Arsenal Thread | 2025/26

I always think watching Arsenal must be like watching one of those royal military exhibitions, where everything is functional and efficient, like a well oiled piece of machinery.
When we were kids our dad often forced us to go and sit through these tedious military exercises where the choreographed, dismantling and subsequent reconstruction of a tank, a cannon or similar would take place in some vast arena somewhere. Soldiers in battle fatigues saluting everything and anything that moved.
After the first five minutes the novelty would wear off and we'd be as bored as fuck for the next two hours watching a carefully rehearsed and methodical 'battlefield ballet.'

And this is exactly how I feel watching Arsenal's conveyor-belt football. It's pragmatic, workmanlike: devoid of creativity - almost Germanic.
Their fans might settle for this dull and mechanical style of play as long as it gets them a trophy, but are they really content to pay a lot of money to watch a ritual as opposed to a sporting game? I know I wouldn't.
 
KentBlue said:
I always think watching Arsenal must be like watching one of those royal military exhibitions, where everything is functional and efficient, like a well oiled piece of machinery.
When we were kids our dad often forced us to go and sit through these tedious military exercises where the choreographed, dismantling and subsequent reconstruction of a tank, a cannon or similar would take place in some vast arena somewhere. Soldiers in battle fatigues saluting everything and anything that moved.
After the first five minutes the novelty would wear off and we'd be as bored as fuck for the next two hours watching a carefully rehearsed and methodical 'battlefield ballet.'

And this is exactly how I feel watching Arsenal's conveyor-belt football. It's pragmatic, workmanlike: devoid of creativity - almost Germanic.
Their fans might settle for this dull and mechanical style of play as long as it gets them a trophy, but are they really content to pay a lot of money to watch a ritual as opposed to a sporting game? I know I wouldn't.
Click to expand...
I question the mentality of their players as well. Yeah they can come out and say they want to be part of a project and success is not too far away.

The reality however is that you are part of a setup/project that has won nothing in 5 years. Imagine what would be going through the minds of Haaland or Rodri if they were with us during a 5 year trophy drought. You don’t think they would be questioning whether they are in the right place to excel in their career?

These type of players are winners and won’t settle for mediocrity for any longer than is absolutely necessary. Arsenals players well I have seen nothing in them to suggest they have the mentality of wanting to be the absolute best.
 
Probably piss some of you off but i rate Saka, at his best he's a really good player.
He's stagnated a little bit in his development though & needs to push on
 
bluemoon32 said:
Probably piss some of you off but i rate Saka, at his best he's a really good player.
He's stagnated a little bit in his development though & needs to push on
Click to expand...
I don’t think any of us disagree that he’s a very good player.

What most of us think is that he’s not as good as the London-centric media would have us believe.

He also spends far too much time on the floor.
 
Danny Tiatto said:
I question the mentality of their players as well. Yeah they can come out and say they want to be part of a project and success is not too far away.

The reality however is that you are part of a setup/project that has won nothing in 5 years. Imagine what would be going through the minds of Haaland or Rodri if they were with us during a 5 year trophy drought. You don’t think they would be questioning whether they are in the right place to excel in their career?

These type of players are winners and won’t settle for mediocrity for any longer than is absolutely necessary. Arsenals players well I have seen nothing in them to suggest they have the mentality of wanting to be the absolute best.
Click to expand...
They had a fluke team when Wenger went there, but mostly they have been forever boring
 
January transfer window vital for us if we are going to overtake them at some point. Ake wants out so we need Guehi in imo as well as Stones will no doubt be going in the summer. Semenyo also would be a huge benefit hopefully continuing to score goals from wide.
 
bluemoon32 said:
Probably piss some of you off but i rate Saka, at his best he's a really good player.
He's stagnated a little bit in his development though & needs to push on
Click to expand...
I'd agree with this. Seems to have hit a plateau but his crosses and corners are lethal.
 
KentBlue said:
I always think watching Arsenal must be like watching one of those royal military exhibitions, where everything is functional and efficient, like a well oiled piece of machinery.
When we were kids our dad often forced us to go and sit through these tedious military exercises where the choreographed, dismantling and subsequent reconstruction of a tank, a cannon or similar would take place in some vast arena somewhere. Soldiers in battle fatigues saluting everything and anything that moved.
After the first five minutes the novelty would wear off and we'd be as bored as fuck for the next two hours watching a carefully rehearsed and methodical 'battlefield ballet.'

And this is exactly how I feel watching Arsenal's conveyor-belt football. It's pragmatic, workmanlike: devoid of creativity - almost Germanic.
Their fans might settle for this dull and mechanical style of play as long as it gets them a trophy, but are they really content to pay a lot of money to watch a ritual as opposed to a sporting game? I know I wouldn't.
Click to expand...

The great thing about football is that there's many different styles and ways to win games, and how we view the game is often down to the individual.

Wenger got many plaudits for his style of play, but the Wenger teams in the 2nd half of his reign tended to be soft as shite, and that wasn't much fun to watch when Fergie was putting 8 last us or Mourinho was putting 6 past us.

There's actually plenty people out here that didn't like the Spanish / Pep way of playing that seemed to be death by 1000 passes at times and found little joy watching that. I personally found it fascinating.

I think our 'lack of creativity' is sometimes overblown. The last 4 games we have had 78 shots, and over 9 xg. It's our finishing that's let us down in these games, not our creativity.

 
With the squad they have, and a manager who takes the players off the leash now and again, Arsenal would be a formidable team, a team nobody would want to go up against too often. But Arteta's overly-negative approach means he has stifled so many of his flair players that there seems to be a lot of pent-up frustration within some of them, and their only outlet is committing silly fouls where they either get a card or cause themselves an injury they could well do without.
Personally I don't like Arteta, and I don't like the way his players find it necessary to feign injury so many times throughout a game. He has given the club an awful reputation with his 'win-at-any-cost' attitude, and I think for many footballing fans who follow the gooners them winning the Prem would be a pyrrhic victory.
 
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