A very down-to-earth headline: "Why Arsenal Didn't Win The Premier League", instead of 'Why Arsenal Lost The Premier League'. Speaking the complete obvious, but still praise warranted.
I'm biased as a Geordie, but Adam has been brilliant this season in these videos. I gave up on four four two after decades, but he has brought me back. He's just mint at stuff like this.
He has a point, if we had bought Kudus instead that would be of been the fine margin between winning and losing the prem, West Ham effed us differently, took 100M off us and bought a better player for 30M
I think it needs to be said that both Jorginho and Partey were both injured during that December run, so Arteta did not really have much of a choice in this regard, Rice was really the only available 6. That being said its accurate to say that progressive passing from that 6 position is probably the biggest area of improvement for Rice. Not a surprise the kind of midfielders we are being currently linked to, the plan is seeminlgy that Rice is going to be the 8 going forward
Jorghino was available against Fulham away and was about to come on before Fulham scored a second goal and Arteta decided to bring in Jesus to get a goal back...
Pep tried to bring in Rice to play him as no.8 alongside Rodri. So Pep was already a step ahead of Arteta and would have achieved another Treble this year if Rice had joined City!
@@Best_game59 this was Arteta after Liverpool game in February "He’s been in a lot of pain as well, because he has an issue that he’s been carrying for months." he was on the bench for most of those games but was probably not fit to play from the start.
@@skevinfrederick I'm assuming you missed the part where Rice started the season as the left 8 for Arsenal? The long term plan might be for Rice to BECOME a 6, but he's clearly an 8 right now under Arteta too.
After the 2-2 draw against Tottenham at home, Jorginho was unused substitute for many games during Christmas because of the error he made leading to the second goal.
So how does Raya get to play after pushing the ball into the middle of the box instead out behind the goal line for a corner. The ball was in the back of the net 2 seconds later.
@@thearsenalmisfit2414 As if Neuer wouldn’t do stuff like that. It’s as if you are saying Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets can’t tackle like Milner so they are not great players. Neuer, TerStegen, Ederson and Raya love to take more risks so that their team would get massive rewards in the build up. Massively increased the number of goals their team would score and massively reduced the number of goals they would conceded.
That pause after "that's how it goes" right in the end is a separate video Adam. We believe and we go back to our "it is what is" cave of emotions as an Arsenal fan. It has been a joy watching you throughout the season breaking down every Arsenal game, thank you to the entire 442 team and specially the post production team to get this out in no time after the games. That team deserves FourFourTwo beers.
"WHY ADAM CLERY ISN"T GETTING ENOUGH RECOGNITION" is what I think after watching another masterclass thank you mate, amazing job as always presenting. Your passion and football IQ really come through every time.
FourFourTwo has been one of the MVP channels of the EPL 23/24 season. An excellent video, entertaining & insightful. I’ve been saying this, Declan Rice is not a 6. He is a formidable roaming 8.
Excellent analysis Adam, I think Arsenal always looked significantly better with Jorginho in the side and Rice playing as the eight. However, I think the reason Arteta didn't fully trust Jorginho in the number 6 role was because he didn't have the right physical profile - he is 32, much slower than Rice, and nowhere near as good in duels. So while I think Arteta always recognised that having Jorginho increased Arsenal's attacking threat, he was concerned that including him would leave Arsenal more open and vulnerable on the break. Of course, bringing in Kiwior/Tomiyasu to replace Zinchenko compensated for Jorginho's lack of physicality, but in December Tomi was injured and Kiwior was out of form, so it is understandable that Arteta did not have the courage to make that decision then.
Still think that Arsenal spent the season deputizing at the left back spot. When you compare the dynamism of White with defensive, transitional and attacking support on the right to the frankly average things going on to the left back. Timber's absence could possibly be the the two point difference.
The mark of a winning team is depth. I thought it would be at least three seasons before Arteta cut the dead wood and turned the team around, but he's managed an unbelievable turnaround. These days, I just want to enjoy an entertaining (and preferably winning) performance by the team. Arsenal have been exceptional in the last few seasons, but realistically there's still a lot or work to be done to strengthen the squad. But still... just goes to show how much a team needs to dominate to win the league. I don't know anyone who wouldn't take 89 points at the start of a season.
Arsenal are short of about 10 players. They don't have a squad, that's why they crashed out of the other competitions to concentrate on the Premier League and still ended up not fresh enough to win it, so crashed out of all of them.
I think all this had a big impact on Martinelli, as well. Everyone keeps talking about his "poor form" this season but the left side (especially when he was starting) was anemic and abandoned. Havertz playing the 8 really hurt him and by the time they stopped doing that and put Rice there on a regular basis, Nelli was coming back from injury and Trossard was starting on the wing. Arsenal tend to favor the right side anyway with White, Ode and Saka so the left is ignored even under perfect circumstances. The last game against Everton, Martinelli was basically back to his old self (apart from playing on the right instead of the left). He still had 6 goals and 4 assists (I think) in the prem but that's a far cry from his 15/5 from last season (when he had Xhaka in the 8 position). Havertz is really good as a "false" 9 or whatever it is he's been doing but giving him so many matches in midfield was clearly a mistake.
Before Haaland joined ManCity, they scored 99 league goals. They scored 94 when Haaland joined. Haaland scored 37 of them. Haaland is reducing the total number of goals ManCity is scoring. And he is reducing the number of goals his teammates are scoring. That’s what you get if you have a poacher.
@@baneledlamini9247 I wouldn't say hes 1 dimensional he can play all across the front 3 same as trossard. Difference is their skill set, martinelli on his day is one of the best dribblers in the premier league, its like as stated above though, hes had less than 0 help. Sure trossard has been in the same tactics, but when trossard was starting more games and playing well, we had mostly resolved to help the left more AND hes also older and more experienced. Who knows we could see nelli go back to his old ways and score 19 goals next season. Hes still young he has a lot of time.
@@Journey22405 Trossard with his experience is arguably the best finisher in our squad other than a fit Gabriel Jesus. All he lacks in speed like Martinelli he makes up for in technicality. There were a handful of games this season where Martinelli was clear on goal multiple times but fumbled it either to lack of decisiveness or composure. Hopefully he gets back to his former self but I honestly believe the position is Trossard's to lose seeing as he was able to strive with little or no help at all on the left hand side.
Martinelli is not a creator. Trossard can drop deep and play tiki taka passes or through passes like a number 10. To facilitate the build up play and chance creation. Martinelli is just a runner, a finisher. He needs spaces to operate. He lack that Ronaldinho magic against a deep block. He is not tricky on the ball. Quite one dimensional.
What's more disappointing is Jorginho only started 4 games in that first half of the season (in the league) and only 1 was out of choice, the others were because Ødegaard was injured. It was the same problem last season with Partey, Arteta should've made the change against Southampton and played Kiwior and Jorginho instead of Partey and Holding but he had to wait until after the Manchester City game because he was too scared. I also think another issue is Timber, we cooked Nottingham Forest in that first half when Timber played, 2-0 in 30 mins. Then he got his injury and came off and we end the game 2-1. Then when he comes on against Everton we actually start breaking them down.
Yeah but prior to the December run we were winning games with Declan as the single pivot. The issue was really our finishing. The chances we had against west ham and Aston villa but we didn’t score one goal.
We never looked convincing. We won games, yes, but we never beat anyone of note. We also looked VERY uncreative. The change in January and we started scoring for fun.
Arsenal fan here. I'm really happy with things, honestly. I'm not as trophy driven as other supporters. I just want to see my team playing great football, competing, improving, fighting. I like Wenger's idea of Style and Steel, and I really feel like we ended the season epitomising that ideal. The reality is a lot of the other teams had much more impactful injury concerns than we did this season, and City had to go on a simply ridiculous run to pip us at the post, so honestly what more can we ask for? Ecstatic with the effort. Looking forward to next season!
Furthermore, at Ajax, Timber was a really good ball progresser, so that would take a bit of a burden of Rice and maybe the system would even have worked with Rice at 6.
