The truth is out, Arsenal will part ways with Sven Mislintat after little over a year at the club. Le Grove broke the story yesterday afternoon. I’d done my due diligence and verified a story I was first told about last week (and again yesterday). The Arsenal journos all came with stories after, and it was clear the club was briefing against Sven, with some very connected journos insisting the decision wasn’t made yet with some saying there was discontent amongst the clubs established scouts (who did such a great job over the last 5 years). Proper recognition for the legitimacy of our story arrived from the well-connected Rapha Honigstein who dropped more detail a little later in the day (quashing rumours the Bayern story as a nonsense as well).
‘According to club sources, Sanllehi, the former director of football at Barcelona, favoured a recruitment policy based on his extensive network of contacts throughout Europe, while Mislintat had been tasked by Gazidis to follow the kind of analytical and stats-based approach that saw 19-year-old midfielder Matteo Guendouzi join from French second-division club Lorient and 22-year-old Uruguay international Lucas Torreira arrive from Sampdoria.’
David Ornstein ran a piece stating Arsenal refused to deny the #SVEXIT after the above piece.
The Mess
This mess stems from 9 months under weak King, Ivan Gazidis, an heir apparent who hid behind Wenger for 10 years. His short-lived tenure as defacto leader was always going to be a non-starter because he was driven by self-preservation and dodging anything that looked like accountability. He spent so long hiding from responsibility, he didn’t bother investing in a real vision for the new Arsenal.
To compound the meekness of his approach, he adopted a flat football decision-making structure designed to spread the risk of a bad decision making between three people (remember the ‘we all wrote a name on a piece of paper’ story). That structure appears to have created an unresolvable rift between Sven and Raul.
Ivan allowed two competing ideologies to duke it out in a winner takes all death match. When Ivan slinked out of Arsenal, the real fight for power ensued, and ultimately, Raul garroted the German when he was wearing football boots on a tiled floor (he had no chance). The man closest to Ivan is now metaphorically deceased.
Now it’s just two people at the club that matter. Raul, who is a down and dirty corporate hitman, along with Vinai, who is 37, and looks very much like he’s there to play nice. They say in business you should always have a good number two, so there’s someone to take the fall if things go to shit. Remember Zuck being accused of naivety for not letting Sheryl take the fall for his Russia woes?
The Ideologies
The idea that we’re parting ways with a Head of Recruitment who wanted to identify talent using stats and analytics, for Raul’s approach that sounds like it’s straight out of chapter one of ‘Arry’s Way: The Hammers Years’ is fucking baffling. Raul might be many things, but he’s no expert in the world of player recruitment. Leaning into a network of contacts (super agents) sounds very familiar to Manchester United’s approach of the last 6 years. That didn’t work out well for anyone, bar the fat cat agents. Main difference is their commercial revenues dwarfs ours, so they can afford that approach.
Is Raul the real deal or a chancer that built a reputation off a cushy job at a mega-club? Has he just cleared the way to enact some atrocious ideas on Arsenal, unchallenged? Looks that way. This feels like a huge power play. Barcelona is not Arsenal. We don’t have the money to be them. If the vision is to create a Barca light, it is doomed to failure. I would place money on Raul not lasting longer than 3 years.
The Mixed Bag of Sven
The next question is the reality of Sven and his mixed bag tenure. As Matt and I discussed on the podcast, there have been a lot of depressingly poor decisions that have cost us dearly over the last year. The new exec team all signed off on the Ozil deal, they all allowed the club to roll into the season with Aaron in the last year of his deal, they all signed off a pack of older exDortmund players that won’t provide long-term value, they all thought Emery’s presentation for the new Arsenal was charismatic and clear. Those decisions have cost us a budget this window, which considering the caliber of manager is probably not a bad thing. However, Sven is not guilt free here.
That said, he’s given us Mavrapanos, Torreira and Guendouzi. Those moves, without doubt, should have set the tone for our transfer strategy moving forward. You also don’t know what Ivan’s marching orders were. He could have asked Sven to bring in experience to save our season last January. The plan failed, but there’s merit to that thinking.
‘However, the German’s position has been further undermined by the club’s willingness to appoint a technical director, a move that would amount to a de-facto demotion.’
