via @t0wey (instagram)
The Arsenal joint leadership team dropped an impromptu exclusive with some of the hardest hitting journos in the game… I mean, kind of… I mean, they interviewed themselves.
The most choreographed tap dance since Michael Flatly swooned my mother with River Dance back in the day.
The piece drew applause from many people who were captivated by the vision.
Not me. Nor Matt from The AO.
The whole piece felt a bit wet.
TL;DR, the vision is ‘Making Arsenal fans proud’ and the execution is ‘the Arsenal way.’
A vision has to be measurable because ultimately, you have to be accountable for delivering results.
‘Proud of you’ is not measurable. It’s broad, extremely subjective, but it’s a crowd pleaser for fans that know no better. It’s a little bit like telling someone they do the dishes the best… a bit of flattery to cover-up a cop-out.
I am proud of Arsenal in the Community. They do incredible work across a broad range of categories. Unreal commitment. Is that mission complete? No way. I love the trimmings around the club and they remind me that I support a classy outfit, but ultimately, I’m in it for the football.
A vision needs to be more specific, and I’d have hoped for it to be more football oriented.
EXAMPLE
Vision: To be Premier League Champions inside 5 years
Strategy: Project Youth 3.0.
Details:
- Arsenal become the number 1 destination for world-class talent between the ages of 17-23
- We build our whole backroom team in service of identifying, training and elevating their talent.
- We attract them by offering them good contracts that are heavily incentivised, combined with an elite platform to showcase their skills.
- This is a 5 year plan. We’re going to be honest with the fans, but what we’ll promise in return is a footballing philosophy built around pace, power and explosive flair. Arsenal will be the most spectacular destination for attacking football in the world.
- We’ll do this by hiring an innovative coach that believes in the vision. We’ll surround them with hand picked specialists, built to an American sporting model. We’ll hire the best of the best in every position in the club.
What did we get?
We’re going to promote kids, have tough conversations about contracts, buy smarter, and do things the Arsenal way.
They both said they want to win trophies, but there’s no timeframe. They both reeled off the Ivan-esque prose that it’s hard to win trophies, which again, felt like excuse padding. Also a bit weird to pump Emery and call the Europa his comfort blanket. If we’d been more aggressive about the league we’d have made top 4… the comfort blanket now has us in a roulette moment with Chelsea.
They said the owners are down with winning too.
“They are really passionate about how we can move the club forward, but also realistic. They know we’re not going to go from where we are to deliver our ambition overnight & know there’s going to be a whole load of work along the way to get there”
… delay, delay, delay. Arsenal are obsessed with things taking a long time, being difficult, harder to achieve than buying a loaf of bread. When you are communicating a plan like that, it shows you don’t fully believe in it. You’re already complaining. It’s tiresome.
Elon Musk sells the future like a hero. He over promises and under delivers every quarter… but you know what, the outrageous ambition he has shown has him sending spaceships to space and returning to land on a pad the side of a golf green. Did he set out to investors and say, ‘listen we want to have spaceships landing on these pads, but ultimately, it’s pretty tough getting a space permit, then there’s the recruitment thing, total nightmare, then there’s the budget, which can I just inform you is 5% of what Nasa spend.’
Fuck no. He was shooting for the literal stars, and if he fell short, at least he achieved something.
Overall, I was a bit flat coming away from it. There was no real substance. My only hope is they have something magic up their sleeves, but it doesn’t seem that way. For a piece that was recorded internally, they did a pretty uninspiring job of rallying the troops. What do the staff and players think? Are they on a wild ride? Are we going somewhere? Is there a mars shot going on here? I must have missed it.
This is my big issue with Arsenal. Our special sauce isn’t special, it’s just Heinz ketchup. There is nothing unique about having a desire to play young kids. There’s nothing unique about being financially prudent. We’re not the richest, we’re not the smartest, we’re not the most artful… so once again, we bumble into the summer with a manager that hasn’t really moved the needle guiding the vision of the club for the next two seasons.
