Morning all.
After Man City slumped to yet another defeat in the Manchester derby, Pep Guardiola said he wasn’t good enough:
> This is a big club and when you lose eight \[out of 11 games\] something is wrong. You can say the schedule is tough or the injuries to players, but no. I’m the manager and I’m not good enough, simple as that. I have to find a way to talk to them, to train them in the way we need to play, to press the way we need to press.
How’s that for honesty. He’s right of course, a manager’s football career lives or dies by results. Gary O’Neill has been sacked this week because Wolves were not achieving the kind of results the clubs board believed he should and yesterday, relegation favourites Southampton sacked their manager Russell Martin after their 5-0 thrashing by Totts.
Not for one minute am I suggesting or expecting Guardiola to be sacked but it’s amazing how a group of players can go from being very good to average. Similar could be said about Arsenal really who at times last season were very good but this season have turned into a side which lacks a cutting edge or a killer instinct, especially up front.
As a club, we’ve focused on bolstering our defensive options but have neglected our attacking unit. We sold Nketiah, Biereth, Smith Rowe and let Vieira leave on loan and in return, we got Sterling on loan. Admittedly, Nwaneri has been promoted to the first team squad but we’re still short in quality. Havertz form has dropped, Trossard has been pretty underwhelming and both Sterling and Jesus, well, the less said the better really although what Sterling might bring to the team is unknown as he’s barely played.
Guardiola said it was up to him to make his team player better and the same could be said about Arteta but sometimes, it’s as much about the players as it is the manager. Roy Keane said Rashford needs a new challenge after the player was left out of Utd’s squad yesterday and perhaps that’s the case for a number of our own players. By that I mean changing a few things up on the pitch. Why not try Martinelli through the middle and Sterling or Jesus on the left? Or Saka on the left with Sterling/Jesus on the right, better still, Nwaneri on the right with Timber behind him. Just try something different to surprise the opposition because too many clubs know that if they can nullify Saka, half our attacking threat is gone.
I’m not suggesting it would work but at least it would be something different. No opposing right back will be expecting to face Saka and he’d have spent the week focusing on Martinelli who instead could be terrorising central defenders with his pace.
Thierry Henry was once a winger, although I’m not for one minute suggesting our Brazilian could be as good as him but a move to middle might just make Arsenal better.
Catch up in the comments..