September column from the excellent Jonathan Blaustein. Enjoy!
As a kid, I grew up on the martial arts/action movies of the 1980’s, and then went down the Jackie Chan/Bruce Lee rabbit hole in the mid-90’s.
Kung Fu movies are cool, without question, which is why Quentin Tarantino fetishized them so well in Kill Bill Volumes 1 and 2. (Of course there was plenty of Samurai-movie-porn going on there too.)
I never thought I was the kind of guy who’d learn martial arts, as I punked out of studying Aikido a couple of times because it was too slow to be functional, and I was just plain lazy.
Now that I’m in my 40’s, a sneaky-powerful time of life, (truth be told,) I’ve settled into a Wing Chun Kung Fu routine that makes me stronger, and as it’s based upon Qi Gong, or Chinese moving meditation, it also helps chill me out.
My main training partner is the equivalent of a black belt who weighs 220 lbs. He can bench press 400, also knows Aikido, and is a power-lifting security guard, so dealing with him is a challenge each time.
But other than getting thrown to the mats a lot, (as ours is an aggressive style of Wing Chun,) I never get punched. Or kicked. We practice in a collaborative way, and almost all of the violence is hypothetical.
I get to have my cake and eat it too, as the martial arts style is flowing and fun, and the skills would likely, hopefully, probably translate in a street fighting situation.
Possibly. Probably.
Yes, Wing Chun is designed to be vicious, as we aim for the throat and the eyes, but still. I sweat a tiny bit, and my kit stays clean, as the English say.
But a few months ago, I started occasionally training Brazilian Jiujitsu too, as it’s the predominant art at the dojo where I study. (Kung Fu has a tiny following there compared to the house specialty.)
Since then, and this is only in 6 classes mind you, I’ve scraped my foot so bloody that took two weeks to heal, cracked my head on a dude’s hip bone during a takedown and almost passed out, sweated through my underwear, t-shirt and gi each time, gotten kicked so hard in the shin it brought up a welt, been tossed up and over someone’s head so I landed on my neck, and then, this week, of course, I got kneed in the balls.
People have rubbed their sweaty bodies over mine, many times, and crushed my windpipe in a choke out, my head in a pincer, and my elbow in an armbar.
To say this shit is brutal is perhaps over-simplifying.
I’ll take my Kung Fu over this Japanese-Brazilian hodgepodge every day of the week, though. It’s graceful, cool, and stylish, and I think it will work. (Probably.)
But without question, the new training is toughening me up. These guys like to bleed, (they say so openly,) and I’ve seen a dude carted off for injury twice in six classes.
(How do you like those odds?)
What I’m getting at is that in sports, winners need grit. They have to be mentally and physically tough. They need to know how to win ugly, and these rules hold true in almost all cases.
From football to American Football to MMA to basketball to rugby to swimming to speed skating.
Arsenal Football Club are still in so many ways a product of the Late-Wenger rot. It culminated with winter capitations in two consecutive seasons, and that ghastly run of away defeats in the first half of ’18.
It was clear to any and all that Wenger’s teams lacked mental toughness at the least, and physical toughness in many cases too. Credit where it’s due on those FA Cups, (in particular the Man City>Chelsea double,) but over the course of the Premier League season, and in the Champions League, Wenger’s team was as brittle as a piece of salt water taffy that’s been left in a closet for 8 years.
(Editor’s note: I wrote this article BEFORE the Petr Cech story dropped on Monday.)
Unai Emery’s first job was to instill some spine, and some guts, into Wenger’s team. At any given time, Guendouzi/Torriera and Sokratis are the only players on the pitch that didn’t play under Wenger.
In most cases, a coach with 7 games under his belt, coming in after a dude who held court for 22 years, and we’d all be patient. Especially after five wins straight.
Each to his own opinion and all, but I very much like what I see with the Emery-era-Gunners.
Sure, the lack of fluency is not exactly fun. The first half of the Everton game being a great example of flat football, no passes strung together, no quickness of movement.
Nada. I get it.
And sure, Everton cut through Arsenal multiple times and should have scored. But how many times do we say that about lesser opponents: they should have scored?
