Mikel Arteta, First-Team Manager

[Power n Glory]

They would have better off parking the bus because that's where we struggle. We hit them with two goals on the counter where space was open at the back. I still think we need to go back to playing the ball out from the back more often. It encourages teams to try and press us and we play at a faster tempo when pressed.

[CaptGooner]

Always fun to see how upset folks get when we win

[starmandb]

Tbh I'm happy he's steadied the ship but I'm a little underwhelmed, that for 3 years now ......... its taken us this long just to go round the houses back to Wenger ball.

I suppose the only good thing having these new managers is that hopefully they clear out the deadwood Wenger left us.

But as for style of play, we could of not changed anything since Wenger and be right where we are now in terms of style of play.

The players have responded as well, they seem to enjoy it, I guess that's who we are now.

A Wengerball team.

Time to go buy some CAM's and just get on with it.

5 clean sheets in a row and one of the best defensive records in the league... Nothing like Wengerball

Haven't seen the pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass, chance for a shot but let's pass pass pass pass pass etc football we have played under Arteta?

That's wengerball

Yeah it’s awful, even yesterday there was a lot of really boring pointless football, good if you need a nap but not so good if you want to be entertained.

Newcastle lost to Sheff Utd and really are toothless and lacking in confidence it’s a win we should expect.

I guess we’ve won as many as we’ve lost now.

Against Sheffield United, Newcastle fielded 8 defensive players in the hope they wouldn't lose. Against us they went more attacking.

Point is they saw this game as the more likely to win hence the more attacking side. Thankfully they failed but that's the mentality of teams these days where they see us as a team they can pick points off

That's the level we are at with Arteta

And they had 5 shots
They had 10 shots last season

[theHotHead]

I know Santi is half playing

No way he would be suggesting Arteta is a don for a run that includes beating Newcastle (twice), Crystal Palace, West Brom, Brighton and Chelsea.

[Salibatelli]

Tbh I'm happy he's steadied the ship but I'm a little underwhelmed, that for 3 years now ......... its taken us this long just to go round the houses back to Wenger ball.

I suppose the only good thing having these new managers is that hopefully they clear out the deadwood Wenger left us.

But as for style of play, we could of not changed anything since Wenger and be right where we are now in terms of style of play.

The players have responded as well, they seem to enjoy it, I guess that's who we are now.

A Wengerball team.

Time to go buy some CAM's and just get on with it.

5 clean sheets in a row and one of the best defensive records in the league... Nothing like Wengerball

Haven't seen the pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass, chance for a shot but let's pass pass pass pass pass etc football we have played under Arteta?

That's wengerball

Yeah it’s awful, even yesterday there was a lot of really boring pointless football, good if you need a nap but not so good if you want to be entertained.

Newcastle lost to Sheff Utd and really are toothless and lacking in confidence it’s a win we should expect.

I guess we’ve won as many as we’ve lost now.

Norwich beat Man City and Leicester last season
We lost home and away to city and Leicester away

City had a bad day, Newcastle are rubbish and have had a lot of issues with their squad.

[starmandb]

Tbh I'm happy he's steadied the ship but I'm a little underwhelmed, that for 3 years now ......... its taken us this long just to go round the houses back to Wenger ball.

I suppose the only good thing having these new managers is that hopefully they clear out the deadwood Wenger left us.

But as for style of play, we could of not changed anything since Wenger and be right where we are now in terms of style of play.

The players have responded as well, they seem to enjoy it, I guess that's who we are now.

A Wengerball team.

Time to go buy some CAM's and just get on with it.

5 clean sheets in a row and one of the best defensive records in the league... Nothing like Wengerball

Haven't seen the pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass pass, chance for a shot but let's pass pass pass pass pass etc football we have played under Arteta?

That's wengerball

Yeah it’s awful, even yesterday there was a lot of really boring pointless football, good if you need a nap but not so good if you want to be entertained.

Newcastle lost to Sheff Utd and really are toothless and lacking in confidence it’s a win we should expect.

I guess we’ve won as many as we’ve lost now.

Norwich beat Man City and Leicester last season
We lost home and away to city and Leicester away

City had a bad day, Newcastle are rubbish and have had a lot of issues with their squad.

Excuses for other teams?
I don’t make them for arsenal
But why make them for other teams when every post you make is a negative against arsenal?

[CrimsonGunner11]

If there's anything I can give Arteta credit for it's his commitment to improving the defense, something I've wanted to see at Arsenal for years

[Ach]

If there's anything I can give Arteta credit for it's his commitment to improving the defense, something I've wanted to see at Arsenal for years

Neglecting the attack to improve the defence is not improvement overall

[swipe right]

Top class forwards in Auba, Saka and Laca
Very capable midfield with Partey and ESR
Decent defense with Tierney, Gabriel, holding and Bellerin
Good keeper in Leno

Down to Arteta if we don’t finish top four or close about.

