Arsenal risk a ‘disaster’ if they sack Mikel Arteta, while two ‘worries’ for Manchester United remain after their ‘brilliance’ vs Athletic Bilbao.
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Arteta and Art class…
Having attended Art class, I found Andy H, Swansea’s entry fairly persuasive, but I have to reject one of his premises, i.e., that Arsenal were a “pratfalling mess” when Mikel Arteta arrived.
I think that Andy’s assessment of Arteta’s performance is reasonably fair in itself, but Arsene Wenger’s final league finish was sixth, not fourteenth or seventeenth. A team finishing sixth in any EPL season is hardly a team doing pratfalls. They were a club with a legendary manager who led the Invincibles and transformed English football…which, in return, grew beyond him.
They had plenty of talent when Arteta arrived, if some of it had been misused. They were in no sense a mess; they just needed a new coach. Maybe they needed one a couple of years earlier, but I don’t really know, as I’m not Stewie Griffin*. Arteta has improved them, no doubt, but he hardly applied CPR.
I deleted a whole nostalgic paragraph about having driven for two and a half hours to see Newcastle lose an FA Cup final and Why I Don’t Hate Arsenal, but I was only belabouring things.
On the other hand, five and a half years of watching Mikel Arteta at Arsenal have taught me to detest Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. I have Mailbox form here, as it were, and won’t belabour my beef either, though I will repeat that I always liked him as a player.
But the fact remains that, whatever his failings, Arteta is at the very least a good coach who can really nail it against an opponent like Real Madrid once in a while. He has beaten a lot of good coaches, whatever his transfer market failures. If I were an Arsenal supporter, I think I’d be ambivalent. The wrong upgrade could be disastrous.
Perhaps handing over a bit of transfer control would benefit him. Maybe he should be telling the board and Director what he wants, not who he wants, and let the scouts, the stattos and Edu go find it.
All that said, my club’s won exactly one real pot in my 30 years of support, and it still feels like yesterday. Fans of some clubs think it’s an utter shambles, a travesty of justice, the end of the world when their club don’t win at least one trophy in any given season. It’s beyond me. My expectations just aren’t calibrated the way “big club” supporters I read here or in the socials.
And no offense to those Gunners, but I hope they never will be. It seems to steal a lot of joy. My philosophy has always been that losing is part of sport; if you don’t know losing, what do you really know? (Besides winning, obvs.)
Also, I don’t mind the Saudis trickling a little gratification on my head as they go about their ugly enterprises, but it would be a shame if it bought them anything approaching dominance.
Chris C, Toon Army DC (*I could be wrong. It’s technically possible that I’ve been maintaining my chill by venting my spleen online as Stewie while I’m asleep, Tyler Durden-style.)
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I am oft surprised, disappointed and frustrated in the criticism Arteta receives – some of it very personal – hidden behind smokescreens of “he hasn’t/won’t win anything”.
Personally, I look at last season where Arteta’s Arsenal turned in their best league points (and GD?) second only to the Invincibles. That’s pretty good, Man City were very slightly better over 38 games so they won the league. We all know Man City have been an unprecedented level of dominance in the league since well before Arteta joined Arsenal for various sporting reasons – even ignoring the 115 stuff they are strongest club by far.
This season has not gone as well, not just for Arsenal but for quite a few other “big” clubs. Despite all our “Shitness”, we are still the second best team in the league and I think that gets under some folk’s skin.
Anyway, regarding not winning anything – here is the exhaustive list of managers who have won competitions Arteta has not. I am excluding domestic cups and European competitions apart from the Champions League because they don’t count in these conversations. Winning an FA Cup would not change people’s position – “ah but he can’t win the league” etc…besides, just ask Ten Hag or David Moyes whether these comps are enough to keep your job on their own. Critics like to tout the cups as a stick to beat Arteta but would not allow winning them as a defense. They are very nice though but small beer apparently – so onwards!
Premier League winners since 2019:
Pep Guardiola
Jurgen Klopp
Arne Slot
Champions League (in which Arsenal were competing):
Carlo Ancelotti
How embarrassing – the best manager in the world, the best Liverpool side in history, and a very good manager with much of the best Liverpool side in history. And Carlo Ancelotti, beaten home & away this season. I have two thoughts from this
1. Alex Ferguson took 7 years to win his first title
2. Are people biased?
Here’s a test for people who think Arteta should be sacked for underperformance. Imagine Arsenal have had exactly the same results since 2019 but instead of Arteta being manager, it is James Milner (or Aaron Ramsey). Would you lay your vitriol at his feet, spit in his face? Or would he require more support, bigger investment, more time, more luck. If not, think about that.
Guru
READ: Lamine Yamal: Why 100 games is a worrying sign for future of Barcelona star and Messi heir
Rio Ferdinand
I don’t really like Rio Ferdinand on comms, for many reasons but you can’t question his talent as footballer. An absolute Rolls Royce of a defender. He played alongside Vidic? Yep, and they complemented each other perfectly. Rio was the best centre back of the noughties in the Premier League (lots of fashionable foreign defenders then too). Better on the ball and still less of a bellend than John Terry. He’d be equally lauded today as then if he was playing now. Ball playing centre backs are not a modern phenomenon either (Bobby Moore?). If I didn’t support United I’d say Van Dijk was better (almost as if you combined Vidic and Rio) but I do so I’ll stick by my man.