The truth is that only the big teams have the kind of clinical strikers and forwards that can score when the pressure is on. Most of the small-to-middling teams miss most of these chances against bigger opposition.
Time and again.
Arsenal, on the other hand, now have two players who can summon a moment of magic to win a game. (RVP was the last to do it consistently over a season, and Alexis for months at a time, but rarely more.)
Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have proven that they can make something out of nothing, and they will finish most of the presentable chances as well.
There is front-line talent on this team, a few truly exciting midfield prospects, and a defense that needs more athleticism and cohesion. But rebuilds take years for a reason, and you can bet that Raul and Sven will spend on the backline in the coming windows.
To respond to the Man City pasting and the close Chelsea away loss, in which the opposition showed off that “winner’s mentality,” Emery’s team went out and won 5 consecutive matches, including away in the North of England, and dispatched all comers.
Remember, this coach expressly said he’d rather win games 5-3 or 3-2 instead of 1-0, which means he’s not going to park the bus. But he also tipped off that he knew he didn’t have the defensive talent to run through the EPL ripping off clean sheets like I discard bandaids from my sweaty, bloody hand.
I like the winner’s spirit, and think that if these guys often play halves in which it looks like they’ve barely played together, and that they have a new coach, it’s because they’ve barely played together and they have a new coach.
Great teams build culture over time, and develop cohesion by working together over seasons, not weeks.
Unai Emery has taken a team of Wenger’s guys, who weren’t winning when they should, and now they are.
That is a huge improvement, out of the gate. The fluency and free-flowing football will come with time, but only if the wins keep coming.
Winning breeds confidence, and confidence breeds success.
Let’s see where it all stands in a month, as I think we’ll know a lot more then.
Make sure to give Jonathan Blaustein a follow here.
Also, jump on the damn pod, it needs your ears on it right away.
Morning!
2
Here
Tr4phy
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Nice to be back and off to winning ways. Only here today and tomorrow though, and then I’ll be away for a couple of weeks, so it’s all yours guys…
Booo!
Potential banana skin tonight, lets get the job done
Good post Pedro!
A great piece of writing!
Mmnnn…Arsenal and grit mentioned in the same sentence. I haven’t heard that since 2006. I’m not sure I agree though. We have definitely won games we would have lost under Wenger – that’s for sure, but if we are honest…we could easily have lost every game this season were it not for some terrible finishing by the opponents. There hasn’t been one game where we have looked totally in charge. But wins are wins. I’ve never been sure that grit and determination can be trained…I think it’s more of a born trait. I still look at Arsenal and see them… Read more »
I don’t expect Arsenal to park the bus or play negative football, but I do wish that they play with discipline and a modicum of common sense particularly at the beginning and end of games when we concede far too often goals. I highlighted in a recent post after this week’s victory against Everton when Mustafi went up for a corner and when the ball was lost still remained upfield taking an age to return to Arsenal’s backline. Bellerin has also a habit to remain out of position when required to defend. We have seen Arsenal concede far too many… Read more »
Capitulations?
Stroller
“but I do wish that they play with discipline and a modicum of common sense particularly at the beginning and end of games when we concede far too often .”
The above comment could have been written anytime over the last ten years.
Yes Pedro, the small teams don’t take their chances but the big teams do. I guess that means we should wait for the big teams to come and take us apart these coming weeks, since teams don’t get it right within weeks but need seasons to blend. I wonder how some previously shit national teams manage to play good football under new coaches, though, since that is basically impossible to achieve in weeks. No one expects Emery to do magic, but to try and excuse the way small teams are cutting us open in these weeks of Emery is another… Read more »
Pierre
I take your point, and very much agree praise/criticism is warranted whenever. Fact remains though that I never criticised Emery at all, and was commenting more about our leadership from Stan/suits who have underwhelmed into this new chapter for the club.
It’s not how I saw it going for us and that bothers me to some degree, however I stated even yesterday that Emery is a perfectly capable manager or he wouldn’t have gotten the job. He’s simply a pragmatic appointment made by stuffy old guys resistant to innovation and genuine change.
