Arsenal crashed at Southampton in what felt like a fairly predictable game and sadly, historically familiar.
The odds felt slightly stacked against us even before the game started. Two centre-backs suspended, Holding out longterm, our two returning defenders 32 and 33, and Lichtsteiner who is 34. Things were so rough, Emery once again elected to drop Xhaka into the back three.
We didn’t make it easy for ourselves, as has been the script all season. For the 17th time this season, we couldn’t manage to head into halftime with a lead. Our defending was awful, we conceded 7 shots on target, despite dominating 66% of the possession. The most damning stat? Southampton scored 20% of their goals against us yesterday. What a joke.
We went a goal down on 20minutes. Bellerin marshalled Targett out wide, the English left back whipped in a beautiful cross that evaded Koscielny at the front post, finding Ings who breezed past a dozing Xhaka. It really was an exceptional ball, but it was being defended by a player who hasn’t dropped a full 90 for 250 days, and a deep-lying midfielder who obviously isn’t going to be comfortable in a back 3.
We clawed our way back into the game, Iwobi used a burst of pace really well to release Monreal, the Spaniard found Mikhi in the box and his bullet header from 10 yards was enough to pull us level. We still managed to fuck things up, Redmond, who’d caused problems with his pace all game, evaded MG and Iwobi, floating a perfect cross between Lichtsteiner and Koscielny, finding Ings who lofted a perfect header under the bar.
The second half saw Lacazette emerge. We had a really good opening 15 minutes and drew level on 52 minutes. Lacazette rustled the ball as Southampton looked to break, he fed Mikhi who bundled home a dirty deflected shot.
I don’t want to scapegoat here, but I felt the air leaked out of our performance when Iwobi blazed over a backheel pass from Auba. It really was atrocious technique and the difference between Arsenal and the elite teams in the league. I really can’t fathom how anyone can defend that chance. When you’re an international footballer, you should at the very least be hitting the target.
Our final goal was also a calamity. Mesut Ozil lost the ball on the halfway line with a stupid stepover, the ball made it down our end, Austin is picked out at the back post, Leno came flapping and missed, the rest is history. Not good enough, and another silly error from our German import.
Thoughts:
This is what the first season under a new manager will look like, if we’re honest, we’ve had it very nice up until today and we should be grateful. It took Klopp 3 seasons to make things work for him. We cannot expect Emery, with limited summer investment and a dirty Arsene Wenger hangover, to perform miracles. Our squad is very slim and we were exposed today.
The club needs to continue to upgrade. We need better wide players, we need to move on names that either don’t want to be here or aren’t suited to the system, and we need to focus on bringing through quality.
Emery needs to take stock of a few things that he’s been getting away with… namely, our shocking first-half performances. It’s true that our resilience to bounce back has been a joy to watch, but 17 games without leading in the first half is a semi-crisis. It means the manager is making poor decisions. We need to be seeing better selections and we need to see players more focused from the off.
I joked yesterday that an Arsenal player could play keepy-uppy in his own box and roof it into the net on purpose and you’d still have a group of fans screaming ‘FOOTBALL IS A TEAM GAME THAT’S NOT HIS FAULT’… well, in most jobs, there’s an element of individual responsibility. Mesut Ozil needs to take some stick for giving the ball away then not going hard to retrieve it. The great thing is that sort of subpar attitude might rub with some of our fans, but it won’t with Emery. The club needs to move him on. It’s clear that he’s not right for how the team needs to play, and he’s also not right for the sort of structure we need to build wage wise. He needs to move on.
We also have to do something about Aaron Ramsey in January. We have a very good player who would have been more useful than Mesut, sitting on the bench today. If he’s going to be a nothing player, let’s sell him and bring in a talent that can give our midfield the extra ingredient it needs to create and press.
That said, it is worth remembering that we don’t have a coach that’s denying we’ve been less than optimal. He said in the pre-match prezzer that there is a lot that needs to be improved upon. That’s good news. We’re dealing with a coach that understands reality and pragmatism. Let’s hope Sven and Raul have something smart lined up in January… Pepe and Cahill both available as potential stop-gaps at the back.
Finally, big thumbs up to Hassenhutl. He’s a manager we scouted when names were rumbling for Arsenal. He’s brought a lot of energy to their squad, and he bought all theb fans a beer. Can’t know that sort of carry-on.
