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
No disrespect intended, but it seems the only reason Emery was given the job was because he agreed not to rock the boat, as well as maintain and promote all those wonderful values.
Careful Graham, you will be told that this is a myth, even though it’s the most obvious reason.
I just read that the plane carrying the Cardiff city/Nantes striker has been found.
Funny enough it’s in only 65 meters of water.
Newcastle, defensively, are superior to us.
There is no doubt that Benitez would have improved this facet of our game.
No doubt whatsoever.
Reports say there is one body in the plane.
Regardless such a sad thing…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/body-found-wreckage-plane-carrying-soccer-player-115037680.html
With you Graham, I was making a similar point to Bamford when he was trotting out his defence of Kroenke, ‘Let’s judge Stan when a manager appproaches him for extra funds and he says no.” If you know someone is not going to ask that question, you don’t have to worry about saying no. Without a doubt Emery was given the job knowing what his budget would be. The Allegris and Ancellottis would have wanted a significant additional investment to sort out our issues. Emery was prepared to accept the job without Kroenke putting a hand in his pocket. So… Read more »
Arsenal FC should start looking for a new manager.
A few points Pedro, in my humble opinion, “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.” The Formation was wrong but if he went defensive all the akb would be saying why so defensive. Suarez has been here five days, and in his second half cameo of a whole 25 minutes didn’t win the game for us, (he must be rubbish send him back). Dennis was terrible the first half a dozen games for us before it clicked, same… Read more »
Graham, “No disrespect intended, but it seems the only reason Emery was given the job was because he agreed not to rock the boat, as well as maintain and promote all those wonderful values.” What does “rock the boat” mean in the context of a football club? a)setting fire to the training ground? b) purchasing 40 million worth of defenders on Kroenke’s credit card? c)throwing a tantrum like Conte and sending a text to Mustafi firing him? d) benching Mesut Ozil even though the same board just approved a mega wage package for him 12 months ago? It’s easy to… Read more »
Arsenal FC should start looking for a new manager.
Does he get the same squad or you want money spent to replace some players?
“Arsenal FC should start looking for a new manager.”
Arsenal FC should start looking for a new owner.
Dale
Can you state with facts, how many managers interviewed for the Arsenal job and who the managers were?
While you are at it, can you state the conditions Arsenal were looking for in a manager?
I think that it is crystal clear to anyone with a modicum of intelligence that neither Ozil nor Ramsey are responsible for the defensive frailties of the team. Also when we play in away matches we do not play to our strengths,which are clearly in the offensive department of game. No-one is going to tell me that players like Kolasinac,Iwobi or Suarez are better options than Ozil and Ramsey in that department. What was abundantly clear yesterday was that the so-called wing/full backs [it is hard to tell what role they actually play] were absolute rubbish and constantly out of… Read more »
“Part of the luxury of being Pep Guardiola is, evidently, confidence of the sort that lets you take risks that others might not. On Tuesday, his Manchester City side lost at St. James’ Park against a Newcastle team that had previously won just three of 12 home Premier League games. In those circumstances, page 17 of the “Proper Football Man’s Coaching Manual” tells you to play it safe and get back to basics in your next game which, incidentally, was by no means a gimme. Arsenal may be rebuilding, but they have plenty of individual match winners and, in Unai… Read more »
Arsenal fc should look for some new fans,
In some peoples cases.
Emery shouldn’t have a free ride but he needs time and money, something Wenger had way to much off.
Let’s see what he can do with his own players, and ones that have had time to gel.
azed,
Shhhhh
Don’t rock the boat
Dale was a fly on the wall of the Arsenal conference room when the interviews were being held. He then transformed into a paper fly and perused Emery contract.
He actually though he was delivering factual information.
Emirates ” have maintained over the past 3 months that Lichsteiner was a mistake and there was no rhyme or reason to hold onto Jenkinson. Neither is of EPL standard and everyone knows it.I am willing to bet that there are at least a dozen full backs around Europe who can be bought next summer to improve our defence and will not cost ridiculous transfer fee or wages.” Who should Emery have played then? You certainly weren’t singing the same tune in August when Lich was signed. You too was saying it was a reasonable short term solution at the… Read more »
“Interesting that a manager who has only won three of 12 league games prior to beating City is hailed as doing “a wonderful job” by some on here“
Interesting that Pep Guardiola is considered a failure for his time at Bayern where he broke numerous domestic records and won title after title.
It’s almost like success is contextual.
