I don’t really want to talk about Spurs beating my German team, so let’s get knee deep in the Technical Director role that is open at Arsenal.
As I mentioned yesterday, I truly hope the execs approach this role with an open mind. We were supposed to move into a new era of smarts when Wenger left. Proper search and select, rigorous interview processes and smart decisions based on the needs of the club.
Arsenal did well at this with the vacant manager role, but I think they slipped at the last minute with Emery. Firstly, he was a late entrant, so the club wouldn’t have done due diligence. Secondly, I have my doubts we vetted his backroom team, and now we’re shipping in more of his mates. Great if he’s the next Arsene Wenger, not so great if things don’t evolve.
That’s why the idea of Monchi is a little worrying. Sure, he’s a sexy signing, but is he the best on offer? Who knows. I just hope Arsenal do a deeper dive than a browse of Emery’s WhatsApp contacts list before we invest in a hire that could change the face of the club for the next decade.
I don’t have the job spec for the technical director, but I assume it’s a powerful position that requires a broad understanding of many different disciplines that go into making a football club tick. It’s basically the Chief Operations Officer role of the football side of the business, with Raul as the CEO.
The name doesn’t have to be explayer, it doesn’t have to be a chief scout, but I don’t know the industry well enough to talk about non-footballing folk that could do it, so I’ll mostly be running profiles on people at clubs doing interesting things.
First stop:
Andrea Berta – Atletico Madrid
His start was at Parma, then Genoa where he gained an education in scouting. This area is the background of most of the names that would look to move into a technical role. He moved to Atletico in 2013 to look after international scouting, he then moved into the technical side of things before taking over the Sports Management role in 2017 where he looked after 5 groups: the first team’s coaching staff, assistants of the coaching staff, the first team’s area of coordination, Atlético de Madrid B and the scouting and analysis team (I think this is close to what the Arsenal role will look like).
He’s had quite a ride if you look at his numbers from 2013-14 season. The club has finished in the top 3 every season, finishing 2nd once and winning the league in 2013-14, they’ve averaged 84.2 points a season, conceding 24.2 (avg) goals, as well as dropping 67 goals (avg). They’ve been in 2 Champions League finals which they lost, won a UEFA Super Copa twice, and triumphed in the Europa League last season at our expense. Obviously, a lot of that goes to the managers credit, but the reason I mention this is because Atleti are not a big club and they’ve been brutalised in the transfer market with big names leaving on the regular.
From an outlay perspective, they have achieved all of the above on an average spend of 13m euros a season. Their total net spend since 2013 is 91m euros. They have spent 603m and recouped 512m. Think about that number for just a second…
Berta has spent net £79m since 2012.
Arsenal spent £73m in one summer.
Some highlights in that time are Mr Griezmann for 30m euros, Oblak for 16m euros from Benfica. Even the flops are good, Jackson Martinez for 37m, sold for 42m to China!
Think of the players they’ve had to deal with Losing. Falcao, Alderweirald, Diego Costa, Turan, Mandzukic… it never affects them. I mean, in the sense that they compete at the highest level. Hard to outmuscle Barca and Madrid every year.
Even their wage bill is low. In 2017 they were at £156m. Ours was £199m in the same year and we finished 5th. They finished 3rd and made the UCL semi-final.
Atleti are just a consistent flow of great players in and out. Every time you think it’s over, they pull in another gem. The Atleti story is all the more incredible because it all happened under the backdrop of them moving stadium for the 2017-18 season.
Back to Berta, the man knows how to work with a top manager. Apparently, Simeone was very upset when it was rumoured he was off to United. It’s a small thing, but remember Sven was banned from the training ground by the now PSG manager.
It hasn’t all been gravy, Atleti were dinged with a transfer ban for making illegal approaches for academy kids, but be real, we have Huss Fahmy from Team Sky and Raul wasn’t exactly nowhere near that Neymar deal. Also worth remembering a technical director sets the tone for theb football, and Atleti isn’t exactly joga bonito
Still, he’d suit Raul, he’s very chummy with the super agents, and interestingly for Arsenal, he has a real edge in the South American market. Somewhere we’ve struggled, and a market that will likely open up post-Brexit.
