Emery’s season on a precipice

by .

It’s been very interesting watching the back and forth on Emery over the past few days.

I am just a mediator these days.

A deliverer of the facts.

One of my friends told me I needed to be nicer to Emery, so I will be.

He’s taken on a hard job. The squad had too many drossy players left in it. He’s made improvements.

The interesting thing with the improvements, is they aren’t as data-driven as they were a few weeks ago.

The man thing he’s addressed this year is competitiveness in the big games.

He’s also shown that he can outthink big managers.

Our tactics aren’t always great but be fair, there are tactics, which is a huge advancement at Arsenal.

The interesting thing to look at for me is the flip of coin that’s going on with how to look at the season.

If you compare Emery’s season to the penultimate season of Wenger, things look very similar. Now, I compare him to that season because it was Wenger’s second worse season ever. Comparing to last season is a softball. Also, the season I’m comparing to earned Wenger a new deal, his last earned him a red card.

We are already two goals worse off from a defensive standpoint.

We have to score 9 goals to be offensively better.

We have to win all three games to match the points total.

Add to that: Our defensive xG maps almost perfectly to what we’ve achieved… we are as bad as it looks. There’s no luck involved.

Look at our attack, and we have been ruthlessly efficient. Literally the best conversion rate we’ve ever had. That is going to be hard to sustain.

Then look at our away record and we’ve kept one clean sheet all season.

The flip side of this is you could say we should only be comparing Emery to last season. Sure, things are better than the year the squad basically gave up on Wenger. Let’s be a bit more ambitious than that.

The other valid argument Emery backers can have is this:

NONE OF IT MATTERS IF WE MAKE TOP 4 OR WIN EUROPA.

… and that’s the rub of it. Exactly what I said when everyone was crowing about points a few weeks ago. It’s all irrelevant if you don’t meet your objective.

We can still make top 4 in the Premier League. That would be epic. I would dance partially clothed in the street if that happened.

We have a very good chance of beating Valencia. Then it’s a roll of the dice in a final against two sides I’d fancy us against.

So when assessing Emery, you have to decide what you think is greatness.

Tangible improvements to tactics, defence or attack.

Or just STFU we qualified for the big boy European trophy.

It’s going to be a very interesting scorecard come the end of the season… and to be clear, I think it’s a blend of both. If he makes the Champions League, he deserves all the love we can give him. If he doesn’t, I think we’ll have an uphill battle next season, because £45m is getting us nowhere.

Arsenal and Emery are perched on the precipice. Another chance at relevancy… or a further decline into the pit of mediocrity.

Chelsea, United and Spurs will not stand still. This is our chance. We have to make something of our last 3 Premier League games and we have to do something special in the Europa.

Huge month ahead, strap in. x

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Bankz

Bankz is here for the tr4phy again

Bankz

2

Bankz

BOOOOOOM

Bankz

Tr4phy

grooveydaddy

Tr4phy

gunnershabz

tr5phy

gunnershabz

Nicolas Pepe is the talk of europe top clubs

apparently he wants a CL club only

£65m fee

i think he will be another gervinho

Guns of sf

4th

Parshad

Boom
8

Un Na naai

Nelson

Oh yeah i can see that line of logic bearing fruit with only £45m being handed to emery this summer
We fixed the day we let kroenke in the door
We haven’t been Arsenal FC since he got his claws into the club and it’s only going to get worse
Mark my words. We will win nothing major with him running our club. Definitely not with emery as head coach too. At least we were entertained before. Now we are just bored and miserable.

Un Na naai

The new twilight zone is grade A dog turd. Jordan Peele is nothing more than a gimmick. Get out as full as it was at least got its message right.

Nelson

Pedro ” Comparing to last season is a softball.”

You earn my respect as compared to a number of posters who like to use last year’s result to defend Emery.

Fire

Finally
A balanced post.
We must make it. Another Europa campaign will be bad for the club.
I reckoned it will take 3 seasons to bounce back into the champions league post Wenger. So I’m reasonably pleased.

Bankz

I really don’t see us winning our remaining 3 games.
Liverpool and city will will all their remaining games though.

Nelson

Un

I think you don’t understand my point. When Emery was hired, that’s the best the board could hope for. If he didn’t perform, he will be replaced. You are talking about something different.

