courtesy @allthatchas
Arsenal under new leadership looks exactly the same as the old Arsenal we thought we’d left behind. The sum total of what we delivered in a 3-1 loss was 15 minutes of football that looked interesting. The main celebration of Arsenal fans post-game centred around not losing by 8 goals, as many feared we’d be revisiting that fateful Manchester disasterclass of 2011.
That’s a depressing new low 9 months into a new regime.
I don’t think anyone was really expecting Emery to deliver a blistering win, but I also don’t think anyone expected Arsenal to go down so meekly. Emery was pitched as a master tactician, a man who had a plan for every player, an energetic motivator who was furious at the fitness levels of the players, and on a mission to hold players accountable for their pitiful attitude towards winning. What he delivered yesterday was another shambles shielded by the fact that he has a free season pass with a huge group of the fans who seem to believe that patience and money will iron out the kinks in a body of issues that looks more like coaching issues.
The starting 11 was odd. Emery opted for 4-4-2. He chose to play Iwobi, he once again picked Lichtsteiner, and he left Suarez, Ramsey and Ozil on the bench.
We paid the price within 50 seconds. Guendouzi had tried to move the ball out of our box, he played into Iwobi who dithered and lost the ball, Lichtsteiner was too slow to realize what was going on, Mustafi played everyone onside, and Aguero was found with a diving header he easily put past Leno who jumped the wrong way. We were so stretched early on it was hard to work out what the formation was at times, but what was clear is the defence was shell shocked and hadn’t a clue how to settle.
Arsenal did come back into the game with a great set piece goal from Laurent Koscielny. Torriera found Monreal at the front post, the ball was knocked on for a simple headed goal. We had City rattled for a good 15 minutes, Guendouzi and Torriera were doing as solid a job in midfield as they could considering how outnumbered they were and we nearly took advantage of a few pieces of shoddy defending. But ultimately, we weren’t set up to take advantage of the weaknesses in City’s armour. Our strikers were playing too deep, Auba is ineffective against great sides that control the midfield, we had no width, and our creativity was limited to Iwobi.
To make matters worse, as always with this Emery side, we didn’t have the maturity to see out an advantage into half time, a now chronic issue almost as debilitating to our progress as not winning away from home last season.
Fernandinho had time to pick out Sterling on the right, Lichtsteiner pottered over, the ball was cut back to Gundogan who clipped a ball back over the defence first time, our right back had lost Sterling trying to clear his lines, the ball was volleyed across goal where Aguero was on hand to finish unmarked for the second time.
Emery didn’t do anything to change things at halftime, I thought he might switch to three at the back and introduce some creative talent. We’d not given Lacazette or Auba a single chance the whole half, you felt if we addressed that, we might have made things more interesting.
As it happened, City came gunning for us in the second 45, and we were finished by 60 minutes. Aguerro found Sterling out on the right, Iwobi wasn’t covering, Lichtsteiner couldn’t deal with the pace, a simple cross found Aguero for his third tap-in of the night.
The manager tried to chase the game after that by introducing Denis Suarez for his debut and giving Rambo a run-out, but the players had essentially given up. They knew it was over and they didn’t want to go down fighting. Emery himself seemed to follow their lead offering up Mavrapanos as a 79th-minute sub.
Worth noting that Suarez dropped a debut so bad, there’s a compilation of it. It’s only one game, but I’ve seen him plenty of times before, I’m really struggling to see what he’s brought to the table that we don’t already have at the club. He doesn’t give us width, he’s not physical and he’s slow.
Arsenal were chasing a game in the second half and we managed to register ZERO attempts at the City goal. We couldn’t even provide a wild shot at goal from 40 yards (miss u, Xhaka).
The two bright spots for me were Matty G and Lucas T. Those two worked tirelessly and deserved more out of the game. Matty G is such a great player, I love his ferocity and work ethic, his lanes of passing and his growing confidence. What a star we have there. It’s telling that he’s our most important player at the minute, this reminds me of Jack in his breakthrough year. Let’s hope we take care of MGs body a little better.
So in conclusion, it was 3 points we were all expecting to drop, but a match that once again exposed the manager as lukewarm at the highest level. He made a lot of mistakes yesterday and I think that’s 13 games he’s failed to best Pep. I think this comment after the game was very telling.
“Our players have the mentality that when we are worse than the opposition we feel that.’’
