Wolves might not gamble on Arsenal tonight. I’m serious.

by .

Today is pretty much the Premier League version of the Europa Cup Final.

We head away to GIANT killers Wolves in the hope of securing a top 4 that’s been gift-wrapped for us.

Spurs won very late last night against a resolute Brighton (that f*cking sunk me).

Chelsea is a point ahead of us courtesy of that drab draw against Burnley.

Now we MUST leapfrog them into 4th.

Wolves are struggling. As Matt Scott pointed out yesterday, they’ve only 19 first team players in their squad and two of those are back up keepers. They have only won two games in their last 6 outings.

They haven’t had a great time since Watford beat them in the semi-final of the FA Cup after extra time. They lost 3-1 to Southampton and only managed a draw at home to Brighton on Saturday. Small teams with small squads aren’t usually that good when they have to play 3 games in a week. They have a revenge game in the league against Watford on Saturday, which is effectively a 6 pointer for them. There are 2 points between 10th and 7th, I would imagine Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo wants the higher position because of his RAMPANT ego and the £5.7m additional prize money which goes a long way up North.

My strategic brain would say that if you were a TOP TOP manager, you’d probably fancy beating Watford away… so if you were to make rotation sacrifices with a tired squad, you probably SHOULD make them against Arsenal this evening.

No point in going all guns blazing against us tonight only to lose on Saturday. If I were Nuno Herlander Simões Espírito Santo, I would throw this evenings game and go big at the weekend (Wednesday client drinks VERSUS A FUCKING MAD RAGER on Friday in layman’s terms). I MIGHT be biased here… but even if I weren’t, I’d calculate that Arsenal rested big at the weekend, they lost in humiliating fashion and they’ll be coming with energy and purpose tonight.

So we’ll see… the counter to the above is we are usually shite away from home to counter-attacking sides and the Unai Emery press conference was a vigorous defence of a defender who is awful (and he’ll probs play). This was his defence.

“I want to protect the players, Mustafi is a very good player, a very good centre-back,”

“He has the habit – usually he is doing the sliding tackle and using anticipation against the opposition. He can win one, win two, win three, win four – but if he loses one he is the picture and if he concede a goal he is the big picture, Sunday was the same and happened with him.

“I have spoken to him: ‘You are young, you can improve and you need to work hard because you have a big quality for a centre-back.’

“He is young, he is improving and Sunday he is in the big picture because of the second goal. Who is in this picture? Mustafi – but it’s not his mistake. The mistake was tactical because we need to protect him with two centre-backs against (Wilfried) Zaha. I protect him because I believe in him.”

… err, Unai, the player is 27 years old. The same age Cobain died. The same age I am right now (it is TRUE). He’s not young, he’s in his footballing prime.

He then went on to ask a favour of the fans.

“I am going to say to our supporters, ‘Help our players.’ We need to take the criticism and be strong as players, as a coach, as a team, as a club. We need to improve knowing that.”

You can’t knock Unai here. He’s rallying the troops around a player who is obviously going through a really tough patch and I’d personally take that sort of management style over a Jose Mourinho lambasting him for being a disgrace to his mother. A manager c*nting a player might make you feel better, but it’s not good for trust. Mustafi isn’t trying to be average.

Let’s see what the Unai’s real intentions are in the summer when I have no doubt he’ll move him off to Italy or Spain.

Talking of the summer… lots of leaks and rumours that the war chest is more of a trinket this summer. The tiny sum of money that I reported way back in November looks near enough spot on. The more worrying thing is someone from the club mentioned there is a concern that the Champions League money won’t make it to the manager as an advance.

This does make sense though. We are a business and we can’t keep spunking money on players/wages without balancing the books. We have a £220m wage bill, we’re the 3rd highest net spenders in the league over 5 years, we’ve outspent Madrid since 2010 on a net basis… and we’re still rolling with Jenks in an decisive league match. I completely agree with the notion of ‘get your finances and squad in order before you come begging for money.’