Right, see you in the comments!
DM
1st
2
4
Tr4phy
Trophy
Nice one Boomslang. Losing my touch! Fear not, I’ll be back
Nice one Boomslang.
Cheers Y’all
Absolute rubbish from Arsenal.
The Caraboo cup game is now season defining…and that’s a sad indictment of a club as rich as Arsenal.
I think when you are pinning your hopes on a 22 year old Uraguyan, in his first season at the club, something is very wrong.
Auba was not even pub league level yesterday and Iwobi is perhaps only 5% better than the great, Sanogo.
Calamitous.
Why leave Lacazette out? Iwobi – no thanks.
I could only imagine how the Soton coach would be feeling yesterday, he worked out a game plan based on our defensive vunerabilty and it worked, not one, but THREE times!! Talk about out-thinking Emery tactically.
Also have to criticise Unai yesterday, Ramsey and not Ozil was wat we needed yesterday.
Hopefully this is a good reality check.
Finally, KOSCIELNY WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MAN!!!!!
There’s a real chance that after going unbeaten in 22 we could come unstuck in two games by the time Burnley visit on the early kick off on Saturday.
Retrieving the most points in the second half is nice but football is a game of two halves. Almost half the season has passed and we (maybe Tottenham at home aside) have started all the games poorly.
We will bounce back, what we need short term wise is to improve the first half performance and bench those who cannot work in the system.
We need to go back to basics to stop conceding school boy errors and I expect unai to be more ruthless in his selection moving on from this loss.
Sven and Raul must be ready to deliver in the next 3 transfer window starting with Jan.
Though it’s going to happen sooner or later losing to So’ton and in the manner we did is atrocious, such as * Opened their account for their first home win for how long again? * Did I hear So’ton struggled to score goals vs all teams (not just City) and we doubled their GF this season! * Helped open their a/c on the first headed goal, and let’s throw in 2 more as Xmas is coming! * oh, they were (still are?) second, from the bottom…. During the game at 1 – 2 I remarked we had enough firepower to… Read more »
“a dirty Arsene Wenger hangover”
Pedro please could you stop saying things like that.
You’re going to wake all the jokeheads band, Vic, Pierre, gambon… and in a certain measure, GoH. lol
Again i urge caution for those thinking we’re going to do anything of note in the Jan transfer window.
“I think when you are pinning your hopes on a 22 year old Uraguyan, in his first season at the club, something is very wrong. ”
Sure… and by comparison, our former manager would NEVER have do that!!
(lolZ)
I’m not blaming Wenger for this shambles.
Yes, his dna is still running through the team but emery has now had a while to imprint his own methodology to the squad…apart from Torrier, it hasn’t been great.
This defeat was in the post for months.
@GoH (and he’s not the only one) seriously need to realize that we’re no longer part of the European Football Elite since a decade, almost everything in the squad must be rebuild…
WAKE THE FUCK UP!! Or go support another manager, and so another team.
“I’m not blaming Wenger for this shambles. ”
Blame… Santa Claus ??
“emery has now had a while to imprint his own methodology to the squad…apart from Torrier, it hasn’t been great. ”
Yeah, especially when you consider he has top class players at his disposal. lol
GoH, Vic Vic, Pierre, gambon, Vicuntious and a few others have already signed the petition : WE WANT OUR ARSENE BACK!!
Maybe I’m gonna sign it, me too…
“I don’t want to scapegoat here, but I felt the air leaked out of our performance when Iwobi blazed over a backheel pass from Auba. It really was atrocious technique and the difference between Arsenal and the elite teams in the league. I really can’t fathom how anyone can defend that chance. ” Talking about whipping Iwobi. You failed to mention how Auba fucked up that chance and was left with a clumsy backheel for Iwobi who was half expecting it. If it were City, spuds or Liverpool that was a goal; Auba cross to Laca and boom!! I saw… Read more »
I thought we had left behind the ‘plastic fan’ insults that always follow criticism of the team. But no. Gambon got it yesterday. Pierre gets it all the time and now I am. Grow up. I’m pretty sure that when Arsenal were going unbeaten, we criticised certain aspects of the performance. It’s human nature. Emery has done well but he shouldn’t be immune to critique. The team as a whole have been so lucky this season. I mean, really lucky. As Peter said…our first half performances have been akin to relegation form. That’s on emery and his team selection. Look,… Read more »
The club needs to continue to upgrade. We need better wide players, we need to move on names that either don’t want to be here or aren’t suited to the system, and we need to focus on bringing through quality. This though. We really need to use the tw to move forward in any way. Our play is not there yet. The players are afraid of evading the press with succession of quick passes. They always go back to the keep who im turn hoofs it. It’s worse because we don’t have dribblers in the WHOLE team bar Iwobi. Can… Read more »
I was Arsene out for a very, very long time. To critique emery does not automatically mean I want Wenger back. What terrible logic some people apply to innocuous statements.
