Just as heads up folks, the only thing Black Friday is good for is watching middle-class folk fight over Calvin Klein boxer shorts deals. What a fraudulent holiday. A total con. Look at the shoddy deal Arsenal are trying to pull here.
Looool… Bantonio Banlencia with the cross, Alexis Bantchez is in on goal, oh my, it’s over the bar…
Sometimes you just gotta bring the A-game.
Something else that amuses me. Unai Emery looking awkward.
Emery: Guys, I don’t do pictures
Reporter: Come on Unai, just one
Emery: Ok, how’s this?
Reporter: Perfecto
Absolutely zero creativity in that shot. Just Emery, in a tracksuit, pointing at a picture. No esoteric layers, no filters, just pure Emery pointing at his job. Love it.
Anyway, his interview was very interesting. This bit was was worth paying attention to.
“In the past, teams had already approached me with their decision made: Paris Saint-Germain, Sevilla, Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Almeria… I wasn’t used to being another candidate and putting my arguments across. I prepared for the meeting with my staff. I went into it with the doubt of my English speaking, but they always said that this wouldn’t be a problem. And I spoke to them very naturally that day.”
Apparently one of the other managers in contention made a very impressive presentation, so Emery was asked to do the same to make it fair (in case it leaked). This quote still smacks of oddness, unless of course, Ivan Gazidis and Sven Mislintat could both speak Spanish. How was the interview structured if they were all speaking naturally?
The best line for me was when he was asked what his approach has been at Arsenal.
“Before Wenger arrived, Arsenal celebrated the 1-0 wins and were based on defensive solidity. With Arsene, they became an attacking team, with players who were good on the ball. And the perfect combination came with The Invincibles [in the 2003/4 season when Arsenal won the Premier League and remained unbeaten]. But with time, you can only take care of technique and attacking freedom, losing your defensive structure. What I want to do is unite the two and become more competitive. Arsenal were falling. We had to stop that and start to lift them.”
That’s a man who understands the now, but also what went before him. I’m extremely impressed at something which I guess should be a basic for £6m a year job. But really, for a Spanish manager to have a strong grasp of over 30 years of Arsenal football history is a measure of the man. Classy. Wisdomish. Mesmerical.
I mentioned in the post yesterday that I was wondering whether the clubs hierarchy would hold itself to account moving forward, which of course, I truly believe they will… but we have a little bit of self-preservation PTSD after 10 years with a CEO and a manager who were happy with hitting financial goals, working harder to reframe secondary success, versus actually achieving primary success (troooophies).
“We can improve this team. I want to be demanding. I am delighted with the treatment of the club in all areas, but I want them to be demanding of me because I will then push the club forward. I want to be demanding of myself, the team and the club. The Premier League is different to how it was 20 years ago, when City and Chelsea weren’t the same teams, and Everton were stronger. Money has changed everything. And Arsenal must be great, not allowing the four above to take advantage of us [there’s also Manchester United] and not allow the teams below to get closer to us.”
Good to see the manager wants to be pushed. Again, these are basics for competitive people who want to win things, but they’ve been sorely lacking.
Final quote before you go to the site yourself to read the rest, but it appears we had an answer on why he didn’t start with Leno and LT, and it wasn’t performance, it was political, as we suspected at the time.
“Because you have to respect hierarchy. [Bernd] Leno arrives, but [Petr] Cech is doing well and you must respect that. Petr was first. The same thing was true with [Matteo] Guendouzi and Torreira, who arrived later. I gave him [Guendouzi] the chance first, which I was delighted about, but now he’s not playing as much and Lucas is.”
Again, it’s all part of the onboarding process. You can’t shake the applecart too hard, you have to make sure you don’t completely break the spirit, and you want to make sure the leaders respect you. Dumping players doing a good job isn’t smart, and there’s no doubt Guendouzi and Cech were smashing it earlier in the season. Now they’ve been moved to the bench and that’s fine, because Torreira and Leno proved themselves. That’s the sort of fair competitive environment you want to foster.
Bacary Sagna, like so many ex-players and pundits are now coming around to the realisation that it wasn’t the players who were the issue last season.
“It is strange. From one year to another, it is totally crazy,”
“They enjoyed the summer to clear their minds and come back stronger.
“It seems like they give even more on the pitch and it is working for them. I am so happy to see the club back to its best. Arsenal is in my heart, it is my club.
Incredible how many professional athletes didn’t seem to grasp that a manager who doesn’t hold you accountable probably won’t extract the most out of the squad.
Big Raul reckons Stan K is a fucking ace guy.
“The one thing that’s crucial for the good management of a club is stability and now I believe we have full stability.
