Arsenal slammed for ‘lack of manliness’ as ‘headless chicken’ Rice and ’embarrassing’ Gabriel hammered

There is a ‘lack of manliness’ at Arsenal which could cost Mikel Arteta his job by the end of the year. That ‘headless chicken’ Declan Rice needs to do more.

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Sent before Spurs were unSpursy
Tonight will see whether the Great Ange Project finally deflates like a three day old balloon behind the sofa, or receives a revitalising dose of air.

However it really ought not matter. Cups can be won with routes to the final which can be considered ‘kind’ or ‘brutal’ and ours certainly falls into the former camp. It is the league where we must truly judge, and the league form has been so rotten for so long that it feels like signing off with a cup and ‘laters, mates’ would suit all parties.

What that leaves for Spurs would be something everyone can agree is grossly lucky jackpot. If, however, it doesn’t end that way, then what next for Tottenham and ENIC/Levy?

The club owes anywhere from £250m to £300m in transfer fees and pays £30m a year on interest on a stadium we were told would see us compete with the very best. Turns out that is horse sh*t. Players need to be sold (Romero, Bissouma, Bentancur, Porro, Vicario, Udogie and Kulusevski are the ones who’d generate the most money – not saying sell them all), and we have a glut of young players who have each shown talent in a disaster of season.

But who’d really want the job of managing Spurs, aside from being remunerated rather nicely before their inevitable departure?

Iraola, McKenna and Frank have all been mentioned. As to Xavi – no ta, Inzaghi – for giggles and, because what would be better than getting an old, mega successful coach who’s had the pick of any player he wants in his career, Ancelotti (Mourinho-esque appointment)…none of these are desperate for Spurs in the same way the club are for them.

So, we either defy our allergies and win a cup, or the club is truly in the mire, with not an awful lot of positives going into next season.
Dan

READ MORE: Spurs defiantly reject obvious opportunity for Spursiness – can they do it one more time?

Talking the Mik
I feel given the inevitable mails that will be received tearing Arteta and Arsenal apart it might be useful to hear from a few Arsenal fans.

On Arteta, he is definitely under pressure from next season onwards (assuming we avoid total calamity and qualify for the Champions League). The last two summers have left the squad lacking in certain areas and it has been apparent for some time now. The extent to which Arteta is responsible for this is somewhat up in the air. I assume he wanted a striker last summer and in January, but PSR rules somewhat limited him and the club. He didn’t want to spend £40m on a striker that wouldn’t have improved us and then would have held us back at a later point. I agree with this for the most part, however there is no doubting that spending about £45m on Calafiori when we had far bigger issues to sort was not smart, even if he had remained fit for the season.

We also needed to get a wide forward to upgrade on Martinelli but ended up with Sterling who has been even worse than some of the most pessismistic assessments at the time he was signed. To what extent our pretty one-dimensional football this season has been as a result of not having attackers of sufficient quality is up for debate or is Arteta too regimented? The answer probably lies somewhere in the middle. Thankfully our biggest issue in the league has been the amount of draws and it really doesn’t take a whole lot to turn a decent amount of them into wins if we improve.

The team as a whole has been devoid of luck this year. Between injuries and some decisions we haven’t had a whole lot bounce our way. This isn’t an excuse however, in many ways its important that a team does everything to render bad luck irrelevant. Too often we have sat back on a 1 goal lead and tried to rely on the strongest part of our team and see out wins. This has backfired too many times and I hope the team (and manager most importantly) see this. It is hard for me to bemoan the bad luck of injuries when we played a lot of our team into the ground. Hopefully next year, Nwaneri can help Odegaard and Saka have a rest from time to time so that they are fresh this time of year. Odegaard looks like a shell of himself at the moment both mentally and physically. The only positive of all the injuries is that we have unearthed two gems from the academy who hopefully if managed correctly will blossom into the future.

This summer is hugely important. I am hoping that the new Sporting Director will bring sufficient fresh thinking to the decision-making process. I have a fear that the hierarchy of the club is centred too much around Arteta, with limited voices offering different views. We desperately need 3 new first 11 players (CDM, LW, ST) as well as some depth around the fringes depending on who stays/goes. I find it incredible that we may need to buy another LB if Kiwior, Tierney and Zinchenko leave. We could do with ignoring Inaki Cana and buying a new GK as well and just promote Karl Hein to second choice keeper (after a season on loan at Valladolid, albeit conceding loads of goals).

