Mikel Arteta: Aston La Vista To The Title?

[Yousif Arsenal]

For half a season Wenger had Auba and Lacazette. Wenger did not play them together. He played one of them with Mkhi and Iwobi on the wings. He knew that Auba and Laca together is not balanced. Arteta would do the same if he had that option. Instead our owners/board decided to add to our lack of balance by spending £72m on Pepe. No manager can get this front line working smoothly, not even Bielsa.

Because wenger knew it's not working they both strikers even Freddie said that

 

[Manberg]

I've not been impressed by Nelson or Willock either.

The only internal solution we have.... is Martinelli. Eagerly awaiting his return.
We need signings.

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

Someone with his experience and on his wages shouldn't be having these confidence issues. And how did it start? The system didn't change from the time he was scoring freely, his goals and overally play dried up on its own. He wasn't dropped from the team either.

Any player's confidence can be dented. No matter how much wages or experience you have. In fact Auba going the longest run of games without a goal for many years surely has an effect. Not sure what changed but our chances tried up. The amount of times we spend in final 3rd became non existent. Shots on target became even less. Our possession stats went down. Clearly all of this will have an impact on him.

 

[Manberg]

Any player's confidence can be dented. No matter how much wages or experience you have. In fact Auba going the longest run of games without a goal for many years surely has an effect. Not sure what changed but our chances tried up. The amount of times we spend in final 3rd became non existent. Shots on target became even less. Our possession stats when down. Clearly all of this will have an impact on him.

Fair enough. What's your solution?

I'm aware that Auba's problem is a mental one.


What I'm worried about is whether it's related to his contract and being comfortable in the future therefore not feeling the need to try as hard?

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

He's trying a lot harder. He's running more, linking up with this teammates etc. Missing all those chances doesn't seem to have affected his confidence. It's not magic from the manager. It's all about a player's mentality.
Not what we're seeing from Auba at the moment.

But don't you see they're all connected. Having the ball more in final 3rd...gives you the chance to make more runs. Getting more chances...gives you the opportunity to score more....which in turn will increase your confidence in front of goal. Most strikers don't fear missing a lot of chances. Auba used to miss sitters and it wouldn't affect him, cos he knew he would get a another one soon.

 

[GDeep™]

I will say, it’s a little Wenger all over again. Lack of spending in the summer, team doesn’t perform and we kill the manager.

Though I think Wenger was getting the maximum from his players and Arteta isn’t.

 

[ArtetaOut]

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

Fair enough. What's your solution?

I'm not capable of managing a PL team lol.

I don't know. I haven't given up on Artete. But we need to see a steady progression. That's what I always look for. All the successful ones had steady progressions. However at the moment Arteta is taking 2 steps forward then 3 steps back.

We can do much better. Not title challenging but we have enough quality to compete for top 4.

 

[GDeep™]

...MY "itk" guy.

This isn’t 2015. He hasn’t called anything for years. Hope he’s right though.

This season we’re finishing 5-8 though.

 

[Manberg]

I'm not capable of managing a PL team lol.

I don't know. I haven't given up on Artete. But we need to see a steady progression. That's what I always look for. All the successful ones had steady progressions. However at the moment Arteta is taking 2 steps forward then 3 steps back.

We can do much better. Not title challenging but we have enough quality to compete for top 4.

I ask because many fans thought the simple solution was to put Auba up top, seeing as fans fashion themselves to be experts.

I agree with your point about confidence being a cycle. You need to be confident in yourself and teammates to make runs and doing well is what gives confidence. It makes sense. I'm sure Arteta's doing his best (or should do his best) to help Auba. However, Auba has a part to play too. He's in control of his mental state. He must know he can play a lot better.

 

[Kysus]

I thought Willian was a positive today btw
For the first time in a long while we had someone in the hole, very intelligent movement.

Not much coming off with zero attacking chemistry in the team though. Almost 1 year after appointment still zero attacking patterns, nobody on the same wavelenght.
Makes you wonder....

Manberg continuing to blame the players, deep hole you dug yourself bro.

 

[Riou]

This season we’re finishing 5-8 though.

Mikel "Cup King" Arteta is winning the Europa anyway, so it doesn't matter!

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

What I'm worried about is whether it's related to his contract and being comfortable in the future therefore not feeling the need to try as hard?

We need bigger sample to see if that is the case. Also we have to judge on like for like. For example if we go back to creating decent amount of chances and look somewhat threatening. In our last 2 away games we had zero shots on target in the first half. Zero. Even if we thought Auba wasn't pulling his weight, how come none of our other attackers (or even defenders) couldn't get a single shot on target. That shows it is a system failure. One of the first signs of tactics not working for a team is when it looks like players aren't even trying.

 

[Kav]

Mikel "Cup King" Arteta is winning the Europa anyway, so it doesn't matter!

He will get knocked out. Let me save you the false hope.

 

[Jury]

Post it on the Özil thread so @Jury and @Oxeki can see it.

**** Özil right in the *****.

 

[TakeChillPill]

At this point at be happy with some of the u21 players in the starting 11. They've far more spirit and good football then our starting 11. So been scoring goals for fun in the Europa.

Our senior squad is imbalanced. We have players who are either completely unsuited to the league i.e. xhaka,Pepe, possibly Dani and other has beens like Laca and Willian.

Time to start playing the likes of amn, willock, Reis's, Saka together in the starting eleven they're better than Pepe, xhaka and co.

 

[Riou]

He will get knocked out. Let me save you the false hope.

Just like how he was knocked out of the FA Cup by Leeds, Sheffield United, City and Chelsea (like this place was hoping would happen) but instead he beat them all and took us to glory...our 3rd European trophy is coming home

The Olympiacos defeat was a one off last year, imo.

 

[Breezy]

Just like how he was knocked out of the FA Cup by Leeds, Sheffield United, City and Chelsea (like this place was hoping would happen) but instead he beat them all and took us to glory...our 3rd European trophy is coming home

The Olympiacos defeat was a one off last year, imo.

I’ve been Arteta’s most vocal critic recently. But believe me when I tell you there is not a single poster on this forum who wants him to succeed here more than I do. In fact that’s part of my frustration.

And why da fuq would you think any genuine fan wanted him to get knocked out in the FA cup?!

 

[Kav]

Just like how he was knocked out of the FA Cup by Leeds, Sheffield United, City and Chelsea (like this place was hoping would happen) but instead he beat them all and took us to glory...our 3rd European trophy is coming home

The Olympiacos defeat was a one off last year, imo.

We will see if he can repeat it against Man City in the carabao cup.

 

[Manberg]

The 3-4-3 system was actually built around Auba (in attack). Auba on the left with Tierney and Saka making underlapping and overlapping runs, and the striker dropping deep. All to drag defenders out of position and open up space for Auba. Auba could be more effective in the middle if we had a suitable attacking midfielder, which we don't.

The issue we're seeing is attacks breaking down whenever it reaches the final third, with any combination of Auba, Willian, Lacazette and Pepe up front. And it happened today with changes to the system and Auba up top. Auba's not performing due to what we can perceive to be confidence/mental problems, but neither are the others. Particularly Pepe and Lacazette. I'm saying it's the result of our forward line as a whole being very unbalanced, and not able to work together as a unit. But they're the best we have and I don't see an internal solution to the issue aside from perhaps Martinelli. Nelson's not a player I see a great deal of quality in.