I am still super angry about the result at the weekend. Those goals are so embarrassing. What a bloody mess.
There is 100% understanding over here that the manager had to rotate, but there are a few caveats that I can say with SUPREME retroactive confidence.
Firstly, I don’t understand why the manager has only cottoned onto rotation at this point in the season. We’re throwing players into the mix that are average start with, but we’re playing them with hardly any games in their legs. Wenger used to do this same. He’d keep players on the bench until they were needed when he’d crashed players in Feb and the players coming in would feel unloved and rusty and often pick up new injuries (Tommy V in his last season).
Lesson here is that next season, he has to make sure that every single player in his squad is capable of contributing positively. A wage bill of £220m should ensure that. We’re not Stoke… if there are bad players in the squad, bin them off. If there are very green players, put them out on loan (I know we’ve done a lot of that this year). If they won’t leave, pay them off like we did with Denilson.
The second lesson for me is this… give the kids a chance, especially in positions where historically, young players have done well. Full backs, wing backs and wide positions up top seem perfect testing grounds for young players who aren’t scared to have a go. Emery has done a great job with AMN this season and to a lesser degree the mighty Matteo. I’d love to see him give some game time to players like ESR, Willock, Reiss and Eddie next season. If they aren’t good enough, loan them and populate the bench with people that can do the job.
There is no third lesson… if you sign up to my Patreon there might be… or you might just be putting money into a pot for no reason. YOUR CHOICE.
CHELSEA DREW TO BURNLEY. The top 4 race is unreal. We are STILL on for it, with the path literally in our own nicely moisturised hands (Aesop, Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm as you’re asking). That’s great news, it gives us another crack at having a great season.
Arsenal, United, Spurs and Chelsea chasing top 4. pic.twitter.com/0HKmAUqyB5
— Le Grove (@LeGrove) April 22, 2019
Nobody wants it… what a mess!
Wolves come tomorrow. They aren’t in great form. They’ve only won two from 6. There was a giant-killing with United, but I wouldn’t read too much into that. They are there for the taking, but we absolutely have to do something to deal with their outrageous counter-attack… like, not including Mustafi, Elneny and Jenkinson would be a start.
The manager thinks it’s all about the battle.
“But it’s a good moment to try to do all we can, with intelligence. We need to be clear, we need to play with heart but above all being clear in our minds.
“They are going to push a lot tomorrow. I worked one thing here very quickly. We are playing against all of the teams and they want to battle us, fighting and playing with a big motivation.
“One is the motivation in the table for each player and one is the motivation against Arsenal. Every team wants to battle us because they respect us and also because it’s important to try to win against us.”
Motivation shouldn’t be a problem, dealing with their aggression might be. But we have to want to be in the mixer here. Europa League is a far tougher CL proposition because we’ll have to beat Chelsea. The league is our greatest chance to cap this season well. Spurs could still drop points because they’ll be captivated by the Champions League, and no one else is a sure bet.
I am so desperate for us to prove our mettle tomorrow night… we are good enough, I don’t know why people keep debating that point, it’s all about refocusing and going hard at them.
Finally, before I go. A bit of a kindness ask. Luke, top Gooner lad (good looking boy in the photo below), lost his life recently (read here). His uncle, Dominic, is raising money for East Anglian Air Ambulance as they airlifted his son to the hospital and did a great job. I think you should NOT put currency into my Patreon, and instead add some money to the fund which is a whopping £22k. It’s a great cause and it would mean a lot to me and his uncle.
Gooners, we all look after each other, right? Thank you in advance for your generosity!
DONATE
Shooting ability is something you can improve on. Sterling used to be ridiculed for the way he stroke the ball. Now everybody agrees that he is precise and measured and nearly never rushed or lashed at the ball. Wenger used to stop players from long range shootin as too wasteful. The Ox being an example of that. Instead he should have hire a shooting coach. Shooting from afar is a good way to unblock compact well drilled defense. Even if you miss, next time the defense has to try get to block your attempt potentially creating space. Plus you may… Read more »
Dissenter
Mitrovic was a bad shout. Not a big deal. Move on.
Valentin You left out one of the other good reasons to shoot from distance: it often produces second chances. A good hard low strike to one of the corners often forces a keeper to parry the shot and this often results in chances for other attacking players in and around the box. Care to tell us more, though, about how Nketiah should be starting over Aubameyang and out on the left? That was an interesting take. Or more about how Unai Emery — despite being at the club since July and starting Willock in the League Cup — might be… Read more »
@Bamford, Yes, a shot not parried away from the penalty box offer opportunities, however my point is that it is a weapon that we do not use enough. Xhaka our primary shooter tend to kick and hope rather shoot at 75% and hit the target. Wenger coached that out of our players. Spurs keep scoring goals like that not by chance. I have already answered that insinuation regarding Willock. My previous comment was in response to a comment stating that Emery was not aware of Willock because it was his first year at Arsenal. I thought that was ridiculous and… Read more »
@Bamford,
I also notice that in your zeal to defend Emery, you ignore my post on the shambolic change of defensive system on corners.