It’s like saying “I had a bad pint, therefore I am going to burn the pub down”.
Emery is doing as well as he can, however, some of his decisions have not been great. This is not the first step to a Wenger back petition!
Christ.
Wide players? Why?
We haven’t scored a header since Andy Linegans against Sheffield Wednesday.
It’s like saying “I had a bad pint, therefore I am going to burn the pub down”.
Funny you say this, because you criticised the criticism of Gambon yesterday. The same chap who after the match said he wasn’t going to watch for the rest of the season after one bad result.
Some of you are genuinely beserk on here.
Life side, Gambon shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Couple point about yesterday and the last few months on a whole. Laurent Koscielny is done, he was finished seven months ago and time on the sidelines hasn’t improved him, hopefully its the last we see of him if we can get someone in during the upcoming window. Mesut Ozil.. we have all said a lot about the guy, but I want to know.. how can a grown man be so physically weak?! I can’t think of another footballer with no upper body strength whatsoever! Refereeing… something needs to change and fast, the standard of refs in the league is… Read more »
I think the Ozil debate is similar to the Wenger issue. Ozil is clearly a wonderful player who can do things to justify your entrance fee but just like Wenger it is time for the club to go in a different direction as he no longer fits and those moments are no longer outweighing the negatives.
I love watching Ozil but his 15 minutes yesterday make it hard for even his most ardent supporter to defend him.
There is a player somewhere within Iwobi but that chance showed his basic lack of technique, the U15 team I coach know that is you lean back when striking at goal the ball will probably go over the bar.
If we want to get back to the top think of to whom that chance would have fallen to for City or Liverpool (Silva, Mahrez, Sterling, De Bruyne, Sane, Mane, Salah, Shakiri etc.)
How much would Cahill cost? If he’s more than 6-7m he’s not worth it He’s a solid player but we also can’t affird to be wasting our transfer kitty with stop gap options eating into the transfer budget We need some bargains sure, but we need a long term elite CB to play alongside our young talents like holding and our shorter term options like Pappa. I don’t usually endorse burning money on players but we really do need an elite CB. At LB we can probably get a bargain but at CB those will be much harder to find.… Read more »
Leno
Another big game and another massive mistake. He was lucky against spurs
He’s cost us 5 crucial points this season already while cech has won us points. I’m sorry but I don’t think he’s ready to be our full time no1 yet
I’ve said it before and I stand by it
Kos is better than Cahill and Kos isn’t good enough for us at the moment. If he was on a free I won’t touch him. Cahill that is.
Great point SkinnyWill and Shaquiri actually scored from a similar loose ball v the Mancs. Iwobi does need to concentrate on the basics in oredr to become a better player, its ok showing batches of skill but for his position end product and goals based on good decision making and technique are what he will be judged on.
https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/11583819/unai-emery-says-arsenal-are-weighing-up-transfer-options
Let’s burn a candle.
Why do football fans think their club is entitled to victory all the time.
You win some,lose some n draw some.
We’ve lost so what. This is football and it’s a game.
Emery needs to approach games especially first halves with seriousness. He with his backroom staff n players became imo complacent.
The loss might propel us to correct the wrongs which might have been ignored.
We’ll be in CL next season.
On the defence – could it actually be Emerys weakness? Although our options and talent are limited the manner and type of goals we conceed are quite shocking and always seem to be positional and poor marking based errors as exemplified yesterday.
Throughout the entire team the only player that is always well positioned to recover the ball or tackle IMO is Torreira hence why he seems to stand out. Most of the team tend to tackle from a position where they’re most likely to be beaten or give away a foul or free kick.
