Will Arsenal Get Relegated This Season?

[RandoEFC+]

Honestly I think if you tried to make combined XIs with Arsenal's squad and any of Wolves, Leicester, Everton, Southampton, it isn't even guaranteed for me that Arsenal would have the majority of players. There seems to be this idea that because they're "some of Arsenal's best players" that they must be of a higher quality. They just aren't. They have plenty of players starting games for them regularly that simply wouldn't get in to that many other top half sides.

[CaaC (John)+]

Can't see them going down but if they keep hovering over the drop zone then I think Arteta will go and you never know, if Ole can survive at OT with Pochettino waiting in the wings the Arsenal board may go for him?  

[Panna King]

17 minutes ago, RandoEFC said:

Honestly I think if you tried to make combined XIs with Arsenal's squad and any of Wolves, Leicester, Everton, Southampton, it isn't even guaranteed for me that Arsenal would have the majority of players. There seems to be this idea that because they're "some of Arsenal's best players" that they must be of a higher quality. They just aren't. They have plenty of players starting games for them regularly that simply wouldn't get in to that many other top half sides.

That is because Arsenal cannot shift the shit out of the club, these players were bought in by Wenger and Gazidis.   Mustafi for example was bought in for 38 million on well over 100K a week, Arsenal are stuck with him until his contract is up,  as with Sokratis, Ozil, Chambers and Arsenal even had to pay off Mkhitaryan to get him off the books.  Next season Arsenal will have probably nearly over £1 million a week free when they get rid of the shite but Arteta be long gone by then.    

 

Arsenal are just a badly run football club with the people on the board not knowing any idea really how the football side works, they gave Wenger too much control along with Gazidis and now they have gone, there is no one at the club to know how to deal with this mess.    Arsenal need ex players on the board desperately and someone who actually knows a structure of how a football club is run,  we have even had about 4 changes in the last 2 years of the position of the person who is head of transfers.  

[Stan]

6 minutes ago, SirBalon 69 said:

That is because Arsenal cannot shift the shit out of the club, these players were bought in by Wenger and Gazidis.   Mustafi for example was bought in for 38 million on well over 100K a week, Arsenal are stuck with him until his contract is up,  as with Sokratis, Ozil, Chambers and Arsenal even had to pay off Mkhitaryan to get him off the books.  Next season Arsenal will have probably nearly over £1 million a week free when they get rid of the shite but Arteta be long gone by then.    

 

Arsenal are just a badly run football club with the people on the board not knowing any idea really how the football side works, they gave Wenger too much control along with Gazidis and now they have gone, there is no one at the club to know how to deal with this mess.    Arsenal need ex players on the board desperately and someone who actually knows a structure of how a football club is run,  we have even had about 4 changes in the last 2 years of the position of the person who is head of transfers.  

I don't even think @RandoEFC was on about those players.

Aubameyang is realistically the only one who would probably do well in other top end sides.

 

[RandoEFC+]

6 minutes ago, SirBalon 69 said:

That is because Arsenal cannot shift the shit out of the club, these players were bought in by Wenger and Gazidis.   Mustafi for example was bought in for 38 million on well over 100K a week, Arsenal are stuck with him until his contract is up,  as with Sokratis, Ozil, Chambers and Arsenal even had to pay off Mkhitaryan to get him off the books.  Next season Arsenal will have probably nearly over £1 million a week free when they get rid of the shite but Arteta be long gone by then.    

 

Arsenal are just a badly run football club with the people on the board not knowing any idea really how the football side works, they gave Wenger too much control along with Gazidis and now they have gone, there is no one at the club to know how to deal with this mess.    Arsenal need ex players on the board desperately and someone who actually knows a structure of how a football club is run,  we have even had about 4 changes in the last 2 years of the position of the person who is head of transfers.  

Been exactly the same at Everton mate. It looks from the outside that Marcel Brands, Marco Silva and Carlo Ancelotti have just continued spending money and not really sorted much out but they were saddled with a mountain to climb by Ronald Koeman and Steve Walsh. Players like Schneiderlin, Mirallas, Bolasie, Walcott, Tosun, Sandro given 5 year contracts on anything between 60k and 100k a week. Shambolic. Arsenal need a massive overhaul from top to bottom including the people making decisions like bringing David Luiz and Willian to the club while letting players like Aaron Ramsey leave for nothing and dishing out £70m for a player who had one good season in Ligue 1.

[RandoEFC+]

3 minutes ago, Stan said:

I don't even think @RandoEFC was on about those players.

Aubameyang is realistically the only one who would probably do well in other top end sides.

 

Correct. Xhaka, Bellerin, Pepe, David Luiz, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles. Just absolute mediocrity. Like I said, put them out there for 38 games in West Ham shirts without Aubameyang and nobody bats an eyelid at them finishing 11th.