You can’t blame Wenger, Gazidis or Kroenke on that one. Emery over-thought that one again and that lead to Crystal Palace last goal that had been coming all game.
giroud .??
mitrovich ???
I don’t think le grove can criticize the club for buying players when they are recommending utter shits. The same people will be asking us to sign el neny if he was playing for fulham.
gons there is a reason none of us works in football lolz
Still reeling a bit and trying to get my head around Emery trying to justify our performance this past weekend. A couple of things I took away from the game. Mustafi and elneny both need to be flogged off no questions asked, geundozi needs to spend a season on loan with a team in the mould of palace to gain maturity, our entire midfield is a shambles and serious investment is required, our build up play through the middle is non existant. And after two stellar performances against us, surely we must be in for zaha this summer? We simply… Read more »
Valentin
“Just that [Nkeitah] is a better fit to the system and role that Emery wanted to play an attacking left midfielder.”
Except that he isn’t this either. He isn’t good enough to start, and he wouldn’t be especially good as an “attacking left midfielder”.
If Nketiah is good enough, he would be playing.
The love in for this kid when he first broke on the scene was way ott.
What I’ve seen of him he definitely lacks that Va Va Voom.
Anyone else just watch Dame Lillard just cook the Thunder?
Looks like Auba may potentially miss out tonight, isn’t in any training photos
@Bamford,
Some have used the same argument that Emery did not start Ramsey and Özil because they were not good enough. They are now main cogs in his plan. Opinions can change when faced with reality.
Still no comment on the change of defensive system.
Valentin
I am impressed by your idiosyncratic approach to football tactix, and persuaded that you are right on the ball.
However, Emery is sorely hampered by a deficient squad (in the main, inherited from Wenger) and financially limited by bottom line policy (as we saw in Jan window.)
All in all, all things considered, he is making a pretty good stab at it.
“not including Mustafi, Elneny and Jenkinson would be a start.”
lol Pedro, not including Mustafi would be enough for me!!
Funny feeling….. just can’t see us getting the 3 points tonight.
@EnglandBest, Thanks. I know that recruitment is not Emery remit, but he wanted Suarez who was clearly not the solution to our problem. We needed a dribbling winger able to unlock defense by his direct running. That is not the type of player Suarez is. He said so himself in his welcome interview for Arsenal.com. The fact that Arsenal insisted on the removal of the automatic buying clause can only mean that the management was not convinced. Not the right player for Arsenal or not the right price. If the deal does not feel right, it is most likely not… Read more »
Mustafi is awful what makes it worse is his reaction afyer his blunders always furious with other players but never himself.
He kept blaming leno against Palace when Leno has been probably the best player after ramsey.
I don’t particularly like Sarri, but charging him for reacting to be heckled and insulted by member of Burnley coaching staff is beyond the pale.
I may be wrong, but there is no announcement of Burnley being charged for insulting him “Shitty Italian” and other niceties.
The FA are really showing themselves to be fully incompetent or full of little englander blazers who still call xenophobic, racist, sexist, homophobic insults banter.
I predict a draw for tonight, 2-2.
But we’re gonna win the ELC, so who cares ??
Man Mustafi is BAD
Woooow
https://youtu.be/THIHIY5w3TY
It’s just dawned on me (being a bit slow here) that we could see Arsenal v Chelsea and Spurs v Liverpool as the finals to the two European competitions. Quite a showing for the Premier League if that happens, especially if it’s City that win the league… Also, three of them are London teams. Damn. C’mon Millwall, you’re letting the place down. As for the talk of third strikers etc, my main concern would be aerial ability, for when we have loads of possession but can’t break anybody down and need to just lump balls into the box. That Ronaldo… Read more »
For me, I would like to think Emery for giving me still a lot of games to look forward to this time of the year. When Emery was hired, who would have thought that our team can fight for the top 4. Who would have thought that our team can be so competitive vs the other top 6 teams in the PL: 2 – 0 and 2 – 2 vs Manure 4 – 2 and 1 – 1 vs Spuds 2 – 0 vs Chelsea 1 – 1 vs Pool With the three long term injures and Ramsey’s recently injury,… Read more »
Valentin
I’ll take your word on Ntep, he would have been a good loan.
