Arteta’s “project” hits the buffers. Do we really need another three years of this?

 

Newcastle United 2 Arsenal 0  
Premier League  
Monday 16th May 2022 8pm   

The most disappointing aspect of yesterday evening’s defeat was the apparent lack of motivation in the Arsenal team, who had plenty to play for, against a mid-table team that – in honesty – had every reason to just go through the motions. How did it end up evidently mattering to Newcastle so much more? It points to the difference in experience between the two managers. Eddie Howe (44 years old) has been picking teams since 2008. Mikel Arteta (40 years old) has been doing the same for two and half seasons. Howe has never had the chance at a club of Arsenal’s stature and expectation, although with the money behind him at Newcastle, who is to say they won’t overtake the Gunners soon enough? 2021-22 offered a unique opportunity for the Gunners to rejoin Europe’s top table, and it’s difficult to envisage that being easier next time around. The decision to give Arteta an extra two seasons – before this one was concluded – looked like one made by people with little experience of running a football club. It still doesn't make sense that the board didn’t at least wait until the summer. Please refresh my memory about which bigger club was linked with taking on Arteta, a manager learning on the job, which made securing his services such a necessity?

Yes, technically, it isn’t over. If Norwich beat Spurs and Arsenal beat Everton, then Gooners would have the last laugh. And if my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle. Even Tottenham can’t Spurs this one up. Too much to hope for given the paucity of Norwich’s season, with just five wins out of 37 games. The reality was that Arsenal – having lost the North London derby – had to win their final two matches, and there was always a feeling that things might come unstuck at Newcastle. White and Gabriel were both announced fit, which meant that at least Tomiyasu could start at right back, with Nuno Tavares coming in on the left. Martinelli gave way to Emile Smith Rowe and joined Cedric and the suspended Holding as the changes from the trip to Spurs. 

The first half was a horrible watch, but somehow Arsenal managed to keep a clean sheet in spite of having so little in the way of possession, territory or goal threat. Newcastle looked far more up for it and dominated, not least physically. It surely couldn’t get any worse in the second half, even if Tomiyasu had been replaced by Cedric after picking up an injury. How wrong that notion was. Newcastle’s goal started with a foul throw awarded against Tavares. It’s not the first time he has been pulled up for this (indeed it has been an occasional issue with Arsenal full backs for a while, going back to Hector Bellerin). This time though, it proved very costly, as Newcastle got the ball forward, exposing Elneny’s lack of pace as he tried to track Joelinton, whose low cross from the left was deflected into his own net by Ben White.

Martinelli came on for Smith Rowe and Arsenal tried to force their way back into the game, but lacked the ability to create any genuinely clear chances. Arteta gambled by replacing Tavares with Lacazette and Gabriel with Pepe, meaning the final 17 minutes were played with a back three of Cedric, White and Xhaka. Yes, the Gunners had to go for it, and an 85th minute goal by Newcastle was hardly surprising. By that time, it was a kitchen sink formation, and played like it. 

A draw would have given Arsenal a slither of hope as it would have meant a Spurs draw at Norwich presented the Gunners with unlikely salvation, but the truth is that Newcastle could easily have won this game 4-0. 

The concern is that Arteta, as a motivator, does not have what it takes, at least on a consistent basis. Arsenal have lost 13 league games this season – more than one in three. You don’t make the Champions League with that kind of stat. And when it came to the crunch the players were found wanting. To add insult to injury, William Saliba was named French Young Player of the Year in a season when, back in England, his club conceded more goals than any of the teams above them. Saliba – a hugely-rated prospect who has been on the club’s books for three seasons now – has a contract that expires in two years’ time. It’s a complete mystery, but hey, we might get two decent campaigns out of him.

Granit Xhaka’s post match interview was honest and not the kind of thing that the club’s head of communications Mark Gonella would have sanctioned. It’s worth a listen if you haven’t heard it, as it suggests that not only does the player consider too many of his team-mates do not have what is required in terms of character, but also that there is a hint of rebellion in the ranks, in the idea that the players did not carry out the manager’s instructions. If that is the case, then, although we cannot blame Arteta for the tactics, his position is untenable because these are by and large his players (after five transfer windows) and they are not listening to him. He’s hardly in a position to overhaul the squad again, much as it needs serious surgery. 