[CrimsonGunner11]

If there's anything I can give Arteta credit for it's his commitment to improving the defense, something I've wanted to see at Arsenal for years

Neglecting the attack to improve the defence is not improvement overall

True, but what we've been doing for years is neglecting the defense to improve the offense, and whilst that came with football that was fun to watch, it also came with no trophies of note.

Defense wins championships is a quote I've always believed in. Sort that out and the rest will come just so long as the rest is not neglected as you pointed out.

We've already invested heavily to improve our infamous defense recently and we're seeing some of the fruits of that investment. Next step now is to add to our famous offensive style while continuing to strengthen the potentially great foundation we seem to have laid at the back

[Power n Glory]

We have a good enough team to finish Top 5. Whether that happens now, I don't know. I have no real preference on style of play, it just comes back to what is effective and gets the best out of the squad.

When we were more defensive and playing on the counter I still enjoyed watching our games. The recent months haven't been enjoyable. There is a way to play effective and enjoyable possession based football. We saw a glimmer of it recently but we're a far stretch from being really effective with it. Tougher games approaching but it's a start.

[theHotHead]

If there's anything I can give Arteta credit for it's his commitment to improving the defense, something I've wanted to see at Arsenal for years

You didn't watch the games that led us to 15th place in the league then I take it. the defending was as shite as it has ever been.

[Ach]

If there's anything I can give Arteta credit for it's his commitment to improving the defense, something I've wanted to see at Arsenal for years

Neglecting the attack to improve the defence is not improvement overall

True, but what we've been doing for years is neglecting the defense to improve the offense, and whilst that came with football that was fun to watch, it also came with no trophies of note.

Defense wins championships is a quote I've always believed in. Sort that out and the rest will come just so long as the rest is not neglected as you pointed out.

We've already invested heavily to improve our infamous defense recently and we're seeing some of the fruits of that investment. Next step now is to add to our famous offensive style while continuing to strengthen the potentially great foundation we seem to have laid at the back

Never liked that quote. Not since we conceded 17 goals in a season which is brilliant defensively but didn't win the title. There's a reason why goalscorers are more expensive generally. Scoring is the name of the game and the winner takes it all.

[CrimsonGunner11]

If there's anything I can give Arteta credit for it's his commitment to improving the defense, something I've wanted to see at Arsenal for years

You didn't watch the games that led us to 15th place in the league then I take it. the defending was as shite as it has ever been.

Arteta has only himself to blame for that and I made that known on this forum. He had a winning formula and kept tinkering with it by playing the wrong players and playing formations that didn’t need playing. Outside of that key players not being available for a good part of the season and poor recruitment didn’t help his cause

If there's anything I can give Arteta credit for it's his commitment to improving the defense, something I've wanted to see at Arsenal for years

Neglecting the attack to improve the defence is not improvement overall

True, but what we've been doing for years is neglecting the defense to improve the offense, and whilst that came with football that was fun to watch, it also came with no trophies of note.

Defense wins championships is a quote I've always believed in. Sort that out and the rest will come just so long as the rest is not neglected as you pointed out.

We've already invested heavily to improve our infamous defense recently and we're seeing some of the fruits of that investment. Next step now is to add to our famous offensive style while continuing to strengthen the potentially great foundation we seem to have laid at the back

Never liked that quote. Not since we conceded 17 goals in a season which is brilliant defensively but didn't win the title. There's a reason why goalscorers are more expensive generally. Scoring is the name of the game and the winner takes it all.

If you’re loaded financially, you can get away with an approach that neglects the defense but when you’re already playing catch up on that front you need to make up for that gap by taking the upper hand elsewhere. No better place than the area of the pitch these team put the least effort in. We’ll almost always never outplay these teams so you set up to frustrate them with a focus on the defense to improve your odds and bully the teams you should be bullying which can be done with a focus on offense or defense. The one constant in both case is the focus on defense. you nail that and don’t completely botch the other side of the pitch, you then have your winning formula.

Of course it won’t be as easy as it sounds but it all comes down to improving your odds and our circumstances calls for a notoriously stubborn defense. At least that how I see it

[Salibatelli]

The recent results are obviously good, but there’s a fair amount of fortune in there, Arteta would never be playing the likes of ESR, Martinelli if not for the fact certain players were out, in the end these players had a huge impact on stopping they dreadful run.

I think the recent run is great but most have been fairly easy games, other than Chelsea who never got going in the game.

Will be interesting to see how we get on going forward, we beat Newcastle convincingly but Newcastle are in a terrible state after being affected by Coronavirus, they’re a side very low on confidence.

IMO the league is done and if Arteta has any sense he’s put more emphasis on winning the EL which offers a CL spot, there’s no chance of that happening via the league. For me Arteta would need to win the EL and significantly improve the league position for me to change my mind about him, not that interested in the FA cup, it’s a nice bonus but that’s it for me.

In the end still very poor unconvinced in his management ability, despite improved results.