Emery needs time – money and to rid of the shit in the team Unless that happens it will be a super knee jerk reaction to get rid of him. Would any of us be upset if we lost 2-1? Maybe but it might be a little less I might add. We were never going to beat City. Anyone who thought that is delusional Suarez did look lost out there. Played it safe mostly, but I am hoping that now the first game jitters are out, he can provide us with something more. Iwobi was a real shit. We persist… Read more »
Iwobi was very very bad
If he’s not going to make defensive contributions then what’s the point.
You mighty as well play Ozil and put up an “open sesame” sign on the match program.
Charlie GeorgeFebruary 4, 2019 17:03:46 Emery only got the Arsenal Job on the say so of his fellow Spaniard Raul. Raul wanted a ‘pasty ‘- so he could foist upon the pliable Emery the players he himself wanted. I am also a believer – he engineered Swen M out of the club. They are now working in tandem- hand and glove – For Arsenal to move forward – both have to go. Getting shot of these two- can only be done by The Kroekez. We await for their leadership in these pressing matters. >>>>>>>> Absolute unsubstantiated bollocks and drivel yet… Read more »
Iwobi is like Theo without the goals.
Gets into a good position but then his brain freezes as he thinks about what to do next.
First ten minutes of a game if your under pressure, stick it in row z.
Don’t dick around with it on the edge of your box.
Still got 80 minutes to start playing well, but just let the game settle.
Emery shot himself in the foot by giving the impression he can work with the set of players on ground. I don’t support the sack him right away camp but I don’t see him as the next level. the way he changes formation shows that he doesn’t really know what he so doing. y’all saying the team is not his should cover your face in shame. if I could recollect, y’all were praising him when we were unconvincingly winning and saying we would have lost if it were to be last summer. now that the hen has come back to… Read more »
Your militant support of Rafa Benitez is actually funny Carpenter Charlie
Not surprising seeing as you were and still are Wenger’s biggest apologist and just this morning was knocking the club for not keeping a 34 year old midfielder who did not play for 2 years prior to his release
You seem to get your comforts from living in the past
Benny, just ignore him.
He won’t be happy till fat Sam or Tony pulis is in charge of arsenal.
And were hoofing it up field to our new striker Andy carroll.
Iwobi mental meltdown for the first goal. Never recovered after that
‘Does he get the same squad or you want money spent to replace some players?’
I don’t trust him to spend our money wisely anyway.He will probably buy all the past it 30+ with whom he has worked previously at Sevilla, Valencia and PSG.
Guns of Sf.
Just accept third rate stewardship of the club, then.
I don’t support the sack him right away camp but I don’t see him as the next level.
What is the next level?? What exactly has this football club ever done to assure you they are shooting for the next level??
Sacking Wenger..not next level just common sense
Spending 70m?? Fulham spent more
The CEO jumping ship? The Head of recruitment following suit? Going cap in hand in January asking for loans?? Yea all next level stuff
RH Nice article. City play with two wingers who hug the the touch line to stretch defences thereby creating space for Silva and KDB in the half spaces. What Emery tried to do (same as Klopp) was put Torriera and Guendozi in those half spaces to stop 3rd man run from KDB and Silva. Iwobi and Kolasinac were supposed to help out the full backs so they are never in the 1 v 1 situation which they failed to do. On the flip side, we have no dribblers in our squad to keep City on notice so the decision to… Read more »
Yes, every qualified candidate interviewed for the Arsenal job should have turned it down unless the club was willing to spend significant money to fix the obvious problems.
Doesn’t this negate the narrative that we still a big draw.
What’s that Pedro Arsenal sales pitch; ‘we areArsenal…located in London…6/9th biggest club.. blah blah.
So Emery is being pummeled for swallowing the bait, line-hook-sinker?
“If it is an open game at Anfield, you don’t even have one chance, not even one per cent of a chance,” said Guardiola. “We controlled it through Riyad, Bernardo and the guys to give the extra pass. It’s important because up and down I’m pretty sure they are the best team in the world in these transitions, offensive, defensive. It is (a team) built for that. In that situation, they are much better than us.” City had less possession than any game under Guardiola. It was also the longest they have gone without a shot on target during his… Read more »
I don’t trust him to spend our money wisely anyway.He will probably buy all the past it 30+ with whom he has worked previously at Sevilla, Valencia and PSG.
Just answer the question..not interested in your fortune telling skills.
Will the new manager get to work with this squad?? Yes or No
RH
We bought 5 new players in the summer.Don’t pretend Emery is working with the same squad that Wenger had and yet we haven’t improved one bit.
