The case for Arteta concludes – there isn’t one

Arsenal 0 Villarreal 0  
Europa League Semi-Final 2nd Leg  
Thursday 6th May 2021 8pm  

It was a gamble that brought some short-term glory, in the shape of an FA Cup, with attendant Europa League qualification. But as the following season nears conclusion, it must now be seen as a gamble that ultimately failed. Mikel Arteta was hired on his reputation within the game, the fact that he was a less expensive hire than an established manager and presumably a very good interview. However, after steering the club to silverware, what followed has seen further decline at Arsenal, who are now in a worse position than when he joined, with the reality that they will not even take part in European football next season. If he survives the summer, it will tell fans all they need to know about the ambition of Arsenal’s owners – being in gravy train that is the Premier League is enough. 

However, season tickets are going to be a tough sell, to say nothing of the more expensive club level and executive boxes. They’ll certainly be cheaper. Football is about peaks and troughs, but the question now is how low Arsenal will be allowed to sink. The club need something else. They don’t have the manager to create a Manchester City Mk II, which was presumably the idea, and they don’t have enough money to match the depth of Pep Guardiola’s squad either, although it should be noted the Champions-Elect have never spent ridiculous sums on one player in the transfer market, the mark of good scouting. 

They had enough quality in personnel to overcome Villarreal over two legs, but not the tactical nous to do it – and that falls on Arteta. Unai Emery’s team evidently had a very dodgy keeper, but Arsenal failed to exploit him enough with the kind of balls that would make him fluff his lines. Instead, they tried to play their way to goal, rarely using the percentages of a ball into the danger area backed by numbers to take advantage of slips. They played into the visitors’ hands and were too easy to negate. Yes, Aubameyang hit the woodwork twice and was unfortunate, especially with his second half header. But aside from that, just two shots on target tells you all you need to know. The Gunners failed to outwit an organized and determined defence. Francis Coquelin was one of the central midfielders, and showed that he can still do a job. Unglamorous, for sure. Yet there have been times this season when Arteta would have benefited from such a water carrier. 

15 years ago, a 0-0 second leg saw Arsenal progress to the Champions League final against the same opposition. In 2021, the boot was on the other foot, the Spanish team having won the first leg at home. The presence of Unai Emery on the bench added spice to the contest, and it was evident his connection with his players now is closer than that he enjoyed in his time in North London. A 0-0 was always going to be enough, so the pressure to come out and play was non-existent. In spite of that, they proved dangerous on the counter attack and came close to nicking an away goal that would have made the Gunners’ job even more difficult.

Granit Xhaka was injured in the warm-up, meaning Kieran Tierney had to start a game he was always unlikely to complete. Arteta played a new formation with just one orthodox central midfielder (Partey) flanked by two more creative players in the form of Odegaard and Smith Rowe. The latter was the only member of the Arsenal team that can claim to have put in a good performance. Even so, was this the right match to introduce a totally new formation?

There was too much building up from the back (hazardous given there were five attacking players in the team), giving the visitors the chance to organize their rearguard, in a game that required greater urgency and more thrust. This tactic has led to too many individual errors and needed to be varied a bit. Arteta’s doggedness has cost Arsenal points and should cost him his job. Finishing outside the top six isn’t good enough, given the money being paid for and to players. I wonder whether the squad would miss him? They are still playing for him in respect of following his tactics, even though they are not really working. But surely they can’t enjoy the consistent failure.

Arteta is seen as a good developer of young players, which the club do need, and yet Martinelli is used so sparingly, whilst the likes of Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah have not really improved under Arteta’s watch. Smith Rowe feels like the exception, whilst Saka’s talents were evident when Unai Emery was still around. 

The question is whether things are going to get any better next season, and I don’t see it. I argued for Unai Emery to be replaced after the defeat in Baku in May 2019, but the club didn’t act until the following season had become a car crash in the Premier League and Freddie Ljungberg first, followed by Arteta, were unable to turn it around. I have the same feeling about the current state of affairs. If Arteta remains in post, he will probably be gone halfway through the next campaign. The reality is that it was a job that was too big, too soon, for him. Credit for his self-belief, and all the great coaches started somewhere, but I am uncertain Arteta will ever become a great coach. He just seems too inflexible, and makes odd decisions, that too often do not come off. People desperately wanted him to succeed, an ex-Arsenal captain, who sought to bring discipline to a dressing room that had effectively mutineered under Emery.

There’s a weird kind of symmetry in Villarreal’s deserved qualification for the final. Two years ago, after having been eliminated by Valencia three times in their history, Arsenal, under Emery finally turned the tables with a second leg result away from home, in arguably his finest game in charge at the club. Villarreal have twice suffered at the hands of Arsenal and once again Emery bucked the historical trend by getting his team through in a second leg semi-final away from home. It wasn’t pretty, but it was undoubtedly effective. And of course confirmation that the manager has something of a magic touch when it comes to this competition, even if it let him down in the final he took the Gunners to after that magic evening in Valencia. 

As for Arsenal in the 2021 semi-final, they were predictable, lacklustre and largely (at least it felt) unmotivated. Almost going through the motions. Certainly too sloppy too often for a game of this importance. It can’t be allowed to go on. A post game text from Doktor Schneide read:
It’s a mercy killing really. The trauma of what surely would have come would be just too intolerable.
So the faintest of silver linings here is that least there won’t be another Baku, as well as it being a far easier decision to call time on the current manager. Tactically, he is a one-trick pony, and the trick doesn’t fool anyone.

To be notified when there is fresh content on my blog (generally the day after matches), follow me on Twitter - https://twitter.com/KevinWhitcher01