular slow while other times they were crazy slow. It was wild to watch four different golfers all have long putts and all of us come up varying degrees of short.
Oh well, that’s golf in March: sometimes you’re going to get wind storms, soaked greens, water-logged fairways, sunshine on some places, and cold breezes. When we pulled up to the clubhouse, I’d hit a 94 which is my handicap right now.
I shot really well on the front 9, a 44, but then hit a 50 on the back nine, which included a pretty epic 8 on the last hole. Most of it came down to putting. The greens were running so slow and yet I just couldn’t get my brain to putt faster. Plus, I was duffing! That’s just down to being in bad shape and wearing down toward the end of the round.
I guess this is a metaphor for Arsenal right now? Maybe. Are we just not quite in good shape? Arteta mentioned Saka and Smith Rowe, both have had a few little problems in the last week and neither has practiced with the team. They are both players who start Arsenal’s high press and integral to what Arteta has been trying to do since December. But it’s normal, too, for players to pick up a few injuries in a season and need to sit out a few matches, recover their fitness, and go again. I’ve seen some complaints that Arteta played Saka/Smith Rowe too much and I guess I get that but on the other hand, if Arteta hadn’t played Saka, he would have gone to the England camp where they would have run him (at left back or something) till his hammy snapped and rolled up into a little ball. I guess I just accept that this season is unusual, that it’s a condensed schedule, and that money-spinning FIFA matches are going ahead, players be damned.
I’ve been taking this “accepting” attitude toward a number of things. I played my more local course on Wednesday and we had a 3rd guy in our group. I think he was surprised by how much I just took my medicine when I hit a poor shot. “Oh well, on in 4 and two-putt” I said, casually, over and over again. I didn’t even notice I was doing it until he said something like “wow, you’re pretty positive.” That’s when I worried that I was being overly positive. But you know, I don’t think that I was being inanely optimistic. It was more just accepting that this is where I am right now as a golfer: I’m going to hit some good ones, but I’m also going to hit a lot of bad ones.
There’s a par 5 on my local course which has a giant tree right in the fairway. It’s a huge distraction and I can’t quite game my way around this hole: the tree is slightly left of center, inviting you to hit to the right. But! hit too far right and you’re trapped in a dense forest, lost ball, or out of bounds. But if you try to go left of the tree, you have a very narrow hole to shoot into and another bit of trees to contend with. My buddy keeps telling me to just go right of the tree. I think from now on I’m going left. Because while the gap to shoot into is narrower, you have a much better chance of getting out, advancing the ball, and getting back into the fairway. Advance and Vanquish is my motto. It’s also one of my favorite albums by 3 Inches of Blood.
Well, yesterday, I followed my buddy’s advice, aimed to the right-side, and I hit the tree. Oddly the ball fell to the left (right where I want to hit it) and instead of advancing and vanquishing, I fucking duffed three shots in a row! Now, most people would be boiling and 30-year-old version of me would have wrapped that poor 3-wood around a tree but I just accepted that that hole would be an 8.
And you know what? I pared the next hole, which is a beast of a par 5, up a hill. Yes, if you’ve been paying attention, this stupid course has two par 5s in a row! It also has a 440 yard par 4 just before those two par 5s. That par four I play like a par 5 because my longest drives are about 220 so no matter what I do, I can’t get on in 2. I got a 5 there!
The point here is that I just accept my faults. I’ll get better as the year goes on, maybe down to a 16 handicap or something (I’m 20 right now). I lower my expectations, and I have a lot more fun playing golf than I would if I went out there expecting sweet shots on every hole. I can picture perfect shots in my head, I tend to think positively, but when I lift my head or flap my wrists, I’m ok with it!
This is very much a metaphor for Arsenal this season. Arteta mentioned something today almost in passing that many of us have posited: that basically he needed to break the team down in order to rebuild.
“The way they managed resources and the way they have maximised resources has been exceptional. They’ve done it really, really well and now it is about sustaining that. We are in different phases of that project right now but we know exactly where we are and where we want to be and in the first one of two phases. We had some priorities that we had to address to be in a position to now evolve the squad, evolve the team and start to compete on a different level and this is where we are. ” (emphasis mine, via arsenal.com)
Just like my golf game, we are in phase 1. That might irk some who wanted Arteta to come in and fix everything in the first 6 months (which I admit was frustrating and you were right to be frustrated) but if you have the patience in you to look at how the team had been constructed to first fit Wenger, then to fit Emery (who was radically different footballistically), and then to fit Arteta, it’s been a difficult project. We do know that since December (which coincides with playing a modern attacking midfielder who can lead the press behind a hard-working forward who will also press) the team have looking significantly better.
The big question for me is how we go forward. Arteta was asked about Lacazette and Aguero and while both of those players are outstanding, I’m not sure I’d want them as my long-term investments. A more logical investment would be to keep Martin Ødegaard. But it’s not as simple as us fans like to make out: Real Madrid are going to want big money for Ødegaard and replacing Lacazette might not be as simple as “just letting Martinelli have his minutes”. Arteta mentions “maximizing resources” and how paying Lacazette would be part of that consideration. It’s not going to be easy to emulate what Liverpool did. There aren’t many teams out there who are willing to pay Coutinho money for a Coutinho these days. So, we are going to have to be extra smart about selling and buying.
