One thing cannot be in doubt, Arsenal are clicking into a rhythm under Emery. There’s a poor first half performance to wrestle with, some halftime tinkering before we ultimately triumph like might heroes. Five wins on the bounce reads impressive placed against the achievements of Wenger over the past two years, but I’m not sure I’m quite ready to pop the cork on the gluten-free chilled red I’ve been saving.
This week saw a different approach at the base of midfield, the manager opted for LT and Xhaka. It wasn’t quite the magical combination we’d hoped for, largely because the Swiss really isn’t cutting it. He consistently makes poor decisions that lead to heart in mouth moments. Sure, I can see that he offers a lot moving forward due to the sheer volume of passes he makes, but put in the cold light of day, his lack of pace, zero spacial awareness and his penchant for the absurd make him a walking mistake. The real concern with Xhaka outside those challenges, is against top quality competition, he’s going to get mauled. He can’t deal with pressure. He’s undoubtedly the most obvious weak spot in the Unai Emery Frankeneleven
Our back 4 continued to struggle, lucky for us, Everton barely grazed the skin with their toothless attack. They had great ease finding the gaps between our centre and fullbacks for a lot of the first half. Theo Walcott got in behind twice, Calvert-Lewin made a hash of a great chance and Richarlison caused problems. I hope that the issue is learning a new system. The hope post Wenger was that proper coaching could make more of the sum of the parts. There’s no unity quite yet. Hopefully Sokratis is only out for a week with that dead leg he picked up. Notable we didn’t play out of the back with quite the same intensity as we were a few weeks ago.
Going forward is also a bit of a mess. I’d say a lot of that can be attributed to the position mash-up that’s going on. That factored in with new ideas is offering us up a real blend meh. Mesut Ozil looks utterly miserable on the right, he looks like he’s handed in his notice. It’s clearly an ego bruising issue, because he’s not that bad for Germany. He’s our best player and he’s been relegated to a position he feels is below him. That means he doesn’t track, he drifts in and out of the game, but most importantly, he can’t affect the game in a way that makes up for his defficiencies. He just looks like bad fit.
Aaron Ramsey playing in that number 10 role is jokes o’clock, he doesn’t have the technical finesse to find the gaps like Mesut, and yes, I know he landed two assists. But be honest with yourself, his home should be at the base of midfield next to Torreira. He’s a high impact player, he makes amazing late runs, he can dribble, he can bring all sorts of value to the side. Just not as a #10. If we do need him to press from the front, then surely Mikhi would be a better option?
I’m not sure I could tell you what Emery did at halftime. Ozil moved into the middle, then he moved to the left, then Ramsey took up position on the right, then moved to the middle. It was totally baffling what was going on, but whatever the plan was, it worked and it had us playing a much more fluid brand of attacking football. Our first, of course came from Aaron Ramsey through the middle. He found Lacazette who opened up his body and curled the ball past Pickford high and right. It was a masterful goal. A real moment of quality. A top banter celebration as well.
Our second came when Ramsey mis-controlled an Ozil pass in the box, letting an offside Auba poach a simple finish to kill the game and Everton’s morale.
Three more points, so what could there possibly be to moan about?
Topline, I’m not going to bitch. Emery just racked up another win, we climbed to 6th, surged 2 points clear of United and kept our first clean sheet. He’s doing a good job delivering wins.
However, it’s telling when your player of the season is none other than Petr Cech. His shotstopping has been nothing short of excellent, he’s vocal on the pitch and his play with his feet is getting more confident (still a few ‘OH GOD’ moments, but none that have cost us).
It’s hard to describe what’s going wrong when it comes to style because it’s clear we have the talent. Emery wants the players to play to his tune. It looks like there’s a certain way he believes the ball should be moved forward and it’s a bit methodical, slow and predictable. Our transitions from midfield to attack are painful to watch at times, there’s nothing fluid about and because they’re so slow, it’s easy for the opposition to regather and snuff us out. Is that the system that’s slow, or the players are just not picking up plan quick enough?