Will be pretty much a new signing for you guys so thats 1 transfer already done pretty much in a way lol very curious if he will make you any better or worse
Arsenal fan. Bummed we just missed out - but pep’s city are just so damn good what can ye do. It’s great to be in title run ins every year again - surely he’ll sneak ahead to win one soon. Keep backing Arteta he’s our only hope
@@yungdkay1008 I don’t disagree. I just think he half arsed it if he really wanted the UCL. It’s clear the squad wanted the Prem more. They just excelled in that competition. I mean I know it’s nothing but I play FM every time I won trophies i noticed its because the team just wanted it. But this Arsenal team seemed like it wanted the prem to me
I completely disagree. Declan Rice wasn’t the issue. Kai Havertz is not a midfielder plus Zinchenko was our first receiver in an inverted role that initially led to so much success but his form dipped considerably this season. Plus Nketiah played up front for a few games and he’s not enough and Jesus hasn’t been the same since his World Cup injury. Edit: He seems to also forget the West Ham 6-0 and Burnley 5-0 during our post Jan run when we played Rice at 6 🙃
Like I said ... u r spot on.... but I would repeat that the Aston villa game lost arsenal the league, because after arteta had seen this working template , he reverted to same for the Aston villa game...with jorgino and partey on the bench
you are partially right but I will say against Aston villa, we lost because we failed to take our chances..we should have been at least one goal up by half time but we failed to take our chances
I just have one push back on your comment about "Arsenal did not just look right" with Havertz at LCM vs Villa - in that first half we were completely dominant and should have been AT LEAST 1-0 up at HT. Havertz was causing all sorts of trouble with his late box runs. It wasn't Havertz at LCM that was the issue, it was Arteta being too slow to make changes in the 2nd half when we were clearly flagging physically.
another thing that a tiktok creator(cant remember his name) points out about arsenal struggle in that time is using Kai Havertz as an 8. The man simply does not have the ability to play as an 8 but Arteta keep chugging on
Well that tiktok creator just doesn't think of Havertz as a 8 Havertz since November didn't cost Arsenal anything, in fact it helped us a lot, against West Ham away, against Brentford both home and away, Brighton at home, Luton away. All of which Havertz was very pivotal as a midfielder. Even against Villa, he had to play as a midfielder because of his runs in behind created chances the only problem was in execution because we missed the chances we got from them. Its just lazy analysis because people just don't see Havertz as a midfielder so every loss when he plays there is suddenly his fault, watch both Villa games and notice that Havertz in midfield created some of the best chances in both those games, particularly in the Away game.
A big reasons Arsenal did not win the league is because of this weird belief by Arteta that Jesus and Zinchenko are league winning material. Jesus never makes the best final play be it shoot or pass. And Zinchenko is a defensive liability and offensively takes too much time to make an easy play. I don't know how Arteta dropped Havertz to midfield to accommodate Jesus during Aston Villa or bring Zinchenko in. He found his winning formula. Rice at the 8, Havertz up top. But changed it for no reason.
Jesus and Zinchenko were brought to elevate the team to a regular top 4 side. Ironically, the team improved faster and became title contenders where they seem liability.
Zinchenko was a huge difference maker for City. Guess Arteta just isn't as good as Pep. Jesus has always been a okay cf/winger who is energetic and hard working, but not extremely clinical. Decent backup for all front 3 positions, but Arsenal already have enough coverage there lmao. They should've bought a pure cf finisher type.
@@meowbhai209 When I think about it your comments ia so absolutely correct that I wonder how have I not thought about this! I think this is exactly why they were brought and we definately exceeded the expactations so all of sudden they were not looking all that great! I do like both of them but..
@@tsvetelin6556 absolutely. Arteta also said Arsenal were ahead of schedule that season. His process has 5 phases. Sadly for the likes of Jesus and Zinchenko the margin of error is very fine when you are competing with City; they are fine for like 80% of the fixtures. Arsenal’s next step is to bring key difference makers to fight for UCL. Edit: People forget Arsenal finished 8th, 8th, and 5th before that and how below average the squad was.
In the second leg in Munich we were looking the better side for most of it until Kimmich scored and then Arteta brings Jorginho off, puts Rice at no. 6 and Havertz in LCM. Guess what we looked much worse and barely created a chance or troubled Bayern's defense. Partey needs to go and we need a good replacement.
Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool are all teams Arsenal have beaten in the past season, yet they are the ones with trophies. This video gives me hope, but another part of me thinks Arteta has one more year to turn talk into trophies. Please keep focusing on us in these videos, and I will keep watching this fantastic analysis.
Timber being out for the entire season plus Partey and Tomi missing important games where we dropped points like Fulham (H), Spurs (H), Aston Villa (A), Liverpool (A), West Ham (H) didn't help either, great video as always Adam and im sorry the boys couldn't pay of your faith 😔
Teams are scared of City even before the ball was kicked. The same for the Utd team in the 90s & early 2000s. They already have a psychological advantage against teams. Arsenal needs to build on this aspect.
Whoa I haven't seen this fella since I stopped watching What Culture videos a couple years back. Good to see him still kicking around too. Good analysis, too...even if it hurts my heart!
I have no words to represent my appreciation for the hard work that goes behind these videos! You explain it so perfectly and so detailed that it's mind blowing!
Loved the content this season Adam, your personal analysis in particular. Would love to see as many videos from you as possible nest season! A podcast even?
You are right, Arteta trying to get the right balance in midfield and attack costs us some games like Fulham and West ham in December, after finding the right team which was winning games left and right with 8 games to play he messed up the villa game at hope changing again the winning team by putting in zinchenko and Jesus in the 9 instead of havertz which cost us the 3 points which would have won us the title. Hard luck next season we strengthen we win 🏆 a trophy
Not quite, for me the reason we had this blip is the same reason we seem to have 3/4 game blips under Arteta. Its the overuse of the same 12-14 players and not using all of his squad to its fullest. Thats not just Jorginho, thats Vieira, Smith-Rowe, Nelson, Nketiah, Kiwior.. if he had used them more when we were winning then when the games come thick and fast (like they did over xmas) and again in April (Bayern & Villa) the whole squad are match fit and quite fresh. Not 12-14 players absolutely fatigued and then 5-7 players not match fit. This is the biggest reason and its the number 1 part of management Arteta needs to get better at. Thats where the major difference between him and Pep
No, Adams argument is much stronger than yours. Vieira, esr etc are not grealish, doku, Alvarez. It’s easier to use more of your squad like city when they are all title winning quality. That’s solved in The transfer window, not midseason
Watching your videos makes us realize what a managerial point of view looks like and even though you give it to us already boiled down and narrowed so that we can easily understand it it's still quite obvious to me hwo much of a work that is to find these fine margins as it is really down to these!
It's obviously difficult. The job ain't easy especially against Pep. Arteta is good. I hope he can just had a major trophy. It'll make me happy for him first of all and the team.
Brilliant video and superb analysis as always. I would love to see a video compilation, highlighting all of the decisions that were made in favour of Manchester City throughout this season. I really would. Maybe kick it off with the clip of Guardiola thanking Michael Oliver from a few years back?
Here at the start of the season after carafiori and Merino pending confident that we win this one with the left hand side now strong than ever no more havertz in the midfield. Thanks for the confidence.
The level is 2 places up from our usual 4th and at the same time that the top 4 aside from City in LIverpool, Chelsea and UTD have all been terrible. UTD now have had a better season and still sacking their manager, we need to really be doing the same if we're to try and start actually doing/winning anything
He didn't want that, he wanted Kai as an 8. to such an extent that he played Partey right back. Madness. Partey right back was idiocy. His neck was saved when Partey got inured. He was forced to go back to last years back 4. Had Partey been played in CM with Rice, we would have rocked it.
I think its mostly due to squad overhaul. Arteta clearly needed time to understand the strength of his squad (havertz being the best example) which finally clicked midseason. Add to that the need to adapt for a lot of key pieces (havertz, raya, the squad to these guys, etc) meant that the offense didn't go really well to start. Add to that a goalkeeper who was asked to adapt to a new system without qny preseason and a goalkeeper with a shot confidence and you get a a lot of costly mistakes (second goal against chelsea, goal against newcastle, first goal against fulham) that can't be saved by the lackluster offense in the start of the season.