[CaaC (John)+]

12 minutes ago, SirBalon 69 said:

they gave Wenger too much control

Sounds a bit like SAF at OT, the Glazers gave him control, he left and then the Glazers took over with Woody Woodpecker as their lapdog, funny how United and Arsenal were right up there every year with SAF & Wenger in charge, look at them now...sigh.

[Panna King]

22 minutes ago, Stan said:

I don't even think @RandoEFC was on about those players.

Aubameyang is realistically the only one who would probably do well in other top end sides.

 

I know that, was saying why we cannot bring in better players right now as there is so much shit tied up on high wages. Next season Arsenal will have over a million pounds a week off the wage bill.  

[DeadLinesman]

Nope.

I’ll tell you what will happen though. Arteta will be fucked off, they’ll appoint Pochettino and then United will sack Ole. And be left with nobody. It’s an absolute fucking certainty.

[Stan]

10 minutes ago, DeadLinesman said:

Nope.

I’ll tell you what will happen though. Arteta will be fucked off, they’ll appoint Pochettino and then United will sack Ole. And be left with nobody. It’s an absolute fucking certainty.

Would Pochettino really go to Arsenal though?

[DeadLinesman]

3 minutes ago, Stan said:

Would Pochettino really go to Arsenal though?

Absolutely. Him having managed Spurs won’t even be an issue.

[Stan]

1 minute ago, DeadLinesman said:

Absolutely. Him having managed Spurs won’t even be an issue.

Why?

He's explicitly said he won't ever consider managing Barcelona because of his connection and affection to Espanyol.

I'd say this is similar given how much love Spurs fans gave him.

Regardless, I think he's holding out for the Man Utd job - you are a better prospect to manage compared to Arsenal anyway.

[Azeem]

Arsenal should get relegated, take some time out in the lower leagues to sort their shit out. Come back stronger 

[The Artful Dodger]

45 minutes ago, Stan said:

Why?

He's explicitly said he won't ever consider managing Barcelona because of his connection and affection to Espanyol.

I'd say this is similar given how much love Spurs fans gave him.

Regardless, I think he's holding out for the Man Utd job - you are a better prospect to manage compared to Arsenal anyway.

He did play for Espanyol too, there is arguably a deeper connection. I don't see him going to Arsenal, he will have some residual loyalty to Spurs and frankly, Arsenal just aren't the attactive a proposition at the moment. Manchester United are far more likely to spend big (although their fans will have the temerity to still moan about how they don't) and of course they are still one of biggest clubs in world football. Still think Real Madrid could be a shout though.

[Michael]

1 hour ago, Stan said:

It's more than just a bad start to the season. It's terrible by their standards.

Nearly a third of the way through and they've not kicked on, or gone on any kind of winning run, no momentum and they seem to be in a constant state of disarray on or off the pitch. Think it's fair to say their manager is perhaps out of his depth?

Seen it said a couple of times that the current team is probably among 7/8 PL teams but what does this actually mean if they're not showing it on the pitch? They've been surpassed in terms of stability and effectiveness on the pitch. The squad is stale and you could argue there's 2 or 3 players that could arguably 'walk' in to other sides but not the top sides.

You're right - team hasn't become shite overnight and I've not seen anyone suggest it. Hence this kind of topic. It's been 12 games and they're lying in 15th. That really isn't a false position. Last league win was on 1st November. For a club of Arsenal's supposed standards, not to win in over a month is pretty much unheard of.

And what could be more worrying for them, is that where are their next points coming from? Next games are Southampton (H), Everton (A), Chelsea (H). Three very tough games against sides that are considerably better than they this season. 

Yes, obviously it's a very bad start that they haven't had in a while. I would definitely agree that Arteta has to take a lot of responsibility for their bad performances. Elneny for example is not good enough to be a starter for a team of Arsenal's stature. Elneny is a real weak link in the team. Willian does have very few moments of brilliance these days as well and on the whole, he looks past his best. Xhaka has had a poor start to the season and his indiscipline is worrying. As for Holding, he doesn't overly impress me. It's not surprising that at the age of 25, he still hasn't won a single England cap, not even in a friendly. Aubameyang seems to have lost his mojo, his performances haven't been great, but this is probably temporary poor form due partly to how badly the team have been playing.

