Has Mikel Arteta Lost The Dressing Room?

 I followed quite a bit of Arsenal news. I've been an Arsenal fan since 1989, when they beat Liverpool 2-0 to win the league. I'm always a supporter of underdogs and Liverpool back then was the best team of the 70s and 80s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liverpool_0%E2%80%932_Arsenal_(26_May_1989)

Arsene Wenger took over in 1996 and they played attractive football for eight seasons, winning the Premier League three times. I thought that when we shifted to a new stadium, we will have increased gate receipts and go on to dominate the Premiership from 2007 onwards. Little did I know that the billionaires will take over clubs like Man City and Chelsea. The Premiership will be dominated by clubs that are fueled by petrodollars. 

Arsenal was also financially constrained by debt to build the stadium. My passion was so deep that I almost wanted to buy an Arsenal share. One share cost around GBP8000 back in 2009, and it was eventually fully bought over by Stan Kroenke in 2018 for a price of around GBP30,000. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ownership_of_Arsenal_F.C.

It was Arsenal's shift to the current Emirates stadium from Highbury that made me interested in UK properties. When Highbury was torn down, it was replaced by homes that cost around GBP300 - 400k in 2006. It was less than a typical condo. Today, they cost around GBP765k, almost doubling the amount. Capital appreciation in London has been 2 to 3x faster than Singapore's.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsenal_Stadium#:~:text=It%20was%20confirmed%20in%20October,commemoration%20of%20the%20former%20stadium.

https://www.foxtons.co.uk/living-in/highbury/

I follow the blog by "Le Grove" very closely. Also, Daily Mail for the latest Arsenal news.

https://le-grove.co.uk/2020/12/25/mikel-arteta-fox-or-hedgehog/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/teampages/arsenal.html

When Mikel Arteta came in, I thought we finally had a better coach than Arsene Wenger in his final 10 years. Arteta brought discipline, tactical nous, defensive solidity to the team. We immediately won two trophies, the FA Cup and Community Shield, defeating Man City and Liverpool. With the purchases of Thomas Partey, Gabriel, I thought we will emerge stronger. But there were strange decisions, such as signing Wilian at astronomical wage, freezing Ozil (ok I'm not a fan of him but to omit him from the squad is a bit extreme), selling Martinez when he was obviously a better keeper than Leno.

Our results plunged at the start of this season. I suspect that Arteta has lost the dressing room. While he was a great coach, he didn't have a winsome personality that great coaches need. How could a team descend so fast to 15th in the table after winning two trophies and ending the season in the top 6? It is very sad that we kept bouncing from one coach to another. Carlo Ancelotti would have been a safer choice. He is having much success with Everton now. We could have gone for the former Juventus coach, Allegri. 

The things happening on the pitch seem to indicate disharmony in the dressing room. Players losing their cool with each other. Players repeatedly being sent off for ill discipline. They seem to have stopped playing with the coach or dislike each other. Arteta needs to change his approach very quickly to save the season. The player dynamics has to be right. The coach cannot display favouritism. He needs to let go of players like Wilian who repeatedly let him down.

Another potential issue appear to be Arteta's turn from practicality to a desire to dominate games. In early Oct 2020, he gave an interview about the desire to play possession football. This is the same downfall that led to Wenger's dismissal although the football was pretty. We were successful because we defended deep, played counter-attacks with Aubameyang and Lacazette, To dominate a game like Pep Guardiola's teams, we needed a budget of over GBP200m and 5 to 6 world class players. We don't have the financial firepower for this ideal. We should have stayed practical, grind out results and punch above our weight. 

https://arseblog.news/2020/10/arteta-eager-for-arsenal-to-dominate-games-but/

The problems appear to be much higher than Arteta and the players. It appears that the owners, Kroenke are as much to blame. The management has been clueless to allow players like Wilian to be signed. The scouting network has been disastrous. Silly amounts of money have been spent on undeserved players.

I have stopped watching Arsenal since Aug, if the game is later than midnight, because I do not wish to be disappointed. Gone are the years of 1996 - 2006 where I would stay up into the wee hours of the morning to catch each breathtaking game.