01 May 2021 10:56:00
My take on Arteta.

Let's go back a few seasons. Broadly speaking Arsenal have been declining since the 15/ 16 season when we finished 2nd behind Leicester with 71 points. 16/ 17 we were 5th with 75 points (notably we scored more points than in previous season but finished lower) , 17/ 18 6th with 63 points. 18/ 19 saw a small improvement as we finished 5th with 70 points (that was Emery's first season) but 19/ 20 was significantly worse and we finished 8th with 56 points.

This season, with 5 games still to play, we are currently 10th with 46 points. It's looking likely we're going to finish somewhere between 9th and 11th with similar or slightly lesser points tally than last season.

In terms of transfers, Arteta has overseen three transfer windows. During that time we have signed 9 new players and renewed 6 contracts of existing players. Notably Transfermarkt lists Smith Rowe as having joined in 2020 as he returned from loan and Martinelli is listed among those who renewed his contract when actually the club simply used their option to extend the existing contract by a year.

Roughly speaking the club has spent around 90m € and received around 20m € with net expenditure of about 70m € during Arteta's regime. But these figures only involve the transfer fees so they should only be taken as a vague indicator of how much money has been available for transfers when Arteta has been the boss.

Final note before conclusions is the expectations of Arteta. Arsenal is his first job as a manager so the expectations of him must have been pretty low when the club signed him. In addition to that the club was and has been pretty much in disarray before and during his time. Recruitment of new technical director and head coach have both been extremely difficult for a club whose executive structure is apparently a complete mess.

Conclusion time:

In terms of results and on field performances I think this Arsenal side falls way short of what should be expected of a club of Arsenal's stature. Performances have been steadily declining, last season was especially bad. This season is similar or slightly worse. After such a bad season the club was surely hoping to improve results this season.

In terms of transfers Arteta has clearly had enough time and money to bring "his kind of players" in. Depending how you look at it 13-15 players have signed for us under his watch and most of those have been senior players who have played a fair amount of games this season (with the exceptions of Ryan and Runarsson perhaps) . There is an argument that Arsenal will start playing better when Arteta has been able to bring in more players that are suited to his style. However around half of the current squad has been signed when Arteta has been the coach without any improvement in performances. This is for me an indication that things don't necessarily improve any more than they usually would even if Arteta would have another summer transfer window to bring in more players he likes.

For a club this big Arsenal are seriously underperforming. They have a manager in place who has very little experience. Perhaps underperforming should be expected from Arteta? This is a valid argument and perhaps Arteta can't be seen as having failed at his job as an inexperienced manager should not have such big expectations of him. Ultimately more relevant question is though: Should Arsenal have gone for a more experienced and proven coach in the first place?

In my opinion Arsenal should replace Arteta.

There are several limitations in this post. Firstly it should be noted that even if Arsenal wanted a new coach they might not be able to attract many. They struggled with this when they had to replace Wenger and then had same problems replacing Emery. Sacking Arteta only makes sense if Arsenal can replace him with someone they actually want.

It should also be noted that Arsenal have done well in the Europa League and might just qualify for next seasons Champions League through it. This would be a merit for Arteta but i believe he has had a rather easy road so far in the competition and the Premier League is a much better meter for performance levels. Choice for coach should be mostly based on the overall performance in my opinion.

Lastly, the C.V. This season has been very different in comparison to a normal season. Therefore this season may not accurately depict the actual level Arsenal could play on. However the conditions are the same for every club. There's no obvious reason why Arsenal would suffer more than other English clubs due to the C.V.

{Ed014's Note - there is a likelihood that City could finish the season with a points tally in the 90’s.

That has been a minimum requirement for the last 3 seasons, to win the title.

The truth is we’ve been a million miles away from that for so so long and a difference of almost 40pts is a potential for this season when none at the top have been at their best.

We are falling like a stone in every aspect but weirdly with exception probably of our squad.

We seem to be wasting an opportunity to do so much better because of the ineptitude of the owner and those supposedly running the club.

Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney, Leno, Partey, Torriera, Martinelli, ESR, Saka, Balogun, Guendouzi, Mavropanos, Chambers, Pepe, Lacazette, Aubamayang, Odegard, Holding and Ceballos is a group of players capable of so much more.

We have no excuses in reality and nor does Arteta. It hasn’t taken Rogers, Potter and even Moyes to get their respective sides playing a style and system.

1.) 01 May 2021
01 May 2021 11:41:43
Fantastic reply Ed014, everything you say is the reality of things.

{Ed014's Note - we’ve even had Fat Sam talking of us possibly being in a relegation battle earlier in the season. What does that say?

2.) 01 May 2021
01 May 2021 13:53:11
Yeah Ed i agree that the squad itself seems pretty good. We're massively underperforming.

{Ed014's Note - absolutely Ice

3.) 01 May 2021
01 May 2021 14:01:49
As unthinkable as it seems Big Sams prediction could yet happen in the near future if something doesn't change soon mate, 2 years ago a 10th place finish would have been a laughable suggestion.

We've been slowly but surely been declining for 17 years now and unbelievably our fall is actually accelerating rather than being rater than brought to a halt and turned around.

{Ed014's Note - don’t think you can write much off the table with the current owner.

Without that total will and dedication to win in sport, you’re nothing.

4.) 01 May 2021
01 May 2021 14:32:56
Absolutely Ed014, the Kronkee's don't care so Arteta is fit for purpose.

Roman wants Chelsea to be the best again so Frank Lampard, Club legend or not had to go.

5.) 01 May 2021
01 May 2021 14:49:15
Well said Ed. We have a wealth of riches in that squad that addresses all the weaknesses we said our team had with Wenger. Now we just don’t have the manage to get the best out of them.

6.) 01 May 2021
01 May 2021 18:50:50
With the exception of Saka and Tierney, and lately Laca, every one of the players has under performed. Partey has been pathetic, his passing is awful and his shots mostly leave the stadium.

I can't imagine what would happen if Xhaka was performing at the same level.

With the players performing at this level, I don't see what manager could help them.

How long do we give the next manager to get it right.

I don't think fat Sam would take the job.

{Ed014's Note - What do you want to see happen Davy?

7.) 01 May 2021
01 May 2021 19:03:30
I'd like to give Arteta more time, but something needs to be done. The kids seem to have more spirit in them, maybe with the few games that are left, bring some more in, it can't be worse. I really like Smith Rowe, but he needs to be played in the correct position. WE have been crap with the exception of the second half v the Hammers.
I'm still undecided to replace Arteta, a lot of my hesitation is because I don't want a new manager every 18 months.