He’s hot property, but the sort of talent that can really change the mindset of the club. PSG, United, Milan and Inter have all tapped him for his services, but he’s resisted so far. At 47, he’s still very young, but there’s surely a move in him at some point. There are rumours that the salary to move him is £12.2m a year (£234k a week)… I know that’s PSG money, but it shows the value the footballing world thinks this man brings.
… and let’s be real, where better than London to test your mettle (and spend those pound notes)?
Arsenal truly would be remiss not to interview this man. He operates at an elite level on less than half the wage bill of Barca and Madrid. He turns a profit on terrible players. He has an incredible eye for talent. He can work with sauce drenched managers. He looks like he’d steal your girlfriend if you stepped away from the bar. He could take us back to the top.
Right, that’s me done.
Arsenal vs Bate this evening. No Ozil or Ramsey. Let’s talk about that tomorrow.
Happy Valentine’s day xxx
Morning
All
tr4thy
too bad
Tr4phy
I’d like to dedicate this one to Upstate Gooner
Who has always supported me in my tr4phy hunt
Through Hard times and Good
LOL Peter you ruined my dedication
hahahaha. Sorry DM. U delayed so long. Beat u at your game today. Happy valentines to me
Victorious
“Pep
Peak Wenger
Klopp
Sir Alex..etc are all believers of a particular way of play and have reaped hefty rewards for sticking to their visions”.
Peak Wenger? When did he change his first name?
It’s more often the case than not, that elite players make average/good mangers “Elite”…. as if you didn’t know.
Peter
uh oh, you are next on upstates list. How dare you write tro4phy or even attempt to play the comments game?
F#ck Spurs! Still that is what you get when you line up without a centre forward.
Berta sounds great. But wouldn’t he have to replace Raul. Isn’t all the things being credited to Berta the things that would be under the control of Raul?
I am willing to give Raul time, but what we needed from the get go was someone who has been successful at a club like Athletico, not a money is no object club like Barca.
Charlie George: Qna- so why did Emery come then?????
Either he agreed to come under the circumstances or he was misled. Emery has stated that is willing to work with a club that has big players or he can work with the squad he has.
Was it Conte or Ancellotti who pulled out because they couldn’t get a guarantee of certain players being brought in, or certain amount of money available that he could spend. I seem to recall something like that on one of Pedro’s posts even, although I could be wrong.
Sounds like the sort of hire that Raul will see as a threat.
Whoever we appoint to this role will tell us a lot about Raul.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2019/02/14/unai-emery-has-not-improved-arsenals-defending-parking-bus-impractical/
Nice read this….a good balance of criticism when due and also noting the elephant in the room.
It’s a good read Receding. Looking at that goals conceded stat makes me think. The one constant from this year to last year is Steve Bould. It’s interesting that Arteta is apparently the brains behind city, yet Bould must be just a helpless victim of two sub-standard managers. Lol. I think Holding and Bellerin have hurt us badly. I’m not saying this from an Emery in or out perspective. I think Holding was on track to be a starting CB, eliminating the need to spend big there this summer. But he didn’t prove himself for long enough, so I think… Read more »
Yes Qna ..Holding was having a very good season and Bellerin looked much improved…losing both of them to season ending injuries was highly unfortunate but we have soldiered on.
Where we finish at the end of the season is more important to me than the goal conceded column, i never expected us to be a defensively tight unit under Emery because i have actually followed his career a little and he is no defensive genius
The fact that Ivan Gazidis was a part of the interview process, clearly means that Emery was led along the garden path.
Promoting a deluded image of the club, with all it’s philosophies and values would have given Emery all the wrong ideas.
Of course, if Emery is as intelligent as we think he is, one would assume he sussed this all out prior to any interview.
Is that not right?
