Arsenal PR scramble to sell Emery as coup, not a last minute panic hire

by .

Screen Shot 2018-05-22 at 4.49.40 PM

It’s really amusing to read the opinion police out in force when they read something they don’t like. I think the Unai Emery hire is bland, I laid out my reasons if you don’t like them, it’s really not a problem.

Here’s the thing, Emery is going to be far better than Arsene Wenger because anyone would bring improvements to us. I’ve been telling you for years that our ex-coach was dated and past it, so it’ll be really hard for anyone born of this era to not improve on 6th, no real analysis, no pressing system, and a poor grasp of coaching.

What I do find interesting is the lack of interrogation people are giving this signing. I mean, I guess people just want to feel safe knowing we’re going come out of hibernation as a club, which I’ve no doubt we will.

My issue is that Emery feels every inch the panic hire, namely, because he is.

Firstly, the reason no one had his name on their lips is that Arsenal was not interested in him until Emery’s agent took a punt on the job. The Spaniard has been in the consideration loop for about a week.

Mark Gonnella is feeding a narrative to the press that this was a well thought out and all part of a thorough process, but I’m struggling to see how you can claim that when your decision was to hire a manager who can barely muster a word of English.

It’s also being widely reported that Emery is planning on bringing at least 4 of his coaching staff and some analysts who also likely won’t be able to speak the language.

Think of the divide that causes from the off. English speaking players who can’t speak Spanish or French are on the back foot straight away, because all the comms will go through others.

For a man who is famed for his complex ideas and a rigid dedication to extensive video analysis, he certainly has his work cut out trying to educate players in an unfamiliar language. Neymar hated the 12 hours of analysis for every game, imagine how our players will feel having to do that through translators so early on? Also, you can’t take a translator into the dugout.

Carlo Ancelotti was very firm in his book about the importance of being able to speak in the native tongue. It’s an absolute basic of any job in a different culture. It’s also an impressive attribute that says you were focused on working in that country. If Emery was being considered properly, we’d have put the feelers out months ago when it was clear PSG were done with him, so he could start the English lessons.

People fob of the language as a footnote, but you only have to look at the good PR Pep got when he rolled out fluent German when he arrived in Munich. Scolari tanked at Chelsea having not mastered the language, legendary names like Neville and Moyes failed in Spain because they didn’t speeeeka da lingo. Bobby Robson had poor Spanish at Barca, and let Mourinho translate his tactics, rumour has it they used to reimagine the instructions in his own vision with Pep.

Explaining complex systems to players who have never worked in them, in Spanish, is going to be tough. Think back to what it was like being a kid in school learning how to say ‘my dog eats baked goods’ in German. Now imagine having a tactical masterclass explained to you in a foreign language?

Now multiply that challenge through the coaching staff he’s bringing and you can’t quite believe they’re doing this. If there is one unifyer at a club, it should, at the very least, be the language.

Who is vetting his coaching staff and analysts he’s bringing with him? Did we interview all of them in a week? Seems odd that the club went from wanting to own the infrastructure, to simply handing it back to the new manager by letting him replace the coaches we just fired. Also worth mentioning his assistant Carcedo wasn’t liked at PSG, Hatem Ben Arfa was caught shouting,

“You hurt my head. You are shouting too loudly. Let us play. Why do you shout like this?”

Old school journo’s and pundits will lap up that type of carry-on, but is that really the way to deal with players? Who knows. But our players are closer in persona to PSG than Sevilla or Almeria than they are to a tin-pot selling club in Spain. No one has mentioned that he also tanked at Spartak Moscow, getting fired in the dressing room. Did he know the language there? Notable that his main successes have come in La Liga, where he can quickly grasp the culture and express his ideas effectively.

It certainly didn’t work at PSG where they went backwards. The press bluster about this being a masterclass hire, or a coup seem self-aggrandizing.

‘Emery is meticulous’ they tell us, because apparently, he does 12 hours of video analysis before each game (try listening to an hour of a tactical podcast). Here’s the thing, all managers are meticulous at that level. It’s only exciting to Arsenal fans because Wenger wasn’t (despite furious denials when I told people that over the last ten years).

The club would have been prepared under Jardim, who bossed Emery in his first year at PSG with kids.

The club would have been well prepared under Antonio Conte, the so-called serial winner, who not only knows English, he’s won the Premier League.