Absolutely SPOT ON. Havertz LCM was a failed experiment. It was the reason why Arsenal started slow in this season. Things changed dramatically once Arteta brough Jorginho back in the side. I will add Kiwor too; him and Tomiyasu made that left side impenetrable which was a weak link when Zinchenko played. Arteta could even sacrifice Saka, like he did with Martinelli and Jesus, and it wouldn't create much difference which was done by playing Havertz as LCM.
Getting rid of Xhaka was symbolic of the club moving forward. He was at the centre of that rotten core of senior players running the club before Arteta arrived and only performed properly once his little crew had been disbanded. Xhaka represented what Arteta has so thoroughly moved away from.
When I saw Havertz in the left 8 role in the line-up for that Aston Villa game in April I got a horrible feeling. Having seen that plan not work well so many times earlier in the season I just knew it would end up coming back to bite us.
That's great, Adam good insight and very entertaining too. The Athletic did an article saying Declan Rice could not ( yet) find a pass through central areas, so they concur. Next season? 🤞
I don’t think it’s quite right to say that the Chelsea / City games in the first half of the season made Arteta think he HAD to find a home for Havertz. He was finding a place for him most weeks anyway in midfield. It was ONLY those big games where Arteta clearly thought he needed more defensive help that he played the Jorginho/Rice combo and we looked great. In the “easier” games he played Rice/Havertz and we struggled …. We just GOT AWAY WITH IT until December / Jan. Don’t u remember all the “they’re not scoring enough goals” chat? I also don’t think it’s purely a “Rice can’t pass” issue. It was that PLUS the fact his midfield partner in Havertz ALSO can’t pass forward or dribble so we had no progression in midfield at all. I think Arteta always intended Havertz to be LCM (he literally told us that all offseason) and he was just wrong. And it took him until January to admit that and pivot away from it.
I hope this season (24/25) they will make the obvious improvements via transfer in LB (Calafiori good improvement), DM (I want to know if Merino will meet the hopes) and LW (please sign someone that is more calm but as fast as Martinelli - like another Saka but on the left)
You have just confirmed a suspicion I had, it's also partly to do with Playing Kai as a left sided no.8. In the first half of the season, we struggled to create chances and only won by a header or individual skills like the goal Nkentia scored against Forest at home. Rice is not good in dribbling or making line breaking passes, so most of his passes are sideways. Had we not sold Xhaka we would have comfortably won the league because instead of building on the excellence of the previous season, we started a new by trying new things like playing Kai as a no.8, something he hadn't done in the PL. I hope we don't repeat the same. If Partey goes we should get a suitable replacement who can do what Partey does i.e vertical passing and press resistance to progress play. I hope no other first team members will be sold. Those 4 games and playing Zinchenko when we were winning against Fulham at home. Zinchenko should only play if we are struggling to break down a team and a good structure should be set around him for cover when he roams into midfield eg the winger dropping etc.
City Fan here. Was gonna say something stupid just to troll but in all honesty I am a fan, like & respect Arteta, the players & the organization. If there was a team I felt was capable of winning the league besides City it was the Gunners. The biggest problem encountered by anyone that contends for the PL title is simple...Manchester City VERY RARELY drops points after January. Look @ the last 7 seasons. Observe the record & play of City after the midseason transfer window. City doesn't even have to acquire any players...they just "Lock In" & it's extremely difficult to gain ground on them, much less hold them off. Last season ('22-'23), the Gunners were sort of a young, unproven squad of players who were good enough to win games on pure talent alone but it was more like watching a bunch of kids from different schools running in the woods in the dark chasing fireflies...uncoordinated as F (let me land)... Sure, you caught a ton of them (fireflies = wins), but even when you put them all in 1 jar they still didn't make things bright enough to keep you from smashing face-first into trees (like losses & draws were holes in the jar lid that were too big & the "fireflies" were getting away)... as proven by your record in April & May of 2023: April: (GUNNERS 4-1 Leeds / Liverpool 2-2 gunners / West Ham 2-2 Gunners / Gunners 3-3 Southampton / MANCHESTER CHAMPIONS 4-1 gunners)... May: GUNNERS 3-1 Chelsea;... Newcastle 0-2 GUNNERS;... gunners 0-3 BRIGHTON;... NOTTINGHAM 1-0 gunners;... GUNNERS 5-0 Wolverhampton). 17 points "bottled" in the last 2 months of the season. This season Arsenal was absolutely AWESOME & I would have been satisfied & genuinely happy if they'd won the Premier League title. But the team wasn't quite ready to be champions...draw vs Man City & the loss vs Villa in the last 2 months?...sealed fate. You were good enough to win...just not against City. Had it been any other team you were battling against (including Liverpool) Gunners would've won it all, guaranteed (probably would've also won against Bayern & possibly even the UCL...(too much pressure thinking about us). Side Note: I would've been ALL-IN rockin' Gunner Red had you all been in the UCL Final (#$%& Real Madrid...just kidding, but F 'em, though). I would love it if we, City & Gunners, combined powers & dominated the league for (ever?) years to come, sharing the title year after year, battling season after season to see who gets the trophy (Odd years = Arsenal...even years = City). But I'm sure that you will take the throne in '26. That's a no-brainer...too good a team not to. Just not THIS coming season...we gotta get #5 in 2025!!! Five In A Row Before Pep Can Go!!! P.S: Pardon the novel, just felt the need to voice my genuine respect & admiration for the Gunners.
Gutted we didnt win the league but City do deserve a bit of credit as they were without KDB for half the season. Next year I believe our moment will arrive.
Assna fan - feeling a little down but mostly pissed that this city stuff is just out there in the open and we're supposed to just pretend it isn't. We've got basically a decade of beautiful highly competitive ball ahead so I'm not too worked up.
@@grealish2234 lmao mr. grealish your defense is “aw you’re mad we cheat?” You think people are just saying it now? lololol nope we’ve all known for quite a while. Aren’t you ashamed? The only thing worth a damn in your club’s entire history is completely meaningless and everybody agrees except you… oof.
@@ChaniTsunami229this video is literally telling you how you could’ve won the League. Arsenal lost 5 games this season and even SAF had quotes from his time as a manager saying that losing 5 games can cost you a title. If Prime Liverpool had faced this City team they would have 3 titles. You failed by getting dismantled by Villa and getting 1 point from Fulham out of 6 when they had 10 men in one game. Complain about lawyers and charges when you’ve done your job, not when you failed yourselves when it really matters.
@@karmaascendant3936 holddd the phone, I don’t give a fuck that City beat us. Who would? Not a real team. As far as I’m concerned Arsenal are doing fantastically and we’ll get our trophies. Unrelated to Arsenal whatsoever - I’m pissed about Man City. You’re not? It’s making our entire league a laughing stock. It really is quite shameful. That is all. Arsenal failed in a couple big moments absolutely. Complete aside from the fact that City and all its supporters should be deeply ashamed of their club and the fact that their only history is grayed out, I don’t see any way around that. If you want to be charitable the league itself should be ashamed for 1. having let this happen, and 2. unveiling 115 charges and then waiting so long to do anything about it. If they are wrong, the league is a joke for slandering City for years. If they are right, the league is a joke period.
I agree with you I thought we were the best team this season. It could be a mental block for other teams but in the run in premier league teams have a habit of not trying or rolling over against City towards the end of the season. Take Villa for example. Either way, we had a great season and I’m sure we’ll be back next. Love the channel.
Great video as always. Adam, you don't have shipping to the US. Is there any digital version? I am Chelsea fan and I hate Arsenal lol but this Arsenal is scary and great to watch. They are doing great work at that club
I actually thought the return of Partey upped our attacking play another notch. I find he progresses the ball decidedly better than both Rice and Jorginho.
Very good analysis. It is clear that Jorginho is not the strongest CDM and Havertz is not exactly a killer CF. So we definitely need to improve those two positions. Apart from LB I guess unless Timber is good to play there.