The other glaring issue is putting square pegs in round holes. He’s playing a lot of our biggest names in positions that don’t suit them. Auba is not a winger. Ozil doesn’t want to be a right midfielder for us. Ramsey looks uncomfortable as a #10. Those are all superstar names. To make his system tick, I think he’s going to have to bench someone.
This is mostly not Emery’s fault. He inherited a Frankenstein monster of a squad. We’re getting away with it. It’ll either work until it’s massively exposed, or it’ll get better and this whole moan will look silly.
We’re in the substance phase of the project, I hope we start to see where the style part is heading soon.
Brentford next.
LISTEN TO OUR LATEST PODCAST PLEASE:
SPOTIFY | STITCHER | ITUNES | GOOGLE | POCKET CASTS
VAR needs to be brought in next season ,that’s for sure.. We would then have the media discussing the game instead of continually referring to a linesman ‘s error. Would VAR have given Arsenal a penalty …probably not ,though I believe the referee should have given it due to the fact that he gave a much less obvious hand ball against monreal in the first half when the ball struck his arm in the Everton penalty box to refuse Arsenal a clear goalscoring opportunity. Would VAR have given Torriera a 2nd yellow after the Everton player went down writhing in… Read more »
Bankz is here for the Tr4phy again
BOOOOOM
Tr4phy
our position this season i am the real winner here
our position this season i am the real winner here ….. tr5phy
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/11507095/alexis-sanchezs-manchester-united-form-is-a-concern-for-jose-mourinho
Nothing better than a bit of a laugh to start the week.
I have to agree with pedro regarding this summary of our style and general play. it’s disjointed at best. We are getting away with it at present and long may that continue but sooner or later we are going to be exposed and battered by a good side. Xhaka is the main problem for me, he needs to sit games out, Ozil too. Ozil has been disinterested at best, totally ineffective. Unlike some posters here who have already decided Emery is not “the one”, I am supportive of him and I hope he starts to stick his marker down more… Read more »
Pedro I don’t disagree that we have a lot of players out of position on the pitch. That is sadly a problem created by Wenger who chose to buy players without a clear plan of how to use them. He assumed always that a good footballer can adapt to any position rather bringing in specialists fit for purpose and need. I do not agree with your prognosis about Aubameyang and Lacazette. I do think that they can play together as they are different type of strikers. As I posted on last thread Arsenal are going to have to make serious… Read more »
To resume, here’s the “Emery magic formula”:
Point a) play the fisrt half always with the handbrake on.
So we can make believe to the oppoenent that we are shit, or that we’re in a bad day. (but seriously, most of the squad is shit).
Point b) playing the voodoo trick on Cech. The guy seems 10 years younger.
He has been Emerized.
Well done Sir, only one Unai!!
ES..from previous post, I agree Welbeck is a useful squad player but his contract is up at the end of the season. The boat’s probably sailed but we need to recoup cash if a player is not signing an extension and their contract is running down.
from previous post Bob16 “I would sum it up with the word, balance. Ramsay doesn’t appear to have a position and Ozil is not a RW. I would try Mhiki on the right and Ozil in the middle.” This seems an obvious move to make and would give us a potent offensive line…. For this to work the full backs would have to play with more discipline and choose their moments when to attack . Again at the weekend we saw both full backs in the opposing box at times ,this does of course leave us open to the counter… Read more »
But Wenger could make this Frankenstein squad play well.
We even outplayed Chelsea in the 2016 FA Cup using this squad.
Only difference was Aubameyang/Lacazette for Walcott/Sanchez.
I think the problem, which isn’t actually a problem, is that Emery is putting in place a playing system where players are given micro instructions.
In the past, likely Wenger just gives them macro guidelines and have players make in-game decisions.
Lets give the team more time to get used to the nuances which must be hard for the likes of Ramsey and Iwobi.