May sound like a broken record here but I genuinely believe a few decent attackers will improve us immensely. If we have a good summer, Arteta will have no excuse and he will have to improve immensely on this year. I purposely have not said “win something” as if City/Liverpool tear it up next year and pip us to the post then you can’t hold that against a manager. There will be calls for sacking Arteta if like this year we fall significantly off the title race.

I for one am looking forward to the summer. This season has been exhausting to support the team. It feels like bad news and controversy has followed us around. The level of toxicity aimed at the club and manager has been substantial. Arteta could learn to be bloody boring in press conferences as he either comes out with some stupid comments or his words get twisted out of context and subsequently ridiculed.

Fundamentally however I love this team more than any since the Fabregas/Nasri/Van Persie era. I had honestly become very apathetic to the team but through Arteta’s stewardship he has brought back to a place where not winning the league is a disappointment. Now lets just get to the end of the season in the top 5.
Cathal

Some hours to digest the loss to PSG…

From the outset, I am an Arteta out person. I’ve rambled to you before about why I believe he was the wrong man for the job. And I’m not going to bore your readers or myself by rambling on about that!

What I do think is that the board are in a tough position. I doubt at the moment anyone senior in the club is calling for his head. He’s a great money maker for them. Yes he’s spent over £700m, but he’s filling out the stadium every week and the good vibes around the club must mean the merch is flying off the shelves. Also, the board have only just got the fans back on side after the issues with ownership and the Super League fiasco.  The Arteta fans are like Trump supporters. No matter how much Arteta doesn’t deliver, they’ll support him no end. Which is both good and bad for the club.

What the board will probably do now is back him massively this summer.  Get the players he wants in, fill that infamous striker role and get a stronger bench etc.  It’s a hail Mary of a decision but one they have no option to do. They are giving him the rope to hang himself.  If he succeeds, the board will come out and say we backed him and we’re winning. If Arteta fails, he’ll be gone some time between Nov to Feb, depending on Cup success.

I hope he proves me wrong. He hasn’t so far. I expect he’ll continue that disappointment.
Andy. Slightly sad Arsenal fan.

Hating Arsenal
I’ve been following football for nearly 40 years and along the way have had my bile risen many times. Mourinho’s treatment of referees, Reals sense of entitlement, City’s attitude of superiority and being above the rules of the game, Manus sheer existence but nothing has risen my bile more than this Arsenal team led by Mikel Arteta and I’ve been trying to figure out why but he and they absolutely boil my blood.

It’s the comments, the attitude, the arrogance, the lack of grace in defeat or victory on the back of having won sfa of note. Artetas well publicised comments on the past few days about Liverpools premier league win and them being the best team in Europe are just so untrue and disrespectful of his peers as to fathom belief.

I think what drives me mad in one word in the lack of manliness of them. Not “spending 7 days a week in the gym and preening in front of your mirror Andrew Tate” manliness but the other kind. It’s the quiet resilience and perseverance of the good man. The man who works for 40 years to suppprt his family and dies early from a heart attack, the man who sticks by his wife when her mental health deteriorates or her looks abandon her. The one who chooses not to flirt with his young secretary or spend his evenings on his phone flirting and cheating.

This man is a good man or in my part of the world a sound man. He knows hard work and humility are the foundation of every good life and that he is only a very small cog in the wheel of existence. He’s willing to sacrifice himself when the time comes for what he loves most, he respects his rival and does not blow his own trumpet. He is a man we all respect and admire. He doesn’t need the world to tell him how great he is.

Can you imagine Mikel commanding the forces on d day, losing spectacularly while preening his hair in the mirror and telling us all in the post battle interview the better side lost on the day. Thankfully we had real men commanding and leading us that day. Can you imagine Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho, Jurgen Klopp, successful All Black coaches or Bill Walsh legendary 49ers coach telling his team they deserved to win when they fell short. I can’t. These great coaches keep their team humble and hungry until the ultimate prize is won and even then curtail excessive self regard and congratulations. Because that is what real men do.

By the way I don’t think manliness is the exclusive reserve of men. I know at least 20 women in my life who have more manliness than Mikel or this entire Arsenal squad combined.

Keep on talking lads but at the end of the day until you’ve won the premier league or champions league you’ve achieved nothing. And as another great man said, first is first, second is nowhere.
Dave LFC 

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A few points on Arsenal following their inevitable elimination. As a Liverpool fan having had to listen to the media/their fans tell us all season that they would “hunt us down” (to use Rice’s own phrase) and that they are a far superior team, it was quite enjoyable.

