I think the roster is a reasonable amount better than the results. Honestly I was never a fan of Arteta’s appointment as manager and I’ve seen little overall to change my mind. They are worse than the sum of their parts IMO and that is on the manager.
I wanted Benitez before and he is available now and I’d like to see him lined up to replace Arteta after the season. He isn’t flashy but he will make them better without a doubt.
Arsenal need to accept what they are at the moment, stop dreaming of fighting for the big titles, get their financial house in order, stop the regression, start improving, and actually fight for a European place. If they can do that next season then maybe they can think about fighting for a champions league spot the following season.
I'm 50/50 on the Arteta vs roster question, tbh. The last paragraph is exactly how I've been thinking.
Maybe I'm not as sophisticated a viewer as most so I could be off base, but I don't see the mini-Pep they probably thought they were getting in Arteta. I don't feel like I'm witnessing a version of Pep's philosophies regarding style and positional fluidity translating to Arsenal at all. I do credit MA for restoring STRUCTURE to the formation and the defense, which was in shambles. But it seems like maybe he's coaching how he was coached as a player, rather than allowing that MCI magic to rub off.
WRT the roster there's surely plenty of talent but it just feels like some of those teams that are thrown together based on paper transactions with little regard for chemistry and fit. What are they built for? Their structured offense is predictable and stale. They have no real transition game, unlike MCI who can punch you in the mouth in a split second. Their midfield play is getting better in terms of possession but is lacking in creativity, despite attempts to beef it up post-Ozil with players like Willian, Odegaard, Ceballos, etc.
Every veteran on that team has a deer in headlights look most of the time rather than either a calm, confident poise or fierce fire. It's f***ing strange.