Totally agree there are too many square pegs in round holes, Ramsey and Ozil were really struggling in their positions. Ramsey’s best attribute are his engine and he was playing like a second striker and Ozil looks like he has downed tools. I hate Xhaka slowness his naivety on what is round him but what I did notice that everything going forward was started by his pass and for all his faults people forget what he contributes going forward. Until we drop a big name player and play people in their natural positions we will always look like we are… Read more »
Bob N16 Welbeck is at best a £10-15 million player factoring in his contract expires next summer. Also unlike many other players in squad I suspect that he accepts being a squad player.In that role he is good enough. The real problem with Arsenal as is also the case at many other clubs in EPL is that we pay grossly inflated wages for average players. That limits departures. My personal view is that Arsenal should offload in next two transfer windows both Chambers and Elneny. That should generate between £25-30 million. Neither is good enough to play in first team… Read more »
Im happy where we are but we have been lucky to get results. We really need to upgrade players and LB becomes a priority next season as nachos contract is up and he looks like he wants to go back to spain.
Yes, patience is the message. Five wins on the trot proves nothing long-term, only that results are going well at present. But bearing in mind the mess Wenger left, the signs are good. Judging from what we saw. Emery gave only one instruction at the break: raise the pace. You need confidence to do that, and that is what we witnessed, growing confidence. Xhaka played the best game that I can remember. The difference, maybe was Torreira. Given space and time, the Swiss can kick the ball inch perfect. There is hope for him. He may yet turn out the… Read more »
Don’t put your best play maker and your best striker on the wings, use a formation that suits. The answer for me is glaringly obvious, we don’t have natural wingers so don’t use that system until we sign some.
4312 would give us extra protection in front of the back 4 and enable to switch easily from an offensive midfield to a defensive midfield when required. Plus we could virtually have 3 different teams to give the whole squad game time depending on the opposition and allow for the big away games when we are likely to have less possession.
I look at ozil ‘s situation on the pitch as similar to hazards at Chelsea recently. Looking at hazard now you can see how he is enjoying his football as he is being asked to do the the things that he does best ,create and score . His energy on the ball is apparent ,he doesn’t waste energy chasing lost causes in an attempt to win over the crowd similar to Alexis Sanchez and Ramsey. Hazard wins over the crowd with what he does on the ball not off the ball and ozil should be used the same way. If… Read more »
Stroller
I assume you have a coherent plan to replace the backup squad players.
Or is the idea to cram in only expensive potential starters and have everyone fight a battle of attrition to get into the starting spot.
“Im happy where we are but we have been lucky to get results. ”
No luck here.
But Cech. Petr Cech back to his best. Rejuvenated. Emeryzided.
he’s alive…. HE’S ALIVVVEEE !!
Im talking about pedders guys 🙂
I’m glad Peter has said this as when I or any others say something like this were branded “unrealistic” and “what did you expect”…I guess you all can’t turn on Peter as he would ‘can’ you. No style. Lots of luck. Poor play. Boring to watch. But we have won five very easy games…lost the two biggies. Which I suppose, we expected, right? Even with the garbage Wengemery inherited, one would still like to think he had a bit of a plan. After a Fillmore season and seven league games…I can’t see one. Wengemery with cash scares me…a lot. Perhaps… Read more »
nice to see the positivity is back in the grove. (can’t speak for the club). judging by the empty seats, not everyone is on board the unai train, I guess. Maybe the akbs in silent protest. care to clarify Pierre ?
guns
I spoke too soon, didn’t I ?
When we’ve found our attacking flow and we’re in possession, Xhaka is actually a pleasure to watch. He gives our attacking game such fluidity, he always carries a long distance goal threat, and his set piece delivery is top tier. It’s a pity that he’s so vulnerable defensively.
Gons
Mate, I had to take some of the shine off.
But the empty seats on a lovely sunny day with no snow in sight says a lot about Arsenal F.C.
Savage
…has been hitting the pipe seriously hard the morning.
Good post, Pedro. Spot on.
@Guns : most of the time your speaking like if you are regretting wenger, that’s why I’m worried about your mental health.