Kind of bland, but really, exactly what I expected.
Arsenal, stasis through harmony.
Lets unsettle Giroud. tell him we can bring him back or something.
Olly is too nice. This would clearly mess with his head and heart
Then again, that is just cruel… olly is a nice chap
Anyhow, lets just beat their ass – this would make it feel even better
It’s a must win… we have to play Leno. Cech can hold the trophy at the end and take a selfie. Leno will be here next season it’s momentum to build off of… he needs to play in pressure situation. For me it’s not much of a decision… which means we will probably play Cech.
Nelson
If Emery and Raul had not disgracefully and gratuitously pulled his contract.
Ramsey would be fit by now and playing.
But There is no way (rightly) he is busting a gut for these chancers.
How we allow – people who have been at the club 5 mins to dictate what happens to long standing servants ( 10 years in Ramseys case ) illustrates the club is rotten to the core.
And all because The Spanish Regime wanted the pathetic Suaraz ..
Shameful.
Guns
Right idea wrong method. Giroud got into trouble with his misses a couple of years ago for putting it about. Just line up a couple of pro’s with a hidden camera and then leak to the press and arrange for a gun to be at hand for his misses!
Chelsea bringing Cech back as sporting director with a transfer ban, that banter wasn’t lost on me.
sal
I must admit I thought by now we’d be hearing stories about appealing to the court of arbitration etc but it’s been very quiet.
I’m not sure why anyone is shocked by the Cech news. It has been reported since January that he was going back to Chelski in some fashion. Cech is a pro, even if he plays, I highly doubt he would do anything to bugger it up intentionally.That said, I personally would not want him between the sticks. We’ve seen what concentration of a keeper can do too many times this season through De Gea alone, Karius last year and so on. Leno must play.
RSPC
I’d def take the pass on a Wendy’s stop.
Much better offering in City, try Shake Shack for that style.
And the Ear Inn is a good day drinker with out door option.
Bd.
I did indeed only offer you a part- time position in my ‘Le Grove ‘ hypothetical management set up.
You do have undoubted passion for The Arsenal. And its sincere.
But you are too whimsical..
You chop and change too much…..
If you do become a fully fledged Emery and Raul and ‘now Vinai ‘out man – you ll get the position full time.
Cant be fairer than that…
Yea
We need to get creative with unsettling Chelsea
Let the games begin!
Guns –
Well, We could start placing bids for all their starters. About 10 mill under valuation then when it gets rejected we could add 1 pound. and resubmit the bid. Old time Wenger bantz.
Marc From what I can gather they had 21 days to appeal from 8 May. Once an appeal is lodged, which I expect it to then they probably will request a stay of the two window sanction. I don’t know if you have seen this article but worth a read Chairman of the FIFA Appeal Committee explains the decision to uphold the transfer ban In an interview in his native Sweden, Thomas Bodström – chariman of the FIFA Appeal Committee, talks about the decision to partly uphold the transfer ban. He says that they deliberated for several hours before making… Read more »
Giroud looks so settled and happy at Chelsea.
I think he knows that their fans approve of him a lot more that gooners did when he was with us.
I have nightmares about Giroud scoring one of those specials he is capable off and celebrating like Adebayor.
@Midwest,
With Steve Bould pushed toward the exit door, I doubt that Giroud would know Emery’s new setup at set pieces both defending and attacking.
Valentin_
I meant more he will know intimately player tendencies in the one on one battles. From years of practices. not the exact setups.
Our set pieces suck. No need for prior knowledge.
Teams just do what they want and score mostly
“Teams just do what they want and score mostly”
Its almost as if Wenger never left. But he did and were still shit at defending, even with reinforcements and a year of perspective.
We need to play with the same gusto and energy when we beat them at home in the league. Even more energy…
and Leno must start
Exequiel Palacios being liked to Arsenal from River Plate.
Looks like an exciting prospect. I’m sure the pizzaz people will like us to bring in someone like this.
