By Tony Attwood
So Arsenal have a spot of a problem. Actually make that five problems.
a) Some fans are turning on our most expensive purchase who is currently in the squad.
b) The management has turned against our most expensive player who is currently not in the squad.
c) We’ve had three managers across the last three years and spent record amounts on transfers.
d) We’ve not scored for eight hours from open play.
e) Tactically we are not adopting any of the ploys being adopted by our rivals which allow, for example Leicester to get eight penalties in their favour in eight games, or Tottenham to commit 30 fouls more than we have this season, but have a smaller number of yellow cards than we have.
Now a) can of course be ignored by the club for the moment since we are not allowed to go and watch Arsenal play, but the rest of the points do need looking at.
And into the rescue comes…. the Express. They think the problem is Aubameyang who they claim has not registered more than four shots on goal in a game since the match against Fulham. And they note that was one of just two Maitland-Niles’ starts in the league so far this season.
But they note also that in the Cup semi-final and final last season “Maitland-Niles started both matches at left wing-back, a role which ultimately earned him his first call-up to the senior England squad.”
They are not claiming assists for him but saying his work on the left changes the position of defenders because he is right footed, which changes the way defenders operate when he is coming forward, which in turn allowed Aubameyang to score “an almost identical goal in each match, cutting in from the left and curling an unstoppable shot…. On both occasions Maitland-Niles made his run inside, causing the opposition to think about him as well as Aubameyang.”
Blimey, if only the Excess could use that sort of thinking when they report on the UK prime minister. And it is interesting because having a right footed player on the left wing was one of Mr Wenger’s favourite tricks.
However the reason why I tend to steer clear of the Express is shown up in their next headline which reads “Arsenal chiefs issued Mikel Arteta sack message after Leeds United draw,” below which is the story that “Arsenal must stick by Mikel Arteta because he has the potential to become a top manager, “according to former Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan.” Yes that is why I tend to ignore the paper.
HITC however have found a way of linking Arsene Wenger to our current position, saying that Theo Walcott is better than Pepe. That of course is not aimed at helping Arsenal one little bit.
Giving the dislike of Pepe that is swirling around at the moment it is likely that after his suspension he will be dropped for a while and ultimately sold for a fraction of what we paid for him. Which means we will then have three players unavailable: Ozil, Sokratis and Pepe. All will continue to be paid and eventually we’ll get nothing for the first two and a fraction of what we paid for the third, and some fans will be calling for new blood.
Meanwhile the always droll, if not totally bonkers Football.London with its new Arsenal story every hour tells us that “Arsenal’s need for an attack-minded, creative midfielder has become abundantly clear in recent weeks,” so it is clear that having bought and bought and bought in the last couple of seasons, and having seen this fail, their view is we should “buy some more”. (Can we roll out the definition of madness again?)
The player they have in mind is Dominik Szoboszlai whom they claim can be brought in, in January. He plays for Red Bull Salzburg and for Hungary. He is 20, is the “real deal” (they say) and “is averaging three key passes per 90 minutes in the Champions League this term as well as 2.3 shots per 90 minutes. He has found the net twice in just three appearances and was especially impressive in last month’s match against Atletico Madrid.”
And why would they sell him to us? Or put another way, why would he want to come to Arsenal in our current situation? Ah we are not told.
But never mind because there is a realistic alternative it seems and it is Yusuf Yazici of Lille. He is 23 years old, and scored all three as Lille beat AC Milan in the Europa. And why would he come to Arsenal? Again we are not told.
Which really is the point about these transfer tales. The websites tell us how bad Arsenal are at the moment, and then suggest a player we ought to buy, without answer the question, why would he come to Arsenal when we are that bad.
And it all assumes the Kroenkes want to keep investing after seeing the policy fail so badly, so far.
Let arteta be trusted to do the job,like they say Rome was not built in a day.Klopp was given time at Liverpool and allowed to build a team on his principles, this has worked:If he had been told to win the Premier league on his first season he would not have managed and he would be long gone .We have to accept that Arteta found a team which was on decline following almost a decade of mismanagement and thus he needs Time to sort the mess.
I find that “decade of mismanagement” a very odd thing to say. I can’t reply to it meaningfully just in a comment so I’ll try in an article
Tony
Dickson Hanoi
As you seem to think top 4 finishes, including a 2nd and 2 X 3rds, not to mention 3 FA Cup triumphs, are a result of ‘mismanagement’, I wish Arteta all the luck in the World because if your definition of mismanagement is anything to go by he’s going to need it.
I just wish we’d been as well managed as Spurs who despite winning f all for Christ knows how long still seem to be the template we should all be following.
It seems being top for 24 hours is the way to go.
Who’d of thought 🤣
I would love if people gave us some context to support their comments and suggestions.
Please do show proof of your own personal achievements, or great advancement in chosen field , or the acumen you gained during said period of mismanagement .
Or by putting forth the next Arsenal savior’s list of great accomplishment to date. Do tell us why you would bet you shirt on this person. Just further misquoting the so called experts , is not evidence per se, rather it is the parroting of fine BS !
I wait you answers with bated breath.