The pressure is piling on Mikel Arteta after that defeat to Man Utd, while the refereeing comes in for some criticism.
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Can the ignominious Arteta end be avoided?
Those of us who have watched Arsenal closely over the last few years have cited various reasons which indicated Mikel Arteta is not the finished product as a manager. Which is a shame as his return to manage the club to glory would have been a storybook ending. However, it has now become apparent to most this promise has dead-ended.
Some have taken to blaming the Kroenkes for a lack of ambition but I call BS on that. They gave Arteta and Edu three quarters of a billion to succeed and the only thing they are guilty of (as somewhat absentee owners) is a naive belief in Arteta. They should have picked up on warning signs and not extended Arteta’s contract until the end of this season. If they had waited the situation and shortcomings would have revealed themselves.
That said I am, like most Arsenal fans, fond of Arteta and I would prefer things did not end on an embarrassing note.
I would prefer Arteta admit to himself that he has at least temporarily run out of ideas for the club, talk to the Kroenkes and then make a public announcement he would leave Arsenal at the end of the season. Arteta could then reflect and regroup, continue his career elsewhere as he would certainly receive offers quickly.
But if Arteta hangs on, or if the Kroenkes do not take action the situation will turn increasingly toxic. The problem being many are afraid Arteta could take the ship down with him. If Arteta was replaced fairly soon then there is some hope the core of the team, the most talented would stick with Arsenal through a transition.
If this drags then the likes of Bukayo Saka and William Saliba could be tempted to leave for a handful of truly elite teams. The squad will diminish and this episode will be looked at historically as a flash in the pan – that Arsenal reemerged brightly for a season or two and then were back to fighting for Champions League.
Dominic Stroud
MORE ON ARSENAL v MAN UTD FROM F365:
👉 16 Conclusions from Arsenal 1-1 Man Utd (3-5): Havertz and Gunners blow big chance, tentative United progress continues
👉 Mikel Arteta is ‘overpaid jester’ and Arsenal are just ‘expensive Stoke’
👉 Man Utd star facing ban after FA Cup brawl in penalty shootout win over Arsenal
This is a massive window for Arteta
A telephone rings in Mikel Arteta’s office….
MA: Hello
Caller: Mikel, we have an exact clone of Lionel Messi available. Very cheap, you’ve got first refusal
MA: Can he play at full-back?
Caller: Er? what?
MA: Can he play at full-back or anywhere across the defensive line?
Caller: I’m not sure that’s his strength to be honest. He’s a forward. He scores goals. Loads of ’em…
MA: I’m not seeing it. What’s the benefit to me?
Caller: You need a reliable goalscorer don’t you?
MA: Not unless he can play full-back. Will he be injured a lot?
Caller: Hopefully not…
MA: Then he’s no use to me…
Absolute crap yesterday against Utd yesterday – who thoroughly deserved to win by the way – as once again, Arsenal showed that they need a reliable goalscorer. Who knew? Who could possibly have known this?
I know it’s not Arteta’s fault that Havertz missed two absolute sitters and that Declan Rice is shit at heading a football when in front of goal, but even when United were down to 10-men, despite having so much of the ball, Arsenal just looked toothless. No cutting edge, no mean streak, no obvious determination to score a goal no matter how. No plan B.
Pass, pass, pass, pass backwards, pass, pass, pass sideways, pass, pass, lose the ball…
I know the January window isn’t the best time to find a top class striker, but even an average one would be better than what we have now. I wish Gabriel Jesus well, but hope that his injury is the push Arteta needs to go and find someone. I like Kai Havertz, but a reliable goal scorer he is not. Martinelli isn’t good enough (in fact I’m worried he’s reached his full potential) and Trossard is ‘meh’ at best. Yes, Saka is injured, but you need a squad able to deal with these things. All teams suffer injuries.
Out of the FA Cup, probably out of the EFL Cup (in reality these were looking like our best opportunity for silverware), the Premier League looks unlikely as things stand and we’re clearly not good enough to win the Champions League.
I think the project has stalled. I think patience is running out.
Stu – Unsurprised Gooner in France
Karma police visited Havertz
Even though Havertz played like turd throughout, when he went lamely old school with the ol’ pre-VAR dive-and-kick-the-defender-to-con-the-ref penalty trick, you knew they would lose.
Karmic suicide. As he sheepishly avoided big Slabhead in the melee he must have thought, ‘f**k, this is being filmed’ and known he’d done enough to ensure Arsenal could now never win the game.
And so it played out as it was written. Havertz tries to cheat at home with a men extra and gets served luck-10 and has to wear the cursed amulet of the Fanny hole the rest of the game, lesser team away a man down gets powerboost+8, anger+10 and Turkish delight redemption cape to equip for the rest of the game.
Haven’t seen much mention of it but that was pathetic, get what you deserve Arsenal, even playing with 2 extra men Karma wins in the end and sadly there is your reason for VAR (even though there is no guarantee it would have been used to rectify the cheating) – A huge game deciding moment solely due to cheating.
Looooool at Zirkzee waving away Arsenal fans. Redemption all over the place.