RSPC, I really like 5 Boroughs.
I didn’t think NYC was going to be such a beer place, but they are hardcore… too much choice in every bar
I mean they should all know Giroud is a near post run waiting to happen… but whether they like to jump on freekicks.. how high they can jump… .. what their reaction times are.. which shoulder to stay on… whom is likely to cover him on a set piece. . What the spacial relationship is between say Monreal and Koscielny when they defend. Even how to get in their headspace.. All things he will know.
‘Then again he might not start so…
Some good Fonseca stuff here
https://twitter.com/greenallefc/status/1130555675736707072
Dissenter
“Giroud looks so settled and happy at Chelsea.”
Obviously you have little understanding of what makes a footballer happy and settled.
Giroud has started one league game this year and only 7 all season , scoring 2 league goals.
Giroud is intelligent enough to know that scoring goals against vastly inferior Europa opposition means very little in the scheme of things….the bread and butter of the premier league is where he wants to play.
Reading the UK press online….(this evening) this Azerbaijan fiasco is looking more tawdry, corrupt and dangerous as we speak. If a club like the mighty and decent Arsenal do not make a stand against such a barbaric regime ( The Azerbaijan Government) who will.? The pathetic weasel words from Vinai – shame all Arsenal fans all over the world. Its not too late -that we pull out. It could be the best thing we have done for a while. Indeed – it might even put the New Regime in a different light. This Baku BS started off in disgrace It… Read more »
Guns of SF
“our set pieces suck. No need for prior knowledge.
Teams just do what they want and score mostly”
wrong
Actually, we had the best record from corners in the premiership defensively until our manager changed from zonal marking to man to man a couple of months ago.
I’m sure there must be a logical explanation for this tactical change but I can’t think of one reason why he would change something that had been so successful.
Almost all clubs use a combination of zonal marking in front of the Keeper to keep players off of him and man to man to coverage on their biggest threats.. its usually not one or the other .. if its all man to man then that would be unusual.
Guns of SF “We need to play with the same gusto and energy when we beat them at home in the league. Even more energy…” the 2 most important words in your comment above are “at home” … The final is in effect an away game and if this season’s away performances are anything to go by , we won’t be playing with gusto or even more energy than the home win over chelsea. That’s not to say we cant/ won’t win …it’s a 50/50 game which in my opinion will probably be quite a tight game as both managers… Read more »
Midwest
Having Torreira man marking 6 foot plus opponents ( as he has been doing recently) at corners is a tactic that is doomed to fail.
Regarding Giroud, we need another striker with his characteristics: good in the air, can act as a pivot in tight game, won’t be bullied by physical defenders. Obviously not for every games, but against Watford, Wolves, Leicester, Brighton he would have offered a different type of threat to the opposition. I would not have minded if we had offerred him 1 year contract with an option to extend 1 more year based on measurable metrics while Nkethia go on loan. That would also have affected Chelsea with their inability to recruit any replacement. Even if they have Batman and Abraham… Read more »
Midwest
I agree , Giroud will have knowledge of our defenders and he would know from training with Arsenal if he has the beating of players like Kosielny and Monreal .
On the flip side ,our defenders may have a good understanding of girouds game
Giroud is actually keen to leave Chelsea to go back to France. He is disappointed by the lack of league action. He was much happier at Arsenal despite not starting in his latter years.
He is only staying another season because Chelsea have exercised their option to keep him because of the potential transfer ban
But The G
Raul sold Giroud….and theo…( cheaply)
Ousted Rambo,Welbeck and Chambers
And Jettisoned Lehmann.
While Chelsea are allegedly going forward with ex Chelsea stalwarts Lampard and Cech.
Raul and Emery are trying to strip our Arsenal ID and replace with overseas,non descript cheap garbage.
They are doing what’s best for them and their long time survival instincts…
Not what’s in the best long term clubs interest.