Apparently, that line isn’t a translation issue, he said it over and over again. Though it might be true, you do wonder if Emery was wise to say it? The team are clearly struggling with inconsistent ideas, indecision with team selection and interchanging tactics. I’m not sure throwing stones is smart when you opt to play two strikers and leave all your creativity on the bench. Is Emery really surprised the players didn’t believe when he started Lichtsteiner despite knowing he’s finished at the highest level?
Inferiority issues usually stem from the leader. You’ll always come up against bigger and better-equipped opponents, the key is to find stratagems that convince your soldiers the fight is winnable.
Whatever the reason, Emery’s observation was correct, you absolutely knew that when Arsenal walked out on that pitch they had no hope of winning that game. The players didn’t look like they knew what they were doing and there was the same lack of belief we’d have under Wenger. The interesting thing about the comment is earlier in the season, we were celebrating the shift in mentality under Emery, a manager who said he refused to let his players play like cowards, a manager who had reinvigorated the dressing room with a winning mentality. The proof points were a succession of late winners, games turned around at half time, and 22 games unbeaten (I was saying it too!).
What are we saying now? Was that a mirage? Is it now back to Wenger’s team after 9 months? Do we have to go on a Stalinist purge to rid every single player that had a word whispered to him by our ex-manager before we can be fully satisfied that the new coach has been given the best possible chance?
We are 9 months into this project and we’re on course to concede 57 goals this season. We’ve shipped 13 goals in our 4 big away games so far this season. We look an absolute mess. There was no organisation yesterday, senior players were making basic mistakes (players that have been making mistakes all season), and the tactical hypothesis we went for in leaving our creative players on the bench ended up punishing us because the pragmatism didn’t equate to better defending.
Arsenal didn’t have to travel this week, so they’ve had time to prepare for this game. We conceded 12 shots on target from 19 attempts. That is miserable, but we did the same away at Chelsea (13) and Liverpool (10). Just to put it in perspective because I know we had injuries, Newcastle limited City to 4 shots on target the week before. Even Huddersfield, a team in a terrible state, managed to reduce City to 4 shots on target. Defending is a team game, and we’re not doing it well. Even worse, both the aforementioned sides registered the same number of shots on target as us (2), both had more attempts.
If there is such thing as winning ugly, then yesterday was an example of Arsenal losing ugly. City were average, but as always, we are exactly the team you want to play when you’ve hit a bumpy patch. We’ll always roll over and take it. I knew we’d have problems this season, but I thought we’d see a sharper vision of a new Arsenal sooner. I thought at the very least, if we went down, we’d go down fighting. I didn’t expect the coach to be slaying his player’s mentality in February, especially when 6 of the starting 11 were players bought in during the Sven era (the remaining 5 all capped at international level).
You can attribute yesterday to Wenger all you like, you can plead for more money and patience, but you cannot escape the reality that Emery was hired in as a prestigious head coach of Arsenal and he’s failing across the board. The video analysis hype doesn’t seem to be translating onto the pitch. Maybe players can’t concentrate for the hour or so he spends talking to them, maybe the ideas aren’t good? Whatever Emery and his team are doing defensively, we’re getting worse.
‘I like the possession with the ball, I like good pressing against the other team. I prefer to win 5-4 than win 1-0.’
Today we registered 2 shots on target both shots coming from defenders. The pressing game isn’t really there. The players are not getting better individually. Stylistically, we’re still awful to watch.
That’s on the coach.
Today’s result was expected, the question you have to ask yourself is whether that was the sort of loss that’s driving towards a better Arsenal. For me, all I could take out of that was the dread that we have a manager out of his comfort zone and as a result is shifting his own narrative from a power point mastermind who had a plan to coach us into the next level, to just another drab chequebook manager who needs two seasons to make improvements (remember the press defending Moyes in the same way?).
That’s not what we were sold people because if it were, you’d not have bought it.
Remember, there is nothing rational in calling for patience and investment in a person who isn’t delivering improvement. There is nothing sensible in taking a drab path if you don’t need to. Bruce Rioch hit his objectives in his first season at Arsenal and David Dein took the rational decision to dispense of his services for Arsene Wenger. That’s great leadership. Let’s hope Raul has that in him should the season continue to head south.
Would love to hear your thought in the comments.
x
DM
2
It’s getting to the stage where I’m desperate to see Ramsey in the side …..things must be bad
Tr4phy
what is it with the Kroenkes letting their club get hijacked
You are right and wrong about the inferiority complex issue, it stems from leadership and it has been ingrained into the psyche, which is why after getting a new coach, you need to do a clear out of the players most affected by this mental malady.
