It was one of those games.
Arsenal went into this contest with a P8 W2 D4 L2 record versus Man U in all competitions since 2015. Arsenal were also the in-form side, having the 2nd best record (joint with Man City) over the last 5 matches in the Premier League and boasting a decisive win over the richest club in the world (Newcastle). And the start of this match was exactly what you wanted to see and would expect from a team on that form, who are young, hungry, talented, and unafraid.
Arsenal took the lead after VAR rightly overturned muffin head Martin Atkinson and awarded Emile Smith Rowe a good goal. In the buildup to the goal (which was scored off a set play, Arsenal’s 8th goal off a set play this season) Man United’s Fred stepped on Man United’s de Gea, causing the keeper to fall to the ground in the fetal position. The desired effect was to stop play, the actual effect was that Arsenal were eventually awarded a goal.
And it was a cracking goal at that. Perhaps de Gea would have saved, if he’d been more interested in goalkeeping and less interested in practicing his Parsva Savasana, but Smith Rowe hit the ball with the outside of his boot, causing it to spin away from the keeper and into the bottom corner. It was one of the most well-struck freak goals you’ll ever see.
And immediately after that goal, Arsenal stopped playing.
It’s not something that I’m alone in noticing. Tim Stillman – who has a keen eye for tactics and watches even more football than me, including being at nearly every game for Arsenal both the men and the women’s team – has commented on this several times and did so again yesterday:
“I’ve watched enough of this team under Arteta to recognise a disconnect between what he says and what his team does. His teams routinely stop playing in advantageous positions. I think it’s that simple now.
He’s pretty ruthless with players that don’t carry out his instructions so it’s very difficult to reconcile any other conclusion than this team stops playing at certain points because that’s what they’re told to do.”
Originally tweeted by Tim Stillman (@Stillberto) on December 3, 2021.
Arsenal allowed 4 unanswered shots after scoring, conceded 63% of the possession, attempted 1 tackle, completed 72% of our passes, and the stat that I think shows how much pressure a team is really under: Arsenal had to make 10 clearances to United’s 0.
That said, it was a period where we were sort of less passive than I’m used to seeing us play, I thought we played the passing lanes really well and the interceptions stats at that time were in our favor 6-4, and there is an element to the game which you could call control since all of their shots were either hopeful pokes from Maguire (2), a poor shot from Keyser Söze, or a header by Lindelof. But there is no question for me that Arsenal took their foot off the gas immediately after going up.
Funnily enough, Arteta was asked if he thought we were too comfortable after going ahead and actually he said:
“No I think we were sloppy in possession. We gave the ball away to the opponent, and we had no pressure there. That created strong momentum that allowed them to run, and they had the structure to play – and suddenly we started to give the ball away. So many unforced errors that led to them having belief that they could do something in the game. I didn’t see a team with the handbrake, I saw a team that wanted to impose (themselves) here. They were dominant, we played with the right structure and the right freedom at the same time. But we didn’t defend our box well enough well, and manage some situations well enough to concede the way did.”
(Source: arsenal.com)
I’m not sure how I feel about this answer. He’s right in a lot of ways. We were sloppy in possession. We did give the ball away. We didn’t press when we lost the ball. But I strongly disagree with this part “we played with the right structure and the right freedom at the same time”.
I’ve seen this happen with Arsenal too many times over the last two years where they take a lead and then defend fairly well but every time they get the ball in attack, they turn around and pass the ball backward. The reason that’s happening is because we aren’t being adventurous: there are rarely overlapping fullbacks in these periods. We are settling for attacks that are almost entirely generated by the forwards and the midfielders are expected to hold their runs. That’s not just down to players having poor technical skill, that is a tactical decision and one which is drilled into the players on the training pitch. Players don’t normally have to be told “guys, we want to attack”, in fact, it’s usually the opposite. So the idea that these players are deciding on their own – guys like Tavares – that they suddenly want to play conservatively strikes me as fantastical.
If this were a one-off or even just a few times where the players weren’t up to Arteta’s technical expectations that would be one thing but look at the sheer number of times we’ve played this way (and it happens against nearly every opponent and with various lineups) and it follows a pattern of play we have seen now for two years at Arsenal and suggest that perhaps the players are doing what they are told.
It’s also probably true that Arsenal don’t have the world’s best players and as such they are going to turn the ball over quite a bit and especially under pressure. That’s something we have seen at Arsenal consistently since about 2016. So, I think he’s right in the one sense, that it was the turnovers which were costly, but it’s also true that he wants a certain balance at certain game states with Arsenal and that I think his balance tips more defensive at all times but especially when we have the lead.
