Why I am Arteta Out.

That semi final right there - not just the second leg, but both legs, sums up the problem with Arteta beautifully. In my opinion, he isn’t the man for the job.

Don’t get me wrong, I was just as hyped as the next fan when we signed him. He took an 8th placed side that were in a state of despair and topped the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea to win the FA Cup. He then took us to the Community Shield by overcoming premiers Liverpool. But since then, it has been all down hill.

Statistics:

The numbers don’t lie. Last year, Arsenal finished 8th. This was excusable, as Arteta picked up the side late in the season and couldn’t really do much to lift the team up the table. However, the Gunners currently sit in 9th, having just crashed and burned out of the Europa League to, might I say, a very lacklustre Villareal side.

That’s a decline.

In their first 50 games at the helm, Arteta could only do as much as boast less wins and more losses then Emery.

That’s a decline.

In Europe, Emery took us to the Europa League final. Today, he knocked Arteta and Arsenal out of this same competition - in the semis.

That’s a decline.

The numbers certainly do not do Mikel any justice.

Decision Making:

This is the biggest issue for me. It is so evident in everything he does.

Indecisiveness:

Let’s talk about Arteta’s indecisiveness. If you are a coach, owner, player: it doesn’t matter. Everyone in life has a system that they trust to deliver results for them. Arteta still hasn’t found that at Arsenal and it has been close to 2 years.

Going into this game, it was expected that he would set up in a 4231, as that is what he normally does. Arsenal lined up in a 343. We can all see how that went.

Line-up:

A lot of the time, it seems like Arteta has a lobby of players to choose from. However, it very rarely seems as if he gets the selection process spot on - from a fan’s perspective, anyway. For example, and you’ve probably seen this one coming from a mile away: Gabriel Martinelli. I am yet to see this lad have a bad game when he starts, yet Arteta never starts him. Even when all the attackers are injured, Martinelli does not feature. Not as a ST, CF, LM. Nothing. In that game against Villareal, Pepe was crying out for attacking support on the right hand side which Bellerin could not provide in the wide midfield position. Yet, Martinelli sat on the bench. I could go on and on and on.

Substitutions:

This may not be the most obvious one, but it is the one that frustrates me the most. I have never understood Arteta’s reasoning behind substitutions. First of all, the timing. A player cannot fully have an impact on the game in the space of 5 minutes... not consistently anyway. Arteta has always seemed adamant to leave his substitutions until the 80th or 85th minute, where the problems of the team are evident long before and the changes necessary clear to everyone. Then there is the actual switch of personnel: take today for example. Aubameyang came agonisingly close to scoring twice but hit the post on both occasions. He was easily the most likely to score. Arsenal need to score to progress through to the grand final... 1 goal, that’s all it is. What does Arteta do? He takes off Aubameyang.

Emery got slandered for taking Ozil off against Liverpool in the EFL Cup. This requires the same reaction. No. This requires more of a reaction.

Experience:

It looks good on paper. He learnt from Pep, multiple time league winner, coached Barca, BVB and City. A footballing genius, many would say. For someone with their first coaching job, mistakes were expected.

But let’s call it as it is. Arteta is way out of his depth.

It has proved simply too big of an ask for him to lead this team back to glory... it seems now anyway.

Play Style:

I’ll keep this one short: crosses.

Every time, crosses, crosses and more crosses.

No target man, just crosses.

No aerial threat, just crosses.

No proof of it working, just crosses.

No success, just crosses.

I wasn’t expecting pure WengerBall, but I wasn’t expecting this either.

If it comes down to me, he doesn’t lead this team into next season.

Arteta: In or Out?