I have to say that I’ve been thoroughly impressed by Doucoure. Big presence, huge step, moves swifts around the pitch, good passing range, nice finisher, plays like 2 people really. Not a coincidence that Watford have been on the since he joined. Perfect age at 25 yo. He’s been playing in Marco Silva’s 4-4-2 formation alongside Capoue with Deeney and Andre Gray ahead of them. Imagine him lined up next to Torreira in a 4-4-2. Both of them with huge work rate, would do wonders for us. And would allow us to play Auba and Laca in a tandem as… Read more »
His morning everyone….
Hope we win by some margin today, and play some fantasy football…
No matter what, we should all strive to avoid any form of comparison between wenger and Emery, but instead think of ways to help/make the club improve…
For a start, Emery hasn’t spent 400m euros and still play like shit as manure and moureenhooo do…
CC, Just wonder how could Allegri come when he declined the RM job and decided to stay at a club that just bought him CR7 and are definitely one of the top 5 clubs in the world. We’ve been for the last couple of years not even in top 5 in the EPL. That would put us below City, manure, chavs, spuds, bindippers, then below Juventus and Napoli, below PSG, below Bayern, below Madrid, Barcelona and Atleti. So we are realistically a club that is outside of the European’s best 12 clubs. Why would Max Allegri, being the coach at… Read more »
Your Comment Here
You wouldn’t think think that we won 5 games on the trot by the amount of whining on here.
Arsenal winning is a combination of luck and Cech playing out of his skin.
Eventually we will run into a match where we have no one doing those low percentile wonder strikes.
The only take away is that we are not dropping points while trying to get our act together.
I doubt Mustafi can turn into “Men of True Grit” under any manager.
So tonight’s match against Brentford will have VAR available. It just so happens that Mike Dean is the referee. Forget Aubameyang or Lacazette being the star turn, Dean will steal the show.
Raptora It was widely reported/acknowledged that Allegri was lined up the season prior and was interested to come, it was then widely reported he was a willing candidate to come this past summer but with his own requests (transfer budget etc). We baulked at that and went down a notch, classic Arsenal of recent years. Sorry if I don’t buy your “Emery was the best we could get” line considering his name didn’t enter the fray until the 11th hour. Are you suggesting he was clearly the number one candidate, but simply kept hidden? Again, this is more aversion to… Read more »
The real problem is that we didn’t spend much more than we did. I honestly expected a figure closer to 120-130m to the 65m NET we spent in the end. It was maybe the correct decision to evaluate our options, the manager to have enough time to see which players could do the job for him, then pick the ones that he doesn’t fancy going forward and buy better players in their places. Because if we were to buy a winger, what would have happened? We already have Ozil, Mikki, Iwobi, Welbeck, recently Auba. Iwobi and Welbeck I’m pretty content… Read more »
Cezk said Arsenal forgot how to win ugly under Wenger. The fm is arrogant and
haughty as ever.Thats why the gunners usually lose to the top teams in the epl and Europe.How can you explain getting battered 5-1 twice by the same team.
That was why there was no grit. His poetry in motion soccer usually get undone by the physical teams like Bolton/Blackburn /Stoke and some of the top teams.
Good riddance to him. He has caused Arsenal to stagnate for ten years.
Charlie, no we couldn’t have done more than Emery. If not, that person you feel is “more” (Allegri in this case) would be here. He rejected us because we didn’t offer him what he wanted (apparently). So we settled for the next best thing, Emery.