Cech Bellerin Sokratis koscielny kolasinac Ramsey torreira mkhitaryan Ozil Lacazette Aubameyang This formation for me gets our best players in their best positions and we could easily make it a more defensive side by bringing in xhaka and elneny for Ramsey and mkhitaryan and lichsteiner and Monreal for bellerin and kolsainac. Welbeck would be used to give one of our strikers a breather, and iwobi could come on for ozil if he fades. . Whilst the youngsters would offer a really exciting option for the carabao cup and checkatrade matches, with a slight formation change up front. Martinez Osei-tutu mavropanos… Read more »
Guardian writer below with a similar take to Pedro’s.
“Unai Emery’s system beats out a dull rhythm that fails to entrance”
https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/sep/23/unai-emery-system-dull-rhythm-arsenal-everton?CMP=share_btn_tw
HL Codswallop. I was a Wenger out for a decade and I stand by it 100%. He was poisonous for the club at the end. What i say, tongue in cheek, is that there appears no real difference to the weng man and Emery…at the moment. I do NOT have it in for Emery but I don’t think he’s the right man for the job long term. And no, Arteta was a pipe dream…we could still have got any top five in the world manager but we plumped for Emery. It was a safe appointment and Arsenal needed to go… Read more »
Gonsterous
Pedro’s post wasn’t all that positive, so I’m a little confused about this “positivity” you’re taking about. I think you’ve mistaken your own positivity for others’.
Savage, you summed up Xhaka’s contribution really well. He definitely benefits from having a nippy, ball- winner alongside him. Guns, empty seats also says a lot about the type of supporters we have. Those not attending are undoubtedly going to be a lot of the same people who didn’t attend regularly last season, yet they still forked out for their season tickets. Sure if the team was playing better, they may well turn up , but was does that say about their level of support? Last season you could argue that they were ‘protesting’, this season I think it says… Read more »
Black Hei I do like Sanhelli’s viewpoint expressed at yesterday’s meeting with supporters where he said that he wants to replicate what he did at Barcelona with focus on developing youth. That was tried previously at club, but the way Academy was run was clearly not fit for purpose. I would certainly bring into first team squad Smith-Rowe, Nelson and Nkietah and give them the chance to prove themselves. They do not need to be registered players because of their age. The main area which needs to be resolved is defence and possibly goalkeeper if Leno proves not good enough.… Read more »
Bobn16
Jeez, not every arsenal fan has thousands to throw away on a match ticket. Surely 20,000 don’t ALL have something else to do?
No, the fans are sick of arsenal and the bullshit on and off the pitch. Perhaps they have finally seen that staying away can actually affect what happens at board level.
Maybe they are testing the water for mass protests against Kronke. Who knows. But no way people are paying money and not showing up for the sake of not showing up.
Arsenal fans are dumb, but not that dumb. Surely.
ES,
Welbeck may be worth £10-15 million in January but in the summer Danny Ings went for £22m – surely another Premiership team would of bought him for say £25m, even if he was paid more than Ings, who must have left Southampton for Liverpool for decent wages.
The issue surely is that we have let players go down to the final year of their contracts(paying high wages obviously comes into the equation).
Give it time guys, every manager cant be as lucky as Wenger to inherit the best defense and goalkeeper on his arrival at a club. People tend to overlook that Wenger’s early success was aided by the fact that he didnt have to do much with the defense in terms of on field skill and discipline when he came. This defense he inherited then in turn became mentors for his own defensive acquisitions to carry on his success. Its a pity to see how he has left our defense, no leadership, no discipline.
Guns, why renew your season ticket if you don’t plan to go to games? It makes no sense. Either you’re loaded and don’t financially care (which is the majority surely) or as you argue, there are many working class people with principles that I believe, muddles their thinking. I’m sure you’re projecting your own view of AFC and coming up with a narrative that overlaps with your own. We have a new manager, are you seriously suggesting that people are not attending in an attempt to remove Kroenke or to ‘force’ him into spending some of his own money on… Read more »
Bob
Perhaps Arsenal fans ARE as dumb as I suspect.
Shame on everyone but me.
First thing that needs changing is the formation. We need to play both Lacazette and Aubameyang through the center, either in a 4-4-2 or a 3-5-2. I have no idea why Emery hasn’t seen this yet.
Second thing is Ramsey needs to be played as a CM / #8, not as a CAM / #10.