The Juego de Posicion which Guardiola plays and which I think we are very much copying here is passive in defense (except, notably, on counter attacks where Man City are hyper aggressive in midfield). The main goal of the defense, after an initial press to try to win the ball back, is not to get pulled out of shape. So they don’t try to tackle a lot, they don’t jump the passing lanes, and they aren’t pressing. In a funny way, it’s similar to an Allardycian set up: the idea is to control space more than to win the ball back. The problem there is that unless you have superb technicians on the ball (to control 60% possession) and perfect positioning on defense (for when you do eventually lose possession), you’re going to give up good chances, which then almost entirely rely on individual skill for defense.
So, while Arteta is quick to blame the technical errors for the drop off in Arsenal’s attack after we went ahead, I think there’s more to it. It looks to me like we are a live experiment which is asking the question of whether you can play the Guardiola style of football with less than masterful technical players and with a new coach who is not named Pep Guardiola.
United’s first goal, by the way, wasn’t something to be really ashamed of. We lost the ball but our positioning looked good. It took nearly a triple-nutmeg to score that goal, which is back to Arsene Wenger’s millimeters.
Their second goal, on the other hand, was something to be ashamed of. Both Ben White and Thomas Partey were left looking at each other but that’s not at all on Partey. Generally the center backs are responsible for covering the center forwards who are essentially standing still on the penalty spot. That goal was so easy because Ben White was ball watching and Keyser Söze ghosted in behind him for the goal.
The cross was also poorly defended, though that’s because Tavares was out of position as he was trying to start the attack but his pass was too poor to Smith Rowe and was picked off by Dalot. It was a gamble by Arsenal, the kind I just said I wanted Arsenal to take, and it didn’t pay off. So, there’s the turnover problem Arteta identified and also the structural problem I identified.
I expect Ben White to defend Ronaldo better there. Though, I will say, if Rashford hadn’t crossed that to Ronaldo, he could have picked out a wide open Bruno for a pretty easy chance as well because overall, Arsenal’s defending looked pretty ragged on that play. I can’t tell what half of the players are doing, other than “not be decisive” and “running back to make it look like defense is really important to us”.
Arsenal came back down the other end and hit them for a 2nd goal. This time Thomas Partey picked out a great pass to Martinelli in acres of space, and Arsenal did almost the same thing to United that they just did to us. The big difference there is that Maguire had Auba covered and it was actually the midfield (Fred) who let Martin Ødegaard slip into space unnoticed.
United were there for the taking all game. They looked very soft in defense and their idea of good midfield play was McTominay shouldering into his opponents to win headers. Fred in particular is a Denilson – sometimes good, really good at cycling the ball, but lax in defense.
And Ben White also tried to make up for his earlier mistake with a superb long pass to Auba for a shot, which was, I think, probably the Arsenal forward’s best shot (apparently the stats folks are giving Auba that offside shot which probably wouldn’t have counted).
Arsenal supporters have a great case for being peeved at both Atkinson and Marriner, however. Replays showed Maguire CLEARLY hauling Tomiyasu to the ground and even Graeme Le Saux was apoplectic that the VAR ref and on field official didn’t call that for Arsenal.
Arsenal had already gotten their one blatantly correct call at Old Trafford for this season, I suppose Atkinson and Marriner were worried that giving two might get them dropped for next weekend.
And then of course, as one would expect from a game at Old Trafford, just after Arsenal equalize, Arsenal concede a silly penalty. Ødegaard made a rash tackle inside the box, Fred was smart enough to get his leg in the way and there’s no question that he drew a penalty. Up stepped Keyser and put away his 801 penalty.
After the game, Arteta bemoaned the errors and he’s sure right, the player errors by White and Ødegaard cost us big. But the players will hopefully learn from those mistakes and improve. But one thing that is almost always lost when one person (like Arteta) is pointing at the errors of others is how he himself might have gotten things wrong.
His starting lineup of Elneny and Partey in midfield didn’t work at all and he didn’t change it for the full 90 despite having Lokonga and Maitland-Niles on the bench. Maybe it wouldn’t have been any better but Lokonga has been one of Arsenal’s in-form players this season and he’s so much better at getting us forward than Elneny.