Valentin
I would be totally against bringing back Giroud or buying a similar type of striker (unless he had explosive pace)
Its our away form that needs addressing and I would be happy to see players like zaha or ziyech from Ajax come to Arsenal as I believe they would give us what we need to quickly turn defence into attack in our away games.
Pierre
I think Giroud is semi-retired, same as our boy Ozil
He’s won the world cup, what else is important in football?
Midwest Having Torreira man marking 6 foot plus opponents ( as he has been doing recently) at corners is a tactic that is doomed to fail. Yes it would be but to be fair how many players are as short as him.. you can only hide him so many ways.. you cant use him as part of zone.. so you can only use him top of the box to man mark … other teams know that as well then you start switching off defenders and you get communication errors. As I’m not in practices I have no idea how they… Read more »
Giroud was often understated for his very good foot ball control [some may scoff at this] and ability to make a good pass.
We need a player like him who can help us play a different way.
@Midwest, We have been using zonal marking for the last three years. For two years running we have had the best records at defending corners and other set pieces. As Arsenal is on average shorter than most EPL team, usually we did not make any proviso for specific players. The only players I remember us taking special precautions against were Peter Crouch and the Cardiff player Sean Morrison. And it was not so much as man marking them as blocking them and screening them to stop the opposition scoring from the second ball. About two months ago, Emery switched to… Read more »
“The final is in effect an away game and if this season’s away performances are anything to go by , we won’t be playing with gusto or even more energy than the home win over chelsea.”
The final is not an away game. Both teams are playing far away from their comfort zones. Awya game implies a hostile setting with home fans railing against us. Its one-off winner take all game in a stadium filled with Azbekhs who won’t give a shit.
“Having Torreira man marking 6 foot plus opponents ( as he has been doing recently) at corners is a tactic that is doomed to fail.”
Mascherano used to do it successfully. I know he’s 3 inches taller than Torriera. He used to defend against players that were a lot taller. I think the timing of the job matters as much as owning the space for the header first.
@Pierre, The problem is that we have only one way of playing and no players who could help with a different system. We lack height and physicality all over. Sometimes you need a different approach. I am not talking of bringing a beanpole and launching long balls to him at every game, but we need to be able to play long balls and make them stick against some teams like Wolves, Leicester, Watford that thrive on the counter-attacking and pressing the midfield. None of the U23 players have those characteristics, so unless we can suddenly improve our midfield to make… Read more »
Valentin
Don’t you think having a tall striker go back to defend corners and set pieces will negate the capacity to launch fast breaks.
We used to lack that when Giroud had to go back to help defend corner kicks.
@Dissenter,
Except that Mascherano was playing for Barcelona before VAR. I vividly remember him grappling and wrestling opposition players to the floor with total impunity.
If Torreira tries the same, the referee and his video assistant will signal yellow card and penalty.
Most teams put 6 defenders in the box in a zone.. then the other 4 are assigned men.. or a post. not so much a zone but a combo.. I agree man marking can be suicidal because of the inherit weaknesses in it being reactive to the player you are assigned and they can run pick’s on you. You can’t react to the ball as quick.. I would have to rewatch those specific games to see a change… I try to block those games out … I have a few recorded though.. but probably Napoli and games we did well… Read more »
@Dissenter, Yes Giroud slowness was an issue for counter-attack, but he also compensated for the fact that our midfield is shorter than the average EPL midfield. We needed him to stop the ball at the first post. Having a slow striker is a problem on all part of the game, not just for counter-attack. However Arsenal has scored very few counter-attack goal this season anyway. Gone are the days of the quick, goal scored by Henry or Pires after an opposition corner. Nowadays, whenever we intercepted the ball on corners, if Özil or Ramsey (sometimes Mhikitarian) were not driving forward,… Read more »
Henry Root
Spot on regarding Giroud.
“About two months ago, Emery switched to a pure man marking system with disastrous results. Against Wolves, Crystal Palace, Brighton, Torreira ended up marking the opposition best header of the ball.”