Jamie

This piece today is money from start to finish. Nice work, Pete.

Globalgunner

The question we really should be asking is, even if we make top 4. Are there enough reasons to be cheerful?. Can we see this same squad of players making any strides in the CL next season. A team that cannot get an away result for love or money will not succeed beyond the group stages in the CL. I expected Emery to have given these players a stronger mentality by now. But like they say you cannot give what you dont have

Vintage Gun

Solid post Perdro.

KAY Boss

Emery, Emery, Emery
I’m beginning to feel sorry for him. Did he really wow the board about his knowledge of these players? Is
£45m really the cash to be spent during this transfer window without CL?
Is it also against UEFA rules for owners to use their own cash to run the day to day of a club?
What is holding my beloved club back?

Un Na naai

Nelson
I understand perfectly but even IF we qualify the most amount of money emery will receive is £75m with no real playing assets to sell apart from our strikers who are keeping our team afloat
Anyway I’m as sick of arsenal as I am about brexit. I’m living in a generation of snow flake tossers

SpainishDave

Emery’s not the man, his team set ups have been poor of late, and it seems his away record is very poor indeed.
We are still over twenty points off the top clubs , this gap is as wide as before, so no improvement at all.
He seems to be constantly fiddling with the team and I think he confuses the players.
The players he brought in last summer have not achieved anything maybe Leno is ok that’s all.
We leak goals like a championship side, so what is Bould doing?

Just Another Customer

Papering over the cracks is what people used to say when something positive happened in post-stadium move Wenger era.

Same shit here and with the wheeler dealer Raul/Gazidis 2.0 the future looks bleak indeed.Time to jump off the bandwagon I guess. Better yet;

off the cliff

Nelson

Un

Keep your fate man. As the saying goes, Rome is not built in one day. We can do an Ajex or Leicester city. It’s football that we all love.

Un Na naai

Just another customer

You’re right. Emery is just co tinueing the wenger trend of convincing us he’s turned a corner and stumbled on a formula only to then go through a hellish patch of form and throw it all away. I’m under no illusions any more
This man is not going to do anything more than continue making us top 4 also rans at best.

Un Na naai

Nelson
I’ll habe faith when I’m given something to place that faith in. There is nothing from arsenal football club that inspires faith

CJN

Probably obvious but there’s a bit of poetry in an Arsenal Chelsea final, with Cech as captain in his last game lifting the trophy against his old club..

CJN

Maybe even after the final save in a penalty shootout…

Champagne charlie

I don’t have faith in Emery bringing us on, his methods have delivered performances close to what I imagined, but if we get CL football he has a free pass to go again.

Before anyone wishes to perk right up and state ‘if Emery gets us CL football it proves his quality’. Ehh that’s simplistic, and ignores a good many things, so let’s not.

Arsenal need CL football, deliver it and the wolves should remain caged.

jwl

Joke Friday – Having sex in an elevator is wrong on so many levels.

jwl

Did you hear about the guy who died of a Viagra overdose? They couldn’t close his casket.

jwl

I think sex is better than logic, but I can’t prove it.

jwl

A girl phoned me the other day and said, “Come on over, there’s nobody home.” I went over. Nobody was home.

jwl

My girlfriend’s dad asked me what I do. Apparently, “your daughter” wasn’t the right answer.

jwl

I wonder what my parents did to fight boredom before the internet. I asked my 17 brothers and sisters and they didn’t know either.

jwl

I just found an origami porn channel, but it is paper view only.

jwl

The nurse at the sperm bank asked me if I’d like to masturbate in the cup. I said, “Well, I’m pretty good, but I don’t think I’m ready to compete just yet.”

WengerEagle

My man jwl single-handedly keeping joke Friday alive, hats off mate gave us a good chuckle.