CG
I will continue to support my team. The current set up is not even done with a full season.
This summer will be telling.
We bought 5 new players in the summer.Don’t pretend Emery is working with the same squad that Wenger had and yet we haven’t improved one bit.
You must have been a terrible student.
Do we keep this “perfect” squad and just change the manager and bang we are going head to head with the rest of the top 6 to rephrase. Is Unai Emery the only thing holding Arsenal back from the next level we have carefully planned for??
That is my question
Pep and Klopp, allegri etc would not be able to lift this team to top 4 ease, or CL
It needs a purge of shit players and their high wages
We need better and cheaper
Even our best players have had their moments of shit this season
I chalk this year up to a transition year without question
I hope that we get a new scout in soon. Need to identify % starters at least.
2 wingers, 2 defenders
One CAM
Lets get real about this year folks.
We did buy five players in the summer. For a grand total of 70 million. City spent 68 million on mahrez to warm the bench. And they had just won the league. We have a an average team and unbalanced squad. Litch was a stop gap year signing as cover. Unfortunately the whole defence has been injured and he’s had to play more games than anybody expected. Torriera was a great buy and a massive improvement on what we had. Guendouzi was bought for the future but our midfield is so piss poor he’s made the position his own. Leno… Read more »
RH
Nah, I was a brilliant student throughout my academic life 🙂
Unai is not the only thing holding Arsenal back. I have consistently pointed out that Stan is the biggest culprit at Arsenal for our misfortune. But here we are debating Emery and for me he is not the man to take us forward. That others are holding us back too doesn’t absolve him. Let me ask you one question : What is it about Emery that has impressed you so far ?
Were a club in transition and we got a transitional manager… Not sure what you expected Pedro? Not like the cream of European football was fawning over the opportunity to follow an institution manager with a creaking squad and restricted budget. I’m all for changing manager but if it’s not an upgrade and we don’t back them for success really, what’s the point? Get Benitez in, and what? Get Arteta in, and what? We still have a shocking defence, pony wingers and 2 creative players who couldn’t give a shit. My issue with all this Emery out noise is this… Read more »
It’s like some of you actually thought that just by appointing a new manager all the mistakes of the last 6 years would be undone.
This!
“Your militant support of Rafa Benitez is actually funny Carpenter Charlie“ Rafa is nothing more than a point of reference. He’s someone that could’ve been appointed and who’s displayed more competence in the aspects discussed than Emery. That’s my view, the fact you’re hell bent on denying it matters little – especially when you don’t actually argue the point and instead revert to mockery and petty indirect quips. “Not surprising seeing as you were and still are Wenger’s biggest apologist and just this morning was knocking the club for not keeping a 34 year old midfielder who did not play… Read more »
As loan deals go , the Saurez deal could be up there in the cock up department with the Kim kallstrom loan deal.
Saurez should have a couple of run outs in the under 21’s to get him up to speed as it is a slight!y unfair to just throw him in the deep end.
We’re stuck with Stan until he checks out and leaves arsenal to junior.
Eventually he’s going to realise to compete we’ll need to spend money.
And not pocket change.
Grabs
‘We did buy five players in the summer. For a grand total of 70 million.
City spent 68 million on mahrez to warm the bench.’
Torreira – very good
Guen – a star in the making
Sokratis – solid if not spectacular
Leno – Not elite but still a very good keeper
We bought 4 players who are upgrade on what we had last 4 year. It is immaterial how much money we bought them for.
Even the very best teams in the past have had one player that could be seen as a weak link in the side. Teams can get by with perhaps two weak links in the team. The problem for Arsenal is that the most glaring weak links are concentrated in one area and number more than two and these are in key defensive positions. The club should never put themselves in a position again where such a player that is so obviously past it like Lichtsteiner has to be wheeled out for EPL matches. Then you have the two CBS Koscielny… Read more »
Pierre
“As loan deals go , the Saurez deal could be up there in the cock up department with the Kim kallstrom loan deal.”
That’s might rich of you because I recall very clearly that you did not condemn the Kim Kallstrom deal
Unai
“It’s like some of you actually thought that just by appointing a new manager all the mistakes of the last 6 years would be undone.”
Not at all ..the least one would expect is that our defensive issues would be addressed
Pierre,
That’s clutching at straws, at least Suarez could actually play straight away.
Kk was out injured for six weeks after he signed and Wenger knew it. He was just down right awful.
