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Arsenal fans are not Fickle – Arteta Deserves to be Under Fire Right Now

There Is Nothing Fickle About Arsenal Fans Questioning Arteta–Especially When He Had A Hand In Creating All Of The Club’s Current Issues

Arsenal is on the struggle bus. There can be no doubt about that, and if you need evidence, look at the statistics. Zero goals scored in open play for several consecutive games. An over-reliance on set pieces to score at all. A left side of the offense that the Guardian noted has scored only 21% of Arsenal’s goals — making them the worst unit in the league. The one common thread in all these problems is the manager, Mikel Arteta.

This is the team he spent £750 million constructing. For all the flak Wenger took late in his career (which was very well-deserved), he’d probably still be here if the Kroenkes had ever let him spend three quarters of a billion quid on players in five years. These are the players Arteta wanted and they’re playing his tactics. So, why should he be immune to criticism when his team grossly underperforms?

That’s not fans being fickle. That’s fans holding the manager accountable in a way no different than they would be held responsible for underperforming at their own jobs. An engineer is only as good as their last successful build. If a famous engineer supervises the construction of a failed dam, it’s irrelevant how many of their other dams are still standing.

Arteta Should Absolutely Be Taking Fire Right Now

Arteta has a lot to answer about if this team doesn’t win a championship this season. That it is as it should be. Despite the Brinks truck full of cash he’s spent on player acquisitions, the two best players at Arsenal, William Saliba and Bukayo Saka, are not players he bought. Saka is an academy product, and Saliba came in during the Emery regime.

If Arteta deserves credit for their development, which he does, he also deserves to be held accountable for players he has failed to develop. Nuno Tavares, for example, is leading Serie A in assists at Lazio. Considering how non-existent Arsenal’s left-side attack is, loaning Tavares out looks more questionable every day. Gabriel Martinelli has gone from potential star to the Brazilian Theo Walcott; a guy who runs fast in one direction with his head down.

Martinelli

Too Many Arteta Gambles Are Coming Up Snake-Eyes

Ricciardo Calafiori looks like a good player. Unfortunately, he also looks like Kieran Tierney’s Italian cousin, when you consider how much time he’s spent on the training table… for £42 million. Watching Mikel Merino pivot feels like watching a lorry attempt a K-Turn on a narrow cobblestone street. Like Dani Ceballos, Merino has obvious technical qualities, but athletically, he looks miles off the EPL pace, and no one can deny that.

Unfortunately, that’s far from the only lowlight for Arsenal this season. The fact that Gabby Jesus couldn’t kick the ball into the English Channel from the deck of the Dover to Calais ferry is the only thing keeping the spotlight off how ineffective Kai Havertz has been for most of the year. Arsenal have committed £100 million on transfer fees and over £500k/week to two strikers who haven’t scored ten goals between them all year.

What do both players have in common? Arteta wanted them. £100 million to buy two “strikers” with less cutting edge than a kindergartner’s child safety scissors? Why shouldn’t Arteta have his feet held to the fire about that? Can anyone honestly say Arsenal wouldn’t be better off right now with Solanke or Ivan Toney? Eberiche Eze was available all summer long. Surely, he’s a better creative solution and goal threat than Martinelli or Trossard.

Nothing Arteta Has Done at Arsenal Makes Him Untouchable

Whenever someone asks these questions, many Arsenal fans carry on as if doing so is akin to insulting the Pope during Christmas Mass. Does winning an FA Cup and two community shields make Arteta a sacred cow? Is that the standard? Why do so many Arsenal fans resort to flimsy arguments like “Solanke isn’t killing it at Tottenham,” or “We’ve only lost three times in 2024 and you doubt the manager… you are so fickle” in his defense? (Admin note … That was me!)

Both defenses miss the entire point. First, Tottenham is %%%t. The fact that Solanke hasn’t set the league on fire there doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be better at Arsenal alongside Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard. Second, how much less effective could anyone be than the tripe Arsenal trots out at CF right now? At this point, it’s worth noting that Havertz isn’t a CF by trade.

He’s been “converted” to one by Arteta because he was an utter disaster playing the position Arteta brought him here to play. After a half-decent season where he managed double-digit goals, Havertz has regressed to the mean and revealed what everyone always knew: that he’s not a real CF. Yet our erstwhile manager pays him like one. How does Arteta not deserve to be called to the mat over that?

Arteta Havertz

Professional Football Is a Results-Based Business

The “we’ve only lost 3 games in 2024,” defense is equally specious. The standard is winning the EPL title. Period. Regardless of how many points that translates to us needing, it’s the manager’s job to field a team that gets those points. Arteta isn’t doing that, and that’s why Arsenal sits in 3rd place after having blown two glorious opportunities to close the gap on Liverpool in just the last several weeks.

Yes, absolutely, 100% positively YES, THE MANAGER NEEDS TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THAT. He’s spent nearly a billion dollars. His team can’t score in open play and the club has the worst left-sided attack in the EPL. What accountability looks like if the club doesn’t win a trophy is a different question. However, top-down accountability should be “non-negotiable,” to coin a phrase from Arteta himself.

Arsenal's Spanish manager Mikel Arteta leaves after the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Arsenal - Man Utd won the game 3-1.

Arsenal’s Spanish manager Mikel Arteta leaves after the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and Arsenal – Man Utd won the game 3-1.(Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

What Accountability for Arteta Looks Like

To be certain, the fans should hold Areta accountable respectfully. There should be no ugly chatter about Arteta personally or his family on social media. The same goes for the consistently poor players whose wretched performances are derailing this season. It’s not hard to figure out who they are. Short of that, however, they all deserve to take the heat for the club’s current form.

One potential starting point for that accountability is reducing Arteta’s autonomy over player acquisitions. Should Arteta be trusted with the shopping list and the wallet this summer after flushing £34 million down the drain on Fabio Viera and badly missing the mark with Kai Havertz and Gabby Jesus? At a minimum, Arsenal’s new sporting director should have a clear position in the chain of command that is HIGHER THAN ARTETA’S.

The Fans Footing the Bill For This Have A Right To Ask Hard Questions

The fans who pay hard-earned money for cable subscriptions, kits, and match day tickets to support this team have every right to question the club’s direction. Yes, the Kroenkes own the team, but fan money funds Arsenal’s “self-sustaining business model.” Arsenal fans can question the results all they want for as long as that’s the case.

That’s not fickle. That’s how the real world works. If Arteta doesn’t like that, then it’s just hard cheese. High expectations come with the job. If you can’t meet those expectations after spending a billion dollars, perhaps Arsenal is the wrong job for you. Make no mistake about it. Mikel Arteta deserves every bit of the fire he’s catching for the club’s disappointing season.

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