Arsenal Lost 5-0 To Manchester CIty And Should Arteta Be Blamed For This?

EPL Aug 30, 2021 0 1157 Add to Reading List

Mikel Arteta is supposed to be changing Arsenal, which makes the most damaging aspect of Satuday's 5 - 0 defeat at Manchester City the fact that this was more of the same: a shambolic display bereft of organisation, discipline and belief, the type that put paid to his predecessors Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery.

The 39-year-old's early promise as Gunners boss was predicated upon his ability to structure a team to compete against better-resourced opponents. They beat City and Chelsea to win the 2020 FA Cup final at the end of a campaign that also featured a July victory over then-Premier League champion Liverpool.

There was a similar theme among the general disappointment of last season with victories home and away against Chelsea, a success against Man United at Old Trafford and only a narrow 1-0 defeat against City at the Etihad.

Given Arsenal lost 13 Premier League games last season and finished eighth, if Arteta has lost his touch in implementing a basic structure to the team, what is there to suggest he should continue in the job? This is fundamentally the issue of appointing a manager with no previous experience, one Arsenal doubled down on last September when effectively promoting him from "head coach" to "manager" in recognition of the club's tentative progress to that point.

Yet his ability to turn things around now is founded purely on faith, one predicated upon his ability as a coach and the evolution of the club behind the scenes, addressing a culture of underachievement. Arsenal will give him time, mindful of a kinder post-international break fixture list that comprises games against Norwich, Burnley, AFC Wimbledon (In EFL Cup) Tottenham and Brighton. But the meek surrender here was deeply troubling for the Spaniard, something captain Aubameyang did not even try to hide at full-time.

3rd game of EPL and Arsenal lost all their EPL games, bringing them to the bottom of the table just upset Arsenal fans in many ways. Arsenal fans are not frustrated with Artete's lead and making noises to change Arteta.