I know people like TBAG will come and say I am only on here after a loss and perhaps its true. I admit I am a negative/pessimistic fan but only because I have had my hopes dashed too many times to be a positive/optimistic fan. Nothing to do with being a hater like he suggests.
Anyway moving on to the point of this article. I have watched most of our games this season and I knew this loss was coming. We haven't looked right at all. We drew vs Brighton and were lucky to beat Leicester and Southampton. I think the performances havent warranted the points we ended up getting. Eventually a result like vs Bournemouth was coming.
I think the summer was a poor summer. Ok maybe you could read positively that some players who are now considered "deadwood" we ended up getting rid of. However, we were too rampant with no replacements.
City lose a KDB or a Rodri, they can replace them. Yes the replacements may be worse but are still at the quality to win the title.
I accept City have more resources than us, but I still think its unacceptable to spend over 600m in a few seasons and still have a nose dive in quality when our first 11 players get injured. Especially Odegaard.
We have needed a striker for 2-3 years now and every summer its ignored. We focus on positions that didnt need focusing on.
Eventually our best players like Saka, Saliba, Odegaard, etc... are going to become frustrated with no major trophies and we will end up like we were in 2012 when we lost all our good players due to no trophies.
We were on the cusp of winning things last season and I think we needed one last push in the market. A bit of bravery. Go out and spend a huge fee on a top striker.
Liverpool, City both have a world class player who scores or is expected to score every game. We dont have that and I think that is also one big difference between us and them.
Im not saying Arteta should go, but I do think we may need to accept that this season we may not be in a title race. We may be fighting for top 4 because as a club we haven't gone forward. I think we have taken a step back in our progression. Next summer we need some bravery in the market, and Arteta needs to be braver on the football field. Play Nwaneri in games like Bournemouth and we dont always have to play such a defensive team.
We took a step back this season
posted 4 hours, 2 minutes ago
were lucky to beat Leicester and Southampton.
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We absolutely battered both. Just because we went 1 down to Saints doesn't mean it wasn't a comprehensive win. Leicester we were sloppy, but for a 'keeper masterclass it would have been a 7 or 8 goal win.
posted 3 hours, 55 minutes ago
I dont think this season you could just go out and spend £70m minimum on a striker (prob more). I think you were flirting quite close to FFP limits hence why your net spend wasnt that high this year.
posted 2 hours, 39 minutes ago
uve been more unlucky with injuries already and few soft sending offs that could have gone differently which impacted results
defo getting stronger each season although the more stodgy winning football now on show i can imagine will make the defeats more difficult to take
posted 1 hour, 23 minutes ago
Odegaard is the heart beat, without him you are a much diminished side offensively.
Refs have tightened up on Arteta’s dark arts this year - the irony of Arsenal complaining about Man City’s goal from a corner when you have massively benefitted for 2 seasons running by Ben White interfering with keepers at corners - good the league brought new rules in for that this summer and the time wasting and stopping of quick free kicks has been stamped down on as well.
But Arteta sets you lot up like a high end Sean Dyche Burnley team, you’ve turned into a terrible watch
posted 1 hour, 20 minutes ago
interfering with keepers at corners - good the league brought new rules in for that this summer
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complaining about Man City’s goal from a corner
Huh??? So the new rules only apply to Arsenal and not City??
posted 1 hour, 13 minutes ago
I still think we are a more reliable bet as main challengers to City. Liverpool under Slot are still an unknown quantity imo, though they are steadily showing their credentials.
My biggest worry is Martinelli's drop in form. Without Odegaard and Saka he really needs to show he can play a crucial role for us and I'm not seeing a step up in level from him.
posted 1 hour, 1 minute ago
The 600Mil spent was to get us back to near the top.
Remember we have been absolute dross for years and only when Arteta came the mentality slowly started to change. This takes time and money.
We now have a team who are capable of challenging for the league. Before we had a team barely capable of challenging for the Europa league spots.
posted 1 hour, 1 minute ago
We've scored 90 league goals last 2 seasons and this guy is still talking about us having a lack of goal scorers