Leftside I did defend the criticism against Gambon but I don’t agree with his statement about not watching anymore. That’s his call. Anyway, after a defeat that shouldn’t have happened, we all go a little mad. I think Gambon’s main point was he hasn’t really seen much improvement over the season. Our defence is as bad as it’s ever been and that includes Wenger’s bantz years. Our middle is still soft (Torrier the exception). Too many passengers. Not enough ability. Powderpuff forwards. The one area we have significantly improved is our heart for the fight. That can’t be underestimated and… Read more »
On the first Southampton goal… no one was in a position to win the ball or stop the cross coming in – 1 right back, 2 centre halves or the keeper (4 players)
@Skinnywill
“There is a player somewhere within Iwobi”
Where? Where is this player people keep taking about? 118 games for Arsenal 10 goals, from a wide attacking player. We did this exact same thing with Walcott for the best part of 10 years, sit around waiting for him to become the player people thought he was.
If we want to push on and actually achieve some real goals, players like Iwobi need to go, we can’t remain a daycare center for mediocre players.
Auba form is a little worrying as it seems like he is still adjusting to the speed of the prem 1 second quicker on any of the three chances he missed would have resulted in a goal …we all know Kos should not have started yesterday and the to put xhaka in there is always asking for trouble.hate to say it but if we had Socratis and mustaffi yesterday we would not have lost that game .It’s quite simple the back three used against Southampton are simply not good enough. Kos is well off the pace and cannot be used… Read more »
@Dolomite –
Lets give Emery some time to bring in his own players in defense, also yesterday we started with a very much second string defense, two suspensions, 2 injures and a third injury during the game, show me another side that could take that damage and still be solid.
Also lets not forget that we started with a defender who literally kicked a ball into his own face to cost us a place in the Europa league final the last time he was on the pitch… so there is that too!
Oh my god. A defender of the gormless Iwobi.
The guy is rubbish. He always will be.
Let’s face it, Ozil is the biggest problem in this squad. For the amount of money he’s being paid, we could have had two more CB’s, a young-promising winger and maybe even another midfielder. On top of that, he does not deliver what he is being paid for, he goes missing in games, he is lazy, hardly ever tackles, whines to the ref constantly whenever there’s the smallest niggling tackle on him, does not defend, and doesn’t score that often, considering his forward position. He really is a hack and a fraud. Talented, yes. For that sum of money? Hell… Read more »
GoH, good words today. I agree.
We’ve been dining out on the joy of resilience, without taking much time to think about some pretty fundamental issues that have been bubbling.
Emery has helped us in a lot of areas, but as I’ve said all season, I’d be very surprised if he helps us find the next level.
Are we such a great team when we can afford to put a top goal scorer on the bench?
I really don’t understand why we can not play Auba and Lacca up top?
One game lost not bad at all….just need to win as many as we can now
Why oh why is no one going crazy , as I am, at the continuation of the Wenger period’s no tackle or weakness in the tackle defending in almost every position on the field- Torreira excepted.
Jim D
Peter The resilience side of things has been a joy to watch but it comes with a caveat…we’re falling behind in virtually every game, ergo, we have to show resilience. If we were batting it out of the park every game, we wouldn’t need resilience. Like you, I’m not seeing anything ground breaking from emery. I appreciate his tools are blunted somewhat, but I’m still struggling to see the ‘vision’. We still don’t have a style of play per se and it takes for us to go down for him to change it. That’s plain bad. He should be changing… Read more »
@Pedro – “I’d be very surprised if he helps us find the next level.” Which level are we talking about? I mean Wenger left us several levels below the top teams in the league and I would argue that within his first few months Emery has already brought us up a level or two with mainly trash he inherited. I think we have downplayed just how back of a team he was left with, maybe not on an individual level but as a club. The club was rotten to the core. Everything was fall apart, no winning mentality, no accountability… Read more »
The idea that he was at fault for yesterday’s performance is plain absurd.
You’re kind of missing the point no one is blaming him for the defeat merely pointing out that he came on and did fuck all. Didn’t contribute at all. Ramsey is capable of a good cameo off the bench so is Iwobi why isn’t Ozil? In fact why isn’t he doing more to be that key man in the starting 11? You hear people say fleeting genius and when he plays well Arsenal play well then why doesn’t he do more to play well?