I also completely agree with J. Nicholson about the embarrassment of United and Spurs pissing the Europa League. But it’s UEFA that should be embarrassed. It all started when they let runners up join the Champions League (literally adding losers ruins the name a bit). What we have now is a European Super League by stealth supported by two lesser European competitions which act as a safety net for teams like United who struggle to qualify the proper way. Much like VAR, we can never go back.
And finally, there is so much nuance to some of the issues that are constantly debated in these hallowed pages and that affect our wonderful game. That nuance is above the heads of at least 50% of people that we end up in situations where trans people have nowhere to play football (or any sport really) and a young(ish) black woman loses her job for “clumsy” comments about an important issue. Aluko was wrong about Wright (I think) but the men’s game has been hostile to women (it was men that banned it for fifty years so fight me) and there is a representational imbalance which has been ignored in the fallout.
Ashmundo
Let’s get this out of the way first; Rio is an absolutely diabolical pundit/co-commentator. I actually muttered “f**k’s sake…” when they announced he’d “made his way up to the gantry” 2 minutes into the game last night.
However, Hartley in the Mailbox needs to go and wash his mouth out with soap and water for questioning him as a player. I’ve seen lots of great centre backs at United, from Bruce and Pallister, to Stam and Johnsen and then Vidic and Rio. Rio was the best of the lot and it’s not particularly close. Tall, quick, strong, great on the ball; I’d argue he’s the best centre back in Premier League history. Unfortunately, he became injury prone around 30 which is when centre halves often get the most plaudits.
I’d argue he’s criminally underrated, and any United fan that knows their onions will tell you Rio covered up for Vidic, not the other way round. Vidic got mountains of praise because he’d throw himself in front of anything and came across as a warrior for the fans. That’s why he was loved. Rio did “merks” and missed drug tests, and generally came across as a bit of a knob.
As was referenced elsewhere in the mailbox, likability is a really important factor in shaping public opinion, and no one really likes Rio, myself included, but you need to separate the man from the player. He was an absolutely top tier defender. See also, Terry, John.
Lewis, Busby Way
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Harry Maguire
Harry Maguire. This man has been run through the mill.
For quite a few years, he was (and still often is) lambasted in the press/social media.
He has made one mistake along this whole way, and that was the Greece debacle. No one knows what actually happened other than those actually present, so its hard to give a view either way. Perhaps best to say he might have been better off getting away from it all before it kicked off, but who knows. Alcohol and youth often exacerbate things, I certainly cant throw stones from my glass house on that one.
From a football perspective, he’s played the game as best he can. He can’t do any more than that. People slag him for being slow ….. well that’s just him, it’s not his fault – some guy paying £80m for you doesn’t suddenly make you run faster. But – he’s given it his all every time he steps on the pitch. He’s faced the criticism head-on and come back stronger, accepting his weaknesses. He’s accepted a new system under this new manager, knuckled down and got on with it. And for that, I tip my hat and say well played, kudos to him. Seeing him score the winner against Lyon, and then dicking all over the Bilbao fullback like a top end winger was a pleasure, and I couldnt be happier for the guy. If half the Man Utd squad had the bollocks and spine that he had, the club would be in a far better position than it currently is.
A little aside on Hartley MCFC. I agree Rio is by no means the greatest commentator/pundit in the modern game. But to use that as a reason to start questioning his ability as a footballer during his career, is a little ridiculous, no? I mean, Sir Alex Ferguson, one of the greatest managers of all time, saw fit to go and get him and make him the heart of his defence for 12 years. But yeah, you’re probably more likely to be right than Fergie, eh?
Ben, London (Aluko – why pick Ian Wright, pretty much the most loved-by-all sides man in football?)
Two worries for Man Utd/Ruben Amorim…
In a gazillion years, I would never have imagined that United would play the same way they’ve played the whole season and beat Athletic Bilbao with flashes of brilliance.
All through the game, United was there for the taking. But for some reason best known to Bilbao, they were too jaded from the giddiness of an Europa final to take United seriously.
As a United fan, I’m ecstatic. But I’m also worried that Amorim’s pattern of using the wing is pretty predictable. Our lack of a clinical striker is another matter. I am grateful to witness a glimmer of hope this season but I’m hoping this charade ends this season.
Victor
Check mate…
With Spurs’ shambles of a season almost at an end, I think it’s safe to say that Ange is not going to be around next season regardless of any potential trophy success. So now that they’re almost guaranteed to make the Europa League final, Daniel Levy has the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever.
Sanjit (Mourinho-ed) Randhawa, Kuala Lumpur.
Transwomen debate
Can Dan, Plastic LFC, explain why biological men should be allowed to play in women’s football? It’s a genuine question, because I can’t think of one good reason. Transwomen haven’t been banned from playing with men, so what is the problem? Transitioning and then wanting the same rights as women is very much a case of wanting to have your cake and eat it.
G Thomas
A Great Weekend
If I see a Wayne’s World 2 reference in 2025 I am duty bound to acknowledge it. It automatically enhances a Big Weekend to a Great weekend.
Party on!
Jon (still think we will Spurs it up), Lincoln