There’s also the technical position the club is trying to fill, which has apparently miffed Mislintat, as they’d sit above him in the pecking order. I can’t really sympathise here. If you’ve been tasked with coming to Arsenal to recruit players, expecting a promotion before you’ve served 2 years or proved anything, you’re behaving in an entitled manner. It does beg the question as to whether Sven saw Arsenal as a stepping stone, versus a long-term home?
What comes next?
Now we have the chance to reset, we can’t fuck up. I loved Edu as a player, he’s a dreamy looking chap as well. If he’s here to set the style of the team and make sure we’re the most advanced innovators in the world, great.
However, there’d best be a very good answer to: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR FOOTBALL LATELY?
Give me actual achievements. We can’t be bringing in folk because they were once loved as players. Give me doers with a vision and the tools to be utterly ruthless about what they find. We cannot continue to support mediocrity at Arsenal. We cannot continue to hire people that are happiest surviving in the shadows. We need people that are willing to place smart strategic bets on taking the club forward.
There are lots of clubs we should be looking at as we hire for the two open positions.
Who has been unearthing gems at Porto, Benfica, Monaco, Toulouse, Udinese and maybe even Shakhtar? Find talent that has successful records in situations that relate to Arsenal. Those that are doing things that haven’t been done before, who have found markets no one else is raiding, who can bring a level of detail and analytics that’s never been seen before. We cannot accept a hire that’s merely reaching parity with others. We have to use this chance to breeze past the competition.
We need to make smart decisions soon, we cannot have Emery leading the summer squad rebuild. He is not qualified to do that job. Outside the big names, his hit rate at PSG was poor. He signed slow and ill-suited players, we can’t be having that again. We are better than Suarez, Banega, and Carrasco. Those are Everton signings. We also need someone who can assess performances and make a really good decision on the next manager when we need one. Tell me where to find the next Monchi!
The biggest worry about Arsenal moving forward is the lack of leadership and accountability. We’ve opted for the Houllier/Evans dual operation and it stinks. Stan should go out tomorrow and beg Bepe Marotta to come in and shape up Arsenal. Someone who understands how to manage a club of prestige, create a winning culture, work the markets hard, brand a club, create a purpose and a guiding philosophy we can all believe in. These things are hard to execute, they require big balls and charismatic leadership. But the right hires can make magic happen.
Raul has completed his takeover of Arsenal, he sits atop the iron throne, and it’s not clear that he has what it takes to move us forward. The current strategy on offer looks like he’s trying to create a Brazil-Iberia talent pool underpinned by a detailed ‘Mino Raiola says buy this guy’ scouting report. Fanciful at best, a slow motion 5-year car crash at worse.
Arsenal were in choppy waters already, now we’re betting our future on one man with no track record for turning clubs around. I am very, very worried. The boat is rocking and water is coming aboard. All we can do is wait and hope the bad weather blows over…
The deeper worry is this: a lot has gone to shit since Stan took us private. Coincidence, that something more insidious?
(and listen. To the below podcast. Right now).
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Let me deprive the number counters today
Here we go
Dissenter?
I’m unstoppable
First time I have been worried since the Wenger regine was in full flow
This all on Gazidis and his lack of a moral compass. We landed a con man as CE for 10 years. Gazidis set up the footballing back room team right; old school guy who relies on extensive contacts vs new school man who relies on meta data. They were supposed to clash heads in a team to arrive at the right answer for the right player acquisition. They were brought in as equal members to report to Gazidis. who controlled as aspects of the clubf you’re going to blame anyone, blame Gazidis who didn’t have the integrity to know he… Read more »
Pedro
Good job. Everyone credited you yesterday for the scoop.
A company is like a tree full of monkeys, all on different limbs, at different levels, some climbing up, some climbing down.
The monkeys on the top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces.
The monkeys on the bottom look up and see nothing but assholes.
“There’s also the technical position the club is trying to fill, which has apparently miffed Mislintat, as they’d sit above him in the pecking order. I can’t really sympathise here. If you’ve been tasked with coming to Arsenal to recruit players, expecting a promotion before you’ve served 2 years or proved anything, you’re behaving in an entitled manner. ”
from what I’ve read he signed up with the expectation of becoming technical director, so can understand if he’s pissed about being passed over.