The problem was using Havertz as midfielder and Zinchenko on the left. Arsenal still doesnt have a left side since Xhaka's departure, Tomi and Kivior are consistent players but cant support the left wing properly. Maybe Timber can fix this, but we still need another alternative for the left midfield when Partey and Jorginho are unavailable.
89 points is a great haul, but it's not one that would win the league nuch in 10 years. Arsenal's points and goals would only have won the league twice since 2015, and one of those is a goal difference of 1. And if City needed to beat 89 last season, do you think they wouldn't have? I don't. They didn't need to
Bigger issue related is having Havertz in midfield. He was much better when he was up front. Rice has been doing that job for England and West Ham for years now
On point analysis. 11:23 Just want to point out City actually had 1 less game played at this point, in 20 games city had 43 points, so actually Arsenal got 1 more point than city in the remaining 18 games.
I also want to point out that city's only 3 losses came when Rodri didnt play, you could argue that if he was available for those games city could've have ended the season unbeaten and this is with KDB missing 6 months and Haaland 2 months. Arsenal have been very fortune with injuries, I'm interested to see how they do next season.
@book-A But look at depth of City's squad assembled over the years, its clearly deeper. Yes Arsenal had pretty much a settled team but Timber missing the entire season was big loss with a numerous players filling in at left back. The team also missed Partey for most of the season, Jesus for big spells and some others.
@@gourami7Jesus isn’t even comparable to the levels of KDB or Haaland as a miss.Arsenal fans are already asking for an upgrade( and he’s admitted he’s not a striker) because he’ll never be good enough to carry a title winning squad as the starting ST. KDB ended up with 10 assists when he played half the season. Partey is important but Arsenal need to remove their reliance on him as he’s clearly shown that you can’t rely on him for a 10 game stretch , let alone to be fit every game in a season.
And there we have it, compelling evidence that Arsenal are a better team without Jesus. I would use him on the wing as an alternative to Martinelli in the future - link up play with Timber could be a thing to watch next season. Great video, keep em coming.
I'm a lifetime Arsenal fan. My attitude is, while Arsenal didn't win the league, they did win respect and that, more than anything, is what Arteta has brought to the team and club. It shouldn't be undervalued.
I actually pointed this out to my mates earlier in the season... When people wanted to take of Havertz head for whatever reason... We weren't able to play out from back as really when Declan Rice was in the six role... He hasn't learnt how to be dangerous from there yet... But he will... Undoubtedly...
Liverpool lost out to City with 97 points. It's hard to be too bitter or obsess over points lost when that's who you're up against. Only points dropped that feel inexcusable to me (over a 38 game season, you're always going to have some duds) were the two dropped at home to Fulham who were a goal and a man down with 10 mins to go. It's been a young squad at Arsenal for a few years. There's improvement every year and that's largely been because young players are becoming more experienced and in some cases entering their peak years. I think if Arsenal sign a player who's consistent/consistently available and can play primarily as a 6 (or an 8 if needed) as well as back up for Saka (if that player could also comfortably play as a 9 that would be ideal, if not may also need to sign a striker) then I think those would be the biggest gaps in the squad filled, and with another year of great experience for this squad I definitely think Arsenal would be in a great position to win a major trophy next season. Ultimately, City are in every competition so it's never guaranteed! But I think Arteta gives us as good a chance as anyone would
If only Arsenal had been able to retain Granit Xhaka, I wonder where he went and how his new team got on this season? Failing that (and as a Chelsea fan I hope this doesn’t happen!) I wonder whether Enzo Fernandez would be the missing piece?
I'd rather focus on where we need to improve in order to wrestle the trophy from Citys vice like grip. We have a team capable of achieving sustained success, but we can't stand still, and in regards to new arrivals, we need them to hit the ground running. For this reason, I would like for us to focus on proven PL experience. This does not mean we only sign PL based players, but I do feel whoever we sign to improve the starting eleven needs to be PL proven. Based on this, I believe we should look to sign the following players: LB - Antonee Robinson CM/CAM - Ebrechi Eze LW/RW - Michael Olise Signing an actual number 9 is important also, but unless we sign one of the worlds best (which we won't), Havertz should continue as the number 9. Someone like Sesko is great to come in, be given time to adapt and learn before being expected to bang in 20+ goals each season. Just my thoughts and very unlikely to happen, but we as football fans are allowed to dream.
Havertz was good just not in midfield. And rice should not be the single pivot, even with aston villa he was in a double pivot. We need a reliable dm and a direct forward that can garantee goals.
The other issue is the control of the game. Arteta sacrifices control of the game to conserve narrow leads sometimes. Tbf, with better defence, the team has proven that they can conserve such leads but to really win the league in this Pep era, they should not be scared to attack. Fulham was an example, even at the end of the season, the were a few games which were kept on the balance because Arsenal just decided to sit back to conserve leads rather than going forward to secure the the win. Arteta is learning and he should actually take Rodris criticism and develop a confident mentality in play and stop keeping favourites. Celebrating a draw at Anfield and a draw at City whilst crucial points shows poor mentality because in those games on the balance, Arsenal was scarred to impose their attacking and could have lost those games based on probability of chance creating. They should develop an ethic of domination and winning as Liverpool and City have done and not be comfortable with scraps when they know they could be better and have more to give.
So basicaly Havertz * Jorginho were the key to our amazing run.. Makes you realize you should never trust the internet experts cuz they were saying we're buying dead wood from Chelsea and that we have wasted 60 mil for Havertz.. Well those comments did not age well!
Thomas Partey is key not because he wins us games, but because he's baggage. Baggage on the pitch, baggage off it. Replacing him in the summer is as key as improving depth in this team in order to compete on all fronts next season.
Not a take about the content of the video - excellent analysis delivered in top notch fashion, as usual 🙌🏻 - but I’m interested in the lightbox comment. Where can we donate to your run, if it hasn’t already happened? Ta.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Best analysis I’ve seen on Arsenal’s season, focused on the issue throughout & generally sensible opinions👌🏾
so true, akesme feel better.
i concur
A very down-to-earth headline:
"Why Arsenal Didn't Win The Premier League", instead of 'Why Arsenal Lost The Premier League'.
Speaking the complete obvious, but still praise warranted.
I'm biased as a Geordie, but Adam has been brilliant this season in these videos. I gave up on four four two after decades, but he has brought me back. He's just mint at stuff like this.
this man is so funny AND good at analysis, life's so unfair.
"The problem is Declan Rice" you massive troll hahaha. God I love this guy.
The problem IS Declan Hype Rice.
@@helgekarlsen171good analysis mate thank god youre not the manager eh
i was like dayummmmm for like 3 seconds
The problem is Rice.
He has a point, if we had bought Kudus instead that would be of been the fine margin between winning and losing the prem, West Ham effed us differently, took 100M off us and bought a better player for 30M
I think it needs to be said that both Jorginho and Partey were both injured during that December run, so Arteta did not really have much of a choice in this regard, Rice was really the only available 6. That being said its accurate to say that progressive passing from that 6 position is probably the biggest area of improvement for Rice. Not a surprise the kind of midfielders we are being currently linked to, the plan is seeminlgy that Rice is going to be the 8 going forward
Jorghino was available against Fulham away and was about to come on before Fulham scored a second goal and Arteta decided to bring in Jesus to get a goal back...
Pep tried to bring in Rice to play him as no.8 alongside Rodri. So Pep was already a step ahead of Arteta and would have achieved another Treble this year if Rice had joined City!
@@Best_game59 this was Arteta after Liverpool game in February "He’s been in a lot of pain as well, because he has an issue that he’s been carrying for months." he was on the bench for most of those games but was probably not fit to play from the start.
It would've taken the signing of prime Messi to compete with Ancelotti's park the bus dull tactic! @@skevinfrederick
@@skevinfrederick I'm assuming you missed the part where Rice started the season as the left 8 for Arsenal? The long term plan might be for Rice to BECOME a 6, but he's clearly an 8 right now under Arteta too.
After the 2-2 draw against Tottenham at home, Jorginho was unused substitute for many games during Christmas because of the error he made leading to the second goal.