Really, this was predictable from the beginning of the season. They essentially began this campaign as if it were a continuation of the final throes of the prior title race with City. Every game with them is do or die. They are emotionally charged to the hilt. Winners against Southampton and Leicester at home were celebrated like title-securing goals. Hype videos posted on the clubs accounts week after week. This all stems from the manager of course but it translates to the players and the crowd. The constant gesturing to the fans after each throw in is awarded by Gabriel etc is embarrassing and of no tangible benefit.

Contrast that approach to the level headed nature of Guardiola, Ancelotti and now Slot. The likes of Mourinho and Klopp were more emotional than those three but they knew when to harness it. It’s not something that you can go to every week.

Arteta’s post match interviews were truly pathetic. If you were to believe him, you’d think Donnaruma played on his own and the PSG outfield players had no influence on the tie. Funny how they managed to score three goals then. Giving no credit to the brilliance of the likes of Joao Neves and Kvara smacks of sour grapes He is constantly gaslighting his own fans and it’s almost Trump-like in approach (with that set piece coach as Elon Musk?). I’m not sure even Donnie would suggest Arsenal were “much better” than PSG or the “best team in the competition”.

On 100 million pound “Deccers”. It’s not surprising that the English media would overhype one of their own but some of the opinions on this guy are truly delusional. He is an excellent athlete but time and again he is a headless chicken when up against real footballers. It happened in the Euro final against Italy and Verratti/Barella and again against Spain with Ruiz/Zubimendi. He was chasing shadows again and at fault for the opening goal, just as he failed to track Dembele in his zone for the  goal last week. That’s without getting into his inability to progress the ball up the field with his passing (he admittedly carries very well). He is Jordan Henderson with a better set piece delivery but without the leadership or trophies. He is by no means a bad player but he isn’t remotely close to what he is made out to be. In the Premier League alone he is not at the level of Rodri/MacAllister/Guimares/Caicedo/Tielemans and he couldn’t touch his counterparts in Paris.

Ultimately Arsenal are a good side who are difficult to play against but capped by their regimental and overly cautious approach. Their injuries were unfortunate but the lack of a striker is entirely on the manager as he brought in Havertz (hopeless) and Jesus, who is always injured. Time will tell whether Arteta can take them to another level next season but I would have my doubts, especially with an almost certainly resurgent City to deal with along with improving Newcastle (and maybe Chelsea?).
Shane, LFC, Ireland

READ MORE: Arsenal disadvantage vs PSG pushes UEFA to consider one of three Champions League rule changes

Blame Arsene
Controversial, but I think Wenger must take some blame for creating the “Arsenal culture” which, as Mourinho pointed out years ago, is being a specialist in failure while being completely delusional.

As others have said, Wenger’s first decade was incredibly successful: 3 Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups, and a Champions League final — never finishing outside the top two until 2006.  But from 2006 until his departure, Arsenal only finished in the top two once and, apart from three FA Cups, won nothing.  In the Champions League, we were an embarrassment.

I think Wenger was arrogant.  From memory, I don’t think he took the UEFA Cup final against Galatasaray in 2000 seriously. It’s just my opinion and impossible to prove, but he seemed to believe Arsenal were too good for that secondary European competition. Who knows — maybe winning that trophy would’ve changed our mentality and reputation across Europe. We had won the Cup Winners’ Cup just a few years before.

Then there was the 2007 League Cup final against Chelsea. Wenger simultaneously complained that it was unfair for Chelsea to spend money on expensive players while refusing to play his own expensive first-team players, instead fielding a second-string team of kids.  He literally left Henry out of the matchday squad so he couldn’t even come off the bench, and trusted in players like Armand Traoré, Justin Hoyte, and Jérémie Aliadière against the likes of Terry, Makelele, Essien, and Drogba.  Arsenal lost the final in February, of course, and carried that losing mentality forward — we were dumped out of the FA Cup by Blackburn four days later, knocked out of the Champions League by PSV in the round of 16, and lost three games in a row in March, eventually finishing fourth.

The next season, we picked ourselves up and found ourselves in a great position — top of the league.  But by February, the wheels came off again.  After leading the league for most of autumn and winter (156 days in total), we collapsed against rivals Chelsea and Man United and finished third.  Maybe getting over the line in the League Cup the year before would’ve changed the mentality, especially for that crucial game against Chelsea — maybe not.

