The main take today is simple:
Sometimes you get away with it.
I mean it.
‘Arsenal played 10 men you fool, what are you talking about?’
Exactly my point. In seriousness, 11-man Chelsea beat us. Were it not for the insanity of a midfielder trying to be a modern-day Roy Keane, my view is we might be licking our wounds today.
No one wants to hear me bleat on about this, but I’m going to… life at the highest level of anything is about hard choices. Quite simply, unless you are extraordinarily lucky, you cannot have it all.
Prioritization, though an excruciatingly boring part of management, is an edge. A marginal game. The difference between good and great. Bravado, machismo, and reality distortion leaders can push humans to extraordinary lengths… but at some point, the laws of physics kick in, and reality bites.
Arteta is probably the best coach in world football right now. But he can’t prioritize when it comes to squad management. It’s his Achilles heel (double entendre work here). This is a man who believes mental strength and physical strength are connected.
“Look at the top players in the world. They play 70 matches, every three days and make the difference and win the game. You want to be at the top, you have to be able to do that.”
“I want them to be ruthless every three days. I want them knocking on my door [saying], ‘I want to play, I want to win the game’. There is not a fitness coach in the world who is going to tell me that they cannot do it because I’ve seen it.“
The difference between Klopp and Arne Slot was mostly load management, and that played out with Slot winning a Premier League in his first season with a squad that looked finished the year before. The difference between Arteta and Slot last season was also the same thing. Slot was hired because he had a history of working with small squads and maximising them without breaking them. He kept old dogs fit, Arteta ended the season with 3 hamstring injuries to young players so bad they needed surgery.
The hope this season was he’d be given a deep squad and he’d rotate heavily. That seemed to be the case for a bit, but now we’re deep into the season, and we’re winning, Arteta appears to be back to his old ways.
The rest of this blog explores the issues of Arsenal, some of the poor performances, and why I think we’ll be ok. Got a special Cyber Monday Deal if you want to become a member. x
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to LE GROVE to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.