Arsenal have a mentality problem

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:10:05:20:18:10 by Flava.

Martinelli was right to celebrate the goal. It was an amazing touch and finish, he's had a great week.

My main issue is with Arteta being afraid not to lose. We've seen the Zubimendi, Rice and Merino midfield 3 times this season and it's not looked good.

We need to put our best players on the pitch, you can't win if you don't score.

Recent games indicated that Arteta is using Route 101 Football to utilize quickness and pace of Martinelli.

Against Athletic Bilbao
A lob and Martinelli at the end of it.

Against Man City
Eze lofted an accurate lob with Martinelli started running just inside our own half.

Against Port Vale
Saliba lob directly to Trossard, lovely one-touch and scored.
There was another run from our half by Martinelli, but the goalie anticipated Arsenal tactic and was out of the goal in a flash and just one step quicker than Martinelli and cleared the ball.

The problem with Gyok was that his first touch was heavy and defender easily robbed him of the ball when lobs and long passes are aimed at him. Gyok lacks that finesse of Martinelli and Trossard to control the ball with one-touch. Plus, Gyok does not have Trossard Football Brain as a predator to accurate placed the ball without hitting parts of a defender. Gyok just banged away the ball under pressure.

Good to see Arteta revised his Tactics Handbook and knew how deploy his finishers with this deep squad.
Deep thought needed on how to rotate Odegaard, Nwaneri and Eze to create team synergy who understand pace and movements of Saka, Madueke, Martinelli, Trossard, Gyokeres and Havertz to vary long and short passes to unbalance teams.

Route 1 football needs to be one of the methods of attack which Arteta needs to encourage. Keeping possession for the sake of possession does not help to break down teams with tight well marshalled defences.

Good write up Kipper.
Think we have had a bit of a mentality problem for awhile now. It's nothing new.

This season winning anything is all on Arteta.
Not saying we win anything playing attacking football.
But it would at least be entertaining.
We have the players too do it.
And remember we still have a good defence.

We can't continue how we are playing against so called top clubs
It's so negative.
We hand the initiative to them as soon as team sheet is out.
Personally think in both games (Liverpool & City) it's cost us points.

You can't just switch on from negative to attack just like that.
Especially when you keep going behind.

"𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴."

Quote:

Merlion96


The problem with Gyok was that his first touch was heavy and defender easily robbed him of the ball when lobs and long passes are aimed at him. Gyok lacks that finesse of Martinelli and Trossard to control the ball with one-touch. Plus, Gyok does not have Trossard Football Brain as a predator to accurate placed the ball without hitting parts of a defender. Gyok just banged away the ball under pressure.

This is a problem and one we knew about from his Sporting days a well, his first and often second touch can be poor when the ball is played direct to him when he hasnt got a head of stream with the ball at his feet to run directly at defenses.

Henry did a good piece after the Bilbao game when he had a ball played into him and a clear run at goal but both his touches were poor and allowed the defender to get back on the cover when he should have never been given that opportuntiy by Gyokeres.

We can critique the service he is getting but if when he gets early service and his touch is too heavy then that's all on him, and I fear its a trait which isnt going to improve no matter how long he has on the pitch and the level of service he gets. He may fumble two and score one but with such limited chances and space in the PL and better defenders not allowing you two or three touches to control the ball its going to be a constant problem for him.

As Merl said both Trossard and Martinelli are far better in those type of situations as the last few games have demonstrated.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:09:26:10:58:03 by Jonny Bravo.

Quote:

Jonny Bravo
.........................................
As Merl said both Trossard and Martinelli are far better in those type of situations as the last few games have demonstrated.

So is Havertz who has the advantage that he is very strong and hard to push off the ball. I bet Arteta will start Havertz over Gyokeres once Havertz is fully fit and if Gyokeres continue to fire blanks.

Arteta is too cautious. The team who wins the league is always the team that wins the most (or joint most) games, not necessarily the team that loses the fewest. You can eat several losses per season if you're winning the rest but draws are by and large pretty useless.

Quote:

mapleleafgooner

Quote:

Jonny Bravo
.........................................
As Merl said both Trossard and Martinelli are far better in those type of situations as the last few games have demonstrated.