So arteta doesn’t trust mistakes and they have no freedom. Similar conclusion
So how does Raya get to play after pushing the ball into the middle of the box instead out behind the goal line for a corner. The ball was in the back of the net 2 seconds later.
@@thearsenalmisfit2414 coaches are fickle like that. Some players do no wrong 😑
@@thearsenalmisfit2414
As if Neuer wouldn’t do stuff like that.
It’s as if you are saying Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets can’t tackle like Milner so they are not great players.
Neuer, TerStegen, Ederson and Raya love to take more risks so that their team would get massive rewards in the build up. Massively increased the number of goals their team would score and massively reduced the number of goals they would conceded.
Yep my thoughts exactly, surprised Adam didn't pick up on this.
That pause after "that's how it goes" right in the end is a separate video Adam. We believe and we go back to our "it is what is" cave of emotions as an Arsenal fan. It has been a joy watching you throughout the season breaking down every Arsenal game, thank you to the entire 442 team and specially the post production team to get this out in no time after the games. That team deserves FourFourTwo beers.
"WHY ADAM CLERY ISN"T GETTING ENOUGH RECOGNITION" is what I think after watching another masterclass thank you mate, amazing job as always presenting. Your passion and football IQ really come through every time.
Proud of the team and the manager. I enjoyed this season more than last year. Arteta is evolving as a manager and his team is following him.
Most of the players improved which is amazing some didn’t and perhaps they need more time or they have to go well he will decide
FourFourTwo has been one of the MVP channels of the EPL 23/24 season.
An excellent video, entertaining & insightful. I’ve been saying this, Declan Rice is not a 6. He is a formidable roaming 8.
Excellent analysis Adam, I think Arsenal always looked significantly better with Jorginho in the side and Rice playing as the eight. However, I think the reason Arteta didn't fully trust Jorginho in the number 6 role was because he didn't have the right physical profile - he is 32, much slower than Rice, and nowhere near as good in duels. So while I think Arteta always recognised that having Jorginho increased Arsenal's attacking threat, he was concerned that including him would leave Arsenal more open and vulnerable on the break. Of course, bringing in Kiwior/Tomiyasu to replace Zinchenko compensated for Jorginho's lack of physicality, but in December Tomi was injured and Kiwior was out of form, so it is understandable that Arteta did not have the courage to make that decision then.
Still think that Arsenal spent the season deputizing at the left back spot. When you compare the dynamism of White with defensive, transitional and attacking support on the right to the frankly average things going on to the left back. Timber's absence could possibly be the the two point difference.
The mark of a winning team is depth. I thought it would be at least three seasons before Arteta cut the dead wood and turned the team around, but he's managed an unbelievable turnaround. These days, I just want to enjoy an entertaining (and preferably winning) performance by the team. Arsenal have been exceptional in the last few seasons, but realistically there's still a lot or work to be done to strengthen the squad.
But still... just goes to show how much a team needs to dominate to win the league. I don't know anyone who wouldn't take 89 points at the start of a season.
Arsenal are short of about 10 players.
They don't have a squad, that's why they crashed out of the other competitions to concentrate on the Premier League and still ended up not fresh enough to win it, so crashed out of all of them.
I think all this had a big impact on Martinelli, as well. Everyone keeps talking about his "poor form" this season but the left side (especially when he was starting) was anemic and abandoned. Havertz playing the 8 really hurt him and by the time they stopped doing that and put Rice there on a regular basis, Nelli was coming back from injury and Trossard was starting on the wing. Arsenal tend to favor the right side anyway with White, Ode and Saka so the left is ignored even under perfect circumstances. The last game against Everton, Martinelli was basically back to his old self (apart from playing on the right instead of the left). He still had 6 goals and 4 assists (I think) in the prem but that's a far cry from his 15/5 from last season (when he had Xhaka in the 8 position). Havertz is really good as a "false" 9 or whatever it is he's been doing but giving him so many matches in midfield was clearly a mistake.
Before Haaland joined ManCity, they scored 99 league goals.
They scored 94 when Haaland joined. Haaland scored 37 of them.
Haaland is reducing the total number of goals ManCity is scoring. And he is reducing the number of goals his teammates are scoring.
That’s what you get if you have a poacher.
@@thierryhenry674 isn't Martinelli one dimensional though? Trossard has more to his game. playing as winger, a ten and a 9!
@@baneledlamini9247 I wouldn't say hes 1 dimensional he can play all across the front 3 same as trossard.
Difference is their skill set, martinelli on his day is one of the best dribblers in the premier league, its like as stated above though, hes had less than 0 help.
Sure trossard has been in the same tactics, but when trossard was starting more games and playing well, we had mostly resolved to help the left more AND hes also older and more experienced.
Who knows we could see nelli go back to his old ways and score 19 goals next season. Hes still young he has a lot of time.
@@Journey22405 Trossard with his experience is arguably the best finisher in our squad other than a fit Gabriel Jesus. All he lacks in speed like Martinelli he makes up for in technicality. There were a handful of games this season where Martinelli was clear on goal multiple times but fumbled it either to lack of decisiveness or composure. Hopefully he gets back to his former self but I honestly believe the position is Trossard's to lose seeing as he was able to strive with little or no help at all on the left hand side.
Martinelli is not a creator. Trossard can drop deep and play tiki taka passes or through passes like a number 10. To facilitate the build up play and chance creation.
Martinelli is just a runner, a finisher. He needs spaces to operate. He lack that Ronaldinho magic against a deep block. He is not tricky on the ball. Quite one dimensional.
What's more disappointing is Jorginho only started 4 games in that first half of the season (in the league) and only 1 was out of choice, the others were because Ødegaard was injured. It was the same problem last season with Partey, Arteta should've made the change against Southampton and played Kiwior and Jorginho instead of Partey and Holding but he had to wait until after the Manchester City game because he was too scared.
I also think another issue is Timber, we cooked Nottingham Forest in that first half when Timber played, 2-0 in 30 mins. Then he got his injury and came off and we end the game 2-1. Then when he comes on against Everton we actually start breaking them down.
Yeah but prior to the December run we were winning games with Declan as the single pivot. The issue was really our finishing. The chances we had against west ham and Aston villa but we didn’t score one goal.
We never looked convincing. We won games, yes, but we never beat anyone of note. We also looked VERY uncreative. The change in January and we started scoring for fun.
Still Arteta has refused to buy a striker
Thank you for the "bottling" bit. I can't stand those football Bros.
Arsenal fan here.
I'm really happy with things, honestly. I'm not as trophy driven as other supporters. I just want to see my team playing great football, competing, improving, fighting.
I like Wenger's idea of Style and Steel, and I really feel like we ended the season epitomising that ideal.
The reality is a lot of the other teams had much more impactful injury concerns than we did this season, and City had to go on a simply ridiculous run to pip us at the post, so honestly what more can we ask for?
Ecstatic with the effort. Looking forward to next season!
I really think the injury to Timber was a big hit to Arsenal. He looked amazing, and left back has been their weakest position this season.
Furthermore, at Ajax, Timber was a really good ball progresser, so that would take a bit of a burden of Rice and maybe the system would even have worked with Rice at 6.
Kiwior is not yet ready for PL. We need to give him some more time.
Will be pretty much a new signing for you guys so thats 1 transfer already done pretty much in a way lol very curious if he will make you any better or worse
How can you possibly come to that conclusion. He's never played in the Prem before
Assana were more balsa than Timber
Arsenal fan. Bummed we just missed out - but pep’s city are just so damn good what can ye do. It’s great to be in title run ins every year again - surely he’ll sneak ahead to win one soon. Keep backing Arteta he’s our only hope
Or he could fizzle out like brenden rogers liverpool. 😂
Mikel saving Jorginho for Bayern was the wrong move. He didn't know which competition he wanted to win in hindsight.
It's not the wrong move, champions league is miles better than the prem.
@@yungdkay1008 yeah but priorities. It’s hard chasing two rabbits.
@@cellyszn20 truth is champions league Is easier to win than the prem. City is just on another level.