Third thing is Ozil needs to go to the bench. Aside from one run yesterday, he was a disgrace. If Mkhitaryan is available, he should start as the CAM. If he’s not, I’d rather see Smith-Rowe there than Ozil.
Sell Ozil in January.
Bamford,
“Unai Emery’s system beats out a dull rhythm that fails to entrance”
Are you that desperate to push this agenda that you post this article twice ?
We aren’t achieving anything with a 33 year-old Koscielny at the back. He’s finished, and frankly never a big game player. Solid CB for the money, though. He’ll be remembered fondly when he leaves this summer.
Bob N16
Danny Ings was younger than Welbeck and also I don’t think that he was in final 6 months of contract as is case with Welbeck in January.
The reality is that both Ramsey and Welbeck have been allowed to run down their contracts to point where club are no longer in control of outcome.
I don’t think that moving Ozil to the middle is the solution. Wenger has tried that multiple times. They’ve tried it at the German NT multiple times. They started him through the middle in 2014 World Cup and shafted him to the flanks as soon as they saw it’s not working. Last time that Ozil worked as a CAM was 6 years ago when he was at RM and in the end they moved him on. He hides, he likes space, he doesn’t press well, he isn’t fast. Wenger would play him as our advanced midfield player and vs any… Read more »
bamford
I was talking about all the comments. It was sounding positive.
I hardly read the blog (sorry pedders) unless it’s a guest post.
I used to enjoy the player ratings that were done here though. 🙂
guns
I don’t know which 5 other top class managers you are talking about. how about dropping some names so we can analyse if they are indeed a good fit for us, or could do better than unai in the 2 months he’s taken over.
The commentators said yesterday that Emery isn’t the type to pick players because of their name! Ozil, apparently will need to earn his position like anyone else!!
I’ll wait and see, but I doubt he’ll get dropped!!
Bamford 10
“sell Ozil in January”
sell to who? The guy will be 30 and his wage bill is £350K pw. Who do you think will pay these wages let alone pay us a transfer fee.
Yes Italian and Turkish clubs may come calling, but they will not pay us a transfer fee. They will want to pick him up for nothing and negotiate a lower
wage bill.
Emirates
An improved youth academy (and improved scouting) will be crucial, as we will not be able to spend what certain other clubs can. Liverpool’s current back four is a good example of what can be done with a good academy: three of the four (Robertson, Gomez, Alexander-Arnold) cost them nothing in the way of transfer fees and could be sold on for tens of millions in the future.
Pedro Sorry mate but your Xhaka disdain is evidenced once again. He isn’t ranked highly for balls into the final third based on quantity alone, to offer that up is childish and suggestive that it can be replaced by someone else in the team. It can’t, Xhaka quite simply is the best CM we have at moving the ball up the pitch, he’s proven so numerous times. Torreira works better alongside him because he covers voids better and is the ball of energy that Xhaka lacks. Always curious to see fans fall on an old faithful when we don’t perform… Read more »
Emirates
We should either subsidize another club’s purchase of Ozil in some ingenious way or we should sit him on the bench. He is a fucking waste. He was poor enough before, but since the World Cup he has been in an even worse state of mind. He is a complete waste at the moment and is a drag on the side.
Kind of agree with Bamford10 here. Laca and Auba up front together is getting goals, so play to your strengths, which is two top notch strikers. A quasi 4-4-2 with Auba more advanced but somewhat out wide and Laca behind. Sort of like Henry and Bergkamp. In the middle, I’d play Mikhi on the right, Torreira and Ramsay in the middle and I’d buy a proper winger. The current back 4 and goalkeeper will have to do – there’s no real way of tweaking that until a transfer window. The one thing that I can’t figure out is a sensible… Read more »
Ramsey’s playing more like a second forward than like a CAM is probably due to the manager’s idea that our game plan is literally moving the ball to the flanks where a cross or a cut back happens. In that scenario an extra body with a good idea of how to find the back of the net in the penalty box could make the difference. So Ramsey is trying to be that presence in the opposition box. This is happening vs the teams that we are supposed to dictate game of course. In games where we can’t do that, Emery… Read more »
We got three points, yes, by boring unattractive football… but three points are three points ! Why can we just learn from the win and move on? Would people have preferred it if we lost playing fast flowing but unproductive football? I really don’t understand our fanbase sometimes. The two opening games versus Man City and Chelsea were always going to be a tall order for any manager. However since then, Emery has picked up the mantle and produced five victories on the trot… isn’t that a good thing? It is in my book. Yes, it’s true. If Wenger had… Read more »
Offering up Ramsey as a CM btw….calamitous. I’ll keep it really easy for some, he offers nothing more than Xhaka defensively, and much much less with the ball at his feet.