Champagne, “It’s not how I saw it going for us and that bothers me to some degree, however I stated even yesterday that Emery is a perfectly capable manager or he wouldn’t have gotten the job. He’s simply a pragmatic appointment made by stuffy old guys resistant to innovation and genuine change” What moves would have constituted innovation and genuine change from the “stuffy old guys” A)Appoint Allegri and give him Pep money, about £250 million to rectify the defense and another 200 to rectify the midfield. B) Appoint Pep’s assistant, the one with the charisma is a cooch towel… Read more »
CC, It was widely reported that Allegri was first pick for RM. You honestly think that he’d say no to RM so he could join the 6-th team in England?! Lolz! Emery was not the bookies main candidate so what?! Who did they put as favorites exactly? Rodgers, Howe, Vieira and the one and only Arteta?! So Emery’s name coming out of nowhere is to be a testament to being worse than those?! Come on. Think about your logic for a second. Who would have thought that we would actually get a trending European coach compared to the trash that… Read more »
Charlie you spend a lot of time on here calling out Bamford but frankly i don’t see the difference between you two. You have no evidence Arsenal balked on Allegri or that he was interested in coming, all reports and words he uttered pointed to him wanting to stay where he is, anyway no one here is arguing that Emery was the best manager out there , the main issue is why would the so called top targets come here, what even makes Allegri a top notch manager and how many teams have broken the bank to get him..you are… Read more »
Apparently CC is the genius and we are the idiots. That much is clear.
As for wingers, the dream signing would be Dembele obviously, but due to price/unavailability, I wouldn’t hesitate to go for Nicholas Pepe. The guy is a clone of Dembele just with a lesser right foot. I would absolutely go for him over Bailey, Martial and co. I know it’s the French league but he’s talent
“Emile Smith-Rowe and Eddie Nketiah expected to start for Arsenal tonight against Brentford in the Carabao Cup.” – Vavel.com
For the record, people: I am a lot nicer than Charlie is, and I make way better arguments.
I’m sure Allegri would have been enticed from Juventus had we promised him a transfer slush fund of £400-500 million.
Don’t ask me how I know.
The club intentionally never publicly challenge the rumors that the transfer funds are limited. That’s was their was of weeding out managers with Lamborghini ambitions.
The Arsenal job is more like a hiring a building contractor to renovate by recycling current materials. There aren’t going to be that many new materials used because they cost too much.
Allegri isn’t going to dim his record with that kind of shite.
Sounds like Pogba might be done at United. If they are smart, they’ll replace Mourinho ASAP as well.
B10
Never promote, even it’s tongue in cheek, that you are better at something than somebody else.
That’s for others to fathom out.
@Mystic I’m of the opinion we could have done more than Emery, our leadership holds us back here and it’s the same reason Emery got pauper money to overhaul a squad that finished 6th. @Dissenter Yea good one, except i’m not flogging a dead horse I simply responded to Raptora who addressed me on the issue. I have answered that question, I’ve done so previously to the point it doesn’t feel necessary to restate it. Quick version is I hoped for a ‘better’ manager and a bigger budget to illicit more of a change. @Receding I’m not saying I have… Read more »
Dissenter
Allegri has rarely if ever spent more money than he would have available to him at Arsenal.
Please tell me you’re not becoming one of these we’ll-never-be-relevant-until-we-have-a-sugar-daddy types.
The coaches that were rated by many over the summer are actually struggling now.
Jardim is having a a stinker of a season at Monaco, He may still turn things around.
Diego Simeon’s Atletico isn’t having a flying start this season despite having a squad that is just as expensively assembled as Barca and Madrid.
As a couple of posters have already mentioned above,2006 seems to be the year when Arsenal lost its grit.That run up to the Champions league final in Paris had a squad that possessed it.Arsenals F.A cup final win against united in 2005 before are long trophy drought was one occasion that sticks in my memory.After that champions league final against Barca,something changed in Wengers mentality..What was it? Of course there has been occasions where we have gritted out results since then but they were few and far between with no consistency.We’ll wait and see if Emery’s Arsenal is the real… Read more »
Michael
Agreed, but that makes the second time in as many days that someone has compared Charlie’s work here to mine. A man must defend himself against such a slander. 😉
Dissenter
Are you really questioning either of those manager’s quality?
Pedro, take my advice, practise running, lots of sprints, it will help you to get away if danger threatens.
Without shedding blood, damaging ankles or smelling sweaty bodies, I came to the same conclusion sitting in front of MoD: under Wenger, Arsenal lacked grit.
But then I I had the benefit of remembering how it used to be when, above all, Arsenal were renowned for tough, no-nonsense, backs-to-the-wall, gutz.