His subs also didn’t work at all. And the whole thing as well with how we play after going a goal up is what, in my mind, makes it a lot easier for teams to force errors in our half and get those mistakes. So, while it’s a young team who make mistakes, it’s a young coach who makes mistakes as well. And while I hope for the team to learn from their mistakes, what we need just as much if not even more is for the coach to learn from his mistakes.
i agree 100% with everything you said. particularly the part where you say the arsenal defenders are simply “running back to make it look like defense is really important to us”. it’s as if defensive shape supersedes the situation. sorry, but the situation has to dictate what you do. it’s like the arsenal players are back but they’re doing nothing about the opposition players in the box. this isn’t new or even limited to this season. it’s been this way as long as arteta’s been in charge.
I appreciate that being confirmed by a professional eye! I was worried I was being too mean.
No argument with any of that. Kind of sickening how much praise was being dumped on Ronaldo. He’s a good scorer. For the amount of money he’s getting paid, the types of goals he scored should be a minimum expectation. A PK and a basically wide-open shot from the spot when our players weren’t marking him tightly enough (mostly White’s fault, not leaving Ronaldo open at the penalty spot should be pretty obvious). We need our star scorer to convert his similar chances. Auba may be getting up there, but he is still 4 years younger than CR7.
Beyond that, the jury is still out for me on Arteta. Feels like beyond the change to trust the younger players, we’re still having a lot of the same problems as last year. And that the recent run of good results could be about the same as that run of good results under Emery (basically better results than what the play warranted).
We desperately need a more effective striker setup. Couple months ago, everyone was concerned about scoring from the midfield. Sadly, most of our goals now seem to be coming from that midfield.
Ben White is a poor defender.
He’s very John Stones.
But John Stones is taller than Ben White
the praise being heaped on ronaldo is because, at 36, he’s still a badass, regardless of the money. 800 goals? that’s insane.
i did wonder about ben white. all of this talk about how technical he was. i don’t see him being more technical than vermaelen and that dude was not a good defender. when it comes to defenders, my first concern is “can you defend”. everything else is an added bonus. arsenal paid a lot of money for ben white…especially when you consider arsenal got sol campbell for free. we’ll see.
Ben White is the weak link in this defense for me. Certainly room to grow and improve, but he’s indecisive. That feels like a big deal.
So well written, Tim – bravo! “So, while it’s a young team who make mistakes, it’s a young coach who makes mistakes as well.” This is what the Kroenkes have decided on – giving a young coach a chance to learn on the job with a very young team. That’s why we see these head-scratching displays, the ups and downs with this Arsenal team. A not fully formed strategy and an inconsistent execution.
I was trying to stay positive about the Elneny Partey pairing, but it was immediately apparent it wasn’t working. A confident, experienced manager who gets this wrong makes a change by halftime. An inexperienced one persists.
I’m reiterating my concern about Odegaard’s lack of burst. That slide tackle is exactly the result of a guy whose first step isn’t up to par. His game overall yesterday was marginally better than Newcastle, but the physical piece is going to limit his upside.
There’s no excuse for being beaten by Fred for two of our goals. I still can’t get past this in my head.
I expect us to bounce back Monday, despite this missed opportunity. Many more ups and downs and inconsistencies await this year.
I really appreciate this blog for putting this loss into some context that makes sense. Well done. That being said, nothing will convince me that we absolutely threw away that game, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and all but forfeited 3 points.
It really galls and when I hate being “Arsenal ’til I die”, it’s time likes these.
Do you watch “Sound of Music” every year like our family does? What do you with a problem like Arteta?
Enough ranting, it’s time for some really loud guitar: my 1969 Les Paul Custom through a Marshall 1959 Super Lead 100 Watt Plexi. As classic as classic rock and get, and better than Arsenal.
…sound of music every year? that sounds awful, even for a music guy like you.
Hey 1 Nil – The LA family has done Sing-along Sound of Music at the Hollywood Bowl many times. LA confesses to not being 100% sober at all of them.
SOM was a big deal for my family. We grew up Catholic – and I guess the nuns at our school loved a movie with nuns as key figures.
If you like old musicals, you should check out Shmigadoon on Apple+ Lots of laughs for me.
Fiddler on The Roof is the feelgood (?) staple for me. If you have a daughter or daughters, you’ll understand. I know every word of every song.
I wrote a long comment prior to your post but no need for repetition. What I’ll add:
The team balance is wrong. Since Arteta joined he’s spent heavily on midfield and defence and neglected attack. But, midfield is very pedestrian and not good enough for top four. Partey cost £50M and a four year contract that uplifted his AM salary from £3M to £10M p.a. He’s nearly Willian levels of non-contribution.