Jim Lahey
I agree at 22 Iwobi should be showing us more if he wants to be a regular first team starter, however he has put in some good performances and has improved this year (end product aside). I think as a young homegrown player there is a place in the squad for him but it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets surpassed by the likes off Nelson, Smith-Rowe and even Saka unless he really pushes on. For me wide-forward as well as centre-back are the two key positions where upgrades would make the biggest difference.
You just knew the second the unbeaten streak finished the Arteta groupies would find their voice again. I mean after all it’s pretty hard to criticize a manager who’s undefeated after 21 games but pretty easy to after a defeat.
Iwobi is nonsense and pretty clear and even he himself knows he is crystal palace level tops ….the most notable problem with the Southampton defeat was the defensive shape was all over the place something I thought we had improved on especially with Mustaffi and Soc in the side and torriea in front of them but something was telling me what the hell was KOS doing as his positioning for two of the goals would have made him directly responsible for conceding and we were back to the very wenger like defending
I’m sorry but I don’t think he’s ready to be our full time no1 yet
I’ve said it before and I stand by it
I mean you’ve been wrong plenty of times so why stop now
@Skinny –
I don’t think Iwobi is a bad footballer, he just isn’t on the level required to play for Arsenal, and a team with ambitions that Arsenal should have doesn’t have the time to wait for him to become the player we want him to be. Its been 4 seasons now, he has more than enough time to prove himself. Its time for the likes of Nelson to have their opportunity.
Iwobi with have a good career playing for someone like Palace or Newcastle, not Arsenal I am afraid.
Watching the Champions league draw now. Just feel kind of sad that Arsenal is not in the party. UEFA cup draw will come an hour from now.
I think it says a lot if we’re talking about missing Mustafi, Sokratis and Holding…seriously. Arsenal have had two eras of arguably the greatest defences seen in the league/premier league and this is the best we can muster? FFS.
Arteta groupies. Good one.
Honestly.
KAY Boss
December 17, 2018 10:42:27
We’ll be in CL next season.
——————————-
No we wont. We’ll end up higher than last year, 5th instead of 6th……maybe.
Jim,
Wenger left us Europa League finalists. Emery didn’t pick up Blackburn Rovers.
He should be able to fix the defence and there should be an attractive style of football to boast of.
Our play is pretty basic, recycle the ball to wide positions and attack from there.
It’s been pretty effective, but we’ve struggled with creativity and our defence has been a shambles all season.
Defence he has no excuse for…
We’ve rode our luck, as GoH said, Southampton was coming for a while…
Marko, that you keep coming back to Arteta shows how insecure you are about Emery.
You have no idea what Arteta could have done at Arsenal, and you never will, so it’s a pointless thing to keep coming back to.
He wasn’t the only managerial candidate name on the table. I’d have preferred a lot of managers to Emery.
Iwobi isn’t a bad footballer. He’s dreadful.
You get the impression that he showed up for trials and the scout was smoking crack, thought Iwobi looked good doing 8 kick ups and signed him on the spot.
The guy is going nowhere. Let’s not throw the same time and effort at him as we did with Theo.
Under Wenger when we lost there was always a negative effect for at least the next 2 games, be interesting to see how the current team under Emery respond.
Wenger left us Europa League finalists
——————————-
Semi finalists Pedro…………………
“Marko, that you keep coming back to Arteta shows how insecure you are about Emery.You have no idea what Arteta could have done at Arsenal, and you never will, so it’s a pointless thing to keep coming back to. He wasn’t the only managerial candidate name on the table. I’d have preferred a lot of managers to Emery.”
This is why Peter writes the blog and I bullshit on it.
Arteta was NOT many people’s first or second or even third choice but he was a very interesting option.
@Pedro – We all know the problems at Arsenal go far deeper than the first 11 under Wenger, Emery was left with a squad of serial losers. “He should be able to fix the defence and there should be an attractive style of football to boast of.” I mean…. can we give him more than a couple of months?! Seriously… How about a few windows to get some players in to implement his way of playing? “Defence he has no excuse for…” Really… because we were blessed with one of the best defences in the league for the past number… Read more »
After the game at home vs. the Spuds, Pedro thought that Emery was the right man… But now, just like his pal GoH, he thinks that Emery is mediocre –
And that has nothing to do with the squad Wenger left us with, of course.
(lol ?)