Banford
Peas in a pod as soon as I call for bans, correct grammar (incorrectly), cry racist, and storm out in the face of fact leaving just a twitter handle and keyboard full of tears eh?
Bamford Not true The disparity of spending between Juve and the rest of Serie A proves you wrong. How many clubs in Serie A spent can spend 90 million on 32 year lad Ronaldo or 29 year old Higuain. What else were we going to use to attract Allegri? Fairy dust? ….because. He’s not stupid enough to come and start in the Europa league and be expected to compete with Pep/Mourhino/ Poch/ Klopp with a summer transfer budget that the rivals spend on goal keepers. You have to look at it in relative terms. Juve have a Bayern Munich type… Read more »
Bamford,
No I’m not questioning their quality. I said they will most likely get it righ.
I am saying however that they haven’t had starts any better than what Emery’s Arsenal has had. The same one that’s already causing Wenger-lovers like Pierre to take up pitch forks.
..and I hope you know that Emery’s challenge dwarfs whatever Simeone and Jardim face at Atletico and Monaco, respectively.
Dissenter
Why are so many using money as an incentive.
If that was Allegri’s main enticement, we didn’t need him.
Remember, our previous regime were not too hot on balancing the books anyway.
This daily bickering pisses me off.
Ever heard of the saying “steady the ship”.
Chucking huge amounts of money about is not what is needed, not yet anyway.
Wenger and Gazidis fudged it all up, therefore give Emery the time and space to rectify things.
Lol @ Allegri working on a budget. Tell that to the workers at FIAT.
Dissenter
So Allegri is only willing to manage a team that can outspend its rivals? That is complete and utter nonsense. One, you have no idea if this is how he thinks. Two, if he’s a man worthy of any respect at all — and he seems to be — then he doesn’t think this way. Provided he was given a reasonable platform from which to compete — and Arsenal is very much this — he would relish the challenge.
Fact is he’s happy at Juventus. End of story.
Provided he was given a reasonable platform from which to compete — and Arsenal is very much this — he would relish the challenge.
So Emery is working on an unreasonable platform yet you expect miracles from him? Or are you just upset he has not heeded to your two striker line up suggestions
Michael24,
Sorry I think your post is misdirected at the wrong poster because I haven’t said anything to suggest what you’re implying.
I’ve been saying Emery was the right manager for the right time.
Allegri isn’t going to accept a transfer budget that premier league rivals spend on goal keepers. Not when he has a better squad at Juventus, with a near guaranteed league title and is guaranteed on CL footie.
I haven’t remotely suggested that Emery shouldn’t be given time. I’ve been defending his appintment all day.
Receding
Huh? You must have misread there: Arsenal IS a reasonable platform from which to compete. IMO, at least. You may be one of the defeatists here; I am not.
Bamford do you also believe that Sarri, Nagglesman and Jardim are all better managers than Emery? If yes..why?
The first quality required of a pro footballer is courage. Skill, dexterity, ball-sense -whatever – none of those matter if he is not prepared to put his limbs on the line. Of every thousand talented kids, maybe one or two make it as a professional footballer, let alone make it into a top Club. So we can take it as read that all the Arsenal squad are brave.
Cech put his finger on the problem: the Arsenal environment, the ambience. In his words, under Wenger the emphasis was on style, not substance.
Bamford I suggest you go check up Allegri’s travails at Milan before he dot fired. The club sold the best players like Ibra and Silva when Berlusconi lost interest. The also gutted the youth program. He subsequently got fired. What do you mean by self respect. Why leave a bigger European club that offers you a bigger transfer budget to compete in a league you’re dominating for a smaller club with a smaller budget, bloated wage bill and a brand new back room staff. You’re not aware that Juventus outspend everyone else in Serie A? Which other club can afford… Read more »
For the avoidance of doubt Max Allegri was the man i wanted, he struck me as a pragmatic manager who believes in defensive stability and coaching. We did not get him and i appreciate why we did not, it has nothing to do with “stuffy old men” on the board. Sarri is a good manager, he get teams playing a certain way, a way he seems obsessed over and seems willing to sacrifice results as long as they play that way, that sounds an awful lot like Wenger and explains why he didn’t win even an Italian cup. A club… Read more »
I’m not impressed with Sarri
He’s benefitting from interesting a squad that’s won two of the last four league titles.
