To be fair, this is more about the players in midfield than anything else. Oh_that_crab tweeted some data about pressure volume being really high - the issue is that Arsenal haven't had good multi-dimensional midfielders for a long time. And late-Wenger teams were actually good at pressing - it's just that what happened when the press was broken was . . . suboptimal.
IDK but we surely removed the dreaded horseshoe passing in the 45 mins we just played. Long may it live.
Assuming this is accurate, that's surprisingly impressive for Mikel to be #2, ahead of Wenger! Even if you re-sort this table by points won, which after all is kind of what it's all about, then he's still at #3, behind Wenger. And yes, I do realize that some of those 100 games were cup ties where no points were played for, but still I find a points weighting system probably a fairer measure than just wins. Anyway, the trick is where does Arteta go from here, trending up like Wenger & Chapman? And will he even be around for another 100 games??... when a lot of people around this place would say no way Jose.
https://theathletic.com/2937758/2021/11/06/work-in-progress-inside-artetas-arsenal-rebuild/ Interesting article from Amy Lawrence in the Athletic. Arteta comes across as very introspective. I like some of the things he’s done at The Arsenal’s facilities to remind the team of the club’s history,
I'm sure he has done some really good stuff in the detail - but this shit is groan worthy Every team does the motivational poster crap - its old man thinking and has no edge This part is communist regime stuff
I was specifically thinking about the murals of past players briefly referenced early in the article but not shown. If you’re walking down the hall and one of the murals is of the invincibles, that’s a nice subtle reminder of the club’s history. The tree and Arsene quote are not subtle and as such are groan worthy. Leave the portrait on Wenger and take down the quote.
The point is, lots of teams for over a decade have been doing this stuff in multiple sports There is no evidence it has any edge Motivation posters are literally ideas that were old 10 years ago, and seeing everyone does it, where is the edge in it? It feels like Team Sky colour coded water bottles. This feels more like a fan girl article from Amy than anything solid
“He wanted to build much stronger ties for the players and staff — ties with the history of the club……. There has been considerable interior decoration since. Murals of past successes and Arsenal icons now adorn the walls” Maybe I’m imagining something completely different than what’s actually on the walls, but I’m not talking about motivation posters. Motivation posters were old when I was in college and that was more than 5 decades ago. But what I actually found interesting was Arteta’s introspection, e.g., the fact that he appears to know he needs to improve his man management skills
It's an area that fascinates me because this is the stuff Ole was trying to create at Utd by rediscovering the traditions of the Ser Fergus era. But to me that stuff can be quite two dimensional if done wrong. e.g with the All Blacks (which i find similar to the Roy Keane/Fergus era of Utd) there were huge expectations, traditions, and standards that come with the jersey, or to be part of the management team. But that "DNA" stuff tends to be passed from player to player - so Keane himself talked about how there were big misconceptions about how he and SAF operated. There were so many leaders in the team, you don't have to go around shouting the whole time - it is them you learn from. When Moyes gutted the brains trust on the training side, SAF and Gill left and the transition to a new generation was left too late, the intellectual property of "how to win" was gone. When you look at the current Utd, there is essentially no core of old heads who have been part of an elite performance culture with the exception of De Gea (Pogba with France and Juve). I think where Pep/Klopp are very interesting is they brings key elements of an elite performance culture with him - so called performance leadership. I can't imagine Pep thinking there was any need to put slogans on a wall.
I don’t have a subscription to The Athletic, so I’m basing my opinions largely on what has been shared in previous posts. Personally, I take a different view to these off-field tactics that Arteta seems to be taking. I’m not trying to argue they are inherently “good,” but I think I understand the intent and purpose with what he’s doing around our facilities to instill a deeper, richer culture to build a stronger club. Here are a few random thoughts to support my thinking: 1. Only ManUre and ‘Pool are the only domestic clubs who can logically claim a longer, deeper, and winning tradition greater than ours. In an era where titles can be somewhat easily bought, a long and deep tradition of winning is a differentiator and something that deserves mention for any player who wears our club crest. 2. Also in today’s era, most athletes (not just soccer/football players) are in it for themselves first (and only). So I think that part of what Arteta is trying to instill in the team is a sense of our club motto: Victoria Concordia Crescit. Even the greatest players must be surrounded by other great and supporting players in order to win trophies. 3. Since Arteta took over, there has been very little dissent of frustration by the players. So if this bothers the players, then I would think we would have heard/noticed it by now. I realize there are notable exceptions like Guenduzzi and Saliba, but those clearly seem to be outliers (and for differing reasons). Even when results weren’t coming on the pitch, I don’t recall the players ever “quitting” on Arteta. They seem to respect and follow him - which says a lot to me. 4. It also helps if Arteta indeed recognizes that he needs to manage individual players better than he has the last ~2 years. If that’s indeed the case, then the club will indeed be far better off in the long run with him at the helm. So I don’t see this report as a negative in any way. At worst it’s a “neutral” series of tactics, and to my thinking - is likely brining the positive outcomes we are seeing on a more consistent basis.
Wenger saying he wishes he'd left Arsenal earlier in his documentary. Wanted that Saudi money earlier I guess. Covering for Kroenke wasn't as lucrative as covering for FIFA and a country of slaveowners.
I said in the matchday thread but I’ll guess I’ll repeat it here in a more relevant place: last year was the least likeable squad of Arsenal players that I could remember supporting. It’s been a process, but I think Arteta does deserve credit for emphasizing soft factors like character and personality in recruitment. In a brief amount of time, it feels like suddenly the squad has a great balance of personalities and a lot of likeable guys. What’s more, a lot of guys, Gabriel notably among them, seem to be coming out of their shells. Seems like the org culture is improving behind the scenes, slowly but surely.
I finally just heard (watched) the interview that Amy Lawrence did with Mikel. In addition to his footy philosophies, it's nice to hear a bit about his life outside of that. But I must say that he's not a guy who lets his hair down too much in any kind of public/interview situation.
Yeah I almost said something like that in my prior post but decided I’d tee it up for one of you. Seriously.
And speaking of formidable hair... Yesterday I was doing a crossword puzzle and the clue was "mammal with the highest density of hair". I kept trying to make MikelArteta fit, but alas it was SeaOtter.
I am not a Rangnick fanboi by any means, but reading up some good bios on Athletic really reminds me just how badly Arsenal began to go down the wrong road from around 2014. Obviously there is more than one way to play, but the german school has become reasonably dominant. It really makes me sad that a team based around Santi and Ozil might have blended spanish and german styles if only Arsenal had been on top of the new verticality and trends out of germany, and had recruited some younger, more physical players who could better cope with a hybrid approach.
I don't really pay attention to Arsenal anymore because it's not interesting and I don't think it will be interesting again until Arteta is gone.