Un Na naai

Yeah the dad one and the competing in the cup ones were good

Charlie George

PedRo “””One of my friends told me I needed to be nicer to Emery, so I will be”””” I suggest you get new acquaintances then -a dose of honesty is always A True mans best friend.. Go with your guts. Emery is substandard.- rightly called earlier this week. Apart from that lapse- a well crafted and balanced piece by the mercurial ‘PedRo. And I , thank him for it. Its not Emery that stands on the Precipice. He is not fit for purpose……as a Top Tier Football Coach. Its ARSENAL-who are on the Precipice. If the Kroenkes stick with Emery… Read more »

Alexanderhenry

Pedro As always, you are reluctant to mention money, but discussing football without mentioning money is about as relevant as ordering a medium rare steak in a vegan restaurant. Anyway, eventually you did write: ‘£45m is getting us nowhere’. You’re right, and what is also ‘getting us nowhere’ is allowing Aaron ramsay to walk on a free and not going out in January to try and buy a defender at least. Under a fanfare of publicity – typically vague and noncommittal, but a fanfare nonetheless – Arsenal have employed a brains trust to think the club back into contention. Let’s… Read more »

Al

Is the real question not…..Why the hell do we potentially only have £45m spend?

Something is really rotten with the fact we couldn’t spend a penny during Jan and now there’s supposedly this quoted joke of an amount.

Al

Club needs to get ruthless.

Wasted another year by sticking with the likes of Mustafi, welbeck, elneny and iwobi.

These players should have been binned at whatever cost last year and we could have made way for one or two other new players.

TheLegendaryDB10

CG We will deserve our comeuppance. We are already getting our comeuppance as the decline started when the club/BoD accepted without batting an eyelid AW’s imbecilic player valuations when selling to other club’s (generating little money to re-invest) and letting AW bring in substandard players to replace all the players of quality that we had. The biggest problem is the substandard team that we now have. We literally have no players of value & players who are on astronomical wages compared to their actual quality, making them very difficult to move on. As much as I have my doubts on… Read more »

gambon

We dont only have £45m to spend, thats lazy nonsense spouted by dreadful journalists.

Will be more like £100m, a bit less without CL football, maybe a bit more with CL.

People honestly think we are going to spend £6m on a 17 year old Brzilian if we have £45m? Leaving us with £39m having not solved a single issue in the team?

T

Improving the team for next year is easier said than done but it is fairly easy as to how to do it. Ship out the constant liabilities/underperformers: – mustafi – kolasinac – elneny – mikhtaryan – xhaka – wellbeck bring in quality replacements.. either prem starting eleven level or world class if possible: – left back – centre back – box2box midfielder – winger and with these in/outs you would have a starting eleven strong enough to contend for the title. nuf said. heck I can even name players who would instantly make the team title capable: – grimaldo or… Read more »

bennydevito

Afternoon Grovers, Good post Pedro. Pierre and Un nai, my replies to your questions of me on the last post: bennydevitoApril 26, 2019    14:56:08 Pierre, I’m still pissed off from the Wolves match and pissed off at how bad we are from told to bottom as s club. A lot of us have been saying for a good few years now that once Wenger finally gets the boot it’s going to take whoever’s the next manager a good few years and a good few hundred million to remedy the serious Wenger neglect and decay of our squad. This hasn’t happened… Read more »

Freddie Ljungberg

Auba fit to play against Leicester, thank fuck for that, we have absolutely 0 goal threat outside him and Laca. That is a squad issue btw for those that think a manager can squeeze water from a stone. No wingers that can create or score, no goals, dribbling or creativity from our so called Cam, very few goals from CM. Blame it on tactics as much as you want but the only reason we are better than the 7-10th placed teams is because we have 2 very good strikers. No one else in our team is exceptional in any way,… Read more »

Micheal

“We dont only have £45m to spend, thats lazy nonsense spouted by dreadful journalists.” At this stage, no one knows – the fans, posters on Le Grove, journalists or anyone else. But if we do only spend “in the region” of £45m this summer we will all know what type of club Sleazy Stan wants to own. Chelski are up for sale and in dissary, ManUre relying on untried OGS to get them out of the shit and the Spuds have a £1bn stadium hung around their neck. This coming transfer window is a golden opportunity to invest and build… Read more »

Al

I mean has it been confirmed we have got the Brazilian kid? also how can you believe the £6m figure spouted in the media but at the same time ignore the £45m quoted amount for transfers. Let’s say we have £100m, what does that actually do for us in terms of closing the gap on the top two? Not much in my opinion because we need 2 CBs unless we cross our fingers and hope for the best again going into the season with Sok, Holding and Kos. We need two explosive wide players because at the moment what we… Read more »

jwl

WengerEagle – I do enjoy keeping up traditions. Hope you been well mate, good to see you back here commenting again.