Receding me too. I’m looking at where we are sitting now and I’m thrilled. I didn’t think we would be back in the top 4 for a few years and here we are in a great position. I don’t think we will, but if you had offered me this at the start of the season I would have torn your arm off. If we do get top 4 then Emery has overachieved in my opinion. But even if we do make top 4, I’m not saying that makes Emery a great manager and the guy who will will win us… Read more »
Our continued defensive frailties might also have something to do with the fact that Steve Bould is still at the club ?
Steve bould
You cant criticise one of pedro’s friends! You can only criticise people Pedro has unlogical bias against.
That’s a good piece, but in the end the problem is we’re not doing anything in particular under Emery at the moment. We’re not a pressing team, we’re not a possession team, we don’t sit deep, we don’t counter. What do we do, exactly? What are we? I think he came in wanting to do one thing — pressing and possession — only to learn that we didn’t really have the players or squad for this. Rather than doing a deep, comprehensive re-think, he has opted, I think, for a kind of game-by-game, ad hoc approach. Today we play in… Read more »
Pedro I respect your enthusiasm but ‘the execs’ haven’t exactly delivered post wenger. The head exec, Gazidis, has quit and appears to have been the main voice behind Emery’s appointment- I am not on board the anti Emery train yet, but if you’re right, he’s a bad choice. The head scout who was supposed to have paranormal talent spotting skills has quit. We had ‘no money’ this January. We are talking project youth 2.0. I’m sorry Pedro, but I have very little faith that the powers that be are capable of or are motivated enough to make the right decisions… Read more »
I would have thought being unpredictable is better than the opposite, under Wenger, teams knew exactly how we would approach every game regardless of the opposition, which is why we were so easy to beat ?
Every team we play is different and may require a different strategy depending on their strengths & weaknesses.
Why on earth would anyone want our new manager to be the next Arsene Wenger. A manager who was good when all his competitors were country bumpkins. But got found out when the others quickly started wising up.
Also may I ask what all these people we plan to employ in in the hierarchy are actually supposed to be doing apart from stepping on each others toes,DOf, MD Technical Director, Wenger was doing all these jobs on one admittedly large salary.
PedRo Thanks for post. And Well researched. We certainly do not want this spivvy Berta chap at the Arsenal ( we already have Raul ) and certainly not on that obscene salary you have mentioned. Big money should be for the players. Not the agents and the slimy middle men facilitating their sickening avarice! You may not want to mention Spurs. But as a very Long standing Arsenal fan -want to commentate on what a consistently brilliant job -Poch and to an extent Levy have done there Poch has not spend money in 3 Windows. Not complained about playing 2… Read more »
Lol how long does it take to do due diligence on a football manager? In fairness it probably takes a lot longer to donon emery than arteta Pedro amirite? *looks at arteta’s 6 line resume* When can you start??? The funny thing is you’re a really clever guy Pedro and I respect you a lot – which is why the patently biased digs against emery should be beneath you Criticize our boring ass football, that’s fair game Criticize his hair – super fair game Criticize if you think he doesn’t have a clear vision or isn’t getting the best out… Read more »
A guy you hire for over £10m a year will want to make all the big decisions. That seems pretty dangerous to me, given how much autonomy Wenger had at the club on that sort of money. As an intellectual exercise, what if we were to hire both Berta as the Technical Director for the reported PSG money, and Arteta as Head Coach next season – Who makes the big decisions on the technical front, and what if they have deal-breaker disagreements? Sack Berta? £30m payoff and you lose the wealth of experience he has as outlined in Pedro’s piece… Read more »
Pedro, I have a lot of love and respect for you and the blog, but I do agree with Dissenter. It’s getting tedious constantly bashing Emery (and other posters do this far more than you).Whatever everyone’s opinions on him, the truth is we really aren’t going to know if he was a good appointment or not until next season. When Wenger went, we were pretty much all in agreement that there was no quick fix, that it would take time to rebuild etc. So why has that suddenly changed? At the end of this season we will be able to… Read more »
Pedro
Contrary to what you suggested yesterday, it looks like Financial Fair Play is still a very real thing and is still something the men who run Arsenal must take into account.
