Arteta simply got it wrong again against Villarreal | OneFootball

Arteta got it wrong AGAIN- what a surprise (NOT)

Disappointed is an understatement, but I expect nothing less from a manager that has lost his dressing room and doesn’t know which tactics to give against which opponent!

We could have easily got a result on Thursday, yet we showed too much respect to Villareal, put out a poor team with zero tactics and really looked like we didn’t know what to do!

Given that it was our best chance to get into European football, I am very upset that Arteta didn’t take his team selection seriously!

Now I am not blaming the players, because they are only doing what they are told, which judging by the game was not very much! And I have nothing against these players but time and time again I fail to see major impacts from the likes of Partey, Smith-Rowe and Saka in big games.

Yet it is nowhere near their fault if they are picked and are not given clear instructions. But for intelligent footballers who want to make it in the world of football, surely they should be able to make their own decisions and impact games, rather than follow what a manager says to the T!

There is no team that goes for 90 minutes listening to their managers tactics, because there will always be times where the expected game and performance needs to be amended to adjust to the goings on in a game.

Now it is true that no manager can fully know the outcome or set up of a game, but given an idea you would hope they could come close enough to know what tactics and instructions to give their team right?

Well not for Mikel Arteta!

And yet again it is the fans left disappointed and the players no doubt feeling empty, angry and frustrated. But who can blame them when even their own manager didn’t see this game as the “biggest of his managerial career to date.”

Shenel Osman