Any manager that shifts away the best defensive midfielder in the word from his best position is a pretender.
Sarri has Eden Hazard to pull off unlikely wins, the same way Wenger had Van Persie to paper the cracks.
‘There is no weapon more deadly than the will’.
Except for an Apache attack helicopter.
“In the circumstances we found ourselves, with the budget and all things considered, i still maintain a 100% we could not have done better than Emery” My opinion is the same. Re PSG and Emery. What would have happened if PSG weren’t eliminated by Barcelona in that freakish game. In the first leg, PSG outplayed Barcelona so convincingly like probably no one has done that in modern history (I don’t follow La Liga but I’ve watched almost all of their UCL games in the last 20 years). PSG had a bunch of chances at Nou Camp as well but ultimately,… Read more »
Receding
And you’re entitled to believe that Emery is the best we could’ve done. I happen to disagree, I do point fault at the stuffy uppers at Arsenal, and think we’ve limped into a new chapter when we could’ve done much better.
Not sure how in believing so your petulant mutterings were in any way warranted, Emery wasn’t best as a matter of fact, it’s matter of opinion.
‘I’m sure Allegri would have been enticed from Juventus had we promised him a transfer slush fund of £400-500 million. Don’t ask me how I know.’ He would have been enticed, had we gone to him at all! Arsenal is a London club playing as one of the top EPL clubs, every Jack and his dog understands the global appeal of that. Pep, I believe, really wanted to join us despite our peanut transfer money. He did not join City for the money alone, but for the EPL glamour which holds the world interest at the moment. Why do you… Read more »
I think Emery’s fate at PSG was sealed the day they bought in Neymar and installed him above the manager.
PSG will never win anything above the Ligue un, regardless of who’s manager.
Just my take.
What I’m getting at is that in sports, winners need grit. They have to be mentally and physically tough.
first few paragraphs, I was confused, why we were discussing martial arts on a football blog 🙂
Dissenter
Sorry about that, my mistake.
It does seem though that too many people see Emery as some form of “easy option”……I don’t.
Arsenal are in a rebuilding process that will take time. Let Emery erect the scaffolding and start on the foundations first.
‘There is no weapon more deadly than the will’.
‘Except for an Apache attack helicopter.’
Some talk!
Not sure how in believing so your petulant mutterings were in any way warranted, Emery wasn’t best as a matter of fact, it’s matter of opinion.
Charlie if you feel you need to insult me why not just come out and insult me?? Why keep hiding behind the word petulant?? What is childish of bad tempered about the arguments i have made?? You are the only one being petulant here
No doubt I’ll probably be widely derided and mocked as an Özil fanboy but I do not understand the pressing need of many Arsenal fans to get rid of one of our best playmakers. Yes, for the past year he has been out of form but having signed him up to a new contract, surely the most sensible solution football and financial wise is to help him rediscover his best form? This, especially in light of Mesut’s voluntary “retirement” from international football? We have him all to ourselves… let’s make the best of it! Selling Ozil at a huge loss… Read more »
Banford ‘Allegri has rarely if ever spent more money than he would have available to him at Arsenal.’ But the team he manages monopolises it’s division, has the best players and still outspends the rest of the league (bar last year when ac Milan went fucking nuts) every year. Are you stupid enough to believe relative spend in serie A to the premier league is comparable? That was a rhetorical question peter griffin. You HAVE to keep up with the Jones’ in the premier league. You HAVE to spend big money to compete and win the league. A newly promoted… Read more »
VicVic Another boring Arsenal is in London….playing in the premier league…London is a beautiful city…blah blah. Allegri was in a win-win situation. His employers are desperate for him to stay and the scale of work at Juve is far less that what Arsenal will entail. He had the choice of work so why accept a smaller club (relative to Juve), with a smaller transfer budget, playing in a less prestigious European competition and with a squad that definieltly no where as good as Juve’s. ..at the same time he will be facing significant competition from some of the best managers… Read more »
Banford
You’re a cunt and you also make shit arguments.
