₦airaland Forum

Jodera:
Welcome back boss Kbs468.
Really missed your updates and arsenal post.

Na jencejyde remain now o

Haha , I dey oh, just watching and observing cos sometimes the arguments don't make sense but hey its a free forum where everyone has an opinion no matter how bad or good and its all fun.

BlueRayDick:
I already pointed out Leicester owner of blessed memory to you. He’s not Arab , he bought the club , clean up their debts and still got them players and a good coach in Claudio Ranieri and they ended up with the league.

Any billionaire that likes the sport and majorly has interest in seeing his club win trophies will invest in his club ; it has nothing to do with nationality rather it’s the passion

End of story!

iamoyindamola:
Balogun should go on loan, he's above the level of what I saw yesterday
Those u23 are not his mate

Lol , Na senior man among the U23's

BlueRayDick:
Nobody can help pepe, he's the one who needs to help himself. He should sit on the bench and watch the Hale End products how they run things in the final third.

A case point is Saka's play in build to the first goal; Saka had his man right in front of him with the option of either trying a body feint and cutting the ball back or making a nonthreatening pass to anybody around him....... Saka in that instant took on his man, when the presure to get the ball off was much he passed right back into the box having spotted an unmarked Smith-Rowe.

The second goal also had Smith-Rowe combining as quickly as possible with Auba on the counter; He didn't hesitate to make the pass available to Auba once he was standing unmarked in a good goal scoring position.

Those are the little things we expect from Pepe in addition to having a good first touch/ball control.

Is that too hard for a 72million rated player to do ? How the best coach in the world wan take help am if he will not help himself do these little things?

At a price tag of 72 million, we all have a right to question his display over a season and running. In truth it's hard to defend him but I just feel like he has something in there to turn it around and make us even more scary .

Yes the Saka moments are valuable lessons for him to learn as per not just the right decision making but the SPEED in decision making . Also noteworthy is how to press . I honestly see your point of view and I hope for his sake and that of the team, he can put his head down and dig deep to start getting it right

Spy360:
Pepe cannot boss any position. He can either manage being backup to Saka on the RW or seek first team football elsewhere. The only other option is try to replace Aubameyang as top striker. He has the finish and movement in the box, but he cannot transition from midfield to attack. Pepe will be a good option if we choose to play two strikers. Otherwise, na bench.

Hmmm, the jury is still out there but personally, I still want to honestly believe he can turn his game around if he decides to stay humble and learn. My thoughts are just in the best interest of the team especially when we have key players injured and need others to step up.

iamoyindamola:
He can dribble I give him that but his end product and team play is way off

This i where he needs help from the coaching staff and he must also be humble to admit that he has problems in those areas.

I hope that for the sake of our club that he realizes his full potentials Sha.

iamoyindamola:
Pepe is arrogant and stubborn
You should see that in his game, the way he carry himself is another annoying thing

Hmmm, every young player needs to take a cue from Saka. In your early developmental stages you need to keep your head down and learn to follow instructions as well as get advice from those well ahead of you.

Don't know about his arrogance but he needs to just dig deep stay humble and continue learning. I don't want to write him off just yet but everything now depends on his own attitude.

Honestly I feel they need to help Pepe personally, he has some scary attributes but they need to help him discipline those raw attributes and turn them into outstanding and consistent performance. I notice how Saka pressed compared to how Pepe presses. Huge difference in understanding not to to talk of quick decision making.

Honestly I feel Pepe can make us an even greater threat but time is running out and he either needs to ask for help to remove deficiencies in his game or coaching staff needs to personally help him.

If we have him and Saka performing at optimal levels we should be doing very well

Sir OLUWATOMI. Respect!!! Guy put that right side on total Lockdown

Again common sense must prevail when you are in a situation where you know that playing to instructions is not possible.

I'll give it to Martinez and Ramsdale over Leno in terms of making good judgement on when to play out from the back and when to go long.

As per shot saving, Leno in my opinion is superb.

Shout out to the defense ,they were immense and turned up.

I believe the foundation is being set towards a long term plan but I have my worries over the tactics and too much tinkering. Arteta makes small things complicated and I have my doubts as to whether he can really take us to that top four level let alone championship challenging level.