“Uefa’s chief Financial Fair Play investigator says Manchester City could face Champions League ban”
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/manchester-city-uefa-ffp-premier-league-champions-league-investigation-a8711626.html
Bamford
AC Milan came very close to a European ban last season.
FFP is still real
It’s easier for these nation state-owned clubs like city and PSG to gets padded sponsorship from other companies owned by the same countries.
I guess LA Rams can establish thier preseason camp at Arsenal and pay us 100x the market rate for rent. That’s just for the laughs.
https://metro.co.uk/2019/02/14/emmanuel-petit-reveals-matteo-guendouzi-will-thinking-mesut-ozil-8618948/
Interesting comment from Petite….Mesut Ozil’s game is up and pretty much
I don’t understand the really big negativity either. Sure the team are not impressing in many matches with their play, Sure an aspect of the team defending has not improved in fact declined. But saying all this the team are still in the mix for fourth and people are forgetting now and taking for granted already how refreshing it is to be rid of Arsene Wenger’s clutches. If Emery doesn’t improve matters he moves on after two seasons. The club try again with another appointment. Remember we were banging our heads against the same brick wall for over a decade… Read more »
“Emery can be replaced in two seasons. This is nothing in time scope in comparison to the never ending repeated weaknesses we saw from Wenger.Be excited about the rebuild with or without Emery post Wenger rather than all this doomsday stuff.”
Exactly
He has his job outlined and his targets, he meets them he gets his extra year, he doesn’t we replace him with someone else.
Chelsea fans have seen many managers come and go, i think we are still suffering some Wenger PTSD which is leading to all the lashing out.
Ishola / Receding
Agree 100%
Not for nothing, but I wouldn’t get too invested in the criticisms Emery is receiving. It comes with the territory. In the end, our position in the table after the last game of the season is played will determine whether Emery had a successful year. If we get back into the CL next season through hell or high water, even his most staunch critics will be satisfied. Whether he achieves 4th/EL win remains to be seen. Until then, plenty of the criticism is fair, in my opinion. The football do date has been pretty dire, our defending is shambolic, our… Read more »
Charlie George
Your take on Poch I agree 100% but why compare him to Emery?
Remember, he inherited all the problems.
The core problem was Wenger.
You know, that overhyped, overpaid, over the hill Frenchman, that was kicked out of the club just nine months ago.
That’s right, your best friend.
I agree with Bamford10 on this issue. Just look at MC, Pool, Spurs. Their players are well trained with one system. Every player knows where the teammates are and what they will be doing. There is no confusion. It operates so smoothly.
Of course you also need good players and your system can be flexible with minor adjustments when facing against top teams verse against bottom teams.
I said this yesterday, but I would like to reiterate two things about the suggestion that the owner should pay off the stadium debt so as to free up a bit more money for transfer spending: one, unless I’ve missed something, when the club entered into its stadium financing arrangement in 2004, the club did not say that the owners of the club would be doing this kind of thing at some point in the future. This is not something the board expected of ownership or that ownership expected of ownership. This is a suggestion that some supporters are now… Read more »
So comparing last season to the current season.
We’ve conceded 2 more goals, scored 2 more goals and are 2 wins and 5 points better off.
We’ve had 9 errors leading directly to goal, compared to what worked out to be 10 goals (15 x 26/38) under Wenger.
We have improved on our set piece defending. But since our goals conceded hasnt gone down accordinly, that means we are conceding goals from general play. The keeper has already made 91 saves compared to 100 for the whole of last season.