So is Havertz who has the advantage that he is very strong and hard to push off the ball. I bet Arteta will start Havertz over Gyokeres once Havertz is fully fit and if Gyokeres continue to fire blanks.

You can be sure Havertz would have started against the big teams we have played so far, especially when we were lacking creativity from the line behind. We'll see, I hope Gyok starts to score regularly between then and does so against Newcastle to silence the noise around that he can't do it against top sides. But we will be sharing duties with Havertz once he is back, that's not only giving us a different option at a different game state but also taking the load of both players which is crucial.

Jonny Kipper, do we need to delete this thread? 😉

Quote:

Flava
Jonny Kipper, do we need to delete this thread? 😉

No, just edit the title to Arsenal don't have....

Different animal with the handbrake off.
Let other teams worry about us.

"𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴."

[supersport.com]

The only Newcastle highlight is their goal.

Top performance from Arsenal.

... no doubt, great performance at Newcastle,
but one can, long term see the initial posters point ; the pressure isn't really cranked up yet - this comes at the seasons end, where we have flunked twice over.
Hope, it's third time lucky for us. Really do.!!
Learn lessons.

Arsenal urged to follow PSG example as club legend tells Mikel Arteta to take tips from Luis Enrique

Emmanuel Petit has urged Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta to take inspiration from Luis Enrique's attacking approach at Paris Saint-Germain, claiming the Gunners' football has become too cautious. The Arsenal legend believes his former club should adopt a more direct and dynamic style, similar to the one that has transformed Les Parisiens over the last year.

Club legend believes Arsenal don't play exciting football
Petit reckons Arsenal’s current approach under Arteta has become overly reliant on possession and set pieces. He praised PSG's evolution under Enrique, highlighting their switch from sterile control to fast, forward-thinking football. He suggested Arsenal need to embrace a similar attacking intent if they want to take the next step.

Petit wants Arteta to make Arsenal more like PSG
Speaking to the OLBG, Petit said: "Paris Saint-Germain, they look strong. Again, they started against Atalanta, and beat them 4-0 with some players injured. It's like they were following exactly what they've done for the last six months of the last season. They've been brilliant. The way they play, I love it.”

He continued: "They control the ball, they control the position of the ball, but they play straight forward, you know. They play fast football. This is something I want to see with Arsenal. Possession is good, but if you don't play forward football, possession can be boring. Give me the ball, I give you the ball, give me the ball, I give you the ball.”

Petit concluded by pointing to PSG’s turnaround as a lesson for Arteta: "That was the problem with Luis Enrique at Paris Saint-Germain for months. Nobody could understand what he wanted to do. And it changed. He played more direct football and all of a sudden it changed completely."

Arsenal have failed in three straight Premier League title races
Arteta has brought stability and consistency to Arsenal, but questions remain over the team’s attacking spark and whether they can win silverware. The Gunners have been criticised for cautious play and dependence on set pieces. Their inability to win a single Premier League despite being in three straight title races has underlined their failure to get over the line.

[www.goal.com]

It took Luis Enrique about 18 months to revamp Paris Saint-Germain from Galactico Mentality to a title-winning team.

And it took Arteta 6 seasons to show him out as a bottler and failing to forge a title-winning team despite spending about 1-billion euros. This is his 7th season to do what Luis Enrique did at PSG.

Dembele flopped big time at Barca and yet Luis Enrique transformed him from a Barca Flop to Balon d'Oro Winner.

What did Arteta had achieved with Saka, Saliba, Odegaard and Martinelli to-date ... after 3 seasons?

Quote:

Merlion96
Arsenal urged to follow PSG example as club legend tells Mikel Arteta to take tips from Luis Enrique
Emmanuel Petit has urged Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta to take inspiration from Luis Enrique's attacking approach at Paris Saint-Germain, claiming the Gunners' football has become too cautious. The Arsenal legend believes his former club should adopt a more direct and dynamic style, similar to the one that has transformed Les Parisiens over the last year.