@@yungdkay1008 I don’t disagree. I just think he half arsed it if he really wanted the UCL. It’s clear the squad wanted the Prem more. They just excelled in that competition. I mean I know it’s nothing but I play FM every time I won trophies i noticed its because the team just wanted it. But this Arsenal team seemed like it wanted the prem to me
I completely disagree. Declan Rice wasn’t the issue. Kai Havertz is not a midfielder plus Zinchenko was our first receiver in an inverted role that initially led to so much success but his form dipped considerably this season. Plus Nketiah played up front for a few games and he’s not enough and Jesus hasn’t been the same since his World Cup injury.
Edit:
He seems to also forget the West Ham 6-0 and Burnley 5-0 during our post Jan run when we played Rice at 6 🙃
Rice is definitely the issue. Havertz and Nketiah have make the situation even worse.
Like I said ... u r spot on.... but I would repeat that the Aston villa game lost arsenal the league, because after arteta had seen this working template , he reverted to same for the Aston villa game...with jorgino and partey on the bench
you are partially right but I will say against Aston villa, we lost because we failed to take our chances..we should have been at least one goal up by half time but we failed to take our chances
I love Mikel with all my heart but he still has some learning to do
I just have one push back on your comment about "Arsenal did not just look right" with Havertz at LCM vs Villa - in that first half we were completely dominant and should have been AT LEAST 1-0 up at HT. Havertz was causing all sorts of trouble with his late box runs. It wasn't Havertz at LCM that was the issue, it was Arteta being too slow to make changes in the 2nd half when we were clearly flagging physically.
another thing that a tiktok creator(cant remember his name) points out about arsenal struggle in that time is using Kai Havertz as an 8. The man simply does not have the ability to play as an 8 but Arteta keep chugging on
Well that tiktok creator just doesn't think of Havertz as a 8
Havertz since November didn't cost Arsenal anything, in fact it helped us a lot, against West Ham away, against Brentford both home and away, Brighton at home, Luton away. All of which Havertz was very pivotal as a midfielder. Even against Villa, he had to play as a midfielder because of his runs in behind created chances the only problem was in execution because we missed the chances we got from them. Its just lazy analysis because people just don't see Havertz as a midfielder so every loss when he plays there is suddenly his fault, watch both Villa games and notice that Havertz in midfield created some of the best chances in both those games, particularly in the Away game.
You are talking rubbish.
Four Four Two anchor is so correct
A big reasons Arsenal did not win the league is because of this weird belief by Arteta that Jesus and Zinchenko are league winning material. Jesus never makes the best final play be it shoot or pass. And Zinchenko is a defensive liability and offensively takes too much time to make an easy play.
I don't know how Arteta dropped Havertz to midfield to accommodate Jesus during Aston Villa or bring Zinchenko in.
He found his winning formula. Rice at the 8, Havertz up top. But changed it for no reason.
Jesus and Zinchenko were brought to elevate the team to a regular top 4 side. Ironically, the team improved faster and became title contenders where they seem liability.
Zinchenko was a huge difference maker for City. Guess Arteta just isn't as good as Pep. Jesus has always been a okay cf/winger who is energetic and hard working, but not extremely clinical. Decent backup for all front 3 positions, but Arsenal already have enough coverage there lmao. They should've bought a pure cf finisher type.
@@meowbhai209 When I think about it your comments ia so absolutely correct that I wonder how have I not thought about this! I think this is exactly why they were brought and we definately exceeded the expactations so all of sudden they were not looking all that great! I do like both of them but..
@@tsvetelin6556 absolutely. Arteta also said Arsenal were ahead of schedule that season. His process has 5 phases. Sadly for the likes of Jesus and Zinchenko the margin of error is very fine when you are competing with City; they are fine for like 80% of the fixtures. Arsenal’s next step is to bring key difference makers to fight for UCL.
Edit: People forget Arsenal finished 8th, 8th, and 5th before that and how below average the squad was.
In the second leg in Munich we were looking the better side for most of it until Kimmich scored and then Arteta brings Jorginho off, puts Rice at no. 6 and Havertz in LCM. Guess what we looked much worse and barely created a chance or troubled Bayern's defense. Partey needs to go and we need a good replacement.
Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool are all teams Arsenal have beaten in the past season, yet they are the ones with trophies. This video gives me hope, but another part of me thinks Arteta has one more year to turn talk into trophies. Please keep focusing on us in these videos, and I will keep watching this fantastic analysis.
Timber being out for the entire season plus Partey and Tomi missing important games where we dropped points like Fulham (H), Spurs (H), Aston Villa (A), Liverpool (A), West Ham (H) didn't help either, great video as always Adam and im sorry the boys couldn't pay of your faith 😔
Teams are scared of City even before the ball was kicked. The same for the Utd team in the 90s & early 2000s. They already have a psychological advantage against teams. Arsenal needs to build on this aspect.
I thought you'd do a Leverkusen video after the Europa League
Whoa I haven't seen this fella since I stopped watching What Culture videos a couple years back. Good to see him still kicking around too. Good analysis, too...even if it hurts my heart!
Exactly why you train every DM and DLP on FM to play killer balls often lol
I have no words to represent my appreciation for the hard work that goes behind these videos!
You explain it so perfectly and so detailed that it's mind blowing!
Loved the content this season Adam, your personal analysis in particular. Would love to see as many videos from you as possible nest season! A podcast even?
You are right, Arteta trying to get the right balance in midfield and attack costs us some games like Fulham and West ham in December, after finding the right team which was winning games left and right with 8 games to play he messed up the villa game at hope changing again the winning team by putting in zinchenko and Jesus in the 9 instead of havertz which cost us the 3 points which would have won us the title. Hard luck next season we strengthen we win 🏆 a trophy
Not quite, for me the reason we had this blip is the same reason we seem to have 3/4 game blips under Arteta. Its the overuse of the same 12-14 players and not using all of his squad to its fullest. Thats not just Jorginho, thats Vieira, Smith-Rowe, Nelson, Nketiah, Kiwior.. if he had used them more when we were winning then when the games come thick and fast (like they did over xmas) and again in April (Bayern & Villa) the whole squad are match fit and quite fresh. Not 12-14 players absolutely fatigued and then 5-7 players not match fit. This is the biggest reason and its the number 1 part of management Arteta needs to get better at. Thats where the major difference between him and Pep
No, Adams argument is much stronger than yours. Vieira, esr etc are not grealish, doku, Alvarez. It’s easier to use more of your squad like city when they are all title winning quality. That’s solved in The transfer window, not midseason
Watching your videos makes us realize what a managerial point of view looks like and even though you give it to us already boiled down and narrowed so that we can easily understand it it's still quite obvious to me hwo much of a work that is to find these fine margins as it is really down to these!
It's obviously difficult. The job ain't easy especially against Pep. Arteta is good. I hope he can just had a major trophy. It'll make me happy for him first of all and the team.
Brilliant video and superb analysis as always. I would love to see a video compilation, highlighting all of the decisions that were made in favour of Manchester City throughout this season. I really would. Maybe kick it off with the clip of Guardiola thanking Michael Oliver from a few years back?
Can you do a west ham Lopetagui video please? :)
A Bayern Kompany video would be great
Here at the start of the season after carafiori and Merino pending confident that we win this one with the left hand side now strong than ever no more havertz in the midfield.
Thanks for the confidence.
The level is 2 places up from our usual 4th and at the same time that the top 4 aside from City in LIverpool, Chelsea and UTD have all been terrible. UTD now have had a better season and still sacking their manager, we need to really be doing the same if we're to try and start actually doing/winning anything
He didn't want that, he wanted Kai as an 8. to such an extent that he played Partey right back. Madness. Partey right back was idiocy. His neck was saved when Partey got inured. He was forced to go back to last years back 4. Had Partey been played in CM with Rice, we would have rocked it.
Found that so incredibly insightful, thank you. Really shapes my thinking regarding the summer
Spot on mate. Arteta repeated the same error from those games against Villa at home using Havertz as left sided 8 and we lost.