We’ve all said it here before but it bears repeating once more: this is a huge summer for Arteta’s Arsenal. Between all of the loan players, the youth players who aren’t kicking on, how to rebuild the midfield, getting in a creative midfielder on a permanent deal, and revamping the attack (we just don’t create anywhere near enough to get into top four), this is a huge project. I’d almost think of it like a three or four phase project but I can’t see Arteta afforded that leniency from the fans. In fact, unless there’s evidence of progress back into the top 4 by December, I’d predict a fairly toxic atmosphere, at least among the more vocal fans. There is already a lot of venom toward Arteta (and anyone who remotely supports him) and any slip going forward just gives them more reason to spit. Fair enough, I guess. I used to be the kind of guy who wrapped his 3-wood around trees, I get it.
Now, I’m a guy who needs to work on his putts.
When I played, I was the opposite of most people I played with. If I could get it on the green within 10-15 yards of the hole, that sucker was going in, no matter the lie, the turf, or anything else. I never missed with my putter.
Of course, how often did I get off the fairway and on onto a putting surface in a reasonable amount of strokes? Let’s not go there.
Because my short game was so good, I never tried to hard to work on my driving off the tee or playing with those middle irons. I could have done so much better by working on a more balanced game. Let’s hope we do the same at Arsenal this summer.
TBH? I could care less what anyone else thinks about Arteta. He’s bright, organized, came in with a plan to clean up the trainwreck that Emery crashed into the trainwreck AW left behind.
There is no one else out there better suited to right Arsenal. Arteta’s Arsenal.
Great post Tim. You da best. Good luck with your golf game. It sounds like you and I have a very similar golf game. My problem is my swing speed has really dropped off in the last few years and I have to hit hybrid clubs into many greens that used to be 7 or 8 irons. I don’t have the short game to compensate for the drop off in my distance so golf has become much more of a struggle.
With regard to Arsenal I think Arteta inherited a poorly constructed squad whose biggest problem is a severe lack of firepower in front of goal. He went into the season desperately needing another golden boot type year from Auba and hoping for some sort of positive influence from Willian. He had to give both players a chance but both have been a disappointment and that really set us back. Every season will see runs of good form and runs of bad form and they usually average out over 38 games. We are a mid table team with mid table talent and we were in a miserable run of form during the first part of the season. A mid table team in bad form plays like a 15th place team which is what we saw before Christmas. Since then our form has improved and a mid table team in good form can play like a team capable of competing for a Europa league spot which is the level we have played at since Christmas. However it would be a mistake to believe that we will continue the post Christmas form next season without an infusion of new talent. I don’t think we can count on Auba regaining his golden boot form and we don’t really have anyone else in the squad who we can count of to score.
Overall I think Arteta has done as well as could be expected given the situation he inherited.
IMO. Arteta is a good enough manager but he can’t overcome a suboptimal squad. Our future success or lack of success will depend on how well the front office and Arteta manage and use our resources during the squad rebuild. Its easier said then done but we have to make good decisions and sell and purchase wisely. We can’t afford Pepe level mistakes or investments on players who don’t produce enough to justify the money spent.
I am less optimistic about Arteta like the rest for this particular reasons
1. Poor squad rotation: excessive use of Tierney, Saka, Rowe &holding. Not enough opportunities given to martinelli and Pepe. Playing willian and Auba while out of form. Playing Auba on the right wing and Willian as striker were crimes against humanity.
2. Tactical tweaks before but mostly during games hasn’t been good. It was great when he decided to play chambers at right back against long ball and physical dominant teams. Poor subs in games in taking off bright sparks with momentum in games which has happened to Pepe and laca.
3.Fairness: treat Willian as you treat Pepe. Treat Auba as you treat laca. Merit and the team comes before everything else.
4. Improving team dynamics/chemistry with play right through the middle of the team in addition to wing play. Rowe and laca have a good partnership. Cedric and Pepe have a good partnership. Tierney has a good partnership with all bar Auba because wing play isn’t auba’s natural strength in terms of dribbling and hold up play.
5. Bolagun and other youngters. Once we’d wrapped up top spot give the young talents more playing time. Not just 10 minutes cameos.
My issue with Arteta is he could deliver better with the squad he has and if he can’t do that then how much more can he extract from a better squad in terms of performance?
An exccellent analogy, Tim. I’ve never been a golfer but have many friends who are obsessed with the game and have fully imparted an understanding of its frustrations. It’s probably just as well that I never found the time to get into it. The Arsenal have managed to provide an ample lifetime diet of frustration leavened by exquisite moments of delight.
One of those Arsenal related frustrations is the expectation of some of the fan base that a young manager in his first job as Head Coach should be able to turn around a dysfunctional organisation and unbalanced squad within 12 months. “Hey Presto! Here’s 4th place, muchachos!” Arteta has certainly made some mistakes, as all rookies do, and some players have failed him but with adequate support from the owners, I am very optimistic that he will bring Arsenal success. He has a clear vision of what he wants from his team (even if they don’t always deliver it at the moment), a drive to succeed and the steel to make things happen. I reckon he just might be a good golfer too.
Re: the tree. Aim directly for it. If your golf is like mine, you’re guaranteed never to hit it.
The idea that managers overuse players is way overused by fans. We heard it everytime a player went thru a bad spell of form or pulled a muscle during the wenger era. Every manager is going to use his important players in almost all of the high leverage games players run hot and cold or have soft tissue injuries no matter how much they are used
what an ugly game. it was so bad, i dozed off at times. arteta is displaying his inner-unai; what a cowardly performance.
Josh.
There is more then enough blame to go around. The manager can’t kick the ball for the players. There is nothing he can do with if the players are completely outplayed. The tactics will always look wrong if the players don’t execute.
They have had a down year but they have won the PL and the CL in the last couple years and we are a Europa league level team. They are just a lot better then we are and there is nothing a manager can do to fix that.