Didn’t see this thread when I posted on previous so apologies if you’ve already read Reading some of the comments on this thread and indeed the previous one really shows just how confused and indeed contradictory some of the follow up comments are.Firstly the finances. Based on AST projections the profit for the year ending on 31/5/2018 was that there was likely to have been an operating loss of £44 million it was only the fact that a profit from player sales of around £115 million turned that loss into a profit of around £70 million which is very close… Read more »
Send Raul back to being Thomas the tank engines controller…
Not Arsenal man..
A fat egocentric Spaniard instead of of a slim French fraud.
More bad news at AFC… 🙁
Is the irony not lost on anyone that the new Stan an laurel film cam out this week…
Joke
Good post.
Like most things in life, it comes down to acceptance.
Acceptance that you’re ugly.
Acceptance that you ain’t 6’2.
Acceptance that the hairline is gone.
Acceptance that you won’t earn Microsoft money.
Acceptance that death is coming.
Arsenal ARE NOT a thing anymore. I came to terms with that years ago but to my detriment, after the Wenger reign of terror came to an end, I thought Arsenal had a chance to make an impact as a football club again. I was wrong.
As Homer Simpson saged “you tried your best and failed…the lesson is, never try”.
Pedro Last week I suggested that it was inevitable with regime change particularly one which looks increasingly too bureaucratic that there will be personnel who do not fit into the system and/or do not appear to the right people for the job. It will take time to find a formula, which is the right one for the club. The impending departure of Sven Mislintat is disappointing, because I do think that he has good instincts when it comes to recruitment. Apart from Lichsteiner none of the recruits were bad choices. I exclude Mkhitaryan, because frankly that was a fait accompli… Read more »
This is truely a sad state of affairs. We need Sven to bring in players to create a squad full of Torreira’s and Mavrapanos’, to be then built up and sold to Real Madrid at £100m+ and then that money used buy even better youngsters like Mbappe and Van Dyk for £40m+ before they peak. These type of player we then hang on to for 10 years. It’s time fans stop playing fair with banners and start shutting down the stadium on match days preventing any matches from going ahead or fans from entering until those in charge come forward… Read more »
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1072924/Arsenal-transfer-news-Unai-Emery-Sven-Mislintat-Barcelona-Denis-Suarez/amp
Unai Emery was a big part in this apparently.
Super congratulations on being the first to break this story yesterday, Pete.
“Acceptance that you’re ugly.
Acceptance that you ain’t 6’2.
Acceptance that the hairline is gone.
Acceptance that you won’t earn Microsoft money.
Acceptance that death is coming.”
I always knew GoH was an ugly bald poor midget with AIDS.
GOH, I can accept that I’m not 6’2, but I’m gorgeous which my Mrs has to accept and I’ll always have my fair share of the babes bothering a G. I’ve also learned that Arsenal aren’t a serious outfit. Beggars belief how many questionable decisions Arsenal regularly take, it’s not even worth getting upset anymore. I remember coming home after one game and throwing my jersey on the floor in disgust/anger to laughter from the Mrs. I was fuming, then I saw the players posting nonchalantly the same day as if that poor performance never existed. I knew then I… Read more »
I think this is a bit like Brexit.
Everyone is panicking, with no real understanding about the implications.
We have no idea if Mislintat was any good, or if he was a chancer. We certainly know that he isnt the only person in the world that can find good players. We also dont know if Raul is the big talent in comparison.
Certainly isnt good to be losing people 15 months after they joined, but hes a scout FFS, in the old days we didnt fan worship fucking scouts,
So Raul main attribute was working for Barca and dealing with super agents !
What the fuck is he doing at arsenal then?! We aren’t Barca and we definitely won’t be dealing with any ‘ super agents ‘ any time soon .
Laughable .
Gambon
It’s still HIV at the moment.
That was a cracking post Pedro. Stan’s complete takeover has brought more regression as expected.
