Better than losing 4-0 @ Brentford I guess

comment by Admiral Ozil is my new favourite Star Wars character (U10178)
posted 57 seconds ago

The first year Guardiola was here he finished third with a decent squad. In order to implement his style of play he needed certain types of player in terms mentality and quality and that obviously cost a lot of money you could say the same to a lesser extent about Klopp. Having a philosophy is important but if you don't have the tools to implement it then doesn't really matter who the manager is. You can say the same about Arsenal to lesser extent, when Arteta took over there was no way he could implement a high pressure high tempo team when you've got the likes of Ozil and Aubameyang in your team. You might get a tune out of them for a while but ultimately they didn't fit the profile of what was required. External issues with some of these players existed as well but fundamentally they couldn't integrate into what Arteta wanted.
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The thing that infuriated me the most of Arteta's early years is that did he not even try? Its why I used to say, we thought we bought Pep Jnr but ended up with Moyes Jnr. Would it have been so bad that we finished less than mid table where we did end up and still out of Europe as well? Anyway its water under the bridge and we definitely look on the right path this last calender year.

The thing that infuriated me the most of Arteta's early years is that did he not even try? Its why I used to say, we thought we bought Pep Jnr but ended up with Moyes Jnr. Would it have been so bad that we finished less than mid table where we did end up and still out of Europe as well? Anyway its water under the bridge and we definitely look on the right path this last calender year.
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Unfair to say he didn’t try. But he was awful, had to learn with the job. Hired him 2 years too early

comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 18 minutes ago
comment by Blackpolespur (U9242)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by Jenius99 (U4918)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by Blackpolespur (U9242)
posted 11 seconds ago

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Now we are not near their precision at the moment. Which is why Man Utd caught us with counters. But we are getting there and the intent is to develop to their level.

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Tottenham have a good recent record against city so not sure what you are trying to say ….you don’t need to match that tempo to win

Arsenal are nowhere near city I’m afraid to break it to you and you have now lost me trying to even compare yourself to them even if you admit you aren’t there yet (you think you will get to their level?? I don’t )

However I want to control games

I’m just going to keep my powder drier is all


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Read what I said. I admit we are not near their levels.

But how do get to that level unless you start down that road?

Of course there are many different ways of playing. Mourinho played counter attack and beat the the Pep system at Barca.

But there are some ways of play that clubs have established in their ethos. Wenger played a open, attacking style of football. And as fans we are happy that finally Arteta is establishing that style once again. I don't care if we are ever able to get to Man City's level. But at least the journey will be fun unlike the dross we were watching when Arteta first joined and in fact played for almost 2 years.

I actually used to think Spurs fans liked that attacking style as well from Hoddle/Waddle days. But obviously not that you have Mr pragmatic Conte. The Mourinho disciple.
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You said the words you aren’t there yet and you are getting there which just implied you think you will get to city’s level, if I’ve misinterpreted my bad but that’s how it reads

Not sure where you get the idea from that spurs fans don’t like attacking footy ….we aren’t dictating tactics

Just in this thread alone I’ve said I don’t like not controlling games….it’s uncomfortable to watch for a start

Under Poch we controlled games and pressed teams to death and played good fast football too so how we play now is a difficult watch at times

Do I like Tottenham winning …..yep
Do I like how we are winning ….nope

I’d rather 3 points above all and hope the football improves

Arteta did not have the players. Sokratis, luiz, mustafi, torreira, ceballos etc. That's a horrible base to build from. Incapable of playing a high line, horrible at playing through a press.

And he still won an fa cup with that bunch playing 6 at the back sufferball.

comment by King TUt (U3732)
posted 1 minute ago
Arteta did not have the players. Sokratis, luiz, mustafi, torreira, ceballos etc. That's a horrible base to build from. Incapable of playing a high line, horrible at playing through a press.
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Sokratis and Mustafi were more than capable of holding a high line. You could argue Luiz but honestly Wenger managed to do it on occasion with Mertesacker. (sometimes with hillarious results, who can forget Klopp destroying when he was at Dortmund)

Similarly when you compress space, those with little pace like Arteta was able to control space in MF. One reason why its never worked with slow Xhaka is his inability to cover space from defence to attack. So when you feed slow ball to Ozil, how is he going find space to play through balls to Laca or Auba?

Look at the difference in Xhaka now that he is playing slight higher and not required to cover that space?

Sokratis and Mustafi were more than capable of holding a high line.

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No, they weren't. Sokratis was horrendous on the ball and mustafi too brain dead to concentrate. Luiz was magnificent with distribution, but had no legs.

You need to be good at both to hold a high line successfully. There's no point being quick if you can't play out, especially when the opposition can just run through your midfield and with nobody to hold it up top.

We've slowly cleared out the expensive old guard and replaced with fresh, hungry modern players. It's not a coincidence.

The key is to keep refining the team; letting go of the weak links and adding quality.

If we get Mudryk and Danilo in January, we are are shoe-in for top four

Even managed to give a 15 year old his debut What were you doing at 15

Playing some football. How the hell are some kids so good at football at this age?

Arsenal