Receding Hairline ”Exactly He has his job outlined and his targets, he meets them he gets his extra year, he doesn’t we replace him with someone else.” And remember even if he makes certain targets he could still be replaced. Sometimes it’s about circumstance and the moment. If another manager becomes available in the next two years who is seen to be an improvement on Emery the the club can be ruthless and cut Emery out regardless of “targets”. They can be ruthless something that couldn’t be done under the dictatorship of Wenger. Despite the obvious flaws of the club… Read more »
Receding From your article: “The best defensive sides do not necessarily possess the best defenders, while defenders also have a habit of looking better than their true level in defensive teams.” The opposite being true under attacking sides one could argue. Which also serves to suggest our defenders have the collective talent capable of being better than one of the worst sides in the league defensively. Your article illuminates nothing that hasn’t been argued by someone critical of Emery, you just seem more able to digest it on a broadsheet than a blog. Or perhaps you don’t like that fans… Read more »
Bamford
Just because the previous owners didn’t do that doesn’t mean the Kroenkes can’t do that now. Also, transfer fees are paid in installments. If we were to sign two fullbacks for 60m, that amount would be paid over three or four years. That 20m a year covers that.
“And remember even if he makes certain targets he could still be replaced.”
Exactly. I dont think anybody is talking about keeping him for 20 years here. Its just the basic idea that whoever you bring in to replace a 20 year incumbent manager would need some time to get things in order. The knives are out 7 months into the season and he has us 5 points better off and 1 point away from CL football.
I’m with you Ishola, a flat out defence of Emery is questionable but two seasons is not an unreasonable time to give him. He’s head coach not manager., easier to replace.
The issue therefore is the strength of the vision of the recruiters with Raul at the helm. The players they sign have to be signed for the way Arsenal play, not necessarily Emery if he is with us just for the short term. This, in turn makes Emery’s job more difficult potentially.
Andrea Berta was my choice a couple of day’s ago.
However strongly courted by Manchester United.
I was walking across London Bridge one evening when I saw a guy about to jump off. “Stop! Don’t do it!” I shouted out. “It’s time to end it all, “ he said, shaking his head. “But there’s so much to live for – listen, are you from North London or South London?” I said, trying to buy time to talk him round. “Not that anyone cares, but I’m from North London.” “So am I!” “And do you like sport?” I asked him, desperately blathering on or keep him engaged and not jump off the bridge. “I do,” he replied.… Read more »
Charlie: Your article illuminates nothing that hasn’t been argued by someone critical of Emery, you just seem more able to digest it on a broadsheet than a blog. You missed the entire point. Of course these things are being argued by people critical of Emery. That was the entire reason for the article. To discuss the arguments being put forward. Charlie: Emery hasn’t shown himself capable of organising a solid defence for a tough away game, we’ve not seen a compact-and-break type approach when injuries have hit. The problem is that you fail to see the magnitude of the job.… Read more »
I am not reading all that Charlie sorry
You have your views and you are entitled to it. I have very little appetite for a back and forth with you today.
I do hope though that when we get a new manager you also demand the squad be left just as it is now so he proves himself before any changes are made.
Do enjoy your day.
Qna
You seem an energetic,optimistic and genuine young chap.
What will Emerys team talk and tactics be tonight against useless Batty Boris?
Will he have shown video clips of Batty to the AFC players at some stage ?
And Is not very bizarre there is No Ramsey or Ozil for this fixture.??
We have no fixture for a week- after….?
As always With Emery-always more questions than answers?!
Bob N16 “The players they sign have to be signed for the way Arsenal play, not necessarily Emery if he is with us just for the short term. ” As a youtuber said the other day Arsenal are not Barcelona. Barcelona are wedded to a certain way of play and football philosophy til end days. Arsenal are not like that. The club had a manager for a long period who liked to play a certain way and had his own football philosophy. But Arsenal are not wedded to this philosophy for all time. As the man on youtube said the… Read more »
Qna
I don’t fail to see the magnitude of the job.
In equally dismissive fashion I could just as easy say you’ve fooled yourself into thinking Emery has something more complex than any other new manager at a new club. He doesn’t.
“I do hope though that when we get a new manager you also demand the squad be left just as it is now so he proves himself before any changes are made.“
Point out where anyone said this?
You’ve sat in here for hours at a time writing comment after comment but you’ll be so rude to dismiss a lengthy one addressed at the article you shared?
Says everything.