I think its mostly due to squad overhaul. Arteta clearly needed time to understand the strength of his squad (havertz being the best example) which finally clicked midseason. Add to that the need to adapt for a lot of key pieces (havertz, raya, the squad to these guys, etc) meant that the offense didn't go really well to start. Add to that a goalkeeper who was asked to adapt to a new system without qny preseason and a goalkeeper with a shot confidence and you get a a lot of costly mistakes (second goal against chelsea, goal against newcastle, first goal against fulham) that can't be saved by the lackluster offense in the start of the season.
Subscribed. Great analysis and love the channel!
Have to look at the overall performance, incredible performances. 16 of the last 21 leagues… that says it all.
Absolutely SPOT ON. Havertz LCM was a failed experiment. It was the reason why Arsenal started slow in this season. Things changed dramatically once Arteta brough Jorginho back in the side. I will add Kiwor too; him and Tomiyasu made that left side impenetrable which was a weak link when Zinchenko played. Arteta could even sacrifice Saka, like he did with Martinelli and Jesus, and it wouldn't create much difference which was done by playing Havertz as LCM.
Arsenal really could have done with keeping Xhaka to play alongside Rice.
Getting rid of Xhaka was symbolic of the club moving forward. He was at the centre of that rotten core of senior players running the club before Arteta arrived and only performed properly once his little crew had been disbanded. Xhaka represented what Arteta has so thoroughly moved away from.
Loved all those videos this season, proper analysis🙌🏼
When I saw Havertz in the left 8 role in the line-up for that Aston Villa game in April I got a horrible feeling. Having seen that plan not work well so many times earlier in the season I just knew it would end up coming back to bite us.
That's great, Adam good insight and very entertaining too. The Athletic did an article saying Declan Rice could not ( yet) find a pass through central areas, so they concur. Next season? 🤞
nice call mate. great sum up
I don’t think it’s quite right to say that the Chelsea / City games in the first half of the season made Arteta think he HAD to find a home for Havertz. He was finding a place for him most weeks anyway in midfield. It was ONLY those big games where Arteta clearly thought he needed more defensive help that he played the Jorginho/Rice combo and we looked great. In the “easier” games he played Rice/Havertz and we struggled …. We just GOT AWAY WITH IT until December / Jan. Don’t u remember all the “they’re not scoring enough goals” chat?
I also don’t think it’s purely a “Rice can’t pass” issue. It was that PLUS the fact his midfield partner in Havertz ALSO can’t pass forward or dribble so we had no progression in midfield at all.
I think Arteta always intended Havertz to be LCM (he literally told us that all offseason) and he was just wrong. And it took him until January to admit that and pivot away from it.
11:05 i yelped 😂
truth be spoken so easily!
I hope this season (24/25) they will make the obvious improvements via transfer in LB (Calafiori good improvement), DM (I want to know if Merino will meet the hopes) and LW (please sign someone that is more calm but as fast as Martinelli - like another Saka but on the left)
You have just confirmed a suspicion I had, it's also partly to do with Playing Kai as a left sided no.8. In the first half of the season, we struggled to create chances and only won by a header or individual skills like the goal Nkentia scored against Forest at home. Rice is not good in dribbling or making line breaking passes, so most of his passes are sideways. Had we not sold Xhaka we would have comfortably won the league because instead of building on the excellence of the previous season, we started a new by trying new things like playing Kai as a no.8, something he hadn't done in the PL. I hope we don't repeat the same. If Partey goes we should get a suitable replacement who can do what Partey does i.e vertical passing and press resistance to progress play. I hope no other first team members will be sold. Those 4 games and playing Zinchenko when we were winning against Fulham at home. Zinchenko should only play if we are struggling to break down a team and a good structure should be set around him for cover when he roams into midfield eg the winger dropping etc.
Deep balanced analysis Adam, so can you compare Man City's midfield
City Fan here. Was gonna say something stupid just to troll but in all honesty I am a fan, like & respect Arteta, the players & the organization. If there was a team I felt was capable of winning the league besides City it was the Gunners. The biggest problem encountered by anyone that contends for the PL title is simple...Manchester City VERY RARELY drops points after January.
Look @ the last 7 seasons. Observe the record & play of City after the midseason transfer window. City doesn't even have to acquire any players...they just "Lock In" & it's extremely difficult to gain ground on them, much less hold them off.
Last season ('22-'23), the Gunners were sort of a young, unproven squad of players who were good enough to win games on pure talent alone but it was more like watching a bunch of kids from different schools running in the woods in the dark chasing fireflies...uncoordinated as F (let me land)...
Sure, you caught a ton of them (fireflies = wins), but even when you put them all in 1 jar they still didn't make things bright enough to keep you from smashing face-first into trees (like losses & draws were holes in the jar lid that were too big & the "fireflies" were getting away)...
as proven by your record in April & May of 2023:
April: (GUNNERS 4-1 Leeds / Liverpool 2-2 gunners / West Ham 2-2 Gunners / Gunners 3-3 Southampton / MANCHESTER CHAMPIONS 4-1 gunners)...
May: GUNNERS 3-1 Chelsea;... Newcastle 0-2 GUNNERS;... gunners 0-3 BRIGHTON;... NOTTINGHAM 1-0 gunners;... GUNNERS 5-0 Wolverhampton). 17 points "bottled" in the last 2 months of the season.
This season Arsenal was absolutely AWESOME & I would have been satisfied & genuinely happy if they'd won the Premier League title. But the team wasn't quite ready to be champions...draw vs Man City & the loss vs Villa in the last 2 months?...sealed fate.
You were good enough to win...just not against City. Had it been any other team you were battling against (including Liverpool) Gunners would've won it all, guaranteed (probably would've also won against Bayern & possibly even the UCL...(too much pressure thinking about us).
Side Note: I would've been ALL-IN rockin' Gunner Red had you all been in the UCL Final (#$%& Real Madrid...just kidding, but F 'em, though).
I would love it if we, City & Gunners, combined powers & dominated the league for (ever?) years to come, sharing the title year after year, battling season after season to see who gets the trophy (Odd years = Arsenal...even years = City). But I'm sure that you will take the throne in '26. That's a no-brainer...too good a team not to. Just not THIS coming season...we gotta get #5 in 2025!!! Five In A Row Before Pep Can Go!!!
P.S: Pardon the novel, just felt the need to voice my genuine respect & admiration for the Gunners.
Exactly, That's the reason Man city wanted to buy Rice. More than a backup of Rodri, they wanted a replacement for Gundogan a no 8.
Gutted we didnt win the league but City do deserve a bit of credit as they were without KDB for half the season. Next year I believe our moment will arrive.
god dammit Aston.... that was the most crucial game! and thomas party being out so sad man...
Great analysis - you get my sub for it.
Assna fan - feeling a little down but mostly pissed that this city stuff is just out there in the open and we're supposed to just pretend it isn't. We've got basically a decade of beautiful highly competitive ball ahead so I'm not too worked up.
Lmao . Crying about the charges now after not being able to beat city . Classical pity party arsenal fans .
@@grealish2234 lmao mr. grealish your defense is “aw you’re mad we cheat?” You think people are just saying it now? lololol nope we’ve all known for quite a while. Aren’t you ashamed? The only thing worth a damn in your club’s entire history is completely meaningless and everybody agrees except you… oof.
@@ChaniTsunami229this video is literally telling you how you could’ve won the League. Arsenal lost 5 games this season and even SAF had quotes from his time as a manager saying that losing 5 games can cost you a title.
If Prime Liverpool had faced this City team they would have 3 titles. You failed by getting dismantled by Villa and getting 1 point from Fulham out of 6 when they had 10 men in one game. Complain about lawyers and charges when you’ve done your job, not when you failed yourselves when it really matters.
@@karmaascendant3936 holddd the phone, I don’t give a fuck that City beat us. Who would? Not a real team. As far as I’m concerned Arsenal are doing fantastically and we’ll get our trophies.
Unrelated to Arsenal whatsoever - I’m pissed about Man City. You’re not? It’s making our entire league a laughing stock. It really is quite shameful. That is all. Arsenal failed in a couple big moments absolutely. Complete aside from the fact that City and all its supporters should be deeply ashamed of their club and the fact that their only history is grayed out, I don’t see any way around that.