Ramseys best stuff comes with his Wales free role as an aux striker, he’s not developing into a disciplined CM who can play in a ball-playing side at 28. Doesn’t have the skill set for that at all.
bamford
building young players takes time. Some thing a lot of your types are not willing to give the new manager. So how about we just sell the dross and get an upgrade and when we have done well and settled down a bit, and everyone is on board the unai train, we’ll focus more on the youths. For now, one or two youngsters are more than enough. Young meets experience sort tah ting.
Although one minor correction regarding Liverpool and Robertson – he cost them about £8m from Hull.
Pretty cheap all things considered these days, but not an academy player.
We are not perfect, we are too brittle defensively and mentally we really don’t get going until the second half but I would rather be implenting these changes whilst we were winning than losing.
Wenger used the wins to pretend these problems didn’t exist. Emery is different… you can tell he is learning and trying to address our weaknesses.
Bamford 10
“subsidise him” !
Are you kidding we are spending already enough.
I am afraid that Arsenal are stuck with him unless you find someone with more money than sense.
Also I don’t think Arsenal will write him off if Ramsey leaves in January or
Summer.
UT
No, not desperate at all. I posted that article very late yesterday, so few would have had a chance to read it. Are you worried that people will read it and see in it an accurate description of our performances at the moment?
Further, given that the take offered in that piece is more or less identical to Pedro’s theme above, why would I be desperate? It’s you lot who are desperate.
Emirates
Fine. Sit him on the bench then.
You know what this team needs ? a pogba. Im a big fan of the guy. positioning is WC and he doesn’t get shrugged off the ball. Can take the ball forward and is a leader on the pitch.
From utd, he is the only player I would get. Rest are dog shit.
I’ve said a few times we’d be better balanced with the following
————Xhaka
Torriera——-Guendouzi
————Mkhi
——-Laca——Auba
Xhaka moving things vertically, Torreira and Guendouzi occupying/covering CM and fullbacks charging, Mkhi floating, Auba/Laca moving horizontally to make space. A narrow 4-3-3
Gons, in no particular order
1. Allegri
2. Simone
3. Jardim
4. Sarri
5. Conte
6. Vieria
7. Bagelsmann
8. Shmid (sic)
9. Arteta
10. Tuchel
How’s that?
Ramsey covers more ground than Xhaka, is a better athlete than Xhaka, is a better tackler and harrier than Xhaka and is better with the ball at his feet than Xhaka. He is also not prone to giving the other team the ball in our own third the way Xhaka is.
If we’re going to stick with three CM’s, Ramsey should play alongside Torreira, with Mkhitaryan in front of them. Xhaka should go to the bench.
Emiraates
Ozil will likely be sold at a cut price, say 15mil to his 30mil valuation from a side. Ozil will then get offered a chunk of that cut up front and ‘reduced wages’ to something like 150k.
Auoba was recruited as a winger in Dortmund and later started as a striker with Lewa’s departure.
EMERY FRANKENELEVEN @
@- Copyright Pedro de Peter
Explanation – abomination giving fright to faint- hearted but having occult powers to carve a win
Guns o Hack you have competition in name calling.