Dream Right, but I wasn’t saying that that means current ownership can’t do it, nor was I saying that an additional £20m available for spending wouldn’t help. I was simply putting both things into context. Certain people here talk about the owner erasing our stadium debt as if it is an outrage that he hasn’t already done so, as if this was somehow an expectation of ownership from the get-go. It is not and it was not. Certain people also talk about the money we could be spending if the owner would only dip into his own pockets as if… Read more »
Bam, how many clubs have been banned from the CL since FFP came in? How has the rule helped anyone? It’s a soft idea that will never be taken seriously by a corrupt organisation.
DM, contrary to belief, you don’t need 2 years to see if someone was a good hire.
Regardless, my post was about Andrea Berta today.
Who is talking about his transfer NET spend?
Look at his numbers.
Quite incredible.
“Free Mavropanos. I’m begging you, begging you”!!!!!!!
Not even in Europa League squad!!!! Ah well we’ll be o.k. Lichsteiner is still there!!!!
Charlie. I think Emery has to earn his money now. The way we won at Huddersfield was worrying. His job won’t be sustainable if that’s the way we play for the rest of the year. I actually think it’s a big game for him. I don’t think he is complex. I think he was the best name on a very short list. And after making that decision, which ever name we picked off that list needs time. And the fans need to understand that the list that that manager is working with is average. I have even more understanding for… Read more »
Sorry. Two Charlie’s. First comment was for George.
Super amusing that RH is coming round to an anti-Emery stance but can only say it via a Telegraph link.
Anyway, look at the numbers I pulled. Atleti are making CL finals on a total net spend equivalent to our outlay last summer.
Seems it is possible to compete without a £200m injection every year?
Bamford, you’ll go in the sin bin if there’s anymore of that. Grow up
Pedro Well, one, whether any club has been banned isn’t the question. The question is whether clubs generally try to adhere to the rules, and more specifically, whether Arsenal are trying to adhere to the rules. Two, that a “corrupt organization” might break the rules is totally irrelevant. The question is what Arsenal would do, and I take it you don’t recommend that we become or behave like a “corrupt organization”. Thus we are bound by FFP rules, and FFP rules, among other things, don’t allow owners to simply pour their money into the club’s transfer kitty. That is, in… Read more »
Arsnil. Mav isn’t even in the squad we submitted for Europa ;(
I am still unclear as to why. Contradicting reasons. It may have not been possible because of his age or we may have opted for Suarez instead. If it’s the latter it’s a big call that could come back to haunt us.
Pedro I know your post today wasn’t aimed at Emery, but there certainly have been plenty – plus I did say that it’s other posters who do this more than you. You can get an idea of a manager within a short space of time, sure. But given the magnitude of the task (for whoever it would’ve been that came into the job), I don’t think it’s fair to be judging him before he’s had a full season under his belt, and a chance to learn from that and make some signings. Ask yourself this – and try to be… Read more »
“Super amusing that RH is coming round to an anti-Emery stance but can only say it via a Telegraph link.”
No sorry ..with all due respect what i will find amusing is that your take from that article is “anti Emery” convert.
I am not anti or pro anyone. You on the other hand…….
“Bamford, you’ll go in the sin bin if there’s anymore of that. Grow up”
(shakes head)
Is this untold now. I’m confused.
“I don’t have the job spec for the technical director, but I assume it’s a powerful position that requires a broad understanding of many different disciplines that go into making a football club tick. It’s basically the Chief Operations Officer role of the football side of the business, with Raul as the CEO.” I’ll give the cunt a pop. I don’t see much Football these days, what with the nagging Wife and kids, and I don’t know the markets having been in Asia this last decade, but i’m pretty sure I’ll be a better bet than the guy they eventually… Read more »
People keep saying that emery only has a two year contract so if he doesn’t perform he will be gone, that’s from a fans perspective , what happens though if we finish fourth this season and next season , basically win the ‘ fourth place trophy’ , would the fans be happy? , the club would and would give emery another two years and we would be in full blown Wenger mode.
I’m not emery out yet but if that defence is not sorted by the start of next season I will be.
Bam, you’re shifting now.
‘Do clubs follow norms’ was not the argument.
And no, they don’t.