Pedro – There is also nothing rational in acting like your hair is on fire after 7 months with this new Arsenal manager.
Pedro was so commendable in his consistent criticism of Wenger and said the truth that the club was slipping and eroding for a good few years under Wenger.
And yet now he expects a new manager to come in and immediately rectify matters.
It just doesn’t add up.
The team selection was so wrong yesterday…
Pedro. Every argument you have put forth this year is based on your initial assumptions that you made at the start of the season. That the squad is good enough that a quality manager can come in and compete for the league and other trophies. And compete against the other top 5 clubs. Really, your initial premise was wrong. You were wrong. Rather than admitting this, you are just blaming every thing on Emery. It’s laughable to think that had you got your way and Arteta was in charge that things would be remotely different. Most likely they would be… Read more »
I am not holding brief for Emery, but the club’s football decision makers in charge of recruitment are culpable as well, the recruitment of Lichsteiner was not done by Emery. It is clearly stated that the head coach has an input in making recommendations but not the final say in recruiting players. The absence of a technical director who can provide a second opinion to the head coach about his squad, style and player recruitment, promotion and management is glaring. For instance the technical director or d.o.f recommends using Jenkinson as RB, and the head coach uses Lichsteiner, then there… Read more »
And it is unfortunate that those that are not Wenger advocates are demanding instant improvement.
Of course we all knew the genuine pro-Wengers would be in uproar immediately if the new manager didn’t come in and wave a magic wand and they are now clogging up this blog.
It’s not good to see though that others are being sucked in to their obvious agenda.
I can understand these articles, Pedro nailed his colours early and feels like has to stick to it.
Ishola It’s not nonsense
Who at Manchester United would walk into our side? De gea that’s it. Pogba is no more effective than Ramsey really.
Their centre halves are decent but not better than ours
Their full backs are not as good as ours Lichtsteiner aside
Their midfield is not better than ours in fact I’d say ours is superior
And our attack is superior to their
Ishola
Then who from United’s squad is better than his arsenal counterpart? De Gea aside. Nobody
Peter As you know, I was on the ground floor when I stated that emery was in fact a worse version of Arsene during his last decade in charge. There’s an inherent weakness in the club that translates into the manager they hired, and then onto the players in the squad. Winning machines are built but they need careful maintenance to keep them running. Ferguson had man yoo winning and dominating but every season, he would ship a cog that perhaps started showing signs of wear and replaced it with a newer and better version. The result was total domination.… Read more »
‘you need to do a clear out of the players most affected by this mental malady’
This is it, yesterday our best players (and for the majority of the season) were our newest recruits. The players from the immemorial regime carry fear into games against teams our equal and superior to us because they know they’re not good enough. We simply need to recruit better options, that’s why this summer is so important. Not as hopeful of doing this as I was when we still could call upon Sven’s services.
Lichsteiner should never play for Arsenal again 1/10 only because he had a goal line clearance. Mustafi 2/10 as above, countless possession lost thru poor passing and always acts injured when we are losing. Koscielny 4/10 did ok but not a leader and well past his best. Nacho 4/10 as above. Kolasanic 2/10 was playing striker and right mid at one point, didn’t help the defense and useless in attack, might as well have had Mesut on the pitch at least he creates chances. Iwobi 2/10 continues to get picked despite his brainless performances, what exactly does he offer, should’ve… Read more »
Un
Pogba is 1000 times this player Ramsay is.
Graeme Souness is a relic. He should be replaced, IMO.
“Graeme Souness slammed on social media after interrupting Alex Scott”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/graeme-souness-slammed-social-media-13947586
This is a great season to be an Arsenal fan because the Wenger haters can blame every loss on Wenger and every win on Emery. The Wenger admirers can blame every loss on emery and every win on Wenger.
So all of the Arsenal fans should be happy this season for all of the time :-}
I actually feel no stress watching Arsenal anymore because whatever happens i will be happy !
Emery got both the formation and his selection wrong. Yes, he is working with an inadequate squad, but a good manager still makes the right decisions given what he has. Emery did not. He has four more months, but questions should be asked. Is he the right man to rebuild the squad? Does he have the right vision for how we get back into the top four, then upwards from there? For my part, I’m not convinced he is.