Pepe needs some serious one on one coaching to unlock his potential to the fullest.

Honestly he was a big threat all through that match but in my opinion , it's not that he lacks good decision making, but slow decision making. I will be amazed if he has not yet come to the realization that in the Epl, you need not only to make good decisions but you need to make them fast.

Again his pressing was not to inspiring and I saw Odeegard kept waving for him and the rest to close up the space when he charges down the defenders. Pepe on most occasions was shadowing space when in fact he should be pressing high at least not more than 10 yards to Martin while Tomi also closes space behind the two all in one swift motion.

Knowing when to shadow space to hold a defensive line is different from actually closing down a player in a press and those small nuances of understanding is critical. Jorgino of Chelsea is a very good example of a player with excellent understanding of this nuance.

As rightly pointed out here, there were occasional periods in the game where is inability to make quick decisions killed our momentum in the attacking third. At this level you do not get too much time and space and as such your transition has to be a lot quicker.

Questions I am asking myself is whether our coaching staff are doing enough to help him in this regards or his he the one who is not just able to do it. Either way it would be a shame if he cannot fulfill his true potential here

A lot of work still needs to be done on this team. Fair enough we won but spells in the game where Norwich were dominating is still worrying. However, I have to say that Sambi is breath of fresh air and Odeegard was my man of the match. It was not for his passes and movement but for two critical moments in the game when Emile came on and he switched to left side of midfield to partner KT.

His AWARENESS to read the counter attacking threat when our defenders had pushed up and stop any cross from that right flank on two occasions in the second half was worthy of praise. The ordinary football lover may not see this but someone who understands the game well enough knows that no matter the score line, the game is not over until the final whistle. For me Odeegard showed better maturity in critical moments than Saka.

This does not dicredit my star boy in any way but these are critical phases in football education that he needs to learn and understand to take him to a higher level.

I will discuss Pepe matter shortly

Hmmm just read Edu's interview with sky sports. What I can deduce from it and as mentioned by someone here is that Mikel as the manager is filling some huge boots which obviously he cannot handle.

No wonder the on pitch performances are suffering and in truth he either needs to focus on being the first team coach or manager but not both.

And whoever gave him so much powers in his rookie career in a huge institution such as Arsenal should have questions to answer.

All in all we just need to hope he gets it right and if not , to get someone else asap

ObaIgwe1:
Every serious organisation has what we call hierarchical structure. I am certain Arsenal has one. The authority down the ladder is meant to be respected from bottom up without question, yes the respect is binding, and no, it is not only when it is earned. The coach is damm high on the ladder than the players. Any attempt to encourage those at the bottom of the ladder to disrespect those on top of the ladder is a call for Anarchy.... A total break down of law and order. Business/Football Organisational management is not a military arrangement, but it is not a democracy either or a lawless Banana Republic. If you cannot abide by an organisation rules and order, you simply resign and leave. Even a voluntary organisation has rules of engagement and disengagement that must be followed by members.

Does that mean everyone on top hierarchy is good and qualified to be there? NO. Most organisation have ways of getting feedback and performance rating of their managers. It is even so easy to get in an organisation like Arsenal. The results are out every week. Also every organisation has channels of addressing grievances.... call for Anarchy is not one of them.

We must learn to separate Arteta's character and competence from the position he occupies. Yes he appears incompetent and has character problem... but as long as he occupies that office, no player should disrespect him or publicly criticize him, it is unprofessional. Even Arteta's employer will not do that.

So how can Arteta be checked and questioned? The board that employs him who are higher in authority can receive complaints about him, query him and sack him when necessary.

This is the way management works...and this is elementary management theory.

Well put. Absolutely precise!

Jodera:
True 200%

Duff my hat to you on this. Precisely succinct!

Spy360:
Man City will be harsh, but if we keep our heads down and work hard, we can earn something or lose honourably.

Same thoughts! Indeed they must show the right attitude and show no fear. I have seen Leeds and Wolves match City at the Etihad stride for stride , hopefully we can see the lads do the same.

Spy360:
There's hope for the Man City match. I only hope Arteta will not scatter everything with mumu tactics and formation.

Ha, that hope is far fetched for me oh. I just want to see consistency in doing the right things , especially the pressing which has rightly mentioned is still below par.