Your man Raul would know that first hand. So would the countless other clubs that flout the rules to get ahead.
QNA, it’s the blog of love, I won’t tolerate the word ‘jerk’ being bandied around on Valentine’s Day
qna
My fear is that the Denis deal is already done for the summer. Emery will use the next six months to ease him in.
“I’m not emery out yet but if that defence is not sorted by the start of next season I will be.”
Sorted in terms of personnel?
Do you believe Mustafi, Kos at 33, a fading Monreal and Kolasinac form the basis of a defensively solid outfit??
I mean this players if you watch them this season literally shit the bed once they sense a clean sheet around the corner away from home…the own goal scored in the last game is a perfect example ..it’s almost like they WANT to concede.
RH, you misspelled ‘YOU WERE RIGHT’
Emery-OUT pack will arrive in 2-3 working days.
DM, if we’d hired Arteta and everything was as bland confused and in regression as it is now, i’d be in hiding.
“My fear is that the Denis deal is already done for the summer. Emery will use the next six months to ease him in.”
Then we would have an obligation and not an option to buy. I don’t think we spent weeks fighting that particular part of the deal if he is a genuine target for next season.
RH, do you think Newcastle, Palace, Wolves, Watford and Leicester have better defenders than us?
I want defensive players sold and upgraded.
Words on a blog, That was the biggest waste of 2 mins of my life ever. There’s no such thing as an EKB because Emery hasn’t been around long enough making Wenger style mistakes that people are deludedly defending for that term to be relevant. Nobody here is saying Emery knows best. No one. What we’re saying is he’s only had just over half a season, so be like Wenger and judge him in May. Big difference. If he’s still here in 5 years time however and nothing has improved and we still haven’t reached top 4 then I guarantee… Read more »
Pedro Are you joking? I cannot believe that you have deleted my last two posts, which were completely and totally innocuous. You are acting like a petty little tyrant. In one post, I told Charlie that it was unreasonable for him to expect Receding to bend over backwards for him given that he has insulted Receding constantly. In a second post, I highlighted what I said in the first and suggested that you are a little out of touch with your own comments section at times and that you play favorites. At no point did I resort to insults or… Read more »
Pedro
“DM, if we’d hired Arteta and everything was as bland confused and in regression as it is now, i’d be in hiding.”
Lol. Funny, but if you’re being truly honest with yourself I don’t think this would be the case. And on the flip-side, I didn’t want Arteta, but if we had hired him, I still would be saying that he needs more time before we judge!
Pedro
No, I’m not shifting the argument. Go back and read the context. Apparently you just didn’t get the point from the get-go.
Dream
I’m pretty sure that Arsenal fought tooth and nail to make the Suarez loan deal to give us an option to nit buy him permanently. This was widely covered in the media.
What are your fears based upon?
‘He looks like he’d steal your girlfriend if you stepped away from the bar.’
haha, I always tell people you need to invest in better quality women if you have the kind that can be picked up while your AWOL.
Dream. It wouldn’t be the first 18m we tipped down the drain. But id hoped those days were behind us. I didn’t like Sokratis, but he’s bringing me around. Can you imagine if we only have 40m and we spend that on Suarez. Maybe Raul is a plant, to feed Barca money in return for kick backs. If it’s Emery’s player he deserves what he gets if that’s where he wants to spend half of his money.
Pedro. You must be new here, it’s never been a place of love 😉
Good post again by the way Pedro. We absolutely must not allow a clique to build up around Emery allowing unfettered control. We need a strong independent DOF who can set the vision and recruit the players leaving Emery to just coach. That’s it.
Dissenter
Just think Emery will push for him to stay.
Pedro all jokes aside Do you really believe you are being fair to the manager?? Yes you do not particularly like him, he isn’t the most media savvy of personalities nor does he appear to you to have special sauce but….. He was a player who had a career ending injury while playing for Lorca, he was offered the vacant managerial seat and immediately helped Lorca secure promotion for the first time in their history ..they finished fifth and once he left were promptly relegated…..You would have gone absolutely nuts if this was the start off of one of your… Read more »
‘RH, do you think Newcastle, Palace, Wolves, Watford and Leicester have better defenders than us?’
