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LIVERPOOL, England – As the first few anniversaries roll by, Mikel Arteta could definitely have asked for a better way to score a year at the helm of Arsenal. However, all he managed on Saturday was a seventh loss in 10 Premier League games and a run of results marking the club’s worst start to the season in 46 years.
The Spaniard may have guided the Gunners to FA Cup glory last season, but that piece of silver is now forgotten by the club’s fans, who received the 2-1 defeat at Everton with a torrent of lawsuits at social media for the 38-year-old to be fired. Soccer has always been a fickle business, but Arteta has gone from hero to nil at Emirates in what seems like the blink of an eye.
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Results are always the definitive barometer for any coach and this was another loss, with an own goal from Ron Holding and a header from Yerry Mina, on either side of a Nicolas Pepe penalty. Arteta’s team rarely seemed to find another goal, as Everton secured the victory that takes them to second place, behind neighboring Liverpool. Arsenal is still 15th and sinking like quicksand.
Less than a week ago, Arsenal manager Edu gave his public endorsement of Arteta, saying the manager was “doing a great job” and would lead the club to a “beautiful future”. High-level figures in football clubs are not always the most reliable sources when it comes to giving an unadorned perspective on any situation, so Arteta would do well to treat Edu’s words with caution. But this time around, Arsenal really need to keep their nerves and assert Edu’s vote of confidence.
The statistics are horrible, five points out of a possible 30, and so are the performances, but it was not long ago that Arteta was heralded as the solution to all the club’s problems. In that sense, it would be foolish to regard the recent run of results as a sign of terminal decline and that the coach has lost control of his destiny and that of his team.
The real problem for Arsenal is not the coach, but the players. Goalkeeper Bernd Leno even made that statement public this week when he said “the attitude is bad and discipline is lacking.” As a manager, Arteta is of course responsible for that, and has to address both issues if he wants to pull the team out of their nosedive, but he can only work with the players at his disposal and many of them are not good enough or not. the motivation to perform at your best.
Arteta, right, must stay in position despite an Arsenal team continuing to disappoint him. CLIVE BRUNSKILL / POOL / AFP via Getty Images
Against Everton, the warning signs were there before kick-off, as Arsenal players entered the field without any urgency or concentration. Willian and Eddie Nketiah, in particular, gave the impression that they would rather be anywhere else at the time than on the Goodison Park field, preparing for a big Premier League game. Willian has only had one shot on goal in 15 games since he was lured from Chelsea on a three-year contract at the Emirates. Needless to say, that shot didn’t come against Everton.
As for the rest, David Luiz has shown that he cannot be trusted consistently, the same can be said for Mohamed Elneny and Nicolas Pepe. And despite Arteta missing the injured Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, absent with a tight calf, the Arsenal manager was still unprepared to trust Alexandre Lacazette, choosing instead to start with Nketiah and select the French forward as a substitute. .
Arteta has already made the controversial – and correct – decision to go ahead without Mesut Ozil, but he can’t get rid of all those players who don’t stick to his plan. Until he has a squad of players in his own image, he will have to work with the unsatisfactory group he inherited from Unai Emery a year ago.
Dani Ceballos is another player who cannot be trusted, as evidenced by his cynical foul on Yerry Mina in the 41st minute, which was missed by referee Andre Marriner and VAR official Michael Oliver. Had Ceballos’s defiance been seen, when he drove his nails into Mina’s calf, it would surely have resulted in another Arsenal red card after three of the five games leading up to this one. Ceballos was lucky to get his way on Saturday, but Arteta cannot allow his players to be so undisciplined because winning with 10 men is almost impossible in the Premier League.
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Arteta was measured when asked to rate his team’s performance, but said enough to highlight his frustrations.
“We need to generate more to win soccer games,” he said. “When it comes to small details, the other team wants it more. Without conceding much, we lost the game in two key moments. We are in a great fight, but we are making it difficult by conceding the first goal. However, the boys they are still fighting. They are injured right now. “
Only Arteta knows if he thinks his players are really suffering and fighting. The truth is, they didn’t show much proof. In the middle of the week, Arteta said that “he would receive the blows and the bullets” when the criticism reached Arsenal, but he needs his players to step up and get into play too, otherwise, people like Edu, the CEO Vinai Venkateshem and Director Josh Kroenke may have a big decision to make.
Arsenal’s next four games are huge. They will face Manchester City at home in the Carabao Cup in the middle of the week before hosting Chelsea on December 26. Without a positive result in any of those games, they will travel to Brighton and then West Brom with the pressure on Arteta that has probably become intolerable.
But Arsenal must be strong, stick with the coach and give him time to get rid of the players who continue to disappoint him. Taking out Arteta will only see his successor tasked with the same task.
Source: espn.co.uk
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