For me, this signing is about Ivan protecting himself. It could be great, it could be terrible, my guess is it’ll be ok. A bit like Brexit will end up.

Regardless of what I think about the hire, ultimately, we’ll be seeing something very different this season. It sounds like the future is going to be built around Ramsey and Auba. I mean, I don’t know why people find this notion so groundbreaking… but what was interesting about the snippet of info that came from The Sun is it didn’t include Ozil.

We’ll see subs before 70minutes, we’ll see a change of tactics when we’re losing, we’ll see the ball played out of the back, we’ll learn how to press, we’ll be far more competitive, and I suspect we’ll probably win the Europa League in our first season.

Arsenal has hired a manager who, language skills pending (and the ability to adapt to the best league in the world), will be able to stabilise the decline. He’s going to coach players, they’ll learn under him, and they’ll have to work hard to survive. He’s a manager who makes players go to war for him, and I’m telling you, we’ll see a massive improvement in the effort, attitude, and footballing output.

Worst case scenario, the next manager will have a group of players who are far more prepared for the rigors of elite football than they are now. Manager who takeover after LVG usually succeed becasue they’re fiercely disciplined, and just need a bit of love and a warm heart (which is why United should have hired Poch, not Mourinho).

My critique of this whole scenario is really centred around the fact that we could have been more ambitious. This is a low-hanging fruit kind of job for anyone; we were ripe to take a chance on a young coach, and we’d have been even more ripe for an elite coach. We opted for a solid operator, the middle ground, a manager at the back end of the top 10 in Europe. If it goes well, we’ll be top 3. If it goes badly, we’ll have to hire a so-called big name to appease a rabid fan base.

I worry we did what’s best for Ivan’s job security because the move was nowhere near the ‘bold and brave’ he promised. My biggest fear? Ivan Gazidis is the new Arsene Wenger. He’ll just plod the club along, hoover up that fat paycheck, and always create as little risk on a new manager as possible so he can put his hands up and say ‘I tried’ if things go wrong. You don’t make it in this game without taking a risk, either financially, or with personnel. Pep G famously told the Barca hierarchy, ‘you don’t have the cajones to hire me’, and the rest is history. Can’t help but think we blew it with Arteta, and blew it on the experience card. We hired a safe pair of hands when we needed to take a strategically sound risk.

Nice to see that Arteta didn’t lose out after Arsenal shafted him late in the game. The owner of City and Pep called him after the news broke, that’s good leadership and constitutes bold and brave planning for the future. They want him takeover after Pep, that’s the exec team who ran Barca during the good years. I think we’ve made a mistake there, but it is what it is. Not like Arsenal haven’t made a living out of passing-by elite coaching talent over the last 5 years.

In other news, I am very excited about Per Mertesacker looking after the kids. He’s a really smart player, and I can’t get enough of reading about the way he thinks. A modern leader who understands that mental health is important, and understands deeply what it takes to maintain levels in the game. I love his incredulity about players not asking him for advice, bringing in kids who have a curiosity about what it takes to succeed will hopefully inform the recruitment process.

Right, that’s me done. See you in the comments.

730 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
DM

DM

Bankz

Bankz is here for the Tr4phy again

Bankz

ABOOOOM

DM

Tr4phy

Bankz

Nice one DM.

DM

Pedro I have enormous respect for what you do, and rarely criticise what you write, but this is becoming a bit of a drag. We get it, you didn’t want Emery, but you’re forcing the narrative to match your opinion. You say all the reasons that Emery is a safe choice, and then you go on to name all the ways that he is a risk (eg the language barrier, for both him and any staff he brings over) – and then you go on to say that we were promised bold and they haven’t delivered. Just because their definition… Read more »

Chrispy

Top 10. I’m officially one of ‘those’ cunts

Bankz

Neymar is the poster child for the word “spoilt kid” and yet Pedro chooses to use what he hates to beat Emery up? Like I said yesterday you only seem to hate the Emery appointment simply because you’ve gone on and on about Arteta and tried to shove him down our throats. If English was a major requirement for winning games, Wenger would win a treble every season seeing he couldn’t only speak English but could speak 5 or so other languages fluently. Point is Emery remains a better manager than Arsene Wenger(which you pretty much agree to) and also… Read more »

Leftsidesanch

I can bet you that before Man City hand over the reigns to Arteta he will be sent to get experience somewhere. Let this one go, it’s becoming like you and Man Utd/Sanchez.