Un Na naai – cup competition joke was my fav as well and I almost didn’t see it at first.

gambon

“Let’s say we have £100m, what does that actually do for us in terms of closing the gap on the top two?”

Robertson, NDombele, Sancho, Pepe would dramatically, and I mean dramatically improve us.

They cost a combined £33m

jwl

Whoever we buy this summer, we need to get two or three players who are natural leaders and give 100% at all times because we have a squad of soft, weak minded players who can’t be bothered to play at their maximum week in, week out.

And that Wenger culture of not giving a shit needs to be changed if we are to have any hope of advancing.

SpainishDave

It’s hard to give Emery the benefit of the doubt. He’s had 50 games and still is messing around with the lineup.
He is clueless and the players seem confused.
Our goal scoring options are few, and our defence is porous.
Last summers purchases have proved to be poor .

Alexanderhenry

Michael

‘This coming transfer window is a golden opportunity to invest and build a lasting platform to get back into the top tier. Invest is the key word.

What the club does in the window will tell us all about Kroenke’s ambitions for our club.’

Agreed, 100%

Guns of SF

Its crunch time for sure. Emery has made some errors on his first year with Arsenal He also has had an uphill climb mostly this season. No $ for transfers, injuries, and having to play some shit players as there are no other options If we get top 4, I wonder how folks on here would react? What if we win the EL? a fail? We need Ramsey back, and the players themselves need a damn wake up call. They are the ones on the pitch- and the lack of effort at times is highly frustrating. teams that park the… Read more »

Champagne charlie

Guns of SF We were in the semis of the Europa and had a comparable league campaign last season with a poorer squad, and poorer manager if you remember. It’s a matter of debate that we should’ve in fact won that tie against Atletico then who knows, albeit we ultimately didn’t. Valencia isn’t Atletico, so the task isn’t meaner this season. CL qualification is certainly the carrot but I think it’s foolish for us to achieve that and pretend the road hasn’t been what it has. That being said, an objective would be reached and the club (not just Emery)… Read more »

Guns of SF

This is time for the come to Jesus meeting with the players

We need to have a solid plan to beat Foxes

That must be practiced over and over- we need to be able to crack the defense and get on the score board. We must be smarter in defense

Vardy is relishing this fight, but we can stop him

I think Wolves were a tougher test than these guys… I think we can do it but it will take us executing a master plan

i think leicester like to attack so that might be to our benefit

Charlie George

To the fans – who seem to think that transfer money will be the panacea to all AFC Ills.

May I remind them -Emery was at PSG and still stunk the place out.And they had oil money in abundance.

Failing to win the league in his first season – is akin to Motherwell usurping Celtic to The Scottish Title

Spurs have not spend a penny for 3 windows.. they are doing fine

They have Poch
We have Emery.

It’s a competence issue – not a fiscal one.

Guns of SF

CG

Spurs have better players than us. That is the truth. I hate them but that is the truth

We have Gems like Jenkinson. El Neny Licht Mustafi etc etc
Not to mention our under performers like Ozil, and we all know that Emery has tried to bring him back into the fold.

Lucas and Guen have done ok… for their first year. Still have work to do

Licht is shit
Sokratis is solid

We need about 4-5 new pieces who are tough, young and skilled to do the job and play in Emery’ s style

WengerEagle

Toreirra tailed off at certain parts of the season but the potential is clear to see.

Guendouzi not so much.

Charlie George

Sf

If Poch had all those players mentioned – they would be playing 50% better.

If spurs had Emery- they would be floundering- like we are.

And if we had Poch- we would not be having this conversation.

That’s the real truth.

TR7

So what are the odds we beat Valencia over two legs ? I think they are a good team with a few players capable of hurting us. Especially given our wretched form off late, I don’t give us much of a chance. What do others think ?

TheLegendaryDB10

jwl

Your comnent @ 16:37:14 nails it on the head. We desperately need true leaders on the pitch who can galvanise the players when things go wrong. We are seriously lacking strong personalities in the team at the moment.