Club legend believes Arsenal don't play exciting football
Petit reckons Arsenal’s current approach under Arteta has become overly reliant on possession and set pieces. He praised PSG's evolution under Enrique, highlighting their switch from sterile control to fast, forward-thinking football. He suggested Arsenal need to embrace a similar attacking intent if they want to take the next step.

Petit wants Arteta to make Arsenal more like PSG
Speaking to the OLBG, Petit said: "Paris Saint-Germain, they look strong. Again, they started against Atalanta, and beat them 4-0 with some players injured. It's like they were following exactly what they've done for the last six months of the last season. They've been brilliant. The way they play, I love it.”

He continued: "They control the ball, they control the position of the ball, but they play straight forward, you know. They play fast football. This is something I want to see with Arsenal. Possession is good, but if you don't play forward football, possession can be boring. Give me the ball, I give you the ball, give me the ball, I give you the ball.”

Petit concluded by pointing to PSG’s turnaround as a lesson for Arteta: "That was the problem with Luis Enrique at Paris Saint-Germain for months. Nobody could understand what he wanted to do. And it changed. He played more direct football and all of a sudden it changed completely."

Arsenal have failed in three straight Premier League title races
Arteta has brought stability and consistency to Arsenal, but questions remain over the team’s attacking spark and whether they can win silverware. The Gunners have been criticised for cautious play and dependence on set pieces. Their inability to win a single Premier League despite being in three straight title races has underlined their failure to get over the line.

[www.goal.com]

It took Luis Enrique about 18 months to revamp Paris Saint-Germain from Galactico Mentality to a title-winning team.

And it took Arteta 6 seasons to show him out as a bottler and failing to forge a title-winning team despite spending about 1-billion euros. This is his 7th season to do what Luis Enrique did at PSG.

Dembele flopped big time at Barca and yet Luis Enrique transformed him from a Barca Flop to Balon d'Oro Winner.

What did Arteta had achieved with Saka, Saliba, Odegaard and Martinelli to-date ... after 3 seasons?

Whatever. I bet PSG go back to being what they were.

Btw, good read Jonny Kipper.

Quote:

Flava
Jonny Kipper, do we need to delete this thread? 😉

Nope. No complaints from me. Big test and one that we passed. I don't know how Gabriel avoided conceding that penalty late on but I also think we were robbed earlier in the game so these things even out.

Quote:

Jonny Kipper

Quote:

Flava
Jonny Kipper, do we need to delete this thread? 😉

Nope. No complaints from me. Big test and one that we passed. I don't know how Gabriel avoided conceding that penalty late on but I also think we were robbed earlier in the game so these things even out.

Gabriel was absolutely the right decision. These 'arms not in the natural position' penalty shouts are getting ridiculous. Even when they are 'by your side' (Tarkowski against Leeds), pens are still be given and approved by VAR as well. It's a shambles.

Gabriel dived in to tackle/block the cross, which he did successfully. But because the ball ricocheted off at 80mph and hit his hand, people were screaming pen. Players now have to put their arms behind their backs when defending, like some kid in choir practice so as to minimise the risk of hitting their arm or hand. But who jumps or flops to ground like a Penguin? Arms are used for leverage or to break your fall, how can it be 'unnatural'? It does wind me up as it's complete nonsense.

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

- Albert Einstein

Fair point mate you're making a lot of sense.

Lets just hope we get 3 points west ham

Theodore roosevelt - In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.

Quote:

BootyDaddy

Quote:

Jonny Kipper

Quote:

Flava
Jonny Kipper, do we need to delete this thread? 😉

Nope. No complaints from me. Big test and one that we passed. I don't know how Gabriel avoided conceding that penalty late on but I also think we were robbed earlier in the game so these things even out.

Gabriel was absolutely the right decision. These 'arms not in the natural position' penalty shouts are getting ridiculous. Even when they are 'by your side' (Tarkowski against Leeds), pens are still be given and approved by VAR as well. It's a shambles.

Gabriel dived in to tackle/block the cross, which he did successfully. But because the ball ricocheted off at 80mph and hit his hand, people were screaming pen. Players now have to put their arms behind their backs when defending, like some kid in choir practice so as to minimise the risk of hitting their arm or hand. But who jumps or flops to ground like a Penguin? Arms are used for leverage or to break your fall, how can it be 'unnatural'? It does wind me up as it's complete nonsense.