Funny how some minds change quickly around here…
Allegri and Nagelsmann would have been interesting. I’d have preferred Carlo if we were planning to go for experience tbh.
Emery out!! lol
You’re just f*cking pathetic, guys.
MCity vs Schaker
Spuds vs Dortmond
Losepool vs Bayern
MANU vs PSG
Jim We don’t have a few windows to get this right. City and Liveroool are now light years ahead of us. Man yoo and chelsea are rich and will always spend cash on a project and back a new manager. We are feeling the effects of being out of the CL and the longer we are out of it, the harder it will be to get back in. We will get players but they will either be: 1. Cheap 2. Old 3. Broken None of the above will win us anything or get us back into the shop window. I… Read more »
Why all the consternation? Let’s be real here, you don’t escape the clutches of what Wenger became in a mere half a season.
As we saw yesterday, and in other games, Wengers influence remains printed all over those who played under him.
Emery will rid this squad of Wenger, he has begun to do just that, but on his budget, it will take him time
HL, I have never thought Emery was the right man.
I have been impressed with him this season, but I’ve always put that against the backdrop of issues like xG, first-half performance and poor defending.
Again, you all work in black and white.
Emery has done a pretty decent job. He’s taken us from the dark ages into color TV. Doesn’t mean I think he’s taking us full on 8k motion picture.
Marko He’s not kind of missing the point he’s spectacularly missing it and on purpose as well to avoid a difficult conversation. No one is saying Ozil was at fault solely for the loss or that he should be sold because of 20 minutes of football yesterday. That is a lazy, cowardly argument and reeks of picking a battle that isn’t there to suit your arguments. I’ve come to expect it from a lot of fans. We saw it for years. The real argument is too hard for them. The Ozil supporters are getting as ridiculous as the Wenger ones… Read more »
Man C the only one of the 4 playing away in the first leg.
All it took was the first defeat since August………..
Take out Van dijk and Gomez, then remove the option of fielding Lovren due to long term injury, the turn up away at a team with a new manager fighting for their live’s ..i will like to see how defensively sound they will be
Anyway you guys can enjoy your misery and your list of super managers who would have had us above Pool and City
Anyone else see Arteta giving Pep instructions over the weekend?
3…2…1 cue the nuclear explosion.
Only Gambon, as far as I can remember mentioned Emery as a candidate. He was not on anyone’s radar and probably for very good reasons.
Allegri and Nagelsmann would have been interesting. I’d have preferred Carlo if we were planning to go for experience tbh. Yeah Allegri was never really happening and sure there was a time during the summer where you mentioned everyone linked with the job just to cover all of your bases but you went hard for Arteta like super hard and it took a long time for you and the GOH to accept Emery. And it’s taken one defeat for it all to come crashing down. I say Arteta groupies because you two in particular were really behind the idea. I… Read more »
RH
Valid point. Misplaced. Sure Liverpool would miss those players but they have the firepower to overcome a weakened defence. We don’t.
Emirates stroller is just being diseingenious.
He’s setting up a soapy falllacy with so many greasy words.
Ozil was brought in to win the game. He’s out star player making one of the biggest salaries in world football….and what did he do?
…. , …. , ….. wait for it …. NOTHING.
Can you imagine if Liverpool introduced Salah in that 2-2 situation?
Can you imagine if City introduced Kevin De Bruyne?
Remember when Chelsea threw in Hazard at 2-2 agajnst us?
Imagine if Spuds brought in Son or Christian Eriksen at 2-2 against Southampton?
HL, I have never thought Emery was the right man.
Yes you thought Arteta was the right man.
To be honest ‘is Emery the right man or isn’t he talk’ is shockingly premature. Lets give the guy another couple of transfer windows at least. Look at the impact Leno, Sokratis and Torriera have had already. That accounts for £58 Million of our lowly £64 Million spend. With new commercials, a lot of selling and hopefully UCL football lets see what team arrives when Emery is given £120 Million to spend with Mislintat and Sanllehi. No manager in the world not Allegri, not Guardiola, not Klopp no one could take over a 6th Arsenal team utterly ruined by Wenger’s… Read more »
Marko
Arteta wasn’t on my radar until Peter wrote a piece about him and it had me hooked. I looked at Naglesmann and remembered a young Jose and thought, why not?
Artetanal would have blown the league apart. And I can tell you this, I guarantee it would have been exciting.