Pedro You make a really good point about switching the narrative from a power point mastermind to just another drab cheque book manangwr It’s not what we were sold at all. Even I had my hopes up for a while. The fact that he’s contradicted every single thing he said or did initially makes me think he had nowhere near as much knowledge as he thought he did coming into the club. All this supposed experience he’s got over arteta has counted for nothing. Wenger has all the experience in the world of managing arsenal but he got left behind.… Read more »
In further explanation of the club’s ownership misdeeds, ask yourself Kroenke has been majority shareholder for how long? Wenger over saw his British Empire for a time, until he ran the club aground by dropping out of the Champions League after a 10-2 thrashing by Bayern Munich, Sven’s departure has been announced, where is the replacement and the technical director, whom we learned that his portfolio was the reason Sven was leaving? If Raul assumes the Lordship position between the b.o.d and the football staff, without adequate recruitments of professionals, to offer a second opinion, isn’t it an opportunity for… Read more »
* I’m not convinced he is, I’m not convinced he does.
Shock horror: Emery probably massaged his cv and adapted his pitch to get top job.
They guy told the board exactly what they wanted to hear. He just isn’t qualified to handle the Arsenal gig. Arsenal is a massive and complicated job to unravel.
Bamford “Does he have the right vision for how we get back into the top four, then upwards from there? For my part, I’m not convinced he is.” The vision needs to come from the club itself. Then the manager if he proves good enough carries out this vision. We see no clear vision definitions coming out of the club. Nothing. All we hear is that top four is needed and required. This is not a true vision. It would not surprise me in the least with this current set-up that Emery’s remit was to carry on the Wenger “legacy”… Read more »
The positions below are where I believe we are short of quality players who can perform at a high standard regularly:
Left Back
Centre Back x2
Central Midfielder
Right Winger
Left Winger
Central Attacking Player
That is more than half of the team that needs to be replaced, and it is a big ask to fill these positions adequately in one summer but until this task is completed we won’t make much meaningful progress.
I really hope we’re planning diligently for smart, relatively low cost buys that can slot straight into the team because we’re going to need them!
Christ Pedro,
Throwing the baby with the bathwater are ya?
Think we give it one more season before grabbing the pitch forks but then again you’ve been mostly against the manager since his appointment so you’re pessimistic outlook is not surprising.
Sure we got smashed yesterday but we are still mildly in for 4th place and/or a Europa League win. Season could still pan out ok so relax.
Ishola No, we’re talking about different types of vision. The club has aims: top four, then upwards from there. They have stated this explicitly. As for the kind of vision you’re thinking of, it’s play attractive, attacking football but with a solid defensive structure. The vision I’m talking about is less macro, more micro. I’m talking about seeing what we are at the moment, what the PL is, what the CL is — and then seeing what we need to become, what players are going to get there, what our specific tactical approach should be, etc. I’m not convinced he… Read more »
Bam
Neither am I. He seems to be looking quite desperate. Every man who watches arsenal could see that Lichtsteiner should not have been selected at all yesterday
That we needed a 3 man midfield
That we needed a link to the front men and to press their defence.
Emery could not see that. He went for possibly the worst formation and lineup he could have yesterday. Only for the endeavors of our central midfielders, Monreal Koscielny and most of all Leno, then it would have been a slaughter.
He rendered our front two useless with his set up.
Ishola, nice to have you back after a little hiatus!
Lack of belief is the reason we are losing now? Where was that excuse 5 seasons ago after Wenger had declined enough to lose the dressing room of any of the other top 4 clubs(not including spuds).
* get us there
Emery does need to sort his shit out soon.
But the fact that I’ve gone through so much Wenger decline gives me no reason to expect much from this season.
Pretty much how it is really.
Guns of hackney
No he isn’t. That’s just not true. It’s nit even a matter of opinion. Wether or not he is better at all is up for debate but 1000x? Come on.
Un Na
Yeah, not including Ramsey or Ozil in the starting XI yesterday was very dumb. There was no link between the midfield and the forwards.
Back four was dumb. Lichtsteiner was dumb.
I don’t even want to get into it. It was really dumb all around.
Bamford. Emery got it wrong. But the conversation that some are pushing is whether he is a good manager or not. I am not even sure that he is. But the squad that any top manager has at his disposal when he rocks up away to a seriously good side is entirely relevant. Honestly I am unconvinced that Emery’s style will hold up to the EPL. It’s physically taxing enough. But compared to fucking Arteta. Please. We didn’t have a great lot of choices. And the bottom line is that whoever we got was going to be stuck with a… Read more »
Un Na
United have a better squad than we do. As do Chelsea, as do Spurs.
Give it up, mate. You’re fighting a silly, losing battle.
Only a delusional fellow will think only De gea and Pogba who he says is a nothing player would get into our squad….Same squad that has no wingers, no defenders worth anything.