There are lots of very expensive names we should be moving on, and we could see the cash benefit in wages and in fee in some places. Interesting that Sokratis, Auba, Ozil, Mikhi and Mustafi all have two years on their deals. Raul explicitly said something about not allowing players to venture beyond that juncture.

My big, big worry is that we’ll have to lose one of our stars because we didn’t make any money on Aaron Ramsey (who was foolishly allowed to pass the 2-year position in his deal). But if that is what has to happen, then that’s what will happen and we’ll just deal with it.

… there’s a sub concern that we don’t have a technical director in place or an experienced head of recruitment. I know there are folk that think that isn’t important, but then there are people out there that think tactics don’t matter… or underplay the importance of a manager, or believe the earth is flat, but rest assured, those people should be ignored.

Sven M came in for a year and nearly all of his signings have contributed to a more stabilised first season. We need someone who understands up and coming markets, someone that can give us a critical edge through tech implementation or someone with a very sharp eye, and we really need them in ASAP. I have deep fears handing over control to Raul and his backroom dealing ways.

… I also think Emery is hit and miss with players he likes (Denis is just a pretty boy). To be fair to him, there’s no way he’s going to have time in his day to scout effectively. I have no understanding of how the recruitment drive will be operating. Trust in Morrow and Cagiago I guess?

Right, that’s me DONE.

See you in the comments and BE NICE TO EACH OTHER. Blog. Of. Love.

P.S. You made that little boy’s uncle very happy yesterday AND it was his birthday. Perfection. Big love to you all, the donations went up! For those who wanted a PayPal option, it is HERE. THANK YOU AGAIN.

LOVE YOU ALL YOU ARE HEROES x

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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 dad.

Gooners, we all look after each other, right? Thank you in advance for your generosity!

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Redtruth

Wolves are on 51 points. No Wolves players woild get in the Arsenal team.

Champagne Charlie

“Yeah, maybe Emery should have brought this group further along at this point in certain ways, but tonight is on the poverty of the squad.”

We trotted over to Naples and kept a clean sheet. Players seemed fit for purpose there, it’s a guff excuse that’s picked up and down when it suits.

Bamford10

Red

One, Neves would get in the Arsenal XI easily. Two, based on Leno’s performance tonight and your assessment of it, I’m surprised you’re not acknowledging that their keeper might get into our XI.

Beyond that, you’re correct in a sense, but only a limited sense. Even if their other players wouldn’t make it into our XI, each of those Wolves players is really well-suited for system and approach they deploy. Whether our players are well-suited for whatever “system” we play is unclear, but very few of our players would get into their XI. Different horses for different courses.

Bamford10

Leno should have saved the third. Red is correct about goals two and three.

Redtruth

Get used to it, Arsenal have become a Cup team for the foreseeable future.

Valentin

@Bamford,

What is your opinion on Nkethia 20 minutes contribution?
Still think that he is not ready nor good enough to play winger?

If events had not forced his hand, Emery would have continue to ignore Nkethia. Picking Mhikitarian ahead of Nkethia has been shown to be ridiculous. Again Mhikitarian, like Aubameyang is not a winger. To continue using him in that position is just insane.

Sid

Today was a shit show however emery will be given another season and rightfully so, the world’s best driver in a Toyota would still probably lose to a shit driver in a Ferrari.

The squad needs a overhaul there are no two ways about it. Wether we are able to bring in players to upgrade or not, we can only wait.

If the play doesn’t improve next season he will not be given an extention and rightfully so.

Bamford10

Diogo Jota would make it into our XI as well.

Bamford10

Valentin

Nketiah was fine. A couple of decent touches, a couple of decent runs. Nothing more than that. He made a case, maybe, for his being used as a sub more often. In no way did he make a case for himself as a starter.

