Tbf you have a decent point total. When Frank was linked with us, I personally didn’t want him but I think he’s a good coach but he’s a coach that will need a lot of time. The football he’s putting out though, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in giving him that time. But the fairly consistent points will Holy shit this is worded so badly. Jesus Christ. Blame the pints and the mbv show last night
Eze's hat-trick is great and everything, but not enough is being said about the passes that put it on a plate for him. /s
Man the stats from this game are brutal for Frank. I know some of it is on the players themselves. But it seemed pretty clear what the plan was and it was one of the worst games we’ve played in awhile. Including the Ange downward spiral stretch.
Side note on Simons, hate on him if you want, but he came on and was the only person I saw actually making and completing forward passes. I think he’s a good player that doesn’t have any goal scorers around him.
Would the Arsenal fans around these parts accept being knocked out of the CL for title glory? Or do you think you've got the squad to go for both?
Theoretically, we have the squad for both. It’s just that half of it is injured at any one time lol. But six points clear missing all three strikers, several wingers, and our captain for large parts of it is pretty good going. We’ll only get stronger. As for the CL bargain, I’d want us to get to the quarter or semi final at a minimum. Besides, I think we don’t need to compromise this year. We can hopefully challenge for all four trophies finally.
There have been 8 instances this season where a team had below 0.2 xG. Spurs account for 3 of those games. Pathetic.
You’ll notice I said challenge and not win ha. We can always find a way to fuck this up. Although, I actually predicted us to win the title this year at the start of the season, when lots of people put us third or fourth, so I guess I was feeling weirdly confident back then.
I apologize for the really long post… But there is something that really sticks out to me related to Arsenal and their exceptional form that I think is an interesting conversation… The continuity with Arteta as manager. I briefly mentioned how Arsenal are a “well-oiled machine” yesterday in reference to Eze walking into a great situation. It wasn’t meant as an excuse for Simons. It was definitely more so praising what Arsenal have done. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t there a time a few years ago where Arteta’s future was uncertain? I don’t think it was a full mutiny among fans, but I do recall there being a big divide. But the club stuck by him and allowed Arteta to make his way THE way. Now whenever a new player comes in, I feel like they know rather quickly what the expectation is at the club. And everyone there is bought into this culture/expectation. So when the new player arrives, he knows he adapts and buys in, or he’s out. There is a standard and every player has to meet it. I also think this is a big reason why Arsenal’s windows are getting so much better. Because they were spending big in the earlier Arteta days as well. But I don’t think the culture and expectations were set-in. Now, not only is it easier to identify players who may fit that culture, but like I said before, when that player arrives, there is no doubt what the expectation is. I say all of this because that culture and expectation is clearly missing from Spurs. Obviously, this at least partially stems from the never ending carousel of managers. But it’s not just changing managers, it’s the specific managers we’ve mowed through since Poch. A wild contrast of styles, both on and off the pitch, and a wild contrast of expectations. It creates a world where one window we spend tons of money for one style, then the next year we spend tons of money for another style. And as this chaotic managerial journey since Poch has unfolded, the thing that’s stuck out to me is a question I’ve asked for a few years now…what are we good at? What is our identity? I don’t know the answer. And the biggest reason for that is because the club cannot decide what they want the answer to be. We are always chasing. We chased the win-now managers but then didn’t back them like a win-now team should. We hire project managers, buy a bunch of teenagers, then don’t give the project any time to develop. Which brings me to my main question…if you’ve made this far lol…how do you know when a manager is the one to stick by even when things get scary? Should we give Frank a giant runway? Because while being patient and letting a manager establish that culture can lead to what Arsenal now have…it could also get you relegated haha What signs do we look for that indicate if this person is the one worth standing by even with miserable results along the way?
Vini Jr refusing to sign a new deal because he doesn’t get along with Xabi Alonso, apparently. Pretty bold to think he’s brought enough to the club that Xabi hasn’t.
This clip is so bad lol A bunch of standing around and leaving tons of space for Arsenal to operate with ease. Even with just the throw in. No one is moving. Vicario gets it and just boots the ball to Richy who didn’t win a holdup battle the entire game. Midfield is wide open once Arsenal regain possession.
You think? United have ground some results recently, but they've not been scintillating. I'd honestly put it at 50/50, but haven't watched much Everton recently in fairness!
Perhaps I'm a defeatist, but our record at Old Trafford is abysmal. I mean, we still reminisce about THAT Oviedo goal - that's how few and far between our good times have been at your ground. You'll see what we've all seen so far this season with either Barry or Beto at CF, neither are in form for varying reasons. Ndiaye is brilliant, but he can't do it alone. I'd love to be wrong but I think Amorim has finally twigged the squad onto a formula - don't you go 4th with a big enough win?
Sounds like we're both defeatist! In fairness, watching Beto or Barry every week would do that to me as well. Think the main thing for United is the belief after going a goal down - in previous years, soon as they concede it might as well be game over. At least now they have the belief and means they're always in the game.
I have similar thoughts supporting Everton away haha. If we go a goal down, it's as good as over! I used to say the same at home but we came from behind v Palace.
So, firstly it’s important to remember that it is Mikel’s first ever managerial job. So issues and learning curves were to be expected, for sure. It seems like he’s learnt something new every season and that’s quite exciting as a fan. But also, I remember that quite early on, maybe in his first full season when we finished 8th (he joined in dec) there were reports that he was blowing away backroom staff and members of the board with his tactical knowledge and attitude. And they were giving interviews saying “This is our guy, we fully believe in him, there’s no pressure. He’s going to be so good.” And then they stuck to it even when things went slightly wrong, like being bottom after three games, or missing out on CL football in 21/22. I think what teams get wrong when they try to emulate this, is that Arteta didn’t get time by chance and just happen to magically turn it around. And I don’t think they stuck by him out of blind loyalty. They just saw they had a potentially world class manager who LOVES Arsenal and would do whatever it takes. Frank is a good PL manager. But perhaps we’re seeing some flaws that we didn’t notice or see exposed at Brentford. He isn’t the guy, but that doesn’t mean he can’t do better than he is now.
Yeah, I remember when things were looking shaky, all the talk from the club was consistently supportive and consistently telling the fans, no, he is the guy, just give it time. It’s just rare to see it actually happen these days haha so credit to Arsenal for sticking to their belief in Arteta. I do wonder if Frank deserves to be looked at in a similar-ish light though. Like, yeah, he has managerial experience. More specifically, he has premier league experience. So not the same situation as Arteta when he started at Arsenal. But it is still quite a jump for Frank to make imo. His only PL experience is with a much smaller club in Brentford. He lacks European experience. He lacks big club experience. There is certainly still a big learning curve when going to such a big club - especially when we’ve just qualified for Champions League. People talk about him as being a very pragmatic, tactically proficient type manager. And when you hear him speak, it’s obvious why people think this about him. Evidence of this during his time with Spurs is severely lacking though. And I wonder if it’s because he’s still adjusting on how to approach this Spurs project differently than he did with Brentford. Yesterday is a good example. If Brentford show up to Arsenal and have that game-plan, not many people think twice about it. Show up and do that with Spurs? It is way more noticeable. So, is it that there’s just a big learning curve for him? Or does he just not have it for this job? It’s early, but also worrying.