I am sure that every fan can see Xhaka is slow and is often absent-minded while defending. Using him as a CB is the dumbest choice. With 2 CB’s defending vs 1 ST, one of the CB has to stick to the ST. All 3 goals, we let their ST having a free header.
i mean taking shots at Emery today and reeling out names of people who would have done better is not a good look at all We were without our first three central defensive options and lost our most attacking full back at half time, i find it sad Arsenal fans on this blog are always on hand to make excuses for every other team besides the one they support No one is saying Emery is a messiah or the best manager around, but to jump on him after his first loss in months considering the circumstances surrounding is pretty low… Read more »
RH / Marko, it didn’t take one defeat, because I’ve been calling out the issues all season… and you’ve whined every time I’ve done it.
AHHH, Jardim. Another great choice of manager.
I campaigned for Arteta, and I’d do it again. You didn’t like the idea, I did. Calling me a groupie is childish.
I’ve written extensively about managers from around Europe for 11 years. Tuchel, Klopp, Pep, Simeone, Favre, Rodgers… yadha, yadha…
@GoH –
“We don’t have a few windows to get this right.”
Of course we do…. We’ve had 10 years of not competing .. why can’t we have another two just to become a competitive side again?
I mean, did you really expect ANY manager to come in with the current players at the club and not need a few windows to get things right?!
Cesc
Leno has made an impact alright. Just not the one we hoped for.
Sokratis is filthy and gritty but meh.
Torrier has been a revelation but he can’t hold the whole team together.
The budget emery was given was derisory but he could have sold a lot of our crap and raised the cash money to more significant levels. He didn’t.
‘RH / Marko, it didn’t take one defeat, because I’ve been calling out the issues all season… and you’ve whined every time I’ve done it.’
Why do you think any other manager would do better though? Given the rot and a £64 Million spend?
The fact you think Arteta might have done better is laughable. No other word for it I’m afraid, Pedro.
Let’s let the baggage handler fly the plane, he’s been on the tarmac for years and drinks coffee in the pilot’s break room.
Don’t worry lads. Emery wont be here for 22 years, I reckon he’ll be gone in 2 years time if we’ll not challenging and if we are then maybe a couple more after that.
The days of Ferguson and Le Senile are gone.
2017 – P17 W9 D3 L5 F30 A20 PTS30 POS7th 2018 – P17 W10 D4 L3 F37 A23 PTS34 POS5th We are slightly ahead of where we were last season and remember our away form spectacularly disintegrated after Christmas so we are on course for an improved season compared to last which is progress. I think for me Emery has got the team fitter and working harder, we look a bit more potent but are still letting in too many goals. Will be interesting to see what we can do in this window as I think that will define whether… Read more »
GOH
Leno has made blunders, he’s also pulled off wonder saves that have kept us in the game.
You saw the best and worst of him yesterday. A top draw save from a corner and then the gaff at the end.
Not helped at all but the total inability of the CBs to deal with anything with a little bit of height on it.
Jim
Arteta would have won the league in his first half season. He is so good…they would award 6 points for a win if he was in charge.
Even if arsenal lost under Arteta (they wouldn’t) we would still get style points.
Artetanal FC.
After sleeping on the game, I have to admit that Emery got too clever yesterday.. He ought to share some of the blame. He didn’t use his squad properly. He should have played Elneny in the center of the defence and left Xhaka in the midfield. He should have started Ramsey instead of Iwobi. If Ramsey wasn’t fit then why have him in the bench? He took a chance on Ozil. I don’t blame him for that, he had to give him opportunities to shine or fail. I’m sure Emery learned a lot from the loss. He’s a very experienced… Read more »
@CA
Knew I could count on you to talk some sense!!
I mean, the absolute shits show the man inherited was unreal.
I campaigned for Arteta, and I’d do it again. You didn’t like the idea, I did. Calling me a groupie is childish.
I did not call you a groupie and you are very much at liberty to wish for any manager you want and to go on and on and on about the next level..its your blog
I’ve written extensively about managers from around Europe for 11 years. Tuchel, Klopp, Pep, Simeone, Favre, Rodgers… yadha, yadha…
What does this mean?? Rodgers is also a better manager than Emery?? You really don’t rate our manager but again its a free world
@GoH
Ha can’t argue with that!!