Some of you are just poor poor version of trolls who’s only remit is to hold sway for the former manager
QNA
I’ve been here every day for some time, so I’m well aware of the narratives various people are pushing.
I think Emery is a good manager, and I think he was a reasonable hire, but I am beginning to have my doubts about whether he is the right man for the job.
That, in brief, is where I am at the moment.
One piece of good news: Stan’s LA Rams lost.
I think you nailed it, Pedro. We changed the structure of the club to allow the coach to coach. He no longer has to worry about the temperature of the water in the showers. Therefore, as primus inter pares, he will be judged by what the team delivers on the pitch and only that. This is both through outcomes delivered (placings, trophies) and through strategy (outplaying top class opposition, avoiding injuries to key players, performances, game-changing tactics). At the moment we are failing to get the results we need to finish top four, we are not maximising the players available,… Read more »
Goobergooner
“nice to have you back after a little hiatus!”
Thanks
As for lack of self-belief as another said on here yesterday that is probably the case and after the self-deceiving years of Wenger a little honesty about the club and team can be seen as a bit refreshing.
The job on now is to get this squad and team to a level where there is less inferiority complex of course.
With Wenger in his second period it was all mostly bluff and a case of the emperor’s new clothes.
I prefer honesty rather than self-deceiving.
@Batistuta –
The quality of the blog has plummeted over the past few years, any decent poster has been run off by the increasing amount of trolls who spam the comment section every day, its become unreadable and next to impossible to actually have a constructive debate on here.
Leftsidesanch
“This is it, yesterday our best players (and for the majority of the season) were our newest recruits. ”
you are right, Torreira and Guendouzi have have settled in well as has sokratis and Leno had a good game yesterday.
The fact that the new recruits have settled in so well , one would have thought it would improve the team, the quality of football and our defence as they are all defensively based players……sadly it hasn’t.
Great to see Pedro – back on a form with a blockbuster of a post today. Also like to echo most of Guns Of Hackneys comments ( except Ajax imitation) The continued improvement in Man Utd -9/10 for OGS – shows the absolute folly in keeping with Emery for any longer. He has botched his huge opportunity to replace Arsene Wenger – this job was not the poisoned chalice- as some like to say- but frankly – his chronic lack of ability has put us back even further in terms of our aims to get back to the top. His… Read more »
‘Do we have to go on a Stalinist purge to rid every single player that had a word whispered to him by our ex manager’
That’s exactly what I want !
Pedro with his customary knee jerk reaction to a loss ! Away to possibly the best team in Europe, if not, certainly one of them. I was quite impressed with a lot of our play yesterday for long periods and can see we have the makings of a team that will challenge again for top 4 before long. We have many injury problems that have nothing to do with Emery, HB, AMN, CJ all injured in the RB position, Sokratis in defence, not surprising then that is where we leaked goals from. Yes, we need to clear out the dross… Read more »
Un
I would have pogba over Ramsey all day long.
Dr Emil schaffhausen
“That’s exactly what I want !”
Only one, two at a stretch are worth keeping on that were signed up pre 17/18 season.
That player being Rob Holding. The other player at a stretch being Bellerin.
All the others can happily be culled off. They will not be missed.
Un na
‘He rendered our front two useless with his set up.
That statement belies your utter confusion
Why are we are we starting the game with two strikers?
That’s where the problems begin. You’re to going to play tight away with two strikers. .
‘The fact that the new recruits have settled in so well , one would have thought it would improve the team, the quality of football and our defence as they are all defensively based players……sadly it hasn’t‘
Because Wenger acquired players were so filled into mediocrity that set in over 10-12 years.
Guy on Twitter saying that Jamaal Lascelles is our first-choice CB target for the summer and that Mustafi will be sold to raise the funds for the move.
No idea if it’s true, but it’s probably not a bad idea.
***Because the Wenger acquired players were so drilled into mediocrity that set in over 10-12 years
I know it makes no difference but I expected Pedro to mention that Aguero was offside for the 2nd and handled the 3rd.
Of course we still would’ve lost anyway.