But as I recall Emery was told there was no money available, not for transfers, not for expensive loan fees. I have little doubt there were offers – with Ntep and others – that he was unable to take.
As for Suarez, maybe he was a gesture intended to show that the manager had not been entirely abandoned. It could be merely a repeat of another Jan window when Wenger signed a crippled Dane
The difference is that Wenger was happy to string us along.
Nelson
We have been competing for a top four place for the last 25 years
None of the current top 6 can say that. Not one.
Valentin “Some have used the same argument that Emery did not start Ramsey and Özil because they were not good enough.” What are you talking about, mate? One, are you seriously comparing Nketiah to Ozil or Ramsey? They have nothing in common. The former is a 19-year-old who has shown little to nothing at the senior level; the latter are accomplished professionals who have done massive things at the senior level. The former literally has nothing in common with the latter. Two, while both Ozil and Ramsey come in for criticism here for various reasons, no one here is so… Read more »
Valentin You’re also misrepresenting your comments about Willock. You are the one who suggested that Emery is less aware of his young players than he should be. Not someone else. You are the one who said that Willock is “tearing it up” with the U-23’s, that he could have helped us against Crystal Palace and that Emery should know this. You quipped that if Emery isn’t more aware of Willock, he should begin watching the u-23 matches. These comments, as I said then, are ridiculous. Emery has started Willock this season and is obviously well-aware of him. If Willock wasn’t… Read more »
Un
When Emery was hired, our team was in a downward trend. We were going from 4 to 5 to 6. We had 63 points while the 4th place Liverpool had 75 points.
Bamford
But he was well aware of Ramsey and Özil in his impressive dossier before dropping them and being forced to reinstate them after a clear mistake. He is well aware of Mustafi yet persists with him.
What you seem to be insinuating is that emery cannot make mistakes or mis evaluate a player and his capabilities.
The thing is I am not sure that Raul was looking at the right kind of loan. If you have no money, you don’t look for star players. They are expensive and rarely works. When was the last time a mid season loan from a big club worked? You look for players with a checkered past who are ready to rebound. Players people were talking about a few years ago, who got lost for whatever reasons (injuries, characters, marriage breakdown, …) but have found their appetite for the game back. Those players tend to cheaper, but riskier. However if you… Read more »
Valentin
As for your question about how we defended corners, I haven’t had time to re-watch the match highlights so as to take a closer look at this. However, please note that I am not on some defend-Unai-Emery-against-criticism-team, so I don’t spend my time trying to reply to every criticism leveled at him. Neither I nor anyone else here is obligated to respond to this point of yours. I am a member, however, of the question-nonsense-said-here-team, so this is why I have questioned your comments re Nketiah and Willock.
Cheers.
Don
“What you seem to be insinuating is that emery cannot make mistakes or mis evaluate a player and his capabilities.”
No, actually, I’m not implying that in the least.
@Bamford, Nowhere in my comments am I comparing Nkethia and Ramsey. I just stating that Emery is not infallible in his judgement of players. He was wrong on Özil and Ramsey, so he could also be wrong on Nkethia. Emery is a cautious manager in term of personnel. Unlike Ferguson, Pochettino, LvG, he will nearly always prefer the experienced but mediocre player over the untested, but potentially brilliant young player. It took him half a season before accepting that Lichsteiner was way past it for the Premiership. Sarri had the same blindspots until the threat to be sacked by management… Read more »
Don
“We have been competing for a top four place for the last 25 years. None of the current top 6 can say that.”
Wenger went ten years without contending for a title. Not one of the other big clubs had as woeful a record as this in that time. Every one of them contended for or won a title in that ten-year period.
The game passed him by. He became stuck in his ways, stuck in unwinning, wrongheaded and unproductive ideas. Wenger wasn’t good enough in his second ten years; get over it.
Valentin
“He was wrong on Özil and Ramsey, so he could also be wrong on Nkethia.”
Except this is a massive over-simplification of the matter and is wrong. And you were in fact comparing the situation of Nketiah to that of Ozil and Ramsey.
I am the only one who didn’t know that Liverpool won the premiership in the last ten years?
Valentin
You have definetly got alot of free time on your hands.
You seem to over analyse everything.
Valentin
I know you think you know everything and is always right but some basic reading comprehension would probably help. Just a friendly tip.
“Every one of them contended for or won a title in that ten-year period.”
so, contending for the league without winning it is now an achievement barometer?