Bankz

Welcome to the cunts club Chrispy

Steveyg87

1st time in a while where I haven’t bothered to read the whole post.

gambon

Emery not speaking English is something that will have to be dealt with.

However its far more preferable to a cone collector who doesnt know how to manage a football team.

Also, top presume that none of his backroom team speak English is crazy. It would be very rare to speak to 4-5 spaniards none of whom have any English.

Robert Pires will almost certainly be kept around. He is fluent in Spanish and has worked with the team for a few years any way.

Sid

So which club is world class coach Arteta joining after Arsenal rejected him? I am sure there must be no shortage of offers? Maybe he will replace Zidane at Real?

Mr Graham

What a load of rubbish. We get it, you’re upset because Arteta didn’t get the job.

DM

If Arteta wants to manage, he should try to get the Everton job. That would make a lot of sense for both parties – he’s got history there (arguably more than with us) and they’re in a better position to take that sort of risk. If he’s amazing, we can consider him again in a few years. If he’s rubbish, it’ll be far easier for him failing at Everton than at us.

HighburyLegend

“we could have been more ambitious. ”

… by hiring Arteta, “ze next big thing”, of course.

Pedro this anti-Emery post is just pathetic.

David Smith

I think we should give Ivan some credit here. He put things in place to rid us of Wenger and his hangers on. He bought in two football people to help him, clearly against wengers wishes, it seems Wenger as a matter of principle resisted any change proposed by Ivan. Emery might not have been first choice when Wenger was fired, that could have been Allegri, but he wasn’t available to us. As for Arteta, we are told he was close, but close doesn’t get you the job. Emery should be given a chance, language problems, that’s up to him… Read more »

EdTheRed

Not sure what sort of LA bubble Pedro lives in, but I want to assure him that majority of us in North London are very pleased with Emery’s appointment. He’s the Un.

Leedsgunner

I understand people “mourning” for Arsene after 22 years in the job… but why are people “mourning” for Arteta when he wasn’t given the job? He’s young. He’s time will come. If he wants to manage Arsenal that badly let him prove his worth elsewhere first. Why should he get one of the plummiest jobs in World Football handed to him on a plate? The world moves on. Arsenal moves on. By the way, this narrative to run down our manager apparent appears childish. Arteta started his Arsenal career as a panic buy and his appointment would have been a… Read more »

james wood

A blog is about opinion whether you write the Blog or read it.
Pedro expresses his opinion and agrees our performance can
only improve with Emery.
Well this should not be to difficult with the DROSS we have been served up.
Pedro also highlights as others about the lack of English spoken?
and surely this should have been a major requirement on a CV for a job
as big as this.

Frankie Coffeecakes

And i suppose that not speaking a lick of english would not be categorized as being part of a bold decision, Pedro? You really have become quite chidish with your tantrums – smacks of not getting your way, through and through. What are you going to do next, walk off in a huff?

Leedsgunner

I have to hand it to Gazidas, he played an absolute blinder in expectation management. We were initially heavily linked with Allegri. Had he appointed Emery at that point, he would have faced widespread criticism for “not being ambitious enough” for “settling for a PSG reject”. Instead he didn’t. He allowed the Arteta train to build momentum, create apprehension in enough of the fan base, and when it became a fever pitch… and then at the last minute bring in Emery. I disagree with Pete — this is a bold brave decision. Hiring Emery is like skydiving with a working… Read more »

UTarse

Surely now that we snubbed Arteta, Everton will pounce ?

gambon

Arsenal have just signed “Visit Rwanda” as a sleeve sponsor.

Shows that we really have given up the idea of being a big club.

There is no way in the world, Rwanda are paying us anything close to what the likes of Hyundai & Nexen are paying Chelsea and Man City (£10m pa)

So we are now even further behind our rivals financially.

The club has just given up.