Nelson

I just read the stats. At half time, we had 71.7% of possession and we were losing 3 – 0 and no shot on goal. That says a lot about our team’s tactics. Some people, including the coach, may think that we are Arsenal and we should not play defensive to get a point against “weaker” team as per the table. It was an away game. We don’t have to play beautifully just to get beaten. I felt sick seeing us making all those short passes in midfield and totally forgotten that the purpose of the game is to put… Read more »

China1

Shit results happen. They happen to every team just like shit performances happen to every player

What’s concerning is the regularity of ours. Last night wasn’t a huge surprise, it was how we’ve been on the road in the second half of the season

Our squad is dog shit for a major team but it’s good enough that we should have 4 more points from between the palace everton spurs matches at least which would put us totally in the drivers seat for 3rd. Instead we’re hoping for another Chelsea crash and or a EL win

Elmo

“Nobody was expecting Emery to challenge for the PL but we’re only 3 points better off than last season” Points-wise, we have 9 points more than at this stage last season, but we’re in the exact same place we were two years ago (same points, same W D L record, same position in table): 18/19 P35 W20 D6 L9 = 66 points (GF 69 GA 46 GD +23) 17/18 P35 W17 D6 L12 = 57 points (GF 67 GA 48 GD +19) 16/17 P35 W20 D6 L9 = 66 points (GF 68 GA 42 GD +26) Our goals conceded stat… Read more »

Moray

For fuck sake.

I’m rapidly coming to the conclusion that we don’t deserve to play in the CL next year anyway. Forget that Chelsea, Man U and Spuds are pretty much as shit as we are. It’s just embarrassing.

Emery needs to find a solution to this. It’s both tactical and motivational.

China1

Emery needs to learn that there are no guarantees of easy wins when you play inferior opposition here. This isn’t France or Spain Some teams will roll over but you can never tell when that will be and they can catch you sleeping very quickly if you aren’t playing seriously from the get go Why are we one of the better teams in Europe against big teams but one of the weaker teams in the PL away from home in the league? These two don’t add up Our squad is frankly gash but still good enough to get the job… Read more »

gonsterous

what a terrible result. How the fk did that happen? Emery needs to take responsibility. I know he has a weak squad but we were doing well earlier in the season, what changed ? I thought every man and his dog knew that mhiki and ozil can not play together, yet the manager persists with that. I think we are out of the race for top 4. I think the players believe the hype that they can win the EL so they are not turning up to win games in the PL. The summer will be more disaster. Raul and… Read more »

Mick Kartun

Anyone here rate Nuno for next season?

Maybe we shouldn’t waste one more season with Emery.

Tony

Just watched the game this morning and wished I hadn’t!!!!!! Well the weekend’s rotation worked really well, didn’t it? Just hope Emery learns from this and puts his best team out for important games, such as the Palace game. We had 71% and we lost 3:1. Wolves had 4 shots on target and score 3. Says it all really. Mikhi needs to go again wasteful, can’t hit the target and loses possession all the time. Ozil proved once again he has nothing left for the PL – sorry ES but I have never subscribed to your Ozil POV. Yet again… Read more »

Guns of sf

Wolves play great counter attacking football It opens up play on the field when you are not going up against the parked bus Teams who come at them have suffered We need some serious plan b”s when we play teams like this Emery should have known better but without auba our own counter attack is a moot point We need to throw in some youth next season. The first teamers need some rest during the season Ozil has to go same with mikki They will never be who they were years ago. It’s a lot of money for declining assets… Read more »

Tony

Mick K “Anyone here rate Nuno for next season?” He’s (Nuno) done well with what he has at his disposal this season. It’s getting close to Emery judgement time with a few games left where the last 2 games have shown his deficiencies as a manager: tactically and team selections. A slight improvement on Wenger but we need better. Whatever the situation we are stuck with Emery for another season as we have no money to pay him off if we wanted to. Then there is the Raul situation looking worse by the week, but I’ve said enough about him… Read more »

Guns of sf

Our entire midfield bar Lucas needs replacing

Mick Kartun

Tony: “A slight improvement on Wenger but we need better. ”

Sadly that’s more likely.