Now I am really worry. Emery thinks that Mustafi can still improve things tactically and his decision making. Didn’t Emery know that you can never change someone’s character on the training ground. Mustafi needs to reborn to stop those brain dead mistakes. Emery also said that Mustafi needs cover to play as CB. I can feel for Emery. He doesn’t have players to rotate. He still needs Mustafi in the remaining games.
@Nelson : far, very far from being enough for most of Le Grovers.
(they know who they are)
“We have been competing for a top four place for the last 25 years”
Including the last 2 seasons of wenger’s era, of course… (lol)
I clearly remember that when we beat Leicester on the last minute with a Wellbeck goal, everybody thought that we were destined to win the league.
Same thing in 2009, until some Brummy thug broke Eduardo’s leg.
So we did compete in the last ten year. Just twice not enough.
Liverpool competed once before this season until Gerrard’s slip.
Bring back George Graham. At least we didn’t concede stupid goals, other than Gus Caesar’s never to be forgotten imbecilic moment against Luton. Seriously, while I was glad to see the back of Wenger, our defensive frailties under UE have not improved at all. Meanwhile, the luck Spurs are enjoying continues. I wish some of it would rub off on us. We shall need it in abundance for the rest of the season, including against Valencia, who are a level above Napoli.
Nelson
“Emery thinks that Mustafi can still improve things tactically and his decision making”
No he doesn’t and Mustafi will be sold I the summer but in the meantime we may have to use him. Coming out and tearing the guy to pieces will not help our objectives unless of course those objectives are to a) want to see Emery fail b ) think it’ll be good for squad moral to destroy someone in public.
“unless of course those objectives are to a) want to see Emery fail”
Pedro, Pierre, Vicuntious, gambon, GoH, CG, where are you guys ??
I clearly remember that when we beat Leicester on the last minute with a Wellbeck goal, everybody thought that we were destined to win the league.
Same thing in 2009, until some Brummy thug broke Eduardo’s leg.
——————————————-
Who thought we were destined to win the league back then? There was still something like 14 games to go.
Eduardo leg break was in February 2008 not 2009.
Valentin
Kindly disregard the lessons in grammar and composition.
Just say on your tips . We welcome your insights in the game, even when you are calling out the warts on the face, which, anyway is putting things bluntly. Few do.
Lol how on earth is welbeck not 3rd choice striker????
What weird logic is this just because he can play on the wings as well
After auba and laca he’s next in line to be CF. He’s absolutely established third choice for us (presuming he’s fit)
The only reason he got any games this season is because he can play on the wing as well and we have zero wingers. If he couldn’t he’d be like nketiah waiting for auba and laca to both get injured
New post chaps and chapettes (first and last time inventing such a stupid word)
Emery had to swallow his pride after the Bate defeat regarding Ozil , who ( along with with Ramsey) got our season back on track . And despite Ozil again being our best player on the pitch this weekend , Emery will again leave him out of the tonight in the misguided belief that we are a better football team without ozil. He played Ozil (and Mhkitaryan)away to Everton in wide positions which shows Emery’s lack of tactical nous and lack of understanding of a players best position . It is possible that he will make the same mistake tonight.… Read more »
We don’t have to use mustafi. It’s a choice and it’s brought a grand total of zero benefit to our season
I don’t care if he has to play a rookie there. Mustafi is a 3/10 defender playing in a 7/10 team. If we don’t even have a 4/10 defender in our youth ranks then we need to burn the academy down because it’s useless
I am one of those who remember Gus Caesar as a good footballer, a player who was let down time after time by a full-ack who fancied himself as George Best.
The over-lapping full-back ploy is out-dated, an invitation for a sneaky counterpunch, as we saw on a regular basis with Wenger – unless the LB happened to be Ashley C.
The problem with Suarez wasn’t his price, it was that he didn’t come close to solving any problems even on paper He’s like our 5th choice CM and in a squad with zero wingers can’t even get time on the wings. Like there’s almost no realistic scenario where Suarez makes a significant contribution CB on the other hand is another story because even a 5/10 CB would be an upgrade on mustafi. He’s one of the worst CBs of any major top league and has been for years You don’t need to get in koulibali to improve on mustafi. Even… Read more »
Regarding high hopes of Emery clearing out Mustafi, this is his quote “ Mustafi is a very good centre back. He has the habit — doing a tackle and going to ground. ‘He can win one, two, three, four, but if he loses one he is the picture and if he concedes a goal he is the big picture. ‘I have spoken to him, “You can improve and you need to work hard, you have a big quality for a centre back”. For playing down the fans indignation maybe. But Emery has a weakness in defensive tactics. Very big flaw… Read more »