There is a case in America of a driverless AGV making an illegal U-turn and cops were clueless on how to book the "driver".

No insult to the handicapped, but at the rate of all these clueless VAR decisions, teams might as well start looking up to train agile armless sportsmen as defenders in the box.
Guarantee no "hand ball" incidents.

Why use subjective human being as VAR assistant?
With billions of datasets and develop a LLM with at least a million parameters, AI Tool is way more superior and accurate than guys like England.
Oh yeah, AI can hallucinate and may agree that Pope was attempting to play the ball and Gyok was guilty of diving over Pope outstretched knee to win a penalty.

This season, England international Rice is the only Arsenal player in the list of biggest chance creators in the Premier League, sitting 17th with a tally of nine from six games.

Liverpool, meanwhile, has two entries with Hugo Ekitike (ninth) and Florian Wirtz (12th), whereas Manchester United, somewhat surprisingly, have two players (Bruno Fernandes and Bryan Mbeumo) in the top ten.

As mentioned, Arsenal arguably have a better squad than Liverpool overall, though their struggles to create chances and break teams down risk being their undoing, while the Reds are always likely to score at least two goals per game due to the amount of opportunities given to their quality attackers.

It is also worth noting that the Gunners are only fifth in our Premier League table based on big chances created, trailing Liverpool and Manchester City in the standings.

[www.football365.com]

If that is not a mentality problem, what is?
With what pundits claimed the strongest and best squad, why the heck on the poor amount of big chance created?
Arteta has a huge inferior complex and a big mentality problem against big teams, playing too cautiously with an obsession of dominating possession but really, what is the point of 70% to 80% possession with a paucity of big chance created.

Quote:

Jonny Kipper

Quote:

Flava
Jonny Kipper, do we need to delete this thread? 😉

Nope. No complaints from me. Big test and one that we passed. I don't know how Gabriel avoided conceding that penalty late on but I also think we were robbed earlier in the game so these things even out.

Because it wasn't a penalty, that's how Gabriel avoided it 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

"𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2025:09:30:17:19:34 by Boston Gooner.

Merl,
We are 2nd highest scorers.
We must have created something then 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

"𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴."

Quote:

Boston Gooner
Merl,
We are 2nd highest scorers.
We must have created something then 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

Think scored from corners and a penalty, including 5 against Forest.
1-0 win against ManU from a corner.
0-1 loss against Liverpool
1-1 draw against Man City

The amount of goals from corners and throw in is increasing for all teams, it’s just increasing by more for Arsenal.
It would seem that as Arsenal scored 2 goals from headers at Newcastle that they have Problem. Surely Newcastle have the bigger problem as they only headed one in.
This is all nonsense corners have always been a key part of the game.

"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.

Since August 2023/24, Arsenal had scored 36 goals from corner.
The nearest challenger, I think Chelski and one other team, had scored only 21 goals from corner.

Sure, corner always had bene part of modern game but not addicted to it with open plays not developed in tight games.
Let's see how much longer we can score from corners to win game.

Eddie Howe’s comments after the game were rather telling. The dominance that Arsenal had in open play weighed heavily on Newcastle — the goals scored via corners were the product of the overall dominance they had in the second half.

"𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴."

Yes.
Eddie thought Arsenal is same old same old from previous 3 seasons where he was successful with low block.
I believe it was Odegaard who came late in 2nd half and was the difference.
Obviously, Rice also played a huge role with his box-to-box running and accurate delivery.

Brilliant players stand up to be counted on that day.

Quote:

Boston Gooner
Eddie Howe’s comments after the game were rather telling. The dominance that Arsenal had in open play weighed heavily on Newcastle — the goals scored via corners were the product of the overall dominance they had in the second half.

Exactly.
A team that low blocks and hardly attacks doesn’t get corners.
I cant be bothered todo the stats but I’m sure that Arsenal score more goals in open play than most teams.
No doubt a lot of teams have as many corners as Arsenal but fail to score them. Why waste them?

"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.