China1

Some on here would have you believe kroenke has managed our finances ok and yet in the January when we were basically not allowed to buy anyone we now find ourselves going into a TW window with a bang average squad and extremely limited funds to do much about it

So much for Stan being a good owner…

Guns of sf

Fuck
My golden state warriors lost today too just now
Just a bad day

Gerrrrr

luke

Haha just finished watching that too Guns

Tony

Emery is beginning to even sound like Wenger now: ‘We lost in our hands the opportunity for fourth but we can also recover this opportunity,’ said Emery, whose team are also in the semi-finals of the Europa League. ‘We have lost opportunities in the last two matches, losing to Crystal Palace and here (at Wolves) but the last three matches we play in the Premier League we have opportunities.” Emery could also say we could win the lottery if we buy a ticket. Emery is beginning to look clueless in the PL and just a potential cup winning manager. Too… Read more »

Tony

What will the Kroenkes’ reaction be to no CL football for next season?

Do they even care if the bottom line is unaffected?

Samesong

Leicester – struggle
Brighton – struggle
Burnley – struggle

SpainishDave

The goals have dried up, the defence is leaking badly as usual 46 goals so far so no improvement at all, not even a sign.
Emery really hasn’t got it, our players lack desire and except Leno , the new players have failed to improve the squad.
Who wants to buy our shitty players?
Wengers legacy , Emery’s averageness will leave us in the doldrums for the foreseeable future
Great

Guns of Hackney

Whoops a daisy. Emery is shit. Arsenal are shit. Even if you look back objectively to our early season unbeaten run…we could have easily lost 18 of those games. I think perhaps one game we dominated and played out from start to finish, the rest were a struggle. Throw stats all you want but: The defence is just as bad as last season and this includes four Emery signings. The midfield is lazy, weak and easily dominated. The early season promise of Torrier looks to have waned slightly. Maybe he isn’t a the superstar we’ve missed since Gilberto left. The… Read more »

Valentin

At the beginning of the season, I wrote that Emery was not such a great tactician. It will look initially impressive because it was an improvement on the previous manager, but that in high stake game he would fail. Unfortunately I am proved right. The world and his dog knew that Wolves plays a counter attacking game. Emery’s tactics were perfect for them. Our midfield two was easily overrun. Asking a slow and indecisive Mhikitarian to drop into the midfield to help out was another ridiculous tactical WTF idea that was never going to work. We were still overrun, but… Read more »

Valentin

@Bamford,

Nkethia did more in 20 minutes than Mhikitarian did the entire game. He carried a bigger threat and lost the ball less than him.

He confirmed my assessment that he is a better fit to play winger than Mhikitarian or Aubameyang. It’s a shame that again Emery had to shown by circumstances (injury to Aubameyang and risk of injury to Iwobi) the errors of his ways.

Dark Hei

Don’t worry guys, as bad as we are, United and Chelsea are doing their very best to match us incompetence for incompetence.

Davey

Are we any better than Wolves? They outplayed us at the Emirates and were very unlucky to only draw and spanked us last night. I would like to think we can win the Europa but not sure we can beat Valencia over 2 legs.

Tony

“Nkethia did more in 20 minutes than Mhikitarian did the entire game. He carried a bigger threat and lost the ball less than him.”

The kid did enough to warrant more game time and keep the useless Mikhi out of the team for the rest of the season.

Never wanted Mikhi and he has proved all my initial negative assessments 100% correct.

Another over paid waster needing to be sold, but on his wages who will take him?

Tony

Davey
Totally agree with you.

Rainman

Reactionary dipshitery as per the usual.

We lose a game, all the Emery haters/Wenger lovers come crawling out.

We has some horrible runs under the old cunt too.

Lets drop out of the El and finish lower than 4th before we start burning effigies yeah?

DaveB666

Nobody saying much about Iwobi….. such a pointless footballer. He is a Wenger buy personified. “Should”be a great talent but in reality can’t beat a man, cross the ball or shoot. Sad times fellow Gooners.

Leftsidesanch

We’re not going to win the bloody Europa league. Arsenal can’t go to places like Wolves and Leicester and put in a decent account of themselves but you expect them to beat Valencia over two legs and potentially Chelsea in the final?