Guns of Hackney

Peter I do not always agree with you but damn, you nailed it. The majority of people on here are lazy and can’t see past their own noses. The potential Arteta appointment rushed this to the surface big style! Emery is an upgrade, but as you said, after Wenger…pretty much anyone would be. It’s like being starved for a week…all of a sudden that dry cracker looks like it’s been prepared by a three star chef in Paris. People were actually banging on about how Emery “is guaranteed to be better than Arteta because he’s got experience”…what a lot of… Read more »

shaun ellis

“My critique of this whole scenario is really centred around the fact that we could have been more ambitious.” by hiring Arteta …………………….we could bore everyone with a list as to why Arteta should not be considered but I just don’t think you have too . Arteta would not have been brave or bold , it would have been massive risk taking and for what mancity’s no3 coach who has only been doing the job for two years and the first year was pants even though they have unlimited funds .You really wonder why intelligent people are pushing for Arteta… Read more »

Frankie Coffeecakes

Has it occurred to anyone that maybe Emery really did impress in his interview and that maybe just maybe, Arteta didnt? Would not be the first time that someone nailed an interview over the supposed chosen one. Maybe just maybe Atteta aint all that and a bag of chips? Maybe.

Sid

Yes its official now. Arteta can go and manage Madrid now. Thanks for applying

https://www.arsenal.com/news/welcome-unai

EdTheRed

gambon

I would concentrate on “sleeve sponsor” part.

If we follow your reasoning, all our sponsors would be betting companies.

Guns of Hackney

If Emery can actually make Iwobi an actual footballer…

Or Wilshere less of a cunt.

Or Ozil less of a cunt.

He can have a statue.

Let’s see how he does business and sets the team up. The fixture list will be interesting. What’s the bet we get city away, Liverpool at home…followed by Chelsea.

Minus 9 points…come back Arsene will be the call.

Frankie Coffeecakes

You serious Gambon? “Visit Rwanda”? Well, Everton had “Angry Birds” on their sleeves and look where that got them…

OleGunner

Pedro’s embarrassing and whiny posting run continues.
I’ll be honest, I’m enjoying drinking his tears lol

It’s genuinely pathetic how you’ve gone on a crusade just because your boi Arteta wasn’t given the job. I expected so much better from you tbh.

Guns of Hackney

Ole

And when Emery starts losing???

Then what? Or will Emery not lose a game and win the League with 120 points, scoring 300 goals.

Arsenal fans are the worst.

shaun ellis

The majority of people on here are lazy and can’t see past their own noses. The potential Arteta appointment rushed this to the surface big style!

what you smoking down there dude ….I am only up the road …………..the must be the real stuff

Ben D

It’s official!!!! Welcome to The Arsenal, Unai Emery. I’m excited. Bring on next season and the seasons after. At least I’m unsure what to expect – will subs only be done after 70 minutes irrespective of how the game is going, will I still have a feeling we will bottle it even when we are leading 2-0 when playing a relegation threatened team, will I expect a hiding every time we play against a top team etc etc….?

james wood

Frank c
KEH——–Pardon excuse me-what the fuck did you say type interview.?
🙂

Frankie Coffeecakes

Whats with that home kit? A mustard stained t-shirt would be a better choice. New era, new manager and that is the kit you launch?

Emiratesstroller

Pedro Personally I am neutral about this appointment, because frankly I know very little about Emery. I have not followed PSG or Seville. Like yourself I was concerned about this Coach’s limited or lack of English. It was a point I raised two years ago when other Foreign Managers came to England. Predictably most of the “contrary” posters criticised me at the time. The reality is that Arteta despite his lack of so-called management experience was rated an excellent coach by those who know him and has almost certainly more knowledge of the English Game than any other candidate. The… Read more »

gambon

My point regarding this sleeve sponsor, is we are once again completely failing to make the most of our name financially.

Its like the club is deliberately avoiding even trying to compete.

There are 4 revenue streams you can make from your shirt.

Kit Manufacturer
Main Sponsor
Training Kit Sponsor
Sleeve Sponsor

At the moment we make:

Puma £30m
Emirates £40m
Training Kit £0
Sleeve (Maybe £5m at best, probably about £1-2m)

So at best we make £75m.

Man Utd make £135m
Chelsea make £120m

Why are we so deliberately not even trying?

OleGunner

Welcome Unai Emery!

Here’s to a new and refreshing start for Arsenal full of passion, intensity, aggression and preparation!
Ooh to, ooh to be, ooh to be a, Gooner!!

Ukesox

The biggest problem facing Emery is not one of language but the 75% effort & commitment culture in the squad that AW seemed to believe was “giving everything”. I don’t expect it’ll take him or his coaching team long to pick up a few essentials such as “you need to work harder”.

Frankie Coffeecakes

“Why are we so deliberately not even trying?”