Receding
“Bamford do you also believe that Sarri, Nagglesman and Jardim are all better managers than Emery? If yes..why?”
Where have I suggested that I think this or that manager is better than Unai Emery? Nowhere. You need to read people’s comments more carefully and differentiate between this or that poster better.
Bamford i asked you a simple question not an accusation. I thought you said you were a teacher
I asked do you also believe , how does that even refer to you saying anything on the subject matter earlier …jeez
You don’t give 350k weekly wages to tepid passive players and bring in 60 million contracts to a not so dissilar striker 6 months before you’re planning to change manager. My point is that we bungled a lot of stuff before we started seeking a new manager. With the benefit of hindsight, those funds should have been left to the new manger (like Allegri) to have a big say in how it is spent. That should have been part of the selling package on the table oto get a manager in the summer. You have 60 million (plus the 70… Read more »
Stefano
One, the possessive is “its,” not “it’s”.
Two, I’m well aware of the fact that Juventus can outspend their Serie A rivals, but Allegri would have the resources (at Arsenal) to build just as good of a team at Arsenal as he has built at Juventus, and that team could compete for and win the PL title.
Three, are you suggesting that Arsenal cannot compete for the PL title until we somehow get an owner who will spend from his own pockets? That is, are you what I call a “defeatist”?
“Charlie if you feel you need to insult me why not just come out and insult me?? Why keep hiding behind the word petulant?? What is childish of bad tempered about the arguments i have made?? You are the only one being petulant here” I’ve been crystal clear time and again, what are you talking about? I’m not insulting you, I’m telling you that’s exactly how you’re acting. Why? Because you’ve been on the offensive since I dared to say Emery is a safe option. It’s an opinion you don’t share but somehow you’ve assumed some right to incessantly preach… Read more »
So yea think i’m quite comfortable to label you petulant for the way you’ve taken my comments about Arsenal leadership to heart,and felt the need to defend Emery’s honour (when it was never questioned).
I hope you remember this line very well next time you go on one of your Bamford attacks, you can label me anything you like by the way, we are done with this discussion.
Banford you’re a Harvard English major who didn’t know the word naivety was spelled as such in common English language.
Think I speak for many when I say fuck off with the grammar policing, nobody is handing in a paper for grading you myopic tampon.
Receding You said “also,” mate, which implies that I’d said or implied something along those lines in a prior comment, which I didn’t. But to answer your question, it would be very difficult to say who the “better manager” is between Emery, Sarri and Jardim. I like Jardim a lot, but that is more a preference for his teams’ style of play. I think Sarri has been more effective more quickly at Chelsea (that is, than Emery has been at Arsenal) but I don’t know enough to say if he is the better manager. I haven’t seen his previous teams… Read more »
Dissenter
Your renovation was not quite as extensive as mine.
Maybe Emery’s quote for the repairs was honest and cost effective and not inclusive of too many middlemen.
You know what I mean.
Charlie
Actually it’s spelled “naivete” in the US and “naivety” in the UK. So there are two “correct” spellings depending on where one is.
Receding
Ignore your quips about my POV and the ridicule you gave them, also ignore leaping to Emery’s defence when he wasn’t being criticised, ignore too the calculated reference to a well-known prick in Banford, just you aspire for a high horse in the face of being called petulant of all things. Amazing
Dissenter,
What makes Juve bigger than Arsenal?
Yes, they spend crazy money and have been showing off at the CL recently, but that does not make then bigger, they only show bigger ambition at the moment.
And one would think that being in same league as other top managers and facing competition from them is an attraction and not a turn-off.
Do you honestly think the man enjoys playing in a league where you can’t find real top managers these days?
Even Sarri ducked out when he saw that his stock was rising.