“Every time we’ve interacted with the owners, we get a total sense of support and alignment.
“We are in a new chapter of the club and the passion these people have for Arsenal has given us the right working environment.”
He’s never going to call him a ‘f*cking mugged up mug,’ but at the same time, you’d have to imagine he’s hearing good things if he’s going to the press about his boss. Right? RIGHT? £100m Dembele incoming people!
We’re being linked with Julian Weigl in some of the press. This move doesn’t really make sense to me. He’s certainly not a direct replacement for Aaron Ramsey as The Sun guessed, but he would be for Granit Xhaka. The German sits at the base of midfield and sprays balls around for fun. He’s very slight of frame, but certainly a talent. It does make me a little uncomfortable that half of the rumours surrounding Arsenal are exDortmund players. Can we just look elsewhere?
FINALLY, we’re being linked to Fornals of Malaga. This player is sexy on toast. An absolute delight on the ball, he can track back, he plays long, short, he scores and he assists. Check out his video here…
P.S. Get a hit of Arsene Wenger rocking blue sneakers with Gray and Keysey in Qatar. Bit sad to watch, the man wants a job and the offers don’t seem to be rolling in. Love that his opener was a jab about people with opinions… to move on Mr Wenger, you have to take responsibility for your own bad press (you don’t, but it would be nice if you did).
*let alone 100m*
Btw a decent loan would do but what’s the point for a half season?
Love this from Emery interview, esp the last bit about the Pool game. Q. Arsenal are unbeaten in 16 matches, in all competitions. What does that mean? A. “That there’s still a long way to go. We have had four draws in the last five games, and we need to push the team forward now. I have spoken to my team during the international break. Our objective is to be in the Top 4, but it won’t be easy. Every year it becomes even more difficult to be up there. Everyone was happy against Liverpool [1-1 draw] but we only… Read more »
useroz
now imagine wenger answering that question. He would quickly point to the mental strength and try to use this as an excuse to further lower expectations.
it’s just an interview but it shows a lot of difference between the two managers.
Let pierre strike me down now for mentioning his saviour
Pierre Good morning. Nice to see your comments lit a fuse amongst some of us. A few absolute classics from yourself once again, which I always put down to one thing, your passion for GOLF. That’s right, a sport where verything has to be near perfect before you even hit the fudging ball. The ideal game for anyone with a mindset geared to data collection. Think about it. The grip, the stance, the uptake of the club, the smooth rythmical swing, the contact point and, even after hitting the ruddy ball, that all important follow through. Oh yeh, and let’s… Read more »
everything
Just a follow on from Emery’s so called smart decision for not starting Torriera in the opening 2 games because he didn’t want to upset the players already at the club I’m afraid that’s bullshit ….Guendouzi started the first 2 games so he could have easily started him ( along with Lacazette)and before anyone comes back with Torriera had only just come back from the world cup and he didn’t want to risk him, think of how many players from Tottenham and city who played in the latter stages of the world cup but were back for the beginning of… Read more »
Right in cue one of Emery’s disciples ( Graham) arrives.
In the late 70’s we had what would be called a reasonably successful period in Arsenal’s history…..we won one FA cup and lost 3 finals and never made a serious challenge for the title but that team are still held in high regard and it was a great time to support the team though we never quite had the success that was deserved.
That is why I say the last 5 years will historically be regarded as a reasonably successful period in Arsenal’s history …3 trophies and one final defeat.
Graham
I’m sure if the messiah manages to win 3 trophies(any trophies) in the next 4 years you will be singing his praises …
I know I will be because it is actually quite dIfficult to win any silverware with the competition at such a high level these days..
Pierre, Spurs didn’t recruit in the summer so they had reason to play those players returning late from the world cup. How do you think their player fitness will hold up over a season. City has quality replacements in every area of the pitch so totally different view on players from them. It may have been the wrong move to not Play the players you’re saying, but in hindsight, guen was in form and was tested in a game that was pretty much written off by everyone but yourself it seems, Cech was on fire for the start of the… Read more »
In saying that, I’d have loved to have won those first two games, the 2nd of which we probably should have. But our whole team performance against city was all over the shop, I really don’t feel that the different personnel would have changed much.
Dissenter I’ve been reading Le Grove for over 7 years now. Despite disagreeing with a lot of what Pedro says. I am mature enough to know that people will have a different opinion and I don’t mind reading or hearing it. I’ve told Pedro this on Twitter as well, his writing is a lot better when he isn’t having a go at Wenger. And I’d say he should forget Wenger given he was championing a Wenger-less Arsenal for so long. Of course he can write what he wants. I never said he shouldn’t. Just my two cents on what I… Read more »