Shout out to Odegard. He has the two qualities you can never teach in football
Movement and awareness. Bar one or two slips his first touch movement and awareness were just quality. A Sambi Partey Odegard and Smith Rowe midfield would be mouth watering.

What I saw today albeit a young west Brom side was faster transition and one touch two touch football. Xhaka is still error prone and until Partey comes back the jury is still out there as to what that midfield should be.

Not expecting a result against city but expecting a good performance making sure city earns the point and not just going there to roll over with indisciplined display.

iamoyindamola:
I'm afraid for us, no matter how bad this team is we can still fight for top 4 but not with Arteta.
We need a new coach before transfer end maybe we can convince torreira to stay

The bolded speaks volumes and its really the frightening reality as it may seem.

iamoyindamola:
The issue with Pepe can be excuse for us not having a good RB, he's always on his own
You are right about him not marking his player,Pepe is lazy when pressing and he's using it to expose us cos sambi was doing his job for him

Surely this is where the mager has to come in and make him a better player by making him understand how to deall with this situations. Not even having a quality RB is not the issue but Pepe himself understanding what he has to do on and off the ball and in certain phases where the ball is in the opposition half and when its in our half.

If Arteta can't help him learn to understand , then really i can't put too much blame on him cos after all , he has to play to what the manager wants.

This one surely has to be on the manager, I watched both halves of the game and in my opinion, our players are not really that bad, but lacking something which clearly the manager is either not communicating well enough or they are not able to execute properly.

I looked at how we pressed when we had martinelli pepe and saka compared to when we had martinelli auba and pepe. The pressing with the latter 3 was far more effective and closed down spaces giving us the edge to win back possession and i was gutted to see martinelli go down again injured. As for pepe, he really needs to know how pressing works cos i noticed that when martinelli and saka put pressure he his always late to maintain his own 6 to 10 yard distance from them enabling Rudiger whose side he was pressing to have enough time to feed jorgino.

Well funny enough even when he is late, he fundamentally does not understand that unless the ball crosses into our half after the press is beaten, he still needs to now close his distance to Rudiger to completely take away the option of letting him have the ball, which will leave Chelsea with the option to go long as all the back three would have been fully pressurised.

For me its a question of ... " is arteta really getting his tactics to them in a way that they fully understand or are they the ones who can't really interpret what the manager wants?" Either way, its totally shambolic right now and he really does not have any excuses.

I am also worried for KT with these recurring injuries

Spy360:
Whether he uses 10year olds or not, Arteta should be sacked by October latest if we aren't within top 4.

Ha Baba you dey vex gan untop this matter oh

Akinbahm:
Bro, at the Italicized nobody here disagree about that in fact we all unanimously agree on that and at the bolded still affirm your second paragraph the the italicized own so I will take both 2nd and 3rd as a same point in different format.

Italy you used as an example doesn't tally with Arsenal because we are talking about the league here and not some cup competition.

Using same Italy to counter your claim, they are playing cup competition and a lot of dirty works is expected which also made Chelsea to lift the CL trophy with her blunt attack (werner havertz and co) in summary cup competition is not good enough as a yardstick to judge a player and/or a team.

Back to your whole content, is Arsenal aspiring to lift the EPL or to rebuild the team to be a contestant of Top4 if the answer is the latter definitely the midfield and attack needed to b bolster fess b4 bolstering the defence to compete for the trophy.

Consequently, our claim, stand and/or opinion is to build the midfield and attack to gel fess b4 bolstering the defence because defender are easier to integrate into squad in other words to build attack is harder compare to building defense and we cited the likes of Dortmund, Liverpool, Man city, Chelsea of Mouhinro (fess and second tenure) Barcelona and even the old Arsenal.

At the bolded, i could have used Rio and Vidic at Manu, The legendary Hiero with Roberto Carlos in that real Madrid Team of yesteryears, Not to talk of the Maldini Captained Ac Milanof there glory years. These were teams marshalled by strong defenses even though they had glamorous players upfront and they played league games and won trophies so id say boldly that the italy defensive pair over a league of 28 or 32 matches with the aforementioned of drilled midfield and sharp attack can win you the league or get you into a champions league spot barring any long term injury to either or both.