If you want to be charitable the league itself should be ashamed for 1. having let this happen, and 2. unveiling 115 charges and then waiting so long to do anything about it. If they are wrong, the league is a joke for slandering City for years. If they are right, the league is a joke period.
It's because we know how Arteta is abt winning duels to retain posession and Kai is the only one stands 6 ft 3 to win them.
I agree with you I thought we were the best team this season. It could be a mental block for other teams but in the run in premier league teams have a habit of not trying or rolling over against City towards the end of the season. Take Villa for example.
Either way, we had a great season and I’m sure we’ll be back next. Love the channel.
Love the analysis you put out there. Thank you!
Great video as always.
Adam, you don't have shipping to the US. Is there any digital version?
I am Chelsea fan and I hate Arsenal lol but this Arsenal is scary and great to watch. They are doing great work at that club
Ok, I'm just gonna say it, I bloody love this guy.
I actually thought the return of Partey upped our attacking play another notch. I find he progresses the ball decidedly better than both Rice and Jorginho.
Very good analysis. It is clear that Jorginho is not the strongest CDM and Havertz is not exactly a killer CF. So we definitely need to improve those two positions. Apart from LB I guess unless Timber is good to play there.
The fulham game early in the season with partey as right back was the moment for me - failed to win against 10 men 🙄
The problem was using Havertz as midfielder and Zinchenko on the left. Arsenal still doesnt have a left side since Xhaka's departure, Tomi and Kivior are consistent players but cant support the left wing properly. Maybe Timber can fix this, but we still need another alternative for the left midfield when Partey and Jorginho are unavailable.
89 points is a great haul, but it's not one that would win the league nuch in 10 years. Arsenal's points and goals would only have won the league twice since 2015, and one of those is a goal difference of 1. And if City needed to beat 89 last season, do you think they wouldn't have? I don't. They didn't need to
Quality content Adam.
Incredible analysis! This is how sports journalism should look like!
Bigger issue related is having Havertz in midfield. He was much better when he was up front. Rice has been doing that job for England and West Ham for years now
This video is masterpiece. Should be in Louvre Museum!
On point analysis. 11:23 Just want to point out City actually had 1 less game played at this point, in 20 games city had 43 points, so actually Arsenal got 1 more point than city in the remaining 18 games.
I also want to point out that city's only 3 losses came when Rodri didnt play, you could argue that if he was available for those games city could've have ended the season unbeaten and this is with KDB missing 6 months and Haaland 2 months. Arsenal have been very fortune with injuries, I'm interested to see how they do next season.
@book-A But look at depth of City's squad assembled over the years, its clearly deeper. Yes Arsenal had pretty much a settled team but Timber missing the entire season was big loss with a numerous players filling in at left back.
The team also missed Partey for most of the season, Jesus for big spells and some others.
@@gourami7Jesus isn’t even comparable to the levels of KDB or Haaland as a miss.Arsenal fans are already asking for an upgrade( and he’s admitted he’s not a striker) because he’ll never be good enough to carry a title winning squad as the starting ST. KDB ended up with 10 assists when he played half the season. Partey is important but Arsenal need to remove their reliance on him as he’s clearly shown that you can’t rely on him for a 10 game stretch , let alone to be fit every game in a season.
And there we have it, compelling evidence that Arsenal are a better team without Jesus. I would use him on the wing as an alternative to Martinelli in the future - link up play with Timber could be a thing to watch next season. Great video, keep em coming.
I'm a lifetime Arsenal fan.
My attitude is, while Arsenal didn't win the league, they did win respect and that, more than anything, is what Arteta has brought to the team and club.
It shouldn't be undervalued.
Ty post from your own account.
@@VTh-f5x Yer wot?
Trophies?
I actually pointed this out to my mates earlier in the season... When people wanted to take of Havertz head for whatever reason... We weren't able to play out from back as really when Declan Rice was in the six role... He hasn't learnt how to be dangerous from there yet... But he will... Undoubtedly...
Another entertaining and insightful analysis as always!
Liverpool lost out to City with 97 points. It's hard to be too bitter or obsess over points lost when that's who you're up against. Only points dropped that feel inexcusable to me (over a 38 game season, you're always going to have some duds) were the two dropped at home to Fulham who were a goal and a man down with 10 mins to go. It's been a young squad at Arsenal for a few years. There's improvement every year and that's largely been because young players are becoming more experienced and in some cases entering their peak years. I think if Arsenal sign a player who's consistent/consistently available and can play primarily as a 6 (or an 8 if needed) as well as back up for Saka (if that player could also comfortably play as a 9 that would be ideal, if not may also need to sign a striker) then I think those would be the biggest gaps in the squad filled, and with another year of great experience for this squad I definitely think Arsenal would be in a great position to win a major trophy next season. Ultimately, City are in every competition so it's never guaranteed! But I think Arteta gives us as good a chance as anyone would
I really like this channel
If only Arsenal had been able to retain Granit Xhaka, I wonder where he went and how his new team got on this season?
Failing that (and as a Chelsea fan I hope this doesn’t happen!) I wonder whether Enzo Fernandez would be the missing piece?
Well, actually, Xhaka went to....
Lol....I just wanted to be the "well, actually" guy. 🤣🤣🤣✌️✌️✌️
You aren’t the best in a competition if you don’t win it, plain & simple
I'd rather focus on where we need to improve in order to wrestle the trophy from Citys vice like grip.
We have a team capable of achieving sustained success, but we can't stand still, and in regards to new arrivals, we need them to hit the ground running.
For this reason, I would like for us to focus on proven PL experience.
This does not mean we only sign PL based players, but I do feel whoever we sign to improve the starting eleven needs to be PL proven.
Based on this, I believe we should look to sign the following players:
LB - Antonee Robinson
CM/CAM - Ebrechi Eze
LW/RW - Michael Olise
Signing an actual number 9 is important also, but unless we sign one of the worlds best (which we won't), Havertz should continue as the number 9.
Someone like Sesko is great to come in, be given time to adapt and learn before being expected to bang in 20+ goals each season.
Just my thoughts and very unlikely to happen, but we as football fans are allowed to dream.
Amazing analysis man💯. U still haven't given an analysis of De-zerbi for chelsea
Havertz was good just not in midfield. And rice should not be the single pivot, even with aston villa he was in a double pivot. We need a reliable dm and a direct forward that can garantee goals.
arsenal focused too hard on countering the top 6, they forgot about the rest of the fourteen teams
The other issue is the control of the game. Arteta sacrifices control of the game to conserve narrow leads sometimes. Tbf, with better defence, the team has proven that they can conserve such leads but to really win the league in this Pep era, they should not be scared to attack.
Fulham was an example, even at the end of the season, the were a few games which were kept on the balance because Arsenal just decided to sit back to conserve leads rather than going forward to secure the the win.
Arteta is learning and he should actually take Rodris criticism and develop a confident mentality in play and stop keeping favourites. Celebrating a draw at Anfield and a draw at City whilst crucial points shows poor mentality because in those games on the balance, Arsenal was scarred to impose their attacking and could have lost those games based on probability of chance creating. They should develop an ethic of domination and winning as Liverpool and City have done and not be comfortable with scraps when they know they could be better and have more to give.
Great analysis bro
Can you do a video on Crystal Palace?
So basicaly Havertz * Jorginho were the key to our amazing run.. Makes you realize you should never trust the internet experts cuz they were saying we're buying dead wood from Chelsea and that we have wasted 60 mil for Havertz.. Well those comments did not age well!
11:04 say it for the people in the back
Thomas Partey is key not because he wins us games, but because he's baggage. Baggage on the pitch, baggage off it. Replacing him in the summer is as key as improving depth in this team in order to compete on all fronts next season.
The start of the season
Excellent analysis 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Bit harsh to refer to finishing two points behind a team that are literally cheating as "falling apart"
How are they cheating I want to know
@@nassernathan Fake sponsors
Not a take about the content of the video - excellent analysis delivered in top notch fashion, as usual 🙌🏻 - but I’m interested in the lightbox comment.
Where can we donate to your run, if it hasn’t already happened? Ta.