My last blog was back in 2013 when Arsenal signed Mesut Ozil. I thought Arsenal will become stronger and compete for trophies after that signing. It did not go as I expected, but we did win few FA cups, finished second in the premier league in 2015-16, and few good games in Champions League here and there.
But the life of an Arsenal fan is nothing short of tragedy nowadays 😞. Not only on the pitch, but I also don't see my Arsenal off the pitch as well. The way the fans treated Arsene Wegner which led to his sacking, and the way players like Ramsey, Ozil, and few others were made to leave the club, was not right. The fact that Ozil and Carzola did not get a proper farewell still angers me.
During Arsene's reign, even though we were not competing with the top teams in Europe, least I was excited by some of the football we played in some of our home games. The situation now is completely different, I am not able to figure out our style of play and missing the excitement as well. In the past, away games were a challenge but now we are struggling to score a goal in our home games.
I was skeptical about Unai Emery when Arsenal appointed him but thought he would do well given his Managerial experience but unfortunately, it did not work for him. I was really surprised when Arteta got appointed. Yes, he was working with Pep and was playing a key role in getting the best out of their players BUT he has never managed a team before. Arsenal should have gone for a manager who has experience in managing a premier league club. I think few managers were available but we appointed Arteta. Again, I am not against Arteta but I felt it was too big a job for him to start his career.
Arteta proved everyone wrong by winning the FA Cup and the Community Shield. Even though the way we played was not exciting at least he brought some stability on the defensive side and we were able to beat teams like Liverpool, Man City. Our FA Cup victory helped us to stay in European competitions.
But his first full season with Arsenal is going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Lost a lot of home games, no exciting football, the way Ozil was left out for the so-called "footballing reasons", finishing mid-table in the premier league. I won't accept if someone says that we don't have quality players. The team which started yesterday should have beaten Villarreal. No doubts about that. As a fan, I could sense that we are going to struggle but somehow Arteta did not feel that way and did not make any changes during half-time.
The only thing we are now good at is passing sideways and backwards. I can understand that Arteta wants to play the game in a particular way but take yesterday's game for an example, it was one of the important games in recent history but the way the team started the game, there was no energy, intensity, aggression, and whatnot. We were passing backwards, sideways, long balls but we were missing quality in the final third, and with a striker like Auba on the pitch, we were not playing through the middle and use his pace. Not sure if we have decided to stop playing through balls. We let Ozil go and we expected Odegaard to create chances every week. The way we play now might work against few teams but not all the time. Everything is happening only through the wings and unfortunately, we don't have strikers who are good headers. It looks like we went without a "Plan B" for a big game like yesterday.
The biggest mistake I think Arteta made yesterday is to take Auba off. He was the one who came close to scoring a goal but he was taken off for the final 10 mins. Why would you do that????😠😠
In the past, I used to get angry and frustrated when Arsenal lose and I eagerly wait for the next game because we usually did well after a bad game. Nowadays, I am not feeling anything after a loss. I am starting to accept the fact that we are not the same Arsenal anymore. I became a Gunner in 2005 and I waited many years before we won a trophy. I was able to withstand that dry period because there was a connection between me and Arsenal, it could be the players, the way we played, Arsene Wegner, etc., I am completely missing that connection now.
I wanted Arteta to succeed so that Arsenal will succeed but not sure if he is the right manager for the current situation. With the fans back in the stadium next season, can he handle the pressure that Arsene Wenger went through whenever we had a bad game? He definitely needs support in terms of experience in dealing with difficult situations. W.r.t funds, without money from European competitions, will the owners trust Arteta with more funds? We might have to release few players to raise funds but other clubs know that we are desperate for funds and they will play hardball.
Lots of questions but no answers at this point. I don't care who is going to be the manager and owner next season but I want my Arsenal back!!!
