Xhaka apparently going off on his teammates in the post match interview. I’m not sure exactly what he did for the cause today. I didn’t see him controlling the midfield.
Whether you agree with Xhaka or not, it doesn't do the club or the dressing room any good for him to throw his teammates under the bus publicly. Do it behind closed doors, fine, but this isn't what a leader does. This team needs better leadership than Xhaka can provide if they want to succeed.
Given how fans are unloading on the team and staff all across social media, I don't begrudge Xhaka for being pissed, as well. Frankly, the team has often been criticized for being so complacent after losses that his comments are a bit refreshing. I know I'm angry, and I want the team to be angry. I want them all to make sure they don't forget the taste of this so they can hone their approach next time under pressure. Sure, his choice of words is imperfect, and Lord knows he's sometimes real poor at channeling his emotion, but I'm glad someone on the team is taking this as hard as I am. Lord knows what I'd say if I was in his place.
Going in I thought fifth would be about the best we could hope for, so truthfully, it's still an accomplishment in terms of the table. But, man. We went 4-0-5 over the last nine games. I know, I know -- injuries were a big factor, especially losing Thomas Partey for the remainder of the year, our rock in the middle. That was deadly. And we're very young. Yet ... it's the way we went down. Big games, big flameouts. Winnable games and we gagged. We had every opportunity and just blew it. That stings. I'm with Gunner: "I want them all to make sure they don't forget the taste of this so they can hone their approach next time under pressure."
The strange part is, they won the games we didn’t expect them to win. Looking at this result in terms of the project, while not having Champions League football may limit potential transfer targets, the Europa League many be a better fit for the this young team than the Champions League, Arteta clearly doesn’t like to rotate unless he has too because of injury. If Arsenal were in the Champions League, I wouldn’t put it past him to load Saka up with every Premier League and Champions League game possible as long as he is heathy. He will have to learn to rotate and he’ll have to learn to trust some of his younger players, possibly including some academy players. He is much more likely to loosen the reins playing in the Europa League group stage than in the Champions League group stage.
I would’ve taken 5th at the start of the season but the context of that has changed with how shit we have been and the lack of investment in January This club is not proactive at all. Win two games in a row and everything is amazing, arteta is the next pep etc this club has been this way since we moved to the emirates (been there once, soulless stadium, awful atmosphere) the pitch is too big. How imposing the fans were at Highbury really helped the team this club is pretending it’s something it’s not. We are not a contender, with European football this is probably a 7/8th place team the culture hasn’t changed.
Getting 5th is a disaster as this season was the big opportunity for top 4 with Man Utd having thown it away early and Spurs in a hot mess. Then Arteta went and dropped 9 points against cannon fodder from a handy lead with games in hand. Now Arsenal will have to hope two out of Utd and Chelsea and Spurs are crap next season, while having another poor financial year.
That's just a sign of a young, inexperienced side. But it's a failure of transition. Of the supposed leaders of the team, Xhaka is crap, Partey got injured, Lacazette is laughably bad and Auba was sold. That is the fault of the front office and arteta
Could it be the "front person for a horrible repressive regime that just bought a football club for sports-washing purposes" thing that makes her seem obnoxious?
I'd recommend watching the interview rather than reading about it. In the context of the questions he's actually being asked, his answers are much more measured than the Twitters are making them out to be. He acknowledges it was a collective failure.
I turned the game off after the second goal, so I didn’t see the interview. Thanks for the persoective.
And keep in mind, I'm saying this as someone who wants a Xhaka upgrade this summer. But I can't find much fault in his words yesterday or in his effort expended these last couple of months. For all the issues I may have with him --- the dude cares.
Arteta doesn't rotate period. Saka will suffer more playing in Europe in Thursday then EPL on Sundays.
Saka isn't going to play in the NIT next season. Didn't really watch the game that carefully because of conference calls. The way this happened really sucks, but I think there's a lot more positive this season than negative. That said, we're bummed because of the way the last two months unfolded, and here's the problem: Arsenal this season can't chase games. At all. It's all fine and dandy to be great when it's 0-0. But you've got to be able to score when behind, and the failure to sign a striker in January is a huge part of why we're so bummed today.
Arteta didn't have much of a bench to use in rotation. A problem partly of his own making, but still. Now, if Arsenal can improve their bench this summer and he still doesn't rotate, then yeah that's a problem.
I honestly believe we'd all be much more content with the final standing if not for the fact that it's S***s pipping Arsenal for 4th right at the end. Had it been any other side, or if trip to S***s came earlier in the season as scheduled, this might not feel like such a collapse.
I think i posted in the other thread so x-posting here Arsenal were 6 points up on Spurs with a game in hand in mid march. So they've dropped 8 points and the extra game I don't think it makes sense to go on expectations at the start of the season when that was the context. Spurs got off to a shocker, got a top manager and got it done. Arsenal bottled 9 points in a row against lower ranked sides, then bottled the run in Signs of inexperienced team, lack of depth, and poor management.