We need to work hard on scouting, financials and commercials, if we are to catch up with Manchester United
Pedro, Good job on being the news source yesterday. I know that you are just expressing your thoughts, sometimes being louder than normal to attract attention like any proper market guru, bu this is pretty disappointing to read: “Is Raul the real deal or a chancer that built a reputation off a cushy job at a mega-club? Has he just cleared the way to enact some atrocious ideas on Arsenal, unchallenged? Looks that way.” Commenting on something that NOBODY apart from the people who have worked with him and know his qualities or the lack of, can really have a… Read more »
Leftside
G. Lol.
Yup those players just don’t give a fuck and why should they? That’s why fans do not have anything in common with the players anymore.
We were told we were going to be all about smart buying and scouting, wasn’t Stat DNA a Kroenke pet project? This sort of thing would lend itself more to Sven. It looks like yet again, the Kroenkes refusal to get involved has led to a power vacuum, and ultimately, power battle. The manager is gaining power beyond his remit and possibly ability, Raul has gone power mad. And as far as we know, Stan just lets it happen, as he did once before. Drunk on the success of the Rams I was sent a link a while back where… Read more »
For all we know Sven might have been homesick and unable to adapt to living abroad. He’s born in Dortmund. Worked for Borussia for more than 11 years. He’s lived his whole in there basically.
We should wait for a bit more insider info before making grandeur statements as “Ruthless Raul pushes Sven out in stunning land grab”
I had a nightmare that Wenger came back as the technical director
Just read the article by Ornstein.
Pretty sure he just gave 12 different reasons for Sven’s departure. Jesus fking Christ.
Journos are the real chancers at the moment. Making wild guesses.
“Although there has not been a major breakdown in relations with Mislintat, Arsenal’s lack of money to spend in the January transfer window has also caused issues.”
There has been no major breakdown but but apparently Raul has decapitated Sven?! Can’t even rely on Ornstein these days.
https://www.skysports.com/unaiemery
if Emery’s pushing for Banega & Suarez that’s not doing much for me. seems like if we’re to be at all successful under Kroenke’s ownership Sven’s the kind of guy we’re going to need. pretty rocky start to 2019 for Arsenal fans.
Some insight into his “battle” with Ozil amongst other things in the link I posted above
David Smith The strategy of Arsenal post Wenger was supposed to be to improve our Academy and have a transfer budget which was supposed to recruit in future young players in those positions where there were no short term solutions. The club also announced that they would never allow contracts to be run down to the final year. The club made also decisions once Gazidis left the club as well to divide the club’s power base. You have to ask the question at the moment who is actually in control of club. At the moment I suspect that Sanhelli is… Read more »
I fear you are absolutely correct ES, this could all take a long while to iron out.
Especially with an owner who appears to do very little about anything, unless maybe he sees empty seats, or sponsors start chattering in his ear.
Thought Josh was supposed to be a bit more hands on ?
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR FOOTBALL LATELY?”
Janet Jackson anyone ??
“All we can do is wait and hope the bad weather blows over…”
All we will do is watching the boat sink.
The main issue in this is the behaviour of Stan K…If he chooses to follow the same “Hand’s off” approach with this BoD team as he did with Arsene, I can confidently state that it will all end in tears. He (or Josh) need to get a firm grip on things and set out KPIs for all Arsenal employees at BoD Level, inclusive of the Coaching Team. There needs to be some sort of accountability structure in place, unless as David S states SK is just not interested as long as the Club keep its head above water and stays… Read more »
I feel like we still don’t know enough about what has really happened here to draw definite conclusions, but if Mislintat is leaving because recruitment is going to be more about Sanllehi and his contacts than about Mislintat and his eyes and network, I think this would be a bad sign. Ideally there should be a balance between the two, and given that we are never going to be able to spend what a Barcelona or a City or a United can spend, I think our scouting system is going to be absolutely vital to our success going forward. If,… Read more »
Reading the Sky interview with Emery, I am more than ever convinced he is the right man for the job of getting Arsenal back amongst the elite. But it’s a much tougher task than Pep had with City or Klopp has with ‘Pool. First, he has inherited a squad of questionable quality, to say the least. Second, he has no money for signings, and he is never likely to ever have as much as them. He pleads for time, and, boy, does he needs plenty! The other factor in his favour is that he is a coach, plain and simple.… Read more »
Simple but important commentary from Emery this morning: “The adaptation of the club and team is progressing in a positive way. In terms of getting into the Champions League and finishing in the top four, WHICH IS OUR MAIN OBJECTIVE (emphasis mine,) it’s true we are not there right now. The competitive level is very high. But firstly, I believe we have time to achieve that this season. And secondly, we knew there were going to be difficulties in this process. The most important thing is to be aware the difficulties will come and at that moment still be able… Read more »
Bamford
Funnily enough I fully agree
We should be looking to combine the skill of both Raul and Sven. Why ask both methods or either have to be mutually exclusive?