Maybe because the Arsenal brand has become damaged goods under Wenger’s last years, so much so that you have to take what you can get? Seems a logical enough reason, Gambon?

OleGunner

Guns of Hackney

What is your point?
Of course Emery will lose games. He’ll win some too ya know.

My job as a fan now is to back the man. If he fucks up I’ll call it out as I see it but the man still gets grace from me (barring a complete meltdown from the team) for his first two seasons because our squad is an unbalanced shit show.

Get over yourself and join me in happy town with the new coach in place 🙂

Frankie Coffeecakes

A rude awakening awaits some of the members of the Arsene Country Club. They are going to be introduced to something they are foreign to, under Emery – hard work!

HighburyLegend

“and surely this should have been a major requirement on a CV for a job”

@James Woods : ask chelsea, it wasn’t a problem for them when they hired Conte.

Guns of Hackney

“Take what you can get”. Which is exactly why Arsenal plumped for Emery and not a

Tuchel
Jardim
Allegi

Watch Le Grove now explode into a “Emery was always my choice”.

We are a third tier team and acted like one.

Frankie Coffeecakes

And whose fault is it that we are a third tier team, GOH? Time to hit the reset button.

Guns of Hackney

Ole

I’m not beasting you. I’m like you, I’ll back the guy. I’m just a bit underwhelmed.

My issue is a lot of people here think that his experience trumps everything. That’s a worrying opinion.

UTarse

Fuck me there are some defeatists on here

HighburyLegend

@GoH : so you think that Emery was everybody’s first choice ??

Of course I would have prefer one of the 3 you suggest, but I didn’t want Arteta.

But the final choice could have been worst, I guess you can at least agree on that…

Guns of Hackney

FC

I am no Wenger fan.

Wenger and a combination of board inactivity created our status as also rans. They had a chance to throw a spanner in the works by hiring Arteta or Bagelsmann it they fucking tanked it.

Arsenal have made me a rageaholic.

Arsene's Nurse

It’s too early for Arteta to go to Arsenal. Firstly he has little experience and secondly he’s too close to the players.

In 5 years time that is going to be different.

Guns of Hackney

HL

Could have been worse…yes. Should have been better. Yes.
Could have been more exciting. Absolutely.

Would you rather be shot in the hand or foot?

That’s essentially what Arsenal have given us.

“Meh, could have been worse…” shrugs. Counts money.

Guns of Hackney

Confirmed.

Rambo Ramsey

Pedro lashing out at Gazidis because he feels betrayed? LOL. The Pedro-Gazidis love affair would make for a good sitcom. Like Ross-Rachel from Friends, on-off, on-off, on and off again.

Leftsidesanch

I’d have been happy with Jardim, ecstatic with Allegri but underwhelmed by Tuchel. At the point it sounded like we would go for the footballing novice who’s experience in management mirrors mine = zero, I would have even take a Howe over him so I’m happy with Emery and I’ll back the guy. We are Arsenal, we haven’t won a title in 14 years, we finished 6th last year with one away win this calendar year so far. Why on earth would Allegri come down from one of the best clubs/best run clubs in the continent to us. We’re not… Read more »

Ben D

Gambon, do you really have any basis for your assumption about the value of the shirt sleeve sponsorship? I hope it’s not merely because it’s an African country, because that’s very presumptive and borderline racist

Leftsidesanch

Hopefully we get some shiny new signings of top top kwal-it-teee before the World Cup.

Frankie Coffeecakes

The choice is the choice, we all have to live with it now GOH. Its far better than keeping Wenger on for another year or ten and that is what i take from it. And its not like Emery is a poor choice either, his resume offers up success as a benchmark. I understand your disappointment, but the choice is not a bad one, not by a long shot.

HighburyLegend

“Would you rather be shot in the hand or foot?”

The head lol

Gooner63

Some of the stuff coming out now is ridiculous Language Barrier – huh You do know that players from every country play in england and in loads of countries that dont speak their own language – they managed to do ok Their are now sports translators, assistants who speak english and spanish, ffs they can even sit side by side on Google Translate if they had to. I dont think this is a panic appointment This is the best of what we could potentially have We were never going to fund the likes of Allegri or Ancelotti with the money… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

Gambon

Arsenal are playing “catch up” with commercial sponsorship and our lack of
recent success in both EPL and Champions League has not helped.

The one commercial sponsorship where Arsenal appear miles behind Man Utd and Chelsea is the kit sponsorship.