Attack has Saka and ESR who he was extremely lucky to inherit but carry too much responsibility for the team. Then there’s a senior forward on his way out of the club and the other who has his pension and no competition for his place. Plus our record signing, one of the few players who can conjure something from nothing doesn’t get to play.
Defence is making too many errors leading to shots and goals (Arsenal are 16th XGa). A cautionary tale to those who believe players make less mistakes as they get older – Mustafi and Luiz.
On the “it’s the coach instructions “ – he said as much in his post match pressers blaming the players inability to hold onto the initial lead. Faced with the option of winning or not losing he defaults to the latter. Is it ego, a lack of courage or a bit of both. It’s not inexperience. It won’t change. This is who he is.
For me the most frustrating thing is his post match BS. “We were in total control“. No you weren’t. It was a basketball match. I can’t respect someone who constantly spouts such nonsense.
what’s sad is i think he believes what he says. what’s worse is that i hate to hear a manager blame his guys. this is a manager playing with zero pressure.
Yep. It smacks of no accountability.
Arteta reacted late. Emile not woking out was apparent 10 minutes before he was subbed. Auba didn’t distinguish himself, but his being yanked looked like managerial pique at the near point blank miss. Nketiah, Laca and Martinelli chasing a goal?
Ronaldo showed yesterday that when your foot speed is slowed, you play the game more in the head. It took a good headed clearance from White to deny him a chance on a bicycle kick early on. For his goal, his movement and positioning was marvelous. Yes, we made mistakes, but you’ve got to have the skill to exploit them.
Our mistakes cause us to fall apart structurally. is it that we’re too rigid in our play? Ronaldo exploited the space between White and Gabriel like Jota did. United exploited Tavares’ mistake like Liverpool did.
This isn’t that good a United team. This is one that got away.
Thanks for the review Tim. I think it was Claude who posted this yesterday. In the 4 games against the biggest team in the league this season ManCity, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man U we are 0-4 and have been outscored 14-2. Yesterday’s game came less then 1 week after we played one of our better games in this calendar year against Newcastle and we have really done well this year against the teams in the lower 1/2 of the table and the same has been true for most of the last couple season and we completely dominated the teams we played against in the group stages of the Europa league. What that says to me is the managers tactics and team set up are good and they work well against the teams we can execute the game plan against. However, we struggle when we run into any team who has better players who can prevent us from executing the way we want.
I disagree with the idea that if the team is not playing a certain way it must be because that is what the manager instructed the team to do. We have all seen how often Arsene would complain about his teams playing with the handbrake on. I doubt anyone on the blog believes that Arsene would have ever instructed his teams to play with a handbrake. The point is that if the team is not executing the game will not go the way the manager and his coaches drew it up on the dry erase board during the week. Arteta may not be the worlds greatest manager but I don’t believe that he does not understand football. I don’t believe any manager who saw his team get to an early lead and was outplaying his opponent would then for some reason suddenly change what was working so well and tell them his team to stop attacking. That does not make sense.
Thierry Henry: “One thing I couldn’t understand is Aubameyang is your captain, he is your goalscorer, 15 minutes to go, you are losing 3-2 & you take him off. You take your captain, your symbol, off the field and you know he can score you goals, so something is not right.”
What does Thierry know? 😉 And where’s Pepe? On the naughty step with Tierney
He’s right in one sense: auba should’ve been off earlier
If I were to guess, he took Auba off because he wasn’t pressing enough.
Markmywords from the comment of the previous post.
Football does not always follow the laws of probability but it does most of the time. There are exceptions to every generalization but if you were asked to bet prospectively on whether Leicester would win the league in 2016 there is no one in the world would have predicted it. Man City will lose an occasional game but you can’t predict when it will happen. There are a few attacking players such as Vardy who remain just as productive after their age 31 season but those are the minority so in most cases when a striker like Auba’s production starts to decline in his age 31 and 32 seasons the most likely explanation is the end of career decline has started and you bet on the most likely outcome. So far its looking more and more like the end of career downturn is a pretty accurate assessment of what is happening to Auba. ESR has certainly out performed expectations so far but so did Iwobe and Ox and a lot of 2 dozen younger players early in their careers. Look what Joe Willock did in the second half of last season compared to this season. In the last 20 years there has not been a single player from our academy who has scored more then 10 league goals or created more then 10 league assists. Eventually the law of probability indicates that someone will become the exception and I hope ESR is the first to score in double digits. However, in football and all things you can hope for exceptions and occasionally you will be right. If you say the next 100 academy players strikers will all become top scorers at the PL level you will probably be right in 1/100 cases but you will be wrong in 99/100. The point is you hope for exceptions but none of us can predict the uncommon exceptions and you build expectations based on the the norm. That might seem boring to you but it makes sense to me. To each his own.