Emery’s interview for SkySports is pretty interesting. One: “As a manager, I have always put myself under the pressure of the necessity to win. You know that winning will allow you to either continue what you’re doing or to find another project. And you know that if you lose, they will take the project you already have away from you. But at Arsenal, it’s maybe the first time I feel that I have the support to build up from the bottom in order to get where we want to be. It allows us to work more for the long-term –… Read more »
Leftsidesanch
Cheers for that link. Really good article.
Raptora agreed though as well wenger could talk a good game once in a while so I’ve been stung too many times to put too much faith in manager speak
China, Yeah man, Wenger’s ideas were very flawed though. At least Emery is not talking about club always being open to that top, top player in case an opportunity comes just to add loanee Kallstrom with a broken back. Also none of the BS about changing more than 3 players would hurt the team. Or that he has many injuries and that’s why we’ve done bad recently. Looks like such a hardworking person. I love it to be honest. Remains to be seen if he has what it takes to succeed exactly at our club. I’m happy with him but… Read more »
I still think that regardless of what Wenger has left him with, Emery and the team need to do much better. Since the spuds win, that was our best performance for a long time, we’ve dropped the ball big time. If that was a 100% of what Arsenal can look like with what we have at the moment, then last month or so, we’ve been demonstrating around 60 to 70% of our maximum. It should not happen. And we have to improve fast. I think we’ve recently witnessed our players not being up for it physically where we were absolutely… Read more »
Why does it have to Raul or Sven? Why can’t we have the best of both approaches so that the club benefits?
Despite being at the club for five minutes Raul pushing his weight about like he owns the place.
Very childish that they have refused to put aside their differences for the best interests of the club.
As for Raul and Unai I hope to goodness it works because we’re letting go the world’s best in his craft.
*one of the world’s best in his craft
The odds are against Arsenal doing any better in PL this season, sixth sounds about right. As for the rest, maybe Emery still has the magic touch in the Europa, but winning it? Highly doubtful. Nor, I think, do we expect much sign of improvement in the squad, given that he must make do with what he’s got (minus Ramsay). And this kind of season is likely to become the norm at the Club for several years. Even so. I’d be surprised to see ‘Emery Out’ protests, for the majority of fans are aware that the problem lies far deeper,… Read more »
I’m not sure Mislintat’s record at Arsenal was that great, granted he was only here for 15 months. Going back to his old patch to,pay exhobitant sums for 29-31 year olds doesn’t cut it. He just came to replay his old hits at Arsenal. He should return to Dortmund since he was their manichurian chief scout. There was no other European club bidding for Aubameyang yet we splurged £55 million. We didn’t even use presence of Laca to drive up a bargain. The entire management team went to pitch tent at Dortmund and were shafted in the negotiations. We paid… Read more »
Emery saying the right things in an interview. Similar to the ones he gave to various media outlets in the summer. raptora is correct that there has been a physical drop off. Perhaps this is one of the advantages Emery and staff wanted to capitalise on that has evaporated now. Can he adjust? I’m not convinced by him long term. Even if we achieve top 4 status at the end of season, the club should question themselves and see if he is the best man to make us a perennial CL side again and take the next step of becoming… Read more »
Leeds: “Despite being at the club for five minutes Raul pushing his weight about like he owns the place.” You cannot be sure about that. What if Mislintat is a big pain in the ass and if you don’t get one of his recommendations before you know it he’s throwing tantrums and acting like a child. What if he wanted to move back to Germany. What if he didn’t want to work on zero winter budget. What if it was him that refused to cooperate with the rest in a best-of-two-worlds scenario. What if he wanted to get a promotion… Read more »
“He was the natural choice but with Arsenal looking elsewhere, including towards their former midfielder Edu (currently a coordinator for Brazil’s national team), Mislintat has sensed that he would be sidelined, no longer having a decisive say on prospective signings. It seemed like his position, instead of growing as he had hoped, would be reduced to that of a glorified chief scout, which is not what he moved from Borussia Dortmund to do. Quite apart from the experience he can bring to the role, Mislintat will be a loss to Arsenal as a person. In character and ideas, he shares… Read more »
Raptora, it can’t be about budget. He’s spent an absolute bucket in a year.