Guns of SF

I wish their was a locker room selfie ban. I hate how these millenials operate sometimes Social media is what they are concerned about. Their image and brand Screw that We need some old school mentalities in the first 11. Not someone like Licht who shouts at whomever. That is not always what a leader does The players need to be reminded of why they are here. How lucky they are and how the mom and dad who save up $$ to take their families to games are making much more of a sacrifice than they are. They need to… Read more »

SpainishDave

Amazing some fans think we will win the losers cup
The final will be against Frankfurt or Chelsea
No chance with our squad.
Auba is thinking of his next Lamborghini.
Jenks thinking of his next million sitting on the bench.
Mustafi having a brain implant
Ozil standing for Turkish premiership
They don’t give a toss about Arsenal

azed

Sf
If Poch had all those players mentioned – they would be playing 50% better.

If spurs had Emery- they would be floundering- like we are.

And if we had Poch- we would not be having this conversation.

That’s the real truth.

So after 5 years in the EPL the might Poch is 4 points ahead of Emery who is in his first season in the EPL?

The mighty Poch who hasn’t won a single trophy in his career?

Charlie you have a serious case of un curable malaria.

salpardisenyc

Emery’s a cup master i give us pretty goods odds of getting past Valencia, anything possible in a final as we’ve all found out with this club.

MidwestGun

And if we had Poch- we would not be having this conversation. _____ Nope Poch would be struggling with this shit show just as much.. Your deluded as per usual CG. It is a competency issue. But your acting like Emery created it.. he didn’t He is trying to fix Wenger’s mess he didn’t create . He might not be good enough to fix it, sure. That’s a problem. But there is huge difference between fixing something and building something. Emery has to do both. That you can’t see the subtle difference doesn’t surprise me. Anybody who wants Wenger anywhere… Read more »

Guns of SF

Amen Midwest

Un Na naai

Midwest

He’s trying to fix wengers mess?? Well he’s not doing a very good job at all sir. Not after 50 games and a full season in which to impose and imprint your ideas

Guns of SF

Manure and Chavs will be a clash for sure. Both are like us fighting it out.
Lets hope some Hammies get pulled and ankles twisted. 🙂

Hate to say it, but we need some luck thrown in here too

Nelson

Last year, we were out of the top4 chase early and we could focus our attention on the UEFA cup. We were unlucky to lose to A. Madrid. This year, we have more injures and players looked tired this time of the year. The two games vs Valencia would be tough.
Next year, we should play mainly youngsters in the league cup and FA cup. We also have to prioritize the PL and European matches to give us a better chance to achieve something.

Un Na naai

Emery’s a cup master i give us pretty goods odds of getting past Valencia, anything possible in a final as we’ve all found out with this club.

Sal
Yeah. €1bn team and a semi final v Barca says different

MidwestGun

He’s trying to fix wengers mess?? Well he’s not doing a very good job at all sir. Not after 50 games and a full season in which to impose and imprint your ideas
_______
That’s a valid opinion.. but the jury is still out, imo. Like Pedro outlined we gonna find out for sure in near future.. Although it is very difficult to fix years worth of stupidity in 1 year. Hopefully the next manager after Emery has something to build on.

salpardisenyc

Can’t put this all on Wenger, Emery’s made some shocking decisions and must be held accountable. But as Pete says if we find the Champions league all will be forgiven. Target achieved.

True measure of a manager is taking the league.

Can’t hide must perform on the road and this is where Emery floundered at Sevilla and a certain extend with PSG loosing 5 away games in maiden season to be overtaken by Monaco. As we’ve witnessed this season the trend holds, a cup manager until thats sussed in a competitive league.

MidwestGun

Road woes… might be dracula’s undoing. for sure. His away record is unacceptable just as much as it was before he got here. Improvement over top 6 sides means nothing if you cant beat Wolves and Everton on the road.

azed

Pep finished 4th in his first season
Klopp took over Liverpool in October and finished 8th, the next season finished 4th
Poch finished 5th in his first season at Spurs and hasn’t won anything yet.

The three above are considered “great managers” on here but the very bad Emery has a better record in his first 50 games than the three above.

What am I missing?

Champagne charlie

“Nope Poch would be struggling with this shit show just as much..”

Why do you think so?

