Originally Posted by HCZ_Reborn
The question of pushing on is an interesting one. We have improved in each of Arteta's 5 seasons in charge...and this season on results alone we are keeping pace so far with last time around. So I agree fully with you that some of the criticism of our team and manager is overblown. I agree with Letters also that its too early to judge (as opposed to being concerned about) our season.
In assessing our progress, there is an argument to be made that it is unfair to judge where we currently are without acknowledging the ill fortune we have suffered. An easy way to illustrate it is to ask where Liverpool would be had they been without Salah for a few weeks...or even if he was having a 'normal' rather than the astonishing season he is having. 17 goals in 18 Premier League games and 13 assists is not normal, and also supersedes anything that his manager has done. Slot is enjoying very good luck...and we have almost certainly been robbed of 6 points by refereeing that only seems to apply to Arsenal.
If Arteta were a star player, I do not think that anyone sensible could regard his 'signing' as other than a success to date. But if his contract was up for renewal at the end of this season, on current form I would (just as with a player), be asking whether a fat contract reflects what he is likely to do going forwards.
I don't think it's fair to judge the manager on what is often an uninspiring and conservative approach to games, if this approach is getting the results that he told us he was aiming to achieve in his fifth stage of development. Noone criticised Mourinho's success during his glory years on this basis.
But what I am starting to believe is that under Arteta, rather than last season - where we fell so agonisignly short - being a platform from which to push on again, it was a 'goldilocks' season in many ways. Timber aside we were incredibly fortunate with injuries. Havertz's form as a striker in the second part of the season was IMO a fortunate surprise for the manager - because he did not work in the role he was bought for. Trossard was a revelation, who now seems either to be declining physically or reverting more to type. Jorginho - bought as a back up - enjoyed an Indian summer and again I suspect out-performed the manager's expectations. Goals were shared out among the team - while Saliba and Big Gabi and Ben White in defence were pretty much ever presents.
What this season seems to be telling us is that we are not as resiliant as we could be to key injuries, and that reliance on our forward players to repeat their performances - particularly with a depleted squad following the Summer clear out - was misconceived.
Where I am wobbling on Arteta is that while he is conservative on the pitch, he appears to have gambled in terms of his squad. I don't know how much this is to do with PSR, or whether he has been frustrated by the owners, but I have to say that injuries aside we do not appear to have made the investments to ensure a further sustained push to where we want to get to. At this stage - and having seen (1) the Summer business we did, (2) the manager's apparent neglect in forward areas and (3) his use of the signings he has made (eg Rice in the wrong position; inability to solve the left hand side post Xhaka; big money spent on Merino who is nothing more than a squad option) I have to admit to wondering whether Arteta has the judgment to spend wisely on what is required.
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