“Ramsey covers more ground than Xhaka, is a better athlete than Xhaka, is a better tackler and harrier than Xhaka and is better with the ball at his feet than Xhaka. He is also not prone to giving the other team the ball in our own third the way Xhaka is.“ – Doesn’t cover more ground https://www.premierleague.com/news/510837 – better athlete how? – splitting hairs on the tackle/contain grounds, neither excel – is better than Xhaka with the ball at his feet by what metric? – LOL Ramsey is less prone to giving the ball away in our third because he’s… Read more »
S Asoa
Mine is far more clever.
C. Wengemery
“A like for like replacement”
guns out of that list, I think only allegri would have been a better pick. simeone would not join us in a million years. I’ll be surprised if he ever managed an English side. conte ? I’d prefer Unai. conte couldn’t motivate a league winning team to show up, how will he motivate the losers at arsenal ? jardim got lucky with a talented group and managed to win the league. Couldn’t build on it, don’t know what he’s doing now. he’s monaco side are 16th in the league with 6 games gone. Tuchel going to get found out real… Read more »
Bamford, Do you think that highly of yourself that you’d accuse me of being “worried” about an article that is freely available in the country I live in and where most Arsenal fans are? Get over yourself fella. I couldn’t give a monkeys what any agenda driven article says. The man has been in charge 5 minutes and you cite an absurdly negative article on the manager and you think I’m woirried !? Also, please define “you lot” which you include me in that are “desperate” ? You mean the fans that want to give a new manager a chance… Read more »
Gons
I didn’t say it was a definitive list…it’s just a list of names.
I don’t think nagelsmann has the experience to deal with a tricky club like arsenal where the budget is low and the expectations are through the roof.
Same can be said of arteta (kindly)
guns
why so defensive ? are you giving me random names or names of managers that would have done better than emery ? Cause the former makes no sense.
UT
Really weird response. The “agenda” you think is at work there is literally the theme of Pedro’s post. Is Pedro’s post agenda-driven?
Emirates , “As I posted on last thread Arsenal are going to have to make serious decisions about Ozil and Ramsey. Potentially losing both is going to be a massive financial loss” I really didn’t know what you are trying to say. Ozil’s decision was ,Ade in January and he has a new contract everyone knows about. You’re not going toripmupma contract are you? The Ramsey’s decision is already made unles he changes his mind and signs the contract on the table. He is leaving. I expect the club to bring in his replacement in January with a pre-contract. We… Read more »
Gons
Oh no…it’s a real list, I just meant I didn’t have ‘definitive’ reasons to select them ie strengths and weaknesses. This is based purely on reputation and achievements.
Let’s be honest…Emery was on no ones radar. Not saying that’s bad, just a bit odd don’t you think?
BTW, if we switch to four in central midfield — something I think we should do — I’d go with Torreira, Ramsey, Xhaka and Mkhitaryan.
UTarse
There’s nothing agenda-related about the Guardian’s article.
It paints the picture perfectly and mirrors what Pedro wrote today.
Emirates
***Was made in January
***not going to tear up his contract.
G of H Admire that you stick to the fundamentals and not the frills. Whether Emery is the right man for the job remains to be seen. Meanwhile he wins games. I can’t agree that we had the pick of the best othe managers, and here is why: the proven ones, looking at he Arsenal squad, would have demanded a huge transfer pot. And it’s a certainty that wasn’t on offer at the Emirates. Emery was an unexpected opportunity, a top manager who had been fired by a super-rich Club, for no valid reason. A man eager to prove his… Read more »
Anybody for a Sánchez / Ozil swap deal?
This works if Sánchez takes a pay cut. Jose gets his boy toy and we get our Sánchez back.
Thoughts?
I really think Ramsey needs to be b he’d more often. He is yet to sign a new contract so why give him a platform to exhibit himself to other clubs and leave on a free. Not signing by now means he’s playing for himself in some ways. Iwobi had a monster game on Thursday and should probably have had that starting slot. Am I the only.tha sees the energy he brings to the team. There was a point where he ran the entire length of the field in a solo-press that made Pickford kick the ball out. That’s the… Read more »
Bamford,
I echoed Pedro’s worries. If you bothered to read my comment. What I see you doing is reposting something that’s obviously negative, like you want to highlight it, some journo agrees with you. Well done.
Now tell me, who is “you lot”?