I happen to think Poch is a much better manager than Emery, and with that would’ve delivered more “progress” (a term open to debate) than what we’ve seen this season.

As such I don’t think you can dismiss the idea with quite the certainty you seem to.

salpardisenyc

Unai

3 Europa league’s on the trot say quite a bit about a manager ability in a two legged cup competition.

And it was the round of 16 vs Barca where Unai got exposed, insane tie that. Utterly destroyed Barca in Paris then the coin flipped heavy.

Guns of SF
Cygan

Super post Pedro, very balanced. From this well reasoned point of view Emery really isn’t cutting it; although saying that it’s a tough gig and if he gets the tr4phy or wins the cup he deserves some praise. Either way he’ll get another season…

Marc

What are the odds we get a draw at Leicester and ManU bear Chelsea? 3 teams on 67 points with two matches left.

Charlie George

Un

“”Not after 50 games and a full season””

Wenger was well on his way – to winning his first league title within his first 50 games.

Ranieri likewise …

Its wonderful we have USA Arsenal fans.- but please do keep us – you fine gentleman.

Emery is a dud.
He is your Hilary Clinton
Another one- who snatches defeat from the Jaws of Victory…

Whitty

FUCKIN yank cunt out!!!?

Un Na naai

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/sport/football/1119431/Arsenal-news-Unai-Emery-away-form-defence-Martin-Keown/amp

Looks like we aren’t the only ones who’ve noticed emery’s muddled attempts at defending

Marc

Love it how a South African seems to think he’s some sort of spokesman for Arsenal and Arsenal fans.

Nelson

At the start of the season, the team had a 14 games unbeaten run in the PL. Along the way, we have beaten 4 teams and tied 2 teams away. That’s telling me that our team can perform away when the players are still fresh. For next season, we need to increase the squad size and play more youngsters.

Samesong

Love it how a South African seems to think he’s some sort of spokesman for Arsenal and Arsenal fans.

LOL

Un Na naai

Samesong

No different to Bamford and marko

TR7

Liverpool score in the first minute of the game.

LeMassiveCoq

Please, somebody….answer me this. Why have a club like Arsenal only got a 40-45 mill ion transfer budget?

Un Na naai

Le coq

Great question and very pertinent.
But the answer to any negative question were arsenal are concerned all come back to one man.
Don’t you know that by now?

TR7

‘Please, somebody….answer me this. Why have a club like Arsenal only got a 40-45 mill ion transfer budget?’

1. No champions league for last two seasons
2. Horrible track record of selling quality players at throw away prices
3. Running down contracts of players and losing them on a free
4. NIL investment from Stan
5. Money pissed up the wall buying average players
6. High wage bill

azed

“Looks like we aren’t the only ones who’ve noticed emery’s muddled attempts at defending”

Actually that article is prove that our players are close to useless.

City, Spurs and Liverpool(all managed by Le grove favourites) also set a high line when they are defending set pieces.

Does that mean Pep, Klopp and Poch are bad like Emery or does it mean it works for them because they have better players?

Guns of SF

6. High wage bill- for shit players who cannot be moved on, and end up staying for a nice fat pay check.
7. Poor scouting of good players that can be paid reasonable wages
8. Poor business deals- not getting enough in return- bar adidas to save us!

Guns of SF

7 more goals for liverpool to even the GD
possible to do against hudershit

TheLegendaryDB10

9. A BoD who have stood by idily for so long as if they have no responsibility on the goings on at the club.

10. Having a (now departed) CEO who just BS’ed the owner that all was going well without paying attention as to what other clubs were doing to be successful in the meantime.

azed

Good one Tr7 and GSF. We have 7 central defenders on our books and not one of them is world class. Sokratis, Koscienly Mustafi Holding Chambers Mavropranos Monreal People like Valentin come here and say Emery doesn’t give youth a chance, but how can he do that when he has 7 fight for 3 sports? Most other teams have 4 CB’s and fill out the rest with academy players. We are the only team with out a winger, and the one of the few teams in the EPL without a dribbler but the Wenger lovers who said nothing when Arsene… Read more »

Redtruth

Wenger would have won fuck all without Bergkamp..FACT!!!

Guns of SF

we had mega dribblers once
nasri hleb tr7 cesc santi gerv

now its Iwobi- the one and only!

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