Wouldn’t surprise me if Wenger had something out of that deal as it was so bad.
Then again some of his other transfers were equally questionable.
Suarez could well likely disappoint but he is more likely to bomb being played in a wide attacking position. He has consistently failed to deliver on anything like a consistent basis being played as a “winger”
Where he has shown some promise is playing central midfield as an attacking ball carrier.
Pierre,
Pull the other one it’s got fucking bells on.
Kallstrom was an ageing haggard crock with a broken back ffs!
Suarez is a young uninjured prospect who hopefully over the rest of the season will make up for Ozil’s lack of fighting spirit and actual minutes on the pitch. If not, he goes back to Barcelona and we’re no worse off.
To compare him to Kallstrom shows all of us what an imbecile you truly are.
G\Up4grabs,
“Wouldn’t surprise me if Wenger had something out of that deal as it was so bad.
Then again some of his other transfers were equally questionable.”
Wenger knew about the back ailment and overuled the clubs medical recommendation.
Kallstrom didn’t pass the medical.
Yet Pierre is lumping Suarez in with Kallstrom, agenda driving is definitely too much of an understatement.
Up4grabs
Do you think the Arsenal fan base will give Emery the time he obviously needs to implement his football philosophy.
I’m not sure that are happy with what they have been seeing recently…the Emirates crowd appear to be lapsing into apathy…maybe a Europa run will get the ground buzzing.
TR7, We bought 4 players who are upgrade on what we had last 4 year. It is immaterial how much money we bought them for. They are an upgrade, because the squad was so poor under Wenger. But just because there better than what we had doesn’t turn us into world beaters. We needed a new left back another top centre back A replacement for Santi and two wingers as well. We didn’t get them so how are we supposed to compete with all this missing players. We also had Wengers rejects another year older. Players running down contracts. Our… Read more »
Wenger’s fault?
There was a poster who spoke in favor of the Kallstrom deal because his Swedish wife had seen him play before. What was his name again, “Revving kev” “Rosicky has the energy of an 18 year old mate! Love the bloke to bits. Kallstrom is short term cover, plenty of experience, played in the CL semi, won titles with Lyon. He is no mug as some want to make out. He is also a great reader of the game and Flamini is proving a bit reckless. Sensible loan signing on short notice” “Let’s just stop calling players shit. Wait until… Read more »
Pierre,
I think the sensible ones will give him time.
They can see he hasn’t been given huge money, or much time.
The injuries have been terrible.
I’m not stupid we aren’t playing top draw quality football. But given time and some better quality players and we might?
We are the sixth best team in the league and were sixth.
That’s about right. We might do better? We might win the Europa?
But reassess at the end of the season.
We will see regarding Saurez …Europa league is probably where he will get some game time as we should dominate the ball even though Ozil or Mhkitaryan are more than capable of taking care of quarabag, but I’m sure the manager will probably draft Saurez in to prove a point.
Not sure he is what we need for the prem though .
And another thing, and another thing, and another thing! I can’t think any manager lumbered with that horror show of has-beens and never-will-be’s is going to get any sense of defensive solidity, no matter how much he drills them. So you can chuck Emery out with the bathwater in the summer all you like but nothing fundamental will change until that mob at the top do one. Yep, let’s get someone else in to see the club invest sod all in the squad, lose some more backroom staff to petty power games and threaten them with the bullet if they… Read more »
Grabs
‘Emery needs time and more transfer Windows to drag the squad and team up to an acceptable level.’
My sense is even if he is given time he won’t be able to take us a level higher, doesn’t look like he has it in him.
Pierre
Of course we can all call it wrong on players but can I ask you how on earth you were rating Lichtsteiner on here not so long ago?
Also your enthusiasm for Mhiki in the past as well seems very misplaced.
Addressed in what way Pierre, by recruiting players of the required level?
Ironically people like yourself refused to recognise we even had issues to address in the past.
As I said, I’m not wed to Emery, I have literally no love for him yet but I’m also a realist, there are 5 or 6 glaring issues that need a resolution before we look at the coach.
I can honestly say, there are 3 managers in the prem I’d take over Emery right now but we’re not getting any if them.
Dissenter,
It wouldn’t surprise me if Wenger had a cut of some of those deals, he was always money grabbing especially when it came to his contract.
Lucas Perez
That Takano dude that’s never played for us?
Inamoto back in the day.
Kallstrom
Even fricking sanogo.