Moses (Personality-free Arteta gone by the end of the season? I guess he could blame Karma this time)
Beating London Stoke is awful sweet
Well didn’t that turn out to be a most enjoyable game of football? I feared the worst after Dalot’s brainfart, but we dug deep and deservedly made it to penalties to make it a level playing field again.
The first half was cagey, we gave away some silly free kicks; between those and the corners they won, I expected Arsenal’s set-piece prowess (aka Pulis-ball) to make a difference. However, we defended those admirably all game – hopefully a sign of hard work on the training pitch paying off. Some of their chipped through balls were dangerous but we held a tight line and the overall shape of the team made us hard to break down.
We are still not doing enough going forward, with Hojlund often looking isolated and too much space between him and the two 10s behind. But it’s a work in progress, and kudos to Zirkzee who came on and held the ball up well before having the guts to take the last penalty.
No point me whingeing about some of the ropey calls made by the officials as we won, or highlighting the disparity in bookings and free kicks, although no complaints about the Dalot second yellow. I’m just relieved to still be in the cup, even with the obligatory tougher draw whilst City and Liverpool enjoy another bye into the next round. Quelle surprise!
Garey Vance, MUFC
…There will likely be many other similar mails, but let’s dive in.
It was a game almost ruined by a terrible biased ref: a penalty from a dive where the only contact was the diver standing on the supposed fouler (compounded by giving him a yellow); a second yellow for a “foul” where there’s literally no contact made; a foul not given for Bruno against a falling Jesus on the edge of the area (compounded by giving the victim a yellow card).
Throw in probably a dozen other laughable decisions and the refusal by the referee to deal with or punish Arsenal time wasting and playacting.
But there was some very good too: Garnacho managed a good pass after great harrying (2 in 2!); Bruno an excellent finish; De Ligt, Maguire and Martinez all played brilliantly with game saving tackles (particular praise for De Ligt though, what a tackle!); and Zirkzee (paired with a hard running Amad) completed a short redemption arc – not with a goal in open play, though he came close and deserved one with a beautifully physical performance – with the winning penalty.
Throw in another redemption by a keeper who blossomed from a previous terrible performance through a first half of nervous kicking, to the hero of the match with two penalty saves and some strong general keeping.
It’s one of those games you look back and can argue the merits of 3 or 4 players getting man of the match.
And past that, every player can take massive credit for excellent performances. Ugarte and Mazra were great, Mainoo tight and controlled, Højlund did good if unappreciated work up front (without his run that occupied the defenders, there wouldn’t be space for Bruno to finish).
And finally, thanks to Havertz and Arteta. Seriously, we’re very thankful. To steal a line I saw: if Havertz was shooting at Tupac, he’d be on to his 10th album by now. Justice tastes very sweet.
Badwolf
MORE ON ARSENAL v MAN UTD FROM F365:
👉 16 Conclusions from Arsenal 1-1 Man Utd (3-5): Havertz and Gunners blow big chance, tentative United progress continues
👉 Mikel Arteta is ‘overpaid jester’ and Arsenal are just ‘expensive Stoke’
👉 Man Utd star facing ban after FA Cup brawl in penalty shootout win over Arsenal
A whinge about refereeing
That was some game. Somehow United managed to steal a win and Arsenal did their absolute best to duff a gimme. Albeit with some help from Havertz and Bayindir. And yes in the end United won but it was absolutely in spite of one of the poorest refereeing performances I have ever seen. It’s hard to remain objective as a United fan so I will just say that Mr Madley’s performance was completely rubbish; which seems to be backed up by neutral fans all over the internet.
Yes we know that Dalot made a shocker tackle and whichever end of the debate you sit on, that was a stupid stupid tackle to make on a yellow. I will, however, say that Mr Madley’s willingness to chuck out harsh yellows for nothingburger tackles made a Red card inevitable. It raises questions about Michael Oliver talking about not giving red cards/penalties in games of this magnitude; it seems that Mr Madley disagrees. His lack of consistency in calling fouls was obvious; Fernandes was clattered into and had his boot stood on by Gabriel Jesus and received nothing except a yellow for being understandably upset but on the other side Havertz received a penalty from Maguire’s interpretation of the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique from Kill Bill.
It would have been wildly unfair for United to lose against the worst penalty given in years but they got lucky with a touch of class from Bayindir and Havertz’ dogged determination to be utter cack.
So what’s the issue? Your team won, why are you complaining, the editor sighs exasperatedly. The issue is poor refereeing is affecting the game. Poor decisions affect teams and individuals; like Ten Hag getting fired after the shocker penalty against West Ham. Yes he lost his job because he was in the middle of a terrible run but that “penalty” lost him the match and any possibility, however slim, of turning the ship around was taken away. Period. Done. By a poor poor refereeing decision.
I am not claiming a conspiracy against United, it affects a lot of teams and I’m sure every fan has a story. So when will there be more scrutiny on the quality of refs? When will the PGMOL be audited, questioned, interviewed, changed……goddammit anything to fix what is an obvious stain on football at the moment.