That Newcastle all too easily bullied their opponents is a damning indictment on Arsenal in 2022. For all the technique – which looks wonderful when it comes off – there is not enough steel. And this has been an issue since the moved from Highbury 16 years ago. Remember the spring of 2008? If Arteta is trying to correct the club culture (from one of complacency), he needs to get in some no-nonsense older heads who will keep people on their toes. He may feel that Xhaka is that type (and there was a bit of Roy Keane about him in his interview, if sadly not on the pitch) but there aren’t enough. If Martin Odegaard is his idea of a leader… well, last night told us all we need to know there. He can play a good pass, but in the heat of battle, he wilts too easily – something that can be said for too many of Arsenal’s current squad. On a side note, the quality of the crossing was appalling, and there is no point is singling out individuals here – it was like a virus throughout the team.

I feared the worst when Spurs got Antonio Conte in, but fair play to them for being ruthless and not prolonging something that was obviously not working with Nuno Espirito Santo. Arsenal are the polar opposite – settling for something that has proven not to work, or is in terminal decline. Arsene should have been given his cards in the summer of 2009, Emery in the summer of 2019 (remember Palace at home? Baku?), Arteta in the summer of 2021 (two consecutive eighth place finishes, that tactical disaster of a Europa League semi final against Villarreal). But the people running the club are prepared to settle for Arsenal’s declining status in action if not words. Otherwise they would have been more ruthless – they just don’t want to rock the boat.

Let’s discount the four league defeats against Manchester City and Liverpool this season. The other nine have come against -
Brentford
Chelsea
Manchester United
Everton
Palace
Brighton
Southampton
Spurs
Newcastle

There were three draws -
Brighton
Palace
Burnley

There were a good few at St James’s Park who considered last night the worst performance of the season, and they may well be right. If Arsenal were on their last legs, it was down to a lack of squad depth, a decision made in January as plenty of players departed. Might Ainsley Maitland-Niles have been a better back up at right back that Cedric? Certainly as a utility player, he would have proved handy – he played left wing-back in the 2020 FA Cup Final. There are other questions. Aubameyang has found his scoring touch at Barcelona as too often, his former colleagues have struggled to find the net. Lacazette is unlikely to finish the season with more than his current four goals – two of those penalties. 

It’s a squad with some good players, but as a cohesive unit, it has proved too inconsistent, this in spite of the extra preparation time this campaign due to the lack of European involvement. Arteta nearly pulled it off. He came close to delivering top four, but at the key moments he or his team was found wanting. Yes, the penalty for Spurs was a joke, but Rob Holding’s red card was down to lack of intelligence, and at 1-0 down with eleven men, Arsenal might have got a draw out of that game, which would have changed the picture significantly. Then at Newcastle, he was unable to get a tune out of his players in arguably the most important managerial game of his fledgling career. At half-time it was 0-0 and he had the chance to salvage the situation. He failed.

Yes, we have Europa League next season, so there has been some improvement, but I don’t see this getting better in the long term. I just don't think Arteta knows how to win football matches consistently enough to return the club to the status of contenders. We seen signs that he can, but then a run of bad results to undo the good work. Arsenal have been also-rans for many years now. That looks likely to remain the case as long as Arteta is calling the shots. He’s had his opportunity, and fallen short. I wanted to be proved wrong, for the Spaniard to make me look a fool in my belief he was not up to the job. But if he cannot deliver a top four place under the circumstances of the current campaign, do you really think he can next season? Wouldn’t the club be better getting someone in who has shown how to get results. Sadly, they won’t even consider a figure like Diego Simeone, but right now, that’s what the club needs. Simeone has built Atletico into a financial powerhouse on the back of having to sell his best players because of the culture that he has established. Arsenal could win the league once again with such a figure in the dugout.

A unique window of opportunity presented itself this season, but now it’s gone. Another campaign to forget, a further slide into mediocrity. The players know this, and the best ones will be tempted by clubs that will give them a higher profile (and quite probably better coaching). But whatever happens, Arsenal need a results manager. It might have to be someone pragmatic and unglamorous, but the foundations have to be in place if the club is to challenge again. Basics have to be drilled into highly paid professionals, such as how to take a legal throw-in…

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