We are supposed to negotiate a new deal in next 12 months, but one suspects
that our current status on pitch will impact on the scale of deal. Companies
like Nike, Puma and Adidas will be looking at our current performance and
impact on marketability.

Guns of Hackney

Gooner 63

Try going to Japan or Russia without the language. Let’s see how far you get.

Google translate? Jesus Christ.

NEEG

Levi to Poch ‘do you speak English’

Poch to Levi – enough that footballers will understand.

Emery – ditto.

HighburyLegend

Tuchel had already chosen Paris.

Jardim love his job at Monaco and still under contract with them.

And concerning Allegri… quit Turin to come at Arsenal ?? Please… (lol)

Boomslang

Your Comment Here

Guns of Hackney

I’m going to love watching Iwobi and Jack “the brain” Wilshere sitting there open mouthed listening to Emerys instructions.

Seriously. It’s amazing how people now think that a language isn’t important.

Honestly.

Leftsidesanch

Auber,

He has been appointed it’s been announced on our official website.

Leftsidesanch

I’m braced for Pedro to cry about Arteta every time we have a bad result, Arsenal fans love a bit of doom and gloom don’t they.

Emiratesstroller

Gooner 63

Sorry have to disagree.

Communication is a basic necessity in every profession. Senior management are expected to speak the language in the country they work or at very least
English which is recognised as the Universal Language.

I am pretty sure that most of Arsenal’s current crop of players speak English.

Bergkamp63

Pedro,

I seem to remember Poch didn’t speak much English at all when he arrived here and you have been up his arse since forever ?

I really don’t think the language will be a problem, plenty around to overcome that one until he improves.

Whether or not he is successful is entirely another matter but let’s give him the benefit of doubt for now.

Guns of Hackney

ES

No. Apparently languages aren’t important anymore. All classes are now cancelled. Languages is off the curriculum.

You can go to Japan and somehow communicate the beat way to perform complicated surgery without knowing how the speak Japanese.

Amazing. Truly amazing. Fucking arsenal fans. Dumb bastards.

Ashwin gunner

Pedro A couple of things * dont get touchy if people oppose your opinion. This is a blog for god sake and people will definitely have a different point of you. Some of them dont express them subtly,but that is internet for you. * Was Arteta good. Yes. We can always hire him in the future when he has more experience under his belt. Its not the end of the world. He will come running when Arsenal call him. He loves the club and the event of past few days wont affect his love for the club. * Is Emery… Read more »

Guns of Hackney

Eveytime a player joins a club…what is the very first things everyone says:

“He must get to grips with the language”. That’s a player!

A manager? Forget about it.

OleGunner

Maaan I am buzzing games. I seriously haven’t felt this way about Arsenal in years!!
This optimism is flowing through my veins. Its not even about winning the league in season 1 or anything I’m just pumped to see a competent and modern head coach do something with our team finally!

Aubergine.

He is confirmed on the dot com:
https://www.arsenal.com/news/welcome-unai

Gooner63

Not saying language isnt important – just they will get round it.

That Ronaldo guy was certainly held back by language – not

On Sir Alex Ferguson’s accent
“I still don’t understand him! In the beginning, I had a translator, a Brazilian man, of course, basically only for him.”

Jim Lahey

This is nuts! Pedro lining himself up as Emery-Out before the guy has even spent a day at the club! Absolute joke!

Ashwin gunner

““Several things stood out during his interview and the entire process; his football knowledge, energy, determination and love of the game. His familiarity with our club and our players, the Premier League and the game in Europe were all very impressive. He shares our vision to move forward, to build on the platform created by Arsène Wenger and help this club enjoy greater success.”

He had done background on the players even for the interview. what more do you need.

Marko

Nice to see that Arteta didn’t lose out after Arsenal shafted him late in the game Is it now? Oh that’s nice isn’t it. Look you’ve basically gone from being weirdly infatuated with Gazidis to being weirdly infatuated with Arteta. You’ve been trying so hard to force Arteta down peoples throats for the past week and a half that it was embarrassing and now you’re so against this hire that all you can talk about is the lack of English lack of English. Wouldn’t be an issue with Allegri or Jardim I’m guessing. It’s really quite sad that you won’t… Read more »

HighburyLegend

“A manager? Forget about it.” –>> Conte ?
(he was not too good in English, him too…)

Gooner63

WTF Guns and ES

you do realise we arent in Japan or Russia

Emery speaks a little English – they will get round it

WW

Pedro is entitled to voice an opinion, as we all are. I don’t think he shows any lack of fair and considered comment. He likes arteta and I can see why and can also see artetas lack of credentials. Emery maybe a good manager and WILL be better than a hopeless fraud we have had in place for 10 years, but communication is massive in football…I see this lack of English-speaking as a massive drawback. The greatest managers could certainly talk, motivate, frighten and have charisma. Lets hope somehow this new guy can get the message across.