We can cry about simulation but it’s the refs that need to crack down on diving. Havertz should have seen yellow for that and not rewarded for diving. But on the flip side refs need to call fouls as fouls because the current mindset of “Not A Foul Unless He Falls” is ridiculous.
At one point Gabriel had more contact with Hojlund on the halfway line than I could have with a stranger without it labelled sexual assault but there was no foul called because Hojlund stayed on his feet. Weak officiating encourages diving and the rolling around and the theatrics that we all claim to hate but never hold the real culprits to account for. In short Mr Madley brought out one of the worst officiating performances I have ever seen and a lot of the internet seems to agree which is odd why there wasn’t even a mention of it in 16 Conclusions.
There should be much more scrutiny from the Press and journos about this matter. You have the voice. You’re the Fourth Estate. I think it’s time that the conversation about refereeing becomes a bit louder. For all fans.
Yours sincerely,
Disgruntled, SA
Too harsh on Ten Hag
It’s a bit funny, I was reading the PL managers list and saw Ten Hag in last position and thought it was a bit harsh, and then read the Sunday mailbox and saw Badwolf’s email and I was glad there are fans with a bit more of a balanced view. I don’t think Ten Hag was the whole problem and very obviously something had to change, but clearly some of the performances under Amorim and what the people on the inside – Amorim and the players – are saying about being low on confidence show that the problem was not (necessarily) just Erik and it’s a hill I’m prepared to die on.
Last season Manchester United had probably the worst injury list of any team in the league, in 38 league games we started 30 different back 4s, while dealing with new players trying to bed in and players ageing. Suddenly confidence goes to shit and every mistake gets picked apart, and you try to play it safe and a mistake is made. This, in my opinion, fanned by the media, created a self-reinforcing doom loop that knocked all the confidence from the team which continued over the summer until the pressure became unbearable and, as I said, something had to change to exorcise the negativity around the club.
Yes, a lot of the criticism about tactics and set up was fair, much more of it was pretty much bullshit to drive more clicks. I think Ten Hag’s squad management and man management was lacking, but clearly with the early disciplinary actions needed by Amorim, it was not just a one way problem. Fact is ETH won us 2 trophies in 2 years, including the FA Cup against a much more fancied Man City. He deserves a bit more respect than being a whipping boy to drive up clicks.
On a separate note, I’m really happy for Harry Maguire who seems to have played himself back into some kind of form, confidence and reputation after becoming a bit of a laughing stock. I would hold my hands up to criticising his performances and inability to make simple passes in the past but I respected his fight to get back into the team, training with Ricardo Carvalho a few summers back and he looks genuinely like a decent defender right now with a bit of confidence about him.
Daniel, Cambridge
How Ange cocked up at Tamworth
Amidst the latest Arsenal meltdown mails, and the torrent of Stewie-directed abuse, I’ll try to sneak in a mail with my thoughts on Spurs better-late-than-never win over Tamworth.
Let’s be fair: That was poor. I never subscribed to the idea that Tamworth would be scrubs who Spurs would swat aside. This is football, it’s 11 human beings against 11 human beings. And those Tamworth human beings, and their hundreds of fans huddled over that tiny little astro turf pitch were absolutely feverish for the biggest game in their history. This was a tricky test.
A tricky test, but still one Spurs should’ve been able to handle in 90 minutes. I’m glad Postecoglou went with a strong side. I expected Maddison to dominate, and while he was one of our better players, it was a shame to see him leave some chances behind.
I’ve been staunchly pro-Ange (and still am!) but yesterday I felt he made some selection mistakes.
Werner. Oh my God, Werner. I wouldn’t have minded Werner starting out LW, doing his one-trick-pony kick and chase thing, down past the full back to stretch their legs, but to play him as a central striker, trying to do the things we expect of Solanke made him look like the worst player on the pitch. How he was selected there over even Lankshear (or a fit-again Richarlison?) was crazy.
Porro. I’m a Porro fan, but the man has played too much football. He looks jaded, and that will turn into mistakes. A fit Porro is a brilliant player, but the one we got yesterday is an error prone, fatigued Porro. Should’ve been rested.
But rather than focus on the negatives (as I’m sure most journalists, many mailboxers, and surely Dave Tickner will do this week, with a good laugh over Spurs) I’m gonna focus on the most important stat: the win.
People can criticise Spurs quality, but the reality is, as soon as Son Solanke, Kulusevski were on the pitch together, it was 3-0 in 20 minutes. It’s just a shame those guys couldn’t get the day off.
Spurs are through. We’re gonna go into February still in 3 Cups. How you progress doesn’t matter, all that matters is that we do progress. In the league cup, Spurs were on the verge of an embarrassing exit to Coventry in the first round, only for Djed Spence to return from exile to save us. We’ve followed that up with wins over City, United and Liverpool in that competition. A win is a win. In some ways, winning ‘ugly’ like that might even be good for that team!
Finally, the whole premise of ‘resting’ players was with a view to being fit for NLD on Wednesday. Our opponents had an even tougher fixture, which had injuries, and went all the way through extra-time before a devastating loss on penalties. Perfect.
Wrap Porro, Bissouma, Gray in ice til Wednesday, and we go again!
Andy, THFC, Eire