Be real with yourselves. Our best bet is to win our final three Premier league games and hope Chelsea get any result other than a win on Sunday as that would do the trick.

Emiratesstroller

Let’s put aside the commentary about Emery for one moment, because at the start of this season expectations were exceedingly low. The facts are that we have played 6 games in last 18 days including four away from home with a SUBSTANDARD squad. The club is currently missing 4 players with long term injuries i.e. Bellerin, Holding, Welbeck and Suarez. Another four key players Sokratis, Torreira, Xhaka and Ramsey have also missed several game through injury and suspension. We have players like Koscielny and Monreal who are realistically not able to play two to three games per week on account… Read more »

Leftsidesanch

Rainman, those idiots who come out of the woodworks after results like these should see themselves out. They know themselves.

HighburyLegend

The only theory I have found to explain the mess we’re in is that the Emirates Stadium was build on a Indian cemetary.
Since then the spirits are really pissed off against us.

(wenger knew it before the building start, it’s obvious)

The club needs an exorcism asap.
Unfortunatelly , Fathers Karras and Merrin are no longer available.

HighburyLegend

“We lose a game, all the Emery haters/Wenger lovers come crawling out.”

The problem is that we’re probably going to lose the few games left to play.

Leftsidesanch

The result was disappointing but as mad as it sounds there are still avenues to qualify for a top 4 spot which I’ll outline below. – If Arsenal manage to win all three games assuming Chelsea don’t get a win at OT we get in the top 4. – If Arsenal draw with Leicester and win the remaining two assuming Chelsea don’t get a win at OT we get in the top 4. -If Leicester defeat Arsenal, Man Utd defeat Chelsea but Arsenal win the final two and hold Chelsea to a draw at the King Power we get in… Read more »

HighburyLegend

@Left : the problem is not the result, but the manner.

The defeat at home vs Palace seems to have cause brain damage to our players.

Un Na naai

This isn’t about wenger any more fools This is about the current shit manager we have. Many of us here called it from the start, including Pedro who can hardly be considered a “Wenger lover” (what a humiliating thing for a grown man to come out with anyway) Emery is underperforming. He’s dropped 9 perfectly winnable points in the past 3 games after being in pole position from the chasing pack. The squad we have is beating the best teams in the league and Napoli so it’s good enough to beat palace wolves and Everton. Anyone who says it isn’t… Read more »

Emiratesstroller

The real point is not that we have lost a couple of games on the trot, but rather what the Owner and Management plan to do this Summer to prevent a repetition next season.

We know for several seasons that our squad runs out of steam after Christmas. It is not good enough to maintain performance with the resources available.

The only difference this season is that the collapse has occurred perhaps one or two months later than usual.

HighburyLegend

Dixit the one who serve his own agenda, priceless lol

Leftsidesanch

It’s also no coincidence that we didn’t replace a player of Sanchez (Arsenal quality Sanchez).

Since he left Arsenal we’ve won 7 away games. 7 away games!!!!

He was good in 1-on-1 situations, could make space, take players on and score from nothing which are good qualities to have especially away from home.

We have nobody in this current squad who can do that.

ddkingz

Don’t want arsenal anywhere near the champions league draw slot…. it’s better to be in the Europa league and getting to the semi’s every now and then, than to be spanked by any average team in the champions league. arsenal fans are so delusional… after all we are seeing, someone is still saying we would qualify if we do this and that… We all know the problem of this club, just that arsenal fans worldwide love to believe and live in fantasy instead of facing reality… the problem of this club isn’t the manager( not that emery has proven himself),… Read more »

bennydevito

gambonApril 24, 2019    20:39:19

In an ideal world the following players need to be fucked off:

All of them,

Every single fucking one.

I would sell the entire squad, and start with the youth team, then add senior players from there.

>>>>>

Agree 100%.

Leftsidesanch

DDkings get lost, I’m giving permutations about how Arsenal’s Premier League campaign can end as a way of providing perspective to the overboard reactions there have been and will be on here.

