I've been talking myself into liking the Arteta appointment.
Let's face facts - no big up and coming manager will want to come to us right now. We're either going to get has beens (Ancelotti) or coaches with strong ties to the club (Vieira). If Arteta went somewhere else first and did well, we would never have a chance of getting him again. Sure, it's a risk, but every appointment is; we went with the safe option in Emery and look where that got us. If we snuck into the CL last year, maybe things would be different. We may as well swing for the fences now.
Saying the problem is the fans and not the board, or the ownership, or the playing group seems to miss the point entirely. Has there ever been a supporter base who still support in the same way when consistently playing below their best? Lowering expectations isn't a good thing. It's how you end up like Leeds or Newcastle. Yes, toxicity is an annoying but unavoidable part of fandom.
The playing squad has huge holes that are becoming more and more apparent - we don't have one top-tier midfielder. Not one. We also don't have one top tier CB. (pray Saliba is VVD Mark II) Without that, you can't compete. We have a giant gaping hole in the middle of the park; go back to the game v City and skip to the 52nd minute to see what I mean. (something also mentioned on Arsenal Vision/arsecast) There was literally no one in the middle of the park defending 4 City players. We have several players in important positions who don't even follow the very basics of football. This is more than bad coaching.
One thing I'll enjoy is the fact Arteta is a really likeable, personable, intelligent guy - I'm sure Emery was too, but because of the bigger language barrier it was hard to really connect with him as a coach from a fans perspective. After years of Wenger - possibly the most eloquent man in football - that was hard to take.