This is not true Valentin. Arsenal don’t do man marking, we still use a zonal system.
seems they’ve been listening to you Pedro!!!!!!! I hope you’ve seen what Vinai Venkatesham said 🙂 I am happy about this model moving forward
Valentin
In theory, having a physical striker up front to hold play up sounds good but in practice it never really worked when giroud was at Arsenal .
Giroud never received any protection from the officials and he was usually stifled by defenders ( especially away from home) who used to climb all over him, rendering him ineffective , though I have to say that he was more than decent in the box as he had Ozil supplying him with the balls that he needed, whereas at chelsea he doesn’t receive the perfect delivery that Ozil invariably gave him.
@azed, Go back and watch the games before stating something that is clearly incorrect. We used to play zonal, but for the last few games of the season we did not. Against Crystal Palace, Wolves, Brighton, Watford we were using a pure man marking system at corners. None of our talk CB were tasked to head the ball away at the first post. Emery was even questionned about it in one of his press conference and acknowledged the switch. Strangely enough after the switch of system at corners, at free-kicks we were using sometimes zonal sometimes pure man-marking. I remember… Read more »
Azed
Have a look how we set up now compared to earlier in the season , you will now see Torriera getting brushed aside by burly defenders as he struggles to contain his opponent.
@Azed,
Against Crystal Palace Torreira was marking Scott Dann.
Against Brighton he was marking Glenn Murray.
I don’t remember for the other games, but the mismatch was also obvious.
In those games, Guendouzi kept losing his man, either getting blocked away or simply reacting too slowly to clever movement.
Dissenter “I think Giroud is semi-retired, same as our boy Ozil He’s won the world cup, what else is important in football?” Obviously Sarri doesn’t rate / trust giroud which is not Giroud’s fault …sometimes in football that’s what happens , a player is signed by a manager who then moves on and the new manager doesn’t see the positives in the player . Earlier today I was watching a piece about Ian Wright and how he felt unloved by Bruce Rioch so he put in a transfer request which luckily for Arsenal was turned down and Rioch was shown… Read more »
Pierre and Valentin
We do Zonal marking on corners. Torriera is too short to be stationed in the zone so he’s job is to stop opponents from having a free into the danger area.
On Corners, we usually have 4-5 players in the zone, 1 player marking the opponent that’s trying to block the keeper and the rest trying to stop players from making runs…
Against Everton ,Valencia and Crystal Palace, we concede from the second ball because our player are marking space and not people.
Pierre and his Ozil-loving ways continue Valentin, I think you need to consider the fact that Torriera has not had a full pre-season with Arsenal. I expect that he will work on certain parts of his game in the gym that will make it difficult to brush him off. The defending player does not always have to win the headers. So long as he can time the jump to knock the other player off balance, the should be able to defend corners. VAR will work both ways. Macherano used to get fouls blown in his favor too because he used… Read more »
Pedro “… again, referring to Gambon’s question, Dissenter. What do you do for a living, because you write like you’ve never worked in as much as a McDonald’s?” That’s really an injustice and insult to McDonald’s workers Pedro (Dissenter) “Since when did we start making personal disclosures here? You’ve been testy all day Pedro, throwing low blows around. Why would you want to know what I do for a living, so that people can use it a s cudgel like they did for Bamford?” Pot calling kettle black – Dissenter you’re one of the most testy posters here just look… Read more »
Don’t get what learning English has got to do with a managers capabilities. Loads of managers don’t speak English when they first come to the prem. Hell even poch didn’t speak a lot of English when he came here. Yet people are getting in line to have a suk on his coCk. I still think if we add in a couple of youngsters we would need an experienced CAM to do the job that ozil is neglecting,unless we get a very good CM to do what Ramsey can but on a more consistent basis , then we could go for… Read more »
People talking about their worst jobs, well let me pitch in, I worked for a recycling company for a a week, doing the dogs body job of separating trash and recyclable items while a crane loomed over head putting trash into a fire to generate fuel.
This was in the middle of December with the temp at -10 C.