Raptora, we’re also not blind to the situation, you’re just choosing to be.
Gonna give football a break.
This stuff is ass breaking
Call me when the crap blows over
Big blow. With Mslintat’s departure, there goes any hope of making any more smart hungry signings like Torreira. It will just be tedious stakeouts of top clubs and see what players are not wanted, like Denis Suarez.
Like we thought the whole defensive setup has been tragic for years. He’s trying to make things better.
Raptora
And £70m on 5 defensive additions to add to the current roster of
5 centre backs
2 right backs
2 left backs
5 central midfielders
And 2 goalkeepers wasn’t enough to stop defeat at West Ham and Southampton and a demolishing at Anfield??
Note: not only had there been no improvement but we’ve got worse in a short space of time while seeing awful managerial mistakes with ozil Ramsey lacazette and cazorla.
Excellent article mate. I agree, we shouldn’t have gone for the dual leadership model. I don’t believe Vinai and Raul will take this club forward. I feel like we should’ve gone for an approach where we get the best people in the vacant positions to do the job. Vinai did an excellent job recently on the commercial side (Adidas and Emirates deal) Keep him on the commercial side of the club as that is what he is good at, Raul, excellent director of football keep him doing what he is best at- getting things done. The next 2 years are… Read more »
Dream, If we get UCL football one way or the other they should give him more time. It will be a huge achievement based on our ability at the moment. We do have the 6-th best squad as things stand. If we don’t, then what matters from now to the end of the campaign should count. If there aren’t enough positives then go for a new manager. If we believe we’ve made enough gains based on the current situation, then give him another season to improve. I feel like he has what it takes to create a good team. But… Read more »
Pedro
Hill Wood and Dein knew they fcuked up with Rioch and brought Wenger within a year. Who will do that with Emery? You know this club will double down and keep him around for next year as well.
Isn’t there a planned fan forum before the game on Saturday, I’m sure we’ll learn what is going on/isn’t then.
Can’t wait to get to actual football again…until we’re disappointed at another meek showing.
raptora
You see a lot of his positivity in his approach. At least more than I do.
I don’t see him being sacked, even if we don’t make CL as he’s under contract next season. Club wouldn’t want to pay two managers again.
I would be more impressed with the things Emery says if the performances weren’t so goddamn awful at the moment. Being able to talk a good game is one thing, making the right decisions to shore up the naff defense and inject some creativity into the side is another thing entirely. I can’t help seeing Mislintat’s loss as a backwards step, and my fear is that we’re now completing the shift from ‘elite mediocrity’ to plain old ‘mediocre mediocrity’. The danger is that we’ll turn into a sort of Everton Plus over the next few seasons, consistently pushing for (and… Read more »
Don,
Emery and his team have done a pretty bad job in shoring our defences. No two opinions on that.
City were leaking goals like crazy in Pep’s first season though. Goals against were at 39 in 2016/17, followed by 27 in their champions season. Everton won by 4:0 vs them in guess what – 15 Jan 2017. Around the period that Emery has been finding it tough.
Dream10, they have to sack him if it’s shit come the summer.
This doesn’t make for pretty reading.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46886457
Blackwood
Agreed. Media training and knowing how to answer questions is standard for any manager in the top flight. Thing is it’s one thing to say the right things and another to put them into practice.
‘Want to improve the defence’ – conceded more goals after 22 games than in any Wenger season.