I credit only three players from yesterday’s feeble display. First and foremost Master Guendouzi who, at the ripe old age of nineteen, continues to show the rest of the Arsenal players what true commitment is all about. Another 12 months or so of beefing himself up and this kid will be a colussus. Secondly, I single out Lacazette and Aubameyang for trying to adapt to a ludicrous system. Unable to play to their strengths the two of them tracked back, spending most of the game in their own half, showing occasional glimpses of what they are all about. Do I… Read more »
Pedro The question you should be asking yourself is whether you are being fair – or even trying to be fair – to Emery. For a start it is not Emery’s side, For the most part it is a disjointed demoralized squad inherited from Wenger with a few add-ons, Pep had players who were better in every position (except maybe in midfield, two Emery add-ons.) What is more, Emery is forced to make do with what he has. Nobody knows better than him that he needs reinforcements – but he got just one, a loan. To pass final judgement on… Read more »
‘Guy on Twitter’ knows nothing.
We can’t afford Jamaal Lachelles. That’s our entire summer budget.
The days of “big clubs” getting well contracted players from smaller clubs for peanuts are gone.
I am not a Wenger advocate but Emery has once again confirmed that A) He has no clue organizing defense B) Does not know how to play against City. At 1-1, I thought we were just about good for half time until Litchteiner allowed Sterling to make a run, and the cross was dinked in easily over ball watcher, Koscielny. Kos was directly at fault for all the 3 goals. He allowed Aguero to get goalside of him because he was ball watching. Overall, they overan oyr midfield. Could Xhaka have helped? Or Whoever? No. The key to playing City… Read more »
Bamford
Who tweeted that? If Lascelles is our primary target at CB, this club is in big trouble.
bergkamp 63 “”We have many injury problems that have nothing to do with Emery, HB, AMN, CJ all injured in the RB position,”” –it was emery who played Rob Holding in 3 games in 6 days ( including a dead rubber tie in the Ukraine) –it was emery who rushed back Bellerin -he had been out for the previous 8 games. ( why not sub him – we were 2 nil up against Chelsea) — its under emerys watch that continually playing AMN out of position – either left wing back/right wing back- the lad keeps getting bad injuries.( twice… Read more »
I’ve been something of an Iwobi cheerleader this season, but I couldn’t believe the decision to start him yesterday. He should play on the ‘wing’ (remember those?) or not at all. After Ramsey’s performance against Chelsea, I couldn’t believe he didn’t get asked to do the same job again – he’s actually played in central midfield before, albeit unsuccessfully, and would have interchanged better with MG and LT when either went forward. Worst possible start, and the worst possible player to be involved, Iwobi’s confidence never recovered from that and he’s a confidence player, I would have taken him off… Read more »
When Liverpool were bang average and a Europa League team in 2015/16, they were always up for the big games. They beat City home and away by 3+- goals, There was an away win at the Bridge. Those players as shit as they were, Klopp made them understand what it meant to play for LFC and they went to war for him and the badge against the big teams even if they were beaten 3-0 at Anfield by a Palace and the likes the previous week. Emery’s Arsenal on the other hand look disinterested, clueless and lack direction. It is… Read more »
Charlie George
No, it wasn’t ” the poisoned chalice” that some like to highlight, but it was in need of someone with a much more logical and seasoned mindset to counter the problems left by Wenger.
It also required someone who had the ability to question the hierarchy more openly, in English(!!), and not to accept the principles and philosophies that helped get us into this mess in the first place.
Emery is not strong enough, imo.
‘It also required someone who had the ability to question the hierarchy more openly, in English(!!), and not to accept the principles and philosophies that helped get us into this mess in the first place.’
Charlie George gets another convert
If only Emery spoke better English and could publicly critique the hierarchy
Keep them coming people.
Emery is a typical Spaniard they tell you what you want to hear.
The board sucked it in because his pitch was not to spend too much and he told them he could get more out of our players.
There is no strategy at the club just hope something might happen.
The unbeaten run was not what it seemed , but this and injuries will be Emery’s way out.
Our old defence has not been dealt with , they look slow and clueless now, just ball watching throughout the game.
Another false dawn.
englandsbest
This may not be “Emery’s side” but it is his job to ingrain fundamental tactical systems into a group of players that requires minimal brain matter.
“Clear the fudging ball, this is MC !!” would be a starter.
–it was emery who played Rob Holding in 3 games in 6 day
————————–
So his injury had nothing to do with Rashford crippling him, no of course not, its all Emerys fault…….
Proper Charlie George !
https://www.arsenal.com/news/team-news
None of the injury problems we have are muscle related !
Please try to pay attention !
The funniest part of the first goal was seeing Mustafi stuck in ninman’s land.
He was so far a way from the line, you had to wonder if this guy is a professional footballer.
No manager can coach stupid out of the likes of Mustafi
Germany would have lost that 2014 WC final had he not been injured early.