I'd partner Gabriel in central defence with Luiz(although this will never happen anytime soon, as Arteta has fallen out with him) or Cedric Soares. Maybe even the very young, but highly talented defender Saliba should be given a chance. Tierney has played well and he deserves to be a starter, while Bellerin, despite his woeful recent performances, is still probably the best player in his position at the club. But the midfield is clearly a position which is not offering Arsenal enough this season. Thomas Partey I think is much needed in their midfield to add necessary bite, so when he returns from injury, it should be a real boost to the team. Quite frankly, Arsenal could also do with Guendouzi's energy and influence in midfield right now, I imagine that he would look really good in midfield next to Partey. However, Arteta fell out with him and that's obviously why he was sent out on loan to Hertha. Having said that, even Ceballos could do well alongside Partey in midfield.

Nicolas Pepe and the young Saka are quality wingers on their day. While Lacazette and Aubameyang are two top proven forwards when on form. So Arsenal are capable of fielding a very strong team when everyone is available. I just think that injuries and some very bad player selections in the team chosen by Arteta are to blame. But I just have to stress that Elneny shouldn't be starting in the Arsenal team, the man is probably not even Premier League quality, let alone worthy of starting for a team like Arsenal.

You mention that Arsenal haven't been as effective as many of the other clubs this season. Injuries aside, the blame for that should mainly be down to Arteta and his tactics, as well as the players he has chosen to play. Arteta seems to also be losing the dressing room, as he has already fallen out with the likes of Luiz among others. All in all, there seems to be a bad atmosphere among the players at Arsenal and that can't be helping team performances either. It would seem like the best decision for the board to make at this stage is to find a more experienced replacement manager in place of Arteta.

 

[Rick]

Imagine if Arsenal went down and Spurs won the title. As an Arsenal fan is there a bigger nightmare scenario?

[The Artful Dodger]

4 minutes ago, Rick said:

Imagine if Arsenal went down and Spurs won the title. As an Arsenal fan is there a bigger nightmare scenario?

London runs out of chinos and green tea?

[Panna King]

I cannot take this shit anymore! shit fucking club!

[Panna King]

3 hours ago, shut up said:

Exactly this. Sol Campbell, an academy graduate and their captain moved across to us, Poch won't give a fuck. He doesn't even have this great connection with the club like people make out. He's not a former player or anything, and let's not forget they sacked him after he got them to a UCL final.

Knowing our board we will probably get Vieria now as he has been sacked from Nice. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

12 hours ago, Stan said:

Why?

He's explicitly said he won't ever consider managing Barcelona because of his connection and affection to Espanyol.

I'd say this is similar given how much love Spurs fans gave him.

Regardless, I think he's holding out for the Man Utd job - you are a better prospect to manage compared to Arsenal anyway.

He later said he probably would manage Barcelona if they offered him a job...

... granted it was when he’d been sacked from Spurs

[Dr. Gonzo]

34 minutes ago, SirBalon 69 said:

I cannot take this shit anymore! shit fucking club!

Even in your shit years you’ve had it better than most clubs in the country, so there is that.

I think the reality is the Arsenal squad is probably somewhere in between as good as some people out there think this Arsenal squad is, and as bad as I think this squad is. But there is definitely a bit of a mentality issue in the squad and you’ll never have sustained success with a squad that doesn’t have enough leaders in it.

Imo having the right mentality matters almost as much as having the right amount of quality.

I also think it was a mistake to hire Arteta. I always thought it was a huge risk because I think it’s a big rebuild for any manager. But someone with experience at this level and who these players will respect a bit better. Being a top assistant doesn’t mean you’ll be a top manager. I think he’s got a lot to learn and Arsenal are too big a club to be learning on the job.

I also think big questions need to be asked of Edu at DoF. He’s spent a lot of money and made many questionable decisions. Kia Joorabchian and his clients probably love Edu in his role... but I think Arsenal fans might be a bit tired of the shit he’s done in charge.

But you’ve still had it better than most fans in the country. And Europe. And probably the world tbh.

[Panna King]

51 minutes ago, shut up said:

Maitland-Niles is a quality young player. Puts in MOTM performances whenever he gets a chance.

Never gets the chance though, Arteta keeps on playing the same players every time, not sure what some players have to do to get a game in this team. Same thing happened with Martinelli last season.

[LFCMadLad]

29 minutes ago, SirBalon 69 said:

Never gets the chance though, Arteta keeps on playing the same players every time, not sure what some players have to do to get a game in this team. Same thing happened with Martinelli last season.

Whats happened to Martinelli? He looked a real talent!

[Panna King]

4 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

Whats happened to Martinelli? He looked a real talent!

has been Injured but back in training now, hopefully should be back in the next few weeks.  He is someone we need, has high energy, aggression and a bit of a nasty streak. 

[LFCMadLad]

11 minutes ago, SirBalon 69 said:

has been Injured but back in training now, hopefully should be back in the next few weeks.  He is someone we need, has high energy, aggression and a bit of a nasty streak. 

Yeah, I was impressed every time I saw him to be fair.