I think Sarri has been more effective more quickly at Chelsea (that is, than Emery has been at Arsenal) but I don’t know enough to say if he is the better manager. I haven’t seen his previous teams play enough. He might be, though. Time will tell. Do we have the same caliber of players as Chelsea?? Did we win the league just two seasons ago?? Did Emery bring in Jorginho, a player he spent the last few years coaching to run his midfield. He has been more effective yes, but i do not think anything has been decided as… Read more »
Oh good, so you’ve gone from having absolutely no knowledge of the spelling “naivety” to a position of trying to educate me (someone who corrected your ridiculous attempt to disceredit Alex originally). Fantastic self awareness you possess I see.
“Actually it’s spelled “naivete” in the US and “naivety” in the UK. So there are two “correct” spellings depending on where one is.” I believe you said we should take our cue from the French because it is a French word at the root? I confess I don’t know the etymological history of the word, but by your own rules we should therefore stop using the following variations: color tire (for cars, it’s really tyre) truck (we should say lorry) sidewalk (we should say pavement) pants (we should say trousers) elevators (we should say lifts) etc… If we follow your… Read more »
VicVic
“What makes Juve bigger than Arsenal?”
Oh dear
I guess you believe that Juventis is not in London so Arsenal are better.
Juventus is European royalty and we are not.
Juventus us a far bigger club athan Arsenal, use any metric. It doesn’t diminish Arsenal to sat that.
I’m expecting you to roll out the swiss ramble now…..as if that plays any role on the actual match day product.
Bamford
Honestly
English is English. It’s not Americanese.
The burden is on you and all Americans to understand that words are spelt 🙂 differently and pronounced diferently elsewhere.
We don’t have a monopoly of the language becaus it’s a borrowed language,
…and we actually speak it far worse.
“There is no weapon more deadly than the will”
Ozil agree.
are arsenal bigger than juve ?
ask anyone in Italy and I guess they would say juve.
ask anyone in Spain and they will say Juve.
Ask anyone in England and may be, just maybe some people will say arsenal.
Comparing Sarri’s job at Chelski to Emery’s at Arsenal is like comparing flirting between green and amber at a set of traffic lights and a multiple pile up on the M25.
No fudging comparison.
“What makes Juve bigger than Arsenal?”
@VicVic, can I have the address of your drug dealer ??
PLEASE!!
“And one would think that being in same league as other top managers and facing competition from them is an attraction and not a turn-off.” Would disagree. Who’s a top manager in the league at the moment? Poch – hasn’t won anything ever. Sarri – hasn’t won anything ever. mouninho – if there is a manager with similar downhill path to Wenger it’s him. Klopp – hasn’t won anything of note for a while (6 years), was never hired for a top, top job and is a proven loser with 6 losses in his last 6 finals – it’s a… Read more »
Historically, Juventus are far bigger than Arsenal.
By a mile and a furlong.
VicVic
Oh dear, are you that naive?
VicVic
What’s the weather like on planet Zog?
Juventus are probably bigger than United and United are a much bigger club than us.
We’d be even with Liverpool if we were to only count the domestic success. Sadly, they win because of their 5 UCL cups to our 0. We don’t even have enough Europa League cups – 3 to 1 for them again.
We are still ahead of Chelsea but who knows for how long. Hopefully we get on the right track sooner rather than later.
Banford ‘but Allegri would have the resources (at Arsenal) to build just as good of a team at Arsenal as he has built at Juventus, and that team could compete for and win the PL title.’ But these resources wouldn’t be enough considering the competition void he’s used to and access to the best players with no domestic challenge signing these players. Your lack of understanding of the other leagues is embarrassing when you come out with such sweeping statements. ‘Three, are you suggesting that Arsenal cannot compete for the PL title until we somehow get an owner who will… Read more »
I just read that Low and Bierroff went to Colney to meet Mesut, but they weren’t allowed to enter… on the order of Emery ?!?
“Present in London Sunday and Monday for a FIFA coaching congress, Löw and selection manager Oliver Bierhoff took the opportunity to travel to Colney’s training camp to meet the midfielder, but were denied on the orders of Gunners coach Unai Emery, according to the German daily Bild.”
Source Eurosport.