Then came another chapter of the “delusional-loser mentality” in 2011, when Arsenal again reached the League Cup final.  This time Wenger played the strongest team — but by then, the likes of Henry were long gone.  Instead of focusing on just winning the League Cup against Birmingham, Wenger claimed that Arsenal could win the League Cup, the FA Cup, the Premier League, and the Champions League.  Quite the claim. In the end, we turned in a poor performance and lost to Birmingham in February.  We were then knocked out of the Champions League and FA Cup in the following weeks and finished the season in fourth again.

By this point, Wenger had changed the definition of success.  He began claiming that fourth place should be treated like a trophy!

He also started blaming Arsenal’s losses on “financial doping” by other clubs, players being tackled, other teams getting more points, and refereeing decisions — which he never seemed to complain about when they went in our favour.

This is the environment he created — and Arteta is continuing it.

Arteta reminds me of Iraq’s former Minister of Information, “Comical Ali,” who insisted Iraq was winning the war and that US troops were committing suicide in their hundreds — all while Baghdad was falling.

“We will make history in Paris and win the tie,” Arteta claimed — and then we were dumped out.  We played okay, but he simply shifted the narrative, insisting we were the best team — a view nobody shares.

Others have already pointed out Arteta’s delusion, but just to be clear: PSG faced three Premier League teams in the knockout stages this season.  Two of those teams won one leg.  One took them to penalties.  One lost by a single goal. The third team — Arsenal — lost by two goals and were behind in the tie for all but three minutes.  Yet according to Arteta’s delusion, Arsenal were the best team in the whole tournament.

I’m not saying Arteta is terrible or needs to go.  At this point, he’s at the same level Rodgers was at Liverpool or Pochettino at Spurs.  Both were considered successful to a point.  Liverpool upgraded and won titles.  Spurs did not — and that was as good as it got.  This might be as good as it gets for us too.  Maybe Arteta finally gets us over the line next year, or maybe he’s building a foundation for someone else to finish the job.

Time will tell.  But in the meantime, I do wish Arteta — and even Wenger — would just keep quiet (Yes, I’m referencing Wenger now downplaying Spurs’ potential Europa League achievement — something he himself never managed).
Paul K, London

Next year will be your year
Obviously, pressure on Arteta and I have to say he deserves it. If he espoused the virtues that we want from the game rather than being a disgracia then maybe it wouldn’t have any interest. He clearly has a future as a decent great escape manager if he can stay unbanned without Arsenal’s collection of QCs in his corner. Maybe he’ll do his playing career backwards as manager and he’ll next do Everton before retiring at Rangers. Clubs that suit his style at least.

The excuses and mental gymnastics are so unsubtle now and don’t stand up to any form of fact checking. They’ll be repeated time and time again as a stick to beat him with. I do want to talk about Arsenal’s financial doping. Arsenal have the third highest shareholder loans of £259m behind Everton and Brighton. These are loans that City successfully argued were unlawfully excluded from PSR calculations. Maybe Arsenal’s one last splurge of straight into the first team and firing on all cylinders shiny new players isn’t quite on the way as believed/has been sold. It wouldn’t happen to be Arsenal’s season ticket renewal window would it? Remember those days gooners? Being linked with every player on the planet until the tickets were all renewed? I think you do, this is why this seems like a golden age.

Perhaps that the problem. Arteta sells this time as part of a golden age. Back where you belong, history being made etc etc. Whilst Odegaard is taking photos and players are getting themselves overly revved up, the elite clubs are grounding their players saying its just another game, need to focus and do what we do best etc etc. Maybe this comes from winning so little as player but many top managers now aren’t coming from a successful playing career.

There is still the league to f**k up yet. A rabbit and the tortoise parable for the modern age if you do. I wouldn’t want to play Newcastle, but a still drunk and rotated Liverpool and the 2nd worse Prem side Southampton should be enough. Plus you’ll be able to say that you were the best team in the league actually anyway as you beat the champions at home. That’s two leagues that you were the best at despite finishing behind Liverpool.

Get the 6 first team players back that you’ve missed all season according to Rice, sign another four word class players, dodge the new PSR financial doping rules and next year will be your year…

My money is on City though. Obvs.
Alex, South London

Poundland
Jesus Christ, I had to look that one up as a Yank.  Glad to see it’s just discount goods and you lot are keeping only your upper lips stiff.
Niall, Annapolis

In precis
I read your mail, Ian H, and wondered if what you were trying to say in a roundabout way was that at Arsenal “This Means Less”?
Uncle Albert