We will have to see what the issue is about. If it is a feeling of being undermined by a new hire that is fair enough. But I’m also reading that he has lost it about Suarez being signed. Now fair enough we all have disagreements, but we can’t have someone in the hierarchy who throws a wobbler every time we sign someone he doesn’t like. Apparently his fall out over not singing Oliver Torres at BvB was a large part in him becoming massively f****d off. All media speculation at the moment but we will have to see. I… Read more »
CC –
“Media training and knowing how to answer questions is standard for any manager in the top flight.”
Tell that to Neil Warnock!!
“‘Want to improve the defence’ – conceded more goals after 22 games than in any Wenger season.” In also the most competitive EPL season of all time where at least the top 2 teams have a genuine shot of winning the UCL. After a season of our all time EPL low falling lower and lower season after season. One would think that when Emery got in charge we were a top class team and not a team with 1 win and 9 defeats in his their last 10 away games. One would think that from competing for the title we… Read more »
An agent with close connections to the club has told the independent: “There was no unifying vision. Steak is great. Apples are great. But who wants apple steak?” Regarding how #AFC new regime approaches transfer targets.
Raptora, Leicester, Everton, Wolves, Brighton and Palace have conceded less goals than us
… and Newcastle.
One thing looks certain. The Arsenal football club is in a decline. Who would want to buy a shirt with Mustafi or Lichtsteiner’s name on it? Our football on the pitch looks more like a midtable team. With all the infighting now, not many young football fans will want to become a fan of this club. For me, I want to see the team plays better football now. I don’t want to waste my time experiencing another sucky game like the one against West Ham. I am all for signing Suarez and Banega on loan. The club has a responsibility… Read more »
CC –“Media training and knowing how to answer questions is standard for any manager in the top flight.”Tell that to Neil Warnock!!
Charlie George would have been beaming from ear to ear at that presser at the weekend
raptora “It’s 100% on him but it’s his first season so he gets a bit of a free pass.” Yeah, I’m not sure I agree with this. I agree that you have to factor in that it’s his first year at Arsenal and his first year in the PL. There is a learning curve and you have to allow for this and be reasonable. I also think his task is more difficult than some here think it is; he has to teach a new system and approach and he has to teach that system and approach to a set of… Read more »
Pedro, They’ve also scored less than us. In the case of Newcastle 16 scored to 46 by us. You know it’s not all black and white, no? You think they’d have conceded this little if they were more adventurous in attack?! Well let’s sign Benitez then, he’d surely be an upgrade on Emery. Facts are that only City and Pool have scored more than us. Facts are that before Pool signed Van Dijk they were as worthless as us when defending. Facts are that you cannot change something overnight as you saw that happened to Pep in his first season… Read more »
I have lost count the number of times Pedro has touted the next best thing since sliced bread manager wise, only for them to tank within a season or two at most.
If it were down to him, we would changed managers several times a season !
But I’m also reading that he has lost it about Suarez being signed. Now fair enough we all have disagreements, but we can’t have someone in the hierarchy who throws a wobbler every time we sign someone he doesn’t like. Apparently his fall out over not singing Oliver Torres at BvB was a large part in him becoming massively f****d off. Exactly Yes he is a good scout, his list of unearthed players speaks for itself, however he cannot throw a tantrum every time someone else requests a player he has not scouted or refuses to pick a player he… Read more »
Dissenter “There was no other European club bidding for Aubameyang yet we splurged £55 million. We didn’t even use presence of Laca to drive up a bargain. The entire management team went to pitch tent at Dortmund and were shafted in the negotiations. We paid 18 million Euros to Dortmund for Sokratis when a proper scout would have been looking at 25 million Euros for Issa Diop from Toulouse. He’s 22 year old, super fast and is 6’ 4”.” outside of the goals he’s weirdly mediocre, but you can’t argue with Auba’s scoring record. City paid a similar amount for… Read more »
I have lost count the number of times Pedro has touted the next best thing since sliced bread manager wise, only for them to tank within a season or two at most.