UTarse

GOH,
Relax mate, he already has an understanding of English and I’m sure he will be fluent within 6 months or so. Give the man a chance, he has good credentials and is no mug. English is a far easier language to learn than Japanese or Russian.

Ashwin gunner
Jim Lahey

@Marko –

Its so odd isn’t it! Pedro wanted change for years and now that it is here its not the exact change he wanted so he is throwing his toys out of the pram before anything has happened!

englandsbest

The hiring of Emery reminds me of Wenger’s sudden grab for Ozil. Wenger didn’t need him but he had just missed out foolishly on Suarez. A clever-dick with a hurt ego. In Ivan’s case it was simply a loss of nerve. All it needed was for the guy to accept tight purse strings (Kroenke’s bottom line). Ivan saved his bacon, he grabbed a guy with managerial experience. In return it seems that Ivan gave Emery everything he asked for. A huge salary for a start. But more importantly, a regimental influx of his own people. The question is : how… Read more »

Danny

“Let The Good Time Roll”!!!
10 years late but like they did in Dallas, just pretend they never happened……

Leedsgunner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiq3R2G-tmk

Looks like an informative interview with French Football correspondence on Emery, Wenger and Lacazette.

HighburyLegend

In France, they are much more optimistic than here, and they salute Arsenal’s choice. Emery is highly rated, despite his recent fails in the CL.
They say that Arsenal will let him work the way he want, which was not the case at Psg.

UTarse

Would it be fair to say Allegri was the 1st choice of most Arsenal fans ?…. His English isn’t exactly shakespearean ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJaTbXRnRPA

Language IS a barrier but will be easily addressed ala Poch, Conte, etc.

Receding Hairline

Chelsea will soon need a new manager. Same with many clubs in europe

Let’s see if Arteta gets the call.

Better still lets see if Viera will take the OGC Nice job …then if Arteta is not swiftly moved to New York city to replace him that will tell u all u need to know

I was on board with his appointment but i do no see the need for all this acting like we missed out on a sure thing

Marko

In Emery, we have the beginnings of a united front going into season. That’s something to be pleased about is it not?

Very true. It seems to be majority well liked except for Arteta fanboys Pedro and GOH.

Look the language thing shouldn’t be that much of a problem half the team is Spanish anyway and even our German lads speak Spanish. Football is the universal language of love anyway

Victorious

welcome Emeryates!!!

Daz

I imagine Emery will pick up english in no time at all, im actually really excited now he is going to drill these slackers we will finally see what they are made of

Savage

“My issue is that Emery feels every inch the panic hire, namely, because he is.”

Why? Because that’s what you got from Twitter? There’s no other explanation for your assumption.

I think it’s a great signing and a much more solid choice than Arteta. It’s interesting to hear all the stories coming out about the challenge of coaching a Neymar-led PSG.

Marko

Ivan just had to say values in the press release. And the bit about people wanting the job he’s making sure people “know” Arteta didn’t turn us down we turned him down

Thanos

Pedro I don’t think many people agree with your narrative of Emery being a last minute panic signing, he is a cut above signing Arteta shocked that you are so upset about it to be honest.
I listen to your podcasts and always come on here and up to now understood your stance on most things arsenal in fact I agreed with you on the whole. This time though I totally disagree with you

HighburyLegend

“welcome Emeryates!!!”

lol that is pathetic.

UTarse

“welcome Emeryates!!!”

When is your 13th birthday ?

Dissenter

If you believe Arteta is taking over from Pep in 2022 then I have a bridge to sell to you.
Man city will go for the shiniest object in 2022 and it won’t be Arteta if he’s been assistant manager for SIX years.
Pedro, gather yourself together and stop the moaning. It’s unbecoming of one who was used to. Be ahead of the times. Now you’re stuck in a pile of your own making.

1 2 3 8