Got paid 12 bucks an hour and it was dreadful.
People talking about their worst jobs, well let me pitch in, I worked for a recycling company for a a week, doing the dogs body job of separating trash and recyclable items while a crane loomed over head putting trash into a fire to generate fuel.
This was in the middle of December with the temp at -10 C.
Got paid 12 bucks an hour and it was dreadful.
.
This blog is going downhill…….fast! From getting Wenger out at all costs, which all Arsenal supporters craved( yeh right!), we have become this very ignorant and pompous fanbase who feel we are still owed so much more. Silly me, what am I saying. This has been the case for years as the club was being systematically dismantled by a manager and regime that conned us all. As we prepare ourselves for the clubs most important game for years, some of us prefer to stick the knife into a manager that has had to deal with an infrastructure that was not… Read more »
Graham Emery is not being ridiculed by all, but questioned by some for his dismal end to the season and loss of CL placing. The real problems are from those running the club and obviously the owner. Emery is here for next season and we’ll see how that goes after the TW. If you think Suarez was a good choice by Emery then what can I say? We are in danger of a similar mismanagement with Raul and Emery locking up the power and control of the club to suit their agendas. There are no banners being flown anywhere, Graham… Read more »
I don’t doubt torreira’s ability, my concerns with him lie on his stamina
It seems like last season he ran himself into the ground at 200% for the first third of the season, then totally ran out of puff and started picking up injuries
It’s a big change from Italy the England and I don’t blame him, but I hope a combination of improved stamina and smarter use of the levels he has next season
He can be massive for us, but for the entire second half of the season he looked jaded
Tony The reality is that the club has struggled at end of season for a variety of reasons and not entirely due to Emery. 1. A disproportionate number of players have long term injuries i.e. Bellerin, Holding, Welbeck and Suarez. None have been available since January. 2. Others are suffering short term injuries, suspensions or poor form. 3. We have on our books 4 players who the manager understandably is reluctant to select, because they are not good enough to play in first team e.g. Lichsteiner, Jenkinson, Mavropanos and Elneny. 4. There have been occasions when we have been scheduled… Read more »
Wonderful post Tony – full of clarity Unfortunately Graham is a very jaundiced chap. Eyes permanently bulging Mouth frothing Wenger hating and increasingly Emery admiring he cant mention a paragraph with castigating our most successful manager. Just compare the way-Chelsea have done their recent business -extending Giroud contract extension with no fuss and their recent Dortmund acquisition. Decisions made by their club executives for the betterment of the whole club.( ie overriding what Sarri may or may not want) Compare with our executives- who make decisions that are ultimately harmful to the club. Dumping Ramsey so they can sign Suarez.… Read more »
Sal
Ear Inn
Duly noted for September …
Much obliged .
Pedro
5 broughs
Gets added
Thank you.
Where you watching in NY the game.
Were off to Ron’s bar in Victoria sports bar ..
TVs on both floors
Good nose bag as well.
Greenwoods victoria. London
Graham62 While there is nothing wrong in what you have said, i do believe that the situation with Arsenal supporters is not as bad as you make out. With Wenger it was always a small part of supporters, at the start, who saw through his false narratives and weakness about 10 years back. It was only the last 2 seasons (under Wenger) when the tide really gathered momentum and the majority accepted that the King had to go. Even then we had supporters who would fall on the sword for Wenger and displayed annoying resilience. They still do! However, as… Read more »
siddharth14
Aptly put.
You could class me as part of the ‘Another lot’; however, I agree that to lose the EL final should get Raul seriously looking at Allegri as the long term successor for Wenger.
That said, I doubt Raul has anything on his mind other than self preservation, which I would imagine Allegri doesn’t fit into.
We’ll see what happens next week.
Tony
“””That said, I doubt Raul has anything on his mind other than self preservation, “”
Tony on fire today.
Well observed,
This charlatan has to go!
We don’t have spivs at our club!
Tony
You think Allegri would come to a club with less than a 100M available for transfers?