Angelito wrote:Power n Glory wrote:Not a fan of Emery, but how does he get the rubbish stamp and Arteta doesn’t? We finished 5th in Emery's first season. Arteta finished 8th and now we've dropped to 15th.
The football was bad under Emery but it has gotten worse under Arteta. The man management has been poor, transfer decisions poor....both managers had similar flaws. Under Emery, it may have been a language barrier but I can't say the same about Arteta.
As someone who didn't want Unai here and wanted Arteta over Ancelotti, my main gripe against Unai was four-fold:
- Risk-averse nature;
- Poor away form;
- Poor record against top managers/clubs;
- Inability to manage top players/poor management.
I never imagined Arteta would topple Emery in all these departments. He had nothing to lose. He joined at a time when even top-8 had become acceptable to fans as long as we played decent football. After the FA Cup win, he only needed to ensure we won a few, lost fewer, and he'd be set. Amongst Europe's top clubs, he was the one guy who didn't have any pressure. He was free to do as he wished as long as we were in the top-8.
What did he do instead?
He tried to be a combination of Pep and Mourinho. Even Pep, who is meticulous and a frantic micro manager, allowed ample space and room to his top players to express themselves (Messi, Henry, Eto'o, Iniesta, Muller, Lewandowski, Aguero, Silva, KdB). He had an initial falling out with Aguero, but he recognized Aguero's caliber as a player and status at Man City. This is someone who had a blank cheque ready for him.
Arteta, post-lockdown, threw Ozil away, couldn't handle Guendouzi, failed to include Torreira in his plans, refused to play Martinelli before his injury, failed to incorporate Saliba.
If he were smart, he'd have included Ozil in the squad, given him minutes here and there, which obviously wouldn't have worked in Ozil's favor. Fans would be blaming Ozil, not Arteta.
I can't imagine a manager who has had a longer leash than Arteta in modern football. Yet, he still managed to f**k it up. This is black comedy.
He has us playing a worse version of football than Emery. He talks about dominating every game. He throws players under the bus, but when it's his favorites, he serves a word salad.
Like, what the heck?
Whether people liked Wenger or not, he was Arsenal through and through. No style comes close to Wengerball at its best. He turned down Bayern, Barca, and Real for us. He didn't demand money from the board. He saw us through the transition years successfully. Yet, by 2016, he still wasn't good enough.
How can we settle for Arteta when we had a philosopher, a visionary, an ethical man guiding us for over two decades?
How could we settle for this abject state when most Gooners wanted Wenger gone even when we were a top-4 regular?
This is shameful.
The reason we wanted Wenger out was to take that leap to the next level. If we wanted 15th place, we might have as well never "sacked" him. He's far, far better than Unai or Arteta. But that wasn't good enough for a club as big as Arsenal.
Today, we have a manager who bullshits about dominating games; even Spurs and United fans sympathize with our state; this is pathetic.
Amidst all of this, we have people supporting Arteta. What the heck?
Arsenal board and fans want Arteta to succeed so bad. They think he's our Pep, our Zidane. They are desperate for him to succeed. I am, as well. But if he's not up for it, he isn't. No amount of hope and prayers will make him the next Pep.
It's a sad state.
There were no expectations, yet he's still fallen short.
Think about it. Ponder over it.
It can't be that Guendouzi, Ozil, Aubameyang, Bellerin, Saliba, Pepe, Lacazette, Torreira, etc., are all shit, whilst Arteta is the shining beacon of hope.
That cannot be.
Be rational, folks.