Paul Clement
Domenico Tedesco
Just to name two
Guns of Brixton I’m with you on this. The problem is, this has been “blowing over” the club for over a decade. Why are so many people surprised by what s going on? We have been misled and lied to ( a bit like Brexit in a way) by so many incompetent and negligent fools for years. The thing is this goes far deeper than just Wenger and Gazidis fudging things up. Shareholders and corporate bigwigs are also involved. More concerned with their own significant gains and fringe benefits. Along with this, supporters groups, in particular the AST, have proven… Read more »
Bergkamp63, the average tenure for a manager in Britain is 13 months. There’s always a new manager on the block. There are plenty of managers I’ve spoken about that are doing great things.
Receding
“If he was so flawless, he should have recognized we needed a winger to spread our play rather”
I agree that Mislintat may be far from infallible, but this remark above misrepresents how the new structure works, I think. From what I have read, it is the manager who says what is needed; it is the chief scout and the DoF who then think about how to fill those needs. The chief scout doesn’t determine what’s needed. So the failure to see our need for better wide players might primarily be on Emery, actually.
Henry’s Monaco against Vieira’s Nice
tonight.
The chief scout doesn’t determine what’s needed. So the failure to see our need for better wide players might primarily be on Emery, actually.
Aubameyang was bought in January
Sven,Ivan and Famy were seen camped out in Dortmund to close that deal. Emery was PSG manager in January
maybe initially Emery thought with Ramsey, Ozil, Mkhi & Iwobi he could get by without an out and out winger. can take a while to size up the players.
“If it were down to him, we would changed managers several times a season !” Fuck me, part of me wanted Arteta to get the job so we can all laugh and cry at the same time at the growing pains of “the next Guardiola”. The fan in me wish it never happens, but the other part craves to rub some humble pie on the face of all the Arteta believers out there. A player who makes the jump from assistant manager to a gig at a club as big as the Arsenal. Absolutely unheard of. Let’s see how TH14’s… Read more »
Jesus Christ, we are a mess on and off the field, aren’t we ? so the result this weekend against Chelsea, can we conclude it’ll be a lose and no one at the club will care ?
We need reinforcements for the squad and instead everyone is just looking to cover their own backside at the club. Disgraceful. Sad times for my beloved arsenal.
Bamford my last post was in response to you.
Emery had nothing to do with buying another 55m pound striker in January 2018
“There was no other European club bidding for Aubameyang yet we splurged £55 million.”
On a serious note, not even Chelsea afforded themselves the luxury of having two big bucks strikers in their squad and went for Giroud. We, the cash lords, did. It’s hilarious in a way. Not a single team in the whole world probably has as expensive two center forwards. Not one that I can think of.
But now, we are crying out loud for lack of funds and only being able to afford loan deals. It’s scandalous.
Receding
OK, but are you implying that that means that it was Mislintat — and not Wenger — who determined that a better CF / Aubameyang was needed?
I don’t know that you can say that, and even if that was the case, those might have been exceptional circumstances given that that manager was soon to be shown the door.
But more importantly, I don’t think you have the grounds for saying that was a Mislintat call rather than a Wenger call.
Paul Clement…..Tedesco. Arteta.
Wow. It’s easy making decisions when everything is on paper and nobody is mad enough to take you seriously
raptora, now you’re scrambling to justify zero improvements in the setup despite £70m expenditure. Life comes at you hard, bro
“we are crying out loud for lack of funds ”
Because we spent our money poorly over the past 4-5 years. Very poorly.
But more importantly, I don’t think you have the grounds for saying that was a Militant call rather than a Wenger call.
– Aubumeyang is generally always referred to as a Mislintat find
– Mislintat featured prominently in all pics released during the negotiations for Aubameyang
– Aubameyang was never an Arsenal target until Mislintat joined the club.
I dare say i have more than enough grounds it was his call and recommendation just like Sokratis
P.S I have no issues with Aubameyang, i love the player
A lot of media pressure building on Arsenal now which is a good thing.
Things go one of two ways now.
Negation, I know certain people like you live in a world where you think everything I write should be correct… but that’s not life, and not what I shoot for. I have to keep the blog interesting every day, so I write about lots of different things and discuss lots of different ideas.
You can make credibility jabs, but you’re still here on the blog commenting, presumably because you like reading about different ideas.
CA, I think we’re as powerless as we’ve ever been… we don’t even have a CEO.
We haven’t been this firmly in control of one man since Wenger. *tears roll down cheek