All dodgy deals, they have the whiff of a Sam alladyce, Terry venables, George Graham and Brian clough about them.
amaury bischoff
TR7
I’m in agreement with you.
Many on here think fans want Emery to fail which is stupid …nothing would have been better than to see the club push on after last season .
Unai
Are you telling me that with the players at his disposal , especially with Torreira sitting in front , that Emery couldn’t make us into even a semi cohesive unit.
TR7,
The next level is qualify for the champions league again
The level after that is get us competing in the league/ champions league.
The level after that is winning it.
Maybe Emery can get us to the next level, but we won’t know if he isn’t given time. Or the resources to achieve it.
Up4, it’s crossed my mind about those deals and others.
Hard to explain any rational thinking behind some of them, leaves it open for thought anyway.
I think its fascinating that Allegri and Enrique turned down the job due to the lack of funding. The financial mismanagement of the club is just horrendous. I blame Gazidis Wenger and Kroenke Now we are trying to remedy the problem by cutting the excess. Someone woke up and got a fucking clue London is a great draw but not for working with peanuts. Emery hopefully can get this turned around on the field. However, without the proper players he is running on empty. Im hoping we hit a purple patch and can catch 4th. Need Chelsea and Manure to… Read more »
TR7 & Pierre What exactly has the club done to push on? Hire a new manager then the CEO who hired him and who up until recently was supposed to be our pilot into the new era takes a hike, the head of recruitment throws a tantrum and follows, in the midst of a defensive crises we tell the new hire that we can only do loan deals, such an environment for success. I am not even supposing Emery, just pointing out that Arsenal football club have not done anything to deserve this improvement we keep demanding on here daily.… Read more »
Ishola
Yes ,I like Mhkitaryan , is it a coincidence that the team is struggling offensively since he was injured .
We have had no Ozil or Mhkitaryan at all during this run of defeats ..maybe I see something different in players that many others can’t see.
Pierre, on paper, fully fit and on form, I think our defence is ok, it’s capable.
Problem is, it’s been nothing short of a disaster in terms of injuries. It’s hard to achieve consistency when your constantly in flux.
I’d love to know how many combinations our defence has played and how many changes were forced.
Pierre your complaining that the quality of football isn’t great.
And we should be attacking more.
But then saying we should be a cohesive unit with torriera in front of the defence.
Our best back four hasn’t even played one game together all season.
Ozil blows hot and cold, mostly cold. So our strikers are starved of decent service.
The defence is rotated on a weekly basis because of injury but we’re not cohesive?
Iwehaveto sell what we can get money for..
Mustafi
Xhara
Maybe lacs..
The rest in
Monreal
Lichtsteiner
Give youth a chance
Give em six months …
Unai,
I’d be amazed with the money in football if certain managers wasn’t taking something out of a transfer.
Wenger has had some shockers.
Pierre Mhiki was never going to deliver on a consistent basis injuries or no injuries. His past should tell you that. Another player that can’t be relied upon consistently just like Ozil. Wishy washy players. As for Lichtsteiner I remember you being quite enthusiastic about him from an attacking viewpoint. That he could be a good threat offensively from the full back position. There wasn’t consideration though from you that he would be a train wreck defensively. Perhaps your views on players mirrors the Arsenal management of this team for so long that being that they don’t seem to care… Read more »
With the contracts ending in June we free up 580k in salaries. With no transfer fee coming in. Realistically, move mustafi & Xhaka on in the summer and that’s 40 million and another 150k in wages. Chuck that into the 60-70 million pot we should have 100 million and 700k in salaries. Not great but it’s a start. Shift ozil for 20 million and its a million a week in wages. If you could shift miki and kolasinac that’s maybe another 30 million and 300k in wages. We just need to see where Arsene ends up and flog them all… Read more »
We shouldn’t be starting difficult away games with Auba and Lacazette.
That’s the genesis of our difficulties in away games against good teams. You’re are essentially giving away the midfield in search of fools gold when you’re playing them together.
The set-up was bad from the forward line to the back yesterday.
Emery let the fans bully him and deserves blame for that.
My problem with Emery ( apart from the ozil situation)is that Emery has never set the team up to be defensively sound . Originally we had both full backs in advanced positions at the same time which left massive gaps down the channels . Early season Torreira was doing a fantastic job protecting the 2 central defenders, then, in December, Torreira said the manager wanted him to attack more . This started alarm bells ringing for me and since that interview we have lost 6 matches and Torreira looks like he is being asked to do too much…I don’t think… Read more »
Also Steve bould needs to be laid off,
He has not passed his one season trial…
Been given a chance but failed miserably
Ishola,
Pierre loves overpaid, wishy-washy and lazy number 10s.