Also, explain why its such a weird response? Make a case, explain, give examples….
Hackney
You’re being silly again. Emery is a good manager with an excellent CV. He may not have been on many of our lists here, but he would certainly have been on the list of any serious football executive looking for a good manager.
The issue with arsenal team hereditary…so to speak… what is the fucking problem with arsenal always playing a 4231 formation…no big teams plays like that much… I’m sticking Emery for the main time but, if he doesn’t have a fluent pattern of play by this time next season, then I suggest, we throw him overboard no matter the results….because right I think the result matters most… He should try playing a 4-3-3 formation as the ball stays too long on the feet of our DM, no intricate passes, no off the movement…and too slow in transition. A 4-3-3 formation, will… Read more »
Sooner or later Emery will drop two out of Xhaka, Ozil and Ramsy . It will probably take a ” turn the corner”period to do that. For now he is trying to manage them into the team because of 1. Wins 2. Dressing room politics. If we had the transfer warchest needed the above two reasons in my humble opinion wouldn’t matter. If you are Looking for an example do not look further than guardiola at Mancity when he started in his first year. I just wish Emery will be more of llike klopp in managing those two reasons above.… Read more »
England’s best I’ll try and quote Gambon “Emery got a massive pay rise to come to Arsenal…of course he would have jumped at the chance”. Emery would have said anything to get the Arsenal gig. Is it the most qualified? No. The best? No. The most exciting? No. The cheapest? No. So why did Arsenal go for him? Apart from the Europa league and a couple of easy to win cups with the worlds richest club Europe’s weakest league…Emery should not have been near the top of anyone’s list. Emery came cheap for Arsenal and obviously said everything the board… Read more »
UT I don’t know how to say it any more clearly, mate: Pedro’s theme above and the theme developed in that Guardian piece are more or less identical. We are getting wins, but we are not seeing anything all that promising, different or inspiring. By “you lot,” I mean those here who are opposed to any criticism of or questioning of Emery (or what we’re seeing) at this point. Your response was weird because I don’t have an “agenda”; I have a point of view, and it happens to align with both Pedro’s and with the writer of that Guardian… Read more »
We may be seeing more of iwobi soon. Who drops to the bench to facilitate that probably Ramsey. Also our defence needs to keep a proper highline close to the DM CM so they cannot allow opponent attacks(Richarlison) case in point here to have more space to run into. The backdrop of the back line when there is threat should not be so close to cech as it is now. (we need to keep things tight and compact not so loose)
Dissenter,
We can all see that the team is struggling to adapt to a new manager and that the playing staff are not suited to it. The article is saying we have been lucky which I agree with. My point is, in every nuance of his commentary, Bamford is digging at Emery. Give the man a chance before you all jump on the bandwagon that he’s not the man.
Furthermore, for someone that runs an interference campaign for the owner of the club, does he not see the contradiction that it is this very owner who chose this manager?
“I THINK ARSENAL ARE THE MOST SLUGGISH TEAM IN THE TOP10 IN MOVING THE BALL FROM MIDFIELD TO ATTACK”
I think it was not necessary to write this in capital letters.
As long as we keep seeing marginal gains im quite comfortable with what we’ve seen As for needing to drop one of Ramsey ozil or auba, I agree but don’t see auba should be near the top of the drop list. If those 3 he’s by far the most useful to us. Ramsey isn’t really a superstar name. He’s a guy who has had one single great season in his career. He’s only a superstar mind if you ignore the entire rest of his career. I’d prioritize ozil natural talent for Ramsey work rate at the moment and replace Ramsey… Read more »
HIGHBURY BLOODY LEGEND. WHY NOT WRITE IN ANGRY BIG LETTERS TO EMPHASISE MY IRATENESS?
guns
Im glad emery was hired out of the blue. There was a rumour going round that arteta was 100% confirmed and I was totally against that. So I was thrilled when I found out it was emery.
Crawl before walk’
Best option at that moment was Emery…and glad we took the decision to hire him..
Unpopular opinion: Bellerin had a good game yesterday . Richarlison was kept in check .