Food for thought:
https://global.espn.com/sports/soccer/insider/story/_/id/32778146/why-arsenal-weirdest-most-volatile-team-modern-era
We definitely backed off after the go ahead goal. We weren’t very good at anything. But I wasn’t annoyed by the game so much. None of it was unexpected, except the fact that I was not bored watching this.
Weirdly, it was probably the lack of quality from both teams that made this game more fun. I really wanted to win though, and it would have been extra special to have the ESR goal to lord over them because that was hilarious.
Still I expected a narrow loss and was mostly still in decent mood until the manager once again put the blame on his players. Nothing annoys me more than the narrative that Arteta is better than the team. Ugh.
Compared to last season, we’re now 6 points worse off on fixtures (scored 6 fewer goals) If we score 14 points in our next 7 PL games, we’d be level on that comparison. I’m not sure we can do it but it’s a crucial period for the team and maybe even for the manager. Although I’m almost certain KSE will keep him around regardless of where we finish.
PS. Not that important but I laughed when Arteta brought up our past record at ManU in his pre match press conference. My interpretation of it was that the one sided love affair with Arsene Wenger was now over.
“Nothing annoys me more than the narrative that Arteta is better than the team”
I never thought of it this way but it’s an interesting perspective and I think I agree. This is what bothers me when he talks about how often the players make mistakes. It’s very Mourinho: his plan is almost always good, but the players just don’t execute.
Right, about quality of both teams. Thought that Arsenal was largely scurrying around after the ball since apparently le posísitíon in the Juego de Positition , the designated posítíon was already occupied by the opposition. Similarly Man U , but they seemed slightly better structured
The process has gotten as far as a Juego de PoS
Juego de Allardycion, perhaps?
There’s an interview in the guardian today with Graham Potter. Comes across as a thoroughly likeable guy, and emphasis on values seemed believable rather than PR.
I suspect that when Mikel eventually gets the can the board will opt for a bigger name replacement. Shame, as I’d like to have seen what Potter can do with a bit of money behind him.
I re-read your post Tim. Do you think this is JdP? I don’t see the proactivity. Pep and Klopp football is actually quite similar particularly limiting danger whennot in possession. Arteta football has most of the hallmarks of Mourinho football. Particularly the attacking portion (lump it to a battering ram forward (except we don’t have one) while everyone else stays in their defensive positions).
I agree with you that we aren’t quite as proactive as I’d like but we do press high and have been (this year excluded) one of the high press teams. In possession it took me a long time to see it but there are very specific phases of play where it we are playing JdP, which is the majority of the time. You are right, though, that at times we do just lump it forward and instead of trying to get it to stick, we actually try to win the 2nd balls.
I saw Scott @ Arseblog’s piece. MU had 22 high press actions and Arsenal 28. They’re low numbers and MU’s is the lowest Arsenal have faced this season. Against a low pressure, poorly organised defence the passive gameplan seems the wrong choice.
Yeah, just went and had a look myself. He pressed at only half normal in high pressures but overall his pressing wasn’t abnormal. Like so much with Artetat it’s just hard to tell what he’s doing.
It’s exceedingly obvious the team is told to sit back and there are zero runs forward especially from fullbacks. ESR and Ode dribbling at 2 and 3 players with zero outlets hoping for a foul to break the pressure. That everyone just seems to stand and then look surprised when the ball comes to them is mind boggling. Arteta saying that those aren’t his instructions or how he wants to play is hard to take at face value when it keeps continually happening. That he once again was entirely too clever for his own good and limits his team with this conservative approach both in team selection and instruction providing no outcalls for his players so of course they get penned in and tire leading to the goal against. It just seems this is who Arsenal are and how wants the team to play, but when it goes wrong well obviously it isn’t what Arteta wanted or asked for.
Tiresome.
Tough day at the office. I don’t think anyone was under the impression that this Arsenal team is the finished product, whereas Man United are supposed to be just that. This game is not supposed to be close. We were rebuilding with youth this summer while they were buying 30 something legends to try to win all the trophies.