Have to say, I still have no idea what Emery is trying to do. I dont think he does either. I think hes a long way out of his depth, completely lost. You see it all the time. New person comes to work in your team, has big ideas and talks a good game, then gets completely swamped and overawed and is gone 3 months later. People keep saying “he needs time” But time for what? We’re not seeing any process, any progress, any overall plan. Ive said all along he should be given 2 years, but only if there… Read more »
bergkamp
I do not deny they are not muscle injuries,
But there is evidence a plenty. (PedRo- is rightly always highlighting the importance of medical science in the modern game) that overplaying and/ or rushing players back WILL INCREASE the likelihood of ACLs occurring.
Do you dispute this?
emery and his gang have to take the responsibility for the Holding and Bellerin injuries!
(they are exempt from any criticism, mind from the Welbeck one though )
graham 62
Cant dispute any of your logic. Its accurate.
remember us fans do not listen or take notice of the what comes out of emerys mouth.If we do not – the players will not either.
Proper Charlie,
Yes, I do dispute this,
No Manager can legislate for impact injuries, stop talking out of your backside !
“If you give me 2 years to build a house, 6 months later you would at least expect the foundations to be put in.We have no foundations.“ Sums it up perfectly. Spot on with the article Pedro, I voiced the same concern with reference to Newcastle’s game and how they organised to deliver more shots and less chances conceded with half the ball we had vs City. It’s a coaching thing is what it highlights, the players aren’t being coached well enough. Period. Really frustrating season this is turning into, all the optimism of last April or so has vanished… Read more »
Now Emery is to blame for Holding and Bellerin’s ACLs?????
FFS this club has got some strange fans.
@ RH, u seem to have completely missed my point or you mistook me for another poster. To start with, i’m not sure I ever wrote anything for or against spurs on this platform and secondly, you said it took pep 400m to assemble city but you didn’t state how much it took rianeri to assemble the Leicester side that won epl couple of seasons ago. If it’s all about paying heavily on players, then where is the excellency of being a good coach? Where’s the excellency of raising players? Emery opted for an “accident waiting to happen” lichsteiner and… Read more »
qna
“”Now Emery is to blame for Holding and Bellerin’s ACLs?????””
he is culpable in both.
(100% in Rob Holdings case
(80% in Hector Bellerins case)
he is also destroying AMN career- by constantly playing him out of position.
I find this all a bit funny really .I just don’t get why we are not sorting out the defense it just doesn’t make sense .a blind man can see KOS is done , mustatffi was never good enough , soc is to slow, holding is young average and injured , bellarin injured for a year ,litch well litch is litch maybe we should just line up the rest of the defenders and shoot them and then maybe then they will think maybe we need to recruit some defenders
Charlie I dont care where we finish this season, although any manager should be expected to make a concrete improvement. What we all wanted to see was a direction of travel, and signs that the next few seasons would show improvement. We havent seen that at all. Attacking – we are no better than we were last season. We are actually taking less shots per game than we ever have in the PL. We are not taking shots from better locations. We have scored a few more goals, but as a result of the above thats almost certainly down to… Read more »
Pedro
You’re raining down blows on poor old Emery.
He’s the wrong target though.
To quote you:
‘Arsenal under new leadership looks exactly the same as the old Arsenal.’
Which is what I predicted post wenger.
That’s because the club has the same ownership.
“”So his injury had nothing to do with Rashford crippling him, no of course not, its all Emerys fault……””
Danny- indeed- it was a robust challenge from Rashford on Holding.
But Players who are overplayed and remember Holding had also just come back from a 10 round flight from The Ukraine ARE more likely to succumb to these types of injuries.
that is undeniable fact.
i think its called The Red Zone!
What bugged me most is what the board did during the last TW. We have just lost Bellerin. We all expected the club to sign another FB to help the team to fight for a top4 spot. What we heard was that we have already enough defenders. We can’t accommodate all of them when they are all healthy. Instead the club tried to sign three forwards on loan. This reminded me of exactly the same beaushit when Wenger said that it is a good situation to have Sanchez entering his final year unsigned. They are treating the fans like fools.… Read more »
Emery is a complete joke as a few wise old heads predicted last summer and got hammered by those on here who write a lot but with little substance.
We are going backwards and you might as well play Carefree Cech in goal if you play Iwobi and Lichtsteiner on the right.
‘“”Now Emery is to blame for Holding and Bellerin’s ACLs?????”