Actually our defenders aren’t any better those of Wolves, Palace, Newcastle, Watford, and Leicester
Man for man,our group of defenders aren’t top notch.
DM,
Me too. If we hired Arteta I would totally be saying judge him in May.
I hope you saw my late night defence of your tro4hy shenanigans to upstate in yesterday’s post.
But, Good to see his jibe has got you more active, you’re a good poster.
FFP rules are geared towards preventing financial losses (Break Even calculations). If Kroenke was so inclined, he could underwrite any debts we accrued when going on a spending spree by issuing himself new shares and converting the loss to equity. In order to restrict ‘losses’, he could easily use one of his other businesses as a vehicle in which to provide sponsorship dollars. Nothing particularly shady about that provided the sponsorship represents ‘fair value’, as assessed by UEFA’s Club Financial Control Board. It isn’t easy to prove that a 25m a year sponsorship deal for a club our size doesn’t… Read more »
Dream,
Nope
Emery comes across as a pragmatist trying to do a job, which is why he is benching Ozil.
Suarez is gone in Maynif he doesn’t pull up trees. Emery won’t waste any capital fighting for him.
Bam, don’t abuse. Quite simple.
You are shifting on FFP. Your argument wasn’t ‘football clubs are going to pay attention to norms, even though the reality is the rules are not a deterrent’
‘RH, do you think Newcastle, Palace, Wolves, Watford and Leicester have better defenders than us?’
Let me counter with a question of my own..have you ever look at our defenders and said to yourself “this a collection of top defenders worthy of any top club”..i guess not.
Mustafi was chased out of Everton
Pedro. If you didn’t tie in all this Arteta nonsense with your criticisms of Emery your views would have a lot more credibility and more people agreeing with them. Whether or not Emery was a good choice, Arteta certainly wasn’t. It would have been monumentally stupid to hand this transition from one of the longest serving managers ever to a completely green rookie. The fact that Gazidis seriously considered it and championed it just shows what kind of incompetence we have had at the helm for the last 10 years. The fact that Ivan helped choose Emery could be a… Read more »
Anyway, look at the numbers I pulled. Atleti are making CL finals on a total net spend equivalent to our outlay last summer.Seems it is possible to compete without a £200m injection every year? Very true. It’s been remarked before how for years Atletico were able to bring in some outstanding South American talent mostly strikers like Aguero and then defenders like Gimenez. But they’ve been doing it for years. We don’t know our strategy going forward as a club yet because Raul has only had one summer and we still need a long term DOF. These aren’t excuses but… Read more »
Benny D. EKB was meant in jest!
bennyDevito
Thanks. I saw a few people defending me lol – very kind!
Tbh, I know the tr4phy thing is ridiculous but it’s a bit of fun that usually takes around 3 mins in the morning. Of course I’m aware that I’m most known on here for that, I just objected to being told that it’s the ONLY thing I post, when that isn’t true 🙂
QNA, follow the thread. You want me to not answer questions?
Why are my comments being binned Pedro?
Are we not going around in circles with this Emery debate? He deserves more time but for some of us, he has been less than convincing. At the moment ‘Emery knows best’ does seem a distance away!
We have to be flexible (Ishola) with our acquisitions and management must limit short term fixes, particularly of the Lichi kind. Be a club that top up-and-coming players see a worthwhile future.
Bam, stop being a whiny d**k!
‘RH, do you think Newcastle, Palace, Wolves, Watford and Leicester have better defenders than us?’ Those teams are pretty much geared towards survival and barely attack. Their goal difference are all in the negative bar Wolves who are +1. If we did that approach the whole sit back defend with numbers back approach that most of those adapt you’d probably see us with an improvement defensively but at the same time we’d be scoring less and have significantly less points. That is I suppose one way you could improve with bad defenders you see good teams though near the top… Read more »
This blog is worse than bloody North Korea for freedom of speech.