You said yesterday that Mustafi was one of our best defenders, your in no position to be critical of anything.

bennydevito

PierreApril 24, 2019    21:15:38 CC We hired a manager that had a certain football philosophy but we didn’t have the players to implement that philosophy, and the owner is not going to give Emery the money to buy the players to implement that philosophy . And that is why his appointment was wrong from day one …It was doomed to fail. There are a few of us who post on Le Grove who recognised this and refused to be fooled by the odd decent result. We took the criticism but we were right , we are in decline under Emery… Read more »

Sid

Un The squad we have is beating the best teams in the league and Napoli so it’s good enough to beat palace wolves and Everton.Anyone who says it isn’t is arguing against factual evidence and is only serving their own agenda. ———– And therein lies a great debate, where does the responsibility of the squad begin and end? If the squad is able to beat the best in pl and then get their assess handed to them by Everton, shouldn’t the squad be chastised? On the flip side if emery can get performances against better clubs but can’t get the… Read more »

Sid

Pierre

It sounds like for you the best manager would be the one who plays Ozil every single game.

So, I suppose bringing back Wenger seems like the best bet?

HighburyLegend

lol Sid, spot on.

alexanderhenry

Leftsidesanch

Agreed on Sanchez.
Whatever anyone says about him and his failure to make an impact an man u, we miss him hugely.

A top four team must have at least one forward who has the ability to do the unexpected. Sanchez has or had that ability and you can’t coach it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmPFUvRSvkM

Emiratesstroller

The team is good enough to beat Chelsea, Spurs and Man United in one off games if our first eleven is match fit.

However, the squad is not good enough to beat teams like Everton, Crystal Palace and Wolves if we have a physically demanding schedule with a large number of injuries and/or suspensions.

That has been blindingly obvious.

What sets Man City and Liverpool apart from the rest of the pack at moment is the depth of their squads. The owners and management have invested properly in their teams/squads.

Tony

“Let’s put aside the commentary about Emery for one moment, because at the start of this season expectations were exceedingly low.” Maybe your expectations were low but mine weren’t. I expected better because it couldn’t be any worse under Wenger! I expected a slow start with an identity drilled into the players and the defense greatly improving under Bouldy. I expected a consistent level of well considered and tactically thought out team managerial decisions way above Wenger’s capabilities for each game. I expected Emery to learn from his mistakes and the mistakes of other teams’ managers. I expected Emery to… Read more »

alexanderhenry

Sid

‘Is there a case to be made that with manager X the same group of players will definitely get CL ?’

Maybe, but I think only a handful of really top coaches would be able to achieve that. This begs the question:
Wht would a really top coach want to manage Arsenal?

‘Is there a case to be made that with a few better players emery will be performing better?’

Yes.

alexanderhenry

ES

‘What sets Man City and Liverpool apart from the rest of the pack at moment is the depth of their squads. The owners and management have invested properly in their teams/squads.’

..in a nutshell.

Nelson

Just watched the highlight of the game, Atletico Madrid vs Valencia playing at Madrid. Valencia lost 3 – 2. If they played like that against us, we’ll be in big trouble. We may even lose at home. Oh dear! 🙁

Tony

Alexanderhenry
Yes Emery may perform better, but I’m sure we’ll continue to see erratic mistakes by him as I believe he is error prone as he was at PSG.

What do we do for new player have a whip round?

If what is being purported about out TW funds is true, maybe we’ll need crowd funding.

Do you trust Raul and Kroenke to solve the player acquisition issue out?

Bamford10

New post.

alexanderhenry

Tony I’m one of those who think Emery has done pretty well, all things considered. I’m also one of those who thinks that the main problem arsenal face at the moment is a lack of quality in the squad The club is at a crossroads. If we finish out of the top four , it’ll be the third season out of the CL. This is serious. With the resurgence of Liverpool and spurs It’s now harder than ever to get back in to it. I don’t believe we can coach our way back in. All the teams above, and man… Read more »

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