What was really annoying about this match is that despite the obvious differences between the profile of the players in either squad, the match didn’t feel like it was ever out of hand. We did not get played off the pitch by any means, and if anything we can feel like we left at least a point out there that could’ve been ours.
As for Arteta, I’m exhausted even skimming the armchair psychology going on above. It would be nice if we could let football be football sometimes. Teams win, teams lose, mistakes are made, everyone tries hard, it doesn’t always work out. Fin.
Great result for the Hammers against Chelsea. Identical score by which they beat Liverpool a month ago. Plus, Liverpool needed a last gasp winner from the 4th in line striker, at Wolves. Tactical planning does matter. See? 🙂
Moyes may the cleverest upper-mid table manager in English football. He struggled with the brief at United, but did for Everton exactly what he’s doing with West Ham — have his band playing as a team, a cohesive unit punching above their weight. Im not calling for him to replace Mikel, but on the evidence of Everton and now West Ham, he’d probably be getting more out of the collection of players at Arteta’s disposal.
West Ham are in 4th on merit, and theyre going to be hard to dislodge. Let’s hope that playing in Europe wears them out, and they drop points. Beat Everton and we get within a point, but at this stage, theyre 12 goals better off than we are.
Our game against United was always going to be illuminating about where we truly stood, and it was. Man U circa 2021 is nowhere near their teams of recent years past. Theyve got vast resources, and that will always give them an advantage, but theyre not great. Our game against West Ham will tell us even more.
I suppose the silver lining, if we read Messrs Todd and Stillman correctly, is that we could have got something at Man U if we hadn’t sat back, and had made fewer errors. Gunnerblog James made the same point.
MATTB, really interesting share. Perspective… 5th currently is decent. But that article shows that things (as Tim pointed out by looking at the corresponding fixtures from last season) arent that simple
Underdogs are supposed to take their chances. And we didn’t.
Loving what West Ham are doing. I just wish…..
Rex @ 6:57AM
Do you really believe a manager whose team is in form and playing well and leading by a goal against a team below them in the table who have been struggling would abandon an attacking strategy which was working well and tell his team to sit back and stop attacking? I don’t believe that Arteta is a great manager but I believe he as competent as the vast majority of managers. How many Fergies or Klopps are there in the world? I understand a lot of fans are looking for reasons to criticize Arteta but suggesting he told the players to stop attacking mid way thru the first half seems just about as unlikely to me as postulating Arsene told his teams to play with a handbrake in all of those games he complained about his team not playing the way he wanted.
I agree with the last paragraph on Doc’s comment at 10:56AM.
Bill, Tim wrote that Tim Stillman had come to the conclusion (as have many fans) that the tactics are very much at the coach’s instructions. Tim goes to every game, home and away. He sees the plays, the stuff that goes on which the cameras don’t report. Are you seriously telling us that you, a guy who doesn’t go to games, that it’s not all that clear you even watch Arsenal know better? Because I’d love to hear your evidence. I honestly don’t get some of the comments here. If people want to defend Arteta that’s cool but at least offer an argument or point of view, not ‘I don’t believe that’!
Tim. I love this blog and I’ve been following since I was 14 in 2011 and I appreciate your work but you need to open up a little about arteta, you seem to dislike him and it’s obvious in your posts. While i must admit I kinda like what arteta did with the club as a whole with the cultural change and bringing a little discipline back I also know he has made some mistakes but he’s a young coach and he’s learning. Please try to see that this team is like 10 or 11 games old? And he’s trying his best it can’t be perfect. Now, what I disagree with you with is that artetas tactics is responsible for the team sitting back after we take the lead when our players and arteta himself has said he wants us to push up and kill off games? It’s dishonest to blame arteta for that. Even on the touchline you can see arteta urging his players to push up most times they are back defending an early lead. It’s squarly on the lack of experience in the team and lack of a leader in cm and throughout the team imo
“Please try to see that this team is like 10 or 11 games old?”
Arteta just passed his second anniversary as Arsenal manager. Thats 2 full seasons of multi competition games. One FA Cup and 2 8th place finishes.
He didn’t start in August 2021. He started in November 2019. Every manager is manager from day 1.
I wrote an entire post about this the other day, maybe you missed it.
https://7amkickoff.com/index.php/2021/12/01/support/
Bottom line is that I will support what I want to support
The nastiness of Arteta, towards youngsters is what is galling. Humans have a modicum of kindness in their breast and bullying underdogs irritates all good men
That’s very direct but we need response today.