”he is culpable in both.(100% in Rob Holdings case
(80% in Hector Bellerins case)he is also destroying AMN career- by constantly playing him out of position’
Pedro has let his wild dogs run amok
This Charlie George character is actually issuing percentages
Dissenter
The Charlie George chap here is either a troll or a pituitary retard. Or both.
Bellerin’s career might not be in jeopardy had the Arsenal management team -bought a right back ,(they could trust in the summer – not Lichtensteiner) enabling hector’s work load to be lighter.
Raul has been in his post a year.
No right back – or indeed left back has been purchased.
Man City/Spurs/Liverpool all are well stocked in the full back position.
they , can rotate the players too.
In the prem- the full backs are the most important players on the pitch!
Gambon Totally agree, and I stated as much back in the summer. I didn’t/don’t determine us finishing 5th/4th as “improvement” just by virtue of a better finish, Arsenal needed stripping to the foundations and recalibration so I gave this season up as far as mandating targets like those. (Obviously a Cl place is a financial goal and we’d sooner be there than not). Before the usual lot jump on that in some heroic spin attempt, I’ll make it crystal clear: I would be happy with us finishing 6th if over the course of the season I saw an evolution into… Read more »
Alexanderhenry
Yes, same ownership, but that has nothing to do with some of the things we are seeing on the field of play.
I can defend Emery for many of the things that are out of his control(and there are many) but I will not defend him for things that he could have sorted out from day one.
I wanted Wenger out big time, but at the same time I expected someone to come in and point the ship in the right direction.
Unfortunately, it seems we got Captain Pugwash.
People who say they wouldn’t have played Lichsteiner and Mustafi should please tell us who they would have played instead of those two.
Please don’t say Jenkinson.
Azed One, as bad as Jenkinson is, he has pace and would have been a better choice than Lictsteiner. Two, we never should have been playing 4-4-2 in the first place. It should have been three CB’s — Mustafi, Koscielny and Monreal — with two wingbacks (Jenkinson & Kolasinac) responsible for marking their wide attacking players. This would have made us more solid defensively in general, more solid through the center, and more solid on the wings. He was also wrong to play both CFs without a real CAM. No link between the midfield and the forward line. Really dumb.… Read more »
gambon has it in a nutshell with that last post, I had the same conversation with CC funnily enough in the summer and said basically the same thing. We’re not playing any better than we were last season on the ball, we’re getting beaten the same way in the matches vs the top 6, off the ball we are going backwards, Emery still doesn’t have a clue of his best XI in February. And this is beyond looking at the conventional yardstick of league finish and Cup performance of which we’ve been knocked out of both by Spurs and United… Read more »
“I’ll say it again, what case can be put forward at this stage that we are any better under Emery than we were under a hapless version of AW?“
I was told the fact we’re 5 points better off after 25 games is irrefutable evidence we’re better under Emery.
Call me unconvinced…
And btw, even if you think Lichtsteiner was a better choice than Jenkinson, we still would’ve been better off with three CB’s, because in that set-up the RCB can support the wingback (here, Lichtsteiner) better than the CB can in a four-back set-up.
CC
Just checked, last season we lost 11 of 19 away PL matches, drew 4 and won 4.
Even in the bad AW years that’s an anomaly, literally relegation form away from the Emirates.
And we’re on course to finish off a whole… 8 points better off. Progress.
wenher eagle, gambon & Charlie Champagne
I’m sure you will all get your wishes fulfilled in May 2020.’
Consider Emery to be a transitional manager .
And if I’m not mistaken, didn’t Sevilla’s 2015/16 under Emery read 19 La Liga matches away from home, 0 wins/9 draws/10 defeats?
One thing that might be useful to people here is abandoning the all-too-simple dichotomy put forward by some in which Emery is either (i) a great manager who knows exactly what he is doing or (ii) a shit manager who hasn’t a clue what he is doing. The truth is more complicated than that. Emery is clearly a good manager. You don’t accomplish the things he has accomplished without being a good manager. However, that doesn’t mean he’s capable of solving the riddle that is Arsenal in 2018-19. This is a lot more complicated than some people imagine, and a… Read more »
Dissenter
Considering the “wishes” are to see Arsenal get put on a clear course of improvement with an unquestionably competent modern manager addressing the issues of the squad and recent negative trends….
I’d question why they’re being chalked up as the wishes of 3 posters.
What exactly are your wishes? To stay mum and pretend we’re about to hit a sharp up curve of improvement?
Dissenter
I’m in agreement.
Emery is showing all the traits of a “transitional manager”