At the second bolded, presently only the Board knows what their objectives are but me as a fan and great lover of these club, i want to see us start with a proper rebuilding process and go back to when we had an identity. Right now we can not even have a consistent starting eleven not to talk of winning games which is totally shanbolic. And again in my opinion, it starts from the Defense. We must get it right from Goalkeeper to Center halves and Full backs. We need to first ensure that we have quality in those areas and then move on to getting the midfield that be the balance between the defense and attack.

We all have different philospies when it comes to what area of the game we want to harness but over the years i have been an advocate of forming title winning teams on the foundation of a solid defense. I do not beilive that in a league where you play over 32 matches, you will always be at your best offensively because teams will always prepare to sniff you out especially if you are the more fancied team to win,but defensively you must be consistent.

Jodera:
I think you guys are always making our point. How it's now turned as if we're talking something different Is what I clearly don't understand.

The question I want to ask is, do we have a well drilled midfield, or do we have a sharp attack presently?
We're lacking seriously in those two department, so I wonder how those two departments will help the defence significantly. Take a look at Brentford's game, once the ball is sent into the midfield, our midfielders lose both the first ball and second ball. We have 2 midfielders who aren't that experienced fully, while the most experienced is the least talented. I wonder how you wanted them to cope with that press. As for the attack, you sef see am na. Balogun was subdued drastically, martinelli got lost in the game, while Pepe (the most experienced) was doubled down.
Now with those two department lacking, why won't Mari turn into a scam? why won't the defence be under severe pressure? And you know once pressure is involved, pipe must burst one way or the other.

As for Italy, they have a very good defence, very good midfielder and their attack was good (Cf not too good, but chiesa and Insigne were very bright). So there you have it, great defence, great midfield, good attack. Why won't they win?

I just feel we're all saying same thing, but really I don't know the reason why we're having this differences to be honest.

Nb: We're not against having good defence, but wen midfield and attack is in tatters, there's nothing the team can do significantly, and that here is our point

Indeed it may seem like we are on different sides of the same coin here and yes you are right to say we do not have a well drilled midfield neither do we have a sharp attack. My opinion was just to simply state where i beilive we need to get it right first and that's from the defense as a matter of priority.
I am absolutely with any manager who decides to invest enough into the defense and ensure its solidity with quality before moving unto the midfield and attack. We are just a case of penny pinching here and if the board is serious , about 200 million spent wisely can solve these cogent issues albeit the tactics of the manager should also align with the quality of the signings.

Spy360:
What's your brand?

Lol! Just water and fresh fruit juice it is for me these days

BlueRayDick:
This is what we keep trying to explain but they just keep taking the whole sentence "defence wins you titles" out of context.....some Don even turn themselves to trolls of the club they claim to support sef.

Rightly so. There is no point scoring 10 goals and conceding 11 only to lose the game. Even when the attack can't find a way through, the defense must always hold the fort not to conceed and still give the team a winning chance.

I love an attacking philosophy but I can never accept my team conceeding too many careless goals or even facing too many shots on target just because I want to attack. There has to be a foundation and a balance in any team and I want to believe that foundation starts from the defense and grows into the midfield and finally the attack.

Jodera:
3 months from now? Like around November before you'll give your verdict? You're really patient Sire!!

Me, if by mid September, no progress, he should be sacked.

As for your other points, I wholly agree

Lol! Make e get small time redeem himself at least.

BlueRayDick:
Firstly let me say I don't hold brief for Arteta and I don't mind whether he's sacked or not...so far the team is doing well(which of corse is not the case now)

Let me say this ; some players like to disrespect the coach especially when they feel the coach is just a few years older than them....this happens to coaches who are in their 30's coaching "senior players" approaching their 30's or already in their 30's. I personally don't support the unruly behaviors of such players. If what is being said about Auba and Laca in training is true then I don't really it's Arteta's fault..... I mean if "senior men" that are supposed to be source of inspiration to younger players are non challant about the team's plunging reputation to win Games, then what should u expect from youngsters.

Saka for one adores Auba drawing inference from the way he adores the "pepper necklace" Auba gifted him last season and how I see their chemistry on social media ; now imagine whatever nonsense Auba has going on rubs off on Saka that we all look up to, do u know we might an under 20 star player holding the club to ransom, playing when he feels he need to and even forcing his way out when we need him most?