Receding
Our off field problems are well known. Wenger operated under some constraints and unfortunately Emery also has to work under the same constraints. People naively believe we will spend a lot of money in the summer and plug the gaps in our squad. Nah, we are likely to have big holes in our squad even next season. That’s why we need to judge Emery on the basis of what he had done with what he has got.
Ishola
Of course I wasn’t enthusiastic about lichsteiner from an attacking point of view , that would be ridiculous.
I did think he would be a decent back up to Bellerin. I have said all season that our full backs( not wing backs) were being asked to do too much .(overworked)….injuries to monreal, Kolasinac, bellerin AMN and lichsteiner have confirmed my fears .
If you play a back four the full backs have to sit. If it’s three at the back they can push on because you have the extra centre half as protection. When we play a back four the full backs bomb on and leave us exposed as we have no wingers and they have to provide width. If we had the correct personal yesterday we should have played 352. No one creates which is why we are crying out for a Santi from five or six years ago, or an in form ozil. Auba goes missing for big chunks of… Read more »
Dissenter.
No , I like composed , intelligent footballers not the headless chickens that Emery prefers.
This season is experimental. The time to judge Emery will be next season.
Up4grabs
“If you play a back four the full backs have to sit.
If it’s three at the back they can push on because you have the extra centre half as protection.”
Exactly
I would say the full backs predominately sit .
R.S.P. C.
How the hell Bould is still at the club beats me.
Just doesn’t make any sense.
TR7
And what he has done with the squad he has is amass 47 points after 25 matches. Keeping himself in the top four race as I believe is his one target this year.
The fact he hasn’t thrown in defensive stability and away wins to Liverpool and City you just have to live with.
I am actually pretty sure Emery’s job is safe and he will be backed in Arsenal fashion over the summer. We are not really the ambitious club we like to pretend we are. And our fans are the biggest pretenders.
Emery shunning playing out from the back philosophy within 5 to 6 weeks set alarm bells ringing in my head, for me he showed a lack of conviction in his own abilities and methods.
Pierre
I seem to remember quite an enthusiastic post from you regarding Licht from an offensive viewpoint.
Of course we all see now that he is a disaster waiting to happen every time he steps on the pitch from a defensive aspect.
How the club find themselves having to field such a player in important EPL matches is very unfortunate indeed.
Ishola “Perhaps your views on players mirrors the Arsenal management of this team for so long that being that they don’t seem to care about the defensive side of the game enough.” I spent the last few seasons complaining about Ramsey not showing any defensive discipline. I have spent all this season bemoaning the fact that our full backs are too advanced and that Torriera needs to sit in front of the back line to give protection. And you are trying to say I don’t care about the defensive side enough . You should be putting that question to Emery… Read more »
Ishola
“I seem to remember quite an enthusiastic post from you regarding Licht from an offensive viewpoint.”
nice try but not me.
TR7 or maybe he decided to play with what he has. You can’t play out the back when your defenders handle the ball like a grenade and turn it over at the first sign of pressure, or when your number 4 lays an egg anytime an opponent pressures him .
If you want him to back his convictions give him his own players.
How many supporters genuinely believe we’ll finish top 4?
How many supporters genuinely believe we’ll win the Europa League?
I hope nelson an esr are loaned with a view to start next season…
How’s the lad Barca stole from us the other mc something.. is he getting stats in the b team there .
G 62
6th
Top 4 no chance
Europa ,a strong possibility .
TR7, How can we judge Emery when clubs like Fulham Leicester, Everton, and wolves are spending the same or even more than us. In the last 28 years since the premier league started only Leicester have won the league without spending huge money to win it. And that was because the top six were all in disarray. They played well but if one team had got there act together they would have finished second. Cough, Cough! Arsene! You need to spend big money just to compete. Let alone actually win the league. 70 million for a new manager who is… Read more »
RH
“or when your number 4 lays an egg anytime an opponent pressures him”
lol
Arsenal struggle to play out from the back any time a team puts serious concerted pressure up top in pressing and this has been the case for a long time now.
The football TR7 is thinking about where Arsenal looked good and comfortable playing out from the back and could beat the high pressing and look good in doing it is a distant past memory now. A long time ago.
‘Torreira looks like he is being asked to do too much’
It’s a shame others in our midfield haven’t reached the standards of Toz & Guen.