Maybe Arteta is not a good man manager owing to how he's manage some younger players in the past, but I don't support the kind of mutiny I read is being led by our "senior men"

I perfectly get your opinion on the zero tolerance approach and I support it as well.

Well this is where a bit of maturity has to come in play. If Arteta feels his two supposed senior players are displaying attributes he considers harmful to the team in a professional environment, I expected him to have let go of them before coming into the season and work solely with whom you want. Unless this new rancour just happened which is rather unfortunate, then I'd say the manager got it all wrong.

As a manager you know who you can work with and who you cant and you do not wait until the last hour to make crucial decisions in that regards

I respect Antonio Conte especially the famous text message to Diego Costa, where reports said he made it clear to the board that he could no longer work with Costa and threatened to resign if Costa was not sold for him to get who he can work with. What I liked here was that all this was done before the start of pre- season and not going into the opening week of the season. I feel Arteta needs to be more matured and make his decisions much earlier

On the defense wins you titles argument. I am a strong advocate of that notion.

People don't realize that a strong defense is the foundation for actually winning trophies but that defense must be helped significantly by a well drilled midfield and sharp attack.

Italy would never have won the euros if not for those two warhorses at the back helped by a superb organized midfield even though for me their attack was not the best.

That defense always kept them in games no matter the situation.

But in the case of arsenal , Arteta is missing the plot by focussing too much on the defense and not really bolstering the midfield to complement them. Even the defense imo still needs quality at RB and CD as Ben white Gabriel and Kt are the only really quality I see.

For me xhaka has no business playing in Arsenal midfield but relying solely on Esr Sambi and Saka to help Partey is just way too much in a league as competitive as the epl. I expected that by now we should have gotten Madison and Aour or two of any top midfielders out there and let xhaka elneny and William and co leave.

How we have mismanaged the last few months after ending the league in a disgraceful position is still amazing me

Looking at what has panned out so far in this Arteta regime, one thing is very clear to me. Arteta is ot a good player manager. He seems to be towing a Frank Lampard path where he always seems to have issues with senior players and whether he likes it or not, you need these experienced heads at their best to achieve anything.

It's questionable to be looking to buy 19 and 20 year olds all over the place when we have an academy to produce such. The focus should be quality players with good experience to merge with the exciting talents we have to create a balanced team capable of delivering results.

There is no excuse for him at this point and by now he should be facing the sack if results do not improve just by accumulating points but by a clear and consistent playing pattern that is exciting and creating and putting away enough chances to win games. 3 months from now is my verdict on him at this point in time

ObaIgwe1:
They will not remain 23 forever, they will grow with the new idea/ vision, and when they are old or tired or have new ideas of their own,
hopefully new ones will takeover from them.



Roland, how should a manager deal with a rude/disrespectful player or one that is not playing to instruction? beg him? counsel him? pamper him? I don't think so. I as a manager will bench your as.s and find a replacement for you, and if you don't adjust I show you the exit. There should be many better than you to replace you. I pray Saka and ESR will not misbehave cos I love those kids....but if they should, then they will have to find their way out while Arteta remains. It is that simple.

It applies in all aspect of life and business.... I used to have a brilliant staff, he was really very good...but I think the praises got to his head, then he partially disobeyed my instructions, When I queried him, he sounded disrespectful...Maybe he thought I couldn't do without him, so I suspended him. When he came back, he came back with an attitude and his performance dropped.... I sacked him and found another to do his job and I have no regret till date.

Honestly, I don't know any good manager that will condone disrespect from his players.... I know Guardiola won't, Mourinho won't so I dont expect Arteta to, even if he is the worst manager in the league... His position deserves only respect from his players. If anyone wants to succeed as a subordinate/player, he/she must obey all the laws of power.

On point! From a footballing perspective, I concur with this.

Spy360:
The real gunners.

I hope Arteta and Edu can bring back those memories. When we beat Chelsea black till they turned blue.

Always and forever will be a true fan of the Arsenal. Just a glimpse of those beautiful days is enough to bring back the energy. Anyways we move.